David Verity, Esquire, ship-owner, of Linden House an' Exchange Buildings--it looks all right, don't it--like one of them furrin apples with rosy peel an' a maggot inside.

You're the first I've told about the maggot.

Fact is, I'm broke.

Ship-ownin' is rotten nowadays, unless you've lots of capital.
I've lost mine.

Unless I get help, an' a thumpin' big slice of it, my name figures in the _Gazette_.