Plattville was instantly alert to the stranger's presence, and interesting conjectures were hazarded all day long at the back door of Martin's Dry-Goods Emporium, where all the clerks from the stores around the Square came to play checkers or look on at the game.

(This was the club during the day; in the evening the club and the game removed to the drug, book, and wall-paper store on the corner.) At supper, the new arrival and his probable purposes were discussed over every table in the town.

Upon inquiry, he had informed Judd Bennett, the driver of the omnibus, that he had come to stay.
Naturally, such a declaration caused a sensation, as people did not come to Plattville to live, except through the inadvertency of being born there.

In addition, the young man's appearance and attire were reported to be extraordinary.

Many of the curious, among them most of the marriageable females of the place, took occasion to pass and repass the sign of the "Carlow County Herald" during the evening.
Meanwhile, the stranger was seated in the dingy office upstairs with his head bowed low on his arms.