“Well。”saidhe，“itmightbebetter，anditmightbeworse。
ThisCaptainTrentisaremarkablyhonestfellow——oneoutofathousand。AssoonasheknewIwasinthemarket，heownedupaboutthericeinsomanywords。Byhiscalculation，ifthere’sthirtymatsofitsaved，it’sanoutsidefigure。However，themanifestwascheerier。There’saboutfivethousanddollarsofthewholevalueinsilksandteasandnut-oilsandthat，allinthelazarette，andassafeasifitwasinKearneyStreet。Thebrigwasnewcopperedayearago。There’supwardsofahundredandfiftyfathomaway-upchain。It’snotabonanza，butthere’sboodleinit；andwe’lltryiton。”
Itwasbythattimehardonteno’clock，andweturnedatonceintotheplaceofsale。TheFlyingScud，althoughsoimportanttoourselves，appearedtoattractaveryhumbleshareofpopularattention。Theauctioneerwassurroundedbyperhapsascoreoflookers-on，bigfellows，forthemostpart，ofthetrueWesternbuild，longintheleg，broadintheshoulder，andadornedtoaplainman’stastewithneedlessfinery。Ajaunty，ostentatiouscomradeshipprevailed。Betswereflying，andnicknames。
“Theboys“astheywouldhavecalledthemselveswereveryboyish；anditwasplaintheywerehereinmirth，andnotonbusiness。Behind，andcertainlyinstrongcontrasttothesegentlemen，IcoulddetectthefigureofmyfriendCaptainTrent，comeasIcouldverywellimaginethatacaptainwouldtohearthelastofhisoldvessel。Sinceyesterday，hehadriggedhimselfanewinready-madeblackclothes，notveryaptlyfitted；
theupperleft-handpocketshowingacornerofsilkhandkerchief，thelower，ontheotherside，bulgingwithpapers。