AFTER A YEAR
XXXV. PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY
XXXVI. A GREAT SURPRISE
XXXVII. DAVID MULLINS AGAIN
XXXVIII. ABNER TRIMBLE'S PLOT
XXXIX. MAKING A WILL
XL. AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE
XLI. CONCLUSION

CHESTER RAND.

CHAPTER I.

SILAS TRIPP.

Probably the best known citizen of Wyncombe, a small town nestling
among the Pennsylvania mountains, was Silas Tripp. He kept the village
store, occasionally entertained travelers, having three spare rooms,
was town treasurer, and conspicuous in other local offices.

The store was in the center of the village, nearly opposite the
principal church--there were two--and here it was that the townspeople
gathered to hear and discuss the news.

Silas Tripp had one assistant, a stout, pleasant-looking boy of
fifteen, who looked attractive, despite his well-worn suit. Chester
Rand was the son of a widow, who lived in a tiny cottage about fifty
rods west of the Presbyterian church, of which, by the way, Silas Tripp
was senior deacon, for he was a leader in religious as well as secular
affairs.

Chester's father had died of pneumonia about four years before the
story commences, leaving his widow the cottage and about two hundred
and fifty dollars. This sum little by little had melted, and a month
previous the last dollar had been spent for the winter's supply of
coal.

Mrs. Rand had earned a small income by plain sewing and binding shoes
for a shoe shop in the village, but to her dismay the announcement had
just been made that the shop would close through the winter on account
of the increased price of leather and overproduction during the year.

"What shall we do, Chester?" she asked, in alarm, when the news came.
"We can't live on your salary, and I get very little sewing to do."

"No, mother," said Chester, his own face reflecting her anxiety; "we
can't live on three dollars a week."

"I have been earning two dollars by binding shoes," said Mrs. Rand. "It
has been hard enough to live on five dollars a week, but I don't know
how we can manage on three."

"I'll tell you what I'll do, mother. I'll ask Mr. Tripp to raise my pay
to four dollars a week."

"But will he do it? He is a very close man, and always pleading
poverty."

"But I happen to know that he has ten thousand dollars invested in
Pennsylvania Railroad stock. I overheard him saying so to Mr. Gardner."

"Ten thousand dollars! It seems a fortune!" sighed Mrs. Rand. "Why do
some people h