CHAPTER V.
SQUIRE TURNER.
Before doing anything else, Harry determined to consult some one about the land warrant. It might be worth nothing, or very little; but in their present circumstances they could not afford to give up even a little.
As he had suggested in his conversation with his mother, he decided to call on Squire Turner and ask his advice. He did not particularly like the squire, who was not popular in the neighborhood; but still he had the reputation of being well acquainted with matters of business, and, though not a regular lawyer, was accustomed to draw up deeds, and conveyances, and wills, and, in fact, supplied the place of a lawyer so far as his neighbors were concerned. There was no one in the village so likely as the squire to advise him correctly about the land warrant. So Harry put on his cap the next morning, and, with the document in his breast-pocket, set out on his way to Squire Turner’s residence.
It was a large, square dwelling-house, setting back some distance from the road. There were two gates, at the right and left hand, and a semicircular driveway, extending from one to the other, passed the front door.
It was half-past eight o’clock, and James Turner was standing on the front steps with his books under his arm. He had just come out, and was about to start for school. James surveyed Harry’s approach with some curiosity.
“Halloo!” said he; “what do you want?”
This was not a very civil or cordial greeting, and Harry did not feel compelled to satisfy his curiosity.
“My business is not with you,” he said; “it is with your father.”
“I suppose you’ve come for a job,” said James, coarsely. “I suppose you’ll be awful poor.”