ful presentiment that they could never
look upon his like again, they turned away and prepared for the labours
of the day.

THE DISBURSEMENT SHEET

The old man was dead, and his son Edward reigned in his stead. The old
man had risen from an humble position in life; his rule was easy, and
his manner of conducting business eminently approved of by the rough
old seamen who sailed his small craft round the coast, and by that sharp
clerk Simmons, on whose discovery the old man was wont, at times, to hug
himself in secret. The proceedings, when one of his skippers came home
from a voyage, were severely simple. The skipper would produce a bag,
and, emptying it upon the table, give an account of his voyage; whenever
he came to an expenditure, raking the sum out of the heap, until, at
length, the cash was divided into two portions, one of which went to the
owner, the other to the skipper.

But other men other manners. The books of the inimitable Simmons being
overhauled, revealed the startling fact that they were kept by single
entry; in addition to which, a series of dots and dashes appeared
against the figures, forming a code, the only key to which was locked up
somewhere in Simmons's interior.

"It's a wonder the firm hasn't gone bankrupt long ago," said the new
governor, after the clerk had explained the meaning of various signs and
wonders. "What does this starfish against the entry mean?"

"It isn't a starfish, sir," said Simmons; "it means that one bag of sugar
got wetted a little; then, if the consigners notice it, we shall know we
have got to allow for it."

"A pretty way of doing business, upon my word. It'll all have to be
altered," said the other. "I must have new offices too; this dingy
little hole is enough to frighten people away."

The conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Captain Fazackerly,
of the schooner _Sarah Ann_, who, having just brought up in the river,
had hastened to the office to report.

"Mornin', sir," said the captain respectfully; "I'm glad to see you
here, sir, but the office don't seem real like without your father
sitting in it. He was a good master, and we're all sorry to lose him."

"You're very good," said the new master somewhat awkwardly.

"I expect it'll take some time for you to get into the way of it," said
the captain with a view to giving the conversation a more cheerful turn.

"I expect it will," said the new master, thinking of the starfish.

"It's a me