"The man, you mean, with heavy plow boots on."
"Hang me! now I recall that is a fact."
"He wore very plain clothes?"
"Yes."
"He had a sort of twang in his pronunciation," said Jack, leaning forward in an eager manner.
"Young man," cried Mr. Townsend, "you have raised up the figure of forty years ago. You have described the man exactly—yes, I have been blind; you are inspired. Now I recall the man must have come to me off a farm."
Jack was delighted, and we will here state that subsequent incidents suggested the idea that he was almost inspired, for like lightning a theory had formed in his mind, and stranger still, his theory led him to ask a remarkable question which drew forth an answer astoundingly suggestive.
Jack had been thoughtful awhile, but at length he asked:
"Did it not enter your mind that there might be a claimant for that fortune before the expiration of the twenty years?"
"Great Scott! young man, are you a mind reader?"