as hoisted out of the hold
and carried across the wharf into the yawning doorway of the warehouse;
for while the worthy merchant fully trusted those of his servants who
had proved themselves to be trustworthy, he held that there was no
method of keeping trustworthy servants faithful so efficacious as
personal oversight; he maintained that the man who tempted another to
dishonesty by throwing opportunities for dishonesty in his way, was as
guilty and as much to blame as the one who succumbed to temptation;
therefore he kept his own soul and the souls of his employes clean by
affording the latter as little occasion as might be for stumbling.
Captain Burroughs--his rheumatism more troublesome than ever--was also
present, with his hands full of invoices and bills of lading to which he
referred from time to time for information in reply to some question
from Mr Marshall; and soon the winches began to creak and the main
hatch to disgorge its contents, while a crowd of those curious and idle
loafers who, like the poor, are always with us, quickly gathered upon
the wharf to gapingly watch the process of unloading the cargo.

That process was much more deliberately carried out then than it is in
the present day of hurry and rush, steam and electricity; therefore it
was not until nearly a fortnight had elapsed that the last bale had been
hoisted out of the _Bonaventure's_ hold and safely stored in Mr
Marshall's warehouse. Mr Marshall had definitely announced his
intention to lay up the ship until the Spanish embargo should be raised.
And it was on that same night that, as George and his mother sat
chatting by the fire after supper, the maid Lucy entered the room with
the intimation that a strange, foreign-looking man, apparently a sailor,
stood without, craving speech with Mistress Saint Leger.

Mrs Saint Leger's apprehensions with regard to the safety of Hubert,
her elder son, temporarily allayed by George's optimism, were quick to
respond to the slightest hint or suggestion of disaster; the mere
mention, therefore, of a man, foreign-looking and of sailorly aspect,
seeking speech with her, and especially at such an untimely hour, was
sufficient to re-awaken all her unformed fears into full activity. Her
lips blanched and a look of terror leapt into her eyes as she sprang to
her feet, regarding the somewhat stolid Lucy as though the latter were
some apparition of ill omen.

"A sailor, say you, strange, and foreign-looking?" s