Hero Herbert Carter is a poor student, son to a widow. His clothing is mocked for its raggedness by James Leech, fop and son to miser Squire Leech, who holds the mortgage to the Carter cottage. James is noted for being "foolish enough to feel that a man or boy derived importance from the extent of his wardrobe." Herbert turns aside James’s insults, and on coming home discovers that his miserly uncle, Herbert, has died. His mother says that one of them should attend the funeral, and Herbert agrees to walk the twenty miles to do so.