About noon
They had the consolation of loving and being loved ; but he was now writhing under the weight of an additional torture . The appearance of Hatchie was the knell of all his hopes , the precursor of ruin . To him it was a mystery , and all his endeavors to solve it were unavailing . About noon the Chalmetta arrived at Baton Rouge , where , according to previous arrangement , and much to the joy of the perplexed uncle , De Guy came on board . Jaspar greeted him with more than usual courtesy , and felt , to as great a degree as guilt can feel it , a relief from the embarrassments which surrounded him . The first step of the red-faced attorney , on finding no state-room unoccupied , was to dispossess two flat-boatmen of theirs , by the payment of a round bonus . Jaspar thought this a rather extravagant move for one apparently so parsimonious ; but his mind was too deeply engrossed with the difficulties which environed him to comment on extraneous subjects .