icted that he felt he could, without any
great loss, leave the management of his affairs in the hands of his
chief assistant, a German, who had been with him for twenty years, and
in whom he placed the greatest reliance.

Edgar would be there to assist generally, and his father thought that it
would even benefit him to be placed for a time in a responsible
position. It was, of course, a great disappointment to Edgar to find
that his mother and the girls were on the point of returning. Their
departure, indeed, had been decided upon somewhat suddenly owing to a
strongly-armed English privateer, commanded by an old acquaintance of
Mr. Blagrove, coming into port. She had been cruising for some time, and
had sent home a number of prizes, and was now returning herself to
England for another refit and to fill up her crew again. As she was a
very fast vessel, and the captain said that he intended to make straight
home and to avoid all doubtful sail, Mr. Blagrove at once accepted the
offer he made to take his wife and daughters back to England,
immediately he heard that his friend was looking for a passage for them.
Accordingly for the next week there was much packing and confusion. At
the end of that time the three ladies, after a tearful adieu, sailed for
England, and things settled down again.

Edgar felt the absence of his sisters keenly. There were but a handful
of English traders in the city, and none of these had boys who were near
enough to his own age to be companions. However, it had the effect of
enabling him, without interruption, to settle down steadily to work with
his father, and to make himself acquainted with the details of the
business. This he did so industriously that Mr. Blagrove said more than
once: "You are getting on so well, Edgar, that I shall be able to go
home for my holiday with the comfortable conviction that in yours and
Muller's hands matters will go on very well here, especially as business
is so slack."

It was about three months after his return that Edgar had an opportunity
of finding the advantage of his skill in boxing. He had, on the day
after he came back, had a sack of sawdust hung up in his room, and every
morning he used to pummel this for half an hour before taking his bath,
and again before going to bed, so that he kept his muscles in a state of
training. Moreover, this exercise had the advantage that it enabled him
to stand the heat of the climate much better than he would otherwis