The
ground floor was given up to the small wares of the
business, chiefly imported; two or three young men, steady
and knowledgeable-looking, moved about in their shirt
sleeves among shelves and packing-cases. One of them was
our friend Alec; our other friend Oliver looked after
the books at the foundry. Their father did everything
deliberately; but presently, in his own good time, his
commercial letter paper would be headed, with regard to
these two, "John Murchison and Sons." It had long announced
that the business was "Wholesale and Retail."
Dr Drummond and Mr Murchison, considering the changes in
Elgin from the store door, did it at their leisure, the
merchant with his thumbs thrust comfortably in the armholes
of his waistcoat, the minister, with that familiar trick
of his, balancing on one foot and suddenly throwing his
slight weight forward on the other. "A bundle of nerves,"
people called the Doctor: to stand still would have been
a penance to him; even as he swayed backward and forward
in talking, his hand must be busy at the seals on his
watch chain and his shrewd glance travelling over a dozen
things you would never dream so clever a man would take
notice of. It was a prospect of moderate commercial
activity they looked out upon, a street of mellow shopfronts
on both sides, of varying height and importance, wearing
that air of marking a period, a definite stop in growth,
that so often coexists with quite a reasonable degree of
activity and independence in colonial towns.
Pages:
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36