noon
The purchase of these things , and the settlement of their bill at the National , reduced their finances to so low an ebb , that if the captain had delayed his departure any longer , they would have been in almost as bad a plight as the unfortunate poorer emigrants , who -LRB- seduced on board by solemn advertisement -RRB- had been living on the lower deck a whole week , and exhausting their miserable stock of provisions before the voyage commenced . There they were , all huddled together with the engine and the fires . Farmers who had never seen a plough ; woodmen who had never used an axe ; builders who could n't make a box ; cast out of their own land , with not a hand to aid them : newly come into an unknown world , children in helplessness , but men in wants -- with younger children at their backs , to live or die as it might happen ! The morning came , and they would start at noon . Noon came , and they would start at night . But nothing is eternal in this world ; not even the procrastination of an American skipper ; and at night all was ready . Dispirited and weary to the last degree , but a greater lion than ever -LRB- he had done nothing all the afternoon but answer letters from strangers ; half of them about nothing ; half about borrowing money , and all requiring an instantaneous reply -RRB- , Martin walked down to the wharf , through a concourse of people , with Mrs Hominy upon his arm ; and went on board .