The board was plentifully though plainly spread, but the grocer observed, with some uneasiness, that his apprentice, who had a good appetite in ordinary, ate little or nothing.

He kept his eye constantly upon him, and became convinced from his manner that something ailed him.

Not having any notion of the truth, and being filled with apprehensions of the plague, his dread was that Leonard was infected by the disease.

Supper was generally the pleasantest meal of the day at the grocer's house, but on this occasion it passed off cheerlessly enough, and a circumstance occurred at its close which threw all into confusion and distress.
Before relating this, however, we must complete our description of the family under their present aspect.
Tall, and of a spare frame, with good features, somewhat austere in their expression, and of the cast which we are apt to term precise and puritanical, but tempered with great benevolence, Stephen Bloundel had a keen, deep-seated eye, overshadowed by thick brows, and suffered his long-flowing grey hair to descend over his shoulders.

His forehead was high and ample, his chin square and well defined, and his general appearance exceedingly striking.