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Five Hundred Dollars; or, Jacob Marlowe's Secret
Five Hundred Dollars; or, Jacob Marlowe's Secret
CHAPTER I.
A NEW ARRIVAL IN LAKEVILLE
Slowly through the village street walked an elderly man, with bronzed features and thin gray hair, supporting his somewhat uncertain steps by a stout cane. He was apparently tired, for, seeing a slight natural elevation under a branching elm tree, he sat down, and looked thoughtfully about him.
"Well," he said, "Lakeville hasn't changed much since I left it, twenty years since. Has there been any change among those who are near to me? I don't know, but I shall soon find out. Shall I receive a welcome or not? There ought to be two families to greet me, but–"
Here a boy appeared on the scene, a boy of fifteen, with a sturdy figure and a pleasant face, whose coarse suit indicated narrow means, if not poverty. Seeing the old man, with instinctive politeness he doffed his hat and with a pleasant smile bade him good-morning.
"Good-morning," returned the traveller, won by the boy's pleasant face and manner. "If you are not in a hurry won't you sit down by me and answer a few questions?"
"With pleasure, sir; my business isn't driving."
"This is Lakeville, isn't it?"
"Yes, sir."
"I used to know the place—a good many years since. It hasn't grown much."
"No, sir; it's rather quiet."
"Chiefly a farming region, isn't it?"