“A Latin author.”
“You don’t say! You must know a mighty lot.”
“Oh, it ain’t hard when you’re used to it,” said John, condescendingly.
The rain subsided, and John had the satisfaction of saving his clothes from injury, so that he ended the journey in a more amiable frame of mind than could have been anticipated.
CHAPTER II
THE SON OF GENERAL WALL.
Mr. Wall, or General Wall, as he was commonly designated in Portville, as a kind of tribute to his wealth, for he had no other right to the title, took a seat opposite Walter. Our hero examined him with some attention. This, then, was the man who had ruined his father by his plausible misrepresentations--who even now, perhaps, was conspiring to defraud him, and probably others. Under ordinary circumstances he would have been favorably impressed by his appearance. He had a popular manner, and was quite a good-looking man, much more agreeable than his son, who, it was safe to predict, would never win popularity unless his manners were greatly changed for the better.
“Well, general,” said one of the passengers, “have you been on a journey?”
“Only to the county town. I had some business at the probate office.”
“Been buyin’ any real estate?”