at was still
better, it was well calculated to inspire confidence. At the time of
which we speak, the sea was far off, facilities of communication were
rare, so that the merchants' speculations were necessarily more
independent, and involved greater hazard. The importance of such a
mercantile house as this depended upon the quantity of stores it bought
with its own money and at its own risk. Of these, a great part lay in
long rows of warehouses along the river, some in the vaults of the old
house itself, and some in the warehouses and stores of those around.
Most of the tradesmen of the province provided themselves with colonial
produce from the warehouses of the firm, whose agents were spread to
east and south, and carried on, even as far as the Turkish frontier, a
business which, if less regular and secure than the home trade, was
often more lucrative than any other.

Thus it happened that the every-day routine afforded to the new
apprentice a wide diversity of impressions and experiences. A varied
procession poured through the counting-house from morning to evening;
men of different costumes, all offering samples of different articles
for sale--Polish Jews, beggars, men of business, carriers, porters,
servants, etc. Anton found it difficult to concentrate his thoughts amid
this endless going and coming, and to get through his work, simple as it
was.

For instance, Mr. Braun, the agent of a friendly house in Hamburgh, had
just come in and taken a sample of coffee out of his pocket. While it
was being submitted to the principal, the agent went on gesticulating
with his gold-headed cane, and talking about a recent storm, and the
damage it had done. The door creaked, and a poorly-dressed woman
entered.

"What do you want?" asked Mr. Specht.

Then came lamentable sounds, like the peeping of a sick hen, which
changed, as soon as the merchant had put his hand into his pocket, into
a joyful chuckle.

"Waves mountain-high," cried the agent.

"God reward you a thousand-fold," chuckled the woman.

"Comes to 550 merks, 10 shillings," said Baumann to the principal.

And now the door was vehemently pushed open, and a stoutly-built man
entered, with a bag of money under his arm, which he triumphantly
deposited on the marble table, exclaiming, with the air of one doing a
good action, "Here am I; and here is money!"

Mr. Jordan rose immediately, and said, in a friendly voice,
"Good-morning, Mr. Stephen; how goes the world