FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS

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."