all the time, and attracting the attention of everyone who passed them,
by his great vigilance and numerous precautions, was extreme. Arrived at
the shop, the Captain felt it a point of delicacy to retire during the
making of the purchases, as they were to consist of wearing apparel; but
he previously deposited his tin canister on the counter, and informing
the young lady of the establishment that it contained fourteen pound
two, requested her, in case that amount of property should not be
sufficient to defray the expenses of his niece's little outfit--at
the word 'niece,' he bestowed a most significant look on Florence,
accompanied with pantomime, expressive of sagacity and mystery--to have
the goodness to 'sing out,' and he would make up the difference from his
pocket. Casually consulting his big watch, as a deep means of dazzling
the establishment, and impressing it with a sense of property, the
Captain then kissed his hook to his niece, and retired outside the
window, where it was a choice sight to see his great face looking
in from time to time, among the silks and ribbons, with an obvious
misgiving that Florence had been spirited away by a back door.

'Dear Captain Cuttle,' said Florence, when she came out with a parcel,
the size of which greatly disappointed the Captain, who had expected to
see a porter following with a bale of goods, 'I don't want this money,
indeed. I have not spent any of it. I have money of my own.'

'My lady lass,' returned the baffled Captain, looking straight down the
street before them, 'take care on it for me, will you be so good, till
such time as I ask ye for it?'

'May I put it back in its usual place,' said Florence, 'and keep it
there?'

The Captain was not at all gratified by this proposal, but he answered,
'Ay, ay, put it anywheres, my lady lass, so long as you know where to
find it again. It ain't o' no use to me,' said the Captain. 'I wonder I
haven't chucked it away afore now.

The Captain was quite disheartened for the moment, but he revived at
the first touch of Florence's arm, and they returned with the same
precautions as they had come; the Captain opening the door of the little
Midshipman's berth, and diving in, with a suddenness which his great
practice only could have taught him. During Florence's slumber in the
morning, he had engaged the daughter of an elderly lady who usually sat
under a blue umbrella in Leadenhall Market, selling poultry, to come and
put her roo