`` sir , you will forgive me , '' hammond said , `` but as a point of law , these men and women you see thronging these alleys are escaped slaves-the legal property of landowners subject to the portuguese crown : in the-the tacit encouragement , the , i must say , near endorsement-sir , you did not at any moment take pains to establish the rights of the-of the owners- '' laurence stopped in the lane and took hammond by the arm and turned him forcibly to look : children played in the street building toy forts from shattered bricks , women sat together with their washing ; a scene which might have belonged to any village , despite the framing ruins .