Dick Darling's Money; or, The Rise of an Office Boy; and Other Stories

by Self-made man; Various

Tom Walden had come among the settlers within a year, and had affected a great liking for Grace Raynor, the farmer's daughter, and had asked for her hand in marriage.

Walden claimed to be a lumberman, but there were those who said that he had come into this lonely region to get ahead of an evil reputation, and although he might be what he avowed, he was no honest man seeking to make a living in these wilds.

It was said, although not too openly, that Tom Walden was a gambler and a thief; that he had fled to escape punishment for his crimes, and that even now, in his new home, he was not above suspicion, and that many had been made victims of his unscrupulous methods.

Grace Raynor had expressed an open dislike to him, and was reported to be engaged to marry Jack Woodson, an honest young fellow at work in the sawmill in town, the only support of a widowed mother, and as free-hearted, generous-handed a young man as one could meet.

No one knew definitely if the young people were engaged, for they kept their own counsel, and when slyly questioned about the matter replied that people would know all about it as soon as it became necessary for them to do so.

Tom Walden left the farmer's house, ostensibly to go to work in the woods, and Giles Raynor gave little thought to him, having other matters to occupy his mind.

He left his daughter to look after the house, as usual, when he went into the fields, saying nothing to her about Walden's proposal, not deeming it necessary to worry her.

When he came home at noon his wife said that Grace had gone to another town to make some purchases, being unable to obtain what she wanted in their own village, expecting to return by the middle of the afternoon.

When evening came she had not returned, and the farmer began to feel a vague alarm concerning her, although Walden had uttered no threats against her, or any one in whom she was interested.

At nightfall a boy brought a note to the farmer, saying that it had been given him by a woman closely veiled, an hour before, on the extreme verge of the town.