CHAPTER II.
"_A goodly, portly man, i's faith, and a corpulent: of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye, and a most noble carriage; and, as I think, his age some fifty, or by'r lady, inclining to three score_." It had been a good morning, thought Mendenhall.

If only more citizens like this big, talkative, prosperous looking stranger would settle in Elmsdale! Over a thousand dollars' worth in one bill--not bad, that, for a little rural New York town.

Moreover, the stranger had evinced a taste in his selection of furniture and carpets scarcely to be expected from his slightly overdressed appearance and his loud, dominating talk.

His choice had been always swift and certain, wholly unaffected by prices.

Obviously, a self-made man, with a long purse, this.
The big man threw up his hands in mock surrender.