He went, and as he went the senior clerk shook his thin grey hairs.

He was a bachelor, and he distrusted the charms of the sex.
"Macassar, returning to his desk, took up his hat and his umbrella, and went forth.

His indeed was a plight at which that old senior clerk might well shake his thin grey hairs in sorrow, for Macassar was the victim of mysterious circumstances, which, from his youth upwards, had marked him out for a fate of no ordinary nature.

The tale must now be told." 'O dear!' said Linda; 'is it something horrid ?' 'I hope it is,' said Katie; 'perhaps he's already married to some old hag or witch.' 'You don't say who his father and mother are; but I suppose he'll turn out to be somebody else's son,' said Linda.
'He's a very nice young man for a small tea-party, at any rate,' said Uncle Bat.
"The tale must now be told," continued Mrs.Woodward.

"In his early years Macassar Jones had had a maiden aunt.