A widower of long standing, without children or near relatives, he occupied a suite of well-appointed rooms over the hardware store and took his meals at the hotel.

Before Mr.Merrick appeared on the scene West had been considered a very wealthy man, as it was known he had many interests outside of his store; but compared with the multi-millionaire old Bob had come to be regarded more modestly, although still admitted to be the village's "warmest" citizen.

He was an authority in the town, too, and a man of real importance.
Mr.Merrick stopped his horse to speak with the hardware man, an old acquaintance.
"West," said he, "my girls are going to start a newspaper in Millville." The merchant bowed gravely, perhaps to cover the trace of a smile he was unable to repress.
"It's to be a daily paper, you know," continued Mr.Merrick, "and it seems there's a lot of machinery in the outfit.

It'll need quite a bit of room, in other words, and we're looking for a place to install it." West glanced along the street--up one side and down the other--and then shook his head negatively.
"Plenty of land, but no buildings," said he.

"You might buy the old mill and turn it into a newspaper office.