"To Doctor Grimes.—Dear Sir: Please call, as early as possible, at Messrs. L—— & P——'s, No. — Wall Street, New York; where you will hear of something to your advantage."
"What can this mean?" exclaimed the doctor, as he hurriedly perused the letter again. "Can it be possible that a relative of my father, in England, has died, and left us property? Yes; it must be so. Several members of his family there are in good circumstances. Oh, if it should be thus, how timely has relief come! For your sake, my dear sister, more than for my own, will I be thankful! But how am I to go to New York? I have not a dollar in my pocket, and will receive nothing for a week or two."
The only resource was in borrowing; and to this the doctor resorted with considerable reluctance. From a gentleman who had always shown an interest in him, he obtained five dollars. Within an hour after the receipt of the letter, he was on his way to the city. The more he pondered the matter, the more likely did it seem to him that his first conclusion was the true one. There was an uncle of his father's, a miser, reputed to be very rich, from whom, some years before, the family had received letters; and it seemed not at all improbable that his death had occurred, and that he and his sister had been remembered in the will. This idea so fully possessed his mind by the time he arrived in the city, that he was already beginning to make, in imagination, sundry dispositions of the property soon to come into his hands.
"Can I see one of the gentlemen belonging to the firm?" asked the doctor, on entering the store of Messrs. L—— & P——.
"Here is Mr. L——," said the individual he had addressed, referring him to a middle-aged, thoughtful-looking man, with something prepossessing in his face.
The doctor bowed to Mr. L——, and then said—
"My name is Dr. Grimes."
Mr. L—— bowed in return, remarking, as he did so—
"Will you walk in?"
The doctor was rather disappointed at the manner of his reception, and experienced a slight depression of spirits as he followed the merchant back into one of the counting-rooms attached to the store.