UNDER AN ASSUMED NAME.
AT length the stage reached its destination. With a flourish the driver
drew up in front of the Portville House, a hotel of moderate size, yet
large enough to accommodate all the travelers likely to stand in need of
shelter.
Walter got out, and taking his carpetbag, which was handed down from the
roof, where it had been stored with other parcels, entered the inn.
General Wall and his son retained their places, and the driver, after a
short pause, set out to leave them at their own house.
Walter entered the barroom, which was at the same time the office, and
asked if he could be accommodated with a room.
“You can have your choice of half a dozen,” said the landlord. “We ain’t
crowded just at present.”
“Put me in any. I am not particular as long as it’s comfortable.”
“Will you go up now?”
“Yes, I think so. How soon will supper be ready?”
“In half an hour.”
“Very well, I’ll be down.”
Walter entered himself in the hotel register as Gilbert Howard, the name
he had assumed. It was the name of a schoolmate at the Essex Classical
Institute, and the first one that had occurred to him. It was not
altogether agreeable to Walter to pass under an assumed name. It seemed
like sailing under false colors. He had, however, a great respect for
the judgment of Mr. Shaw, and the circumstances seemed to require it.
Under his own name he realized that it would be impossible to learn
anything of Mr. Wall’s fraudulent purposes. Now there seemed a very good
chance of doing so. Indeed, he had already learned something from the
conversation he had overheard in the stage.
After washing his face and hands, he descended to the public room, and
in a short time supper was ready. It was not a luxurious supper, but a
good, plain meal, to which his appetite enabled him to do full justice.
There were five other guests besides himself. These, however, were
regular boarders. On the opposite side of the table were a man of middle
age and his wife. These Walter learned were Mr. and Mrs. Carver. The
former had something to do with a manufacturing establishment recently
opened, and was boarding at the hotel with his wife, until he could find
a suitable house. There were also a young man, employed as clerk in one
of the village stores, and his sister. His name was Jones--a young man
with nothing striking about him. His sister wore ringlets, and doted on
the poets, of whom she did not know much. The fifth guest was a tall
young man, of sickly appearance. He was narrow-chested and had inherited
a consumptive tendency. His lungs being weak, he had left Vermont for
the West, in the hope that the more equable climate might be favorable
to his health. Unfortunately it did not produce the desired effect. He
coughed at intervals during the meal, and the hard, dry cough had an
alarming sound.
“You have a hard cough,” said Walter, who sat beside him at the table.
“Yes, it seems to be getting worse,” said the young man. “I came out
here, thinking I might be benefited by the change of climate.”
“Then you are not a native of Wisconsin?”
“I was born and brought up in Vermont.”
“And I am from the State of New York.”
“Indeed. Have you just arrived from the East?”
“It is several months since I left home. I have been traveling in Ohio.”
“I am glad to meet one who comes from near home. Will you come up into
my room after supper?”
“I shall be glad to do so. I have no friends or acquaintances here, and
I might be rather dull by myself.”
“What may I call you?”
“Gilbert Howard.”
“My name is Allen Barclay.”
“Have you boarded at this hotel long?”
“Ever since I came to Portville. That is four months since. By way of
further introduction, I will mention that I am a teacher, and keep the
grammar school in the village.”
Walter was glad to hear this. He felt that he should take more pleasure
in his companion’s society since their tastes were probably somewhat
similar. Though his life for a few months had been an active one, he had
by no means lost his relish for study, nor had he given up his intention
of resuming his studies at some time. In case he should realize five per
cent. on the mining shares, this would amount to five thousand dollars,
a sum with which he would be justified in continuing his preparation for
college, and a four years’ collegiate course. He estimated that his
expenses as a student would not average more than five hundred dollars a
year, and as the interest would amount to considerable--three hundred
dollars the first year--he concluded that he could educate himself, and
have considerably more than half his capital left to start in life with,
when his education was complete. I mean, of course, his college
education, for, strictly speaking, one’s education is never complete,
and those who attain eminence in any branch are willing to confess
themselves perpetual learners.
But, while these speculations were very pleasant, the five thousand
dollars were not yet in his possession. To gain them he must learn more
of General Wall and his schemes, and to this object he resolved to
devote himself in earnest. He had no settled plan. Indeed, without
considerably more knowledge of how the land lay it was impossible to
decide upon any. He must be guided by circumstances, ready to avail
himself of any favorable turn which affairs might take.
“This way, please,” said Allen Barclay, leading the way out of the
dining-room.
His room was on the second floor, and though hotel chambers are in
general--at any rate, in country towns--the reverse of pleasant or
comfortable, this room looked both. There was an open fire in the grate
which blazed pleasantly. Before the fire a cosy armchair was drawn up.
Next to it was a table covered with books. Two or three pictures hung on
the walls, and books and pictures do a great deal to give a homelike
appearance to an apartment.
“You look very comfortable here, Mr. Barclay,” said Walter.
“Yes, I have made the room pleasant. The books and pictures I brought
with me, and the armchair I bought in the village. I am sensitive to
cold, and so of late, as the weather has become colder, I have had a
fire lighted just before I come home in the afternoon.”
“Have you any scholars in Latin?” asked Walter, seeing a copy of
“Cæsar’s Commentaries” on the table.
“One--John Wall, the son of General Wall, the most prominent man in
Portville.”
“I have already made the young gentleman’s acquaintance,” said Walter,
smiling.
“Indeed!” returned Allen Barclay, in surprise.
“I met him in the stage. I don’t think we were either of us very
favorably impressed with the other.”
Here he gave a brief account of the altercation between himself and
John.
“What you say does not surprise me,” said the teacher. “John is a
thoroughly selfish, disagreeable boy, with a very lofty idea of himself
and his position as the son of a rich man. He considers himself entitled
to the best of everything. I am glad you did not give way to him.”
“I am too independent for that,” answered Walter. “I don’t allow myself
to be imposed upon if I can help it, though I hope I am not often
disobliging.”
“You had no call to yield to him to-day.”
“So I thought. What sort of a scholar is he?”
“John Wall? Very poor. He will never set the river on fire with his
learning or talents. In fact, if he were a better scholar, I might feel
different about teaching him. I have only had an academy education, and
have not been beyond Cæsar myself. However, I have no trouble in keeping
ahead of John.”
Here Mr. Barclay was seized with a violent attack of coughing, which
seemed to distress him.
“I don’t think I shall be able to keep on teaching,” he said, when the
fit was over. “The climate does not agree with me, and I shall not be
willing to run the risk of wintering here. If I could only find some one
to take my place as teacher, I would leave at once. It is the middle of
the term, and I don’t want the school closed.”
An idea came to Walter. He was a good English scholar--had been as far
in Latin as his companion--and was probably qualified to teach any
scholars he was likely to have. It was desirable that he should have
something to do, which would serve as a good excuse for remaining in
Portville. Why should he not offer to supply Barclay’s place, since he
thought it necessary to resign?
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