opportunity occurred to re-sell them advantageously to new comers.
Thus, besides making thirty or forty per cent. on his goods, he
often realised more than a hundred per cent. on his land
speculations.

In a new country, where there is no great competition in mercantile
business, and money is scarce, the power and profits of
store-keepers are very great. Mr. Q--- was one of the most grasping
of this class. His heart was case-hardened, and his conscience, like
gum, elastic; it would readily stretch, on the shortest notice, to
any required extent, while his well-tutored countenance betrayed no
indication of what was passing in his mind. But I must not forget to
give a sketch of the appearance, or outward man, of this
highly-gifted individual.

He was about the middle size, thin and limber, and somewhat loose
in his lower joints, like most of the native Canadians and Yankees.
He had a slight stoop in his shoulders, and his long, thin neck was
continually stretched out before him, while his restless little
cunning eyes were roaming about in search of prey. His face, when
well watched, was an index to his selfish and unfeeling soul.
Complexion he had none, except that sempiternally enduring
red-and-tawny mixture which is acquired by exposure and hard
drinking. His cheeks and the corners of his eyes were marked by an
infinity of curved lines, and, like most avaricious and deceitful
men, he had a long, crooked chin, and that peculiar prominent and
slightly aquiline nose which, by people observant of such
indications, has been called "the rogue's nose." But how shall I
describe his eye--that small hole through which you can see an
honest man's heart? Q---'s eye was like no other eye I had ever