such an ado; nevertheless, I will do as thou dost request. I will
keep it in safety and will return it to thee upon this day a week
hence, by which time I hope to have discharged my cargo and be
ready to continue my voyage to Demerara."

At these words the lady, who had been watching him all the time
with a most unaccountable eagerness, burst forth into words of
such heart-felt gratitude as to entirely overwhelm our hero. When
her transports had been somewhat assuaged she permitted him to
depart, and the negress conducted him back through the garden,
whence she presently showed him through the gate whither he had
entered and out into the street.




III. The Terrific Encounter with the One-eyed Little Gentleman in
Black



Finding himself once more in the open street, Jonathan Rugg stood
for a while in the moonlight, endeavoring to compose his mind
into somewhat of that sobriety that was habitual with him; for,
indeed, he was not a little excited by the unexpected incidents
that had just befallen him. From this effort at composure he was
aroused by observing that a little gentleman clad all in black
had stopped at a little distance away and was looking very
intently at him. In the brightness of the moonlight our hero
could see that the little gentleman possessed but a single eye,