I walked directly to the river, and found that the wind was blowing off shore like great guns.  This elated me, although I remembered the words of the tarry mariner, and wondered how it was out upon the broad ocean.

For two days I had not slept an hour’s time, or eaten more than a crust of bread; but when I saw how the wind was blowing, I returned to my hotel, and supplied my nearly exhausted system with food.

No sooner had I finished dinner than I was told that a gentleman wished to speak to me in the bar room.  I went there, and saw one of the merchants from whom I had purchased one hundred sacks of Chilian flour, and one hundred barrels of American brand.

“Well!” he exclaimed, shaking hands with some warmth, “you have dished us, and no mistake!  Who, in the devil’s name, would have supposed that those two ships could have made such long passages—­did you?” and then, without waiting for me to answer, he marched up to the bar and called for drinks, and I must confess that I gratified him, and pleased myself, in taking a very good glass of wine and water at his expense.

“Come, now to business,” my acquaintance said, wiping his lips on a richly embroidered handkerchief, imported from Manilla.

“Very well, to business it is,” said I.

“You have got all the flour in the market in your hands,” he began.

“I know it,” I answered.

“Yes, I suppose that you do,” he said, dryly; “now, I want the flour that I sold you, and which still remains in my store.  What is the figure, sir?”

Here was a man that I could trade with, and not resort to art.  He was never schooled in diplomacy, and his blunt nature rejected all subterfuge.  I saw that he was willing to allow me to make all that I could, knowing that he would have done the same, had he been situated as I was.

“Fifty-five pounds per ton,” I answered.

“I’ll take it at that figure,” he replied, promptly; “come with me to the store, and I will settle the amount immediately.”

I did not require to be invited a second time; and after I had received my money, I calculated how many more tons I should have to dispose of before I could call my funds whole.

In the midst of my calculation, I was disturbed by a message from Messrs. Hennetit & Co.  They desired to see me immediately, and requested to know when it would suit my convenience to call on them.  I replied, in half an hour; and when I was leaving the store to keep my appointment, my blunt friend stopped me.

“Hennetit & Co.,” he said, “have received a number of orders for flour, and they must fill them.  Don’t sell for less than what I paid you; perhaps you can get more.”

I thanked my acquaintance for his hint, and acted on it.  When Mr. Hennetit talked about purchasing a few barrels, I put him off by replying that it was hardly worth while to retail them, and that I had received proposals for all that I held, and that I probably should accept.