Page:Ballantyne--The Battery and the Boiler.djvu/299

 streets. There was a slight touch of cunning, however, in his expression, for he had rid himself, cleverly as he imagined, of his comrades, and meant to dispose of some of the contents of his bag to the best advantage, without letting them know the result.

In the prosecution of his deep-laid plans, Stumps attracted the attention of a gentleman with exceedingly black eyes and hair, a hook nose, and rather seedy garments. This gentleman followed Stumps with great care for a considerable time, watched him attentively, seemed to make up his mind about him, and finally ran violently against him.

"Oh! I do beg your pardon, sir. I am so sorry," he said in a slightly foreign accent, with an expression of earnest distress on his not over-clean countenance, "so very, very, sorry; it was a piece of orange peel. I almost fell; but for your kind assistance I should have been down and, perhaps, broke my legs. Thank you, sir; I do hope I have not hurt you against the wall. Allow me to dust your sleeve."

"Oh! you 've done me no damage, old gen'l'man," said Stumps, rather flattered by the man's attention and urbanity. "I 'm all right; I ain't so easy hurt. You needn't take on so."

"But I cannot help take on so," returned the seedy man, with an irresistibly bland smile, "it is