I left these two men to their business

I left these two men to their business I had to agree with Tarps him．The sailors were getting the ship ready for sailing，and I thought what an exciting adventure that would be—to sail away to a foreign country．

We walked down the hill to the public house and met the captain there．He was a tall，dark，serious-looking man，who shook hands politely with me．Stupidly，I left these two men to their business，and ran down to the beach，to talk to the sailors and look at the boats．It was all new and very interest ing to me．

As I was coming back，I met the owner of the public house．

‘Good morning，’he said．‘Did ye come with Ebenezer？’

‘I did，’I replied．‘He isn't well liked，I understand．’

‘That's true，’he answered．‘Nobody speaks well of him．It all started with that story about Mr Alexander，his brother．’