a neighboring farmhouse and there fed and put to bed.
For two weeks the little fellow remained at the farmhouse, and during that time every effort was made to find out his identity, and learn why he had been abandoned in such a heartless fashion. Questioned on the point, he said his name was Dave, or Davy, and sometimes he added Porter, and then, again, Dun-Dun, whatever that might mean. Because of this, he was generally spoken of as Dave Porter, and that was the name that eventually clung to him.
All efforts to ascertain who the waif was proved fruitless, and the lost one was thereupon turned over to the matron of the district poorhouse. As fortune would have it, she proved a kind woman, and brought up the little lad as if he were her own. He was given a fair amount of schooling, and likewise religious instruction, and was also taught to work.
Dave remained at the poorhouse farm until he was about nine years old. During those years Crumville grew from a village into a town, and many rich people settled there. Including a Mr. Oliver Wadsworth, who erected a jewelry works employing several hundred hands. Mr. Wadsworth was a liberal and public-spirited citizen, and we shall hear more of him in the near future.
As Crumville grew, the poorhouse with its farm
