Walter entered himself in the hotel register as Gilbert Howard, the name he had assumed. It was the name of a schoolmate at the Essex Classical Institute, and the first one that had occurred to him. It was not altogether agreeable to Walter to pass under an assumed name. It seemed like sailing under false colors. He had, however, a great respect for the judgment of Mr. Shaw, and the circumstances seemed to require it. Under his own name he realized that it would be impossible to learn anything of Mr. Wall’s fraudulent purposes. Now there seemed a very good chance of doing so. Indeed, he had already learned something from the conversation he had overheard in the stage.
After washing his face and hands, he descended to the public room, and in a short time supper was ready. It was not a luxurious supper, but a good, plain meal, to which his appetite enabled him to do full justice.
There were five other guests besides himself. These, however, were regular boarders. On the opposite side of the table were a man of middle age and his wife. These Walter learned were Mr. and Mrs. Carver. The former had something to do with a manufacturing establishment recently opened, and was boarding at the hotel with his wife, until he could find a suitable house. There were also a young man, employed as clerk in one of the village stores, and his sister. His name was Jones--a young man with nothing striking about him. His sister wore ringlets, and doted on the poets, of whom she did not know much. The fifth guest was a tall young man, of sickly appearance. He was narrow-chested and had inherited a consumptive tendency. His lungs being weak, he had left Vermont for the West, in the hope that the more equable climate might be favorable to his health. Unfortunately it did not produce the desired effect. He coughed at intervals during the meal, and the hard, dry cough had an alarming sound.
“You have a hard cough,” said Walter, who sat beside him at the table.
“Yes, it seems to be getting worse,” said the young man. “I came out here, thinking I might be benefited by the change of climate.”
“Then you are not a native of Wisconsin?”
“I was born and brought up in Vermont.”
“And I am from the State of New York.”
“Indeed. Have you just arrived from the East?”
“It is several months since I left home. I have been traveling in Ohio.”