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287			<p align="center"><b><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF">I CLASSICI IN LINGUA 
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289			agg. 27.9.14 - 401 AUDIOBOOKS</b></font></p>
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293	<p align="left"><i>Tantissimi classici della letteratura e della cultura politica, 
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322		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BEOWULF/Anonimo-BEOWULF-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
323		Anonimo - BEOWULF</a></li>
324		<li>
325		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ORLANDO_ENRAGED/Ludovico_Ariosto-ORLANDO_ENRAGED-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
326		Ariosto, Ludovico - ORLANDO ENRAGED</a></li>
327		<li>
328		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MEDITATIONS/Marcus_Aurelius-MEDITATIONS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
329		Aurelius, Marcus - MEDITATIONS</a></li>
330		<li>
331		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/EMMA/Jane_Austen-EMMA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
332		Austen, Jane - EMMA</a></li>
333		<li>
334		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MANSFIELD_PARK/Jane_Austen-MANSFIELD_PARK-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
335		Austen, Jane - MANSFIELD PARK</a></li>
336		<li>
337		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/NORTHANGER_ABBEY/Jane_Austen-NORTHANGER_ABBEY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
338		Austen, Jane - NORTHANGER ABBEY</a></li>
339		<li>
340		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PERSUASION/Jane_Austen-PERSUASION-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
341		Austen, Jane - PERSUASION</a></li>
342		<li>
343		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PRIDE_AND_PREJUDICE/Jane_Austen-PRIDE_AND_PREJUDICE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
344		Austen, Jane - PRIDE AND PREJUDICE</a></li>
345		<li>
346		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SENSE_AND_SENSIBILITY/Jane_Austen-SENSE_AND_SENSIBILITY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
347		Austen, Jane - SENSE AND SENSIBILITY</a></li>
348		<li>
349		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LETTERS_OF_ABELARD_AND_HELOISE/Various_Authors-LETTERS_OF_ABELARD_AND_HELOISE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
350		Authors, Various - LETTERS OF ABELARD AND HELOISE</a></li>
351		<li>
352		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SELECTED_ENGLISH_LETTERS/Various_Authors-SELECTED_ENGLISH_LETTERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
353		Authors, Various - SELECTED ENGLISH LETTERS</a></li>
354		<li>
355		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WORLD_ENGLISH_BIBLE/Autori_Vari-THE_WORLD_ENGLISH_BIBLE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
356		Autori Vari - THE WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE</a></li>
357		<li>
358		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ADVANCEMENT_OF_LEARNING/Francis_Bacon-THE_ADVANCEMENT_OF_LEARNING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
359		Bacon, Francis - THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING</a></li>
360		<li>
361		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/EUGENIE_GRANDET/Honore_de_Balzac-EUGENIE_GRANDET-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
362		Balzac, Honore de - EUGENIE GRANDET</a></li>
363		<li>
364		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FATHER_GORIOT/Honore_de_Balzac-FATHER_GORIOT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
365		Balzac, Honore de - FATHER GORIOT</a></li>
366		<li>
367		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SCARLET_PIMPERNEL/Baroness_Orczy-THE_SCARLET_PIMPERNEL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
368		Baroness Orczy - THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL</a></li>
369		<li>
370		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PETER_AND_WENDY/J._M._Barrie-PETER_AND_WENDY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
371		Barrie, J. M. - PETER AND WENDY</a></li>
372		<li>
373		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PETER_PAN/James_M._Barrie-PETER_PAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
374		Barrie, James M. - PETER PAN</a></li>
375		<li>
376		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_DEVIL_S_DICTIONARY/Ambrose_Bierce-THE_DEVIL_S_DICTIONARY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
377		Bierce, Ambrose - THE DEVIL&#39;S DICTIONARY</a></li>
378		<li>
379		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SONGS_OF_INNOCENCE_AND_EXPERIENCE/William_Blake-SONGS_OF_INNOCENCE_AND_EXPERIENCE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
380		Blake, William - SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE</a></li>
381		<li>
382		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DECAMERONE/Giovanni_Boccaccio-DECAMERONE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
383		Boccaccio, Giovanni - DECAMERONE</a></li>
384		<li>
385		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/INCIDENTS_IN_THE_LIFE_OF_A_SLAVE_GIRL/Linda_Brent-INCIDENTS_IN_THE_LIFE_OF_A_SLAVE_GIRL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
386		Brent, Linda - INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL</a></li>
387		<li>
388		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/JANE_EYRE/Charlotte_Bronte-JANE_EYRE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
389		Bronte, Charlotte - JANE EYRE</a></li>
390		<li>
391		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/VILLETTE/Charlotte_Brontë-VILLETTE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
392		Bronte, Charlotte - VILLETTE</a></li>
393		<li>
394		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/GREENMANTLE/John_Buchan-GREENMANTLE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
395		Buchan, John - GREENMANTLE</a></li>
396		<li>
397		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MR_STANDFAST/John_Buchan-MR_STANDFAST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
398		Buchan, John - MR STANDFAST</a></li>
399		<li>
400		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_39_STEPS/John_Buchan-THE_39_STEPS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
401		Buchan, John - THE 39 STEPS</a></li>
402		<li>
403		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PILGRIM'S_PROGRESS/John_Bunyan-THE_PILGRIM'S_PROGRESS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
404		Bunyan, John - THE PILGRIM&#39;S PROGRESS</a></li>
405		<li>
406		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_CIVILIZATION_OF_THE_RENAISSANCE_IN_ITALY/Jacob_Burckhardt-THE_CIVILIZATION_OF_THE_RENAISSANCE_IN_ITALY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
407		Burckhardt, Jacob - THE CIVILIZATION OF THE RENAISSANCE IN ITALY</a></li>
408		<li>
409		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_LITTLE_PRINCESS/Frances_H._Burnett-A_LITTLE_PRINCESS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
410		Burnett, Frances H. - A LITTLE PRINCESS</a></li>
411		<li>
412		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LITTLE_LORD_FAUNTLEROY/Frances_H._Burnett-LITTLE_LORD_FAUNTLEROY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
413		Burnett, Frances H. - LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY</a></li>
414		<li>
415		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SECRET_GARDEN/Frances_H._Burnett-THE_SECRET_GARDEN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
416		Burnett, Frances H. - THE SECRET GARDEN</a></li>
417		<li>
418		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/EREWHON/Samuel_Butler-EREWHON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
419		Butler, Samuel - EREWHON</a></li>
420		<li>
421		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PAST_AND_PRESENT/Thomas_Carlyle-PAST_AND_PRESENT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
422		Carlyle, Thomas - PAST AND PRESENT</a></li>
423		<li>
424		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_FRENCH_REVOLUTION/Thomas_Carlyle-THE_FRENCH_REVOLUTION-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
425		Carlyle, Thomas - THE FRENCH REVOLUTION</a></li>
426		<li>
427		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AUTOBIOGRAPHY/Benvenuto_Cellini-AUTOBIOGRAPHY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
428		Cellini, Benvenuto - AUTOBIOGRAPHY</a></li>
429		<li>
430		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DON_QUIXOTE/Cervantes-DON_QUIXOTE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
431		Cervantes - DON QUIXOTE</a></li>
432		<li>
433		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_CANTERBURY_TALES/Geoffrey_Chaucer-THE_CANTERBURY_TALES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
434		Chaucer, Geoffrey - THE CANTERBURY TALES</a></li>
435		<li>
436		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_SHORT_HISTORY_OF_ENGLAND/G._K._Chesterton-A_SHORT_HISTORY_OF_ENGLAND-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
437		Chesterton, G. K. - A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLAND</a></li>
438		<li>
439		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BALLAD_OF_THE_WHITE_HORSE/G._K._Chesterton-THE_BALLAD_OF_THE_WHITE_HORSE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
440		Chesterton, G. K. - THE BALLAD OF THE WHITE HORSE</a></li>
441		<li>
442		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_INNOCENCE_OF_FATHER_BROWN/G._K._Chesterton-THE_INNOCENCE_OF_FATHER_BROWN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
443		Chesterton, G. K. - THE INNOCENCE OF FATHER BROWN</a></li>
444		<li>
445		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MAN_WHO_KNEW_TOO_MUCH/G._K._Chesterton-THE_MAN_WHO_KNEW_TOO_MUCH-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
446		Chesterton, G. K. - THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH</a></li>
447		<li>
448		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MAN_WHO_WAS_THURSDAY/G._K._Chesterton-THE_MAN_WHO_WAS_THURSDAY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
449		Chesterton, G. K. - THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY</a></li>
450		<li>
451		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WISDOM_OF_FATHER_BROWN/G._K._Chesterton-THE_WISDOM_OF_FATHER_BROWN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
452		Chesterton, G. K. - THE WISDOM OF FATHER BROWN</a></li>
453		<li>
454		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TWELVE_TYPES/G._K._Chesterton-TWELVE_TYPES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
455		Chesterton, G. K. - TWELVE TYPES</a></li>
456		<li>
457		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WHAT_I_SAW_IN_AMERICA/G._K._Chesterton-WHAT_I_SAW_IN_AMERICA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
458		Chesterton, G. K. - WHAT I SAW IN AMERICA</a></li>
459		<li>
460		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HERETICS/Gilbert_K._Chesterton-HERETICS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
461		Chesterton, Gilbert K. - HERETICS</a></li>
462		<li>
463		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AT_FAULT/Kate_Chopin-AT_FAULT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
464		Chopin, Kate - AT FAULT</a></li>
465		<li>
466		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BAYOU_FOLK/Kate_Chopin-BAYOU_FOLK-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
467		Chopin, Kate - BAYOU FOLK</a></li>
468		<li>
469		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_AWAKENING_AND_SELECTED_SHORT_STORIES/Kate_Chopin-THE_AWAKENING_AND_SELECTED_SHORT_STORIES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
470		Chopin, Kate - THE AWAKENING AND SELECTED SHORT STORIES</a></li>
471		<li>
472		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_CONCISE_ANGLOSAXON_DICTIONARY/John_R._Clark_Hall-A_CONCISE_ANGLOSAXON_DICTIONARY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
473		Clark Hall, John R. - A CONCISE ANGLOSAXON DICTIONARY</a></li>
474		<li>
475		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AN_ESSAY_ON_THE_SLAVERY_AND_COMMERCE_OF_THE_HUMAN_SPECIES/Thomas_Clarkson-AN_ESSAY_ON_THE_SLAVERY_AND_COMMERCE_OF_THE_HUMAN_SPECIES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
476		Clarkson, Thomas - AN ESSAY ON THE SLAVERY AND COMMERCE OF THE HUMAN SPECIES</a></li>
477		<li>
478		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ON_WAR/Carl_von_Clausewitz-ON_WAR-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
479		Clausewitz, Carl von - ON WAR</a></li>
480		<li>
481		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_DICTIONARY_OF_THE_FIRST_OR_OLDEST_WORDS_IN_THE_ENGLISH_LANGUAGE/Herbert_C
481oleridge-A_DICTIONARY_OF_THE_FIRST_OR_OLDEST_WORDS_IN_THE_ENGLISH_LANGUAGE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
482		Coleridge, Herbert - A DICTIONARY OF THE FIRST OR OLDEST WORDS IN THE ENGLISH 
483		LANGUAGE</a></li>
484		<li>
485		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS/S._T._Coleridge-COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
486		Coleridge, S. T. - COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS</a></li>
487		<li>
488		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HINTS_TOWARDS_THE_FORMATION_OF_A_MORE_COMPREHENSIVE_THEORY_OF_LIFE/S._T._Coleridge-HINTS_TOWARDS_THE_FORMATION_OF_A_MORE_COMPREHENSIVE_THEORY_OF_LIFE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
489		Coleridge, S. T. - HINTS TOWARDS THE FORMATION OF A MORE COMPREHENSIVE THEORY 
490		OF LIFE</a></li>
491		<li>
492		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_RIME_OF_THE_ANCIENT_MARINER/S._T._Coleridge-THE_RIME_OF_THE_ANCIENT_MARINER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
493		Coleridge, S. T. - THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER</a></li>
494		<li>
495		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MOONSTONE/Wilkie_Collins-THE_MOONSTONE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
496		Collins, Wilkie - THE MOONSTONE</a></li>
497		<li>
498		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PINOCCHIO/Collodi-PINOCCHIO-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
499		Collodi - PINOCCHIO</a></li>
500		<li>
501		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_STUDY_IN_SCARLET/Arthur_Conan_Doyle-A_STUDY_IN_SCARLET-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
502		Conan Doyle, Arthur - A STUDY IN SCARLET</a></li>
503		<li>
504		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MEMOIRS_OF_SHERLOCK_HOLMES/Arthur_Conan_Doyle-MEMOIRS_OF_SHERLOCK_HOLMES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
505		Conan Doyle, Arthur - MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES</a></li>
506		<li>
507		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_HOUND_OF_THE_BASKERVILLES/Arthur_Conan_Doyle-THE_HOUND_OF_THE_BASKERVILLES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
508		Conan Doyle, Arthur - THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES</a></li>
509		<li>
510		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_RETURN_OF_SHERLOCK_HOLMES/Arthur_Conan_Doyle-THE_RETURN_OF_SHERLOCK_HOLMES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
511		Conan Doyle, Arthur - THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES</a></li>
512		<li>
513		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SIGN_OF_THE_FOUR/Arthur_Conan_Doyle-THE_SIGN_OF_THE_FOUR-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
514		Conan Doyle, Arthur - THE SIGN OF THE FOUR</a></li>
515		<li>
516		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HEART_OF_DARKNESS/Joseph_Conrad-HEART_OF_DARKNESS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
517		Conrad, Joseph - HEART OF DARKNESS</a></li>
518		<li>
519		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LORD_JIM/Joseph_Conrad-LORD_JIM-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
520		Conrad, Joseph - LORD JIM</a></li>
521		<li>
522		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/NOSTROMO/Joseph_Conrad-NOSTROMO-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
523		Conrad, Joseph - NOSTROMO</a></li>
524		<li>
525		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_NIGGER_OF_THE_NARCISSUS/Joseph_Conrad-THE_NIGGER_OF_THE_NARCISSUS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
526		Conrad, Joseph - THE NIGGER OF THE NARCISSUS</a></li>
527		<li>
528		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TYPHOON/Joseph_Conrad-TYPHOON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
529		Conrad, Joseph - TYPHOON</a></li>
530		<li>
531		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LAST_WORDS/Stephen_Crane-LAST_WORDS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
532		Crane, Stephen - LAST WORDS</a></li>
533		<li>
534		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MAGGIE/Stephen_Crane-MAGGIE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
535		Crane, Stephen - MAGGIE</a></li>
536		<li>
537		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_RED_BADGE_OF_COURAGE/Stephen_Crane-THE_RED_BADGE_OF_COURAGE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
538		Crane, Stephen - THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE</a></li>
539		<li>
540		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WOUNDS_IN_THE_RAIN/Stephen_Crane-WOUNDS_IN_THE_RAIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
541		Crane, Stephen - WOUNDS IN THE RAIN</a></li>
542		<li>
543		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HELL/Dante_Alighieri-HELL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
544		Dante - THE DIVINE COMEDY: HELL</a></li>
545		<li>
546		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PARADISE/Dante_Alighieri-PARADISE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
547		Dante - THE DIVINE COMEDY: PARADISE</a></li>
548		<li>
549		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PURGATORY/Dante_Alighieri-PURGATORY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
550		Dante - THE DIVINE COMEDY: PURGATORY</a></li>
551		<li>
552		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_AUTOBIOGRAPHY_OF_CHARLES_DARWIN/Charles_Darwin-THE_AUTOBIOGRAPHY_OF_CHARLES_DARWIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
553		Darwin, Charles - THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES DARWIN</a></li>
554		<li>
555		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ORIGIN_OF_SPECIES/Charles_Darwin-THE_ORIGIN_OF_SPECIES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
556		Darwin, Charles - THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES</a></li>
557		<li>
558		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_GENERAL_HISTORY_OF_THE_PYRATES/Daniel_Defoe-A_GENERAL_HISTORY_OF_THE_PYRATES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
559		Defoe, Daniel - A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE PYRATES</a></li>
560		<li>
561		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_JOURNAL_OF_THE_PLAGUE_YEAR/Daniel_Defoe-A_JOURNAL_OF_THE_PLAGUE_YEAR-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
562		Defoe, Daniel - A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR</a></li>
563		<li>
564		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/CAPTAIN_SINGLETON/Daniel_Defoe-CAPTAIN_SINGLETON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
565		Defoe, Daniel - CAPTAIN SINGLETON</a></li>
566		<li>
567		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MOLL_FLANDERS/Daniel_Defoe-MOLL_FLANDERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
568		Defoe, Daniel - MOLL FLANDERS</a></li>
569		<li>
570		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ROBINSON_CRUSOE/Daniel_Defoe-ROBINSON_CRUSOE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
571		Defoe, Daniel - ROBINSON CRUSOE</a></li>
572		<li>
573		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_COMPLETE_ENGLISH_TRADESMAN/Daniel_Defoe-THE_COMPLETE_ENGLISH_TRADESMAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
574		Defoe, Daniel - THE COMPLETE ENGLISH TRADESMAN</a></li>
575		<li>
576		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_FURTHER_ADVENTURES_OF_ROBINSON_CRUSOE/Daniel_Defoe-THE_FURTHER_ADVENTURES_OF_ROBINSON_CRUSOE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
577		Defoe, Daniel - THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE</a></li>
578		<li>
579		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AFTER_THE_DIVORCE/Grazia_Deledda-AFTER_THE_DIVORCE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
580		Deledda, Grazia - AFTER THE DIVORCE</a></li>
581		<li>
582		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_CHRISTMAS_CAROL/Charles_Dickens-A_CHRISTMAS_CAROL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
583		Dickens, Charles - A CHRISTMAS CAROL</a></li>
584		<li>
585		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES/Charles_Dickens-A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
586		Dickens, Charles - A TALE OF TWO CITIES</a></li>
587		<li>
588		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BLEAK_HOUSE/Charles_Dickens-BLEAK_HOUSE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
589		Dickens, Charles - BLEAK HOUSE</a></li>
590		<li>
591		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DAVID_COPPERFIELD/Charles_Dickens-DAVID_COPPERFIELD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
592		Dickens, Charles - DAVID COPPERFIELD</a></li>
593		<li>
594		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DONBEY_AND_SON/Charles_Dickens-DONBEY_AND_SON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
595		Dickens, Charles - DONBEY AND SON</a></li>
596		<li>
597		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/GREAT_EXPECTATIONS/Charles_Dickens-GREAT_EXPECTATIONS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
598		Dickens, Charles - GREAT EXPECTATIONS</a></li>
599		<li>
600		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HARD_TIMES/Charles_Dickens-HARD_TIMES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
601		Dickens, Charles - HARD TIMES</a></li>
602		<li>
603		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LETTERS_VOLUME_1/Charles_Dickens-LETTERS_VOLUME_1-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
604		Dickens, Charles - LETTERS VOLUME 1</a></li>
605		<li>
606		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LITTLE_DORRIT/Charles_Dickens-LITTLE_DORRIT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
607		Dickens, Charles - LITTLE DORRIT</a></li>
608		<li>
609		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT/Charles_Dickens-MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
610		Dickens, Charles - MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT</a></li>
611		<li>
612		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY/Charles_Dickens-NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
613		Dickens, Charles - NICHOLAS NICKLEBY</a></li>
614		<li>
615		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/OLIVER_TWIST/Charles_Dickens-OLIVER_TWIST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
616		Dickens, Charles - OLIVER TWIST</a></li>
617		<li>
618		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND/Charles_Dickens-OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
619		Dickens, Charles - OUR MUTUAL FRIEND</a></li>
620		<li>
621		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PICTURES_FROM_ITALY/Charles_Dickens-PICTURES_FROM_ITALY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
622		Dickens, Charles - PICTURES FROM ITALY</a></li>
623		<li>
624		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD/Charles_Dickens-THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
625		Dickens, Charles - THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD</a></li>
626		<li>
627		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP/Charles_Dickens-THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
628		Dickens, Charles - THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP</a></li>
629		<li>
630		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS/Charles_Dickens-THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
631		Dickens, Charles - THE PICKWICK PAPERS</a></li>
632		<li>
633		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/POEMS/Emily_Dickinson-POEMS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
634		Dickinson, Emily - POEMS</a></li>
635		<li>
636		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/CRIME_AND_PUNISHMENT/Fyodor_Dostoevsky-CRIME_AND_PUNISHMENT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
637		Dostoevsky, Fyodor - CRIME AND PUNISHMENT</a></li>
638		<li>
639		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BROTHERS_KARAMAZOV/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky-THE_BROTHERS_KARAMAZOV-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
640		Dostoyevsky, Fyodor - THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV</a></li>
641		<li>
642		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TRILBY/George_Du_Maurier-TRILBY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
643		Du Maurier, George - TRILBY</a></li>
644		<li>
645		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_COUNT_OF_MONTE_CRISTO/Alexandre_Dumas-THE_COUNT_OF_MONTE_CRISTO-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
646		Dumas, Alexandre - THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO</a></li>
647		<li>
648		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MAN_IN_THE_IRON_MASK/Alexandre_Dumas-THE_MAN_IN_THE_IRON_MASK-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
649		Dumas, Alexandre - THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK</a></li>
650		<li>
651		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_THREE_MUSKETEERS/Alexandre_Dumas-THE_THREE_MUSKETEERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
652		Dumas, Alexandre - THE THREE MUSKETEERS</a></li>
653		<li>
654		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DANIEL_DERONDA/George_Eliot-DANIEL_DERONDA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
655		Eliot, George - DANIEL DERONDA</a></li>
656		<li>
657		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MIDDLEMARCH/George_Eliot-MIDDLEMARCH-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
658		Eliot, George - MIDDLEMARCH</a></li>
659		<li>
660		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SILAS_MARNER/George_Eliot-SILAS_MARNER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
661		Eliot, George - SILAS MARNER</a></li>
662		<li>
663		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MILL_ON_THE_FLOSS/George_Eliot-THE_MILL_ON_THE_FLOSS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
664		Eliot, George - THE MILL ON THE FLOSS</a></li>
665		<li>
666		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_CONDITION_OF_THE_WORKING_CLASS_IN_ENGLAND_IN_1844/Frederick_Engels-THE_CONDITION_OF_THE_WORKING_CLASS_IN_ENGLAND_IN_1844-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
667		Engels, Frederick - THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING-CLASS IN ENGLAND IN 1844</a></li>
668		<li>
669		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AUTOBIOGRAPHY/Equiano-AUTOBIOGRAPHY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
670		Equiano - AUTOBIOGRAPHY</a></li>
671		<li>
672		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FABLES/Esopo-FABLES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
673		Esopo - FABLES</a></li>
674		<li>
675		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_LAST_OF_THE_MOHICANS/James_Fenimore_Cooper-THE_LAST_OF_THE_MOHICANS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
676		Fenimore Cooper, James - THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS</a></li>
677		<li>
678		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TOM_JONES/Henry_Fielding-TOM_JONES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
679		Fielding, Henry - TOM JONES</a></li>
680		<li>
681		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THAIS/Anatole_France-THAIS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
682		France, Anatole - THAIS</a></li>
683		<li>
684		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_GODS_ARE_ATHIRST/Anatole_France-THE_GODS_ARE_ATHIRST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
685		France, Anatole - THE GODS ARE ATHIRST</a></li>
686		<li>
687		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_LIFE_OF_JOAN_OF_ARC/Anatole_France-THE_LIFE_OF_JOAN_OF_ARC-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
688		France, Anatole - THE LIFE OF JOAN OF ARC</a></li>
689		<li>
690		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SEVEN_WIVES_OF_BLUEBEARD/Anatole_France-THE_SEVEN_WIVES_OF_BLUEBEARD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
691		France, Anatole - THE SEVEN WIVES OF BLUEBEARD</a></li>
692		<li>
693		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PATCHWORK_GIRL_OF_OZ/L._Frank_Baum-THE_PATCHWORK_GIRL_OF_OZ-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
694		Frank Baum, L. - THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ</a></li>
695		<li>
696		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WONDERFUL_WIZARD_OF_OZ/L._Frank_Baum-THE_WONDERFUL_WIZARD_OF_OZ-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
697		Frank Baum, L. - THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ</a></li>
698		<li>
699		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AUTOBIOGRAPHY/Benjamin_Franklin-AUTOBIOGRAPHY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
700		Franklin, Benjamin - AUTOBIOGRAPHY</a></li>
701		<li>
702		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_GOLDEN_BOUGH/James_George_Frazer-THE_GOLDEN_BOUGH-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
703		Frazer, James George - THE GOLDEN BOUGH</a></li>
704		<li>
705		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DREAM_PSYCHOLOGY/Sigmund_Freud-DREAM_PSYCHOLOGY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
706		Freud, Sigmund - DREAM PSYCHOLOGY</a></li>
707		<li>
708		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/COMPLETE_PLAYS/John_Galsworthy-COMPLETE_PLAYS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
709		Galsworthy, John - COMPLETE PLAYS</a></li>
710		<li>
711		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/STRIFE/John_Galsworthy-STRIFE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
712		Galsworthy, John - STRIFE</a></li>
713		<li>
714		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/STUDIES_AND_ESSAYS/John_Galsworthy-STUDIES_AND_ESSAYS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
715		Galsworthy, John - STUDIES AND ESSAYS</a></li>
716		<li>
717		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_FIRST_AND_THE_LAST/John_Galsworthy-THE_FIRST_AND_THE_LAST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
718		Galsworthy, John - THE FIRST AND THE LAST</a></li>
719		<li>
720		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_FORSYTE_SAGA/John_Galsworthy-THE_FORSYTE_SAGA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
721		Galsworthy, John - THE FORSYTE SAGA</a></li>
722		<li>
723		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_LITTLE_MAN/John_Galsworthy-THE_LITTLE_MAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
724		Galsworthy, John - THE LITTLE MAN</a></li>
725		<li>
726		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SILVER_BOX/John_Galsworthy-THE_SILVER_BOX-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
727		Galsworthy, John - THE SILVER BOX</a></li>
728		<li>
729		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SKIN_GAME/John_Galsworthy-THE_SKIN_GAME-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
730		Galsworthy, John - THE SKIN GAME</a></li>
731		<li>
732		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/CRANFORD/Elizabeth_Gaskell-CRANFORD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
733		Gaskell, Elizabeth - CRANFORD</a></li>
734		<li>
735		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MARY_BARTON/Elizabeth_Gaskell-MARY_BARTON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
736		Gaskell, Elizabeth - MARY BARTON</a></li>
737		<li>
738		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/NORTH_AND_SOUTH/Elizabeth_Gaskell-NORTH_AND_SOUTH-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
739		Gaskell, Elizabeth - NORTH AND SOUTH</a></li>
740		<li>
741		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_LIFE_OF_CHARLOTTE_BRONTE/Elizabeth_Gaskell-THE_LIFE_OF_CHARLOTTE_BRONTE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
742		Gaskell, Elizabeth - THE LIFE OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE</a></li>
743		<li>
744		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BEGGAR'S_OPERA/John_Gay-THE_BEGGAR'S_OPERA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
745		Gay, John - THE BEGGAR&#39;S OPERA</a></li>
746		<li>
747		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ITALIAN_COOK_BOOK/Maria_Gentile-THE_ITALIAN_COOK_BOOK-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
748		Gentile, Maria - THE ITALIAN COOK BOOK</a></li>
749		<li>
750		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PLAYS/Gilbert_and_Sullivan-PLAYS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
751		Gilbert and Sullivan - PLAYS</a></li>
752		<li>
753		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FAUST/Goethe-FAUST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
754		Goethe - FAUST</a></li>
755		<li>
756		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DEAD_SOULS/Gogol-DEAD_SOULS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
757		Gogol - DEAD SOULS</a></li>
758		<li>
759		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SHE_STOOPS_TO_CONQUER/Oliver_Goldsmith-SHE_STOOPS_TO_CONQUER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
760		Goldsmith, Oliver - SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER</a></li>
761		<li>
762		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_VICAR_OF_WAKEFIELD/Oliver_Goldsmith-THE_VICAR_OF_WAKEFIELD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
763		Goldsmith, Oliver - THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD</a></li>
764		<li>
765		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WIND_IN_THE_WILLOWS/Kenneth_Grahame-THE_WIND_IN_THE_WILLOWS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
766		Grahame, Kenneth - THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS</a></li>
767		<li>
768		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FAIRY_TALES/Brothers_Grimm-FAIRY_TALES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
769		Grimm, Brothers - FAIRY TALES</a></li>
770		<li>
771		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/GINSENG_AND_OTHER_MEDICINAL_PLANTS/A._R._Harding-GINSENG_AND_OTHER_MEDICINAL_PLANTS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
772		Harding, A. R. - GINSENG AND OTHER MEDICINAL PLANTS</a></li>
773		<li>
774		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_CHANGED_MAN_AND_OTHER_TALES/Thomas_Hardy-A_CHANGED_MAN_AND_OTHER_TALES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
775		Hardy, Thomas - A CHANGED MAN AND OTHER TALES</a></li>
776		<li>
777		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FAR_FROM_THE_MADDING_CROWD/Thomas_Hardy-FAR_FROM_THE_MADDING_CROWD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
778		Hardy, Thomas - FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD</a></li>
779		<li>
780		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/JUDE_THE_OBSCURE/Thomas_Hardy-JUDE_THE_OBSCURE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
781		Hardy, Thomas - JUDE THE OBSCURE</a></li>
782		<li>
783		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TESS_OF_THE_D'URBERVILLES/Thomas_Hardy-TESS_OF_THE_D'URBERVILLES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
784		Hardy, Thomas - TESS OF THE D&#39;URBERVILLES</a></li>
785		<li>
786		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MAYOR_OF_CASTERBRIDGE/Thomas_Hardy-THE_MAYOR_OF_CASTERBRIDGE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
787		Hardy, Thomas - THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE</a></li>
788		<li>
789		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_GENTLEMEN_S_BOOK_OF_ETIQUETTE/Cecil_B._Hartley-THE_GENTLEMEN_S_BOOK_OF_ETIQUETTE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
790		Hartley, Cecil B. - THE GENTLEMEN&#39;S BOOK OF ETIQUETTE</a></li>
791		<li>
792		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LITTLE_MASTERPIECES/Nathaniel_Hawthorne-LITTLE_MASTERPIECES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
793		Hawthorne, Nathaniel - LITTLE MASTERPIECES</a></li>
794		<li>
795		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SCARLET_LETTER/Nathaniel_Hawthorne-THE_SCARLET_LETTER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
796		Hawthorne, Nathaniel - THE SCARLET LETTER</a></li>
797		<li>
798		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LOVE_LETTERS_TO_ANNE_BOLEYN/Henry_VIII-LOVE_LETTERS_TO_ANNE_BOLEYN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
799		Henry VIII - LOVE LETTERS TO ANNE BOLEYN</a></li>
800		<li>
801		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/CABBAGES_AND_KINGS/O._Henry-CABBAGES_AND_KINGS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
802		Henry, O. - CABBAGES AND KINGS</a></li>
803		<li>
804		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SIXES_AND_SEVENS/O._Henry-SIXES_AND_SEVENS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
805		Henry, O. - SIXES AND SEVENS</a></li>
806		<li>
807		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_FOUR_MILLION/O._Henry-THE_FOUR_MILLION-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
808		Henry, O. - THE FOUR MILLION</a></li>
809		<li>
810		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_TRIMMED_LAMP/O._Henry-THE_TRIMMED_LAMP-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
811		Henry, O. - THE TRIMMED LAMP</a></li>
812		<li>
813		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WHIRLIGIGS/O._Henry-WHIRLIGIGS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
814		Henry, O. - WHIRLIGIGS</a></li>
815		<li>
816		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TEN_THOUSAND_DREAMS_INTERPRETED/Gustavus_Hindman_Miller-TEN_THOUSAND_DREAMS_INTERPRETED-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
817		Hindman Miller, Gustavus - TEN THOUSAND DREAMS INTERPRETED</a></li>
818		<li>
819		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LEVIATHAN/Thomas_Hobbes-LEVIATHAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
820		Hobbes, Thomas - LEVIATHAN</a></li>
821		<li>
822		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ILIAD/Homer-THE_ILIAD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
823		Homer - THE ILIAD</a></li>
824		<li>
825		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ODYSSEY/Homer-THE_ODYSSEY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
826		Homer - THE ODYSSEY</a></li>
827		<li>
828		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_EXTERMINATION_OF_THE_AMERICAN_BISON/William_T._Hornaday-THE_EXTERMINATION_OF_THE_AMERICAN_BISON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
829		Hornaday, William T. - THE EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON</a></li>
830		<li>
831		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_TREATISE_OF_HUMAN_NATURE/David_Hume-A_TREATISE_OF_HUMAN_NATURE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
832		Hume, David - A TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE</a></li>
833		<li>
834		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AN_ENQUIRY_CONCERNING_HUMAN_UNDERSTANDING/David_Hume-AN_ENQUIRY_CONCERNING_HUMAN_UNDERSTANDING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
835		Hume, David - AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING</a></li>
836		<li>
837		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DIALOGUES_CONCERNING_NATURAL_RELIGION/David_Hume-DIALOGUES_CONCERNING_NATURAL_RELIGION-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
838		Hume, David - DIALOGUES CONCERNING NATURAL RELIGION</a></li>
839		<li>
840		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_DOLL_S_HOUSE/Henrik_Ibsen-A_DOLL_S_HOUSE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
841		Ibsen, Henrik - A DOLL&#39;S HOUSE</a></li>
842		<li>
843		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AN_ENEMY_OF_THE_PEOPLE/Henrik_Ibsen-AN_ENEMY_OF_THE_PEOPLE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
844		Ibsen, Henrik - AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE</a></li>
845		<li>
846		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/GHOSTS/Henrik_Ibsen-GHOSTS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
847		Ibsen, Henrik - GHOSTS</a></li>
848		<li>
849		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HEDDA_GABLER/Henrik_Ibsen-HEDDA_GABLER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
850		Ibsen, Henrik - HEDDA GABLER</a></li>
851		<li>
852		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/JOHN_GABRIEL_BORKMAN/Henrik_Ibsen-JOHN_GABRIEL_BORKMAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
853		Ibsen, Henrik - JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN</a></li>
854		<li>
855		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ROSMERHOLM/Henrik_Ibsen-ROSMERHOLM-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
856		Ibsen, Henrik - ROSMERHOLM</a></li>
857		<li>
858		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_LADY_FROM_THE_SEA/Henrik_Ibsen-THE_LADY_FROM_THE_SEA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
859		Ibsen, Henrik - THE LADY FROM THE SEA</a></li>
860		<li>
861		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MASTER_BUILDER/Henrik_Ibsen-THE_MASTER_BUILDER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
862		Ibsen, Henrik - THE MASTER BUILDER</a></li>
863		<li>
864		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WHEN_WE_DEAD_AWAKEN/Henrik_Ibsen-WHEN_WE_DEAD_AWAKEN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
865		Ibsen, Henrik - WHEN WE DEAD AWAKEN</a></li>
866		<li>
867		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_LEGEND_OF_SLEEPY_HOLLOW/Washington_Irving-THE_LEGEND_OF_SLEEPY_HOLLOW-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
868		Irving, Washington - THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW</a></li>
869		<li>
870		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ITALIAN_HOURS/Henry_James-ITALIAN_HOURS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
871		James, Henry - ITALIAN HOURS</a></li>
872		<li>
873		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ASPERN_PAPERS/Henry_James-THE_ASPERN_PAPERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
874		James, Henry - THE ASPERN PAPERS</a></li>
875		<li>
876		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BOSTONIANS/Henry_James-THE_BOSTONIANS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
877		James, Henry - THE BOSTONIANS</a></li>
878		<li>
879		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PORTRAIT_OF_A_LADY/Henry_James-THE_PORTRAIT_OF_A_LADY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
880		James, Henry - THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY</a></li>
881		<li>
882		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_TURN_OF_THE_SCREW/Henry_James-THE_TURN_OF_THE_SCREW-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
883		James, Henry - THE TURN OF THE SCREW</a></li>
884		<li>
885		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WASHINGTON_SQUARE_/Henry_James-WASHINGTON_SQUARE_-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
886		James, Henry - WASHINGTON SQUARE </a></li>
887		<li>
888		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THREE_MEN_IN_A_BOAT/Jerome_K._Jerome-THREE_MEN_IN_A_BOAT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
889		Jerome, Jerome K. - THREE MEN IN A BOAT</a></li>
890		<li>
891		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THREE_MEN_ON_THE_BUMMEL/Jerome_K._Jerome-THREE_MEN_ON_THE_BUMMEL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
892		Jerome, Jerome K. - THREE MEN ON THE BUMMEL</a></li>
893		<li>
894		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/POLITICAL_ECONOMY/Stanley_Jevons-POLITICAL_ECONOMY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
895		Jevons, Stanley - POLITICAL ECONOMY</a></li>
896		<li>
897		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_GRAMMAR_OF_THE_ENGLISH_TONGUE/Samuel_Johnson-A_GRAMMAR_OF_THE_ENGLISH_TONGUE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
898		Johnson, Samuel - A GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH TONGUE</a></li>
899		<li>
900		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ALCHEMIST/Ben_Jonson-THE_ALCHEMIST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
901		Jonson, Ben - THE ALCHEMIST</a></li>
902		<li>
903		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/VOLPONE/Ben_Jonson-VOLPONE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
904		Jonson, Ben - VOLPONE</a></li>
905		<li>
906		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_PORTRAIT_OF_THE_ARTIST_AS_A_YOUNG_MAN/James_Joyce-A_PORTRAIT_OF_THE_ARTIST_AS_A_YOUNG_MAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
907		Joyce, James - A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN</a></li>
908		<li>
909		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/CHAMBER_MUSIC/James_Joyce-CHAMBER_MUSIC-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
910		Joyce, James - CHAMBER MUSIC</a></li>
911		<li>
912		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DUBLINERS/James_Joyce-DUBLINERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
913		Joyce, James - DUBLINERS</a></li>
914		<li>
915		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ULYSSES/James_Joyce-ULYSSES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
916		Joyce, James - ULYSSES</a></li>
917		<li>
918		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ENDYMION/John_Keats-ENDYMION-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
919		Keats, John - ENDYMION</a></li>
920		<li>
921		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/POEMS_PUBLISHED_IN_1817/John_Keats-POEMS_PUBLISHED_IN_1817-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
922		Keats, John - POEMS PUBLISHED IN 1817</a></li>
923		<li>
924		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/POEMS_PUBLISHED_IN_1820/John_Keats-POEMS_PUBLISHED_IN_1820-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
925		Keats, John - POEMS PUBLISHED IN 1820</a></li>
926		<li>
927		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BIBLE/King_James-THE_BIBLE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
928		King James - THE BIBLE</a></li>
929		<li>
930		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/CAPTAINS_COURAGEOUS/Rudyard_Kipling-CAPTAINS_COURAGEOUS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
931		Kipling, Rudyard - CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS</a></li>
932		<li>
933		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/INDIAN_TALES/Rudyard_Kipling-INDIAN_TALES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
934		Kipling, Rudyard - INDIAN TALES</a></li>
935		<li>
936		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/JUST_SO_STORIES/Rudyard_Kipling-J
936UST_SO_STORIES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
937		Kipling, Rudyard - JUST SO STORIES</a></li>
938		<li>
939		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/KIM/Rudyard_Kipling-KIM-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
940		Kipling, Rudyard - KIM</a></li>
941		<li>
942		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_JUNGLE_BOOK/Rudyard_Kipling-THE_JUNGLE_BOOK-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
943		Kipling, Rudyard - THE JUNGLE BOOK</a></li>
944		<li>
945		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MAN_WHO_WOULD_BE_KING/Rudyard_Kipling-THE_MAN_WHO_WOULD_BE_KING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
946		Kipling, Rudyard - THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING</a></li>
947		<li>
948		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SECOND_JUNGLE_BOOK/Rudyard_Kipling-THE_SECOND_JUNGLE_BOOK-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
949		Kipling, Rudyard - THE SECOND JUNGLE BOOK</a></li>
950		<li>
951		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_RAINBOW/D._H_Lawrence-THE_RAINBOW-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
952		Lawrence, D. H - THE RAINBOW</a></li>
953		<li>
954		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WHITE_PEACOCK/D._H_Lawrence-THE_WHITE_PEACOCK-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
955		Lawrence, D. H - THE WHITE PEACOCK</a></li>
956		<li>
957		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TWILIGHT_IN_ITALY/D._H_Lawrence-TWILIGHT_IN_ITALY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
958		Lawrence, D. H - TWILIGHT IN ITALY</a></li>
959		<li>
960		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AARON'S_ROD/D._H._Lawrence-AARON'S_ROD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
961		Lawrence, D. H. - AARON&#39;S ROD</a></li>
962		<li>
963		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SONS_AND_LOVERS/D._H._Lawrence-SONS_AND_LOVERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
964		Lawrence, D. H. - SONS AND LOVERS</a></li>
965		<li>
966		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_LOST_GIRL/D._H._Lawrence-THE_LOST_GIRL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
967		Lawrence, D. H. - THE LOST GIRL</a></li>
968		<li>
969		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WOMEN_IN_LOVE/D._H._Lawrence-WOMEN_IN_LOVE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
970		Lawrence, D. H. - WOMEN IN LOVE</a></li>
971		<li>
972		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BOOK_OF_NONSENSE/Edward_Lear-BOOK_OF_NONSENSE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
973		Lear, Edward - BOOK OF NONSENSE</a></li>
974		<li>
975		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LAUGHABLE_LYRICS/Edward_Lear-LAUGHABLE_LYRICS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
976		Lear, Edward - LAUGHABLE LYRICS</a></li>
977		<li>
978		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MORE_NONSENSE/Edward_Lear-MORE_NONSENSE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
979		Lear, Edward - MORE NONSENSE</a></li>
980		<li>
981		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/NONSENSE_SONG/Edward_Lear-NONSENSE_SONG-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
982		Lear, Edward - NONSENSE SONG</a></li>
983		<li>
984		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ARSENE_LUPIN_VS_SHERLOCK_HOLMES/Maurice_Leblanc-ARSENE_LUPIN_VS_SHERLOCK_HOLMES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
985		Leblanc, Maurice - ARSENE LUPIN VS SHERLOCK HOLMES</a></li>
986		<li>
987		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ADVENTURES_OF_ARSENE_LUPIN/Maurice_Leblanc-THE_ADVENTURES_OF_ARSENE_LUPIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
988		Leblanc, Maurice - THE ADVENTURES OF ARSENE LUPIN</a></li>
989		<li>
990		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_CONFESSIONS_OF_ARSENE_LUPIN/Maurice_Leblanc-THE_CONFESSIONS_OF_ARSENE_LUPIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
991		Leblanc, Maurice - THE CONFESSIONS OF ARSENE LUPIN</a></li>
992		<li>
993		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_HOLLOW_NEEDLE/Maurice_Leblanc-THE_HOLLOW_NEEDLE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
994		Leblanc, Maurice - THE HOLLOW NEEDLE</a></li>
995		<li>
996		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_RETURN_OF_ARSENE_LUPIN/Maurice_Leblanc-THE_RETURN_OF_ARSENE_LUPIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
997		Leblanc, Maurice - THE RETURN OF ARSENE LUPIN</a></li>
998		<li>
999		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HOW_TO_SING/Lilli_Lehmann-HOW_TO_SING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1000		Lehmann, Lilli - HOW TO SING</a></li>
1001		<li>
1002		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MAN_WITH_THE_BLACK_FEATHER/Gaston_Leroux-THE_MAN_WITH_THE_BLACK_FEATHER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1003		Leroux, Gaston - THE MAN WITH THE BLACK FEATHER</a></li>
1004		<li>
1005		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MYSTERY_OF_THE_YELLOW_ROOM/Gaston_Leroux-THE_MYSTERY_OF_THE_YELLOW_ROOM-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1006		Leroux, Gaston - THE MYSTERY OF THE YELLOW ROOM</a></li>
1007		<li>
1008		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PHANTOM_OF_THE_OPERA/Gaston_Leroux-THE_PHANTOM_OF_THE_OPERA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1009		Leroux, Gaston - THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA</a></li>
1010		<li>
1011		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MARTIN_EDEN/Jack_London-MARTIN_EDEN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1012		London, Jack - MARTIN EDEN</a></li>
1013		<li>
1014		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_CALL_OF_THE_WILD/Jack_London-THE_CALL_OF_THE_WILD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1015		London, Jack - THE CALL OF THE WILD</a></li>
1016		<li>
1017		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WHITE_FANG/Jack_London-WHITE_FANG-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1018		London, Jack - WHITE FANG</a></li>
1019		<li>
1020		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PRINCE/Nicolo_Machiavelli-THE_PRINCE-0001.htm">
1021		Machiavelli, Nicolo&#39; - THE PRINCE</a></li>
1022		<li>
1023		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PRINCIPLE_OF_POPULATION/Thomas_Malthus-PRINCIPLE_OF_POPULATION-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1024		Malthus, Thomas - PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION</a></li>
1025		<li>
1026		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_GARDEN_PARTY_AND_OTHER_STORIES/Katherine_Mansfield-THE_GARDEN_PARTY_AND_OTHER_STORIES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1027		Mansfield, Katherine - THE GARDEN PARTY AND OTHER STORIES</a></li>
1028		<li>
1029		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_JEW_OF_MALTA/Christopher_Marlowe-THE_JEW_OF_MALTA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1030		Marlowe, Christopher - THE JEW OF MALTA</a></li>
1031		<li>
1032		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_CHILDREN_OF_THE_NEW_FOREST/Captain_Marryat-THE_CHILDREN_OF_THE_NEW_FOREST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1033		Marryat, Captain - THE CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST</a></li>
1034		<li>
1035		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BEL_AMI/Guy_De_Maupassant-BEL_AMI-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1036		Maupassant, Guy De - BEL AMI</a></li>
1037		<li>
1038		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MOBY_DICK/Hermann_Melville-MOBY_DICK-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1039		Melville, Hermann - MOBY DICK</a></li>
1040		<li>
1041		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TYPEE/Hermann_Melville-TYPEE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1042		Melville, Hermann - TYPEE</a></li>
1043		<li>
1044		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PRINCIPLES_OF_POLITICAL_ECONOMY/John_Stuart_Mill-PRINCIPLES_OF_POLITICAL_ECONOMY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1045		Mill, John Stuart - PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY</a></li>
1046		<li>
1047		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PARADISE_LOST/John_Milton-PARADISE_LOST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1048		Milton, John - PARADISE LOST</a></li>
1049		<li>
1050		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HINDU_TALES_FROM_THE_SANSKRIT/S._M._Mitra-HINDU_TALES_FROM_THE_SANSKRIT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1051		Mitra, S. M. - HINDU TALES FROM THE SANSKRIT</a></li>
1052		<li>
1053		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ESSAYS/Michel_de_Montaigne-ESSAYS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1054		Montaigne, Michel de - ESSAYS</a></li>
1055		<li>
1056		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ANNE_OF_GREEN_GABLES/Lucy_Maud_Montgomery-ANNE_OF_GREEN_GABLES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1057		Montgomery, Lucy Maud - ANNE OF GREEN GABLES</a></li>
1058		<li>
1059		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/UTOPIA/Thomas_More-UTOPIA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1060		More, Thomas - UTOPIA</a></li>
1061		<li>
1062		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FIVE_CHILDREN_AND_IT/E._Nesbit-FIVE_CHILDREN_AND_IT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1063		Nesbit, E. - FIVE CHILDREN AND IT</a></li>
1064		<li>
1065		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PHOENIX_AND_THE_CARPET/E._Nesbit-THE_PHOENIX_AND_THE_CARPET-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1066		Nesbit, E. - THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET</a></li>
1067		<li>
1068		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_RAILWAY_CHILDREN/E._Nesbit-THE_RAILWAY_CHILDREN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1069		Nesbit, E. - THE RAILWAY CHILDREN</a></li>
1070		<li>
1071		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_STORY_OF_THE_AMULET/E._Nesbit-THE_STORY_OF_THE_AMULET-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1072		Nesbit, E. - THE STORY OF THE AMULET</a></li>
1073		<li>
1074		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/OPTICKS/Isaac_Newton-OPTICKS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1075		Newton, Isaac - OPTICKS</a></li>
1076		<li>
1077		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BEYOND_GOOD_AND_EVIL/Friedrich_Nietsche-BEYOND_GOOD_AND_EVIL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1078		Nietsche, Friedrich - BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL</a></li>
1079		<li>
1080		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THUS_SPAKE_ZARATHUSTRA/Friedrich_Nietsche-THUS_SPAKE_ZARATHUSTRA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1081		Nietsche, Friedrich - THUS SPAKE ZARATHUSTRA</a></li>
1082		<li>
1083		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/NOTES_ON_NURSING/Florence_Nightingale-NOTES_ON_NURSING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1084		Nightingale, Florence - NOTES ON NURSING</a></li>
1085		<li>
1086		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/POEMS/Wilfred_Owen-POEMS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1087		Owen, Wilfred - POEMS</a></li>
1088		<li>
1089		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/JAPANESE_FAIRY_TALES/Yei_Theodora_Ozaki-JAPANESE_FAIRY_TALES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1090		Ozaki, Yei Theodora - JAPANESE FAIRY TALES</a></li>
1091		<li>
1092		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PENSEES/Blaise_Pascal-PENSEES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1093		Pascal, Blaise - PENSEES</a></li>
1094		<li>
1095		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MY_TEN_YEARS_IMPRISONMENT/Silvio_Pellico-MY_TEN_YEARS_IMPRISONMENT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1096		Pellico, Silvio - MY TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT</a></li>
1097		<li>
1098		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FAIRY_TALES/Charles_Perrault-FAIRY_TALES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1099		Perrault, Charles - FAIRY TALES</a></li>
1100		<li>
1101		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THREE_PLAYS/Luigi_Pirandello-THREE_PLAYS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1102		Pirandello, Luigi - THREE PLAYS</a></li>
1103		<li>
1104		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_REPUBLIC/Plato-THE_REPUBLIC-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1105		Plato - THE REPUBLIC</a></li>
1106		<li>
1107		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_1/Edgar_Allan_Poe-THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_1-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1108		Poe, Edgar Allan - THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS 1</a></li>
1109		<li>
1110		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_2/Edgar_Allan_Poe-THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_2-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1111		Poe, Edgar Allan - THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS 2</a></li>
1112		<li>
1113		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_3/Edgar_Allan_Poe-THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_3-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1114		Poe, Edgar Allan - THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS 3</a></li>
1115		<li>
1116		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_4/Edgar_Allan_Poe-THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_4-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1117		Poe, Edgar Allan - THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS 4</a></li>
1118		<li>
1119		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_5/Edgar_Allan_Poe-THE_COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS_5-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1120		Poe, Edgar Allan - THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS 5</a></li>
1121		<li>
1122		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_FALL_OF_THE_HOUSE_OF_USHER/Edgar_Allan_Poe-THE_FALL_OF_THE_HOUSE_OF_USHER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1123		Poe, Edgar Allan - THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER</a></li>
1124		<li>
1125		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_TALE_OF_PETER_RABBIT/Beatrix_Potter-THE_TALE_OF_PETER_RABBIT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1126		Potter, Beatrix - THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT</a></li>
1127		<li>
1128		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SWANN'S_WAY/Marcel_Proust-SWANN'S_WAY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1129		Proust, Marcel - SWANN&#39;S WAY</a></li>
1130		<li>
1131		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_SICILIAN_ROMANCE/Ann_Radcliffe-A_SICILIAN_ROMANCE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1132		Radcliffe, Ann - A SICILIAN ROMANCE</a></li>
1133		<li>
1134		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ON_THE_PRINCIPLES_OF_POLITICAL_ECONOMY_AND_TAXATION/David_Ricardo-ON_THE_PRINCIPLES_OF_POLITICAL_ECONOMY_AND_TAXATION-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1135		Ricardo, David - ON THE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY AND TAXATION</a></li>
1136		<li>
1137		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PAMELA/Samuel_Richardson-PAMELA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1138		Richardson, Samuel - PAMELA</a></li>
1139		<li>
1140		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ALLAN_QUATERMAIN/H._Rider_Haggard-ALLAN_QUATERMAIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1141		Rider Haggard, H. - ALLAN QUATERMAIN</a></li>
1142		<li>
1143		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/KING_SOLOMON'S_MINES/H._Rider_Haggard-KING_SOLOMON'S_MINES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1144		Rider Haggard, H. - KING SOLOMON&#39;S MINES</a></li>
1145		<li>
1146		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ORIGIN_AND_FOUNDATION_OF_INEQUA
1146LITY_AMONG_MANKIND/J._J._Rousseau-THE_ORIGIN_AND_FOUNDATION_OF_INEQUALITY_AMONG_MANKIND-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1147		Rousseau, J. J. - THE ORIGIN AND FOUNDATION OF INEQUALITY AMONG MANKIND</a></li>
1148		<li>
1149		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SEVEN_LAMPS_OF_ARCHITECTURE/John_Ruskin-THE_SEVEN_LAMPS_OF_ARCHITECTURE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1150		Ruskin, John - THE SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE</a></li>
1151		<li>
1152		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_DEATH_OF_WALLENSTEIN/Friedrich_Schiller-THE_DEATH_OF_WALLENSTEIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1153		Schiller, Friedrich - THE DEATH OF WALLENSTEIN</a></li>
1154		<li>
1155		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PICCOLOMINI/Friedrich_Schiller-THE_PICCOLOMINI-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1156		Schiller, Friedrich - THE PICCOLOMINI</a></li>
1157		<li>
1158		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ART_OF_CONTROVERSY/Arthur_Schopenhauer-THE_ART_OF_CONTROVERSY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1159		Schopenhauer, Arthur - THE ART OF CONTROVERSY</a></li>
1160		<li>
1161		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WISDOM_OF_LIFE/Arthur_Schopenhauer-THE_WISDOM_OF_LIFE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1162		Schopenhauer, Arthur - THE WISDOM OF LIFE</a></li>
1163		<li>
1164		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FLAPPERS_AND_PHILOSOPHERS/F._Scott_Fitzgerald-FLAPPERS_AND_PHILOSOPHERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1165		Scott Fitzgerald, F. - FLAPPERS AND PHILOSOPHERS</a></li>
1166		<li>
1167		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TALES_OF_THE_JAZZ_AGE/F._Scott_Fitzgerald-TALES_OF_THE_JAZZ_AGE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1168		Scott Fitzgerald, F. - TALES OF THE JAZZ AGE</a></li>
1169		<li>
1170		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BEAUTIFUL_AND_DAMNED/F._Scott_Fitzgerald-THE_BEAUTIFUL_AND_DAMNED-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1171		Scott Fitzgerald, F. - THE BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED</a></li>
1172		<li>
1173		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THIS_SIDE_OF_PARADISE/F._Scott_Fitzgerald-THIS_SIDE_OF_PARADISE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1174		Scott Fitzgerald, F. - THIS SIDE OF PARADISE</a></li>
1175		<li>
1176		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/IVANHOE/Walter_Scott-IVANHOE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1177		Scott, Walter - IVANHOE</a></li>
1178		<li>
1179		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/QUENTIN_DURWARD/Walter_Scott-QUENTIN_DURWARD-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1180		Scott, Walter - QUENTIN DURWARD</a></li>
1181		<li>
1182		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ROB_ROY/Walter_Scott-ROB_ROY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1183		Scott, Walter - ROB ROY</a></li>
1184		<li>
1185		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BRIDE_OF_LAMMERMOOR/Walter_Scott-THE_BRIDE_OF_LAMMERMOOR-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1186		Scott, Walter - THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR</a></li>
1187		<li>
1188		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WAVERLEY/Walter_Scott-WAVERLEY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1189		Scott, Walter - WAVERLEY</a></li>
1190		<li>
1191		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_THIRD_WINDOW/Anne_Douglas_Sedgwick-THE_THIRD_WINDOW-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1192		Sedgwick, Anne Douglas - THE THIRD WINDOW</a></li>
1193		<li>
1194		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BLACK_BEAUTY/Anna_Sewell-BLACK_BEAUTY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1195		Sewell, Anna - BLACK BEAUTY</a></li>
1196		<li>
1197		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/COMPLETE_WORKS/William_Shakespeare-COMPLETE_WORKS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1198		Shakespeare, William - COMPLETE WORKS</a></li>
1199		<li>
1200		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HAMLET/William_Shakespeare-HAMLET-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1201		Shakespeare, William - HAMLET</a></li>
1202		<li>
1203		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/OTHELLO/William_Shakespeare-OTHELLO-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1204		Shakespeare, William - OTHELLO</a></li>
1205		<li>
1206		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ROMEO_AND_JULIET/William_Shakespeare-ROMEO_AND_JULIET-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1207		Shakespeare, William - ROMEO AND JULIET</a></li>
1208		<li>
1209		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FRANKENSTEIN/Mary_Shelley-
1209FRANKENSTEIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1210		Shelley, Mary - FRANKENSTEIN</a></li>
1211		<li>
1212		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_DEFENCE_OF_POETRY_AND_OTHER_ESSAYS/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley-A_DEFENCE_OF_POETRY_AND_OTHER_ESSAYS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1213		Shelley, Percy Bysshe - A DEFENCE OF POETRY AND OTHER ESSAYS</a></li>
1214		<li>
1215		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley-COMPLETE_POETICAL_WORKS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1216		Shelley, Percy Bysshe - COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS</a></li>
1217		<li>
1218		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SCHOOL_FOR_SCANDAL/Richard_B._Sheridan-THE_SCHOOL_FOR_SCANDAL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1219		Sheridan, Richard B. - THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL</a></li>
1220		<li>
1221		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/QUO_VADIS/Henryk_Sienkiewicz-QUO_VADIS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1222		Sienkiewicz, Henryk - QUO VADIS</a></li>
1223		<li>
1224		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WEALTH_OF_NATIONS/Adam_Smith-THE_WEALTH_OF_NATIONS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1225		Smith, Adam - THE WEALTH OF NATIONS</a></li>
1226		<li>
1227		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TRAVELS_THROUGH_FRANCE_AND_ITALY/Tobias_Smollett-TRAVELS_THROUGH_FRANCE_AND_ITALY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1228		Smollett, Tobias - TRAVELS THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY</a></li>
1229		<li>
1230		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ESSAYS_ON_EDUCATION_AND_KINDRED_SUBJECTS/Herbert_Spencer-ESSAYS_ON_EDUCATION_AND_KINDRED_SUBJECTS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1231		Spencer, Herbert - ESSAYS ON EDUCATION AND KINDRED SUBJECTS</a></li>
1232		<li>
1233		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/HEIDI/Johanna_Spyri-HEIDI-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1234		Spyri, Johanna - HEIDI</a></li>
1235		<li>
1236		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_SENTIMENTAL_JOURNEY/Laurence_Sterne-A_SENTIMENTAL_JOURNEY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1237		Sterne, Laurence - A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY</a></li>
1238		<li>
1239		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TRISTRAM_SHANDY/Laurence_Sterne-TRISTRAM_SHANDY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1240		Sterne, Laurence - TRISTRAM SHANDY</a></li>
1241		<li>
1242		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_CHILD'S_GARDEN_OF_VERSES/Robert_Louis_Stevenson-A_CHILD'S_GARDEN_OF_VERSES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1243		Stevenson, Robert Louis - A CHILD&#39;S GARDEN OF VERSES</a></li>
1244		<li>
1245		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ESSAYS_IN_THE_ART_OF_WRITING/Robert_Louis_Stevenson-ESSAYS_IN_THE_ART_OF_WRITING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1246		Stevenson, Robert Louis - ESSAYS IN THE ART OF WRITING</a></li>
1247		<li>
1248		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/KIDNAPPED/Robert_Louis_Stevenson-KIDNAPPED-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1249		Stevenson, Robert Louis - KIDNAPPED</a></li>
1250		<li>
1251		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/NEW_ARABIAN_NIGHTS/Robert_Louis_Stevenson-NEW_ARABIAN_NIGHTS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1252		Stevenson, Robert Louis - NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS</a></li>
1253		<li>
1254		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BLACK_ARROW/Robert_Louis_Stevenson-THE_BLACK_ARROW-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1255		Stevenson, Robert Louis - THE BLACK ARROW</a></li>
1256		<li>
1257		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_STRANGE_CASE_OF_DR._JEKYLL_AND_MR._HYDE/Robert_Louis_Stevenson-THE_STRANGE_CASE_OF_DR._JEKYLL_AND_MR._HYDE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1258		Stevenson, Robert Louis - THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE</a></li>
1259		<li>
1260		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/TREASURE_ISLAND/Robert_Louis_Stevenson-TREASURE_ISLAND-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1261		Stevenson, Robert Louis - TREASURE ISLAND</a></li>
1262		<li>
1263		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DRACULA/Bram_Stoker-DRACULA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1264		Stoker, Bram - DRACULA</a></li>
1265		<li>
1266		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LUCKY_PEHR/August_Strindberg-LUCKY_PEHR-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1267		Strindberg, August - LUCKY PEHR</a></li>
1268		<li>
1269		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MASTER_OLOF/August_Strindberg-MA
1269STER_OLOF-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1270		Strindberg, August - MASTER OLOF</a></li>
1271		<li>
1272		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_RED_ROOM/August_Strindberg-THE_RED_ROOM-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1273		Strindberg, August - THE RED ROOM</a></li>
1274		<li>
1275		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ROAD_TO_DAMASCUS/August_Strindberg-THE_ROAD_TO_DAMASCUS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1276		Strindberg, August - THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS</a></li>
1277		<li>
1278		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THERE_ARE_CRIMES_AND_CRIMES/August_Strindberg-THERE_ARE_CRIMES_AND_CRIMES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1279		Strindberg, August - THERE ARE CRIMES AND CRIMES</a></li>
1280		<li>
1281		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_MODEST_PROPOSAL/Jonathan_Swift-A_MODEST_PROPOSAL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1282		Swift, Jonathan - A MODEST PROPOSAL</a></li>
1283		<li>
1284		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_TALE_OF_A_TUB/Jonathan_Swift-A_TALE_OF_A_TUB-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1285		Swift, Jonathan - A TALE OF A TUB</a></li>
1286		<li>
1287		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/GULLIVER'S_TRAVELS/Jonathan_Swift-GULLIVER'S_TRAVELS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1288		Swift, Jonathan - GULLIVER&#39;S TRAVELS</a></li>
1289		<li>
1290		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BATTLE_OF_THE_BOOKS_AND_OTHER_SHORT_PIECES/Jonathan_Swift-THE_BATTLE_OF_THE_BOOKS_AND_OTHER_SHORT_PIECES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1291		Swift, Jonathan - THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AND OTHER SHORT PIECES</a></li>
1292		<li>
1293		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FRUIT_GATHERING/Rabindranath_Tagore-FRUIT_GATHERING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1294		Tagore, Rabindranath - FRUIT GATHERING</a></li>
1295		<li>
1296		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_GARDENER/Rabindranath_Tagore-THE_GARDENER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1297		Tagore, Rabindranath - THE GARDENER</a></li>
1298		<li>
1299		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_HUNGRY_STONES_AND_OTHER_STORIES/Rabindranath_Tagore-THE_HUNGRY_STONES_AND_OTHER_STORIES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1300		Tagore, Rabindranath - THE HUNGRY STONES AND OTHER STORIES</a></li>
1301		<li>
1302		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BARRY_LYNDON/William_Thackeray-BARRY_LYNDON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1303		Thackeray, William - BARRY LYNDON</a></li>
1304		<li>
1305		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/VANITY_FAIR/William_Thackeray-VANITY_FAIR-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1306		Thackeray, William - VANITY FAIR</a></li>
1307		<li>
1308		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BOOK_OF_SNOBS/William_Makepeace_Thackeray-THE_BOOK_OF_SNOBS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1309		Thackeray, William Makepeace - THE BOOK OF SNOBS</a></li>
1310		<li>
1311		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ROSE_AND_THE_RING/William_Makepeace_Thackeray-THE_ROSE_AND_THE_RING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1312		Thackeray, William Makepeace - THE ROSE AND THE RING</a></li>
1313		<li>
1314		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_VIRGINIANS/William_Makepeace_Thackeray-THE_VIRGINIANS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1315		Thackeray, William Makepeace - THE VIRGINIANS</a></li>
1316		<li>
1317		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WALDEN/Henry_David_Thoreau-WALDEN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1318		Thoreau, Henry David - WALDEN</a></li>
1319		<li>
1320		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_LETTER_TO_A_HINDU/Leo_Tolstoi-A_LETTER_TO_A_HINDU-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1321		Tolstoi, Leo - A LETTER TO A HINDU</a></li>
1322		<li>
1323		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ANNA_KARENINA/Lev_Tolstoy-ANNA_KARENINA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1324		Tolstoy, Lev - ANNA KARENINA</a></li>
1325		<li>
1326		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WAR_AND_PEACE/Lev_Tolstoy-WAR_AND_PEACE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1327		Tolstoy, Lev - WAR AND PEACE</a></li>
1328		<li>
1329		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AN_AUTOBIOGRAPHY/Anthony_Trollope-AN_AUTOBIOGRAPHY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1330		Trollope, Anthony - AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY</a></li>
1331		<li>
1332		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BARCHESTER_TOWERS/Anthony_Trollope-BARCHESTER_TOWERS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1333		Trollope, Anthony - BARCHESTER TOWERS</a></li>
1334		<li>
1335		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FRAMLEY_PARSONAGE/Anthony_Trollope-FRAMLEY_PARSONAGE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1336		Trollope, Anthony - FRAMLEY PARSONAGE</a></li>
1337		<li>
1338		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_EUSTACE_DIAMONDS/Anthony_Trollope-THE_EUSTACE_DIAMONDS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1339		Trollope, Anthony - THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS</a></li>
1340		<li>
1341		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MAN_WHO_KEPT_HIS_MONEY_IN_A_BOX/Anthony_Trollope-THE_MAN_WHO_KEPT_HIS_MONEY_IN_A_BOX-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1342		Trollope, Anthony - THE MAN WHO KEPT HIS MONEY IN A BOX</a></li>
1343		<li>
1344		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WARDEN/Anthony_Trollope-THE_WARDEN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1345		Trollope, Anthony - THE WARDEN</a></li>
1346		<li>
1347		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WAY_WE_LIVE_NOW/Anthony_Trollope-THE_WAY_WE_LIVE_NOW-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1348		Trollope, Anthony - THE WAY WE LIVE NOW</a></li>
1349		<li>
1350		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LIFE_ON_THE_MISSISSIPPI/Mark_Twain-LIFE_ON_THE_MISSISSIPPI-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1351		Twain, Mark - LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI</a></li>
1352		<li>
1353		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SPEECHES/Mark_Twain-SPEECHES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1354		Twain, Mark - SPEECHES</a></li>
1355		<li>
1356		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ADVENTURES_OF_HUCKLEBERRY_FINN/Mark_Twain-THE_ADVENTURES_OF_HUCKLEBERRY_FINN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1357		Twain, Mark - THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN</a></li>
1358		<li>
1359		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ADVENTURES_OF_TOM_SAWYER/Mark_Twain-THE_ADVENTURES_OF_TOM_SAWYER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1360		Twain, Mark - THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER</a></li>
1361		<li>
1362		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PRINCE_AND_THE_PAUPER/Mark_Twain-THE_PRINCE_AND_THE_PAUPER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1363		Twain, Mark - THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER</a></li>
1364		<li>
1365		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MAGNA_CARTA/Autori_Vari-THE_MAGNA_CARTA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1366		Vari, Autori - THE MAGNA CARTA</a></li>
1367		<li>
1368		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SICILIAN_STORIES/Giovanni_Verga-SICILIAN_STORIES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1369		Verga, Giovanni - SICILIAN STORIES</a></li>
1370		<li>
1371		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/20000_LEAGUES_UNDER_THE_SEAS/Jules_Verne-20000_LEAGUES_UNDER_THE_SEAS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1372		Verne, Jules - 20000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEAS</a></li>
1373		<li>
1374		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_JOURNEY_TO_THE_CENTRE_OF_THE_EARTH/Jules_Verne-A_JOURNEY_TO_THE_CENTRE_OF_THE_EARTH-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1375		Verne, Jules - A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH</a></li>
1376		<li>
1377		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/ALL_AROUND_THE_MOON/Jules_Verne-ALL_AROUND_THE_MOON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1378		Verne, Jules - ALL AROUND THE MOON</a></li>
1379		<li>
1380		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AROUND_THE_WORLD_IN_80_DAYS/Jules_Verne-AROUND_THE_WORLD_IN_80_DAYS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1381		Verne, Jules - AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS</a></li>
1382		<li>
1383		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FIVE_WEEKS_IN_A_BALLOON/Jules_Verne-FIVE_WEEKS_IN_A_BALLOON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1384		Verne, Jules - FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON</a></li>
1385		<li>
1386		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FROM_THE_EARTH_TO_THE_MOON/Jules_Verne-FROM_THE_EARTH_TO_THE_MOON-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1387		Verne, Jules - FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON</a></li>
1388		<li>
1389		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MICHAEL_STROGOFF/Jules_Verne-MICHAEL_STROGOFF-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1390		Verne, Jules - MICHAEL STROGOFF</a></li>
1391		<li>
1392		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_MYSTERIOUS_ISLAND/Jules_Verne-THE_MYSTERIOUS_ISLAND-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1393		Verne, Jules - THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND</a></li>
1394		<li>
1395		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PHILOSOPHICAL_DICTIONARY/Voltaire-PHILOSOPHICAL_DICTIONARY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1396		Voltaire - PHILOSOPHICAL DICTIONARY</a></li>
1397		<li>
1398		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MAHABHARATA/Vyasa-MAHAB
1398HARATA-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1399		Vyasa - MAHABHARATA</a></li>
1400		<li>
1401		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SANDERS_OF_THE_RIVER/Edgar_Wallace-SANDERS_OF_THE_RIVER-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1402		Wallace, Edgar - SANDERS OF THE RIVER</a></li>
1403		<li>
1404		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_DAFFODIL_MYSTERY/Edgar_Wallace-THE_DAFFODIL_MYSTERY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1405		Wallace, Edgar - THE DAFFODIL MYSTERY</a></li>
1406		<li>
1407		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/BEN_HUR/Lew_Wallace-BEN_HUR-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1408		Wallace, Lew - BEN HUR</a></li>
1409		<li>
1410		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DADDY_LONG_LEGS/Jean_Webster-DADDY_LONG_LEGS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1411		Webster, Jean - DADDY LONG LEGS</a></li>
1412		<li>
1413		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_AWAKENING_OF_SPRING/Franz_Wedekind-THE_AWAKENING_OF_SPRING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1414		Wedekind, Franz - THE AWAKENING OF SPRING</a></li>
1415		<li>
1416		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/KIPPS/H._G._Wells-KIPPS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1417		Wells, H. G. - KIPPS</a></li>
1418		<li>
1419		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_INVISIBLE_MAN/H._G._Wells-THE_INVISIBLE_MAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1420		Wells, H. G. - THE INVISIBLE MAN</a></li>
1421		<li>
1422		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_ISLAND_OF_DOCTOR_MOREAU/H._G._Wells-THE_ISLAND_OF_DOCTOR_MOREAU-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1423		Wells, H. G. - THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU</a></li>
1424		<li>
1425		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_STOLEN_BACILLUS_AND_OTHER_INCIDENTS/H._G._Wells-THE_STOLEN_BACILLUS_AND_OTHER_INCIDENTS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1426		Wells, H. G. - THE STOLEN BACILLUS AND OTHER INCIDENTS</a></li>
1427		<li>
1428		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_TIME_MACHINE/H._G._Wells-THE_TIME_MACHINE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1429		Wells, H. G. - THE TIME MACHINE</a></li>
1430		<li>
1431		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_WAR_OF_THE_WORLDS/H._G._Wells-THE_WAR_OF_THE_WORLDS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1432		Wells, H. G. - THE WAR OF THE WORLDS</a></li>
1433		<li>
1434		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/WHAT_IS_COMING/H._G._Wells-WHAT_IS_COMING-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1435		Wells, H. G. - WHAT IS COMING</a></li>
1436		<li>
1437		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_AGE_OF_INNOCENCE/Edith_Wharton-THE_AGE_OF_INNOCENCE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1438		Wharton, Edith - THE AGE OF INNOCENCE</a></li>
1439		<li>
1440		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/FIAT_MONEY_INFLATION_IN_FRANCE_/Andrew_Dickson_White-FIAT_MONEY_INFLATION_IN_FRANCE_-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1441		White, Andrew Dickson - FIAT MONEY INFLATION IN FRANCE </a></li>
1442		<li>
1443		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_WOMAN_OF_NO_IMPORTANCE/Oscar_Wilde-A_WOMAN_OF_NO_IMPORTANCE-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1444		Wilde, Oscar - A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE</a></li>
1445		<li>
1446		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/AN_IDEAL_HUSBAND/Oscar_Wilde-AN_IDEAL_HUSBAND-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1447		Wilde, Oscar - AN IDEAL HUSBAND</a></li>
1448		<li>
1449		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/DE_PROFUNDIS/Oscar_Wilde-DE_PROFUNDIS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1450		Wilde, Oscar - DE PROFUNDIS</a></li>
1451		<li>
1452		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LADY_WINDERMERE'S_FAN/Oscar_Wilde-LADY_WINDERMERE'S_FAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1453		Wilde, Oscar - LADY WINDERMERE&#39;S FAN</a></li>
1454		<li>
1455		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SALOMÉ/Oscar_Wilde-SALOMÉ-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1456		Wilde, Oscar - SALOME</a></li>
1457		<li>
1458		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SELECTED_POEMS/Oscar_Wilde-SELECTED_POEMS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1459		Wilde, Oscar - SELECTED POEMS</a></li>
1460		<li>
1461		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_BALLAD_OF_READING_GAOL/Oscar_Wilde-THE_BALLAD_OF_READING_GAOL-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1462		Wilde, Oscar - THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL</a></li>
1463		<li>
1464		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_CANTERVILLE_GHOST/Oscar_Wilde-THE_CANTERVILLE_GHOST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1465		Wilde, Oscar - THE CANTERVILLE GHOST</a></li>
1466		<li>
1467		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_HAPPY_PRINCE_AND_OTHER_TALES/Oscar_Wilde-THE_HAPPY_PRINCE_AND_OTHER_TALES-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1468		Wilde, Oscar - THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES</a></li>
1469		<li>
1470		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_IMPORTANCE_OF_BEING_EARNEST/Oscar_Wilde-THE_IMPORTANCE_OF_BEING_EARNEST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1471		Wilde, Oscar - THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST</a></li>
1472		<li>
1473		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_PICTURE_OF_DORIAN_GREY/Oscar_Wilde-THE_PICTURE_OF_DORIAN_GREY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1474		Wilde, Oscar - THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GREY</a></li>
1475		<li>
1476		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_SOUL_OF_MAN/Oscar_Wilde-THE_SOUL_OF_MAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1477		Wilde, Oscar - THE SOUL OF MAN</a></li>
1478		<li>
1479		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/SACRED_BOOKS_OF_THE_EAST/Epiphanius_Wilson-SACRED_BOOKS_OF_THE_EAST-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1480		Wilson, Epiphanius - SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST</a></li>
1481		<li>
1482		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/A_VINDICATION_OF_THE_RIGHTS_OF_WOMAN/Mary_Wollstonecraft-A_VINDICATION_OF_THE_RIGHTS_OF_WOMAN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1483		Wollstonecraft, Mary - A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN</a></li>
1484		<li>
1485		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/NIGHT_AND_DAY/Virgina_Woolf-NIGHT_AND_DAY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1486		Woolf, Virgina - NIGHT AND DAY</a></li>
1487		<li>
1488		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THE_VOYAGE_OUT/Virgina_Woolf-THE_VOYAGE_OUT-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1489		Woolf, Virgina - THE VOYAGE OUT</a></li>
1490		<li>
1491		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/LA_STANZA_DI_JACOB/Virginia_Woolf-LA_STANZA_DI_JACOB-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1492		Woolf, Virginia - JACOB&#39;S ROOM</a></li>
1493		<li>
1494		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/MONDAY_OR_TUESDAY/Virginia_Woolf-MONDAY_OR_TUESDAY-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1495		Woolf, Virginia - MONDAY OR TUESDAY</a></li>
1496		<li>
1497		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/POEMS/William_Wordsworth-POEMS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1498		Wordsworth, William - POEMS</a></li>
1499		<li>
1500		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/PROSE_WORKS/William_Wordsworth-PROSE_WORKS-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1501		Wordsworth, William - PROSE WORKS</a></li>
1502		<li>
1503		<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/THERESE_RAQUIN/Emile_Zola-THERESE_RAQUIN-0001.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
1504		Zola, Emile - THERESE RAQUIN</a></li>
1505		<!--FINE_ELENCO_SERIE--></li>
1506	</ol>
1507</div>
1508<font size="1"><hr color="#FF9900" size="8" width="269" align="left"></font>
1509</font>
1510
1511<!--webbot bot="Include" i-checksum="44696" endspan --><p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
1512
1513			</td>
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1522
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1533			<div align="center">
1534
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1539			<TABLE idtable36 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 
1540width=869 border=0 height="407">
1541  <TBODY>
1542  <TR>
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1544<font size="4">
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1550			<table border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="868" 
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1552				<tr>
1553					<td width="130" valign="top">
1554					
1555					
1556<!--webbot bot="Include" U-Include="../../../2/00-BABYLON.htm" TAG="BODY" startspan -->
1557
1558<p>
1559					<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; ">
1560					<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; ">
1561					<iframe name="I1" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" width="120" scrolling="no" height="111" allowtransparency src="http://online.babylon.com/trans_box/index.php?lang=IT&affiliate=CD202">
1562					</iframe></span></span></p>
1563
1564<!--webbot bot="Include" i-checksum="60484" endspan --></td>
1565					<td valign="top">
1566					<p align="center">
1567					<img border="0" src="http://www.englishgratis.com/1/classici/audioclassici-non-frammentati.png" width="461" height="138"></td>		
1568							
1569					
1570					
1571					
1572					<td align="center" 
1573     style="border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px" 
1574     valign="top" width="251">
1575     
1576<!--webbot bot="Include" U-Include="../../../2/00-NEWSLETTER.htm" TAG="BODY" startspan -->
1577
1578<table border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="251">
1579	<tr>
1580		<td>
1581		<p align="center"><br>
1582		&nbsp;<p align="center">
1583		<img border="0" src="../../../2/eg-logo.png" width="207" height="40"><p align="center">
1584		<font size="2" face="Verdana"> 
1585		<br>
1586&nbsp;</font></td>
1587	</tr>
1588</table>
1589
1590<!--webbot bot="Include" i-checksum="21868" endspan --></td>
1591				</tr>
1592			</table>
1593			<hr color="#666666" size="3">
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1595	
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1599			<table border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="869" 
1600bgcolor="#FFFFFF" cellpadding="0">
1601
1602				<tr>
1603
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1605
1606					<p align="left"><i>Non si può dire di conoscere l'inglese se 
1607					non si è in grado di capire le grandi opere che sono state 
1608					scritte in questa lingua: i classici. E in questa sezione te 
1609					ne offriamo una notevole selezione. Come strumenti ausiliari per la 
1610					comprensione e la pronuncia trovi il dizionario di Babylon, 
1611					il lettore automatico di ReadSpeaker e la traduzione 
1612					interattiva di FGA Translate. Per attivarla basta 
1613					selezionare una porzione qualsiasi di testo e, 
1614					immediatamente, la traduzione in italiano comparirà in una 
1615					finestrella. Qualora si desideri evitare la sovrapposizione 
1616					della traduzione e dell'audio di ReadSpeaker è possibile 
1617					deselezionare la casella della traduzione interattiva 
1618					on/off. Dato che la pagina contiene tutta l'opera, per 
1619					ascoltare le porzioni di testo successive a quelle iniziali 
1620					anziché premere il pulsante </i>Ascolta il 
1621					testo<i><font color="#0033CC"><b> </b></font>si può selezionare la porzione di testo 
1622					che si vuole ascoltare e poi cliccare sul simbolino di 
1623					altoparlante che apparirà vicino alla porzione di testo 
1624					selezionato.<br>
1625					<font face="Verdana" size="2">NB: </font>
1626					<font face="Verdana"><font size="2">PER LEGGERE I CLASSICI 
1627					NELLA VECCHIA VERSIONE FRAMMENTATA</font><b><font size="2" color="#CC3300">
1628					</font></b></font></i><font face="Verdana">
1629					<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/3/THE_IMPORTANCE_OF_BEING_EARNEST/Oscar_Wilde_-_THE_IMPORTANCE_OF_BEING_EARNEST-0001.php">
1630					<font size="2" color="#CC3300">CLICCA QUI</font></a></font></p>
1631
1632					<font SIZE="3">
1633					<hr size="1">
1634					</font>
1635					<p align="center">
1636
1637					<b><span lang="EN-GB"><font size="6" color="#FF0000">THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP<br>
1638
1639
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1718                           
1719
1720<p align="left">
1721
1722 <p Align="center"><p>THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP<br><br>
1723
1724By CHARLES DICKENS<br><br>
1725
1726CHAPTER 1<br><br>
1727
1728Night is generally my time for walking. In the summer I often leave
1729
1730home early in the morning, and roam about fields and lanes all day, or
1731
1732even escape for days or weeks together; but, saving in the country, I
1733
1734seldom go out until after dark, though, Heaven be thanked, I love its
1735
1736light and feel the cheerfulness it sheds upon the earth, as much as any
1737
1738creature living.<br><br>
1739
1740I have fallen insensibly into this habit, both because it favours my
1741
1742infirmity and because it affords me greater opportunity of speculating
1743
1744on the characters and occupations of those who fill the streets. The
1745
1746glare and hurry of broad noon are not adapted to idle pursuits like
1747
1748mine; a glimpse of passing faces caught by the light of a street-lamp
1749
1750or a shop window is often better for my purpose than their full
1751
1752revelation in the daylight; and, if I must add the truth, night is
1753
1754kinder in this respect than day, which too often destroys an air-built
1755
1756castle at the moment of its completion, without the least ceremony or
1757
1758remorse.<br><br>
1759
1760That constant pacing to and fro, that never-ending restlessness, that
1761
1762incessant tread of feet wearing the rough stones smooth and glossy--is
1763
1764it not a wonder how the dwellers in narrows ways can bear to hear it!
1765
1766Think of a sick man in such a place as Saint Martin's Court, listening
1767
1768to the footsteps, and in the midst of pain and weariness obliged,
1769
1770despite himself (as though it were a task he must perform) to detect
1771
1772the child's step from the man's, the slipshod beggar from the booted
1773
1774exquisite, the lounging from the busy, the dull heel of the sauntering
1775
1776outcast from the quick tread of an expectant pleasure-seeker--think of
1777
1778the hum and noise always being present to his sense, and of the stream
1779
1780of life that will not stop, pouring on, on, on, through all his
1781
1782restless dreams, as if he were condemned to lie, dead but conscious, in
1783
1784a noisy churchyard, and had no hope of rest for centuries to come.<br><br>
1785
1786Then, the crowds for ever passing and repassing on the bridges (on
1787
1788those which are free of toil at last), where many stop on fine evenings
1789
1790looking listlessly down upon the water with some vague idea that by and
1791
1792by it runs between green banks which grow wider and wider until at last
1793
1794it joins the broad vast sea--where some halt to rest from heavy loads
1795
1796and think as they look over the parapet that to smoke and lounge away
1797
1798one's life, and lie sleeping in the sun upon a hot tarpaulin, in a
1799
1800dull, slow, sluggish barge, must be happiness unalloyed--and where
1801
1802some, and a very different class, pause with heavier loads than they,
1803
1804remembering to have heard or read in old time that drowning was not a
1805
1806hard death, but of all means of suicide the easiest and best.<br><br>
1807
1808Covent Garden Market at sunrise too, in the spring or summer, when the
1809
1810fragrance of sweet flowers is in the air, over-powering even the
1811
1812unwholesome streams of last night's debauchery, and driving the dusky
1813
1814thrush, whose cage has hung outside a garret window all night long,
1815
1816half mad with joy! Poor bird! the only neighbouring thing at all akin
1817
1818to the other little captives, some of whom, shrinking from the hot
1819
1820hands of drunken purchasers, lie drooping on the path already, while
1821
1822others, soddened by close contact, await the time when they shall be
1823
1824watered and freshened up to please more sober company, and make old
1825
1826clerks who pass them on their road to business, wonder what has filled
1827
1828their breasts with visions of the country.<br><br>
1829
1830But my present purpose is not to expatiate upon my walks. The story I
1831
1832am about to relate, and to which I shall recur at intervals,  arose out
1833
1834of one of these rambles; and thus I have been led to speak of them by
1835
1836way of preface.<br><br>
1837
1838One night I had roamed into the City, and was walking slowly on in my
1839
1840usual way, musing upon a great many things, when I was arrested by an
1841
1842inquiry, the purport of which did not reach me, but which seemed to be
1843
1844addressed to myself, and was preferred in a soft sweet voice that
1845
1846struck me very pleasantly. I turned hastily round and found at my elbow
1847
1848a pretty little girl, who begged to be directed to a certain street at
1849
1850a considerable distance, and indeed in quite another quarter of the
1851
1852town.<br><br>
1853
1854It is a very long way from here,' said I, 'my child.'<br><br>
1855
1856'I know that, sir,' she replied timidly. 'I am afraid it is a very long
1857
1858way, for I came from there to-night.'<br><br>
1859
1860'Alone?' said I, in some surprise.<br><br>
1861
1862'Oh, yes, I don't mind that, but I am a little frightened now, for I
1863
1864had lost my road.'<br><br>
1865
1866'And what made you ask it of me? Suppose I should tell you wrong?'<br><br>
1867
1868'I am sure you will not do that,' said the little creature,' you are
1869
1870such a very old gentleman, and walk so slow yourself.'<br><br>
1871
1872I cannot describe how much I was impressed by this appeal and the
1873
1874energy with which it was made, which brought a tear into the child's
1875
1876clear eye, and made her slight figure tremble as she looked up into my
1877
1878face.<br><br>
1879
1880'Come,' said I, 'I'll take you there.'<br><br>
1881
1882She put her hand in mine as confidingly as if she had known me from her
1883
1884cradle, and we trudged away together; the little creature accommodating
1885
1886her pace to mine, and rather seeming to lead and take care of me than I
1887
1888to be protecting her. I observed that every now and then she stole a
1889
1890curious look at my face, as if to make quite sure that I was not
1891
1892deceiving her, and that these glances (very sharp and keen they were
1893
1894too) seemed to increase her confidence at every repetition.<br><br>
1895
1896For my part, my curiosity and interest were at least equal to the
1897
1898child's, for child she certainly was, although I thought it probably
1899
1900from what I could make out, that her very small and delicate frame
1901
1902imparted a peculiar youthfulness to her appearance. Though more
1903
1904scantily attired than she might have been she was dressed with perfect
1905
1906neatness, and betrayed no marks of poverty or neglect.<br><br>
1907
1908'Who has sent you so far by yourself?' said I.<br><br>
1909
1910'Someone who is very kind to me, sir.'<br><br>
1911
1912'And what have you been doing?'<br><br>
1913
1914'That, I must not tell,' said the child firmly.<br><br>
1915
1916There was something in the manner of this reply which caused me to look
1917
1918at the little creature with an involuntary expression of surprise; for
1919
1920I wondered what kind of errand it might be that occasioned her to be
1921
1922prepared for questioning. Her quick eye seemed to read my thoughts, for
1923
1924as it met mine she added that there was no harm in what she had been
1925
1926doing, but it was a great secret--a secret which she did not even know
1927
1928herself.<br><br>
1929
1930This was said with no appearance of cunning or deceit, but with an
1931
1932unsuspicious frankness that bore the impress of truth. She walked on as
1933
1934before, growing more familiar with me as we proceeded and talking
1935
1936cheerfully by the way, but she said no more about her home, beyond
1937
1938remarking that we were going quite a new road and asking if it were a
1939
1940short one.<br><br>
1941
1942While we were thus engaged, I revolved in my mind a hundred different
1943
1944explanations of the riddle and rejected them every one. I really felt
1945
1946ashamed to take advantage of the ingenuousness or grateful feeling of
1947
1948the child for the purpose of gratifying my curiosity. I love these
1949
1950little people; and it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh
1951
1952from God, love us. As I had felt pleased at first by her confidence I
1953
1954determined to deserve it, and to do credit to the nature which had
1955
1956prompted her to repose it in me.<br><br>
1957
1958There was no reason, however, why I should refrain from seeing the
1959
1960person who had inconsiderately sent her to so great a distance by night
1961
1962and alone, and as it was not improbable that if she found herself near
1963
1964home she might take farewell of me and deprive me of the opportunity, I
1965
1966avoided the most frequented ways and took the most intricate, and thus
1967
1968it was not until we arrived in the street itself that she knew where we
1969
1970were. Clapping her hands with pleasure and running on before me for a
1971
1972short distance, my little acquaintance stopped at a door and remaining
1973
1974on the step till I came up knocked at it when I joined her.<br><br>
1975
1976A part of this door was of glass unprotected by any shutter, which I
1977
1978did not observe at first, for all was very dark and silent within, and
1979
1980I was anxious (as indeed the child was also) for an answer to our
1981
1982summons. When she had knocked twice or thrice there was a noise as if
1983
1984some person were moving inside, and at length a faint light appeared
1985
1986through the glass which, as it approached very slowly, the bearer
1987
1988having to make his way through a great many scattered articles, enabled
1989
1990me to see both what kind of person it was who advanced and what kind of
1991
1992place it was through which he came.<br><br>
1993
1994It was an old man with long grey hair, whose face and figure as he held
1995
1996the light above his head and looked before him as he approached, I
1997
1998could plainly see. Though much altered by age, I fancied I could
1999
2000recognize in his spare and slender form something of that delicate
2001
2002mould which I had noticed in the child. Their bright blue eyes were
2003
2004certainly alike, but his face was so deeply furrowed and so very full
2005
2006of care, that here all resemblance ceased.<br><br>
2007
2008The place through which he made his way at leisure was one of those
2009
2010receptacles for old and curious things which seem to crouch in odd
2011
2012corners of this town and to hide their musty treasures from the public
2013
2014eye in jealousy and distrust. There were suits of mail standing like
2015
2016ghosts in armour here and there, fantastic carvings brought from
2017
2018monkish cloisters, rusty weapons of various kinds, distorted figures in
2019
2020china and wood and iron and ivory: tapestry and strange furniture that
2021
2022might have been designed in dreams. The haggard aspect of the little
2023
2024old man was wonderfully suited to the place; he might have groped among
2025
2026old churches and tombs and deserted houses and gathered all the spoils
2027
2028with his own hands. There was nothing in the whole collection but was
2029
2030in keeping with himself nothing that looked older or more worn than he.<br><br>
2031
2032As he turned the key in the lock, he surveyed me with some astonishment
2033
2034which was not diminished when he looked from me to my companion. The
2035
2036door being opened, the child addressed him as grandfather, and told him
2037
2038the little story of our companionship.<br><br>
2039
2040'Why, bless thee, child,' said the old man, patting her on the head,
2041
2042'how couldst thou miss thy way? What if I had lost thee, Nell!'<br><br>
2043
2044'I would have found my way back to YOU, grandfather,' said the child
2045
2046boldly; 'never fear.'<br><br>
2047
2048The old man kissed her, then turning to me and begging me to walk in, I
2049
2050did so. The door was closed and locked. Preceding me with the light, he
2051
2052led me through the place I had already seen from without, into a small
2053
2054sitting-room behind, in which was another door opening into a kind of
2055
2056closet, where I saw a little bed that a fairy might have slept in, it
2057
2058looked so very small and was so prettily arranged. The child took a
2059
2060candle and tripped into this little room, leaving the old man and me
2061
2062together.<br><br>
2063
2064'You must be tired, sir,' said he as he placed a chair near the fire,
2065
2066'how can I thank you?'<br><br>
2067
2068'By taking more care of your grandchild another time, my good friend,'
2069
2070I replied.<br><br>
2071
2072'More care!' said the old man in a shrill voice, 'more care of Nelly!
2073
2074Why, who ever loved a child as I love Nell?'<br><br>
2075
2076He said this with such evident surprise that I was perplexed what
2077
2078answer to make, and the more so because coupled with something feeble
2079
2080and wandering in his manner, there were in his face marks of deep and
2081
2082anxious thought which convinced me that he could not be, as I had been
2083
2084at first inclined to suppose, in a state of dotage or imbecility.<br><br>
2085
2086'I don't think you consider--' I began.<br><br>
2087
2088'I don't consider!' cried the old man interrupting me, 'I don't
2089
2090consider her! Ah, how little you know of the truth! Little Nelly,
2091
2092little Nelly!'<br><br>
2093
2094It would be impossible for any man, I care not what his form of speech
2095
2096might be, to express more affection than the dealer in curiosities did,
2097
2098in these four words. I waited for him to speak again, but he rested his
2099
2100chin upon his hand and shaking his head twice or thrice fixed his eyes
2101
2102upon the fire.<br><br>
2103
2104While we were sitting thus in silence, the door of the closet opened,
2105
2106and the child returned, her light brown hair hanging loose about her
2107
2108neck, and her face flushed with the haste she had made to rejoin us.
2109
2110She busied herself immediately in preparing supper, and while she was
2111
2112thus engaged I remarked that the old man took an opportunity of
2113
2114observing me more closely than he had done yet. I was surprised to see
2115
2116that all this time everything was done by the child, and that there
2117
2118appeared to be no other persons but ourselves in the house. I took
2119
2120advantage of a moment when she was absent to venture a hint on this
2121
2122point, to which the old man replied that there were few grown persons
2123
2124as trustworthy or as careful as she.<br><br>
2125
2126'It always grieves me,' I observed, roused by what I took to be his
2127
2128selfishness, 'it always grieves me to contemplate the initiation of
2129
2130children into the ways of life, when they are scarcely more than
2131
2132infants. It checks their confidence and simplicity--two of the best
2133
2134qualities that Heaven gives them--and demands that they share our
2135
2136sorrows before they are capable of entering into our enjoyments.'<br><br>
2137
2138'It will never check hers,' said the old man looking steadily at me,
2139
2140'the springs are too deep. Besides, the children of the poor know but
2141
2142few pleasures. Even the cheap delights of childhood must be bought and
2143
2144paid for.<br><br>
2145
2146'But--forgive me for saying this--you are surely not so very
2147
2148poor'--said I.<br><br>
2149
2150'She is not my child, sir,' returned the old man. 'Her mother was, and
2151
2152she was poor. I save nothing--not a penny--though I live as you see,
2153
2154but'--he laid his hand upon my arm and leant forward to whisper--'she
2155
2156shall be rich one of these days, and a fine lady. Don't you think ill
2157
2158of me because I use her help. She gives it cheerfully as you see, and
2159
2160it would break her heart if she knew that I suffered anybody else to do
2161
2162for me what her little hands could undertake. I don't consider!'--he
2163
2164cried with sudden querulousness, 'why, God knows that this one child is
2165
2166the thought and object of my life, and yet he never prospers me--no,
2167
2168never!'<br><br>
2169
2170At this juncture, the subject of our conversation again returned, and
2171
2172the old man motioning to me to approach the table, broke off, and said
2173
2174no more.<br><br>
2175
2176We had scarcely begun our repast when there was a knock at the door by
2177
2178which I had entered, and Nell bursting into a hearty laugh, which I was
2179
2180rejoiced to hear, for it was childlike and full of hilarity, said it
2181
2182was no doubt dear old Kit coming back at last.<br><br>
2183
2184'Foolish Nell!' said the old man fondling with her hair. 'She always
2185
2186laughs at poor Kit.'<br><br>
2187
2188The child laughed again more heartily than before, and I could not help
2189
2190smiling from pure sympathy. The little old man took up a candle and
2191
2192went to open the door. When he came back, Kit was at his heels.<br><br>
2193
2194Kit was a shock-headed, shambling, awkward lad with an uncommonly wide
2195
2196mouth, very red cheeks, a turned-up nose, and certainly the most
2197
2198comical expression of face I ever saw. He stopped short at the door on
2199
2200seeing a stranger, twirled in his hand a perfectly round old hat
2201
2202without any vestige of a brim, and resting himself now on one leg and
2203
2204now on the other and changing them constantly, stood in the doorway,
2205
2206looking into the parlour with the most extraordinary leer I ever
2207
2208beheld. I entertained a grateful feeling towards the boy from that
2209
2210minute, for I felt that he was the comedy of the child's life.<br><br>
2211
2212'A long way, wasn't it, Kit?' said the little old man.<br><br>
2213
2214'Why, then, it was a goodish stretch, master,' returned Kit.<br><br>
2215
2216'Of course you have come back hungry?'<br><br>
2217
2218'Why, then, I do consider myself rather so, master,' was the answer.<br><br>
2219
2220The lad had a remarkable manner of standing sideways as he spoke, and
2221
2222thrusting his head forward over his shoulder, as if he could not get at
2223
2224his voice without that accompanying action. I think he would have
2225
2226amused one anywhere, but the child's exquisite enjoyment of his oddity,
2227
2228and the relief it was to find that there was something she associated
2229
2230with merriment in a place that appeared so unsuited to her, were quite
2231
2232irresistible. It was a great point too that Kit himself was flattered
2233
2234by the sensation he created, and after several efforts to preserve his
2235
2236gravity, burst into a loud roar, and so stood with his mouth wide open
2237
2238and his eyes nearly shut, laughing violently.<br><br>
2239
2240The old man had again relapsed into his former abstraction and took no
2241
2242notice of what passed, but I remarked that when her laugh was over, the
2243
2244child's bright eyes were dimmed with tears, called forth by the
2245
2246fullness of heart with which she welcomed her uncouth favourite after
2247
2248the little anxiety of the night. As for Kit himself (whose laugh had
2249
2250been all the time one of that sort which very little would change into
2251
2252a cry) he carried a large slice of bread and meat and a mug of beer
2253
2254into a corner, and applied himself to disposing of them with great
2255
2256voracity.<br><br>
2257
2258'Ah!' said the old man turning to me with a sigh, as if I had spoken to
2259
2260him but that moment, 'you don't know what you say when you tell me that
2261
2262I don't consider her.'<br><br>
2263
2264'You must not attach too great weight to a remark founded on first
2265
2266appearances, my friend,' said I.<br><br>
2267
2268'No,' returned the old man thoughtfully, 'no. Come hither, Nell.'<br><br>
2269
2270The little girl hastened from her seat, and put her arm about his neck.<br><br>
2271
2272'Do I love thee, Nell?' said he. 'Say--do I love thee, Nell, or no?'<br><br>
2273
2274The child only answered by her caresses, and laid her head upon his
2275
2276breast.<br><br>
2277
2278'Why dost thou sob?' said the grandfather, pressing her closer to him
2279
2280and glancing towards me. 'Is it because thou know'st I love thee, and
2281
2282dost not like that I should seem to doubt it by my question? Well,
2283
2284well--then let us say I love thee dearly.'<br><br>
2285
2286'Indeed, indeed you do,' replied the child with great earnestness, 'Kit
2287
2288knows you do.'<br><br>
2289
2290Kit, who in despatching his bread and meat had been swallowing
2291
2292two-thirds of his knife at every mouthful with the coolness of a
2293
2294juggler, stopped short in his operations on being thus appealed to, and
2295
2296bawled 'Nobody isn't such a fool as to say he doosn't,' after which he
2297
2298incapacitated himself for further conversation by taking a most
2299
2300prodigious sandwich at one bite.<br><br>
2301
2302'She is poor now'--said the old man, patting the child's cheek, 'but I
2303
2304say again that the time is coming when she shall be rich. It has been a
2305
2306long time coming, but it must come at last; a very long time, but it
2307
2308surely must come. It has come to other men who do nothing but waste and
2309
2310riot. When WILL it come to me!'<br><br>
2311
2312'I am very happy as I am, grandfather,' said the child.<br><br>
2313
2314'Tush, tush!' returned the old man, 'thou dost not know--how should'st
2315
2316thou!' then he muttered again between his teeth, 'The time must come, I
2317
2318am very sure it must. It will be all the better for coming late'; and
2319
2320then he sighed and fell into his former musing state, and still holding
2321
2322the child between his knees appeared to be insensible to everything
2323
2324around him. By this time it wanted but a few minutes of midnight and I
2325
2326rose to go, which recalled him to himself.<br><br>
2327
2328'One moment, sir,' he said, 'Now, Kit--near midnight, boy, and you
2329
2330still here! Get home, get home, and be true to your time in the
2331
2332morning, for there's work to do. Good night! There, bid him good night,
2333
2334Nell, and let him be gone!'<br><br>
2335
2336'Good night, Kit,' said the child, her eyes lighting up with merriment
2337
2338and kindness.'<br><br>
2339
2340'Good night, Miss Nell,' returned the boy.<br><br>
2341
2342'And thank this gentleman,' interposed the old man, 'but for whose care
2343
2344I might have lost my little girl to-night.'<br><br>
2345
2346'No, no, master,' said Kit, 'that won't do, that won't.'<br><br>
2347
2348'What do you mean?' cried the old man.<br><br>
2349
2350'I'd have found her, master,' said Kit, 'I'd have found her. I'll bet
2351
2352that I'd find her if she was above ground, I would, as quick as
2353
2354anybody, master. Ha, ha, ha!'<br><br>
2355
2356Once more opening his mouth and shutting his eyes, and laughing like a
2357
2358stentor, Kit gradually backed to the door, and roared himself out.<br><br>
2359
2360Free of the room, the boy was not slow in taking his departure; when he
2361
2362had gone, and the child was occupied in clearing the table, the old man
2363
2364said:<br><br>
2365
2366'I haven't seemed to thank you, sir, for what you have done to-night,
2367
2368but I do thank you humbly and heartily, and so does she, and her thanks
2369
2370are better worth than mine. I should be sorry that you went away, and
2371
2372thought I was unmindful of your goodness, or careless of her--I am not
2373
2374indeed.'<br><br>
2375
2376I was sure of that, I said, from what I had seen. 'But,' I added, 'may
2377
2378I ask you a question?'<br><br>
2379
2380'Ay, sir,' replied the old man, 'What is it?'<br><br>
2381
2382'This delicate child,' said I, 'with so much beauty and
2383
2384intelligence--has she nobody to care for her but you? Has she no other
2385
2386companion or advisor?'<br><br>
2387
2388'No,' he returned, looking anxiously in my face, 'no, and she wants no
2389
2390other.'<br><br>
2391
2392'But are you not fearful,' said I, 'that you may misunderstand a charge
2393
2394so tender? I am sure you mean well, but are you quite certain that you
2395
2396know how to execute such a trust as this? I am an old man, like you,
2397
2398and I am actuated by an old man's concern in all that is young and
2399
2400promising. Do you not think that what I have seen of you and this
2401
2402little creature to-night must have an interest not wholly free from
2403
2404pain?'<br><br>
2405
2406'Sir,' rejoined the old man after a moment's silence.' I have no right
2407
2408to feel hurt at what you say. It is true that in many respects I am the
2409
2410child, and she the grown person--that you have seen already. But waking
2411
2412or sleeping, by night or day, in sickness or health, she is the one
2413
2414object of my care, and if you knew of how much care, you would look on
2415
2416me with different eyes, you would indeed. Ah! It's a weary life for an
2417
2418old man--a weary, weary life--but there is a great end to gain and that
2419
2420I keep before me.'<br><br>
2421
2422Seeing that he was in a state of excitement and impatience, I turned to
2423
2424put on an outer coat which I had thrown off on entering the room,
2425
2426purposing to say no more. I was surprised to see the child standing
2427
2428patiently by with a cloak upon her arm, and in her hand a hat, and
2429
2430stick.<br><br>
2431
2432'Those are not mine, my dear,' said I.<br><br>
2433
2434'No,' returned the child, 'they are grandfather's.'<br><br>
2435
2436'But he is not going out to-night.'<br><br>
2437
2438'Oh, yes, he is,' said the child, with a smile.<br><br>
2439
2440'And what becomes of you, my pretty one?'<br><br>
2441
2442'Me! I stay here of course. I always do.'<br><br>
2443
2444I looked in astonishment towards the old man, but he was, or feigned to
2445
2446be, busied in the arrangement of his dress. From him I looked back to
2447
2448the slight gentle figure of the child. Alone! In that gloomy place all
2449
2450the long, dreary night.<br><br>
2451
2452She evinced no consciousness of my surprise, but cheerfully helped the
2453
2454old man with his cloak, and when he was ready took a candle to light us
2455
2456out. Finding that we did not follow as she expected, she looked back
2457
2458with a smile and waited for us.  The old man showed by his face that he
2459
2460plainly understood the cause of my hesitation, but he merely signed to
2461
2462me with an inclination of the head to pass out of the room before him,
2463
2464and remained silent. I had no resource but to comply.<br><br>
2465
2466When we reached the door, the child setting down the candle, turned to
2467
2468say good night and raised her face to kiss me. Then she ran to the old
2469
2470man, who folded her in his arms and bade God bless her.<br><br>
2471
2472'Sleep soundly, Nell,' he said in a low voice, 'and angels guard thy
2473
2474bed! Do not forget thy prayers, my sweet.'<br><br>
2475
2476'No, indeed,' answered the child fervently, 'they make me feel so
2477
2478happy!'<br><br>
2479
2480'That's well; I know they do; they should,' said the old man. 'Bless
2481
2482thee a hundred times! Early in the morning I shall be home.'<br><br>
2483
2484'You'll not ring twice,' returned the child. 'The bell wakes me, even
2485
2486in the middle of a dream.'<br><br>
2487
2488With this, they separated. The child opened the door (now guarded by a
2489
2490shutter which I had heard the boy put up before he left the house) and
2491
2492with another farewell whose clear and tender note I have recalled a
2493
2494thousand times, held it until we had passed out. The old man paused a
2495
2496moment while it was gently closed and fastened on the inside, and
2497
2498satisfied that this was done, walked on at a slow pace. At the
2499
2500street-corner he stopped, and regarding me with a troubled countenance
2501
2502said that our ways were widely different and that he must take his
2503
2504leave. I would have spoken, but summoning up more alacrity than might
2505
2506have been expected in one of his appearance, he hurried away. I could
2507
2508see that twice or thrice he looked back as if to ascertain if I were
2509
2510still watching him, or perhaps to assure himself that I was not
2511
2512following at a distance. The obscurity of the night favoured his
2513
2514disappearance, and his figure was soon beyond my sight.<br><br>
2515
2516I remained standing on the spot where he had left me, unwilling to
2517
2518depart, and yet unknowing why I should loiter there. I looked wistfully
2519
2520into the street we had lately quitted, and after a time directed my
2521
2522steps that way. I passed and repassed the house, and stopped and
2523
2524listened at the door; all was dark, and silent as the grave.<br><br>
2525
2526Yet I lingered about, and could not tear myself away, thinking of all
2527
2528possible harm that might happen to the child--of fires and robberies
2529
2530and even murder--and feeling as if some evil must ensue if I turned my
2531
2532back upon the place. The closing of a door or window in the street
2533
2534brought me before the curiosity-dealer's once more; I crossed the road
2535
2536and looked up at the house to assure myself that the noise had not come
2537
2538from there. No, it was black, cold, and lifeless as before.<br><br>
2539
2540There were few passengers astir; the street was sad and dismal, and
2541
2542pretty well my own. A few stragglers from the theatres hurried by, and
2543
2544now and then I turned aside to avoid some noisy drunkard as he reeled
2545
2546homewards, but these interruptions were not frequent and soon ceased.
2547
2548The clocks struck one. Still I paced up and down, promising myself that
2549
2550every time should be the last, and breaking faith with myself on some
2551
2552new plea as often as I did so.<br><br>
2553
2554The more I thought of what the old man had said, and of his looks and
2555
2556bearing, the less I could account for what I had seen and heard. I had
2557
2558a strong misgiving that his nightly absence was for no good purpose. I
2559
2560had only come to know the fact through the innocence of the child, and
2561
2562though the old man was by at the time, and saw my undisguised surprise,
2563
2564he had preserved a strange mystery upon the subject and offered no word
2565
2566of explanation. These reflections naturally recalled again more
2567
2568strongly than before his haggard face, his wandering manner, his
2569
2570restless anxious looks. His affection for the child might not be
2571
2572inconsistent with villany of the worst kind; even that very affection
2573
2574was in itself an extraordinary contradiction, or how could he leave her
2575
2576thus? Disposed as I was to think badly of him, I never doubted that his
2577
2578love for her was real. I could not admit the thought, remembering what
2579
2580had passed between us, and the tone of voice in which he had called her
2581
2582by her name.<br><br>
2583
2584'Stay here of course,' the child had said in answer to my question, 'I
2585
2586always do!' What could take him from home by night, and every night! I
2587
2588called up all the strange tales I had ever heard of dark and secret
2589
2590deeds committed in great towns and escaping detection for a long series
2591
2592of years; wild as many of these stories were, I could not find one
2593
2594adapted to this mystery, which only became the more impenetrable, in
2595
2596proportion as I sought to solve it.<br><br>
2597
2598Occupied with such thoughts as these, and a crowd of others all tending
2599
2600to the same point, I continued to pace the street for two long hours;
2601
2602at length the rain began to descend heavily, and then over-powered by
2603
2604fatigue though no less interested than I had been at first, I engaged
2605
2606the nearest coach and so got home. A cheerful fire was blazing on the
2607
2608hearth, the lamp burnt brightly, my clock received me with its old
2609
2610familiar welcome; everything was quiet, warm and cheering, and in happy
2611
2612contrast to the gloom and darkness I had quitted.<br><br>
2613
2614But all that night, waking or in my sleep, the same thoughts recurred
2615
2616and the same images retained possession of my brain. I had ever before
2617
2618me the old dark murky rooms--the gaunt suits of mail with their ghostly
2619
2620silent air--the faces all awry, grinning from wood and stone--the dust
2621
2622and rust and worm that lives in wood--and alone in the midst of all
2623
2624this lumber and decay and ugly age, the beautiful child in her gentle
2625
2626slumber, smiling through her light and sunny dreams.<br><br>
2627
2628CHAPTER 2<br><br>
2629
2630After combating, for nearly a week, the feeling which impelled me to
2631
2632revisit the place I had quitted under the circumstances already
2633
2634detailed, I yielded to it at length; and determining that this time I
2635
2636would present myself by the light of day, bent my steps thither early
2637
2638in the morning.<br><br>
2639
2640I walked past the house, and took several turns in the street, with
2641
2642that kind of hesitation which is natural to a man who is conscious that
2643
2644the visit he is about to pay is unexpected, and may not be very
2645
2646acceptable. However, as the door of the shop was shut, and it did not
2647
2648appear likely that I should be recognized by those within, if I
2649
2650continued merely to pass up and down before it, I soon conquered this
2651
2652irresolution, and found myself in the Curiosity Dealer's warehouse.<br><br>
2653
2654The old man and another person were together in the back part, and
2655
2656there seemed to have been high words between them, for their voices
2657
2658which were raised to a very high pitch suddenly stopped on my entering,
2659
2660and the old man advancing hastily towards me, said in a tremulous tone
2661
2662that he was very glad I had come.<br><br>
2663
2664'You interrupted us at a critical moment,' said he, pointing to the man
2665
2666whom I had found in company with him; 'this fellow will murder me one
2667
2668of these days. He would have done so, long ago, if he had dared.'<br><br>
2669
2670'Bah! You would swear away my life if you could,' returned the other,
2671
2672after bestowing a stare and a frown on me; 'we all know that!'<br><br>
2673
2674'I almost think I could,' cried the old man, turning feebly upon him.
2675
2676'If oaths, or prayers, or words, could rid me of you, they should. I
2677
2678would be quit of you, and would be relieved if you were dead.'<br><br>
2679
2680'I know it,' returned the other. 'I said so, didn't I? But neither
2681
2682oaths, or prayers, nor words, WILL kill me, and therefore I live, and
2683
2684mean to live.'<br><br>
2685
2686'And his mother died!' cried the old man, passionately clasping his
2687
2688hands and looking upward; 'and this is Heaven's justice!'<br><br>
2689
2690The other stood lunging with his foot upon a chair, and regarded him
2691
2692with a contemptuous sneer. He was a young man of one-and-twenty or
2693
2694thereabouts; well made, and certainly handsome, though the expression
2695
2696of his face was far from prepossessing, having in common with his
2697
2698manner and even his dress, a dissipated, insolent air which repelled
2699
2700one.<br><br>
2701
2702'Justice or no justice,' said the young fellow, 'here I am and here I
2703
2704shall stop till such time as I think fit to go, unless you send for
2705
2706assistance to put me out--which you won't do, I know. I tell you again
2707
2708that I want to see my sister.'<br><br>
2709
2710'YOUR sister!' said the old man bitterly.<br><br>
2711
2712'Ah! You can't change the relationship,' returned the other. 'If you
2713
2714could, you'd have done it long ago. I want to see my sister, that you
2715
2716keep cooped up here, poisoning her mind with your sly secrets and
2717
2718pretending an affection for her that you may work her to death, and add
2719
2720a few scraped shillings every week to the money you can hardly count. I
2721
2722want to see her; and I will.'<br><br>
2723
2724'Here's a moralist to talk of poisoned minds! Here's a generous spirit
2725
2726to scorn scraped-up shillings!' cried the old man, turning from him to
2727
2728me. 'A profligate, sir, who has forfeited every claim not only upon
2729
2730those who have the misfortune to be of his blood, but upon society
2731
2732which knows nothing of him but his misdeeds. A liar too,' he added, in
2733
2734a lower voice as he drew closer to me, 'who knows how dear she is to
2735
2736me, and seeks to wound me even there, because there is a stranger
2737
2738nearby.'<br><br>
2739
2740'Strangers are nothing to me, grandfather,' said the young fellow
2741
2742catching at the word, 'nor I to them, I hope. The best they can do, is
2743
2744to keep an eye to their business and leave me to mind. There's a friend
2745
2746of mine waiting outside, and as it seems that I may have to wait some
2747
2748time, I'll call him in, with your leave.'<br><br>
2749
2750Saying this, he stepped to the door, and looking down the street
2751
2752beckoned several times to some unseen person, who, to judge from the
2753
2754air of impatience with which these signals were accompanied, required a
2755
2756great quantity of persuasion to induce him to advance. At length there
2757
2758sauntered up, on the opposite side of the way--with a bad pretense of
2759
2760passing by accident--a figure conspicuous for its dirty smartness,
2761
2762which after a great many frowns and jerks of the head, in resistance of
2763
2764the invitation, ultimately crossed the road and was brought into the
2765
2766shop.<br><br>
2767
2768'There. It's Dick Swiveller,' said the young fellow, pushing him in.
2769
2770'Sit down, Swiveller.'<br><br>
2771
2772'But is the old min agreeable?' said Mr Swiveller in an undertone.<br><br>
2773
2774Mr Swiveller complied, and looking about him with a propitiatory smile,
2775
2776observed that last week was a fine week for the ducks, and this week
2777
2778was a fine week for the dust; he also observed that whilst standing by
2779
2780the post at the street-corner, he had observed a pig with a straw in
2781
2782his mouth issuing out of the tobacco-shop, from which appearance he
2783
2784augured that another fine week for the ducks was approaching, and that
2785
2786rain would certainly ensue. He furthermore took occasion to apologize
2787
2788for any negligence that might be perceptible in his dress, on the
2789
2790ground that last night he had had 'the sun very strong in his eyes'; by
2791
2792which expression he was understood to convey to his hearers in the most
2793
2794delicate manner possible, the information that he had been extremely
2795
2796drunk.<br><br>
2797
2798'But what,' said Mr Swiveller with a sigh, 'what is the odds so long as
2799
2800the fire of soul is kindled at the taper of conwiviality, and the wing
2801
2802of friendship never moults a feather! What is the odds so long as the
2803
2804spirit is expanded by means of rosy wine, and the present moment is the
2805
2806least happiest of our existence!'<br><br>
2807
2808'You needn't act the chairman here,' said his friend, half aside.<br><br>
2809
2810'Fred!' cried Mr Swiveller, tapping his nose, 'a word to the wise is
2811
2812sufficient for them--we may be good and happy without riches, Fred.
2813
2814Say not another syllable. I know my cue; smart is the word. Only one
2815
2816little whisper, Fred--is the old min friendly?'<br><br>
2817
2818'Never you mind,' replied his friend.<br><br>
2819
2820'Right again, quite right,' said Mr Swiveller, 'caution is the word,
2821
2822and caution is the act.' with that, he winked as if in preservation of
2823
2824some deep secret, and folding his arms and leaning back in his chair,
2825
2826looked up at the ceiling with profound gravity.<br><br>
2827
2828It was perhaps not very unreasonable to suspect from what had already
2829
2830passed, that Mr Swiveller was not quite recovered from the effects of
2831
2832the powerful sunlight to which he had made allusion; but if no such
2833
2834suspicion had been awakened by his speech, his wiry hair, dull eyes,
2835
2836and sallow face would still have been strong witnesses against him. His
2837
2838attire was not, as he had himself hinted, remarkable for the  nicest
2839
2840arrangement, but was in a state of disorder which strongly induced the
2841
2842idea that he had gone to bed in it. It consisted of a brown body-coat
2843
2844with a great many brass buttons up the front and only one behind, a
2845
2846bright check neckerchief, a plaid waistcoat, soiled white trousers, and
2847
2848a very limp hat, worn with the wrong side foremost, to hide a hole in
2849
2850the brim. The breast of his coat was ornamented with an outside pocket
2851
2852from which there peeped forth the cleanest end of a very large and very
2853
2854ill-favoured handkerchief; his dirty wristbands were pulled on as far
2855
2856as possible and ostentatiously folded back over his cuffs; he displayed
2857
2858no gloves, and carried a yellow cane having at the top a bone hand with
2859
2860the semblance of a ring on its little finger and a black ball in its
2861
2862grasp. With all these personal advantages (to which may be added a
2863
2864strong savour of tobacco-smoke, and a prevailing greasiness of
2865
2866appearance) Mr Swiveller leant back in his chair with his eyes fixed on
2867
2868the ceiling, and occasionally pitching his voice to the needful key,
2869
2870obliged the company with a few bars of an intensely dismal air, and
2871
2872then, in the middle of a note, relapsed into his former silence.<br><br>
2873
2874The old man sat himself down in a chair, and with folded hands, looked
2875
2876sometimes at his grandson and sometimes at his strange companion, as if
2877
2878he were utterly powerless and had no resource but to leave them to do
2879
2880as they pleased. The young man reclined against a table at no great
2881
2882distance from his friend, in apparent indifference to everything that
2883
2884had passed; and I--who felt the difficulty of any interference,
2885
2886notwithstanding that the old man had appealed to me, both by words and
2887
2888looks--made the best feint I could of being occupied in examining some
2889
2890of the goods that were disposed for sale, and paying very little
2891
2892attention to a person before me.<br><br>
2893
2894The silence was not of long duration, for Mr Swiveller, after favouring
2895
2896us with several melodious assurances that his heart was in the
2897
2898Highlands, and that he wanted but his Arab steed as a preliminary to
2899
2900the achievement of great feats of valour and loyalty, removed his eyes
2901
2902from the ceiling and subsided into prose again.<br><br>
2903
2904'Fred,' said Mr Swiveller stopping short, as if the idea had suddenly
2905
2906occurred to him, and speaking in the same audible whisper as before,
2907
2908'is the old min friendly?'<br><br>
2909
2910'What does it matter?' returned his friend peevishly.<br><br>
2911
2912'No, but IS he?' said Dick.<br><br>
2913
2914'Yes, of course. What do I care whether he is or not?'<br><br>
2915
2916Emboldened as it seemed by this reply to enter into a more general
2917
2918conversation, Mr Swiveller plainly laid himself out to captivate our
2919
2920attention.<br><br>
2921
2922He began by remarking that soda-water, though a good thing in the
2923
2924abstract, was apt to lie cold upon the stomach unless qualified with
2925
2926ginger, or a small infusion of brandy, which latter article he held to
2927
2928be preferable in all cases, saving for the one consideration of
2929
2930expense. Nobody venturing to dispute these positions, he proceeded to
2931
2932observe that the human hair was a great retainer of tobacco-smoke, and
2933
2934that the young gentlemen of Westminster and Eton, after eating vast
2935
2936quantities of apples to conceal any scent of cigars from their anxious
2937
2938friends, were usually detected in consequence of their heads possessing
2939
2940this remarkable property; when he concluded that if the Royal Society
2941
2942would turn their attention to the circumstance, and endeavour to find
2943
2944in the resources of science a means of preventing such untoward
2945
2946revelations, they might indeed be looked upon as benefactors to
2947
2948mankind. These opinions being equally incontrovertible with those he
2949
2950had already pronounced, he went on to inform us that Jamaica rum,
2951
2952though unquestionably an agreeable spirit of great richness and
2953
2954flavour, had the drawback of remaining constantly present to the taste
2955
2956next day; and nobody being venturous enough to argue this point either,
2957
2958he increased in confidence and became yet more companionable and
2959
2960communicative.<br><br>
2961
2962'It's a devil of a thing, gentlemen,' said Mr Swiveller, 'when
2963
2964relations fall out and disagree. If the wing of friendship should never
2965
2966moult a feather, the wing of relationship should never be clipped, but
2967
2968be always expanded and serene. Why should a grandson and grandfather
2969
2970peg away at each other with mutual wiolence when all might be bliss and
2971
2972concord. Why not jine hands and forgit it?'<br><br>
2973
2974'Hold your tongue,' said his friend.<br><br>
2975
2976'Sir,' replied Mr Swiveller, 'don't you interrupt the chair.
2977
2978Gentlemen, how does the case stand, upon the present occasion?  Here is
2979
2980a jolly old grandfather--I say it with the utmost respect--and here is
2981
2982a wild, young grandson. The jolly old grandfather says to the wild
2983
2984young grandson, 'I have brought you up and educated you, Fred; I have
2985
2986put you in the way of getting on in life; you have bolted a little out
2987
2988of course, as young fellows often do; and you shall never have another
2989
2990chance, nor the ghost of half a one.'  The wild young grandson makes
2991
2992answer to this and says, 'You're as rich as rich can be; you have been
2993
2994at no uncommon expense on my account, you're saving up piles of money
2995
2996for my little sister that lives with you in a secret, stealthy,
2997
2998hugger-muggering kind of way and with no manner of enjoyment--why can't
2999
3000you stand a trifle for your grown-up relation?' The jolly old
3001
3002grandfather unto this, retorts, not only that he declines to fork out
3003
3004with that cheerful readiness which is always so agreeable and pleasant
3005
3006in a gentleman of his time of life, but that he will bow up, and call
3007
3008names, and make reflections whenever they meet. Then the plain question
3009
3010is, an't it a pity that this state of things should continue, and how
3011
3012much better would it be for the gentleman to hand over a reasonable
3013
3014amount of tin, and make it all right and comfortable?'<br><br>
3015
3016Having delivered this oration with a great many waves and flourishes of
3017
3018the hand, Mr Swiveller abruptly thrust the head of his cane into his
3019
3020mouth as if to prevent himself from impairing the effect of his speech
3021
3022by adding one other word.<br><br>
3023
3024'Why do you hunt and persecute me, God help me!' said the old man
3025
3026turning to his grandson. 'Why do you bring your prolifigate companions
3027
3028here? How often am I to tell you that my life is one of care and
3029
3030self-denial, and that I am poor?'<br><br>
3031
3032'How often am I to tell you,' returned the other, looking coldly at
3033
3034him, 'that I know better?'<br><br>
3035
3036'You have chosen your own path,' said the old man. 'Follow it.  Leave
3037
3038Nell and me to toil and work.'<br><br>
3039
3040'Nell will be a woman soon,' returned the other, 'and, bred in your
3041
3042faith, she'll forget her brother unless he shows himself sometimes.'<br><br>
3043
3044'Take care,' said the old man with sparkling eyes, 'that she does not
3045
3046forget you when you would have her memory keenest. Take care that the
3047
3048day don't come when you walk barefoot in the streets, and she rides by
3049
3050in a gay carriage of her own.'<br><br>
3051
3052'You mean when she has your money?' retorted the other. 'How like a
3053
3054poor man he talks!'<br><br>
3055
3056'And yet,' said the old man dropping his voice and speaking like one
3057
3058who thinks aloud, 'how poor we are, and what a life it is! The cause is
3059
3060a young child's guiltless of all harm or wrong, but nothing goes well
3061
3062with it! Hope and patience, hope and patience!'<br><br>
3063
3064These words were uttered in too low a tone to reach the ears of the
3065
3066young men.  Mr Swiveller appeared to think that they implied some mental
3067
3068struggle consequent upon the powerful effect of his address, for he
3069
3070poked his friend with his cane and whispered his conviction that he had
3071
3072administered 'a clincher,' and that he expected a commission on the
3073
3074profits. Discovering his mistake after a while, he appeared to grow
3075
3076rather sleepy and discontented, and had more than once suggested the
3077
3078propriety of an immediate departure, when the door opened, and the
3079
3080child herself appeared.<br><br>
3081
3082CHAPTER 3<br><br>
3083
3084The child was closely followed by an elderly man of remarkably hard
3085
3086features and forbidding aspect, and so low in stature as to be quite a
3087
3088dwarf, though his head and face were large enough for the body of a
3089
3090giant. His black eyes were restless, sly, and cunning; his mouth and
3091
3092chin, bristly with the stubble of a coarse hard beard; and his
3093
3094complexion was one of that kind which never looks clean or wholesome.
3095
3096But what added most to the grotesque expression of his face was a
3097
3098ghastly smile, which, appearing to be the mere result of habit and to
3099
3100have no connection with any mirthful or complacent feeling, constantly
3101
3102revealed the few discoloured fangs that were yet scattered in his
3103
3104mouth, and gave him the aspect of a panting dog. His dress consisted of
3105
3106a large high-crowned hat, a worn dark suit, a pair of capacious shoes,
3107
3108and a dirty white neckerchief sufficiently limp and crumpled to
3109
3110disclose the greater portion of his wiry throat. Such hair as he had
3111
3112was of a grizzled black, cut short and straight upon his temples, and
3113
3114hanging in a frowzy fringe about his ears. His hands, which were of a
3115
3116rough, coarse grain, were very dirty; his fingernails were crooked,
3117
3118long, and yellow.<br><br>
3119
3120There was ample time to note these particulars, for besides that they
3121
3122were sufficiently obvious without very close observation, some moments
3123
3124elapsed before any one broke silence. The child advanced timidly
3125
3126towards her brother and put her hand in his, the dwarf (if we may call
3127
3128him so) glanced keenly at all present, and the curiosity-dealer, who
3129
3130plainly had not expected his uncouth visitor, seemed disconcerted and
3131
3132embarrassed.<br><br>
3133
3134'Ah!' said the dwarf, who with his hand stretched out above his eyes
3135
3136had been surveying the young man attentively, 'that should be your
3137
3138grandson, neighbour!'<br><br>
3139
3140'Say rather that he should not be,' replied the old man. 'But he is.'<br><br>
3141
3142'And that?' said the dwarf, pointing to Dick Swiveller.<br><br>
3143
3144'Some friend of his, as welcome here as he,' said the old man.<br><br>
3145
3146'And that?' inquired the dwarf, wheeling round and pointing straight at
3147
3148me.<br><br>
3149
3150'A gentleman who was so good as to bring Nell home the other night when
3151
3152she lost her way, coming from your house.'<br><br>
3153
3154The little man turned to the child as if to chide her or express his
3155
3156wonder, but as she was talking to the young man, held his peace, and
3157
3158bent his head to listen.<br><br>
3159
3160'Well, Nelly,' said the young fellow aloud. 'Do they teach you to hate
3161
3162me, eh?'<br><br>
3163
3164'No, no. For shame. Oh, no!' cried the child.<br><br>
3165
3166'To love me, perhaps?' pursued her brother with a sneer.<br><br>
3167
3168'To do neither,' she returned. 'They never speak to me about you.
3169
3170Indeed they never do.'<br><br>
3171
3172'I dare be bound for that,' he said, darting a bitter look at the
3173
3174grandfather. 'I dare be bound for that Nell. Oh! I believe you there!'<br><br>
3175
3176'But I love you dearly, Fred,' said the child.<br><br>
3177
3178'No doubt!'<br><br>
3179
3180'I do indeed, and always will,' the child repeated with great emotion,
3181
3182'but oh! If you would leave off vexing him and making him unhappy, then
3183
3184I could love you more.'<br><br>
3185
3186'I see!' said the young man, as he stooped carelessly over the child,
3187
3188and having kissed her, pushed her from him: 'There--get you away now
3189
3190you have said your lesson. You needn't whimper. We part good friends
3191
3192enough, if that's the matter.'<br><br>
3193
3194He remained silent, following her with his eyes, until she had gained
3195
3196her little room and closed the door; and then turning to the dwarf,
3197
3198said abruptly,<br><br>
3199
3200'Harkee, Mr--'<br><br>
3201
3202'Meaning me?' returned the dwarf. 'Quilp is my name. You might
3203
3204remember. It's not a long one--Daniel Quilp.'<br><br>
3205
3206'Harkee, Mr Quilp, then,' pursued the other, 'You have some influence
3207
3208with my grandfather there.'<br><br>
3209
3210'Some,' said Mr Quilp emphatically.<br><br>
3211
3212'And are in a few of his mysteries and secrets.'<br><br>
3213
3214'A few,' replied Quilp, with equal dryness.<br><br>
3215
3216'Then let me tell him once for all, through you, that I will come into
3217
3218and go out of this place as often as I like, so long as he keeps Nell
3219
3220here; and that if he wants to be quit of me, he must first be quit of
3221
3222her. What have I done to be made a bugbear of, and to be shunned and
3223
3224dreaded as if I brought the plague? He'll tell you that I have no
3225
3226natural affection; and that I care no more for Nell, for her own sake,
3227
3228than I do for him. Let him say so. I care for the whim, then, of coming
3229
3230to and fro and reminding her of my existence. I WILL see her when I
3231
3232please. That's my point. I came here to-day to maintain it, and I'll
3233
3234come here again fifty times with the same object and always with the
3235
3236same success. I said I would stop till I had gained it.  I have done
3237
3238so, and now my visit's ended. Come Dick.'<br><br>
3239
3240'Stop!' cried Mr Swiveller, as his companion turned toward the door.
3241
3242'Sir!'<br><br>
3243
3244'Sir, I am your humble servant,' said Mr Quilp, to whom the
3245
3246monosyllable was addressed.<br><br>
3247
3248'Before I leave the gay and festive scene, and halls of dazzling light,
3249
3250sir,' said Mr Swiveller, 'I will with your permission, attempt a slight
3251
3252remark. I came here, sir, this day, under the impression that the old
3253
3254min was friendly.'<br><br>
3255
3256'Proceed, sir,' said Daniel Quilp; for the orator had made a sudden
3257
3258stop.<br><br>
3259
3260'Inspired by this idea and the sentiments it awakened, sir, and feeling
3261
3262as a mutual friend that badgering, baiting, and bullying, was not the
3263
3264sort of thing calculated to expand the souls and promote the social
3265
3266harmony of the contending parties, I took upon myself to suggest a
3267
3268course which is THE course to be adopted to the present occasion.  Will
3269
3270you allow me to whisper half a syllable, sir?'<br><br>
3271
3272Without waiting for the permission he sought, Mr Swiveller stepped up
3273
3274to the dwarf, and leaning on his shoulder and stooping down to get at
3275
3276his ear, said in a voice which was perfectly audible to all present,<br><br>
3277
3278'The watch-word to the old min is--fork.'<br><br>
3279
3280'Is what?' demanded Quilp.<br><br>
3281
3282'Is fork, sir, fork,' replied Mr Swiveller slapping his picket. 'You
3283
3284are awake, sir?'<br><br>
3285
3286The dwarf nodded. Mr Swiveller drew back and nodded likewise, then drew
3287
3288a little further back and nodded again, and so on. By these means he in
3289
3290time reached the door, where he gave a great cough to attract the
3291
3292dwarf's attention and gain an opportunity of expressing in dumb show,
3293
3294the closest confidence and most inviolable secrecy.  Having performed
3295
3296the serious pantomime that was necessary for the due conveyance of
3297
3298these idea, he cast himself upon his friend's track, and vanished.<br><br>
3299
3300'Humph!' said the dwarf with a sour look and a shrug of his shoulders,
3301
3302'so much for dear relations. Thank God I acknowledge none! Nor need you
3303
3304either,' he added, turning to the old man, 'if you were not as weak as
3305
3306a reed, and nearly as senseless.'<br><br>
3307
3308'What would you have me do?' he retorted in a kind of helpless
3309
3310desperation. 'It is easy to talk and sneer. What would you have me do?'<br><br>
3311
3312'What would I do if I was in your case?' said the dwarf.<br><br>
3313
3314'Something violent, no doubt.'<br><br>
3315
3316'You're right there,' returned the little man, highly gratified by the
3317
3318compliment, for such he evidently considered it; and grinning like a
3319
3320devil as he rubbed his dirty hands together. 'Ask Mrs Quilp, pretty Mrs
3321
3322Quilp, obedient, timid, loving Mrs Quilp. But that reminds me--I have
3323
3324left her all alone, and she will be anxious and know not a moment's
3325
3326peace till I return. I know she's always in that condition when I'm
3327
3328away, thought she doesn't dare to say so, unless I lead her on and tell
3329
3330her she may speak freely and I won't be angry with her.  Oh!
3331
3332well-trained Mrs Quilp.<br><br>
3333
3334The creature appeared quite horrible with his monstrous head and little
3335
3336body, as he rubbed his hands slowly round, and round, and round
3337
3338again--with something fantastic even in his manner of performing this
3339
3340slight action--and, dropping his shaggy brows and cocking his chin in
3341
3342the air, glanced upward with a stealthy look of exultation that an imp
3343
3344might have copied and appropriated to himself.<br><br>
3345
3346'Here,' he said, putting his hand into his breast and sidling up to the
3347
3348old man as he spoke; 'I brought it myself for fear of accidents, as,
3349
3350being in gold, it was something large and heavy for Nell to carry in
3351
3352her bag. She need be accustomed to such loads betimes thought,
3353
3354neighbor, for she will carry weight when you are dead.'<br><br>
3355
3356'Heaven send she may! I hope so,' said the old man with something like
3357
3358a groan.'<br><br>
3359
3360'Hope so!' echoed the dwarf, approaching close to his ear; 'neighbour,
3361
3362I would I knew in what good investment all these supplies are sunk. But
3363
3364you are a deep man, and keep your secret close.'<br><br>
3365
3366'My secret!' said the other with a haggard look. 'Yes, you're
3367
3368right--I--I--keep it close--very close.'<br><br>
3369
3370He said no more, but taking the money turned away with a slow,
3371
3372uncertain step, and pressed his hand upon his head like a weary and
3373
3374dejected man. The dwarf watched him sharply, while he passed into the
3375
3376little sitting-room and locked it in an iron safe above the
3377
3378chimney-piece; and after musing for a short space, prepared to take his
3379
3380leave, observing that unless he made good haste, Mrs Quilp would
3381
3382certainly be in fits on his return.<br><br>
3383
3384'And so, neighbour,' he added, 'I'll turn my face homewards, leaving my
3385
3386love for Nelly and hoping she may never lose her way again, though her
3387
3388doing so HAS procured me an honour I didn't expect.' With that he bowed
3389
3390and leered at me, and with a keen glance around which seemed to
3391
3392comprehend every object within his range of vision, however, small or
3393
3394trivial, went his way.<br><br>
3395
3396I had several times essayed to go myself, but the old man had always
3397
3398opposed it and entreated me to remain. As he renewed his entreaties on
3399
3400our being left along, and adverted with many thanks to the former
3401
3402occasion of our being together, I willingly yielded to his persuasions,
3403
3404and sat down, pretending to examine some curious miniatures and a few
3405
3406old medals which he placed before me. It needed no great pressing to
3407
3408induce me to stay, for if my curiosity has been excited on the occasion
3409
3410of my first visit, it certainly was not diminished now.<br><br>
3411
3412Nell joined us before long, and bringing some needle-work to the table,
3413
3414sat by the old man's side. It was pleasant to observe the fresh flowers
3415
3416in the room, the pet bird with a green bough shading his little cage,
3417
3418the breath of freshness and youth which seemed to rustle through the
3419
3420old dull house and hover round the child. It was curious, but not so
3421
3422pleasant, to turn from the beauty and grace of the girl, to the
3423
3424stooping figure, care-worn face, and jaded aspect of the old man.  As
3425
3426he grew weaker and more feeble, what would become of this lonely little
3427
3428creature; poor protector as he was, say that he died--what would be her
3429
3430fate, then?<br><br>
3431
3432The old man almost answered my thoughts, as he laid his hand on hers,
3433
3434and spoke aloud.<br><br>
3435
3436'I'll be of better cheer, Nell,' he said; 'there must be good fortune
3437
3438in store for thee--I do not ask it for myself, but thee. Such miseries
3439
3440must fall on thy innocent head without it, that I cannot believe but
3441
3442that, being tempted, it will come at last!'<br><br>
3443
3444She looked cheerfully into his face, but made no answer.<br><br>
3445
3446'When I think,' said he, 'of the many years--many in thy short
3447
3448life--that thou has lived with me; of my monotonous existence, knowing
3449
3450no companions of thy own age nor any childish pleasures; of the
3451
3452solitude in which thou has grown to be what thou art, and in which thou
3453
3454hast lived apart from nearly all thy kind but one old man; I sometimes
3455
3456fear I have dealt hardly by thee, Nell.'<br><br>
3457
3458'Grandfather!' cried the child in unfeigned surprise.<br><br>
3459
3460'Not in intention--no no,' said he. 'I have ever looked forward to the
3461
3462time that should enable thee to mix among the gayest and prettiest, and
3463
3464take thy station with the best. But I still look forward, Nell, I still
3465
3466look forward, and if I should be forced to leave thee, meanwhile, how
3467
3468have I fitted thee for struggles with the world? The poor bird yonder
3469
3470is as well qualified to encounter it, and be turned adrift upon its
3471
3472mercies--Hark! I hear Kit outside. Go to him, Nell, go to him.'<br><br>
3473
3474She rose, and hurrying away, stopped, turned back, and put her arms
3475
3476about the old man's neck, then left him and hurried away again--but
3477
3478faster this time, to hide her falling tears.<br><br>
3479
3480'A word in your ear, sir,' said the old man in a hurried whisper. 'I
3481
3482have been rendered uneasy by what you said the other night, and can
3483
3484only plead that I have done all for the best--that it is too late to
3485
3486retract, if I could (though I cannot)--and that I hope to triumph yet.
3487
3488All is for her sake. I have borne great poverty myself, and would spare
3489
3490her the sufferings that poverty carries with it. I would spare her the
3491
3492miseries that brought her mother, my own dear child, to an early grave.
3493
3494I would leave her--not with resources which could be easily spent or
3495
3496squandered away, but with what would place her beyond the reach of want
3497
3498for ever. You mark me sir? She shall have no pittance, but a
3499
3500fortune--Hush! I can say no more than that, now or at any other time,
3501
3502and she is here again!'<br><br>
3503
3504The eagerness with which all this was poured into my ear, the trembling
3505
3506of the hand with which he clasped my arm, the strained and starting
3507
3508eyes he fixed upon me, the wild vehemence and agitation of his manner,
3509
3510filled me with amazement. All that I had heard and seen, and a great
3511
3512part of what he had said himself, led me to suppose that he was a
3513
3514wealthy man. I could form no comprehension of his character, unless he
3515
3516were one of those miserable wretches who, having made gain the sole end
3517
3518and object of their lives and having succeeded in amassing great
3519
3520riches, are constantly tortured by the dread of poverty, and best by
3521
3522fears of loss and ruin. Many things he had said which I had been at a
3523
3524loss to understand, were quite reconcilable with the idea thus
3525
3526presented to me, and at length I concluded that beyond all doubt he was
3527
3528one of this unhappy race.<br><br>
3529
3530The opinion was not the result of hasty consideration, for which indeed
3531
3532there was no opportunity at that time, as the child came directly, and
3533
3534soon occupied herself in preparations for giving Kit a writing lesson,
3535
3536of which it seemed he had a couple every week, and one regularly on
3537
3538that evening, to the great mirth and enjoyment both of himself and his
3539
3540instructress. To relate how it was a long time before his modesty could
3541
3542be so far prevailed upon as it admit of his sitting down in the
3543
3544parlour, in the presence of an unknown gentleman--how, when he did set
3545
3546down, he tucked up his sleeves and squared his elbows and put his face
3547
3548close to the copy-book and squinted horribly at the lines--how, from
3549
3550the very first moment of having the pen in his hand, he began to wallow
3551
3552in blots, and to daub himself with ink up to the very roots of his
3553
3554hair--how, if he did by accident form a letter properly, he immediately
3555
3556smeared it out again with his arm in his preparations to make
3557
3558another--how, at every fresh mistake, there was a fresh burst of
3559
3560merriment from the child and louder and not less hearty laugh from poor
3561
3562Kit himself--and how there was all the way through, notwithstanding, a
3563
3564gentle wish on her part to teach, and an anxious desire on his to
3565
3566learn--to relate all these particulars would no doubt occupy more space
3567
3568and time than they deserve. It will be sufficient to say that the
3569
3570lesson was given--that evening passed and night came on--that the old
3571
3572man again grew restless and impatient--that he quitted the house
3573
3574secretly at the same hour as before--and that the child was once more
3575
3576left alone within its gloomy walls.<br><br>
3577
3578And now that I have carried this history so far in my own character and
3579
3580introduced these personages to the reader, I shall for the convenience
3581
3582of the narrative detach myself from its further course, and leave those
3583
3584who have prominent and necessary parts in it to speak and act for
3585
3586themselves.<br><br>
3587
3588CHAPTER 4<br><br>
3589
3590Mr and Mrs Quilp resided on Tower Hill; and in her bower on Tower Hill.
3591
3592Mrs Quilp was left to pine the absence of her lord, when he quitted her
3593
3594on the business which he had already seen to transact.<br><br>
3595
3596Mr Quilp could scarcely be said to be of any particular trade or
3597
3598calling, though his pursuits were diversified and his occupations
3599
3600numerous. He collected the rents of whole colonies of filthy streets
3601
3602and alleys by the waterside, advanced money to the seamen and petty
3603
3604officers of merchant vessels, had a share in the ventures of divers
3605
3606mates of East Indiamen, smoked his smuggled cigars under the very nose
3607
3608of the Custom House, and made appointments on 'Change with men in
3609
3610glazed hats and round jackets pretty well every day. On the Surrey side
3611
3612of the river was a small rat-infested dreary yard called 'Quilp's
3613
3614Wharf,' in which were a little wooden counting-house burrowing all awry
3615
3616in the dust as if it had fallen from the clouds and ploughed into the
3617
3618ground; a few fragments of rusty anchors; several large iron rings;
3619
3620some piles of rotten wood; and two or three heaps of old sheet copper,
3621
3622crumpled, cracked, and battered. On Quilp's Wharf, Daniel Quilp was a
3623
3624ship-breaker, yet to judge from these appearances he must either have
3625
3626been a ship-breaker on a very small scale, or have broken his ships up
3627
3628very small indeed. Neither did the place present any extraordinary
3629
3630aspect of life or activity, as its only human occupant was an
3631
3632amphibious boy in a canvas suit, whose sole change of occupation was
3633
3634from sitting on the head of a pile and throwing stones into the mud
3635
3636when the tide was out, to standing with his hands in his pockets gazing
3637
3638listlessly on the motion and on the bustle of the river at high-water.<br><br>
3639
3640The dwarf's lodging on Tower hill comprised, besides the needful
3641
3642accommodation for himself and Mrs Quilp, a small sleeping-closet for
3643
3644that lady's mother, who resided with the couple and waged perpetual war
3645
3646with Daniel; of whom, notwithstanding, she stood in no slight dread.
3647
3648Indeed, the ugly creature contrived by some means or other--whether by
3649
3650his ugliness or his ferocity or his natural cunning is no great
3651
3652matter--to impress with a wholesome fear of his anger, most of those
3653
3654with whom he was brought into daily contact and communication. Over
3655
3656nobody had he such complete ascendance as Mrs Quilp herself--a pretty
3657
3658little, mild-spoken, blue-eyed woman, who having allied herself in
3659
3660wedlock to the dwarf in one of those strange infatuations of which
3661
3662examples are by no means scarce, performed a sound practical penance
3663
3664for her folly, every day of her life.<br><br>
3665
3666It has been said that Mrs Quilp was pining in her bower. In her bower
3667
3668she was, but not alone, for besides the old lady her mother of whom
3669
3670mention has recently been made, there were present some half-dozen
3671
3672ladies of the neighborhood who had happened by a strange accident (and
3673
3674also by a little understanding among themselves) to drop in one after
3675
3676another, just about tea-time. This being a season favourable to
3677
3678conversation, and the room being a cool, shady, lazy kind of place,
3679
3680with some plants at the open window shutting out the dust, and
3681
3682interposing pleasantly enough between the tea table within and the old
3683
3684Tower without, it is no wonder that the ladies felt an inclination to
3685
3686talk and linger, especially when there are taken into account the
3687
3688additional inducements of fresh butter, new bread, shrimps, and
3689
3690watercresses.<br><br>
3691
3692Now, the ladies being together under these circumstances, it was
3693
3694extremely natural that the discourse should turn upon the propensity of
3695
3696mankind to tyrannize over the weaker sex, and the duty that developed
3697
3698upon the weaker sex to resist that tyranny and assert their rights and
3699
3700dignity. It was natural for four reasons: firstly, because Mrs Quilp
3701
3702being a young woman and notoriously under the dominion of her husband
3703
3704ought to be excited to rebel; secondly, because Mrs Quilp's parent was
3705
3706known to be laudably shrewish in her disposition and inclined to resist
3707
3708male authority; thirdly, because each visitor wished to show for
3709
3710herself how superior she was in this respect to the generality of her
3711
3712sex; and fourthly, because the company being accustomed to scandalise
3713
3714each other in pairs, were deprived of their usual subject of
3715
3716conversation now that they were all assembled in close friendship, and
3717
3718had consequently no better employment than to attack the common enemy.<br><br>
3719
3720Moved by these considerations, a stout lady opened the proceedings by
3721
3722inquiring, with an air of great concern and sympathy, how Mr Quilp was;
3723
3724whereunto Mr Quilp's wife's mother replied sharply, 'Oh! He was well
3725
3726enough--nothing much was every the matter with him--and ill weeds were
3727
3728sure to thrive.' All the ladies then sighed in concert, shook their
3729
3730heads gravely, and looked at Mrs Quilp as a martyr.<br><br>
3731
3732'Ah!' said the spokeswoman, 'I wish you'd give her a little of your
3733
3734advice, Mrs Jiniwin'--Mrs Quilp had been a Miss Jiniwin it should be
3735
3736observed--'nobody knows better than you, ma'am, what us women owe to
3737
3738ourselves.'<br><br>
3739
3740'Owe indeed, ma'am!' replied Mrs Jiniwin. 'When my poor husband, her
3741
3742dear father, was alive, if he had ever ventured a cross word to me, I'd
3743
3744have--' The good old lady did not finish the sentence, but she twisted
3745
3746off the head of a shrimp with a vindictiveness which seemed to imply
3747
3748that the action was in some degree a substitute for words. In this
3749
3750light it was clearly understood by the other party, who immediately
3751
3752replied with great approbation, 'You quite enter into my feelings,
3753
3754ma'am, and it's jist what I'd do myself.'<br><br>
3755
3756'But you have no call to do it,' said Mrs Jiniwin. 'Luckily for you,
3757
3758you have no more occasion to do it than I had.'<br><br>
3759
3760'No woman need have, if she was true to herself,' rejoined the stout
3761
3762lady.<br><br>
3763
3764'Do you hear that, Betsy?' said Mrs Jiniwin, in a warning voice.  'How
3765
3766often have I said the same words to you, and almost gone down my knees
3767
3768when I spoke 'em!'<br><br>
3769
3770Poor Mrs Quilp, who had looked in a state of helplessness from one face
3771
3772of condolence to another, coloured, smiled, and shook her head
3773
3774doubtfully. This was the signal for a general clamour, which beginning
3775
3776in a low murmur gradually swelled into a great noise in which everybody
3777
3778spoke at once, and all said that she being a young woman had no right
3779
3780to set up her opinions against the experiences of those who knew so
3781
3782much better; that it was very wrong of her not to take the advice of
3783
3784people who had nothing at heart but her good; that it was next door to
3785
3786being downright ungrateful to conduct herself in that manner; that if
3787
3788she had no respect for herself she ought to have some for other women,
3789
3790all of whom she compromised by her meekness; and that if she had no
3791
3792respect for other women, the time would come when other women would
3793
3794have no respect for her; and she would be very sorry for that, they
3795
3796could tell her. Having dealt out these admonitions, the ladies fell to
3797
3798a more powerful assault than they had yet made upon the  mixed tea, new
3799
3800bread, fresh butter, shrimps, and watercresses, and said that their
3801
3802vexation was so great to see her going on like that, that they could
3803
3804hardly bring themselves to eat a single morsel.<br><br>
3805
3806It's all very fine to talk,' said Mrs Quilp with much simplicity, 'but
3807
3808I know that if I was to die to-morrow, Quilp could marry anybody he
3809
3810pleased--now that he could, I know!'<br><br>
3811
3812There was quite a scream of indignation at this idea. Marry whom he
3813
3814pleased! They would like to see him dare to think of marrying any of
3815
3816them; they would like to see the faintest approach to such a thing.
3817
3818One lady (a widow) was quite certain she should stab him if he hinted
3819
3820at it.<br><br>
3821
3822'Very well,' said Mrs Quilp, nodding her head, 'as I said just now,
3823
3824it's very easy to talk, but I say again that I know--that I'm
3825
3826sure--Quilp has such a way with him when he likes, that the best
3827
3828looking woman here couldn't refuse him if I was dead, and she was free,
3829
3830and he chose to make love to him. Come!'<br><br>
3831
3832Everybody bridled up at this remark, as much as to say, 'I know you
3833
3834mean me. Let him try--that's all.' and yet for some hidden reason they
3835
3836were all angry with the widow, and each lady whispered in her
3837
3838neighbour's ear that it was very plain that said widow thought herself
3839
3840the person referred to, and what a puss she was!<br><br>
3841
3842'Mother knows,' said Mrs Quilp, 'that what I say is quite correct, for
3843
3844she often said so before we were married. Didn't you say so, mother?'<br><br>
3845
3846This inquiry involved the respected lady in rather a delicate position,
3847
3848for she certainly had been an active party in making her daughter Mrs
3849
3850Quilp, and, besides, it was not supporting the family credit to
3851
3852encourage the idea that she had married a man whom nobody else would
3853
3854have. On the other hand, to exaggerate the captivating qualities of her
3855
3856son-in-law would be to weaken the cause of revolt, in which all her
3857
3858energies were deeply engaged. Beset by these opposing considerations,
3859
3860Mrs Jiniwin admitted the powers of insinuation, but denied the right to
3861
3862govern, and with a timely compliment to the stout lady brought back the
3863
3864discussion to the point from which it had strayed.<br><br>
3865
3866'Oh! It's a sensible and proper thing indeed, what Mrs George has
3867
3868said!' exclaimed the old lady. 'If women are only true to
3869
3870themselves!--But Betsy isn't, and more's the shame and pity.'<br><br>
3871
3872'Before I'd let a man order me about as Quilp orders her,' said Mrs
3873
3874George, 'before I'd consent to stand in awe of a man as she does of
3875
3876him, I'd--I'd kill myself, and write a letter first to say he did it!'<br><br>
3877
3878This remark being loudly commended and approved of, another lady (from
3879
3880the Minories) put in her word:<br><br>
3881
3882'Mr Quilp may be a very nice man,' said this lady, 'and I supposed
3883
3884there's no doubt he is, because Mrs Quilp says he is, and Mrs Jiniwin
3885
3886says he is, and they ought to know, or nobody does. But still he is not
3887
3888quite a--what one calls a handsome man, nor quite a young man neither,
3889
3890which might be a little excuse for him if anything could be; whereas
3891
3892his wife is young, and is good-looking, and is a woman--which is the
3893
3894greatest thing after all.'<br><br>
3895
3896This last clause being delivered with extraordinary pathos, elicited a
3897
3898corresponding murmer from the hearers, stimulated by which the lady
3899
3900went on to remark that if such a husband was cross and unreasonable
3901
3902with such a wife, then--<br><br>
3903
3904'If he is!' interposed the mother, putting down her tea-cup and
3905
3906brushing the crumbs out of her lap, preparatory to making a solemn
3907
3908declaration. 'If he is! He is the greatest tyrant that every lived, she
3909
3910daren't call her soul her own, he makes her tremble with a word and
3911
3912even with a look, he frightens her to death, and she hasn't the spirit
3913
3914to give him a word back, no, not a single word.'<br><br>
3915
3916Notwithstanding that the fact had been notorious beforehand to all the
3917
3918tea-drinkers, and had been discussed and expatiated on at every
3919
3920tea-drinking in the neighbourhood for the last twelve months, this
3921
3922official communication was no sooner made than they all began to talk
3923
3924at once and to vie with each other in vehemence and volubility.  Mrs
3925
3926George remarked that people would talk, that people had often said this
3927
3928to her before, that Mrs Simmons then and there present had told her so
3929
3930twenty times, that she had always said, 'No, Henrietta Simmons, unless
3931
3932I see it with my own eyes and hear it with my own ears, I never will
3933
3934believe it.' Mrs Simmons corroborated this testimony and added strong
3935
3936evidence of her own. The lady from the Minories recounted a successful
3937
3938course of treatment under which she had placed her own husband, who,
3939
3940from manifesting one month after marriage unequivocal symptoms of the
3941
3942tiger, had by this means become subdued into a perfect lamb. Another
3943
3944lady recounted her own personal struggle and final triumph, in the
3945
3946course whereof she had found it necessary to call in her mother and two
3947
3948aunts, and to weep incessantly night and day for six weeks. A third,
3949
3950who in the general confusion could secure no other listener, fastened
3951
3952herself upon a young woman still unmarried who happened to be amongst
3953
3954them, and conjured her, as she valued her own peace of mind and
3955
3956happiness to profit by this solemn occasion, to take example from the
3957
3958weakness of Mrs Quilp, and from that time forth to direct her whole
3959
3960thoughts to taming and subduing the rebellious spirit of man. The noise
3961
3962was at its height, and half the company had elevated their voices into
3963
3964a perfect shriek in order to drown the voices of the other half, when
3965
3966Mrs Jiniwin was seen to change colour and shake her forefinger
3967
3968stealthily, as if exhorting them to silence. Then, and not until then,
3969
3970Daniel Quilp himself, the cause and occasion of all this clamour, was
3971
3972observed to be in the room, looking on and listening with profound
3973
3974attention.<br><br>
3975
3976'Go on, ladies, go on,' said Daniel. 'Mrs Quilp, pray ask the ladies to
3977
3978stop to supper, and have a couple of lobsters and something light and
3979
3980palatable.'<br><br>
3981
3982'I--I--didn't ask them to tea, Quilp,' stammered his wife. It's quite
3983
3984an accident.'<br><br>
3985
3986'So much the better, Mrs Quilp; these accidental parties are always the
3987
3988pleasantest,' said the dwarf, rubbing his hands so hard that he seemed
3989
3990to be engaged in manufacturing, of the dirt with which they were
3991
3992encrusted, little charges for popguns. 'What! Not going, ladies, you
3993
3994are not going, surely!'<br><br>
3995
3996His fair enemies tossed their heads slightly as they sought their
3997
3998respective bonnets and shawls, but left all verbal contention to Mrs
3999
4000Jiniwin, who finding herself in the position of champion, made a faint
4001
4002struggle to sustain the character.<br><br>
4003
4004'And why not stop to supper, Quilp,' said the old lady, 'if my daughter
4005
4006had a mind?'<br><br>
4007
4008'To be sure,' rejoined Daniel. 'Why not?'<br><br>
4009
4010'There's nothing dishonest or wrong in a supper, I hope?' said Mrs
4011
4012Jiniwin.<br><br>
4013
4014'Surely not,' returned the dwarf. 'Why should there be? Nor anything
4015
4016unwholesome, either, unless there's lobster-salad or prawns, which I'm
4017
4018told are not good for digestion.'<br><br>
4019
4020'And you wouldn't like your wife to be attacked with that, or anything
4021
4022else that would make her uneasy would you?' said Mrs Jiniwin.<br><br>
4023
4024'Not for a score of worlds,' replied the dwarf with a grin. 'Not even
4025
4026to have a score of mothers-in-law at the same time--and what a blessing
4027
4028that would be!'<br><br>
4029
4030'My daughter's your wife, Mr Quilp, certainly,' said the old lady with
4031
4032a giggle, meant for satirical and to imply that he needed to be
4033
4034reminded of the fact; 'your wedded wife.'<br><br>
4035
4036'So she is, certainly. So she is,' observed the dwarf.<br><br>
4037
4038'And she has has a right to do as she likes, I hope, Quilp,' said the
4039
4040old lady trembling, partly with anger and partly with a secret fear of
4041
4042her impish son-in-law.<br><br>
4043
4044'Hope she has!' he replied. 'Oh! Don't you know she has? Don't you know
4045
4046she has, Mrs Jiniwin?<br><br>
4047
4048'I know she ought to have, Quilp, and would have, if she was of my way
4049
4050of thinking.'<br><br>
4051
4052'Why an't you of your mother's way of thinking, my dear?' said the
4053
4054dwarf, turing round and addressing his wife, 'why don't you always
4055
4056imitate your mother, my dear? She's the ornament of her sex--your
4057
4058father said so every day of his life. I am sure he did.'<br><br>
4059
4060'Her father was a blessed creetur, Quilp, and worthy twenty thousand of
4061
4062some people,' said Mrs Jiniwin; 'twenty hundred million thousand.'<br><br>
4063
4064'I should like to have known him,' remarked the dwarf. 'I dare say he
4065
4066was a blessed creature then; but I'm sure he is now. It was a happy
4067
4068release. I believe he had suffered a long time?'<br><br>
4069
4070The old lady gave a gasp, but nothing came of it; Quilp resumed, with
4071
4072the same malice in his eye and the same sarcastic politeness on his
4073
4074tongue.<br><br>
4075
4076'You look ill, Mrs Jiniwin; I know you have been exciting yourself too
4077
4078much--talking perhaps, for it is your weakness. Go to bed. Do go to
4079
4080bed.'<br><br>
4081
4082'I shall go when I please, Quilp, and not before.'<br><br>
4083
4084'But please to do now. Do please to go now,' said the dwarf.<br><br>
4085
4086The old woman looked angrily at him, but retreated as he advanced, and
4087
4088falling back before him, suffered him to shut the door upon her and
4089
4090bolt her out among the guests, who were by this time crowding
4091
4092downstairs. Being left along with his wife, who sat trembling in a
4093
4094corner with her eyes fixed upon the ground, the little man planted
4095
4096himself before her, and folding his arms looked steadily at her for a
4097
4098long time without speaking.<br><br>
4099
4100'Mrs Quilp,' he said at last.<br><br>
4101
4102'Yes, Quilp,' she replead meekly.<br><br>
4103
4104Instead of pursing the theme he had in his mind, Quilp folded his arms
4105
4106again, and looked at her more sternly than before, while she averted
4107
4108her eyes and kept them on the ground.<br><br>
4109
4110'Mrs Quilp.'<br><br>
4111
4112'Yes, Quilp.'<br><br>
4113
4114'If ever you listen to these beldames again, I'll bite you.'<br><br>
4115
4116With this laconic threat, which he accompanied with a snarl that gave
4117
4118him the appearance of being particularly in earnest, Mr Quilp bade her
4119
4120clear the teaboard away, and bring the rum. The spirit being set before
4121
4122him in a huge case-bottle, which had originally come out of some ship's
4123
4124locker, he settled himself in an arm-chair with his large head and face
4125
4126squeezed up against the back, and his little legs planted on the table.<br><br>
4127
4128'Now, Mrs Quilp,' he said; 'I feel in a smoking humour, and shall
4129
4130probably blaze away all night. But sit where you are, if you please, in
4131
4132case I want you.'<br><br>
4133
4134His wife returned no other reply than the necessary 'Yes, Quilp,' and
4135
4136the small lord of the creation took his first cigar and mixed his first
4137
4138glass of grog. The sun went down and the stars peeped out, the Tower
4139
4140turned from its own proper colours to grey and from grey to black, the
4141
4142room became perfectly dark and the end of the cigar a deep fiery red,
4143
4144but still Mr Quilp went on smoking and drinking in the same position,
4145
4146and staring listlessly out of window with the doglike smile always on
4147
4148his face, save when Mrs Quilp made some involuntary movement of
4149
4150restlessness or fatigue; and then it expanded into a grin of delight.<br><br>
4151
4152CHAPTER 5<br><br>
4153
4154Whether Mr Quilp took any sleep by snatches of a few winks at a time,
4155
4156or whether he sat with his eyes wide open all night long, certain it is
4157
4158that he kept his cigar alight, and kindled every fresh one from the
4159
4160ashes of that which was nearly consumed, without requiring the
4161
4162assistance of a candle. Nor did the striking of the clocks, hour after
4163
4164hour, appear to inspire him with any sense of drowsiness or any natural
4165
4166desire to go to rest, but rather to increase his wakefulness, which he
4167
4168showed, at every such indication of the progress of the night, by a
4169
4170suppressed cackling in his throat, and a motion of his shoulders, like
4171
4172one who laughs heartily but the same time slyly and by stealth.<br><br>
4173
4174At length the day broke, and poor Mrs Quilp, shivering with cold of
4175
4176early morning and harassed by fatigue and want of sleep, was discovered
4177
4178sitting patiently on her chair, raising her eyes at intervals in mute
4179
4180appeal to the compassion and clemency of her lord, and gently reminding
4181
4182him by an occasion cough that she was still unpardoned and that her
4183
4184penance had been of long duration. But her dwarfish spouse still smoked
4185
4186his cigar and drank his rum without heeding her; and it was not until
4187
4188the sun had some time risen, and the activity and noise of city day
4189
4190were rife in the street, that he deigned to recognize her presence by
4191
4192any word or sign. He might not have done so even then, but for certain
4193
4194impatient tapping at the door he seemed to denote that some pretty hard
4195
4196knuckles were actively engaged upon the other side.<br><br>
4197
4198'Why dear me!' he said looking round with a malicious grin, 'it's day.
4199
4200Open the door, sweet Mrs Quilp!'<br><br>
4201
4202His obedient wife withdrew the bolt, and her lady mother entered.<br><br>
4203
4204Now, Mrs Jiniwin bounced into the room with great impetuosity; for,
4205
4206supposing her son-in-law to be still a-bed, she had come to relieve her
4207
4208feelings by pronouncing a strong opinion upon his general conduct and
4209
4210character. Seeing that he was up and dressed, and that the room
4211
4212appeared to have been occupied ever since she quitted it on the
4213
4214previous evening, she stopped short, in some embarrassment.<br><br>
4215
4216Nothing escaped the hawk's eye of the ugly little man, who, perfectly
4217
4218understanding what passed in the old lady's mind, turned uglier still
4219
4220in the fulness of his satisfaction, and bade her good morning, with a
4221
4222leer or triumph.<br><br>
4223
4224'Why, Betsy,' said the old woman, 'you haven't been--you don't mean to
4225
4226say you've been a--'<br><br>
4227
4228'Sitting up all night?' said Quilp, supplying the conclusion of the
4229
4230sentence. 'Yes she has!'<br><br>
4231
4232'All night?' cried Mrs Jiniwin.<br><br>
4233
4234'Ay, all night. Is the dear old lady deaf?' said Quilp, with a smile of
4235
4236which a frown was part. 'Who says man and wife are bad company?  Ha ha!
4237
4238The time has flown.'<br><br>
4239
4240'You're a brute!' exclaimed Mrs Jiniwin.<br><br>
4241
4242'Come come,' said Quilp, wilfully misunderstanding her, of course, 'you
4243
4244mustn't call her names. She's married now, you know. And though she did
4245
4246beguile the time and keep me from my bed, you must not be so tenderly
4247
4248careful of me as to be out of humour with her.  Bless you for a dear
4249
4250old lady. Here's to your health!'<br><br>
4251
4252'I am much obliged to you,' returned the old woman, testifying by a
4253
4254certain restlessness in her hands a vehement desire to shake her
4255
4256matronly fist at her son-in-law. 'Oh! I'm very much obliged to you!'<br><br>
4257
4258'Grateful soul!' cried the dwarf. 'Mrs Quilp.'<br><br>
4259
4260'Yes, Quilp,' said the timid sufferer.<br><br>
4261
4262'Help your mother to get breakfast, Mrs Quilp. I am going to the wharf
4263
4264this morning--the earlier the better, so be quick.'<br><br>
4265
4266Mrs Jiniwin made a faint demonstration of rebellion by sitting down in
4267
4268a chair near the door and folding her arms as if in a resolute
4269
4270determination to do nothing. But a few whispered words from her
4271
4272daughter, and a kind inquiry from her son-in-law whether she felt
4273
4274faint, with a hint that there was abundance of cold water in the next
4275
4276apartment, routed these symptoms effectually, and she applied herself
4277
4278to the prescribed preparations with sullen diligence.<br><br>
4279
4280While they were in progress, Mr Quilp withdrew to the adjoining room,
4281
4282and, turning back his coat-collar, proceeded to smear his countenance
4283
4284with a damp towel of very unwholesome appearance, which made his
4285
4286complexion rather more cloudy than it was before.  But, while he was
4287
4288thus engaged, his caution and inquisitiveness did not forsake him, for
4289
4290with a face as sharp and cunning as ever, he often stopped, even in
4291
4292this short process, and stood listening for any conversation in the
4293
4294next room, of which he might be the theme.<br><br>
4295
4296'Ah!' he said after a short effort of attention, 'it was not the towel
4297
4298over my ears, I thought it wasn't. I'm a little hunchy villain and a
4299
4300monster, am I, Mrs Jiniwin? Oh!'<br><br>
4301
4302The pleasure of this discovery called up the old doglike smile in full
4303
4304force. When he had quite done with it, he shook himself in a very
4305
4306doglike manner, and rejoined the ladies.<br><br>
4307
4308Mr Quilp now walked up to front of a looking-glass, and was standing
4309
4310there putting on his neckerchief, when Mrs Jiniwin happening to be
4311
4312behind him, could not resist the inclination she felt to shake her fist
4313
4314at her tyrant son-in-law. It was the gesture of an instant, but as she
4315
4316did so and accompanied the action with a menacing look, she met his eye
4317
4318in the glass, catching her in the very act. The same glance at the
4319
4320mirror conveyed to her the reflection of a horribly grotesque and
4321
4322distorted face with the tongue lolling out; and the next instant the
4323
4324dwarf, turning about with a perfectly bland and placid look, inquired
4325
4326in a tone of great affection.<br><br>
4327
4328'How are you now, my dear old darling?'<br><br>
4329
4330Slight and ridiculous as the incident was, it made him appear such a
4331
4332little fiend, and withal such a keen and knowing one, that the old
4333
4334woman felt too much afraid of him to utter a single word, and suffered
4335
4336herself to be led with extraordinary politeness to the breakfast-table.
4337
4338Here he by no means diminished the impression he had just produced, for
4339
4340he ate hard eggs, shell and all, devoured gigantic prawns with the
4341
4342heads and tails on, chewed tobacco and water-cresses at the same time
4343
4344and with extraordinary greediness, drank boiling tea without winking,
4345
4346bit his fork and spoon till they bent again, and in short performed so
4347
4348many horrifying and uncommon acts that the women were nearly frightened
4349
4350out of their wits, and began to doubt if he were really a human
4351
4352creature. At last, having gone through these proceedings and many
4353
4354others which were equally a part of his system, Mr Quilp left them,
4355
4356reduced to a very obedient and humbled state, and betook himself to the
4357
4358river-side, where he took boat for the wharf on which he had bestowed
4359
4360his name.<br><br>
4361
4362It was flood tide when Daniel Quilp sat himself down in the ferry to
4363
4364cross to the opposite shore. A fleet of barges were coming lazily on,
4365
4366some sideways, some head first, some stern first; all in a
4367
4368wrong-headed, dogged, obstinate way, bumping up against the larger
4369
4370craft, running under the bows of steamboats, getting into every kind of
4371
4372nook and corner where they had no business, and being crunched on all
4373
4374sides like so many walnut-shells; while each with its pair of long
4375
4376sweeps struggling and splashing in the water looked like some lumbering
4377
4378fish in pain. In some of the vessels at anchor all hands were busily
4379
4380engaged in coiling ropes, spreading out sails to dry, taking in or
4381
4382discharging their cargoes; in others no life was visible but two or
4383
4384three tarry boys, and perhaps a barking dog running to and fro upon the
4385
4386deck or scrambling up to look over the side and bark the louder for the
4387
4388view. Coming slowly on through the forests of masts was a great
4389
4390steamship, beating the water in short impatient strokes with her heavy
4391
4392paddles as though she wanted room to breathe, and advancing in her huge
4393
4394bulk like a sea monster among the minnows of the Thames. On either hand
4395
4396were long black tiers of colliers; between them vessels slowly working
4397
4398out of harbour with sails glistening in the sun, and creaking noise on
4399
4400board, re-echoed from a hundred quarters. The water and all upon it was
4401
4402in active motion, dancing and buoyant and bubbling up; while the old
4403
4404grey Tower and piles of building on the shore, with many a church-spire
4405
4406shooting up between, looked coldly on, and seemed to disdain their
4407
4408chafing, restless neighbour.<br><br>
4409
4410Daniel Quilp, who was not much affected by a bright morning save in so
4411
4412far as it spared him the trouble of carrying an umbrella, caused
4413
4414himself to be put ashore hard by the wharf, and proceeded thither
4415
4416through a narrow lane which, partaking of the amphibious character of
4417
4418its frequenters, had as much water as mud in its composition, and a
4419
4420very liberal supply of both. Arrived at his destination, the first
4421
4422object that presented itself to his view was a pair of very imperfectly
4423
4424shod feet elevated in the air with the soles upwards, which remarkable
4425
4426appearance was referable to the boy, who being of an eccentric spirit
4427
4428and having a natural taste for tumbling, was now standing on his head
4429
4430and contemplating the aspect of the river under these uncommon
4431
4432circumstances. He was speedily brought on his heels by the sound of his
4433
4434master's voice, and as soon as his head was in its right position, Mr
4435
4436Quilp, to speak expressively in the absence of a better verb, 'punched
4437
4438it' for him.<br><br>
4439
4440'Come, you let me alone,' said the boy, parrying Quilp's hand with both
4441
4442his elbows alternatively. 'You'll get something you won't like if you
4443
4444don't and so I tell you.'<br><br>
4445
4446'You dog,' snarled Quilp, 'I'll beat you with an iron rod, I'll scratch
4447
4448you with a rusty nail, I'll pinch your eyes, if you talk to me--I will.'<br><br>
4449
4450With these threats he clenched his hand again, and dexterously diving
4451
4452in between the elbows and catching the boy's head as it dodged from
4453
4454side to side, gave it three or four good hard knocks. Having now
4455
4456carried his point and insisted on it, he left off.<br><br>
4457
4458'You won't do it agin,' said the boy, nodding his head and drawing
4459
4460back, with the elbows ready in case of the worst; 'now--'<br><br>
4461
4462'Stand still, you dog,' said Quilp. 'I won't do it again, because I've
4463
4464done it as often as I want. Here. Take the key.'<br><br>
4465
4466'Why don't you hit one of your size?' said the boy approaching very
4467
4468slowly.<br><br>
4469
4470'Where is there one of my size, you dog?' returned Quilp. 'Take the
4471
4472key, or I'll brain you with it'--indeed he gave him a smart tap with
4473
4474the handle as he spoke. 'Now, open the counting-house.'<br><br>
4475
4476The boy sulkily complied, muttering at first, but desisting when he
4477
4478looked round and saw that Quilp was following him with a steady look.
4479
4480And here it may be remarked, that between this boy and the dwarf there
4481
4482existed a strange kind of mutual liking. How born or bred, and or
4483
4484nourished upon blows and threats on one side, and retorts and defiances
4485
4486on the other, is not to the purpose. Quilp would certainly suffer
4487
4488nobody to contract him but the boy, and the boy would assuredly not
4489
4490have submitted to be so knocked about by anybody but Quilp, when he had
4491
4492the power to run away at any time he chose.<br><br>
4493
4494'Now,' said Quilp, passing into the wooden counting-house, 'you mind
4495
4496the wharf. Stand upon your head agin, and I'll cut one of your feet
4497
4498off.'<br><br>
4499
4500The boy made no answer, but directly Quilp had shut himself in, stood
4501
4502on his head before the door, then walked on his hands to the back and
4503
4504stood on his head there, and then to the opposite side and repeated the
4505
4506performance. There were indeed four sides to the counting-house, but he
4507
4508avoided that one where the window was, deeming it probable that Quilp
4509
4510would be looking out of it. This was prudent, for in point of fact, the
4511
4512dwarf, knowing his disposition, was lying in wait at a little distance
4513
4514from the sash armed with a large piece of wood, which, being rough and
4515
4516jagged and studded in many parts with broken nails, might possibly have
4517
4518hurt him.<br><br>
4519
4520It was a dirty little box, this counting-house, with nothing in it but
4521
4522an old ricketty desk and two stools, a hat-peg, an ancient almanack, an
4523
4524inkstand with no ink, and the stump of one pen, and an eight-day clock
4525
4526which hadn't gone for eighteen years at least, and of which the
4527
4528minute-hand had been twisted off for a tooth-pick. Daniel Quilp pulled
4529
4530his hat over his brows, climbed on to the desk (which had a flat top)
4531
4532and stretching his short length upon it went to sleep with ease of an
4533
4534old practitioner; intending, no doubt, to compensate himself for the
4535
4536deprivation of last night's rest, by a long and sound nap.<br><br>
4537
4538Sound it might have been, but long it was not, for he had not been
4539
4540asleep a quarter of an hour when the boy opened the door and thrust in
4541
4542his head, which was like a bundle of badly-picked oakum. Quilp was a
4543
4544light sleeper and started up directly.<br><br>
4545
4546'Here's somebody for you,' said the boy.<br><br>
4547
4548'Who?'<br><br>
4549
4550'I don't know.'<br><br>
4551
4552'Ask!' said Quilp, seizing the trifle of wood before mentioned and
4553
4554throwing it at him with such dexterity that it was well the boy
4555
4556disappeared before it reached the spot on which he had stood. 'Ask, you
4557
4558dog.'<br><br>
4559
4560Not caring to venture within range of such missles again, the boy
4561
4562discreetly sent in his stead the first cause of the interruption, who
4563
4564now presented herself at the door.<br><br>
4565
4566'What, Nelly!' cried Quilp.<br><br>
4567
4568'Yes,' said the child, hesitating whether to enter or retreat, for the
4569
4570dwarf just roused, with his dishevelled hair hanging all about him and
4571
4572a yellow handkerchief over his head, was something fearful to behold;
4573
4574it's only me, sir.'<br><br>
4575
4576'Come in,' said Quilp, without getting off the desk. 'Come in. Stay.
4577
4578Just look out into the yard, and see whether there's a boy standing on
4579
4580his head.'<br><br>
4581
4582'No, sir,' replied Nell. 'He's on his feet.'<br><br>
4583
4584'You're sure he is?' said Quilp. 'Well. Now, come in and shut the door.
4585
4586What's your message, Nelly?'<br><br>
4587
4588The child handed him a letter. Mr Quilp, without changing his position
4589
4590further than to turn over a little more on his side and rest his chin
4591
4592on his hand, proceeded to make himself acquainted with its contents.<br><br>
4593
4594CHAPTER 6<br><br>
4595
4596Little Nell stood timidly by, with her eyes raised to the countenance
4597
4598of Mr Quilp as he read the letter, plainly showing by her looks that
4599
4600while she entertained some fear and distrust of the little man, she was
4601
4602much inclined to laugh at his uncouth appearance and grotesque
4603
4604attitude. And yet there was visible on the part of the child a painful
4605
4606anxiety for his reply, and consciousness of his power to render it
4607
4608disagreeable or distressing, which was strongly at variance with this
4609
4610impulse and restrained it more effectually than she could possibly have
4611
4612done by any efforts of her own.<br><br>
4613
4614That Mr Quilp was himself perplexed, and that in no small degree, by
4615
4616the contents of the letter, was sufficiently obvious. Before he had got
4617
4618through the first two or three lines he began to open his eyes very
4619
4620wide and to frown most horribly, the next two or three caused him to
4621
4622scratch his head in an uncommonly vicious manner, and when he came to
4623
4624the conclusion he gave a long dismal whistle indicative of surprise and
4625
4626dismay. After folding and laying it down beside him, he bit the nails
4627
4628of all of his ten fingers with extreme voracity; and taking it up
4629
4630sharply, read it again. The second perusal was to all appearance as
4631
4632unsatisfactory as the first, and plunged him into a profound reverie
4633
4634from which he awakened to another assault upon his nails and a long
4635
4636stare at the child, who with her eyes turned towards the ground awaited
4637
4638his further pleasure.<br><br>
4639
4640'Halloa here!' he said at length, in a voice, and with a suddenness,
4641
4642which made the child start as though a gun had been fired off at her
4643
4644ear. 'Nelly!'<br><br>
4645
4646'Yes, sir.'<br><br>
4647
4648'Do you know what's inside this letter, Nell?'<br><br>
4649
4650'No, sir!'<br><br>
4651
4652'Are you sure, quite sure, quite certain, upon your soul?'<br><br>
4653
4654'Quite sure, sir.'<br><br>
4655
4656'Do you wish you may die if you do know, hey?' said the dwarf.<br><br>
4657
4658'Indeed I don't know,' returned the child.<br><br>
4659
4660'Well!' muttered Quilp as he marked her earnest look. 'I believe you.
4661
4662Humph! Gone already? Gone in four-and-twenty hours! What the devil has
4663
4664he done with it, that's the mystery!'<br><br>
4665
4666This reflection set him scratching his head and biting his nails once
4667
4668more. While he was thus employed his features gradually relaxed into
4669
4670what was with him a cheerful smile, but which in any other man would
4671
4672have been a ghastly grin of pain, and when the child looked up again
4673
4674she found that he was regarding her with extraordinary favour and
4675
4676complacency.<br><br>
4677
4678'You look very pretty to-day, Nelly, charmingly pretty. Are you tired,
4679
4680Nelly?'<br><br>
4681
4682'No, sir. I'm in a hurry to get back, for he will be anxious while I am
4683
4684away.'<br><br>
4685
4686'There's no hurry, little Nell, no hurry at all,' said Quilp. 'How
4687
4688should you like to be my number two, Nelly?'<br><br>
4689
4690'To be what, sir?'<br><br>
4691
4692'My number two, Nelly, my second, my Mrs Quilp,' said the dwarf.<br><br>
4693
4694The child looked frightened, but seemed not to understand him, which Mr
4695
4696Quilp observing, hastened to make his meaning more distinctly.<br><br>
4697
4698'To be Mrs Quilp the second, when Mrs Quilp the first is dead, sweet
4699
4700Nell,' said Quilp, wrinkling up his eyes and luring her towards him
4701
4702with his bent forefinger, 'to be my wife, my little cherry-cheeked,
4703
4704red-lipped wife. Say that Mrs Quilp lives five year, or only four,
4705
4706you'll be just the proper age for me. Ha ha! Be a good girl, Nelly, a
4707
4708very good girl, and see if one of these days you don't come to be Mrs
4709
4710Quilp of Tower Hill.'<br><br>
4711
4712So far from being sustained and stimulated by this delightful prospect,
4713
4714the child shrank from him in great agitation, and trembled violently.
4715
4716Mr Quilp, either because frightening anybody afforded him a
4717
4718constitutional delight, or because it was pleasant to contemplate the
4719
4720death of Mrs Quilp number one, and the elevation of Mrs Quilp number
4721
4722two to her post and title, or because he was determined from purposes
4723
4724of his own to be agreeable and good-humoured at that particular time,
4725
4726only laughed and feigned to take no heed of her alarm.<br><br>
4727
4728'You shall home with me to Tower Hill and see Mrs Quilp that is,
4729
4730directly,' said the dwarf. 'She's very fond of you, Nell, though not so
4731
4732fond as I am. You shall come home with me.'<br><br>
4733
4734'I must go back indeed,' said the child. 'He told me to return directly
4735
4736I had the answer.'<br><br>
4737
4738'But you haven't it, Nelly,' retorted the dwarf, 'and won't have it,
4739
4740and can't have it, until I have been home, so you see that to do your
4741
4742errand, you must go with me. Reach me yonder hat, my dear, and we'll go
4743
4744directly.' With that, Mr Quilp suffered himself to roll gradually off
4745
4746the desk until his short legs touched the ground, when he got upon them
4747
4748and led the way from the counting-house to the wharf outside, when the
4749
4750first objects that presented themselves were the boy who had stood on
4751
4752his head and another young gentleman of about his own stature, rolling
4753
4754in the mud together, locked in a tight embrace, and cuffing each other
4755
4756with mutual heartiness.<br><br>
4757
4758'It's Kit!' cried Nelly, clasping her hand, 'poor Kit who came with me!
4759
4760Oh, pray stop them, Mr Quilp!'<br><br>
4761
4762'I'll stop 'em,' cried Quilp, diving into the little counting-house and
4763
4764returning with a thick stick, 'I'll stop 'em. Now, my boys, fight away.
4765
4766I'll fight you both. I'll take both of you, both together, both
4767
4768together!'<br><br>
4769
4770With which defiances the dwarf flourished his cudgel, and dancing round
4771
4772the combatants and treading upon them and skipping over them, in a kind
4773
4774of frenzy, laid about him, now on one and now on the other, in a most
4775
4776desperate manner, always aiming at their heads and dealing such blows
4777
4778as none but the veriest little savage would have inflicted. This being
4779
4780warmer work than they had calculated upon, speedily cooled the courage
4781
4782of the belligerents, who scrambled to their feet and called for quarter.<br><br>
4783
4784'I'll beat you to a pulp, you dogs,' said Quilp, vainly endeavoring to
4785
4786get near either of them for a parting blow. 'I'll bruise you until
4787
4788you're copper-coloured, I'll break your faces till you haven't a
4789
4790profile between you, I will.'<br><br>
4791
4792'Come, you drop that stick or it'll be worse for you,' said his boy,
4793
4794dodging round him and watching an opportunity to rush in; 'you drop
4795
4796that stick.'<br><br>
4797
4798'Come a little nearer, and I'll drop it on your skull, you dog,' said
4799
4800Quilp, with gleaming eyes; 'a little nearer--nearer yet.'<br><br>
4801
4802But the boy declined the invitation until his master was apparently a
4803
4804little off his guard, when he darted in and seizing the weapon tried to
4805
4806wrest it from his grasp. Quilp, who was as strong as a lion, easily
4807
4808kept his hold until the boy was tugging at it with his utmost power,
4809
4810when he suddenly let it go and sent him reeling backwards, so that he
4811
4812fell violently upon his head. The success of this manoeuvre tickled Mr
4813
4814Quilp beyond description, and he laughed and stamped upon the ground as
4815
4816at a most irresistible jest.<br><br>
4817
4818'Never mind,' said the boy, nodding his head and rubbing it at the same
4819
4820time; 'you see if ever I offer to strike anybody again because they say
4821
4822you're an uglier dwarf than can be seen anywheres for a penny, that's
4823
4824all.'<br><br>
4825
4826'Do you mean to say, I'm not, you dog?' returned Quilp.<br><br>
4827
4828'No!' retorted the boy.<br><br>
4829
4830'Then what do you fight on my wharf for, you villain?' said Quilp.<br><br>
4831
4832'Because he said so,' replied to boy, pointing to Kit, 'not because you
4833
4834an't.'<br><br>
4835
4836'Then why did he say,' bawled Kit, 'that Miss Nelly was ugly, and that
4837
4838she and my master was obliged to do whatever his master liked?  Why did
4839
4840he say that?'<br><br>
4841
4842'He said what he did because he's a fool, and you said what you did
4843
4844because you're very wise and clever--almost too clever to live, unless
4845
4846you're very careful of yourself, Kit.' said Quilp, with great suavity
4847
4848in his manner, but still more of quiet malice about his eyes and mouth.
4849
4850'Here's sixpence for you, Kit. Always speak the truth.  At all times,
4851
4852Kit, speak the truth. Lock the counting-house, you dog, and bring me
4853
4854the key.'<br><br>
4855
4856The other boy, to whom this order was addressed, did as he was told,
4857
4858and was rewarded for his partizanship in behalf of his master, by a
4859
4860dexterous rap on the nose with the key, which brought the water into
4861
4862his eyes. Then Mr Quilp departed with the child and Kit in a boat, and
4863
4864the boy revenged himself by dancing on his head at intervals on the
4865
4866extreme verge of the wharf, during the whole time they crossed the
4867
4868river.<br><br>
4869
4870There was only Mrs Quilp at home, and she, little expecting the return
4871
4872of her lord, was just composing herself for a refreshing slumber when
4873
4874the sound of his footsteps roused her. She had barely time to seem to
4875
4876be occupied in some needle-work, when he entered, accompanied by the
4877
4878child; having left Kit downstairs.<br><br>
4879
4880'Here's Nelly Trent, dear Mrs Quilp,' said her husband. 'A glass of
4881
4882wine, my dear, and a biscuit, for she has had a long walk. She'll sit
4883
4884with you, my soul, while I write a letter.'<br><br>
4885
4886Mrs Quilp looked tremblingly in her spouse's face to know what this
4887
4888unusual courtesy might portend, and obedient to the summons she saw in
4889
4890his gesture, followed him into the next room.<br><br>
4891
4892'Mind what I say to you,' whispered Quilp. 'See if you can get out of
4893
4894her anything about her grandfather, or what they do, or how they live,
4895
4896or what he tells her. I've my reasons for knowing, if I can. You women
4897
4898talk more freely to one another than you do to us, and you have a soft,
4899
4900mild way with you that'll win upon her. Do you hear?'<br><br>
4901
4902'Yes, Quilp.'<br><br>
4903
4904'Go then. What's the matter now?'<br><br>
4905
4906'Dear Quilp,' faltered his wife. 'I love the child--if you could do
4907
4908without making me deceive her--'<br><br>
4909
4910The dwarf muttering a terrible oath looked round as if for some weapon
4911
4912with which to inflict condign punishment upon his disobedient wife. The
4913
4914submissive little woman hurriedly entreated him not to be angry, and
4915
4916promised to do as he bade her.<br><br>
4917
4918'Do you hear me,' whispered Quilp, nipping and pinching her arm; 'worm
4919
4920yourself into her secrets; I know you can. I'm listening, recollect. If
4921
4922you're not sharp enough, I'll creak the door, and woe betide you if I
4923
4924have to creak it much. Go!'<br><br>
4925
4926Mrs Quilp departed according to order, and her amiable husband,
4927
4928ensconcing himself behind the partly opened door, and applying his ear
4929
4930close to it, began to listen with a face of great craftiness and
4931
4932attention.<br><br>
4933
4934Poor Mrs Quilp was thinking, however, in what manner to begin or what
4935
4936kind of inquiries she could make; and it was not until the door,
4937
4938creaking in a very urgent manner, warned her to proceed without further
4939
4940consideration, that the sound of her voice was heard.<br><br>
4941
4942'How very often you have come backwards and forwards lately to Mr
4943
4944Quilp, my dear.'<br><br>
4945
4946'I have said so to grandfather, a hundred times,' returned Nell
4947
4948innocently.<br><br>
4949
4950'And what has he said to that?'<br><br>
4951
4952'Only sighed, and dropped his head, and seemed so sad and wretched that
4953
4954if you could have seen him I am sure you must have cried; you could not
4955
4956have helped it more than I, I know. How that door creaks!'<br><br>
4957
4958'It often does.' returned Mrs Quilp, with an uneasy glance towards it.
4959
4960'But your grandfather--he used not to be so wretched?'<br><br>
4961
4962'Oh, no!' said the child eagerly, 'so different! We were once so happy
4963
4964and he so cheerful and contented! You cannot think what a sad change
4965
4966has fallen on us since.'<br><br>
4967
4968'I am very, very sorry, to hear you speak like this, my dear!' said Mrs
4969
4970Quilp. And she spoke the truth.<br><br>
4971
4972'Thank you,' returned the child, kissing her cheek, 'you are always
4973
4974kind to me, and it is a pleasure to talk to you. I can speak to no one
4975
4976else about him, but poor Kit. I am very happy still, I ought to feel
4977
4978happier perhaps than I do, but you cannot think how it grieves me
4979
4980sometimes to see him alter so.'<br><br>
4981
4982'He'll alter again, Nelly,' said Mrs Quilp, 'and be what he was before.'<br><br>
4983
4984'Oh, if God would only let that come about!' said the child with
4985
4986streaming eyes; 'but it is a long time now, since he first began to--I
4987
4988thought I saw that door moving!'<br><br>
4989
4990'It's the wind,' said Mrs Quilp, faintly. 'Began to--'<br><br>
4991
4992'To be so thoughtful and dejected, and to forget our old way of
4993
4994spending the time in the long evenings,' said the child. 'I used to
4995
4996read to him by the fireside, and he sat listening, and when I stopped
4997
4998and we began to talk, he told me about my mother, and how she once
4999
5000looked and spoke just like me when she was a little child. Then he used
5001
5002to take me on his knee, and try to make me understand that she was not
5003
5004lying in her grave, but had flown to a beautiful country beyond the sky
5005
5006where nothing died or ever grew old--we were very happy once!'<br><br>
5007
5008'Nelly, Nelly!' said the poor woman, 'I can't bear to see one as young
5009
5010as you so sorrowful. Pray don't cry.'<br><br>
5011
5012'I do so very seldom,' said Nell,' but I have kept this to myself a
5013
5014long time, and I am not quite well, I think, for the tears come into my
5015
5016eyes and I cannot keep them back. I don't mind telling you my grief,
5017
5018for I know you will not tell it to any one again.'<br><br>
5019
5020Mrs Quilp turned away her head and made no answer.<br><br>
5021
5022'Then,' said the child, 'we often walked in the fields and among the
5023
5024green trees, and when we came home at night, we liked it better for
5025
5026being tired, and said what a happy place it was. And if it was dark and
5027
5028rather dull, we used to say, what did it matter to us, for it only made
5029
5030us remember our last walk with greater pleasure, and look forward to
5031
5032our next one. But now we never have these walks, and though it is the
5033
5034same house it is darker and much more gloomy than it used to be,
5035
5036indeed!'<br><br>
5037
5038She paused here, but though the door creaked more than once, Mrs Quilp
5039
5040said nothing.<br><br>
5041
5042'Mind you don't suppose,' said the child earnestly, 'that grandfather
5043
5044is less kind to me than he was. I think he loves me better every day,
5045
5046and is kinder and more affectionate than he was the day before. You do
5047
5048not know how fond he is of me!'<br><br>
5049
5050'I am sure he loves you dearly,' said Mrs Quilp.<br><br>
5051
5052'Indeed, indeed he does!' cried Nell, 'as dearly as I love him. But I
5053
5054have not told you the greatest change of all, and this you must never
5055
5056breathe again to any one. He has no sleep or rest, but that which he
5057
5058takes by day in his easy chair; for every night and nearly all night
5059
5060long he is away from home.'<br><br>
5061
5062'Nelly!'<br><br>
5063
5064'Hush!' said the child, laying her finger on her lip and looking round.
5065
5066'When he comes home in the morning, which is generally just before day,
5067
5068I let him in. Last night he was very late, and it was quite light. I
5069
5070saw that his face was deadly pale, that his eyes were bloodshot, and
5071
5072that his legs trembled as he walked. When I had gone to bed again, I
5073
5074heard him groan. I got up and ran back to him, and heard him say,
5075
5076before he knew that I was there, that he could not bear his life much
5077
5078longer, and if it was not for the child, would wish to die. What shall
5079
5080I do! Oh! What shall I do!'<br><br>
5081
5082The fountains of her heart were opened; the child, overpowered by the
5083
5084weight of her sorrows and anxieties, by the first confidence she had
5085
5086ever shown, and the sympathy with which her little tale had been
5087
5088received, hid her face in the arms of her helpless friend, and burst
5089
5090into a passion of tears.<br><br>
5091
5092In a few minutes Mr Quilp returned, and expressed the utmost surprise
5093
5094to find her in this condition, which he did very naturally and with
5095
5096admirable effect, for that kind of acting had been rendered familiar to
5097
5098him by long practice, and he was quite at home in it.<br><br>
5099
5100'She's tired you see, Mrs Quilp,' said the dwarf, squinting in a
5101
5102hideous manner to imply that his wife was to follow his lead. 'It's a
5103
5104long way from her home to the wharf, and then she was alarmed to see a
5105
5106couple of young scoundrels fighting, and was timorous on the water
5107
5108besides. All this together has been too much for her. Poor Nell!'<br><br>
5109
5110Mr Quilp unintentionally adopted the very best means he could have
5111
5112devised for the recovery of his young visitor, by patting her on the
5113
5114head. Such an application from any other hand might not have produced a
5115
5116remarkable effect, but the child shrank so quickly from his touch and
5117
5118felt such an instinctive desire to get out of his reach, that she rose
5119
5120directly and declared herself ready to return.<br><br>
5121
5122'But you'd better wait, and dine with Mrs Quilp and me.' said the dwarf.<br><br>
5123
5124'I have been away too long, sir, already,' returned Nell, drying her
5125
5126eyes.<br><br>
5127
5128'Well,' said Mr Quilp, 'if you will go, you will, Nelly. Here's the
5129
5130note. It's only to say that I shall see him to-morrow or maybe next
5131
5132day, and that I couldn't do that little business for him this morning.
5133
5134Good-bye, Nelly. Here, you sir; take care of her, d'ye hear?'<br><br>
5135
5136Kit, who appeared at the summons, deigned to make no reply to so
5137
5138needless an injunction, and after staring at Quilp in a threatening
5139
5140manner, as if he doubted whether he might not have been the cause of
5141
5142Nelly shedding tears, and felt more than half disposed to revenge the
5143
5144fact upon him on the mere suspicion, turned about and followed his
5145
5146young mistress, who had by this time taken her leave of Mrs Quilp and
5147
5148departed.<br><br>
5149
5150'You're a keen questioner, an't you, Mrs Quilp?' said the dwarf,
5151
5152turning upon her as soon as they were left alone.<br><br>
5153
5154'What more could I do?' returned his wife mildly?<br><br>
5155
5156'What more could you do!' sneered Quilp, 'couldn't you have done
5157
5158something less? Couldn't you have done what you had to do, without
5159
5160appearing in your favourite part of the crocodile, you minx?'<br><br>
5161
5162'I am very sorry for the child, Quilp,' said his wife. 'Surely I've
5163
5164done enough. I've led her on to tell her secret she supposed we were
5165
5166alone; and you were by, God forgive me.'<br><br>
5167
5168'You led her on! You did a great deal truly!' said Quilp. 'What did I
5169
5170tell you about making me creak the door? It's lucky for you that from
5171
5172what she let fall, I've got the clue I want, for if I hadn't, I'd have
5173
5174visited the failure upon you, I can tell you.'<br><br>
5175
5176Mrs Quilp being fully persuaded of this, made no reply. Her husband
5177
5178added with some exultation,<br><br>
5179
5180'But you may thank your fortunate stars--the same stars that made you
5181
5182Mrs Quilp--you may thank them that I'm upon the old gentleman's track,
5183
5184and have got a new light. So let me hear no more about this matter now
5185
5186or at any other time, and don't get anything too nice for dinner, for I
5187
5188shan't be home to it.'<br><br>
5189
5190So saying, Mr Quilp put his hat on and took himself off, and Mrs Quilp,
5191
5192who was afflicted beyond measure by the recollection of the part she
5193
5194had just acted, shut herself up in her chamber, and smothering her head
5195
5196in the bed-clothes bemoaned her fault more bitterly than many less
5197
5198tender-hearted persons would have mourned a much greater offence; for,
5199
5200in the majority of cases, conscience is an elastic and very flexible
5201
5202article, which will bear a deal of stretching and adapt itself to a
5203
5204great variety of circumstances. Some people by prudent management and
5205
5206leaving it off piece by piece like a flannel waistcoat in warm weather,
5207
5208even contrive, in time, to dispense with it altogether; but there be
5209
5210others who can assume the garment and throw it off at pleasure; and
5211
5212this, being the greatest and most convenient improvement, is the one
5213
5214most in vogue.<br><br>
5215
5216CHAPTER 7<br><br>
5217
5218'Fred,' said Mr Swiveller, 'remember the once popular melody of Begone
5219
5220dull care; fan the sinking flame of hilarity with the wing of
5221
5222friendship; and pass the rosy wine.'<br><br>
5223
5224Mr Richard Swiveller's apartments were in the neighbourhood of Drury
5225
5226Lane, and in addition to this convenience of situation had the
5227
5228advantage of being over a tobacconist's shop, so that he was enabled to
5229
5230procure a refreshing sneeze at any time by merely stepping out upon the
5231
5232staircase, and was saved the trouble and expense of maintaining a
5233
5234snuff-box. It was in these apartments that Mr Swiveller made use of the
5235
5236expressions above recorded for the consolation and encouragement of his
5237
5238desponding friend; and it may not be uninteresting or improper to
5239
5240remark that even these brief observations partook in a double sense of
5241
5242the figurative and poetical character of Mr Swiveller's mind, as the
5243
5244rosy wine was in fact represented by one glass of cold gin-and-water,
5245
5246which was replenished as occasion required from a bottle and jug upon
5247
5248the table, and was passed from one to another, in a scarcity of
5249
5250tumblers which, as Mr Swiveller's was a bachelor's establishment, may
5251
5252be acknowledged without a blush. By a like pleasant fiction his single
5253
5254chamber was always mentioned in a plural number. In its disengaged
5255
5256times, the tobacconist had announced it in his window as 'apartments'
5257
5258for a single gentleman, and Mr Swiveller, following up the hint, never
5259
5260failed to speak of it as his rooms, his lodgings, or his chambers,
5261
5262conveying to his hearers a notion of indefinite space, and leaving
5263
5264their imaginations to wander through long suites of lofty halls, at
5265
5266pleasure.<br><br>
5267
5268In this flight of fancy, Mr Swiveller was assisted by a deceptive piece
5269
5270of furniture, in reality a bedstead, but in semblance a bookcase, which
5271
5272occupied a prominent situation in his chamber and seemed to defy
5273
5274suspicion and challenge inquiry. There is no doubt that by day Mr
5275
5276Swiveller firmly believed this secret convenience to be a bookcase and
5277
5278nothing more; that he closed his eyes to the bed, resolutely denied the
5279
5280existence of the blankets, and spurned the bolster from his thoughts.
5281
5282No word of its real use, no hint of its nightly service, no allusion to
5283
5284its peculiar properties, had ever passed between him and his most
5285
5286intimate friends. Implicit faith in the deception was the first article
5287
5288of his creed. To be the friend of Swiveller you must reject all
5289
5290circumstantial evidence, all reason, observation, and experience, and
5291
5292repose a blind belief in the bookcase. It was his pet weakness, and he
5293
5294cherished it.<br><br>
5295
5296'Fred!' said Mr Swiveller, finding that his former adjuration had been
5297
5298productive of no effect. 'Pass the rosy.'<br><br>
5299
5300Young Trent with an impatient gesture pushed the glass towards him, and
5301
5302fell again in the moody attitude from which he had been unwillingly
5303
5304roused.<br><br>
5305
5306'I'll give you, Fred,' said his friend, stirring the mixture, 'a little
5307
5308sentiment appropriate to the occasion. Here's May the--'<br><br>
5309
5310'Pshaw!' interposed the other. 'You worry me to death with your
5311
5312chattering. You can be merry under any circumstances.'<br><br>
5313
5314'Why, Mr Trent,' returned Dick, 'there is a proverb which talks about
5315
5316being merry and wise. There are some people who can be merry and can't
5317
5318be wise, and some who can be wise (or think they can) and can't be
5319
5320merry. I'm one of the first sort. If the proverb's a good 'un, I
5321
5322suppose it's better to keep to half of it than none; at all events, I'd
5323
5324rather be merry and not wise, than like you, neither one nor t'other.'<br><br>
5325
5326'Bah!' muttered his friend, peevishly.<br><br>
5327
5328'With all my heart,' said Mr Swiveller. 'In the polite circles I
5329
5330believe this sort of thing isn't usually said to a gentleman in his own
5331
5332apartments, but never mind that. Make yourself at home,' adding to this
5333
5334retort an observation to the effect that his friend appeared to be
5335
5336rather 'cranky' in point of temper, Richard Swiveller finished the
5337
5338rosy and applied himself to the composition of another glassful, in
5339
5340which, after tasting it with great relish, he proposed a toast to an
5341
5342imaginary company.<br><br>
5343
5344'Gentlemen, I'll give you, if you please, Success to the ancient family
5345
5346of the Swivellers, and good luck to Mr Richard in particular--Mr
5347
5348Richard, gentlemen,' said Dick with great emphasis, 'who spends all his
5349
5350money on his friends and is Bah!'d for his pains. Hear, hear!'<br><br>
5351
5352'Dick!' said the other, returning to his seat after having paced the
5353
5354room twice or thrice, 'will you talk seriously for two minutes, if I
5355
5356show you a way to make your fortune with very little trouble?'<br><br>
5357
5358'You've shown me so many,' returned Dick; 'and nothing has come of any
5359
5360one of 'em but empty pockets--'<br><br>
5361
5362'You'll tell a different story of this one, before a very long time is
5363
5364over,' said his companion, drawing his chair to the table. 'You saw my
5365
5366sister Nell?'<br><br>
5367
5368'What about her?' returned Dick.<br><br>
5369
5370'She has a pretty face, has she not?'<br><br>
5371
5372'Why, certainly,' replied Dick. 'I must say for her that there's not
5373
5374any very strong family likeness between her and you.'<br><br>
5375
5376'Has she a pretty face,' repeated his friend impatiently.<br><br>
5377
5378'Yes,' said Dick, 'she has a pretty face, a very pretty face. What of
5379
5380that?'<br><br>
5381
5382'I'll tell you,' returned his friend. 'It's very plain that the old man
5383
5384and I will remain at daggers drawn to the end of our lives, and that I
5385
5386have nothing to expect from him. You see that, I suppose?'<br><br>
5387
5388'A bat might see that, with the sun shining,' said Dick.<br><br>
5389
5390'It's equally plain that the money which the old flint--rot him--first
5391
5392taught me to expect that I should share with her at his death, will all
5393
5394be hers, is it not?'<br><br>
5395
5396'I should said it was,' replied Dick; 'unless the way in which I put
5397
5398the case to him, made an impression. It may have done so. It was
5399
5400powerful, Fred. 'Here is a jolly old grandfather'--that was strong, I
5401
5402thought--very friendly and natural. Did it strike you in that way?'<br><br>
5403
5404It didn't strike him,' returned the other, 'so we needn't discuss it.
5405
5406Now look here. Nell is nearly fourteen.'<br><br>
5407
5408'Fine girl of her age, but small,' observed Richard Swiveller
5409
5410parenthetically.<br><br>
5411
5412'If I am to go on, be quiet for one minute,' returned Trent, fretting
5413
5414at the slight interest the other appeared to take in the conversation.
5415
5416'Now I'm coming to the point.'<br><br>
5417
5418'That's right,' said Dick.<br><br>
5419
5420'The girl has strong affections, and brought up as she has been, may,
5421
5422at her age, be easily influenced and persuaded. If I take her in hand,
5423
5424I will be bound by a very little coaxing and threatening to bend her to
5425
5426my will. Not to beat about the bush (for the advantages of the scheme
5427
5428would take a week to tell) what's to prevent your marrying her?'<br><br>
5429
5430Richard Swiveller, who had been looking over the rim of the tumbler
5431
5432while his companion addressed the foregoing remarks to him with great
5433
5434energy and earnestness of manner, no sooner heard these words than he
5435
5436evinced the utmost consternation, and with difficulty ejaculated the
5437
5438monosyllable:<br><br>
5439
5440'What!'<br><br>
5441
5442'I say, what's to prevent,' repeated the other with a steadiness of
5443
5444manner, of the effect of which upon his companion he was well assured
5445
5446by long experience, 'what's to prevent your marrying her?'<br><br>
5447
5448'And she 'nearly fourteen'!' cried Dick.<br><br>
5449
5450'I don't mean marrying her now'--returned the brother angrily; 'say in
5451
5452two year's time, in three, in four. Does the old man look like a
5453
5454long-liver?'<br><br>
5455
5456'He don't look like it,' said Dick shaking his head, 'but these old
5457
5458people--there's no trusting them, Fred. There's an aunt of mine down in
5459
5460Dorsetshire that was going to die when I was eight years old, and
5461
5462hasn't kept her word yet. They're so aggravating, so unprincipled, so
5463
5464spiteful--unless there's apoplexy in the family, Fred, you can't
5465
5466calculate upon 'em, and even then they deceive you just as often as
5467
5468not.'<br><br>
5469
5470'Look at the worst side of the question then,' said Trent as steadily
5471
5472as before, and keeping his eyes upon his friend. 'Suppose he lives.'<br><br>
5473
5474'To be sure,' said Dick. 'There's the rub.'<br><br>
5475
5476'I say,' resumed his friend, 'suppose he lives, and I persuaded, or if
5477
5478the word sounds more feasible, forced Nell to a secret marriage with
5479
5480you. What do you think would come of that?'<br><br>
5481
5482'A family and an annual income of nothing, to keep 'em on,' said
5483
5484Richard Swiveller after some reflection.<br><br>
5485
5486'I tell you,' returned the other with an increased earnestness, which,
5487
5488whether it were real or assumed, had the same effect on his companion,
5489
5490'that he lives for her, that his whole energies and thoughts are bound
5491
5492up in her, that he would no more disinherit her for an act of
5493
5494disobedience than he would take me into his favour again for any act of
5495
5496obedience or virtue that I could possibly be guilty of. He could not do
5497
5498it. You or any other man with eyes in his head may see that, if he
5499
5500chooses.'<br><br>
5501
5502'It seems improbable certainly,' said Dick, musing.<br><br>
5503
5504'It seems improbable because it is improbable,' his friend returned.
5505
5506'If you would furnish him with an additional inducement to forgive you,
5507
5508let there be an irreconcilable breach, a most deadly quarrel, between
5509
5510you and me--let there be a pretense of such a thing, I mean, of
5511
5512course--and he'll do fast enough. As to Nell, constant dropping will
5513
5514wear away a stone; you know you may trust to me as far as she is
5515
5516concerned. So, whether he lives or dies, what does it come to?  That
5517
5518you become the sole inheritor of the wealth of this rich old hunks,
5519
5520that you and I spend it together, and that you get into the bargain a
5521
5522beautiful young wife.'<br><br>
5523
5524'I suppose there's no doubt about his being rich'--said Dick.<br><br>
5525
5526'Doubt! Did you hear what he left fall the other day when we were
5527
5528there? Doubt! What will you doubt next, Dick?'<br><br>
5529
5530It would be tedious to pursue the conversation through all its artful
5531
5532windings, or to develope the gradual approaches by which the heart of
5533
5534Richard Swiveller was gained. It is sufficient to know that vanity,
5535
5536interest, poverty, and every spendthrift consideration urged him to
5537
5538look upon the proposal with favour, and that where all other
5539
5540inducements were wanting, the habitual carelessness of his disposition
5541
5542stepped in and still weighed down the scale on the same side. To these
5543
5544impulses must be added the complete ascendancy which his friend had
5545
5546long been accustomed to exercise over him--an ascendancy exerted in the
5547
5548beginning sorely at the expense of his friend's vices, and was in nine
5549
5550cases out of ten looked upon as his designing tempter when he was
5551
5552indeed nothing but his thoughtless, light-headed tool.<br><br>
5553
5554The motives on the other side were something deeper than any which
5555
5556Richard Swiveller entertained or understood, but these being left to
5557
5558their own development, require no present elucidation. The negotiation
5559
5560was concluded very pleasantly, and Mr Swiveller was in the act of
5561
5562stating in flowery terms that he had no insurmountable objection to
5563
5564marrying anybody plentifully endowed with money or moveables, who could
5565
5566be induced to take him, when he was interrupted in his observations by
5567
5568a knock at the door, and the consequent necessity of crying 'Come in.'<br><br>
5569
5570The door was opened, but nothing came in except a soapy arm and a
5571
5572strong gush of tobacco. The gush of tobacco came from the shop
5573
5574downstairs, and the soapy arm proceeded from the body of a
5575
5576servant-girl, who being then and there engaged in cleaning the stairs
5577
5578had just drawn it out of a warm pail to take in a letter, which letter
5579
5580she now held in her hand, proclaiming aloud with that quick perception
5581
5582of surnames peculiar to her class that it was for Mister Snivelling.<br><br>
5583
5584Dick looked rather pale and foolish when he glanced at the direction,
5585
5586and still more so when he came to look at the inside, observing that it
5587
5588was one of the inconveniences of being a lady's man, and that it was
5589
5590very easy to talk as they had been talking, but he had quite forgotten
5591
5592her.<br><br>
5593
5594'Her. Who?' demanded Trent.<br><br>
5595
5596'Sophy Wackles,' said Dick.<br><br>
5597
5598'Who's she?'<br><br>
5599
5600'She's all my fancy painted her, sir, that's what she is,' said Mr
5601
5602Swiveller, taking a long pull at 'the rosy' and looking gravely at his
5603
5604friend. 'She's lovely, she's divine. You know her.'<br><br>
5605
5606'I remember,' said his companion carelessly. 'What of her?'<br><br>
5607
5608'Why, sir,' returned Dick, 'between Miss Sophia Wackles and the humble
5609
5610individual who has now the honor to address you, warm and tender
5611
5612sentiments have been engendered, sentiments of the most honourable and
5613
5614inspiring kind. The Goddess Diana, sir, that calls aloud for the chase,
5615
5616is not more particular in her behavior than Sophia Wackles; I can tell
5617
5618you that.'<br><br>
5619
5620'Am I to believe there's anything real in what you say?' demanded his
5621
5622friend; 'you don't mean to say that any love-making has been going on?'<br><br>
5623
5624'Love-making, yes. Promising, no,' said Dick. 'There can be no action
5625
5626for breach, that's one comfort. I've never committed myself in writing,
5627
5628Fred.'<br><br>
5629
5630'And what's in the letter, pray?'<br><br>
5631
5632'A reminder, Fred, for to-night--a small party of twenty, making two
5633
5634hundred light fantastic toes in all, supposing every lady and gentleman
5635
5636to have the proper complement. I must go, if it's only to begin
5637
5638breaking off the affair--I'll do it, don't you be afraid. I should like
5639
5640to know whether she left this herself. If she did, unconscious of any
5641
5642bar to her happiness, it's affecting, Fred.'<br><br>
5643
5644To solve this question, Mr Swiveller summoned the handmaid and
5645
5646ascertained that Miss Sophy Wackles had indeed left the letter with her
5647
5648own hands; and that she had come accompanied, for decorum's sake no
5649
5650doubt, by a younger Miss Wackles; and that on learning that Mr
5651
5652Swiveller was at home and being requested to walk upstairs, she was
5653
5654extremely shocked and professed that she would rather die. Mr Swiveller
5655
5656heard this account with a degree of admiration not altogether
5657
5658consistent with the project in which he had just concurred, but his
5659
5660friend attached very little importance to his behavior in this respect,
5661
5662probably because he knew that he had influence sufficient to control
5663
5664Richard Swiveller's proceedings in this or any other matter, whenever
5665
5666he deemed it necessary, for the advancement of his own purposes, to
5667
5668exert it.<br><br>
5669
5670CHAPTER 8<br><br>
5671
5672Business disposed of, Mr Swiveller was inwardly reminded of its being
5673
5674nigh dinner-time, and to the intent that his health might not be
5675
5676endangered by longer abstinence, dispatched a message to the nearest
5677
5678eating-house requiring an immediate supply of boiled beef and greens
5679
5680for two. With this demand, however, the eating-house (having experience
5681
5682of its customer) declined to comply, churlishly sending back for answer
5683
5684that if Mr Swiveller stood in need of beef perhaps he would be so
5685
5686obliging as to come there and eat it, bringing with him, as grace
5687
5688before meat, the amount of a certain small account which had long been
5689
5690outstanding. Not at all intimidated by this rebuff, but rather
5691
5692sharpened in wits and appetite, Mr Swiveller forwarded the same message
5693
5694to another and more distant eating-house, adding to it by way of rider
5695
5696that the gentleman was induced to send so far, not only by the great
5697
5698fame and popularity its beef had acquired, but in consequence of the
5699
5700extreme toughness of the beef retailed at the obdurant cook's shop,
5701
5702which rendered it quite unfit not merely for gentlemanly food, but for
5703
5704any human consumption. The good effect of this politic course was
5705
5706demonstrated by the speedy arrival of a small pewter pyramid, curiously
5707
5708constructed of platters and covers, whereof the boiled-beef-plates
5709
5710formed the base, and a foaming quart-pot the apex; the structure being
5711
5712resolved into its component parts afforded all things requisite and
5713
5714necessary for a hearty meal, to which Mr Swiveller and his friend
5715
5716applied themselves with great keenness and enjoyment.<br><br>
5717
5718'May the present moment,' said Dick, sticking his fork into a large
5719
5720carbuncular potato, 'be the worst of our lives! I like the plan of
5721
5722sending 'em with the peel on; there's a charm in drawing a potato from
5723
5724its native element (if I may so express it) to which the rich and
5725
5726powerful are strangers. Ah! 'Man wants but little here below, nor wants
5727
5728that little long!' How true that is!--after dinner.'<br><br>
5729
5730'I hope the eating-house keeper will want but little and that he may
5731
5732not want that little long,' returned his companion; but I suspect
5733
5734you've no means of paying for this!'<br><br>
5735
5736'I shall be passing present, and I'll call,' said Dick, winking his eye
5737
5738significantly. 'The waiter's quite helpless. The goods are gone, Fred,
5739
5740and there's an end of it.'<br><br>
5741
5742In point of fact, it would seem that the waiter felt this wholesome
5743
5744truth, for when he returned for the empty plates and dishes and was
5745
5746informed by Mr Swiveller with dignified carelessness that he would call
5747
5748and settle when he should be passing presently, he displayed some
5749
5750perturbation of spirit and muttered a few remarks about 'payment on
5751
5752delivery' and 'no trust,' and other unpleasant subjects, but was fain
5753
5754to content himself with inquiring at what hour it was likely that the
5755
5756gentleman would call, in order that being presently responsible for the
5757
5758beef, greens, and sundries, he might take to be in the way at the time.
5759
5760Mr Swiveller, after mentally calculating his engagements to a nicety,
5761
5762replied that he should look in at from two minutes before six and seven
5763
5764minutes past; and the man disappearing with this feeble consolation,
5765
5766Richard Swiveller took a greasy memorandum-book from his pocket and
5767
5768made an entry therein.<br><br>
5769
5770'Is that a reminder, in case you should forget to call?' said Trent
5771
5772with a sneer.<br><br>
5773
5774'Not exactly, Fred,' replied the imperturbable Richard, continuing to
5775
5776write with a businesslike air. 'I enter in this little book the names
5777
5778of the streets that I can't go down while the shops are open. This
5779
5780dinner today closes Long Acre. I bought a pair of boots in Great Queen
5781
5782Street last week, and made that no throughfare too. There's only one
5783
5784avenue to the Strand left often now, and I shall have to stop up that
5785
5786to-night with a pair of gloves. The roads are closing so fast in every
5787
5788direction, that in a month's time, unless my aunt sends me a
5789
5790remittance, I shall have to go three or four miles out of town to get
5791
5792over the way.'<br><br>
5793
5794'There's no fear of failing, in the end?' said Trent.<br><br>
5795
5796'Why, I hope not,' returned Mr Swiveller, 'but the average number of
5797
5798letters it take to soften her is six, and this time we have got as far
5799
5800as eight without any effect at all. I'll write another to-morrow
5801
5802morning. I mean to blot it a good deal and shake some water over it out
5803
5804of the pepper-castor to make it look penitent. 'I'm in such a state of
5805
5806mind that I hardly know what I write'--blot--' if you could see me at
5807
5808this minute shedding tears for my past misconduct'--pepper-castor--my
5809
5810hand trembles when I think'--blot again--if that don't produce the
5811
5812effect, it's all over.'<br><br>
5813
5814By this time, Mr Swiveller had finished his entry, and he now replaced
5815
5816his pencil in its little sheath and closed the book, in a perfectly
5817
5818grave and serious frame of mind. His friend discovered that it was time
5819
5820for him to fulfil some other engagement, and Richard Swiveller was
5821
5822accordingly left alone, in company with the rosy wine and his own
5823
5824meditations touching Miss Sophy Wackles.<br><br>
5825
5826'It's rather sudden,' said Dick shaking his head with a look of
5827
5828infinite wisdom, and running on (as he was accustomed to do) with
5829
5830scraps of verse as if they were only prose in a hurry; 'when the heart
5831
5832of a man is depressed with fears, the mist is dispelled when Miss
5833
5834Wackles appears; she's a very nice girl. She's like the red red rose
5835
5836that's newly sprung in June--there's no denying that--she's also like a
5837
5838melody that's sweetly played in tune. It's really very sudden. Not that
5839
5840there's any need, on account of Fred's little sister, to turn cool
5841
5842directly, but its better not to go too far. If I begin to cool at all I
5843
5844must begin at once, I see that. There's the chance of an action for
5845
5846breach, that's another. There's the chance of--no, there's no chance of
5847
5848that, but it's as well to be on the safe side.'<br><br>
5849
5850This undeveloped was the possibility, which Richard Swiveller sought to
5851
5852conceal even from himself, of his not being proof against the charms of
5853
5854Miss Wackles, and in some unguarded moment, by linking his fortunes to
5855
5856hers forever, of putting it out of his own power to further their
5857
5858notable scheme to which he had so readily become a party. For all these
5859
5860reasons, he decided to pick a quarrel with Miss Wackles without delay,
5861
5862and casting about for a pretext determined in favour of groundless
5863
5864jealousy.  Having made up his mind on this important point, he
5865
5866circulated the glass (from his right hand to left, and back again)
5867
5868pretty freely, to enable him to act his part with the greater
5869
5870discretion, and then, after making some slight improvements in his
5871
5872toilet, bent his steps towards the spot hallowed by the fair object of
5873
5874his meditations.<br><br>
5875
5876The spot was at Chelsea, for there Miss Sophia Wackles resided with her
5877
5878widowed mother and two sisters, in conjunction with whom she maintained
5879
5880a very small day-school for young ladies of proportionate dimensions; a
5881
5882circumstance which was made known to the neighbourhood by an oval board
5883
5884over the front first-floor windows, whereupon appeared in circumambient
5885
5886flourishes the words 'Ladies' Seminary'; and which was further
5887
5888published and proclaimed at intervals between the hours of half-past
5889
5890nine and ten in the morning, by a straggling and solitary young lady of
5891
5892tender years standing on the scraper on the tips of her toes and making
5893
5894futile attempts to reach the knocker with a spelling-book. The several
5895
5896duties of instruction in this establishment were thus discharged.
5897
5898English grammar, composition, geography, and the use of the dumb-bells,
5899
5900by Miss Melissa Wackles; writing, arithmetic, dancing, music, and
5901
5902general fascination, by Miss Sophia Wackles; the art of needle-work,
5903
5904marking, and samplery, by Miss Jane Wackles; corporal punishment,
5905
5906fasting, and other tortures and terrors, by Mrs Wackles. Miss Melissa
5907
5908Wackles was the eldest daughter, Miss Sophy the next, and Miss Jane the
5909
5910youngest. Miss Melissa might have seen five-and-thirty summers or
5911
5912thereabouts, and verged on the autumnal; Miss Sophy was a fresh, good
5913
5914humoured, buxom girl of twenty; and Miss Jane numbered scarcely sixteen
5915
5916years. Mrs Wackles was an excellent but rather venomous old lady of
5917
5918three-score.<br><br>
5919
5920To this Ladies' Seminary, then, Richard Swiveller hied, with designs
5921
5922obnoxious to the peace of the fair Sophia, who, arrayed in virgin
5923
5924white, embellished by no ornament but one blushing rose, received him
5925
5926on his arrival, in the midst of very elegant not to say brilliant
5927
5928preparations; such as the embellishment of the room with the little
5929
5930flower-pots which always stood on the window-sill outside, save in
5931
5932windy weather when they blew into the area; the choice attire of the
5933
5934day-scholars who were allowed to grace the festival; the unwonted curls
5935
5936of Miss Jane Wackles who had kept her head during the whole of the
5937
5938preceding day screwed up tight in a yellow play-bill; and the solemn
5939
5940gentility and stately bearing of the old lady and her eldest daughter,
5941
5942which struck Mr Swiveller as being uncommon but made no further
5943
5944impression upon him.<br><br>
5945
5946The truth is--and, as there is no accounting for tastes, even a taste
5947
5948so strange as this may be recorded without being looked upon as a
5949
5950wilful and malicious invention--the truth is that neither Mrs Wackles
5951
5952nor her eldest daughter had at any time greatly favoured the
5953
5954pretensions of Mr Swiveller, being accustomed to make slight mention of
5955
5956him as 'a gay young man' and to sigh and shake their heads ominously
5957
5958whenever his name was mentioned. Mr Swiveller's conduct in respect to
5959
5960Miss Sophy having been of that vague and dilatory kind which is usually
5961
5962looked upon as betokening no fixed matrimonial intentions, the young
5963
5964lady herself began in course of time to deem it highly desirable, that
5965
5966it should be brought to an issue one way or other. Hence she had at
5967
5968last consented to play off against Richard Swiveller a stricken
5969
5970market-gardner known to be ready with his offer on the smallest
5971
5972encouragement, and hence--as this occasion had been specially assigned
5973
5974for the purpose--that great anxiety on her part for Richard Swiveller's
5975
5976presence which had occasioned her to leave the note he has been seen to
5977
5978receive. 'If he has any expectations at all or any means of keeping a
5979
5980wife well,' said Mrs Wackles to her eldest daughter, 'he'll state 'em
5981
5982to us now or never.'--'If he really cares about me,' thought Miss
5983
5984Sophy, 'he must tell me so, to-night.'<br><br>
5985
5986But all these sayings and doings and thinkings being unknown to Mr
5987
5988Swiveller, affected him not in the least; he was debating in his mind
5989
5990how he could best turn jealous, and wishing that Sophy were for that
5991
5992occasion only far less pretty than she was, or that she were her own
5993
5994sister, which would have served his turn as well, when the company
5995
5996came, and among them the market-gardener, whose name was Cheggs. But Mr
5997
5998Cheggs came not alone or unsupported, for he prudently brought along
5999
6000with him his sister, Miss Cheggs, who making straight to Miss Sophy and
6001
6002taking her by both hands, and kissing her on both cheeks, hoped in an
6003
6004audible whisper that they had not come too early.<br><br>
6005
6006'Too early, no!' replied Miss Sophy.<br><br>
6007
6008'Oh, my dear,' rejoined Miss Cheggs in the same whisper as before,
6009
6010'I've been so tormented, so worried, that it's a mercy we were not here
6011
6012at four o'clock in the afternoon. Alick has been in such a state of
6013
6014impatience to come! You'd hardly believe that he was dressed before
6015
6016dinner-time and has been looking at the clock and teasing me ever
6017
6018since. It's all your fault, you naughty thing.'<br><br>
6019
6020Hereupon Miss Sophy blushed, and Mr Cheggs (who was bashful before
6021
6022ladies) blushed too, and Miss Sophy's mother and sisters, to prevent Mr
6023
6024Cheggs from blushing more, lavished civilities and attentions upon him,
6025
6026and left Richard Swiveller to take care of himself. Here was the very
6027
6028thing he wanted, here was good cause reason and foundation for
6029
6030pretending to be angry; but having this cause reason and foundation
6031
6032which he had come expressly to seek, not expecting to find, Richard
6033
6034Swiveller was angry in sound earnest, and wondered what the devil
6035
6036Cheggs meant by his impudence.<br><br>
6037
6038However, Mr Swiveller had Miss Sophy's hand for the first quadrille
6039
6040(country-dances being low, were utterly proscribed) and so gained an
6041
6042advantage over his rival, who sat despondingly in a corner and
6043
6044contemplated the glorious figure of the young lady as she moved through
6045
6046the mazy dance. Nor was this the only start Mr Swiveller had of the
6047
6048market-gardener, for determining to show the family what quality of man
6049
6050they trifled with, and influenced perhaps by his late libations, he
6051
6052performed such feats of agility and such spins and twirls as filled the
6053
6054company with astonishment, and in particular caused a very long
6055
6056gentleman who was dancing with a very short scholar, to stand quite
6057
6058transfixed by wonder and admiration. Even Mrs Wackles forgot for the
6059
6060moment to snub three small young ladies who were inclined to be happy,
6061
6062and could not repress a rising thought that to have such a dancer as
6063
6064that in the family would be a pride indeed.<br><br>
6065
6066At this momentous crisis, Miss Cheggs proved herself a vigourous and
6067
6068useful ally, for not confining herself to expressing by scornful smiles
6069
6070a contempt for Mr Swiveller's accomplishments, she took every
6071
6072opportunity of whispering into Miss Sophy's ear expressions of
6073
6074condolence and sympathy on her being worried by such a ridiculous
6075
6076creature, declaring that she was frightened to death lest Alick should
6077
6078fall upon, and beat him, in the fulness of his wrath, and entreating
6079
6080Miss Sophy to observe how the eyes of the said Alick gleamed with love
6081
6082and fury; passions, it may be observed, which being too much for his
6083
6084eyes rushed into his nose also, and suffused it with a crimson glow.<br><br>
6085
6086'You must dance with Miss Chegs,' said Miss Sophy to Dick Swiviller,
6087
6088after she had herself danced twice with Mr Cheggs and made great show
6089
6090of encouraging his advances. 'She's a nice girl--and her brother's
6091
6092quite delightful.'<br><br>
6093
6094'Quite delightful, is he?' muttered Dick. 'Quite delighted too, I
6095
6096should say, from the manner in which he's looking this way.'<br><br>
6097
6098Here Miss Jane (previously instructed for the purpose) interposed her
6099
6100many curls and whispered her sister to observe how jealous Mr Cheggs
6101
6102was.<br><br>
6103
6104'Jealous! Like his impudence!' said Richard Swiviller.<br><br>
6105
6106'His impudence, Mr Swiviller!' said Miss Jane, tossing her head.  'Take
6107
6108care he don't hear you, sir, or you may be sorry for it.'<br><br>
6109
6110'Oh, pray, Jane--' said Miss Sophy.<br><br>
6111
6112'Nonsense!' replied her sister. 'Why shouldn't Mr Cheggs be jealous if
6113
6114he likes? I like that, certainly. Mr Cheggs has a good a right to be
6115
6116jealous as anyone else has, and perhaps he may have a better right soon
6117
6118if he hasn't already. You know best about that, Sophy!'<br><br>
6119
6120Though this was a concerted plot between Miss Sophy and her sister,
6121
6122originating in humane intentions and having for its object the inducing
6123
6124Mr Swiviller to declare himself in time, it failed in its effect; for
6125
6126Miss Jane being one of those young ladies who are prematurely shrill
6127
6128and shrewish, gave such undue importance to her part that Mr Swiviller
6129
6130retired in dudgeon, resigning his mistress to Mr Cheggs and conveying a
6131
6132defiance into his looks which that gentleman indignantly returned.<br><br>
6133
6134'Did you speak to me, sir?' said Mr Cheggs, following him into a
6135
6136corner. 'Have the kindness to smile, sir, in order that we may not be
6137
6138suspected. Did you speak to me, sir'?<br><br>
6139
6140Mr Swiviller looked with a supercilious smile at Mr Chegg's toes, then
6141
6142raised his eyes from them to his ankles, from that to his shin, from
6143
6144that to his knee, and so on very gradually, keeping up his right leg,
6145
6146until he reached his waistcoat, when he raised his eyes from button to
6147
6148button until he reached his chin, and travelling straight up the middle
6149
6150of his nose came at last to his eyes, when he said abruptly,<br><br>
6151
6152'No, sir, I didn't.'<br><br>
6153
6154`'Hem!' said Mr Cheggs, glancing over his shoulder, 'have the goodness
6155
6156to smile again, sir. Perhaps you wished to speak to me, sir.'<br><br>
6157
6158'No, sir, I didn't do that, either.'<br><br>
6159
6160'Perhaps you may have nothing to say to me now, sir,' said Mr Cheggs
6161
6162fiercely.<br><br>
6163
6164At these words Richard Swiviller withdrew his eyes from Mr Chegg's
6165
6166face, and travelling down the middle of his nose and down his waistcoat
6167
6168and down his right leg, reached his toes again, and carefully surveyed
6169
6170him; this done, he crossed over, and coming up the other leg, and
6171
6172thence approaching by the waistcoat as before, said when had got to his
6173
6174eyes, 'No sir, I haven't.'<br><br>
6175
6176'Oh, indeed, sir!' said Mr Cheggs. 'I'm glad to hear it. You know where
6177
6178I'm to be found, I suppose, sir, in case you should have anything to
6179
6180say to me?'<br><br>
6181
6182'I can easily inquire, sir, when I want to know.'<br><br>
6183
6184'There's nothing more we need say, I believe, sir?'<br><br>
6185
6186'Nothing more, sir'--With that they closed the tremendous dialog by
6187
6188frowning mutually. Mr Cheggs hastened to tender his hand to Miss Sophy,
6189
6190and Mr Swiviller sat himself down in a corner in a very moody state.<br><br>
6191
6192Hard by this corner, Mrs Wackles and Miss Wackles were seated, looking
6193
6194on at the dance; and unto Mrs and Miss Wackles, Miss Cheggs
6195
6196occasionally darted when her partner was occupied with his share of the
6197
6198figure, and made some remark or other which was gall and wormwood to
6199
6200Richard Swiviller's soul. Looking into the eyes of Mrs and Miss Wackles
6201
6202for encouragement, and sitting very upright and uncomfortable on a
6203
6204couple of hard stools, were two of the day-scholars; and when Miss
6205
6206Wackles smiled, and Mrs Wackles smiled, the two little girls on the
6207
6208stools sought to curry favour by smiling likewise, in gracious
6209
6210acknowledgement of which attention the old lady frowned them down
6211
6212instantly, and said that if they dared to be guilty of such an
6213
6214impertinence again, they should be sent under convoy to their
6215
6216respective homes. This threat caused one of the young ladies, she being
6217
6218of a weak and trembling temperament, to shed tears, and for this
6219
6220offense they were both filed off immediately, with a dreadful
6221
6222promptitude that struck terror into the souls of all the pupils.<br><br>
6223
6224'I've got such news for you,' said Miss Cheggs approaching once more,
6225
6226'Alick has been saying such things to Sophy. Upon my word, you know,
6227
6228it's quite serious and in earnest, that's clear.'<br><br>
6229
6230'What's he been saying, my dear?' demanded Mrs Wackles.<br><br>
6231
6232'All manner of things,' replied Miss Cheggs, 'you can't think how out
6233
6234he has been speaking!'<br><br>
6235
6236Richard Swiviller considered it advisable to hear no more, but taking
6237
6238advantage of a pause in the dancing, and the approach of Mr Cheggs to
6239
6240pay his court to the old lady, swaggered with an extremely careful
6241
6242assumption of extreme carelessness toward the door, passing on the way
6243
6244Miss Jane Wackles, who in all the glory of her curls was holding a
6245
6246flirtation, (as good practice when no better was to be had) with a
6247
6248feeble old gentleman who lodged in the parlour. Near the door sat Miss
6249
6250Sophy, still fluttered and confused by the attentions of Mr Cheggs, and
6251
6252by her side Richard Swiveller lingered for a moment to exchange a few
6253
6254parting words.<br><br>
6255
6256'My boat is on the shore and my bark is on the sea, but before I pass
6257
6258this door I will say farewell to thee,' murmured Dick, looking gloomily
6259
6260upon her.<br><br>
6261
6262'Are you going?' said Miss Sophy, whose heart sank within her at the
6263
6264result of her stratagem, but who affected a light indifference
6265
6266notwithstanding.<br><br>
6267
6268'Am I going!' echoed Dick bitterly. 'Yes, I am. What then?'<br><br>
6269
6270'Nothing, except that it's very early,' said Miss Sophy; 'but you are
6271
6272your own master, of course.'<br><br>
6273
6274'I would that I had been my own mistress too,' said Dick, 'before I had
6275
6276ever entertained a thought of you. Miss Wackles, I believed you true,
6277
6278and I was blest in so believing, but now I mourn that e'er I knew, a
6279
6280girl so fair yet so deceiving.'<br><br>
6281
6282Miss Sophy bit her lip and affected to look with great interest after
6283
6284Mr Cheggs, who was quaffing lemonade in the distance.<br><br>
6285
6286'I came here,' said Dick, rather oblivious of the purpose with which he
6287
6288had really come, 'with my bosom expanded, my heart dilated, and my
6289
6290sentiments of a corresponding description. I go away with feelings that
6291
6292may be conceived but cannot be described, feeling within myself that
6293
6294desolating truth that my best affections have experienced this night a
6295
6296stifler!'<br><br>
6297
6298'I am sure I don't know what you mean, Mr Swiviller,' said Miss Sophy
6299
6300with downcast eyes. 'I'm very sorry if--'<br><br>
6301
6302'Sorry, Ma'am!' said Dick, 'sorry in the possession of a Cheggs! But I
6303
6304wish you a very good night, concluding with this slight remark, that
6305
6306there is a young lady growing up at this present moment for me, who has
6307
6308not only great personal attractions but great wealth, and who has
6309
6310requested her next of kin to propose for my hand, which, having a
6311
6312regard for some members of her family, I have consented to promise.
6313
6314It's a gratifying circumstance which you'll be glad to hear, that a
6315
6316young and lovely girl is growing into a woman expressly on my account,
6317
6318and is now saving up for me. I thought I'd mention it. I have now
6319
6320merely to apologize for trespassing so long upon your attention. Good
6321
6322night.'<br><br>
6323
6324'There's one good thing springs out of all this,' said Richard
6325
6326Swiviller to himself when he had reached home and was hanging over the
6327
6328candle with the extinguisher in his hand, 'which is, that I now go
6329
6330heart and soul, neck and heels, with Fred in all his scheme about
6331
6332little Nelly, and right glad he'll be to find me so strong upon it. He
6333
6334shall know all about that to-morrow, and in the mean time, as it's
6335
6336rather late, I'll try and get a wink of the balmy.'<br><br>
6337
6338'The balmy' came almost as soon as it was courted. In a very few
6339
6340minutes Mr Swiviller was fast asleep, dreaming that he had married
6341
6342Nelly Trent and come into the property, and that his first act of power
6343
6344was to lay waste the market-garden of Mr Cheggs and turn it into a
6345
6346brick-field.<br><br>
6347
6348CHAPTER 9<br><br>
6349
6350The child, in her confidence with Mrs Quilp, had but feebly described
6351
6352the sadness and sorrow of her thoughts, or the heaviness of the cloud
6353
6354which overhung her home, and cast dark shadows on its hearth.  Besides
6355
6356that it was very difficult to impart to any person not intimately
6357
6358acquainted with the life she led, an adequate sense of its gloom and
6359
6360loneliness, a constant fear of in some way committing or injuring the
6361
6362old man to whom she was so tenderly attached, had restrained her, even
6363
6364in the midst of her heart's overflowing, and made her timid of allusion
6365
6366to the main cause of her anxiety and distress.<br><br>
6367
6368For, it was not the monotonous days unchequered by variety and
6369
6370uncheered by pleasant companionship, it was not the dark dreary
6371
6372evenings or the long solitary nights, it was not the absence of every
6373
6374slight and easy pleasure for which young hearts beat high, or the
6375
6376knowing nothing of childhood but its weakness and its easily wounded
6377
6378spirit, that had wrung such tears from Nell.  To see the old man struck
6379
6380down beneath the pressure of some hidden grief, to mark his wavering
6381
6382and unsettled state, to be agitated at times with a dreadful fear that
6383
6384his mind was wandering, and to trace in his words and looks the dawning
6385
6386of despondent madness; to watch and wait and listen for confirmation of
6387
6388these things day after day, and to feel and know that, come what might,
6389
6390they were alone in the world with no one to help or advise or care
6391
6392about them--these were causes of depression and anxiety that might have
6393
6394sat heavily on an older breast with many influences at work to cheer
6395
6396and gladden it, but how heavily on the mind of a young child to whom
6397
6398they were ever present, and who was constantly surrounded by all that
6399
6400could keep such thoughts in restless action!<br><br>
6401
6402And yet, to the old man's vision, Nell was still the same.  When he
6403
6404could, for a moment, disengage his mind from the phantom that haunted
6405
6406and brooded on it always, there was his young companion with the same
6407
6408smile for him, the same earnest words, the same merry laugh, the same
6409
6410love and care that, sinking deep into his soul, seemed to have been
6411
6412present to him through his whole life.  And so he went on, content to
6413
6414read the book of her heart from the page first presented to him, little
6415
6416dreaming of the story that lay hidden in its other leaves, and
6417
6418murmuring within himself that at least the child was happy.<br><br>
6419
6420She had been once.  She had gone singing through the dim rooms, and
6421
6422moving with gay and lightsome step among their dusty treasures, making
6423
6424them older by her young life, and sterner and more grim by her gay and
6425
6426cheerful presence.  But, now, the chambers were cold and gloomy, and
6427
6428when she left her own little room to while away the tedious hours, and
6429
6430sat in one of them, she was still and motionless as their inanimate
6431
6432occupants, and had no heart to startle the echoes--hoarse from their
6433
6434long silence--with her voice.<br><br>
6435
6436In one of these rooms, was a window looking into the street, where the
6437
6438child sat, many and many a long evening, and often far into the night,
6439
6440alone and thoughtful.  None are so anxious as those who watch and wait;
6441
6442at these times, mournful fancies came flocking on her mind, in crowds.<br><br>
6443
6444She would take her station here, at dusk, and watch the people as they
6445
6446passed up and down the street, or appeared at the windows of the
6447
6448opposite houses; wondering whether those rooms were as lonesome as that
6449
6450in which she sat, and whether those people felt it company to see her
6451
6452sitting there, as she did only to see them look out and draw in their
6453
6454heads again.  There was a crooked stack of chimneys on one of the
6455
6456roofs, in which, by often looking at them, she had fancied ugly faces
6457
6458that were frowning over at her and trying to peer into the room; and
6459
6460she felt glad when it grew too dark to make them out, though she was
6461
6462sorry too, when the man came to light the lamps in the street--for it
6463
6464made it late, and very dull inside.  Then, she would draw in her head
6465
6466to look round the room and see that everything was in its place and
6467
6468hadn't moved; and looking out into the street again, would perhaps see
6469
6470a man passing with a coffin on his back, and two or three others
6471
6472silently following him to a house where somebody lay dead; which made
6473
6474her shudder and think of such things until they suggested afresh the
6475
6476old man's altered face and manner, and a new train of fears and
6477
6478speculations.  If he were to die--if sudden illness had happened to
6479
6480him, and he were never to come home again, alive--if, one night, he
6481
6482should come home, and kiss and bless her as usual, and after she had
6483
6484gone to bed and had fallen asleep and was perhaps dreaming pleasantly,
6485
6486and smiling in her sleep, he should kill himself and his blood come
6487
6488creeping, creeping, on the ground to her own bed-room door!  These
6489
6490thoughts were too terrible to dwell upon, and again she would have
6491
6492recourse to the street, now trodden by fewer feet, and darker and more
6493
6494silent than before.  The shops were closing fast, and lights began to
6495
6496shine from the upper windows, as the neighbours went to bed.  By
6497
6498degrees, these dwindled away and disappeared or were replaced, here and
6499
6500there, by a feeble rush-candle which was to burn all night.  Still,
6501
6502there was one late shop at no great distance which sent forth a ruddy
6503
6504glare upon the pavement even yet, and looked bright and companionable.
6505
6506But, in a little time, this closed, the light was extinguished, and all
6507
6508was gloomy and quiet, except when some stray footsteps sounded on the
6509
6510pavement, or a neighbour, out later than his wont, knocked lustily at
6511
6512his house-door to rouse the sleeping inmates.<br><br>
6513
6514When the night had worn away thus far (and seldom now until it had) the
6515
6516child would close the window, and steal softly down stairs, thinking as
6517
6518she went that if one of those hideous faces below, which often mingled
6519
6520with her dreams, were to meet her by the way, rendering itself visible
6521
6522by some strange light of its own, how terrified she would be.  But
6523
6524these fears vanished before a well-trimmed lamp and the familiar aspect
6525
6526of her own room.  After praying fervently, and with many bursting
6527
6528tears, for the old man, and the restoration of his peace of mind and
6529
6530the happiness they had once enjoyed, she would lay her head upon the
6531
6532pillow and sob herself to sleep: often starting up again, before the
6533
6534day-light came, to listen for the bell and respond to the imaginary
6535
6536summons which had roused her from her slumber.<br><br>
6537
6538One night, the third after Nelly's interview with Mrs Quilp, the old
6539
6540man, who had been weak and ill all day, said he should not leave home.
6541
6542The child's eyes sparkled at the intelligence, but her joy subsided
6543
6544when they reverted to his worn and sickly face.<br><br>
6545
6546'Two days,' he said, 'two whole, clear, days have passed, and there is
6547
6548no reply.  What did he tell thee, Nell?'<br><br>
6549
6550'Exactly what I told you, dear grandfather, indeed.'<br><br>
6551
6552'True,' said the old man, faintly.  'Yes.  But tell me again, Nell.  My
6553
6554head fails me.  What was it that he told thee?  Nothing more than that
6555
6556he would see me to-morrow or next day?  That was in the note.'<br><br>
6557
6558'Nothing more,' said the child.  'Shall I go to him again to-morrow,
6559
6560dear grandfather?  Very early?  I will be there and back, before
6561
6562breakfast.'<br><br>
6563
6564The old man shook his head, and sighing mournfully, drew her towards
6565
6566him.<br><br>
6567
6568''Twould be of no use, my dear, no earthly use.  But if he deserts me,
6569
6570Nell, at this moment--if he deserts me now, when I should, with his
6571
6572assistance, be recompensed for all the time and money I have lost, and
6573
6574all the agony of mind I have undergone, which makes me what you see, I
6575
6576am ruined, and--worse, far worse than that--have ruined thee, for whom
6577
6578I ventured all.  If we are beggars--!'<br><br>
6579
6580'What if we are?' said the child boldly.  'Let us be beggars, and be
6581
6582happy.'<br><br>
6583
6584'Beggars--and happy!' said the old man.  'Poor child!'<br><br>
6585
6586'Dear grandfather,' cried the girl with an energy which shone in her
6587
6588flushed face, trembling voice, and impassioned gesture, 'I am not a
6589
6590child in that I think, but even if I am, oh hear me pray that we may
6591
6592beg, or work in open roads or fields, to earn a scanty living, rather
6593
6594than live as we do now.'<br><br>
6595
6596'Nelly!' said the old man.<br><br>
6597
6598'Yes, yes, rather than live as we do now,' the child repeated, more
6599
6600earnestly than before.  'If you are sorrowful, let me know why and be
6601
6602sorrowful too; if you waste away and are paler and weaker every day,
6603
6604let me be your nurse and try to comfort you.  If you are poor, let us
6605
6606be poor together; but let me be with you, do let me be with you; do not
6607
6608let me see such change and not know why, or I shall break my heart and
6609
6610die.  Dear grandfather, let us leave this sad place to-morrow, and beg
6611
6612our way from door to door.'<br><br>
6613
6614The old man covered his face with his hands, and hid it in the pillow
6615
6616of the couch on which he lay.<br><br>
6617
6618'Let us be beggars,' said the child passing an arm round his neck, 'I
6619
6620have no fear but we shall have enough, I am sure we shall.  Let us walk
6621
6622through country places, and sleep in fields and under trees, and never
6623
6624think of money again, or anything that can make you sad, but rest at
6625
6626nights, and have the sun and wind upon our faces in the day, and thank
6627
6628God together!  Let us never set foot in dark rooms or melancholy
6629
6630houses, any more, but wander up and down wherever we like to go; and
6631
6632when you are tired, you shall stop to rest in the pleasantest place
6633
6634that we can find, and I will go and beg for both.'<br><br>
6635
6636The child's voice was lost in sobs as she dropped upon the old man's
6637
6638neck; nor did she weep alone.<br><br>
6639
6640These were not words for other ears, nor was it a scene for other eyes.
6641
6642And yet other ears and eyes were there and greedily taking in all that
6643
6644passed, and moreover they were the ears and eyes of no less a person
6645
6646than Mr Daniel Quilp, who, having entered unseen when the child first
6647
6648placed herself at the old man's side, refrained--actuated, no doubt, by
6649
6650motives of the purest delicacy--from interrupting the conversation, and
6651
6652stood looking on with his accustomed grin.  Standing, however, being a
6653
6654tiresome attitude to a gentleman already fatigued with walking, and the
6655
6656dwarf being one of that kind of persons who usually make themselves at
6657
6658home, he soon cast his eyes upon a chair, into which he skipped with
6659
6660uncommon agility, and perching himself on the back with his feet upon
6661
6662the seat, was thus enabled to look on and listen with greater comfort
6663
6664to himself, besides gratifying at the same time that taste for doing
6665
6666something fantastic and monkey-like, which on all occasions had strong
6667
6668possession of him.  Here, then, he sat, one leg cocked carelessly over
6669
6670the other, his chin resting on the palm of his hand, his head turned a
6671
6672little on one side, and his ugly features twisted into a complacent
6673
6674grimace.  And in this position the old man, happening in course of time
6675
6676to look that way, at length chanced to see him: to his unbounded
6677
6678astonishment.<br><br>
6679
6680The child uttered a suppressed shriek on beholding this agreeable
6681
6682figure;
6682 in their first surprise both she and the old man, not knowing
6683
6684what to say, and half doubting its reality, looked shrinkingly at it.
6685
6686Not at all disconcerted by this reception, Daniel Quilp preserved the
6687
6688same attitude, merely nodding twice or thrice with great condescension.
6689
6690At length, the old man pronounced his name, and inquired how he came
6691
6692there.<br><br>
6693
6694'Through the door,' said Quilp pointing over his shoulder with his
6695
6696thumb.  'I'm not quite small enough to get through key-holes.  I wish I
6697
6698was.  I want to have some talk with you, particularly, and in private.
6699
6700With nobody present, neighbour.  Good-bye, little Nelly.'<br><br>
6701
6702Nell looked at the old man, who nodded to her to retire, and kissed her
6703
6704cheek.<br><br>
6705
6706'Ah!' said the dwarf, smacking his lips, 'what a nice kiss that
6707
6708was--just upon the rosy part.  What a capital kiss!'<br><br>
6709
6710Nell was none the slower in going away, for this remark.  Quilp looked
6711
6712after her with an admiring leer, and when she had closed the door, fell
6713
6714to complimenting the old man upon her charms.<br><br>
6715
6716'Such a fresh, blooming, modest little bud, neighbour,' said Quilp,
6717
6718nursing his short leg, and making his eyes twinkle very much; 'such a
6719
6720chubby, rosy, cosy, little Nell!'<br><br>
6721
6722The old man answered by a forced smile, and was plainly struggling with
6723
6724a feeling of the keenest and most exquisite impatience.  It was not
6725
6726lost upon Quilp, who delighted in torturing him, or indeed anybody
6727
6728else, when he could.<br><br>
6729
6730'She's so,' said Quilp, speaking very slowly, and feigning to be quite
6731
6732absorbed in the subject, 'so small, so compact, so beautifully
6733
6734modelled, so fair, with such blue veins and such a transparent skin,
6735
6736and such little feet, and such winning ways--but bless me, you're
6737
6738nervous!  Why neighbour, what's the matter?  I swear to you,' continued
6739
6740the dwarf dismounting from the chair and sitting down in it, with a
6741
6742careful slowness of gesture very different from the rapidity with which
6743
6744he had sprung up unheard, 'I swear to you that I had no idea old blood
6745
6746ran so fast or kept so warm.  I thought it was sluggish in its course,
6747
6748and cool, quite cool.  I am pretty sure it ought to be.  Yours must be
6749
6750out of order, neighbour.'<br><br>
6751
6752'I believe it is,' groaned the old man, clasping his head with both
6753
6754hands.  'There's burning fever here, and something now and then to
6755
6756which I fear to give a name.'<br><br>
6757
6758The dwarf said never a word, but watched his companion as he paced
6759
6760restlessly up and down the room, and presently returned to his seat.
6761
6762Here he remained, with his head bowed upon his breast for some time,
6763
6764and then suddenly raising it, said,<br><br>
6765
6766'Once, and once for all, have you brought me any money?'<br><br>
6767
6768'No!' returned Quilp.<br><br>
6769
6770'Then,' said the old man, clenching his hands desperately, and looking
6771
6772upwards, 'the child and I are lost!'<br><br>
6773
6774'Neighbour,' said Quilp glancing sternly at him, and beating his hand
6775
6776twice or thrice upon the table to attract his wandering attention, 'let
6777
6778me be plain with you, and play a fairer game than when you held all the
6779
6780cards, and I saw but the backs and nothing more.  You have no secret
6781
6782from me now.'<br><br>
6783
6784The old man looked up, trembling.<br><br>
6785
6786'You are surprised,' said Quilp.  'Well, perhaps that's natural.  You
6787
6788have no secret from me now, I say; no, not one.  For now, I know, that
6789
6790all those sums of money, that all those loans, advances, and supplies
6791
6792that you have had from me, have found their way to--shall I say the
6793
6794word?'<br><br>
6795
6796'Aye!' replied the old man, 'say it, if you will.'<br><br>
6797
6798'To the gaming-table,' rejoined Quilp, 'your nightly haunt.  This was
6799
6800the precious scheme to make your fortune, was it; this was the secret
6801
6802certain source of wealth in which I was to have sunk my money (if I had
6803
6804been the fool you took me for); this was your inexhaustible mine of
6805
6806gold, your El Dorado, eh?'<br><br>
6807
6808'Yes,' cried the old man, turning upon him with gleaming eyes, 'it was.
6809
6810It is.  It will be, till I die.'<br><br>
6811
6812'That I should have been blinded,' said Quilp looking contemptuously at
6813
6814him, 'by a mere shallow gambler!'<br><br>
6815
6816'I am no gambler,' cried the old man fiercely.  'I call Heaven to
6817
6818witness that I never played for gain of mine, or love of play; that at
6819
6820every piece I staked, I whispered to myself that orphan's name and
6821
6822called on Heaven to bless the venture;--which it never did.  Whom did
6823
6824it prosper?  Who were those with whom I played?  Men who lived by
6825
6826plunder, profligacy, and riot; squandering their gold in doing ill, and
6827
6828propagating vice and evil.  My winnings would have been from them, my
6829
6830winnings would have been bestowed to the last farthing on a young
6831
6832sinless child whose life they would have sweetened and made happy.
6833
6834What would they have contracted?  The means of corruption,
6835
6836wretchedness, and misery.  Who would not have hoped in such a cause?
6837
6838Tell me that!  Who would not have hoped as I did?'<br><br>
6839
6840'When did you first begin this mad career?' asked Quilp, his taunting
6841
6842inclination subdued, for a moment, by the old man's grief and wildness.<br><br>
6843
6844'When did I first begin?' he rejoined, passing his hand across his
6845
6846brow.  'When was it, that I first began?  When should it be, but when I
6847
6848began to think how little I had saved, how long a time it took to save
6849
6850at all, how short a time I might have at my age to live, and how she
6851
6852would be left to the rough mercies of the world, with barely enough to
6853
6854keep her from the sorrows that wait on poverty; then it was that I
6855
6856began to think about it.'<br><br>
6857
6858'After you first came to me to get your precious grandson packed off to
6859
6860sea?' said Quilp.<br><br>
6861
6862'Shortly after that,' replied the old man.  'I thought of it a long
6863
6864time, and had it in my sleep for months.  Then I began.  I found no
6865
6866pleasure in it, I expected none.  What has it ever brought me but
6867
6868anxious days and sleepless nights; but loss of health and peace of
6869
6870mind, and gain of feebleness and sorrow!'<br><br>
6871
6872'You lost what money you had laid by, first, and then came to me.
6873
6874While I thought you were making your fortune (as you said you were) you
6875
6876were making yourself a beggar, eh?  Dear me!  And so it comes to pass
6877
6878that I hold every security you could scrape together, and a bill of
6879
6880sale upon the--upon the stock and property,' said Quilp standing up and
6881
6882looking about him, as if to assure himself that none of it had been
6883
6884taken away.  'But did you never win?'<br><br>
6885
6886'Never!' groaned the old man.  'Never won back my loss!'<br><br>
6887
6888'I thought,' sneered the dwarf, 'that if a man played long enough he
6889
6890was sure to win at last, or, at the worst, not to come off a loser.'<br><br>
6891
6892'And so he is,' cried the old man, suddenly rousing himself from his
6893
6894state of despondency, and lashed into the most violent excitement, 'so
6895
6896he is; I have felt that from the first, I have always known it, I've
6897
6898seen it, I never felt it half so strongly as I feel it now.  Quilp, I
6899
6900have dreamed, three nights, of winning the same large sum, I never
6901
6902could dream that dream before, though I have often tried.  Do not
6903
6904desert me, now I have this chance.  I have no resource but you, give me
6905
6906some help, let me try this one last hope.'<br><br>
6907
6908The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.<br><br>
6909
6910'See, Quilp, good tender-hearted Quilp,' said the old man, drawing some
6911
6912scraps of paper from his pocket with a trembling hand, and clasping the
6913
6914dwarf's arm, 'only see here.  Look at these figures, the result of long
6915
6916calculation, and painful and hard experience.  I MUST win.  I only want
6917
6918a little help once more, a few pounds, but two score pounds, dear
6919
6920Quilp.'<br><br>
6921
6922'The last advance was seventy,' said the dwarf; 'and it went in one
6923
6924night.'<br><br>
6925
6926'I know it did,' answered the old man, 'but that was the very worst
6927
6928fortune of all, and the time had not come then.  Quilp, consider,
6929
6930consider,' the old man cried, trembling so much the while, that the
6931
6932papers in his hand fluttered as if they were shaken by the wind, 'that
6933
6934orphan child!  If I were alone, I could die with gladness--perhaps even
6935
6936anticipate that doom which is dealt out so unequally: coming, as it
6937
6938does, on the proud and happy in their strength, and shunning the needy
6939
6940and afflicted, and all who court it in their despair--but what I have
6941
6942done, has been for her.  Help me for her sake I implore you; not for
6943
6944mine; for hers!'<br><br>
6945
6946'I'm sorry I've got an appointment in the city,' said Quilp, looking at
6947
6948his watch with perfect self-possession, 'or I should have been very
6949
6950glad to have spent half an hour with you while you composed yourself,
6951
6952very glad.'<br><br>
6953
6954'Nay, Quilp, good Quilp,' gasped the old man, catching at his skirts,
6955
6956'you and I have talked together, more than once, of her poor mother's
6957
6958story.  The fear of her coming to poverty has perhaps been bred in me
6959
6960by that.  Do not be hard upon me, but take that into account.  You are
6961
6962a great gainer by me.  Oh spare me the money for this one last hope!'<br><br>
6963
6964'I couldn't do it really,' said Quilp with unusual politeness, 'though
6965
6966I tell you what--and this is a circumstance worth bearing in mind as
6967
6968showing how the sharpest among us may be taken in sometimes--I was so
6969
6970deceived by the penurious way in which you lived, alone with Nelly--'<br><br>
6971
6972'All done to save money for tempting fortune, and to make her triumph
6973
6974greater,' cried the old man.<br><br>
6975
6976'Yes, yes, I understand that now,' said Quilp; 'but I was going to say,
6977
6978I was so deceived by that, your miserly way, the reputation you had
6979
6980among those who knew you of being rich, and your repeated assurances
6981
6982that you would make of my advances treble and quadruple the interest
6983
6984you paid me, that I'd have advanced you, even now, what you want, on
6985
6986your simple note of hand, if I hadn't unexpectedly become acquainted
6987
6988with your secret way of life.'<br><br>
6989
6990'Who is it,' retorted the old man desperately, 'that, notwithstanding
6991
6992all my caution, told you?  Come.  Let me know the name--the person.'<br><br>
6993
6994The crafty dwarf, bethinking himself that his giving up the child would
6995
6996lead to the disclosure of the artifice he had employed, which, as
6997
6998nothing was to be gained by it, it was well to conceal, stopped short
6999
7000in his answer and said, 'Now, who do you think?'<br><br>
7001
7002'It was Kit, it must have been the boy;
7002 he played the spy, and you
7003
7004tampered with him?' said the old man.<br><br>
7005
7006'How came you to think of him?' said the dwarf in a tone of great
7007
7008commiseration.  'Yes, it was Kit.  Poor Kit!'<br><br>
7009
7010So saying, he nodded in a friendly manner, and took his leave: stopping
7011
7012when he had passed the outer door a little distance, and grinning with
7013
7014extraordinary delight.<br><br>
7015
7016'Poor Kit!' muttered Quilp.  'I think it was Kit who said I was an
7017
7018uglier dwarf than could be seen anywhere for a penny, wasn't it.  Ha ha
7019
7020ha!  Poor Kit!'  And with that he went his way, still chuckling as he
7021
7022went.<br><br>
7023
7024CHAPTER 10<br><br>
7025
7026Daniel Quilp neither entered nor left the old man's house, unobserved.
7027
7028In the shadow of an archway nearly opposite, leading to one of the many
7029
7030passages which diverged from the main street, there lingered one, who,
7031
7032having taken up his position when the twilight first came on, still
7033
7034maintained it with undiminished patience, and leaning against the wall
7035
7036with the manner of a person who had a long time to wait, and being well
7037
7038used to it was quite resigned, scarcely changed his attitude for the
7039
7040hour together.<br><br>
7041
7042This patient lounger attracted little attention from any of those who
7043
7044passed, and bestowed as little upon them.  His eyes were constantly
7045
7046directed towards one object; the window at which the child was
7047
7048accustomed to sit.  If he withdrew them for a moment, it was only to
7049
7050glance at a clock in some neighbouring shop, and then to strain his
7051
7052sight once more in the old quarter with increased earnestness and
7053
7054attention.<br><br>
7055
7056It had been remarked that this personage evinced no weariness in his
7057
7058place of concealment; nor did he, long as his waiting was.  But as the
7059
7060time went on, he manifested some anxiety and surprise, glancing at the
7061
7062clock more frequently and at the window less hopefully than before.  At
7063
7064length, the clock was hidden from his sight by some envious shutters,
7065
7066then the church steeples proclaimed eleven at night, then the quarter
7067
7068past, and then the conviction seemed to obtrude itself on his mind that
7069
7070it was no use tarrying there any longer.<br><br>
7071
7072That the conviction was an unwelcome one, and that he was by no means
7073
7074willing to yield to it, was apparent from his reluctance to quit the
7075
7076spot; from the tardy steps with which he often left it, still looking
7077
7078over his shoulder at the same window; and from the precipitation with
7079
7080which he as often returned, when a fancied noise or the changing and
7081
7082imperfect light induced him to suppose it had been softly raised.  At
7083
7084length, he gave the matter up, as hopeless for that night, and suddenly
7085
7086breaking into a run as though to force himself away, scampered off at
7087
7088his utmost speed, nor once ventured to look behind him lest he should
7089
7090be tempted back again.<br><br>
7091
7092Without relaxing his pace, or stopping to take breath, this mysterious
7093
7094individual dashed on through a great many alleys and narrow ways until
7095
7096he at length arrived in a square paved court, when he subsided into a
7097
7098walk, and making for a small house from the window of which a light was
7099
7100shining, lifted the latch of the door and passed in.<br><br>
7101
7102'Bless us!' cried a woman turning sharply round, 'who's that?  Oh!
7103
7104It's you, Kit!'<br><br>
7105
7106'Yes, mother, it's me.'<br><br>
7107
7108'Why, how tired you look, my dear!'<br><br>
7109
7110'Old master an't gone out to-night,' said Kit; 'and so she hasn't been
7111
7112at the window at all.'  With which words, he sat down by the fire and
7113
7114looked very mournful and discontented.<br><br>
7115
7116The room in which Kit sat himself down, in this condition, was an
7117
7118extremely poor and homely place, but with that air of comfort about it,
7119
7120nevertheless, which--or the spot must be a wretched one
7121
7122indeed--cleanliness and order can always impart in some degree.  Late
7123
7124as the Dutch clock' showed it to be, the poor woman was still hard at
7125
7126work at an ironing-table; a young child lay sleeping in a cradle near
7127
7128the fire; and another, a sturdy boy of two or three years old, very
7129
7130wide awake, with a very tight night-cap on his head, and a night-gown
7131
7132very much too small for him on his body, was sitting bolt upright in a
7133
7134clothes-basket, staring over the rim with his great round eyes, and
7135
7136looking as if he had thoroughly made up his mind never to go to sleep
7137
7138any more; which, as he had already declined to take his natural rest
7139
7140and had been brought out of bed in consequence, opened a cheerful
7141
7142prospect for his relations and friends.  It was rather a queer-looking
7143
7144family: Kit, his mother, and the children, being all strongly alike.<br><br>
7145
7146Kit was disposed to be out of temper, as the best of us are too
7147
7148often--but he looked at the youngest child who was sleeping soundly,
7149
7150and from him to his other brother in the clothes-basket, and from him
7151
7152to their mother, who had been at work without complaint since morning,
7153
7154and thought it would be a better and kinder thing to be good-humoured.
7155
7156So he rocked the cradle with his foot; made a face at the rebel in the
7157
7158clothes-basket, which put him in high good-humour directly; and stoutly
7159
7160determined to be talkative and make himself agreeable.<br><br>
7161
7162'Ah, mother!' said Kit, taking out his clasp-knife, and falling upon a
7163
7164great piece of bread and meat which she had had ready for him, hours
7165
7166before, 'what a one you are!  There an't many such as you, I know.'<br><br>
7167
7168'I hope there are many a great deal better, Kit,' said Mrs Nubbles;
7169
7170'and that there are, or ought to be, accordin' to what the parson at
7171
7172chapel says.'<br><br>
7173
7174'Much he knows about it,' returned Kit contemptuously.  'Wait till he's
7175
7176a widder and works like you do, and gets as little, and does as much,
7177
7178and keeps his spirit up the same, and then I'll ask him what's o'clock
7179
7180and trust him for being right to half a second.'<br><br>
7181
7182'Well,' said Mrs Nubbles, evading the point, 'your beer's down there by
7183
7184the fender, Kit.'<br><br>
7185
7186'I see,' replied her son, taking up the porter pot, 'my love to you,
7187
7188mother.  And the parson's health too if you like.  I don't bear him any
7189
7190malice, not I!'<br><br>
7191
7192'Did you tell me, just now, that your master hadn't gone out to-night?'
7193
7194inquired Mrs Nubbles.<br><br>
7195
7196'Yes,' said Kit, 'worse luck!'<br><br>
7197
7198'You should say better luck, I think,' returned his mother, 'because
7199
7200Miss Nelly won't have been left alone.'<br><br>
7201
7202'Ah!' said Kit, 'I forgot that.  I said worse luck, because I've been
7203
7204watching ever since eight o'clock, and seen nothing of her.'<br><br>
7205
7206'I wonder what she'd say,' cried his mother, stopping in her work and
7207
7208looking round, 'if she knew that every night, when she--poor thing--is
7209
7210sitting alone at that window, you are watching in the open street for
7211
7212fear any harm should come to her, and that you never leave the place or
7213
7214come home to your bed though you're ever so tired, till such time as
7215
7216you think she's safe in hers.'<br><br>
7217
7218'Never mind what she'd say,' replied Kit, with something like a blush
7219
7220on his uncouth face; 'she'll never know nothing, and consequently,
7221
7222she'll never say nothing.'<br><br>
7223
7224Mrs Nubbles ironed away in silence for a minute or two, and coming to
7225
7226the fireplace for another iron, glanced stealthily at Kit while she
7227
7228rubbed it on a board and dusted it with a duster, but said nothing
7229
7230until she had returned to her table again: when, holding the iron at an
7231
7232alarmingly short distance from her cheek, to test its temperature, and
7233
7234looking round with a smile, she observed:<br><br>
7235
7236'I know what some people would say, Kit--'<br><br>
7237
7238'Nonsense,' interposed Kit with a perfect apprehension of what was to
7239
7240follow.<br><br>
7241
7242'No, but they would indeed.  Some people would say that you'd fallen in
7243
7244love with her, I know they would.'<br><br>
7245
7246To this, Kit only replied by bashfully bidding his mother 'get out,'
7247
7248and forming sundry strange figures with his legs and arms, accompanied
7249
7250by sympathetic contortions of his face.  Not deriving from these means
7251
7252the relief which he sought, he bit off an immense mouthful from the
7253
7254bread and meat, and took a quick drink of the porter; by which
7255
7256artificial aids he choked himself and effected a diversion of the
7257
7258subject.<br><br>
7259
7260'Speaking seriously though, Kit,' said his mother, taking up the theme
7261
7262afresh, after a time, 'for of course I was only in joke just now, it's
7263
7264very good and thoughtful, and like you, to do this, and never let
7265
7266anybody know it, though some day I hope she may come to know it, for
7267
7268I'm sure she would be very grateful to you and feel it very much.  It's
7269
7270a cruel thing to keep the dear child shut up there.  I don't wonder
7271
7272that the old gentleman wants to keep it from you.'<br><br>
7273
7274'He don't think it's cruel, bless you,' said Kit, 'and don't mean it to
7275
7276be so, or he wouldn't do it--I do consider, mother, that he wouldn't do
7277
7278it for all the gold and silver in the world.  No, no, that he wouldn't.
7279
7280I know him better than that.'<br><br>
7281
7282'Then what does he do it for, and why does he keep it so close from
7283
7284you?' said Mrs Nubbles.<br><br>
7285
7286'That I don't know,' returned her son.  'If he hadn't tried to keep it
7287
7288so close though, I should never have found it out, for it was his
7289
7290getting me away at night and sending me off so much earlier than he
7291
7292used to, that first made me curious to know what was going on.  Hark!
7293
7294what's that?'<br><br>
7295
7296'It's only somebody outside.'<br><br>
7297
7298'It's somebody crossing over here,' said Kit, standing up to listen,
7299
7300'and coming very fast too.  He can't have gone out after I left, and
7301
7302the house caught fire, mother!'<br><br>
7303
7304The boy stood, for a moment, really bereft, by the apprehension he had
7305
7306conjured up, of the power to move.  The footsteps drew nearer, the door
7307
7308was opened with a hasty hand, and the child herself, pale and
7309
7310breathless, and hastily wrapped in a few disordered garments, hurried
7311
7312into the room.<br><br>
7313
7314'Miss Nelly!  What is the matter!' cried mother and son together.<br><br>
7315
7316'I must not stay a moment,' she returned, 'grandfather has been taken
7317
7318very ill.  I found him in a fit upon the floor--'<br><br>
7319
7320'I'll run for a doctor'--said Kit, seizing his brimless hat.  'I'll be
7321
7322there directly, I'll--'<br><br>
7323
7324'No, no,' cried Nell, 'there is one there, you're not wanted,
7325
7326you--you--must never come near us any more!'<br><br>
7327
7328'What!' roared Kit.<br><br>
7329
7330'Never again,' said the child.  'Don't ask me why, for I don't know.
7331
7332Pray don't ask me why, pray don't be sorry, pray don't be vexed with
7333
7334me!  I have nothing to do with it indeed!'<br><br>
7335
7336Kit looked at her with his eyes stretched wide; and opened and shut his
7337
7338mouth a great many times; but couldn't get out one word.<br><br>
7339
7340'He complains and raves of you,' said the child, 'I don't know what you
7341
7342have done, but I hope it's nothing very bad.'<br><br>
7343
7344'I done!' roared Kit.<br><br>
7345
7346'He cries that you're the cause of all his misery,' returned the child
7347
7348with tearful eyes; 'he screamed and called for you; they say you must
7349
7350not come near him or he will die.  You must not return to us any more.
7351
7352I came to tell you.  I thought it would be better that I should come
7353
7354than somebody quite strange.  Oh, Kit, what have you done?  You, in
7355
7356whom I trusted so much, and who were almost the only friend I had!'<br><br>
7357
7358The unfortunate Kit looked at his young mistress harder and harder, and
7359
7360with eyes growing wider and wider, but was perfectly motionless and
7361
7362silent.<br><br>
7363
7364'I have brought his money for the week,' said the child, looking to the
7365
7366woman and laying it on the table--'and--and--a little more, for he was
7367
7368always good and kind to me.  I hope he will be sorry and do well
7369
7370somewhere else and not take this to heart too much.  It grieves me very
7371
7372much to part with him like this, but there is no help.  It must be
7373
7374done.  Good night!'<br><br>
7375
7376With the tears streaming down her face, and her slight figure trembling
7377
7378with the agitation of the scene she had left, the shock she had
7379
7380received, the errand she had just discharged, and a thousand painful
7381
7382and affectionate feelings, the child hastened to the door, and
7383
7384disappeared as rapidly as she had come.<br><br>
7385
7386The poor woman, who had no cause to doubt her son, but every reason for
7387
7388relying on his honesty and truth, was staggered, notwithstanding, by
7389
7390his not having advanced one word in his defence.  Visions of gallantry,
7391
7392knavery, robbery; and of the nightly absences from home for which he
7393
7394had accounted so strangely, having been occasioned by some unlawful
7395
7396pursuit; flocked into her brain and rendered her afraid to question
7397
7398him.  She rocked herself upon a chair, wringing her hands and weeping
7399
7400bitterly, but Kit made no attempt to comfort her and remained quite
7401
7402bewildered.  The baby in the cradle woke up and cried; the boy in the
7403
7404clothes-basket fell over on his back with the basket upon him, and was
7405
7406seen no more; the mother wept louder yet and rocked faster; but Kit,
7407
7408insensible to all the din and tumult, remained in a state of utter
7409
7410stupefaction.<br><br>
7411
7412CHAPTER 11<br><br>
7413
7414Quiet and solitude were destined to hold uninterrupted rule no longer,
7415
7416beneath the roof that sheltered the child.  Next morning, the old man
7417
7418was in a raging fever accompanied with delirium; and sinking under the
7419
7420influence of this disorder he lay for many weeks in imminent peril of
7421
7422his life.  There was watching enough, now, but it was the watching of
7423
7424strangers who made a greedy trade of it, and who, in the intervals in
7425
7426their attendance upon the sick man huddled together with a ghastly
7427
7428good-fellowship, and ate and drank and made merry; for disease and
7429
7430death were their ordinary household gods.<br><br>
7431
7432Yet, in all the hurry and crowding of such a time, the child was more
7433
7434alone than she had ever been before; alone in spirit, alone in her
7435
7436devotion to him who was wasting away upon his burning bed; alone in her
7437
7438unfeigned sorrow, and her unpurchased sympathy.  Day after day, and
7439
7440night after night, found her still by the pillow of the unconscious
7441
7442sufferer, still anticipating his every want, still listening to those
7443
7444repetitions of her name and those anxieties and cares for her, which
7445
7446were ever uppermost among his feverish wanderings.<br><br>
7447
7448The house was no longer theirs.  Even the sick chamber seemed to be
7449
7450retained, on the uncertain tenure of Mr Quilp's favour.  The old man's
7451
7452illness had not lasted many days when he took formal possession of the
7453
7454premises and all upon them, in virtue of certain legal powers to that
7455
7456effect, which few understood and none presumed to call in question.
7457
7458This important step secured, with the assistance of a man of law whom
7459
7460he brought with him for the purpose, the dwarf proceeded to establish
7461
7462himself and his coadjutor in the house, as an assertion of his claim
7463
7464against all comers; and then set about making his quarters comfortable,
7465
7466after his own fashion.<br><br>
7467
7468To this end, Mr Quilp encamped in the back parlour, having first put an
7469
7470effectual stop to any further business by shutting up the shop.  Having
7471
7472looked out, from among the old furniture, the handsomest and most
7473
7474commodious chair he could possibly find (which he reserved for his own
7475
7476use) and an especially hideous and uncomfortable one (which he
7477
7478considerately appropriated to the accommodation of his friend) he
7479
7480caused them to be carried into this room, and took up his position in
7481
7482great state.  The apartment was very far removed from the old man's
7483
7484chamber, but Mr Quilp deemed it prudent, as a precaution against
7485
7486infection from fever, and a means of wholesome fumigation, not only to
7487
7488smoke, himself, without cessation, but to insist upon it that his legal
7489
7490friend did the like.  Moreover, he sent an express to the wharf for the
7491
7492tumbling boy, who arriving with all despatch was enjoined to sit
7493
7494himself down in another chair just inside the door, continually to
7495
7496smoke a great pipe which the dwarf had provided for the purpose, and to
7497
7498take it from his lips under any pretence whatever, were it only for one
7499
7500minute at a time, if he dared.  These arrangements completed, Mr Quilp
7501
7502looked round him with chuckling satisfaction, and remarked that he
7503
7504called that comfort.<br><br>
7505
7506The legal gentleman, whose melodious name was Brass, might have called
7507
7508it comfort also but for two drawbacks: one was, that he could by no
7509
7510exertion sit easy in his chair, the seat of which was very hard,
7511
7512angular, slippery, and sloping; the other, that tobacco-smoke always
7513
7514caused him great internal discomposure and annoyance.  But as he was
7515
7516quite a creature of Mr Quilp's and had a thousand reasons for
7517
7518conciliating his good opinion, he tried to smile, and nodded his
7519
7520acquiescence with the best grace he could assume.<br><br>
7521
7522This Brass was an attorney of no very good repute, from Bevis Marks in
7523
7524the city of London; he was a tall, meagre man, with a nose like a wen,
7525
7526a protruding forehead, retreating eyes, and hair of a deep red.  He
7527
7528wore a long black surtout reaching nearly to his ankles, short black
7529
7530trousers, high shoes, and cotton stockings of a bluish grey.  He had a
7531
7532cringing manner, but a very harsh voice; and his blandest smiles were
7533
7534so extremely forbidding, that to have had his company under the least
7535
7536repulsive circumstances, one would have wished him to be out of temper
7537
7538that he might only scowl.<br><br>
7539
7540Quilp looked at his legal adviser, and seeing that he was winking very
7541
7542much in the anguish of his pipe, that he sometimes shuddered when he
7543
7544happened to inhale its full flavour, and that he constantly fanned the
7545
7546smoke from him, was quite overjoyed and rubbed his hands with glee.<br><br>
7547
7548'Smoke away, you dog,' said Quilp, turning to the boy; 'fill your pipe
7549
7550again and smoke it fast, down to the last whiff, or I'll put the
7551
7552sealing-waxed end of it in the fire and rub it red hot upon your
7553
7554tongue.'<br><br>
7555
7556Luckily the boy was case-hardened, and would have smoked a small
7557
7558lime-kiln if anybody had treated him with it.  Wherefore, he only
7559
7560muttered a brief defiance of his master, and did as he was ordered.<br><br>
7561
7562'Is it good, Brass, is it nice, is it fragrant, do you feel like the
7563
7564Grand Turk?' said Quilp.<br><br>
7565
7566Mr Brass thought that if he did, the Grand Turk's feelings were by no
7567
7568means to be envied, but he said it was famous, and he had no doubt he
7569
7570felt very like that Potentate.<br><br>
7571
7572'This is the way to keep off fever,' said Quilp, 'this is the way to
7573
7574keep off every calamity of life!  We'll never leave off, all the time
7575
7576we stop here--smoke away, you dog, or you shall swallow the pipe!'<br><br>
7577
7578'Shall we stop here long, Mr Quilp?' inquired his legal friend, when
7579
7580the dwarf had given his boy this gentle admonition.<br><br>
7581
7582'We must stop, I suppose, till the old gentleman up stairs is dead,'
7583
7584returned Quilp.<br><br>
7585
7586'He he he!' laughed Mr Brass, 'oh! very good!'<br><br>
7587
7588'Smoke away!' cried Quilp.  'Never stop!  You can talk as you smoke.
7589
7590Don't lose time.'<br><br>
7591
7592'He he he!' cried Brass faintly, as he again applied himself to the
7593
7594odious pipe.  'But if he should get better, Mr Quilp?'<br><br>
7595
7596'Then we shall stop till he does, and no longer,' returned the dwarf.<br><br>
7597
7598'How kind it is of you, Sir, to wait till then!' said Brass.  'Some
7599
7600people, Sir, would have sold or removed the goods--oh dear, the very
7601
7602instant the law allowed 'em.  Some people, Sir, would have been all
7603
7604flintiness and granite.  Some people, sir, would have--'<br><br>
7605
7606'Some people would have spared themselves the jabbering of such a
7607
7608parrot as you,' interposed the dwarf.<br><br>
7609
7610'He he he!' cried Brass.  'You have such spirits!'<br><br>
7611
7612The smoking sentinel at the door interposed in this place, and without
7613
7614taking his pipe from his lips, growled,<br><br>
7615
7616'Here's the gal a comin' down.'<br><br>
7617
7618'The what, you dog?' said Quilp.<br><br>
7619
7620'The gal,' returned the boy.  'Are you deaf?'<br><br>
7621
7622'Oh!' said Quilp, drawing in his breath with great relish as if he were
7623
7624taking soup, 'you and I will have such a settling presently; there's
7625
7626such a scratching and bruising in store for you, my dear young friend!
7627
7628Aha! Nelly!  How is he now, my duck of diamonds?'<br><br>
7629
7630'He's very bad,' replied the weeping child.<br><br>
7631
7632'What a pretty little Nell!' cried Quilp.<br><br>
7633
7634'Oh beautiful, sir, beautiful indeed,' said Brass.  'Quite charming.'<br><br>
7635
7636'Has she come to sit upon Quilp's knee,' said the dwarf, in what he
7637
7638meant to be a soothing tone, 'or is she going to bed in her own little
7639
7640room inside here?  Which is poor Nelly going to do?'<br><br>
7641
7642'What a remarkable pleasant way he has with children!' muttered Brass,
7643
7644as if in confidence between himself and the ceiling; 'upon my word it's
7645
7646quite a treat to hear him.'<br><br>
7647
7648'I'm not going to stay at all,' faltered Nell.  'I want a few things
7649
7650out of that room, and then I--I--won't come down here any more.'<br><br>
7651
7652'And a very nice little room it is!' said the dwarf looking into it as
7653
7654the child entered.  'Quite a bower!  You're sure you're not going to
7655
7656use it; you're sure you're not coming back, Nelly?'<br><br>
7657
7658'No,' replied the child, hurrying away, with the few articles of dress
7659
7660she had come to remove; 'never again!  Never again.'<br><br>
7661
7662'She's very sensitive,' said Quilp, looking after her.  'Very
7663
7664sensitive; that's a pity.  The bedstead is much about my size.  I think
7665
7666I shall make it MY little room.'<br><br>
7667
7668Mr Brass encouraging this idea, as he would have encouraged any other
7669
7670emanating from the same source, the dwarf walked in to try the effect.
7671
7672This he did, by throwing himself on his back upon the bed with his pipe
7673
7674in his mouth, and then kicking up his legs and smoking violently.  Mr
7675
7676Brass applauding this picture very much, and the bed being soft and
7677
7678comfortable, Mr Quilp determined to use it, both as a sleeping place by
7679
7680night and as a kind of Divan by day; and in order that it might be
7681
7682converted to the latter purpose at once, remained where he was, and
7683
7684smoked his pipe out.  The legal gentleman being by this time rather
7685
7686giddy and perplexed in his ideas (for this was one of the operations of
7687
7688the tobacco on his nervous system), took the opportunity of slinking
7689
7690away into the open air, where, in course of time, he recovered
7691
7692sufficiently to return with a countenance of tolerable composure.  He
7693
7694was soon led on by the malicious dwarf to smoke himself into a relapse,
7695
7696and in that state stumbled upon a settee where he slept till morning.<br><br>
7697
7698Such were Mr Quilp's first proceedings on entering upon his new
7699
7700property.  He was, for some days, restrained by business from
7701
7702performing any particular pranks, as his time was pretty well occupied
7703
7704between taking, with the assistance of Mr Brass, a minute inventory of
7705
7706all the goods in the place, and going abroad upon his other concerns
7707
7708which happily engaged him for several hours at a time.  His avarice and
7709
7710caution being, now, thoroughly awakened, however, he was never absent
7711
7712from the house one night; and his eagerness for some termination, good
7713
7714or bad, to the old man's disorder, increasing rapidly, as the time
7715
7716passed by, soon began to vent itself in open murmurs and exclamations
7717
7718of impatience.<br><br>
7719
7720Nell shrank timidly from all the dwarf's advances towards conversation,
7721
7722and fled from the very sound of his voice; nor were the lawyer's smiles
7723
7724less terrible to her than Quilp's grimaces.  She lived in such
7725
7726continual dread and apprehension of meeting one or other of them on the
7727
7728stairs or in the passages if she stirred from her grandfather's
7729
7730chamber, that she seldom left it, for a moment, until late at night,
7731
7732when the silence encouraged her to venture forth and breathe the purer
7733
7734air of some empty room.<br><br>
7735
7736One night, she had stolen to her usual window, and was sitting there
7737
7738very sorrowfully--for the old man had been worse that day--when she
7739
7740thought she heard her name pronounced by a voice in the street.
7741
7742Looking down, she recognised Kit, whose endeavours to attract her
7743
7744attention had roused her from her sad reflections.<br><br>
7745
7746'Miss Nell!' said the boy in a low voice.<br><br>
7747
7748'Yes,' replied the child, doubtful whether she ought to hold any
7749
7750communication with the supposed culprit, but inclining to her old
7751
7752favourite still; 'what do you want?'<br><br>
7753
7754'I have wanted to say a word to you, for a long time,' the boy replied,
7755
7756'but the people below have driven me away and wouldn't let me see you.
7757
7758You don't believe--I hope you don't really believe--that I deserve to
7759
7760be cast off as I have been; do you, miss?'<br><br>
7761
7762'I must believe it,' returned the child.  'Or why would grandfather
7763
7764have been so angry with you?'<br><br>
7765
7766'I don't know,' replied Kit.  'I'm sure I never deserved it from him,
7767
7768no, nor from you.  I can say that, with a true and honest heart, any
7769
7770way.  And then to be driven from the door, when I only came to ask how
7771
7772old master was--!'<br><br>
7773
7774'They never told me that,' said the child.  'I didn't know it indeed.
7775
7776I wouldn't have had them do it for the world.'<br><br>
7777
7778'Thank'ee, miss,' returned Kit, 'it's comfortable to hear you say that.
7779
7780I said I never would believe that it was your doing.' 'That was right!'
7781
7782said the child eagerly.<br><br>
7783
7784'Miss Nell,' cried the boy coming under the window, and speaking in a
7785
7786lower tone, 'there are new masters down stairs.  It's a change for you.'<br><br>
7787
7788'It is indeed,' replied the child.<br><br>
7789
7790'And so it will be for him when he gets better,' said the boy, pointing
7791
7792towards the sick room.<br><br>
7793
7794'--If he ever does,' added the child, unable to restrain her tears.<br><br>
7795
7796'Oh, he'll do that, he'll do that,' said Kit.  'I'm sure he will.  You
7797
7798mustn't be cast down, Miss Nell.  Now don't be, pray!'<br><br>
7799
7800These words of encouragement and consolation were few and roughly said,
7801
7802but they affected the child and made her, for the moment, weep the more.<br><br>
7803
7804'He'll be sure to get better now,' said the boy anxiously, 'if you
7805
7806don't give way to low spirits and turn ill yourself, which would make
7807
7808him worse and throw him back, just as he was recovering.  When he does,
7809
7810say a good word--say a kind word for me, Miss Nell!'<br><br>
7811
7812'They tell me I must not even mention your name to him for a long, long
7813
7814time,' rejoined the child, 'I dare not; and even if I might, what good
7815
7816would a kind word do you, Kit?  We shall be very poor.  We shall
7817
7818scarcely have bread to eat.'<br><br>
7819
7820'It's not that I may be taken back,' said the boy, 'that I ask the
7821
7822favour of you.  It isn't for the sake of food and wages that I've been
7823
7824waiting about so long in hopes to see you.  Don't think that I'd come
7825
7826in a time of trouble to talk of such things as them.'<br><br>
7827
7828The child looked gratefully and kindly at him, but waited that he might
7829
7830speak again.<br><br>
7831
7832'No, it's not that,' said Kit hesitating, 'it's something very
7833
7834different from that.  I haven't got much sense, I know, but if he could
7835
7836be brought to believe that I'd been a faithful servant to him, doing
7837
7838the best I could, and never meaning harm, perhaps he mightn't--'<br><br>
7839
7840Here Kit faltered so long that the child entreated him to speak out,
7841
7842and quickly, for it was very late, and time to shut the window.<br><br>
7843
7844'Perhaps he mightn't think it over venturesome of me to say--well then,
7845
7846to say this,' cried Kit with sudden boldness.  'This home is gone from
7847
7848you and him.  Mother and I have got a poor one, but that's better than
7849
7850this with all these people here; and why not come there, till he's had
7851
7852time to look about, and find a better!'<br><br>
7853
7854The child did not speak.  Kit, in the relief of having made his
7855
7856proposition, found his tongue loosened, and spoke out in its favour
7857
7858with his utmost eloquence.<br><br>
7859
7860'You think,' said the boy, 'that it's very small and inconvenient.  So
7861
7862it is, but it's very clean.  Perhaps you think it would be noisy, but
7863
7864there's not a quieter court than ours in all the town.  Don't be afraid
7865
7866of the children; the baby hardly ever cries, and the other one is very
7867
7868good--besides, I'd mind 'em.  They wouldn't vex you much, I'm sure.  Do
7869
7870try, Miss Nell, do try.  The little front room up stairs is very
7871
7872pleasant.  You can see a piece of the church-clock, through the
7873
7874chimneys, and almost tell the time; mother says it would be just the
7875
7876thing for you, and so it would, and you'd have her to wait upon you
7877
7878both, and me to run of errands.  We don't mean money, bless you; you're
7879
7880not to think of that!  Will you try him, Miss Nell?  Only say you'll
7881
7882try him.  Do try to make old master come, and ask him first what I have
7883
7884done.  Will you only promise that, Miss Nell?'<br><br>
7885
7886Before the child could reply to this earnest solicitation, the
7887
7888street-door opened, and Mr Brass thrusting out his night-capped head
7889
7890called in a surly voice, 'Who's there!'  Kit immediately glided away,
7891
7892and Nell, closing the window softly, drew back into the room.<br><br>
7893
7894Before Mr Brass had repeated his inquiry many times, Mr Quilp, also
7895
7896embellished with a night-cap, emerged from the same door and looked
7897
7898carefully up and down the street, and up at all the windows of the
7899
7900house, from the opposite side.  Finding that there was nobody in sight,
7901
7902he presently returned into the house with his legal friend, protesting
7903
7904(as the child heard from the staircase), that there was a league and
7905
7906plot against him; that he was in danger of being robbed and plundered
7907
7908by a band of conspirators who prowled about the house at all seasons;
7909
7910and that he would delay no longer but take immediate steps for
7911
7912disposing of the property and returning to his own peaceful roof.
7913
7914Having growled forth these, and a great many other threats of the same
7915
7916nature, he coiled himself once more in the child's little bed, and Nell
7917
7918crept softly up the stairs.<br><br>
7919
7920It was natural enough that her short and unfinished dialogue with Kit
7921
7922should leave a strong impression on her mind, and influence her dreams
7923
7924that night and her recollections for a long, long time.  Surrounded by
7925
7926unfeeling creditors, and mercenary attendants upon the sick, and
7927
7928meeting in the height of her anxiety and sorrow with little regard or
7929
7930sympathy even from the women about her, it is not surprising that the
7931
7932affectionate heart of the child should have been touched to the quick
7933
7934by one kind and generous spirit, however uncouth the temple in which it
7935
7936dwelt.  Thank Heaven that the temples of such spirits are not made with
7937
7938hands, and that they may be even more worthily hung with poor
7939
7940patch-work than with purple and fine linen!<br><br>
7941
7942CHAPTER 12<br><br>
7943
7944At length, the crisis of the old man's disorder was past, and he began
7945
7946to mend.  By very slow and feeble degrees his consciousness came back;
7947
7948but the mind was weakened and its functions were impaired.  He was
7949
7950patient, and quiet; often sat brooding, but not despondently, for a
7951
7952long space; was easily amused, even by a sun-beam on the wall or
7953
7954ceiling; made no complaint that the days were long, or the nights
7955
7956tedious; and appeared indeed to have lost all count of time, and every
7957
7958sense of care or weariness.  He would sit, for hours together, with
7959
7960Nell's small hand in his, playing with the fingers and stopping
7961
7962sometimes to smooth her hair or kiss her brow; and, when he saw that
7963
7964tears were glistening in her eyes, would look, amazed, about him for
7965
7966the cause, and forget his wonder even while he looked.<br><br>
7967
7968The child and he rode out; the old man propped up with pillows, and the
7969
7970child beside him.  They were hand in hand as usual.  The noise and
7971
7972motion in the streets fatigued his brain at first, but he was not
7973
7974surprised, or curious, or pleased, or irritated.  He was asked if he
7975
7976remembered this, or that.  'O yes,' he said, 'quite well--why not?'
7977
7978Sometimes he turned his head, and looked, with earnest gaze and
7979
7980outstretched neck, after some stranger in the crowd, until he
7981
7982disappeared from sight; but, to the question why he did this, he
7983
7984answered not a word.<br><br>
7985
7986He was sitting in his easy chair one day, and Nell upon a stool beside
7987
7988him, when a man outside the door inquired if he might enter.  'Yes,' he
7989
7990said without emotion, 'it was Quilp, he knew.  Quilp was master there.
7991
7992Of course he might come in.'  And so he did.<br><br>
7993
7994'I'm glad to see you well again at last, neighbour,' said the dwarf,
7995
7996sitting down opposite him.  'You're quite strong now?'<br><br>
7997
7998'Yes,' said the old man feebly, 'yes.'<br><br>
7999
8000'I don't want to hurry you, you know, neighbour,' said the dwarf,
8001
8002raising his voice, for the old man's senses were duller than they had
8003
8004been; 'but, as soon as you can arrange your future proceedings, the
8005
8006better.'<br><br>
8007
8008'Surely,' said the old man.  'The better for all parties.'<br><br>
8009
8010'You see,' pursued Quilp after a short pause, 'the goods being once
8011
8012removed, this house would be uncomfortable; uninhabitable in fact.'<br><br>
8013
8014'You say true,' returned the old man.  'Poor Nell too, what would she
8015
8016do?'<br><br>
8017
8018'Exactly,' bawled the dwarf nodding his head; 'that's very well
8019
8020observed.  Then will you consider about it, neighbour?'<br><br>
8021
8022'I will, certainly,' replied the old man.  'We shall not stop here.'<br><br>
8023
8024'So I supposed,' said the dwarf.  'I have sold the things.  They have
8025
8026not yielded quite as much as they might have done, but pretty
8027
8028well--pretty well.  To-day's Tuesday.  When shall they be moved?
8029
8030There's no hurry--shall we say this afternoon?'<br><br>
8031
8032'Say Friday morning,' returned the old man.<br><br>
8033
8034'Very good,' said the dwarf.  'So be it--with the understanding that I
8035
8036can't go beyond that day, neighbour, on any account.'<br><br>
8037
8038'Good,' returned the old man.  'I shall remember it.'<br><br>
8039
8040Mr Quilp seemed rather puzzled by the strange, even spiritless way in
8041
8042which all this was said;
8042 but as the old man nodded his head and
8043
8044repeated 'on Friday morning.  I shall remember it,' he had no excuse
8045
8046for dwelling on the subject any further, and so took a friendly leave
8047
8048with many expressions of good-will and many compliments to his friend
8049
8050on his looking so remarkably well; and went below stairs to report
8051
8052progress to Mr Brass.<br><br>
8053
8054All that day, and all the next, the old man remained in this state.  He
8055
8056wandered up and down the house and into and out of the various rooms,
8057
8058as if with some vague intent of bidding them adieu, but he referred
8059
8060neither by direct allusions nor in any other manner to the interview of
8061
8062the morning or the necessity of finding some other shelter.  An
8063
8064indistinct idea he had, that the child was desolate and in want of
8065
8066help; for he often drew her to his bosom and bade her be of good cheer,
8067
8068saying that they would not desert each other; but he seemed unable to
8069
8070contemplate their real position more distinctly, and was still the
8071
8072listless, passionless creature that suffering of mind and body had left
8073
8074him.<br><br>
8075
8076We call this a state of childishness, but it is the same poor hollow
8077
8078mockery of it, that death is of sleep.  Where, in the dull eyes of
8079
8080doating men, are the laughing light and life of childhood, the gaiety
8081
8082that has known no check, the frankness that has felt no chill, the hope
8083
8084that has never withered, the joys that fade in blossoming?  Where, in
8085
8086the sharp lineaments of rigid and unsightly death, is the calm beauty
8087
8088of slumber, telling of rest for the waking hours that are past, and
8089
8090gentle hopes and loves for those which are to come?  Lay death and
8091
8092sleep down, side by side, and say who shall find the two akin.  Send
8093
8094forth the child and childish man together, and blush for the pride that
8095
8096libels our own old happy state, and gives its title to an ugly and
8097
8098distorted image.<br><br>
8099
8100Thursday arrived, and there was no alteration in the old man.  But a
8101
8102change came upon him that evening as he and the child sat silently
8103
8104together.<br><br>
8105
8106In a small dull yard below his window, there was a tree--green and
8107
8108flourishing enough, for such a place--and as the air stirred among its
8109
8110leaves, it threw a rippling shadow on the white wall.  The old man sat
8111
8112watching the shadows as they trembled in this patch of light, until the
8113
8114sun went down; and when it was night, and the moon was slowly rising,
8115
8116he still sat in the same spot.<br><br>
8117
8118To one who had been tossing on a restless bed so long, even these few
8119
8120green leaves and this tranquil light, although it languished among
8121
8122chimneys and house-tops, were pleasant things.  They suggested quiet
8123
8124places afar off, and rest, and peace.  The child thought, more than
8125
8126once that he was moved: and had forborne to speak.  But now he shed
8127
8128tears--tears that it lightened her aching heart to see--and making as
8129
8130though he would fall upon his knees, besought her to forgive him.<br><br>
8131
8132'Forgive you--what?' said Nell, interposing to prevent his purpose.
8133
8134'Oh grandfather, what should I forgive?'<br><br>
8135
8136'All that is past, all that has come upon thee, Nell, all that was done
8137
8138in that uneasy dream,' returned the old man.<br><br>
8139
8140'Do not talk so,' said the child.  'Pray do not.  Let us speak of
8141
8142something else.'<br><br>
8143
8144'Yes, yes, we will,' he rejoined.  'And it shall be of what we talked
8145
8146of long ago--many months--months is it, or weeks, or days?  which is it
8147
8148Nell?'<br><br>
8149
8150'I do not understand you,' said the child.<br><br>
8151
8152'It has come back upon me to-day, it has all come back since we have
8153
8154been sitting here.  I bless thee for it, Nell!'<br><br>
8155
8156'For what, dear grandfather?'<br><br>
8157
8158'For what you said when we were first made beggars, Nell.  Let us speak
8159
8160softly.  Hush!  for if they knew our purpose down stairs, they would
8161
8162cry that I was mad and take thee from me.  We will not stop here
8163
8164another day.  We will go far away from here.'<br><br>
8165
8166'Yes, let us go,' said the child earnestly.  'Let us begone from this
8167
8168place, and never turn back or think of it again.  Let us wander
8169
8170barefoot through the world, rather than linger here.'<br><br>
8171
8172'We will,' answered the old man, 'we will travel afoot through the
8173
8174fields and woods, and by the side of rivers, and trust ourselves to God
8175
8176in the places where He dwells.  It is far better to lie down at night
8177
8178beneath an open sky like that yonder--see how bright it is--than to
8179
8180rest in close rooms which are always full of care and weary dreams.
8181
8182Thou and I together, Nell, may be cheerful and happy yet, and learn to
8183
8184forget this time, as if it had never been.'<br><br>
8185
8186'We will be happy,' cried the child.  'We never can be here.'<br><br>
8187
8188'No, we never can again--never again--that's truly said,' rejoined the
8189
8190old man.  'Let us steal away to-morrow morning--early and softly, that
8191
8192we may not be seen or heard--and leave no trace or track for them to
8193
8194follow by.  Poor Nell!  Thy cheek is pale, and thy eyes are heavy with
8195
8196watching and weeping for me--I know--for me; but thou wilt be well
8197
8198again, and merry too, when we are far away.  To-morrow morning, dear,
8199
8200we'll turn our faces from this scene of sorrow, and be as free and
8201
8202happy as the birds.'<br><br>
8203
8204And then the old man clasped his hands above her head, and said, in a
8205
8206few broken words, that from that time forth they would wander up and
8207
8208down together, and never part more until Death took one or other of the
8209
8210twain.<br><br>
8211
8212The child's heart beat high with hope and confidence.  She had no
8213
8214thought of hunger, or cold, or thirst, or suffering.  She saw in this,
8215
8216but a return of the simple pleasures they had once enjoyed, a relief
8217
8218from the gloomy solitude in which she had lived, an escape from the
8219
8220heartless people by whom she had been surrounded in her late time of
8221
8222trial, the restoration of the old man's health and peace, and a life of
8223
8224tranquil happiness.  Sun, and stream, and meadow, and summer days,
8225
8226shone brightly in her view, and there was no dark tint in all the
8227
8228sparkling picture.<br><br>
8229
8230The old man had slept, for some hours, soundly in his bed, and she was
8231
8232yet busily engaged in preparing for their flight.  There were a few
8233
8234articles of clothing for herself to carry, and a few for him; old
8235
8236garments, such as became their fallen fortunes, laid out to wear; and a
8237
8238staff to support his feeble steps, put ready for his use.  But this was
8239
8240not all her task; for now she must visit the old rooms for the last
8241
8242time.<br><br>
8243
8244And how different the parting with them was, from any she had expected,
8245
8246and most of all from that which she had oftenest pictured to herself.
8247
8248How could she ever have thought of bidding them farewell in triumph,
8249
8250when the recollection of the many hours she had passed among them rose
8251
8252to her swelling heart, and made her feel the wish a cruelty: lonely and
8253
8254sad though many of those hours had been!  She sat down at the window
8255
8256where she had spent so many evenings--darker far than this--and every
8257
8258thought of hope or cheerfulness that had occurred to her in that place
8259
8260came vividly upon her mind, and blotted out all its dull and mournful
8261
8262associations in an instant.<br><br>
8263
8264Her own little room too, where she had so often knelt down and prayed
8265
8266at night--prayed for the time which she hoped was dawning now--the
8267
8268little room where she had slept so peacefully, and dreamed such
8269
8270pleasant dreams!  It was hard not to be able to glance round it once
8271
8272more, and to be forced to leave it without one kind look or grateful
8273
8274tear.  There were some trifles there--poor useless things--that she
8275
8276would have liked to take away; but that was impossible.<br><br>
8277
8278This brought to mind her bird, her poor bird, who hung there yet.  She
8279
8280wept bitterly for the loss of this little creature--until the idea
8281
8282occurred to her--she did not know how, or why, it came into her
8283
8284head--that it might, by some means, fall into the hands of Kit who
8285
8286would keep it for her sake, and think, perhaps, that she had left it
8287
8288behind in the hope that he might have it, and as an assurance that she
8289
8290was grateful to him.  She was calmed and comforted by the thought, and
8291
8292went to rest with a lighter heart.<br><br>
8293
8294From many dreams of rambling through light and sunny places, but with
8295
8296some vague object unattained which ran indistinctly through them all,
8297
8298she awoke to find that it was yet night, and that the stars were
8299
8300shining brightly in the sky.  At length, the day began to glimmer, and
8301
8302the stars to grow pale and dim.  As soon as she was sure of this, she
8303
8304arose, and dressed herself for the journey.<br><br>
8305
8306The old man was yet asleep, and as she was unwilling to disturb him,
8307
8308she left him to slumber on, until the sun rose.  He was anxious that
8309
8310they should leave the house without a minute's loss of time, and was
8311
8312soon ready.<br><br>
8313
8314The child then took him by the hand, and they trod lightly and
8315
8316cautiously down the stairs, trembling whenever a board creaked, and
8317
8318often stopping to listen.  The old man had forgotten a kind of wallet
8319
8320which contained the light burden he had to carry; and the going back a
8321
8322few steps to fetch it seemed an interminable delay.<br><br>
8323
8324At last they reached the passage on the ground floor, where the snoring
8325
8326of Mr Quilp and his legal friend sounded more terrible in their ears
8327
8328than the roars of lions.  The bolts of the door were rusty, and
8329
8330difficult to unfasten without noise.  When they were all drawn back, it
8331
8332was found to be locked, and worst of all, the key was gone.  Then the
8333
8334child remembered, for the first time, one of the nurses having told her
8335
8336that Quilp always locked both the house-doors at night, and kept the
8337
8338keys on the table in his bedroom.<br><br>
8339
8340It was not without great fear and trepidation that little Nell slipped
8341
8342off her shoes and gliding through the store-room of old curiosities,
8343
8344where Mr Brass--the ugliest piece of goods in all the stock--lay
8345
8346sleeping on a mattress, passed into her own little chamber.<br><br>
8347
8348Here she stood, for a few moments, quite transfixed with terror at the
8349
8350sight of Mr Quilp, who was hanging so far out of bed that he almost
8351
8352seemed to be standing on his head, and who, either from the uneasiness
8353
8354of this posture, or in one of his agreeable habits, was gasping and
8355
8356growling with his mouth wide open, and the whites (or rather the dirty
8357
8358yellows) of his eyes distinctly visible.  It was no time, however, to
8359
8360ask whether anything ailed him; so, possessing herself of the key after
8361
8362one hasty glance about the room, and repassing the prostrate Mr Brass,
8363
8364she rejoined the old man in safety.  They got the door open without
8365
8366noise, and passing into the street, stood still.<br><br>
8367
8368'Which way?' said the child.<br><br>
8369
8370The old man looked, irresolutely and helplessly, first at her, then to
8371
8372the right and left, then at her again, and shook his head.  It was
8373
8374plain that she was thenceforth his guide and leader.  The child felt
8375
8376it, but had no doubts or misgiving, and putting her hand in his, led
8377
8378him gently away.<br><br>
8379
8380It was the beginning of a day in June; the deep blue sky unsullied by a
8381
8382cloud, and teeming with brilliant light.  The streets were, as yet,
8383
8384nearly free from passengers, the houses and shops were closed, and the
8385
8386healthy air of morning fell like breath from angels, on the sleeping
8387
8388town.<br><br>
8389
8390The old man and the child passed on through the glad silence, elate
8391
8392with hope and pleasure.  They were alone together, once again; every
8393
8394object was bright and fresh; nothing reminded them, otherwise than by
8395
8396contrast, of the monotony and constraint they had left behind; church
8397
8398towers and steeples, frowning and dark at other times, now shone in the
8399
8400sun; each humble nook and corner rejoiced in light; and the sky, dimmed
8401
8402only by excessive distance, shed its placid smile on everything beneath.<br><br>
8403
8404Forth from the city, while it yet slumbered, went the two poor
8405
8406adventurers, wandering they knew not whither.<br><br>
8407
8408CHAPTER 13<br><br>
8409
8410Daniel Quilp of Tower Hill, and Sampson Brass of Bevis Marks in the
8411
8412city of London, Gentleman, one of her Majesty's attornies of the Courts
8413
8414of the King's Bench and Common Pleas at Westminster and a solicitor of
8415
8416the High Court of Chancery, slumbered on, unconscious and unsuspicious
8417
8418of any mischance, until a knocking on the street door, often repeated
8419
8420and gradually mounting up from a modest single rap to a perfect battery
8421
8422of knocks, fired in long discharges with a very short interval between,
8423
8424caused the said Daniel Quilp to struggle into a horizontal position,
8425
8426and to stare at the ceiling with a drowsy indifference, betokening that
8427
8428he heard the noise and rather wondered at the same, and couldn't be at
8429
8430the trouble of bestowing any further thought upon the subject.<br><br>
8431
8432As the knocking, however, instead of accommodating itself to his lazy
8433
8434state, increased in vigour and became more importunate, as if in
8435
8436earnest remonstrance against his falling asleep again, now that he had
8437
8438once opened his eyes, Daniel Quilp began by degrees to comprehend the
8439
8440possibility of there being somebody at the door; and thus he gradually
8441
8442came to recollect that it was Friday morning, and he had ordered Mrs
8443
8444Quilp to be in waiting upon him at an early hour.<br><br>
8445
8446Mr Brass, after writhing about, in a great many strange attitudes, and
8447
8448often twisting his face and eyes into an expression like that which is
8449
8450usually produced by eating gooseberries very early in the season, was
8451
8452by this time awake also.  Seeing that Mr Quilp invested himself in his
8453
8454every-day garments, he hastened to do the like, putting on his shoes
8455
8456before his stockings, and thrusting his legs into his coat sleeves, and
8457
8458making such other small mistakes in his toilet as are not uncommon to
8459
8460those who dress in a hurry, and labour under the agitation of having
8461
8462been suddenly roused.  While the attorney was thus engaged, the dwarf
8463
8464was groping under the table, muttering desperate imprecations on
8465
8466himself, and mankind in general, and all inanimate objects to boot,
8467
8468which suggested to Mr Brass the question, 'what's the matter?'<br><br>
8469
8470'The key,' said the dwarf, looking viciously about him, 'the
8471
8472door-key--that's the matter.  D'ye know anything of it?'<br><br>
8473
8474'How should I know anything of it, sir?' returned Mr Brass.<br><br>
8475
8476'How should you?' repeated Quilp with a sneer.  'You're a nice lawyer,
8477
8478an't you?  Ugh, you idiot!'<br><br>
8479
8480Not caring to represent to the dwarf in his present humour, that the
8481
8482loss of a key by another person could scarcely be said to affect his
8483
8484(Brass's) legal knowledge in any material degree, Mr Brass humbly
8485
8486suggested that it must have been forgotten over night, and was,
8487
8488doubtless, at that moment in its native key-hole.  Notwithstanding that
8489
8490Mr Quilp had a strong conviction to the contrary, founded on his
8491
8492recollection of having carefully taken it out, he was fain to admit
8493
8494that this was possible, and therefore went grumbling to the door where,
8495
8496sure enough, he found it.<br><br>
8497
8498Now, just as Mr Quilp laid his hand upon the lock, and saw with great
8499
8500astonishment that the fastenings were undone, the knocking came again
8501
8502with the most irritating violence, and the daylight which had been
8503
8504shining through the key-hole was intercepted on the outside by a human
8505
8506eye.  The dwarf was very much exasperated, and wanting somebody to
8507
8508wreak his ill-humour upon, determined to dart out suddenly, and favour
8509
8510Mrs Quilp with a gentle acknowledgment of her attention in making that
8511
8512hideous uproar.<br><br>
8513
8514With this view, he drew back the lock very silently and softly, and
8515
8516opening the door all at once, pounced out upon the person on the other
8517
8518side, who had at that moment raised the knocker for another
8519
8520application, and at whom the dwarf ran head first: throwing out his
8521
8522hands and feet together, and biting the air in the fulness of his
8523
8524malice.<br><br>
8525
8526So far, however, from rushing upon somebody who offered no resistance
8527
8528and implored his mercy, Mr Quilp was no sooner in the arms of the
8529
8530individual whom he had taken for his wife than he found himself
8531
8532complimented with two staggering blows on the head, and two more, of
8533
8534the same quality, in the chest; and closing with his assailant, such a
8535
8536shower of buffets rained down upon his person as sufficed to convince
8537
8538him that he was in skilful and experienced hands.  Nothing daunted by
8539
8540this reception, he clung tight to his opponent, and bit and hammered
8541
8542away with such good-will and heartiness, that it was at least a couple
8543
8544of minutes before he was dislodged.  Then, and not until then, Daniel
8545
8546Quilp found himself, all flushed and dishevelled, in the middle of the
8547
8548street, with Mr Richard Swiveller performing a kind of dance round him
8549
8550and requiring to know 'whether he wanted any more?'<br><br>
8551
8552'There's plenty more of it at the same shop,' said Mr Swiveller, by
8553
8554turns advancing and retreating in a threatening attitude, 'a large and
8555
8556extensive assortment always on hand--country orders executed with
8557
8558promptitude and despatch--will you have a little more, Sir--don't say
8559
8560no, if you'd rather not.'<br><br>
8561
8562'I thought it was somebody else,' said Quilp, rubbing his shoulders,
8563
8564'why didn't you say who you were?'<br><br>
8565
8566'Why didn't you say who YOU were?' returned Dick, 'instead of flying
8567
8568out of the house like a Bedlamite?'<br><br>
8569
8570'It was you that--that knocked,' said the dwarf, getting up with a
8571
8572short groan, 'was it?'<br><br>
8573
8574'Yes, I am the man,' replied Dick.  'That lady had begun when I came,
8575
8576but she knocked too soft, so I relieved her.'  As he said this, he
8577
8578pointed towards Mrs Quilp, who stood trembling at a little distance.<br><br>
8579
8580'Humph!' muttered the dwarf, darting an angry look at his wife, 'I
8581
8582thought it was your fault!  And you, sir--don't you know there has been
8583
8584somebody ill here, that you knock as if you'd beat the door down?'<br><br>
8585
8586'Damme!' answered Dick, 'that's why I did it.  I thought there was
8587
8588somebody dead here.'<br><br>
8589
8590'You came for some purpose, I suppose,' said Quilp.  'What is it you
8591
8592want?'<br><br>
8593
8594'I want to know how the old gentleman is,' rejoined Mr Swiveller, 'and
8595
8596to hear from Nell herself, with whom I should like to have a little
8597
8598talk.  I'm a friend of the family, sir--at least I'm the friend of one
8599
8600of the family, and that's the same thing.'<br><br>
8601
8602'You'd better walk in then,' said the dwarf.  'Go on, sir, go on.  Now,
8603
8604Mrs Quilp--after you, ma'am.'<br><br>
8605
8606Mrs Quilp hesitated, but Mr Quilp insisted.  And it was not a contest
8607
8608of politeness, or by any means a matter of form, for she knew very well
8609
8610that her husband wished to enter the house in this order, that he might
8611
8612have a favourable opportunity of inflicting a few pinches on her arms,
8613
8614which were seldom free from impressions of his fingers in black and
8615
8616blue colours.  Mr Swiveller, who was not in the secret, was a little
8617
8618surprised to hear a suppressed scream, and, looking round, to see Mrs
8619
8620Quilp following him with a sudden jerk; but he did not remark on these
8621
8622appearances, and soon forgot them.<br><br>
8623
8624'Now, Mrs Quilp,' said the dwarf when they had entered the shop, 'go
8625
8626you up stairs, if you please, to Nelly's room, and tell her that she's
8627
8628wanted.'<br><br>
8629
8630'You seem to make yourself at home here,' said Dick, who was
8631
8632unacquainted with Mr Quilp's authority.<br><br>
8633
8634'I AM at home, young gentleman,' returned the dwarf.<br><br>
8635
8636Dick was pondering what these words might mean, and still more what the
8637
8638presence of Mr Brass might mean, when Mrs Quilp came hurrying down
8639
8640stairs, declaring that the rooms above were empty.<br><br>
8641
8642'Empty, you fool!' said the dwarf.<br><br>
8643
8644'I give you my word, Quilp,' answered his trembling wife, 'that I have
8645
8646been into every room and there's not a soul in any of them.'<br><br>
8647
8648'And that,' said Mr Brass, clapping his hands once, with an emphasis,
8649
8650'explains the mystery of the key!'<br><br>
8651
8652Quilp looked frowningly at him, and frowningly at his wife, and
8653
8654frowningly at Richard Swiveller; but, receiving no enlightenment from
8655
8656any of them, hurried up stairs, whence he soon hurried down again,
8657
8658confirming the report which had already been made.<br><br>
8659
8660'It's a strange way of going,' he said, glancing at Swiveller, 'very
8661
8662strange not to communicate with me who am such a close and intimate
8663
8664friend of his!  Ah! he'll write to me no doubt, or he'll bid Nelly
8665
8666write--yes, yes, that's what he'll do.  Nelly's very fond of me.
8667
8668Pretty Nell!'<br><br>
8669
8670Mr Swiveller looked, as he was, all open-mouthed astonishment.  Still
8671
8672glancing furtively at him, Quilp turned to Mr Brass and observed, with
8673
8674assumed carelessness, that this need not interfere with the removal of
8675
8676the goods.<br><br>
8677
8678'For indeed,' he added, 'we knew that they'd go away to-day, but not
8679
8680that they'd go so early, or so quietly.  But they have their reasons,
8681
8682they have their reasons.'<br><br>
8683
8684'Where in the devil's name are they gone?' said the wondering Dick.<br><br>
8685
8686Quilp shook his head, and pursed up his lips, in a manner which implied
8687
8688that he knew very well, but was not at liberty to say.<br><br>
8689
8690'And what,' said Dick, looking at the confusion about him, 'what do you
8691
8692mean by moving the goods?'<br><br>
8693
8694'That I have bought 'em, Sir,' rejoined Quilp.  'Eh?  What then?'<br><br>
8695
8696'Has the sly old fox made his fortune then, and gone to live in a
8697
8698tranquil cot in a pleasant spot with a distant view of the changing
8699
8700sea?' said Dick, in great bewilderment.<br><br>
8701
8702'Keeping his place of retirement very close, that he may not be visited
8703
8704too often by affectionate grandsons and their devoted friends, eh?'
8705
8706added the dwarf, rubbing his hands hard; 'I say nothing, but is that
8707
8708your meaning?'<br><br>
8709
8710Richard Swiveller was utterly aghast at this unexpected alteration of
8711
8712circumstances, which threatened the complete overthrow of the project
8713
8714in which he bore so conspicuous a part, and seemed to nip his prospects
8715
8716in the bud.  Having only received from Frederick Trent, late on the
8717
8718previous night, information of the old man's illness, he had come upon
8719
8720a visit of condolence and inquiry to Nell, prepared with the first
8721
8722instalment of that long train of fascinations which was to fire her
8723
8724heart at last.  And here, when he had been thinking of all kinds of
8725
8726graceful and insinuating approaches, and meditating on the fearful
8727
8728retaliation which was slowly working against Sophy Wackles--here were
8729
8730Nell, the old man, and all the money gone, melted away, decamped he
8731
8732knew not whither, as if with a fore-knowledge of the scheme and a
8733
8734resolution to defeat it in the very outset, before a step was taken.<br><br>
8735
8736In his secret heart, Daniel Quilp was both surprised and troubled by
8737
8738the flight which had been made.  It had not escaped his keen eye that
8739
8740some indispensable articles of clothing were gone with the fugitives,
8741
8742and knowing the old man's weak state of mind, he marvelled what that
8743
8744course of proceeding might be in which he had so readily procured the
8745
8746concurrence of the child.  It must not be supposed (or it would be a
8747
8748gross injustice to Mr Quilp) that he was tortured by any disinterested
8749
8750anxiety on behalf of either.  His uneasiness arose from a misgiving
8751
8752that the old man had some secret store of money which he had not
8753
8754suspected; and the idea of its escaping his clutches, overwhelmed him
8755
8756with mortification and self-reproach.<br><br>
8757
8758In this frame of mind, it was some consolation to him to find that
8759
8760Richard Swiveller was, for different reasons, evidently irritated and
8761
8762disappointed by the same cause.  It was plain, thought the dwarf, that
8763
8764he had come there, on behalf of his friend, to cajole or frighten the
8765
8766old man out of some small fraction of that wealth of which they
8767
8768supposed him to have an abundance.  Therefore, it was a relief to vex
8769
8770his heart with a picture of the riches the old man hoarded, and to
8771
8772expatiate on his cunning in removing himself even beyond the reach of
8773
8774importunity.<br><br>
8775
8776'Well,' said Dick, with a blank look, 'I suppose it's of no use my
8777
8778staying here.'<br><br>
8779
8780'Not the least in the world,' rejoined the dwarf.<br><br>
8781
8782'You'll mention that I called, perhaps?' said Dick.<br><br>
8783
8784Mr Quilp nodded, and said he certainly would, the very first time he
8785
8786saw them.<br><br>
8787
8788'And say,' added Mr Swiveller, 'say, sir, that I was wafted here upon
8789
8790the pinions of concord; that I came to remove, with the rake of
8791
8792friendship, the seeds of mutual violence and heart-burning, and to sow
8793
8794in their place, the germs of social harmony.  Will you have the
8795
8796goodness to charge yourself with that commission, Sir?'<br><br>
8797
8798'Certainly!' rejoined Quilp.<br><br>
8799
8800'Will you be kind enough to add to it, Sir,' said Dick, producing a
8801
8802very small limp card, 'that that is my address, and that I am to be
8803
8804found at home every morning.  Two distinct knocks, sir, will produce
8805
8806the slavey at any time.  My particular friends, Sir, are accustomed to
8807
8808sneeze when the door is opened, to give her to understand that they ARE
8809
8810my friends and have no interested motives in asking if I'm at home.  I
8811
8812beg your pardon; will you allow me to look at that card again?'<br><br>
8813
8814'Oh! by all means,' rejoined Quilp.<br><br>
8815
8816'By a slight and not unnatural mistake, sir,' said Dick, substituting
8817
8818another in its stead, 'I had handed you the pass-ticket of a select
8819
8820convivial circle called the Glorious Apollers of which I have the
8821
8822honour to be Perpetual Grand.  That is the proper document, Sir.  Good
8823
8824morning.'<br><br>
8825
8826Quilp bade him good day; the perpetual Grand Master of the Glorious
8827
8828Apollers, elevating his hat in honour of Mrs Quilp, dropped it
8829
8830carelessly on the side of his head again, and disappeared with a
8831
8832flourish.<br><br>
8833
8834By this time, certain vans had arrived for the conveyance of the goods,
8835
8836and divers strong men in caps were balancing chests of drawers and
8837
8838other trifles of that nature upon their heads, and performing muscular
8839
8840feats which heightened their complexions considerably.  Not to be
8841
8842behind-hand in the bustle, Mr Quilp went to work with surprising
8843
8844vigour; hustling and driving the people about, like an evil spirit;
8845
8846setting Mrs Quilp upon all kinds of arduous and impracticable tasks;
8847
8848carrying great weights up and down, with no apparent effort; kicking
8849
8850the boy from the wharf, whenever he could get near him; and inflicting,
8851
8852with his loads, a great many sly bumps and blows on the shoulders of Mr
8853
8854Brass, as he stood upon the door-steps to answer all the inquiries of
8855
8856curious neighbours, which was his department.  His presence and example
8857
8858diffused such alacrity among the persons employed, that, in a few
8859
8860hours, the house was emptied of everything, but pieces of matting,
8861
8862empty porter-pots, and scattered fragments of straw.<br><br>
8863
8864Seated, like an African chief, on one of these pieces of matting, the
8865
8866dwarf was regaling himself in the parlour, with bread and cheese and
8867
8868beer, when he observed without appearing to do so, that a boy was
8869
8870prying in at the outer door.  Assured that it was Kit, though he saw
8871
8872little more than his nose, Mr Quilp hailed him by his name; whereupon
8873
8874Kit came in and demanded what he wanted.<br><br>
8875
8876'Come here, you sir,' said the dwarf.  'Well, so your old master and
8877
8878young mistress have gone?'<br><br>
8879
8880'Where?' rejoined Kit, looking round.<br><br>
8881
8882'Do you mean to say you don't know where?' answered Quilp sharply.
8883
8884'Where have they gone, eh?'<br><br>
8885
8886'I don't know,' said Kit.<br><br>
8887
8888'Come,' retorted Quilp, 'let's have no more of this!  Do you mean to
8889
8890say that you don't know they went away by stealth, as soon as it was
8891
8892light this morning?'<br><br>
8893
8894'No,' said the boy, in evident surprise.<br><br>
8895
8896'You don't know that?' cried Quilp.  'Don't I know that you were
8897
8898hanging about the house the other night, like a thief, eh?  Weren't you
8899
8900told then?'<br><br>
8901
8902'No,' replied the boy.<br><br>
8903
8904'You were not?' said Quilp.  'What were you told then; what were you
8905
8906talking about?'<br><br>
8907
8908Kit, who knew no particular reason why he should keep the matter secret
8909
8910now, related the purpose for which he had come on that occasion, and
8911
8912the proposal he had made.<br><br>
8913
8914'Oh!' said the dwarf after a little consideration.  'Then, I think
8915
8916they'll come to you yet.'<br><br>
8917
8918'Do you think they will?' cried Kit eagerly.<br><br>
8919
8920'Aye, I think they will,' returned the dwarf.  'Now, when they do, let
8921
8922me know; d'ye hear?  Let me know, and I'll give you something.  I want
8923
8924to do 'em a kindness, and I can't do 'em a kindness unless I know where
8925
8926they are.  You hear what I say?'<br><br>
8927
8928Kit might have returned some answer which would not have been agreeable
8929
8930to his irascible questioner, if the boy from the wharf, who had been
8931
8932skulking about the room in search of anything that might have been left
8933
8934about by accident, had not happened to cry, 'Here's a bird!  What's to
8935
8936be done with this?'<br><br>
8937
8938'Wring its neck,' rejoined Quilp.<br><br>
8939
8940'Oh no, don't do that,' said Kit, stepping forward.  'Give it to me.'<br><br>
8941
8942'Oh yes, I dare say,' cried the other boy.  'Come!  You let the cage
8943
8944alone, and let me wring its neck will you?  He said I was to do it.
8945
8946You let the cage alone will you.'<br><br>
8947
8948'Give it here, give it to me, you dogs,' roared Quilp.  'Fight for it,
8949
8950you dogs, or I'll wring its neck myself!'<br><br>
8951
8952Without further persuasion, the two boys fell upon each other, tooth
8953
8954and nail, while Quilp, holding up the cage in one hand, and chopping
8955
8956the ground with his knife in an ecstasy, urged them on by his taunts
8957
8958and cries to fight more fiercely.  They were a pretty equal match, and
8959
8960rolled about together, exchanging blows which were by no means child's
8961
8962play, until at length Kit, planting a well-directed hit in his
8963
8964adversary's chest, disengaged himself, sprung nimbly up, and snatching
8965
8966the cage from Quilp's hands made off with his prize.<br><br>
8967
8968He did not stop once until he reached home, where his bleeding face
8969
8970occasioned great consternation, and caused the elder child to howl
8971
8972dreadfully.<br><br>
8973
8974'Goodness gracious, Kit, what is the matter, what have you been doing?'
8975
8976cried Mrs Nubbles.<br><br>
8977
8978'Never you mind, mother,' answered her son, wiping his face on the
8979
8980jack-towel behind the door.  'I'm not hurt, don't you be afraid for me.
8981
8982I've been a fightin' for a bird and won him, that's all.  Hold your
8983
8984noise, little Jacob.  I never see such a naughty boy in all my days!'<br><br>
8985
8986'You have been fighting for a bird!' exclaimed his mother.<br><br>
8987
8988'Ah!  Fightin' for a bird!' replied Kit, 'and here he is--Miss Nelly's
8989
8990bird, mother, that they was agoin' to wring the neck of!  I stopped
8991
8992that though--ha ha ha!  They wouldn't wring his neck and me by, no, no.
8993
8994It wouldn't do, mother, it wouldn't do at all.  Ha ha ha!'<br><br>
8995
8996Kit laughing so heartily, with his swoln and bruised face looking out
8997
8998of the towel, made little Jacob laugh, and then his mother laughed, and
8999
9000then the baby crowed and kicked with great glee, and then they all
9001
9002laughed in concert: partly because of Kit's triumph, and partly because
9003
9004they were very fond of each other.  When this fit was over, Kit
9005
9006exhibited the bird to both children, as a great and precious rarity--it
9007
9008was only a poor linnet--and looking about the wall for an old nail,
9009
9010made a scaffolding of a chair and table and twisted it out with great
9011
9012exultation.<br><br>
9013
9014'Let me see,' said the boy, 'I think I'll hang him in the winder,
9015
9016because it's more light and cheerful, and he can see the sky there, if
9017
9018he looks up very much.  He's such a one to sing, I can tell you!'<br><br>
9019
9020So, the scaffolding was made again, and Kit, climbing up with the poker
9021
9022for a hammer, knocked in the nail and hung up the cage, to the
9023
9024immeasurable delight of the whole family.  When it had been adjusted
9025
9026and straightened a great many times, and he had walked backwards into
9027
9028the fire-place in his admiration of it, the arrangement was pronounced
9029
9030to be perfect.<br><br>
9031
9032'And now, mother,' said the boy, 'before I rest any more, I'll go out
9033
9034and see if I can find a horse to hold, and then I can buy some
9035
9036birdseed, and a bit of something nice for you, into the bargain.'<br><br>
9037
9038CHAPTER 14<br><br>
9039
9040As it was very easy for Kit to persuade himself that the old house was
9041
9042in his way, his way being anywhere, he tried to look upon his passing
9043
9044it once more as a matter of imperative and disagreeable necessity,
9045
9046quite apart from any desire of his own, to which he could not choose
9047
9048but yield.  It is not uncommon for people who are much better fed and
9049
9050taught than Christopher Nubbles had ever been, to make duties of their
9051
9052inclinations in matters of more doubtful propriety, and to take great
9053
9054credit for the self-denial with which they gratify themselves.<br><br>
9055
9056There was no need of any caution this time, and no fear of being
9057
9058detained by having to play out a return match with Daniel Quilp's boy.
9059
9060The place was entirely deserted, and looked as dusty and dingy as if it
9061
9062had been so for months.  A rusty padlock was fastened on the door, ends
9063
9064of discoloured blinds and curtains flapped drearily against the
9065
9066half-opened upper windows, and the crooked holes cut in the closed
9067
9068shutters below, were black with the darkness of the inside.  Some of
9069
9070the glass in the window he had so often watched, had been broken in the
9071
9072rough hurry of the morning, and that room looked more deserted and dull
9073
9074than any.  A group of idle urchins had taken possession of the
9075
9076door-steps; some were plying the knocker and listening with delighted
9077
9078dread to the hollow sounds it spread through the dismantled house;
9079
9080others were clustered about the keyhole, watching half in jest and half
9081
9082in earnest for 'the ghost,' which an hour's gloom, added to the mystery
9083
9084that hung about the late inhabitants, had already raised.  Standing all
9085
9086alone in the midst of the business and bustle of the street, the house
9087
9088looked a picture of cold desolation; and Kit, who remembered the
9089
9090cheerful fire that used to burn there on a winter's night and the no
9091
9092less cheerful laugh that made the small room ring, turned quite
9093
9094mournfully away.<br><br>
9095
9096It must be especially observed in justice to poor Kit that he was by no
9097
9098means of a sentimental turn, and perhaps had never heard that adjective
9099
9100in all his life.  He was only a soft-hearted grateful fellow, and had
9101
9102nothing genteel or polite about him; consequently, instead of going
9103
9104home again, in his grief, to kick the children and abuse his mother
9105
9106(for, when your finely strung people are out of sorts, they must have
9107
9108everybody else unhappy likewise), he turned his thoughts to the vulgar
9109
9110expedient of making them more comfortable if he could.<br><br>
9111
9112Bless us, what a number of gentlemen on horseback there were riding up
9113
9114and down, and how few of them wanted their horses held!  A good city
9115
9116speculator or a parliamentary commissioner could have told to a
9117
9118fraction, from the crowds that were cantering about, what sum of money
9119
9120was realised in London, in the course of a year, by holding horses
9121
9122alone.  And undoubtedly it would have been a very large one, if only a
9123
9124twentieth part of the gentlemen without grooms had had occasion to
9125
9126alight; but they had not; and it is often an ill-natured circumstance
9127
9128like this, which spoils the most ingenious estimate in the world.<br><br>
9129
9130Kit walked about, now with quick steps and now with slow; now lingering
9131
9132as some rider slackened his horse's pace and looked about him; and now
9133
9134darting at full speed up a bye-street as he caught a glimpse of some
9135
9136distant horseman going lazily up the shady side of the road, and
9137
9138promising to stop, at every door.  But on they all went, one after
9139
9140another, and there was not a penny stirring.  'I wonder,' thought the
9141
9142boy, 'if one of these gentlemen knew there was nothing in the cupboard
9143
9144at home, whether he'd stop on purpose, and make believe that he wanted
9145
9146to call somewhere, that I might earn a trifle?'<br><br>
9147
9148He was quite tired out with pacing the streets, to say nothing of
9149
9150repeated disappointments, and was sitting down upon a step to rest,
9151
9152when there approached towards him a little clattering jingling
9153
9154four-wheeled chaise' drawn by a little obstinate-looking rough-coated
9155
9156pony, and driven by a little fat placid-faced old gentleman.  Beside
9157
9158the little old gentleman sat a little old lady, plump and placid like
9159
9160himself, and the pony was coming along at his own pace and doing
9161
9162exactly as he pleased with the whole concern.  If the old gentleman
9163
9164remonstrated by shaking the reins, the pony replied by shaking his
9165
9166head.  It was plain that the utmost the pony would consent to do, was
9167
9168to go in his own way up any street that the old gentleman particularly
9169
9170wished to traverse, but that it was an understanding between them that
9171
9172he must do this after his own fashion or not at all.<br><br>
9173
9174As they passed where he sat, Kit looked so wistfully at the little
9175
9176turn-out, that the old gentleman looked at him.  Kit rising and putting
9177
9178his hand to his hat, the old gentleman intimated to the pony that he
9179
9180wished to stop, to which proposal the pony (who seldom objected to that
9181
9182part of his duty) graciously acceded.<br><br>
9183
9184'I beg your pardon, sir,' said Kit.  'I'm sorry you stopped, sir.  I
9185
9186only meant did you want your horse minded.'<br><br>
9187
9188'I'm going to get down in the next street,' returned the old gentleman.
9189
9190'If you like to come on after us, you may have the job.'<br><br>
9191
9192Kit thanked him, and joyfully obeyed.  The pony ran off at a sharp
9193
9194angle to inspect a lamp-post on the opposite side of the way, and then
9195
9196went off at a tangent to another lamp-post on the other side.  Having
9197
9198satisfied himself that they were of the same pattern and materials, he
9199
9200came to a stop apparently absorbed in meditation.  'Will you go on,
9201
9202sir,' said the old gentleman, gravely, 'or are we to wait here for you
9203
9204till it's too late for our appointment?'<br><br>
9205
9206The pony remained immoveable.<br><br>
9207
9208'Oh you naughty Whisker,' said the old lady.  'Fie upon you!  I'm
9209
9210ashamed of such conduct.'<br><br>
9211
9212The pony appeared to be touched by this appeal to his feelings, for he
9213
9214trotted on directly, though in a sulky manner, and stopped no more
9215
9216until he came to a door whereon was a brass plate with the words
9217
9218'Witherden--Notary.'  Here the old gentleman got out and helped out the
9219
9220old lady, and then took from under the seat a nosegay resembling in
9221
9222shape and dimensions a full-sized warming-pan with the handle cut short
9223
9224off.  This, the old lady carried into the house with a staid and
9225
9226stately air, and the old gentleman (who had a club-foot) followed close
9227
9228upon her.<br><br>
9229
9230They went, as it was easy to tell from the sound of their voices, into
9231
9232the front parlour, which seemed to be a kind of office.  The day being
9233
9234very warm and the street a quiet one, the windows were wide open; and
9235
9236it was easy to hear through the Venetian blinds all that passed inside.<br><br>
9237
9238At first there was a great shaking of hands and shuffling of feet,
9239
9240succeeded by the presentation of the nosegay; for a voice, supposed by
9241
9242the listener to be that of Mr Witherden the Notary, was heard to
9243
9244exclaim a great many times, 'oh, delicious!' 'oh, fragrant, indeed!'
9245
9246and a nose, also supposed to be the property of that gentleman, was
9247
9248heard to inhale the scent with a snuffle of exceeding pleasure.<br><br>
9249
9250'I brought it in honour of the occasion, Sir,' said the old lady.<br><br>
9251
9252'Ah! an occasion indeed, ma'am, an occasion which does honour to me,
9253
9254ma'am, honour to me,' rejoined Mr Witherden, the notary.  'I have had
9255
9256many a gentleman articled to me, ma'am, many a one.  Some of them are
9257
9258now rolling in riches, unmindful of their old companion and friend,
9259
9260ma'am, others are in the habit of calling upon me to this day and
9261
9262saying, "Mr Witherden, some of the pleasantest hours I ever spent in my
9263
9264life were spent in this office--were spent, Sir, upon this very stool";
9265
9266but there was never one among the number, ma'am, attached as I have
9267
9268been to many of them, of whom I augured such bright things as I do of
9269
9270your only son.'<br><br>
9271
9272'Oh dear!' said the old lady.  'How happy you do make us when you tell
9273
9274us that, to be sure!'<br><br>
9275
9276'I tell you, ma'am,' said Mr Witherden, 'what I think as an honest man,
9277
9278which, as the poet observes, is the noblest work of God.  I agree with
9279
9280the poet in every particular, ma'am.  The mountainous Alps on the one
9281
9282hand, or a humming-bird on the other, is nothing, in point of
9283
9284workmanship, to an honest man--or woman--or woman.'<br><br>
9285
9286'Anything that Mr Witherden can say of me,' observed a small quiet
9287
9288voice, 'I can say, with interest, of him, I am sure.'<br><br>
9289
9290'It's a happy circumstance, a truly happy circumstance,' said the
9291
9292Notary, 'to happen too upon his eight-and-twentieth birthday, and I
9293
9294hope I know how to appreciate it.  I trust, Mr Garland, my dear Sir,
9295
9296that we may mutually congratulate each other upon this auspicious
9297
9298occasion.'<br><br>
9299
9300To this the old gentleman replied that he felt assured they might.
9301
9302There appeared to be another shaking of hands in consequence, and when
9303
9304it was over, the old gentleman said that, though he said it who should
9305
9306not, he believed no son had ever been a greater comfort to his parents
9307
9308than Abel Garland had been to his.<br><br>
9309
9310'Marrying as his mother and I did, late in life, sir, after waiting for
9311
9312a great many years, until we were well enough off--coming together when
9313
9314we were no longer young, and then being blessed with one child who has
9315
9316always been dutiful and affectionate--why, it's a source of great
9317
9318happiness to us both, sir.'<br><br>
9319
9320'Of course it is, I have no doubt of it,' returned the Notary in a
9321
9322sympathising voice.  'It's the contemplation of this sort of thing,
9323
9324that makes me deplore my fate in being a bachelor.  There was a young
9325
9326lady once, sir, the daughter of an outfitting warehouse of the first
9327
9328respectability--but that's a weakness.  Chuckster, bring in Mr Abel's
9329
9330articles.'<br><br>
9331
9332'You see, Mr Witherden,' said the old lady, 'that Abel has not been
9333
9334brought up like the run of young men.  He has always had a pleasure in
9335
9336our society, and always been with us.  Abel has never been absent from
9337
9338us, for a day; has he, my dear?'<br><br>
9339
9340'Never, my dear,' returned the old gentleman, 'except when he went to
9341
9342Margate one Saturday with Mr Tomkinley that had been a teacher at that
9343
9344school he went to, and came back upon the Monday; but he was very ill
9345
9346after that, you remember, my dear; it was quite a dissipation.'<br><br>
9347
9348'He was not used to it, you know,' said the old lady, 'and he couldn't
9349
9350bear it, that's the truth.  Besides he had no comfort in being there
9351
9352without us, and had nobody to talk to or enjoy himself with.'<br><br>
9353
9354'That was it, you know,' interposed the same small quiet voice that had
9355
9356spoken once before.  'I was quite abroad, mother, quite desolate, and
9357
9358to think that the sea was between us--oh, I never shall forget what I
9359
9360felt when I first thought that the sea was between us!'<br><br>
9361
9362'Very natural under the circumstances,' observed the Notary.  'Mr
9363
9364Abel's feelings did credit to his nature, and credit to your nature,
9365
9366ma'am, and his father's nature, and human nature.  I trace the same
9367
9368current now, flowing through all his quiet and unobtrusive
9369
9370proceedings.--I am about to sign my name, you observe, at the foot of
9371
9372the articles which Mr Chuckster will witness; and placing my finger
9373
9374upon this blue wafer with the vandyked corners, I am constrained to
9375
9376remark in a distinct tone of voice--don't be alarmed, ma'am, it is
9377
9378merely a form of law--that I deliver this, as my act and deed.  Mr Abel
9379
9380will place his name against the other wafer, repeating the same
9381
9382cabalistic words, and the business is over.  Ha ha ha!  You see how
9383
9384easily these things are done!'<br><br>
9385
9386There was a short silence, apparently, while Mr Abel went through the
9387
9388prescribed form, and then the shaking of hands and shuffling of feet
9389
9390were renewed, and shortly afterwards there was a clinking of
9391
9392wine-glasses and a great talkativeness on the part of everybody.  In
9393
9394about a quarter of an hour Mr Chuckster (with a pen behind his ear and
9395
9396his face inflamed with wine) appeared at the door, and condescending to
9397
9398address Kit by the jocose appellation of 'Young Snob,' informed him
9399
9400that the visitors were coming out.<br><br>
9401
9402Out they came forthwith; Mr Witherden, who was short, chubby,
9403
9404fresh-coloured, brisk, and pompous, leading the old lady with extreme
9405
9406politeness, and the father and son following them, arm in arm.  Mr
9407
9408Abel, who had a quaint old-fashioned air about him, looked nearly of
9409
9410the same age as his father, and bore a wonderful resemblance to him in
9411
9412face and figure, though wanting something of his full, round,
9413
9414cheerfulness, and substituting in its place a timid reserve.  In all
9415
9416other respects, in the neatness of the dress, and even in the
9417
9418club-foot, he and the old gentleman were precisely alike.<br><br>
9419
9420Having seen the old lady safely in her seat, and assisted in the
9421
9422arrangement of her cloak and a small basket which formed an
9423
9424indispensable portion of her equipage, Mr Abel got into a little box
9425
9426behind which had evidently been made for his express accommodation, and
9427
9428smiled at everybody present by turns, beginning with his mother and
9429
9430ending with the pony.  There was then a great to-do to make the pony
9431
9432hold up his head that the bearing-rein might be fastened; at last even
9433
9434this was effected; and the old gentleman, taking his seat and the
9435
9436reins, put his hand in his pocket to find a sixpence for Kit.<br><br>
9437
9438He had no sixpence, neither had the old lady, nor Mr Abel, nor the
9439
9440Notary, nor Mr Chuckster.  The old gentleman thought a shilling too
9441
9442much, but there was no shop in the street to get change at, so he gave
9443
9444it to the boy.<br><br>
9445
9446'There,' he said jokingly, 'I'm coming here again next Monday at the
9447
9448same time, and mind you're here, my lad, to work it out.'<br><br>
9449
9450'Thank you, Sir,' said Kit.  'I'll be sure to be here.'<br><br>
9451
9452He was quite serious, but they all laughed heartily at his saying so,
9453
9454especially Mr Chuckster, who roared outright and appeared to relish the
9455
9456joke amazingly.  As the pony, with a presentiment that he was going
9457
9458home, or a determination that he would not go anywhere else (which was
9459
9460the same thing) trotted away pretty nimbly, Kit had no time to justify
9461
9462himself, and went his way also.  Having expended his treasure in such
9463
9464purchases as he knew would be most acceptable at home, not forgetting
9465
9466some seed for the wonderful bird, he hastened back as fast as he could,
9467
9468so elated with his success and great good fortune, that he more than
9469
9470half expected Nell and the old man would have arrived before him.<br><br>
9471
9472CHAPTER 15<br><br>
9473
9474Often, while they were yet pacing the silent streets of the town on the
9475
9476morning of their departure, the child trembled with a mingled sensation
9477
9478of hope and fear as in some far-off figure imperfectly seen in the
9479
9480clear distance, her fancy traced a likeness to honest Kit.  But
9481
9482although she would gladly have given him her hand and thanked him for
9483
9484what he had said at their last meeting, it was always a relief to find,
9485
9486when they came nearer to each other, that the person who approached was
9487
9488not he, but a stranger; for even if she had not dreaded the effect
9489
9490which the sight of him might have wrought upon her fellow-traveller,
9491
9492she felt that to bid farewell to anybody now, and most of all to him
9493
9494who had been so faithful and so true, was more than she could bear.  It
9495
9496was enough to leave dumb things behind, and objects that were
9497
9498insensible both to her love and sorrow.  To have parted from her only
9499
9500other friend upon the threshold of that wild journey, would have wrung
9501
9502her heart indeed.<br><br>
9503
9504Why is it that we can better bear to part in spirit than in body, and
9505
9506while we have the fortitude to act farewell have not the nerve to say
9507
9508it?  On the eve of long voyages or an absence of many years, friends
9509
9510who are tenderly attached will separate with the usual look, the usual
9511
9512pressure of the hand, planning one final interview for the morrow,
9513
9514while each well knows that it is but a poor feint to save the pain of
9515
9516uttering that one word, and that the meeting will never be.  Should
9517
9518possibilities be worse to bear than certainties?  We do not shun our
9519
9520dying friends; the not having distinctly taken leave of one among them,
9521
9522whom we left in all kindness and affection, will often embitter the
9523
9524whole remainder of a life.<br><br>
9525
9526The town was glad with morning light; places that had shown ugly and
9527
9528distrustful all night long, now wore a smile; and sparkling sunbeams
9529
9530dancing on chamber windows, and twinkling through blind and curtain
9531
9532before sleepers' eyes, shed light even into dreams, and chased away the
9533
9534shadows of the night.  Birds in hot rooms, covered up close and dark,
9535
9536felt it was morning, and chafed and grew restless in their little
9537
9538cells; bright-eyed mice crept back to their tiny homes and nestled
9539
9540timidly together; the sleek house-cat, forgetful of her prey, sat
9541
9542winking at the rays of sun starting through keyhole and cranny in the
9543
9544door, and longed for her stealthy run and warm sleek bask outside.  The
9545
9546nobler beasts confined in dens, stood motionless behind their bars and
9547
9548gazed on fluttering boughs, and sunshine peeping through some little
9549
9550window, with eyes in which old forests gleamed--then trod impatiently
9551
9552the track their prisoned feet had worn--and stopped and gazed again.
9553
9554Men in their dungeons stretched their cramp cold limbs and cursed the
9555
9556stone that no bright sky could warm.  The flowers that sleep by night,
9557
9558opened their gentle eyes and turned them to the day.  The light,
9559
9560creation's mind, was everywhere, and all things owned its power.<br><br>
9561
9562The two pilgrims, often pressing each other's hands, or exchanging a
9563
9564smile or cheerful look, pursued their way in silence.  Bright and happy
9565
9566as it was, there was something solemn in the long, deserted streets,
9567
9568from which, like bodies without souls, all habitual character and
9569
9570expression had departed, leaving but one dead uniform repose, that made
9571
9572them all alike.  All was so still at that early hour, that the few pale
9573
9574people whom they met seemed as much unsuited to the scene, as the
9575
9576sickly lamp which had been here and there left burning, was powerless
9577
9578and faint in the full glory of the sun.<br><br>
9579
9580Before they had penetrated very far into the labyrinth of men's abodes
9581
9582which yet lay between them and the outskirts, this aspect began to melt
9583
9584away, and noise and bustle to usurp its place.  Some straggling carts
9585
9586and coaches rumbling by, first broke the charm, then others came, then
9587
9588others yet more active, then a crowd.  The wonder was, at first, to see
9589
9590a tradesman's window open, but it was a rare thing soon to see one
9591
9592closed; then, smoke rose slowly from the chimneys, and sashes were
9593
9594thrown up to let in air, and doors were opened, and servant girls,
9595
9596looking lazily in all directions but their brooms, scattered brown
9597
9598clouds of dust into the eyes of shrinking passengers, or listened
9599
9600disconsolately to milkmen who spoke of country fairs, and told of
9601
9602waggons in the mews, with awnings and all things complete, and gallant
9603
9604swains to boot, which another hour would see upon their journey.<br><br>
9605
9606This quarter passed, they came upon the haunts of commerce and great
9607
9608traffic, where many people were resorting, and business was already
9609
9610rife.  The old man looked about him with a startled and bewildered
9611
9612gaze, for these were places that he hoped to shun.  He pressed his
9613
9614finger on his lip, and drew the child along by narrow courts and
9615
9616winding ways, nor did he seem at ease until they had left it far
9617
9618behind, often casting a backward look towards it, murmuring that ruin
9619
9620and self-murder were crouching in every street, and would follow if
9621
9622they scented them; and that they could not fly too fast.<br><br>
9623
9624Again this quarter passed, they came upon a straggling neighbourhood,
9625
9626where the mean houses parcelled off in rooms, and windows patched with
9627
9628rags and paper, told of the populous poverty that sheltered there.  The
9629
9630shops sold goods that only poverty could buy, and sellers and buyers
9631
9632were pinched and griped alike.  Here were poor streets where faded
9633
9634gentility essayed with scanty space and shipwrecked means to make its
9635
9636last feeble stand, but tax-gatherer and creditor came there as
9637
9638elsewhere, and the poverty that yet faintly struggled was hardly less
9639
9640squalid and manifest than that which had long ago submitted and given
9641
9642up the game.<br><br>
9643
9644This was a wide, wide track--for the humble followers of the camp of
9645
9646wealth pitch their tents round about it for many a mile--but its
9647
9648character was still the same.  Damp rotten houses, many to let, many
9649
9650yet building, many half-built and mouldering away--lodgings, where it
9651
9652would be hard to tell which needed pity most, those who let or those
9653
9654who came to take--children, scantily fed and clothed, spread over every
9655
9656street, and sprawling in the dust--scolding mothers, stamping their
9657
9658slipshod feet with noisy threats upon the pavement--shabby fathers,
9659
9660hurrying with dispirited looks to the occupation which brought them
9661
9662'daily bread' and little more--mangling-women, washer-women, cobblers,
9663
9664tailors, chandlers, driving their trades in parlours and kitchens and
9665
9666back room and garrets, and sometimes all of them under the same
9667
9668roof--brick-fields skirting gardens paled with staves of old casks, or
9669
9670timber pillaged from houses burnt down, and blackened and blistered by
9671
9672the flames--mounds of dock-weed, nettles, coarse grass and
9673
9674oyster-shells, heaped in rank confusion--small dissenting chapels to
9675
9676teach, with no lack of illustration, the miseries of Earth, and plenty
9677
9678of new churches, erected with a little superfluous wealth, to show the
9679
9680way to Heaven.<br><br>
9681
9682At length these streets becoming more straggling yet, dwindled and
9683
9684dwindled away, until there were only small garden patches bordering the
9685
9686road, with many a summer house innocent of paint and built of old
9687
9688timber or some fragments of a boat, green as the tough cabbage-stalks
9689
9690that grew about it, and grottoed at the seams with toad-stools and
9691
9692tight-sticking snails.  To these succeeded pert cottages, two and two
9693
9694with plots of ground in front, laid out in angular beds with stiff box
9695
9696borders and narrow paths between, where footstep never strayed to make
9697
9698the gravel rough.  Then came the public-house, freshly painted in green
9699
9700and white, with tea-gardens and a bowling green, spurning its old
9701
9702neighbour with the horse-trough where the waggons stopped; then,
9703
9704fields; and then, some houses, one by one, of goodly size with lawns,
9705
9706some even with a lodge where dwelt a porter and his wife.  Then came a
9707
9708turnpike; then fields again with trees and hay-stacks; then, a hill,
9709
9710and on the top of that, the traveller might stop, and--looking back at
9711
9712old Saint Paul's looming through the smoke, its cross peeping above the
9713
9714cloud (if the day were clear), and glittering in the sun; and casting
9715
9716his eyes upon the Babel out of which it grew until he traced it down to
9717
9718the furthest outposts of the invading army of bricks and mortar whose
9719
9720station lay for the present nearly at his feet--might feel at last that
9721
9722he was clear of London.<br><br>
9723
9724Near such a spot as this, and in a pleasant field, the old man and his
9725
9726little guide (if guide she were, who knew not whither they were bound)
9727
9728sat down to rest.  She had had the precaution to furnish her basket
9729
9730with some slices of bread and meat, and here they made their frugal
9731
9732breakfast.<br><br>
9733
9734The freshness of the day, the singing of the birds, the beauty of the
9735
9736waving grass, the deep green leaves, the wild flowers, and the thousand
9737
9738exquisite scents and sounds that floated in the air--deep joys to most
9739
9740of us, but most of all to those whose life is in a crowd or who live
9741
9742solitarily in great cities as in the bucket of a human well--sunk into
9743
9744their breasts and made them very glad.  The child had repeated her
9745
9746artless prayers once that morning, more earnestly perhaps than she had
9747
9748ever done in all her life, but as she felt all this, they rose to her
9749
9750lips again.  The old man took off his hat--he had no memory for the
9751
9752words--but he said amen, and that they were very good.<br><br>
9753
9754There had been an old copy of the Pilgrim's Progress, with strange
9755
9756plates, upon a shelf at home, over which she had often pored whole
9757
9758evenings, wondering whether it was true in every word, and where those
9759
9760distant countries with the curious names might be.  As she looked back
9761
9762upon the place they had left, one part of it came strongly on her mind.<br><br>
9763
9764'Dear grandfather,' she said, 'only that this place is prettier and a
9765
9766great deal better than the real one, if that in the book is like it, I
9767
9768feel as if we were both Christian, and laid down on this grass all the
9769
9770cares and troubles we brought with us; never to take them up again.'<br><br>
9771
9772'No--never to return--never to return'--replied the old man, waving his
9773
9774hand towards the city.  'Thou and I are free of it now, Nell.  They
9775
9776shall never lure us back.'<br><br>
9777
9778'Are you tired?' said the child, 'are you sure you don't feel ill from
9779
9780this long walk?'<br><br>
9781
9782'I shall never feel ill again, now that we are once away,' was his
9783
9784reply.  'Let us be stirring, Nell.  We must be further away--a long,
9785
9786long way further.  We are too near to stop, and be at rest.  Come!'<br><br>
9787
9788There was a pool of clear water in the field, in which the child laved
9789
9790her hands and face, and cooled her feet before setting forth to walk
9791
9792again.  She would have the old man refresh himself in this way too, and
9793
9794making him sit down upon the grass, cast the water on him with her
9795
9796hands, and dried it with her simple dress.<br><br>
9797
9798'I can do nothing for myself, my darling,' said the grandfather; 'I
9799
9800don't know how it is, I could once, but the time's gone.  Don't leave
9801
9802me, Nell; say that thou'lt not leave me.  I loved thee all the while,
9803
9804indeed I did.  If I lose thee too, my dear, I must die!'<br><br>
9805
9806He laid his head upon her shoulder and moaned piteously.  The time had
9807
9808been, and a very few days before, when the child could not have
9809
9810restrained her tears and must have wept with him.  But now she soothed
9811
9812him with gentle and tender words, smiled at his thinking they could
9813
9814ever part, and rallied him cheerfully upon the jest.  He was soon
9815
9816calmed and fell asleep, singing to himself in a low voice, like a
9817
9818little child.<br><br>
9819
9820He awoke refreshed, and they continued their journey.  The road was
9821
9822pleasant, lying between beautiful pastures and fields of corn, about
9823
9824which, poised high in the clear blue sky, the lark trilled out her
9825
9826happy song.  The air came laden with the fragrance it caught upon its
9827
9828way, and the bees, upborne upon its scented breath, hummed forth their
9829
9830drowsy satisfaction as they floated by.<br><br>
9831
9832They were now in the open country; the houses were very few and
9833
9834scattered at long intervals, often miles apart.  Occasionally they came
9835
9836upon a cluster of poor cottages, some with a chair or low board put
9837
9838across the open door to keep the scrambling children from the road,
9839
9840others shut up close while all the family were working in the fields.
9841
9842These were often the commencement of a little village: and after an
9843
9844interval came a wheelwright's shed or perhaps a blacksmith's forge;
9845
9846then a thriving farm with sleepy cows lying about the yard, and horses
9847
9848peering over the low wall and scampering away when harnessed horses
9849
9850passed upon the road, as though in triumph at their freedom.  There
9851
9852were dull pigs too, turning up the ground in search of dainty food, and
9853
9854grunting their monotonous grumblings as they prowled about, or crossed
9855
9856each other in their quest; plump pigeons skimming round the roof or
9857
9858strutting on the eaves; and ducks and geese, far more graceful in their
9859
9860own conceit, waddling awkwardly about the edges of the pond or sailing
9861
9862glibly on its surface.  The farm-yard passed, then came the little inn;
9863
9864the humbler beer-shop; and the village tradesman's; then the lawyer's
9865
9866and the parson's, at whose dread names the beer-shop trembled; the
9867
9868church then peeped out modestly from a clump of trees; then there were
9869
9870a few more cottages; then the cage, and pound, and not unfrequently, on
9871
9872a bank by the way-side, a deep old dusty well.  Then came the
9873
9874trim-hedged fields on either hand, and the open road again.<br><br>
9875
9876They walked all day, and slept that night at a small cottage where beds
9877
9878were let to travellers.  Next morning they were afoot again, and though
9879
9880jaded at first, and very tired, recovered before long and proceeded
9881
9882briskly forward.<br><br>
9883
9884They often stopped to rest, but only for a short space at a time, and
9885
9886still kept on, having had but slight refreshment since the morning.  It
9887
9888was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon, when drawing near another
9889
9890cluster of labourers' huts, the child looked wistfully in each,
9891
9892doubtful at which to ask for permission to rest awhile, and buy a
9893
9894draught of milk.<br><br>
9895
9896It was not easy to determine, for she was timid and fearful of being
9897
9898repulsed.  Here was a crying child, and there a noisy wife.  In this,
9899
9900the people seemed too poor; in that, too many.  At length she stopped
9901
9902at one where the family were seated round the table--chiefly because
9903
9904there was an old man sitting in a cushioned chair beside the hearth,
9905
9906and she thought he was a grandfather and would feel for hers.<br><br>
9907
9908There were besides, the cottager and his wife, and three young sturdy
9909
9910children, brown as berries.  The request was no sooner preferred, than
9911
9912granted.  The eldest boy ran out to fetch some milk, the second dragged
9913
9914two stools towards the door, and the youngest crept to his mother's
9915
9916gown, and looked at the strangers from beneath his sunburnt hand.<br><br>
9917
9918'God save you, master,' said the old cottager in a thin piping voice;
9919
9920'are you travelling far?'<br><br>
9921
9922'Yes, Sir, a long way'--replied the child; for her grandfather appealed
9923
9924to her.<br><br>
9925
9926'From London?' inquired the old man.<br><br>
9927
9928The child said yes.<br><br>
9929
9930Ah!  He had been in London many a time--used to go there often once,
9931
9932with waggons.  It was nigh two-and-thirty year since he had been there
9933
9934last, and he did hear say there were great changes.  Like enough!  He
9935
9936had changed, himself, since then.  Two-and-thirty year was a long time
9937
9938and eighty-four a great age, though there was some he had known that
9939
9940had lived to very hard upon a hundred--and not so hearty as he,
9941
9942neither--no, nothing like it.<br><br>
9943
9944'Sit thee down, master, in the elbow chair,' said the old man, knocking
9945
9946his stick upon the brick floor, and trying to do so sharply.  'Take a
9947
9948pinch out o' that box; I don't take much myself, for it comes dear, but
9949
9950I find it wakes me up sometimes, and ye're but a boy to me.  I should
9951
9952have a son pretty nigh as old as you if he'd lived, but they listed him
9953
9954for a so'ger--he come back home though, for all he had but one poor
9955
9956leg.  He always said he'd be buried near the sun-dial he used to climb
9957
9958upon when he was a baby, did my poor boy, and his words come true--you
9959
9960can see the place with your own eyes; we've kept the turf up, ever
9961
9962since.'<br><br>
9963
9964He shook his head, and looking at his daughter with watery eyes, said
9965
9966she needn't be afraid that he was going to talk about that, any more.
9967
9968He didn't wish to trouble nobody, and if he had troubled anybody by
9969
9970what he said, he asked pardon, that was all.<br><br>
9971
9972The milk arrived, and the child producing her little basket, and
9973
9974selecting its best fragments for her grandfather, they made a hearty
9975
9976meal.  The furniture of the room was very homely of course--a few rough
9977
9978chairs and a table, a corner cupboard with their little stock of
9979
9980crockery and delf, a gaudy tea-tray, representing a lady in bright red,
9981
9982walking out with a very blue parasol, a few common, coloured scripture
9983
9984subjects in frames upon the wall and chimney, an old dwarf
9985
9986clothes-press and an eight-day clock, with a few bright saucepans and a
9987
9988kettle, comprised the whole.  But everything was clean and neat, and as
9989
9990the child glanced round, she felt a tranquil air of comfort and content
9991
9992to which she had long been unaccustomed.<br><br>
9993
9994'How far is it to any town or village?' she asked of the husband.<br><br>
9995
9996'A matter of good five mile, my dear,' was the reply, 'but you're not
9997
9998going on to-night?'<br><br>
9999
10000'Yes, yes, Nell,' said the old man hastily, urging her too by signs.
10001
10002'Further on, further on, darling, further away if we walk till
10003
10004midnight.'<br><br>
10005
10006'There's a good barn hard by, master,' said the man, 'or there's
10007
10008travellers' lodging, I know, at the Plow an' Harrer.  Excuse me, but
10009
10010you do seem a little tired, and unless you're very anxious to get on--'<br><br>
10011
10012'Yes, yes, we are,' returned the old man fretfully.  'Further away,
10013
10014dear Nell, pray further away.'<br><br>
10015
10016'We must go on, indeed,' said the child, yielding to his restless wish.
10017
10018'We thank you very much, but we cannot stop so soon.  I'm quite ready,
10019
10020grandfather.'<br><br>
10021
10022But the woman had observed, from the young wanderer's gait, that one of
10023
10024her little feet was blistered and sore, and being a woman and a mother
10025
10026too, she would not suffer her to go until she had washed the place and
10027
10028applied some simple remedy, which she did so carefully and with such a
10029
10030gentle hand--rough-grained and hard though it was, with work--that the
10031
10032child's heart was too full to admit of her saying more than a fervent
10033
10034'God bless you!' nor could she look back nor trust herself to speak,
10035
10036until they had left the cottage some distance behind.  When she turned
10037
10038her head, she saw that the whole family, even the old grandfather, were
10039
10040standing in the road watching them as they went, and so, with many
10041
10042waves of the hand, and cheering nods, and on one side at least not
10043
10044without tears, they parted company.<br><br>
10045
10046They trudged forward, more slowly and painfully than they had done yet,
10047
10048for another mile or thereabouts, when they heard the sound of wheels
10049
10050behind them, and looking round observed an empty cart approaching
10051
10052pretty briskly.  The driver on coming up to them stopped his horse and
10053
10054looked earnestly at Nell.<br><br>
10055
10056'Didn't you stop to rest at a cottage yonder?' he said.<br><br>
10057
10058'Yes, sir,' replied the child.<br><br>
10059
10060'Ah!  They asked me to look out for you,' said the man.  'I'm going
10061
10062your way.  Give me your hand--jump up, master.'<br><br>
10063
10064This was a great relief, for they were very much fatigued and could
10065
10066scarcely crawl along.  To them the jolting cart was a luxurious
10067
10068carriage, and the ride the most delicious in the world.  Nell had
10069
10070scarcely settled herself on a little heap of straw in one corner, when
10071
10072she fell asleep, for the first time that day.<br><br>
10073
10074She was awakened by the stopping of the cart, which was about to turn
10075
10076up a bye-lane.  The driver kindly got down to help her out, and
10077
10078pointing to some trees at a very short distance before them, said that
10079
10080the town lay there, and that they had better take the path which they
10081
10082would see leading through the churchyard.  Accordingly, towards this
10083
10084spot, they directed their weary steps.<br><br>
10085
10086CHAPTER 16<br><br>
10087
10088The sun was setting when they reached the wicket-gate at which the path
10089
10090began, and, as the rain falls upon the just and unjust alike, it shed
10091
10092its warm tint even upon the resting-places of the dead, and bade them
10093
10094be of good hope for its rising on the morrow.  The church was old and
10095
10096grey, with ivy clinging to the walls, and round the porch.  Shunning
10097
10098the tombs, it crept about the mounds, beneath which slept poor humble
10099
10100men: twining for them the first wreaths they had ever won, but wreaths
10101
10102less liable to wither and far more lasting in their kind, than some
10103
10104which were graven deep in stone and marble, and told in pompous terms
10105
10106of virtues meekly hidden for many a year, and only revealed at last to
10107
10108executors and mourning legatees.<br><br>
10109
10110The clergyman's horse, stumbling with a dull blunt sound among the
10111
10112graves, was cropping the grass; at once deriving orthodox consolation
10113
10114from the dead parishioners, and enforcing last Sunday's text that this
10115
10116was what all flesh came to; a lean ass who had sought to expound it
10117
10118also, without being qualified and ordained, was pricking his ears in an
10119
10120empty pound hard by, and looking with hungry eyes upon his priestly
10121
10122neighbour.<br><br>
10123
10124The old man and the child quitted the gravel path, and strayed among
10125
10126the tombs; for there the ground was soft, and easy to their tired feet.
10127
10128As they passed behind the church, they heard voices near at hand, and
10129
10130presently came on those who had spoken.<br><br>
10131
10132They were two men who were seated in easy attitudes upon the grass, and
10133
10134so busily engaged as to be at first unconscious of intruders.  It was
10135
10136not difficult to divine that they were of a class of itinerant
10137
10138showmen--exhibitors of the freaks of Punch--for, perched cross-legged
10139
10140upon a tombstone behind them, was a figure of that hero himself, his
10141
10142nose and chin as hooked and his face as beaming as usual.  Perhaps his
10143
10144imperturbable character was never more strikingly developed, for he
10145
10146preserved his usual equable smile notwithstanding that his body was
10147
10148dangling in a most uncomfortable position, all loose and limp and
10149
10150shapeless, while his long peaked cap, unequally balanced against his
10151
10152exceedingly slight legs, threatened every instant to bring him toppling
10153
10154down.<br><br>
10155
10156In part scattered upon the ground at the feet of the two men, and in
10157
10158part jumbled together in a long flat box, were the other persons of the
10159
10160Drama.  The hero's wife and one child, the hobby-horse, the doctor, the
10161
10162foreign gentleman who not being familiar with the language is unable in
10163
10164the representation to express his ideas otherwise than by the utterance
10165
10166of the word 'Shallabalah' three distinct times, the radical neighbour
10167
10168who will by no means admit that a tin bell is an organ, the
10169
10170executioner, and the devil, were all here.  Their owners had evidently
10171
10172come to that spot to make some needful repairs in the stage
10173
10174arrangements, for one of them was engaged in binding together a small
10175
10176gallows with thread, while the other was intent upon fixing a new black
10177
10178wig, with the aid of a small hammer and some tacks, upon the head of
10179
10180the radical neighbour, who had been beaten bald.<br><br>
10181
10182They raised their eyes when the old man and his young companion were
10183
10184close upon them, and pausing in their work, returned their looks of
10185
10186curiosity.  One of them, the actual exhibitor no doubt, was a little
10187
10188merry-faced man with a twinkling eye and a red nose, who seemed to have
10189
10190unconsciously imbibed something of his hero's character.  The
10191
10192other--that was he who took the money--had rather a careful and
10193
10194cautious look, which was perhaps inseparable from his occupation also.<br><br>
10195
10196The merry man was the first to greet the strangers with a nod; and
10197
10198following the old man's eyes, he observed that perhaps that was the
10199
10200first time he had ever seen a Punch off the stage.  (Punch, it may be
10201
10202remarked, seemed to be pointing with the tip of his cap to a most
10203
10204flourishing epitaph, and to be chuckling over it with all his heart.)<br><br>
10205
10206'Why do you come here to do this?' said the old man, sitting down
10207
10208beside them, and looking at the figures with extreme delight.<br><br>
10209
10210'Why you see,' rejoined the little man, 'we're putting up for to-night
10211
10212at the public-house yonder, and it wouldn't do to let 'em see the
10213
10214present company undergoing repair.'<br><br>
10215
10216'No!' cried the old man, making signs to Nell to listen, 'why not, eh?
10217
10218why not?'<br><br>
10219
10220'Because it would destroy all the delusion, and take away all the
10221
10222interest, wouldn't it?' replied the little man.  'Would you care a
10223
10224ha'penny for the Lord Chancellor if you know'd him in private and
10225
10226without his wig?--certainly not.'<br><br>
10227
10228'Good!' said the old man, venturing to touch one of the puppets, and
10229
10230drawing away his hand with a shrill laugh.  'Are you going to show 'em
10231
10232to-night?  are you?'<br><br>
10233
10234'That is the intention, governor,' replied the other, 'and unless I'm
10235
10236much mistaken, Tommy Codlin is a calculating at this minute what we've
10237
10238lost through your coming upon us.  Cheer up, Tommy, it can't be much.'<br><br>
10239
10240The little man accompanied these latter words with a wink, expressive
10241
10242of the estimate he had formed of the travellers' finances.<br><br>
10243
10244To this Mr Codlin, who had a surly, grumbling manner, replied, as he
10245
10246twitched Punch off the tombstone and flung him into the box, 'I don't
10247
10248care if we haven't lost a farden, but you're too free.  If you stood in
10249
10250front of the curtain and see the public's faces as I do, you'd know
10251
10252human natur' better.'<br><br>
10253
10254'Ah! it's been the spoiling of you, Tommy, your taking to that branch,'
10255
10256rejoined his companion.  'When you played the ghost in the reg'lar
10257
10258drama in the fairs, you believed in everything--except ghosts.  But now
10259
10260you're a universal mistruster.  I never see a man so changed.'<br><br>
10261
10262'Never mind,' said Mr Codlin, with the air of a discontented
10263
10264philosopher.  'I know better now, and p'raps I'm sorry for it.'<br><br>
10265
10266Turning over the figures in the box like one who knew and despised
10267
10268them, Mr Codlin drew one forth and held it up for the inspection of his
10269
10270friend:<br><br>
10271
10272'Look here; here's all this judy's clothes falling to pieces again.
10273
10274You haven't got a needle and thread I suppose?'<br><br>
10275
10276The little man shook his head, and scratched it ruefully as he
10277
10278contemplated this severe indisposition of a principal performer.
10279
10280Seeing that they were at a loss, the child said timidly:<br><br>
10281
10282'I have a needle, Sir, in my basket, and thread too.  Will you let me
10283
10284try to mend it for you?  I think I could do it neater than you could.'<br><br>
10285
10286Even Mr Codlin had nothing to urge against a proposal so seasonable.
10287
10288Nelly, kneeling down beside the box, was soon busily engaged in her
10289
10290task, and accomplishing it to a miracle.<br><br>
10291
10292While she was thus engaged, the merry little man looked at her with an
10293
10294interest which did not appear to be diminished when he glanced at her
10295
10296helpless companion.  When she had finished her work he thanked her, and
10297
10298inquired whither they were travelling.<br><br>
10299
10300'N--no further to-night, I think,' said the child, looking towards her
10301
10302grandfather.<br><br>
10303
10304'If you're wanting a place to stop at,' the man remarked, 'I should
10305
10306advise you to take up at the same house with us.  That's it.  The long,
10307
10308low, white house there.  It's very cheap.'<br><br>
10309
10310The old man, notwithstanding his fatigue, would have remained in the
10311
10312churchyard all night if his new acquaintances had remained there too.
10313
10314As he yielded to this suggestion a ready and rapturous assent, they all
10315
10316rose and walked away together; he keeping close to the box of puppets
10317
10318in which he was quite absorbed, the merry little man carrying it slung
10319
10320over his arm by a strap attached to it for the purpose, Nelly having
10321
10322hold of her grandfather's hand, and Mr Codlin sauntering slowly behind,
10323
10324casting up at the church tower and neighbouring trees such looks as he
10325
10326was accustomed in town-practice to direct to drawing-room and nursery
10327
10328windows, when seeking for a profitable spot on which to plant the show.<br><br>
10329
10330The public-house was kept by a fat old landlord and landlady who made
10331
10332no objection to receiving their new guests, but praised Nelly's beauty
10333
10334and were at once prepossessed in her behalf.  There was no other
10335
10336company in the kitchen but the two showmen, and the child felt very
10337
10338thankful that they had fallen upon such good quarters.  The landlady
10339
10340was very much astonished to learn that they had come all the way from
10341
10342London, and appeared to have no little curiosity touching their farther
10343
10344destination.  The child parried her inquiries as well as she could, and
10345
10346with no great trouble, for finding that they appeared to give her pain,
10347
10348the old lady desisted.<br><br>
10349
10350'These two gentlemen have ordered supper in an hour's time,' she said,
10351
10352taking her into the bar; 'and your best plan will be to sup with them.
10353
10354Meanwhile you shall have a little taste of something that'll do you
10355
10356good, for I'm sure you must want it after all you've gone through
10357
10358to-day.  Now, don't look after the old gentleman, because when you've
10359
10360drank that, he shall have some too.'<br><br>
10361
10362As nothing could induce the child to leave him alone, however, or to
10363
10364touch anything in which he was not the first and greatest sharer, the
10365
10366old lady was obliged to help him first.  When they had been thus
10367
10368refreshed, the whole house hurried away into an empty stable where the
10369
10370show stood, and where, by the light of a few flaring candles stuck
10371
10372round a hoop which hung by a line from the ceiling, it was to be
10373
10374forthwith exhibited.<br><br>
10375
10376And now Mr Thomas Codlin, the misanthrope, after blowing away at the
10377
10378Pan's pipes until he was intensely wretched, took his station on one
10379
10380side of the checked drapery which concealed the mover of the figures,
10381
10382and putting his hands in his pockets prepared to reply to all questions
10383
10384and remarks of Punch, and to make a dismal feint of being his most
10385
10386intimate private friend, of believing in him to the fullest and most
10387
10388unlimited extent, of knowing that he enjoyed day and night a merry and
10389
10390glorious existence in that temple, and that he was at all times and
10391
10392under every circumstance the same intelligent and joyful person that
10393
10394the spectators then beheld him.  All this Mr Codlin did with the air of
10395
10396a man who had made up his mind for the worst and was quite resigned;
10397
10398his eye slowly wandering about during the briskest repartee to observe
10399
10400the effect upon the audience, and particularly the impression made upon
10401
10402the landlord and landlady, which might be productive of very important
10403
10404results in connexion with the supper.<br><br>
10405
10406Upon this head, however, he had no cause for any anxiety, for the whole
10407
10408performance was applauded to the echo, and voluntary contributions were
10409
10410showered in with a liberality which testified yet more strongly to the
10411
10412general delight.  Among the laughter none was more loud and frequent
10413
10414than the old man's.  Nell's was unheard, for she, poor child, with her
10415
10416head drooping on his shoulder, had fallen asleep, and slept too soundly
10417
10418to be roused by any of his efforts to awaken her to a participation in
10419
10420his glee.<br><br>
10421
10422The supper was very good, but she was too tired to eat, and yet would
10423
10424not leave the old man until she had kissed him in his bed.  He, happily
10425
10426insensible to every care and anxiety, sat listening with a vacant smile
10427
10428and admiring face to all that his new friend said; and it was not until
10429
10430they retired yawning to their room, that he followed the child up
10431
10432stairs.<br><br>
10433
10434It was but a loft partitioned into two compartments, where they were to
10435
10436rest, but they were well pleased with their lodging and had hoped for
10437
10438none so good.  The old man was uneasy when he had lain down, and begged
10439
10440that Nell would come and sit at his bedside as she had done for so many
10441
10442nights.  She hastened to him, and sat there till he slept.<br><br>
10443
10444There was a little window, hardly more than a chink in the wall, in her
10445
10446room, and when she left him, she opened it, quite wondering at the
10447
10448silence.  The sight of the old church, and the graves about it in the
10449
10450moonlight, and the dark trees whispering among themselves, made her
10451
10452more thoughtful than before.  She closed the window again, and sitting
10453
10454down upon the bed, thought of the life that was before them.<br><br>
10455
10456She had a little money, but it was very little, and when that was gone,
10457
10458they must begin to beg.  There was one piece of gold among it, and an
10459
10460emergency might come when its worth to them would be increased a
10461
10462hundred fold.  It would be best to hide this coin, and never produce it
10463
10464unless their case was absolutely desperate, and no other resource was
10465
10466left them.<br><br>
10467
10468Her resolution taken, she sewed the piece of gold into her dress, and
10469
10470going to bed with a lighter heart sunk into a deep slumber.<br><br>
10471
10472CHAPTER 17<br><br>
10473
10474Another bright day shining in through the small casement, and claiming
10475
10476fellowship with the kindred eyes of the child, awoke her.  At sight of
10477
10478the strange room and its unaccustomed objects she started up in alarm,
10479
10480wondering how she had been moved from the familiar chamber in which she
10481
10482seemed to have fallen asleep last night, and whither she had been
10483
10484conveyed.  But, another glance around called to her mind all that had
10485
10486lately passed, and she sprung from her bed, hoping and trustful.<br><br>
10487
10488It was yet early, and the old man being still asleep, she walked out
10489
10490into the churchyard, brushing the dew from the long grass with her
10491
10492feet, and often turning aside into places where it grew longer than in
10493
10494others, that she might not tread upon the graves.  She felt a curious
10495
10496kind of pleasure in lingering among these houses of the dead, and read
10497
10498the inscriptions on the tombs of the good people (a great number of
10499
10500good people were buried there), passing on from one to another with
10501
10502increasing interest.<br><br>
10503
10504It was a very quiet place, as such a place should be, save for the
10505
10506cawing of the rooks who had built their nests among the branches of
10507
10508some tall old trees, and were calling to one another, high up in the
10509
10510air.  First, one sleek bird, hovering near his ragged house as it swung
10511
10512and dangled in the wind, uttered his hoarse cry, quite by chance as it
10513
10514would seem, and in a sober tone as though he were but talking to
10515
10516himself.  Another answered, and he called again, but louder than
10517
10518before; then another spoke and then another; and each time the first,
10519
10520aggravated by contradiction, insisted on his case more strongly.  Other
10521
10522voices, silent till now, struck in from boughs lower down and higher up
10523
10524and midway, and to the right and left, and from the tree-tops; and
10525
10526others, arriving hastily from the grey church turrets and old belfry
10527
10528window, joined the clamour which rose and fell, and swelled and dropped
10529
10530again, and still went on; and all this noisy contention amidst a
10531
10532skimming to and fro, and lighting on fresh branches, and frequent
10533
10534change of place, which satirised the old restlessness of those who lay
10535
10536so still beneath the moss and turf below, and the strife in which they
10537
10538had worn away their lives.<br><br>
10539
10540Frequently raising her eyes to the trees whence these sounds came down,
10541
10542and feeling as though they made the place more quiet than perfect
10543
10544silence would have done, the child loitered from grave to grave, now
10545
10546stopping to replace with careful hands the bramble which had started
10547
10548from some green mound it helped to keep in shape, and now peeping
10549
10550through one of the low latticed windows into the church, with its
10551
10552worm-eaten books upon the desks, and baize of whitened-green mouldering
10553
10554from the pew sides and leaving the naked wood to view.  There were the
10555
10556seats where the poor old people sat, worn spare, and yellow like
10557
10558themselves; the rugged font where children had their names, the homely
10559
10560altar where they knelt in after life, the plain black tressels that
10561
10562bore their weight on their last visit to the cool old shady church.
10563
10564Everything told of long use and quiet slow decay; the very bell-rope in
10565
10566the porch was frayed into a fringe, and hoary with old age.<br><br>
10567
10568She was looking at a humble stone which told of a young man who had
10569
10570died at twenty-three years old, fifty-five years ago, when she heard a
10571
10572faltering step approaching, and looking round saw a feeble woman bent
10573
10574with the weight of years, who tottered to the foot of that same grave
10575
10576and asked her to read the writing on the stone.  The old woman thanked
10577
10578her when she had done, saying that she had had the words by heart for
10579
10580many a long, long year, but could not see them now.<br><br>
10581
10582'Were you his mother?' said the child.<br><br>
10583
10584'I was his wife, my dear.'<br><br>
10585
10586She the wife of a young man of three-and-twenty!  Ah, true!  It was
10587
10588fifty-five years ago.<br><br>
10589
10590'You wonder to hear me say that,' remarked the old woman, shaking her
10591
10592head.  'You're not the first.  Older folk than you have wondered at the
10593
10594same thing before now.  Yes, I was his wife.  Death doesn't change us
10595
10596more than life, my dear.'<br><br>
10597
10598'Do you come here often?' asked the child.<br><br>
10599
10600'I sit here very often in the summer time,' she answered, 'I used to
10601
10602come here once to cry and mourn, but that was a weary while ago, bless
10603
10604God!'<br><br>
10605
10606'I pluck the daisies as they grow, and take them home,' said the old
10607
10608woman after a short silence.  'I like no flowers so well as these, and
10609
10610haven't for five-and-fifty years.  It's a long time, and I'm getting
10611
10612very old.'<br><br>
10613
10614Then growing garrulous upon a theme which was new to one listener
10615
10616though it were but a child, she told her how she had wept and moaned
10617
10618and prayed to die herself, when this happened; and how when she first
10619
10620came to that place, a young creature strong in love and grief, she had
10621
10622hoped that her heart was breaking as it seemed to be.  But that time
10623
10624passed by, and although she continued to be sad when she came there,
10625
10626still she could bear to come, and so went on until it was pain no
10627
10628longer, but a solemn pleasure, and a duty she had learned to like.  And
10629
10630now that five-and-fifty years were gone, she spoke of the dead man as
10631
10632if he had been her son or grandson, with a kind of pity for his youth,
10633
10634growing out of her own old age, and an exalting of his strength and
10635
10636manly beauty as compared with her own weakness and decay; and yet she
10637
10638spoke about him as her husband too, and thinking of herself in
10639
10640connexion with him, as she used to be and not as she was now, talked of
10641
10642their meeting in another world, as if he were dead but yesterday, and
10643
10644she, separated from her former self, were thinking of the happiness of
10645
10646that comely girl who seemed to have died with him.<br><br>
10647
10648The child left her gathering the flowers that grew upon the grave, and
10649
10650thoughtfully retraced her steps.<br><br>
10651
10652The old man was by this time up and dressed.  Mr Codlin, still doomed
10653
10654to contemplate the harsh realities of existence, was packing among his
10655
10656linen the candle-ends which had been saved from the previous night's
10657
10658performance; while his companion received the compliments of all the
10659
10660loungers in the stable-yard, who, unable to separate him from the
10661
10662master-mind of Punch, set him down as next in importance to that merry
10663
10664outlaw, and loved him scarcely less.  When he had sufficiently
10665
10666acknowledged his popularity he came in to breakfast, at which meal they
10667
10668all sat down together.<br><br>
10669
10670'And where are you going to-day?' said the little man, addressing
10671
10672himself to Nell.<br><br>
10673
10674'Indeed I hardly know--we have not determined yet,' replied the child.<br><br>
10675
10676'We're going on to the races,' said the little man.  'If that's your
10677
10678way and you like to have us for company, let us travel together.  If
10679
10680you prefer going alone, only say the word and you'll find that we
10681
10682shan't trouble you.'<br><br>
10683
10684'We'll go with you,' said the old man.  'Nell--with them, with them.'<br><br>
10685
10686The child considered for a moment, and reflecting that she must shortly
10687
10688beg, and could scarcely hope to do so at a better place than where
10689
10690crowds of rich ladies and gentlemen were assembled together for
10691
10692purposes of enjoyment and festivity, determined to accompany these men
10693
10694so far.  She therefore thanked the little man for his offer, and said,
10695
10696glancing timidly towards his friend, that if there was no objection to
10697
10698their accompanying them as far as the race town--<br><br>
10699
10700'Objection!' said the little man.  'Now be gracious for once, Tommy,
10701
10702and say that you'd rather they went with us.  I know you would.  Be
10703
10704gracious, Tommy.'<br><br>
10705
10706'Trotters,' said Mr Codlin, who talked very slowly and ate very
10707
10708greedily, as is not uncommon with philosophers and misanthropes;
10709
10710'you're too free.'<br><br>
10711
10712'Why what harm can it do?' urged the other.  'No harm at all in this
10713
10714particular case, perhaps,' replied Mr Codlin; 'but the principle's a
10715
10716dangerous one, and you're too free I tell you.'<br><br>
10717
10718'Well, are they to go with us or not?'<br><br>
10719
10720'Yes, they are,' said Mr Codlin; 'but you might have made a favour of
10721
10722it, mightn't you?'<br><br>
10723
10724The real name of the little man was Harris, but it had gradually merged
10725
10726into the less euphonious one of Trotters, which, with the prefatory
10727
10728adjective, Short, had been conferred upon him by reason of the small
10729
10730size of his legs.  Short Trotters however, being a compound name,
10731
10732inconvenient of use in friendly dialogue, the gentleman on whom it had
10733
10734been bestowed was known among his intimates either as 'Short,' or
10735
10736'Trotters,' and was seldom accosted at full length as Short Trotters,
10737
10738except in formal conversations and on occasions of ceremony.<br><br>
10739
10740Short, then, or Trotters, as the reader pleases, returned unto the
10741
10742remonstrance of his friend Mr Thomas Codlin a jocose answer calculated
10743
10744to turn aside his discontent; and applying himself with great relish to
10745
10746the cold boiled beef, the tea, and bread and butter, strongly impressed
10747
10748upon his companions that they should do the like.  Mr Codlin indeed
10749
10750required no such persuasion, as he had already eaten as much as he
10751
10752could possibly carry and was now moistening his clay with strong ale,
10753
10754whereof he took deep draughts with a silent relish and invited nobody
10755
10756to partake--thus again strongly indicating his misanthropical turn of
10757
10758mind.<br><br>
10759
10760Breakfast being at length over, Mr Codlin called the bill, and charging
10761
10762the ale to the company generally (a practice also savouring of
10763
10764misanthropy) divided the sum-total into two fair and equal parts,
10765
10766assigning one moiety to himself and friend, and the other to Nelly and
10767
10768her grandfather.  These being duly discharged and all things ready for
10769
10770their departure, they took farewell of the landlord and landlady and
10771
10772resumed their journey.<br><br>
10773
10774And here Mr Codlin's false position in society and the effect it
10775
10776wrought upon his wounded spirit, were strongly illustrated; for whereas
10777
10778he had been last night accosted by Mr Punch as 'master,' and had by
10779
10780inference left the audience to understand that he maintained that
10781
10782individual for his own luxurious entertainment and delight, here he
10783
10784was, now, painfully walking beneath the burden of that same Punch's
10785
10786temple, and bearing it bodily upon his shoulders on a sultry day and
10787
10788along a dusty road.  In place of enlivening his patron with a constant
10789
10790fire of wit or the cheerful rattle of his quarter-staff on the heads of
10791
10792his relations and acquaintance, here was that beaming Punch utterly
10793
10794devoid of spine, all slack and drooping in a dark box, with his legs
10795
10796doubled up round his neck, and not one of his social qualities
10797
10798remaining.<br><br>
10799
10800Mr Codlin trudged heavily on, exchanging a word or two at intervals
10801
10802with Short, and stopping to rest and growl occasionally.  Short led the
10803
10804way; with the flat box, the private luggage (which was not extensive)
10805
10806tied up in a bundle, and a brazen trumpet slung from his
10807
10808shoulder-blade.  Nell and her grandfather walked next him on either
10809
10810hand, and Thomas Codlin brought up the rear.<br><br>
10811
10812When they came to any town or village, or even to a detached house of
10813
10814good appearance, Short blew a blast upon the brazen trumpet and
10815
10816carolled a fragment of a song in that hilarious tone common to Punches
10817
10818and their consorts.  If people hurried to the windows, Mr Codlin
10819
10820pitched the temple, and hastily unfurling the drapery and concealing
10821
10822Short therewith, flourished hysterically on the pipes and performed an
10823
10824air.  Then the entertainment began as soon as might be; Mr Codlin
10825
10826having the responsibility of deciding on its length and of protracting
10827
10828or expediting the time for the hero's final triumph over the enemy of
10829
10830mankind, according as he judged that the after-crop of half-pence would
10831
10832be plentiful or scant.  When it had been gathered in to the last
10833
10834farthing, he resumed his load and on they went again.<br><br>
10835
10836Sometimes they played out the toll across a bridge or ferry, and once
10837
10838exhibited by particular desire at a turnpike, where the collector,
10839
10840being drunk in his solitude, paid down a shilling to have it to
10841
10842himself.  There was one small place of rich promise in which their
10843
10844hopes were blighted, for a favourite character in the play having
10845
10846gold-lace upon his coat and being a meddling wooden-headed fellow was
10847
10848held to be a libel on the beadle, for which reason the authorities
10849
10850enforced a quick retreat; but they were generally well received, and
10851
10852seldom left a town without a troop of ragged children shouting at their
10853
10854heels.<br><br>
10855
10856They made a long day's journey, despite these interruptions, and were
10857
10858yet upon the road when the moon was shining in the sky.  Short beguiled
10859
10860the time with songs and jests, and made the best of everything that
10861
10862happened.  Mr Codlin on the other hand, cursed his fate, and all the
10863
10864hollow things of earth (but Punch especially), and limped along with
10865
10866the theatre on his back, a prey to the bitterest chagrin.<br><br>
10867
10868They had stopped to rest beneath a finger-post where four roads met,
10869
10870and Mr Codlin in his deep misanthropy had let down the drapery and
10871
10872seated himself in the bottom of the show, invisible to mortal eyes and
10873
10874disdainful of the company of his fellow creatures, when two monstrous
10875
10876shadows were seen stalking towards them from a turning in the road by
10877
10878which they had come.  The child was at first quite terrified by the
10879
10880sight of these gaunt giants--for such they looked as they advanced with
10881
10882lofty strides beneath the shadow of the trees--but Short, telling her
10883
10884there was nothing to fear, blew a blast upon the trumpet, which was
10885
10886answered by a cheerful shout.<br><br>
10887
10888'It's Grinder's lot, an't it?' cried Mr Short in a loud key.<br><br>
10889
10890'Yes,' replied a couple of shrill voices.<br><br>
10891
10892'Come on then,' said Short.  'Let's have a look at you.  I thought it
10893
10894was you.'<br><br>
10895
10896Thus invited, 'Grinder's lot' approached with redoubled speed and soon
10897
10898came up with the little party.<br><br>
10899
10900Mr Grinder's company, familiarly termed a lot, consisted of a young
10901
10902gentleman and a young lady on stilts, and Mr Grinder himself, who used
10903
10904his natural legs for pedestrian purposes and carried at his back a
10905
10906drum.  The public costume of the young people was of the Highland kind,
10907
10908but the night being damp and cold, the young gentleman wore over his
10909
10910kilt a man's pea jacket reaching to his ankles, and a glazed hat; the
10911
10912young lady too was muffled in an old cloth pelisse and had a
10913
10914handkerchief tied about her head.  Their Scotch bonnets, ornamented
10915
10916with plumes of jet black feathers, Mr Grinder carried on his instrument.<br><br>
10917
10918'Bound for the races, I see,' said Mr Grinder coming up out of breath.
10919
10920'So are we.  How are you, Short?'  With that they shook hands in a very
10921
10922friendly manner.  The young people being too high up for the ordinary
10923
10924salutations, saluted Short after their own fashion.  The young
10925
10926gentleman twisted up his right stilt and patted him on the shoulder,
10927
10928and the young lady rattled her tambourine.<br><br>
10929
10930'Practice?' said Short, pointing to the stilts.<br><br>
10931
10932'No,' returned Grinder.  'It comes either to walkin' in 'em or carryin'
10933
10934of 'em, and they like walkin' in 'em best.  It's wery pleasant for the
10935
10936prospects.  Which road are you takin'?  We go the nighest.'<br><br>
10937
10938'Why, the fact is,' said Short, 'that we are going the longest way,
10939
10940because then we could stop for the night, a mile and a half on.  But
10941
10942three or four mile gained to-night is so many saved to-morrow, and if
10943
10944you keep on, I think our best way is to do the same.'<br><br>
10945
10946'Where's your partner?' inquired Grinder.<br><br>
10947
10948'Here he is,' cried Mr Thomas Codlin, presenting his head and face in
10949
10950the proscenium of the stage, and exhibiting an expression of
10951
10952countenance not often seen there; 'and he'll see his partner boiled
10953
10954alive before he'll go on to-night.  That's what he says.'<br><br>
10955
10956'Well, don't say such things as them, in a spear which is dewoted to
10957
10958something pleasanter,' urged Short.  'Respect associations, Tommy, even
10959
10960if you do cut up rough.'<br><br>
10961
10962'Rough or smooth,' said Mr Codlin, beating his hand on the little
10963
10964footboard where Punch, when suddenly struck with the symmetry of his
10965
10966legs and their capacity for silk stockings, is accustomed to exhibit
10967
10968them to popular admiration, 'rough or smooth, I won't go further than
10969
10970the mile and a half to-night.  I put up at the Jolly Sandboys and
10971
10972nowhere else.  If you like to come there, come there.  If you like to
10973
10974go on by yourself, go on by yourself, and do without me if you can.'<br><br>
10975
10976So saying, Mr Codlin disappeared from the scene and immediately
10977
10978presented himself outside the theatre, took it on his shoulders at a
10979
10980jerk, and made off with most remarkable agility.<br><br>
10981
10982Any further controversy being now out of the question, Short was fain
10983
10984to part with Mr Grinder and his pupils and to follow his morose
10985
10986companion.  After lingering at the finger-post for a few minutes to see
10987
10988the stilts frisking away in the moonlight and the bearer of the drum
10989
10990toiling slowly after them, he blew a few notes upon the trumpet as a
10991
10992parting salute, and hastened with all speed to follow Mr Codlin.  With
10993
10994this view he gave his unoccupied hand to Nell, and bidding her be of
10995
10996good cheer as they would soon be at the end of their journey for that
10997
10998night, and stimulating the old man with a similar assurance, led them
10999
11000at a pretty swift pace towards their destination, which he was the less
11001
11002unwilling to make for, as the moon was now overcast and the clouds were
11003
11004threatening rain.<br><br>
11005
11006CHAPTER 18<br><br>
11007
11008The Jolly Sandboys was a small road-side inn of pretty ancient date,
11009
11010with a sign, representing three Sandboys increasing their jollity with
11011
11012as many jugs of ale and bags of gold, creaking and swinging on its post
11013
11014on the opposite side of the road.  As the travellers had observed that
11015
11016day many indications of their drawing nearer and nearer to the race
11017
11018town, such as gipsy camps, carts laden with gambling booths and their
11019
11020appurtenances, itinerant showmen of various kinds, and beggars and
11021
11022trampers of every degree, all wending their way in the same direction,
11023
11024Mr Codlin was fearful of finding the accommodations forestalled; this
11025
11026fear increasing as he diminished the distance between himself and the
11027
11028hostelry, he quickened his pace, and notwithstanding the burden he had
11029
11030to carry, maintained a round trot until he reached the threshold.  Here
11031
11032he had the gratification of finding that his fears were without
11033
11034foundation, for the landlord was leaning against the door-post looking
11035
11036lazily at the rain, which had by this time begun to descend heavily,
11037
11038and no tinkling of cracked bell, nor boisterous shout, nor noisy
11039
11040chorus, gave note of company within.<br><br>
11041
11042'All alone?' said Mr Codlin, putting down his burden and wiping his
11043
11044forehead.<br><br>
11045
11046'All alone as yet,' rejoined the landlord, glancing at the sky, 'but we
11047
11048shall have more company to-night I expect.  Here one of you boys, carry
11049
11050that show into the barn.  Make haste in out of the wet, Tom; when it
11051
11052came on to rain I told 'em to make the fire up, and there's a glorious
11053
11054blaze in the kitchen, I can tell you.'<br><br>
11055
11056Mr Codlin followed with a willing mind, and soon found that the
11057
11058landlord had not commended his preparations without good reason.  A
11059
11060mighty fire was blazing on the hearth and roaring up the wide chimney
11061
11062with a cheerful sound, which a large iron cauldron, bubbling and
11063
11064simmering in the heat, lent its pleasant aid to swell.  There was a
11065
11066deep red ruddy blush upon the room, and when the landlord stirred the
11067
11068fire, sending the flames skipping and leaping up--when he took off the
11069
11070lid of the iron pot and there rushed out a savoury smell, while the
11071
11072bubbling sound grew deeper and more rich, and an unctuous steam came
11073
11074floating out, hanging in a delicious mist above their heads--when he
11075
11076did this, Mr Codlin's heart was touched.  He sat down in the
11077
11078chimney-corner and smiled.<br><br>
11079
11080Mr Codlin sat smiling in the chimney-corner, eyeing the landlord as
11081
11082with a roguish look he held the cover in his hand, and, feigning that
11083
11084his doing so was needful to the welfare of the cookery, suffered the
11085
11086delightful steam to tickle the nostrils of his guest.  The glow of the
11087
11088fire was upon the landlord's bald head, and upon his twinkling eye, and
11089
11090upon his watering mouth, and upon his pimpled face, and upon his round
11091
11092fat figure.  Mr Codlin drew his sleeve across his lips, and said in a
11093
11094murmuring voice, 'What is it?'<br><br>
11095
11096'It's a stew of tripe,' said the landlord smacking his lips, 'and
11097
11098cow-heel,' smacking them again, 'and bacon,' smacking them once more,
11099
11100'and steak,' smacking them for the fourth time, 'and peas,
11101
11102cauliflowers, new potatoes, and sparrow-grass, all working up together
11103
11104in one delicious gravy.'  Having come to the climax, he smacked his
11105
11106lips a great many times, and taking a long hearty sniff of the
11107
11108fragrance that was hovering about, put on the cover again with the air
11109
11110of one whose toils on earth were over.<br><br>
11111
11112'At what time will it be ready?' asked Mr Codlin faintly.<br><br>
11113
11114'It'll be done to a turn,' said the landlord looking up to the
11115
11116clock--and the very clock had a colour in its fat white face, and
11117
11118looked a clock for jolly Sandboys to consult--'it'll be done to a turn
11119
11120at twenty-two minutes before eleven.'<br><br>
11121
11122'Then,' said Mr Codlin, 'fetch me a pint of warm ale, and don't let
11123
11124nobody bring into the room even so much as a biscuit till the time
11125
11126arrives.'<br><br>
11127
11128Nodding his approval of this decisive and manly course of procedure,
11129
11130the landlord retired to draw the beer, and presently returning with it,
11131
11132applied himself to warm the same in a small tin vessel shaped
11133
11134funnel-wise, for the convenience of sticking it far down in the fire
11135
11136and getting at the bright places.  This was soon done, and he handed it
11137
11138over to Mr Codlin with that creamy froth upon the surface which is one
11139
11140of the happy circumstances attendant on mulled malt.<br><br>
11141
11142Greatly softened by this soothing beverage, Mr Codlin now bethought him
11143
11144of his companions, and acquainted mine host of the Sandboys that their
11145
11146arrival might be shortly looked for.  The rain was rattling against the
11147
11148windows and pouring down in torrents, and such was Mr Codlin's extreme
11149
11150amiability of mind, that he more than once expressed his earnest hope
11151
11152that they would not be so foolish as to get wet.<br><br>
11153
11154At length they arrived, drenched with the rain and presenting a most
11155
11156miserable appearance, notwithstanding that Short had sheltered the
11157
11158child as well as he could under the skirts of his own coat, and they
11159
11160were nearly breathless from the haste they had made.  But their steps
11161
11162were no sooner heard upon the road than the landlord, who had been at
11163
11164the outer door anxiously watching for their coming, rushed into the
11165
11166kitchen and took the cover off.  The effect was electrical.  They all
11167
11168came in with smiling faces though the wet was dripping from their
11169
11170clothes upon the floor, and Short's first remark was, 'What a delicious
11171
11172smell!'<br><br>
11173
11174It is not very difficult to forget rain and mud by the side of a
11175
11176cheerful fire, and in a bright room.  They were furnished with slippers
11177
11178and such dry garments as the house or their own bundles afforded, and
11179
11180ensconcing themselves, as Mr Codlin had already done, in the warm
11181
11182chimney-corner, soon forgot their late troubles or only remembered them
11183
11184as enhancing the delights of the present time.  Overpowered by the
11185
11186warmth and comfort and the fatigue they had undergone, Nelly and the
11187
11188old man had not long taken their seats here, when they fell asleep.<br><br>
11189
11190'Who are they?' whispered the landlord.  Short shook his head, and
11191
11192wished he knew himself.  'Don't you know?' asked the host, turning to
11193
11194Mr Codlin.  'Not I,' he replied.  'They're no good, I suppose.'<br><br>
11195
11196'They're no harm,' said Short.  'Depend upon that.  I tell you
11197
11198what--it's plain that the old man an't in his right mind--'<br><br>
11199
11200'If you haven't got anything newer than that to say,' growled Mr
11201
11202Codlin, glancing at the clock, 'you'd better let us fix our minds upon
11203
11204the supper, and not disturb us.'<br><br>
11205
11206'Hear me out, won't you?' retorted his friend.  'It's very plain to me,
11207
11208besides, that they're not used to this way of life.  Don't tell me that
11209
11210that handsome child has been in the habit of prowling about as she's
11211
11212done these last two or three days.  I know better.'<br><br>
11213
11214'Well, who DOES tell you she has?' growled Mr Codlin, again glancing at
11215
11216the clock and from it to the cauldron, 'can't you think of anything
11217
11218more suitable to present circumstances than saying things and then
11219
11220contradicting 'em?'<br><br>
11221
11222'I wish somebody would give you your supper,' returned Short, 'for
11223
11224there'll be no peace till you've got it.  Have you seen how anxious the
11225
11226old man is to get on--always wanting to be furder away--furder away.
11227
11228Have you seen that?'<br><br>
11229
11230'Ah! what then?' muttered Thomas Codlin.<br><br>
11231
11232'This, then,' said Short.  'He has given his friends the slip.  Mind
11233
11234what I say--he has given his friends the slip, and persuaded this
11235
11236delicate young creetur all along of her fondness for him to be his
11237
11238guide and travelling companion--where to, he knows no more than the man
11239
11240in the moon.  Now I'm not a going to stand that.'<br><br>
11241
11242'YOU'RE not a going to stand that!' cried Mr Codlin, glancing at the
11243
11244clock again and pulling his hair with both hands in a kind of frenzy,
11245
11246but whether occasioned by his companion's observation or the tardy pace
11247
11248of Time, it was difficult to determine.  'Here's a world to live in!'<br><br>
11249
11250'I,' repeated Short emphatically and slowly, 'am not a-going to stand
11251
11252it.  I am not a-going to see this fair young child a falling into bad
11253
11254hands, and getting among people that she's no more fit for, than they
11255
11256are to get among angels as their ordinary chums.  Therefore when they
11257
11258dewelope an intention of parting company from us, I shall take measures
11259
11260for detaining of 'em, and restoring 'em to their friends, who I dare
11261
11262say have had their disconsolation pasted up on every wall in London by
11263
11264this time.'<br><br>
11265
11266'Short,' said Mr Codlin, who with his head upon his hands, and his
11267
11268elbows on his knees, had been shaking himself impatiently from side to
11269
11270side up to this point and occasionally stamping on the ground, but who
11271
11272now looked up with eager eyes; 'it's possible that there may be
11273
11274uncommon good sense in what you've said.  If there is, and there should
11275
11276be a reward, Short, remember that we're partners in everything!'<br><br>
11277
11278His companion had only time to nod a brief assent to this position, for
11279
11280the child awoke at the instant.  They had drawn close together during
11281
11282the previous whispering, and now hastily separated and were rather
11283
11284awkwardly endeavouring to exchange some casual remarks in their usual
11285
11286tone, when strange footsteps were heard without, and fresh company
11287
11288entered.<br><br>
11289
11290These were no other than four very dismal dogs, who came pattering in
11291
11292one after the other, headed by an old bandy dog of particularly
11293
11294mournful aspect, who, stopping when the last of his followers had got
11295
11296as far as the door, erected himself upon his hind legs and looked round
11297
11298at his companions, who immediately stood upon their hind legs, in a
11299
11300grave and melancholy row.  Nor was this the only remarkable
11301
11302circumstance about these dogs, for each of them wore a kind of little
11303
11304coat of some gaudy colour trimmed with tarnished spangles, and one of
11305
11306them had a cap upon his head, tied very carefully under his chin, which
11307
11308had fallen down upon his nose and completely obscured one eye; add to
11309
11310this, that the gaudy coats were all wet through and discoloured with
11311
11312rain, and that the wearers were splashed and dirty, and some idea may
11313
11314be formed of the unusual appearance of these new visitors to the Jolly
11315
11316Sandboys.<br><br>
11317
11318Neither Short nor the landlord nor Thomas Codlin, however, was in the
11319
11320least surprised, merely remarking that these were Jerry's dogs and that
11321
11322Jerry could not be far behind.  So there the dogs stood, patiently
11323
11324winking and gaping and looking extremely hard at the boiling pot, until
11325
11326Jerry himself appeared, when they all dropped down at once and walked
11327
11328about the room in their natural manner.  This posture it must be
11329
11330confessed did not much improve their appearance, as their own personal
11331
11332tails and their coat tails--both capital things in their way--did not
11333
11334agree together.<br><br>
11335
11336Jerry, the manager of these dancing dogs, was a tall black-whiskered
11337
11338man in a velveteen coat, who seemed well known to the landlord and his
11339
11340guests and accosted them with great cordiality.  Disencumbering himself
11341
11342of a barrel organ which he placed upon a chair, and retaining in his
11343
11344hand a small whip wherewith to awe his company of comedians, he came up
11345
11346to the fire to dry himself, and entered into conversation.<br><br>
11347
11348'Your people don't usually travel in character, do they?' said Short,
11349
11350pointing to the dresses of the dogs.  'It must come expensive if they
11351
11352do?'<br><br>
11353
11354'No,' replied Jerry, 'no, it's not the custom with us.  But we've been
11355
11356playing a little on the road to-day, and we come out with a new
11357
11358wardrobe at the races, so I didn't think it worth while to stop to
11359
11360undress.  Down, Pedro!'<br><br>
11361
11362This was addressed to the dog with the cap on, who being a new member
11363
11364of the company, and not quite certain of his duty, kept his unobscured
11365
11366eye anxiously on his master, and was perpetually starting upon his hind
11367
11368legs when there was no occasion, and falling down again.<br><br>
11369
11370'I've got a animal here,' said Jerry, putting his hand into the
11371
11372capacious pocket of his coat, and diving into one corner as if he were
11373
11374feeling for a small orange or an apple or some such article, 'a animal
11375
11376here, wot I think you know something of, Short.'<br><br>
11377
11378'Ah!' cried Short, 'let's have a look at him.'<br><br>
11379
11380'Here he is,' said Jerry, producing a little terrier from his pocket.
11381
11382'He was once a Toby of yours, warn't he!'<br><br>
11383
11384In some versions of the great drama of Punch there is a small dog--a
11385
11386modern innovation--supposed to be the private property of that
11387
11388gentleman, whose name is always Toby.  This Toby has been stolen in
11389
11390youth from another gentleman, and fraudulently sold to the confiding
11391
11392hero, who having no guile himself has no suspicion that it lurks in
11393
11394others; but Toby, entertaining a grateful recollection of his old
11395
11396master, and scorning to attach himself to any new patrons, not only
11397
11398refuses to smoke a pipe at the bidding of Punch, but to mark his old
11399
11400fidelity more strongly, seizes him by the nose and wrings the same with
11401
11402violence, at which instance of canine attachment the spectators are
11403
11404deeply affected.  This was the character which the little terrier in
11405
11406question had once sustained; if there had been any doubt upon the
11407
11408subject he would speedily have resolved it by his conduct; for not only
11409
11410did he, on seeing Short, give the strongest tokens of recognition, but
11411
11412catching sight of the flat box he barked so furiously at the pasteboard
11413
11414nose which he knew was inside, that his master was obliged to gather
11415
11416him up and put him into his pocket again, to the great relief of the
11417
11418whole company.<br><br>
11419
11420The landlord now busied himself in laying the cloth, in which process
11421
11422Mr Codlin obligingly assisted by setting forth his own knife and fork
11423
11424in the most convenient place and establishing himself behind them.
11425
11426When everything was ready, the landlord took off the cover for the last
11427
11428time, and then indeed there burst forth such a goodly promise of
11429
11430supper, that if he had offered to put it on again or had hinted at
11431
11432postponement, he would certainly have been sacrificed on his own hearth.<br><br>
11433
11434However, he did nothing of the kind, but instead thereof assisted a
11435
11436stout servant girl in turning the contents of the cauldron into a large
11437
11438tureen; a proceeding which the dogs, proof against various hot splashes
11439
11440which fell upon their noses, watched with terrible eagerness.  At
11441
11442length the dish was lifted on the table, and mugs of ale having been
11443
11444previously set round, little Nell ventured to say grace, and supper
11445
11446began.<br><br>
11447
11448At this juncture the poor dogs were standing on their hind legs quite
11449
11450surprisingly; the child, having pity on them, was about to cast some
11451
11452morsels of food to them before she tasted it herself, hungry though she
11453
11454was, when their master interposed.<br><br>
11455
11456'No, my dear, no, not an atom from anybody's hand but mine if you
11457
11458please.  That dog,' said Jerry, pointing out the old leader of the
11459
11460troop, and speaking in a terrible voice, 'lost a halfpenny to-day.  He
11461
11462goes without his supper.'<br><br>
11463
11464The unfortunate creature dropped upon his fore-legs directly, wagged
11465
11466his tail, and looked imploringly at his master.<br><br>
11467
11468'You must be more careful, Sir,' said Jerry, walking coolly to the
11469
11470chair where he had placed the organ, and setting the stop.  'Come here.
11471
11472Now, Sir, you play away at that, while we have supper, and leave off if
11473
11474you dare.'<br><br>
11475
11476The dog immediately began to grind most mournful music.  His master
11477
11478having shown him the whip resumed his seat and called up the others,
11479
11480who, at his directions, formed in a row, standing upright as a file of
11481
11482soldiers.<br><br>
11483
11484'Now, gentlemen,' said Jerry, looking at them attentively.  'The dog
11485
11486whose name's called, eats.  The dogs whose names an't called, keep
11487
11488quiet.  Carlo!'<br><br>
11489
11490The lucky individual whose name was called, snapped up the morsel
11491
11492thrown towards him, but none of the others moved a muscle.  In this
11493
11494manner they were fed at the discretion of their master.  Meanwhile the
11495
11496dog in disgrace ground hard at the organ, sometimes in quick time,
11497
11498sometimes in slow, but never leaving off for an instant.  When the
11499
11500knives and forks rattled very much, or any of his fellows got an
11501
11502unusually large piece of fat, he accompanied the music with a short
11503
11504howl, but he immediately checked it on his master looking round, and
11505
11506applied himself with increased diligence to the Old Hundredth.<br><br>
11507
11508CHAPTER 19<br><br>
11509
11510Supper was not yet over, when there arrived at the Jolly Sandboys two
11511
11512more travellers bound for the same haven as the rest, who had been
11513
11514walking in the rain for some hours, and came in shining and heavy with
11515
11516water.  One of these was the proprietor of a giant, and a little lady
11517
11518without legs or arms, who had jogged forward in a van; the other, a
11519
11520silent gentleman who earned his living by showing tricks upon the
11521
11522cards, and who had rather deranged the natural expression of his
11523
11524countenance by putting small leaden lozenges into his eyes and bringing
11525
11526them out at his mouth, which was one of his professional
11527
11528accomplishments.  The name of the first of these newcomers was Vuffin;
11529
11530the other, probably as a pleasant satire upon his ugliness, was called
11531
11532Sweet William.  To render them as comfortable as he could, the landlord
11533
11534bestirred himself nimbly, and in a very short time both gentlemen were
11535
11536perfectly at their ease.<br><br>
11537
11538'How's the Giant?' said Short, when they all sat smoking round the fire.<br><br>
11539
11540'Rather weak upon his legs,' returned Mr Vuffin.  'I begin to be afraid
11541
11542he's going at the knees.'<br><br>
11543
11544'That's a bad look-out,' said Short.<br><br>
11545
11546'Aye!  Bad indeed,' replied Mr Vuffin, contemplating the fire with a
11547
11548sigh.  'Once get a giant shaky on his legs, and the public care no more
11549
11550about him than they do for a dead cabbage stalk.'<br><br>
11551
11552'What becomes of old giants?' said Short, turning to him again after a
11553
11554little reflection.<br><br>
11555
11556'They're usually kept in carawans to wait upon the dwarfs,' said Mr
11557
11558Vuffin.<br><br>
11559
11560'The maintaining of 'em must come expensive, when they can't be shown,
11561
11562eh?' remarked Short, eyeing him doubtfully.<br><br>
11563
11564'It's better that, than letting 'em go upon the parish or about the
11565
11566streets,' said Mr Vuffin.  'Once make a giant common and giants will
11567
11568never draw again.  Look at wooden legs.  If there was only one man with
11569
11570a wooden leg what a property he'd be!'<br><br>
11571
11572'So he would!' observed the landlord and Short both together.  'That's
11573
11574very true.'<br><br>
11575
11576'Instead of which,' pursued Mr Vuffin, 'if you was to advertise
11577
11578Shakspeare played entirely by wooden legs,' it's my belief you wouldn't
11579
11580draw a sixpence.'<br><br>
11581
11582'I don't suppose you would,' said Short.  And the landlord said so too.<br><br>
11583
11584'This shows, you see,' said Mr Vuffin, waving his pipe with an
11585
11586argumentative air, 'this shows the policy of keeping the used-up giants
11587
11588still in the carawans, where they get food and lodging for nothing, all
11589
11590their lives, and in general very glad they are to stop there.  There
11591
11592was one giant--a black 'un--as left his carawan some year ago and took
11593
11594to carrying coach-bills about London, making himself as cheap as
11595
11596crossing-sweepers.  He died.  I make no insinuation against anybody in
11597
11598particular,' said Mr Vuffin, looking solemnly round, 'but he was
11599
11600ruining the trade;--and he died.'<br><br>
11601
11602The landlord drew his breath hard, and looked at the owner of the dogs,
11603
11604who nodded and said gruffly that he remembered.<br><br>
11605
11606'I know you do, Jerry,' said Mr Vuffin with profound meaning.  'I know
11607
11608you remember it, Jerry, and the universal opinion was, that it served
11609
11610him right.  Why, I remember the time when old Maunders as had
11611
11612three-and-twenty wans--I remember the time when old Maunders had in his
11613
11614cottage in Spa Fields in the winter time, when the season was over,
11615
11616eight male and female dwarfs setting down to dinner every day, who was
11617
11618waited on by eight old giants in green coats, red smalls, blue cotton
11619
11620stockings, and high-lows: and there was one dwarf as had grown elderly
11621
11622and wicious who whenever his giant wasn't quick enough to please him,
11623
11624used to stick pins in his legs, not being able to reach up any higher.
11625
11626I know that's a fact, for Maunders told it me himself.'<br><br>
11627
11628'What about the dwarfs when they get old?' inquired the landlord.<br><br>
11629
11630'The older a dwarf is, the better worth he is,' returned Mr Vuffin; 'a
11631
11632grey-headed dwarf, well wrinkled, is beyond all suspicion.  But a giant
11633
11634weak in the legs and not standing upright!--keep him in the carawan,
11635
11636but never show him, never show him, for any persuasion that can be
11637
11638offered.'<br><br>
11639
11640While Mr Vuffin and his two friends smoked their pipes and beguiled the
11641
11642time with such conversation as this, the silent gentleman sat in a warm
11643
11644corner, swallowing, or seeming to swallow, sixpennyworth of halfpence
11645
11646for practice, balancing a feather upon his nose, and rehearsing other
11647
11648feats of dexterity of that kind, without paying any regard whatever to
11649
11650the company, who in their turn left him utterly unnoticed.  At length
11651
11652the weary child prevailed upon her grandfather to retire, and they
11653
11654withdrew, leaving the company yet seated round the fire, and the dogs
11655
11656fast asleep at a humble distance.<br><br>
11657
11658After bidding the old man good night, Nell retired to her poor garret,
11659
11660but had scarcely closed the door, when it was gently tapped at.  She
11661
11662opened it directly, and was a little startled by the sight of Mr Thomas
11663
11664Codlin, whom she had left, to all appearance, fast asleep down stairs.<br><br>
11665
11666'What is the matter?' said the child.<br><br>
11667
11668'Nothing's the matter, my dear,' returned her visitor.  'I'm your
11669
11670friend.  Perhaps you haven't thought so, but it's me that's your
11671
11672friend--not him.'<br><br>
11673
11674'Not who?' the child inquired.<br><br>
11675
11676'Short, my dear.  I tell you what,' said Codlin, 'for all his having a
11677
11678kind of way with him that you'd be very apt to like, I'm the real,
11679
11680open-hearted man.  I mayn't look it, but I am indeed.'<br><br>
11681
11682The child began to be alarmed, considering that the ale had taken
11683
11684effect upon Mr Codlin, and that this commendation of himself was the
11685
11686consequence.<br><br>
11687
11688'Short's very well, and seems kind,' resumed the misanthrope, 'but he
11689
11690overdoes it.  Now I don't.'<br><br>
11691
11692Certainly if there were any fault in Mr Codlin's usual deportment, it
11693
11694was that he rather underdid his kindness to those about him, than
11695
11696overdid it.  But the child was puzzled, and could not tell what to say.<br><br>
11697
11698'Take my advice,' said Codlin: 'don't ask me why, but take it.  As long
11699
11700as you travel with us, keep as near me as you can.  Don't offer to
11701
11702leave us--not on any account--but always stick to me and say that I'm
11703
11704your friend.  Will you bear that in mind, my dear, and always say that
11705
11706it was me that was your friend?'<br><br>
11707
11708'Say so where--and when?' inquired the child innocently.<br><br>
11709
11710'O, nowhere in particular,' replied Codlin, a little put out as it
11711
11712seemed by the question; 'I'm only anxious that you should think me so,
11713
11714and do me justice.  You can't think what an interest I have in you.
11715
11716Why didn't you tell me your little history--that about you and the poor
11717
11718old gentleman?  I'm the best adviser that ever was, and so interested
11719
11720in you--so much more interested than Short.  I think they're breaking
11721
11722up down stairs; you needn't tell Short, you know, that we've had this
11723
11724little talk together.  God bless you.  Recollect the friend.  Codlin's
11725
11726the friend, not Short.  Short's very well as far as he goes, but the
11727
11728real friend is Codlin--not Short.'<br><br>
11729
11730Eking out these professions with a number of benevolent and protecting
11731
11732looks and great fervour of manner, Thomas Codlin stole away on tiptoe,
11733
11734leaving the child in a state of extreme surprise.  She was still
11735
11736ruminating upon his curious behaviour, when the floor of the crazy
11737
11738stairs and landing cracked beneath the tread of the other travellers
11739
11740who were passing to their beds.  When they had all passed, and the
11741
11742sound of their footsteps had died away, one of them returned, and after
11743
11744a little hesitation and rustling in the passage, as if he were doubtful
11745
11746what door to knock at, knocked at hers.<br><br>
11747
11748'Yes,' said the child from within.<br><br>
11749
11750'It's me--Short'--a voice called through the keyhole.  'I only wanted
11751
11752to say that we must be off early to-morrow morning, my dear, because
11753
11754unless we get the start of the dogs and the conjuror, the villages
11755
11756won't be worth a penny.  You'll be sure to be stirring early and go
11757
11758with us?  I'll call you.'<br><br>
11759
11760The child answered in the affirmative, and returning his 'good night'
11761
11762heard him creep away.  She felt some uneasiness at the anxiety of these
11763
11764men, increased by the recollection of their whispering together down
11765
11766stairs and their slight confusion when she awoke, nor was she quite
11767
11768free from a misgiving that they were not the fittest companions she
11769
11770could have stumbled on.  Her uneasiness, however, was nothing, weighed
11771
11772against her fatigue; and she soon forgot it in sleep.  Very early next
11773
11774morning, Short fulfilled his promise, and knocking softly at her door,
11775
11776entreated that she would get up directly, as the proprietor of the dogs
11777
11778was still snoring, and if they lost no time they might get a good deal
11779
11780in advance both of him and the conjuror, who was talking in his sleep,
11781
11782and from what he could be heard to say, appeared to be balancing a
11783
11784donkey in his dreams.  She started from her bed without delay, and
11785
11786roused the old man with so much expedition that they were both ready as
11787
11788soon as Short himself, to that gentleman's unspeakable gratification
11789
11790and relief.<br><br>
11791
11792After a very unceremonious and scrambling breakfast, of which the
11793
11794staple commodities were bacon and bread, and beer, they took leave of
11795
11796the landlord and issued from the door of the jolly Sandboys.  The
11797
11798morning was fine and warm, the ground cool to the feet after the late
11799
11800rain, the hedges gayer and more green, the air clear, and everything
11801
11802fresh and healthful.  Surrounded by these influences, they walked on
11803
11804pleasantly enough.<br><br>
11805
11806They had not gone very far, when the child was again struck by the
11807
11808altered behaviour of Mr Thomas Codlin, who instead of plodding on
11809
11810sulkily by himself as he had heretofore done, kept close to her, and
11811
11812when he had an opportunity of looking at her unseen by his companion,
11813
11814warned her by certain wry faces and jerks of the head not to put any
11815
11816trust in Short, but to reserve all confidences for Codlin.  Neither did
11817
11818he confine himself to looks and gestures, for when she and her
11819
11820grandfather were walking on beside the aforesaid Short, and that little
11821
11822man was talking with his accustomed cheerfulness on a variety of
11823
11824indifferent subjects, Thomas Codlin testified his jealousy and distrust
11825
11826by following close at her heels, and occasionally admonishing her
11827
11828ankles with the legs of the theatre in a very abrupt and painful manner.<br><br>
11829
11830All these proceedings naturally made the child more watchful and
11831
11832suspicious, and she soon observed that whenever they halted to perform
11833
11834outside a village alehouse or other place, Mr Codlin while he went
11835
11836through his share of the entertainments kept his eye steadily upon her
11837
11838and the old man, or with a show of great friendship and consideration
11839
11840invited the latter to lean upon his arm, and so held him tight until
11841
11842the representation was over and they again went forward.  Even Short
11843
11844seemed to change in this respect, and to mingle with his good-nature
11845
11846something of a desire to keep them in safe custody.  This increased the
11847
11848child's misgivings, and made her yet more anxious and uneasy.<br><br>
11849
11850Meanwhile, they were drawing near the town where the races were to
11851
11852begin next day; for, from passing numerous groups of gipsies and
11853
11854trampers on the road, wending their way towards it, and straggling out
11855
11856from every by-way and cross-country lane, they gradually fell into a
11857
11858stream of people, some walking by the side of covered carts, others
11859
11860with horses, others with donkeys, others toiling on with heavy loads
11861
11862upon their backs, but all tending to the same point.  The public-houses
11863
11864by the wayside, from being empty and noiseless as those in the remoter
11865
11866parts had been, now sent out boisterous shouts and clouds of smoke;
11867
11868and, from the misty windows, clusters of broad red faces looked down
11869
11870upon the road.  On every piece of waste or common ground, some small
11871
11872gambler drove his noisy trade, and bellowed to the idle passersby to
11873
11874stop and try their chance; the crowd grew thicker and more noisy; gilt
11875
11876gingerbread in blanket-stalls exposed its glories to the dust; and
11877
11878often a four-horse carriage, dashing by, obscured all objects in the
11879
11880gritty cloud it raised, and left them, stunned and blinded, far behind.<br><br>
11881
11882It was dark before they reached the town itself, and long indeed the
11883
11884few last miles had been.  Here all was tumult and confusion; the
11885
11886streets were filled with throngs of people--many strangers were there,
11887
11888it seemed, by the looks they cast about--the church-bells rang out
11889
11890their noisy peals, and flags streamed from windows and house-tops.  In
11891
11892the large inn-yards waiters flitted to and fro and ran against each
11893
11894other, horses clattered on the uneven stones, carriage steps fell
11895
11896rattling down, and sickening smells from many dinners came in a heavy
11897
11898lukewarm breath upon the sense.  In the smaller public-houses, fiddles
11899
11900with all their might and main were squeaking out the tune to staggering
11901
11902feet; drunken men, oblivious of the burden of their song, joined in a
11903
11904senseless howl, which drowned the tinkling of the feeble bell and made
11905
11906them savage for their drink; vagabond groups assembled round the doors
11907
11908to see the stroller woman dance, and add their uproar to the shrill
11909
11910flageolet and deafening drum.<br><br>
11911
11912Through this delirious scene, the child, frightened and repelled by all
11913
11914she saw, led on her bewildered charge, clinging close to her conductor,
11915
11916and trembling lest in the press she should be separated from him and
11917
11918left to find her way alone.  Quickening their steps to get clear of all
11919
11920the roar and riot, they at length passed through the town and made for
11921
11922the race-course, which was upon an open heath, situated on an eminence,
11923
11924a full mile distant from its furthest bounds.<br><br>
11925
11926Although there were many people here, none of the best favoured or best
11927
11928clad, busily erecting tents and driving stakes in the ground, and
11929
11930hurrying to and fro with dusty feet and many a grumbled oath--although
11931
11932there were tired children cradled on heaps of straw between the wheels
11933
11934of carts, crying themselves to sleep--and poor lean horses and donkeys
11935
11936just turned loose, grazing among the men and women, and pots and
11937
11938kettles, and half-lighted fires, and ends of candles flaring and
11939
11940wasting in the air--for all this, the child felt it an escape from the
11941
11942town and drew her breath more freely.  After a scanty supper, the
11943
11944purchase of which reduced her little stock so low, that she had only a
11945
11946few halfpence with which to buy a breakfast on the morrow, she and the
11947
11948old man lay down to rest in a corner of a tent, and slept, despite the
11949
11950busy preparations that were going on around them all night long.<br><br>
11951
11952And now they had come to the time when they must beg their bread.  Soon
11953
11954after sunrise in the morning she stole out from the tent, and rambling
11955
11956into some fields at a short distance, plucked a few wild roses and such
11957
11958humble flowers, purposing to make them into little nosegays and offer
11959
11960them to the ladies in the carriages when the company arrived.  Her
11961
11962thoughts were not idle while she was thus employed; when she returned
11963
11964and was seated beside the old man in one corner of the tent, tying her
11965
11966flowers together, while the two men lay dozing in another corner, she
11967
11968plucked him by the sleeve, and slightly glancing towards them, said, in
11969
11970a low voice--<br><br>
11971
11972'Grandfather, don't look at those I talk of, and don't seem as if I
11973
11974spoke of anything but what I am about.  What was that you told me
11975
11976before we left the old house?  That if they knew what we were going to
11977
11978do, they would say that you were mad, and part us?'<br><br>
11979
11980The old man turned to her with an aspect of wild terror; but she
11981
11982checked him by a look, and bidding him hold some flowers while she tied
11983
11984them up, and so bringing her lips closer to his ear, said--<br><br>
11985
11986'I know that was what you told me.  You needn't speak, dear.  I
11987
11988recollect it very well.  It was not likely that I should forget it.
11989
11990Grandfather, these men suspect that we have secretly left our friends,
11991
11992and mean to carry us before some gentleman and have us taken care of
11993
11994and sent back.  If you let your hand tremble so, we can never get away
11995
11996from them, but if you're only quiet now, we shall do so, easily.'<br><br>
11997
11998'How?' muttered the old man.  'Dear Nelly, how?  They will shut me up
11999
12000in a stone room, dark and cold, and chain me up to the wall, Nell--flog
12001
12002me with whips, and never let me see thee more!'<br><br>
12003
12004'You're trembling again,' said the child.  'Keep close to me all day.
12005
12006Never mind them, don't look at them, but me.  I shall find a time when
12007
12008we can steal away.  When I do, mind you come with me, and do not stop
12009
12010or speak a word.  Hush!  That's all.'<br><br>
12011
12012'Halloa! what are you up to, my dear?' said Mr Codlin, raising his
12013
12014head, and yawning.  Then observing that his companion was fast asleep,
12015
12016he added in an earnest whisper, 'Codlin's the friend, remember--not
12017
12018Short.'<br><br>
12019
12020'Making some nosegays,' the child replied; 'I am going to try and sell
12021
12022some, these three days of the races.  Will you have one--as a present I
12023
12024mean?'<br><br>
12025
12026Mr Codlin would have risen to receive it, but the child hurried towards
12027
12028him and placed it in his hand.  He stuck it in his buttonhole with an
12029
12030air of ineffable complacency for a misanthrope, and leering exultingly
12031
12032at the unconscious Short, muttered, as he laid himself down again, 'Tom
12033
12034Codlin's the friend, by G--!'<br><br>
12035
12036As the morning wore on, the tents assumed a gayer and more brilliant
12037
12038appearance, and long lines of carriages came rolling softly on the
12039
12040turf.  Men who had lounged about all night in smock-frocks and leather
12041
12042leggings, came out in silken vests and hats and plumes, as jugglers or
12043
12044mountebanks; or in gorgeous liveries as soft-spoken servants at
12045
12046gambling booths; or in sturdy yeoman dress as decoys at unlawful games.
12047
12048Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to
12049
12050tell fortunes, and pale slender women with consumptive faces lingered
12051
12052upon the footsteps of ventriloquists and conjurors, and counted the
12053
12054sixpences with anxious eyes long before they were gained.  As many of
12055
12056the children as could be kept within bounds, were stowed away, with all
12057
12058the other signs of dirt and poverty, among the donkeys, carts, and
12059
12060horses; and as many as could not be thus disposed of ran in and out in
12061
12062all intricate spots, crept between people's legs and carriage wheels,
12063
12064and came forth unharmed from under horses' hoofs.  The dancing-dogs,
12065
12066the stilts, the little lady and the tall man, and all the other
12067
12068attractions, with organs out of number and bands innumerable, emerged
12069
12070from the holes and corners in which they had passed the night, and
12071
12072flourished boldly in the sun.<br><br>
12073
12074Along the uncleared course, Short led his party, sounding the brazen
12075
12076trumpet and revelling in the voice of Punch; and at his heels went
12077
12078Thomas Codlin, bearing the show as usual, and keeping his eye on Nelly
12079
12080and her grandfather, as they rather lingered in the rear.  The child
12081
12082bore upon her arm the little basket with her flowers, and sometimes
12083
12084stopped, with timid and modest looks, to offer them at some gay
12085
12086carriage; but alas! there were many bolder beggars there, gipsies who
12087
12088promised husbands, and other adepts in their trade, and although some
12089
12090ladies smiled gently as they shook their heads, and others cried to the
12091
12092gentlemen beside them 'See, what a pretty face!' they let the pretty
12093
12094face pass on, and never thought that it looked tired or hungry.<br><br>
12095
12096There was but one lady who seemed to understand the child, and she was
12097
12098one who sat alone in a handsome carriage, while two young men in
12099
12100dashing clothes, who had just dismounted from it, talked and laughed
12101
12102loudly at a little distance, appearing to forget her, quite.  There
12103
12104were many ladies all around, but they turned their backs, or looked
12105
12106another way, or at the two young men (not unfavourably at them), and
12107
12108left her to herself.  She motioned away a gipsy-woman urgent to tell
12109
12110her fortune, saying that it was told already and had been for some
12111
12112years, but called the child towards her, and taking her flowers put
12113
12114money into her trembling hand, and bade her go home and keep at home
12115
12116for God's sake.<br><br>
12117
12118Many a time they went up and down those long, long lines, seeing
12119
12120everything but the horses and the race; when the bell rang to clear the
12121
12122course, going back to rest among the carts and donkeys, and not coming
12123
12124out again until the heat was over.  Many a time, too, was Punch
12125
12126displayed in the full zenith of his humour, but all this while the eye
12127
12128of Thomas Codlin was upon them, and to escape without notice was
12129
12130impracticable.<br><br>
12131
12132At length, late in the day, Mr Codlin pitched the show in a convenient
12133
12134spot, and the spectators were soon in the very triumph of the scene.
12135
12136The child, sitting down with the old man close behind it, had been
12137
12138thinking how strange it was that horses who were such fine honest
12139
12140creatures should seem to make vagabonds of all the men they drew about
12141
12142them, when a loud laugh at some extemporaneous witticism of Mr Short's,
12143
12144having allusion to the circumstances of the day, roused her from her
12145
12146meditation and caused her to look around.<br><br>
12147
12148If they were ever to get away unseen, that was the very moment.  Short
12149
12150was plying the quarter-staves vigorously and knocking the characters in
12151
12152the fury of the combat against the sides of the show, the people were
12153
12154looking on with laughing faces, and Mr Codlin had relaxed into a grim
12155
12156smile as his roving eye detected hands going into waistcoat pockets and
12157
12158groping secretly for sixpences.  If they were ever to get away unseen,
12159
12160that was the very moment.  They seized it, and fled.<br><br>
12161
12162They made a path through booths and carriages and throngs of people,
12163
12164and never once stopped to look behind.  The bell was ringing and the
12165
12166course was cleared by the time they reached the ropes, but they dashed
12167
12168across it insensible to the shouts and screeching that assailed them
12169
12170for breaking in upon its sanctity, and creeping under the brow of the
12171
12172hill at a quick pace, made for the open fields.<br><br>
12173
12174CHAPTER 20<br><br>
12175
12176Day after day as he bent his steps homeward, returning from some new
12177
12178effort to procure employment, Kit raised his eyes to the window of the
12179
12180little room he had so much commended to the child, and hoped to see
12181
12182some indication of her presence.  His own earnest wish, coupled with
12183
12184the assurance he had received from Quilp, filled him with the belief
12185
12186that she would yet arrive to claim the humble shelter he had offered,
12187
12188and from the death of each day's hope another hope sprung up to live
12189
12190to-morrow.<br><br>
12191
12192'I think they must certainly come to-morrow, eh mother?' said Kit,
12193
12194laying aside his hat with a weary air and sighing as he spoke.  'They
12195
12196have been gone a week.  They surely couldn't stop away more than a
12197
12198week, could they now?'<br><br>
12199
12200The mother shook her head, and reminded him how often he had been
12201
12202disappointed already.<br><br>
12203
12204'For the matter of that,' said Kit, 'you speak true and sensible
12205
12206enough, as you always do, mother.  Still, I do consider that a week is
12207
12208quite long enough for 'em to be rambling about; don't you say so?'<br><br>
12209
12210'Quite long enough, Kit, longer than enough, but they may not come back
12211
12212for all that.'<br><br>
12213
12214Kit was for a moment disposed to be vexed by this contradiction, and
12215
12216not the less so from having anticipated it in his own mind and knowing
12217
12218how just it was.  But the impulse was only momentary, and the vexed
12219
12220look became a kind one before it had crossed the room.<br><br>
12221
12222'Then what do you think, mother, has become of 'em?  You don't think
12223
12224they've gone to sea, anyhow?'<br><br>
12225
12226'Not gone for sailors, certainly,' returned the mother with a smile.
12227
12228'But I can't help thinking that they have gone to some foreign country.'<br><br>
12229
12230'I say,' cried Kit with a rueful face, 'don't talk like that, mother.'<br><br>
12231
12232'I am afraid they have, and that's the truth,' she said.  'It's the
12233
12234talk of all the neighbours, and there are some even that know of their
12235
12236having been seen on board ship, and can tell you the name of the place
12237
12238they've gone to, which is more than I can, my dear, for it's a very
12239
12240hard one.'<br><br>
12241
12242'I don't believe it,' said Kit.  'Not a word of it.  A set of idle
12243
12244chatterboxes, how should they know!'<br><br>
12245
12246'They may be wrong of course,' returned the mother, 'I can't tell about
12247
12248that, though I don't think it's at all unlikely that they're in the
12249
12250right, for the talk is that the old gentleman had put by a little money
12251
12252that nobody knew of, not even that ugly little man you talk to me
12253
12254about--what's his name--Quilp; and that he and Miss Nell have gone to
12255
12256live abroad where it can't be taken from them, and they will never be
12257
12258disturbed.  That don't seem very far out of the way now, do it?'<br><br>
12259
12260Kit scratched his head mournfully, in reluctant admission that it did
12261
12262not, and clambering up to the old nail took down the cage and set
12263
12264himself to clean it and to feed the bird.  His thoughts reverting from
12265
12266this occupation to the little old gentleman who had given him the
12267
12268shilling, he suddenly recollected that that was the very day--nay,
12269
12270nearly the very hour--at which the little old gentleman had said he
12271
12272should be at the Notary's house again.  He no sooner remembered this,
12273
12274than he hung up the cage with great precipitation, and hastily
12275
12276explaining the nature of his errand, went off at full speed to the
12277
12278appointed place.<br><br>
12279
12280It was some two minutes after the time when he reached the spot, which
12281
12282was a considerable distance from his home, but by great good luck the
12283
12284little old gentleman had not yet arrived; at least there was no
12285
12286pony-chaise to be seen, and it was not likely that he had come and gone
12287
12288again in so short a space.  Greatly relieved to find that he was not
12289
12290too late, Kit leant against a lamp-post to take breath, and waited the
12291
12292advent of the pony and his charge.<br><br>
12293
12294Sure enough, before long the pony came trotting round the corner of the
12295
12296street, looking as obstinate as pony might, and picking his steps as if
12297
12298he were spying about for the cleanest places, and would by no means
12299
12300dirty his feet or hurry himself inconveniently.  Behind the pony sat
12301
12302the little old gentleman, and by the old gentleman's side sat the
12303
12304little old lady, carrying just such a nosegay as she had brought before.<br><br>
12305
12306The old gentleman, the old lady, the pony, and the chaise, came up the
12307
12308street in perfect unanimity, until they arrived within some half a
12309
12310dozen doors of the Notary's house, when the pony, deceived by a
12311
12312brass-plate beneath a tailor's knocker, came to a halt, and maintained
12313
12314by a sturdy silence, that that was the house they wanted.<br><br>
12315
12316'Now, Sir, will you ha' the goodness to go on; this is not the place,'
12317
12318said the old gentleman.<br><br>
12319
12320The pony looked with great attention into a fire-plug which was near
12321
12322him, and appeared to be quite absorbed in contemplating it.<br><br>
12323
12324'Oh dear, such a naughty Whisker!' cried the old lady.  'After being so
12325
12326good too, and coming along so well!  I am quite ashamed of him.  I
12327
12328don't know what we are to do with him, I really don't.'<br><br>
12329
12330The pony having thoroughly satisfied himself as to the nature and
12331
12332properties of the fire-plug, looked into the air after his old enemies
12333
12334the flies, and as there happened to be one of them tickling his ear at
12335
12336that moment he shook his head and whisked his tail, after which he
12337
12338appeared full of thought but quite comfortable and collected.  The old
12339
12340gentleman having exhausted his powers of persuasion, alighted to lead
12341
12342him; whereupon the pony, perhaps because he held this to be a
12343
12344sufficient concession, perhaps because he happened to catch sight of
12345
12346the other brass-plate, or perhaps because he was in a spiteful humour,
12347
12348darted off with the old lady and stopped at the right house, leaving
12349
12350the old gentleman to come panting on behind.<br><br>
12351
12352It was then that Kit presented himself at the pony's head, and touched
12353
12354his hat with a smile.<br><br>
12355
12356'Why, bless me,' cried the old gentleman, 'the lad is here!  My dear,
12357
12358do you see?'<br><br>
12359
12360'I said I'd be here, Sir,' said Kit, patting Whisker's neck.  'I hope
12361
12362you've had a pleasant ride, sir.  He's a very nice little pony.'<br><br>
12363
12364'My dear,' said the old gentleman.  'This is an uncommon lad; a good
12365
12366lad, I'm sure.'<br><br>
12367
12368'I'm sure he is,' rejoined the old lady.  'A very good lad, and I am
12369
12370sure he is a good son.'<br><br>
12371
12372Kit acknowledged these expressions of confidence by touching his hat
12373
12374again and blushing very much.  The old gentleman then handed the old
12375
12376lady out, and after looking at him with an approving smile, they went
12377
12378into the house--talking about him as they went, Kit could not help
12379
12380feeling.  Presently Mr Witherden, smelling very hard at the nosegay,
12381
12382came to the window and looked at him, and after that Mr Abel came and
12383
12384looked at him, and after that the old gentleman and lady came and
12385
12386looked at him again, and after that they all came and looked at him
12387
12388together, which Kit, feeling very much embarrassed by, made a pretence
12389
12390of not observing.  Therefore he patted the pony more and more; and this
12391
12392liberty the pony most handsomely permitted.<br><br>
12393
12394The faces had not disappeared from the window many moments, when Mr
12395
12396Chuckster in his official coat, and with his hat hanging on his head
12397
12398just as it happened to fall from its peg, appeared upon the pavement,
12399
12400and telling him he was wanted inside, bade him go in and he would mind
12401
12402the chaise the while.  In giving him this direction Mr Chuckster
12403
12404remarked that he wished that he might be blessed if he could make out
12405
12406whether he (Kit) was 'precious raw' or 'precious deep,' but intimated
12407
12408by a distrustful shake of the head, that he inclined to the latter
12409
12410opinion.<br><br>
12411
12412Kit entered the office in a great tremor, for he was not used to going
12413
12414among strange ladies and gentlemen, and the tin boxes and bundles of
12415
12416dusty papers had in his eyes an awful and venerable air.  Mr Witherden
12417
12418too was a bustling gentleman who talked loud and fast, and all eyes
12419
12420were upon him, and he was very shabby.<br><br>
12421
12422'Well, boy,' said Mr Witherden, 'you came to work out that
12423
12424shilling;--not to get another, hey?'<br><br>
12425
12426'No indeed, sir,' replied Kit, taking courage to look up.  'I never
12427
12428thought of such a thing.'<br><br>
12429
12430'Father alive?' said the Notary.<br><br>
12431
12432'Dead, sir.'<br><br>
12433
12434'Mother?'<br><br>
12435
12436'Yes, sir.'<br><br>
12437
12438'Married again--eh?'<br><br>
12439
12440Kit made answer, not without some indignation, that she was a widow
12441
12442with three children, and that as to her marrying again, if the
12443
12444gentleman knew her he wouldn't think of such a thing.  At this reply Mr
12445
12446Witherden buried his nose in the flowers again, and whispered behind
12447
12448the nosegay to the old gentleman that he believed the lad was as honest
12449
12450a lad as need be.<br><br>
12451
12452'Now,' said Mr Garland when they had made some further inquiries of
12453
12454him, 'I am not going to give you anything--'<br><br>
12455
12456'Thank you, sir,' Kit replied; and quite seriously too, for this
12457
12458announcement seemed to free him from the suspicion which the Notary had
12459
12460hinted.<br><br>
12461
12462'--But,' resumed the old gentleman, 'perhaps I may want to know
12463
12464something more about you, so tell me where you live, and I'll put it
12465
12466down in my pocket-book.'<br><br>
12467
12468Kit told him, and the old gentleman wrote down the address with his
12469
12470pencil.  He had scarcely done so, when there was a great uproar in the
12471
12472street, and the old lady hurrying to the window cried that Whisker had
12473
12474run away, upon which Kit darted out to the rescue, and the others
12475
12476followed.<br><br>
12477
12478It seemed that Mr Chuckster had been standing with his hands in his
12479
12480pockets looking carelessly at the pony, and occasionally insulting him
12481
12482with such admonitions as 'Stand still,'--'Be quiet,'--'Wo-a-a,' and the
12483
12484like, which by a pony of spirit cannot be borne.  Consequently, the
12485
12486pony being deterred by no considerations of duty or obedience, and n
12486ot
12487
12488having before him the slightest fear of the human eye, had at length
12489
12490started off, and was at that moment rattling down the street--Mr
12491
12492Chuckster, with his hat off and a pen behind his ear, hanging on in the
12493
12494rear of the chaise and making futile attempts to draw it the other way,
12495
12496to the unspeakable admiration of all beholders.  Even in running away,
12497
12498however, Whisker was perverse, for he had not gone very far when he
12499
12500suddenly stopped, and before assistance could be rendered, commenced
12501
12502backing at nearly as quick a pace as he had gone forward.  By these
12503
12504means Mr Chuckster was pushed and hustled to the office again, in a
12505
12506most inglorious manner, and arrived in a state of great exhaustion and
12507
12508discomfiture.<br><br>
12509
12510The old lady then stepped into her seat, and Mr Abel (whom they had
12511
12512come to fetch) into his.  The old gentleman, after reasoning with the
12513
12514pony on the extreme impropriety of his conduct, and making the best
12515
12516amends in his power to Mr Chuckster, took his place also, and they
12517
12518drove away, waving a farewell to the Notary and his clerk, and more
12519
12520than once turning to nod kindly to Kit as he watched them from the road.<br><br>
12521
12522CHAPTER 21<br><br>
12523
12524Kit turned away and very soon forgot the pony, and the chaise, and the
12525
12526little old lady, and the little old gentleman, and the little young
12527
12528gentleman to boot, in thinking what could have become of his late
12529
12530master and his lovely grandchild, who were the fountain-head of all his
12531
12532meditations.  Still casting about for some plausible means of
12533
12534accounting for their non-appearance, and of persuading himself that
12535
12536they must soon return, he bent his steps towards home, intending to
12537
12538finish the task which the sudden recollection of his contract had
12539
12540interrupted, and then to sally forth once more to seek his fortune for
12541
12542the day.<br><br>
12543
12544When he came to the corner of the court in which he lived, lo and
12545
12546behold there was the pony again!  Yes, there he was, looking more
12547
12548obstinate than ever; and alone in the chaise, keeping a steady watch
12549
12550upon his every wink, sat Mr Abel, who, lifting up his eyes by chance
12551
12552and seeing Kit pass by, nodded to him as though he would have nodded
12553
12554his head off.<br><br>
12555
12556Kit wondered to see the pony again, so near his own home too, but it
12557
12558never occurred to him for what purpose the pony might have come there,
12559
12560or where the old lady and the old gentleman had gone, until he lifted
12561
12562the latch of the door, and walking in, found them seated in the room in
12563
12564conversation with his mother, at which unexpected sight he pulled off
12565
12566his hat and made his best bow in some confusion.<br><br>
12567
12568'We are here before you, you see, Christopher,' said Mr Garland smiling.<br><br>
12569
12570'Yes, sir,' said Kit; and as he said it, he looked towards his mother
12571
12572for an explanation of the visit.<br><br>
12573
12574'The gentleman's been kind enough, my dear,' said she, in reply to this
12575
12576mute interrogation, 'to ask me whether you were in a good place, or in
12577
12578any place at all, and when I told him no, you were not in any, he was
12579
12580so good as to say that--'<br><br>
12581
12582'--That we wanted a good lad in our house,' said the old gentleman and
12583
12584the old lady both together, 'and that perhaps we might think of it, if
12585
12586we found everything as we would wish it to be.'<br><br>
12587
12588As this thinking of it, plainly meant the thinking of engaging Kit, he
12589
12590immediately partook of his mother's anxiety and fell into a great
12591
12592flutter; for the little old couple were very methodical and cautious,
12593
12594and asked so many questions that he began to be afraid there was no
12595
12596chance of his success.<br><br>
12597
12598'You see, my good woman,' said Mrs Garland to Kit's mother, 'that it's
12599
12600necessary to be very careful and particular in such a matter as this,
12601
12602for we're only three in family, and are very quiet regular folks, and
12603
12604it would be a sad thing if we made any kind of mistake, and found
12605
12606things different from what we hoped and expected.'<br><br>
12607
12608To this, Kit's mother replied, that certainly it was quite true, and
12609
12610quite right, and quite proper, and Heaven forbid that she should
12611
12612shrink, or have cause to shrink, from any inquiry into her character or
12613
12614that of her son, who was a very good son though she was his mother, in
12615
12616which respect, she was bold to say, he took after his father, who was
12617
12618not only a good son to HIS mother, but the best of husbands and the
12619
12620best of fathers besides, which Kit could and would corroborate she
12621
12622knew, and so would little Jacob and the baby likewise if they were old
12623
12624enough, which unfortunately they were not, though as they didn't know
12625
12626what a loss they had had, perhaps it was a great deal better that they
12627
12628should be as young as they were; and so Kit's mother wound up a long
12629
12630story by wiping her eyes with her apron, and patting little Jacob's
12631
12632head, who was rocking the cradle and staring with all his might at the
12633
12634strange lady and gentleman.<br><br>
12635
12636When Kit's mother had done speaking, the old lady struck in again, and
12637
12638said that she was quite sure she was a very honest and very respectable
12639
12640person or she never would have expressed herself in that manner, and
12641
12642that certainly the appearance of the children and the cleanliness of
12643
12644the house deserved great praise and did her the utmost credit, whereat
12645
12646Kit's mother dropped a curtsey and became consoled.  Then the good
12647
12648woman entered in a long and minute account of Kit's life and history
12649
12650from the earliest period down to that time, not omitting to make
12651
12652mention of his miraculous fall out of a back-parlour window when an
12653
12654infant of tender years, or his uncommon sufferings in a state of
12655
12656measles, which were illustrated by correct imitations of the plaintive
12657
12658manner in which he called for toast and water, day and night, and said,
12659
12660'don't cry, mother, I shall soon be better;' for proof of which
12661
12662statements reference was made to Mrs Green, lodger, at the
12663
12664cheesemonger's round the corner, and divers other ladies and gentlemen
12665
12666in various parts of England and Wales (and one Mr Brown who was
12667
12668supposed to be then a corporal in the East Indies, and who could of
12669
12670course be found with very little trouble), within whose personal
12671
12672knowledge the circumstances had occurred.  This narration ended, Mr
12673
12674Garland put some questions to Kit respecting his qualifications and
12675
12676general acquirements, while Mrs Garland noticed the children, and
12677
12678hearing from Kit's mother certain remarkable circumstances which had
12679
12680attended the birth of each, related certain other remarkable
12681
12682circumstances which had attended the birth of her own son, Mr Abel,
12683
12684from which it appeared that both Kit's mother and herself had been,
12685
12686above and beyond all other women of what condition or age soever,
12687
12688peculiarly hemmed in with perils and dangers.  Lastly, inquiry w
12688as made
12689
12690into the nature and extent of Kit's wardrobe, and a small advance being
12691
12692made to improve the same, he was formally hired at an annual income of
12693
12694Six Pounds, over and above his board and lodging, by Mr and Mrs
12695
12696Garland, of Abel Cottage, Finchley.<br><br>
12697
12698It would be difficult to say which party appeared most pleased with
12699
12700this arrangement, the conclusion of which was hailed with nothing but
12701
12702pleasant looks and cheerful smiles on both sides.  It was settled that
12703
12704Kit should repair to his new abode on the next day but one, in the
12705
12706morning; and finally, the little old couple, after bestowing a bright
12707
12708half-crown on little Jacob and another on the baby, took their leaves;
12709
12710being escorted as far as the street by their new attendant, who held
12711
12712the obdurate pony by the bridle while they took their seats, and saw
12713
12714them drive away with a lightened heart.<br><br>
12715
12716'Well, mother,' said Kit, hurrying back into the house, 'I think my
12717
12718fortune's about made now.'<br><br>
12719
12720'I should think it was indeed, Kit,' rejoined his mother.  'Six pound a
12721
12722year!  Only think!'<br><br>
12723
12724'Ah!' said Kit, trying to maintain the gravity which the consideration
12725
12726of such a sum demanded, but grinning with delight in spite of himself.
12727
12728'There's a property!'<br><br>
12729
12730Kit drew a long breath when he had said this, and putting his hands
12731
12732deep into his pockets as if there were one year's wages at least in
12733
12734each, looked at his mother, as though he saw through her, and down an
12735
12736immense perspective of sovereigns beyond.<br><br>
12737
12738'Please God we'll make such a lady of you for Sundays, mother! such a
12739
12740scholar of Jacob, such a child of the baby, such a room of the one up
12741
12742stairs!  Six pound a year!'<br><br>
12743
12744'Hem!' croaked a strange voice.  'What's that about six pound a year?
12745
12746What about six pound a year?'  And as the voice made this inquiry,
12747
12748Daniel Quilp walked in with Richard Swiveller at his heels.<br><br>
12749
12750'Who said he was to have six pound a year?' said Quilp, looking sharply
12751
12752round.  'Did the old man say it, or did little Nell say it?  And what's
12753
12754he to have it for, and where are they, eh!'  The good woman was so much
12755
12756alarmed by the sudden apparition of this unknown piece of ugliness,
12757
12758that she hastily caught the baby from its cradle and retreated into the
12759
12760furthest corner of the room; while little Jacob, sitting upon his stool
12761
12762with his hands on his knees, looked full at him in a species of
12763
12764fascination, roaring lustily all the time.  Richard Swiveller took an
12765
12766easy observation of the family over Mr Quilp's head, and Quilp himself,
12767
12768with his hands in his pockets, smiled in an exquisite enjoyment of the
12769
12770commotion he occasioned.<br><br>
12771
12772'Don't be frightened, mistress,' said Quilp, after a pause.  'Your son
12773
12774knows me; I don't eat babies; I don't like 'em.  It will be as well to
12775
12776stop that young screamer though, in case I should be tempted to do him
12777
12778a mischief.  Holloa, sir!  Will you be quiet?'<br><br>
12779
12780Little Jacob stemmed the course of two tears which he was squeezing out
12781
12782of his eyes, and instantly subsided into a silent horror.<br><br>
12783
12784'Mind you don't break out again, you villain,' said Quilp, looking
12785
12786sternly at him, 'or I'll make faces at you and throw you into fits, I
12787
12788will.  Now you sir, why haven't you been to me as you promised?'<br><br>
12789
12790'What should I come for?' retorted Kit.  'I hadn't any business with
12791
12792you, no more than you had with me.'<br><br>
12793
12794'Here, mistress,' said Quilp, turning quickly away, and appealing from
12795
12796Kit to his mother.  'When did his old master come or send here last?
12797
12798Is he here now?  If not, where's he gone?'<br><br>
12799
12800'He has not been here at all,' she replied.  'I wish we knew where they
12801
12802have gone, for it would make my son a good deal easier in his mind, and
12803
12804me too.  If you're the gentleman named Mr Quilp, I should have thought
12805
12806you'd have known, and so I told him only this very day.'<br><br>
12807
12808'Humph!' muttered Quilp, evidently disappointed to believe that this
12809
12810was true.  'That's what you tell this gentleman too, is it?'<br><br>
12811
12812'If the gentleman comes to ask the same question, I can't tell him
12813
12814anything else, sir; and I only wish I could, for our own sakes,' was
12815
12816the reply.<br><br>
12817
12818Quilp glanced at Richard Swiveller, and observed that having met him on
12819
12820the threshold, he assumed that he had come in search of some
12821
12822intelligence of the fugitives.  He supposed he was right?<br><br>
12823
12824'Yes,' said Dick, 'that was the object of the present expedition.  I
12825
12826fancied it possible--but let us go ring fancy's knell.  I'll begin it.'<br><br>
12827
12828'You seem disappointed,' observed Quilp.<br><br>
12829
12830'A baffler, Sir, a baffler, that's all,' returned Dick.  'I have
12831
12832entered upon a speculation which has proved a baffler; and a Being of
12833
12834brightness and beauty will be offered up a sacrifice at Cheggs's altar.
12835
12836That's all, sir.'<br><br>
12837
12838The dwarf eyed Richard with a sarcastic smile, but Richard, who had
12839
12840been taking a rather strong lunch with a friend, observed him not, and
12841
12842continued to deplore his fate with mournful and despondent looks.
12843
12844Quilp plainly discerned that there was some secret reason for this
12845
12846visit and his uncommon disappointment, and, in the hope that there
12847
12848might be means of mischief lurking beneath it, resolved to worm it out.
12849
12850He had no sooner adopted this resolution, than he conveyed as much
12851
12852honesty into his face as it was capable of expressing, and sympathised
12853
12854with Mr Swiveller exceedingly.<br><br>
12855
12856'I am disappointed myself,' said Quilp, 'out of mere friendly feeling
12857
12858for them; but you have real reasons, private reasons I have no doubt,
12859
12860for your disappointment, and therefore it comes heavier than mine.'<br><br>
12861
12862'Why, of course it does,' Dick observed, testily.<br><br>
12863
12864'Upon my word, I'm very sorry, very sorry.  I'm rather cast down
12865
12866myself.  As we are companions in adversity, shall we be companions in
12867
12868the surest way of forgetting it?  If you had no particular business,
12869
12870now, to lead you in another direction,' urged Quilp, plucking him by
12871
12872the sleeve and looking slyly up into his face out of the corners of his
12873
12874eyes, 'there is a house by the water-side where they have some of the
12875
12876noblest Schiedam--reputed to be smuggled, but that's between
12877
12878ourselves--that can be got in all the world.  The landlord knows me.
12879
12880There's a little summer-house overlooking the river, where we might
12881
12882take a glass of this delicious liquor with a whiff of the best
12883
12884tobacco--it's in this case, and of the rarest quality, to my certain
12885
12886knowledge--and be perfectly snug and happy, could we possibly contrive
12887
12888it; or is there any very particular engagement that peremptorily takes
12889
12890you another way, Mr Swiveller, eh?'<br><br>
12891
12892As the dwarf spoke, Dick's face relaxed into a compliant smile, and his
12893
12894brows slowly unbent.  By the time he had finished, Dick was looking
12895
12896down at Quilp in the same sly manner as Quilp was looking up at him,
12897
12898and there remained nothing more to be done but to set out for the house
12899
12900in question.  This they did, straightway.  The moment their backs were
12901
12902turned, little Jacob thawed, and resumed his crying from the point
12903
12904where Quilp had frozen him.<br><br>
12905
12906The summer-house of which Mr Quilp had spoken was a rugged wooden box,
12907
12908rotten and bare to see, which overhung the river's mud, and threatened
12909
12910to slide down into it.  The tavern to which it belonged was a crazy
12911
12912building, sapped and undermined by the rats, and only upheld by great
12913
12914bars of wood which were reared against its walls, and had propped it up
12915
12916so long that even they were decaying and yielding with their load, and
12917
12918of a windy night might be heard to creak and crack as if the whole
12919
12920fabric were about to come toppling down.  The house stood--if anything
12921
12922so old and feeble could be said to stand--on a piece of waste ground,
12923
12924blighted with the unwholesome smoke of factory chimneys, and echoing
12925
12926the clank of iron wheels and rush of troubled water.  Its internal
12927
12928accommodations amply fulfilled the promise of the outside.  The rooms
12929
12930were low and damp, the clammy walls were pierced with chinks and holes,
12931
12932the rotten floors had sunk from their level, the very beams started
12933
12934from their places and warned the timid stranger from their
12935
12936neighbourhood.<br><br>
12937
12938To this inviting spot, entreating him to observe its beauties as they
12939
12940passed along, Mr Quilp led Richard Swiveller, and on the table of the
12941
12942summer-house, scored deep with many a gallows and initial letter, there
12943
12944soon appeared a wooden keg, full of the vaunted liquor.  Drawing it off
12945
12946into the glasses with the skill of a practised hand, and mixing it with
12947
12948about a third part of water, Mr Quilp assigned to Richard Swiveller his
12949
12950portion, and lighting his pipe from an end of a candle in a very old
12951
12952and battered lantern, drew himself together upon a seat and puffed away.<br><br>
12953
12954'Is it good?' said Quilp, as Richard Swiveller smacked his lips, 'is it
12955
12956strong and fiery?  Does it make you wink, and choke, and your eyes
12957
12958water, and your breath come short--does it?'<br><br>
12959
12960'Does it?' cried Dick, throwing away part of the contents of his glass,
12961
12962and filling it up with water, 'why, man, you don't mean to tell me that
12963
12964you drink such fire as this?'<br><br>
12965
12966'No!' rejoined Quilp, 'Not drink it!  Look here.  And here.  And here
12967
12968again.  Not drink it!'<br><br>
12969
12970As he spoke, Daniel Quilp drew off and drank three small glassfuls of
12971
12972the raw spirit, and then with a horrible grimace took a great many
12973
12974pulls at his pipe, and swallowing the smoke, discharged it in a heavy
12975
12976cloud from his nose.  This feat accomplished he drew himself together
12977
12978in his former position, and laughed excessively.<br><br>
12979
12980'Give us a toast!' cried Quilp, rattling on the table in a dexterous
12981
12982manner with his fist and elbow alternately, in a kind of tune, 'a
12983
12984woman, a beauty.  Let's have a beauty for our toast and empty our
12985
12986glasses to the last drop.  Her name, come!'<br><br>
12987
12988'If you want a name,' said Dick, 'here's Sophy Wackles.'<br><br>
12989
12990'Sophy Wackles,' screamed the dwarf, 'Miss Sophy Wackles that is--Mrs
12991
12992Richard Swiveller that shall be--that shall be--ha ha ha!'<br><br>
12993
12994'Ah!' said Dick, 'you might have said that a few weeks ago, but it
12995
12996won't do now, my buck.  Immolating herself upon the shrine of Cheggs--'<br><br>
12997
12998'Poison Cheggs, cut Cheggs's ears off,' rejoined Quilp.  'I won't hear
12999
13000of Cheggs.  Her name is Swiveller or nothing.  I'll drink her health
13001
13002again, and her father's, and her mother's; and to all her sisters and
13003
13004brothers--the glorious family of the Wackleses--all the Wackleses in
13005
13006one glass--down with it to the dregs!'<br><br>
13007
13008'Well,' said Richard Swiveller, stopping short in the act of raising
13009
13010the glass to his lips and looking at the dwarf in a species of stupor
13011
13012as he flourished his arms and legs about: 'you're a jolly fellow, but
13013
13014of all the jolly fellows I ever saw or heard of, you have the queerest
13015
13016and most extraordinary way with you, upon my life you have.'<br><br>
13017
13018This candid declaration tended rather to increase than restrain Mr
13019
13020Quilp's eccentricities, and Richard Swiveller, astonished to see him in
13021
13022such a roystering vein, and drinking not a little himself, for
13023
13024company--began imperceptibly to become more companionable and
13025
13026confiding, so that, being judiciously led on by Mr Quilp, he grew at
13027
13028last very confiding indeed.  Having once got him into this mood, and
13029
13030knowing now the key-note to strike whenever he was at a loss, Daniel
13031
13032Quilp's task was comparatively an easy one, and he was soon in
13033
13034possession of the whole details of the scheme contrived between the
13035
13036easy Dick and his more designing friend.<br><br>
13037
13038'Stop!' said Quilp.  'That's the thing, that's the thing.  It can be
13039
13040brought about, it shall be brought about.  There's my hand upon it; I
13041
13042am your friend from this minute.'<br><br>
13043
13044'What! do you think there's still a chance?' inquired Dick, in surprise
13045
13046at this encouragement.<br><br>
13047
13048'A chance!' echoed the dwarf, 'a certainty!  Sophy Wackles may become a
13049
13050Cheggs or anything else she likes, but not a Swiveller.  Oh you lucky
13051
13052dog!  He's richer than any Jew alive; you're a made man.  I see in you
13053
13054now nothing but Nelly's husband, rolling in gold and silver.  I'll help
13055
13056you.  It shall be done.  Mind my words, it shall be done.'<br><br>
13057
13058'But how?' said Dick.<br><br>
13059
13060'There's plenty of time,' rejoined the dwarf, 'and it shall be done.
13061
13062We'll sit down and talk it over again all the way through.  Fill your
13063
13064glass while I'm gone.  I shall be back directly--directly.'  With these
13065
13066hasty words, Daniel Quilp withdrew into a dismantled skittle-ground
13067
13068behind the public-house, and, throwing himself upon the ground actually
13069
13070screamed and rolled about in uncontrollable delight.<br><br>
13071
13072'Here's sport!' he cried, 'sport ready to my hand, all invented and
13073
13074arranged, and only to be enjoyed.  It was this shallow-pated fellow who
13075
13076made my bones ache t'other day, was it?  It was his friend and
13077
13078fellow-plotter, Mr Trent, that once made eyes at Mrs Quilp, and leered
13079
13080and looked, was it?  After labouring for two or three years in their
13081
13082precious scheme, to find that they've got a beggar at last, and one of
13083
13084them tied for life.  Ha ha ha!  He shall marry Nell.  He shall have
13085
13086her, and I'll be the first man, when the knot's tied hard and fast, to
13087
13088tell 'em what they've gained and what I've helped 'em to.  Here will be
13089
13090a clearing of old scores, here will be a time to remind 'em what a
13091
13092capital friend I was, and how I helped them to the heiress.  Ha ha ha!'<br><br>
13093
13094In the height of his ecstasy, Mr Quilp had like to have met with a
13095
13096disagreeable check, for rolling very near a broken dog-kennel, there
13097
13098leapt forth a large fierce dog, who, but that his chain was of the
13099
13100shortest, would have given him a disagreeable salute.  As it was, the
13101
13102dwarf remained upon his back in perfect safety, taunting the dog with
13103
13104hideous faces, and triumphing over him in his inability to advance
13105
13106another inch, though there were not a couple of feet between them.<br><br>
13107
13108'Why don't you come and bite me, why don't you come and tear me to
13109
13110pieces, you coward?' said Quilp, hissing and worrying the animal till
13111
13112he was nearly mad.  'You're afraid, you bully, you're afraid, you know
13113
13114you are.'<br><br>
13115
13116The dog tore and strained at his chain with starting eyes and furious
13117
13118bark, but there the dwarf lay, snapping his fingers with gestures of
13119
13120defiance and contempt.  When he had sufficiently recovered from his
13121
13122delight, he rose, and with his arms a-kimbo, achieved a kind of
13123
13124demon-dance round the kennel, just without the limits of the chain,
13125
13126driving the dog quite wild.  Having by this means composed his spirits
13127
13128and put himself in a pleasant train, he returned to his unsuspicious
13129
13130companion, whom he found looking at the tide with exceeding gravity,
13131
13132and thinking of that same gold and silver which Mr Quilp had mentioned.<br><br>
13133
13134CHAPTER 22<br><br>
13135
13136The remainder of that day and the whole of the next were a busy time
13137
13138for the Nubbles family, to whom everything connected with Kit's outfit
13139
13140and departure was matter of as great moment as if he had been about to
13141
13142penetrate into the interior of Africa, or to take a cruise round the
13143
13144world.  It would be difficult to suppose that there ever was a box
13145
13146which was opened and shut so many times within four-and-twenty hours,
13147
13148as that which contained his wardrobe and necessaries; and certainly
13149
13150there never was one which to two small eyes presented such a mine of
13151
13152clothing, as this mighty chest with its three shirts and proportionate
13153
13154allowance of stockings and pocket-handkerchiefs, disclosed to the
13155
13156astonished vision of little Jacob.  At last it was conveyed to the
13157
13158carrier's, at whose house at Finchley Kit was to find it next day; and
13159
13160the box being gone, there remained but two questions for consideration:
13161
13162firstly, whether the carrier would lose, or dishonestly feign to lose,
13163
13164the box upon the road; secondly, whether Kit's mother perfectly
13165
13166understood how to take care of herself in the absence of her son.<br><br>
13167
13168'I don't think there's hardly a chance of his really losing it, but
13169
13170carriers are under great temptation to pretend they lose things, no
13171
13172doubt,' said Mrs Nubbles apprehensively, in reference to the first
13173
13174point.<br><br>
13175
13176'No doubt about it,' returned Kit, with a serious look; 'upon my word,
13177
13178mother, I don't think it was right to trust it to itself.  Somebody
13179
13180ought to have gone with it, I'm afraid.'<br><br>
13181
13182'We can't help it now,' said his mother; 'but it was foolish and wrong.
13183
13184People oughtn't to be tempted.'<br><br>
13185
13186Kit inwardly resolved that he would never tempt a carrier any more,
13187
13188save with an empty box; and having formed this Christian determination,
13189
13190he turned his thoughts to the second question.<br><br>
13191
13192'YOU know you must keep up your spirits, mother, and not be lonesome
13193
13194because I'm not at home.  I shall very often be able to look in when I
13195
13196come into town I dare say, and I shall send you a letter sometimes, and
13197
13198when the quarter comes round, I can get a holiday of course; and then
13199
13200see if we don't take little Jacob to the play, and let him know what
13201
13202oysters means.'<br><br>
13203
13204'I hope plays mayn't be sinful, Kit, but I'm a'most afraid,' said Mrs
13205
13206Nubbles.<br><br>
13207
13208'I know who has been putting that in your head,' rejoined her son
13209
13210disconsolately; 'that's Little Bethel again.  Now I say, mother, pray
13211
13212don't take to going there regularly, for if I was to see your
13213
13214good-humoured face that has always made home cheerful, turned into a
13215
13216grievous one, and the baby trained to look grievous too, and to call
13217
13218itself a young sinner (bless its heart) and a child of the devil (which
13219
13220is calling its dead father names); if I was to see this, and see little
13221
13222Jacob looking grievous likewise, I should so take it to heart that I'm
13223
13224sure I should go and list for a soldier, and run my head on purpose
13225
13226against the first cannon-ball I saw coming my way.'<br><br>
13227
13228'Oh, Kit, don't talk like that.'<br><br>
13229
13230'I would, indeed, mother, and unless you want to make me feel very
13231
13232wretched and uncomfortable, you'll keep that bow on your bonnet, which
13233
13234you'd more than half a mind to pull off last week.  Can you suppose
13235
13236there's any harm in looking as cheerful and being as cheerful as our
13237
13238poor circumstances will permit?  Do I see anything in the way I'm made,
13239
13240which calls upon me to be a snivelling, solemn, whispering chap,
13241
13242sneaking about as if I couldn't help it, and expressing myself in a
13243
13244most unpleasant snuffle?  on the contrary, don't I see every reason why
13245
13246I shouldn't?  just hear this!  Ha ha ha!  An't that as nat'ral as
13247
13248walking, and as good for the health?  Ha ha ha!  An't that as nat'ral
13249
13250as a sheep's bleating, or a pig's grunting, or a horse's neighing, or a
13251
13252bird's singing?  Ha ha ha!  Isn't it, mother?'<br><br>
13253
13254There was something contagious in Kit's laugh, for his mother, who had
13255
13256looked grave before, first subsided into a smile, and then fell to
13257
13258joining in it heartily, which occasioned Kit to say that he knew it was
13259
13260natural, and to laugh the more.  Kit and his mother, laughing together
13261
13262in a pretty loud key, woke the baby, who, finding that there was
13263
13264something very jovial and agreeable in progress, was no sooner in its
13265
13266mother's arms than it began to kick and laugh, most vigorously.  This
13267
13268new illustration of his argument so tickled Kit, that he fell backward
13269
13270in his chair in a state of exhaustion, pointing at the baby and shaking
13271
13272his sides till he rocked again.  After recovering twice or thrice, and
13273
13274as often relapsing, he wiped his eyes and said grace; and a very
13275
13276cheerful meal their scanty supper was.<br><br>
13277
13278With more kisses, and hugs, and tears, than many young gentlemen who
13279
13280start upon their travels, and leave well-stocked homes behind them,
13281
13282would deem within the bounds of probability (if matter so low could be
13283
13284herein set down), Kit left the house at an early hour next morning, and
13285
13286set out to walk to Finchley; feeling a sufficient pride in his
13287
13288appearance to have warranted his excommunication from Little Bethel
13289
13290from that time forth, if he had ever been one of that mournful
13291
13292congregation.<br><br>
13293
13294Lest anybody should feel a curiosity to know how Kit was clad, it may
13295
13296be briefly remarked that he wore no livery, but was dressed in a coat
13297
13298of pepper-and-salt with waistcoat of canary colour, and nether garments
13299
13300of iron-grey; besides these glories, he shone in the lustre of a new
13301
13302pair of boots and an extremely stiff and shiny hat, which on being
13303
13304struck anywhere with the knuckles, sounded like a drum.  And in this
13305
13306attire, rather wondering that he attracted so little attention, and
13307
13308attributing the circumstance to the insensibility of those who got up
13309
13310early, he made his way towards Abel Cottage.<br><br>
13311
13312Without encountering any more remarkable adventure on the road, than
13313
13314meeting a lad in a brimless hat, the exact counterpart of his old one,
13315
13316on whom he bestowed half the sixpence he possessed, Kit arrived in
13317
13318course of time at the carrier's house, where, to the lasting honour of
13319
13320human nature, he found the box in safety.  Receiving from the wife of
13321
13322this immaculate man, a direction to Mr Garland's, he took the box upon
13323
13324his shoulder and repaired thither directly.<br><br>
13325
13326To be sure, it was a beautiful little cottage with a thatched roof and
13327
13328little spires at the gable-ends, and pieces of stained glass in some of
13329
13330the windows, almost as large as pocket-books.  On one side of the house
13331
13332was a little stable, just the size for the pony, with a little room
13333
13334over it, just the size for Kit.  White curtains were fluttering, and
13335
13336birds in cages that looked as bright as if they were made of gold, were
13337
13338singing at the windows; plants were arranged on either side of the
13339
13340path, and clustered about the door; and the garden was bright with
13341
13342flowers in full bloom, which shed a sweet odour all round, and had a
13343
13344charming and elegant appearance.  Everything within the house and
13345
13346without, seemed to be the perfection of neatness and order.  In the
13347
13348garden there was not a weed to be seen, and to judge from some dapper
13349
13350gardening-tools, a basket, and a pair of gloves which were lying in one
13351
13352of the walks, old Mr Garland had been at work in it that very morning.<br><br>
13353
13354Kit looked about him, and admired, and looked again, and this a great
13355
13356many times before he could make up his mind to turn his head another
13357
13358way and ring the bell.  There was abundance of time to look about him
13359
13360again though, when he had rung it, for nobody came, so after ringing it
13361
13362twice or thrice he sat down upon his box, and waited.<br><br>
13363
13364He rang the bell a great many times, and yet nobody came.  But at last,
13365
13366as he was sitting upon the box thinking about giants' castles, and
13367
13368princesses tied up to pegs by the hair of their heads, and dragons
13369
13370bursting out from behind gates, and other incidents of the like nature,
13371
13372common in story-books to youths of low degree on their first visit to
13373
13374strange houses, the door was gently opened, and a little servant-girl,
13375
13376very tidy, modest, and demure, but very pretty too, appeared.  'I
13377
13378suppose you're Christopher, sir,' said the servant-girl.<br><br>
13379
13380Kit got off the box, and said yes, he was.<br><br>
13381
13382'I'm afraid you've rung a good many times perhaps,' she rejoined, 'but
13383
13384we couldn't hear you, because we've been catching the pony.'<br><br>
13385
13386Kit rather wondered what this meant, but as he couldn't stop there,
13387
13388asking questions, he shouldered the box again and followed the girl
13389
13390into the hall, where through a back-door he descried Mr Garland leading
13391
13392Whisker in triumph up the garden, after that self-willed pony had (as
13393
13394he afterwards learned) dodged the family round a small paddock in the
13395
13396rear, for one hour and three quarters.<br><br>
13397
13398The old gentleman received him very kindly and so did the old lady,
13399
13400whose previous good opinion of him was greatly enhanced by his wiping
13401
13402his boots on the mat until the soles of his feet burnt again.  He was
13403
13404then taken into the parlour to be inspected in his new clothes; and
13405
13406when he had been surveyed several times, and had afforded by his
13407
13408appearance unlimited satisfaction, he was taken into the stable (where
13409
13410the pony received him with uncommon complaisance); and thence into the
13411
13412little chamber he had already observed, which was very clean and
13413
13414comfortable: and thence into the garden, in which the old gentleman
13415
13416told him he would be taught to employ himself, and where he told him,
13417
13418besides, what great things he meant to do to make him comfortable, and
13419
13420happy, if he found he deserved it.  All these kindnesses, Kit
13421
13422acknowledged with various expressions of gratitude, and so many touches
13423
13424of the new hat, that the brim suffered considerably.  When the old
13425
13426gentleman had said all he had to say in the way of promise and advice,
13427
13428and Kit had said all he had to say in the way of assurance and
13429
13430thankfulness, he was handed over again to the old lady, who, summoning
13431
13432the little servant-girl (whose name was Barbara) instructed her to take
13433
13434him down stairs and give him something to eat and drink, after his walk.<br><br>
13435
13436Down stairs, therefore, Kit went; and at the bottom of the stairs there
13437
13438was such a kitchen as was never before seen or heard of out of a
13439
13440toy-shop window, with everything in it as bright and glowing, and as
13441
13442precisely ordered too, as Barbara herself.  And in this kitchen, Kit
13443
13444sat himself down at a table as white as a tablecloth, to eat cold meat,
13445
13446and drink small ale, and use his knife and fork the more awkwardly,
13447
13448because there was an unknown Barbara looking on and observing him.<br><br>
13449
13450It did not appear, however, that there was anything remarkably
13451
13452tremendous about this strange Barbara, who having lived a very quiet
13453
13454life, blushed very much and was quite as embarrassed and uncertain what
13455
13456she ought to say or do, as Kit could possibly be.  When he had sat for
13457
13458some little time, attentive to the ticking of the sober clock, he
13459
13460ventured to glance curiously at the dresser, and there, among the
13461
13462plates and dishes, were Barbara's little work-box with a sliding lid to
13463
13464shut in the balls of cotton, and Barbara's prayer-book, and Barbara's
13465
13466hymn-book, and Barbara's Bible.  Barbara's little looking-glass hung in
13467
13468a good light near the window, and Barbara's bonnet was on a nail behind
13469
13470the door.  From all these mute signs and tokens of her presence, he
13471
13472naturally glanced at Barbara herself, who sat as mute as they, shelling
13473
13474peas into a dish; and just when Kit was looking at her eyelashes and
13475
13476wondering--quite in the simplicity of his heart--what colour her eyes
13477
13478might be, it perversely happened that Barbara raised her head a little
13479
13480to look at him, when both pair of eyes were hastily withdrawn, and Kit
13481
13482leant over his plate, and Barbara over her pea-shells, each in extreme
13483
13484confusion at having been detected by the other.<br><br>
13485
13486CHAPTER 23<br><br>
13487
13488Mr Richard Swiveller wending homeward from the Wilderness (for such was
13489
13490the appropriate name of Quilp's choice retreat), after a sinuous and
13491
13492corkscrew fashion, with many checks and stumbles; after stopping
13493
13494suddenly and staring about him, then as suddenly running forward for a
13495
13496few paces, and as suddenly halting again and shaking his head; doing
13497
13498everything with a jerk and nothing by premeditation;--Mr Richard
13499
13500Swiveller wending his way homeward after this fashion, which is
13501
13502considered by evil-minded men to be symbolical of intoxication, and is
13503
13504not held by such persons to denote that state of deep wisdom and
13505
13506reflection in which the actor knows himself to be, began to think that
13507
13508possibly he had misplaced his confidence and that the dwarf might not
13509
13510be precisely the sort of person to whom to entrust a secret of such
13511
13512delicacy and importance.  And being led and tempted on by this
13513
13514remorseful thought into a condition which the evil-minded class before
13515
13516referred to would term the maudlin state or stage of drunkenness, it
13517
13518occurred to Mr Swiveller to cast his hat upon the ground, and moan,
13519
13520crying aloud that he was an unhappy orphan, and that if he had not been
13521
13522an unhappy orphan things had never come to this.<br><br>
13523
13524'Left an infant by my parents, at an early age,' said Mr Swiveller,
13525
13526bewailing his hard lot, 'cast upon the world in my tenderest period,
13527
13528and thrown upon the mercies of a deluding dwarf, who can wonder at my
13529
13530weakness!  Here's a miserable orphan for you.  Here,' said Mr Swiveller
13531
13532raising his voice to a high pitch, and looking sleepily round, 'is a
13533
13534miserable orphan!'<br><br>
13535
13536'Then,' said somebody hard by, 'let me be a father to you.'<br><br>
13537
13538Mr Swiveller swayed himself to and fro to preserve his balance, and,
13539
13540looking into a kind of haze which seemed to surround him, at last
13541
13542perceived two eyes dimly twinkling through the mist, which he observed
13543
13544after a short time were in the neighbourhood of a nose and mouth.
13545
13546Casting his eyes down towards that quarter in which, with reference to
13547
13548a man's face, his legs are usually to be found, he observed that the
13549
13550face had a body attached; and when he looked more intently he was
13551
13552satisfied that the person was Mr Quilp, who indeed had been in his
13553
13554company all the time, but whom he had some vague idea of having left a
13555
13556mile or two behind.<br><br>
13557
13558'You have deceived an orphan, Sir,' said Mr Swiveller solemnly.'<br><br>
13559
13560'I!  I'm a second father to you,' replied Quilp.<br><br>
13561
13562'You my father, Sir!' retorted Dick.  'Being all right myself, Sir, I
13563
13564request to be left alone--instantly, Sir.'<br><br>
13565
13566'What a funny fellow you are!' cried Quilp.<br><br>
13567
13568'Go, Sir,' returned Dick, leaning against a post and waving his hand.
13569
13570'Go, deceiver, go, some day, Sir, p'r'aps you'll waken, from pleasure's
13571
13572dream to know, the grief of orphans forsaken.  Will you go, Sir?'<br><br>
13573
13574The dwarf taking no heed of this adjuration, Mr Swiveller advanced with
13575
13576the view of inflicting upon him condign chastisement.  But forgetting
13577
13578his purpose or changing his mind before he came close to him, he seized
13579
13580his hand and vowed eternal friendship, declaring with an agreeable
13581
13582frankness that from that time forth they were brothers in everything
13583
13584but personal appearance.  Then he told his secret over again, with the
13585
13586addition of being pathetic on the subject of Miss Wackles, who, he gave
13587
13588Mr Quilp to understand, was the occasion of any slight incoherency he
13589
13590might observe in his speech at that moment, which was attributable
13591
13592solely to the strength of his affection and not to rosy wine or other
13593
13594fermented liquor.  And then they went on arm-in-arm, very lovingly
13595
13596together.<br><br>
13597
13598'I'm as sharp,' said Quilp to him, at parting, 'as sharp as a ferret,
13599
13600and as cunning as a weazel.  You bring Trent to me; assure him that I'm
13601
13602his friend though I fear he a little distrusts me (I don't know 
13602why, I
13603
13604have not deserved it); and you've both of you made your fortunes--in
13605
13606perspective.'<br><br>
13607
13608'That's the worst of it,' returned Dick.  'These fortunes in
13609
13610perspective look such a long way off.'<br><br>
13611
13612'But they look smaller than they really are, on that account,' said
13613
13614Quilp, pressing his arm.  'You'll have no conception of the value of
13615
13616your prize until you draw close to it.  Mark that.'<br><br>
13617
13618'D'ye think not?' said Dick.<br><br>
13619
13620'Aye, I do; and I am certain of what I say, that's better,' returned
13621
13622the dwarf.  'You bring Trent to me.  Tell him I am his friend and
13623
13624yours--why shouldn't I be?'<br><br>
13625
13626'There's no reason why you shouldn't, certainly,' replied Dick, 'and
13627
13628perhaps there are a great many why you should--at least there would be
13629
13630nothing strange in your wanting to be my friend, if you were a choice
13631
13632spirit, but then you know you're not a choice spirit.'<br><br>
13633
13634'I not a choice spirit?' cried Quilp.<br><br>
13635
13636'Devil a bit, sir,' returned Dick.  'A man of your appearance couldn't
13637
13638be.  If you're any spirit at all, sir, you're an evil spirit.  Choice
13639
13640spirits,' added Dick, smiting himself on the breast, 'are quite a
13641
13642different looking sort of people, you may take your oath of that, sir.'<br><br>
13643
13644Quilp glanced at his free-spoken friend with a mingled expression of
13645
13646cunning and dislike, and wringing his hand almost at the same moment,
13647
13648declared that he was an uncommon character and had his warmest esteem.
13649
13650With that they parted; Mr Swiveller to make the best of his way home
13651
13652and sleep himself sober; and Quilp to cogitate upon the discovery he
13653
13654had made, and exult in the prospect of the rich field of enjoyment and
13655
13656reprisal it opened to him.<br><br>
13657
13658It was not without great reluctance and misgiving that Mr Swiveller,
13659
13660next morning, his head racked by the fumes of the renowned Schiedam,
13661
13662repaired to the lodging of his friend Trent (which was in the roof of
13663
13664an old house in an old ghostly inn), and recounted by very slow degrees
13665
13666what had yesterday taken place between him and Quilp.  Nor was it
13667
13668without great surprise and much speculation on Quilp's probable
13669
13670motives, nor without many bitter comments on Dick Swiveller's folly,
13671
13672that his friend received the tale.<br><br>
13673
13674'I don't defend myself, Fred,' said the penitent Richard; 'but the
13675
13676fellow has such a queer way with him and is such an artful dog, that
13677
13678first of all he set me upon thinking whether there was any harm in
13679
13680telling him, and while I was thinking, screwed it out of me.  If you
13681
13682had seen him drink and smoke, as I did, you couldn't have kept anything
13683
13684from him.  He's a Salamander you know, that's what he is.'<br><br>
13685
13686Without inquiring whether Salamanders were of necessity good
13687
13688confidential agents, or whether a fire-proof man was as a matter of
13689
13690course trustworthy, Frederick Trent threw himself into a chair, and,
13691
13692burying his head in his hands, endeavoured to fathom the motives which
13693
13694had led Quilp to insinuate himself into Richard Swiveller's
13695
13696confidence;--for that the disclosure was of his seeking, and had not
13697
13698been spontaneously revealed by Dick, was sufficiently plain from
13699
13700Quilp's seeking his company and enticing him away.<br><br>
13701
13702The dwarf had twice encountered him when he was endeavouring to obtain
13703
13704intelligence of the fugitives.  This, perhaps, as he had not shown any
13705
13706previous anxiety about them, was enough to awaken suspicion in the
13707
13708breast of a creature so jealous and distrustful by nature, setting
13709
13710aside any additional impulse to curiosity that he might have derived
13711
13712from Dick's incautious manner.  But knowing the scheme they had
13713
13714planned, why should he offer to assist it?  This was a question more
13715
13716difficult of solution; but as knaves generally overreach themselves by
13717
13718imputing their own designs to others, the idea immediately presented
13719
13720itself that some circumstances of irritation between Quilp and the old
13721
13722man, arising out of their secret transactions and not unconnected
13723
13724perhaps with his sudden disappearance, now rendered the former desirous
13725
13726of revenging himself upon him by seeking to entrap the sole object of
13727
13728his love and anxiety into a connexion of which he knew he had a dread
13729
13730and hatred.  As Frederick Trent himself, utterly regardless of his
13731
13732sister, had this object at heart, only second to the hope of gain, it
13733
13734seemed to him the more likely to be Quilp's main principle of action.
13735
13736Once investing the dwarf with a design of his own in abetting them,
13737
13738which the attainment of their purpose would serve, it was easy to
13739
13740believe him sincere and hearty in the cause; and as there could be no
13741
13742doubt of his proving a powerful and useful auxiliary, Trent determined
13743
13744to accept his invitation and go to his house that night, and if what he
13745
13746said and did confirmed him in the impression he had formed, to let him
13747
13748share the labour of their plan, but not the profit.<br><br>
13749
13750Having revolved these things in his mind and arrived at this
13751
13752conclusion, he communicated to Mr Swiveller as much of his meditations
13753
13754as he thought proper (Dick would have been perfectly satisfied with
13755
13756less), and giving him the day to recover himself from his late
13757
13758salamandering, accompanied him at evening to Mr Quilp's house.<br><br>
13759
13760Mighty glad Mr Quilp was to see them, or mightily glad he seemed to be;
13761
13762and fearfully polite Mr Quilp was to Mrs Quilp and Mrs Jiniwin; and
13763
13764very sharp was the look he cast on his wife to observe how she was
13765
13766affected by the recognition of young Trent.  Mrs Quilp was as innocent
13767
13768as her own mother of any emotion, painful or pleasant, which the sight
13769
13770of him awakened, but as her husband's glance made her timid and
13771
13772confused, and uncertain what to do or what was required of her, Mr
13773
13774Quilp did not fail to assign her embarrassment to the cause he had in
13775
13776his mind, and while he chuckled at his penetration was secretly
13777
13778exasperated by his jealousy.<br><br>
13779
13780Nothing of this appeared, however.  On the contrary, Mr Quilp was all
13781
13782blandness and suavity, and presided over the case-bottle of rum with
13783
13784extraordinary open-heartedness.<br><br>
13785
13786'Why, let me see,' said Quilp.  'It must be a matter of nearly two
13787
13788years since we were first acquainted.'<br><br>
13789
13790'Nearer three, I think,' said Trent.<br><br>
13791
13792'Nearer three!' cried Quilp.  'How fast time flies.  Does it seem as
13793
13794long as that to you, Mrs Quilp?'<br><br>
13795
13796'Yes, I think it seems full three years, Quilp,' was the unfortunate
13797
13798reply.<br><br>
13799
13800'Oh indeed, ma'am,' thought Quilp, 'you have been pining, have you?
13801
13802Very good, ma'am.'<br><br>
13803
13804'It seems to me but yesterday that you went out to Demerara in the Mary
13805
13806Anne,' said Quilp; 'but yesterday, I declare.  Well, I like a little
13807
13808wildness.  I was wild myself once.'<br><br>
13809
13810Mr Quilp accompanied this admission with such an awful wink, indicative
13811
13812of old rovings and backslidings, that Mrs Jiniwin was indignant, and
13813
13814could not forbear from remarking under her breath that he might at
13815
13816least put off his confessions until his wife was absent; for which act
13817
13818of boldness and insubordination Mr Quilp first stared her out of
13819
13820countenance and then drank her health ceremoniously.<br><br>
13821
13822'I thought you'd come back directly, Fred.  I always thought that,'
13823
13824said Quilp setting down his glass.  'And when the Mary Anne returned
13825
13826with you on board, instead of a letter to say what a contrite heart you
13827
13828had, and how happy you were in the situation that had been provided for
13829
13830you, I was amused--exceedingly amused.  Ha ha ha!'<br><br>
13831
13832The young man smiled, but not as though the theme was the most
13833
13834agreeable one that could have been selected for his entertainment; and
13835
13836for that reason Quilp pursued it.<br><br>
13837
13838'I always will say,' he resumed, 'that when a rich relation having two
13839
13840young people--sisters or brothers, or brother and sister--dependent on
13841
13842him, attaches himself exclusively to one, and casts off the other, he
13843
13844does wrong.'<br><br>
13845
13846The young man made a movement of impatience, but Quilp went on as
13847
13848calmly as if he were discussing some abstract question in which nobody
13849
13850present had the slightest personal interest.<br><br>
13851
13852'It's very true,' said Quilp, 'that your grandfather urged repeated
13853
13854forgiveness, ingratitude, riot, and extravagance, and all that; but as
13855
13856I told him "these are common faults."  "But he's a scoundrel," said he.
13857
13858"Granting that," said I (for the sake of argument of course), "a great
13859
13860many young noblemen and gentlemen are scoundrels too!" But he wouldn't
13861
13862be convinced.'<br><br>
13863
13864'I wonder at that, Mr Quilp,' said the young man sarcastically.<br><br>
13865
13866'Well, so did I at the time,' returned Quilp, 'but he was always
13867
13868obstinate.  He was in a manner a friend of mine, but he was always
13869
13870obstinate and wrong-headed.  Little Nell is a nice girl, a charming
13871
13872girl, but you're her brother, Frederick.  You're her brother after all;
13873
13874as you told him the last time you met, he can't alter that.'<br><br>
13875
13876'He would if he could, confound him for that and all other kindnesses,'
13877
13878said the young man impatiently.  'But nothing can come of this subject
13879
13880now, and let us have done with it in the Devil's name.'<br><br>
13881
13882'Agreed,' returned Quilp, 'agreed on my part readily.  Why have I
13883
13884alluded to it?  Just to show you, Frederick, that I have always stood
13885
13886your friend.  You little knew who was your friend, and who your foe;
13887
13888now did you?  You thought I was against you, and so there has been a
13889
13890coolness between us; but it was all on your side, entirely on your
13891
13892side.  Let's shake hands again, Fred.'<br><br>
13893
13894With his head sunk down between his shoulders, and a hideous grin
13895
13896over-spreading his face, the dwarf stood up and stretched his short arm
13897
13898across the table.  After a moment's hesitation, the young man stretched
13899
13900out his to meet it; Quilp clutched his fingers in a grip that for the
13901
13902moment stopped the current of the blood within them, and pressing his
13903
13904other hand upon his lip and frowning towards the unsuspicious Richard,
13905
13906released them and sat down.<br><br>
13907
13908This action was not lost upon Trent, who, knowing that Richard
13909
13910Swiveller was a mere tool in his hands and knew no more of his designs
13911
13912than he thought proper to communicate, saw that the dwarf perfectly
13913
13914understood their relative position, and fully entered into the
13915
13916character of his friend.  It is something to be appreciated, even in
13917
13918knavery.  This silent homage to his superior abilities, no less than a
13919
13920sense of the power with which the dwarf's quick perception had already
13921
13922invested him, inclined the young man towards that ugly worthy, and
13923
13924determined him to profit by his aid.<br><br>
13925
13926It being now Mr Quilp's cue to change the subject with all convenient
13927
13928expedition, lest Richard Swiveller in his heedlessness should reveal
13929
13930anything which it was inexpedient for the women to know, he proposed a
13931
13932game at four-handed cribbage, and partners being cut for, Mrs Quilp
13933
13934fell to Frederick Trent, and Dick himself to Quilp.  Mrs Jiniwin being
13935
13936very fond of cards was carefully excluded by her son-in-law from any
13937
13938participation in the game, and had assigned to her the duty of
13939
13940occasionally replenishing the glasses from the case-bottle; Mr Quilp
13941
13942from that moment keeping one eye constantly upon her, lest she should
13943
13944by any means procure a taste of the same, and thereby tantalising the
13945
13946wretched old lady (who was as much attached to the case-bottle as the
13947
13948cards) in a double degree and most ingenious manner.<br><br>
13949
13950But it was not to Mrs Jiniwin alone that Mr Quilp's attention was
13951
13952restricted, as several other matters required his constant vigilance.
13953
13954Among his various eccentric habits he had a humorous one of always
13955
13956cheating at cards, which rendered necessary on his part, not only a
13957
13958close observance of the game, and a sleight-of-hand in counting and
13959
13960scoring, but also involved the constant correction, by looks, and
13961
13962frowns, and kicks under the table, of Richard Swiveller, who being
13963
13964bewildered by the rapidity with which his cards were told, and the rate
13965
13966at which the pegs travelled down the board, could not be prevented from
13967
13968sometimes expressing his surprise and incredulity.  Mrs Quilp too was
13969
13970the partner of young Trent, and for every look that passed between
13971
13972them, and every word they spoke, and every card they played, the dwarf
13973
13974had eyes and ears; not occupied alone with what was passing above the
13975
13976table, but with signals that might be exchanging beneath it, which he
13977
13978laid all kinds of traps to detect; besides often treading on his wife's
13979
13980toes to see whether she cried out or remained silent under the
13981
13982infliction, in which latter case it would have been quite clear that
13983
13984Trent had been treading on her toes before.  Yet, in the most of all
13985
13986these distractions, the one eye was upon the old lady always, and if
13987
13988she so much as stealthily advanced a tea-spoon towards a neighbouring
13989
13990glass (which she often did), for the purpose of abstracting but one sup
13991
13992of its sweet contents, Quilp's hand would overset it in the very moment
13993
13994of her triumph, and Quilp's mocking voice implore her to regard her
13995
13996precious health.  And in any one of these his many cares, from first to
13997
13998last, Quilp never flagged nor faltered.<br><br>
13999
14000At length, when they had played a great many rubbers and drawn pretty
14001
14002freely upon the case-bottle, Mr Quilp warned his lady to retire to
14003
14004rest, and that submissive wife complying, and being followed by her
14005
14006indignant mother, Mr Swiveller fell asleep.  The dwarf beckoning his
14007
14008remaining companion to the other end of the room, held a short
14009
14010conference with him in whispers.<br><br>
14011
14012'It's as well not to say more than one can help before our worthy
14013
14014friend,' said Quilp, making a grimace towards the slumbering Dick.  'Is
14015
14016it a bargain between us, Fred?  Shall he marry little rosy Nell
14017
14018by-and-by?'<br><br>
14019
14020'You have some end of your own to answer, of course,' returned the
14021
14022other.<br><br>
14023
14024'Of course I have, dear Fred,' said Quilp, grinning to think how little
14025
14026he suspected what the real end was.  'It's retaliation perhaps; perhaps
14027
14028whim.  I have influence, Fred, to help or oppose.  Which way shall I
14029
14030use it?  There are a pair of scales, and it goes into one.'<br><br>
14031
14032'Throw it into mine then,' said Trent.<br><br>
14033
14034'It's done, Fred,' rejoined Quilp, stretching out his clenched hand and
14035
14036opening it as if he had let some weight fall out.  'It's in the scale
14037
14038from this time, and turns it, Fred.  Mind that.'<br><br>
14039
14040'Where have they gone?' asked Trent.<br><br>
14041
14042Quilp shook his head, and said that point remained to be discovered,
14043
14044which it might be, easily.  When it was, they would begin their
14045
14046preliminary advances.  He would visit the old man, or even Richard
14047
14048Swiveller might visit him, and by affecting a deep concern in his
14049
14050behalf, and imploring him to settle in some worthy home, lead to the
14051
14052child's remembering him with gratitude and favour.  Once impressed to
14053
14054this extent, it would be easy, he said, to win her in a year or two,
14055
14056for she supposed the old man to be poor, as it was a part of his
14057
14058jealous policy (in common with many other misers) to feign to be so, to
14059
14060those about him.<br><br>
14061
14062'He has feigned it often enough to me, of late,' said Trent.<br><br>
14063
14064'Oh! and to me too!' replied the dwarf.  'Which is more extraordinary,
14065
14066as I know how rich he really is.'<br><br>
14067
14068'I suppose you should,' said Trent.<br><br>
14069
14070'I think I should indeed,' rejoined the dwarf; and in that, at least,
14071
14072he spoke the truth.<br><br>
14073
14074After a few more whispered words, they returned to the table, and the
14075
14076young man rousing Richard Swiveller informed him that he was waiting to
14077
14078depart.  This was welcome news to Dick, who started up directly.  After
14079
14080a few words of confidence in the result of their project had been
14081
14082exchanged, they bade the grinning Quilp good night.<br><br>
14083
14084Quilp crept to the window as they passed in the street below, and
14085
14086listened.  Trent was pronouncing an encomium upon his wife, and they
14087
14088were both wondering by what enchantment she had been brought to marry
14089
14090such a misshapen wretch as he.  The dwarf after watching their
14091
14092retreating shadows with a wider grin than his face had yet displayed,
14093
14094stole softly in the dark to bed.<br><br>
14095
14096In this hatching of their scheme, neither Trent nor Quilp had had one
14097
14098thought about the happiness or misery of poor innocent Nell.  It would
14099
14100have been strange if the careless profligate, who was the butt of both,
14101
14102had been harassed by any such consideration; for his high opinion of
14103
14104his own merits and deserts rendered the project rather a laudable one
14105
14106than otherwise; and if he had been visited by so unwonted a guest as
14107
14108reflection, he would--being a brute only in the gratification of his
14109
14110appetites--have soothed his conscience with the plea that he did not
14111
14112mean to beat or kill his wife, and would therefore, after all said and
14113
14114done, be a very tolerable, average husband.<br><br>
14115
14116CHAPTER 24<br><br>
14117
14118It was not until they were quite exhausted and could no longer maintain
14119
14120the pace at which they had fled from the race-ground, that the old man
14121
14122and the child ventured to stop, and sit down to rest upon the borders
14123
14124of a little wood.  Here, though the course was hidden from their view,
14125
14126they could yet faintly distinguish the noise of distant shouts, the hum
14127
14128of voices, and the beating of drums.  Climbing the eminence which lay
14129
14130between them and the spot they had left, the child could even discern
14131
14132the fluttering flags and white tops of booths; but no person was
14133
14134approaching towards them, and their resting-place was solitary and
14135
14136still.<br><br>
14137
14138Some time elapsed before she could reassure her trembling companion, or
14139
14140restore him to a state of moderate tranquillity.  His disordered
14141
14142imagination represented to him a crowd of persons stealing towards them
14143
14144beneath the cover of the bushes, lurking in every ditch, and peeping
14145
14146from the boughs of every rustling tree.  He was haunted by
14147
14148apprehensions of being led captive to some gloomy place where he would
14149
14150be chained and scourged, and worse than all, where Nell could never
14151
14152come to see him, save through iron bars and gratings in the wall.  His
14153
14154terrors affected the child.  Separation from her grandfather was the
14155
14156greatest evil she could dread; and feeling for the time as though, go
14157
14158where they would, they were to be hunted down, and could never be safe
14159
14160but in hiding, her heart failed her, and her courage drooped.<br><br>
14161
14162In one so young, and so unused to the scenes in which she had lately
14163
14164moved, this sinking of the spirit was not surprising.  But, Nature
14165
14166often enshrines gallant and noble hearts in weak bosoms--oftenest, God
14167
14168bless her, in female breasts--and when the child, casting her tearful
14169
14170eyes upon the old man, remembered how weak he was, and how destitute
14171
14172and helpless he would be if she failed him, her heart swelled within
14173
14174her, and animated her with new strength and fortitude.<br><br>
14175
14176'We are quite safe now, and have nothing to fear indeed, dear
14177
14178grandfather,' she said.<br><br>
14179
14180'Nothing to fear!' returned the old man.  'Nothing to fear if they took
14181
14182me from thee!  Nothing to fear if they parted us!  Nobody is true to
14183
14184me.  No, not one.  Not even Nell!'<br><br>
14185
14186'Oh! do not say that,' replied the child, 'for if ever anybody was true
14187
14188at heart, and earnest, I am.  I am sure you know I am.'<br><br>
14189
14190'Then how,' said the old man, looking fearfully round, 'how can you
14191
14192bear to think that we are safe, when they are searching for me
14193
14194everywhere, and may come here, and steal upon us, even while we're
14195
14196talking?'<br><br>
14197
14198'Because I'm sure we have not been followed,' said the child.  'Judge
14199
14200for yourself, dear grandfather: look round, and see how quiet and still
14201
14202it is.  We are alone together, and may ramble where we like.  Not safe!
14203
14204Could I feel easy--did I feel at ease--when any danger threatened you?'<br><br>
14205
14206'True, too,' he answered, pressing her hand, but still looking
14207
14208anxiously about.  'What noise was that?'<br><br>
14209
14210'A bird,' said the child, 'flying into the wood, and leading the way
14211
14212for us to follow.'  You remember that we said we would walk in woods
14213
14214and fields, and by the side of rivers, and how happy we would be--you
14215
14216remember that?  But here, while the sun shines above our heads, and
14217
14218everything is bright and happy, we are sitting sadly down, and losing
14219
14220time.  See what a pleasant path; and there's the bird--the same
14221
14222bird--now he flies to another tree, and stays to sing.  Come!'<br><br>
14223
14224When they rose up from the ground, and took the shady track which led
14225
14226them through the wood, she bounded on before, printing her tiny
14227
14228footsteps in the moss, which rose elastic from so light a pressure and
14229
14230gave it back as mirrors throw off breath; and thus she lured the old
14231
14232man on, with many a backward look and merry beck, now pointing
14233
14234stealthily to some lone bird as it perched and twittered on a branch
14235
14236that strayed across their path, now stopping to listen to the songs
14237
14238that broke the happy silence, or watch the sun as it trembled through
14239
14240the leaves, and stealing in among the ivied trunks of stout old trees,
14241
14242opened long paths of light.  As they passed onward, parting the boughs
14243
14244that clustered in their way, the serenity which the child had first
14245
14246assumed, stole into her breast in earnest; the old man cast no longer
14247
14248fearful looks behind, but felt at ease and cheerful, for the further
14249
14250they passed into the deep green shade, the more they felt that the
14251
14252tranquil mind of God was there, and shed its peace on them.<br><br>
14253
14254At length the path becoming clearer and less intricate, brought them to
14255
14256the end of the wood, and into a public road.  Taking their way along it
14257
14258for a short distance, they came to a lane, so shaded by the trees on
14259
14260either hand that they met together over-head, and arched the narrow
14261
14262way.  A broken finger-post announced that this led to a village three
14263
14264miles off; and thither they resolved to bend their steps.<br><br>
14265
14266The miles appeared so long that they sometimes thought they must have
14267
14268missed their road.  But at last, to their great joy, it led downwards
14269
14270in a steep descent, with overhanging banks over which the footpaths
14271
14272led; and the clustered houses of the village peeped from the woody
14273
14274hollow below.<br><br>
14275
14276It was a very small place.  The men and boys were playing at cricket on
14277
14278the green; and as the other folks were looking on, they wandered up and
14279
14280down, uncertain where to seek a humble lodging.  There was but one old
14281
14282man in the little garden before his cottage, and him they were timid of
14283
14284approaching, for he was the schoolmaster, and had 'School' written up
14285
14286over his window in black letters on a white board.  He was a pale,
14287
14288simple-looking man, of a spare and meagre habit, and sat among his
14289
14290flowers and beehives, smoking his pipe, in the little porch before his
14291
14292door.<br><br>
14293
14294'Speak to him, dear,' the old man whispered.<br><br>
14295
14296'I am almost afraid to disturb him,' said the child timidly.  'He does
14297
14298not seem to see us.  Perhaps if we wait a little, he may look this way.'<br><br>
14299
14300They waited, but the schoolmaster cast no look towards them, and still
14301
14302sat, thoughtful and silent, in the little porch.  He had a kind face.
14303
14304In his plain old suit of black, he looked pale and meagre.  They
14305
14306fancied, too, a lonely air about him and his house, but perhaps that
14307
14308was because the other people formed a merry company upon the green, and
14309
14310he seemed the only solitary man in all the place.<br><br>
14311
14312They were very tired, and the child would have been bold enough to
14313
14314address even a schoolmaster, but for something in his manner which
14315
14316seemed to denote that he was uneasy or distressed.  As they stood
14317
14318hesitating at a little distance, they saw that he sat for a few minutes
14319
14320at a time like one in a brown study, then laid aside his pipe and took
14321
14322a few turns in his garden, then approached the gate and looked towards
14323
14324the green, then took up his pipe again with a sigh, and sat down
14325
14326thoughtfully as before.<br><br>
14327
14328As nobody else appeared and it would soon be dark, Nell at length took
14329
14330courage, and when he had resumed his pipe and seat, ventured to draw
14331
14332near, leading her grandfather by the hand.  The slight noise they made
14333
14334in raising the latch of the wicket-gate, caught his attention.  He
14335
14336looked at them kindly but seemed disappointed too, and slightly shook
14337
14338his head.<br><br>
14339
14340Nell dropped a curtsey, and told him they were poor travellers who
14341
14342sought a shelter for the night which they would gladly pay for, so far
14343
14344as their means allowed.  The schoolmaster looked earnestly at her as
14345
14346she spoke, laid aside his pipe, and rose up directly.<br><br>
14347
14348'If you could direct us anywhere, sir,' said the child, 'we should take
14349
14350it very kindly.'<br><br>
14351
14352'You have been walking a long way,' said the schoolmaster.<br><br>
14353
14354'A long way, Sir,' the child replied.<br><br>
14355
14356'You're a young traveller, my child,' he said, laying his hand gently
14357
14358on her head.  'Your grandchild, friend?'<br><br>
14359
14360'Aye, Sir,' cried the old man, 'and the stay and comfort of my life.'<br><br>
14361
14362'Come in,' said the schoolmaster.<br><br>
14363
14364Without further preface he conducted them into his little school-room,
14365
14366which was parlour and kitchen likewise, and told them that they were
14367
14368welcome to remain under his roof till morning.  Before they had done
14369
14370thanking him, he spread a coarse white cloth upon the table, with
14371
14372knives and platters; and bringing out some bread and cold meat and a
14373
14374jug of beer, besought them to eat and drink.<br><br>
14375
14376The child looked round the room as she took her seat.  There were a
14377
14378couple of forms, notched and cut and inked all over; a small deal desk
14379
14380perched on four legs, at which no doubt the master sat; a few
14381
14382dog's-eared books upon a high shelf; and beside them a motley
14383
14384collection of peg-tops, balls, kites, fishing-lines, marbles,
14385
14386half-eaten apples, and other confiscated property of idle urchins.
14387
14388Displayed on hooks upon the wall in all their terrors, were the cane
14389
14390and ruler; and near them, on a small shelf of its own, the dunce's cap,
14391
14392made of old newspapers and decorated with glaring wafers of the largest
14393
14394size.  But, the great ornaments of the walls were certain moral
14395
14396sentences fairly copied in good round text, and well-worked sums in
14397
14398simple addition and multiplication, evidently achieved by the same
14399
14400hand, which were plentifully pasted all round the room: for the double
14401
14402purpose, as it seemed, of bearing testimony to the excellence of the
14403
14404school, and kindling a worthy emulation in the bosoms of the scholars.<br><br>
14405
14406'Yes,' said the old schoolmaster, observing that her attention was
14407
14408caught by these latter specimens.  'That's beautiful writing, my dear.'<br><br>
14409
14410'Very, Sir,' replied the child modestly, 'is it yours?'<br><br>
14411
14412'Mine!' he returned, taking out his spectacles and putting them on, to
14413
14414have a better view of the triumphs so dear to his heart.  'I couldn't
14415
14416write like that, now-a-days.  No.  They're all done by one hand; a
14417
14418little hand it is, not so old as yours, but a very clever one.'<br><br>
14419
14420As the schoolmaster said this, he saw that a small blot of ink had been
14421
14422thrown on one of the copies, so he took a penknife from his pocket, and
14423
14424going up to the wall, carefully scraped it out.  When he had finished,
14425
14426he walked slowly backward from the writing, admiring it as one might
14427
14428contemplate a beautiful picture, but with something of sadness in his
14429
14430voice and manner which quite touched the child, though she was
14431
14432unacquainted with its cause.<br><br>
14433
14434'A little hand indeed,' said the poor schoolmaster.  'Far beyond all
14435
14436his companions, in his learning and his sports too, how did he ever
14437
14438come to be so fond of me!  That I should love him is no wonder, but
14439
14440that he should love me--' and there the schoolmaster stopped, and took
14441
14442off his spectacles to wipe them, as though they had grown dim.<br><br>
14443
14444'I hope there is nothing the matter, sir,' said Nell anxiously.<br><br>
14445
14446'Not much, my dear,' returned the schoolmaster.  'I hoped to have seen
14447
14448him on the green to-night.  He was always foremost among them.  But
14449
14450he'll be there to-morrow.'<br><br>
14451
14452'Has he been ill?' asked the child, with a child's quick sympathy.<br><br>
14453
14454'Not very.  They said he was wandering in his head yesterday, dear boy,
14455
14456and so they said the day before.  But that's a part of that kind of
14457
14458disorder; it's not a bad sign--not at all a bad sign.' The child was
14459
14460silent.  He walked to the door, and looked wistfully out.  The shadows
14461
14462of night were gathering, and all was still.<br><br>
14463
14464'If he could lean upon anybody's arm, he would come to me, I know,' he
14465
14466said, returning into the room.  'He always came into the garden to 
14466say
14467
14468good night.  But perhaps his illness has only just taken a favourable
14469
14470turn, and it's too late for him to come out, for it's very damp and
14471
14472there's a heavy dew.  It's much better he shouldn't come to-night.'<br><br>
14473
14474The schoolmaster lighted a candle, fastened the window-shutter, and
14475
14476closed the door.  But after he had done this, and sat silent a little
14477
14478time, he took down his hat, and said he would go and satisfy himself,
14479
14480if Nell would sit up till he returned.  The child readily complied, and
14481
14482he went out.<br><br>
14483
14484She sat there half-an-hour or more, feeling the place very strange and
14485
14486lonely, for she had prevailed upon the old man to go to bed, and there
14487
14488was nothing to be heard but the ticking of an old clock, and the
14489
14490whistling of the wind among the trees.  When he returned, he took his
14491
14492seat in the chimney corner, but remained silent for a long time.  At
14493
14494length he turned to her, and speaking very gently, hoped she would say
14495
14496a prayer that night for a sick child.<br><br>
14497
14498'My favourite scholar!' said the poor schoolmaster, smoking a pipe he
14499
14500had forgotten to light, and looking mournfully round upon the walls.
14501
14502'It is a little hand to have done all that, and waste away with
14503
14504sickness.  It is a very, very little hand!'<br><br>
14505
14506CHAPTER 25<br><br>
14507
14508After a sound night's rest in a chamber in the thatched roof, in which
14509
14510it seemed the sexton had for some years been a lodger, but which he had
14511
14512lately deserted for a wife and a cottage of his own, the child rose
14513
14514early in the morning and descended to the room where she had supped
14515
14516last night.  As the schoolmaster had already left his bed and gone out,
14517
14518she bestirred herself to make it neat and comfortable, and had just
14519
14520finished its arrangement when the kind host returned.<br><br>
14521
14522He thanked her many times, and said that the old dame who usually did
14523
14524such offices for him had gone to nurse the little scholar whom he had
14525
14526told her of.  The child asked how he was, and hoped he was better.<br><br>
14527
14528'No,' rejoined the schoolmaster shaking his head sorrowfully, 'no
14529
14530better.  They even say he is worse.'<br><br>
14531
14532'I am very sorry for that, Sir,' said the child.<br><br>
14533
14534The poor schoolmaster appeared to be gratified by her earnest manner,
14535
14536but yet rendered more uneasy by it, for he added hastily that anxious
14537
14538people often magnified an evil and thought it greater than it was; 'for
14539
14540my part,' he said, in his quiet, patient way, 'I hope it's not so.  I
14541
14542don't think he can be worse.'<br><br>
14543
14544The child asked his leave to prepare breakfast, and her grandfather
14545
14546coming down stairs, they all three partook of it together.  While the
14547
14548meal was in progress, their host remarked that the old man seemed much
14549
14550fatigued, and evidently stood in need of rest.<br><br>
14551
14552'If the journey you have before you is a long one,' he said, 'and don't
14553
14554press you for one day, you're very welcome to pass another night here.
14555
14556I should really be glad if you would, friend.'<br><br>
14557
14558He saw that the old man looked at Nell, uncertain whether to accept or
14559
14560decline his offer; and added,<br><br>
14561
14562'I shall be glad to have your young companion with me for one day.  If
14563
14564you can do a charity to a lone man, and rest yourself at the same time,
14565
14566do so.  If you must proceed upon your journey, I wish you well through
14567
14568it, and will walk a little way with you before school begins.'<br><br>
14569
14570'What are we to do, Nell?' said the old man irresolutely, 'say what
14571
14572we're to do, dear.'<br><br>
14573
14574It required no great persuasion to induce the child to answer that they
14575
14576had better accept the invitation and remain.  She was happy to show her
14577
14578gratitude to the kind schoolmaster by busying herself in the
14579
14580performance of such household duties as his little cottage stood in
14581
14582need of.  When these were done, she took some needle-work from her
14583
14584basket, and sat herself down upon a stool beside the lattice, where the
14585
14586honeysuckle and woodbine entwined their tender stems, and stealing into
14587
14588the room filled it with their delicious breath.  Her grandfather was
14589
14590basking in the sun outside, breathing the perfume of the flowers, and
14591
14592idly watching the clouds as they floated on before the light summer
14593
14594wind.<br><br>
14595
14596As the schoolmaster, after arranging the two forms in due order, took
14597
14598his seat behind his desk and made other preparations for school, the
14599
14600child was apprehensive that she might be in the way, and offered to
14601
14602withdraw to her little bedroom.  But this he would not allow, and as he
14603
14604seemed pleased to have her there, she remained, busying herself with
14605
14606her work.<br><br>
14607
14608'Have you many scholars, sir?' she asked.<br><br>
14609
14610The poor schoolmaster shook his head, and said that they barely filled
14611
14612the two forms.<br><br>
14613
14614'Are the others clever, sir?' asked the child, glancing at the trophies
14615
14616on the wall.<br><br>
14617
14618'Good boys,' returned the schoolmaster, 'good boys enough, my dear, but
14619
14620they'll never do like that.'<br><br>
14621
14622A small white-headed boy with a sunburnt face appeared at the door
14623
14624while he was speaking, and stopping there to make a rustic bow, came in
14625
14626and took his seat upon one of the forms.  The white-headed boy then put
14627
14628an open book, astonishingly dog's-eared upon his knees, and thrusting
14629
14630his hands into his pockets began counting the marbles with which they
14631
14632were filled; displaying in the expression of his face a remarkable
14633
14634capacity of totally abstracting his mind from the spelling on which his
14635
14636eyes were fixed.  Soon afterwards another white-headed little boy came
14637
14638straggling in, and after him a red-headed lad, and after him two more
14639
14640with white heads, and then one with a flaxen poll, and so on until the
14641
14642forms were occupied by a dozen boys or thereabouts, with heads of every
14643
14644colour but grey, and ranging in their ages from four years old to
14645
14646fourteen years or more; for the legs of the youngest were a long way
14647
14648from the floor when he sat upon the form, and the eldest was a heavy
14649
14650good-tempered foolish fellow, about half a head taller than the
14651
14652schoolmaster.<br><br>
14653
14654At the top of the first form--the post of honour in the school--was the
14655
14656vacant place of the little sick scholar, and at the head of the row of
14657
14658pegs on which those who came in hats or caps were wont to hang them up,
14659
14660one was left empty.  No boy attempted to violate the sanctity of seat
14661
14662or peg, but many a one looked from the empty spaces to the
14663
14664schoolmaster, and whispered his idle neighbour behind his hand.<br><br>
14665
14666Then began the hum of conning over lessons and getting them by heart,
14667
14668the whispered jest and stealthy game, and all the noise and drawl of
14669
14670school; and in the midst of the din sat the poor schoolmaster, the very
14671
14672image of meekness and simplicity, vainly attempting to fix his mind
14673
14674upon the duties of the day, and to forget his little friend.  But the
14675
14676tedium of his office reminded him more strongly of the willing scholar,
14677
14678and his thoughts were rambling from his pupils--it was plain.<br><br>
14679
14680None knew this better than the idlest boys, who, growing bolder with
14681
14682impunity, waxed louder and more daring; playing odd-or-even under the
14683
14684master's eye, eating apples openly and without rebuke, pinching each
14685
14686other in sport or malice without the least reserve, and cutting their
14687
14688autographs in the very legs of his desk.  The puzzled dunce, who stood
14689
14690beside it to say his lesson out of book, looked no longer at the
14691
14692ceiling for forgotten words, but drew closer to the master's elbow and
14693
14694boldly cast his eye upon the page; the wag of the little troop squinted
14695
14696and made grimaces (at the smallest boy of course), holding no book
14697
14698before his face, and his approving audience knew no constraint in their
14699
14700delight.  If the master did chance to rouse himself and seem alive to
14701
14702what was going on, the noise subsided for a moment and no eyes met his
14703
14704but wore a studious and a deeply humble look; but the instant he
14705
14706relapsed again, it broke out afresh, and ten times louder than before.<br><br>
14707
14708Oh! how some of those idle fellows longed to be outside, and how they
14709
14710looked at the open door and window, as if they half meditated rushing
14711
14712violently out, plunging into the woods, and being wild boys and savages
14713
14714from that time forth.  What rebellious thoughts of the cool river, and
14715
14716some shady bathing-place beneath willow trees with branches dipping in
14717
14718the water, kept tempting and urging that sturdy boy, who, with his
14719
14720shirt-collar unbuttoned and flung back as far as it could go, sat
14721
14722fanning his flushed face with a spelling-book, wishing himself a whale,
14723
14724or a tittlebat, or a fly, or anything but a boy at school on that hot,
14725
14726broiling day!  Heat!  ask that other boy, whose seat being nearest to
14727
14728the door gave him opportunities of gliding out into the garden and
14729
14730driving his companions to madness by dipping his face into the bucket
14731
14732of the well and then rolling on the grass--ask him if there were ever
14733
14734such a day as that, when even the bees were diving deep down into the
14735
14736cups of flowers and stopping there, as if they had made up their minds
14737
14738to retire from business and be manufacturers of honey no more.  The day
14739
14740was made for laziness, and lying on one's back in green places, and
14741
14742staring at the sky till its brightness forced one to shut one's eyes
14743
14744and go to sleep; and was this a time to be poring over musty books in a
14745
14746dark room, slighted by the very sun itself?  Monstrous!<br><br>
14747
14748Nell sat by the window occupied with her work, but attentive still to
14749
14750all that passed, though sometimes rather timid of the boisterous boys.
14751
14752The lessons over, writing time began; and there being but one desk and
14753
14754that the master's, each boy sat at it in turn and laboured at his
14755
14756crooked copy, while the master walked about.  This was a quieter time;
14757
14758for he would come and look over the writer's shoulder, and tell him
14759
14760mildly to observe how such a letter was turned in such a copy on the
14761
14762wall, praise such an up-stroke here and such a down-stroke there, and
14763
14764bid him take it for his model.  Then he would stop and tell them what
14765
14766the sick child had said last night, and how he had longed to be among
14767
14768them once again; and such was the poor schoolmaster's gentle and
14769
14770affectionate manner, that the boys seemed quite remorseful that they
14771
14772had worried him so much, and were absolutely quiet; eating no apples,
14773
14774cutting no names, inflicting no pinches, and making no grimaces, for
14775
14776full two minutes afterwards.<br><br>
14777
14778'I think, boys,' said the schoolmaster when the clock struck twelve,
14779
14780'that I shall give an extra half-holiday this afternoon.'<br><br>
14781
14782At this intelligence, the boys, led on and headed by the tall boy,
14783
14784raised a great shout, in the midst of which the master was seen to
14785
14786speak, but could not be heard.  As he held up his hand, however, in
14787
14788token of his wish that they should be silent, they were considerate
14789
14790enough to leave off, as soon as the longest-winded among them were
14791
14792quite out of breath.<br><br>
14793
14794'You must promise me first,' said the schoolmaster, 'that you'll not be
14795
14796noisy, or at least, if you are, that you'll go away and be so--away out
14797
14798of the village I mean.  I'm sure you wouldn't disturb your old playmate
14799
14800and companion.'<br><br>
14801
14802There was a general murmur (and perhaps a very sincere one, for they
14803
14804were but boys) in the negative; and the tall boy, perhaps as sincerely
14805
14806as any of them, called those about him to witness that he had only
14807
14808shouted in a whisper.<br><br>
14809
14810'Then pray don't forget, there's my dear scholars,' said the
14811
14812schoolmaster, 'what I have asked you, and do it as a favour to me.  Be
14813
14814as happy as you can, and don't be unmindful that you are blessed with
14815
14816health.  Good-bye all!'<br><br>
14817
14818'Thank'ee, Sir,' and 'good-bye, Sir,' were said a good many times in a
14819
14820variety of voices, and the boys went out very slowly and softly.  But
14821
14822there was the sun shining and there were the birds singing, as the sun
14823
14824only shines and the birds only sing on holidays and half-holidays;
14825
14826there were the trees waving to all free boys to climb and nestle among
14827
14828their leafy branches; the hay, entreating them to come and scatter it
14829
14830to the pure air; the green corn, gently beckoning towards wood and
14831
14832stream; the smooth ground, rendered smoother still by blending lights
14833
14834and shadows, inviting to runs and leaps, and long walks God knows
14835
14836whither.  It was more than boy could bear, and with a joyous whoop the
14837
14838whole cluster took to their heels and spread themselves about, shouting
14839
14840and laughing as they went.<br><br>
14841
14842'It's natural, thank Heaven!' said the poor schoolmaster, looking after
14843
14844them.  'I'm very glad they didn't mind me!'<br><br>
14845
14846It is difficult, however, to please everybody, as most of us would have
14847
14848discovered, even without the fable which bears that moral, and in the
14849
14850course of the afternoon several mothers and aunts of pupils looked in
14851
14852to express their entire disapproval of the schoolmaster's proceeding.
14853
14854A few confined themselves to hints, such as politely inquiring what
14855
14856red-letter day or saint's day the almanack said it was; a few (these
14857
14858were the profound village politicians) argued that it was a slight to
14859
14860the throne and an affront to church and state, and savoured of
14861
14862revolutionary principles, to grant a half-holiday upon any lighter
14863
14864occasion than the birthday of the Monarch; but the majority expressed
14865
14866their displeasure on private grounds and in plain terms, arguing that
14867
14868to put the pupils on this short allowance of learning was nothing but
14869
14870an act of downright robbery and fraud: and one old lady, finding that
14871
14872she could not inflame or irritate the peaceable schoolmaster by talking
14873
14874to him, bounced out of his house and talked at him for half-an-hour
14875
14876outside his own window, to another old lady, saying that of course he
14877
14878would deduct this half-holiday from his weekly charge, or of course he
14879
14880would naturally expect to have an opposition started against him; there
14881
14882was no want of idle chaps in that neighbourhood (here the old lady
14883
14884raised her voice), and some chaps who were too idle even to be
14885
14886schoolmasters, might soon find that there were other chaps put over
14887
14888their heads, and so she would have them take care, and look pretty
14889
14890sharp about them.  But all these taunts and vexations failed to elicit
14891
14892one word from the meek schoolmaster, who sat with the child by his
14893
14894side--a little more dejected perhaps, but quite silent and
14895
14896uncomplaining.<br><br>
14897
14898Towards night an old woman came tottering up the garden as speedily as
14899
14900she could, and meeting the schoolmaster at the door, said he was to go
14901
14902to Dame West's directly, and had best run on before her.  He and the
14903
14904child were on the point of going out together for a walk, and without
14905
14906relinquishing her hand, the schoolmaster hurried away, leaving the
14907
14908messenger to follow as she might.<br><br>
14909
14910They stopped at a cottage-door, and the schoolmaster knocked softly at
14911
14912it with his hand.  It was opened without loss of time.  They entered a
14913
14914room where a little group of women were gathered about one, older than
14915
14916the rest, who was crying very bitterly, and sat wringing her hands and
14917
14918rocking herself to and fro.<br><br>
14919
14920'Oh, dame!' said the schoolmaster, drawing near her chair, 'is it so
14921
14922bad as this?'<br><br>
14923
14924'He's going fast,' cried the old woman; 'my grandson's dying.  It's all
14925
14926along of you.  You shouldn't see him now, but for his being so earnest
14927
14928on it.  This is what his learning has brought him to.  Oh dear, dear,
14929
14930dear, what can I do!'<br><br>
14931
14932'Do not say that I am in any fault,' urged the gentle school-master.
14933
14934'I am not hurt, dame.  No, no.  You are in great distress of mind, and
14935
14936don't mean what you say.  I am sure you don't.'<br><br>
14937
14938'I do,' returned the old woman.  'I mean it all.  If he hadn't been
14939
14940poring over his books out of fear of you, he would have been well and
14941
14942merry now, I know he would.'<br><br>
14943
14944The schoolmaster looked round upon the other women as if to entreat
14945
14946some one among them to say a kind word for him, but they shook their
14947
14948heads, and murmured to each other that they never thought there was
14949
14950much good in learning, and that this convinced them.  Without saying a
14951
14952word in reply, or giving them a look of reproach, he followed the old
14953
14954woman who had summoned him (and who had now rejoined them) into another
14955
14956room, where his infant friend, half-dressed, lay stretched upon a bed.<br><br>
14957
14958He was a very young boy; quite a little child.  His hair still hung in
14959
14960curls about his face, and his eyes were very bright; but their light
14961
14962was of Heaven, not earth.  The schoolmaster took a seat beside him, and
14963
14964stooping over the pillow, whispered his name.  The boy sprung up,
14965
14966stroked his face with his hand, and threw his wasted arms round his
14967
14968neck, crying out that he was his dear kind friend.<br><br>
14969
14970'I hope I always was.  I meant to be, God knows,' said the poor
14971
14972schoolmaster.<br><br>
14973
14974'Who is that?' said the boy, seeing Nell.  'I am afraid to kiss her,
14975
14976lest I should make her ill.  Ask her to shake hands with me.'  The
14977
14978sobbing child came closer up, and took the little languid hand in hers.
14979
14980Releasing his again after a time, the sick boy laid him gently down.<br><br>
14981
14982'You remember the garden, Harry,' whispered the schoolmaster, anxious
14983
14984to rouse him, for a dulness seemed gathering upon the child, 'and how
14985
14986pleasant it used to be in the evening time?  You must make haste to
14987
14988visit it again, for I think the very flowers have missed you, and are
14989
14990less gay than they used to be.  You will come soon, my dear, very soon
14991
14992now--won't you?'<br><br>
14993
14994The boy smiled faintly--so very, very faintly--and put his hand upon
14995
14996his friend's grey head.  He moved his lips too, but no voice came from
14997
14998them; no, not a sound.<br><br>
14999
15000In the silence that ensued, the hum of distant voices borne upon the
15001
15002evening air came floating through the open window.  'What's that?' said
15003
15004the sick child, opening his eyes.<br><br>
15005
15006'The boys at play upon the green.'<br><br>
15007
15008He took a handkerchief from his pillow, and tried to wave it above his
15009
15010head.  But the feeble arm dropped powerless down.<br><br>
15011
15012'Shall I do it?' said the schoolmaster.<br><br>
15013
15014'Please wave it at the window,' was the faint reply.  'Tie it to the
15015
15016lattice.  Some of them may see it there.  Perhaps they'll think of me,
15017
15018and look this way.'<br><br>
15019
15020He raised his head, and glanced from the fluttering signal to his idle
15021
15022bat, that lay with slate and book and other boyish property upon a
15023
15024table in the room.  And then he laid him softly down once more, and
15025
15026asked if the little girl were there, for he could not see her.<br><br>
15027
15028She stepped forward, and pressed the passive hand that lay upon the
15029
15030coverlet.  The two old friends and companions--for such they were,
15031
15032though they were man and child--held each other in a long embrace, and
15033
15034then the little scholar turned his face towards the wall, and fell
15035
15036asleep.<br><br>
15037
15038The poor schoolmaster sat in the same place, holding the small cold
15039
15040hand in his, and chafing it.  It was but the hand of a dead child.  He
15041
15042felt that; and yet he chafed it still, and could not lay it down.<br><br>
15043
15044CHAPTER 26<br><br>
15045
15046Almost broken-hearted, Nell withdrew with the schoolmaster from the
15047
15048bedside and returned to his cottage.  In the midst of her grief and
15049
15050tears she was yet careful to conceal their real cause from the old man,
15051
15052for the dead boy had been a grandchild, and left but one aged relative
15053
15054to mourn his premature decay.<br><br>
15055
15056She stole away to bed as quickly as she could, and when she was alone,
15057
15058gave free vent to the sorrow with which her breast was overcharged.
15059
15060But the sad scene she had witnessed, was not without its lesson of
15061
15062content and gratitude; of content with the lot which left her health
15063
15064and freedom; and gratitude that she was spared to the one relative and
15065
15066friend she loved, and to live and move in a beautiful world, when so
15067
15068many young creatures--as young and full of hope as she--were stricken
15069
15070down and gathered to their graves.  How many of the mounds in that old
15071
15072churchyard where she had lately strayed, grew green above the graves of
15073
15074children!  And though she thought as a child herself, and did not
15075
15076perhaps sufficiently consider to what a bright and happy existence
15077
15078those who die young are borne, and how in death they lose the pain of
15079
15080seeing others die around them, bearing to the tomb some strong
15081
15082affection of their hearts (which makes the old die many times in one
15083
15084long life), still she thought wisely enough, to draw a plain and easy
15085
15086moral from what she had seen that night, and to store it, deep in her
15087
15088mind.<br><br>
15089
15090Her dreams were of the little scholar: not coffined and covered up, but
15091
15092mingling with angels, and smiling happily.  The sun darting his
15093
15094cheerful rays into the room, awoke her; and now there remained but to
15095
15096take leave of the poor schoolmaster and wander forth once more.<br><br>
15097
15098By the time they were ready to depart, school had begun.  In the
15099
15100darkened room, the din of yesterday was going on again: a little
15101
15102sobered and softened down, perhaps, but only a very little, if at all.
15103
15104The schoolmaster rose from his desk and walked with them to the gate.<br><br>
15105
15106It was with a trembling and reluctant hand, that the child held out to
15107
15108him the money which the lady had given her at the races for her
15109
15110flowers: faltering in her thanks as she thought how small the sum was,
15111
15112and blushing as she offered it.  But he bade her put it up, and
15113
15114stooping to kiss her cheek, turned back into his house.<br><br>
15115
15116They had not gone half-a-dozen paces when he was at the door again; the
15117
15118old man retraced his steps to shake hands, and the child did the same.<br><br>
15119
15120'Good fortune and happiness go with you!' said the poor schoolmaster.
15121
15122'I am quite a solitary man now.  If you ever pass this way again,
15123
15124you'll not forget the little village-school.'<br><br>
15125
15126'We shall never forget it, sir,' rejoined Nell; 'nor ever forget to be
15127
15128grateful to you for your kindness to us.'<br><br>
15129
15130'I have heard such words from the lips of children very often,' said
15131
15132the schoolmaster, shaking his head, and smiling thoughtfully, 'but they
15133
15134were soon forgotten.  I had attached one young friend to me, the better
15135
15136friend for being young--but that's over--God bless you!'<br><br>
15137
15138They bade him farewell very many times, and turned away, walking slowly
15139
15140and often looking back, until they could see him no more.  At length
15141
15142they had left the village far behind, and even lost sight of the smoke
15143
15144among the trees.  They trudged onward now, at a quicker pace, resolving
15145
15146to keep the main road, and go wherever it might lead them.<br><br>
15147
15148But main roads stretch a long, long way.  With the exception of two or
15149
15150three inconsiderable clusters of cottages which they passed, without
15151
15152stopping, and one lonely road-side public-house where they had some
15153
15154bread and cheese, this highway had led them to nothing--late in the
15155
15156afternoon--and still lengthened out, far in the distance, the same
15157
15158dull, tedious, winding course, that they had been pursuing all day.  As
15159
15160they had no resource, however, but to go forward, they still kept on,
15161
15162though at a much slower pace, being very weary and fatigued.<br><br>
15163
15164The afternoon had worn away into a beautiful evening, when they arrived
15165
15166at a point where the road made a sharp turn and struck across a common.
15167
15168On the border of this common, and close to the hedge which divided it
15169
15170from the cultivated fields, a caravan was drawn up to rest; upon which,
15171
15172by reason of its situation, they came so suddenly that they could not
15173
15174have avoided it if they would.<br><br>
15175
15176It was not a shabby, dingy, dusty cart, but a smart little house upon
15177
15178wheels, with white dimity curtains festooning the windows, and
15179
15180window-shutters of green picked out with panels of a staring red, in
15181
15182which happily-contrasted colours the whole concern shone brilliant.
15183
15184Neither was it a poor caravan drawn by a single donkey or emaciated
15185
15186horse, for a pair of horses in pretty good condition were released from
15187
15188the shafts and grazing on the frouzy grass.  Neither was it a gipsy
15189
15190caravan, for at the open door (graced with a bright brass knocker) sat
15191
15192a Christian lady, stout and comfortable to look upon, who wore a large
15193
15194bonnet trembling with bows.  And that it was not an unprovided or
15195
15196destitute caravan was clear from this lady's occupation, which was the
15197
15198very pleasant and refreshing one of taking tea.  The tea-things,
15199
15200including a bottle of rather suspicious character and a cold knuckle of
15201
15202ham, were set forth upon a drum, covered with a white napkin; and
15203
15204there, as if at the most convenient round-table in all the world, sat
15205
15206this roving lady, taking her tea and enjoying the prospect.<br><br>
15207
15208It happened that at that moment the lady of the caravan had her cup
15209
15210(which, that everything about her might be of a stout and comfortable
15211
15212kind, was a breakfast cup) to her lips, and that having her eyes lifted
15213
15214to the sky in her enjoyment of the full flavour of the tea, not
15215
15216unmingled possibly with just the slightest dash or gleam of something
15217
15218out of the suspicious bottle--but this is mere speculation and not
15219
15220distinct matter of history--it happened that being thus agreeably
15221
15222engaged, she did not see the travellers when they first came up.  It
15223
15224was not until she was in the act of getting down the cup, and drawing a
15225
15226long breath after the exertion of causing its contents to disappear,
15227
15228that the lady of the caravan beheld an old man and a young child
15229
15230walking slowly by, and glancing at her proceedings with eyes of modest
15231
15232but hungry admiration.<br><br>
15233
15234'Hey!' cried the lady of the caravan, scooping the crumbs out of her
15235
15236lap and swallowing the same before wiping her lips.  'Yes, to be
15237
15238sure--Who won the Helter-Skelter Plate, child?'<br><br>
15239
15240'Won what, ma'am?' asked Nell.<br><br>
15241
15242'The Helter-Skelter Plate at the races, child--the plate that was run
15243
15244for on the second day.'<br><br>
15245
15246'On the second day, ma'am?'<br><br>
15247
15248'Second day!  Yes, second day,' repeated the lady with an air of
15249
15250impatience.  'Can't you say who won the Helter-Skelter Plate when
15251
15252you're asked the question civilly?'<br><br>
15253
15254'I don't know, ma'am.'<br><br>
15255
15256'Don't know!' repeated the lady of the caravan; 'why, you were there.
15257
15258I saw you with my own eyes.'<br><br>
15259
15260Nell was not a little alarmed to hear this, supposing that the lady
15261
15262might be intimately acquainted with the firm of Short and Codlin; but
15263
15264what followed tended to reassure her.<br><br>
15265
15266'And very sorry I was,' said the lady of the caravan, 'to see you in
15267
15268company with a Punch; a low, practical, wulgar wretch, that people
15269
15270should scorn to look at.'<br><br>
15271
15272'I was not there by choice,' returned the child; 'we didn't know our
15273
15274way, and the two men were very kind to us, and let us travel with them.
15275
15276Do you--do you know them, ma'am?'<br><br>
15277
15278'Know 'em, child!' cried the lady of the caravan in a sort of shriek.
15279
15280'Know them!  But you're young and inexperienced, and that's your excuse
15281
15282for asking sich a question.  Do I look as if I know'd 'em, does the
15283
15284caravan look as if it know'd 'em?'<br><br>
15285
15286'No, ma'am, no,' said the child, fearing she had committed some
15287
15288grievous fault.  'I beg your pardon.'<br><br>
15289
15290It was granted immediately, though the lady still appeared much ruffled
15291
15292and discomposed by the degrading supposition.  The child then explained
15293
15294that they had left the races on the first day, and were travelling to
15295
15296the next town on that road, where they purposed to spend the night.  As
15297
15298the countenance of the stout lady began to clear up, she ventured to
15299
15300inquire how far it was.  The reply--which the stout lady did not come
15301
15302to, until she had thoroughly explained that she went to the races on
15303
15304the first day in a gig, and as an expedition of pleasure, and that her
15305
15306presence there had no connexion with any matters of business or
15307
15308profit--was, that the town was eight miles off.<br><br>
15309
15310This discouraging information a little dashed the child, who could
15311
15312scarcely repress a tear as she glanced along the darkening road.  Her
15313
15314grandfather made no complaint, but he sighed heavily as he leaned upon
15315
15316his staff, and vainly tried to pierce the dusty distance.<br><br>
15317
15318The lady of the caravan was in the act of gathering her tea equipage
15319
15320together preparatory to clearing the table, but noting the child's
15321
15322anxious manner she hesitated and stopped.  The child curtseyed, thanked
15323
15324her for her information, and giving her hand to the old man had already
15325
15326got some fifty yards or so away, when the lady of the caravan called to
15327
15328her to return.<br><br>
15329
15330'Come nearer, nearer still,' said she, beckoning to her to ascend the
15331
15332steps.  'Are you hungry, child?'<br><br>
15333
15334'Not very, but we are tired, and it's--it IS a long way.'<br><br>
15335
15336'Well, hungry or not, you had better have some tea,' rejoined her new
15337
15338acquaintance.  'I suppose you are agreeable to that, old gentleman?'<br><br>
15339
15340The grandfather humbly pulled off his hat and thanked her.  The lady of
15341
15342the caravan then bade him come up the steps likewise, but the drum
15343
15344proving an inconvenient table for two, they descended again, and sat
15345
15346upon the grass, where she handed down to them the tea-tray, the bread
15347
15348and butter, the knuckle of ham, and in short everything of which she
15349
15350had partaken herself, except the bottle which she had already embraced
15351
15352an opportunity of slipping into her pocket.<br><br>
15353
15354'Set 'em out near the hind wheels, child, that's the best place,' said
15355
15356their friend, superintending the arrangements from above.  'Now hand up
15357
15358the teapot for a little more hot water, and a pinch of fresh tea, and
15359
15360then both of you eat and drink as much as you can, and don't spare
15361
15362anything; that's all I ask of you.'<br><br>
15363
15364They might perhaps have carried out the lady's wish, if it had been
15365
15366less freely expressed, or even if it had not been expressed at all.
15367
15368But as this direction relieved them from any shadow of delicacy or
15369
15370uneasiness, they made a hearty meal and enjoyed it to the utmost.<br><br>
15371
15372While they were thus engaged, the lady of the caravan alighted on the
15373
15374earth, and with her hands clasped behind her, and her large bonnet
15375
15376trembling excessively, walked up and down in a measured tread and very
15377
15378stately manner, surveying the caravan from time to time with an air of
15379
15380calm delight, and deriving particular gratification from the red panels
15381
15382and the brass knocker.  When she had taken this gentle exercise for
15383
15384some time, she sat down upon the steps and called 'George'; whereupon a
15385
15386man in a carter's frock, who had been so shrouded in a hedge up to this
15387
15388time as to see everything that passed without being seen himself,
15389
15390parted the twigs that concealed him, and appeared in a sitting
15391
15392attitude, supporting on his legs a baking-dish and a half-gallon stone
15393
15394bottle, and bearing in his right hand a knife, and in his left a fork.<br><br>
15395
15396'Yes, Missus,' said George.<br><br>
15397
15398'How did you find the cold pie, George?'<br><br>
15399
15400'It warn't amiss, mum.'<br><br>
15401
15402'And the beer,' said the lady of the caravan, with an appearance of
15403
15404being more interested in this question than the last; 'is it passable,
15405
15406George?'<br><br>
15407
15408'It's more flatterer than it might be,' George returned, 'but it an't
15409
15410so bad for all that.'<br><br>
15411
15412To set the mind of his mistress at rest, he took a sip (amounting in
15413
15414quantity to a pint or thereabouts) from the stone bottle, and then
15415
15416smacked his lips, winked his eye, and nodded his head.  No doubt with
15417
15418the same amiable desire, he immediately resumed his knife and fork, as
15419
15420a practical assurance that the beer had wrought no bad effect upon his
15421
15422appetite.<br><br>
15423
15424The lady of the caravan looked on approvingly for some time, and then
15425
15426said,<br><br>
15427
15428'Have you nearly finished?'<br><br>
15429
15430'Wery nigh, mum.'  And indeed, after scraping the dish all round with
15431
15432his knife and carrying the choice brown morsels to his mouth, and after
15433
15434taking such a scientific pull at the stone bottle that, by degrees
15435
15436almost imperceptible to the sight, his head went further and further
15437
15438back until he lay nearly at his full length upon the ground, this
15439
15440gentleman declared himself quite disengaged, and came forth from his
15441
15442retreat.<br><br>
15443
15444'I hope I haven't hurried you, George,' said his mistress, who appeared
15445
15446to have a great sympathy with his late pursuit.<br><br>
15447
15448'If you have,' returned the follower, wisely reserving himself for any
15449
15450favourable contingency that might occur, 'we must make up for it next
15451
15452time, that's all.'<br><br>
15453
15454'We are not a heavy load, George?'<br><br>
15455
15456'That's always what the ladies say,' replied the man, looking a long
15457
15458way round, as if he were appealing to Nature in general against such
15459
15460monstrous propositions.  'If you see a woman a driving, you'll always
15461
15462perceive that she never will keep her whip still; the horse can't go
15463
15464fast enough for her.  If cattle have got their proper load, you never
15465
15466can persuade a woman that they'll not bear something more.  What is the
15467
15468cause of this here?'<br><br>
15469
15470'Would these two travellers make much difference to the horses, if we
15471
15472took them with us?' asked his mistress, offering no reply to the
15473
15474philosophical inquiry, and pointing to Nell and the old man, who were
15475
15476painfully preparing to resume their journey on foot.<br><br>
15477
15478'They'd make a difference in course,' said George doggedly.<br><br>
15479
15480'Would they make much difference?' repeated his mistress.  'They can't
15481
15482be very heavy.'<br><br>
15483
15484'The weight o' the pair, mum,' said George, eyeing them with the look
15485
15486of a man who was calculating within half an ounce or so, 'would be a
15487
15488trifle under that of Oliver Cromwell.'<br><br>
15489
15490Nell was very much surprised that the man should be so accurately
15491
15492acquainted with the weight of one whom she had read of in books as
15493
15494having lived considerably before their time, but speedily forgot the
15495
15496subject in the joy of hearing that they were to go forward in the
15497
15498caravan, for which she thanked its lady with unaffected earnestness.
15499
15500She helped with great readiness and alacrity to put away the tea-things
15501
15502and other matters that were lying about, and, the horses being by that
15503
15504time harnessed, mounted into the vehicle, followed by her delighted
15505
15506grandfather.  Their patroness then shut the door and sat herself down
15507
15508by her drum at an open window; and, the steps being struck by George
15509
15510and stowed under the carriage, away they went, with a great noise of
15511
15512flapping and creaking and straining, and the bright brass knocker,
15513
15514which nobody ever knocked at, knocking one perpetual double knock of
15515
15516its own accord as they jolted heavily along.<br><br>
15517
15518CHAPTER 27<br><br>
15519
15520When they had travelled slowly forward for some short distance, Nell
15521
15522ventured to steal a look round the caravan and observe it more closely.
15523
15524One half of it--that moiety in which the comfortable proprietress was
15525
15526then seated--was carpeted, and so partitioned off at the further end as
15527
15528to accommodate a sleeping-place, constructed after the fashion of a
15529
15530berth on board ship, which was shaded, like the little windows, with
15531
15532fair white curtains, and looked comfortable enough, though by what kind
15533
15534of gymnastic exercise the lady of the caravan ever contrived to get
15535
15536into it, was an unfathomable mystery.  The other half served for a
15537
15538kitchen, and was fitted up with a stove whose small chimney passed
15539
15540through the roof.  It held also a closet or larder, several chests, a
15541
15542great pitcher of water, and a few cooking-utensils and articles of
15543
15544crockery.  These latter necessaries hung upon the walls, which, in that
15545
15546portion of the establishment devoted to the lady of the caravan, were
15547
15548ornamented with such gayer and lighter decorations as a triangle and a
15549
15550couple of well-thumbed tambourines.<br><br>
15551
15552The lady of the caravan sat at one window in all the pride and poetry
15553
15554of the musical instruments, and little Nell and her grandfather sat at
15555
15556the other in all the humility of the kettle and saucepans, while the
15557
15558machine jogged on and shifted the darkening prospect very slowly.  At
15559
15560first the two travellers spoke little, and only in whispers, but as
15561
15562they grew more familiar with the place they ventured to converse with
15563
15564greater freedom, and talked about the country through which they were
15565
15566passing, and the different objects that presented themselves, until the
15567
15568old man fell asleep; which the lady of the caravan observing, invited
15569
15570Nell to come and sit beside her.<br><br>
15571
15572'Well, child,' she said, 'how do you like this way of travelling?'<br><br>
15573
15574Nell replied that she thought it was very pleasant indeed, to which the
15575
15576lady assented in the case of people who had their spirits.  For
15577
15578herself, she said, she was troubled with a lowness in that respect
15579
15580which required a constant stimulant; though whether the aforesaid
15581
15582stimulant was derived from the suspicious bottle of which mention has
15583
15584been already made or from other sources, she did not say.<br><br>
15585
15586'That's the happiness of you young people,' she continued.  'You don't
15587
15588know what it is to be low in your feelings.  You always have your
15589
15590appetites too, and what a comfort that is.'<br><br>
15591
15592Nell thought that she could sometimes dispense with her own appetite
15593
15594very conveniently; and thought, moreover, that there was nothing either
15595
15596in the lady's personal appearance or in her manner of taking tea, to
15597
15598lead to the conclusion that her natural relish for meat and drink had
15599
15600at all failed her.  She silently assented, however, as in duty bound,
15601
15602to what the lady had said, and waited until she should speak again.<br><br>
15603
15604Instead of speaking, however, she sat looking at the child for a long
15605
15606time in silence, and then getting up, brought out from a corner a large
15607
15608roll of canvas about a yard in width, which she laid upon the floor and
15609
15610spread open with her foot until it nearly reached from one end of the
15611
15612caravan to the other.<br><br>
15613
15614'There, child,' she said, 'read that.'<br><br>
15615
15616Nell walked down it, and read aloud, in enormous black letters, the
15617
15618inscription, 'Jarley's WAX-WORK.'<br><br>
15619
15620'Read it again,' said the lady, complacently.<br><br>
15621
15622'Jarley's Wax-Work,' repeated Nell.<br><br>
15623
15624'That's me,' said the lady.  'I am Mrs Jarley.'<br><br>
15625
15626Giving the child an encouraging look, intended to reassure her and let
15627
15628her know, that, although she stood in the presence of the original
15629
15630Jarley, she must not allow herself to be utterly overwhelmed and borne
15631
15632down, the lady of the caravan unfolded another scroll, whereon was the
15633
15634inscription, 'One hundred figures the full size of life,' and then
15635
15636another scroll, on which was written, 'The only stupendous collection
15637
15638of real wax-work in the world,' and then several smaller scrolls with
15639
15640such inscriptions as 'Now exhibiting within'--'The genuine and only
15641
15642Jarley'--'Jarley's unrivalled collection'--'Jarley is the delight of
15643
15644the Nobility and Gentry'--'The Royal Family are the patrons of Jarley.'
15645
15646When she had exhibited these leviathans of public announcement to the
15647
15648astonished child, she brought forth specimens of the lesser fry in the
15649
15650shape of hand-bills, some of which were couched in the form of parodies
15651
15652on popular melodies, as 'Believe me if all Jarley's wax-work so
15653
15654rare'--'I saw thy show in youthful prime'--'Over the water to Jarley;'
15655
15656while, to consult all tastes, others were composed with a view to the
15657
15658lighter and more facetious spirits, as a parody on the favourite air of
15659
15660'If I had a donkey,' beginning,<br><br>
15661
15662  If I know'd a donkey wot wouldn't go
15663
15664  To see Mrs JARLEY'S wax-work show,
15665
15666  Do you think I'd acknowledge him?  Oh no no!
15667
15668  Then run to Jarley's--<br><br>
15669
15670--besides several compositions in prose, purporting to be dialogues
15671
15672between the Emperor of China and an oyster, or the Archbishop of
15673
15674Canterbury and a dissenter on the subject of church-rates, but all
15675
15676having the same moral, namely, that the reader must make haste to
15677
15678Jarley's, and that children and servants were admitted at half-price.
15679
15680When she had brought all these testimonials of her important position
15681
15682in society to bear upon her young companion, Mrs Jarley rolled them up,
15683
15684and having put them carefully away, sat down again, and looked at the
15685
15686child in triumph.<br><br>
15687
15688'Never go into the company of a filthy Punch any more,' said Mrs
15689
15690Jarley, 'after this.'<br><br>
15691
15692'I never saw any wax-work, ma'am,' said Nell.  'Is it funnier than
15693
15694Punch?'<br><br>
15695
15696'Funnier!' said Mrs Jarley in a shrill voice.  'It is not funny at all.'<br><br>
15697
15698'Oh!' said Nell, with all possible humility.<br><br>
15699
15700'It isn't funny at all,' repeated Mrs Jarley.  'It's calm and--what's
15701
15702that word again--critical?--no--classical, that's it--it's calm and
15703
15704classical.  No low beatings and knockings about, no jokings and
15705
15706squeakings like your precious Punches, but always the same, with a
15707
15708constantly unchanging air of coldness and gentility; and so like life,
15709
15710that if wax-work only spoke and walked about, you'd hardly know the
15711
15712difference.  I won't go so far as to say, that, as it is, I've seen
15713
15714wax-work quite like life, but I've certainly seen some life that was
15715
15716exactly like wax-work.'<br><br>
15717
15718'Is it here, ma'am?' asked Nell, whose curiosity was awakened by this
15719
15720description.<br><br>
15721
15722'Is what here, child?'<br><br>
15723
15724'The wax-work, ma'am.'<br><br>
15725
15726'Why, bless you, child, what are you thinking of?  How could such a
15727
15728collection be here, where you see everything except the inside of one
15729
15730little cupboard and a few boxes?  It's gone on in the other wans to the
15731
15732assembly-rooms, and there it'll be exhibited the day after to-morrow.
15733
15734You are going to the same town, and you'll see it I dare say.  It's
15735
15736natural to expect that you'll see it, and I've no doubt you will.  I
15737
15738suppose you couldn't stop away if you was to try ever so much.'<br><br>
15739
15740'I shall not be in the town, I think, ma'am,' said the child.<br><br>
15741
15742'Not there!' cried Mrs Jarley.  'Then where will you be?'<br><br>
15743
15744'I--I--don't quite know.  I am not certain.'<br><br>
15745
15746'You don't mean to say that you're travelling about the country without
15747
15748knowing where you're going to?' said the lady of the caravan.  'What
15749
15750curious people you are!  What line are you in?  You looked to me at the
15751
15752races, child, as if you were quite out of your element, and had got
15753
15754there by accident.'<br><br>
15755
15756'We were there quite by accident,' returned Nell, confused by this
15757
15758abrupt questioning.  'We are poor people, ma'am, and are only wandering
15759
15760about.  We have nothing to do;--I wish we had.'<br><br>
15761
15762'You amaze me more and more,' said Mrs Jarley, after remaining for some
15763
15764time as mute as one of her own figures.  'Why, what do you call
15765
15766yourselves?  Not beggars?'<br><br>
15767
15768'Indeed, ma'am, I don't know what else we are,' returned the child.<br><br>
15769
15770'Lord bless me,' said the lady of the caravan.  'I never heard of such
15771
15772a thing.  Who'd have thought it!'<br><br>
15773
15774She remained so long silent after this exclamation, that Nell feared
15775
15776she felt her having been induced to bestow her protection and
15777
15778conversation upon one so poor, to be an outrage upon her dignity that
15779
15780nothing could repair.  This persuasion was rather confirmed than
15781
15782otherwise by the tone in which she at length broke silence and said,<br><br>
15783
15784'And yet you can read.  And write too, I shouldn't wonder?'<br><br>
15785
15786'Yes, ma'am,' said the child, fearful of giving new offence by the
15787
15788confession.<br><br>
15789
15790'Well, and what a thing that is,' returned Mrs Jarley.  'I can't!'<br><br>
15791
15792Nell said 'indeed' in a tone which might imply, either that she was
15793
15794reasonably surprised to find the genuine and only Jarley, who was the
15795
15796delight of the Nobility and Gentry and the peculiar pet of the Royal
15797
15798Family, destitute of these familiar arts; or that she presumed so great
15799
15800a lady could scarcely stand in need of such ordinary accomplishments.
15801
15802In whatever way Mrs Jarley received the response, it did not provoke
15803
15804her to further questioning, or tempt her into any more remarks at the
15805
15806time, for she relapsed into a thoughtful silence, and remained in that
15807
15808state so long that Nell withdrew to the other window and rejoined her
15809
15810grandfather, who was now awake.<br><br>
15811
15812At length the lady of the caravan shook off her fit of meditation, and,
15813
15814summoning the driver to come under the window at which she was seated,
15815
15816held a long conversation with him in a low tone of voice, as if she
15817
15818were asking his advice on an important point, and discussing the pros
15819
15820and cons of some very weighty matter.  This conference at length
15821
15822concluded, she drew in her head again, and beckoned Nell to approach.<br><br>
15823
15824'And the old gentleman too,' said Mrs Jarley; 'for I want to have a
15825
15826word with him.  Do you want a good situation for your grand-daughter,
15827
15828master?  If you do, I can put her in the way of getting one.  What do
15829
15830you say?'<br><br>
15831
15832'I can't leave her,' answered the old man.  'We can't separate.  What
15833
15834would become of me without her?'<br><br>
15835
15836'I should have thought you were old enough to take care of yourself, if
15837
15838you ever will be,' retorted Mrs Jarley sharply.<br><br>
15839
15840'But he never will be,' said the child in an earnest whisper.  'I fear
15841
15842he never will be again.  Pray do not speak harshly to him.  We are very
15843
15844thankful to you,' she added aloud; 'but neither of us could part from
15845
15846the other if all the wealth of the world were halved between us.'<br><br>
15847
15848Mrs Jarley was a little disconcerted by this reception of her proposal,
15849
15850and looked at the old man, who tenderly took Nell's hand and detained
15851
15852it in his own, as if she could have very well dispensed with his
15853
15854company or even his earthly existence.  After an awkward pause, she
15855
15856thrust her head out of the window again, and had another conference
15857
15858with the driver upon some point on which they did not seem to agree
15859
15860quite so readily as on their former topic of discussion; but they
15861
15862concluded at last, and she addressed the grandfather again.<br><br>
15863
15864'If you're really disposed to employ yourself,' said Mrs Jarley, 'there
15865
15866would be plenty for you to do in the way of helping to dust the
15867
15868figures, and take the checks, and so forth.  What I want your
15869
15870grand-daughter for, is to point 'em out to the company; they would be
15871
15872soon learnt, and she has a way with her that people wouldn't think
15873
15874unpleasant, though she does come after me; for I've been always
15875
15876accustomed to go round with visitors myself, which I should keep on
15877
15878doing now, only that my spirits make a little ease absolutely
15879
15880necessary.  It's not a common offer, bear in mind,' said the lady,
15881
15882rising into the tone and manner in which she was accustomed to address
15883
15884her audiences; 'it's Jarley's wax-work, remember.  The duty's very
15885
15886light and genteel, the company particularly select, the exhibition
15887
15888takes place in assembly-rooms, town-halls, large rooms at inns, or
15889
15890auction galleries.  There is none of your open-air wagrancy at
15891
15892Jarley's, recollect; there is no tarpaulin and sawdust at Jarley's,
15893
15894remember.  Every expectation held out in the handbills is realised to
15895
15896the utmost, and the whole forms an effect of imposing brilliancy
15897
15898hitherto unrivalled in this kingdom.  Remember that the price of
15899
15900admission is only sixpence, and that this is an opportunity which may
15901
15902never occur again!'<br><br>
15903
15904Descending from the sublime when she had reached this point, to the
15905
15906details of common life, Mrs Jarley remarked that with reference to
15907
15908salary she could pledge herself to no specific sum until she had
15909
15910sufficiently tested Nell's abilities, and narrowly watched her in the
15911
15912performance of her duties.  But board and lodging, both for her and her
15913
15914grandfather, she bound herself to provide, and she furthermore passed
15915
15916her word that the board should always be good in quality, and in
15917
15918quantity plentiful.<br><br>
15919
15920Nell and her grandfather consulted together, and while they were so
15921
15922engaged, Mrs Jarley with her hands behind her walked up and down the
15923
15924caravan, as she had walked after tea on the dull earth, with uncommon
15925
15926dignity and self-esteem.  Nor will this appear so slight a circumstance
15927
15928as to be unworthy of mention, when it is remembered that the caravan
15929
15930was in uneasy motion all the time, and that none but a person of great
15931
15932natural stateliness and acquired grace could have forborne to stagger.<br><br>
15933
15934'Now, child?' cried Mrs Jarley, coming to a halt as Nell turned towards
15935
15936her.<br><br>
15937
15938'We are very much obliged to you, ma'am,' said Nell, 'and thankfully
15939
15940accept your offer.'<br><br>
15941
15942'And you'll never be sorry for it,' returned Mrs Jarley.  'I'm pretty
15943
15944sure of that.  So as that's all settled, let us have a bit of supper.'<br><br>
15945
15946In the meanwhile, the caravan blundered on as if it too had been
15947
15948drinking strong beer and was drowsy, and came at last upon the paved
15949
15950streets of a town which were clear of passengers, and quiet, for it was
15951
15952by this time near midnight, and the townspeople were all abed.  As it
15953
15954was too late an hour to repair to the exhibition room, they turned
15955
15956aside into a piece of waste ground that lay just within the old
15957
15958town-gate, and drew up there for the night, near to another caravan,
15959
15960which, notwithstanding that it bore on the lawful panel the great name
15961
15962of Jarley, and was employed besides in conveying from place to place
15963
15964the wax-work which was its country's pride, was designated by a
15965
15966grovelling stamp-office as a 'Common Stage Waggon,' and numbered
15967
15968too--seven thousand odd hundred--as though its precious freight were
15969
15970mere flour or coals!<br><br>
15971
15972This ill-used machine being empty (for it had deposited its burden at
15973
15974the place of exhibition, and lingered here until its services were
15975
15976again required) was assigned to the old man as his sleeping-place for
15977
15978the night; and within its wooden walls, Nell made him up the best bed
15979
15980she could, from the materials at hand.  For herself, she was to sleep
15981
15982in Mrs Jarley's own travelling-carriage, as a signal mark of that
15983
15984lady's favour and confidence.<br><br>
15985
15986She had taken leave of her grandfather and was returning to the other
15987
15988waggon, when she was tempted by the coolness of the night to linger for
15989
15990a little while in the air.  The moon was shining down upon the old
15991
15992gateway of the town, leaving the low archway very black and dark; and
15993
15994with a mingled sensation of curiosity and fear, she slowly approached
15995
15996the gate, and stood still to look up at it, wondering to see how dark,
15997
15998and grim, and old, and cold, it looked.<br><br>
15999
16000There was an empty niche from which some old statue had fallen or been
16001
16002carried away hundreds of years ago, and she was thinking what strange
16003
16004people it must have looked down upon when it stood there, and how many
16005
16006hard struggles might have taken place, and how many murders might have
16007
16008been done, upon that silent spot, when there suddenly emerged from the
16009
16010black shade of the arch, a man.  The instant he appeared, she
16011
16012recognised him--Who could have failed to recognise, in that instant,
16013
16014the ugly misshapen Quilp!<br><br>
16015
16016The street beyond was so narrow, and the shadow of the houses on one
16017
16018side of the way so deep, that he seemed to have risen out of the earth.
16019
16020But there he was.  The child withdrew into a dark corner, and saw him
16021
16022pass close to her.  He had a stick in his hand, and, when he had got
16023
16024clear of the shadow of the gateway, he leant upon it, looked
16025
16026back--directly, as it seemed, towards where she stood--and beckoned.<br><br>
16027
16028To her?  oh no, thank God, not to her; for as she stood, in an
16029
16030extremity of fear, hesitating whether to scream for help, or come from
16031
16032her hiding-place and fly, before he should draw nearer, there issued
16033
16034slowly forth from the arch another figure--that of a boy--who carried
16035
16036on his back a trunk.<br><br>
16037
16038'Faster, sirrah!' cried Quilp, looking up at the old gateway, and
16039
16040showing in the moonlight like some monstrous image that had come down
16041
16042from its niche and was casting a backward glance at its old house,
16043
16044'faster!'<br><br>
16045
16046'It's a dreadful heavy load, Sir,' the boy pleaded.  'I've come on very
16047
16048fast, considering.'<br><br>
16049
16050'YOU have come fast, considering!' retorted Quilp; 'you creep, you dog,
16051
16052you crawl, you measure distance like a worm.  There are the chimes now,
16053
16054half-past twelve.'<br><br>
16055
16056He stopped to listen, and then turning upon the boy with a suddenness
16057
16058and ferocity that made him start, asked at what hour that London coach
16059
16060passed the corner of the road.  The boy replied, at one.<br><br>
16061
16062'Come on then,' said Quilp, 'or I shall be too late.  Faster--do you
16063
16064hear me?  Faster.'<br><br>
16065
16066The boy made all the speed he could, and Quilp led onward, constantly
16067
16068turning back to threaten him, and urge him to greater haste.  Nell did
16069
16070not dare to move until they were out of sight and hearing, and then
16071
16072hurried to where she had left her grandfather, feeling as if the very
16073
16074passing of the dwarf so near him must have filled him with alarm and
16075
16076terror.  But he was sleeping soundly, and she softly withdrew.<br><br>
16077
16078As she was making her way to her own bed, she determined to say nothing
16079
16080of this adventure, as upon whatever errand the dwarf had come (and she
16081
16082feared it must have been in search of them) it was clear by his inquiry
16083
16084about the London coach that he was on his way homeward, and as he had
16085
16086passed through that place, it was but reasonable to suppose that they
16087
16088were safer from his inquiries there, than they could be elsewhere.
16089
16090These reflections did not remove her own alarm, for she had been too
16091
16092much terrified to be easily composed, and felt as if she were hemmed in
16093
16094by a legion of Quilps, and the very air itself were filled with them.<br><br>
16095
16096The delight of the Nobility and Gentry and the patronised of Royalty
16097
16098had, by some process of self-abridgment known only to herself, got into
16099
16100her travelling bed, where she was snoring peacefully, while the large
16101
16102bonnet, carefully disposed upon the drum, was revealing its glories by
16103
16104the light of a dim lamp that swung from the roof.  The child's bed was
16105
16106already made upon the floor, and it was a great comfort to her to hear
16107
16108the steps removed as soon as she had entered, and to know that all easy
16109
16110communication between persons outside and the brass knocker was by this
16111
16112means effectually prevented.  Certain guttural sounds, too, which from
16113
16114time to time ascended through the floor of the caravan, and a rustling
16115
16116of straw in the same direction, apprised her that the driver was
16117
16118couched upon the ground beneath, and gave her an additional feeling of
16119
16120security.<br><br>
16121
16122Notwithstanding these protections, she could get none but broken sleep
16123
16124by fits and starts all night, for fear of Quilp, who throughout her
16125
16126uneasy dreams was somehow connected with the wax-work, or was wax-work
16127
16128himself, or was Mrs Jarley and wax-work too, or was himself, Mrs
16129
16130Jarley, wax-work, and a barrel organ all in one, and yet not exactly
16131
16132any of them either.  At length, towards break of day, that deep sleep
16133
16134came upon her which succeeds to weariness and over-watching, and which
16135
16136has no consciousness but one of overpowering and irresistible enjoyment.<br><br>
16137
16138CHAPTER 28<br><br>
16139
16140Sleep hung upon the eyelids of the child so long, that, when she awoke,
16141
16142Mrs Jarley was already decorated with her large bonnet, and actively
16143
16144engaged in preparing breakfast.  She received Nell's apology for being
16145
16146so late with perfect good humour, and said that she should not have
16147
16148roused her if she had slept on until noon.<br><br>
16149
16150'Because it does you good,' said the lady of the caravan, 'when you're
16151
16152tired, to sleep as long as ever you can, and get the fatigue quite off;
16153
16154and that's another blessing of your time of life--you can sleep so very
16155
16156sound.'<br><br>
16157
16158'Have you had a bad night, ma'am?' asked Nell.<br><br>
16159
16160'I seldom have anything else, child,' replied Mrs Jarley, with the air
16161
16162of a martyr.  'I sometimes wonder how I bear it.'<br><br>
16163
16164Remembering the snores which had proceeded from that cleft in the
16165
16166caravan in which the proprietress of the wax-work passed the night,
16167
16168Nell rather thought she must have been dreaming of lying awake.
16169
16170However, she expressed herself very sorry to hear such a dismal account
16171
16172of her state of health, and shortly afterwards sat down with her
16173
16174grandfather and Mrs Jarley to breakfast.  The meal finished, Nell
16175
16176assisted to wash the cups and saucers, and put them in their proper
16177
16178places, and these household duties performed, Mrs Jarley arrayed
16179
16180herself in an exceedingly bright shawl for the purpose of making a
16181
16182progress through the streets of the town.<br><br>
16183
16184'The wan will come on to bring the boxes,' said Mrs Jarley, and you had
16185
16186better come in it, child.  I am obliged to walk, very much against my
16187
16188will; but the people expect it of me, and public characters can't be
16189
16190their own masters and mistresses in such matters as these.  How do I
16191
16192look, child?'<br><br>
16193
16194Nell returned a satisfactory reply, and Mrs Jarley, after sticking a
16195
16196great many pins into various parts of her figure, and making several
16197
16198abortive attempts to obtain a full view of her own back, was at last
16199
16200satisfied with her appearance, and went forth majestically.<br><br>
16201
16202The caravan followed at no great distance.  As it went jolting through
16203
16204the streets, Nell peeped from the window, curious to see in what kind
16205
16206of place they were, and yet fearful of encountering at every turn the
16207
16208dreaded face of Quilp.  It was a pretty large town, with an open square
16209
16210which they were crawling slowly across, and in the middle of which was
16211
16212the Town-Hall, with a clock-tower and a weather-cock.  There were
16213
16214houses of stone, houses of red brick, houses of yellow brick, houses of
16215
16216lath and plaster; and houses of wood, many of them very old, with
16217
16218withered faces carved upon the beams, and staring down into the street.
16219
16220These had very little winking windows, and low-arched doors, and, in
16221
16222some of the narrower ways, quite overhung the pavement.  The streets
16223
16224were very clean, very sunny, very empty, and very dull.  A few idle men
16225
16226lounged about the two inns, and the empty market-place, and the
16227
16228tradesmen's doors, and some old people were dozing in chairs outside an
16229
16230alms-house wall; but scarcely any passengers who seemed bent on going
16231
16232anywhere, or to have any object in view, went by; and if perchance some
16233
16234straggler did, his footsteps echoed on the hot bright pavement for
16235
16236minutes afterwards.  Nothing seemed to be going on but the clocks, and
16237
16238they had such drowzy faces, such heavy lazy hands, and such cracked
16239
16240voices that they surely must have been too slow.  The very dogs were
16241
16242all asleep, and the flies, drunk with moist sugar in the grocer's shop,
16243
16244forgot their wings and briskness, and baked to death in dusty corners
16245
16246of the window.<br><br>
16247
16248Rumbling along with most unwonted noise, the caravan stopped at last at
16249
16250the place of exhibition, where Nell dismounted amidst an admiring group
16251
16252of children, who evidently supposed her to be an important item of the
16253
16254curiosities, and were fully impressed with the belief that her
16255
16256grandfather was a cunning device in wax.  The chests were taken out
16257
16258with all convenient despatch, and taken in to be unlocked by Mrs
16259
16260Jarley, who, attended by George and another man in velveteen shorts and
16261
16262a drab hat ornamented with turnpike tickets, were waiting to dispose
16263
16264their contents (consisting of red festoons and other ornamental devices
16265
16266in upholstery work) to the best advantage in the decoration of the room.<br><br>
16267
16268They all got to work without loss of time, and very busy they were.  As
16269
16270the stupendous collection were yet concealed by cloths, lest the
16271
16272envious dust should injure their complexions, Nell bestirred herself to
16273
16274assist in the embellishment of the room, in which her grandfather also
16275
16276was of great service.  The two men being well used to it, did a great
16277
16278deal in a short time; and Mrs Jarley served out the tin tacks from a
16279
16280linen pocket like a toll-collector's which she wore for the purpose,
16281
16282and encouraged her assistants to renewed exertion.<br><br>
16283
16284While they were thus employed, a tallish gentleman with a hook nose and
16285
16286black hair, dressed in a military surtout very short and tight in the
16287
16288sleeves, and which had once been frogged and braided all over, but was
16289
16290now sadly shorn of its garniture and quite threadbare--dressed too in
16291
16292ancient grey pantaloons fitting tight to the leg, and a pair of pumps
16293
16294in the winter of their existence--looked in at the door and smiled
16295
16296affably.  Mrs Jarley's back being then towards him, the military
16297
16298gentleman shook his forefinger as a sign that her myrmidons were not to
16299
16300apprise her of his presence, and stealing up close behind her, tapped
16301
16302her on the neck, and cried playfully 'Boh!'<br><br>
16303
16304'What, Mr Slum!' cried the lady of the wax-work.  'Lot! who'd have
16305
16306thought of seeing you here!'<br><br>
16307
16308''Pon my soul and honour,' said Mr Slum, 'that's a good remark.  'Pon
16309
16310my soul and honour that's a wise remark.  Who would have thought it!
16311
16312George, my faithful feller, how are you?'<br><br>
16313
16314George received this advance with a surly indifference, observing that
16315
16316he was well enough for the matter of that, and hammering lustily all
16317
16318the time.<br><br>
16319
16320'I came here,' said the military gentleman turning to Mrs Jarley--''pon
16321
16322my soul and honour I hardly know what I came here for.  It would
16323
16324puzzle me to tell you, it would by Gad.  I wanted a little inspiration,
16325
16326a little freshening up, a little change of ideas, and-- 'Pon my soul
16327
16328and honour,' said the military gentleman, checking himself and looking
16329
16330round the room, 'what a devilish classical thing this is! by Gad, it's
16331
16332quite Minervian.'<br><br>
16333
16334'It'll look well enough when it comes to be finished,' observed Mrs
16335
16336Jarley.<br><br>
16337
16338'Well enough!' said Mr Slum.  'Will you believe me when I say it's the
16339
16340delight of my life to have dabbled in poetry, when I think I've
16341
16342exercised my pen upon this charming theme?  By the way--any orders?  Is
16343
16344there any little thing I can do for you?'<br><br>
16345
16346'It comes so very expensive, sir,' replied Mrs Jarley, 'and I really
16347
16348don't think it does much good.'<br><br>
16349
16350'Hush!  No, no!' returned Mr Slum, elevating his hand.  'No fibs.  I'll
16351
16352not hear it.  Don't say it don't do good.  Don't say it.  I know
16353
16354better!'<br><br>
16355
16356'I don't think it does,' said Mrs Jarley.<br><br>
16357
16358'Ha, ha!' cried Mr Slum, 'you're giving way, you're coming down.  Ask
16359
16360the perfumers, ask the blacking-makers, ask the hatters, ask the old
16361
16362lottery-office-keepers--ask any man among 'em what my poetry has done
16363
16364for him, and mark my words, he blesses the name of Slum.  If he's an
16365
16366honest man, he raises his eyes to heaven, and blesses the name of
16367
16368Slum--mark that!  You are acquainted with Westminster Abbey, Mrs
16369
16370Jarley?'<br><br>
16371
16372'Yes, surely.'<br><br>
16373
16374'Then upon my soul and honour, ma'am, you'll find in a certain angle of
16375
16376that dreary pile, called Poets' Corner, a few smaller names than Slum,'
16377
16378retorted that gentleman, tapping himself expressively on the forehead
16379
16380to imply that there was some slight quantity of brain behind it.  'I've
16381
16382got a little trifle here, now,' said Mr Slum, taking off his hat which
16383
16384was full of scraps of paper, 'a little trifle here, thrown off in the
16385
16386heat of the moment, which I should say was exactly the thing you wanted
16387
16388to set this place on fire with.  It's an acrostic--the name at this
16389
16390moment is Warren, and the idea's a convertible one, and a positive
16391
16392inspiration for Jarley.  Have the acrostic.'<br><br>
16393
16394'I suppose it's very dear,' said Mrs Jarley.<br><br>
16395
16396'Five shillings,' returned Mr Slum, using his pencil as a toothpick.
16397
16398'Cheaper than any prose.'<br><br>
16399
16400'I couldn't give more than three,' said Mrs Jarley.<br><br>
16401
16402'--And six,' retorted Slum.  'Come.  Three-and-six.'<br><br>
16403
16404Mrs Jarley was not proof against the poet's insinuating manner, and Mr
16405
16406Slum entered the order in a small note-book as a three-and-sixpenny
16407
16408one.  Mr Slum then withdrew to alter the acrostic, after taking a most
16409
16410affectionate leave of his patroness, and promising to return, as soon
16411
16412as he possibly could, with a fair copy for the printer.<br><br>
16413
16414As his presence had not interfered with or interrupted the
16415
16416preparations, they were now far advanced, and were completed shortly
16417
16418after his departure.  When the festoons were all put up as tastily as
16419
16420they might be, the stupendous collection was uncovered, and there were
16421
16422displayed, on a raised platform some two feet from the floor, running
16423
16424round the room and parted from the rude public by a crimson rope breast
16425
16426high, divers sprightly effigies of celebrated characters, singly and in
16427
16428groups, clad in glittering dresses of various climes and times, and
16429
16430standing more or less unsteadily upon their legs, with their eyes very
16431
16432wide open, and their nostrils very much inflated, and the muscles of
16433
16434their legs and arms very strongly developed, and all their countenances
16435
16436expressing great surprise.  All the gentlemen were very pigeon-breasted
16437
16438and very blue about the beards; and all the ladies were miraculous
16439
16440figures; and all the ladies and all the gentlemen were looking
16441
16442intensely nowhere, and staring with extraordinary earnestness at
16443
16444nothing.<br><br>
16445
16446When Nell had exhausted her first raptures at this glorious sight, Mrs
16447
16448Jarley ordered the room to be cleared of all but herself and the child,
16449
16450and, sitting herself down in an arm-chair in the centre, formally
16451
16452invested Nell with a willow wand, long used by herself for pointing out
16453
16454the characters, and was at great pains to instruct her in her duty.<br><br>
16455
16456'That,' said Mrs Jarley in her exhibition tone, as Nell touched a
16457
16458figure at the beginning of the platform, 'is an unfortunate Maid of
16459
16460Honour in the Time of Queen Elizabeth, who died from pricking her
16461
16462finger in consequence of working upon a Sunday.  Observe the blood
16463
16464which is trickling from her finger; also the gold-eyed needle of the
16465
16466period, with which she is at work.'<br><br>
16467
16468All this, Nell repeated twice or thrice: pointing to the finger and the
16469
16470needle at the right times: and then passed on to the next.<br><br>
16471
16472'That, ladies and gentlemen,' said Mrs Jarley, 'is Jasper Packlemerton
16473
16474of atrocious memory, who courted and married fourteen wives, and
16475
16476destroyed them all, by tickling the soles of their feet when they were
16477
16478sleeping in the consciousness of innocence and virtue.  On being
16479
16480brought to the scaffold and asked if he was sorry for what he had done,
16481
16482he replied yes, he was sorry for having let 'em off so easy, and hoped
16483
16484all Christian husbands would pardon him the offence.  Let this be a
16485
16486warning to all young ladies to be particular in the character of the
16487
16488gentlemen of their choice.  Observe that his fingers are curled as if
16489
16490in the act of tickling, and that his face is represented with a wink,
16491
16492as he appeared when committing his barbarous murders.'<br><br>
16493
16494When Nell knew all about Mr Packlemerton, and could say it without
16495
16496faltering, Mrs Jarley passed on to the fat man, and then to the thin
16497
16498man, the tall man, the short man, the old lady who died of dancing at a
16499
16500hundred and thirty-two, the wild boy of the woods, the woman who
16501
16502poisoned fourteen families with pickled walnuts, and other historical
16503
16504characters and interesting but misguided individuals.  And so well did
16505
16506Nell profit by her instructions, and so apt was she to remember them,
16507
16508that by the time they had been shut up together for a couple of hours,
16509
16510she was in full possession of the history of the whole establishment,
16511
16512and perfectly competent to the enlightenment of visitors.<br><br>
16513
16514Mrs Jarley was not slow to express her admiration at this happy result,
16515
16516and carried her young friend and pupil to inspect the remaining
16517
16518arrangements within doors, by virtue of which the passage had been
16519
16520already converted into a grove of green-baize hung with the inscription
16521
16522she had already seen (Mr Slum's productions), and a highly ornamented
16523
16524table placed at the upper end for Mrs Jarley herself, at which she was
16525
16526to preside and take the money, in company with his Majesty King George
16527
16528the Third, Mr Grimaldi as clown, Mary Queen of Scots, an anonymous
16529
16530gentleman of the Quaker persuasion, and Mr Pitt holding in his hand a
16531
16532correct model of the bill for the imposition of the window duty.  The
16533
16534preparations without doors had not been neglected either; a nun of
16535
16536great personal attractions was telling her beads on the little portico
16537
16538over the door; and a brigand with the blackest possible head of hair,
16539
16540and the clearest possible complexion, was at that moment going round
16541
16542the town in a cart, consulting the miniature of a lady.<br><br>
16543
16544It now only remained that Mr Slum's compositions should be judiciously
16545
16546distributed; that the pathetic effusions should find their way to all
16547
16548private houses and tradespeople; and that the parody commencing 'If I
16549
16550know'd a donkey,' should be confined to the taverns, and circulated
16551
16552only among the lawyers' clerks and choice spirits of the place.  When
16553
16554this had been done, and Mrs Jarley had waited upon the boarding-schools
16555
16556in person, with a handbill composed expressly for them, in which it was
16557
16558distinctly proved that wax-work refined the mind, cultivated the taste,
16559
16560and enlarged the sphere of the human understanding, that indefatigable
16561
16562lady sat down to dinner, and drank out of the suspicious bottle to a
16563
16564flourishing campaign.<br><br>
16565
16566CHAPTER 29<br><br>
16567
16568Unquestionably Mrs Jarley had an inventive genius.  In the midst of the
16569
16570various devices for attracting visitors to the exhibition, little Nell
16571
16572was not forgotten.  The light cart in which the Brigand usually made
16573
16574his perambulations being gaily dressed with flags and streamers, and
16575
16576the Brigand placed therein, contemplating the miniature of his beloved
16577
16578as usual, Nell was accommodated with a seat beside him, decorated with
16579
16580artificial flowers, and in this state and ceremony rode slowly through
16581
16582the town every morning, dispersing handbills from a basket, to the
16583
16584sound of drum and trumpet.  The beauty of the child, coupled with her
16585
16586gentle and timid bearing, produced quite a sensation in the little
16587
16588country place.  The Brigand, heretofore a source of exclusive interest
16589
16590in the streets, became a mere secondary consideration, and to be
16591
16592important only as a part of the show of which she was the chief
16593
16594attraction.  Grown-up folks began to be interested in the bright-eyed
16595
16596girl, and some score of little boys fell desperately in love, and
16597
16598constantly left enclosures of nuts and apples, directed in small-text,
16599
16600at the wax-work door.<br><br>
16601
16602This desirable impression was not lost on Mrs Jarley, who, lest Nell
16603
16604should become too cheap, soon sent the Brigand out alone again, and
16605
16606kept her in the exhibition room, where she described the figures every
16607
16608half-hour to the great satisfaction of admiring audiences.  And these
16609
16610audiences were of a very superior description, including a great many
16611
16612young ladies' boarding-schools, whose favour Mrs Jarley had been at
16613
16614great pains to conciliate, by altering the face and costume of Mr
16615
16616Grimaldi as clown to represent Mr Lindley Murray as he appeared when
16617
16618engaged in the composition of his English Grammar, and turning a
16619
16620murderess of great renown into Mrs Hannah More--both of which
16621
16622likenesses were admitted by Miss Monflathers, who was at the head of
16623
16624the head Boarding and Day Establishment in the town, and who
16625
16626condescended to take a Private View with eight chosen young ladies, to
16627
16628be quite startling from their extreme correctness.  Mr Pitt in a
16629
16630nightcap and bedgown, and without his boots, represented the poet
16631
16632Cowper with perfect exactness; and Mary Queen of Scots in a dark wig,
16633
16634white shirt-collar, and male attire, was such a complete image of Lord
16635
16636Byron that the young ladies quite screamed when they saw it.  Miss
16637
16638Monflathers, however, rebuked this enthusiasm, and took occasion to
16639
16640reprove Mrs Jarley for not keeping her collection more select:
16641
16642observing that His Lordship had held certain opinions quite
16643
16644incompatible with wax-work honours, and adding something about a Dean
16645
16646and Chapter, which Mrs Jarley did not understand.<br><br>
16647
16648Although her duties were sufficiently laborious, Nell found in the lady
16649
16650of the caravan a very kind and considerate person, who had not only a
16651
16652peculiar relish for being comfortable herself, but for making everybody
16653
16654about her comfortable also; which latter taste, it may be remarked, is,
16655
16656even in persons who live in much finer places than caravans, a far more
16657
16658rare and uncommon one than the first, and is not by any means its
16659
16660necessary consequence.  As her popularity procured her various little
16661
16662fees from the visitors on which her patroness never demanded any toll,
16663
16664and as her grandfather too was well-treated and useful, she had no
16665
16666cause of anxiety in connexion with the wax-work, beyond that which
16667
16668sprung from her recollection of Quilp, and her fears that he might
16669
16670return and one day suddenly encounter them.<br><br>
16671
16672Quilp indeed was a perpetual night-mare to the child, who was
16673
16674constantly haunted by a vision of his ugly face and stunted figure.
16675
16676She slept, for their better security, in the room where the wax-work
16677
16678figures were, and she never retired to this place at night but she
16679
16680tortured herself--she could not help it--with imagining a resemblance,
16681
16682in some one or other of their death-like faces, to the dwarf, and this
16683
16684fancy would sometimes so gain upon her that she would almost believe he
16685
16686had removed the figure and stood within the clothes.  Then there were
16687
16688so many of them with their great glassy eyes--and, as they stood one
16689
16690behind the other all about her bed, they looked so like living
16691
16692creatures, and yet so unlike in their grim stillness and silence, that
16693
16694she had a kind of terror of them for their own sakes, and would often
16695
16696lie watching their dusky figures until she was obliged to rise and
16697
16698light a candle, or go and sit at the open window and feel a
16699
16700companionship in the bright stars.  At these times, she would recall
16701
16702the old house and the window at which she used to sit alone; and then
16703
16704she would think of poor Kit and all his kindness, until the tears came
16705
16706into her eyes, and she would weep and smile together.<br><br>
16707
16708Often and anxiously at this silent hour, her thoughts reverted to her
16709
16710grandfather, and she would wonder how much he remembered of their
16711
16712former life, and whether he was ever really mindful of the change in
16713
16714their condition and of their late helplessness and destitution.  When
16715
16716they were wandering about, she seldom thought of this, but now she
16717
16718could not help considering what would become of them if he fell sick,
16719
16720or her own strength were to fail her.  He was very patient and willing,
16721
16722happy to execute any little task, and glad to be of use; but he was in
16723
16724the same listless state, with no prospect of improvement--a mere
16725
16726child--a poor, thoughtless, vacant creature--a harmless fond old man,
16727
16728susceptible of tender love and regard for her, and of pleasant and
16729
16730painful impressions, but alive to nothing more.  It made her very sad
16731
16732to know that this was so--so sad to see it that sometimes when he sat
16733
16734idly by, smiling and nodding to her when she looked round, or when he
16735
16736caressed some little child and carried it to and fro, as he was fond of
16737
16738doing by the hour together, perplexed by its simple questions, yet
16739
16740patient under his own infirmity, and seeming almost conscious of it
16741
16742too, and humbled even before the mind of an infant--so sad it made her
16743
16744to see him thus, that she would burst into tears, and, withdrawing into
16745
16746some secret place, fall down upon her knees and pray that he might be
16747
16748restored.<br><br>
16749
16750But, the bitterness of her grief was not in beholding him in this
16751
16752condition, when he was at least content and tranquil, nor in her
16753
16754solitary meditations on his altered state, though these were trials for
16755
16756a young heart.  Cause for deeper and heavier sorrow was yet to come.<br><br>
16757
16758One evening, a holiday night with them, Nell and her grandfather went
16759
16760out to walk.  They had been rather closely confined for some days, and
16761
16762the weather being warm, they strolled a long distance.  Clear of the
16763
16764town, they took a footpath which struck through some pleasant fields,
16765
16766judging that it would terminate in the road they quitted and enable
16767
16768them to return that way.  It made, however, a much wider circuit than
16769
16770they had supposed, and thus they were tempted onward until sunset, when
16771
16772they reached the track of which they were in search, and stopped to
16773
16774rest.<br><br>
16775
16776It had been gradually getting overcast, and now the sky was dark and
16777
16778lowering, save where the glory of the departing sun piled up masses of
16779
16780gold and burning fire, decaying embers of which gleamed here and there
16781
16782through the black veil, and shone redly down upon the earth.  The wind
16783
16784began to moan in hollow murmurs, as the sun went down carrying glad day
16785
16786elsewhere; and a train of dull clouds coming up against it, menaced
16787
16788thunder and lightning.  Large drops of rain soon began to fall, and, as
16789
16790the storm clouds came sailing onward, others supplied the void they
16791
16792left behind and spread over all the sky.  Then was heard the low
16793
16794rumbling of distant thunder, then the lightning quivered, and then the
16795
16796darkness of an hour seemed to have gathered in an instant.<br><br>
16797
16798Fearful of taking shelter beneath a tree or hedge, the old man and the
16799
16800child hurried along the high road, hoping to find some house in which
16801
16802they could seek a refuge from the storm, which had now burst forth in
16803
16804earnest, and every moment increased in violence.  Drenched with the
16805
16806pelting rain, confused by the deafening thunder, and bewildered by the
16807
16808glare of the forked lightning, they would have passed a solitary house
16809
16810without being aware of its vicinity, had not a man, who was standing at
16811
16812the door, called lustily to them to enter.<br><br>
16813
16814'Your ears ought to be better than other folks' at any rate, if you
16815
16816make so little of the chance of being struck blind,' he said,
16817
16818retreating from the door and shading his eyes with his hands as the
16819
16820jagged lightning came again.  'What were you going past for, eh?' he
16821
16822added, as he closed the door and led the way along a passage to a room
16823
16824behind.<br><br>
16825
16826'We didn't see the house, sir, till we heard you calling,' Nell replied.<br><br>
16827
16828'No wonder,' said the man, 'with this lightning in one's eyes,
16829
16830by-the-by.  You had better stand by the fire here, and dry yourselves a
16831
16832bit.  You can call for what you like if you want anything.  If you
16833
16834don't want anything, you are not obliged to give an order.  Don't be
16835
16836afraid of that.  This is a public-house, that's all.  The Valiant
16837
16838Soldier is pretty well known hereabouts.'<br><br>
16839
16840'Is this house called the Valiant Soldier, Sir?' asked Nell.<br><br>
16841
16842'I thought everybody knew that,' replied the landlord.  'Where have you
16843
16844come from, if you don't know the Valiant Soldier as well as the church
16845
16846catechism?  This is the Valiant Soldier, by James Groves--Jem
16847
16848Groves--honest Jem Groves, as is a man of unblemished moral character,
16849
16850and has a good dry skittle-ground.  If any man has got anything to say
16851
16852again Jem Groves, let him say it TO Jem Groves, and Jem Groves can
16853
16854accommodate him with a customer on any terms from four pound a side to
16855
16856forty.<br><br>
16857
16858With these words, the speaker tapped himself on the waistcoat to
16859
16860intimate that he was the Jem Groves so highly eulogized; sparred
16861
16862scientifically at a counterfeit Jem Groves, who was sparring at society
16863
16864in general from a black frame over the chimney-piece; and, applying a
16865
16866half-emptied glass of spirits and water to his lips, drank Jem Groves's
16867
16868health.<br><br>
16869
16870The night being warm, there was a large screen drawn across the room,
16871
16872for a barrier against the heat of the fire.  It seemed as if somebody
16873
16874on the other side of this screen had been insinuating doubts of Mr
16875
16876Groves's prowess, and had thereby given rise to these egotistical
16877
16878expressions, for Mr Groves wound up his defiance by giving a loud knock
16879
16880upon it with his knuckles and pausing for a reply from the other side.<br><br>
16881
16882'There an't many men,' said Mr Groves, no answer being returned, 'who
16883
16884would ventur' to cross Jem Groves under his own roof.  There's only one
16885
16886man, I know, that has nerve enough for that, and that man's not a
16887
16888hundred mile from here neither.  But he's worth a dozen men, and I let
16889
16890him say of me whatever he likes in consequence--he knows that.'<br><br>
16891
16892In return for this complimentary address, a very gruff hoarse voice
16893
16894bade Mr Groves 'hold his noise and light a candle.'  And the same voice
16895
16896remarked that the same gentleman 'needn't waste his breath in brag, for
16897
16898most people knew pretty well what sort of stuff he was made of.'<br><br>
16899
16900'Nell, they're--they're playing cards,' whispered the old man, suddenly
16901
16902interested.  'Don't you hear them?'<br><br>
16903
16904'Look sharp with that candle,' said the voice; 'it's as much as I can
16905
16906do to see the pips on the cards as it is; and get this shutter closed
16907
16908as quick as you can, will you?  Your beer will be the worse for
16909
16910to-night's thunder I expect.--Game!  Seven-and-sixpence to me, old
16911
16912Isaac.  Hand over.'<br><br>
16913
16914'Do you hear, Nell, do you hear them?' whispered the old man again,
16915
16916with increased earnestness, as the money chinked upon the table.<br><br>
16917
16918'I haven't seen such a storm as this,' said a sharp cracked voice of
16919
16920most disagreeable quality, when a tremendous peal of thunder had died
16921
16922away, 'since the night when old Luke Withers won thirteen times running
16923
16924on the red.  We all said he had the Devil's luck and his own, and as it
16925
16926was the kind of night for the Devil to be out and busy, I suppose he
16927
16928was looking over his shoulder, if anybody could have seen him.'<br><br>
16929
16930'Ah!' returned the gruff voice; 'for all old Luke's winning through
16931
16932thick and thin of late years, I remember the time when he was the
16933
16934unluckiest and unfortunatest of men.  He never took a dice-box in his
16935
16936hand, or held a card, but he was plucked, pigeoned, and cleaned out
16937
16938completely.'<br><br>
16939
16940'Do you hear what he says?' whispered the old man.  'Do you hear that,
16941
16942Nell?'<br><br>
16943
16944The child saw with astonishment and alarm that his whole appearance had
16945
16946undergone a complete change.  His face was flushed and eager, his eyes
16947
16948were strained, his teeth set, his breath came short and thick, and the
16949
16950hand he laid upon her arm trembled so violently that she shook beneath
16951
16952its grasp.<br><br>
16953
16954'Bear witness,' he muttered, looking upward, 'that I always said it;
16955
16956that I knew it, dreamed of it, felt it was the truth, and that it must
16957
16958be so!  What money have we, Nell?  Come!  I saw you with money
16959
16960yesterday.  What money have we?  Give it to me.'<br><br>
16961
16962'No, no, let me keep it, grandfather,' said the frightened child.  'Let
16963
16964us go away from here.  Do not mind the rain.  Pray let us go.'<br><br>
16965
16966'Give it to me, I say,' returned the old man fiercely.  'Hush, hush,
16967
16968don't cry, Nell.  If I spoke sharply, dear, I didn't mean it.  It's for
16969
16970thy good.  I have wronged thee, Nell, but I will right thee yet, I will
16971
16972indeed.  Where is the money?'<br><br>
16973
16974'Do not take it,' said the child.  'Pray do not take it, dear.  For
16975
16976both our sakes let me keep it, or let me throw it away--better let me
16977
16978throw it away, than you take it now.  Let us go; do let us go.'<br><br>
16979
16980'Give me the money,' returned the old man, 'I must have it.
16981
16982There--there--that's my dear Nell.  I'll right thee one day, child,
16983
16984I'll right thee, never fear!'<br><br>
16985
16986She took from her pocket a little purse.  He seized it with the same
16987
16988rapid impatience which had characterised his speech, and hastily made
16989
16990his way to the other side of the screen.  It was impossible to restrain
16991
16992him, and the trembling child followed close behind.<br><br>
16993
16994The landlord had placed a light upon the table, and was engaged in
16995
16996drawing the curtain of the window.  The speakers whom they had heard
16997
16998were two men, who had a pack of cards and some silver money between
16999
17000them, while upon the screen itself the games they had played were
17001
17002scored in chalk.  The man with the rough voice was a burly fellow of
17003
17004middle age, with large black whiskers, broad cheeks, a coarse wide
17005
17006mouth, and bull neck, which was pretty freely displayed as his shirt
17007
17008collar was only confined by a loose red neckerchief.  He wore his hat,
17009
17010which was of a brownish-white, and had beside him a thick knotted
17011
17012stick.  The other man, whom his companion had called Isaac, was of a
17013
17014more slender figure--stooping, and high in the shoulders--with a very
17015
17016ill-favoured face, and a most sinister and villainous squint.<br><br>
17017
17018'Now old gentleman,' said Isaac, looking round.  'Do you know either of
17019
17020us?  This side of the screen is private, sir.'<br><br>
17021
17022'No offence, I hope,' returned the old man.<br><br>
17023
17024'But by G--, sir, there is offence,' said the other, interrupting him,
17025
17026'when you intrude yourself upon a couple of gentlemen who are
17027
17028particularly engaged.'<br><br>
17029
17030'I had no intention to offend,' said the old man, looking anxiously at
17031
17032the cards.  'I thought that--'<br><br>
17033
17034'But you had no right to think, sir,' retorted the other.  'What the
17035
17036devil has a man at your time of life to do with thinking?'<br><br>
17037
17038'Now bully boy,' said the stout man, raising his eyes from his cards
17039
17040for the first time, 'can't you let him speak?'<br><br>
17041
17042The landlord, who had apparently resolved to remain neutral until he
17043
17044knew which side of the question the stout man would espouse, chimed in
17045
17046at this place with 'Ah, to be sure, can't you let him speak, Isaac
17047
17048List?'<br><br>
17049
17050'Can't I let him speak,' sneered Isaac in reply, mimicking as nearly as
17051
17052he could, in his shrill voice, the tones of the landlord.  'Yes, I can
17053
17054let him speak, Jemmy Groves.'<br><br>
17055
17056'Well then, do it, will you?' said the landlord.<br><br>
17057
17058Mr List's squint assumed a portentous character, which seemed to
17059
17060threaten a prolongation of this controversy, when his companion, who
17061
17062had been looking sharply at the old man, put a timely stop to it.<br><br>
17063
17064'Who knows,' said he, with a cunning look, 'but the gentleman may have
17065
17066civilly meant to ask if he might have the honour to take a hand with
17067
17068us!'<br><br>
17069
17070'I did mean it,' cried the old man.  'That is what I mean.  That is
17071
17072what I want now!'<br><br>
17073
17074'I thought so,' returned the same man.  'Then who knows but the
17075
17076gentleman, anticipating our objection to play for love, civilly desired
17077
17078to play for money?'<br><br>
17079
17080The old man replied by shaking the little purse in his eager hand, and
17081
17082then throwing it down upon the table, and gathering up the cards as a
17083
17084miser would clutch at gold.<br><br>
17085
17086'Oh!  That indeed,' said Isaac; 'if that's what the gentleman meant, I
17087
17088beg the gentleman's pardon.  Is this the gentleman's little purse?  A
17089
17090very pretty little purse.  Rather a light purse,' added Isaac, throwing
17091
17092it into the air and catching it dexterously, 'but enough to amuse a
17093
17094gentleman for half an hour or so.'<br><br>
17095
17096'We'll make a four-handed game of it, and take in Groves,' said the
17097
17098stout man.  'Come, Jemmy.'<br><br>
17099
17100The landlord, who conducted himself like one who was well used to such
17101
17102little parties, approached the table and took his seat.  The child, in
17103
17104a perfect agony, drew her grandfather aside, and implored him, even
17105
17106then, to come away.<br><br>
17107
17108'Come; and we may be so happy,' said the child.<br><br>
17109
17110'We WILL be happy,' replied the old man hastily.  'Let me go, Nell.
17111
17112The means of happiness are on the cards and the dice.  We must rise
17113
17114from little winnings to great.  There's little to be won here; but
17115
17116great will come in time.  I shall but win back my own, and it's all for
17117
17118thee, my darling.'<br><br>
17119
17120'God help us!' cried the child.  'Oh! what hard fortune brought us
17121
17122here?'<br><br>
17123
17124'Hush!' rejoined the old man laying his hand upon her mouth, 'Fortune
17125
17126will not bear chiding.  We must not reproach her, or she shuns us; I
17127
17128have found that out.'<br><br>
17129
17130'Now, mister,' said the stout man.  'If you're not coming yourself,
17131
17132give us the cards, will you?'<br><br>
17133
17134'I am coming,' cried the old man.  'Sit thee down, Nell, sit thee down
17135
17136and look on.  Be of good heart, it's all for thee--all--every penny.
17137
17138I don't tell them, no, no, or else they wouldn't play, dreading the
17139
17140chance that such a cause must give me.  Look at them.  See what they
17141
17142are and what thou art.  Who doubts that we must win!'<br><br>
17143
17144'The gentleman has thought better of it, and isn't coming,' said Isaac,
17145
17146making as though he would rise from the table.  'I'm sorry the
17147
17148gentleman's daunted--nothing venture, nothing have--but the gentleman
17149
17150knows best.'<br><br>
17151
17152'Why I am ready.  You have all been slow but me,' said the old man.  'I
17153
17154wonder who is more anxious to begin than I.'<br><br>
17155
17156As he spoke he drew a chair to the table; and the other three closing
17157
17158round it at the same time, the game commenced.<br><br>
17159
17160The child sat by, and watched its progress with a troubled mind.
17161
17162Regardless of the run of luck, and mindful only of the desperate
17163
17164passion which had its hold upon her grandfather, losses and gains were
17165
17166to her alike.  Exulting in some brief triumph, or cast down by a
17167
17168defeat, there he sat so wild and restless, so feverishly and intensely
17169
17170anxious, so terribly eager, so ravenous for the paltry stakes, that she
17171
17172could have almost better borne to see him dead.  And yet she was the
17173
17174innocent cause of all this torture, and he, gambling with such a savage
17175
17176thirst for gain as the most insatiable gambler never felt, had not one
17177
17178selfish thought!<br><br>
17179
17180On the contrary, the other three--knaves and gamesters by their
17181
17182trade--while intent upon their game, were yet as cool and quiet as if
17183
17184every virtue had been centered in their breasts.  Sometimes one would
17185
17186look up to smile to another, or to snuff the feeble candle, or to
17187
17188glance at the lightning as it shot through the open window and
17189
17190fluttering curtain, or to listen to some louder peal of thunder than
17191
17192the rest, with a kind of momentary impatience, as if it put him out;
17193
17194but there they sat, with a calm indifference to everything but their
17195
17196cards, perfect philosophers in appearance, and with no greater show of
17197
17198passion or excitement than if they had been made of stone.<br><br>
17199
17200The storm had raged for full three hours; the lightning had grown
17201
17202fainter and less frequent; the thunder, from seeming to roll and break
17203
17204above their heads, had gradually died away into a deep hoarse distance;
17205
17206and still the game went on, and still the anxious child was quite
17207
17208forgotten.<br><br>
17209
17210CHAPTER 30<br><br>
17211
17212At length the play came to an end, and Mr Isaac List rose the only
17213
17214winner.  Mat and the landlord bore their losses with professional
17215
17216fortitude.  Isaac pocketed his gains with the air of a man who had
17217
17218quite made up his mind to win, all along, and was neither surprised nor
17219
17220pleased.<br><br>
17221
17222Nell's little purse was exhausted; but although it lay empty by his
17223
17224side, and the other players had now risen from the table, the old man
17225
17226sat poring over the cards, dealing them as they had been dealt before,
17227
17228and turning up the different hands to see what each man would have held
17229
17230if they had still been playing.  He was quite absorbed in this
17231
17232occupation, when the child drew near and laid her hand upon his
17233
17234shoulder, telling him it was near midnight.<br><br>
17235
17236'See the curse of poverty, Nell,' he said, pointing to the packs he had
17237
17238spread out upon the table.  'If I could have gone on a little longer,
17239
17240only a little longer, the luck would have turned on my side.  Yes, it's
17241
17242as plain as the marks upon the cards.  See here--and there--and here
17243
17244again.'<br><br>
17245
17246'Put them away,' urged the child.  'Try to forget them.'<br><br>
17247
17248'Try to forget them!' he rejoined, raising his haggard face to hers,
17249
17250and regarding her with an incredulous stare.  'To forget them!  How are
17251
17252we ever to grow rich if I forget them?'<br><br>
17253
17254The child could only shake her head.<br><br>
17255
17256'No, no, Nell,' said the old man, patting her cheek; 'they must not be
17257
17258forgotten.  We must make amends for this as soon as we can.
17259
17260Patience--patience, and we'll right thee yet, I promise thee.  Lose
17261
17262to-day, win to-morrow.  And nothing can be won without anxiety and
17263
17264care--nothing.  Come, I am ready.'<br><br>
17265
17266'Do you know what the time is?' said Mr Groves, who was smoking with
17267
17268his friends.  'Past twelve o'clock--'<br><br>
17269
17270'--And a rainy night,' added the stout man.<br><br>
17271
17272'The Valiant Soldier, by James Groves.  Good beds.  Cheap entertainment
17273
17274for man and beast,' said Mr Groves, quoting his sign-board.  'Half-past
17275
17276twelve o'clock.'<br><br>
17277
17278'It's very late,' said the uneasy child.  'I wish we had gone before.
17279
17280What will they think of us!  It will be two o'clock by the time we get
17281
17282back.  What would it cost, sir, if we stopped here?'<br><br>
17283
17284'Two good beds, one-and-sixpence; supper and beer one shilling; total
17285
17286two shillings and sixpence,' replied the Valiant Soldier.<br><br>
17287
17288Now, Nell had still the piece of gold sewn in her dress; and when she
17289
17290came to consider the lateness of the hour, and the somnolent habits of
17291
17292Mrs Jarley, and to imagine the state of consternation in which they
17293
17294would certainly throw that good lady by knocking her up in the middle
17295
17296of the night--and when she reflected, on the other hand, that if they
17297
17298remained where they were, and rose early in the morning, they might get
17299
17300back before she awoke, and could plead the violence of the storm by
17301
17302which they had been overtaken, as a good apology for their absence--she
17303
17304decided, after a great deal of hesitation, to remain.  She therefore
17305
17306took her grandfather aside, and telling him that she had still enough
17307
17308left to defray the cost of their lodging, proposed that they should
17309
17310stay there for the night.<br><br>
17311
17312'If I had had but that money before--If I had only known of it a few
17313
17314minutes ago!' muttered the old man.<br><br>
17315
17316'We will decide to stop here if you please,' said Nell, turning hastily
17317
17318to the landlord.<br><br>
17319
17320'I think that's prudent,' returned Mr Groves.  'You shall have your
17321
17322suppers directly.'<br><br>
17323
17324Accordingly, when Mr Groves had smoked his pipe out, knocked out the
17325
17326ashes, and placed it carefully in a corner of the fire-place, with the
17327
17328bowl downwards, he brought in the bread and cheese, and beer, with many
17329
17330high encomiums upon their excellence, and bade his guests fall to, and
17331
17332make themselves at home.  Nell and her grandfather ate sparingly, for
17333
17334both were occupied with their own reflections; the other gentlemen, for
17335
17336whose constitutions beer was too weak and tame a liquid, consoled
17337
17338themselves with spirits and tobacco.<br><br>
17339
17340As they would leave the house very early in the morning, the child was
17341
17342anxious to pay for their entertainment before they retired to bed.  But
17343
17344as she felt the necessity of concealing her little hoard from her
17345
17346grandfather, and had to change the piece of gold, she took it secretly
17347
17348from its place of concealment, and embraced an opportunity of following
17349
17350the landlord when he went out of the room, and tendered it to him in
17351
17352the little bar.<br><br>
17353
17354'Will you give me the change here, if you please?' said the child.<br><br>
17355
17356Mr James Groves was evidently surprised, and looked at the money, and
17357
17358rang it, and looked at the child, and at the money again, as though he
17359
17360had a mind to inquire how she came by it.  The coin being genuine,
17361
17362however, and changed at his house, he probably felt, like a wise
17363
17364landlord, that it was no business of his.  At any rate, he counted out
17365
17366the change, and gave it her.  The child was returning to the room where
17367
17368they had passed the evening, when she fancied she saw a figure just
17369
17370gliding in at the door.  There was nothing but a long dark passage
17371
17372between this door and the place where she had changed the money, and,
17373
17374being very certain that no person had passed in or out while she stood
17375
17376there, the thought struck her that she had been watched.<br><br>
17377
17378But by whom?  When she re-entered the room, she found its inmates
17379
17380exactly as she had left them.  The stout fellow lay upon two chairs,
17381
17382resting his head on his hand, and the squinting man reposed in a
17383
17384similar attitude on the opposite side of the table.  Between them sat
17385
17386her grandfather, looking intently at the winner with a kind of hungry
17387
17388admiration, and hanging upon his words as if he were some superior
17389
17390being.  She was puzzled for a moment, and looked round to see if any
17391
17392else were there.  No.  Then she asked her grandfather in a whisper
17393
17394whether anybody had left the room while she was absent.  'No,' he said,
17395
17396'nobody.'<br><br>
17397
17398It must have been her fancy then; and yet it was strange, that, without
17399
17400anything in her previous thoughts to lead to it, she should have
17401
17402imagined this figure so very distinctly.  She was still wondering and
17403
17404thinking of it, when a girl came to light her to bed.<br><br>
17405
17406The old man took leave of the company at the same time, and they went
17407
17408up stairs together.  It was a great, rambling house, with dull
17409
17410corridors and wide staircases which the flaring candles seemed to make
17411
17412more gloomy.  She left her grandfather in his chamber, and followed her
17413
17414guide to another, which was at the end of a passage, and approached by
17415
17416some half-dozen crazy steps.  This was prepared for her.  The girl
17417
17418lingered a little while to talk, and tell her grievances.  She had not
17419
17420a good place, she said; the wages were low, and the work was hard.  She
17421
17422was going to leave it in a fortnight; the child couldn't recommend her
17423
17424to another, she supposed?  Instead she was afraid another would be
17425
17426difficult to get after living there, for the house had a very
17427
17428indifferent character; there was far too much card-playing, and such
17429
17430like.  She was very much mistaken if some of the people who came there
17431
17432oftenest were quite as honest as they might be, but she wouldn't have
17433
17434it known that she had said so, for the world.  Then there were some
17435
17436rambling allusions to a rejected sweetheart, who had threatened to go a
17437
17438soldiering--a final promise of knocking at the door early in the
17439
17440morning--and 'Good night.'<br><br>
17441
17442The child did not feel comfortable when she was left alone.  She could
17443
17444not help thinking of the figure stealing through the passage down
17445
17446stairs;
17446 and what the girl had said did not tend to reassure her.  The
17447
17448men were very ill-looking.  They might get their living by robbing and
17449
17450murdering travellers.  Who could tell?<br><br>
17451
17452Reasoning herself out of these fears, or losing sight of them for a
17453
17454little while, there came the anxiety to which the adventures of the
17455
17456night gave rise.  Here was the old passion awakened again in her
17457
17458grandfather's breast, and to what further distraction it might tempt
17459
17460him Heaven only knew.  What fears their absence might have occasioned
17461
17462already!  Persons might be seeking for them even then.  Would they be
17463
17464forgiven in the morning, or turned adrift again!  Oh!  why had they
17465
17466stopped in that strange place?  It would have been better, under any
17467
17468circumstances, to have gone on!<br><br>
17469
17470At last, sleep gradually stole upon her--a broken, fitful sleep,
17471
17472troubled by dreams of falling from high towers, and waking with a start
17473
17474and in great terror.  A deeper slumber followed this--and then--What!
17475
17476That figure in the room.<br><br>
17477
17478A figure was there.  Yes, she had drawn up the blind to admit the light
17479
17480when it should be dawn, and there, between the foot of the bed and the
17481
17482dark casement, it crouched and slunk along, groping its way with
17483
17484noiseless hands, and stealing round the bed.  She had no voice to cry
17485
17486for help, no power to move, but lay still, watching it.<br><br>
17487
17488On it came--on, silently and stealthily, to the bed's head.  The breath
17489
17490so near her pillow, that she shrunk back into it, lest those wandering
17491
17492hands should light upon her face.  Back again it stole to the
17493
17494window--then turned its head towards her.<br><br>
17495
17496The dark form was a mere blot upon the lighter darkness of the room,
17497
17498but she saw the turning of the head, and felt and knew how the eyes
17499
17500looked and the ears listened.  There it remained, motionless as she.
17501
17502At length, still keeping the face towards her, it busied its hands in
17503
17504something, and she heard the chink of money.<br><br>
17505
17506Then, on it came again, silent and stealthy as before, and replacing
17507
17508the garments it had taken from the bedside, dropped upon its hands and
17509
17510knees, and crawled away.  How slowly it seemed to move, now that she
17511
17512could hear but not see it, creeping along the floor!  It reached the
17513
17514door at last, and stood upon its feet.  The steps creaked beneath its
17515
17516noiseless tread, and it was gone.<br><br>
17517
17518The first impulse of the child was to fly from the terror of being by
17519
17520herself in that room--to have somebody by--not to be alone--and then
17521
17522her power of speech would be restored.  With no consciousness of having
17523
17524moved, she gained the door.<br><br>
17525
17526There was the dreadful shadow, pausing at the bottom of the steps.<br><br>
17527
17528She could not pass it; she might have done so, perhaps, in the darkness
17529
17530without being seized, but her blood curdled at the thought.  The figure
17531
17532stood quite still, and so did she; not boldly, but of necessity; for
17533
17534going back into the room was hardly less terrible than going on.<br><br>
17535
17536The rain beat fast and furiously without, and ran down in plashing
17537
17538streams from the thatched roof.  Some summer insect, with no escape
17539
17540into the air, flew blindly to and fro, beating its body against the
17541
17542walls and ceiling, and filling the silent place with murmurs.  The
17543
17544figure moved again.  The child involuntarily did the same.  Once in her
17545
17546grandfather's room, she would be safe.<br><br>
17547
17548It crept along the passage until it came to the very door she longed so
17549
17550ardently to reach.  The child, in the agony of being so near, had
17551
17552almost darted forward with the design of bursting into the room and
17553
17554closing it behind her, when the figure stopped again.<br><br>
17555
17556The idea flashed suddenly upon her--what if it entered there, and had a
17557
17558design upon the old man's life!  She turned faint and sick.  It did.
17559
17560It went in.  There was a light inside.  The figure was now within the
17561
17562chamber, and she, still dumb--quite dumb, and almost senseless--stood
17563
17564looking on.<br><br>
17565
17566The door was partly open.  Not knowing what she meant to do, but
17567
17568meaning to preserve him or be killed herself, she staggered forward and
17569
17570looked in.<br><br>
17571
17572What sight was that which met her view!<br><br>
17573
17574The bed had not been lain on, but was smooth and empty.  And at a table
17575
17576sat the old man himself; the only living creature there; his white face
17577
17578pinched and sharpened by the greediness which made his eyes unnaturally
17579
17580bright--counting the money of which his hands had robbed her.<br><br>
17581
17582CHAPTER 31<br><br>
17583
17584With steps more faltering and unsteady than those with which she had
17585
17586approached the room, the child withdrew from the door, and groped her
17587
17588way back to her own chamber.  The terror she had lately felt was
17589
17590nothing compared with that which now oppressed her.  No strange robber,
17591
17592no treacherous host conniving at the plunder of his guests, or stealing
17593
17594to their beds to kill them in their sleep, no nightly prowler, however
17595
17596terrible and cruel, could have awakened in her bosom half the dread
17597
17598which the recognition of her silent visitor inspired.  The grey-headed
17599
17600old man gliding like a ghost into her room and acting the thief while
17601
17602he supposed her fast asleep, then bearing off his prize and hanging
17603
17604over it with the ghastly exultation she had witnessed, was
17605
17606worse--immeasurably worse, and far more dreadful, for the moment, to
17607
17608reflect upon--than anything her wildest fancy could have suggested.
17609
17610If he should return--there was no lock or bolt upon the door, and if,
17611
17612distrustful of having left some money yet behind, he should come back
17613
17614to seek for more--a vague awe and horror surrounded the idea of his
17615
17616slinking in again with stealthy tread, and turning his face toward the
17617
17618empty bed, while she shrank down close at his feet to avoid his touch,
17619
17620which was almost insupportable.  She sat and listened.  Hark!  A
17621
17622footstep on the stairs, and now the door was slowly opening.  It was
17623
17624but imagination, yet imagination had all the terrors of reality; nay,
17625
17626it was worse, for the reality would have come and gone, and there an
17627
17628end, but in imagination it was always coming, and never went away.<br><br>
17629
17630The feeling which beset the child was one of dim uncertain horror.  She
17631
17632had no fear of the dear old grandfather, in whose love for her this
17633
17634disease of the brain had been engendered; but the man she had seen that
17635
17636night, wrapt in the game of chance, lurking in her room, and counting
17637
17638the money by the glimmering light, seemed like another creature in his
17639
17640shape, a monstrous distortion of his image, a something to recoil from,
17641
17642and be the more afraid of, because it bore a likeness to him, and kept
17643
17644close about her, as he did.  She could scarcely connect her own
17645
17646affectionate companion, save by his loss, with this old man, so like
17647
17648yet so unlike him.  She had wept to see him dull and quiet.  How much
17649
17650greater cause she had for weeping now!<br><br>
17651
17652The child sat watching and thinking of these things, until the phantom
17653
17654in her mind so increased in gloom and terror, that she felt it would be
17655
17656a relief to hear the old man's voice, or, if he were asleep, even to
17657
17658see him, and banish some of the fears that clustered round his image.
17659
17660She stole down the stairs and passage again.  The door was still ajar
17661
17662as she had left it, and the candle burning as before.<br><br>
17663
17664She had her own candle in her hand, prepared to say, if he were waking,
17665
17666that she was uneasy and could not rest, and had come to see if his were
17667
17668still alight.  Looking into the room, she saw him lying calmly on his
17669
17670bed, and so took courage to enter.<br><br>
17671
17672Fast asleep.  No passion in the face, no avarice, no anxiety, no wild
17673
17674desire; all gentle, tranquil, and at peace.  This was not the gambler,
17675
17676or the shadow in her room; this was not even the worn and jaded man
17677
17678whose face had so often met her own in the grey morning light; this was
17679
17680her dear old friend, her harmless fellow-traveller, her good, kind
17681
17682grandfather.<br><br>
17683
17684She had no fear as she looked upon his slumbering features, but she had
17685
17686a deep and weighty sorrow, and it found its relief in tears.<br><br>
17687
17688'God bless him!' said the child, stooping softly to kiss his placid
17689
17690cheek.  'I see too well now, that they would indeed part us if they
17691
17692found us out, and shut him up from the light of the sun and sky.  He
17693
17694has only me to help him.  God bless us both!'<br><br>
17695
17696Lighting her candle, she retreated as silently as she had come, and,
17697
17698gaining her own room once more, sat up during the remainder of that
17699
17700long, long, miserable night.<br><br>
17701
17702At last the day turned her waning candle pale, and she fell asleep.
17703
17704She was quickly roused by the girl who had shown her up to bed; and, as
17705
17706soon as she was dressed, prepared to go down to her grandfather.  But
17707
17708first she searched her pocket and found that her money was all
17709
17710gone--not a sixpence remained.<br><br>
17711
17712The old man was ready, and in a few seconds they were on their road.
17713
17714The child thought he rather avoided her eye, and appeared to expect
17715
17716that she would tell him of her loss.  She felt she must do that, or he
17717
17718might suspect the truth.<br><br>
17719
17720'Grandfather,' she said in a tremulous voice, after they had walked
17721
17722about a mile in silence, 'do you think they are honest people at the
17723
17724house yonder?'<br><br>
17725
17726'Why?' returned the old man trembling.  'Do I think them honest--yes,
17727
17728they played honestly.'<br><br>
17729
17730'I'll tell you why I ask,' rejoined Nell.  'I lost some money last
17731
17732night--out of my bedroom, I am sure.  Unless it was taken by somebody
17733
17734in jest--only in jest, dear grandfather, which would make me laugh
17735
17736heartily if I could but know it--'<br><br>
17737
17738'Who would take money in jest?' returned the old man in a hurried
17739
17740manner.  'Those who take money, take it to keep.  Don't talk of jest.'<br><br>
17741
17742'Then it was stolen out of my room, dear,' said the child, whose last
17743
17744hope was destroyed by the manner of this reply.<br><br>
17745
17746'But is there no more, Nell?' said the old man; 'no more anywhere?  Was
17747
17748it all taken--every farthing of it--was there nothing left?'<br><br>
17749
17750'Nothing,' replied the child.<br><br>
17751
17752'We must get more,' said the old man, 'we must earn it, Nell, hoard it
17753
17754up, scrape it together, come by it somehow.  Never mind this loss.
17755
17756Tell nobody of it, and perhaps we may regain it.  Don't ask how;--we
17757
17758may regain it, and a great deal more;--but tell nobody, or trouble may
17759
17760come of it.  And so they took it out of thy room, when thou wert
17761
17762asleep!' he added in a compassionate tone, very different from the
17763
17764secret, cunning way in which he had spoken until now.  'Poor Nell, poor
17765
17766little Nell!'<br><br>
17767
17768The child hung down her head and wept.  The sympathising tone in which
17769
17770he spoke, was quite sincere; she was sure of that.  It was not the
17771
17772lightest part of her sorrow to know that this was done for her.<br><br>
17773
17774'Not a word about it to any one but me,' said the old man, 'no, not
17775
17776even to me,' he added hastily, 'for it can do no good.  All the losses
17777
17778that ever were, are not worth tears from thy eyes, darling.  Why should
17779
17780they be, when we will win them back?'<br><br>
17781
17782'Let them go,' said the child looking up.  'Let them go, once and for
17783
17784ever, and I would never shed another tear if every penny had been a
17785
17786thousand pounds.'<br><br>
17787
17788'Well, well,' returned the old man, checking himself as some impetuous
17789
17790answer rose to his lips, 'she knows no better.  I ought to be thankful
17791
17792of it.'<br><br>
17793
17794'But listen to me,' said the child earnestly, 'will you listen to me?'<br><br>
17795
17796'Aye, aye, I'll listen,' returned the old man, still without looking at
17797
17798her; 'a pretty voice.  It has always a sweet sound to me.  It always
17799
17800had when it was her mother's, poor child.'<br><br>
17801
17802'Let me persuade you, then--oh, do let me persuade you,' said the
17803
17804child, 'to think no more of gains or losses, and to try no fortune but
17805
17806the fortune we pursue together.'<br><br>
17807
17808'We pursue this aim together,' retorted her grandfather, still looking
17809
17810away and seeming to confer with himself.  'Whose image sanctifies the
17811
17812game?'<br><br>
17813
17814'Have we been worse off,' resumed the child, 'since you forgot these
17815
17816cares, and we have been travelling on together?  Have we not been much
17817
17818better and happier without a home to shelter us, than ever we were in
17819
17820that unhappy house, when they were on your mind?'<br><br>
17821
17822'She speaks the truth,' murmured the old man in the same tone as
17823
17824before.  'It must not turn me, but it is the truth; no doubt it is.'<br><br>
17825
17826'Only remember what we have been since that bright morning when we
17827
17828turned our backs upon it for the last time,' said Nell, 'only remember
17829
17830what we have been since we have been free of all those miseries--what
17831
17832peaceful days and quiet nights we have had--what pleasant times we have
17833
17834known--what happiness we have enjoyed.  If we have been tired or
17835
17836hungry, we have been soon refreshed, and slept the sounder for it.
17837
17838Think what beautiful things we have seen, and how contented we have
17839
17840felt.  And why was this blessed change?'<br><br>
17841
17842He stopped her with a motion of his hand, and bade her talk to him no
17843
17844more just then, for he was busy.  After a time he kissed her cheek,
17845
17846still motioning her to silence, and walked on, looking far before him,
17847
17848and sometimes stopping and gazing with a puckered brow upon the ground,
17849
17850as if he were painfully trying to collect his disordered thoughts.
17851
17852Once she saw tears in his eyes.  When he had gone on thus for some
17853
17854time, he took her hand in his as he was accustomed to do, with nothing
17855
17856of the violence or animation of his late manner; and so, by degrees so
17857
17858fine that the child could not trace them, he settled down into his
17859
17860usual quiet way, and suffered her to lead him where she would.<br><br>
17861
17862When they presented themselves in the midst of the stupendous
17863
17864collection, they found, as Nell had anticipated, that Mrs Jarley was
17865
17866not yet out of bed, and that, although she had suffered some uneasiness
17867
17868on their account overnight, and had indeed sat up for them until past
17869
17870eleven o'clock, she had retired in the persuasion, that, being
17871
17872overtaken by storm at some distance from home, they had sought the
17873
17874nearest shelter, and would not return before morning.  Nell immediately
17875
17876applied herself with great assiduity to the decoration and preparation
17877
17878of the room, and had the satisfaction of completing her task, and
17879
17880dressing herself neatly, before the beloved of the Royal Family came
17881
17882down to breakfast.<br><br>
17883
17884'We haven't had,' said Mrs Jarley when the meal was over, 'more than
17885
17886eight of Miss Monflathers's young ladies all the time we've been here,
17887
17888and there's twenty-six of 'em, as I was told by the cook when I asked
17889
17890her a question or two and put her on the free-list.  We must try 'em
17891
17892with a parcel of new bills, and you shall take it, my dear, and see
17893
17894what effect that has upon 'em.'<br><br>
17895
17896The proposed expedition being one of paramount importance, Mrs Jarley
17897
17898adjusted Nell's bonnet with her own hands, and declaring that she
17899
17900certainly did look very pretty, and reflected credit on the
17901
17902establishment, dismissed her with many commendations, and certain
17903
17904needful directions as to the turnings on the right which she was to
17905
17906take, and the turnings on the left which she was to avoid.  Thus
17907
17908instructed, Nell had no difficulty in finding out Miss Monflathers's
17909
17910Boarding and Day Establishment, which was a large house, with a high
17911
17912wall, and a large garden-gate with a large brass plate, and a small
17913
17914grating through which Miss Monflathers's parlour-maid inspected all
17915
17916visitors before admitting them; for nothing in the shape of a man--no,
17917
17918not even a milkman--was suffered, without special license, to pass that
17919
17920gate.  Even the tax-gatherer, who was stout, and wore spectacles and a
17921
17922broad-brimmed hat, had the taxes handed through the grating.  More
17923
17924obdurate than gate of adamant or brass, this gate of Miss Monflathers's
17925
17926frowned on all mankind.  The very butcher respected it as a gate of
17927
17928mystery, and left off whistling when he rang the bell.<br><br>
17929
17930As Nell approached the awful door, it turned slowly upon its hinges
17931
17932with a creaking noise, and, forth from the solemn grove beyond, came a
17933
17934long file of young ladies, two and two, all with open books in their
17935
17936hands, and some with parasols likewise.  And last of the goodly
17937
17938procession came Miss Monflathers, bearing herself a parasol of lilac
17939
17940silk, and supported by two smiling teachers, each mortally envious of
17941
17942the other, and devoted unto Miss Monflathers.<br><br>
17943
17944Confused by the looks and whispers of the girls, Nell stood with
17945
17946downcast eyes and suffered the procession to pass on, until Miss
17947
17948Monflathers, bringing up the rear, approached her, when she curtseyed
17949
17950and presented her little packet; on receipt whereof Miss Monflathers
17951
17952commanded that the line should halt.<br><br>
17953
17954'You're the wax-work child, are you not?' said Miss Monflathers.<br><br>
17955
17956'Yes, ma'am,' replied Nell, colouring deeply, for the young ladies had
17957
17958collected about her, and she was the centre on which all eyes were
17959
17960fixed.<br><br>
17961
17962'And don't you think you must be a very wicked little child,' said Miss
17963
17964Monflathers, who was of rather uncertain temper, and lost no
17965
17966opportunity of impressing moral truths upon the tender minds of the
17967
17968young ladies, 'to be a wax-work child at all?'<br><br>
17969
17970Poor Nell had never viewed her position in this light, and not knowing
17971
17972what to say, remained silent, blushing more deeply than before.<br><br>
17973
17974'Don't you know,' said Miss Monflathers, 'that it's very naughty and
17975
17976unfeminine, and a perversion of the properties wisely and benignantly
17977
17978transmitted to us, with expansive powers to be roused from their
17979
17980dormant state through the medium of cultivation?'<br><br>
17981
17982The two teachers murmured their respectful approval of this
17983
17984home-thrust, and looked at Nell as though they would have said that
17985
17986there indeed Miss Monflathers had hit her very hard.  Then they smiled
17987
17988and glanced at Miss Monflathers, and then, their eyes meeting, they
17989
17990exchanged looks which plainly said that each considered herself smiler
17991
17992in ordinary to Miss Monflathers, and regarded the other as having no
17993
17994right to smile, and that her so doing was an act of presumption and
17995
17996impertinence.<br><br>
17997
17998'Don't you feel how naughty it is of you,' resumed Miss Monflathers,
17999
18000'to be a wax-work child, when you might have the proud consciousness of
18001
18002assisting, to the extent of your infant powers, the manufactures of
18003
18004your country; of improving your mind by the constant contemplation of
18005
18006the steam-engine; and of earning a comfortable and independent
18007
18008subsistence of from two-and-ninepence to three shillings per week?
18009
18010Don't you know that the harder you are at work, the happier you are?'<br><br>
18011
18012'"How doth the little--"' murmured one of the teachers, in quotation
18013
18014from Doctor Watts.<br><br>
18015
18016'Eh?' said Miss Monflathers, turning smartly round.  'Who said that?'<br><br>
18017
18018Of course the teacher who had not said it, indicated the rival who had,
18019
18020whom Miss Monflathers frowningly requested to hold her peace; by that
18021
18022means throwing the informing teacher into raptures of joy.<br><br>
18023
18024'The little busy bee,' said Miss Monflathers, drawing herself up, 'is
18025
18026applicable only to genteel children.<br><br>
18027
18028  "In books, or work, or healthful play"<br><br>
18029
18030is quite right as far as they are concerned; and the work means
18031
18032painting on velvet, fancy needle-work, or embroidery.  In such cases as
18033
18034these,' pointing to Nell, with her parasol, 'and in the case of all
18035
18036poor people's children, we should read it thus:<br><br>
18037
18038  "In work, work, work.  In work alway
18039
18040  Let my first years be past,
18041
18042  That I may give for ev'ry day
18043
18044  Some good account at last."'<br><br>
18045
18046A deep hum of applause rose not only from the two teachers, but from
18047
18048all the pupils, who were equally astonished to hear Miss Monflathers
18049
18050improvising after this brilliant style; for although she had been long
18051
18052known as a politician, she had never appeared before as an original
18053
18054poet.  Just then somebody happened to discover that Nell was crying,
18055
18056and all eyes were again turned towards her.<br><br>
18057
18058There were indeed tears in her eyes, and drawing out her handkerchief
18059
18060to brush them away, she happened to let it fall.  Before she could
18061
18062stoop to pick it up, one young lady of about fifteen or sixteen, who
18063
18064had been standing a little apart from the others, as though she had no
18065
18066recognised place among them, sprang forward and put it in her hand.
18067
18068She was gliding timidly away again, when she was arrested by the
18069
18070governess.<br><br>
18071
18072'It was Miss Edwards who did that, I KNOW,' said Miss Monflathers
18073
18074predictively.  'Now I am sure that was Miss Edwards.'<br><br>
18075
18076It was Miss Edwards, and everybody said it was Miss Edwards, and Miss
18077
18078Edwards herself admitted that it was.<br><br>
18079
18080'Is it not,' said Miss Monflathers, putting down her parasol to take a
18081
18082severer view of the offender, 'a most remarkable thing, Miss Edwards,
18083
18084that you have an attachment to the lower classes which always draws you
18085
18086to their sides; or, rather, is it not a most extraordinary thing that
18087
18088all I say and do will not wean you from propensities which your
18089
18090original station in life have unhappily rendered habitual to you, you
18091
18092extremely vulgar-minded girl?'<br><br>
18093
18094'I really intended no harm, ma'am,' said a sweet voice.  'It was a
18095
18096momentary impulse, indeed.'<br><br>
18097
18098'An impulse!' repeated Miss Monflathers scornfully.  'I wonder that you
18099
18100presume to speak of impulses to me'--both the teachers assented--'I am
18101
18102astonished'--both the teachers were astonished--'I suppose it is an
18103
18104impulse which induces you to take the part of every grovelling and
18105
18106debased person that comes in your way'--both the teachers supposed so
18107
18108too.<br><br>
18109
18110'But I would have you know, Miss Edwards,' resumed the governess in a
18111
18112tone of increased severity, 'that you cannot be permitted--if it be
18113
18114only for the sake of preserving a proper example and decorum in this
18115
18116establishment--that you cannot be permitted, and that you shall not be
18117
18118permitted, to fly in the face of your superiors in this exceedingly
18119
18120gross manner.  If you have no reason to feel a becoming pride before
18121
18122wax-work children, there are young ladies here who have, and you must
18123
18124either defer to those young ladies or leave the establishment, Miss
18125
18126Edwards.'<br><br>
18127
18128This young lady, being motherless and poor, was apprenticed at the
18129
18130school--taught for nothing--teaching others what she learnt, for
18131
18132nothing--boarded for nothing--lodged for nothing--and set down and
18133
18134rated as something immeasurably less than nothing, by all the dwellers
18135
18136in the house.  The servant-maids felt her inferiority, for they were
18137
18138better treated; free to come and go, and regarded in their stations
18139
18140with much more respect.  The teachers were infinitely superior, for
18141
18142they had paid to go to school in their time, and were paid now.  The
18143
18144pupils cared little for a companion who had no grand stories to tell
18145
18146about home; no friends to come with post-horses, and be received in all
18147
18148humility, with cake and wine, by the governess; no deferential servant
18149
18150to attend and bear her home for the holidays; nothing genteel to talk
18151
18152about, and nothing to display.  But why was Miss Monflathers always
18153
18154vexed and irritated with the poor apprentice--how did that come to pass?<br><br>
18155
18156Why, the gayest feather in Miss Monflathers's cap, and the brightest
18157
18158glory of Miss Monflathers's school, was a baronet's daughter--the real
18159
18160live daughter of a real live baronet--who, by some extraordinary
18161
18162reversal of the Laws of Nature, was not only plain in features but dull
18163
18164in intellect, while the poor apprentice had both a ready wit, and a
18165
18166handsome face and figure.  It seems incredible.  Here was Miss Edwards,
18167
18168who only paid a small premium which had been spent long ago, every day
18169
18170outshining and excelling the baronet's daughter, who learned all the
18171
18172extras (or was taught them all) and whose half-yearly bill came to
18173
18174double that of any other young lady's in the school, making no account
18175
18176of the honour and reputation of her pupilage.  Therefore, and because
18177
18178she was a dependent, Miss Monflathers had a great dislike to Miss
18179
18180Edwards, and was spiteful to her, and aggravated by her, and, when she
18181
18182had compassion on little Nell, verbally fell upon and maltreated her as
18183
18184we have already seen.<br><br>
18185
18186'You will not take the air to-day, Miss Edwards,' said Miss
18187
18188Monflathers.  'Have the goodness to retire to your own room, and not to
18189
18190leave it without permission.'<br><br>
18191
18192The poor girl was moving hastily away, when she was suddenly, in
18193
18194nautical phrase, 'brought to' by a subdued shriek from Miss Monflathers.<br><br>
18195
18196'She has passed me without any salute!' cried the governess, raising
18197
18198her eyes to the sky.  'She has actually passed me without the slightest
18199
18200acknowledgment of my presence!'<br><br>
18201
18202The young lady turned and curtsied.  Nell could see that she raised her
18203
18204dark eyes to the face of her superior, and that their expression, and
18205
18206that of her whole attitude for the instant, was one of mute but most
18207
18208touching appeal against this ungenerous usage.  Miss Monflathers only
18209
18210tossed her head in reply, and the great gate closed upon a bursting
18211
18212heart.<br><br>
18213
18214'As for you, you wicked child,' said Miss Monflathers, turning to Nell,
18215
18216'tell your mistress that if she presumes to take the liberty of sending
18217
18218to me any more, I will write to the legislative authorities and have
18219
18220her put in the stocks, or compelled to do penance in a white sheet; and
18221
18222you may depend upon it that you shall certainly experience the
18223
18224treadmill if you dare to come here again.  Now ladies, on.'<br><br>
18225
18226The procession filed off, two and two, with the books and parasols, and
18227
18228Miss Monflathers, calling the Baronet's daughter to walk with her and
18229
18230smooth her ruffled feelings, discarded the two teachers--who by this
18231
18232time had exchanged their smiles for looks of sympathy--and left them
18233
18234to bring up the rear, and hate each other a little more for being
18235
18236obliged to walk together.<br><br>
18237
18238CHAPTER 32<br><br>
18239
18240Mrs Jarley's wrath on first learning that she had been threatened with
18241
18242the indignity of Stocks and Penance, passed all description.  The
18243
18244genuine and only Jarley exposed to public scorn, jeered by children,
18245
18246and flouted by beadles!  The delight of the Nobility and Gentry shorn
18247
18248of a bonnet which a Lady Mayoress might have sighed to wear, and
18249
18250arrayed in a white sheet as a spectacle of mortification and humility!
18251
18252And Miss Monflathers, the audacious creature who presumed, even in the
18253
18254dimmest and remotest distance of her imagination, to conjure up the
18255
18256degrading picture, 'I am a'most inclined,' said Mrs Jarley, bursting
18257
18258with the fulness of her anger and the weakness of her means of revenge,
18259
18260'to turn atheist when I think of it!'<br><br>
18261
18262But instead of adopting this course of retaliation, Mrs Jarley, on
18263
18264second thoughts, brought out the suspicious bottle, and ordering
18265
18266glasses to be set forth upon her favourite drum, and sinking into a
18267
18268chair behind it, called her satellites about her, and to them several
18269
18270times recounted, word for word, the affronts she had received.  This
18271
18272done, she begged them in a kind of deep despair to drink; then laughed,
18273
18274then cried, then took a little sip herself, then laughed and cried
18275
18276again, and took a little more;
18276 and so, by degrees, the worthy lady went
18277
18278on, increasing in smiles and decreasing in tears, until at last she
18279
18280could not laugh enough at Miss Monflathers, who, from being an object
18281
18282of dire vexation, became one of sheer ridicule and absurdity.<br><br>
18283
18284'For which of us is best off, I wonder,' quoth Mrs Jarley, 'she or me!
18285
18286It's only talking, when all is said and done, and if she talks of me in
18287
18288the stocks, why I can talk of her in the stocks, which is a good deal
18289
18290funnier if we come to that.  Lord, what does it matter, after all!'<br><br>
18291
18292Having arrived at this comfortable frame of mind (to which she had been
18293
18294greatly assisted by certain short interjectional remarks of the
18295
18296philosophical George), Mrs Jarley consoled Nell with many kind words,
18297
18298and requested as a personal favour that whenever she thought of Miss
18299
18300Monflathers, she would do nothing else but laugh at her, all the days
18301
18302of her life.<br><br>
18303
18304So ended Mrs Jarley's wrath, which subsided long before the going down
18305
18306of the sun.  Nell's anxieties, however, were of a deeper kind, and the
18307
18308checks they imposed upon her cheerfulness were not so easily removed.<br><br>
18309
18310That evening, as she had dreaded, her grandfather stole away, and did
18311
18312not come back until the night was far spent.  Worn out as she was, and
18313
18314fatigued in mind and body, she sat up alone, counting the minutes,
18315
18316until he returned--penniless, broken-spirited, and wretched, but still
18317
18318hotly bent upon his infatuation.<br><br>
18319
18320'Get me money,' he said wildly, as they parted for the night.  'I must
18321
18322have money, Nell.  It shall be paid thee back with gallant interest one
18323
18324day, but all the money that comes into thy hands, must be mine--not for
18325
18326myself, but to use for thee.  Remember, Nell, to use for thee!'<br><br>
18327
18328What could the child do with the knowledge she had, but give him every
18329
18330penny that came into her hands, lest he should be tempted on to rob
18331
18332their benefactress?  If she told the truth (so thought the child) he
18333
18334would be treated as a madman; if she did not supply him with money, he
18335
18336would supply himself; supplying him, she fed the fire that burnt him
18337
18338up, and put him perhaps beyond recovery.  Distracted by these thoughts,
18339
18340borne down by the weight of the sorrow which she dared not tell,
18341
18342tortured by a crowd of apprehensions whenever the old man was absent,
18343
18344and dreading alike his stay and his return, the colour forsook her
18345
18346cheek, her eye grew dim, and her heart was oppressed and heavy.  All
18347
18348her old sorrows had come back upon her, augmented by new fears and
18349
18350doubts; by day they were ever present to her mind; by night they
18351
18352hovered round her pillow, and haunted her in dreams.<br><br>
18353
18354It was natural that, in the midst of her affliction, she should often
18355
18356revert to that sweet young lady of whom she had only caught a hasty
18357
18358glance, but whose sympathy, expressed in one slight brief action, dwelt
18359
18360in her memory like the kindnesses of years.  She would often think, if
18361
18362she had such a friend as that to whom to tell her griefs, how much
18363
18364lighter her heart would be--that if she were but free to hear that
18365
18366voice, she would be happier.  Then she would wish that she were
18367
18368something better, that she were not quite so poor and humble, that she
18369
18370dared address her without fearing a repulse; and then feel that there
18371
18372was an immeasurable distance between them, and have no hope that the
18373
18374young lady thought of her any more.<br><br>
18375
18376It was now holiday-time at the schools, and the young ladies had gone
18377
18378home, and Miss Monflathers was reported to be flourishing in London,
18379
18380and damaging the hearts of middle-aged gentlemen, but nobody said
18381
18382anything about Miss Edwards, whether she had gone home, or whether she
18383
18384had any home to go to, whether she was still at the school, or anything
18385
18386about her.  But one evening, as Nell was returning from a lonely walk,
18387
18388she happened to pass the inn where the stage-coaches stopped, just as
18389
18390one drove up, and there was the beautiful girl she so well remembered,
18391
18392pressing forward to embrace a young child whom they were helping down
18393
18394from the roof.<br><br>
18395
18396Well, this was her sister, her little sister, much younger than Nell,
18397
18398whom she had not seen (so the story went afterwards) for five years,
18399
18400and to bring whom to that place on a short visit, she had been saving
18401
18402her poor means all that time.  Nell felt as if her heart would break
18403
18404when she saw them meet.  They went a little apart from the knot of
18405
18406people who had congregated about the coach, and fell upon each other's
18407
18408neck, and sobbed, and wept with joy.  Their plain and simple dress, the
18409
18410distance which the child had come alone, their agitation and delight,
18411
18412and the tears they shed, would have told their history by themselves.<br><br>
18413
18414They became a little more composed in a short time, and went away, not
18415
18416so much hand in hand as clinging to each other.  'Are you sure you're
18417
18418happy, sister?' said the child as they passed where Nell was standing.
18419
18420'Quite happy now,' she answered.  'But always?' said the child.  'Ah,
18421
18422sister, why do you turn away your face?'<br><br>
18423
18424Nell could not help following at a little distance.  They went to the
18425
18426house of an old nurse, where the elder sister had engaged a bed-room
18427
18428for the child.  'I shall come to you early every morning,' she said,
18429
18430'and we can be together all the day.-'-'Why not at night-time too?
18431
18432Dear sister, would they be angry with you for that?'<br><br>
18433
18434Why were the eyes of little Nell wet, that night, with tears like those
18435
18436of the two sisters?  Why did she bear a grateful heart because they had
18437
18438met, and feel it pain to think that they would shortly part?  Let us
18439
18440not believe that any selfish reference--unconscious though it might
18441
18442have been--to her own trials awoke this sympathy, but thank God that
18443
18444the innocent joys of others can strongly move us, and that we, even in
18445
18446our fallen nature, have one source of pure emotion which must be prized
18447
18448in Heaven!<br><br>
18449
18450By morning's cheerful glow, but oftener still by evening's gentle
18451
18452light, the child, with a respect for the short and happy intercourse of
18453
18454these two sisters which forbade her to approach and say a thankful
18455
18456word, although she yearned to do so, followed them at a distance in
18457
18458their walks and rambles, stopping when they stopped, sitting on the
18459
18460grass when they sat down, rising when they went on, and feeling it a
18461
18462companionship and delight to be so near them.  Their evening walk was
18463
18464by a river's side.  Here, every night, the child was too, unseen by
18465
18466them, unthought of, unregarded; but feeling as if they were her
18467
18468friends, as if they had confidences and trusts together, as if her load
18469
18470were lightened and less hard to bear; as if they mingled their sorrows,
18471
18472and found mutual consolation.  It was a weak fancy perhaps, the
18473
18474childish fancy of a young and lonely creature; but night after night,
18475
18476and still the sisters loitered in the same place, and still the child
18477
18478followed with a mild and softened heart.<br><br>
18479
18480She was much startled, on returning home one night, to find that Mrs
18481
18482Jarley had commanded an announcement to be prepared, to the effect that
18483
18484the stupendous collection would only remain in its present quarters one
18485
18486day longer; in fulfilment of which threat (for all announcements
18487
18488connected with public amusements are well known to be irrevocable and
18489
18490most exact), the stupendous collection shut up next day.<br><br>
18491
18492'Are we going from this place directly, ma'am?' said Nell.<br><br>
18493
18494'Look here, child,' returned Mrs Jarley.  'That'll inform you.' And so
18495
18496saying Mrs Jarley produced another announcement, wherein it was stated,
18497
18498that, in consequence of numerous inquiries at the wax-work door, and in
18499
18500consequence of crowds having been disappointed in obtaining admission,
18501
18502the Exhibition would be continued for one week longer, and would
18503
18504re-open next day.<br><br>
18505
18506'For now that the schools are gone, and the regular sight-seers
18507
18508exhausted,' said Mrs Jarley, 'we come to the General Public, and they
18509
18510want stimulating.'<br><br>
18511
18512Upon the following day at noon, Mrs Jarley established herself behind
18513
18514the highly-ornamented table, attended by the distinguished effigies
18515
18516before mentioned, and ordered the doors to be thrown open for the
18517
18518readmission of a discerning and enlightened public.  But the first
18519
18520day's operations were by no means of a successful character, inasmuch
18521
18522as the general public, though they manifested a lively interest in Mrs
18523
18524Jarley personally, and such of her waxen satellites as were to be seen
18525
18526for nothing, were not affected by any impulses moving them to the
18527
18528payment of sixpence a head.  Thus, notwithstanding that a great many
18529
18530people continued to stare at the entry and the figures therein
18531
18532displayed; and remained there with great perseverance, by the hour at a
18533
18534time, to hear the barrel-organ played and to read the bills; and
18535
18536notwithstanding that they were kind enough to recommend their friends
18537
18538to patronise the exhibition in the like manner, until the door-way was
18539
18540regularly blockaded by half the population of the town, who, when they
18541
18542went off duty, were relieved by the other half; it was not found that
18543
18544the treasury was any the richer, or that the prospects of the
18545
18546establishment were at all encouraging.<br><br>
18547
18548In this depressed state of the classical market, Mrs Jarley made
18549
18550extraordinary efforts to stimulate the popular taste, and whet the
18551
18552popular curiosity.  Certain machinery in the body of the nun on the
18553
18554leads over the door was cleaned up and put in motion, so that the
18555
18556figure shook its head paralytically all day long, to the great
18557
18558admiration of a drunken, but very Protestant, barber over the way, who
18559
18560looked upon the said paralytic motion as typical of the degrading
18561
18562effect wrought upon the human mind by the ceremonies of the Romish
18563
18564Church and discoursed upon that theme with great eloquence and
18565
18566morality.  The two carters constantly passed in and out of the
18567
18568exhibition-room, under various disguises, protesting aloud that the
18569
18570sight was better worth the money than anything they had beheld in all
18571
18572their lives, and urging the bystanders, with tears in their eyes, not
18573
18574to neglect such a brilliant gratification.  Mrs Jarley sat in the
18575
18576pay-place, chinking silver moneys from noon till night, and solemnly
18577
18578calling upon the crowd to take notice that the price of admission was
18579
18580only sixpence, and that the departure of the whole collection, on a
18581
18582short tour among the Crowned Heads of Europe, was positively fixed for
18583
18584that day week.<br><br>
18585
18586'So be in time, be in time, be in time,' said Mrs Jarley at the close
18587
18588of every such address.  'Remember that this is Jarley's stupendous
18589
18590collection of upwards of One Hundred Figures, and that it is the only
18591
18592collection in the world; all others being imposters and deceptions.  Be
18593
18594in time, be in time, be in time!'<br><br>
18595
18596CHAPTER 33<br><br>
18597
18598As the course of this tale requires that we should become acquainted,
18599
18600somewhere hereabouts, with a few particulars connected with the
18601
18602domestic economy of Mr Sampson Brass, and as a more convenient place
18603
18604than the present is not likely to occur for that purpose, the historian
18605
18606takes the friendly reader by the hand, and springing with him into the
18607
18608air, and cleaving the same at a greater rate than ever Don Cleophas
18609
18610Leandro Perez Zambullo and his familiar travelled through that pleasant
18611
18612region in company, alights with him upon the pavement of Bevis Marks.<br><br>
18613
18614The intrepid aeronauts alight before a small dark house, once the
18615
18616residence of Mr Sampson Brass.<br><br>
18617
18618In the parlour window of this little habitation, which is so close upon
18619
18620the footway that the passenger who takes the wall brushes the dim glass
18621
18622with his coat sleeve--much to its improvement, for it is very dirty--in
18623
18624this parlour window in the days of its occupation by Sampson Brass,
18625
18626there hung, all awry and slack, and discoloured by the sun, a curtain
18627
18628of faded green, so threadbare from long service as by no means to
18629
18630intercept the view of the little dark room, but rather to afford a
18631
18632favourable medium through which to observe it accurately.  There was
18633
18634not much to look at.  A rickety table, with spare bundles of papers,
18635
18636yellow and ragged from long carriage in the pocket, ostentatiously
18637
18638displayed upon its top; a couple of stools set face to face on opposite
18639
18640sides of this crazy piece of furniture; a treacherous old chair by the
18641
18642fire-place, whose withered arms had hugged full many a client and
18643
18644helped to squeeze him dry; a second-hand wig box, used as a depository
18645
18646for blank writs and declarations and other small forms of law, once the
18647
18648sole contents of the head which belonged to the wig which belonged to
18649
18650the box, as they were now of the box itself; two or three common books
18651
18652of practice; a jar of ink, a pounce box, a stunted hearth-broom, a
18653
18654carpet trodden to shreds but still clinging with the tightness of
18655
18656desperation to its tacks--these, with the yellow wainscot of the walls,
18657
18658the smoke-discoloured ceiling, the dust and cobwebs, were among the
18659
18660most prominent decorations of the office of Mr Sampson Brass.<br><br>
18661
18662But this was mere still-life, of no greater importance than the plate,
18663
18664'BRASS, Solicitor,' upon the door, and the bill, 'First floor to let to
18665
18666a single gentleman,' which was tied to the knocker.  The office
18667
18668commonly held two examples of animated nature, more to the purpose of
18669
18670this history, and in whom it has a stronger interest and more
18671
18672particular concern.<br><br>
18673
18674Of these, one was Mr Brass himself, who has already appeared in these
18675
18676pages.  The other was his clerk, assistant, housekeeper, secretary,
18677
18678confidential plotter, adviser, intriguer, and bill of cost increaser,
18679
18680Miss Brass--a kind of amazon at common law, of whom it may be desirable
18681
18682to offer a brief description.<br><br>
18683
18684Miss Sally Brass, then, was a lady of thirty-five or thereabouts, of a
18685
18686gaunt and bony figure, and a resolute bearing, which if it repressed
18687
18688the softer emotions of love, and kept admirers at a distance, certainly
18689
18690inspired a feeling akin to awe in the breasts of those male strangers
18691
18692who had the happiness to approach her.  In face she bore a striking
18693
18694resemblance to her brother, Sampson--so exact, indeed, was the likeness
18695
18696between them, that had it consorted with Miss Brass's maiden modesty
18697
18698and gentle womanhood to have assumed her brother's clothes in a frolic
18699
18700and sat down beside him, it would have been difficult for the oldest
18701
18702friend of the family to determine which was Sampson and which Sally,
18703
18704especially as the lady carried upon her upper lip certain reddish
18705
18706demonstrations, which, if the imagination had been assisted by her
18707
18708attire, might have been mistaken for a beard.  These were, however, in
18709
18710all probability, nothing more than eyelashes in a wrong place, as the
18711
18712eyes of Miss Brass were quite free from any such natural
18713
18714impertinencies.  In complexion Miss Brass was sallow--rather a dirty
18715
18716sallow, so to speak--but this hue was agreeably relieved by the healthy
18717
18718glow which mantled in the extreme tip of her laughing nose.  Her voice
18719
18720was exceedingly impressive--deep and rich in quality, and, once heard,
18721
18722not easily forgotten.  Her usual dress was a green gown, in colour not
18723
18724unlike the curtain of the office window, made tight to the figure, and
18725
18726terminating at the throat, where it was fastened behind by a peculiarly
18727
18728large and massive button.  Feeling, no doubt, that simplicity and
18729
18730plainness are the soul of elegance, Miss Brass wore no collar or
18731
18732kerchief except upon her head, which was invariably ornamented with a
18733
18734brown gauze scarf, like the wing of the fabled vampire, and which,
18735
18736twisted into any form that happened to suggest itself, formed an easy
18737
18738and graceful head-dress.<br><br>
18739
18740Such was Miss Brass in person.  In mind, she was of a strong and
18741
18742vigorous turn, having from her earliest youth devoted herself with
18743
18744uncommon ardour to the study of law; not wasting her speculations upon
18745
18746its eagle flights, which are rare, but tracing it attentively through
18747
18748all the slippery and eel-like crawlings in which it commonly pursues
18749
18750its way.  Nor had she, like many persons of great intellect, confined
18751
18752herself to theory, or stopped short where practical usefulness begins;
18753
18754inasmuch as she could ingross, fair-copy, fill up printed forms with
18755
18756perfect accuracy, and, in short, transact any ordinary duty of the
18757
18758office down to pouncing a skin of parchment or mending a pen.  It is
18759
18760difficult to understand how, possessed of these combined attractions,
18761
18762she should remain Miss Brass; but whether she had steeled her heart
18763
18764against mankind, or whether those who might have wooed and won her,
18765
18766were deterred by fears that, being learned in the law, she might have
18767
18768too near her fingers' ends those particular statutes which regulate
18769
18770what are familiarly termed actions for breach, certain it is that she
18771
18772was still in a state of celibacy, and still in daily occupation of her
18773
18774old stool opposite to that of her brother Sampson.  And equally certain
18775
18776it is, by the way, that between these two stools a great many people
18777
18778had come to the ground.<br><br>
18779
18780One morning Mr Sampson Brass sat upon his stool copying some legal
18781
18782process, and viciously digging his pen deep into the paper, as if he
18783
18784were writing upon the very heart of the party against whom it was
18785
18786directed; and Miss Sally Brass sat upon her stool making a new pen
18787
18788preparatory to drawing out a little bill, which was her favourite
18789
18790occupation; and so they sat in silence for a long time, until Miss
18791
18792Brass broke silence.<br><br>
18793
18794'Have you nearly done, Sammy?' said Miss Brass; for in her mild and
18795
18796feminine lips, Sampson became Sammy, and all things were softened down.<br><br>
18797
18798'No,' returned her brother.  'It would have been all done though, if
18799
18800you had helped at the right time.'<br><br>
18801
18802'Oh yes, indeed,' cried Miss Sally; 'you want my help, don't you?--YOU,
18803
18804too, that are going to keep a clerk!'<br><br>
18805
18806'Am I going to keep a clerk for my own pleasure, or because of my own
18807
18808wish, you provoking rascal!' said Mr Brass, putting his pen in his
18809
18810mouth, and grinning spitefully at his sister.  'What do you taunt me
18811
18812about going to keep a clerk for?'<br><br>
18813
18814It may be observed in this place, lest the fact of Mr Brass calling a
18815
18816lady a rascal, should occasion any wonderment or surprise, that he was
18817
18818so habituated to having her near him in a man's capacity, that he had
18819
18820gradually accustomed himself to talk to her as though she were really a
18821
18822man.  And this feeling was so perfectly reciprocal, that not only did
18823
18824Mr Brass often call Miss Brass a rascal, or even put an adjective
18825
18826before the rascal, but Miss Brass looked upon it as quite a matter of
18827
18828course, and was as little moved as any other lady would be by being
18829
18830called an angel.<br><br>
18831
18832'What do you taunt me, after three hours' talk last night, with going
18833
18834to keep a clerk for?' repeated Mr Brass, grinning again with the pen in
18835
18836his mouth, like some nobleman's or gentleman's crest.  Is it my fault?'<br><br>
18837
18838'All I know is,' said Miss Sally, smiling drily, for she delighted in
18839
18840nothing so much as irritating her brother, 'that if every one of your
18841
18842clients is to force us to keep a clerk, whether we want to or not, you
18843
18844had better leave off business, strike yourself off the roll, and get
18845
18846taken in execution, as soon as you can.'<br><br>
18847
18848'Have we got any other client like him?' said Brass.  'Have we got
18849
18850another client like him now--will you answer me that?'<br><br>
18851
18852'Do you mean in the face!' said his sister.<br><br>
18853
18854'Do I mean in the face!' sneered Sampson Brass, reaching over to take
18855
18856up the bill-book, and fluttering its leaves rapidly.  'Look
18857
18858here--Daniel Quilp, Esquire--Daniel Quilp, Esquire--Daniel Quilp,
18859
18860Esquire--all through.  Whether should I take a clerk that he
18861
18862recommends, and says, "this is the man for you," or lose all this, eh?'<br><br>
18863
18864Miss Sally deigned to make no reply, but smiled again, and went on with
18865
18866her work.<br><br>
18867
18868'But I know what it is,' resumed Brass after a short silence.  'You're
18869
18870afraid you won't have as long a finger in the business as you've been
18871
18872used to have.  Do you think I don't see through that?'<br><br>
18873
18874'The business wouldn't go on very long, I expect, without me,' returned
18875
18876his sister composedly.  'Don't you be a fool and provoke me, Sammy, but
18877
18878mind what you're doing, and do it.'<br><br>
18879
18880Sampson Brass, who was at heart in great fear of his sister, sulkily
18881
18882bent over his writing again, and listened as she said:<br><br>
18883
18884'If I determined that the clerk ought not to come, of course he
18885
18886wouldn't be allowed to come.  You know that well enough, so don't talk
18887
18888nonsense.'<br><br>
18889
18890Mr Brass received this observation with increased meekness, merely
18891
18892remarking, under his breath, that he didn't like that kind of joking,
18893
18894and that Miss Sally would be 'a much better fellow' if she forbore to
18895
18896aggravate him.  To this compliment Miss Sally replied, that she had a
18897
18898relish for the amusement, and had no intention to forego its
18899
18900gratification.  Mr Brass not caring, as it seemed, to pursue the
18901
18902subject any further, they both plied their pens at a great pace, and
18903
18904there the discussion ended.<br><br>
18905
18906While they were thus employed, the window was suddenly darkened, as by
18907
18908some person standing close against it.  As Mr Brass and Miss Sally
18909
18910looked up to ascertain the cause, the top sash was nimbly lowered from
18911
18912without, and Quilp thrust in his head.<br><br>
18913
18914'Hallo!' he said, standing on tip-toe on the window-sill, and looking
18915
18916down into the room.  'Is there anybody at home?  Is there any of the
18917
18918Devil's ware here?  Is Brass at a premium, eh?'<br><br>
18919
18920'Ha, ha, ha!' laughed the lawyer in an affected ecstasy.  'Oh, very
18921
18922good, Sir!  Oh, very good indeed!  Quite eccentric!  Dear me, what
18923
18924humour he has!'<br><br>
18925
18926'Is that my Sally?' croaked the dwarf, ogling the fair Miss Brass.  'Is
18927
18928it Justice with the bandage off her eyes, and without the sword and
18929
18930scales?  Is it the Strong Arm of the Law?  Is it the Virgin of Bevis?'<br><br>
18931
18932'What an amazing flow of spirits!' cried Brass.  'Upon my word, it's
18933
18934quite extraordinary!'<br><br>
18935
18936'Open the door,' said Quilp, 'I've got him here.  Such a clerk for you,
18937
18938Brass, such a prize, such an ace of trumps.  Be quick and open the
18939
18940door, or if there's another lawyer near and he should happen to look
18941
18942out of window, he'll snap him up before your eyes, he will.'<br><br>
18943
18944It is probable that the loss of the phoenix of clerks, even to a rival
18945
18946practitioner, would not have broken Mr Brass's heart; but, pretending
18947
18948great alacrity, he rose from his seat, and going to the door, returned,
18949
18950introducing his client, who led by the hand no less a person than Mr
18951
18952Richard Swiveller.<br><br>
18953
18954'There she is,' said Quilp, stopping short at the door, and wrinkling
18955
18956up his eyebrows as he looked towards Miss Sally; 'there is the woman I
18957
18958ought to have married--there is the beautiful Sarah--there is the
18959
18960female who has all the charms of her sex and none of their weaknesses.
18961
18962Oh Sally, Sally!'<br><br>
18963
18964To this amorous address Miss Brass briefly responded 'Bother!'<br><br>
18965
18966'Hard-hearted as the metal from which she takes her name,' said Quilp.
18967
18968'Why don't she change it--melt down the brass, and take another name?'<br><br>
18969
18970'Hold your nonsense, Mr Quilp, do,' returned Miss Sally, with a grim
18971
18972smile.  'I wonder you're not ashamed of yourself before a strange young
18973
18974man.'<br><br>
18975
18976'The strange young man,' said Quilp, handing Dick Swiveller forward,
18977
18978'is too susceptible himself not to understand me well.  This is Mr
18979
18980Swiveller, my intimate friend--a gentleman of good family and great
18981
18982expectations, but who, having rather involved himself by youthful
18983
18984indiscretion, is content for a time to fill the humble station of a
18985
18986clerk--humble, but here most enviable.  What a delicious atmosphere!'<br><br>
18987
18988If Mr Quilp spoke figuratively, and meant to imply that the air
18989
18990breathed by Miss Sally Brass was sweetened and rarefied by that dainty
18991
18992creature, he had doubtless good reason for what he said.  But if he
18993
18994spoke of the delights of the atmosphere of Mr Brass's office in a
18995
18996literal sense, he had certainly a peculiar taste, as it was of a close
18997
18998and earthy kind, and, besides being frequently impregnated with strong
18999
19000whiffs of the second-hand wearing apparel exposed for sale in Duke's
19001
19002Place and Houndsditch, had a decided flavour of rats and mice, and a
19003
19004taint of mouldiness.  Perhaps some doubts of its pure delight presented
19005
19006themselves to Mr Swiveller, as he gave vent to one or two short abrupt
19007
19008sniffs, and looked incredulously at the grinning dwarf.<br><br>
19009
19010'Mr Swiveller,' said Quilp, 'being pretty well accustomed to the
19011
19012agricultural pursuits of sowing wild oats, Miss Sally, prudently
19013
19014considers that half a loaf is better than no bread.  To be out of
19015
19016harm's way he prudently thinks is something too, and therefore he
19017
19018accepts your brother's offer.  Brass, Mr Swiveller is yours.'<br><br>
19019
19020'I am very glad, Sir,' said Mr Brass, 'very glad indeed.  Mr Swiveller,
19021
19022Sir, is fortunate enough to have your friendship.  You may be very
19023
19024proud, Sir, to have the friendship of Mr Quilp.'<br><br>
19025
19026Dick murmured something about never wanting a friend or a bottle to
19027
19028give him, and also gasped forth his favourite allusion to the wing of
19029
19030friendship and its never moulting a feather; but his faculties appeared
19031
19032to be absorbed in the contemplation of Miss Sally Brass, at whom he
19033
19034stared with blank and rueful looks, which delighted the watchful dwarf
19035
19036beyond measure.  As to the divine Miss Sally herself, she rubbed her
19037
19038hands as men of business do, and took a few turns up and down the
19039
19040office with her pen behind her ear.<br><br>
19041
19042'I suppose,' said the dwarf, turning briskly to his legal friend, 'that
19043
19044Mr Swiveller enters upon his duties at once?  It's Monday morning.'<br><br>
19045
19046'At once, if you please, Sir, by all means,' returned Brass.<br><br>
19047
19048'Miss Sally will teach him law, the delightful study of the law,' said
19049
19050Quilp; 'she'll be his guide, his friend, his companion, his Blackstone,
19051
19052his Coke upon Littleton, his Young Lawyer's Best Companion.'<br><br>
19053
19054'He is exceedingly eloquent,' said Brass, like a man abstracted, and
19055
19056looking at the roofs of the opposite houses, with his hands in his
19057
19058pockets; 'he has an extraordinary flow of language.  Beautiful, really.'<br><br>
19059
19060'With Miss Sally,' Quilp went on, 'and the beautiful fictions of the
19061
19062law, his days will pass like minutes.  Those charming creations of the
19063
19064poet, John Doe and Richard Roe, when they first dawn upon him, will
19065
19066open a new world for the enlargement of his mind and the improvement of
19067
19068his heart.'<br><br>
19069
19070'Oh, beautiful, beautiful!  Beau-ti-ful indeed!' cried Brass.  'It's a
19071
19072treat to hear him!'<br><br>
19073
19074'Where will Mr Swiveller sit?' said Quilp, looking round.<br><br>
19075
19076'Why, we'll buy another stool, sir,' returned Brass.  'We hadn't any
19077
19078thoughts of having a gentleman with us, sir, until you were kind enough
19079
19080to suggest it, and our accommodation's not extensive.  We'll look about
19081
19082for a second-hand stool, sir.  In the meantime, if Mr Swiveller will
19083
19084take my seat, and try his hand at a fair copy of this ejectment, as I
19085
19086shall be out pretty well all the morning--'<br><br>
19087
19088'Walk with me,' said Quilp.  'I have a word or two to say to you on
19089
19090points of business.  Can you spare the time?'<br><br>
19091
19092'Can I spare the time to walk with you, sir?  You're joking, sir,
19093
19094you're joking with me,' replied the lawyer, putting on his hat.  'I'm
19095
19096ready, sir, quite ready.  My time must be fully occupied indeed, sir,
19097
19098not to leave me time to walk with you.  It's not everybody, sir, who
19099
19100has an opportunity of improving himself by the conversation of Mr
19101
19102Quilp.'<br><br>
19103
19104The dwarf glanced sarcastically at his brazen friend, and, with a short
19105
19106dry cough, turned upon his heel to bid adieu to Miss Sally.  After a
19107
19108very gallant parting on his side, and a very cool and gentlemanly sort
19109
19110of one on hers, he nodded to Dick Swiveller, and withdrew with the
19111
19112attorney.<br><br>
19113
19114Dick stood at the desk in a state of utter stupefaction, staring with
19115
19116all his might at the beauteous Sally, as if she had been some curious
19117
19118animal whose like had never lived.  When the dwarf got into the street,
19119
19120he mounted again upon the window-sill, and looked into the office for a
19121
19122moment with a grinning face, as a man might peep into a cage.  Dick
19123
19124glanced upward at him, but without any token of recognition; and long
19125
19126after he had disappeared, still stood gazing upon Miss Sally Brass,
19127
19128seeing or thinking of nothing else, and rooted to the spot.<br><br>
19129
19130Miss Brass being by this time deep in the bill of costs, took no notice
19131
19132whatever of Dick, but went scratching on, with a noisy pen, scoring
19133
19134down the figures with evident delight, and working like a steam-engine.
19135
19136There stood Dick, gazing now at the green gown, now at the brown
19137
19138head-dress, now at the face, and now at the rapid pen, in a state of
19139
19140stupid perplexity, wondering how he got into the company of that
19141
19142strange monster, and whether it was a dream and he would ever wake.  At
19143
19144last he heaved a deep sigh, and began slowly pulling off his coat.<br><br>
19145
19146Mr Swiveller pulled off his coat, and folded it up with great
19147
19148elaboration, staring at Miss Sally all the time; then put on a blue
19149
19150jacket with a double row of gilt buttons, which he had originally
19151
19152ordered for aquatic expeditions, but had brought with him that morning
19153
19154for office purposes; and, still keeping his eye upon her, suffered
19155
19156himself to drop down silently upon Mr Brass's stool.  Then he underwent
19157
19158a relapse, and becoming powerless again, rested his chin upon his hand,
19159
19160and opened his eyes so wide, that it appeared quite out of the question
19161
19162that he could ever close them any more.<br><br>
19163
19164When he had looked so long that he could see nothing, Dick took his
19165
19166eyes off the fair object of his amazement, turned over the leaves of
19167
19168the draft he was to copy, dipped his pen into the inkstand, and at
19169
19170last, and by slow approaches, began to write.  But he had not written
19171
19172half-a-dozen words when, reaching over to the inkstand to take a fresh
19173
19174dip, he happened to raise his eyes.  There was the intolerable brown
19175
19176head-dress--there was the green gown--there, in short, was Miss Sally
19177
19178Brass, arrayed in all her charms, and more tremendous than ever.<br><br>
19179
19180This happened so often, that Mr Swiveller by degrees began to feel
19181
19182strange influences creeping over him--horrible desires to annihilate
19183
19184this Sally Brass--mysterious promptings to knock her head-dress off and
19185
19186try how she looked without it.  There was a very large ruler on the
19187
19188table; a large, black, shining ruler.  Mr Swiveller took it up and
19189
19190began to rub his nose with it.<br><br>
19191
19192From rubbing his nose with the ruler, to poising it in his hand and
19193
19194giving it an occasional flourish after the tomahawk manner, the
19195
19196transition was easy and natural.  In some of these flourishes it went
19197
19198close to Miss Sally's head; the ragged edges of the head-dress
19199
19200fluttered with the wind it raised; advance it but an inch, and that
19201
19202great brown knot was on the ground: yet still the unconscious maiden
19203
19204worked away, and never raised her eyes.<br><br>
19205
19206Well, this was a great relief.  It was a good thing to write doggedly
19207
19208and obstinately until he was desperate, and then snatch up the ruler
19209
19210and whirl it about the brown head-dress with the consciousness that he
19211
19212could have it off if he liked.  It was a good thing to draw it back,
19213
19214and rub his nose very hard with it, if he thought Miss Sally was going
19215
19216to look up, and to recompense himself with more hardy flourishes when
19217
19218he found she was still absorbed.  By these means Mr Swiveller calmed
19219
19220the agitation of his feelings, until his applications to the ruler
19221
19222became less fierce and frequent, and he could even write as many as
19223
19224half-a-dozen consecutive lines without having recourse to it--which was
19225
19226a great victory.<br><br>
19227
19228CHAPTER 34<br><br>
19229
19230In course of time, that is to say, after a couple of hours or so, of
19231
19232diligent application, Miss Brass arrived at the conclusion of her task,
19233
19234and recorded the fact by wiping her pen upon the green gown, and taking
19235
19236a pinch of snuff from a little round tin box which she carried in her
19237
19238pocket.  Having disposed of this temperate refreshment, she arose from
19239
19240her stool, tied her papers into a formal packet with red tape, and
19241
19242taking them under her arm, marched out of the office.<br><br>
19243
19244Mr Swiveller had scarcely sprung off his seat and commenced the
19245
19246performance of a maniac hornpipe, when he was interrupted, in the
19247
19248fulness of his joy at being again alone, by the opening of the door,
19249
19250and the reappearance of Miss Sally's head.<br><br>
19251
19252'I am going out,' said Miss Brass.<br><br>
19253
19254'Very good, ma'am,' returned Dick.  'And don't hurry yourself on my
19255
19256account to come back, ma'am,' he added inwardly.<br><br>
19257
19258'If anybody comes on office business, take their messages, and say that
19259
19260the gentleman who attends to that matter isn't in at present, will
19261
19262you?' said Miss Brass.<br><br>
19263
19264'I will, ma'am,' replied Dick.<br><br>
19265
19266'I shan't be very long,' said Miss Brass, retiring.<br><br>
19267
19268'I'm sorry to hear it, ma'am,' rejoined Dick when she had shut the
19269
19270door.  'I hope you may be unexpectedly detained, ma'am.  If you could
19271
19272manage to be run over, ma'am, but not seriously, so much the better.'<br><br>
19273
19274Uttering these expressions of good-will with extreme gravity, Mr
19275
19276Swiveller sat down in the client's chair and pondered; then took a few
19277
19278turns up and down the room and fell into the chair again.<br><br>
19279
19280'So I'm Brass's clerk, am I?' said Dick.  'Brass's clerk, eh?  And the
19281
19282clerk of Brass's sister--clerk to a female Dragon.  Very good, very
19283
19284good!  What shall I be next?  Shall I be a convict in a felt hat and a
19285
19286grey suit, trotting about a dockyard with my number neatly embroidered
19287
19288on my uniform, and the order of the garter on my leg, restrained from
19289
19290chafing my ankle by a twisted belcher handkerchief?  Shall I be that?
19291
19292Will that do, or is it too genteel?  Whatever you please, have it your
19293
19294own way, of course.'<br><br>
19295
19296As he was entirely alone, it may be presumed that, in these remarks, Mr
19297
19298Swiveller addressed himself to his fate or destiny, whom, as we learn
19299
19300by the precedents, it is the custom of heroes to taunt in a very bitter
19301
19302and ironical manner when they find themselves in situations of an
19303
19304unpleasant nature.  This is the more probable from the circumstance of
19305
19306Mr Swiveller directing his observations to the ceiling, which these
19307
19308bodily personages are usually supposed to inhabit--except in theatrical
19309
19310cases, when they live in the heart of the great chandelier.<br><br>
19311
19312'Quilp offers me this place, which he says he can insure me,' resumed
19313
19314Dick after a thoughtful silence, and telling off the circumstances of
19315
19316his position, one by one, upon his fingers; 'Fred, who, I could have
19317
19318taken my affidavit, would not have heard of such a thing, backs Quilp
19319
19320to my astonishment, and urges me to take it also--staggerer, number
19321
19322one!  My aunt in the country stops the supplies, and writes an
19323
19324affectionate note to say that she has made a new will, and left me out
19325
19326of it--staggerer, number two.  No money; no credit; no support from
19327
19328Fred, who seems to turn steady all at once; notice to quit the old
19329
19330lodgings--staggerers, three, four, five, and six!  Under an
19331
19332accumulation of staggerers, no man can be considered a free agent.  No
19333
19334man knocks himself down; if his destiny knocks him down, his destiny
19335
19336must pick him up again.  Then I'm very glad that mine has brought all
19337
19338this upon itself, and I shall be as careless as I can, and make myself
19339
19340quite at home to spite it.  So go on my buck,' said Mr Swiveller,
19341
19342taking his leave of the ceiling with a significant nod, 'and let us see
19343
19344which of us will be tired first!'<br><br>
19345
19346Dismissing the subject of his downfall with these reflections, which
19347
19348were no doubt very profound, and are indeed not altogether unknown in
19349
19350certain systems of moral philosophy, Mr Swiveller shook off his
19351
19352despondency and assumed the cheerful ease of an irresponsible clerk.<br><br>
19353
19354As a means towards his composure and self-possession, he entered into a
19355
19356more minute examination of the office than he had yet had time to make;
19357
19358looked into the wig-box, the books, and ink-bottle; untied and
19359
19360inspected all the papers; carved a few devices on the table with a
19361
19362sharp blade of Mr Brass's penknife;
19362 and wrote his name on the inside of
19363
19364the wooden coal-scuttle.  Having, as it were, taken formal possession
19365
19366of his clerkship in virtue of these proceedings, he opened the window
19367
19368and leaned negligently out of it until a beer-boy happened to pass,
19369
19370whom he commanded to set down his tray and to serve him with a pint of
19371
19372mild porter, which he drank upon the spot and promptly paid for, with
19373
19374the view of breaking ground for a system of future credit and opening a
19375
19376correspondence tending thereto, without loss of time.  Then, three or
19377
19378four little boys dropped in, on legal errands from three or four
19379
19380attorneys of the Brass grade: whom Mr Swiveller received and dismissed
19381
19382with about as professional a manner, and as correct and comprehensive
19383
19384an understanding of their business, as would have been shown by a clown
19385
19386in a pantomime under similar circumstances.  These things done and
19387
19388over, he got upon his stool again and tried his hand at drawing
19389
19390caricatures of Miss Brass with a pen and ink, whistling very cheerfully
19391
19392all the time.<br><br>
19393
19394He was occupied in this diversion when a coach stopped near the door,
19395
19396and presently afterwards there was a loud double-knock.  As this was no
19397
19398business of Mr Swiveller's, the person not ringing the office bell, he
19399
19400pursued his diversion with perfect composure, notwithstanding that he
19401
19402rather thought there was nobody else in the house.<br><br>
19403
19404In this, however, he was mistaken; for, after the knock had been
19405
19406repeated with increased impatience, the door was opened, and somebody
19407
19408with a very heavy tread went up the stairs and into the room above.  Mr
19409
19410Swiveller was wondering whether this might be another Miss Brass, twin
19411
19412sister to the Dragon, when there came a rapping of knuckles at the
19413
19414office door.<br><br>
19415
19416'Come in!' said Dick.  'Don't stand upon ceremony.  The business will
19417
19418get rather complicated if I've many more customers.  Come in!'<br><br>
19419
19420'Oh, please,' said a little voice very low down in the doorway, 'will
19421
19422you come and show the lodgings?'<br><br>
19423
19424Dick leant over the table, and descried a small slipshod girl in a
19425
19426dirty coarse apron and bib, which left nothing of her visible but her
19427
19428face and feet.  She might as well have been dressed in a violin-case.<br><br>
19429
19430'Why, who are you?' said Dick.<br><br>
19431
19432To which the only reply was, 'Oh, please will you come and show the
19433
19434lodgings?'<br><br>
19435
19436There never was such an old-fashioned child in her looks and manner.
19437
19438She must have been at work from her cradle.  She seemed as much afraid
19439
19440of Dick, as Dick was amazed at her.<br><br>
19441
19442'I hav'n't got anything to do with the lodgings,' said Dick.  'Tell 'em
19443
19444to call again.'<br><br>
19445
19446'Oh, but please will you come and show the lodgings,' returned the
19447
19448girl; 'It's eighteen shillings a week and us finding plate and linen.
19449
19450Boots and clothes is extra, and fires in winter-time is eightpence a
19451
19452day.'<br><br>
19453
19454'Why don't you show 'em yourself?  You seem to know all about 'em,'
19455
19456said Dick.<br><br>
19457
19458'Miss Sally said I wasn't to, because people wouldn't believe the
19459
19460attendance was good if they saw how small I was first.'<br><br>
19461
19462'Well, but they'll see how small you are afterwards, won't they?' said
19463
19464Dick.<br><br>
19465
19466'Ah!  But then they'll have taken 'em for a fortnight certain,' replied
19467
19468the child with a shrewd look; 'and people don't like moving when
19469
19470they're once settled.'<br><br>
19471
19472'This is a queer sort of thing,' muttered Dick, rising.  'What do you
19473
19474mean to say you are--the cook?'<br><br>
19475
19476'Yes, I do plain cooking;' replied the child.  'I'm housemaid too; I do
19477
19478all the work of the house.'<br><br>
19479
19480'I suppose Brass and the Dragon and I do the dirtiest part of it,'
19481
19482thought Dick.  And he might have thought much more, being in a doubtful
19483
19484and hesitating mood, but that the girl again urged her request, and
19485
19486certain mysterious bumping sounds on the passage and staircase seemed
19487
19488to give note of the applicant's impatience.  Richard Swiveller,
19489
19490therefore, sticking a pen behind each ear, and carrying another in his
19491
19492mouth as a token of his great importance and devotion to business,
19493
19494hurried out to meet and treat with the single gentleman.<br><br>
19495
19496He was a little surprised to perceive that the bumping sounds were
19497
19498occasioned by the progress up-stairs of the single gentleman's trunk,
19499
19500which, being nearly twice as wide as the staircase, and exceedingly
19501
19502heavy withal, it was no easy matter for the united exertions of the
19503
19504single gentleman and the coachman to convey up the steep ascent.  But
19505
19506there they were, crushing each other, and pushing and pulling with all
19507
19508their might, and getting the trunk tight and fast in all kinds of
19509
19510impossible angles, and to pass them was out of the question; for which
19511
19512sufficient reason, Mr Swiveller followed slowly behind, entering a new
19513
19514protest on every stair against the house of Mr Sampson Brass being thus
19515
19516taken by storm.<br><br>
19517
19518To these remonstrances, the single gentleman answered not a word, but
19519
19520when the trunk was at last got into the bed-room, sat down upon it and
19521
19522wiped his bald head and face with his handkerchief.  He was very warm,
19523
19524and well he might be; for, not to mention the exertion of getting the
19525
19526trunk up stairs, he was closely muffled in winter garments, though the
19527
19528thermometer had stood all day at eighty-one in the shade.<br><br>
19529
19530'I believe, sir,' said Richard Swiveller, taking his pen out of his
19531
19532mouth, 'that you desire to look at these apartments.  They are very
19533
19534charming apartments, sir.  They command an uninterrupted view of--of
19535
19536over the way, and they are within one minute's walk of--of the corner
19537
19538of the street.  There is exceedingly mild porter, sir, in the immediate
19539
19540vicinity, and the contingent advantages are extraordinary.'<br><br>
19541
19542'What's the rent?' said the single gentleman.<br><br>
19543
19544'One pound per week,' replied Dick, improving on the terms.<br><br>
19545
19546'I'll take 'em.'<br><br>
19547
19548'The boots and clothes are extras,' said Dick; 'and the fires in winter
19549
19550time are--'<br><br>
19551
19552'Are all agreed to,' answered the single gentleman.<br><br>
19553
19554'Two weeks certain,' said Dick, 'are the--'<br><br>
19555
19556'Two weeks!' cried the single gentleman gruffly, eyeing him from top to
19557
19558toe.  'Two years.  I shall live here for two years.  Here.  Ten pounds
19559
19560down.  The bargain's made.'<br><br>
19561
19562'Why you see,' said Dick, 'my name is not Brass, and--'<br><br>
19563
19564'Who said it was?  My name's not Brass.  What then?'<br><br>
19565
19566'The name of the master of the house is,' said Dick.<br><br>
19567
19568'I'm glad of it,' returned the single gentleman; 'it's a good name for
19569
19570a lawyer.  Coachman, you may go.  So may you, Sir.'<br><br>
19571
19572Mr Swiveller was so much confounded by the single gentleman riding
19573
19574roughshod over him at this rate, that he stood looking at him almost as
19575
19576hard as he had looked at Miss Sally.  The single gentleman, however,
19577
19578was not in the slightest degree affected by this circumstance, but
19579
19580proceeded with perfect composure to unwind the shawl which was tied
19581
19582round his neck, and then to pull off his boots.  Freed of these
19583
19584encumbrances, he went on to divest himself of his other clothing, which
19585
19586he folded up, piece by piece, and ranged in order on the trunk.  Then,
19587
19588he pulled down the window-blinds, drew the curtains, wound up his
19589
19590watch, and, quite leisurely and methodically, got into bed.<br><br>
19591
19592'Take down the bill,' were his parting words, as he looked out from
19593
19594between the curtains; 'and let nobody call me till I ring the bell.'<br><br>
19595
19596With that the curtains closed, and he seemed to snore immediately.<br><br>
19597
19598'This is a most remarkable and supernatural sort of house!' said Mr
19599
19600Swiveller, as he walked into the office with the bill in his hand.
19601
19602'She-dragons in the business, conducting themselves like professional
19603
19604gentlemen; plain cooks of three feet high appearing mysteriously from
19605
19606under ground; strangers walking in and going to bed without leave or
19607
19608licence in the middle of the day!  If he should be one of the
19609
19610miraculous fellows that turn up now and then, and has gone to sleep for
19611
19612two years, I shall be in a pleasant situation.  It's my destiny,
19613
19614however, and I hope Brass may like it.  I shall be sorry if he don't.
19615
19616But it's no business of mine--I have nothing whatever to do with it!'<br><br>
19617
19618CHAPTER 35<br><br>
19619
19620Mr Brass on returning home received the report of his clerk with much
19621
19622complacency and satisfaction, and was particular in inquiring after the
19623
19624ten-pound note, which, proving on examination to be a good and lawful
19625
19626note of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, increased his
19627
19628good-humour considerably.  Indeed he so overflowed with liberality and
19629
19630condescension, that, in the fulness of his heart, he invited Mr
19631
19632Swiveller to partake of a bowl of punch with him at that remote and
19633
19634indefinite period which is currently denominated 'one of these days,'
19635
19636and paid him many handsome compliments on the uncommon aptitude for
19637
19638business which his conduct on the first day of his devotion to it had
19639
19640so plainly evinced.<br><br>
19641
19642It was a maxim with Mr Brass that the habit of paying compliments kept
19643
19644a man's tongue oiled without any expense; and, as that useful member
19645
19646ought never to grow rusty or creak in turning on its hinges in the case
19647
19648of a practitioner of the law, in whom it should be always glib and
19649
19650easy, he lost few opportunities of improving himself by the utterance
19651
19652of handsome speeches and eulogistic expressions.  And this had passed
19653
19654into such a habit with him, that, if he could not be correctly said to
19655
19656have his tongue at his fingers' ends, he might certainly be said to
19657
19658have it anywhere but in his face: which being, as we have already seen,
19659
19660of a harsh and repulsive character, was not oiled so easily, but
19661
19662frowned above all the smooth speeches--one of nature's beacons, warning
19663
19664off those who navigated the shoals and breakers of the World, or of
19665
19666that dangerous strait the Law, and admonishing them to seek less
19667
19668treacherous harbours and try their fortune elsewhere.<br><br>
19669
19670While Mr Brass by turns overwhelmed his clerk with compliments and
19671
19672inspected the ten-pound note, Miss Sally showed little emotion and that
19673
19674of no pleasurable kind, for as the tendency of her legal practice had
19675
19676been to fix her thoughts on small gains and gripings, and to whet and
19677
19678sharpen her natural wisdom, she was not a little disappointed that the
19679
19680single gentleman had obtained the lodgings at such an easy rate,
19681
19682arguing that when he was seen to have set his mind upon them, he should
19683
19684have been at the least charged double or treble the usual terms, and
19685
19686that, in exact proportion as he pressed forward, Mr Swiveller should
19687
19688have hung back.  But neither the good opinion of Mr Brass, nor the
19689
19690dissatisfaction of Miss Sally, wrought any impression upon that young
19691
19692gentleman, who, throwing the responsibility of this and all other acts
19693
19694and deeds thereafter to be done by him, upon his unlucky destiny, was
19695
19696quite resigned and comfortable: fully prepared for the worst, and
19697
19698philosophically indifferent to the best.<br><br>
19699
19700'Good morning, Mr Richard,' said Brass, on the second day of Mr
19701
19702Swiveller's clerkship.  'Sally found you a second-hand stool, Sir,
19703
19704yesterday evening, in Whitechapel.  She's a rare fellow at a bargain, I
19705
19706can tell you, Mr Richard.  You'll find that a first-rate stool, Sir,
19707
19708take my word for it.'<br><br>
19709
19710'It's rather a crazy one to look at,' said Dick.<br><br>
19711
19712'You'll find it a most amazing stool to sit down upon, you may depend,'
19713
19714returned Mr Brass.  'It was bought in the open street just opposite the
19715
19716hospital, and as it has been standing there a month of two, it has got
19717
19718rather dusty and a little brown from being in the sun, that's all.'<br><br>
19719
19720'I hope it hasn't got any fevers or anything of that sort in it,' said
19721
19722Dick, sitting himself down discontentedly, between Mr Sampson and the
19723
19724chaste Sally.  'One of the legs is longer than the others.'<br><br>
19725
19726'Then we get a bit of timber in, Sir,' retorted Brass.  'Ha, ha, ha!
19727
19728We get a bit of timber in, Sir, and that's another advantage of my
19729
19730sister's going to market for us.  Miss Brass, Mr Richard is the--'<br><br>
19731
19732'Will you keep quiet?' interrupted the fair subject of these remarks,
19733
19734looking up from her papers.  'How am I to work if you keep on
19735
19736chattering?'<br><br>
19737
19738'What an uncertain chap you are!' returned the lawyer.  'Sometimes
19739
19740you're all for a chat.  At another time you're all for work.  A man
19741
19742never knows what humour he'll find you in.'<br><br>
19743
19744'I'm in a working humour now,' said Sally, 'so don't disturb me, if you
19745
19746please.  And don't take him,' Miss Sally pointed with the feather of
19747
19748her pen to Richard, 'off his business.  He won't do more than he can
19749
19750help, I dare say.'<br><br>
19751
19752Mr Brass had evidently a strong inclination to make an angry reply, but
19753
19754was deterred by prudent or timid considerations, as he only muttered
19755
19756something about aggravation and a vagabond; not associating the terms
19757
19758with any individual, but mentioning them as connected with some
19759
19760abstract ideas which happened to occur to him.  They went on writing
19761
19762for a long time in silence after this--in such a dull silence that Mr
19763
19764Swiveller (who required excitement) had several times fallen asleep,
19765
19766and written divers strange words in an unknown character with his eyes
19767
19768shut, when Miss Sally at length broke in upon the monotony of the
19769
19770office by pulling out the little tin box, taking a noisy pinch of
19771
19772snuff, and then expressing her opinion that Mr Richard Swiveller had
19773
19774'done it.'<br><br>
19775
19776'Done what, ma'am?' said Richard.<br><br>
19777
19778'Do you know,' returned Miss Brass, 'that the lodger isn't up yet--
19779
19780that nothing has been seen or heard of him since he went to bed
19781
19782yesterday afternoon?'<br><br>
19783
19784'Well, ma'am,' said Dick, 'I suppose he may sleep his ten pound out, in
19785
19786peace and quietness, if he likes.'<br><br>
19787
19788'Ah!  I begin to think he'll never wake,' observed Miss Sally.<br><br>
19789
19790'It's a very remarkable circumstance,' said Brass, laying down his pen;
19791
19792'really, very remarkable.  Mr Richard, you'll remember, if this
19793
19794gentleman should be found to have hung himself to the bed-post, or any
19795
19796unpleasant accident of that kind should happen--you'll remember, Mr
19797
19798Richard, that this ten pound note was given to you in part payment of
19799
19800two years' rent?  You'll bear that in mind, Mr Richard; you had better
19801
19802make a note of it, sir, in case you should ever be called upon to give
19803
19804evidence.'<br><br>
19805
19806Mr Swiveller took a large sheet of foolscap, and with a countenance of
19807
19808profound gravity, began to make a very small note in one corner.<br><br>
19809
19810'We can never be too cautious,' said Mr Brass.  'There is a deal of
19811
19812wickedness going about the world, a deal of wickedness.  Did the
19813
19814gentleman happen to say, Sir--but never mind that at present, sir;
19815
19816finish that little memorandum first.'<br><br>
19817
19818Dick did so, and handed it to Mr Brass, who had dismounted from his
19819
19820stool, and was walking up and down the office.<br><br>
19821
19822'Oh, this is the memorandum, is it?' said Brass, running his eye over
19823
19824the document.  'Very good.  Now, Mr Richard, did the gentleman say
19825
19826anything else?'<br><br>
19827
19828'No.'<br><br>
19829
19830'Are you sure, Mr Richard,' said Brass, solemnly, 'that the gentleman
19831
19832said nothing else?'<br><br>
19833
19834'Devil a word, Sir,' replied Dick.<br><br>
19835
19836'Think again, Sir,' said Brass; 'it's my duty, Sir, in the position in
19837
19838which I stand, and as an honourable member of the legal profession--the
19839
19840first profession in this country, Sir, or in any other country, or in
19841
19842any of the planets that shine above us at night and are supposed to be
19843
19844inhabited--it's my duty, Sir, as an honourable member of that
19845
19846profession, not to put to you a leading question in a matter of this
19847
19848delicacy and importance.  Did the gentleman, Sir, who took the first
19849
19850floor of you yesterday afternoon, and who brought with him a box of
19851
19852property--a box of property--say anything more than is set down in this
19853
19854memorandum?'<br><br>
19855
19856'Come, don't be a fool,' said Miss Sally.<br><br>
19857
19858Dick looked at her, and then at Brass, and then at Miss Sally again,
19859
19860and still said 'No.'<br><br>
19861
19862'Pooh, pooh!  Deuce take it, Mr Richard, how dull you are!' cried
19863
19864Brass, relaxing into a smile.  'Did he say anything about his
19865
19866property?--there!'<br><br>
19867
19868'That's the way to put it,' said Miss Sally, nodding to her brother.<br><br>
19869
19870'Did he say, for instance,' added Brass, in a kind of comfortable, cozy
19871
19872tone--'I don't assert that he did say so, mind; I only ask you, to
19873
19874refresh your memory--did he say, for instance, that he was a stranger
19875
19876in London--that it was not his humour or within his ability to give any
19877
19878references--that he felt we had a right to require them--and that, in
19879
19880case anything should happen to him, at any time, he particularly
19881
19882desired that whatever property he had upon the premises should be
19883
19884considered mine, as some slight recompense for the trouble and
19885
19886annoyance I should sustain--and were you, in short,' added Brass, still
19887
19888more comfortably and cozily than before, 'were you induced to accept
19889
19890him on my behalf, as a tenant, upon those conditions?'<br><br>
19891
19892'Certainly not,' replied Dick.<br><br>
19893
19894'Why then, Mr Richard,' said Brass, darting at him a supercilious and
19895
19896reproachful look, 'it's my opinion that you've mistaken your calling,
19897
19898and will never make a lawyer.'<br><br>
19899
19900'Not if you live a thousand years,' added Miss Sally.  Whereupon the
19901
19902brother and sister took each a noisy pinch of snuff from the little tin
19903
19904box, and fell into a gloomy thoughtfulness.<br><br>
19905
19906Nothing further passed up to Mr Swiveller's dinner-time, which was at
19907
19908three o'clock, and seemed about three weeks in coming.  At the first
19909
19910stroke of the hour, the new clerk disappeared.  At the last stroke of
19911
19912five, he reappeared, and the office, as if by magic, became fragrant
19913
19914with the smell of gin and water and lemon-peel.<br><br>
19915
19916'Mr Richard,' said Brass, 'this man's not up yet.  Nothing will wake
19917
19918him, sir.  What's to be done?'<br><br>
19919
19920'I should let him have his sleep out,' returned Dick.<br><br>
19921
19922'Sleep out!' cried Brass; 'why he has been asleep now, six-and-twenty
19923
19924hours.  We have been moving chests of drawers over his head, we have
19925
19926knocked double knocks at the street-door, we have made the servant-girl
19927
19928fall down stairs several times (she's a light weight, and it don't hurt
19929
19930her much,) but nothing wakes him.'<br><br>
19931
19932'Perhaps a ladder,' suggested Dick, 'and getting in at the first-floor
19933
19934window--'<br><br>
19935
19936'But then there's a door between; besides, the neighbours would be up
19937
19938in arms,' said Brass.<br><br>
19939
19940'What do you say to getting on the roof of the house through the
19941
19942trap-door, and dropping down the chimney?' suggested Dick.<br><br>
19943
19944'That would be an excellent plan,' said Brass, 'if anybody would be--'
19945
19946and here he looked very hard at Mr Swiveller--'would be kind, and
19947
19948friendly, and generous enough, to undertake it.  I dare say it would
19949
19950not be anything like as disagreeable as one supposes.'<br><br>
19951
19952Dick had made the suggestion, thinking that the duty might possibly
19953
19954fall within Miss Sally's department.  As he said nothing further, and
19955
19956declined taking the hint, Mr Brass was fain to propose that they should
19957
19958go up stairs together, and make a last effort to awaken the sleeper by
19959
19960some less violent means, which, if they failed on this last trial, must
19961
19962positively be succeeded by stronger measures.  Mr Swiveller, assenting,
19963
19964armed himself with his stool and the large ruler, and repaired with his
19965
19966employer to the scene of action, where Miss Brass was already ringing a
19967
19968hand-bell with all her might, and yet without producing the smallest
19969
19970effect upon their mysterious lodger.<br><br>
19971
19972'There are his boots, Mr Richard!' said Brass.<br><br>
19973
19974'Very obstinate-looking articles they are too,' quoth Richard
19975
19976Swiveller.  And truly, they were as sturdy and bluff a pair of boots as
19977
19978one would wish to see; as firmly planted on the ground as if their
19979
19980owner's legs and feet had been in them; and seeming, with their broad
19981
19982soles and blunt toes, to hold possession of their place by main force.<br><br>
19983
19984'I can't see anything but the curtain of the bed,' said Brass, applying
19985
19986his eye to the keyhole of the door.  'Is he a strong man, Mr Richard?'<br><br>
19987
19988Very,' answered Dick.<br><br>
19989
19990It would be an extremely unpleasant circumstance if he was to bounce
19991
19992out suddenly,' said Brass.  'Keep the stairs clear.  I should be more
19993
19994than a match for him, of course, but I'm the master of the house, and
19995
19996the laws of hospitality must be respected.--Hallo there!  Hallo, hallo!'<br><br>
19997
19998While Mr Brass, with his eye curiously twisted into the keyhole,
19999
20000uttered these sounds as a means of attracting the lodger's attention,
20001
20002and while Miss Brass plied the hand-bell, Mr Swiveller put his stool
20003
20004close against the wall by the side of the door, and mounting on the top
20005
20006and standing bolt upright, so that if the lodger did make a rush, he
20007
20008would most probably pass him in its onward fury, began a violent
20009
20010battery with the ruler upon the upper panels of the door.  Captivated
20011
20012with his own ingenuity, and confident in the strength of his position,
20013
20014which he had taken up after the method of those hardy individuals who
20015
20016open the pit and gallery doors of theatres on crowded nights, Mr
20017
20018Swiveller rained down such a shower of blows, that the noise of the
20019
20020bell was drowned; and the small servant, who lingered on the stairs
20021
20022below, ready to fly at a moment's notice, was obliged to hold her ears
20023
20024lest she should be rendered deaf for life.<br><br>
20025
20026Suddenly the door was unlocked on the inside, and flung violently open.
20027
20028The small servant flew to the coal-cellar; Miss Sally dived into her
20029
20030own bed-room; Mr Brass, who was not remarkable for personal courage,
20031
20032ran into the next street, and finding that nobody followed him, armed
20033
20034with a poker or other offensive weapon, put his hands in his pockets,
20035
20036walked very slowly all at once, and whistled.<br><br>
20037
20038Meanwhile, Mr Swiveller, on the top of the stool, drew himself into as
20039
20040flat a shape as possible against the wall, and looked, not
20041
20042unconcernedly, down upon the single gentleman, who appeared at the door
20043
20044growling and cursing in a very awful manner, and, with the boots in his
20045
20046hand, seemed to have an intention of hurling them down stairs on
20047
20048speculation.  This idea, however, he abandoned.  He was turning into
20049
20050his room again, still growling vengefully, when his eyes met those of
20051
20052the watchful Richard.<br><br>
20053
20054'Have YOU been making that horrible noise?' said the single gentleman.<br><br>
20055
20056'I have been helping, sir,' returned Dick, keeping his eye upon him,
20057
20058and waving the ruler gently in his right hand, as an indication of what
20059
20060the single gentleman had to expect if he attempted any violence.<br><br>
20061
20062'How dare you then,' said the lodger, 'Eh?'<br><br>
20063
20064To this, Dick made no other reply than by inquiring whether the lodger
20065
20066held it to be consistent with the conduct and character of a gentleman
20067
20068to go to sleep for six-and-twenty hours at a stretch, and whether the
20069
20070peace of an amiable and virtuous family was to weigh as nothing in the
20071
20072balance.<br><br>
20073
20074'Is my peace nothing?' said the single gentleman.<br><br>
20075
20076'Is their peace nothing, sir?' returned Dick.  'I don't wish to hold
20077
20078out any threats, sir--indeed the law does not allow of threats, for to
20079
20080threaten is an indictable offence--but if ever you do that again, take
20081
20082care you're not sat upon by the coroner and buried in a cross road
20083
20084before you wake.  We have been distracted with fears that you were
20085
20086dead, Sir,' said Dick, gently sliding to the ground, 'and the short and
20087
20088the long of it is, that we cannot allow single gentlemen to come into
20089
20090this establishment and sleep like double gentlemen without paying extra
20091
20092for it.'<br><br>
20093
20094'Indeed!' cried the lodger.<br><br>
20095
20096'Yes, Sir, indeed,' returned Dick, yielding to his destiny and saying
20097
20098whatever came uppermost; 'an equal quantity of slumber was never got
20099
20100out of one bed and bedstead, and if you're going to sleep in that way,
20101
20102you must pay for a double-bedded room.'<br><br>
20103
20104Instead of being thrown into a greater passion by these remarks, the
20105
20106lodger lapsed into a broad grin and looked at Mr Swiveller with
20107
20108twinkling eyes.  He was a brown-faced sun-burnt man, and appeared
20109
20110browner and more sun-burnt from having a white nightcap on.  As it was
20111
20112clear that he was a choleric fellow in some respects, Mr Swiveller was
20113
20114relieved to find him in such good humour, and, to encourage him in it,
20115
20116smiled himself.<br><br>
20117
20118The lodger, in the testiness of being so rudely roused, had pushed his
20119
20120nightcap very much on one side of his bald head.  This gave him a
20121
20122rakish eccentric air which, now that he had leisure to observe it,
20123
20124charmed Mr Swiveller exceedingly; therefore, by way of propitiation, he
20125
20126expressed his hope that the gentleman was going to get up, and further
20127
20128that he would never do so any more.<br><br>
20129
20130'Come here, you impudent rascal!' was the lodger's answer as he
20131
20132re-entered his room.<br><br>
20133
20134Mr Swiveller followed him in, leaving the stool outside, but reserving
20135
20136the ruler in case of a surprise.  He rather congratulated himself on
20137
20138his prudence when the single gentleman, without notice or explanation
20139
20140of any kind, double-locked the door.<br><br>
20141
20142'Can you drink anything?' was his next inquiry.<br><br>
20143
20144Mr Swiveller replied that he had very recently been assuaging the pangs
20145
20146of thirst, but that he was still open to 'a modest quencher,' if the
20147
20148materials were at hand.  Without another word spoken on either side,
20149
20150the lodger took from his great trunk, a kind of temple, shining as of
20151
20152polished silver, and placed it carefully on the table.<br><br>
20153
20154Greatly interested in his proceedings, Mr Swiveller observed him
20155
20156closely.  Into one little chamber of this temple, he dropped an egg;
20157
20158into another some coffee; into a third a compact piece of raw steak
20159
20160from a neat tin case; into a fourth, he poured some water.  Then, with
20161
20162the aid of a phosphorus-box and some matches, he procured a light and
20163
20164applied it to a spirit-lamp which had a place of its own below the
20165
20166temple; then, he shut down the lids of all the little chambers; then he
20167
20168opened them; and then, by some wonderful and unseen agency, the steak
20169
20170was done, the egg was boiled, the coffee was accurately prepared, and
20171
20172his breakfast was ready.<br><br>
20173
20174'Hot water--' said the lodger, handing it to Mr Swiveller with as much
20175
20176coolness as if he had a kitchen fire before him--'extraordinary
20177
20178rum--sugar--and a travelling glass.  Mix for yourself.  And make haste.'<br><br>
20179
20180Dick complied, his eyes wandering all the time from the temple on the
20181
20182table, which seemed to do everything, to the great trunk which seemed
20183
20184to hold everything.  The lodger took his breakfast like a man who was
20185
20186used to work these miracles, and thought nothing of them.<br><br>
20187
20188'The man of the house is a lawyer, is he not?' said the lodger.<br><br>
20189
20190Dick nodded.  The rum was amazing.<br><br>
20191
20192'The woman of the house--what's she?'<br><br>
20193
20194'A dragon,' said Dick.<br><br>
20195
20196The single gentleman, perhaps because he had met with such things in
20197
20198his travels, or perhaps because he WAS a single gentleman, evinced no
20199
20200surprise, but merely inquired 'Wife or Sister?'--'Sister,' said
20201
20202Dick.--'So much the better,' said the single gentleman, 'he can get rid
20203
20204of her when he likes.'<br><br>
20205
20206'I want to do as I like, young man,' he added after a short silence;
20207
20208'to go to bed when I like, get up when I like, come in when I like, go
20209
20210out when I like--to be asked no questions and be surrounded by no
20211
20212spies.  In this last respect, servants are the devil.  There's only one
20213
20214here.'<br><br>
20215
20216'And a very little one,' said Dick.<br><br>
20217
20218'And a very little one,' repeated the lodger.  'Well, the place will
20219
20220suit me, will it?'<br><br>
20221
20222'Yes,' said Dick.<br><br>
20223
20224'Sharks, I suppose?' said the lodger.<br><br>
20225
20226Dick nodded assent, and drained his glass.<br><br>
20227
20228'Let them know my humour,' said the single gentleman, rising.  'If they
20229
20230disturb me, they lose a good tenant.  If they know me to be that, they
20231
20232know enough.  If they try to know more, it's a notice to quit.  It's
20233
20234better to understand these things at once.  Good day.'<br><br>
20235
20236'I beg your pardon,' said Dick, halting in his passage to the door,
20237
20238which the lodger prepared to open.  'When he who adores thee has left
20239
20240but the name--'<br><br>
20241
20242'What do you mean?'<br><br>
20243
20244'--But the name,' said Dick--'has left but the name--in case of letters
20245
20246or parcels--'<br><br>
20247
20248'I never have any,' returned the lodger.<br><br>
20249
20250'Or in the case anybody should call.'<br><br>
20251
20252'Nobody ever calls on me.'<br><br>
20253
20254'If any mistake should arise from not having the name, don't say it was
20255
20256my fault, Sir,' added Dick, still lingering.--'Oh blame not the bard--'<br><br>
20257
20258'I'll blame nobody,' said the lodger, with such irascibility that in a
20259
20260moment Dick found himself on the staircase, and the locked door between
20261
20262them.<br><br>
20263
20264Mr Brass and Miss Sally were lurking hard by, having been, indeed, only
20265
20266routed from the keyhole by Mr Swiveller's abrupt exit.  As their utmost
20267
20268exertions had not enabled them to overhear a word of the interview,
20269
20270however, in consequence of a quarrel for precedence, which, though
20271
20272limited of necessity to pushes and pinches and such quiet pantomime,
20273
20274had lasted the whole time, they hurried him down to the office to hear
20275
20276his account of the conversation.<br><br>
20277
20278This Mr Swiveller gave them--faithfully as regarded the wishes and
20279
20280character of the single gentleman, and poetically as concerned the
20281
20282great trunk, of which he gave a description more remarkable for
20283
20284brilliancy of imagination than a strict adherence to truth; declaring,
20285
20286with many strong asseverations, that it contained a specimen of every
20287
20288kind of rich food and wine, known in these times, and in particular
20289
20290that it was of a self-acting kind and served up whatever was required,
20291
20292as he supposed by clock-work. He also gave them to understand that the
20293
20294cooking apparatus roasted a fine piece of sirloin of beef, weighing
20295
20296about six pounds avoir-dupoise, in two minutes and a quarter, as he had
20297
20298himself witnessed, and proved by his sense of taste; and further, that,
20299
20300however the effect was produced, he had distinctly seen water boil and
20301
20302bubble up when the single gentleman winked; from which facts he (Mr
20303
20304Swiveller) was led to infer that the lodger was some great conjuror or
20305
20306chemist, or both, whose residence under that roof could not fail at
20307
20308some future days to shed a great credit and distinction on the name of
20309
20310Brass, and add a new interest to the history of Bevis Marks.<br><br>
20311
20312There was one point which Mr Swiveller deemed it unnecessary to enlarge
20313
20314upon, and that was the fact of the modest quencher, which, by reason of
20315
20316its intrinsic strength and its coming close upon the heels of the
20317
20318temperate beverage he had discussed at dinner, awakened a slight degree
20319
20320of fever, and rendered necessary two or three other modest quenchers at
20321
20322the public-house in the course of the evening.<br><br>
20323
20324CHAPTER 36<br><br>
20325
20326As the single gentleman after some weeks' occupation of his lodgings,
20327
20328still declined to correspond, by word or gesture, either with Mr Brass
20329
20330or his sister Sally, but invariably chose Richard Swiveller as his
20331
20332channel of communication; and as he proved himself in all respects a
20333
20334highly desirable inmate, paying for everything beforehand, giving very
20335
20336little trouble, making no noise, and keeping early hours; Mr Richard
20337
20338imperceptibly rose to an important position in the family, as one who
20339
20340had influence over this mysterious lodger, and could negotiate with
20341
20342him, for good or evil, when nobody else durst approach his person.<br><br>
20343
20344If the truth must be told, even Mr Swiveller's approaches to the single
20345
20346gentleman were of a very distant kind, and met with small
20347
20348encouragement; but, as he never returned from a monosyllabic conference
20349
20350with the unknown, without quoting such expressions as 'Swiveller, I
20351
20352know I can rely upon you,'--'I have no hesitation in saying, Swiveller,
20353
20354that I entertain a regard for you,'--'Swiveller, you are my friend, and
20355
20356will stand by me I am sure,' with many other short speeches of the same
20357
20358familiar and confiding kind, purporting to have been addressed by the
20359
20360single gentleman to himself, and to form the staple of their ordinary
20361
20362discourse, neither Mr Brass nor Miss Sally for a moment questioned the
20363
20364extent of his influence, but accorded to him their fullest and most
20365
20366unqualified belief.  But quite apart from, and independent of, this
20367
20368source of popularity, Mr Swiveller had another, which promised to be
20369
20370equally enduring, and to lighten his position considerably.<br><br>
20371
20372He found favour in the eyes of Miss Sally Brass.  Let not the light
20373
20374scorners of female fascination erect their ears to listen to a new tale
20375
20376of love which shall serve them for a jest; for Miss Brass, however
20377
20378accurately formed to be beloved, was not of the loving kind.  That
20379
20380amiable virgin, having clung to the skirts of the Law from her earliest
20381
20382youth; having sustained herself by their aid, as it were, in her first
20383
20384running alone, and maintained a firm grasp upon them ever since; had
20385
20386passed her life in a kind of legal childhood.  She had been remarkable,
20387
20388when a tender prattler for an uncommon talent in counterfeiting the
20389
20390walk and manner of a bailiff: in which character she had learned to tap
20391
20392her little playfellows on the shoulder, and to carry them off to
20393
20394imaginary sponging-houses, with a correctness of imitation which was
20395
20396the surprise and delight of all who witnessed her performances, and
20397
20398which was only to be exceeded by her exquisite manner of putting an
20399
20400execution into her doll's house, and taking an exact inventory of the
20401
20402chairs and tables.  These artless sports had naturally soothed and
20403
20404cheered the decline of her widowed father: a most exemplary gentleman
20405
20406(called 'old Foxey' by his friends from his extreme sagacity,) who
20407
20408encouraged them to the utmost, and whose chief regret, on finding that
20409
20410he drew near to Houndsditch churchyard, was, that his daughter could
20411
20412not take out an attorney's certificate and hold a place upon the roll.
20413
20414Filled with this affectionate and touching sorrow, he had solemnly
20415
20416confided her to his son Sampson as an invaluable auxiliary; and from
20417
20418the old gentleman's decease to the period of which we treat, Miss Sally
20419
20420Brass had been the prop and pillar of his business.<br><br>
20421
20422It is obvious that, having devoted herself from infancy to this one
20423
20424pursuit and study, Miss Brass could know but little of the world,
20425
20426otherwise than in connection with the law; and that from a lady gifted
20427
20428with such high tastes, proficiency in those gentler and softer arts in
20429
20430which women usually excel, was scarcely to be looked for.  Miss Sally's
20431
20432accomplishments were all of a masculine and strictly legal kind.  They
20433
20434began with the practice of an attorney and they ended with it.  She was
20435
20436in a state of lawful innocence, so to speak.  The law had been her
20437
20438nurse.  And, as bandy-legs or such physical deformities in children are
20439
20440held to be the consequence of bad nursing, so, if in a mind so
20441
20442beautiful any moral twist or handiness could be found, Miss Sally
20443
20444Brass's nurse was alone to blame.<br><br>
20445
20446It was on this lady, then, that Mr Swiveller burst in full freshness as
20447
20448something new and hitherto undreamed of, lighting up the office with
20449
20450scraps of song and merriment, conjuring with inkstands and boxes of
20451
20452wafers, catching three oranges in one hand, balancing stools upon his
20453
20454chin and penknives on his nose, and constantly performing a hundred
20455
20456other feats with equal ingenuity; for with such unbendings did Richard,
20457
20458in Mr Brass's absence, relieve the tedium of his confinement.  These
20459
20460social qualities, which Miss Sally first discovered by accident,
20461
20462gradually made such an impression upon her, that she would entreat Mr
20463
20464Swiveller to relax as though she were not by, which Mr Swiveller,
20465
20466nothing loth, would readily consent to do.  By these means a friendship
20467
20468sprung up between them.  Mr Swiveller gradually came to look upon her
20469
20470as her brother Sampson did, and as he would have looked upon any other
20471
20472clerk.  He imparted to her the mystery of going the odd man or plain
20473
20474Newmarket for fruit, ginger-beer, baked potatoes, or even a modest
20475
20476quencher, of which Miss Brass did not scruple to partake.  He would
20477
20478often persuade her to undertake his share of writing in addition to her
20479
20480own; nay, he would sometimes reward her with a hearty slap on the back,
20481
20482and protest that she was a devilish good fellow, a jolly dog, and so
20483
20484forth; all of which compliments Miss Sally would receive in entire good
20485
20486part and with perfect satisfaction.<br><br>
20487
20488One circumstance troubled Mr Swiveller's mind very much, and that was
20489
20490that the small servant always remained somewhere in the bowels of the
20491
20492earth under Bevis Marks, and never came to the surface unless the
20493
20494single gentleman rang his bell, when she would answer it and
20495
20496immediately disappear again.  She never went out, or came into the
20497
20498office, or had a clean face, or took off the coarse apron, or looked
20499
20500out of any one of the windows, or stood at the street-door for a breath
20501
20502of air, or had any rest or enjoyment whatever.  Nobody ever came to see
20503
20504her, nobody spoke of her, nobody cared about her.  Mr Brass had said
20505
20506once, that he believed she was a 'love-child' (which means anything but
20507
20508a child of love), and that was all the information Richard Swiveller
20509
20510could obtain.<br><br>
20511
20512'It's of no use asking the dragon,' thought Dick one day, as he sat
20513
20514contemplating the features of Miss Sally Brass.  'I suspect if I asked
20515
20516any questions on that head, our alliance would be at an end.  I wonder
20517
20518whether she is a dragon by-the-bye, or something in the mermaid way.
20519
20520She has rather a scaly appearance.  But mermaids are fond of looking at
20521
20522themselves in the glass, which she can't be.  And they have a habit of
20523
20524combing their hair, which she hasn't.  No, she's a dragon.'<br><br>
20525
20526'Where are you going, old fellow?' said Dick aloud, as Miss Sally wiped
20527
20528her pen as usual on the green dress, and uprose from her seat.<br><br>
20529
20530'To dinner,' answered the dragon.<br><br>
20531
20532'To dinner!' thought Dick, 'that's another circumstance.  I don't
20533
20534believe that small servant ever has anything to eat.'<br><br>
20535
20536'Sammy won't be home,' said Miss Brass.  'Stop till I come back.  I
20537
20538sha'n't be long.'<br><br>
20539
20540Dick nodded, and followed Miss Brass--with his eyes to the door, and
20541
20542with his ears to a little back parlour, where she and her brother took
20543
20544their meals.<br><br>
20545
20546'Now,' said Dick, walking up and down with his hands in his pockets,
20547
20548'I'd give something--if I had it--to know how they use that child, and
20549
20550where they keep her.  My mother must have been a very inquisitive
20551
20552woman; I have no doubt I'm marked with a note of interrogation
20553
20554somewhere.  My feelings I smother, but thou hast been the cause of this
20555
20556anguish, my--upon my word,' said Mr Swiveller, checking himself and
20557
20558falling thoughtfully into the client's chair, 'I should like to know
20559
20560how they use her!'<br><br>
20561
20562After running on, in this way, for some time, Mr Swiveller softly
20563
20564opened the office door, with the intention of darting across the street
20565
20566for a glass of the mild porter.  At that moment he caught a parting
20567
20568glimpse of the brown head-dress of Miss Brass flitting down the kitchen
20569
20570stairs.  'And by Jove!' thought Dick, 'she's going to feed the small
20571
20572servant.  Now or never!'<br><br>
20573
20574First peeping over the handrail and allowing the head-dress to
20575
20576disappear in the darkness below, he groped his way down, and arrived at
20577
20578the door of a back kitchen immediately after Miss Brass had entered the
20579
20580same, bearing in her hand a cold leg of mutton.  It was a very dark
20581
20582miserable place, very low and very damp: the walls disfigured by a
20583
20584thousand rents and blotches.  The water was trickling out of a leaky
20585
20586butt, and a most wretched cat was lapping up the drops with the sickly
20587
20588eagerness of starvation.  The grate, which was a wide one, was wound
20589
20590and screwed up tight, so as to hold no more than a little thin sandwich
20591
20592of fire.  Everything was locked up; the coal-cellar, the candle-box,
20593
20594the salt-box, the meat-safe, were all padlocked.  There was nothing
20595
20596that a beetle could have lunched upon.  The pinched and meagre aspect
20597
20598of the place would have killed a chameleon.  He would have known, at
20599
20600the first mouthful, that the air was not eatable, and must have given
20601
20602up the ghost in despair.<br><br>
20603
20604The small servant stood with humility in presence of Miss Sally, and
20605
20606hung her head.<br><br>
20607
20608'Are you there?' said Miss Sally.<br><br>
20609
20610'Yes, ma'am,' was the answer in a weak voice.<br><br>
20611
20612'Go further away from the leg of mutton, or you'll be picking it, I
20613
20614know,' said Miss Sally.<br><br>
20615
20616The girl withdrew into a corner, while Miss Brass took a key from her
20617
20618pocket, and opening the safe, brought from it a dreary waste of cold
20619
20620potatoes, looking as eatable as Stonehenge.  This she placed before the
20621
20622small servant, ordering her to sit down before it, and then, taking up
20623
20624a great carving-knife, made a mighty show of sharpening it upon the
20625
20626carving-fork.<br><br>
20627
20628'Do you see this?' said Miss Brass, slicing off about two square inches
20629
20630of cold mutton, after all this preparation, and holding it out on the
20631
20632point of the fork.<br><br>
20633
20634The small servant looked hard enough at it with her hungry eyes to see
20635
20636every shred of it, small as it was, and answered, 'yes.'<br><br>
20637
20638'Then don't you ever go and say,' retorted Miss Sally, 'that you hadn't
20639
20640meat here.  There, eat it up.'<br><br>
20641
20642This was soon done.  'Now, do you want any more?' said Miss Sally.<br><br>
20643
20644The hungry creature answered with a faint 'No.'  They were evidently
20645
20646going through an established form.<br><br>
20647
20648'You've been helped once to meat,' said Miss Brass, summing up the
20649
20650facts; 'you have had as much as you can eat, you're asked if you want
20651
20652any more, and you answer, 'no!' Then don't you ever go and say you were
20653
20654allowanced, mind that.'<br><br>
20655
20656With those words, Miss Sally put the meat away and locked the safe, and
20657
20658then drawing near to the small servant, overlooked her while she
20659
20660finished the potatoes.<br><br>
20661
20662It was plain that some extraordinary grudge was working in Miss Brass's
20663
20664gentle breast, and that it was that which impelled her, without the
20665
20666smallest present cause, to rap the child with the blade of the knife,
20667
20668now on her hand, now on her head, and now on her back, as if she found
20669
20670it quite impossible to stand so close to her without administering a
20671
20672few slight knocks.  But Mr Swiveller was not a little surprised to see
20673
20674his fellow-clerk, after walking slowly backwards towards the door, as
20675
20676if she were trying to withdraw herself from the room but could not
20677
20678accomplish it, dart suddenly forward, and falling on the small servant
20679
20680give her some hard blows with her clenched hand.  The victim cried, but
20681
20682in a subdued manner as if she feared to raise her voice, and Miss
20683
20684Sally, comforting herself with a pinch of snuff, ascended the stairs,
20685
20686just as Richard had safely reached the office.<br><br>
20687
20688CHAPTER 37<br><br>
20689
20690The single gentleman among his other peculiarities--and he had a very
20691
20692plentiful stock, of which he every day furnished some new
20693
20694specimen--took a most extraordinary and remarkable interest in the
20695
20696exhibition of Punch.  If the sound of a Punch's voice, at ever so
20697
20698remote a distance, reached Bevis Marks, the single gentleman, though in
20699
20700bed and asleep, would start up, and, hurrying on his clothes, make for
20701
20702the spot with all speed, and presently return at the head of a long
20703
20704procession of idlers, having in the midst the theatre and its
20705
20706proprietors.  Straightway, the stage would be set up in front of Mr
20707
20708Brass's house; the single gentleman would establish himself at the
20709
20710first floor window; and the entertainment would proceed, with all its
20711
20712exciting accompaniments of fife and drum and shout, to the excessive
20713
20714consternation of all sober votaries of business in that silent
20715
20716thoroughfare.  It might have been expected that when the play was done,
20717
20718both players and audience would have dispersed; but the epilogue was as
20719
20720bad as the play, for no sooner was the Devil dead, than the manager of
20721
20722the puppets and his partner were summoned by the single gentleman to
20723
20724his chamber, where they were regaled with strong waters from his
20725
20726private store, and where they held with him long conversations, the
20727
20728purport of which no human being could fathom.  But the secret of these
20729
20730discussions was of little importance.  It was sufficient to know that
20731
20732while they were proceeding, the concourse without still lingered round
20733
20734the house; that boys beat upon the drum with their fists, and imitated
20735
20736Punch with their tender voices; that the office-window was rendered
20737
20738opaque by flattened noses, and the key-hole of the street-door luminous
20739
20740with eyes; that every time the single gentleman or either of his guests
20741
20742was seen at the upper window, or so much as the end of one of their
20743
20744noses was visible, there was a great shout of execration from the
20745
20746excluded mob, who remained howling and yelling, and refusing
20747
20748consolation, until the exhibitors were delivered up to them to be
20749
20750attended elsewhere.  It was sufficient, in short, to know that Bevis
20751
20752Marks was revolutionised by these popular movements, and that peace and
20753
20754quietness fled from its precincts.<br><br>
20755
20756Nobody was rendered more indignant by these proceedings than Mr Sampson
20757
20758Brass, who, as he could by no means afford to lose so profitable an
20759
20760inmate, deemed it prudent to pocket his lodger's affront along with his
20761
20762cash, and to annoy the audiences who clustered round his door by such
20763
20764imperfect means of retaliation as were open to him, and which were
20765
20766confined to the trickling down of foul water on their heads from unseen
20767
20768watering pots, pelting them with fragments of tile and mortar from the
20769
20770roof of the house, and bribing the drivers of hackney cabriolets to
20771
20772come suddenly round the corner and dash in among them precipitately.
20773
20774It may, at first sight, be matter of surprise to the thoughtless few
20775
20776that Mr Brass, being a professional gentleman, should not have legally
20777
20778indicted some party or parties, active in the promotion of the
20779
20780nuisance, but they will be good enough to remember, that as Doctors
20781
20782seldom take their own prescriptions, and Divines do not always practise
20783
20784what they preach, so lawyers are shy of meddling with the Law on their
20785
20786own account: knowing it to be an edged tool of uncertain application,
20787
20788very expensive in the working, and rather remarkable for its properties
20789
20790of close shaving, than for its always shaving the right person.<br><br>
20791
20792'Come,' said Mr Brass one afternoon, 'this is two days without a Punch.
20793
20794I'm in hopes he has run through 'em all, at last.'<br><br>
20795
20796'Why are you in hopes?' returned Miss Sally.  'What harm do they do?'<br><br>
20797
20798'Here's a pretty sort of a fellow!' cried Brass, laying down his pen in
20799
20800despair.  'Now here's an aggravating animal!'<br><br>
20801
20802'Well, what harm do they do?' retorted Sally.<br><br>
20803
20804'What harm!' cried Brass.  'Is it no harm to have a constant hallooing
20805
20806and hooting under one's very nose, distracting one from business, and
20807
20808making one grind one's teeth with vexation?  Is it no harm to be
20809
20810blinded and choked up, and have the king's highway stopped with a set
20811
20812of screamers and roarers whose throats must be made of--of--'<br><br>
20813
20814'Brass,' suggested Mr Swiveller.<br><br>
20815
20816'Ah! of brass,' said the lawyer, glancing at his clerk, to assure
20817
20818himself that he had suggested the word in good faith and without any
20819
20820sinister intention.  'Is that no harm?'<br><br>
20821
20822The lawyer stopped short in his invective, and listening for a moment,
20823
20824and recognising the well-known voice, rested his head upon his hand,
20825
20826raised his eyes to the ceiling, and muttered faintly,<br><br>
20827
20828'There's another!'<br><br>
20829
20830Up went the single gentleman's window directly.<br><br>
20831
20832'There's another,' repeated Brass; 'and if I could get a break and four
20833
20834blood horses to cut into the Marks when the crowd is at its thickest,
20835
20836I'd give eighteen-pence and never grudge it!'<br><br>
20837
20838The distant squeak was heard again.  The single gentleman's door burst
20839
20840open.  He ran violently down the stairs, out into the street, and so
20841
20842past the window, without any hat, towards the quarter whence the sound
20843
20844proceeded--bent, no doubt, upon securing the strangers' services
20845
20846directly.<br><br>
20847
20848'I wish I only knew who his friends were,' muttered Sampson, filling
20849
20850his pocket with papers; 'if they'd just get up a pretty little
20851
20852Commission de lunatico at the Gray's Inn Coffee House and give me the
20853
20854job, I'd be content to have the lodgings empty for one while, at all
20855
20856events.'<br><br>
20857
20858With which words, and knocking his hat over his eyes as if for the
20859
20860purpose of shutting out even a glimpse of the dreadful visitation, Mr
20861
20862Brass rushed from the house and hurried away.<br><br>
20863
20864As Mr Swiveller was decidedly favourable to these performances, upon
20865
20866the ground that looking at a Punch, or indeed looking at anything out
20867
20868of window, was better than working; and as he had been, for this
20869
20870reason, at some pains to awaken in his fellow clerk a sense of their
20871
20872beauties and manifold deserts; both he and Miss Sally rose as with one
20873
20874accord and took up their positions at the window: upon the sill
20875
20876whereof, as in a post of honour, sundry young ladies and gentlemen who
20877
20878were employed in the dry nurture of babies, and who made a point of
20879
20880being present, with their young charges, on such occasions, had already
20881
20882established themselves as comfortably as the circumstances would allow.<br><br>
20883
20884The glass being dim, Mr Swiveller, agreeably to a friendly custom which
20885
20886he had established between them, hitched off the brown head-dress from
20887
20888Miss Sally's head, and dusted it carefully therewith.  By the time he
20889
20890had handed it back, and its beautiful wearer had put it on again (which
20891
20892she did with perfect composure and indifference), the lodger returned
20893
20894with the show and showmen at his heels, and a strong addition to the
20895
20896body of spectators.  The exhibitor disappeared with all speed behind
20897
20898the drapery; and his partner, stationing himself by the side of the
20899
20900Theatre, surveyed the audience with a remarkable expression of
20901
20902melancholy, which became more remarkable still when he breathed a
20903
20904hornpipe tune into that sweet musical instrument which is popularly
20905
20906termed a mouth-organ, without at all changing the mournful expression
20907
20908of the upper part of his face, though his mouth and chin were, of
20909
20910necessity, in lively spasms.<br><br>
20911
20912The drama proceeded to its close, and held the spectators enchained in
20913
20914the customary manner.  The sensation which kindles in large assemblies,
20915
20916when they are relieved from a state of breathless suspense and are
20917
20918again free to speak and move, was yet rife, when the lodger, as usual,
20919
20920summoned the men up stairs.<br><br>
20921
20922'Both of you,' he called from the window; for only the actual
20923
20924exhibitor--a little fat man--prepared to obey the summons.  'I want to
20925
20926talk to you.  Come both of you!'<br><br>
20927
20928Come, Tommy,' said the little man.<br><br>
20929
20930I an't a talker,' replied the other.  'Tell him so.  What should I go
20931
20932and talk for?'<br><br>
20933
20934'Don't you see the gentleman's got a bottle and glass up there?'
20935
20936returned the little man.<br><br>
20937
20938'And couldn't you have said so at first?' retorted the other with
20939
20940sudden alacrity.  'Now, what are you waiting for?  Are you going to
20941
20942keep the gentleman expecting us all day?  haven't you no manners?'<br><br>
20943
20944With this remonstrance, the melancholy man, who was no other than Mr
20945
20946Thomas Codlin, pushed past his friend and brother in the craft, Mr
20947
20948Harris, otherwise Short or Trotters, and hurried before him to the
20949
20950single gentleman's apartment.<br><br>
20951
20952'Now, my men,' said the single gentleman; 'you have done very well.
20953
20954What will you take?  Tell that little man behind, to shut the door.'<br><br>
20955
20956'Shut the door, can't you?' said Mr Codlin, turning gruffly to his
20957
20958friend.  'You might have knowed that the gentleman wanted the door
20959
20960shut, without being told, I think.'<br><br>
20961
20962Mr Short obeyed, observing under his breath that his friend seemed
20963
20964unusually 'cranky,' and expressing a hope that there was no dairy in
20965
20966the neighbourhood, or his temper would certainly spoil its contents.<br><br>
20967
20968The gentleman pointed to a couple of chairs, and intimated by an
20969
20970emphatic nod of his head that he expected them to be seated.  Messrs
20971
20972Codlin and Short, after looking at each other with considerable doubt
20973
20974and indecision, at length sat down--each on the extreme edge of the
20975
20976chair pointed out to him--and held their hats very tight, while the
20977
20978single gentleman filled a couple of glasses from a bottle on the table
20979
20980beside him, and presented them in due form.<br><br>
20981
20982'You're pretty well browned by the sun, both of you,' said their
20983
20984entertainer.  'Have you been travelling?'<br><br>
20985
20986Mr Short replied in the affirmative with a nod and a smile.  Mr Codlin
20987
20988added a corroborative nod and a short groan, as if he still felt the
20989
20990weight of the Temple on his shoulders.<br><br>
20991
20992'To fairs, markets, races, and so forth, I suppose?' pursued the single
20993
20994gentleman.<br><br>
20995
20996'Yes, sir,' returned Short, 'pretty nigh all over the West of England.'<br><br>
20997
20998'I have talked to men of your craft from North, East, and South,'
20999
21000returned their host, in rather a hasty manner; 'but I never lighted on
21001
21002any from the West before.'<br><br>
21003
21004'It's our reg'lar summer circuit is the West, master,' said Short;
21005
21006'that's where it is.  We takes the East of London in the spring and
21007
21008winter, and the West of England in the summer time.  Many's the hard
21009
21010day's walking in rain and mud, and with never a penny earned, we've had
21011
21012down in the West.'<br><br>
21013
21014'Let me fill your glass again.'<br><br>
21015
21016'Much obleeged to you sir, I think I will,' said Mr Codlin, suddenly
21017
21018thrusting in his own and turning Short's aside.  'I'm the sufferer,
21019
21020sir, in all the travelling, and in all the staying at home.  In town or
21021
21022country, wet or dry, hot or cold, Tom Codlin suffers.  But Tom Codlin
21023
21024isn't to complain for all that.  Oh, no!  Short may complain, but if
21025
21026Codlin grumbles by so much as a word--oh dear, down with him, down
21027
21028with him directly.  It isn't his place to grumble.  That's quite out of
21029
21030the question.'<br><br>
21031
21032'Codlin an't without his usefulness,' observed Short with an arch look,
21033
21034'but he don't always keep his eyes open.  He falls asleep sometimes,
21035
21036you know.  Remember them last races, Tommy.'<br><br>
21037
21038'Will you never leave off aggravating a man?' said Codlin.  'It's very
21039
21040like I was asleep when five-and-tenpence was collected, in one round,
21041
21042isn't it?  I was attending to my business, and couldn't have my eyes in
21043
21044twenty places at once, like a peacock, no more than you could.  If I
21045
21046an't a match for an old man and a young child, you an't neither, so
21047
21048don't throw that out against me, for the cap fits your head quite as
21049
21050correct as it fits mine.'<br><br>
21051
21052'You may as well drop the subject, Tom,' said Short.  'It isn't
21053
21054particular agreeable to the gentleman, I dare say.'<br><br>
21055
21056'Then you shouldn't have brought it up,' returned Mr Codlin; 'and I ask
21057
21058the gentleman's pardon on your account, as a giddy chap that likes to
21059
21060hear himself talk, and don't much care what he talks about, so that he
21061
21062does talk.'<br><br>
21063
21064Their entertainer had sat perfectly quiet in the beginning of this
21065
21066dispute, looking first at one man and then at the other, as if he were
21067
21068lying in wait for an opportunity of putting some further question, or
21069
21070reverting to that from which the discourse had strayed.  But, from the
21071
21072point where Mr Codlin was charged with sleepiness, he had shown an
21073
21074increasing interest in the discussion: which now attained a very high
21075
21076pitch.<br><br>
21077
21078'You are the two men I want,' he said, 'the two men I have been looking
21079
21080for, and searching after!  Where are that old man and that child you
21081
21082speak of?'<br><br>
21083
21084'Sir?' said Short, hesitating, and looking towards his friend.<br><br>
21085
21086'The old man and his grandchild who travelled with you--where are they?
21087
21088It will be worth your while to speak out, I assure you; much better
21089
21090worth your while than you believe.  They left you, you say--at those
21091
21092races, as I understand.  They have been traced to that place, and there
21093
21094lost sight of.  Have you no clue, can you suggest no clue, to their
21095
21096recovery?'<br><br>
21097
21098'Did I always say, Thomas,' cried Short, turning with a look of
21099
21100amazement to his friend, 'that there was sure to be an inquiry after
21101
21102them two travellers?'<br><br>
21103
21104'YOU said!' returned Mr Codlin.  'Did I always say that that 'ere
21105
21106blessed child was the most interesting I ever see?  Did I always say I
21107
21108loved her, and doated on her?  Pretty creetur, I think I hear her now.
21109
21110"Codlin's my friend," she says, with a tear of gratitude a trickling
21111
21112down her little eye; "Codlin's my friend," she says--"not Short.
21113
21114Short's very well," she says; "I've no quarrel with Short; he means
21115
21116kind, I dare say; but Codlin," she says, "has the feelings for my
21117
21118money, though he mayn't look it."'<br><br>
21119
21120Repeating these words with great emotion, Mr Codlin rubbed the bridge
21121
21122of his nose with his coat-sleeve, and shaking his head mournfully from
21123
21124side to side, left the single gentleman to infer that, from the moment
21125
21126when he lost sight of his dear young charge, his peace of mind and
21127
21128happiness had fled.<br><br>
21129
21130'Good Heaven!' said the single gentleman, pacing up and down the room,
21131
21132'have I found these men at last, only to discover that they can give me
21133
21134no information or assistance!  It would have been better to have lived
21135
21136on, in hope, from day to day, and never to have lighted on them, than
21137
21138to have my expectations scattered thus.'<br><br>
21139
21140'Stay a minute,' said Short.  'A man of the name of Jerry--you know
21141
21142Jerry, Thomas?'<br><br>
21143
21144'Oh, don't talk to me of Jerrys,' replied Mr Codlin.  'How can I care a
21145
21146pinch of snuff for Jerrys, when I think of that 'ere darling child?
21147
21148"Codlin's my friend," she says, "dear, good, kind Codlin, as is always
21149
21150a devising pleasures for me!  I don't object to Short," she says, "but
21151
21152I cotton to Codlin." Once,' said that gentleman reflectively, 'she
21153
21154called me Father Codlin.  I thought I should have bust!'<br><br>
21155
21156'A man of the name of Jerry, sir,' said Short, turning from his selfish
21157
21158colleague to their new acquaintance, 'wot keeps a company of dancing
21159
21160dogs, told me, in a accidental sort of way, that he had seen the old
21161
21162gentleman in connexion with a travelling wax-work, unbeknown to him.
21163
21164As they'd given us the slip, and nothing had come of it, and this was
21165
21166down in the country that he'd been seen, I took no measures about it,
21167
21168and asked no questions--But I can, if you like.'<br><br>
21169
21170'Is this man in town?' said the impatient single gentleman.  'Speak
21171
21172faster.'<br><br>
21173
21174'No he isn't, but he will be to-morrow, for he lodges in our house,'
21175
21176replied Mr Short rapidly.<br><br>
21177
21178'Then bring him here,' said the single gentleman.  'Here's a sovereign
21179
21180a-piece.  If I can find these people through your means, it is but a
21181
21182prelude to twenty more.  Return to me to-morrow, and keep your own
21183
21184counsel on this subject--though I need hardly tell you that; for you'll
21185
21186do so for your own sakes.  Now, give me your address, and leave me.'<br><br>
21187
21188The address was given, the two men departed, the crowd went with them,
21189
21190and the single gentleman for two mortal hours walked in uncommon
21191
21192agitation up and down his room, over the wondering heads of Mr
21193
21194Swiveller and Miss Sally Brass.<br><br>
21195
21196CHAPTER 38<br><br>
21197
21198Kit--for it happens at this juncture, not only that we have breathing
21199
21200time to follow his fortunes, but that the necessities of these
21201
21202adventures so adapt themselves to our ease and inclination as to call
21203
21204upon us imperatively to pursue the track we most desire to take--Kit,
21205
21206while the matters treated of in the last fifteen chapters were yet in
21207
21208progress, was, as the reader may suppose, gradually familiarising
21209
21210himself more and more with Mr and Mrs Garland, Mr Abel, the pony, and
21211
21212Barbara, and gradually coming to consider them one and all as his
21213
21214particular private friends, and Abel Cottage, Finchley, as his own
21215
21216proper home.<br><br>
21217
21218Stay--the words are written, and may go, but if they convey any notion
21219
21220that Kit, in the plentiful board and comfortable lodging of his new
21221
21222abode, began to think slightingly of the poor fare and furniture of his
21223
21224old dwelling, they do their office badly and commit injustice.  Who so
21225
21226mindful of those he left at home--albeit they were but a mother and two
21227
21228young babies--as Kit?  What boastful father in the fulness of his heart
21229
21230ever related such wonders of his infant prodigy, as Kit never wearied
21231
21232of telling Barbara in the evening time, concerning little Jacob?  Was
21233
21234there ever such a mother as Kit's mother, on her son's showing; or was
21235
21236there ever such comfort in poverty as in the poverty of Kit's family,
21237
21238if any correct judgment might be arrived at, from his own glowing
21239
21240account!<br><br>
21241
21242And let me linger in this place, for an instant, to remark that if ever
21243
21244household affections and loves are graceful things, they are graceful
21245
21246in the poor.  The ties that bind the wealthy and the proud to home may
21247
21248be forged on earth, but those which link the poor man to his humble
21249
21250hearth are of the truer metal and bear the stamp of Heaven.  The man of
21251
21252high descent may love the halls and lands of his inheritance as part of
21253
21254himself: as trophies of his birth and power; his associations with them
21255
21256are associations of pride and wealth and triumph; the poor man's
21257
21258attachment to the tenements he holds, which strangers have held before,
21259
21260and may to-morrow occupy again, has a worthier root, struck deep into a
21261
21262purer soil.  His household gods are of flesh and blood, with no alloy
21263
21264of silver, gold, or precious stone; he has no property but in the
21265
21266affections of his own heart; and when they endear bare floors and
21267
21268walls, despite of rags and toil and scanty fare, that man has his love
21269
21270of home from God, and his rude hut becomes a solemn place.<br><br>
21271
21272Oh! if those who rule the destinies of nations would but remember
21273
21274this--if they would but think how hard it is for the very poor to have
21275
21276engendered in their hearts, that love of home from which all domestic
21277
21278virtues spring, when they live in dense and squalid masses where social
21279
21280decency is lost, or rather never found--if they would but turn aside
21281
21282from the wide thoroughfares and great houses, and strive to improve the
21283
21284wretched dwellings in bye-ways where only Poverty may walk--many low
21285
21286roofs would point more truly to the sky, than the loftiest steeple that
21287
21288now rears proudly up from the midst of guilt, and crime, and horrible
21289
21290disease, to mock them by its contrast.  In hollow voices from
21291
21292Workhouse, Hospital, and jail, this truth is preached from day to day,
21293
21294and has been proclaimed for years.  It is no light matter--no outcry
21295
21296from the working vulgar--no mere question of the people's health and
21297
21298comforts that may be whistled down on Wednesday nights.  In love of
21299
21300home, the love of country has its rise;
21300 and who are the truer patriots
21301
21302or the better in time of need--those who venerate the land, owning its
21303
21304wood, and stream, and earth, and all that they produce?  or those who
21305
21306love their country, boasting not a foot of ground in all its wide
21307
21308domain!<br><br>
21309
21310Kit knew nothing about such questions, but he knew that his old home
21311
21312was a very poor place, and that his new one was very unlike it, and yet
21313
21314he was constantly looking back with grateful satisfaction and
21315
21316affectionate anxiety, and often indited square-folded letters to his
21317
21318mother, enclosing a shilling or eighteenpence or such other small
21319
21320remittance, which Mr Abel's liberality enabled him to make.  Sometimes
21321
21322being in the neighbourhood, he had leisure to call upon her, and then
21323
21324great was the joy and pride of Kit's mother, and extremely noisy the
21325
21326satisfaction of little Jacob and the baby, and cordial the
21327
21328congratulations of the whole court, who listened with admiring ears to
21329
21330the accounts of Abel Cottage, and could never be told too much of its
21331
21332wonders and magnificence.<br><br>
21333
21334Although Kit was in the very highest favour with the old lady and
21335
21336gentleman, and Mr Abel, and Barbara, it is certain that no member of
21337
21338the family evinced such a remarkable partiality for him as the
21339
21340self-willed pony, who, from being the most obstinate and opinionated
21341
21342pony on the face of the earth, was, in his hands, the meekest and most
21343
21344tractable of animals.  It is true that in exact proportion as he became
21345
21346manageable by Kit he became utterly ungovernable by anybody else (as if
21347
21348he had determined to keep him in the family at all risks and hazards),
21349
21350and that, even under the guidance of his favourite, he would sometimes
21351
21352perform a great variety of strange freaks and capers, to the extreme
21353
21354discomposure of the old lady's nerves; but as Kit always represented
21355
21356that this was only his fun, or a way he had of showing his attachment
21357
21358to his employers, Mrs Garland gradually suffered herself to be
21359
21360persuaded into the belief, in which she at last became so strongly
21361
21362confirmed, that if, in one of these ebullitions, he had overturned the
21363
21364chaise, she would have been quite satisfied that he did it with the
21365
21366very best intentions.<br><br>
21367
21368Besides becoming in a short time a perfect marvel in all stable
21369
21370matters, Kit soon made himself a very tolerable gardener, a handy
21371
21372fellow within doors, and an indispensable attendant on Mr Abel, who
21373
21374every day gave him some new proof of his confidence and approbation.
21375
21376Mr Witherden the notary, too, regarded him with a friendly eye; and
21377
21378even Mr Chuckster would sometimes condescend to give him a slight nod,
21379
21380or to honour him with that peculiar form of recognition which is called
21381
21382'taking a sight,' or to favour him with some other salute combining
21383
21384pleasantry with patronage.<br><br>
21385
21386One morning Kit drove Mr Abel to the Notary's office, as he sometimes
21387
21388did, and having set him down at the house, was about to drive off to a
21389
21390livery stable hard by, when this same Mr Chuckster emerged from the
21391
21392office door, and cried 'Woa-a-a-a-a-a!'--dwelling upon the note a long
21393
21394time, for the purpose of striking terror into the pony's heart, and
21395
21396asserting the supremacy of man over the inferior animals.<br><br>
21397
21398'Pull up, Snobby,' cried Mr Chuckster, addressing himself to Kit.
21399
21400'You're wanted inside here.'<br><br>
21401
21402'Has Mr Abel forgotten anything, I wonder?' said Kit as he dismounted.<br><br>
21403
21404'Ask no questions, Snobby,' returned Mr Chuckster, 'but go and see.
21405
21406Woa-a-a then, will you?  If that pony was mine, I'd break him.'<br><br>
21407
21408'You must be very gentle with him, if you please,' said Kit, 'or you'll
21409
21410find him troublesome.  You'd better not keep on pulling his ears,
21411
21412please.  I know he won't like it.'<br><br>
21413
21414To this remonstrance Mr Chuckster deigned no other answer, than
21415
21416addressing Kit with a lofty and distant air as 'young feller,' and
21417
21418requesting him to cut and come again with all speed.  The 'young
21419
21420feller' complying, Mr Chuckster put his hands in his pockets, and tried
21421
21422to look as if he were not minding the pony, but happened to be lounging
21423
21424there by accident.<br><br>
21425
21426Kit scraped his shoes very carefully (for he had not yet lost his
21427
21428reverence for the bundles of papers and the tin boxes,) and tapped at
21429
21430the office-door, which was quickly opened by the Notary himself.<br><br>
21431
21432'Oh! come in, Christopher,' said Mr Witherden.<br><br>
21433
21434'Is that the lad?' asked an elderly gentleman, but of a stout, bluff
21435
21436figure--who was in the room.<br><br>
21437
21438'That's the lad,' said Mr Witherden.  'He fell in with my client, Mr
21439
21440Garland, sir, at this very door.  I have reason to think he is a good
21441
21442lad, sir, and that you may believe what he says.  Let me introduce Mr
21443
21444Abel Garland, sir--his young master; my articled pupil, sir, and most
21445
21446particular friend:--my most particular friend, sir,' repeated the
21447
21448Notary, drawing out his silk handkerchief and flourishing it about his
21449
21450face.<br><br>
21451
21452'Your servant, sir,' said the stranger gentleman.<br><br>
21453
21454'Yours, sir, I'm sure,' replied Mr Abel mildly.  'You were wishing to
21455
21456speak to Christopher, sir?'<br><br>
21457
21458'Yes, I was.  Have I your permission?'<br><br>
21459
21460'By all means.'<br><br>
21461
21462'My business is no secret; or I should rather say it need be no secret
21463
21464here,' said the stranger, observing that Mr Abel and the Notary were
21465
21466preparing to retire.  'It relates to a dealer in curiosities with whom
21467
21468he lived, and in whom I am earnestly and warmly interested.  I have
21469
21470been a stranger to this country, gentlemen, for very many years, and if
21471
21472I am deficient in form and ceremony, I hope you will forgive me.'<br><br>
21473
21474'No forgiveness is necessary, sir;--none whatever,' replied the Notary.
21475
21476And so said Mr Abel.<br><br>
21477
21478'I have been making inquiries in the neighbourhood in which his old
21479
21480master lived,' said the stranger, 'and I learn that he was served by
21481
21482this lad.  I have found out his mother's house, and have been directed
21483
21484by her to this place as the nearest in which I should be likely to find
21485
21486him.  That's the cause of my presenting myself here this morning.'<br><br>
21487
21488'I am very glad of any cause, sir,' said the Notary, 'which procures me
21489
21490the honour of this visit.'<br><br>
21491
21492'Sir,' retorted the stranger, 'you speak like a mere man of the world,
21493
21494and I think you something better.  Therefore, pray do not sink your
21495
21496real character in paying unmeaning compliments to me.'<br><br>
21497
21498'Hem!' coughed the Notary.  'You're a plain speaker, sir.'<br><br>
21499
21500'And a plain dealer,' returned the stranger.  'It may be my long
21501
21502absence and inexperience that lead me to the conclusion; but if plain
21503
21504speakers are scarce in this part of the world, I fancy plain dealers
21505
21506are still scarcer.  If my speaking should offend you, sir, my dealing,
21507
21508I hope, will make amends.'<br><br>
21509
21510Mr Witherden seemed a little disconcerted by the elderly gentleman's
21511
21512mode of conducting the dialogue; and as for Kit, he looked at him in
21513
21514open-mouthed astonishment: wondering what kind of language he would
21515
21516address to him, if he talked in that free and easy way to a Notary.  It
21517
21518was with no harshness, however, though with something of constitutional
21519
21520irritability and haste, that he turned to Kit and said:<br><br>
21521
21522'If you think, my lad, that I am pursuing these inquiries with any
21523
21524other view than that of serving and reclaiming those I am in search of,
21525
21526you do me a very great wrong, and deceive yourself.  Don't be deceived,
21527
21528I beg of you, but rely upon my assurance.  The fact is, gentlemen,' he
21529
21530added, turning again to the Notary and his pupil, 'that I am in a very
21531
21532painful and wholly unexpected position.  I came to this city with a
21533
21534darling object at my heart, expecting to find no obstacle or difficulty
21535
21536in the way of its attainment.  I find myself suddenly checked and
21537
21538stopped short, in the execution of my design, by a mystery which I
21539
21540cannot penetrate.  Every effort I have made to penetrate it, has only
21541
21542served to render it darker and more obscure; and I am afraid to stir
21543
21544openly in the matter, lest those whom I anxiously pursue, should fly
21545
21546still farther from me.  I assure you that if you could give me any
21547
21548assistance, you would not be sorry to do so, if you knew how greatly I
21549
21550stand in need of it, and what a load it would relieve me from.'<br><br>
21551
21552There was a simplicity in this confidence which occasioned it to find a
21553
21554quick response in the breast of the good-natured Notary, who replied,
21555
21556in the same spirit, that the stranger had not mistaken his desire, and
21557
21558that if he could be of service to him, he would, most readily.<br><br>
21559
21560Kit was then put under examination and closely questioned by the
21561
21562unknown gentleman, touching his old master and the child, their lonely
21563
21564way of life, their retired habits, and strict seclusion.  The nightly
21565
21566absence of the old man, the solitary existence of the child at those
21567
21568times, his illness and recovery, Quilp's possession of the house, and
21569
21570their sudden disappearance, were all the subjects of much questioning
21571
21572and answer.  Finally, Kit informed the gentleman that the premises were
21573
21574now to let, and that a board upon the door referred all inquirers to Mr
21575
21576Sampson Brass, Solicitor, of Bevis Marks, from whom he might perhaps
21577
21578learn some further particulars.<br><br>
21579
21580'Not by inquiry,' said the gentleman shaking his head.  'I live there.'<br><br>
21581
21582'Live at Brass's the attorney's!' cried Mr Witherden in some surprise:
21583
21584having professional knowledge of the gentleman in question.<br><br>
21585
21586'Aye,' was the reply.  'I entered on his lodgings t'other day, chiefly
21587
21588because I had seen this very board.  It matters little to me where I
21589
21590live, and I had a desperate hope that some intelligence might be cast
21591
21592in my way there, which would not reach me elsewhere.  Yes, I live at
21593
21594Brass's--more shame for me, I suppose?'<br><br>
21595
21596'That's a mere matter of opinion,' said the Notary, shrugging his
21597
21598shoulders.  'He is looked upon as rather a doubtful character.'<br><br>
21599
21600'Doubtful?' echoed the other.  'I am glad to hear there's any doubt
21601
21602about it.  I supposed that had been thoroughly settled, long ago.  But
21603
21604will you let me speak a word or two with you in private?'<br><br>
21605
21606Mr Witherden consenting, they walked into that gentleman's private
21607
21608closet, and remained there, in close conversation, for some quarter of
21609
21610an hour, when they returned into the outer office.  The stranger had
21611
21612left his hat in Mr Witherden's room, and seemed to have established
21613
21614himself in this short interval on quite a friendly footing.<br><br>
21615
21616'I'll not detain you any longer now,' he said, putting a crown into
21617
21618Kit's hand, and looking towards the Notary.  'You shall hear from me
21619
21620again.  Not a word of this, you know, except to your master and
21621
21622mistress.'<br><br>
21623
21624'Mother, sir, would be glad to know--' said Kit, faltering.<br><br>
21625
21626'Glad to know what?'<br><br>
21627
21628'Anything--so that it was no harm--about Miss Nell.'<br><br>
21629
21630'Would she?  Well then, you may tell her if she can keep a secret.  But
21631
21632mind, not a word of this to anybody else.  Don't forget that.  Be
21633
21634particular.'<br><br>
21635
21636'I'll take care, sir,' said Kit.  'Thankee, sir, and good morning.'<br><br>
21637
21638Now, it happened that the gentleman, in his anxiety to impress upon Kit
21639
21640that he was not to tell anybody what had passed between them, followed
21641
21642him out to the door to repeat his caution, and it further happened that
21643
21644at that moment the eyes of Mr Richard Swiveller were turned in that
21645
21646direction, and beheld his mysterious friend and Kit together.<br><br>
21647
21648It was quite an accident, and the way in which it came about was this.
21649
21650Mr Chuckster, being a gentleman of a cultivated taste and refined
21651
21652spirit, was one of that Lodge of Glorious Apollos whereof Mr Swiveller
21653
21654was Perpetual Grand.  Mr Swiveller, passing through the street in the
21655
21656execution of some Brazen errand, and beholding one of his Glorious
21657
21658Brotherhood intently gazing on a pony, crossed over to give him that
21659
21660fraternal greeting with which Perpetual Grands are, by the very
21661
21662constitution of their office, bound to cheer and encourage their
21663
21664disciples.  He had scarcely bestowed upon him his blessing, and
21665
21666followed it with a general remark touching the present state and
21667
21668prospects of the weather, when, lifting up his eyes, he beheld the
21669
21670single gentleman of Bevis Marks in earnest conversation with
21671
21672Christopher Nubbles.<br><br>
21673
21674'Hallo!' said Dick, 'who is that?'<br><br>
21675
21676'He called to see my Governor this morning,' replied Mr Chuckster;
21677
21678'beyond that, I don't know him from Adam.'<br><br>
21679
21680'At least you know his name?' said Dick.<br><br>
21681
21682To which Mr Chuckster replied, with an elevation of speech becoming a
21683
21684Glorious Apollo, that he was 'everlastingly blessed' if he did.<br><br>
21685
21686'All I know, my dear feller,' said Mr Chuckster, running his fingers
21687
21688through his hair, 'is, that he is the cause of my having stood here
21689
21690twenty minutes, for which I hate him with a mortal and undying hatred,
21691
21692and would pursue him to the confines of eternity if I could afford the
21693
21694time.'<br><br>
21695
21696While they were thus discoursing, the subject of their conversation
21697
21698(who had not appeared to recognise Mr Richard Swiveller) re-entered the
21699
21700house, and Kit came down the steps and joined them; to whom Mr
21701
21702Swiveller again propounded his inquiry with no better success.<br><br>
21703
21704'He is a very nice gentleman, Sir,' said Kit, 'and that's all I know
21705
21706about him.'<br><br>
21707
21708Mr Chuckster waxed wroth at this answer, and without applying the
21709
21710remark to any particular case, mentioned, as a general truth, that it
21711
21712was expedient to break the heads of Snobs, and to tweak their noses.
21713
21714Without expressing his concurrence in this sentiment, Mr Swiveller
21715
21716after a few moments of abstraction inquired which way Kit was driving,
21717
21718and, being informed, declared it was his way, and that he would
21719
21720trespass on him for a lift.  Kit would gladly have declined the
21721
21722proffered honour, but as Mr Swiveller was already established in the
21723
21724seat beside him, he had no means of doing so, otherwise than by a
21725
21726forcible ejectment, and therefore, drove briskly off--so briskly
21727
21728indeed, as to cut short the leave-taking between Mr Chuckster and his
21729
21730Grand Master, and to occasion the former gentleman some inconvenience
21731
21732from having his corns squeezed by the impatient pony.<br><br>
21733
21734As Whisker was tired of standing, and Mr Swiveller was kind enough to
21735
21736stimulate him by shrill whistles, and various sporting cries, they
21737
21738rattled off at too sharp a pace to admit of much conversation:
21739
21740especially as the pony, incensed by Mr Swiveller's admonitions, took a
21741
21742particular fancy for the lamp-posts and cart-wheels, and evinced a
21743
21744strong desire to run on the pavement and rasp himself against the brick
21745
21746walls.  It was not, therefore, until they had arrived at the stable,
21747
21748and the chaise had been extricated from a very small doorway, into
21749
21750which the pony dragged it under the impression that he could take it
21751
21752along with him into his usual stall, that Mr Swiveller found time to
21753
21754talk.<br><br>
21755
21756'It's hard work,' said Richard.  'What do you say to some beer?'<br><br>
21757
21758Kit at first declined, but presently consented, and they adjourned to
21759
21760the neighbouring bar together.<br><br>
21761
21762'We'll drink our friend what's-his-name,' said Dick, holding up the
21763
21764bright frothy pot; '--that was talking to you this morning, you know--I
21765
21766know him--a good fellow, but eccentric--very--here's what's-his-name!'<br><br>
21767
21768Kit pledged him.<br><br>
21769
21770'He lives in my house,' said Dick; 'at least in the house occupied by
21771
21772the firm in which I'm a sort of a--of a managing partner--a difficult
21773
21774fellow to get anything out of, but we like him--we like him.'<br><br>
21775
21776'I must be going, sir, if you please,' said Kit, moving away.<br><br>
21777
21778'Don't be in a hurry, Christopher,' replied his patron, 'we'll drink
21779
21780your mother.'<br><br>
21781
21782'Thank you, sir.'<br><br>
21783
21784'An excellent woman that mother of yours, Christopher,' said Mr
21785
21786Swiveller.  'Who ran to catch me when I fell, and kissed the place to
21787
21788make it well?  My mother.  A charming woman.  He's a liberal sort of
21789
21790fellow.  We must get him to do something for your mother.  Does he know
21791
21792her, Christopher?'<br><br>
21793
21794Kit shook his head, and glancing slyly at his questioner, thanked him,
21795
21796and made off before he could say another word.<br><br>
21797
21798'Humph!' said Mr Swiveller pondering, 'this is queer.  Nothing but
21799
21800mysteries in connection with Brass's house.  I'll keep my own counsel,
21801
21802however.  Everybody and anybody has been in my confidence as yet, but
21803
21804now I think I'll set up in business for myself.  Queer--very queer!'<br><br>
21805
21806After pondering deeply and with a face of exceeding wisdom for some
21807
21808time, Mr Swiveller drank some more of the beer, and summoning a small
21809
21810boy who had been watching his proceedings, poured forth the few
21811
21812remaining drops as a libation on the gravel, and bade him carry the
21813
21814empty vessel to the bar with his compliments, and above all things to
21815
21816lead a sober and temperate life, and abstain from all intoxicating and
21817
21818exciting liquors.  Having given him this piece of moral advice for his
21819
21820trouble (which, as he wisely observed, was far better than half-pence)
21821
21822the Perpetual Grand Master of the Glorious Apollos thrust his hands
21823
21824into his pockets and sauntered away: still pondering as he went.<br><br>
21825
21826CHAPTER 39<br><br>
21827
21828All that day, though he waited for Mr Abel until evening, Kit kept
21829
21830clear of his mother's house, determined not to anticipate the pleasures
21831
21832of the morrow, but to let them come in their full rush of delight; for
21833
21834to-morrow was the great and long looked-for epoch in his
21835
21836life--to-morrow was the end of his first quarter--the day of receiving,
21837
21838for the first time, one fourth part of his annual income of Six Pounds
21839
21840in one vast sum of Thirty Shillings--to-morrow was to be a half-holiday
21841
21842devoted to a whirl of entertainments, and little Jacob was to know what
21843
21844oysters meant, and to see a play.<br><br>
21845
21846All manner of incidents combined in favour of the occasion: not only
21847
21848had Mr and Mrs Garland forewarned him that they intended to make no
21849
21850deduction for his outfit from the great amount, but to pay it him
21851
21852unbroken in all its gigantic grandeur; not only had the unknown
21853
21854gentleman increased the stock by the sum of five shillings, which was a
21855
21856perfect god-send and in itself a fortune; not only had these things
21857
21858come to pass which nobody could have calculated upon, or in their
21859
21860wildest dreams have hoped; but it was Barbara's quarter too--Barbara's
21861
21862quarter, that very day--and Barbara had a half-holiday as well as Kit,
21863
21864and Barbara's mother was going to make one of the party, and to take
21865
21866tea with Kit's mother, and cultivate her acquaintance.<br><br>
21867
21868To be sure Kit looked out of his window very early that morning to see
21869
21870which way the clouds were flying, and to be sure Barbara would have
21871
21872been at hers too, if she had not sat up so late over-night, starching
21873
21874and ironing small pieces of muslin, and crimping them into frills, and
21875
21876sewing them on to other pieces to form magnificent wholes for next
21877
21878day's wear.  But they were both up very early for all that, and had
21879
21880small appetites for breakfast and less for dinner, and were in a state
21881
21882of great excitement when Barbara's mother came in, with astonishing
21883
21884accounts of the fineness of the weather out of doors (but with a very
21885
21886large umbrella notwithstanding, for people like Barbara's mother seldom
21887
21888make holiday without one), and when the bell rang for them to go up
21889
21890stairs and receive their quarter's money in gold and silver.<br><br>
21891
21892Well, wasn't Mr Garland kind when he said 'Christopher, here's your
21893
21894money, and you have earned it well;' and wasn't Mrs Garland kind when
21895
21896she said 'Barbara, here's yours, and I'm much pleased with you;' and
21897
21898didn't Kit sign his name bold to his receipt, and didn't Barbara sign
21899
21900her name all a trembling to hers; and wasn't it beautiful to see how
21901
21902Mrs Garland poured out Barbara's mother a glass of wine; and didn't
21903
21904Barbara's mother speak up when she said 'Here's blessing you, ma'am, as
21905
21906a good lady, and you, sir, as a good gentleman, and Barbara, my love to
21907
21908you, and here's towards you, Mr Christopher;' and wasn't she as long
21909
21910drinking it as if it had been a tumblerful; and didn't she look
21911
21912genteel, standing there with her gloves on; and wasn't there plenty of
21913
21914laughing and talking among them as they reviewed all these things upon
21915
21916the top of the coach, and didn't they pity the people who hadn't got a
21917
21918holiday!<br><br>
21919
21920But Kit's mother, again--wouldn't anybody have supposed she had come of
21921
21922a good stock and been a lady all her life!  There she was, quite ready
21923
21924to receive them, with a display of tea-things that might have warmed
21925
21926the heart of a china-shop; and little Jacob and the baby in such a
21927
21928state of perfection that their clothes looked as good as new, though
21929
21930Heaven knows they were old enough!  Didn't she say before they had sat
21931
21932down five minutes that Barbara's mother was exactly the sort of lady
21933
21934she expected, and didn't Barbara's mother say that Kit's mother was the
21935
21936very picture of what she had expected, and didn't Kit's mother
21937
21938compliment Barbara's mother on Barbara, and didn't Barbara's mother
21939
21940compliment Kit's mother on Kit, and wasn't Barbara herself quite
21941
21942fascinated with little Jacob, and did ever a child show off when he was
21943
21944wanted, as that child did, or make such friends as he made!<br><br>
21945
21946'And we are both widows too!' said Barbara's mother.  'We must have
21947
21948been made to know each other.'<br><br>
21949
21950'I haven't a doubt about it,' returned Mrs Nubbles.  'And what a pity
21951
21952it is we didn't know each other sooner.'<br><br>
21953
21954'But then, you know, it's such a pleasure,' said Barbara's mother, 'to
21955
21956have it brought about by one's son and daughter, that it's fully made
21957
21958up for.  Now, an't it?'<br><br>
21959
21960To this, Kit's mother yielded her full assent, and tracing things back
21961
21962from effects to causes, they naturally reverted to their deceased
21963
21964husbands, respecting whose lives, deaths, and burials, they compared
21965
21966notes, and discovered sundry circumstances that tallied with wonderful
21967
21968exactness; such as Barbara's father having been exactly four years and
21969
21970ten months older than Kit's father, and one of them having died on a
21971
21972Wednesday and the other on a Thursday, and both of them having been of
21973
21974a very fine make and remarkably good-looking, with other extraordinary
21975
21976coincidences.  These recollections being of a kind calculated to cast a
21977
21978shadow on the brightness of the holiday, Kit diverted the conversation
21979
21980to general topics, and they were soon in great force again, and as
21981
21982merry as before.  Among other things, Kit told them about his old
21983
21984place, and the extraordinary beauty of Nell (of whom he had talked to
21985
21986Barbara a thousand times already); but the last-named circumstance
21987
21988failed to interest his hearers to anything like the extent he had
21989
21990supposed, and even his mother said (looking accidentally at Barbara at
21991
21992the same time) that there was no doubt Miss Nell was very pretty, but
21993
21994she was but a child after all, and there were many young women quite as
21995
21996pretty as she; and Barbara mildly observed that she should think so,
21997
21998and that she never could help believing Mr Christopher must be under a
21999
22000mistake--which Kit wondered at very much, not being able to conceive
22001
22002what reason she had for doubting him.  Barbara's mother too, observed
22003
22004that it was very common for young folks to change at about fourteen or
22005
22006fifteen, and whereas they had been very pretty before, to grow up quite
22007
22008plain; which truth she illustrated by many forcible examples,
22009
22010especially one of a young man, who, being a builder with great
22011
22012prospects, had been particular in his attentions to Barbara, but whom
22013
22014Barbara would have nothing to say to; which (though everything happened
22015
22016for the best) she almost thought was a pity.  Kit said he thought so
22017
22018too, and so he did honestly, and he wondered what made Barbara so
22019
22020silent all at once, and why his mother looked at him as if he shouldn't
22021
22022have said it.<br><br>
22023
22024However, it was high time now to be thinking of the play; for which
22025
22026great preparation was required, in the way of shawls and bonnets, not
22027
22028to mention one handkerchief full of oranges and another of apples,
22029
22030which took some time tying up, in consequence of the fruit having a
22031
22032tendency to roll out at the corners.  At length, everything was ready,
22033
22034and they went off very fast; Kit's mother carrying the baby, who was
22035
22036dreadfully wide awake, and Kit holding little Jacob in one hand, and
22037
22038escorting Barbara with the other--a state of things which occasioned
22039
22040the two mothers, who walked behind, to declare that they looked quite
22041
22042family folks, and caused Barbara to blush and say, 'Now don't, mother!'
22043
22044But Kit said she had no call to mind what they said; and indeed she
22045
22046need not have had, if she had known how very far from Kit's thoughts
22047
22048any love-making was.  Poor Barbara!<br><br>
22049
22050At last they got to the theatre, which was Astley's: and in some two
22051
22052minutes after they had reached the yet unopened door, little Jacob was
22053
22054squeezed flat, and the baby had received divers concussions, and
22055
22056Barbara's mother's umbrella had been carried several yards off and
22057
22058passed back to her over the shoulders of the people, and Kit had hit a
22059
22060man on the head with the handkerchief of apples for 'scrowdging' his
22061
22062parent with unnecessary violence, and there was a great uproar.  But,
22063
22064when they were once past the pay-place and tearing away for very life
22065
22066with their checks in their hands, and, above all, when they were fairly
22067
22068in the theatre, and seated in such places that they couldn't have had
22069
22070better if they had picked them out, and taken them beforehand, all this
22071
22072was looked upon as quite a capital joke, and an essential part of the
22073
22074entertainment.<br><br>
22075
22076Dear, dear, what a place it looked, that Astley's; with all the paint,
22077
22078gilding, and looking-glass; the vague smell of horses suggestive of
22079
22080coming wonders; the curtain that hid such gorgeous mysteries; the clean
22081
22082white sawdust down in the circus; the company coming in and taking
22083
22084their places; the fiddlers looking carelessly up at them while they
22085
22086tuned their instruments, as if they didn't want the play to begin, and
22087
22088knew it all beforehand!  What a glow was that, which burst upon them
22089
22090all, when that long, clear, brilliant row of lights came slowly up; and
22091
22092what the feverish excitement when the little bell rang and the music
22093
22094began in good earnest, with strong parts for the drums, and sweet
22095
22096effects for the triangles!  Well might Barbara's mother say to Kit's
22097
22098mother that the gallery was the place to see from, and wonder it wasn't
22099
22100much dearer than the boxes; well might Barbara feel doubtful whether to
22101
22102laugh or cry, in her flutter of delight.<br><br>
22103
22104Then the play itself! the horses which little Jacob believed from the
22105
22106first to be alive, and the ladies and gentlemen of whose reality he
22107
22108could be by no means persuaded, having never seen or heard anything at
22109
22110all like them--the firing, which made Barbara wink--the forlorn lady,
22111
22112who made her cry--the tyrant, who made her tremble--the man who sang
22113
22114the song with the lady's-maid and danced the chorus, who made her
22115
22116laugh--the pony who reared up on his hind legs when he saw the
22117
22118murderer, and wouldn't hear of walking on all fours again until he was
22119
22120taken into custody--the clown who ventured on such familiarities with
22121
22122the military man in boots--the lady who jumped over the nine-and-twenty
22123
22124ribbons and came down safe upon the horse's back--everything was
22125
22126delightful, splendid, and surprising!  Little Jacob applauded till his
22127
22128hands were sore; Kit cried 'an-kor' at the end of everything, the
22129
22130three-act piece included; and Barbara's mother beat her umbrella on the
22131
22132floor, in her ecstasies, until it was nearly worn down to the gingham.<br><br>
22133
22134In the midst of all these fascinations, Barbara's thoughts seemed to
22135
22136have been still running on what Kit had said at tea-time; for, when
22137
22138they were coming out of the play, she asked him, with an hysterical
22139
22140simper, if Miss Nell was as handsome as the lady who jumped over the
22141
22142ribbons.<br><br>
22143
22144'As handsome as her?' said Kit.  'Double as handsome.'<br><br>
22145
22146'Oh Christopher! I'm sure she was the beautifullest creature ever was,'
22147
22148said Barbara.<br><br>
22149
22150'Nonsense!' returned Kit.  'She was well enough, I don't deny that; but
22151
22152think how she was dressed and painted, and what a difference that made.
22153
22154Why YOU are a good deal better looking than her, Barbara.'<br><br>
22155
22156'Oh Christopher!' said Barbara, looking down.<br><br>
22157
22158'You are, any day,' said Kit, '--and so's your mother.'<br><br>
22159
22160Poor Barbara!<br><br>
22161
22162What was all this though--even all this--to the extraordinary
22163
22164dissipation that ensued, when Kit, walking into an oyster-shop as bold
22165
22166as if he lived there, and not so much as looking at the counter or the
22167
22168man behind it, led his party into a box--a private box, fitted up with
22169
22170red curtains, white table-cloth, and cruet-stand complete--and ordered
22171
22172a fierce gentleman with whiskers, who acted as waiter and called him,
22173
22174him Christopher Nubbles, 'sir,' to bring three dozen of his
22175
22176largest-sized oysters, and to look sharp about it!  Yes, Kit told this
22177
22178gentleman to look sharp, and he not only said he would look sharp, but
22179
22180he actually did, and presently came running back with the newest
22181
22182loaves, and the freshest butter, and the largest oysters, ever seen.
22183
22184Then said Kit to this gentleman, 'a pot of beer'--just so--and the
22185
22186gentleman, instead of replying, 'Sir, did you address that language to
22187
22188me?' only said, 'Pot o' beer, sir?  Yes, sir,' and went off and fetched
22189
22190it, and put it on the table in a small decanter-stand, like those which
22191
22192blind-men's dogs carry about the streets in their mouths, to catch the
22193
22194half-pence in; and both Kit's mother and Barbara's mother declared as
22195
22196he turned away that he was one of the slimmest and gracefullest young
22197
22198men she had ever looked upon.<br><br>
22199
22200Then they fell to work upon the supper in earnest; and there was
22201
22202Barbara, that foolish Barbara, declaring that she could not eat more
22203
22204than two, and wanting more pressing than you would believe before she
22205
22206would eat four: though her mother and Kit's mother made up for it
22207
22208pretty well, and ate and laughed and enjoyed themselves so thoroughly
22209
22210that it did Kit good to see them, and made him laugh and eat likewise
22211
22212from strong sympathy.  But the greatest miracle of the night was little
22213
22214Jacob, who ate oysters as if he had been born and bred to the
22215
22216business--sprinkled the pepper and the vinegar with a discretion beyond
22217
22218his years--and afterwards built a grotto on the table with the shells.
22219
22220There was the baby too, who had never closed an eye all night, but had
22221
22222sat as good as gold, trying to force a large orange into his mouth, and
22223
22224gazing intently at the lights in the chandelier--there he was, sitting
22225
22226up in his mother's lap, staring at the gas without winking, and making
22227
22228indentations in his soft visage with an oyster-shell, to that degree
22229
22230that a heart of iron must have loved him!  In short, there never was a
22231
22232more successful supper; and when Kit ordered in a glass of something
22233
22234hot to finish with, and proposed Mr and Mrs Garland before sending it
22235
22236round, there were not six happier people in all the world.<br><br>
22237
22238But all happiness has an end--hence the chief pleasure of its next
22239
22240beginning--and as it was now growing late, they agreed it was time to
22241
22242turn their faces homewards.  So, after going a little out of their way
22243
22244to see Barbara and Barbara's mother safe to a friend's house where they
22245
22246were to pass the night, Kit and his mother left them at the door, with
22247
22248an early appointment for returning to Finchley next morning, and a
22249
22250great many plans for next quarter's enjoyment.  Then, Kit took little
22251
22252Jacob on his back, and giving his arm to his mother, and a kiss to the
22253
22254baby, they all trudged merrily home together.<br><br>
22255
22256CHAPTER 40<br><br>
22257
22258Full of that vague kind of penitence which holidays awaken next
22259
22260morning, Kit turned out at sunrise, and, with his faith in last night's
22261
22262enjoyments a little shaken by cool daylight and the return to every-day
22263
22264duties and occupations, went to meet Barbara and her mother at the
22265
22266appointed place.  And being careful not to awaken any of the little
22267
22268household, who were yet resting from their unusual fatigues, Kit left
22269
22270his money on the chimney-piece, with an inscription in chalk calling
22271
22272his mother's attention to the circumstance, and informing her that it
22273
22274came from her dutiful son; and went his way, with a heart something
22275
22276heavier than his pockets, but free from any very great oppression
22277
22278notwithstanding.<br><br>
22279
22280Oh these holidays! why will they leave us some regret?  why cannot we
22281
22282push them back, only a week or two in our memories, so as to put them
22283
22284at once at that convenient distance whence they may be regarded either
22285
22286with a calm indifference or a pleasant effort of recollection! why will
22287
22288they hang about us, like the flavour of yesterday's wine, suggestive of
22289
22290headaches and lassitude, and those good intentions for the future,
22291
22292which, under the earth, form the everlasting pavement of a large
22293
22294estate, and, upon it, usually endure until dinner-time or thereabouts!<br><br>
22295
22296Who will wonder that Barbara had a headache, or that Barbara's mother
22297
22298was disposed to be cross, or that she slightly underrated Astley's, and
22299
22300thought the clown was older than they had taken him to be last night?
22301
22302Kit was not surprised to hear her say so--not he.  He had already had a
22303
22304misgiving that the inconstant actors in that dazzling vision had been
22305
22306doing the same thing the night before last, and would do it again that
22307
22308night, and the next, and for weeks and months to come, though he would
22309
22310not be there.  Such is the difference between yesterday and today.  We
22311
22312are all going to the play, or coming home from it.<br><br>
22313
22314However, the Sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers
22315
22316strength and courage as the day gets on.  By degrees, they began to
22317
22318recall circumstances more and more pleasant in their nature, until,
22319
22320what between talking, walking, and laughing, they reached Finchley in
22321
22322such good heart, that Barbara's mother declared she never felt less
22323
22324tired or in better spirits.  And so said Kit.  Barbara had been silent
22325
22326all the way, but she said so too.  Poor little Barbara!  She was very
22327
22328quiet.<br><br>
22329
22330They were at home in such good time that Kit had rubbed down the pony
22331
22332and made him as spruce as a race-horse, before Mr Garland came down to
22333
22334breakfast; which punctual and industrious conduct the old lady, and the
22335
22336old gentleman, and Mr Abel, highly extolled.  At his usual hour (or
22337
22338rather at his usual minute and second, for he was the soul of
22339
22340punctuality) Mr Abel walked out, to be overtaken by the London coach,
22341
22342and Kit and the old gentleman went to work in the garden.<br><br>
22343
22344This was not the least pleasant of Kit's employments.  On a fine day
22345
22346they were quite a family party; the old lady sitting hard by with her
22347
22348work-basket on a little table; the old gentleman digging, or pruning,
22349
22350or clipping about with a large pair of shears, or helping Kit in some
22351
22352way or other with great assiduity; and Whisker looking on from his
22353
22354paddock in placid contemplation of them all.  To-day they were to trim
22355
22356the grape-vine, so Kit mounted half-way up a short ladder, and began to
22357
22358snip and hammer away, while the old gentleman, with a great interest in
22359
22360his proceedings, handed up the nails and shreds of cloth as he wanted
22361
22362them.  The old lady and Whisker looked on as usual.<br><br>
22363
22364'Well, Christopher,' said Mr Garland, 'and so you have made a new
22365
22366friend, eh?'<br><br>
22367
22368'I beg your pardon, Sir?' returned Kit, looking down from the ladder.<br><br>
22369
22370'You have made a new friend, I hear from Mr Abel,' said the old
22371
22372gentleman, 'at the office!'<br><br>
22373
22374'Oh!  Yes Sir, yes.  He behaved very handsome, Sir.'<br><br>
22375
22376'I'm glad to hear it,' returned the old gentlemen with a smile.  'He is
22377
22378disposed to behave more handsomely still, though, Christopher.'<br><br>
22379
22380'Indeed, Sir!  It's very kind in him, but I don't want him to, I'm
22381
22382sure,' said Kit, hammering stoutly at an obdurate nail.<br><br>
22383
22384'He is rather anxious,' pursued the old gentleman, 'to have you in his
22385
22386own service--take care what you're doing, or you will fall down and
22387
22388hurt yourself.'<br><br>
22389
22390'To have me in his service, Sir?' cried Kit, who had stopped short in
22391
22392his work and faced about on the ladder like some dexterous tumbler.
22393
22394'Why, Sir, I don't think he can be in earnest when he says that.'<br><br>
22395
22396'Oh!  But he is indeed,' said Mr Garland.  'And he has told Mr Abel so.'<br><br>
22397
22398'I never heard of such a thing!' muttered Kit, looking ruefully at his
22399
22400master and mistress.  'I wonder at him; that I do.'<br><br>
22401
22402'You see, Christopher,' said Mr Garland, 'this is a point of much
22403
22404importance to you, and you should understand and consider it in that
22405
22406light.  This gentleman is able to give you more money than I--not, I
22407
22408hope, to carry through the various relations of master and servant,
22409
22410more kindness and confidence, but certainly, Christopher, to give you
22411
22412more money.'<br><br>
22413
22414'Well,' said Kit, 'after that, Sir--'<br><br>
22415
22416'Wait a moment,' interposed Mr Garland.  'That is not all.  You were a
22417
22418very faithful servant to your old employers, as I understand, and
22419
22420should this gentleman recover them, as it is his purpose to attempt
22421
22422doing by every means in his power, I have no doubt that you, being in
22423
22424his service, would meet with your reward.  Besides,' added the old
22425
22426gentleman with stronger emphasis, 'besides having the pleasure of being
22427
22428again brought into communication with those to whom you seem to be very
22429
22430strongly and disinterestedly attached.  You must think of all this,
22431
22432Christopher, and not be rash or hasty in your choice.'<br><br>
22433
22434Kit did suffer one twinge, one momentary pang, in keeping the
22435
22436resolution he had already formed, when this last argument passed
22437
22438swiftly into his thoughts, and conjured up the realization of all his
22439
22440hopes and fancies.  But it was gone in a minute, and he sturdily
22441
22442rejoined that the gentleman must look out for somebody else, as he did
22443
22444think he might have done at first.<br><br>
22445
22446'He has no right to think that I'd be led away to go to him, sir,' said
22447
22448Kit, turning round again after half a minute's hammering.  'Does he
22449
22450think I'm a fool?'<br><br>
22451
22452'He may, perhaps, Christopher, if you refuse his offer,' said Mr
22453
22454Garland gravely.<br><br>
22455
22456'Then let him, sir,' retorted Kit; 'what do I care, sir, what he
22457
22458thinks?  why should I care for his thinking, sir, when I know that I
22459
22460should be a fool, and worse than a fool, sir, to leave the kindest
22461
22462master and mistress that ever was or can be, who took me out of the
22463
22464streets a very poor and hungry lad indeed--poorer and hungrier perhaps
22465
22466than even you think for, sir--to go to him or anybody?  If Miss Nell
22467
22468was to come back, ma'am,' added Kit, turning suddenly to his mistress,
22469
22470'why that would be another thing, and perhaps if she wanted me, I might
22471
22472ask you now and then to let me work for her when all was done at home.
22473
22474But when she comes back, I see now that she'll be rich as old master
22475
22476always said she would, and being a rich young lady, what could she want
22477
22478of me?  No, no,' added Kit, shaking his head sorrowfully, 'she'll never
22479
22480want me any more, and bless her, I hope she never may, though I should
22481
22482like to see her too!'<br><br>
22483
22484Here Kit drove a nail into the wall, very hard--much harder than was
22485
22486necessary--and having done so, faced about again.<br><br>
22487
22488'There's the pony, sir,' said Kit--'Whisker, ma'am (and he knows so
22489
22490well I'm talking about him that he begins to neigh directly,
22491
22492Sir)--would he let anybody come near him but me, ma'am?  Here's the
22493
22494garden, sir, and Mr Abel, ma'am.  Would Mr Abel part with me, Sir, or
22495
22496is there anybody that could be fonder of the garden, ma'am?  It would
22497
22498break mother's heart, Sir, and even little Jacob would have sense
22499
22500enough to cry his eyes out, ma'am, if he thought that Mr Abel could
22501
22502wish to part with me so soon, after having told me, only the other day,
22503
22504that he hoped we might be together for years to come--'<br><br>
22505
22506There is no telling how long Kit might have stood upon the ladder,
22507
22508addressing his master and mistress by turns, and generally turning
22509
22510towards the wrong person, if Barbara had not at that moment come
22511
22512running up to say that a messenger from the office had brought a note,
22513
22514which, with an expression of some surprise at Kit's oratorical
22515
22516appearance, she put into her master's hand.<br><br>
22517
22518'Oh!' said the old gentleman after reading it, 'ask the messenger to
22519
22520walk this way.'  Barbara tripping off to do as she was bid, he turned
22521
22522to Kit and said that they would not pursue the subject any further, and
22523
22524that Kit could not be more unwilling to part with them, than they would
22525
22526be to part with Kit; a sentiment which the old lady very generously
22527
22528echoed.<br><br>
22529
22530'At the same time, Christopher,' added Mr Garland, glancing at the note
22531
22532in his hand, 'if the gentleman should want to borrow you now and then
22533
22534for an hour or so, or even a day or so, at a time, we must consent to
22535
22536lend you, and you must consent to be lent.--Oh! here is the young
22537
22538gentleman.  How do you do, Sir?'<br><br>
22539
22540This salutation was addressed to Mr Chuckster, who, with his hat
22541
22542extremely on one side, and his hair a long way beyond it, came
22543
22544swaggering up the walk.<br><br>
22545
22546'Hope I see you well sir,' returned that gentleman.  'Hope I see YOU
22547
22548well, ma'am.  Charming box' this, sir.  Delicious country to be sure.'<br><br>
22549
22550'You want to take Kit back with you, I find?' observed Mr Garland.<br><br>
22551
22552'I have got a chariot-cab waiting on purpose,' replied the clerk.  'A
22553
22554very spanking grey in that cab, sir, if you're a judge of horse-flesh.'<br><br>
22555
22556Declining to inspect the spanking grey, on the plea that he was but
22557
22558poorly acquainted with such matters, and would but imperfectly
22559
22560appreciate his beauties, Mr Garland invited Mr Chuckster to partake of
22561
22562a slight repast in the way of lunch.  That gentleman readily
22563
22564consenting, certain cold viands, flanked with ale and wine, were
22565
22566speedily prepared for his refreshment.<br><br>
22567
22568At this repast, Mr Chuckster exerted his utmost abilities to enchant
22569
22570his entertainers, and impress them with a conviction of the mental
22571
22572superiority of those who dwelt in town; with which view he led the
22573
22574discourse to the small scandal of the day, in which he was justly
22575
22576considered by his friends to shine prodigiously.  Thus, he was in a
22577
22578condition to relate the exact circumstances of the difference between
22579
22580the Marquis of Mizzler and Lord Bobby, which it appeared originated in
22581
22582a disputed bottle of champagne, and not in a pigeon-pie, as erroneously
22583
22584reported in the newspapers; neither had Lord Bobby said to the Marquis
22585
22586of Mizzler, 'Mizzler, one of us two tells a lie, and I'm not the man,'
22587
22588as incorrectly stated by the same authorities; but 'Mizzler, you know
22589
22590where I'm to be found, and damme, sir, find me if you want me'--which,
22591
22592of course, entirely changed the aspect of this interesting question,
22593
22594and placed it in a very different light.  He also acquainted them with
22595
22596the precise amount of the income guaranteed by the Duke of Thigsberry
22597
22598to Violetta Stetta of the Italian Opera, which it appeared was payable
22599
22600quarterly, and not half-yearly, as the public had been given to
22601
22602understand, and which was EXclusive, and not INclusive (as had been
22603
22604monstrously stated,) of jewellery, perfumery, hair-powder for five
22605
22606footmen, and two daily changes of kid-gloves for a page.  Having
22607
22608entreated the old lady and gentleman to set their minds at rest on
22609
22610these absorbing points, for they might rely on his statement being the
22611
22612correct one, Mr Chuckster entertained them with theatrical chit-chat
22613
22614and the court circular; and so wound up a brilliant and fascinating
22615
22616conversation which he had maintained alone, and without any assistance
22617
22618whatever, for upwards of three-quarters of an hour.<br><br>
22619
22620'And now that the nag has got his wind again,' said Mr Chuckster rising
22621
22622in a graceful manner, 'I'm afraid I must cut my stick.'<br><br>
22623
22624Neither Mr nor Mrs Garland offered any opposition to his tearing
22625
22626himself away (feeling, no doubt, that such a man could ill be spared
22627
22628from his proper sphere of action), and therefore Mr Chuckster and Kit
22629
22630were shortly afterwards upon their way to town; Kit being perched upon
22631
22632the box of the cabriolet beside the driver, and Mr Chuckster seated in
22633
22634solitary state inside, with one of his boots sticking out at each of
22635
22636the front windows.<br><br>
22637
22638When they reached the Notary's house, Kit followed into the office, and
22639
22640was desired by Mr Abel to sit down and wait, for the gentleman who
22641
22642wanted him had gone out, and perhaps might not return for some time.
22643
22644This anticipation was strictly verified, for Kit had had his dinner,
22645
22646and his tea, and had read all the lighter matter in the Law-List, and
22647
22648the Post-Office Directory, and had fallen asleep a great many times,
22649
22650before the gentleman whom he had seen before, came in; which he did at
22651
22652last in a very great hurry.<br><br>
22653
22654He was closeted with Mr Witherden for some little time, and Mr Abel had
22655
22656been called in to assist at the conference, before Kit, wondering very
22657
22658much what he was wanted for, was summoned to attend them.<br><br>
22659
22660'Christopher,' said the gentleman, turning to him directly he entered
22661
22662the room, 'I have found your old master and young mistress.'<br><br>
22663
22664'No, Sir!  Have you, though?' returned Kit, his eyes sparkling with
22665
22666delight.  'Where are they, Sir?  How are they, Sir?  Are they--are they
22667
22668near here?'<br><br>
22669
22670'A long way from here,' returned the gentleman, shaking his head.  'But
22671
22672I am going away to-night to bring them back, and I want you to go with
22673
22674me.'<br><br>
22675
22676'Me, Sir?' cried Kit, full of joy and surprise.<br><br>
22677
22678'The place,' said the strange gentleman, turning thoughtfully to the
22679
22680Notary, 'indicated by this man of the dogs, is--how far from
22681
22682here--sixty miles?'<br><br>
22683
22684'From sixty to seventy.'<br><br>
22685
22686'Humph!  If we travel post all night, we shall reach there in good time
22687
22688to-morrow morning.  Now, the only question is, as they will not know
22689
22690me, and the child, God bless her, would think that any stranger
22691
22692pursuing them had a design upon her grandfather's liberty--can I do
22693
22694better than take this lad, whom they both know and will readily
22695
22696remember, as an assurance to them of my friendly intentions?'<br><br>
22697
22698'Certainly not,' replied the Notary.  'Take Christopher by all means.'<br><br>
22699
22700'I beg your pardon, Sir,' said Kit, who had listened to this discourse
22701
22702with a lengthening countenance, 'but if that's the reason, I'm afraid I
22703
22704should do more harm than good--Miss Nell, Sir, she knows me, and would
22705
22706trust in me, I am sure;
22706 but old master--I don't know why, gentlemen;
22707
22708nobody does--would not bear me in his sight after he had been ill, and
22709
22710Miss Nell herself told me that I must not go near him or let him see me
22711
22712any more.  I should spoil all that you were doing if I went, I'm
22713
22714afraid.  I'd give the world to go, but you had better not take me, Sir.'<br><br>
22715
22716'Another difficulty!' cried the impetuous gentleman.  'Was ever man so
22717
22718beset as I?  Is there nobody else that knew them, nobody else in whom
22719
22720they had any confidence?  Solitary as their lives were, is there no one
22721
22722person who would serve my purpose?'<br><br>
22723
22724'IS there, Christopher?' said the Notary.<br><br>
22725
22726'Not one, Sir,' replied Kit.--'Yes, though--there's my mother.'<br><br>
22727
22728'Did they know her?' said the single gentleman.<br><br>
22729
22730'Know her, Sir! why, she was always coming backwards and forwards.
22731
22732They were as kind to her as they were to me.  Bless you, Sir, she
22733
22734expected they'd come back to her house.'<br><br>
22735
22736'Then where the devil is the woman?' said the impatient gentleman,
22737
22738catching up his hat.  'Why isn't she here?  Why is that woman always
22739
22740out of the way when she is most wanted?'<br><br>
22741
22742In a word, the single gentleman was bursting out of the office, bent
22743
22744upon laying violent hands on Kit's mother, forcing her into a
22745
22746post-chaise, and carrying her off, when this novel kind of abduction
22747
22748was with some difficulty prevented by the joint efforts of Mr Abel and
22749
22750the Notary, who restrained him by dint of their remonstrances, and
22751
22752persuaded him to sound Kit upon the probability of her being able and
22753
22754willing to undertake such a journey on so short a notice.<br><br>
22755
22756This occasioned some doubts on the part of Kit, and some violent
22757
22758demonstrations on that of the single gentleman, and a great many
22759
22760soothing speeches on that of the Notary and Mr Abel.  The upshot of the
22761
22762business was, that Kit, after weighing the matter in his mind and
22763
22764considering it carefully, promised, on behalf of his mother, that she
22765
22766should be ready within two hours from that time to undertake the
22767
22768expedition, and engaged to produce her in that place, in all respects
22769
22770equipped and prepared for the journey, before the specified period had
22771
22772expired.<br><br>
22773
22774Having given this pledge, which was rather a bold one, and not
22775
22776particularly easy of redemption, Kit lost no time in sallying forth,
22777
22778and taking measures for its immediate fulfilment.<br><br>
22779
22780CHAPTER 41<br><br>
22781
22782Kit made his way through the crowded streets, dividing the stream of
22783
22784people, dashing across the busy road-ways, diving into lanes and
22785
22786alleys, and stopping or turning aside for nothing, until he came in
22787
22788front of the Old Curiosity Shop, when he came to a stand; partly from
22789
22790habit and partly from being out of breath.<br><br>
22791
22792It was a gloomy autumn evening, and he thought the old place had never
22793
22794looked so dismal as in its dreary twilight.  The windows broken, the
22795
22796rusty sashes rattling in their frames, the deserted house a dull
22797
22798barrier dividing the glaring lights and bustle of the street into two
22799
22800long lines, and standing in the midst, cold, dark, and empty--presented
22801
22802a cheerless spectacle which mingled harshly with the bright prospects
22803
22804the boy had been building up for its late inmates, and came like a
22805
22806disappointment or misfortune.  Kit would have had a good fire roaring
22807
22808up the empty chimneys, lights sparkling and shining through the
22809
22810windows, people moving briskly to and fro, voices in cheerful
22811
22812conversation, something in unison with the new hopes that were astir.
22813
22814He had not expected that the house would wear any different aspect--had
22815
22816known indeed that it could not--but coming upon it in the midst of
22817
22818eager thoughts and expectations, it checked the current in its flow,
22819
22820and darkened it with a mournful shadow.<br><br>
22821
22822Kit, however, fortunately for himself, was not learned enough or
22823
22824contemplative enough to be troubled with presages of evil afar off,
22825
22826and, having no mental spectacles to assist his vision in this respect,
22827
22828saw nothing but the dull house, which jarred uncomfortably upon his
22829
22830previous thoughts.  So, almost wishing that he had not passed it,
22831
22832though hardly knowing why, he hurried on again, making up by his
22833
22834increased speed for the few moments he had lost.<br><br>
22835
22836'Now, if she should be out,' thought Kit, as he approached the poor
22837
22838dwelling of his mother, 'and I not able to find her, this impatient
22839
22840gentleman would be in a pretty taking.  And sure enough there's no
22841
22842light, and the door's fast.  Now, God forgive me for saying so, but if
22843
22844this is Little Bethel's doing, I wish Little Bethel was--was farther
22845
22846off,' said Kit checking himself, and knocking at the door.<br><br>
22847
22848A second knock brought no reply from within the house; but caused a
22849
22850woman over the way to look out and inquire who that was, awanting Mrs
22851
22852Nubbles.<br><br>
22853
22854'Me,' said Kit.  'She's at--at Little Bethel, I suppose?'--getting out
22855
22856the name of the obnoxious conventicle with some reluctance, and laying
22857
22858a spiteful emphasis upon the words.<br><br>
22859
22860The neighbour nodded assent.<br><br>
22861
22862'Then pray tell me where it is,' said Kit, 'for I have come on a
22863
22864pressing matter, and must fetch her out, even if she was in the pulpit.'<br><br>
22865
22866It was not very easy to procure a direction to the fold in question, as
22867
22868none of the neighbours were of the flock that resorted thither, and few
22869
22870knew anything more of it than the name.  At last, a gossip of Mrs
22871
22872Nubbles's, who had accompanied her to chapel on one or two occasions
22873
22874when a comfortable cup of tea had preceded her devotions, furnished the
22875
22876needful information, which Kit had no sooner obtained than he started
22877
22878off again.<br><br>
22879
22880Little Bethel might have been nearer, and might have been in a
22881
22882straighter road, though in that case the reverend gentleman who
22883
22884presided over its congregation would have lost his favourite allusion
22885
22886to the crooked ways by which it was approached, and which enabled him
22887
22888to liken it to Paradise itself, in contradistinction to the parish
22889
22890church and the broad thoroughfare leading thereunto.  Kit found it, at
22891
22892last, after some trouble, and pausing at the door to take breath that
22893
22894he might enter with becoming decency, passed into the chapel.<br><br>
22895
22896It was not badly named in one respect, being in truth a particularly
22897
22898little Bethel--a Bethel of the smallest dimensions--with a small
22899
22900number of small pews, and a small pulpit, in which a small gentleman
22901
22902(by trade a Shoemaker, and by calling a Divine) was delivering in a by
22903
22904no means small voice, a by no means small sermon, judging of its
22905
22906dimensions by the condition of his audience, which, if their gross
22907
22908amount were but small, comprised a still smaller number of hearers, as
22909
22910the majority were slumbering.<br><br>
22911
22912Among these was Kit's mother, who, finding it matter of extreme
22913
22914difficulty to keep her eyes open after the fatigues of last night, and
22915
22916feeling their inclination to close strongly backed and seconded by the
22917
22918arguments of the preacher, had yielded to the drowsiness that
22919
22920overpowered her, and fallen asleep; though not so soundly but that she
22921
22922could, from time to time, utter a slight and almost inaudible groan, as
22923
22924if in recognition of the orator's doctrines.  The baby in her arms was
22925
22926as fast asleep as she; and little Jacob, whose youth prevented him from
22927
22928recognising in this prolonged spiritual nourishment anything half as
22929
22930interesting as oysters, was alternately very fast asleep and very wide
22931
22932awake, as his inclination to slumber, or his terror of being personally
22933
22934alluded to in the discourse, gained the mastery over him.<br><br>
22935
22936'And now I'm here,' thought Kit, gliding into the nearest empty pew
22937
22938which was opposite his mother's, and on the other side of the little
22939
22940aisle, 'how am I ever to get at her, or persuade her to come out!  I
22941
22942might as well be twenty miles off.  She'll never wake till it's all
22943
22944over, and there goes the clock again!  If he would but leave off for a
22945
22946minute, or if they'd only sing!'<br><br>
22947
22948But there was little encouragement to believe that either event would
22949
22950happen for a couple of hours to come.  The preacher went on telling
22951
22952them what he meant to convince them of before he had done, and it was
22953
22954clear that if he only kept to one-half of his promises and forgot the
22955
22956other, he was good for that time at least.<br><br>
22957
22958In his desperation and restlessness Kit cast his eyes about the chapel,
22959
22960and happening to let them fall upon a little seat in front of the
22961
22962clerk's desk, could scarcely believe them when they showed him--Quilp!<br><br>
22963
22964He rubbed them twice or thrice, but still they insisted that Quilp was
22965
22966there, and there indeed he was, sitting with his hands upon his knees,
22967
22968and his hat between them on a little wooden bracket, with the
22969
22970accustomed grin on his dirty face, and his eyes fixed upon the ceiling.
22971
22972He certainly did not glance at Kit or at his mother, and appeared
22973
22974utterly unconscious of their presence; still Kit could not help
22975
22976feeling, directly, that the attention of the sly little fiend was
22977
22978fastened upon them, and upon nothing else.<br><br>
22979
22980But, astounded as he was by the apparition of the dwarf among the
22981
22982Little Bethelites, and not free from a misgiving that it was the
22983
22984forerunner of some trouble or annoyance, he was compelled to subdue his
22985
22986wonder and to take active measures for the withdrawal of his parent, as
22987
22988the evening was now creeping on, and the matter grew serious.
22989
22990Therefore, the next time little Jacob woke, Kit set himself to attract
22991
22992his wandering attention, and this not being a very difficult task (one
22993
22994sneeze effected it), he signed to him to rouse his mother.<br><br>
22995
22996Ill-luck would have it, however, that, just then, the preacher, in a
22997
22998forcible exposition of one head of his discourse, leaned over upon the
22999
23000pulpit-desk so that very little more of him than his legs remained
23001
23002inside; and, while he made vehement gestures with his right hand, and
23003
23004held on with his left, stared, or seemed to stare, straight into little
23005
23006Jacob's eyes, threatening him by his strained look and attitude--so it
23007
23008appeared to the child--that if he so much as moved a muscle, he, the
23009
23010preacher, would be literally, and not figuratively, 'down upon him'
23011
23012that instant.  In this fearful state of things, distracted by the
23013
23014sudden appearance of Kit, and fascinated by the eyes of the preacher,
23015
23016the miserable Jacob sat bolt upright, wholly incapable of motion,
23017
23018strongly disposed to cry but afraid to do so, and returning his
23019
23020pastor's gaze until his infant eyes seemed starting from their sockets.<br><br>
23021
23022'If I must do it openly, I must,' thought Kit.  With that he walked
23023
23024softly out of his pew and into his mother's, and as Mr Swiveller would
23025
23026have observed if he had been present, 'collared' the baby without
23027
23028speaking a word.<br><br>
23029
23030'Hush, mother!' whispered Kit.  'Come along with me, I've got something
23031
23032to tell you.'<br><br>
23033
23034'Where am I?' said Mrs Nubbles.<br><br>
23035
23036'In this blessed Little Bethel,' returned her son, peevishly.<br><br>
23037
23038'Blessed indeed!' cried Mrs Nubbles, catching at the word.  'Oh,
23039
23040Christopher, how have I been edified this night!'<br><br>
23041
23042'Yes, yes, I know,' said Kit hastily; 'but come along, mother,
23043
23044everybody's looking at us.  Don't make a noise--bring Jacob--that's
23045
23046right!'<br><br>
23047
23048'Stay, Satan, stay!' cried the preacher, as Kit was moving off.<br><br>
23049
23050'This gentleman says you're to stay, Christopher,' whispered his mother.<br><br>
23051
23052'Stay, Satan, stay!' roared the preacher again.  'Tempt not the woman
23053
23054that doth incline her ear to thee, but harken to the voice of him that
23055
23056calleth.  He hath a lamb from the fold!' cried the preacher, raising
23057
23058his voice still higher and pointing to the baby.  'He beareth off a
23059
23060lamb, a precious lamb!  He goeth about, like a wolf in the night
23061
23062season, and inveigleth the tender lambs!'<br><br>
23063
23064Kit was the best-tempered fellow in the world, but considering this
23065
23066strong language, and being somewhat excited by the circumstances in
23067
23068which he was placed, he faced round to the pulpit with the baby in his
23069
23070arms, and replied aloud, 'No, I don't.  He's my brother.'<br><br>
23071
23072'He's MY brother!' cried the preacher.<br><br>
23073
23074'He isn't,' said Kit indignantly.  'How can you say such a thing?  And
23075
23076don't call me names if you please; what harm have I done?  I shouldn't
23077
23078have come to take 'em away, unless I was obliged, you may depend upon
23079
23080that.  I wanted to do it very quiet, but you wouldn't let me.  Now, you
23081
23082have the goodness to abuse Satan and them, as much as you like, Sir,
23083
23084and to let me alone if you please.'<br><br>
23085
23086So saying, Kit marched out of the chapel, followed by his mother and
23087
23088little Jacob, and found himself in the open air, with an indistinct
23089
23090recollection of having seen the people wake up and look surprised, and
23091
23092of Quilp having remained, throughout the interruption, in his old
23093
23094attitude, without moving his eyes from the ceiling, or appearing to
23095
23096take the smallest notice of anything that passed.<br><br>
23097
23098'Oh Kit!' said his mother, with her handkerchief to her eyes, 'what
23099
23100have you done!  I never can go there again--never!'<br><br>
23101
23102'I'm glad of it, mother.  What was there in the little bit of pleasure
23103
23104you took last night that made it necessary for you to be low-spirited
23105
23106and sorrowful tonight?  That's the way you do.  If you're happy or
23107
23108merry ever, you come here to say, along with that chap, that you're
23109
23110sorry for it.  More shame for you, mother, I was going to say.'<br><br>
23111
23112'Hush, dear!' said Mrs Nubbles; 'you don't mean what you say I know,
23113
23114but you're talking sinfulness.'<br><br>
23115
23116'Don't mean it?  But I do mean it!' retorted Kit.  'I don't believe,
23117
23118mother, that harmless cheerfulness and good humour are thought greater
23119
23120sins in Heaven than shirt-collars are, and I do believe that those
23121
23122chaps are just about as right and sensible in putting down the one as
23123
23124in leaving off the other--that's my belief.  But I won't say anything
23125
23126more about it, if you'll promise not to cry, that's all; and you take
23127
23128the baby that's a lighter weight, and give me little Jacob; and as we
23129
23130go along (which we must do pretty quick) I'll give you the news I
23131
23132bring, which will surprise you a little, I can tell you.  There--that's
23133
23134right.  Now you look as if you'd never seen Little Bethel in all your
23135
23136life, as I hope you never will again; and here's the baby; and little
23137
23138Jacob, you get atop of my back and catch hold of me tight round the
23139
23140neck, and whenever a Little Bethel parson calls you a precious lamb or
23141
23142says your brother's one, you tell him it's the truest things he's said
23143
23144for a twelvemonth, and that if he'd got a little more of the lamb
23145
23146himself, and less of the mint-sauce--not being quite so sharp and sour
23147
23148over it--I should like him all the better.  That's what you've got to
23149
23150say to him, Jacob.'<br><br>
23151
23152Talking on in this way, half in jest and half in earnest, and cheering
23153
23154up his mother, the children, and himself, by the one simple process of
23155
23156determining to be in a good humour, Kit led them briskly forward; and
23157
23158on the road home, he related what had passed at the Notary's house, and
23159
23160the purpose with which he had intruded on the solemnities of Little
23161
23162Bethel.<br><br>
23163
23164His mother was not a little startled on learning what service was
23165
23166required of her, and presently fell into a confusion of ideas, of which
23167
23168the most prominent were that it was a great honour and dignity to ride
23169
23170in a post-chaise, and that it was a moral impossibility to leave the
23171
23172children behind.  But this objection, and a great many others, founded
23173
23174on certain articles of dress being at the wash, and certain other
23175
23176articles having no existence in the wardrobe of Mrs Nubbles, were
23177
23178overcome by Kit, who opposed to each and every of them, the pleasure of
23179
23180recovering Nell, and the delight it would be to bring her back in
23181
23182triumph.<br><br>
23183
23184'There's only ten minutes now, mother,' said Kit when they reached
23185
23186home.  'There's a bandbox.  Throw in what you want, and we'll be off
23187
23188directly.'<br><br>
23189
23190To tell how Kit then hustled into the box all sorts of things which
23191
23192could, by no remote contingency, be wanted, and how he left out
23193
23194everything likely to be of the smallest use; how a neighbour was
23195
23196persuaded to come and stop with the children, and how the children at
23197
23198first cried dismally, and then laughed heartily on being promised all
23199
23200kinds of impossible and unheard-of toys; how Kit's mother wouldn't
23201
23202leave off kissing them, and how Kit couldn't make up his mind to be
23203
23204vexed with her for doing it; would take more time and room than you and
23205
23206I can spare.  So, passing over all such matters, it is sufficient to
23207
23208say that within a few minutes after the two hours had expired, Kit and
23209
23210his mother arrived at the Notary's door, where a post-chaise was
23211
23212already waiting.<br><br>
23213
23214'With four horses I declare!' said Kit, quite aghast at the
23215
23216preparations.  'Well you ARE going to do it, mother!  Here she is, Sir.
23217
23218Here's my mother.  She's quite ready, sir.'<br><br>
23219
23220'That's well,' returned the gentleman.  'Now, don't be in a flutter,
23221
23222ma'am;
23222 you'll be taken great care of.  Where's the box with the new
23223
23224clothing and necessaries for them?'<br><br>
23225
23226'Here it is,' said the Notary.  'In with it, Christopher.'<br><br>
23227
23228'All right, Sir,' replied Kit.  'Quite ready now, sir.'<br><br>
23229
23230'Then come along,' said the single gentleman.  And thereupon he gave
23231
23232his arm to Kit's mother, handed her into the carriage as politely as
23233
23234you please, and took his seat beside her.<br><br>
23235
23236Up went the steps, bang went the door, round whirled the wheels, and
23237
23238off they rattled, with Kit's mother hanging out at one window waving a
23239
23240damp pocket-handkerchief and screaming out a great many messages to
23241
23242little Jacob and the baby, of which nobody heard a word.<br><br>
23243
23244Kit stood in the middle of the road, and looked after them with tears
23245
23246in his eyes--not brought there by the departure he witnessed, but by
23247
23248the return to which he looked forward.  'They went away,' he thought,
23249
23250'on foot with nobody to speak to them or say a kind word at parting,
23251
23252and they'll come back, drawn by four horses, with this rich gentleman
23253
23254for their friend, and all their troubles over!  She'll forget that she
23255
23256taught me to write--'<br><br>
23257
23258Whatever Kit thought about after this, took some time to think of, for
23259
23260he stood gazing up the lines of shining lamps, long after the chaise
23261
23262had disappeared, and did not return into the house until the Notary and
23263
23264Mr Abel, who had themselves lingered outside till the sound of the
23265
23266wheels was no longer distinguishable, had several times wondered what
23267
23268could possibly detain him.<br><br>
23269
23270CHAPTER 42<br><br>
23271
23272It behoves us to leave Kit for a while, thoughtful and expectant, and
23273
23274to follow the fortunes of little Nell; resuming the thread of the
23275
23276narrative at the point where it was left, some chapters back.<br><br>
23277
23278In one of those wanderings in the evening time, when, following the two
23279
23280sisters at a humble distance, she felt, in her sympathy with them and
23281
23282her recognition in their trials of something akin to her own loneliness
23283
23284of spirit, a comfort and consolation which made such moments a time of
23285
23286deep delight, though the softened pleasure they yielded was of that
23287
23288kind which lives and dies in tears--in one of those wanderings at the
23289
23290quiet hour of twilight, when sky, and earth, and air, and rippling
23291
23292water, and sound of distant bells, claimed kindred with the emotions of
23293
23294the solitary child, and inspired her with soothing thoughts, but not of
23295
23296a child's world or its easy joys--in one of those rambles which had now
23297
23298become her only pleasure or relief from care, light had faded into
23299
23300darkness and evening deepened into night, and still the young creature
23301
23302lingered in the gloom; feeling a companionship in Nature so serene and
23303
23304still, when noise of tongues and glare of garish lights would have been
23305
23306solitude indeed.<br><br>
23307
23308The sisters had gone home, and she was alone.  She raised her eyes to
23309
23310the bright stars, looking down so mildly from the wide worlds of air,
23311
23312and, gazing on them, found new stars burst upon her view, and more
23313
23314beyond, and more beyond again, until the whole great expanse sparkled
23315
23316with shining spheres, rising higher and higher in immeasurable space,
23317
23318eternal in their numbers as in their changeless and incorruptible
23319
23320existence.  She bent over the calm river, and saw them shining in the
23321
23322same majestic order as when the dove beheld them gleaming through the
23323
23324swollen waters, upon the mountain tops down far below, and dead
23325
23326mankind, a million fathoms deep.<br><br>
23327
23328The child sat silently beneath a tree, hushed in her very breath by the
23329
23330stillness of the night, and all its attendant wonders.  The time and
23331
23332place awoke reflection, and she thought with a quiet hope--less hope,
23333
23334perhaps, than resignation--on the past, and present, and what was yet
23335
23336before her.  Between the old man and herself there had come a gradual
23337
23338separation, harder to bear than any former sorrow.  Every evening, and
23339
23340often in the day-time too, he was absent, alone; and although she well
23341
23342knew where he went, and why--too well from the constant drain upon her
23343
23344scanty purse and from his haggard looks--he evaded all inquiry,
23345
23346maintained a strict reserve, and even shunned her presence.<br><br>
23347
23348She sat meditating sorrowfully upon this change, and mingling it, as it
23349
23350were, with everything about her, when the distant church-clock bell
23351
23352struck nine.  Rising at the sound, she retraced her steps, and turned
23353
23354thoughtfully towards the town.<br><br>
23355
23356She had gained a little wooden bridge, which, thrown across the stream,
23357
23358led into a meadow in her way, when she came suddenly upon a ruddy
23359
23360light, and looking forward more attentively, discerned that it
23361
23362proceeded from what appeared to be an encampment of gipsies, who had
23363
23364made a fire in one corner at no great distance from the path, and were
23365
23366sitting or lying round it.  As she was too poor to have any fear of
23367
23368them, she did not alter her course (which, indeed, she could not have
23369
23370done without going a long way round), but quickened her pace a little,
23371
23372and kept straight on.<br><br>
23373
23374A movement of timid curiosity impelled her, when she approached the
23375
23376spot, to glance towards the fire.  There was a form between it and her,
23377
23378the outline strongly developed against the light, which caused her to
23379
23380stop abruptly.  Then, as if she had reasoned with herself and were
23381
23382assured that it could not be, or had satisfied herself that it was not
23383
23384that of the person she had supposed, she went on again.<br><br>
23385
23386But at that instant the conversation, whatever it was, which had been
23387
23388carrying on near this fire was resumed, and the tones of the voice that
23389
23390spoke--she could not distinguish words--sounded as familiar to her as
23391
23392her own.<br><br>
23393
23394She turned, and looked back.  The person had been seated before, but
23395
23396was now in a standing posture, and leaning forward on a stick on which
23397
23398he rested both hands.  The attitude was no less familiar to her than
23399
23400the tone of voice had been.  It was her grandfather.<br><br>
23401
23402Her first impulse was to call to him; her next to wonder who his
23403
23404associates could be, and for what purpose they were together.  Some
23405
23406vague apprehension succeeded, and, yielding to the strong inclination
23407
23408it awakened, she drew nearer to the place; not advancing across the
23409
23410open field, however, but creeping towards it by the hedge.<br><br>
23411
23412In this way she advanced within a few feet of the fire, and standing
23413
23414among a few young trees, could both see and hear, without much danger
23415
23416of being observed.<br><br>
23417
23418There were no women or children, as she had seen in other gipsy camps
23419
23420they had passed in their wayfaring, and but one gipsy--a tall athletic
23421
23422man, who stood with his arms folded, leaning against a tree at a little
23423
23424distance off, looking now at the fire, and now, under his black
23425
23426eyelashes, at three other men who were there, with a watchful but
23427
23428half-concealed interest in their conversation.  Of these, her
23429
23430grandfather was one; the others she recognised as the first
23431
23432card-players at the public-house on the eventful night of the
23433
23434storm--the man whom they had called Isaac List, and his gruff
23435
23436companion.  One of the low, arched gipsy-tents, common to that people,
23437
23438was pitched hard by, but it either was, or appeared to be, empty.<br><br>
23439
23440'Well, are you going?' said the stout man, looking up from the ground
23441
23442where he was lying at his ease, into her grandfather's face.  'You were
23443
23444in a mighty hurry a minute ago.  Go, if you like.  You're your own
23445
23446master, I hope?'<br><br>
23447
23448'Don't vex him,' returned Isaac List, who was squatting like a frog on
23449
23450the other side of the fire, and had so screwed himself up that he
23451
23452seemed to be squinting all over; 'he didn't mean any offence.'<br><br>
23453
23454'You keep me poor, and plunder me, and make a sport and jest of me
23455
23456besides,' said the old man, turning from one to the other.  'Ye'll
23457
23458drive me mad among ye.'<br><br>
23459
23460The utter irresolution and feebleness of the grey-haired child,
23461
23462contrasted with the keen and cunning looks of those in whose hands he
23463
23464was, smote upon the little listener's heart.  But she constrained
23465
23466herself to attend to all that passed, and to note each look and word.<br><br>
23467
23468'Confound you, what do you mean?' said the stout man rising a little,
23469
23470and supporting himself on his elbow.  'Keep you poor!  You'd keep us
23471
23472poor if you could, wouldn't you?  That's the way with you whining,
23473
23474puny, pitiful players.  When you lose, you're martyrs; but I don't find
23475
23476that when you win, you look upon the other losers in that light.  As to
23477
23478plunder!' cried the fellow, raising his voice--'Damme, what do you
23479
23480mean by such ungentlemanly language as plunder, eh?'<br><br>
23481
23482The speaker laid himself down again at full length, and gave one or two
23483
23484short, angry kicks, as if in further expression of his unbounded
23485
23486indignation.  It was quite plain that he acted the bully, and his
23487
23488friend the peacemaker, for some particular purpose; or rather, it would
23489
23490have been to any one but the weak old man; for they exchanged glances
23491
23492quite openly, both with each other and with the gipsy, who grinned his
23493
23494approval of the jest until his white teeth shone again.<br><br>
23495
23496The old man stood helplessly among them for a little time, and then
23497
23498said, turning to his assailant:<br><br>
23499
23500'You yourself were speaking of plunder just now, you know.  Don't be so
23501
23502violent with me.  You were, were you not?'<br><br>
23503
23504'Not of plundering among present company!  Honour among--among
23505
23506gentlemen, Sir,' returned the other, who seemed to have been very near
23507
23508giving an awkward termination to the sentence.<br><br>
23509
23510'Don't be hard upon him, Jowl,' said Isaac List.  'He's very sorry for
23511
23512giving offence.  There--go on with what you were saying--go on.'<br><br>
23513
23514'I'm a jolly old tender-hearted lamb, I am,' cried Mr Jowl, 'to be
23515
23516sitting here at my time of life giving advice when I know it won't be
23517
23518taken, and that I shall get nothing but abuse for my pains.  But that's
23519
23520the way I've gone through life.  Experience has never put a chill upon
23521
23522my warm-heartedness.'<br><br>
23523
23524'I tell you he's very sorry, don't I?' remonstrated Isaac List, 'and
23525
23526that he wishes you'd go on.'<br><br>
23527
23528'Does he wish it?' said the other.<br><br>
23529
23530'Ay,' groaned the old man sitting down, and rocking himself to and fro.
23531
23532'Go on, go on.  It's in vain to fight with it; I can't do it; go on.'<br><br>
23533
23534'I go on then,' said Jowl, 'where I left off, when you got up so quick.
23535
23536If you're persuaded that it's time for luck to turn, as it certainly
23537
23538is, and find that you haven't means enough to try it (and that's where
23539
23540it is, for you know, yourself, that you never have the funds to keep on
23541
23542long enough at a sitting), help yourself to what seems put in your way
23543
23544on purpose.  Borrow it, I say, and, when you're able, pay it back
23545
23546again.'<br><br>
23547
23548'Certainly,' Isaac List struck in, 'if this good lady as keeps the
23549
23550wax-works has money, and does keep it in a tin box when she goes to
23551
23552bed, and doesn't lock her door for fear of fire, it seems a easy thing;
23553
23554quite a Providence, I should call it--but then I've been religiously
23555
23556brought up.'<br><br>
23557
23558'You see, Isaac,' said his friend, growing more eager, and drawing
23559
23560himself closer to the old man, while he signed to the gipsy not to come
23561
23562between them; 'you see, Isaac, strangers are going in and out every
23563
23564hour of the day; nothing would be more likely than for one of these
23565
23566strangers to get under the good lady's bed, or lock himself in the
23567
23568cupboard;
23568 suspicion would be very wide, and would fall a long way from
23569
23570the mark, no doubt.  I'd give him his revenge to the last farthing he
23571
23572brought, whatever the amount was.'<br><br>
23573
23574'But could you?' urged Isaac List.  'Is your bank strong enough?'<br><br>
23575
23576'Strong enough!' answered the other, with assumed disdain.  'Here, you
23577
23578Sir, give me that box out of the straw!'<br><br>
23579
23580This was addressed to the gipsy, who crawled into the low tent on all
23581
23582fours, and after some rummaging and rustling returned with a cash-box,
23583
23584which the man who had spoken opened with a key he wore about his person.<br><br>
23585
23586'Do you see this?' he said, gathering up the money in his hand and
23587
23588letting it drop back into the box, between his fingers, like water.
23589
23590'Do you hear it?  Do you know the sound of gold?  There, put it
23591
23592back--and don't talk about banks again, Isaac, till you've got one of
23593
23594your own.'<br><br>
23595
23596Isaac List, with great apparent humility, protested that he had never
23597
23598doubted the credit of a gentleman so notorious for his honourable
23599
23600dealing as Mr Jowl, and that he had hinted at the production of the
23601
23602box, not for the satisfaction of his doubts, for he could have none,
23603
23604but with a view to being regaled with a sight of so much wealth, which,
23605
23606though it might be deemed by some but an unsubstantial and visionary
23607
23608pleasure, was to one in his circumstances a source of extreme delight,
23609
23610only to be surpassed by its safe depository in his own personal
23611
23612pockets.  Although Mr List and Mr Jowl addressed themselves to each
23613
23614other, it was remarkable that they both looked narrowly at the old man,
23615
23616who, with his eyes fixed upon the fire, sat brooding over it, yet
23617
23618listening eagerly--as it seemed from a certain involuntary motion of
23619
23620the head, or twitching of the face from time to time--to all they said.<br><br>
23621
23622'My advice,' said Jowl, lying down again with a careless air, 'is
23623
23624plain--I have given it, in fact.  I act as a friend.  Why should I help
23625
23626a man to the means perhaps of winning all I have, unless I considered
23627
23628him my friend?  It's foolish, I dare say, to be so thoughtful of the
23629
23630welfare of other people, but that's my constitution, and I can't help
23631
23632it; so don't blame me, Isaac List.'<br><br>
23633
23634'I blame you!' returned the person addressed; 'not for the world, Mr
23635
23636Jowl.  I wish I could afford to be as liberal as you; and, as you say,
23637
23638he might pay it back if he won--and if he lost--'<br><br>
23639
23640'You're not to take that into consideration at all,' said Jowl.<br><br>
23641
23642'But suppose he did (and nothing's less likely, from all I know of
23643
23644chances), why, it's better to lose other people's money than one's own,
23645
23646I hope?'<br><br>
23647
23648'Ah!' cried Isaac List rapturously, 'the pleasures of winning!  The
23649
23650delight of picking up the money--the bright, shining yellow-boys--and
23651
23652sweeping 'em into one's pocket!  The deliciousness of having a triumph
23653
23654at last, and thinking that one didn't stop short and turn back, but
23655
23656went half-way to meet it!  The--but you're not going, old gentleman?'<br><br>
23657
23658'I'll do it,' said the old man, who had risen and taken two or three
23659
23660hurried steps away, and now returned as hurriedly.  'I'll have it,
23661
23662every penny.'<br><br>
23663
23664'Why, that's brave,' cried Isaac, jumping up and slapping him on the
23665
23666shoulder; 'and I respect you for having so much young blood left.  Ha,
23667
23668ha, ha!  Joe Jowl's half sorry he advised you now.  We've got the laugh
23669
23670against him.  Ha, ha, ha!'<br><br>
23671
23672'He gives me my revenge, mind,' said the old man, pointing to him
23673
23674eagerly with his shrivelled hand: 'mind--he stakes coin against coin,
23675
23676down to the last one in the box, be there many or few.  Remember that!'<br><br>
23677
23678'I'm witness,' returned Isaac.  'I'll see fair between you.'<br><br>
23679
23680'I have passed my word,' said Jowl with feigned reluctance, 'and I'll
23681
23682keep it.  When does this match come off?  I wish it was over.--
23683
23684To-night?'<br><br>
23685
23686'I must have the money first,' said the old man; 'and that I'll have
23687
23688to-morrow--'<br><br>
23689
23690'Why not to-night?' urged Jowl.<br><br>
23691
23692'It's late now, and I should be flushed and flurried,' said the old
23693
23694man.  'It must be softly done.  No, to-morrow night.'<br><br>
23695
23696'Then to-morrow be it,' said Jowl.  'A drop of comfort here.  Luck to
23697
23698the best man!  Fill!' The gipsy produced three tin cups, and filled
23699
23700them to the brim with brandy.  The old man turned aside and muttered to
23701
23702himself before he drank.  Her own name struck upon the listener's ear,
23703
23704coupled with some wish so fervent, that he seemed to breathe it in an
23705
23706agony of supplication.<br><br>
23707
23708'God be merciful to us!' cried the child within herself, 'and help us
23709
23710in this trying hour!  What shall I do to save him!'<br><br>
23711
23712The remainder of their conversation was carried on in a lower tone of
23713
23714voice, and was sufficiently concise; relating merely to the execution
23715
23716of the project, and the best precautions for diverting suspicion.  The
23717
23718old man then shook hands with his tempters, and withdrew.<br><br>
23719
23720They watched his bowed and stooping figure as it retreated slowly, and
23721
23722when he turned his head to look back, which he often did, waved their
23723
23724hands, or shouted some brief encouragement.  It was not until they had
23725
23726seen him gradually diminish into a mere speck upon the distant road,
23727
23728that they turned to each other, and ventured to laugh aloud.<br><br>
23729
23730'So,' said Jowl, warming his hands at the fire, 'it's done at last.  He
23731
23732wanted more persuading than I expected.  It's three weeks ago, since we
23733
23734first put this in his head.  What'll he bring, do you think?'<br><br>
23735
23736'Whatever he brings, it's halved between us,' returned Isaac List.<br><br>
23737
23738The other man nodded.  'We must make quick work of it,' he said, 'and
23739
23740then cut his acquaintance, or we may be suspected.  Sharp's the word.'<br><br>
23741
23742List and the gipsy acquiesced.  When they had all three amused
23743
23744themselves a little with their victim's infatuation, they dismissed the
23745
23746subject as one which had been sufficiently discussed, and began to talk
23747
23748in a jargon which the child did not understand.  As their discourse
23749
23750appeared to relate to matters in which they were warmly interested,
23751
23752however, she deemed it the best time for escaping unobserved; and crept
23753
23754away with slow and cautious steps, keeping in the shadow of the hedges,
23755
23756or forcing a path through them or the dry ditches, until she could
23757
23758emerge upon the road at a point beyond their range of vision.  Then she
23759
23760fled homeward as quickly as she could, torn and bleeding from the
23761
23762wounds of thorns and briars, but more lacerated in mind, and threw
23763
23764herself upon her bed, distracted.<br><br>
23765
23766The first idea that flashed upon her mind was flight, instant flight;
23767
23768dragging him from that place, and rather dying of want upon the
23769
23770roadside, than ever exposing him again to such terrible temptations.
23771
23772Then, she remembered that the crime was not to be committed until next
23773
23774night, and there was the intermediate time for thinking, and resolving
23775
23776what to do.  Then, she was distracted with a horrible fear that he
23777
23778might be committing it at that moment; with a dread of hearing shrieks
23779
23780and cries piercing the silence of the night; with fearful thoughts of
23781
23782what he might be tempted and led on to do, if he were detected in the
23783
23784act, and had but a woman to struggle with.  It was impossible to bear
23785
23786such torture.  She stole to the room where the money was, opened the
23787
23788door, and looked in.  God be praised!  He was not there, and she was
23789
23790sleeping soundly.<br><br>
23791
23792She went back to her own room, and tried to prepare herself for bed.
23793
23794But who could sleep--sleep! who could lie passively down, distracted by
23795
23796such terrors?  They came upon her more and more strongly yet.  Half
23797
23798undressed, and with her hair in wild disorder, she flew to the old
23799
23800man's bedside, clasped him by the wrist, and roused him from his sleep.<br><br>
23801
23802'What's this!' he cried, starting up in bed, and fixing his eyes upon
23803
23804her spectral face.<br><br>
23805
23806'I have had a dreadful dream,' said the child, with an energy that
23807
23808nothing but such terrors could have inspired.  'A dreadful, horrible
23809
23810dream.  I have had it once before.  It is a dream of grey-haired men
23811
23812like you, in darkened rooms by night, robbing sleepers of their gold.
23813
23814Up, up!'<br><br>
23815
23816The old man shook in every joint, and folded his hands like one who
23817
23818prays.<br><br>
23819
23820'Not to me,' said the child, 'not to me--to Heaven, to save us from
23821
23822such deeds!  This dream is too real.  I cannot sleep, I cannot stay
23823
23824here, I cannot leave you alone under the roof where such dreams come.
23825
23826Up!  We must fly.'<br><br>
23827
23828He looked at her as if she were a spirit--she might have been for all
23829
23830the look of earth she had--and trembled more and more.<br><br>
23831
23832'There is no time to lose; I will not lose one minute,' said the child.
23833
23834'Up! and away with me!'<br><br>
23835
23836'To-night?' murmured the old man.<br><br>
23837
23838'Yes, to-night,' replied the child.  'To-morrow night will be too late.
23839
23840The dream will have come again.  Nothing but flight can save us.  Up!'<br><br>
23841
23842The old man rose from his bed: his forehead bedewed with the cold sweat
23843
23844of fear: and, bending before the child as if she had been an angel
23845
23846messenger sent to lead him where she would, made ready to follow her.
23847
23848She took him by the hand and led him on. As they passed the door of the
23849
23850room he had proposed to rob, she  shuddered and looked up into his
23851
23852face.  What a white face was that, and with what a look did he meet
23853
23854hers!<br><br>
23855
23856She took him to her own chamber, and, still holding him by the hand as
23857
23858if she feared to lose him for an instant, gathered together the little
23859
23860stock she had, and hung her basket on her arm.  The old man took his
23861
23862wallet from her hands and strapped it on his shoulders--his staff,
23863
23864too, she had brought away--and then she led him forth.<br><br>
23865
23866Through the strait streets, and narrow crooked outskirts, their
23867
23868trembling feet passed quickly.  Up the steep hill too, crowned by the
23869
23870old grey castle, they toiled with rapid steps, and had not once looked
23871
23872behind.<br><br>
23873
23874But as they drew nearer the ruined walls, the moon rose in all her
23875
23876gentle glory, and, from their venerable age, garlanded with ivy, moss,
23877
23878and waving grass, the child looked back upon the sleeping town, deep in
23879
23880the valley's shade: and on the far-off river with its winding track of
23881
23882light: and on the distant hills; and as she did so, she clasped the
23883
23884hand she held, less firmly, and bursting into tears, fell upon the old
23885
23886man's neck.<br><br>
23887
23888CHAPTER 43<br><br>
23889
23890Her momentary weakness past, the child again summoned the resolution
23891
23892which had until now sustained her, and, endeavouring to keep steadily
23893
23894in her view the one idea that they were flying from disgrace and crime,
23895
23896and that her grandfather's preservation must depend solely on her
23897
23898firmness, unaided by one word of advice or any helping hand, urged him
23899
23900onward and looked back no more.<br><br>
23901
23902While he, subdued and abashed, seemed to crouch before her, and to
23903
23904shrink and cower down, as if in the presence of some superior creature,
23905
23906the child herself was sensible of a new feeling within her, which
23907
23908elevated her nature, and inspired her with an energy and confidence she
23909
23910had never known.  There was no divided responsibility now; the whole
23911
23912burden of their two lives had fallen upon her, and henceforth she must
23913
23914think and act for both.  'I have saved him,' she thought.  'In all
23915
23916dangers and distresses, I will remember that.'<br><br>
23917
23918At any other time, the recollection of having deserted the friend who
23919
23920had shown them so much homely kindness, without a word of
23921
23922justification--the thought that they were guilty, in appearance, of
23923
23924treachery and ingratitude--even the having parted from the two
23925
23926sisters--would have filled her with sorrow and regret.  But now, all
23927
23928other considerations were lost in the new uncertainties and anxieties
23929
23930of their wild and wandering life; and the very desperation of their
23931
23932condition roused and stimulated her.<br><br>
23933
23934In the pale moonlight, which lent a wanness of its own to the delicate
23935
23936face where thoughtful care already mingled with the winning grace and
23937
23938loveliness of youth, the too bright eye, the spiritual head, the lips
23939
23940that pressed each other with such high resolve and courage of the
23941
23942heart, the slight figure firm in its bearing and yet so very weak, told
23943
23944their silent tale; but told it only to the wind that rustled by, which,
23945
23946taking up its burden, carried, perhaps to some mother's pillow, faint
23947
23948dreams of childhood fading in its bloom, and resting in the sleep that
23949
23950knows no waking.<br><br>
23951
23952The night crept on apace, the moon went down, the stars grew pale and
23953
23954dim, and morning, cold as they, slowly approached.  Then, from behind a
23955
23956distant hill, the noble sun rose up, driving the mists in phantom
23957
23958shapes before it, and clearing the earth of their ghostly forms till
23959
23960darkness came again.  When it had climbed higher into the sky, and
23961
23962there was warmth in its cheerful beams, they laid them down to sleep,
23963
23964upon a bank, hard by some water.<br><br>
23965
23966But Nell retained her grasp upon the old man's arm, and long after he
23967
23968was slumbering soundly, watched him with untiring eyes.  Fatigue stole
23969
23970over her at last; her grasp relaxed, tightened, relaxed again, and they
23971
23972slept side by side.<br><br>
23973
23974A confused sound of voices, mingling with her dreams, awoke her.  A man
23975
23976of very uncouth and rough appearance was standing over them, and two of
23977
23978his companions were looking on, from a long heavy boat which had come
23979
23980close to the bank while they were sleeping.  The boat had neither oar
23981
23982nor sail, but was towed by a couple of horses, who, with the rope to
23983
23984which they were harnessed slack and dripping in the water, were resting
23985
23986on the path.<br><br>
23987
23988'Holloa!' said the man roughly.  'What's the matter here?'<br><br>
23989
23990'We were only asleep, Sir,' said Nell.  'We have been walking all
23991
23992night.'<br><br>
23993
23994'A pair of queer travellers to be walking all night,' observed the man
23995
23996who had first accosted them.  'One of you is a trifle too old for that
23997
23998sort of work, and the other a trifle too young.  Where are you going?'<br><br>
23999
24000Nell faltered, and pointed at hazard towards the West, upon which the
24001
24002man inquired if she meant a certain town which he named.  Nell, to
24003
24004avoid more questioning, said 'Yes, that was the place.'<br><br>
24005
24006'Where have you come from?' was the next question; and this being an
24007
24008easier one to answer, Nell mentioned the name of the village in which
24009
24010their friend the schoolmaster dwelt, as being less likely to be known
24011
24012to the men or to provoke further inquiry.<br><br>
24013
24014'I thought somebody had been robbing and ill-using you, might be,' said
24015
24016the man.  'That's all.  Good day.'<br><br>
24017
24018Returning his salute and feeling greatly relieved by his departure,
24019
24020Nell looked after him as he mounted one of the horses, and the boat
24021
24022went on.  It had not gone very far, when it stopped again, and she saw
24023
24024the men beckoning to her.<br><br>
24025
24026'Did you call to me?' said Nell, running up to them.<br><br>
24027
24028'You may go with us if you like,' replied one of those in the boat.
24029
24030'We're going to the same place.'<br><br>
24031
24032The child hesitated for a moment.  Thinking, as she had thought with
24033
24034great trepidation more than once before, that the men whom she had seen
24035
24036with her grandfather might, perhaps, in their eagerness for the booty,
24037
24038follow them, and regaining their influence over him, set hers at
24039
24040nought; and that if they went with these men, all traces of them must
24041
24042surely be lost at that spot; determined to accept the offer.  The boat
24043
24044came close to the bank again, and before she had had any more time for
24045
24046consideration, she and her grandfather were on board, and gliding
24047
24048smoothly down the canal.<br><br>
24049
24050The sun shone pleasantly on the bright water, which was sometimes
24051
24052shaded by trees, and sometimes open to a wide extent of country,
24053
24054intersected by running streams, and rich with wooded hills, cultivated
24055
24056land, and sheltered farms.  Now and then, a village with its modest
24057
24058spire, thatched roofs, and gable-ends, would peep out from among the
24059
24060trees; and, more than once, a distant town, with great church towers
24061
24062looming through its smoke, and high factories or workshops rising above
24063
24064the mass of houses, would come in view, and, by the length of time it
24065
24066lingered in the distance, show them how slowly they travelled.  Their
24067
24068way lay, for the most part, through the low grounds, and open plains;
24069
24070and except these distant places, and occasionally some men working in
24071
24072the fields, or lounging on the bridges under which they passed, to see
24073
24074them creep along, nothing encroached on their monotonous and secluded
24075
24076track.<br><br>
24077
24078Nell was rather disheartened, when they stopped at a kind of wharf late
24079
24080in the afternoon, to learn from one of the men that they would not
24081
24082reach their place of destination until next day, and that, if she had
24083
24084no provision with her, she had better buy it there.  She had but a few
24085
24086pence, having already bargained with them for some bread, but even of
24087
24088these it was necessary to be very careful, as they were on their way to
24089
24090an utterly strange place, with no resource whatever.  A small loaf and
24091
24092a morsel of cheese, therefore, were all she could afford, and with
24093
24094these she took her place in the boat again, and, after half an hour's
24095
24096delay during which the men were drinking at the public-house, proceeded
24097
24098on the journey.<br><br>
24099
24100They brought some beer and spirits into the boat with them, and what
24101
24102with drinking freely before, and again now, were soon in a fair way of
24103
24104being quarrelsome and intoxicated.  Avoiding the small cabin,
24105
24106therefore, which was very dark and filthy, and to which they often
24107
24108invited both her and her grandfather, Nell sat in the open air with the
24109
24110old man by her side: listening to their boisterous hosts with a
24111
24112palpitating heart, and almost wishing herself safe on shore again
24113
24114though she should have to walk all night.<br><br>
24115
24116They were, in truth, very rugged, noisy fellows, and quite brutal among
24117
24118themselves, though civil enough to their two passengers.  Thus, when a
24119
24120quarrel arose between the man who was steering and his friend in the
24121
24122cabin, upon the question who had first suggested the propriety of
24123
24124offering Nell some beer, and when the quarrel led to a scuffle in which
24125
24126they beat each other fearfully, to her inexpressible terror, neither
24127
24128visited his displeasure upon her, but each contented himself with
24129
24130venting it on his adversary, on whom, in addition to blows, he bestowed
24131
24132a variety of compliments, which, happily for the child, were conveyed
24133
24134in terms, to her quite unintelligible.  The difference was finally
24135
24136adjusted, by the man who had come out of the cabin knocking the other
24137
24138into it head first, and taking the helm into his own hands, without
24139
24140evincing the least discomposure himself, or causing any in his friend,
24141
24142who, being of a tolerably strong constitution and perfectly inured to
24143
24144such trifles, went to sleep as he was, with his heels upwards, and in a
24145
24146couple of minutes or so was snoring comfortably.<br><br>
24147
24148By this time it was night again, and though the child felt cold, being
24149
24150but poorly clad, her anxious thoughts were far removed from her own
24151
24152suffering or uneasiness, and busily engaged in endeavouring to devise
24153
24154some scheme for their joint subsistence.  The same spirit which had
24155
24156supported her on the previous night, upheld and sustained her now.  Her
24157
24158grandfather lay sleeping safely at her side, and the crime to which his
24159
24160madness urged him, was not committed.  That was her comfort.<br><br>
24161
24162How every circumstance of her short, eventful life, came thronging into
24163
24164her mind, as they travelled on!  Slight incidents, never thought of or
24165
24166remembered until now; faces, seen once and ever since forgotten; words
24167
24168scarcely heeded at the time; scenes, of a year ago and those of
24169
24170yesterday, mixing up and linking themselves together; familiar places
24171
24172shaping themselves out in the darkness from things which, when
24173
24174approached, were, of all others, the most remote and most unlike them;
24175
24176sometimes, a strange confusion in her mind relative to the occasion of
24177
24178her being there, and the place to which she was going, and the people
24179
24180she was with; and imagination suggesting remarks and questions which
24181
24182sounded so plainly in her ears, that she would start, and turn, and be
24183
24184almost tempted to reply;--all the fancies and contradictions common in
24185
24186watching and excitement and restless change of place, beset the child.<br><br>
24187
24188She happened, while she was thus engaged, to encounter the face of the
24189
24190man on deck, in whom the sentimental stage of drunkenness had now
24191
24192succeeded to the boisterous, and who, taking from his mouth a short
24193
24194pipe, quilted over with string for its longer preservation, requested
24195
24196that she would oblige him with a song.<br><br>
24197
24198'You've got a very pretty voice, a very soft eye, and a very strong
24199
24200memory,' said this gentleman; 'the voice and eye I've got evidence for,
24201
24202and the memory's an opinion of my own.  And I'm never wrong.  Let me
24203
24204hear a song this minute.'<br><br>
24205
24206'I don't think I know one, sir,' returned Nell.<br><br>
24207
24208'You know forty-seven songs,' said the man, with a gravity which
24209
24210admitted of no altercation on the subject.  'Forty-seven's your number.
24211
24212Let me hear one of 'em--the best.  Give me a song this minute.'<br><br>
24213
24214Not knowing what might be the consequences of irritating her friend,
24215
24216and trembling with the fear of doing so, poor Nell sang him some little
24217
24218ditty which she had learned in happier times, and which was so
24219
24220agreeable to his ear, that on its conclusion he in the same peremptory
24221
24222manner requested to be favoured with another, to which he was so
24223
24224obliging as to roar a chorus to no particular tune, and with no words
24225
24226at all, but which amply made up in its amazing energy for its
24227
24228deficiency in other respects.  The noise of this vocal performance
24229
24230awakened the other man, who, staggering upon deck and shaking his late
24231
24232opponent by the hand, swore that singing was his pride and joy and
24233
24234chief delight, and that he desired no better entertainment.  With a
24235
24236third call, more imperative than either of the two former, Nell felt
24237
24238obliged to comply, and this time a chorus was maintained not only by
24239
24240the two men together, but also by the third man on horseback, who being
24241
24242by his position debarred from a nearer participation in the revels of
24243
24244the night, roared when his companions roared, and rent the very air.
24245
24246In this way, with little cessation, and singing the same songs again
24247
24248and again, the tired and exhausted child kept them in good humour all
24249
24250that night; and many a cottager, who was roused from his soundest sleep
24251
24252by the discordant chorus as it floated away upon the wind, hid his head
24253
24254beneath the bed-clothes and trembled at the sounds.<br><br>
24255
24256At length the morning dawned.  It was no sooner light than it began to
24257
24258rain heavily.  As the child could not endure the intolerable vapours of
24259
24260the cabin, they covered her, in return for her exertions, with some
24261
24262pieces of sail-cloth and ends of tarpaulin, which sufficed to keep her
24263
24264tolerably dry and to shelter her grandfather besides.  As the day
24265
24266advanced the rain increased.  At noon it poured down more hopelessly
24267
24268and heavily than ever without the faintest promise of abatement.<br><br>
24269
24270They had, for some time, been gradually approaching the place for which
24271
24272they were bound.  The water had become thicker and dirtier; other
24273
24274barges, coming from it, passed them frequently; the paths of coal-ash
24275
24276and huts of staring brick, marked the vicinity of some great
24277
24278manufacturing town; while scattered streets and houses, and smoke from
24279
24280distant furnaces, indicated that they were already in the outskirts.
24281
24282Now, the clustered roofs, and piles of buildings, trembling with the
24283
24284working of engines, and dimly resounding with their shrieks and
24285
24286throbbings; the tall chimneys vomiting forth a black vapour, which hung
24287
24288in a dense ill-favoured cloud above the housetops and filled the air
24289
24290with gloom; the clank of hammers beating upon iron, the roar of busy
24291
24292streets and noisy crowds, gradually augmenting until all the various
24293
24294sounds blended into one and none was distinguishable for itself,
24295
24296announced the termination of their journey.<br><br>
24297
24298The boat floated into the wharf to which it belonged.  The men were
24299
24300occupied directly.  The child and her grandfather, after waiting in
24301
24302vain to thank them or ask them whither they should go, passed through a
24303
24304dirty lane into a crowded street, and stood, amid its din and tumult,
24305
24306and in the pouring rain, as strange, bewildered, and confused, as if
24307
24308they had lived a thousand years before, and were raised from the dead
24309
24310and placed there by a miracle.<br><br>
24311
24312CHAPTER 44<br><br>
24313
24314The throng of people hurried by, in two opposite streams, with no
24315
24316symptom of cessation or exhaustion; intent upon their own affairs; and
24317
24318undisturbed in their business speculations, by the roar of carts and
24319
24320waggons laden with clashing wares, the slipping of horses' feet upon
24321
24322the wet and greasy pavement, the rattling of the rain on windows and
24323
24324umbrella-tops, the jostling of the more impatient passengers, and all
24325
24326the noise and tumult of a crowded street in the high tide of its
24327
24328occupation: while the two poor strangers, stunned and bewildered by the
24329
24330hurry they beheld but had no part in, looked mournfully on; feeling,
24331
24332amidst the crowd, a solitude which has no parallel but in the thirst of
24333
24334the shipwrecked mariner, who, tost to and fro upon the billows of a
24335
24336mighty ocean, his red eyes blinded by looking on the water which hems
24337
24338him in on every side, has not one drop to cool his burning tongue.<br><br>
24339
24340They withdrew into a low archway for shelter from the rain, and watched
24341
24342the faces of those who passed, to find in one among them a ray of
24343
24344encouragement or hope.  Some frowned, some smiled, some muttered to
24345
24346themselves, some made slight gestures, as if anticipating the
24347
24348conversation in which they would shortly be engaged, some wore the
24349
24350cunning look of bargaining and plotting, some were anxious and eager,
24351
24352some slow and dull; in some countenances, were written gain; in others,
24353
24354loss.  It was like being in the confidence of all these people to stand
24355
24356quietly there, looking into their faces as they flitted past.  In busy
24357
24358places, where each man has an object of his own, and feels assured that
24359
24360every other man has his, his character and purpose are written broadly
24361
24362in his face.  In the public walks and lounges of a town, people go to
24363
24364see and to be seen, and there the same expression, with little variety,
24365
24366is repeated a hundred times.  The working-day faces come nearer to the
24367
24368truth, and let it out more plainly.<br><br>
24369
24370Falling into that kind of abstraction which such a solitude awakens,
24371
24372the child continued to gaze upon the passing crowd with a wondering
24373
24374interest, amounting almost to a temporary forgetfulness of her own
24375
24376condition.  But cold, wet, hunger, want of rest, and lack of any place
24377
24378in which to lay her aching head, soon brought her thoughts back to the
24379
24380point whence they had strayed.  No one passed who seemed to notice
24381
24382them, or to whom she durst appeal.  After some time, they left the
24382ir
24383
24384place of refuge from the weather, and mingled with the concourse.<br><br>
24385
24386Evening came on.  They were still wandering up and down, with fewer
24387
24388people about them, but with the same sense of solitude in their own
24389
24390breasts, and the same indifference from all around.  The lights in the
24391
24392streets and shops made them feel yet more desolate, for with their
24393
24394help, night and darkness seemed to come on faster.  Shivering with the
24395
24396cold and damp, ill in body, and sick to death at heart, the child
24397
24398needed her utmost firmness and resolution even to creep along.<br><br>
24399
24400Why had they ever come to this noisy town, when there were peaceful
24401
24402country places, in which, at least, they might have hungered and
24403
24404thirsted, with less suffering than in its squalid strife!  They were
24405
24406but an atom, here, in a mountain heap of misery, the very sight of
24407
24408which increased their hopelessness and suffering.<br><br>
24409
24410The child had not only to endure the accumulated hardships of their
24411
24412destitute condition, but to bear the reproaches of her grandfather, who
24413
24414began to murmur at having been led away from their late abode, and
24415
24416demand that they should return to it.  Being now penniless, and no
24417
24418relief or prospect of relief appearing, they retraced their steps
24419
24420through the deserted streets, and went back to the wharf, hoping to
24421
24422find the boat in which they had come, and to be allowed to sleep on
24423
24424board that night.  But here again they were disappointed, for the gate
24425
24426was closed, and some fierce dogs, barking at their approach, obliged
24427
24428them to retreat.<br><br>
24429
24430'We must sleep in the open air to-night, dear,' said the child in a
24431
24432weak voice, as they turned away from this last repulse; 'and to-morrow
24433
24434we will beg our way to some quiet part of the country, and try to earn
24435
24436our bread in very humble work.'<br><br>
24437
24438'Why did you bring me here?' returned the old man fiercely.  'I cannot
24439
24440bear these close eternal streets.  We came from a quiet part.  Why did
24441
24442you force me to leave it?'<br><br>
24443
24444'Because I must have that dream I told you of, no more,' said the
24445
24446child, with a momentary firmness that lost itself in tears; 'and we
24447
24448must live among poor people, or it will come again.  Dear grandfather,
24449
24450you are old and weak, I know;
24450 but look at me.  I never will complain if
24451
24452you will not, but I have some suffering indeed.'<br><br>
24453
24454'Ah! poor, houseless, wandering, motherless child!' cried the old man,
24455
24456clasping his hands and gazing as if for the first time upon her anxious
24457
24458face, her travel-stained dress, and bruised and swollen feet; 'has all
24459
24460my agony of care brought her to this at last!  Was I a happy man once,
24461
24462and have I lost happiness and all I had, for this!'<br><br>
24463
24464'If we were in the country now,' said the child, with assumed
24465
24466cheerfulness, as they walked on looking about them for a shelter, we
24467
24468should find some good old tree, stretching out his green arms as if he
24469
24470loved us, and nodding and rustling as if he would have us fall asleep,
24471
24472thinking of him while he watched.  Please God, we shall be there
24473
24474soon--to-morrow or next day at the farthest--and in the meantime let us
24475
24476think, dear, that it was a good thing we came here; for we are lost in
24477
24478the crowd and hurry of this place, and if any cruel people should
24479
24480pursue us, they could surely never trace us further.  There's comfort
24481
24482in that.  And here's a deep old doorway--very dark, but quite dry, and
24483
24484warm too, for the wind don't blow in here--What's that!'<br><br>
24485
24486Uttering a half shriek, she recoiled from a black figure which came
24487
24488suddenly out of the dark recess in which they were about to take
24489
24490refuge, and stood still, looking at them.<br><br>
24491
24492'Speak again,' it said; 'do I know the voice?'<br><br>
24493
24494'No,' replied the child timidly; 'we are strangers, and having no money
24495
24496for a night's lodging, were going to rest here.'<br><br>
24497
24498There was a feeble lamp at no great distance; the only one in the
24499
24500place, which was a kind of square yard, but sufficient to show how poor
24501
24502and mean it was.  To this, the figure beckoned them; at the same time
24503
24504drawing within its rays, as if to show that it had no desire to conceal
24505
24506itself or take them at an advantage.  The form was that of a man,
24507
24508miserably clad and begrimed with smoke, which, perhaps by its contrast
24509
24510with the natural colour of his skin, made him look paler than he really
24511
24512was.  That he was naturally of a very wan and pallid aspect, however,
24513
24514his hollow cheeks, sharp features, and sunken eyes, no less than a
24515
24516certain look of patient endurance, sufficiently testified.  His voice
24517
24518was harsh by nature, but not brutal; and though his face, besides
24519
24520possessing the characteristics already mentioned, was overshadowed by a
24521
24522quantity of long dark hair, its expression was neither ferocious nor
24523
24524bad.<br><br>
24525
24526'How came you to think of resting there?' he said.  'Or how,' he added,
24527
24528looking more attentively at the child, 'do you come to want a place of
24529
24530rest at this time of night?'<br><br>
24531
24532'Our misfortunes,' the grandfather answered, 'are the cause.'<br><br>
24533
24534'Do you know,' said the man, looking still more earnestly at Nell, 'how
24535
24536wet she is, and that the damp streets are not a place for her?'<br><br>
24537
24538'I know it well, God help me,' he replied.  'What can I do!'<br><br>
24539
24540The man looked at Nell again, and gently touched her garments, from
24541
24542which the rain was running off in little streams.  'I can give you
24543
24544warmth,' he said, after a pause; 'nothing else.  Such lodging as I
24545
24546have, is in that house,' pointing to the doorway from which he had
24547
24548emerged, 'but she is safer and better there than here.  The fire is in
24549
24550a rough place, but you can pass the night beside it safely, if you'll
24551
24552trust yourselves to me.  You see that red light yonder?'<br><br>
24553
24554They raised their eyes, and saw a lurid glare hanging in the dark sky;
24555
24556the dull reflection of some distant fire.<br><br>
24557
24558'It's not far,' said the man.  'Shall I take you there?  You were going
24559
24560to sleep upon cold bricks; I can give you a bed of warm ashes--nothing
24561
24562better.'<br><br>
24563
24564Without waiting for any further reply than he saw in their looks, he
24565
24566took Nell in his arms, and bade the old man follow.<br><br>
24567
24568Carrying her as tenderly, and as easily too, as if she had been an
24569
24570infant, and showing himself both swift and sure of foot, he led the way
24571
24572through what appeared to be the poorest and most wretched quarter of
24573
24574the town; and turning aside to avoid the overflowing kennels or running
24575
24576waterspouts, but holding his course, regardless of such obstructions,
24577
24578and making his way straight through them.  They had proceeded thus, in
24579
24580silence, for some quarter of an hour, and had lost sight of the glare
24581
24582to which he had pointed, in the dark and narrow ways by which they had
24583
24584come, when it suddenly burst upon them again, streaming up from the
24585
24586high chimney of a building close before them.<br><br>
24587
24588'This is the place,' he said, pausing at a door to put Nell down and
24589
24590take her hand.  'Don't be afraid.  There's nobody here will harm you.'<br><br>
24591
24592It needed a strong confidence in this assurance to induce them to
24593
24594enter, and what they saw inside did not diminish their apprehension and
24595
24596alarm.  In a large and lofty building, supported by pillars of iron,
24597
24598with great black apertures in the upper walls, open to the external
24599
24600air; echoing to the roof with the beating of hammers and roar of
24601
24602furnaces, mingled with the hissing of red-hot metal plunged in water,
24603
24604and a hundred strange unearthly noises never heard elsewhere; in this
24605
24606gloomy place, moving like demons among the flame and smoke, dimly and
24607
24608fitfully seen, flushed and tormented by the burning fires, and wielding
24609
24610great weapons, a faulty blow from any one of which must have crushed
24611
24612some workman's skull, a number of men laboured like giants.  Others,
24613
24614reposing upon heaps of coals or ashes, with their faces turned to the
24615
24616black vault above, slept or rested from their toil.  Others again,
24617
24618opening the white-hot furnace-doors, cast fuel on the flames, which
24619
24620came rushing and roaring forth to meet it, and licked it up like oil.
24621
24622Others drew forth, with clashing noise, upon the ground, great sheets
24623
24624of glowing steel, emitting an insupportable heat, and a dull deep light
24625
24626like that which reddens in the eyes of savage beasts.<br><br>
24627
24628Through these bewildering sights and deafening sounds, their conductor
24629
24630led them to where, in a dark portion of the building, one furnace burnt
24631
24632by night and day--so, at least, they gathered from the motion of his
24633
24634lips, for as yet they could only see him speak: not hear him.  The man
24635
24636who had been watching this fire, and whose task was ended for the
24637
24638present, gladly withdrew, and left them with their friend, who,
24639
24640spreading Nell's little cloak upon a heap of ashes, and showing her
24641
24642where she could hang her outer-clothes to dry, signed to her and the
24643
24644old man to lie down and sleep.  For himself, he took his station on a
24645
24646rugged mat before the furnace-door, and resting his chin upon his
24647
24648hands, watched the flame as it shone through the iron chinks, and the
24649
24650white ashes as they fell into their bright hot grave below.<br><br>
24651
24652The warmth of her bed, hard and humble as it was, combined with the
24653
24654great fatigue she had undergone, soon caused the tumult of the place to
24655
24656fall with a gentler sound upon the child's tired ears, and was not long
24657
24658in lulling her to sleep.  The old man was stretched beside her, and
24659
24660with her hand upon his neck she lay and dreamed.<br><br>
24661
24662It was yet night when she awoke, nor did she know how long, or for how
24663
24664short a time, she had slept.  But she found herself protected, both
24665
24666from any cold air that might find its way into the building, and from
24667
24668the scorching heat, by some of the workmen's clothes; and glancing at
24669
24670their friend saw that he sat in exactly the same attitude, looking with
24671
24672a fixed earnestness of attention towards the fire, and keeping so very
24673
24674still that he did not even seem to breathe.  She lay in the state
24675
24676between sleeping and waking, looking so long at his motionless figure
24677
24678that at length she almost feared he had died as he sat there; and
24679
24680softly rising and drawing close to him, ventured to whisper in his ear.<br><br>
24681
24682He moved, and glancing from her to the place she had lately occupied,
24683
24684as if to assure himself that it was really the child so near him,
24685
24686looked inquiringly into her face.<br><br>
24687
24688'I feared you were ill,' she said.  'The other men are all in motion,
24689
24690and you are so very quiet.'<br><br>
24691
24692'They leave me to myself,' he replied.  'They know my humour.  They
24693
24694laugh at me, but don't harm me in it.  See yonder there--that's my
24695
24696friend.'<br><br>
24697
24698'The fire?' said the child.<br><br>
24699
24700'It has been alive as long as I have,' the man made answer.  'We talk
24701
24702and think together all night long.'<br><br>
24703
24704The child glanced quickly at him in her surprise, but he had turned his
24705
24706eyes in their former direction, and was musing as before.<br><br>
24707
24708'It's like a book to me,' he said--'the only book I ever learned to
24709
24710read; and many an old story it tells me.  It's music, for I should know
24711
24712its voice among a thousand, and there are other voices in its roar.  It
24713
24714has its pictures too.  You don't know how many strange faces and
24715
24716different scenes I trace in the red-hot coals.  It's my memory, that
24717
24718fire, and shows me all my life.'<br><br>
24719
24720The child, bending down to listen to his words, could not help
24721
24722remarking with what brightened eyes he continued to speak and muse.<br><br>
24723
24724'Yes,' he said, with a faint smile, 'it was the same when I was quite a
24725
24726baby, and crawled about it, till I fell asleep.  My father watched it
24727
24728then.'<br><br>
24729
24730'Had you no mother?' asked the child.<br><br>
24731
24732'No, she was dead.  Women work hard in these parts.  She worked herself
24733
24734to death they told me, and, as they said so then, the fire has gone on
24735
24736saying the same thing ever since.  I suppose it was true.  I have
24737
24738always believed it.'<br><br>
24739
24740'Were you brought up here, then?' said the child.<br><br>
24741
24742'Summer and winter,' he replied.  'Secretly at first, but when they
24743
24744found it out, they let him keep me here.  So the fire nursed me--the
24745
24746same fire.  It has never gone out.'<br><br>
24747
24748'You are fond of it?' said the child.<br><br>
24749
24750'Of course I am.  He died before it.  I saw him fall down--just there,
24751
24752where those ashes are burning now--and wondered, I remember, why it
24753
24754didn't help him.'<br><br>
24755
24756'Have you been here ever since?' asked the child.<br><br>
24757
24758'Ever since I came to watch it; but there was a while between, and a
24759
24760very cold dreary while it was.  It burned all the time though, and
24761
24762roared and leaped when I came back, as it used to do in our play days.
24763
24764You may guess, from looking at me, what kind of child I was, but for
24765
24766all the difference between us I was a child, and when I saw you in the
24767
24768street to-night, you put me in mind of myself, as I was after he died,
24769
24770and made me wish to bring you to the fire.  I thought of those old
24771
24772times again, when I saw you sleeping by it.  You should be sleeping
24773
24774now.  Lie down again, poor child, lie down again!'<br><br>
24775
24776With that, he led her to her rude couch, and covering her with the
24777
24778clothes with which she had found herself enveloped when she woke,
24779
24780returned to his seat, whence he moved no more unless to feed the
24781
24782furnace, but remained motionless as a statue.  The child continued to
24783
24784watch him for a little time, but soon yielded to the drowsiness that
24785
24786came upon her, and, in the dark strange place and on the heap of ashes,
24787
24788slept as peacefully as if the room had been a palace chamber, and the
24789
24790bed, a bed of down.<br><br>
24791
24792When she awoke again, broad day was shining through the lofty openings
24793
24794in the walls, and, stealing in slanting rays but midway down, seemed to
24795
24796make the building darker than it had been at night.  The clang and
24797
24798tumult were still going on, and the remorseless fires were burning
24799
24800fiercely as before; for few changes of night and day brought rest or
24801
24802quiet there.<br><br>
24803
24804Her friend parted his breakfast--a scanty mess of coffee and some
24805
24806coarse bread--with the child and her grandfather, and inquired whither
24807
24808they were going.  She told him that they sought some distant country
24809
24810place remote from towns or even other villages, and with a faltering
24811
24812tongue inquired what road they would do best to take.<br><br>
24813
24814'I know little of the country,' he said, shaking his head, 'for such as
24815
24816I, pass all our lives before our furnace doors, and seldom go forth to
24817
24818breathe.  But there are such places yonder.'<br><br>
24819
24820'And far from here?' said Nell.<br><br>
24821
24822'Aye surely.  How could they be near us, and be green and fresh?  The
24823
24824road lies, too, through miles and miles, all lighted up by fires like
24825
24826ours--a strange black road, and one that would frighten you by night.'<br><br>
24827
24828'We are here and must go on,' said the child boldly; for she saw that
24829
24830the old man listened with anxious ears to this account.<br><br>
24831
24832'Rough people--paths never made for little feet like yours--a dismal
24833
24834blighted way--is there no turning back, my child?'<br><br>
24835
24836'There is none,' cried Nell, pressing forward.  'If you can direct us,
24837
24838do.  If not, pray do not seek to turn us from our purpose.  Indeed you
24839
24840do not know the danger that we shun, and how right and true we are in
24841
24842flying from it, or you would not try to stop us, I am sure you would
24843
24844not.'<br><br>
24845
24846'God forbid, if it is so!' said their uncouth protector, glancing from
24847
24848the eager child to her grandfather, who hung his head and bent his eyes
24849
24850upon the ground.  'I'll direct you from the door, the best I can.  I
24851
24852wish I could do more.'<br><br>
24853
24854He showed them, then, by which road they must leave the town, and what
24855
24856course they should hold when they had gained it.  He lingered so long
24857
24858on these instructions, that the child, with a fervent blessing, tore
24859
24860herself away, and stayed to hear no more.<br><br>
24861
24862But, before they had reached the corner of the lane, the man came
24863
24864running after them, and, pressing her hand, left something in it--two
24865
24866old, battered, smoke-encrusted penny pieces.  Who knows but they shone
24867
24868as brightly in the eyes of angels, as golden gifts that have been
24869
24870chronicled on tombs?<br><br>
24871
24872And thus they separated; the child to lead her sacred charge farther
24873
24874from guilt and shame; the labourer to attach a fresh interest to the
24875
24876spot where his guests had slept, and read new histories in his furnace
24877
24878fire.<br><br>
24879
24880CHAPTER 45<br><br>
24881
24882In all their journeying, they had never longed so ardently, they had
24883
24884never so pined and wearied, for the freedom of pure air and open
24885
24886country, as now.  No, not even on that memorable morning, when,
24887
24888deserting their old home, they abandoned themselves to the mercies of a
24889
24890strange world, and left all the dumb and senseless things they had
24891
24892known and loved, behind--not even then, had they so yearned for the
24893
24894fresh solitudes of wood, hillside, and field, as now, when the noise
24895
24896and dirt and vapour, of the great manufacturing town reeking with lean
24897
24898misery and hungry wretchedness, hemmed them in on every side, and
24899
24900seemed to shut out hope, and render escape impossible.<br><br>
24901
24902'Two days and nights!' thought the child.  'He said two days and nights
24903
24904we should have to spend among such scenes as these.  Oh! if we live to
24905
24906reach the country once again, if we get clear of these dreadful places,
24907
24908though it is only to lie down and die, with what a grateful heart I
24909
24910shall thank God for so much mercy!'<br><br>
24911
24912With thoughts like this, and with some vague design of travelling to a
24913
24914great distance among streams and mountains, where only very poor and
24915
24916simple people lived, and where they might maintain themselves by very
24917
24918humble helping work in farms, free from such terrors as that from which
24919
24920they fled--the child, with no resource but the poor man's gift, and no
24921
24922encouragement but that which flowed from her own heart, and its sense
24923
24924of the truth and right of what she did, nerved herself to this last
24925
24926journey and boldly pursued her task.<br><br>
24927
24928'We shall be very slow to-day, dear,' she said, as they toiled
24929
24930painfully through the streets; 'my feet are sore, and I have pains in
24931
24932all my limbs from the wet of yesterday.  I saw that he looked at us and
24933
24934thought of that, when he said how long we should be upon the road.'<br><br>
24935
24936'It was a dreary way he told us of,' returned her grandfather,
24937
24938piteously.  'Is there no other road?  Will you not let me go some other
24939
24940way than this?'<br><br>
24941
24942'Places lie beyond these,' said the child, firmly, 'where we may live
24943
24944in peace, and be tempted to do no harm.  We will take the road that
24945
24946promises to have that end, and we would not turn out of it, if it were
24947
24948a hundred times worse than our fears lead us to expect.  We would not,
24949
24950dear, would we?'<br><br>
24951
24952'No,' replied the old man, wavering in his voice, no less than in his
24953
24954manner.  'No.  Let us go on.  I am ready.  I am quite ready, Nell.'<br><br>
24955
24956The child walked with more difficulty than she had led her companion to
24957
24958expect, for the pains that racked her joints were of no common
24959
24960severity, and every exertion increased them.  But they wrung from her
24961
24962no complaint, or look of suffering; and, though the two travellers
24963
24964proceeded very slowly, they did proceed.  Clearing the town in course
24965
24966of time, they began to feel that they were fairly on their way.<br><br>
24967
24968A long suburb of red brick houses--some with patches of garden-ground,
24969
24970where coal-dust and factory smoke darkened the shrinking leaves, and
24971
24972coarse rank flowers, and where the struggling vegetation sickened and
24973
24974sank under the hot breath of kiln and furnace, making them by its
24975
24976presence seem yet more blighting and unwholesome than in the town
24977
24978itself--a long, flat, straggling suburb passed, they came, by slow
24979
24980degrees, upon a cheerless region, where not a blade of grass was seen
24981
24982to grow, where not a bud put forth its promise in the spring, where
24983
24984nothing green could live but on the surface of the stagnant pools,
24985
24986which here and there lay idly sweltering by the black road-side.<br><br>
24987
24988Advancing more and more into the shadow of this mournful place, its
24989
24990dark depressing influence stole upon their spirits, and filled them
24991
24992with a dismal gloom.  On every side, and far as the eye could see into
24993
24994the heavy distance, tall chimneys, crowding on each other, and
24995
24996presenting that endless repetition of the same dull, ugly form, which
24997
24998is the horror of oppressive dreams, poured out their plague of smoke,
24999
25000obscured the light, and made foul the melancholy air.  On mounds of
25001
25002ashes by the wayside, sheltered only by a few rough boards, or rotten
25003
25004pent-house roofs, strange engines spun and writhed like tortured
25005
25006creatures; clanking their iron chains, shrieking in their rapid whirl
25007
25008from time to time as though in torment unendurable, and making the
25009
25010ground tremble with their agonies.  Dismantled houses here and there
25011
25012appeared, tottering to the earth, propped up by fragments of others
25013
25014that had fallen down, unroofed, windowless, blackened, desolate, but
25015
25016yet inhabited.  Men, women, children, wan in their looks and ragged in
25017
25018attire, tended the engines, fed their tributary fire, begged upon the
25019
25020road, or scowled half-naked from the doorless houses.  Then came more
25021
25022of the wrathful monsters, whose like they almost seemed to be in their
25023
25024wildness and their untamed air, screeching and turning round and round
25025
25026again; and still, before, behind, and to the right and left, was the
25027
25028same interminable perspective of brick towers, never ceasing in their
25029
25030black vomit, blasting all things living or inanimate, shutting out the
25031
25032face of day, and closing in on all these horrors with a dense dark
25033
25034cloud.<br><br>
25035
25036But night-time in this dreadful spot!--night, when the smoke was
25037
25038changed to fire; when every chimney spirited up its flame; and places,
25039
25040that had been dark vaults all day, now shone red-hot, with figures
25041
25042moving to and fro within their blazing jaws, and calling to one another
25043
25044with hoarse cries--night, when the noise of every strange machine was
25045
25046aggravated by the darkness; when the people near them looked wilder and
25047
25048more savage; when bands of unemployed labourers paraded the roads, or
25049
25050clustered by torch-light round their leaders, who told them, in stern
25051
25052language, of their wrongs, and urged them on to frightful cries and
25053
25054threats; when maddened men, armed with sword and firebrand, spurning
25055
25056the tears and prayers of women who would restrain them, rushed forth on
25057
25058errands of terror and destruction, to work no ruin half so surely as
25059
25060their own--night, when carts came rumbling by, filled with rude
25061
25062coffins (for contagious disease and death had been busy with the living
25063
25064crops); when orphans cried, and distracted women shrieked and followed
25065
25066in their wake--night, when some called for bread, and some for drink to
25067
25068drown their cares, and some with tears, and some with staggering feet,
25069
25070and some with bloodshot eyes, went brooding home--night, which, unlike
25071
25072the night that Heaven sends on earth, brought with it no peace, nor
25073
25074quiet, nor signs of blessed sleep--who shall tell the terrors of the
25075
25076night to the young wandering child!<br><br>
25077
25078And yet she lay down, with nothing between her and the sky; and, with
25079
25080no fear for herself, for she was past it now, put up a prayer for the
25081
25082poor old man.  So very weak and spent, she felt, so very calm and
25083
25084unresisting, that she had no thought of any wants of her own, but
25085
25086prayed that God would raise up some friend for him.  She tried to
25087
25088recall the way they had come, and to look in the direction where the
25089
25090fire by which they had slept last night was burning.  She had forgotten
25091
25092to ask the name of the poor man, their friend, and when she had
25093
25094remembered him in her prayers, it seemed ungrateful not to turn one
25095
25096look towards the spot where he was watching.<br><br>
25097
25098A penny loaf was all they had had that day.  It was very little, but
25099
25100even hunger was forgotten in the strange tranquillity that crept over
25101
25102her senses.  She lay down, very gently, and, with a quiet smile upon
25103
25104her face, fell into a slumber.  It was not like sleep--and yet it must
25105
25106have been, or why those pleasant dreams of the little scholar all night
25107
25108long!  Morning came.  Much weaker, diminished powers even of sight and
25109
25110hearing, and yet the child made no complaint--perhaps would have made
25111
25112none, even if she had not had that inducement to be silent, travelling
25113
25114by her side.  She felt a hopelessness of their ever being extricated
25115
25116together from that forlorn place; a dull conviction that she was very
25117
25118ill, perhaps dying; but no fear or anxiety.<br><br>
25119
25120A loathing of food that she was not conscious of until they expended
25121
25122their last penny in the purchase of another loaf, prevented her
25123
25124partaking even of this poor repast.  Her grandfather ate greedily,
25125
25126which she was glad to see.<br><br>
25127
25128Their way lay through the same scenes as yesterday, with no variety or
25129
25130improvement.  There was the same thick air, difficult to breathe; the
25131
25132same blighted ground, the same hopeless prospect, the same misery and
25133
25134distress.  Objects appeared more dim, the noise less, the path more
25135
25136rugged and uneven, for sometimes she stumbled, and became roused, as it
25137
25138were, in the effort to prevent herself from falling.  Poor child! the
25139
25140cause was in her tottering feet.<br><br>
25141
25142Towards the afternoon, her grandfather complained bitterly of hunger.
25143
25144She approached one of the wretched hovels by the way-side, and knocked
25145
25146with her hand upon the door.<br><br>
25147
25148'What would you have here?' said a gaunt man, opening it.<br><br>
25149
25150'Charity.  A morsel of bread.'<br><br>
25151
25152'Do you see that?' returned the man hoarsely, pointing to a kind of
25153
25154bundle on the ground.  'That's a dead child.  I and five hundred other
25155
25156men were thrown out of work, three months ago.  That is my third dead
25157
25158child, and last.  Do you think I have charity to bestow, or a morsel of
25159
25160bread to spare?'<br><br>
25161
25162The child recoiled from the door, and it closed upon her.  Impelled by
25163
25164strong necessity, she knocked at another: a neighbouring one, which,
25165
25166yielding to the slight pressure of her hand, flew open.<br><br>
25167
25168It seemed that a couple of poor families lived in this hovel, for two
25169
25170women, each among children of her own, occupied different portions of
25171
25172the room.  In the centre, stood a grave gentleman in black who appeared
25173
25174to have just entered, and who held by the arm a boy.<br><br>
25175
25176'Here, woman,' he said, 'here's your deaf and dumb son.  You may thank
25177
25178me for restoring him to you.  He was brought before me, this morning,
25179
25180charged with theft; and with any other boy it would have gone hard, I
25181
25182assure you.  But, as I had compassion on his infirmities, and thought
25183
25184he might have learnt no better, I have managed to bring him back to
25185
25186you.  Take more care of him for the future.'<br><br>
25187
25188'And won't you give me back MY son!' said the other woman, hastily
25189
25190rising and confronting him.  'Won't you give me back MY son, Sir, who
25191
25192was transported for the same offence!'<br><br>
25193
25194'Was he deaf and dumb, woman?' asked the gentleman sternly.<br><br>
25195
25196'Was he not, Sir?'<br><br>
25197
25198'You know he was not.'<br><br>
25199
25200'He was,' cried the woman.  'He was deaf, dumb, and blind, to all that
25201
25202was good and right, from his cradle.  Her boy may have learnt no
25203
25204better! where did mine learn better?  where could he?  who was there to
25205
25206teach him better, or where was it to be learnt?'<br><br>
25207
25208'Peace, woman,' said the gentleman, 'your boy was in possession of all
25209
25210his senses.'<br><br>
25211
25212'He was,' cried the mother; 'and he was the more easy to be led astray
25213
25214because he had them.  If you save this boy because he may not know
25215
25216right from wrong, why did you not save mine who was never taught the
25217
25218difference?  You gentlemen have as good a right to punish her boy, that
25219
25220God has kept in ignorance of sound and speech, as you have to punish
25221
25222mine, that you kept in ignorance yourselves.  How many of the girls and
25223
25224boys--ah, men and women too--that are brought before you and you don't
25225
25226pity, are deaf and dumb in their minds, and go wrong in that state, and
25227
25228are punished in that state, body and soul, while you gentlemen are
25229
25230quarrelling among yourselves whether they ought to learn this or
25231
25232that?--Be a just man, Sir, and give me back my son.'<br><br>
25233
25234'You are desperate,' said the gentleman, taking out his snuff-box, 'and
25235
25236I am sorry for you.'<br><br>
25237
25238'I AM desperate,' returned the woman, 'and you have made me so.  Give
25239
25240me back my son, to work for these helpless children.  Be a just man,
25241
25242Sir, and, as you have had mercy upon this boy, give me back my son!'<br><br>
25243
25244The child had seen and heard enough to know that this was not a place
25245
25246at which to ask for alms.  She led the old man softly from the door,
25247
25248and they pursued their journey.<br><br>
25249
25250With less and less of hope or strength, as they went on, but with an
25251
25252undiminished resolution not to betray by any word or sigh her sinking
25253
25254state, so long as she had energy to move, the child, throughout the
25255
25256remainder of that hard day, compelled herself to proceed: not even
25257
25258stopping to rest as frequently as usual, to compensate in some measure
25259
25260for the tardy pace at which she was obliged to walk.  Evening was
25261
25262drawing on, but had not closed in, when--still travelling among the
25263
25264same dismal objects--they came to a busy town.<br><br>
25265
25266Faint and spiritless as they were, its streets were insupportable.
25267
25268After humbly asking for relief at some few doors, and being repulsed,
25269
25270they agreed to make their way out of it as speedily as they could, and
25271
25272try if the inmates of any lone house beyond, would have more pity on
25273
25274their exhausted state.<br><br>
25275
25276They were dragging themselves along through the last street, and the
25277
25278child felt that the time was close at hand when her enfeebled powers
25279
25280would bear no more.  There appeared before them, at this juncture,
25281
25282going in the same direction as themselves, a traveller on foot, who,
25283
25284with a portmanteau strapped to his back, leaned upon a stout stick as
25285
25286he walked, and read from a book which he held in his other hand.<br><br>
25287
25288It was not an easy matter to come up with him, and beseech his aid, for
25289
25290he walked fast, and was a little distance in advance.  At length, he
25291
25292stopped, to look more attentively at some passage in his book.
25293
25294Animated with a ray of hope, the child shot on before her grandfather,
25295
25296and, going close to the stranger without rousing him by the sound of
25297
25298her footsteps, began, in a few faint words, to implore his help.
25298<br><br>
25299
25300He turned his head.  The child clapped her hands together, uttered a
25301
25302wild shriek, and fell senseless at his feet.<br><br>
25303
25304CHAPTER 46<br><br>
25305
25306It was the poor schoolmaster.  No other than the poor schoolmaster.
25307
25308Scarcely less moved and surprised by the sight of the child than she
25309
25310had been on recognising him, he stood, for a moment, silent and
25311
25312confounded by this unexpected apparition, without even the presence of
25313
25314mind to raise her from the ground.<br><br>
25315
25316But, quickly recovering his self-possession, he threw down his stick
25317
25318and book, and dropping on one knee beside her, endeavoured, by such
25319
25320simple means as occurred to him, to restore her to herself; while her
25321
25322grandfather, standing idly by, wrung his hands, and implored her with
25323
25324many endearing expressions to speak to him, were it only a word.<br><br>
25325
25326'She is quite exhausted,' said the schoolmaster, glancing upward into
25327
25328his face.  'You have taxed her powers too far, friend.'<br><br>
25329
25330'She is perishing of want,' rejoined the old man.  'I never thought how
25331
25332weak and ill she was, till now.'<br><br>
25333
25334Casting a look upon him, half-reproachful and half-compassionate, the
25335
25336schoolmaster took the child in his arms, and, bidding the old man
25337
25338gather up her little basket and follow him directly, bore her away at
25339
25340his utmost speed.<br><br>
25341
25342There was a small inn within sight, to which, it would seem, he had
25343
25344been directing his steps when so unexpectedly overtaken.  Towards this
25345
25346place he hurried with his unconscious burden, and rushing into the
25347
25348kitchen, and calling upon the company there assembled to make way for
25349
25350God's sake, deposited it on a chair before the fire.<br><br>
25351
25352The company, who rose in confusion on the schoolmaster's entrance, did
25353
25354as people usually do under such circumstances.  Everybody called for
25355
25356his or her favourite remedy, which nobody brought; each cried for more
25357
25358air, at the same time carefully excluding what air there was, by
25359
25360closing round the object of sympathy; and all wondered why somebody
25361
25362else didn't do what it never appeared to occur to them might be done by
25363
25364themselves.<br><br>
25365
25366The landlady, however, who possessed more readiness and activity than
25367
25368any of them, and who had withal a quicker perception of the merits of
25369
25370the case, soon came running in, with a little hot brandy and water,
25371
25372followed by her servant-girl, carrying vinegar, hartshorn,
25373
25374smelling-salts, and such other restoratives; which, being duly
25375
25376administered, recovered the child so far as to enable her to thank them
25377
25378in a faint voice, and to extend her hand to the poor schoolmaster, who
25379
25380stood, with an anxious face, hard by.  Without suffering her to speak
25381
25382another word, or so much as to stir a finger any more, the women
25383
25384straightway carried her off to bed; and, having covered her up warm,
25385
25386bathed her cold feet, and wrapped them in flannel, they despatched a
25387
25388messenger for the doctor.<br><br>
25389
25390The doctor, who was a red-nosed gentleman with a great bunch of seals
25391
25392dangling below a waistcoat of ribbed black satin, arrived with all
25393
25394speed, and taking his seat by the bedside of poor Nell, drew out his
25395
25396watch, and felt her pulse.  Then he looked at her tongue, then he felt
25397
25398her pulse again, and while he did so, he eyed the half-emptied
25399
25400wine-glass as if in profound abstraction.<br><br>
25401
25402'I should give her,' said the doctor at length, 'a tea-spoonful, every
25403
25404now and then, of hot brandy and water.'<br><br>
25405
25406'Why, that's exactly what we've done, sir!' said the delighted landlady.<br><br>
25407
25408'I should also,' observed the doctor, who had passed the foot-bath on
25409
25410the stairs, 'I should also,' said the doctor, in the voice of an
25411
25412oracle, 'put her feet in hot water, and wrap them up in flannel.  I
25413
25414should likewise,' said the doctor with increased solemnity, 'give her
25415
25416something light for supper--the wing of a roasted fowl now--'<br><br>
25417
25418'Why, goodness gracious me, sir, it's cooking at the kitchen fire this
25419
25420instant!' cried the landlady.  And so indeed it was, for the
25421
25422schoolmaster had ordered it to be put down, and it was getting on so
25423
25424well that the doctor might have smelt it if he had tried; perhaps he
25425
25426did.<br><br>
25427
25428'You may then,' said the doctor, rising gravely, 'give her a glass of
25429
25430hot mulled port wine, if she likes wine--'<br><br>
25431
25432'And a toast, Sir?' suggested the landlady.  'Ay,' said the doctor, in
25433
25434the tone of a man who makes a dignified concession.  'And a toast--of
25435
25436bread.  But be very particular to make it of bread, if you please,
25437
25438ma'am.'<br><br>
25439
25440With which parting injunction, slowly and portentously delivered, the
25441
25442doctor departed, leaving the whole house in admiration of that wisdom
25443
25444which tallied so closely with their own.  Everybody said he was a very
25445
25446shrewd doctor indeed, and knew perfectly what people's constitutions
25447
25448were; which there appears some reason to suppose he did.<br><br>
25449
25450While her supper was preparing, the child fell into a refreshing sleep,
25451
25452from which they were obliged to rouse her when it was ready.  As she
25453
25454evinced extraordinary uneasiness on learning that her grandfather was
25455
25456below stairs, and as she was greatly troubled at the thought of their
25457
25458being apart, he took his supper with her.  Finding her still very
25459
25460restless on this head, they made him up a bed in an inner room, to
25461
25462which he presently retired.  The key of this chamber happened by good
25463
25464fortune to be on that side of the door which was in Nell's room; she
25465
25466turned it on him when the landlady had withdrawn, and crept to bed
25467
25468again with a thankful heart.<br><br>
25469
25470The schoolmaster sat for a long time smoking his pipe by the kitchen
25471
25472fire, which was now deserted, thinking, with a very happy face, on the
25473
25474fortunate chance which had brought him so opportunely to the child's
25475
25476assistance, and parrying, as well as in his simple way he could, the
25477
25478inquisitive cross-examination of the landlady, who had a great
25479
25480curiosity to be made acquainted with every particular of Nell's life
25481
25482and history.  The poor schoolmaster was so open-hearted, and so little
25483
25484versed in the most ordinary cunning or deceit, that she could not have
25485
25486failed to succeed in the first five minutes, but that he happened to be
25487
25488unacquainted with what she wished to know; and so he told her.  The
25489
25490landlady, by no means satisfied with this assurance, which she
25491
25492considered an ingenious evasion of the question, rejoined that he had
25493
25494his reasons of course.  Heaven forbid that she should wish to pry into
25495
25496the affairs of her customers, which indeed were no business of hers,
25497
25498who had so many of her own.  She had merely asked a civil question, and
25499
25500to be sure she knew it would meet with a civil answer.  She was quite
25501
25502satisfied--quite.  She had rather perhaps that he would have said at
25503
25504once that he didn't choose to be communicative, because that would have
25505
25506been plain and intelligible.  However, she had no right to be offended
25507
25508of course.  He was the best judge, and had a perfect right to say what
25509
25510he pleased; nobody could dispute that for a moment.  Oh dear, no!<br><br>
25511
25512'I assure you, my good lady,' said the mild schoolmaster, 'that I have
25513
25514told you the plain truth.  As I hope to be saved, I have told you the
25515
25516truth.'<br><br>
25517
25518'Why then, I do believe you are in earnest,' rejoined the landlady,
25519
25520with ready good-humour, 'and I'm very sorry I have teazed you.  But
25521
25522curiosity you know is the curse of our sex, and that's the fact.' The
25523
25524landlord scratched his head, as if he thought the curse sometimes
25525
25526involved the other sex likewise; but he was prevented from making any
25527
25528remark to that effect, if he had it in contemplation to do so, by the
25529
25530schoolmaster's rejoinder.<br><br>
25531
25532'You should question me for half-a-dozen hours at a sitting, and
25533
25534welcome, and I would answer you patiently for the kindness of heart you
25535
25536have shown to-night, if I could,' he said.  'As it is, please to take
25537
25538care of her in the morning, and let me know early how she is; and to
25539
25540understand that I am paymaster for the three.'<br><br>
25541
25542So, parting with them on most friendly terms (not the less cordial
25543
25544perhaps for this last direction), the schoolmaster went to his bed, and
25545
25546the host and hostess to theirs.<br><br>
25547
25548The report in the morning was, that the child was better, but was
25549
25550extremely weak, and would at least require a day's rest, and careful
25551
25552nursing, before she could proceed upon her journey.  The schoolmaster
25553
25554received this communication with perfect cheerfulness, observing that
25555
25556he had a day to spare--two days for that matter--and could very well
25557
25558afford to wait.  As the patient was to sit up in the evening, he
25559
25560appointed to visit her in her room at a certain hour, and rambling out
25561
25562with his book, did not return until the hour arrived.<br><br>
25563
25564Nell could not help weeping when they were left alone; whereat, and at
25565
25566sight of her pale face and wasted figure, the simple schoolmaster shed
25567
25568a few tears himself, at the same time showing in very energetic
25569
25570language how foolish it was to do so, and how very easily it could be
25571
25572avoided, if one tried.<br><br>
25573
25574'It makes me unhappy even in the midst of all this kindness' said the
25575
25576child, 'to think that we should be a burden upon you.  How can I ever
25577
25578thank you?  If I had not met you so far from home, I must have died,
25579
25580and he would have been left alone.'<br><br>
25581
25582'We'll not talk about dying,' said the schoolmaster; 'and as to
25583
25584burdens, I have made my fortune since you slept at my cottage.'<br><br>
25585
25586'Indeed!' cried the child joyfully.<br><br>
25587
25588'Oh yes,' returned her friend.  'I have been appointed clerk and
25589
25590schoolmaster to a village a long way from here--and a long way from the
25591
25592old one as you may suppose--at five-and-thirty pounds a year.
25593
25594Five-and-thirty pounds!'<br><br>
25595
25596'I am very glad,' said the child, 'so very, very glad.'<br><br>
25597
25598'I am on my way there now,' resumed the schoolmaster.  'They allowed me
25599
25600the stage-coach-hire--outside stage-coach-hire all the way.  Bless you,
25601
25602they grudge me nothing.  But as the time at which I am expected there,
25603
25604left me ample leisure, I determined to walk instead.  How glad I am, to
25605
25606think I did so!'<br><br>
25607
25608'How glad should we be!'<br><br>
25609
25610'Yes, yes,' said the schoolmaster, moving restlessly in his chair,
25611
25612'certainly, that's very true.  But you--where are you going, where are
25613
25614you coming from, what have you been doing since you left me, what had
25615
25616you been doing before?  Now, tell me--do tell me.  I know very little
25617
25618of the world, and perhaps you are better fitted to advise me in its
25619
25620affairs than I am qualified to give advice to you; but I am very
25621
25622sincere, and I have a reason (you have not forgotten it) for loving
25623
25624you.  I have felt since that time as if my love for him who died, had
25625
25626been transferred to you who stood beside his bed.  If this,' he added,
25627
25628looking upwards, 'is the beautiful creation that springs from ashes,
25629
25630let its peace prosper with me, as I deal tenderly and compassionately
25631
25632by this young child!'<br><br>
25633
25634The plain, frank kindness of the honest schoolmaster, the affectionate
25635
25636earnestness of his speech and manner, the truth which was stamped upon
25637
25638his every word and look, gave the child a confidence in him, which the
25639
25640utmost arts of treachery and dissimulation could never have awakened in
25641
25642her breast.  She told him all--that they had no friend or
25643
25644relative--that she had fled with the old man, to save him from a
25645
25646madhouse and all the miseries he dreaded--that she was flying now, to
25647
25648save him from himself--and that she sought an asylum in some remote
25649
25650and primitive place, where the temptation before which he fell would
25651
25652never enter, and her late sorrows and distresses could have no place.<br><br>
25653
25654The schoolmaster heard her with astonishment.  'This child!'--he
25655
25656thought--'Has this child heroically persevered under all doubts and
25657
25658dangers, struggled with poverty and suffering, upheld and sustained by
25659
25660strong affection and the consciousness of rectitude alone!  And yet the
25661
25662world is full of such heroism.  Have I yet to learn that the hardest
25663
25664and best-borne trials are those which are never chronicled in any
25665
25666earthly record, and are suffered every day!  And should I be surprised
25667
25668to hear the story of this child!'<br><br>
25669
25670What more he thought or said, matters not.  It was concluded that Nell
25671
25672and her grandfather should accompany him to the village whither he was
25673
25674bound, and that he should endeavour to find them some humble occupation
25675
25676by which they could subsist.  'We shall be sure to succeed,' said the
25677
25678schoolmaster, heartily.  'The cause is too good a one to fail.'<br><br>
25679
25680They arranged to proceed upon their journey next evening, as a
25681
25682stage-waggon, which travelled for some distance on the same road as
25683
25684they must take, would stop at the inn to change horses, and the driver
25685
25686for a small gratuity would give Nell a place inside.  A bargain was
25687
25688soon struck when the waggon came; and in due time it rolled away; with
25689
25690the child comfortably bestowed among the softer packages, her
25691
25692grandfather and the schoolmaster walking on beside the driver, and the
25693
25694landlady and all the good folks of the inn screaming out their good
25695
25696wishes and farewells.<br><br>
25697
25698What a soothing, luxurious, drowsy way of travelling, to lie inside
25699
25700that slowly-moving mountain, listening to the tinkling of the horses'
25701
25702bells, the occasional smacking of the carter's whip, the smooth rolling
25703
25704of the great broad wheels, the rattle of the harness, the cheery
25705
25706good-nights of passing travellers jogging past on little short-stepped
25707
25708horses--all made pleasantly indistinct by the thick awning, which
25709
25710seemed made for lazy listening under, till one fell asleep!  The very
25711
25712going to sleep, still with an indistinct idea, as the head jogged to
25713
25714and fro upon the pillow, of moving onward with no trouble or fatigue,
25715
25716and hearing all these sounds like dreamy music, lulling to the
25717
25718senses--and the slow waking up, and finding one's self staring out
25719
25720through the breezy curtain half-opened in the front, far up into the
25721
25722cold bright sky with its countless stars, and downward at the driver's
25723
25724lantern dancing on like its namesake Jack of the swamps and marshes,
25725
25726and sideways at the dark grim trees, and forward at the long bare road
25727
25728rising up, up, up, until it stopped abruptly at a sharp high ridge as
25729
25730if there were no more road, and all beyond was sky--and the stopping at
25731
25732the inn to bait, and being helped out, and going into a room with fire
25733
25734and candles, and winking very much, and being agreeably reminded that
25735
25736the night was cold, and anxious for very comfort's sake to think it
25737
25738colder than it was!--What a delicious journey was that journey in the
25739
25740waggon.<br><br>
25741
25742Then the going on again--so fresh at first, and shortly afterwards so
25743
25744sleepy.  The waking from a sound nap as the mail came dashing past like
25745
25746a highway comet, with gleaming lamps and rattling hoofs, and visions of
25747
25748a guard behind, standing up to keep his feet warm, and of a gentleman
25749
25750in a fur cap opening his eyes and looking wild and stupefied--the
25751
25752stopping at the turnpike where the man was gone to bed, and knocking at
25753
25754the door until he answered with a smothered shout from under the
25755
25756bed-clothes in the little room above, where the faint light was
25757
25758burning, and presently came down, night-capped and shivering, to throw
25759
25760the gate wide open, and wish all waggons off the road except by day.
25761
25762The cold sharp interval between night and morning--the distant streak
25763
25764of light widening and spreading, and turning from grey to white, and
25765
25766from white to yellow, and from yellow to burning red--the presence of
25767
25768day, with all its cheerfulness and life--men and horses at the
25769
25770plough--birds in the trees and hedges, and boys in solitary fields,
25771
25772frightening them away with rattles.  The coming to a town--people busy
25773
25774in the markets; light carts and chaises round the tavern yard;
25775
25776tradesmen standing at their doors; men running horses up and down the
25777
25778street for sale; pigs plunging and grunting in the dirty distance,
25779
25780getting off with long strings at their legs, running into clean
25781
25782chemists' shops and being dislodged with brooms by 'prentices; the
25783
25784night coach changing horses--the passengers cheerless, cold, ugly, and
25785
25786discontented, with three months' growth of hair in one night--the
25787
25788coachman fresh as from a band-box, and exquisitely beautiful by
25789
25790contrast:--so much bustle, so many things in motion, such a variety of
25791
25792incidents--when was there a journey with so many delights as that
25793
25794journey in the waggon!<br><br>
25795
25796Sometimes walking for a mile or two while her grandfather rode inside,
25797
25798and sometimes even prevailing upon the schoolmaster to take her place
25799
25800and lie down to rest, Nell travelled on very happily until they came to
25801
25802a large town, where the waggon stopped, and where they spent a night.
25803
25804They passed a large church; and in the streets were a number of old
25805
25806houses, built of a kind of earth or plaster, crossed and re-crossed in
25807
25808a great many directions with black beams, which gave them a remarkable
25809
25810and very ancient look.  The doors, too, were arched and low, some with
25811
25812oaken portals and quaint benches, where the former inhabitants had sat
25813
25814on summer evenings.  The windows were latticed in little diamond panes,
25815
25816that seemed to wink and blink upon the passengers as if they were dim
25817
25818of sight.  They had long since got clear of the smoke and furnaces,
25819
25820except in one or two solitary instances, where a factory planted among
25821
25822fields withered the space about it, like a burning mountain.  When they
25823
25824had passed through this town, they entered again upon the country, and
25825
25826began to draw near their place of destination.<br><br>
25827
25828It was not so near, however, but that they spent another night upon the
25829
25830road; not that their doing so was quite an act of necessity, but that
25831
25832the schoolmaster, when they approached within a few miles of his
25833
25834village, had a fidgety sense of his dignity as the new clerk, and was
25835
25836unwilling to make his entry in dusty shoes, and travel-disordered
25837
25838dress.  It was a fine, clear, autumn morning, when they came upon the
25839
25840scene of his promotion, and stopped to contemplate its beauties.<br><br>
25841
25842'See--here's the church!' cried the delighted schoolmaster in a low
25843
25844voice; 'and that old building close beside it, is the schoolhouse, I'll
25845
25846be sworn.  Five-and-thirty pounds a-year in this beautiful place!'<br><br>
25847
25848They admired everything--the old grey porch, the mullioned windows, the
25849
25850venerable gravestones dotting the green churchyard, the ancient tower,
25851
25852the very weathercock; the brown thatched roofs of cottage, barn, and
25853
25854homestead, peeping from among the trees; the stream that rippled by the
25855
25856distant water-mill; the blue Welsh mountains far away.  It was for such
25857
25858a spot the child had wearied in the dense, dark, miserable haunts of
25859
25860labour.  Upon her bed of ashes, and amidst the squalid horrors through
25861
25862which they had forced their way, visions of such scenes--beautiful
25863
25864indeed, but not more beautiful than this sweet reality--had been always
25865
25866present to her mind.  They had seemed to melt into a dim and airy
25867
25868distance, as the prospect of ever beholding them again grew fainter;
25869
25870but, as they receded, she had loved and panted for them more.<br><br>
25871
25872'I must leave you somewhere for a few minutes,' said the schoolmaster,
25873
25874at length breaking the silence into which they had fallen in their
25875
25876gladness.  'I have a letter to present, and inquiries to make, you
25877
25878know.  Where shall I take you?  To the little inn yonder?'<br><br>
25879
25880'Let us wait here,' rejoined Nell.  'The gate is open.  We will sit in
25881
25882the church porch till you come back.'<br><br>
25883
25884'A good place too,' said the schoolmaster, leading the way towards it,
25885
25886disencumbering himself of his portmanteau, and placing it on the stone
25887
25888seat.  'Be sure that I come back with good news, and am not long gone!'<br><br>
25889
25890So, the happy schoolmaster put on a bran-new pair of gloves which he
25891
25892had carried in a little parcel in his pocket all the way, and hurried
25893
25894off, full of ardour and excitement.<br><br>
25895
25896The child watched him from the porch until the intervening foliage hid
25897
25898him from her view, and then stepped softly out into the old
25899
25900churchyard--so solemn and quiet that every rustle of her dress upon the
25901
25902fallen leaves, which strewed the path and made her footsteps noiseless,
25903
25904seemed an invasion of its silence.  It was a very aged, ghostly place;
25905
25906the church had been built many hundreds of years ago, and had once had
25907
25908a convent or monastery attached; for arches in ruins, remains of oriel
25909
25910windows, and fragments of blackened walls, were yet standing-, while
25911
25912other portions of the old building, which had crumbled away and fallen
25913
25914down, were mingled with the churchyard earth and overgrown with grass,
25915
25916as if they too claimed a burying-place and sought to mix their ashes
25917
25918with the dust of men.  Hard by these gravestones of dead years, and
25919
25920forming a part of the ruin which some pains had been taken to render
25921
25922habitable in modern times, were two small dwellings with sunken windows
25923
25924and oaken doors, fast hastening to decay, empty and desolate.<br><br>
25925
25926Upon these tenements, the attention of the child became exclusively
25927
25928riveted.  She knew not why.  The church, the ruin, the antiquated
25929
25930graves, had equal claims at least upon a stranger's thoughts, but from
25931
25932the moment when her eyes first rested on these two dwellings, she could
25933
25934turn to nothing else.  Even when she had made the circuit of the
25935
25936enclosure, and, returning to the porch, sat pensively waiting for their
25937
25938friend, she took her station where she could still look upon them, and
25939
25940felt as if fascinated towards that spot.<br><br>
25941
25942CHAPTER 47<br><br>
25943
25944Kit's mother and the single gentleman--upon whose track it is expedient
25945
25946to follow with hurried steps, lest this history should be chargeable
25947
25948with inconstancy, and the offence of leaving its characters in
25949
25950situations of uncertainty and doubt--Kit's mother and the single
25951
25952gentleman, speeding onward in the post-chaise-and-four whose departure
25953
25954from the Notary's door we have already witnessed, soon left the town
25955
25956behind them, and struck fire from the flints of the broad highway.<br><br>
25957
25958The good woman, being not a little embarrassed by the novelty of her
25959
25960situation, and certain material apprehensions that perhaps by this time
25961
25962little Jacob, or the baby, or both, had fallen into the fire, or
25963
25964tumbled down stairs, or had been squeezed behind doors, or had scalded
25965
25966their windpipes in endeavouring to allay their thirst at the spouts of
25967
25968tea-kettles, preserved an uneasy silence; and meeting from the window
25969
25970the eyes of turnpike-men, omnibus-drivers, and others, felt in the new
25971
25972dignity of her position like a mourner at a funeral, who, not being
25973
25974greatly afflicted by the loss of the departed, recognizes his every-day
25975
25976acquaintance from the window of the mourning coach, but is constrained
25977
25978to preserve a decent solemnity, and the appearance of being indifferent
25979
25980to all external objects.<br><br>
25981
25982To have been indifferent to the companionship of the single gentleman
25983
25984would have been tantamount to being gifted with nerves of steel.  Never
25985
25986did chaise inclose, or horses draw, such a restless gentleman as he.
25987
25988He never sat in the same position for two minutes together, but was
25989
25990perpetually tossing his arms and legs about, pulling up the sashes and
25991
25992letting them violently down, or thrusting his head out of one window to
25993
25994draw it in again and thrust it out of another.  He carried in his
25995
25996pocket, too, a fire-box of mysterious and unknown construction; and as
25997
25998sure as ever Kit's mother closed her eyes, so surely--whisk, rattle,
25999
26000fizz--there was the single gentleman consulting his watch by a flame of
26001
26002fire, and letting the sparks fall down among the straw as if there were
26003
26004no such thing as a possibility of himself and Kit's mother being
26005
26006roasted alive before the boys could stop their horses.  Whenever they
26007
26008halted to change, there he was--out of the carriage without letting
26009
26010down the steps, bursting about the inn-yard like a lighted cracker,
26011
26012pulling out his watch by lamp-light and forgetting to look at it before
26013
26014he put it up again, and in short committing so many extravagances that
26015
26016Kit's mother was quite afraid of him.  Then, when the horses were to,
26017
26018in he came like a Harlequin, and before they had gone a mile, out came
26019
26020the watch and the fire-box together, and Kit's mother as wide awake
26021
26022again, with no hope of a wink of sleep for that stage.<br><br>
26023
26024'Are you comfortable?' the single gentleman would say after one of
26025
26026these exploits, turning sharply round.<br><br>
26027
26028'Quite, Sir, thank you.'<br><br>
26029
26030'Are you sure?  An't you cold?'<br><br>
26031
26032'It is a little chilly, Sir,' Kit's mother would reply.<br><br>
26033
26034'I knew it!' cried the single gentleman, letting down one of the front
26035
26036glasses.  'She wants some brandy and water!  Of course she does.  How
26037
26038could I forget it?  Hallo!  Stop at the next inn, and call out for a
26039
26040glass of hot brandy and water.'<br><br>
26041
26042It was in vain for Kit's mother to protest that she stood in need of
26043
26044nothing of the kind.  The single gentleman was inexorable; and whenever
26045
26046he had exhausted all other modes and fashions of restlessness, it
26047
26048invariably occurred to him that Kit's mother wanted brandy and water.<br><br>
26049
26050In this way they travelled on until near midnight, when they stopped to
26051
26052supper, for which meal the single gentleman ordered everything eatable
26053
26054that the house contained; and because Kit's mother didn't eat
26055
26056everything at once, and eat it all, he took it into his head that she
26057
26058must be ill.<br><br>
26059
26060'You're faint,' said the single gentleman, who did nothing himself but
26061
26062walk about the room.  'I see what's the matter with you, ma'am.  You're
26063
26064faint.'<br><br>
26065
26066'Thank you, sir, I'm not indeed.'<br><br>
26067
26068'I know you are.  I'm sure of it.  I drag this poor woman from the
26069
26070bosom of her family at a minute's notice, and she goes on getting
26071
26072fainter and fainter before my eyes.  I'm a pretty fellow!  How many
26073
26074children have you got, ma'am?'<br><br>
26075
26076'Two, sir, besides Kit.'<br><br>
26077
26078'Boys, ma'am?'<br><br>
26079
26080'Yes, sir.'<br><br>
26081
26082'Are they christened?'<br><br>
26083
26084'Only half baptised as yet, sir.'<br><br>
26085
26086'I'm godfather to both of 'em.  Remember that, if you please, ma'am.
26087
26088You had better have some mulled wine.'<br><br>
26089
26090'I couldn't touch a drop indeed, sir.'<br><br>
26091
26092'You must,' said the single gentleman.  'I see you want it.  I ought to
26093
26094have thought of it before.'<br><br>
26095
26096Immediately flying to the bell, and calling for mulled wine as
26097
26098impetuously as if it had been wanted for instant use in the recovery of
26099
26100some person apparently drowned, the single gentleman made Kit's mother
26101
26102swallow a bumper of it at such a high temperature that the tears ran
26103
26104down her face, and then hustled her off to the chaise again, where--not
26105
26106impossibly from the effects of this agreeable sedative--she soon became
26107
26108insensible to his restlessness, and fell fast asleep.  Nor were the
26109
26110happy effects of this prescription of a transitory nature, as,
26111
26112notwithstanding that the distance was greater, and the journey longer,
26113
26114than the single gentleman had anticipated, she did not awake until it
26115
26116was broad day, and they were clattering over the pavement of a town.<br><br>
26117
26118'This is the place!' cried her companion, letting down all the glasses.
26119
26120'Drive to the wax-work!'<br><br>
26121
26122The boy on the wheeler touched his hat, and setting spurs to his horse,
26123
26124to the end that they might go in brilliantly, all four broke into a
26125
26126smart canter, and dashed through the streets with a noise that brought
26127
26128the good folks wondering to their doors and windows, and drowned the
26129
26130sober voices of the town-clocks as they chimed out half-past eight.
26131
26132They drove up to a door round which a crowd of persons were collected,
26133
26134and there stopped.<br><br>
26135
26136'What's this?' said the single gentleman thrusting out his head.  'Is
26137
26138anything the matter here?'<br><br>
26139
26140'A wedding Sir, a wedding!' cried several voices.  'Hurrah!'<br><br>
26141
26142The single gentleman, rather bewildered by finding himself the centre
26143
26144of this noisy throng, alighted with the assistance of one of the
26145
26146postilions, and handed out Kit's mother, at sight of whom the populace
26147
26148cried out, 'Here's another wedding!' and roared and leaped for joy.<br><br>
26149
26150'The world has gone mad, I think,' said the single gentleman, pressing
26151
26152through the concourse with his supposed bride.  'Stand back here, will
26153
26154you, and let me knock.'<br><br>
26155
26156Anything that makes a noise is satisfactory to a crowd.  A score of
26157
26158dirty hands were raised directly to knock for him, and seldom has a
26159
26160knocker of equal powers been made to produce more deafening sounds than
26161
26162this particular engine on the occasion in question.  Having rendered
26163
26164these voluntary services, the throng modestly retired a little,
26165
26166preferring that the single gentleman should bear their consequences
26167
26168alone.<br><br>
26169
26170'Now, sir, what do you want!' said a man with a large white bow at his
26171
26172button-hole, opening the door, and confronting him with a very stoical
26173
26174aspect.<br><br>
26175
26176'Who has been married here, my friend?' said the single gentleman.<br><br>
26177
26178'I have.'<br><br>
26179
26180'You! and to whom in the devil's name?'<br><br>
26181
26182'What right have you to ask?' returned the bridegroom, eyeing him from
26183
26184top to toe.<br><br>
26185
26186'What right!' cried the single gentleman, drawing the arm of Kit's
26187
26188mother more tightly through his own, for that good woman evidently had
26189
26190it in contemplation to run away.  'A right you little dream of.  Mind,
26191
26192good people, if this fellow has been marrying a minor--tut, tut, that
26193
26194can't be.  Where is the child you have here, my good fellow.  You call
26195
26196her Nell.  Where is she?'<br><br>
26197
26198As he propounded this question, which Kit's mother echoed, somebody in
26199
26200a room near at hand, uttered a great shriek, and a stout lady in a
26201
26202white dress came running to the door, and supported herself upon the
26203
26204bridegroom's arm.<br><br>
26205
26206'Where is she!' cried this lady.  'What news have you brought me?  What
26207
26208has become of her?'<br><br>
26209
26210The single gentleman started back, and gazed upon the face of the late
26211
26212Mrs Jarley (that morning wedded to the philosophic George, to the
26213
26214eternal wrath and despair of Mr Slum the poet), with looks of
26215
26216conflicting apprehension, disappointment, and incredulity.  At length
26217
26218he stammered out,<br><br>
26219
26220'I ask YOU where she is?  What do you mean?'<br><br>
26221
26222'Oh sir!' cried the bride, 'If you have come here to do her any good,
26223
26224why weren't you here a week ago?'<br><br>
26225
26226'She is not--not dead?' said the person to whom she addressed herself,
26227
26228turning very pale.<br><br>
26229
26230'No, not so bad as that.'<br><br>
26231
26232'I thank God!' cried the single gentleman feebly.  'Let me come in.'<br><br>
26233
26234They drew back to admit him, and when he had entered, closed the door.<br><br>
26235
26236'You see in me, good people,' he said, turning to the newly-married
26237
26238couple, 'one to whom life itself is not dearer than the two persons
26239
26240whom I seek.  They would not know me.  My features are strange to them,
26241
26242but if they or either of them are here, take this good woman with you,
26243
26244and let them see her first, for her they both know.  If you deny them
26245
26246from any mistaken regard or fear for them, judge of my intentions by
26247
26248their recognition of this person as their old humble friend.'<br><br>
26249
26250'I always said it!' cried the bride, 'I knew she was not a common
26251
26252child!  Alas, sir! we have no power to help you, for all that we could
26253
26254do, has been tried in vain.'<br><br>
26255
26256With that, they related to him, without disguise or concealment, all
26257
26258that they knew of Nell and her grandfather, from their first meeting
26259
26260with them, down to the time of their sudden disappearance; adding
26261
26262(which was quite true) that they had made every possible effort to
26263
26264trace them, but without success; having been at first in great alarm
26265
26266for their safety, as well as on account of the suspicions to which they
26267
26268themselves might one day be exposed in consequence of their abrupt
26269
26270departure.  They dwelt upon the old man's imbecility of mind, upon the
26271
26272uneasiness the child had always testified when he was absent, upon the
26273
26274company he had been supposed to keep, and upon the increased depression
26275
26276which had gradually crept over her and changed her both in health and
26277
26278spirits.  Whether she had missed the old man in the night, and knowing
26279
26280or conjecturing whither he had bent his steps, had gone in pursuit, or
26281
26282whether they had left the house together, they had no means of
26283
26284determining.  Certain they considered it, that there was but slender
26285
26286prospect left of hearing of them again, and that whether their flight
26287
26288originated with the old man, or with the child, there was now no hope
26289
26290of their return.  To all this, the single gentleman listened with the
26291
26292air of a man quite borne down by grief and disappointment.  He shed
26293
26294tears when they spoke of the grandfather, and appeared in deep
26295
26296affliction.<br><br>
26297
26298Not to protract this portion of our narrative, and to make short work
26299
26300of a long story, let it be briefly written that before the interview
26301
26302came to a close, the single gentleman deemed he had sufficient evidence
26303
26304of having been told the truth, and that he endeavoured to force upon
26305
26306the bride and bridegroom an acknowledgment of their kindness to the
26307
26308unfriended child, which, however, they steadily declined accepting.  In
26309
26310the end, the happy couple jolted away in the caravan to spend their
26311
26312honeymoon in a country excursion; and the single gentleman and Kit's
26313
26314mother stood ruefully before their carriage-door.<br><br>
26315
26316'Where shall we drive you, sir?' said the post-boy.<br><br>
26317
26318'You may drive me,' said the single gentleman, 'to the--' He was not
26319
26320going to add 'inn,' but he added it for the sake of Kit's mother; and
26321
26322to the inn they went.<br><br>
26323
26324Rumours had already got abroad that the little girl who used to show
26325
26326the wax-work, was the child of great people who had been stolen from
26327
26328her parents in infancy, and had only just been traced.  Opinion was
26329
26330divided whether she was the daughter of a prince, a duke, an earl, a
26331
26332viscount, or a baron, but all agreed upon the main fact, and that the
26333
26334single gentleman was her father; and all bent forward to catch a
26335
26336glimpse, though it were only of the tip of his noble nose, as he rode
26337
26338away, desponding, in his four-horse chaise.<br><br>
26339
26340What would he have given to know, and what sorrow would have been saved
26341
26342if he had only known, that at that moment both child and grandfather
26343
26344were seated in the old church porch, patiently awaiting the
26345
26346schoolmaster's return!<br><br>
26347
26348CHAPTER 48<br><br>
26349
26350Popular rumour concerning the single gentleman and his errand,
26351
26352travelling from mouth to mouth, and waxing stronger in the marvellous
26353
26354as it was bandied about--for your popular rumour, unlike the rolling
26355
26356stone of the proverb, is one which gathers a deal of moss in its
26357
26358wanderings up and down--occasioned his dismounting at the inn-door to
26359
26360be looked upon as an exciting and attractive spectacle, which could
26361
26362scarcely be enough admired; and drew together a large concourse of
26363
26364idlers, who having recently been, as it were, thrown out of employment
26365
26366by the closing of the wax-work and the completion of the nuptial
26367
26368ceremonies, considered his arrival as little else than a special
26369
26370providence, and hailed it with demonstrations of the liveliest joy.<br><br>
26371
26372Not at all participating in the general sensation, but wearing the
26373
26374depressed and wearied look of one who sought to meditate on his
26375
26376disappointment in silence and privacy, the single gentleman alighted,
26377
26378and handed out Kit's mother with a gloomy politeness which impressed
26379
26380the lookers-on extremely.  That done, he gave her his arm and escorted
26381
26382her into the house, while several active waiters ran on before as a
26383
26384skirmishing party, to clear the way and to show the room which was
26385
26386ready for their reception.<br><br>
26387
26388'Any room will do,' said the single gentleman.  'Let it be near at
26389
26390hand, that's all.'<br><br>
26391
26392'Close here, sir, if you please to walk this way.'<br><br>
26393
26394'Would the gentleman like this room?' said a voice, as a little
26395
26396out-of-the-way door at the foot of the well staircase flew briskly open
26397
26398and a head popped out.  'He's quite welcome to it.  He's as welcome as
26399
26400flowers in May, or coals at Christmas.  Would you like this room, sir?
26401
26402Honour me by walking in.  Do me the favour, pray.'<br><br>
26403
26404'Goodness gracious me!' cried Kit's mother, falling back in extreme
26405
26406surprise, 'only think of this!'<br><br>
26407
26408She had some reason to be astonished, for the person who proffered the
26409
26410gracious invitation was no other than Daniel Quilp.  The little door
26411
26412out of which he had thrust his head was close to the inn larder; and
26413
26414there he stood, bowing with grotesque politeness; as much at his ease
26415
26416as if the door were that of his own house; blighting all the legs of
26417
26418mutton and cold roast fowls by his close companionship, and looking
26419
26420like the evil genius of the cellars come from underground upon some
26421
26422work of mischief.<br><br>
26423
26424'Would you do me the honour?' said Quilp.<br><br>
26425
26426'I prefer being alone,' replied the single gentleman.<br><br>
26427
26428'Oh!' said Quilp.  And with that, he darted in again with one jerk and
26429
26430clapped the little door to, like a figure in a Dutch clock when the
26431
26432hour strikes.<br><br>
26433
26434'Why it was only last night, sir,' whispered Kit's mother, 'that I left
26435
26436him in Little Bethel.'<br><br>
26437
26438'Indeed!' said her fellow-passenger.  'When did that person come here,
26439
26440waiter?'<br><br>
26441
26442'Come down by the night-coach, this morning, sir.'<br><br>
26443
26444'Humph!  And when is he going?'<br><br>
26445
26446'Can't say, sir, really.  When the chambermaid asked him just now if he
26447
26448should want a bed, sir, he first made faces at her, and then wanted to
26449
26450kiss her.'<br><br>
26451
26452'Beg him to walk this way,' said the single gentleman.  'I should be
26453
26454glad to exchange a word with him, tell him.  Beg him to come at once,
26455
26456do you hear?'<br><br>
26457
26458The man stared on receiving these instructions, for the single
26459
26460gentleman had not only displayed as much astonishment as Kit's mother
26461
26462at sight of the dwarf, but, standing in no fear of him, had been at
26463
26464less pains to conceal his dislike and repugnance.  He departed on his
26465
26466errand, however, and immediately returned, ushering in its object.<br><br>
26467
26468'Your servant, sir,' said the dwarf, 'I encountered your messenger
26469
26470half-way.  I thought you'd allow me to pay my compliments to you.  I
26471
26472hope you're well.  I hope you're very well.'<br><br>
26473
26474There was a short pause, while the dwarf, with half-shut eyes and
26475
26476puckered face, stood waiting for an answer.  Receiving none, he turned
26477
26478towards his more familiar acquaintance.<br><br>
26479
26480'Christopher's mother!' he cried.  'Such a dear lady, such a worthy
26481
26482woman, so blest in her honest son!  How is Christopher's mother?  Have
26483
26484change of air and scene improved her?  Her little family too, and
26485
26486Christopher?  Do they thrive?  Do they flourish?  Are they growing into
26487
26488worthy citizens, eh?'<br><br>
26489
26490Making his voice ascend in the scale with every succeeding question, Mr
26491
26492Quilp finished in a shrill squeak, and subsided into the panting look
26493
26494which was customary with him, and which, whether it were assumed or
26495
26496natural, had equally the effect of banishing all expression from his
26497
26498face, and rendering it, as far as it afforded any index to his mood or
26499
26500meaning, a perfect blank.<br><br>
26501
26502'Mr Quilp,' said the single gentleman.<br><br>
26503
26504The dwarf put his hand to his great flapped ear, and counterfeited the
26505
26506closest attention.<br><br>
26507
26508'We two have met before--'<br><br>
26509
26510'Surely,' cried Quilp, nodding his head.  'Oh surely, sir.  Such an
26511
26512honour and pleasure--it's both, Christopher's mother, it's both--is
26513
26514not to be forgotten so soon.  By no means!'<br><br>
26515
26516'You may remember that the day I arrived in London, and found the house
26517
26518to which I drove, empty and deserted, I was directed by some of the
26519
26520neighbours to you, and waited upon you without stopping for rest or
26521
26522refreshment?'<br><br>
26523
26524'How precipitate that was, and yet what an earnest and vigorous
26525
26526measure!' said Quilp, conferring with himself, in imitation of his
26527
26528friend Mr Sampson Brass.<br><br>
26529
26530'I found,' said the single gentleman, 'you most unaccountably, in
26531
26532possession of everything that had so recently belonged to another man,
26533
26534and that other man, who up to the time of your entering upon his
26535
26536property had been looked upon as affluent, reduced to sudden beggary,
26537
26538and driven from house and home.'<br><br>
26539
26540'We had warrant for what we did, my good sir,' rejoined Quilp, 'we had
26541
26542our warrant.  Don't say driven either.  He went of his own
26543
26544accord--vanished in the night, sir.'<br><br>
26545
26546'No matter,' said the single gentleman angrily.  'He was gone.'<br><br>
26547
26548'Yes, he was gone,' said Quilp, with the same exasperating composure.
26549
26550'No doubt he was gone.  The only question was, where.  And it's a
26551
26552question still.'<br><br>
26553
26554'Now, what am I to think,' said the single gentleman, sternly regarding
26555
26556him, 'of you, who, plainly indisposed to give me any 
26556information
26557
26558then--nay, obviously holding back, and sheltering yourself with all
26559
26560kinds of cunning, trickery, and evasion--are dogging my footsteps now?'<br><br>
26561
26562'I dogging!' cried Quilp.<br><br>
26563
26564'Why, are you not?' returned his questioner, fretted into a state of
26565
26566the utmost irritation.  'Were you not a few hours since, sixty miles
26567
26568off, and in the chapel to which this good woman goes to say her
26569
26570prayers?'<br><br>
26571
26572'She was there too, I think?' said Quilp, still perfectly unmoved.  'I
26573
26574might say, if I was inclined to be rude, how do I know but you are
26575
26576dogging MY footsteps.  Yes, I was at chapel.  What then?  I've read in
26577
26578books that pilgrims were used to go to chapel before they went on
26579
26580journeys, to put up petitions for their safe return.  Wise men!
26581
26582journeys are very perilous--especially outside the coach.  Wheels come
26583
26584off, horses take fright, coachmen drive too fast, coaches overturn.  I
26585
26586always go to chapel before I start on journeys.  It's the last thing I
26587
26588do on such occasions, indeed.'<br><br>
26589
26590That Quilp lied most heartily in this speech, it needed no very great
26591
26592penetration to discover, although for anything that he suffered to
26593
26594appear in his face, voice, or manner, he might have been clinging to
26595
26596the truth with the quiet constancy of a martyr.<br><br>
26597
26598'In the name of all that's calculated to drive one crazy, man,' said
26599
26600the unfortunate single gentleman, 'have you not, for some reason of
26601
26602your own, taken upon yourself my errand?  don't you know with what
26603
26604object I have come here, and if you do know, can you throw no light
26605
26606upon it?'<br><br>
26607
26608'You think I'm a conjuror, sir,' replied Quilp, shrugging up his
26609
26610shoulders.  'If I was, I should tell my own fortune--and make it.'<br><br>
26611
26612'Ah! we have said all we need say, I see,' returned the other, throwing
26613
26614himself impatiently upon a sofa.  'Pray leave us, if you please.'<br><br>
26615
26616'Willingly,' returned Quilp.  'Most willingly.  Christopher's mother,
26617
26618my good soul, farewell.  A pleasant journey--back, sir.  Ahem!'<br><br>
26619
26620With these parting words, and with a grin upon his features altogether
26621
26622indescribable, but which seemed to be compounded of every monstrous
26623
26624grimace of which men or monkeys are capable, the dwarf slowly retreated
26625
26626and closed the door behind him.<br><br>
26627
26628'Oho!' he said when he had regained his own room, and sat himself down
26629
26630in a chair with his arms akimbo.  'Oho!  Are you there, my friend?
26631
26632In-deed!'<br><br>
26633
26634Chuckling as though in very great glee, and recompensing himself for
26635
26636the restraint he had lately put upon his countenance by twisting it
26637
26638into all imaginable varieties of ugliness, Mr Quilp, rocking himself to
26639
26640and fro in his chair and nursing his left leg at the same time, fell
26641
26642into certain meditations, of which it may be necessary to relate the
26643
26644substance.<br><br>
26645
26646First, he reviewed the circumstances which had led to his repairing to
26647
26648that spot, which were briefly these.  Dropping in at Mr Sampson Brass's
26649
26650office on the previous evening, in the absence of that gentleman and
26651
26652his learned sister, he had lighted upon Mr Swiveller, who chanced at
26653
26654the moment to be sprinkling a glass of warm gin and water on the dust
26655
26656of the law, and to be moistening his clay, as the phrase goes, rather
26657
26658copiously.  But as clay in the abstract, when too much moistened,
26659
26660becomes of a weak and uncertain consistency, breaking down in
26661
26662unexpected places, retaining impressions but faintly, and preserving no
26663
26664strength or steadiness of character, so Mr Swiveller's clay, having
26665
26666imbibed a considerable quantity of moisture, was in a very loose and
26667
26668slippery state, insomuch that the various ideas impressed upon it were
26669
26670fast losing their distinctive character, and running into each other.
26671
26672It is not uncommon for human clay in this condition to value itself
26673
26674above all things upon its great prudence and sagacity; and Mr
26675
26676Swiveller, especially prizing himself upon these qualities, took
26677
26678occasion to remark that he had made strange discoveries in connection
26679
26680with the single gentleman who lodged above, which he had determined to
26681
26682keep within his own bosom, and which neither tortures nor cajolery
26683
26684should ever induce him to reveal.  Of this determination Mr Quilp
26685
26686expressed his high approval, and setting himself in the same breath to
26687
26688goad Mr Swiveller on to further hints, soon made out that the single
26689
26690gentleman had been seen in communication with Kit, and that this was
26691
26692the secret which was never to be disclosed.<br><br>
26693
26694Possessed of this piece of information, Mr Quilp directly supposed that
26695
26696the single gentleman above stairs must be the same individual who had
26697
26698waited on him, and having assured himself by further inquiries that
26699
26700this surmise was correct, had no difficulty in arriving at the
26701
26702conclusion that the intent and object of his correspondence with Kit
26703
26704was the recovery of his old client and the child.  Burning with
26705
26706curiosity to know what proceedings were afoot, he resolved to pounce
26707
26708upon Kit's mother as the person least able to resist his arts, and
26709
26710consequently the most likely to be entrapped into such revelations as
26711
26712he sought; so taking an abrupt leave of Mr Swiveller, he hurried to her
26713
26714house.  The good woman being from home, he made inquiries of a
26715
26716neighbour, as Kit himself did soon afterwards, and being directed to
26717
26718the chapel be took himself there, in order to waylay her, at the
26719
26720conclusion of the service.<br><br>
26721
26722He had not sat in the chapel more than a quarter of an hour, and with
26723
26724his eyes piously fixed upon the ceiling was chuckling inwardly over the
26725
26726joke of his being there at all, when Kit himself appeared.  Watchful as
26727
26728a lynx, one glance showed the dwarf that he had come on business.
26729
26730Absorbed in appearance, as we have seen, and feigning a profound
26731
26732abstraction, he noted every circumstance of his behaviour, and when he
26733
26734withdrew with his family, shot out after him.  In fine, he traced them
26735
26736to the notary's house; learnt the destination of the carriage from one
26737
26738of the postilions; and knowing that a fast night-coach started for the
26739
26740same place, at the very hour which was on the point of striking, from a
26741
26742street hard by, darted round to the coach-office without more ado, and
26743
26744took his seat upon the roof.  After passing and repassing the carriage
26745
26746on the road, and being passed and repassed by it sundry times in the
26747
26748course of the night, according as their stoppages were longer or
26749
26750shorter; or their rate of travelling varied, they reached the town
26751
26752almost together.  Quilp kept the chaise in sight, mingled with the
26753
26754crowd, learnt the single gentleman's errand, and its failure, and
26755
26756having possessed himself of all that it was material to know, hurried
26757
26758off, reached the inn before him, had the interview just now detailed,
26759
26760and shut himself up in the little room in which he hastily reviewed all
26761
26762these occurrences.<br><br>
26763
26764'You are there, are you, my friend?' he repeated, greedily biting his
26765
26766nails.  'I am suspected and thrown aside, and Kit's the confidential
26767
26768agent, is he?  I shall have to dispose of him, I fear.  If we had come
26769
26770up with them this morning,' he continued, after a thoughtful pause, 'I
26771
26772was ready to prove a pretty good claim.  I could have made my profit.
26773
26774But for these canting hypocrites, the lad and his mother, I could get
26775
26776this fiery gentleman as comfortably into my net as our old friend--our
26777
26778mutual friend, ha! ha!--and chubby, rosy Nell.  At the worst, it's a
26779
26780golden opportunity, not to be lost.  Let us find them first, and I'll
26781
26782find means of draining you of some of your superfluous cash, sir, while
26783
26784there are prison bars, and bolts, and locks, to keep your friend or
26785
26786kinsman safely.  I hate your virtuous people!' said the dwarf, throwing
26787
26788off a bumper of brandy, and smacking his lips, 'ah! I hate 'em every
26789
26790one!'<br><br>
26791
26792This was not a mere empty vaunt, but a deliberate avowal of his real
26793
26794sentiments; for Mr Quilp, who loved nobody, had by little and little
26795
26796come to hate everybody nearly or remotely connected with his ruined
26797
26798client:--the old man himself, because he had been able to deceive him
26799
26800and elude his vigilance--the child, because she was the object of Mrs
26801
26802Quilp's commiseration and constant self-reproach--the single gentleman,
26803
26804because of his unconcealed aversion to himself--Kit and his mother,
26805
26806most mortally, for the reasons shown.  Above and beyond that general
26807
26808feeling of opposition to them, which would have been inseparable from
26809
26810his ravenous desire to enrich himself by these altered circumstances,
26811
26812Daniel Quilp hated them every one.<br><br>
26813
26814In this amiable mood, Mr Quilp enlivened himself and his hatreds with
26815
26816more brandy, and then, changing his quarters, withdrew to an obscure
26817
26818alehouse, under cover of which seclusion he instituted all possible
26819
26820inquiries that might lead to the discovery of the old man and his
26821
26822grandchild.  But all was in vain.  Not the slightest trace or clue
26823
26824could be obtained.  They had left the town by night; no one had seen
26825
26826them go; no one had met them on the road; the driver of no coach, cart,
26827
26828or waggon, had seen any travellers answering their description; nobody
26829
26830had fallen in with them, or heard of them.  Convinced at last that for
26831
26832the present all such attempts were hopeless, he appointed two or three
26833
26834scouts, with promises of large rewards in case of their forwarding him
26835
26836any intelligence, and returned to London by next day's coach.<br><br>
26837
26838It was some gratification to Mr Quilp to find, as he took his place
26839
26840upon the roof, that Kit's mother was alone inside; from which
26841
26842circumstance he derived in the course of the journey much cheerfulness
26843
26844of spirit, inasmuch as her solitary condition enabled him to terrify
26845
26846her with many extraordinary annoyances; such as hanging over the side
26847
26848of the coach at the risk of his life, and staring in with his great
26849
26850goggle eyes, which seemed in hers the more horrible from his face being
26851
26852upside down; dodging her in this way from one window to another;
26853
26854getting nimbly down whenever they changed horses and thrusting his head
26855
26856in at the window with a dismal squint: which ingenious tortures had
26857
26858such an effect upon Mrs Nubbles, that she was quite unable for the time
26859
26860to resist the belief that Mr Quilp did in his own person represent and
26861
26862embody that Evil Power, who was so vigorously attacked at Little
26863
26864Bethel, and who, by reason of her backslidings in respect of Astley's
26865
26866and oysters, was now frolicsome and rampant.<br><br>
26867
26868Kit, having been apprised by letter of his mother's intended return,
26869
26870was waiting for her at the coach-office; and great was his surprise
26871
26872when he saw, leering over the coachman's shoulder like some familiar
26873
26874demon, invisible to all eyes but his, the well-known face of Quilp.<br><br>
26875
26876'How are you, Christopher?' croaked the dwarf from the coach-top.  'All
26877
26878right, Christopher.  Mother's inside.'<br><br>
26879
26880'Why, how did he come here, mother?' whispered Kit.<br><br>
26881
26882'I don't know how he came or why, my dear,' rejoined Mrs Nubbles,
26883
26884dismounting with her son's assistance, 'but he has been a terrifying of
26885
26886me out of my seven senses all this blessed day.'<br><br>
26887
26888'He has?' cried Kit.<br><br>
26889
26890'You wouldn't believe it, that you wouldn't,' replied his mother, 'but
26891
26892don't say a word to him, for I really don't believe he's human.  Hush!
26893
26894Don't turn round as if I was talking of him, but he's a squinting at me
26895
26896now in the full blaze of the coach-lamp, quite awful!'<br><br>
26897
26898In spite of his mother's injunction, Kit turned sharply round to look.
26899
26900Mr Quilp was serenely gazing at the stars, quite absorbed in celestial
26901
26902contemplation.<br><br>
26903
26904'Oh, he's the artfullest creetur!' cried Mrs Nubbles.  'But come away.
26905
26906Don't speak to him for the world.'<br><br>
26907
26908'Yes I will, mother.  What nonsense.  I say, sir--'<br><br>
26909
26910Mr Quilp affected to start, and looked smilingly round.<br><br>
26911
26912'You let my mother alone, will you?' said Kit.  'How dare you tease a
26913
26914poor lone woman like her, making her miserable and melancholy as if she
26915
26916hadn't got enough to make her so, without you.  An't you ashamed of
26917
26918yourself, you little monster?'<br><br>
26919
26920'Monster!' said Quilp inwardly, with a smile.  'Ugliest dwarf that
26921
26922could be seen anywhere for a penny--monster--ah!'<br><br>
26923
26924'You show her any of your impudence again,' resumed Kit, shouldering
26925
26926the bandbox, 'and I tell you what, Mr Quilp, I won't bear with you any
26927
26928more.  You have no right to do it; I'm sure we never interfered with
26929
26930you.  This isn't the first time; and if ever you worry or frighten her
26931
26932again, you'll oblige me (though I should be very sorry to do it, on
26933
26934account of your size) to beat you.'<br><br>
26935
26936Quilp said not a word in reply, but walking so close to Kit as to bring
26937
26938his eyes within two or three inches of his face, looked fixedly at him,
26939
26940retreated a little distance without averting his gaze, approached
26941
26942again, again withdrew, and so on for half-a-dozen times, like a head in
26943
26944a phantasmagoria.  Kit stood his ground as if in expectation of an
26945
26946immediate assault, but finding that nothing came of these gestures,
26947
26948snapped his fingers and walked away; his mother dragging him off as
26949
26950fast as she could, and, even in the midst of his news of little Jacob
26951
26952and the baby, looking anxiously over her shoulder to see if Quilp were
26953
26954following.<br><br>
26955
26956CHAPTER 49<br><br>
26957
26958Kit's mother might have spared herself the trouble of looking back so
26959
26960often, for nothing was further from Mr Quilp's thoughts than any
26961
26962intention of pursuing her and her son, or renewing the quarrel with
26963
26964which they had parted.  He went his way, whistling from time to time
26965
26966some fragments of a tune; and with a face quite tranquil and composed,
26967
26968jogged pleasantly towards home; entertaining himself as he went with
26969
26970visions of the fears and terrors of Mrs Quilp, who, having received no
26971
26972intelligence of him for three whole days and two nights, and having had
26973
26974no previous notice of his absence, was doubtless by that time in a
26975
26976state of distraction, and constantly fainting away with anxiety and
26977
26978grief.<br><br>
26979
26980This facetious probability was so congenial to the dwarf's humour, and
26981
26982so exquisitely amusing to him, that he laughed as he went along until
26983
26984the tears ran down his cheeks; and more than once, when he found
26985
26986himself in a bye-street, vented his delight in a shrill scream, which
26987
26988greatly terrifying any lonely passenger, who happened to be walking on
26989
26990before him expecting nothing so little, increased his mirth, and made
26991
26992him remarkably cheerful and light-hearted.<br><br>
26993
26994In this happy flow of spirits, Mr Quilp reached Tower Hill, when,
26995
26996gazing up at the window of his own sitting-room, he thought he descried
26997
26998more light than is usual in a house of mourning.  Drawing nearer, and
26999
27000listening attentively, he could hear several voices in earnest
27001
27002conversation, among which he could distinguish, not only those of his
27003
27004wife and mother-in-law, but the tongues of men.<br><br>
27005
27006'Ha!' cried the jealous dwarf, 'What's this!  Do they entertain
27007
27008visitors while I'm away!'<br><br>
27009
27010A smothered cough from above, was the reply.  He felt in his pockets
27011
27012for his latch-key, but had forgotten it.  There was no resource but to
27013
27014knock at the door.<br><br>
27015
27016'A light in the passage,' said Quilp, peeping through the keyhole.  'A
27017
27018very soft knock; and, by your leave, my lady, I may yet steal upon you
27019
27020unawares.  Soho!'<br><br>
27021
27022A very low and gentle rap received no answer from within.  But after a
27023
27024second application to the knocker, no louder than the first, the door
27025
27026was softly opened by the boy from the wharf, whom Quilp instantly
27027
27028gagged with one hand, and dragged into the street with the other.<br><br>
27029
27030'You'll throttle me, master,' whispered the boy.  'Let go, will you.'<br><br>
27031
27032'Who's up stairs, you dog?' retorted Quilp in the same tone.  'Tell me.
27033
27034And don't speak above your breath, or I'll choke you in good earnest.'<br><br>
27035
27036The boy could only point to the window, and reply with a stifled
27037
27038giggle, expressive of such intense enjoyment, that Quilp clutched him
27039
27040by the throat and might have carried his threat into execution, or at
27041
27042least have made very good progress towards that end, but for the boy's
27043
27044nimbly extricating himself from his grasp, and fortifying himself
27045
27046behind the nearest post, at which, after some fruitless attempts to
27047
27048catch him by the hair of the head, his master was obliged to come to a
27049
27050parley.<br><br>
27051
27052'Will you answer me?' said Quilp.  'What's going on, above?'<br><br>
27053
27054'You won't let one speak,' replied the boy.  'They--ha, ha, ha!--they
27055
27056think you're--you're dead.  Ha ha ha!'<br><br>
27057
27058'Dead!' cried Quilp, relaxing into a grim laugh himself.  'No.  Do
27059
27060they?  Do they really, you dog?'<br><br>
27061
27062'They think you're--you're drowned,' replied the boy, who in his
27063
27064malicious nature had a strong infusion of his master.  'You was last
27065
27066seen on the brink of the wharf, and they think you tumbled over.  Ha
27067
27068ha!'<br><br>
27069
27070The prospect of playing the spy under such delicious circumstances, and
27071
27072of disappointing them all by walking in alive, gave more delight to
27073
27074Quilp than the greatest stroke of good fortune could possibly have
27075
27076inspired him with.  He was no less tickled than his hopeful assistant,
27077
27078and they both stood for some seconds, grinning and gasping and wagging
27079
27080their heads at each other, on either side of the post, like an
27081
27082unmatchable pair of Chinese idols.<br><br>
27083
27084'Not a word,' said Quilp, making towards the door on tiptoe.  'Not a
27085
27086sound, not so much as a creaking board, or a stumble against a cobweb.
27087
27088Drowned, eh, Mrs Quilp!  Drowned!'<br><br>
27089
27090So saying, he blew out the candle, kicked off his shoes, and groped his
27091
27092way up stairs; leaving his delighted young friend in an ecstasy of
27093
27094summersets on the pavement.<br><br>
27095
27096The bedroom-door on the staircase being unlocked, Mr Quilp slipped in,
27097
27098and planted himself behind the door of communication between that
27099
27100chamber and the sitting-room, which standing ajar to render both more
27101
27102airy, and having a very convenient chink (of which he had often availed
27103
27104himself for purposes of espial, and had indeed enlarged with his
27105
27106pocket-knife), enabled him not only to hear, but to see distinctly,
27107
27108what was passing.<br><br>
27109
27110Applying his eye to this convenient place, he descried Mr Brass seated
27111
27112at the table with pen, ink, and paper, and the case-bottle of rum--his
27113
27114own case-bottle, and his own particular Jamaica--convenient to his
27115
27116hand; with hot water, fragrant lemons, white lump sugar, and all things
27117
27118fitting; from which choice materials, Sampson, by no means insensible
27119
27120to their claims upon his attention, had compounded a mighty glass of
27121
27122punch reeking hot; which he was at that very moment stirring up with a
27123
27124teaspoon, and contemplating with looks in which a faint assumption of
27125
27126sentimental regret, struggled but weakly with a bland and comfortable
27127
27128joy.  At the same table, with both her elbows upon it, was Mrs Jiniwin;
27129
27130no longer sipping other people's punch feloniously with teaspoons, but
27131
27132taking deep draughts from a jorum of her own; while her daughter--not
27133
27134exactly with ashes on her head, or sackcloth on her back, but
27135
27136preserving a very decent and becoming appearance of sorrow
27137
27138nevertheless--was reclining in an easy chair, and soothing her grief
27139
27140with a smaller allowance of the same glib liquid.  There were also
27141
27142present, a couple of water-side men, bearing between them certain
27143
27144machines called drags; even these fellows were accommodated with a
27145
27146stiff glass a-piece; and as they drank with a great relish, and were
27147
27148naturally of a red-nosed, pimple-faced, convivial look, their presence
27149
27150rather increased than detracted from that decided appearance of
27151
27152comfort, which was the great characteristic of the party.<br><br>
27153
27154'If I could poison that dear old lady's rum and water,' murmured Quilp,
27155
27156'I'd die happy.'<br><br>
27157
27158'Ah!' said Mr Brass, breaking the silence, and raising his eyes to the
27159
27160ceiling with a sigh, 'Who knows but he may be looking down upon us now!
27161
27162Who knows but he may be surveying of us from--from somewheres or
27163
27164another, and contemplating us with a watchful eye!  Oh Lor!'<br><br>
27165
27166Here Mr Brass stopped to drink half his punch, and then resumed;
27167
27168looking at the other half, as he spoke, with a dejected smile.<br><br>
27169
27170'I can almost fancy,' said the lawyer shaking his head, 'that I see his
27171
27172eye glistening down at the very bottom of my liquor.  When shall we
27173
27174look upon his like again?  Never, never!' One minute we are
27175
27176here'--holding his tumbler before his eyes--'the next we are
27177
27178there'--gulping down its contents, and striking himself emphatically a
27179
27180little below the chest--'in the silent tomb.  To think that I should be
27181
27182drinking his very rum!  It seems like a dream.'<br><br>
27183
27184With the view, no doubt, of testing the reality of his position, Mr
27185
27186Brass pushed his tumbler as he spoke towards Mrs Jiniwin for the
27187
27188purpose of being replenished; and turned towards the attendant mariners.<br><br>
27189
27190'The search has been quite unsuccessful then?'<br><br>
27191
27192'Quite, master.  But I should say that if he turns up anywhere, he'll
27193
27194come ashore somewhere about Grinidge to-morrow, at ebb tide, eh, mate?'<br><br>
27195
27196The other gentleman assented, observing that he was expected at the
27197
27198Hospital, and that several pensioners would be ready to receive him
27199
27200whenever he arrived.<br><br>
27201
27202'Then we have nothing for it but resignation,' said Mr Brass; 'nothing
27203
27204but resignation and expectation.  It would be a comfort to have his
27205
27206body; it would be a dreary comfort.'<br><br>
27207
27208'Oh, beyond a doubt,' assented Mrs Jiniwin hastily; 'if we once had
27209
27210that, we should be quite sure.'<br><br>
27211
27212'With regard to the descriptive advertisement,' said Sampson Brass,
27213
27214taking up his pen.  'It is a melancholy pleasure to recall his traits.
27215
27216Respecting his legs now--?'<br><br>
27217
27218'Crooked, certainly,' said Mrs Jiniwin.  'Do you think they WERE
27219
27220crooked?' said Brass, in an insinuating tone.  'I think I see them now
27221
27222coming up the street very wide apart, in nankeen' pantaloons a little
27223
27224shrunk and without straps.  Ah! what a vale of tears we live in. Do we
27225
27226say crooked?'<br><br>
27227
27228'I think they were a little so,' observed Mrs Quilp with a sob.<br><br>
27229
27230'Legs crooked,' said Brass, writing as he spoke.  'Large head, short
27231
27232body, legs crooked--'<br><br>
27233
27234Very crooked,' suggested Mrs Jiniwin.<br><br>
27235
27236'We'll not say very crooked, ma'am,' said Brass piously.  'Let us not
27237
27238bear hard upon the weaknesses of the deceased.  He is gone, ma'am, to
27239
27240where his legs will never come in question.--We will content ourselves
27241
27242with crooked, Mrs Jiniwin.'<br><br>
27243
27244'I thought you wanted the truth,' said the old lady.  'That's all.'<br><br>
27245
27246'Bless your eyes, how I love you,' muttered Quilp.  'There she goes
27247
27248again.  Nothing but punch!'<br><br>
27249
27250'This is an occupation,' said the lawyer, laying down his pen and
27251
27252emptying his glass, 'which seems to bring him before my eyes like the
27253
27254Ghost of Hamlet's father, in the very clothes that he wore on
27255
27256work-a-days.  His coat, his waistcoat, his shoes and stockings, his
27257
27258trousers, his hat, his wit and humour, his pathos and his umbrella, all
27259
27260come before me like visions of my youth.  His linen!' said Mr Brass
27261
27262smiling fondly at the wall, 'his linen which was always of a particular
27263
27264colour, for such was his whim and fancy--how plain I see his linen now!'<br><br>
27265
27266'You had better go on, sir,' said Mrs Jiniwin impatiently.<br><br>
27267
27268'True, ma'am, true,' cried Mr Brass.  'Our faculties must not freeze
27269
27270with grief.  I'll trouble you for a little more of that, ma'am.  A
27271
27272question now arises, with relation to his nose.'<br><br>
27273
27274'Flat,' said Mrs Jiniwin.<br><br>
27275
27276'Aquiline!' cried Quilp, thrusting in his head, and striking the
27277
27278feature with his fist.  'Aquiline, you hag.  Do you see it?  Do you
27279
27280call this flat?  Do you?  Eh?'<br><br>
27281
27282'Oh capital, capital!' shouted Brass, from the mere force of habit.
27283
27284'Excellent!  How very good he is!  He's a most remarkable man--so
27285
27286extremely whimsical!  Such an amazing power of taking people by
27287
27288surprise!'<br><br>
27289
27290Quilp paid no regard whatever to these compliments, nor to the dubious
27291
27292and frightened look into which the lawyer gradually subsided, nor to
27293
27294the shrieks of his wife and mother-in-law, nor to the latter's running
27295
27296from the room, nor to the former's fainting away.  Keeping his eye
27297
27298fixed on Sampson Brass, he walked up to the table, and beginning with
27299
27300his glass, drank off the contents, and went regularly round until he
27301
27302had emptied the other two, when he seized the case-bottle, and hugging
27303
27304it under his arm, surveyed him with a most extraordinary leer.<br><br>
27305
27306'Not yet, Sampson,' said Quilp.  'Not just yet!'<br><br>
27307
27308'Oh very good indeed!' cried Brass, recovering his spirits a little.
27309
27310'Ha ha ha!  Oh exceedingly good!  There's not another man alive who
27311
27312could carry it off like that.  A most difficult position to carry off.
27313
27314But he has such a flow of good-humour, such an amazing flow!'<br><br>
27315
27316'Good night,' said the dwarf, nodding expressively.<br><br>
27317
27318'Good night, sir, good night,' cried the lawyer, retreating backwards
27319
27320towards the door.  'This is a joyful occasion indeed, extremely joyful.
27321
27322Ha ha ha! oh very rich, very rich indeed, remarkably so!'<br><br>
27323
27324Waiting until Mr Brass's ejaculations died away in the distance (for he
27325
27326continued to pour them out, all the way down stairs), Quilp advanced
27327
27328towards the two men, who yet lingered in a kind of stupid amazement.<br><br>
27329
27330'Have you been dragging the river all day, gentlemen?' said the dwarf,
27331
27332holding the door open with great politeness.<br><br>
27333
27334'And yesterday too, master.'<br><br>
27335
27336'Dear me, you've had a deal of trouble.  Pray consider everything yours
27337
27338that you find upon the--upon the body.  Good night!'<br><br>
27339
27340The men looked at each other, but had evidently no inclination to argue
27341
27342the point just then, and shuffled out of the room.  The speedy
27343
27344clearance effected, Quilp locked the doors; and still embracing the
27345
27346case-bottle with shrugged-up shoulders and folded arms, stood looking
27347
27348at his insensible wife like a dismounted nightmare.<br><br>
27349
27350CHAPTER 50<br><br>
27351
27352Matrimonial differences are usually discussed by the parties concerned
27353
27354in the form of dialogue, in which the lady bears at least her full half
27355
27356share.  Those of Mr and Mrs Quilp, however, were an exception to the
27357
27358general rule; the remarks which they occasioned being limited to a long
27359
27360soliloquy on the part of the gentleman, with perhaps a few deprecatory
27361
27362observations from the lady, not extending beyond a trembling
27363
27364monosyllable uttered at long intervals, and in a very submissive and
27365
27366humble tone.  On the present occasion, Mrs Quilp did not for a long
27367
27368time venture even on this gentle defence, but when she had recovered
27369
27370from her fainting-fit, sat in a tearful silence, meekly listening to
27371
27372the reproaches of her lord and master.<br><br>
27373
27374Of these Mr Quilp delivered himself with the utmost animation and
27375
27376rapidity, and with so many distortions of limb and feature, that even
27377
27378his wife, although tolerably well accustomed to his proficiency in
27379
27380these respects, was well-nigh beside herself with alarm.  But the
27381
27382Jamaica rum, and the joy of having occasioned a heavy disappointment,
27383
27384by degrees cooled Mr Quilp's wrath; which from being at savage heat,
27385
27386dropped slowly to the bantering or chuckling point, at which it
27387
27388steadily remained.<br><br>
27389
27390'So you thought I was dead and gone, did you?' said Quilp.  'You
27391
27392thought you were a widow, eh?  Ha, ha, ha, you jade.'<br><br>
27393
27394'Indeed, Quilp,' returned his wife.  'I'm very sorry--'<br><br>
27395
27396'Who doubts it!' cried the dwarf.  'You very sorry! to be sure you are.
27397
27398Who doubts that you're VERY sorry!'<br><br>
27399
27400'I don't mean sorry that you have come home again alive and well,' said
27401
27402his wife, 'but sorry that I should have been led into such a belief.  I
27403
27404am glad to see you, Quilp; indeed I am.'<br><br>
27405
27406In truth Mrs Quilp did seem a great deal more glad to behold her lord
27407
27408than might have been expected, and did evince a degree of interest in
27409
27410his safety which, all things considered, was rather unaccountable.
27411
27412Upon Quilp, however, this circumstance made no impression, farther than
27413
27414as it moved him to snap his fingers close to his wife's eyes, with
27415
27416divers grins of triumph and derision.<br><br>
27417
27418'How could you go away so long, without saying a word to me or letting
27419
27420me hear of you or know anything about you?' asked the poor little
27421
27422woman, sobbing.  'How could you be so cruel, Quilp?'<br><br>
27423
27424'How could I be so cruel! cruel!' cried the dwarf.  'Because I was in
27425
27426the humour.  I'm in the humour now.  I shall be cruel when I like.  I'm
27427
27428going away again.'<br><br>
27429
27430'Not again!'<br><br>
27431
27432'Yes, again.  I'm going away now.  I'm off directly.  I mean to go and
27433
27434live wherever the fancy seizes me--at the wharf--at the
27435
27436counting-house--and be a jolly bachelor.  You were a widow in
27437
27438anticipation.  Damme,' screamed the dwarf, 'I'll be a bachelor in
27439
27440earnest.'<br><br>
27441
27442'You can't be serious, Quilp,' sobbed his wife.<br><br>
27443
27444'I tell you,' said the dwarf, exulting in his project, 'that I'll be a
27445
27446bachelor, a devil-may-care bachelor; and I'll have my bachelor's hall
27447
27448at the counting-house, and at such times come near it if you dare.  And
27449
27450mind too that I don't pounce in upon you at unseasonable hours again,
27451
27452for I'll be a spy upon you, and come and go like a mole or a weazel.
27453
27454Tom Scott--where's Tom Scott?'<br><br>
27455
27456'Here I am, master,' cried the voice of the boy, as Quilp threw up the
27457
27458window.<br><br>
27459
27460'Wait there, you dog,' returned the dwarf, 'to carry a bachelor's
27461
27462portmanteau.  Pack it up, Mrs Quilp.  Knock up the dear old lady to
27463
27464help; knock her up.  Halloa there!  Halloa!'<br><br>
27465
27466With these exclamations, Mr Quilp caught up the poker, and hurrying to
27467
27468the door of the good lady's sleeping-closet, beat upon it therewith
27469
27470until she awoke in inexpressible terror, thinking that her amiable
27471
27472son-in-law surely intended to murder her in justification of the legs
27473
27474she had slandered.  Impressed with this idea, she was no sooner fairly
27475
27476awake than she screamed violently, and would have quickly precipitated
27477
27478herself out of the window and through a neighbouring skylight, if her
27479
27480daughter had not hastened in to undeceive her, and implore her
27481
27482assistance.  Somewhat reassured by her account of the service she was
27483
27484required to render, Mrs Jiniwin made her appearance in a flannel
27485
27486dressing-gown; and both mother and daughter, trembling with terror and
27487
27488cold--for the night was now far advanced--obeyed Mr Quilp's directions
27489
27490in submissive silence.  Prolonging his preparations as much as
27491
27492possible, for their greater comfort, that eccentric gentleman
27493
27494superintended the packing of his wardrobe, and having added to it with
27495
27496his own hands, a plate, knife and fork, spoon, teacup and saucer, and
27497
27498other small household matters of that nature, strapped up the
27499
27500portmanteau, took it on his shoulders, and actually marched off without
27501
27502another word, and with the case-bottle (which he had never once put
27503
27504down) still tightly clasped under his arm.  Consigning his heavier
27505
27506burden to the care of Tom Scott when he reached the street, taking a
27507
27508dram from the bottle for his own encouragement, and giving the boy a
27509
27510rap on the head with it as a small taste for himself, Quilp very
27511
27512deliberately led the way to the wharf, and reached it at between three
27513
27514and four o'clock in the morning.<br><br>
27515
27516'Snug!' said Quilp, when he had groped his way to the wooden
27517
27518counting-house, and opened the door with a key he carried about with
27519
27520him.  'Beautifully snug!  Call me at eight, you dog.'<br><br>
27521
27522With no more formal leave-taking or explanation, he clutched the
27523
27524portmanteau, shut the door on his attendant, and climbing on the desk,
27525
27526and rolling himself up as round as a hedgehog, in an old boat-cloak,
27527
27528fell fast asleep.<br><br>
27529
27530Being roused in the morning at the appointed time, and roused with
27531
27532difficulty, after his late fatigues, Quilp instructed Tom Scott to make
27533
27534a fire in the yard of sundry pieces of old timber, and to prepare some
27535
27536coffee for breakfast; for the better furnishing of which repast he
27537
27538entrusted him with certain small moneys, to be expended in the purchase
27539
27540of hot rolls, butter, sugar, Yarmouth bloaters, and other articles of
27541
27542housekeeping; so that in a few minutes a savoury meal was smoking on
27543
27544the board.  With this substantial comfort, the dwarf regaled himself to
27545
27546his heart's content; and being highly satisfied with this free and
27547
27548gipsy mode of life (which he had often meditated, as offering, whenever
27549
27550he chose to avail himself of it, an agreeable freedom from the
27551
27552restraints of matrimony, and a choice means of keeping Mrs Quilp and
27553
27554her mother in a state of incessant agitation and suspense), bestirred
27555
27556himself to improve his retreat, and render it more commodious and
27557
27558comfortable.<br><br>
27559
27560With this view, he issued forth to a place hard by, where sea-stores
27561
27562were sold, purchased a second-hand hammock, and had it slung in
27563
27564seamanlike fashion from the ceiling of the counting-house.  He also
27565
27566caused to be erected, in the same mouldy cabin, an old ship's stove
27567
27568with a rusty funnel to carry the smoke through the roof; and these
27569
27570arrangements completed, surveyed them with ineffable delight.<br><br>
27571
27572'I've got a country-house like Robinson Crusoe,' said the dwarf, ogling
27573
27574the accommodations; 'a solitary, sequestered, desolate-island sort of
27575
27576spot, where I can be quite alone when I have business on hand, and be
27577
27578secure from all spies and listeners.  Nobody near me here, but rats,
27579
27580and they are fine stealthy secret fellows.  I shall be as merry as a
27581
27582grig among these gentry.  I'll look out for one like Christopher, and
27583
27584poison him--ha, ha, ha!  Business though--business--we must be mindful
27585
27586of business in the midst of pleasure, and the time has flown this
27587
27588morning, I declare.'<br><br>
27589
27590Enjoining Tom Scott to await his return, and not to stand upon his
27591
27592head, or throw a summerset, or so much as walk upon his hands
27593
27594meanwhile, on pain of lingering torments, the dwarf threw himself into
27595
27596a boat, and crossing to the other side of the river, and then speeding
27597
27598away on foot, reached Mr Swiveller's usual house of entertainment in
27599
27600Bevis Marks, just as that gentleman sat down alone to dinner in its
27601
27602dusky parlour.<br><br>
27603
27604'Dick,' said the dwarf, thrusting his head in at the door, 'my pet, my
27605
27606pupil, the apple of my eye, hey, hey!'<br><br>
27607
27608'Oh you're there, are you?' returned Mr Swiveller; 'how are you?'<br><br>
27609
27610'How's Dick?' retorted Quilp.  'How's the cream of clerkship, eh?'<br><br>
27611
27612'Why, rather sour, sir,' replied Mr Swiveller.  'Beginning to border
27613
27614upon cheesiness, in fact.'<br><br>
27615
27616'What's the matter?' said the dwarf, advancing.  'Has Sally proved
27617
27618unkind.  "Of all the girls that are so smart, there's none like--" eh,
27619
27620Dick!'<br><br>
27621
27622'Certainly not,' replied Mr Swiveller, eating his dinner with great
27623
27624gravity, 'none like her.  She's the sphynx of private life, is Sally B.'<br><br>
27625
27626'You're out of spirits,' said Quilp, drawing up a chair.  'What's the
27627
27628matter?'<br><br>
27629
27630'The law don't agree with me,' returned Dick.  'It isn't moist enough,
27631
27632and there's too much confinement.  I have been thinking of running
27633
27634away.'<br><br>
27635
27636'Bah!' said the dwarf.  'Where would you run to, Dick?'<br><br>
27637
27638'I don't know' returned Mr Swiveller.  'Towards Highgate, I suppose.
27639
27640Perhaps the bells might strike up "Turn again Swiveller, Lord Mayor of
27641
27642London." Whittington's name was Dick.  I wish cats were scarcer.'<br><br>
27643
27644Quilp looked at his companion with his eyes screwed up into a comical
27645
27646expression of curiosity, and patiently awaited his further explanation;
27647
27648upon which, however, Mr Swiveller appeared in no hurry to enter, as he
27649
27650ate a very long dinner in profound silence, finally pushed away his
27651
27652plate, threw himself back into his chair, folded his arms, and stared
27653
27654ruefully at the fire, in which some ends of cigars were smoking on
27655
27656their own account, and sending up a fragrant odour.<br><br>
27657
27658'Perhaps you'd like a bit of cake'--said Dick, at last turning to the
27659
27660dwarf.  'You're quite welcome to it.  You ought to be, for it's of your
27661
27662making.'<br><br>
27663
27664'What do you mean?' said Quilp.<br><br>
27665
27666Mr Swiveller replied by taking from his pocket a small and very greasy
27667
27668parcel, slowly unfolding it, and displaying a little slab of plum-cake
27669
27670extremely indigestible in appearance, and bordered with a paste of
27671
27672white sugar an inch and a half deep.<br><br>
27673
27674'What should you say this was?' demanded Mr Swiveller.<br><br>
27675
27676'It looks like bride-cake,' replied the dwarf, grinning.<br><br>
27677
27678'And whose should you say it was?' inquired Mr Swiveller, rubbing the
27679
27680pastry against his nose with a dreadful calmness.  'Whose?'<br><br>
27681
27682'Not--'<br><br>
27683
27684'Yes,' said Dick, 'the same.  You needn't mention her name.  There's no
27685
27686such name now.  Her name is Cheggs now, Sophy Cheggs.  Yet loved I as
27687
27688man never loved that hadn't wooden legs, and my heart, my heart is
27689
27690breaking for the love of Sophy Cheggs.'<br><br>
27691
27692With this extemporary adaptation of a popular ballad to the distressing
27693
27694circumstances of his own case, Mr Swiveller folded up the parcel again,
27695
27696beat it very flat between the palms of his hands, thrust it into his
27697
27698breast, buttoned his coat over it, and folded his arms upon the whole.<br><br>
27699
27700'Now, I hope you're satisfied, sir,' said Dick; 'and I hope Fred's
27701
27702satisfied.  You went partners in the mischief, and I hope you like it.
27703
27704This is the triumph I was to have, is it?  It's like the old
27705
27706country-dance of that name, where there are two gentlemen to one lady,
27707
27708and one has her, and the other hasn't, but comes limping up behind to
27709
27710make out the figure.  But it's Destiny, and mine's a crusher.'<br><br>
27711
27712Disguising his secret joy in Mr Swiveller's defeat, Daniel Quilp
27713
27714adopted the surest means of soothing him, by ringing the bell, and
27715
27716ordering in a supply of rosy wine (that is to say, of its usual
27717
27718representative), which he put about with great alacrity, calling upon
27719
27720Mr Swiveller to pledge him in various toasts derisive of Cheggs, and
27721
27722eulogistic of the happiness of single men.  Such was their impression
27723
27724on Mr Swiveller, coupled with the reflection that no man could oppose
27725
27726his destiny, that in a very short space of time his spirits rose
27727
27728surprisingly, and he was enabled to give the dwarf an account of the
27729
27730receipt of the cake, which, it appeared, had been brought to Bevis
27731
27732Marks by the two surviving Miss Wackleses in person, and delivered at
27733
27734the office door with much giggling and joyfulness.<br><br>
27735
27736'Ha!' said Quilp.  'It will be our turn to giggle soon.  And that
27737
27738reminds me--you spoke of young Trent--where is he?'<br><br>
27739
27740Mr Swiveller explained that his respectable friend had recently
27741
27742accepted a responsible situation in a locomotive gaming-house, and was
27743
27744at that time absent on a professional tour among the adventurous
27745
27746spirits of Great Britain.<br><br>
27747
27748'That's unfortunate,' said the dwarf, 'for I came, in fact, to ask you
27749
27750about him.  A thought has occurred to me, Dick; your friend over the
27751
27752way--'<br><br>
27753
27754'Which friend?'<br><br>
27755
27756'In the first floor.'<br><br>
27757
27758'Yes?'<br><br>
27759
27760'Your friend in the first floor, Dick, may know him.'<br><br>
27761
27762'No, he don't,' said Mr Swiveller, shaking his head.<br><br>
27763
27764'Don't!  No, because he has never seen him,' rejoined Quilp; 'but if we
27765
27766were to bring them together, who knows, Dick, but Fred, properly
27767
27768introduced, would serve his turn almost as well as little Nell or her
27769
27770grandfather--who knows but it might make the young fellow's fortune,
27771
27772and, through him, yours, eh?'<br><br>
27773
27774'Why, the fact is, you see,' said Mr Swiveller, 'that they HAVE been
27775
27776brought together.'<br><br>
27777
27778'Have been!' cried the dwarf, looking suspiciously at his companion.
27779
27780'Through whose means?' 'Through mine,' said Dick, slightly confused.
27781
27782'Didn't I mention it to you the last time you called over yonder?'<br><br>
27783
27784'You know you didn't,' returned the dwarf.<br><br>
27785
27786'I believe you're right,' said Dick.  'No.  I didn't, I recollect.  Oh
27787
27788yes, I brought 'em together that very day.  It was Fred's suggestion.'<br><br>
27789
27790'And what came of it?'<br><br>
27791
27792'Why, instead of my friend's bursting into tears when he knew who Fred
27793
27794was, embracing him kindly, and telling him that he was his grandfather,
27795
27796or his grandmother in disguise (which we fully expected), he flew into
27797
27798a tremendous passion; called him all manner of names; said it was in a
27799
27800great measure his fault that little Nell and the old gentleman had ever
27801
27802been brought to poverty; didn't hint at our taking anything to drink;
27803
27804and--and in short rather turned us out of the room than otherwise.'<br><br>
27805
27806'That's strange,' said the dwarf, musing.<br><br>
27807
27808'So we remarked to each other at the time,' returned Dick coolly, 'but
27809
27810quite true.'<br><br>
27811
27812Quilp was plainly staggered by this intelligence, over which he brooded
27813
27814for some time in moody silence, often raising his eyes to Mr
27815
27816Swiveller's face, and sharply scanning its expression.  As he could
27817
27818read in it, however, no additional information or anything to lead him
27819
27820to believe he had spoken falsely; and as Mr Swiveller, left to his own
27821
27822meditations, sighed deeply, and was evidently growing maudlin on the
27823
27824subject of Mrs Cheggs; the dwarf soon broke up the conference and took
27825
27826his departure, leaving the bereaved one to his melancholy ruminations.<br><br>
27827
27828'Have been brought together, eh?' said the dwarf as he walked the
27829
27830streets alone.  'My friend has stolen a march upon me.  It led him to
27831
27832nothing, and therefore is no great matter, save in the intention.  I'm
27833
27834glad he has lost his mistress.  Ha ha!  The blockhead mustn't leave the
27835
27836law at present.  I'm sure of him where he is, whenever I want him for
27837
27838my own purposes, and, besides, he's a good unconscious spy on Brass,
27839
27840and tells, in his cups, all that he sees and hears.  You're useful to
27841
27842me, Dick, and cost nothing but a little treating now and then.  I am
27843
27844not sure that it may not be worth while, before long, to take credit
27845
27846with the stranger, Dick, by discovering your designs upon the child;
27847
27848but for the present we'll remain the best friends in the world, with
27849
27850your good leave.'<br><br>
27851
27852Pursuing these thoughts, and gasping as he went along, after his own
27853
27854peculiar fashion, Mr Quilp once more crossed the Thames, and shut
27855
27856himself up in his Bachelor's Hall, which, by reason of its
27857
27858newly-erected chimney depositing the smoke inside the room and carrying
27859
27860none of it off, was not quite so agreeable as more fastidious people
27861
27862might have desired.  Such inconveniences, however, instead of
27863
27864disgusting the dwarf with his new abode, rather suited his humour; so,
27865
27866after dining luxuriously from the public-house, he lighted his pipe,
27867
27868and smoked against the chimney until nothing of him was visible through
27869
27870the mist but a pair of red and highly inflamed eyes, with sometimes a
27871
27872dim vision of his head and face, as, in a violent fit of coughing, he
27873
27874slightly stirred the smoke and scattered the heavy wreaths by which
27875
27876they were obscured.  In the midst of this atmosphere, which must
27877
27878infallibly have smothered any other man, Mr Quilp passed the evening
27879
27880with great cheerfulness; solacing himself all the time with the pipe
27881
27882and the case-bottle; and occasionally entertaining himself with a
27883
27884melodious howl, intended for a song, but bearing not the faintest
27885
27886resemblance to any scrap of any piece of music, vocal or instrumental,
27887
27888ever invented by man.  Thus he amused himself until nearly midnight,
27889
27890when he turned into his hammock with the utmost satisfaction.<br><br>
27891
27892The first sound that met his ears in the morning--as he half opened his
27893
27894eyes, and, finding himself so unusually near the ceiling, entertained a
27895
27896drowsy idea that he must have been transformed into a fly or
27897
27898blue-bottle in the course of the night,--was that of a stifled sobbing
27899
27900and weeping in the room.  Peeping cautiously over the side of his
27901
27902hammock, he descried Mrs Quilp, to whom, after contemplating her for
27903
27904some time in silence, he communicated a violent start by suddenly
27905
27906yelling out--'Halloa!'<br><br>
27907
27908'Oh, Quilp!' cried his poor little wife, looking up.  'How you
27909
27910frightened me!'<br><br>
27911
27912'I meant to, you jade,' returned the dwarf.  'What do you want here?
27913
27914I'm dead, an't I?'<br><br>
27915
27916'Oh, please come home, do come home,' said Mrs Quilp, sobbing; 'we'll
27917
27918never do so any more, Quilp, and after all it was only a mistake that
27919
27920grew out of our anxiety.'<br><br>
27921
27922'Out of your anxiety,' grinned the dwarf.  'Yes, I know that--out of
27923
27924your anxiety for my death.  I shall come home when I please, I tell
27925
27926you.  I shall come home when I please, and go when I please.  I'll be a
27927
27928Will o' the Wisp, now here, now there, dancing about you always,
27929
27930starting up when you least expect me, and keeping you in a constant
27931
27932state of restlessness and irritation.  Will you begone?'<br><br>
27933
27934Mrs Quilp durst only make a gesture of entreaty.<br><br>
27935
27936'I tell you no,' cried the dwarf.  'No.  If you dare to come here again
27937
27938unless you're sent for, I'll keep watch-dogs in the yard that'll growl
27939
27940and bite--I'll have man-traps, cunningly altered and improved for
27941
27942catching women--I'll have spring guns, that shall explode when you
27943
27944tread upon the wires, and blow you into little pieces.  Will you
27945
27946begone?'<br><br>
27947
27948'Do forgive me.  Do come back,' said his wife, earnestly.<br><br>
27949
27950'No-o-o-o-o!' roared Quilp.  'Not till my own good time, and then I'll
27951
27952return again as often as I choose, and be accountable to nobody for my
27953
27954goings or comings.  You see the door there.  Will you go?'<br><br>
27955
27956Mr Quilp delivered this last command in such a very energetic voice,
27957
27958and moreover accompanied it with such a sudden gesture, indicative of
27959
27960an intention to spring out of his hammock, and, night-capped as he was,
27961
27962bear his wife home again through the public streets, that she sped away
27963
27964like an arrow.  Her worthy lord stretched his neck and eyes until she
27965
27966had crossed the yard, and then, not at all sorry to have had this
27967
27968opportunity of carrying his point, and asserting the sanctity of his
27969
27970castle, fell into an immoderate fit of laughter, and laid himself down
27971
27972to sleep again.<br><br>
27973
27974CHAPTER 51<br><br>
27975
27976The bland and open-hearted proprietor of Bachelor's Hall slept on
27977
27978amidst the congenial accompaniments of rain, mud, dirt, damp, fog, and
27979
27980rats, until late in the day; when, summoning his valet Tom Scott to
27981
27982assist him to rise, and to prepare breakfast, he quitted his couch, and
27983
27984made his toilet.  This duty performed, and his repast ended, he again
27985
27986betook himself to Bevis Marks.<br><br>
27987
27988This visit was not intended for Mr Swiveller, but for his friend and
27989
27990employer Mr Sampson Brass.  Both gentlemen however were from home, nor
27991
27992was the life and light of law, Miss Sally, at her post either.  The
27993
27994fact of their joint desertion of the office was made known to all
27995
27996comers by a scrap of paper in the hand-writing of Mr Swiveller, which
27997
27998was attached to the bell-handle, and which, giving the reader no clue
27999
28000to the time of day when it was first posted, furnished him with the
28001
28002rather vague and unsatisfactory information that that gentleman would
28003
28004'return in an hour.'<br><br>
28005
28006'There's a servant, I suppose,' said the dwarf, knocking at the
28007
28008house-door.  'She'll do.'<br><br>
28009
28010After a sufficiently long interval, the door was opened, and a small
28011
28012voice immediately accosted him with, 'Oh please will you leave a card
28013
28014or message?'<br><br>
28015
28016'Eh?' said the dwarf, looking down, (it was something quite new to him)
28017
28018upon the small servant.<br><br>
28019
28020To this, the child, conducting her conversation as upon the occasion of
28021
28022her first interview with Mr Swiveller, again replied, 'Oh please will
28023
28024you leave a card or message?'<br><br>
28025
28026'I'll write a note,' said the dwarf, pushing past her into the office;
28027
28028'and mind your master has it directly he comes home.'  So Mr Quilp
28029
28030climbed up to the top of a tall stool to write the note, and the small
28031
28032servant, carefully tutored for such emergencies, looked on with her
28033
28034eyes wide open, ready, if he so much as abstracted a wafer, to rush
28035
28036into the street and give the alarm to the police.<br><br>
28037
28038As Mr Quilp folded his note (which was soon written: being a very short
28039
28040one) he encountered the gaze of the small servant.  He looked at her,
28041
28042long and earnestly.<br><br>
28043
28044'How are you?' said the dwarf, moistening a wafer with horrible
28045
28046grimaces.<br><br>
28047
28048The small servant, perhaps frightened by his looks, returned no audible
28049
28050reply; but it appeared from the motion of her lips that she was
28051
28052inwardly repeating the same form of expression concerning the note or
28053
28054message.<br><br>
28055
28056'Do they use you ill here?  is your mistress a Tartar?' said Quilp with
28057
28058a chuckle.<br><br>
28059
28060In reply to the last interrogation, the small servant, with a look of
28061
28062infinite cunning mingled with fear, screwed up her mouth very tight and
28063
28064round, and nodded violently.  Whether there was anything in the
28065
28066peculiar slyness of her action which fascinated Mr Quilp, or anything
28067
28068in the expression of her features at the moment which attracted his
28069
28070attention for some other reason; or whether it merely occurred to him
28071
28072as a pleasant whim to stare the small servant out of countenance;
28073
28074certain it is, that he planted his elbows square and firmly on the
28075
28076desk, and squeezing up his cheeks with his hands, looked at her fixedly.<br><br>
28077
28078'Where do you come from?' he said after a long pause, stroking his chin.<br><br>
28079
28080'I don't know.'<br><br>
28081
28082'What's your name?'<br><br>
28083
28084'Nothing.'<br><br>
28085
28086'Nonsense!' retorted Quilp.  'What does your mistress call you when she
28087
28088wants you?'<br><br>
28089
28090'A little devil,' said the child.<br><br>
28091
28092She added in the same breath, as if fearful of any further questioning,
28093
28094'But please will you leave a card or message?'<br><br>
28095
28096These unusual answers might naturally have provoked some more
28097
28098inquiries.  Quilp, however, without uttering another word, withdrew his
28099
28100eyes from the small servant, stroked his chin more thoughtfully than
28101
28102before, and then, bending over the note as if to direct it with
28103
28104scrupulous and hair-breadth nicety, looked at her, covertly but very
28105
28106narrowly, from under his bushy eyebrows.  The result of this secret
28107
28108survey was, that he shaded his face with his hands, and laughed slyly
28109
28110and noiselessly, until every vein in it was swollen almost to bursting.
28111
28112Pulling his hat over his brow to conceal his mirth and its effects, he
28113
28114tossed the letter to the child, and hastily withdrew.<br><br>
28115
28116Once in the street, moved by some secret impulse, he laughed, and held
28117
28118his sides, and laughed again, and tried to peer through the dusty area
28119
28120railings as if to catch another glimpse of the child, until he was
28121
28122quite tired out.  At last, he travelled back to the Wilderness, which
28123
28124was within rifle-shot of his bachelor retreat, and ordered tea in the
28125
28126wooden summer-house that afternoon for three persons; an invitation to
28127
28128Miss Sally Brass and her brother to partake of that entertainment at
28129
28130that place, having been the object both of his journey and his note.<br><br>
28131
28132It was not precisely the kind of weather in which people usually take
28133
28134tea in summer-houses, far less in summer-houses in an advanced state of
28135
28136decay, and overlooking the slimy banks of a great river at low water.
28137
28138Nevertheless, it was in this choice retreat that Mr Quilp ordered a
28139
28140cold collation to be prepared, and it was beneath its cracked and leaky
28141
28142roof that he, in due course of time, received Mr Sampson and his sister
28143
28144Sally.<br><br>
28145
28146'You're fond of the beauties of nature,' said Quilp with a grin.  'Is
28147
28148this charming, Brass?  Is it unusual, unsophisticated, primitive?'<br><br>
28149
28150'It's delightful indeed, sir,' replied the lawyer.<br><br>
28151
28152'Cool?' said Quilp.<br><br>
28153
28154'N-not particularly so, I think, sir,' rejoined Brass, with his teeth
28155
28156chattering in his head.<br><br>
28157
28158'Perhaps a little damp and ague-ish?' said Quilp.<br><br>
28159
28160'Just damp enough to be cheerful, sir,' rejoined Brass.  'Nothing more,
28161
28162sir, nothing more.'<br><br>
28163
28164'And Sally?' said the delighted dwarf.  'Does she like it?'<br><br>
28165
28166'She'll like it better,' returned that strong-minded lady, 'when she
28167
28168has tea; so let us have it, and don't bother.'<br><br>
28169
28170'Sweet Sally!' cried Quilp, extending his arms as if about to embrace
28171
28172her.  'Gentle, charming, overwhelming Sally.'<br><br>
28173
28174'He's a very remarkable man indeed!' soliloquised Mr Brass.  'He's
28175
28176quite a Troubadour, you know; quite a Troubadour!'<br><br>
28177
28178These complimentary expressions were uttered in a somewhat absent and
28179
28180distracted manner; for the unfortunate lawyer, besides having a bad
28181
28182cold in his head, had got wet in coming, and would have willingly borne
28183
28184some pecuniary sacrifice if he could have shifted his present raw
28185
28186quarters to a warm room, and dried himself at a fire.  Quilp,
28187
28188however--who, beyond the gratification of his demon whims, owed Sampson
28189
28190some acknowledgment of the part he had played in the mourning scene of
28191
28192which he had been a hidden witness, marked these symptoms of uneasiness
28193
28194with a delight past all expression, and derived from them a secret joy
28195
28196which the costliest banquet could never have afforded him.<br><br>
28197
28198It is worthy of remark, too, as illustrating a little feature in the
28199
28200character of Miss Sally Brass, that, although on her own account she
28201
28202would have borne the discomforts of the Wilderness with a very ill
28203
28204grace, and would probably, indeed, have walked off before the tea
28205
28206appeared, she no sooner beheld the latent uneasiness and misery of her
28207
28208brother than she developed a grim satisfaction, and began to enjoy
28209
28210herself after her own manner.  Though the wet came stealing through the
28211
28212roof and trickling down upon their heads, Miss Brass uttered no
28213
28214complaint, but presided over the tea equipage with imperturbable
28215
28216composure.  While Mr Quilp, in his uproarious hospitality, seated
28217
28218himself upon an empty beer-barrel, vaunted the place as the most
28219
28220beautiful and comfortable in the three kingdoms, and elevating his
28221
28222glass, drank to their next merry-meeting in that jovial spot; and Mr
28223
28224Brass, with the rain plashing down into his tea-cup, made a dismal
28225
28226attempt to pluck up his spirits and appear at his ease; and Tom Scott,
28227
28228who was in waiting at the door under an old umbrella, exulted in his
28229
28230agonies, and bade fair to split his sides with laughing; while all this
28231
28232was passing, Miss Sally Brass, unmindful of the wet which dripped down
28233
28234upon her own feminine person and fair apparel, sat placidly behind the
28235
28236tea-board, erect and grizzly, contemplating the unhappiness of her
28237
28238brother with a mind at ease, and content, in her amiable disregard of
28239
28240self, to sit there all night, witnessing the torments which his
28241
28242avaricious and grovelling nature compelled him to endure and forbade
28243
28244him to resent.  And this, it must be observed, or the illustration
28245
28246would be incomplete, although in a business point of view she had the
28247
28248strongest sympathy with Mr Sampson, and would have been beyond measure
28249
28250indignant if he had thwarted their client in any one respect.<br><br>
28251
28252In the height of his boisterous merriment, Mr Quilp, having on some
28253
28254pretence dismissed his attendant sprite for the moment, resumed his
28255
28256usual manner all at once, dismounted from his cask, and laid his hand
28257
28258upon the lawyer's sleeve.<br><br>
28259
28260'A word,' said the dwarf, 'before we go farther.  Sally, hark'ee for a
28261
28262minute.'<br><br>
28263
28264Miss Sally drew closer, as if accustomed to business conferences with
28265
28266their host which were the better for not having air.<br><br>
28267
28268'Business,' said the dwarf, glancing from brother to sister.  'Very
28269
28270private business.  Lay your heads together when you're by yourselves.'<br><br>
28271
28272'Certainly, sir,' returned Brass, taking out his pocket-book and
28273
28274pencil.  'I'll take down the heads if you please, sir.  Remarkable
28275
28276documents,' added the lawyer, raising his eyes to the ceiling, 'most
28277
28278remarkable documents.  He states his points so clearly that it's a
28279
28280treat to have 'em!  I don't know any act of parliament that's equal to
28281
28282him in clearness.'<br><br>
28283
28284'I shall deprive you of a treat,' said Quilp.  'Put up your book.  We
28285
28286don't want any documents.  So.  There's a lad named Kit--'<br><br>
28287
28288Miss Sally nodded, implying that she knew of him.<br><br>
28289
28290'Kit!' said Mr Sampson.--'Kit!  Ha! I've heard the name before, but I
28291
28292don't exactly call to mind--I don't exactly--'<br><br>
28293
28294'You're as slow as a tortoise, and more thick-headed than a
28295
28296rhinoceros,' returned his obliging client with an impatient gesture.<br><br>
28297
28298'He's extremely pleasant!' cried the obsequious Sampson.  'His
28299
28300acquaintance with Natural History too is surprising.  Quite a Buffoon,
28301
28302quite!'<br><br>
28303
28304There is no doubt that Mr Brass intended some compliment or other; and
28305
28306it has been argued with show of reason that he would have said Buffon,
28307
28308but made use of a superfluous vowel.  Be this as it may, Quilp gave him
28309
28310no time for correction, as he performed that office himself by more
28311
28312than tapping him on the head with the handle of his umbrella.<br><br>
28313
28314'Don't let's have any wrangling,' said Miss Sally, staying his hand.
28315
28316'I've showed you that I know him, and that's enough.'<br><br>
28317
28318'She's always foremost!' said the dwarf, patting her on the back and
28319
28320looking contemptuously at Sampson.  'I don't like Kit, Sally.'<br><br>
28321
28322'Nor I,' rejoined Miss Brass.<br><br>
28323
28324'Nor I,' said Sampson.<br><br>
28325
28326'Why, that's right!' cried Quilp.  'Half our work is done already.
28327
28328This Kit is one of your honest people; one of your fair characters; a
28329
28330prowling prying hound; a hypocrite; a double-faced, white-livered,
28331
28332sneaking spy; a crouching cur to those that feed and coax him, and a
28333
28334barking yelping dog to all besides.'<br><br>
28335
28336'Fearfully eloquent!' cried Brass with a sneeze.  'Quite appalling!'<br><br>
28337
28338'Come to the point,' said Miss Sally, 'and don't talk so much.'<br><br>
28339
28340'Right again!' exclaimed Quilp, with another contemptuous look at
28341
28342Sampson, 'always foremost!  I say, Sally, he is a yelping, insolent dog
28343
28344to all besides, and most of all, to me.  In short, I owe him a grudge.'
28345
28346'That's enough, sir,' said Sampson.<br><br>
28347
28348'No, it's not enough, sir,' sneered Quilp; 'will you hear me out?
28349
28350Besides that I owe him a grudge on that account, he thwarts me at this
28351
28352minute, and stands between me and an end which might otherwise prove a
28353
28354golden one to us all.  Apart from that, I repeat that he crosses my
28355
28356humour, and I hate him.  Now, you know the lad, and can guess the rest.
28357
28358Devise your own means of putting him out of my way, and execute them.
28359
28360Shall it be done?'<br><br>
28361
28362'It shall, sir,' said Sampson.<br><br>
28363
28364'Then give me your hand,' retorted Quilp.  'Sally, girl, yours.  I rely
28365
28366as much, or more, on you than him.  Tom Scott comes back.  Lantern,
28367
28368pipes, more grog, and a jolly night of it!'<br><br>
28369
28370No other word was spoken, no other look exchanged, which had the
28371
28372slightest reference to this, the real occasion of their meeting.  The
28373
28374trio were well accustomed to act together, and were linked to each
28375
28376other by ties of mutual interest and advantage, and nothing more was
28377
28378needed.  Resuming his boisterous manner with the same ease with which
28379
28380he had thrown it off, Quilp was in an instant the same uproarious,
28381
28382reckless little savage he had been a few seconds before.  It was ten
28383
28384o'clock at night before the amiable Sally supported her beloved and
28385
28386loving brother from the Wilderness, by which time he needed the utmost
28387
28388support her tender frame could render; his walk being from some unknown
28389
28390reason anything but steady, and his legs constantly doubling up in
28391
28392unexpected places.<br><br>
28393
28394Overpowered, notwithstanding his late prolonged slumbers, by the
28395
28396fatigues of the last few days, the dwarf lost no time in creeping to
28397
28398his dainty house, and was soon dreaming in his hammock.  Leaving him to
28399
28400visions, in which perhaps the quiet figures we quitted in the old
28401
28402church porch were not without their share, be it our task to rejoin
28403
28404them as they sat and watched.<br><br>
28405
28406CHAPTER 52<br><br>
28407
28408After a long time, the schoolmaster appeared at the wicket-gate of the
28409
28410churchyard, and hurried towards them, Tingling in his hand, as he came
28411
28412along, a bundle of rusty keys.  He was quite breathless with pleasure
28413
28414and haste when he reached the porch, and at first could only point
28415
28416towards the old building which the child had been contemplating so
28417
28418earnestly.<br><br>
28419
28420'You see those two old houses,' he said at last.<br><br>
28421
28422'Yes, surely,' replied Nell.  'I have been looking at them nearly all
28423
28424the time you have been away.'<br><br>
28425
28426'And you would have looked at them more curiously yet, if you could
28427
28428have guessed what I have to tell you,' said her friend.  'One of those
28429
28430houses is mine.'<br><br>
28431
28432Without saying any more, or giving the child time to reply, the
28433
28434schoolmaster took her hand, and, his honest face quite radiant with
28435
28436exultation, led her to the place of which he spoke.<br><br>
28437
28438They stopped before its low arched door.  After trying several of the
28439
28440keys in vain, the schoolmaster found one to fit the huge lock, which
28441
28442turned back, creaking, and admitted them into the house.<br><br>
28443
28444The room into which they entered was a vaulted chamber once nobly
28445
28446ornamented by cunning architects, and still retaining, in its beautiful
28447
28448groined roof and rich stone tracery, choice remnants of its ancient
28449
28450splendour.  Foliage carved in the stone, and emulating the mastery of
28451
28452Nature's hand, yet remained to tell how many times the leaves outside
28453
28454had come and gone, while it lived on unchanged.  The broken figures
28455
28456supporting the burden of the chimney-piece, though mutilated, were
28457
28458still distinguishable for what they had been--far different from the
28459
28460dust without--and showed sadly by the empty hearth, like creatures who
28461
28462had outlived their kind, and mourned their own too slow decay.<br><br>
28463
28464In some old time--for even change was old in that old place--a wooden
28465
28466partition had been constructed in one part of the chamber to form a
28467
28468sleeping-closet, into which the light was admitted at the same period
28469
28470by a rude window, or rather niche, cut in the solid wall.  This screen,
28471
28472together with two seats in the broad chimney, had at some forgotten
28473
28474date been part of the church or convent; for the oak, hastily
28475
28476appropriated to its present purpose, had been little altered from its
28477
28478former shape, and presented to the eye a pile of fragments of rich
28479
28480carving from old monkish stalls.<br><br>
28481
28482An open door leading to a small room or cell, dim with the light that
28483
28484came through leaves of ivy, completed the interior of this portion of
28485
28486the ruin.  It was not quite destitute of furniture.  A few strange
28487
28488chairs, whose arms and legs looked as though they had dwindled away
28489
28490with age; a table, the very spectre of its race: a great old chest that
28491
28492had once held records in the church, with other quaintly-fashioned
28493
28494domestic necessaries, and store of fire-wood for the winter, were
28495
28496scattered around, and gave evident tokens of its occupation as a
28497
28498dwelling-place at no very distant time.<br><br>
28499
28500The child looked around her, with that solemn feeling with which we
28501
28502contemplate the work of ages that have become but drops of water in the
28503
28504great ocean of eternity.  The old man had followed them, but they were
28505
28506all three hushed for a space, and drew their breath softly, as if they
28507
28508feared to break the silence even by so slight a sound.<br><br>
28509
28510'It is a very beautiful place!' said the child, in a low voice.<br><br>
28511
28512'I almost feared you thought otherwise,' returned the schoolmaster.
28513
28514'You shivered when we first came in, as if you felt it cold or gloomy.'<br><br>
28515
28516'It was not that,' said Nell, glancing round with a slight shudder.
28517
28518'Indeed I cannot tell you what it was, but when I saw the outside, from
28519
28520the church porch, the same feeling came over me.  It is its being so
28521
28522old and grey perhaps.'<br><br>
28523
28524'A peaceful place to live in, don't you think so?' said her friend.<br><br>
28525
28526'Oh yes,' rejoined the child, clasping her hands earnestly.  'A quiet,
28527
28528happy place--a place to live and learn to die in!' She would have said
28529
28530more, but that the energy of her thoughts caused her voice to falter,
28531
28532and come in trembling whispers from her lips.<br><br>
28533
28534'A place to live, and learn to live, and gather health of mind and body
28535
28536in,' said the schoolmaster; 'for this old house is yours.'<br><br>
28537
28538'Ours!' cried the child.<br><br>
28539
28540'Ay,' returned the schoolmaster gaily, 'for many a merry year to come,
28541
28542I hope.  I shall be a close neighbour--only next door--but this house
28543
28544is yours.'<br><br>
28545
28546Having now disburdened himself of his great surprise, the schoolmaster
28547
28548sat down, and drawing Nell to his side, told her how he had learnt that
28549
28550ancient tenement had been occupied for a very long time by an old
28551
28552person, nearly a hundred years of age, who kept the keys of the church,
28553
28554opened and closed it for the services, and showed it to strangers; how
28555
28556she had died not many weeks ago, and nobody had yet been found to fill
28557
28558the office; how, learning all this in an interview with the sexton, who
28559
28560was confined to his bed by rheumatism, he had been bold to make mention
28561
28562of his fellow-traveller, which had been so favourably received by that
28563
28564high authority, that he had taken courage, acting on his advice, to
28565
28566propound the matter to the clergyman.  In a word, the result of his
28567
28568exertions was, that Nell and her grandfather were to be carried before
28569
28570the last-named gentleman next day; and, his approval of their conduct
28571
28572and appearance reserved as a matter of form, that they were already
28573
28574appointed to the vacant post.<br><br>
28575
28576'There's a small allowance of money,' said the schoolmaster.  'It is
28577
28578not much, but still enough to live upon in this retired spot.  By
28579
28580clubbing our funds together, we shall do bravely; no fear of that.'<br><br>
28581
28582'Heaven bless and prosper you!' sobbed the child.<br><br>
28583
28584'Amen, my dear,' returned her friend cheerfully; 'and all of us, as it
28585
28586will, and has, in leading us through sorrow and trouble to this
28587
28588tranquil life.  But we must look at MY house now.  Come!'<br><br>
28589
28590They repaired to the other tenement; tried the rusty keys as before; at
28591
28592length found the right one; and opened the worm-eaten door.  It led
28593
28594into a chamber, vaulted and old, like that from which they had come,
28595
28596but not so spacious, and having only one other little room attached.
28597
28598It was not difficult to divine that the other house was of right the
28599
28600schoolmaster's, and that he had chosen for himself the least
28601
28602commodious, in his care and regard for them.  Like the adjoining
28603
28604habitation, it held such old articles of furniture as were absolutely
28605
28606necessary, and had its stack of fire-wood.<br><br>
28607
28608To make these dwellings as habitable and full of comfort as they could,
28609
28610was now their pleasant care.  In a short time, each had its cheerful
28611
28612fire glowing and crackling on the hearth, and reddening the pale old
28613
28614wall with a hale and healthy blush.  Nell, busily plying her needle,
28615
28616repaired the tattered window-hangings, drew together the rents that
28617
28618time had worn in the threadbare scraps of carpet, and made them whole
28619
28620and decent.  The schoolmaster swept and smoothed the ground before the
28621
28622door, trimmed the long grass, trained the ivy and creeping plants which
28623
28624hung their drooping heads in melancholy neglect; and gave to the outer
28625
28626walls a cheery air of home.  The old man, sometimes by his side and
28627
28628sometimes with the child, lent his aid to both, went here and there on
28629
28630little patient services, and was happy.  Neighbours, too, as they came
28631
28632from work, proffered their help; or sent their children with such small
28633
28634presents or loans as the strangers needed most.  It was a busy day; and
28635
28636night came on, and found them wondering that there was yet so much to
28637
28638do, and that it should be dark so soon.<br><br>
28639
28640They took their supper together, in the house which may be henceforth
28641
28642called the child's; and, when they had finished their meal, drew round
28643
28644the fire, and almost in whispers--their hearts were too quiet and glad
28645
28646for loud expression--discussed their future plans.  Before they
28647
28648separated, the schoolmaster read some prayers aloud; and then, full of
28649
28650gratitude and happiness, they parted for the night.<br><br>
28651
28652At that silent hour, when her grandfather was sleeping peacefully in
28653
28654his bed, and every sound was hushed, the child lingered before the
28655
28656dying embers, and thought of her past fortunes as if they had been a
28657
28658dream And she only now awoke.  The glare of the sinking flame,
28659
28660reflected in the oaken panels whose carved tops were dimly seen in the
28661
28662dusky roof--the aged walls, where strange shadows came and went with
28663
28664every flickering of the fire--the solemn presence, within, of that
28665
28666decay which falls on senseless things the most enduring in their
28667
28668nature: and, without, and round about on every side, of Death--filled
28669
28670her with deep and thoughtful feelings, but with none of terror or
28671
28672alarm.  A change had been gradually stealing over her, in the time of
28673
28674her loneliness and sorrow.  With failing strength and heightening
28675
28676resolution, there had sprung up a purified and altered mind; there had
28677
28678grown in her bosom blessed thoughts and hopes, which are the portion of
28679
28680few but the weak and drooping.  There were none to see the frail,
28681
28682perishable figure, as it glided from the fire and leaned pensively at
28683
28684the open casement; none but the stars, to look into the upturned face
28685
28686and read its history.  The old church bell rang out the hour with a
28687
28688mournful sound, as if it had grown sad from so much communing with the
28689
28690dead and unheeded warning to the living; the fallen leaves rustled; the
28691
28692grass stirred upon the graves; all else was still and sleeping.<br><br>
28693
28694Some of those dreamless sleepers lay close within the shadow of the
28695
28696church--touching the wall, as if they clung to it for comfort and
28697
28698protection.  Others had chosen to lie beneath the changing shade of
28699
28700trees; others by the path, that footsteps might come near them; others,
28701
28702among the graves of little children.  Some had desired to rest beneath
28703
28704the very ground they had trodden in their daily walks; some, where the
28705
28706setting sun might shine upon their beds; some, where its light would
28707
28708fall upon them when it rose.  Perhaps not one of the imprisoned souls
28709
28710had been able quite to separate itself in living thought from its old
28711
28712companion.  If any had, it had still felt for it a love like that which
28713
28714captives have been known to bear towards the cell in which they have
28715
28716been long confined, and, even at parting, hung upon its narrow bounds
28717
28718affectionately.<br><br>
28719
28720It was long before the child closed the window, and approached her bed.
28721
28722Again something of the same sensation as before--an involuntary
28723
28724chill--a momentary feeling akin to fear--but vanishing directly, and
28725
28726leaving no alarm behind.  Again, too, dreams of the little scholar; of
28727
28728the roof opening, and a column of bright faces, rising far away into
28729
28730the sky, as she had seen in some old scriptural picture once, and
28731
28732looking down on her, asleep.  It was a sweet and happy dream.  The
28733
28734quiet spot, outside, seemed to remain the same, saving that there was
28735
28736music in the air, and a sound of angels' wings.  After a time the
28737
28738sisters came there, hand in hand, and stood among the graves.  And then
28739
28740the dream grew dim, and faded.<br><br>
28741
28742With the brightness and joy of morning, came the renewal of yesterday's
28743
28744labours, the revival of its pleasant thoughts, the restoration of its
28745
28746energies, cheerfulness, and hope.  They worked gaily in ordering and
28747
28748arranging their houses until noon, and then went to visit the clergyman.<br><br>
28749
28750He was a simple-hearted old gentleman, of a shrinking, subdued spirit,
28751
28752accustomed to retirement, and very little acquainted with the world,
28753
28754which he had left many years before to come and settle in that place.
28755
28756His wife had died in the house in which he still lived, and he had long
28757
28758since lost sight of any earthly cares or hopes beyond it.<br><br>
28759
28760He received them very kindly, and at once showed an interest in Nell;
28761
28762asking her name, and age, her birthplace, the circumstances which had
28763
28764led her there, and so forth.  The schoolmaster had already told her
28765
28766story.  They had no other friends or home to leave, he said, and had
28767
28768come to share his fortunes.  He loved the child as though she were his
28769
28770own.<br><br>
28771
28772'Well, well,' said the clergyman.  'Let it be as you desire.  She is
28773
28774very young.' 'Old in adversity and trial, sir,' replied the
28775
28776schoolmaster.<br><br>
28777
28778'God help her.  Let her rest, and forget them,' said the old gentleman.
28779
28780'But an old church is a dull and gloomy place for one so young as you,
28781
28782my child.'<br><br>
28783
28784'Oh no, sir,' returned Nell.  'I have no such thoughts, indeed.'<br><br>
28785
28786'I would rather see her dancing on the green at nights,' said the old
28787
28788gentleman, laying his hand upon her head, and smiling sadly, 'than have
28789
28790her sitting in the shadow of our mouldering arches.  You must look to
28791
28792this, and see that her heart does not grow heavy among these solemn
28793
28794ruins.  Your request is granted, friend.'<br><br>
28795
28796After more kind words, they withdrew, and repaired to the child's
28797
28798house; where they were yet in conversation on their happy fortune, when
28799
28800another friend appeared.<br><br>
28801
28802This was a little old gentleman, who lived in the parsonage-house, and
28803
28804had resided there (so they learnt soon afterwards) ever since the death
28805
28806of the clergyman's wife, which had happened fifteen years before.  He
28807
28808had been his college friend and always his close companion; in the
28809
28810first shock of his grief he had come to console and comfort him; and
28811
28812from that time they had never parted company.  The little old gentleman
28813
28814was the active spirit of the place, the adjuster of all differences,
28815
28816the promoter of all merry-makings, the dispenser of his friend's
28817
28818bounty, and of no small charity of his own besides; the universal
28819
28820mediator, comforter, and friend.  None of the simple villagers had
28821
28822cared to ask his name, or, when they knew it, to store it in their
28823
28824memory.  Perhaps from some vague rumour of his college honours which
28825
28826had been whispered abroad on his first arrival, perhaps because he was
28827
28828an unmarried, unencumbered gentleman, he had been called the bachelor.
28829
28830The name pleased him, or suited him as well as any other, and the
28831
28832Bachelor he had ever since remained.  And the bachelor it was, it may
28833
28834be added, who with his own hands had laid in the stock of fuel which
28835
28836the wanderers had found in their new habitation.<br><br>
28837
28838The bachelor, then--to call him by his usual appellation--lifted the
28839
28840latch, showed his little round mild face for a moment at the door, and
28841
28842stepped into the room like one who was no stranger to it.<br><br>
28843
28844'You are Mr Marton, the new schoolmaster?' he said, greeting Nell's
28845
28846kind friend.<br><br>
28847
28848'I am, sir.'<br><br>
28849
28850'You come well recommended, and I am glad to see you.  I should have
28851
28852been in the way yesterday, expecting you, but I rode across the country
28853
28854to carry a message from a sick mother to her daughter in service some
28855
28856miles off, and have but just now returned.  This is our young
28857
28858church-keeper?  You are not the less welcome, friend, for her sake, or
28859
28860for this old man's; nor the worse teacher for having learnt humanity.'
28861
28862'She has been ill, sir, very lately,' said the schoolmaster, in answer
28863
28864to the look with which their visitor regarded Nell when he had kissed
28865
28866her cheek.<br><br>
28867
28868'Yes, yes.  I know she has,' he rejoined.  'There have been suffering
28869
28870and heartache here.'<br><br>
28871
28872'Indeed there have, sir.'<br><br>
28873
28874The little old gentleman glanced at the grandfather, and back again at
28875
28876the child, whose hand he took tenderly in his, and held.<br><br>
28877
28878'You will be happier here,' he said; 'we will try, at least, to make
28879
28880you so.  You have made great improvements here already.  Are they the
28881
28882work of your hands?'<br><br>
28883
28884'Yes, sir.'<br><br>
28885
28886'We may make some others--not better in themselves, but with better
28887
28888means perhaps,' said the bachelor.  'Let us see now, let us see.'<br><br>
28889
28890Nell accompanied him into the other little rooms, and over both the
28891
28892houses, in which he found various small comforts wanting, which he
28893
28894engaged to supply from a certain collection of odds and ends he had at
28895
28896home, and which must have been a very miscellaneous and extensive one,
28897
28898as it comprehended the most opposite articles imaginable.  They all
28899
28900came, however, and came without loss of time; for the little old
28901
28902gentleman, disappearing for some five or ten minutes, presently
28903
28904returned, laden with old shelves, rugs, blankets, and other household
28905
28906gear, and followed by a boy bearing a similar load.  These being cast
28907
28908on the floor in a promiscuous heap, yielded a quantity of occupation in
28909
28910arranging, erecting, and putting away; the superintendence of which
28911
28912task evidently afforded the old gentleman extreme delight, and engaged
28913
28914him for some time with great briskness and activity.  When nothing more
28915
28916was left to be done, he charged the boy to run off and bring his
28917
28918schoolmates to be marshalled before their new master, and solemnly
28919
28920reviewed.<br><br>
28921
28922'As good a set of fellows, Marton, as you'd wish to see,' he said,
28923
28924turning to the schoolmaster when the boy was gone; 'but I don't let 'em
28925
28926know I think so.  That wouldn't do, at all.'<br><br>
28927
28928The messenger soon returned at the head of a long row of urchins, great
28929
28930and small, who, being confronted by the bachelor at the house door,
28931
28932fell into various convulsions of politeness; clutching their hats and
28933
28934caps, squeezing them into the smallest possible dimensions, and making
28935
28936all manner of bows and scrapes, which the little old gentleman
28937
28938contemplated with excessive satisfaction, and expressed his approval of
28939
28940by a great many nods and smiles.  Indeed, his approbation of the boys
28941
28942was by no means so scrupulously disguised as he had led the
28943
28944schoolmaster to suppose, inasmuch as it broke out in sundry loud
28945
28946whispers and confidential remarks which were perfectly audible to them
28947
28948every one.  'This first boy, schoolmaster,' said the bachelor, 'is John
28949
28950Owen; a lad of good parts, sir, and frank, honest temper; but too
28951
28952thoughtless, too playful, too light-headed by far.  That boy, my good
28953
28954sir, would break his neck with pleasure, and deprive his parents of
28955
28956their chief comfort--and between ourselves, when you come to see him at
28957
28958hare and hounds, taking the fence and ditch by the finger-post, and
28959
28960sliding down the face of the little quarry, you'll never forget it.
28961
28962It's beautiful!'<br><br>
28963
28964John Owen having been thus rebuked, and being in perfect possession of
28965
28966the speech aside, the bachelor singled out another boy.<br><br>
28967
28968'Now, look at that lad, sir,' said the bachelor.  'You see that fellow?
28969
28970Richard Evans his name is, sir.  An amazing boy to learn, blessed with
28971
28972a good memory, and a ready understanding, and moreover with a good
28973
28974voice and ear for psalm-singing, in which he is the best among us.
28975
28976Yet, sir, that boy will come to a bad end; he'll never die in his bed;
28977
28978he's always falling asleep in sermon-time--and to tell you the truth,
28979
28980Mr Marton, I always did the same at his age, and feel quite certain
28981
28982that it was natural to my constitution and I couldn't help it.'<br><br>
28983
28984This hopeful pupil edified by the above terrible reproval, the bachelor
28985
28986turned to another.<br><br>
28987
28988'But if we talk of examples to be shunned,' said he, 'if we come to
28989
28990boys that should be a warning and a beacon to all their fellows, here's
28991
28992the one, and I hope you won't spare him.  This is the lad, sir; this
28993
28994one with the blue eyes and light hair.  This is a swimmer, sir, this
28995
28996fellow--a diver, Lord save us!  This is a boy, sir, who had a fancy for
28997
28998plunging into eighteen feet of water, with his clothes on, and bringing
28999
29000up a blind man's dog, who was being drowned by the weight of his chain
29001
29002and collar, while his master stood wringing his hands upon the bank,
29003
29004bewailing the loss of his guide and friend.  I sent the boy two guineas
29005
29006anonymously, sir,' added the bachelor, in his peculiar whisper,
29007
29008'directly I heard of it; but never mention it on any account, for he
29009
29010hasn't the least idea that it came from me.'<br><br>
29011
29012Having disposed of this culprit, the bachelor turned to another, and
29013
29014from him to another, and so on through the whole array, laying, for
29015
29016their wholesome restriction within due bounds, the same cutting
29017
29018emphasis on such of their propensities as were dearest to his heart and
29019
29020were unquestionably referrable to his own precept and example.
29021
29022Thoroughly persuaded, in the end, that he had made them miserable by
29023
29024his severity, he dismissed them with a small present, and an admonition
29025
29026to walk quietly home, without any leapings, scufflings, or turnings out
29027
29028of the way; which injunction, he informed the schoolmaster in the same
29029
29030audible confidence, he did not think he could have obeyed when he was a
29031
29032boy, had his life depended on it.<br><br>
29033
29034Hailing these little tokens of the bachelor's disposition as so many
29035
29036assurances of his own welcome course from that time, the schoolmaster
29037
29038parted from him with a light heart and joyous spirits, and deemed
29039
29040himself one of the happiest men on earth.  The windows of the two old
29041
29042houses were ruddy again, that night, with the reflection of the
29043
29044cheerful fires that burnt within; and the bachelor and his friend,
29045
29046pausing to look upon them as they returned from their evening walk,
29047
29048spoke softly together of the beautiful child, and looked round upon the
29049
29050churchyard with a sigh.<br><br>
29051
29052CHAPTER 53<br><br>
29053
29054Nell was stirring early in the morning, and having discharged her
29055
29056household tasks, and put everything in order for the good schoolmaster
29057
29058(though sorely against his will, for he would have spared her the
29059
29060pains), took down, from its nail by the fireside, a little bundle of
29061
29062keys with which the bachelor had formally invested her on the previous
29063
29064day, and went out alone to visit the old church.<br><br>
29065
29066The sky was serene and bright, the air clear, perfumed with the fresh
29067
29068scent of newly fallen leaves, and grateful to every sense.  The
29069
29070neighbouring stream sparkled, and rolled onward with a tuneful sound;
29071
29072the dew glistened on the green mounds, like tears shed by Good Spirits
29073
29074over the dead.  Some young children sported among the tombs, and hid
29075
29076from each other, with laughing faces.  They had an infant with them,
29077
29078and had laid it down asleep upon a child's grave, in a little bed of
29079
29080leaves.  It was a new grave--the resting-place, perhaps, of some little
29081
29082creature, who, meek and patient in its illness, had often sat and
29083
29084watched them, and now seemed, to their minds, scarcely changed.<br><br>
29085
29086She drew near and asked one of them whose grave it was.  The child
29087
29088answered that that was not its name; it was a garden--his brother's.
29089
29090It was greener, he said, than all the other gardens, and the birds
29091
29092loved it better because he had been used to feed them.  When he had
29093
29094done speaking, he looked at her with a smile, and kneeling down and
29095
29096nestling for a moment with his cheek against the turf, bounded merrily
29097
29098away.<br><br>
29099
29100She passed the church, gazing upward at its old tower, went through the
29101
29102wicket gate, and so into the village.  The old sexton, leaning on a
29103
29104crutch, was taking the air at his cottage door, and gave her good
29105
29106morrow.<br><br>
29107
29108'You are better?' said the child, stopping to speak with him.<br><br>
29109
29110'Ay surely,' returned the old man.  'I'm thankful to say, much better.'<br><br>
29111
29112'YOU will be quite well soon.'<br><br>
29113
29114'With Heaven's leave, and a little patience.  But come in, come in!'
29115
29116The old man limped on before, and warning her of the downward step,
29117
29118which he achieved himself with no small difficulty, led the way into
29119
29120his little cottage.<br><br>
29121
29122'It is but one room you see.  There is another up above, but the stair
29123
29124has got harder to climb o' late years, and I never use it.  I'm
29125
29126thinking of taking to it again, next summer, though.'<br><br>
29127
29128The child wondered how a grey-headed man like him--one of his trade
29129
29130too--could talk of time so easily.  He saw her eyes wandering to the
29131
29132tools that hung upon the wall, and smiled.<br><br>
29133
29134'I warrant now,' he said, 'that you think all those are used in making
29135
29136graves.'<br><br>
29137
29138'Indeed, I wondered that you wanted so many.'<br><br>
29139
29140'And well you might.  I am a gardener.  I dig the ground, and plant
29141
29142things that are to live and grow.  My works don't all moulder away, and
29143
29144rot in the earth.  You see that spade in the centre?'<br><br>
29145
29146'The very old one--so notched and worn?  Yes.'<br><br>
29147
29148'That's the sexton's spade, and it's a well-used one, as you see.
29149
29150We're healthy people here, but it has done a power of work.  If it
29151
29152could speak now, that spade, it would tell you of many an unexpected
29153
29154job that it and I have done together; but I forget 'em, for my memory's
29155
29156a poor one.--That's nothing new,' he added hastily.  'It always was.'<br><br>
29157
29158'There are flowers and shrubs to speak to your other work,' said the
29159
29160child.<br><br>
29161
29162'Oh yes.  And tall trees.  But they are not so separate from the
29163
29164sexton's labours as you think.'<br><br>
29165
29166'No!'<br><br>
29167
29168'Not in my mind, and recollection--such as it is,' said the old man.
29169
29170'Indeed they often help it.  For say that I planted such a tree for
29171
29172such a man.  There it stands, to remind me that he died.  When I look
29173
29174at its broad shadow, and remember what it was in his time, it helps me
29175
29176to the age of my other work, and I can tell you pretty nearly when I
29177
29178made his grave.'<br><br>
29179
29180'But it may remind you of one who is still alive,' said the child.<br><br>
29181
29182'Of twenty that are dead, in connexion with that one who lives, then,'
29183
29184rejoined the old man; 'wife, husband, parents, brothers, sisters,
29185
29186children, friends--a score at least.  So it happens that the sexton's
29187
29188spade gets worn and battered.  I shall need a new one--next summer.'<br><br>
29189
29190The child looked quickly towards him, thinking that he jested with his
29191
29192age and infirmity: but the unconscious sexton was quite in earnest.<br><br>
29193
29194'Ah!' he said, after a brief silence.  'People never learn.  They never
29195
29196learn.  It's only we who turn up the ground, where nothing grows and
29197
29198everything decays, who think of such things as these--who think of
29199
29200them properly, I mean.  You have been into the church?'<br><br>
29201
29202'I am going there now,' the child replied.<br><br>
29203
29204'There's an old well there,' said the sexton, 'right underneath the
29205
29206belfry; a deep, dark, echoing well.  Forty year ago, you had only to
29207
29208let down the bucket till the first knot in the rope was free of the
29209
29210windlass, and you heard it splashing in the cold dull water.  By little
29211
29212and little the water fell away, so that in ten year after that, a
29213
29214second knot was made, and you must unwind so much rope, or the bucket
29215
29216swung tight and empty at the end.  In ten years' time, the water fell
29217
29218again, and a third knot was made.  In ten years more, the well dried
29219
29220up; and now, if you lower the bucket till your arms are tired, and let
29221
29222out nearly all the cord, you'll hear it, of a sudden, clanking and
29223
29224rattling on the ground below; with a sound of being so deep and so far
29225
29226down, that your heart leaps into your mouth, and you start away as if
29227
29228you were falling in.'<br><br>
29229
29230'A dreadful place to come on in the dark!' exclaimed the child, who had
29231
29232followed the old man's looks and words until she seemed to stand upon
29233
29234its brink.<br><br>
29235
29236'What is it but a grave!' said the sexton.  'What else!  And which of
29237
29238our old folks, knowing all this, thought, as the spring subsided, of
29239
29240their own failing strength, and lessening life?  Not one!'<br><br>
29241
29242'Are you very old yourself?' asked the child, involuntarily.<br><br>
29243
29244'I shall be seventy-nine--next summer.'<br><br>
29245
29246'You still work when you are well?'<br><br>
29247
29248'Work!  To be sure.  You shall see my gardens hereabout.  Look at the
29249
29250window there.  I made, and have kept, that plot of ground entirely with
29251
29252my own hands.  By this time next year I shall hardly see the sky, the
29253
29254boughs will have grown so thick.  I have my winter work at night
29255
29256besides.'<br><br>
29257
29258He opened, as he spoke, a cupboard close to where he sat, and produced
29259
29260some miniature boxes, carved in a homely manner and made of old wood.<br><br>
29261
29262'Some gentlefolks who are fond of ancient days, and what belongs to
29263
29264them,' he said, 'like to buy these keepsakes from our church and ruins.
29265
29266Sometimes, I make them of scraps of oak, that turn up here and there;
29267
29268sometimes of bits of coffins which the vaults have long preserved.  See
29269
29270here--this is a little chest of the last kind, clasped at the edges
29271
29272with fragments of brass plates that had writing on 'em once, though it
29273
29274would be hard to read it now.  I haven't many by me at this time of
29275
29276year, but these shelves will be full--next summer.'<br><br>
29277
29278The child admired and praised his work, and shortly afterwards
29279
29280departed; thinking, as she went, how strange it was, that this old man,
29281
29282drawing from his pursuits, and everything around him, one stern moral,
29283
29284never contemplated its application to himself; and, while he dwelt upon
29285
29286the uncertainty of human life, seemed both in word and deed to deem
29287
29288himself immortal.  But her musings did not stop here, for she was wise
29289
29290enough to think that by a good and merciful adjustment this must be
29291
29292human nature, and that the old sexton, with his plans for next summer,
29293
29294was but a type of all mankind.<br><br>
29295
29296Full of these meditations, she reached the church.  It was easy to find
29297
29298the key belonging to the outer door, for each was labelled on a scrap
29299
29300of yellow parchment.  Its very turning in the lock awoke a hollow
29301
29302sound, and when she entered with a faltering step, the echoes that it
29303
29304raised in closing, made her start.<br><br>
29305
29306If the peace of the simple village had moved the child more strongly,
29307
29308because of the dark and troubled ways that lay beyond, and through
29309
29310which she had journeyed with such failing feet, what was the deep
29311
29312impression of finding herself alone in that solemn building, where the
29313
29314very light, coming through sunken windows, seemed old and grey, and the
29315
29316air, redolent of earth and mould, seemed laden with decay, purified by
29317
29318time of all its grosser particles, and sighing through arch and aisle,
29319
29320and clustered pillars, like the breath of ages gone!  Here was the
29321
29322broken pavement, worn, so long ago, by pious feet, that Time, stealing
29323
29324on the pilgrims' steps, had trodden out their track, and left but
29325
29326crumbling stones.  Here were the rotten beam, the sinking arch, the
29327
29328sapped and mouldering wall, the lowly trench of earth, the stately tomb
29329
29330on which no epitaph remained--all--marble, stone, iron, wood, and
29331
29332dust--one common monument of ruin.  The best work and the worst, the
29333
29334plainest and the richest, the stateliest and the least imposing--both
29335
29336of Heaven's work and Man's--all found one common level here, and told
29337
29338one common tale.<br><br>
29339
29340Some part of the edifice had been a baronial chapel, and here were
29341
29342effigies of warriors stretched upon their beds of stone with folded
29343
29344hands--cross-legged, those who had fought in the Holy Wars--girded
29345
29346with their swords, and cased in armour as they had lived.  Some of
29347
29348these knights had their own weapons, helmets, coats of mail, hanging
29349
29350upon the walls hard by, and dangling from rusty hooks.  Broken and
29351
29352dilapidated as they were, they yet retained their ancient form, and
29353
29354something of their ancient aspect.  Thus violent deeds live after men
29355
29356upon the earth, and traces of war and bloodshed will survive in
29357
29358mournful shapes long after those who worked the desolation are but
29359
29360atoms of earth themselves.<br><br>
29361
29362The child sat down, in this old, silent place, among the stark figures
29363
29364on the tombs--they made it more quiet there, than elsewhere, to her
29365
29366fancy--and gazing round with a feeling of awe, tempered with a calm
29367
29368delight, felt that now she was happy, and at rest.  She took a Bible
29369
29370from the shelf, and read; then, laying it down, thought of the summer
29371
29372days and the bright springtime that would come--of the rays of sun that
29373
29374would fall in aslant, upon the sleeping forms--of the leaves that would
29375
29376flutter at the window, and play in glistening shadows on the
29377
29378pavement--of the songs of birds, and growth of buds and blossoms out of
29379
29380doors--of the sweet air, that would steal in, and gently wave the
29381
29382tattered banners overhead.  What if the spot awakened thoughts of
29383
29384death!  Die who would, it would still remain the same; these sights and
29385
29386sounds would still go on, as happily as ever.  It would be no pain to
29387
29388sleep amidst them.<br><br>
29389
29390She left the chapel--very slowly and often turning back to gaze
29391
29392again--and coming to a low door, which plainly led into the tower,
29393
29394opened it, and climbed the winding stair in darkness; save where she
29395
29396looked down, through narrow loopholes, on the place she had left, or
29397
29398caught a glimmering vision of the dusty bells.  At length she gained
29399
29400the end of the ascent and stood upon the turret top.<br><br>
29401
29402Oh! the glory of the sudden burst of light; the freshness of the fields
29403
29404and woods, stretching away on every side, and meeting the bright blue
29405
29406sky; the cattle grazing in the pasturage; the smoke, that, coming from
29407
29408among the trees, seemed to rise upward from the green earth; the
29409
29410children yet at their gambols down below--all, everything, so beautiful
29411
29412and happy!  It was like passing from death to life; it was drawing
29413
29414nearer Heaven.<br><br>
29415
29416The children were gone, when she emerged into the porch, and locked the
29417
29418door.  As she passed the school-house she could hear the busy hum of
29419
29420voices.  Her friend had begun his labours only on that day.  The noise
29421
29422grew louder, and, looking back, she saw the boys come trooping out and
29423
29424disperse themselves with merry shouts and play.  'It's a good thing,'
29425
29426thought the child, 'I am very glad they pass the church.'  And then she
29427
29428stopped, to fancy how the noise would sound inside, and how gently it
29429
29430would seem to die away upon the ear.<br><br>
29431
29432Again that day, yes, twice again, she stole back to the old chapel, and
29433
29434in her former seat read from the same book, or indulged the same quiet
29435
29436train of thought.  Even when it had grown dusk, and the shadows of
29437
29438coming night made it more solemn still, the child remained, like one
29439
29440rooted to the spot, and had no fear or thought of stirring.<br><br>
29441
29442They found her there, at last, and took her home.  She looked pale but
29443
29444very happy, until they separated for the night; and then, as the poor
29445
29446schoolmaster stooped down to kiss her cheek, he thought he felt a tear
29447
29448upon his face.<br><br>
29449
29450CHAPTER 54<br><br>
29451
29452The bachelor, among his various occupations, found in the old church a
29453
29454constant source of interest and amusement.  Taking that pride in it
29455
29456which men conceive for the wonders of their own little world, he had
29457
29458made its history his study; and many a summer day within its walls, and
29459
29460many a winter's night beside the parsonage fire, had found the bachelor
29461
29462still poring over, and adding to, his goodly store of tale and legend.<br><br>
29463
29464As he was not one of those rough spirits who would strip fair Truth of
29465
29466every little shadowy vestment in which time and teeming fancies love to
29467
29468array her--and some of which become her pleasantly enough, serving,
29469
29470like the waters of her well, to add new graces to the charms they half
29471
29472conceal and half suggest, and to awaken interest and pursuit rather
29473
29474than languor and indifference--as, unlike this stern and obdurate
29475
29476class, he loved to see the goddess crowned with those garlands of wild
29477
29478flowers which tradition wreathes for her gentle wearing, and which are
29479
29480often freshest in their homeliest shapes--he trod with a light step and
29481
29482bore with a light hand upon the dust of centuries, unwilling to
29483
29484demolish any of the airy shrines that had been raised above it, if any
29485
29486good feeling or affection of the human heart were hiding thereabouts.
29487
29488Thus, in the case of an ancient coffin of rough stone, supposed, for
29489
29490many generations, to contain the bones of a certain baron, who, after
29491
29492ravaging, with cut, and thrust, and plunder, in foreign lands, came
29493
29494back with a penitent and sorrowing heart to die at home, but which had
29495
29496been lately shown by learned antiquaries to be no such thing, as the
29497
29498baron in question (so they contended) had died hard in battle, gnashing
29499
29500his teeth and cursing with his latest breath--the bachelor stoutly
29501
29502maintained that the old tale was the true one; that the baron,
29503
29504repenting him of the evil, had done great charities and meekly given up
29505
29506the ghost; and that, if ever baron went to heaven, that baron was then
29507
29508at peace.  In like manner, when the aforesaid antiquaries did argue and
29509
29510contend that a certain secret vault was not the tomb of a grey-haired
29511
29512lady who had been hanged and drawn and quartered by glorious Queen Bess
29513
29514for succouring a wretched priest who fainted of thirst and hunger at
29515
29516her door, the bachelor did solemnly maintain, against all comers, that
29517
29518the church was hallowed by the said poor lady's ashes; that her remains
29519
29520had been collected in the night from four of the city's gates, and
29521
29522thither in secret brought, and there deposited; and the bachelor did
29523
29524further (being highly excited at such times) deny the glory of Queen
29525
29526Bess, and assert the immeasurably greater glory of the meanest woman in
29527
29528her realm, who had a merciful and tender heart.  As to the assertion
29529
29530that the flat stone near the door was not the grave of the miser who
29531
29532had disowned his only child and left a sum of money to the church to
29533
29534buy a peal of bells, the bachelor did readily admit the same, and that
29535
29536the place had given birth to no such man.  In a word, he would have had
29537
29538every stone, and plate of brass, the monument only of deeds whose
29539
29540memory should survive.  All others he was willing to forget.  They
29541
29542might be buried in consecrated ground, but he would have had them
29543
29544buried deep, and never brought to light again.<br><br>
29545
29546It was from the lips of such a tutor, that the child learnt her easy
29547
29548task.  Already impressed, beyond all telling, by the silent building
29549
29550and the peaceful beauty of the spot in which it stood--majestic age
29551
29552surrounded by perpetual youth--it seemed to her, when she heard these
29553
29554things, sacred to all goodness and virtue.  It was another world, where
29555
29556sin and sorrow never came; a tranquil place of rest, where nothing evil
29557
29558entered.<br><br>
29559
29560When the bachelor had given her in connection with almost every tomb
29561
29562and flat grave-stone some history of its own, he took her down into the
29563
29564old crypt, now a mere dull vault, and showed her how it had been
29565
29566lighted up in the time of the monks, and how, amid lamps depending from
29567
29568the roof, and swinging censers exhaling scented odours, and habits
29569
29570glittering with gold and silver, and pictures, and precious stuffs, and
29571
29572jewels all flashing and glistening through the low arches, the chaunt
29573
29574of aged voices had been many a time heard there, at midnight, in old
29575
29576days, while hooded figures knelt and prayed around, and told their
29577
29578rosaries of beads.  Thence, he took her above ground again, and showed
29579
29580her, high up in the old walls, small galleries, where the nuns had been
29581
29582wont to glide along--dimly seen in their dark dresses so far off--or
29583
29584to pause like gloomy shadows, listening to the prayers.  He showed her
29585
29586too, how the warriors, whose figures rested on the tombs, had worn
29587
29588those rotting scraps of armour up above--how this had been a helmet,
29589
29590and that a shield, and that a gauntlet--and how they had wielded the
29591
29592great two-handed swords, and beaten men down, with yonder iron mace.
29593
29594All that he told the child she treasured in her mind; and sometimes,
29595
29596when she awoke at night from dreams of those old times, and rising from
29597
29598her bed looked out at the dark church, she almost hoped to see the
29599
29600windows lighted up, and hear the organ's swell, and sound of voices, on
29601
29602the rushing wind.<br><br>
29603
29604The old sexton soon got better, and was about again.  From him the
29605
29606child learnt many other things, though of a different kind.  He was not
29607
29608able to work, but one day there was a grave to be made, and he came to
29609
29610overlook the man who dug it.  He was in a talkative mood; and the
29611
29612child, at first standing by his side, and afterwards sitting on the
29613
29614grass at his feet, with her thoughtful face raised towards his, began
29615
29616to converse with him.<br><br>
29617
29618Now, the man who did the sexton's duty was a little older than he,
29619
29620though much more active.  But he was deaf; and when the sexton (who
29621
29622peradventure, on a pinch, might have walked a mile with great
29623
29624difficulty in half-a-dozen hours) exchanged a remark with him about his
29625
29626work, the child could not help noticing that he did so with an
29627
29628impatient kind of pity for his infirmity, as if he were himself the
29629
29630strongest and heartiest man alive.<br><br>
29631
29632'I'm sorry to see there is this to do,' said the child when she
29633
29634approached.  'I heard of no one having died.'<br><br>
29635
29636'She lived in another hamlet, my dear,' returned the sexton.  'Three
29637
29638mile away.'<br><br>
29639
29640'Was she young?'<br><br>
29641
29642'Ye-yes' said the sexton; not more than sixty-four, I think.  David,
29643
29644was she more than sixty-four?'<br><br>
29645
29646David, who was digging hard, heard nothing of the question.  The
29647
29648sexton, as he could not reach to touch him with his crutch, and was too
29649
29650infirm to rise without assistance, called his attention by throwing a
29651
29652little mould upon his red nightcap.<br><br>
29653
29654'What's the matter now?' said David, looking up.<br><br>
29655
29656'How old was Becky Morgan?' asked the sexton.<br><br>
29657
29658'Becky Morgan?' repeated David.<br><br>
29659
29660'Yes,' replied the sexton; adding in a half compassionate, half
29661
29662irritable tone, which the old man couldn't hear, 'you're getting very
29663
29664deaf, Davy, very deaf to be sure!'<br><br>
29665
29666The old man stopped in his work, and cleansing his spade with a piece
29667
29668of slate he had by him for the purpose--and scraping off, in the
29669
29670process, the essence of Heaven knows how many Becky Morgans--set
29671
29672himself to consider the subject.<br><br>
29673
29674'Let me think' quoth he.  'I saw last night what they had put upon the
29675
29676coffin--was it seventy-nine?'<br><br>
29677
29678'No, no,' said the sexton.<br><br>
29679
29680'Ah yes, it was though,' returned the old man with a sigh.  'For I
29681
29682remember thinking she was very near our age.  Yes, it was seventy-nine.'<br><br>
29683
29684'Are you sure you didn't mistake a figure, Davy?' asked the sexton,
29685
29686with signs of some emotion.<br><br>
29687
29688'What?' said the old man.  'Say that again.'<br><br>
29689
29690'He's very deaf.  He's very deaf indeed,' cried the sexton petulantly;
29691
29692'are you sure you're right about the figures?'<br><br>
29693
29694'Oh quite,' replied the old man.  'Why not?'<br><br>
29695
29696'He's exceedingly deaf,' muttered the sexton to himself.  'I think he's
29697
29698getting foolish.'<br><br>
29699
29700The child rather wondered what had led him to this belief, as, to say
29701
29702the truth, the old man seemed quite as sharp as he, and was infinitely
29703
29704more robust.  As the sexton said nothing more just then, however, she
29705
29706forgot it for the time, and spoke again.<br><br>
29707
29708'You were telling me,' she said, 'about your gardening.  Do you ever
29709
29710plant things here?'<br><br>
29711
29712'In the churchyard?' returned the sexton, 'Not I.'<br><br>
29713
29714'I have seen some flowers and little shrubs about,' the child rejoined;
29715
29716'there are some over there, you see.  I thought they were of your
29717
29718rearing, though indeed they grow but poorly.'<br><br>
29719
29720'They grow as Heaven wills,' said the old man; 'and it kindly ordains
29721
29722that they shall never flourish here.'<br><br>
29723
29724'I do not understand you.'<br><br>
29725
29726'Why, this it is,' said the sexton.  'They mark the graves of those who
29727
29728had very tender, loving friends.'<br><br>
29729
29730'I was sure they did!' the child exclaimed.  'I am very glad to know
29731
29732they do!'<br><br>
29733
29734'Aye,' returned the old man, 'but stay.  Look at them.  See how they
29735
29736hang their heads, and droop, and wither.  Do you guess the reason?'<br><br>
29737
29738'No,' the child replied.<br><br>
29739
29740'Because the memory of those who lie below, passes away so soon.  At
29741
29742first they tend them, morning, noon, and night; they soon begin to come
29743
29744less frequently; from once a day, to once a week; from once a week to
29745
29746once a month; then, at long and uncertain intervals; then, not at all.
29747
29748Such tokens seldom flourish long.  I have known the briefest summer
29749
29750flowers outlive them.'<br><br>
29751
29752'I grieve to hear it,' said the child.<br><br>
29753
29754'Ah! so say the gentlefolks who come down here to look about them,'
29755
29756returned the old man, shaking his head, 'but I say otherwise.  "It's a
29757
29758pretty custom you have in this part of the country," they say to me
29759
29760sometimes, "to plant the graves, but it's melancholy to see these
29761
29762things all withering or dead." I crave their pardon and tell them that,
29763
29764as I take it, 'tis a good sign for the happiness of the living.  And so
29765
29766it is.  It's nature.'<br><br>
29767
29768'Perhaps the mourners learn to look to the blue sky by day, and to the
29769
29770stars by night, and to think that the dead are there, and not in
29771
29772graves,' said the child in an earnest voice.<br><br>
29773
29774'Perhaps so,' replied the old man doubtfully.  'It may be.'<br><br>
29775
29776'Whether it be as I believe it is, or no,' thought the child within
29777
29778herself, 'I'll make this place my garden.  It will be no harm at least
29779
29780to work here day by day, and pleasant thoughts will come of it, I am
29781
29782sure.'<br><br>
29783
29784Her glowing cheek and moistened eye passed unnoticed by the sexton, who
29785
29786turned towards old David, and called him by his name.  It was plain
29787
29788that Becky Morgan's age still troubled him; though why, the child could
29789
29790scarcely understand.<br><br>
29791
29792The second or third repetition of his name attracted the old man's
29793
29794attention.  Pausing from his work, he leant on his spade, and put his
29795
29796hand to his dull ear.<br><br>
29797
29798'Did you call?' he said.<br><br>
29799
29800'I have been thinking, Davy,' replied the sexton, 'that she,' he
29801
29802pointed to the grave, 'must have been a deal older than you or me.'<br><br>
29803
29804'Seventy-nine,' answered the old man with a shake of the head, 'I tell
29805
29806you that I saw it.'<br><br>
29807
29808'Saw it?' replied the sexton; 'aye, but, Davy, women don't always tell
29809
29810the truth about their age.'<br><br>
29811
29812'That's true indeed,' said the other old man, with a sudden sparkle in
29813
29814his eye.  'She might have been older.'<br><br>
29815
29816'I'm sure she must have been.  Why, only think how old she looked.  You
29817
29818and I seemed but boys to her.'<br><br>
29819
29820'She did look old,' rejoined David.  'You're right.  She did look old.'<br><br>
29821
29822'Call to mind how old she looked for many a long, long year, and say if
29823
29824she could be but seventy-nine at last--only our age,' said the sexton.<br><br>
29825
29826'Five year older at the very least!' cried the other.<br><br>
29827
29828'Five!' retorted the sexton.  'Ten.  Good eighty-nine.  I call to mind
29829
29830the time her daughter died.  She was eighty-nine if she was a day, and
29831
29832tries to pass upon us now, for ten year younger.  Oh!  human vanity!'<br><br>
29833
29834The other old man was not behindhand with some moral reflections on
29835
29836this fruitful theme, and both adduced a mass of evidence, of such
29837
29838weight as to render it doubtful--not whether the deceased was of the
29839
29840age suggested, but whether she had not almost reached the patriarchal
29841
29842term of a hundred.  When they had settled this question to their mutual
29843
29844satisfaction, the sexton, with his friend's assistance, rose to go.<br><br>
29845
29846'It's chilly, sitting here, and I must be careful--till the summer,' he
29847
29848said, as he prepared to limp away.<br><br>
29849
29850'What?' asked old David.<br><br>
29851
29852'He's very deaf, poor fellow!' cried the sexton.  'Good-bye!' 'Ah!'
29853
29854said old David, looking after him.  'He's failing very fast.  He ages
29855
29856every day.'<br><br>
29857
29858And so they parted; each persuaded that the other had less life in him
29859
29860than himself; and both greatly consoled and comforted by the little
29861
29862fiction they had agreed upon, respecting Becky Morgan, whose decease
29863
29864was no longer a precedent of uncomfortable application, and would be no
29865
29866business of theirs for half a score of years to come.<br><br>
29867
29868The child remained, for some minutes, watching the deaf old man as he
29869
29870threw out the earth with his shovel, and, often stopping to cough and
29871
29872fetch his breath, still muttered to himself, with a kind of sober
29873
29874chuckle, that the sexton was wearing fast.  At length she turned away,
29875
29876and walking thoughtfully through the churchyard, came unexpectedly upon
29877
29878the schoolmaster, who was sitting on a green grave in the sun, reading.<br><br>
29879
29880'Nell here?' he said cheerfully, as he closed his book.  'It does me
29881
29882good to see you in the air and light.  I feared you were again in the
29883
29884church, where you so often are.'<br><br>
29885
29886'Feared!' replied the child, sitting down beside him.  'Is it not a
29887
29888good place?'<br><br>
29889
29890'Yes, yes,' said the schoolmaster.  'But you must be gay
29891
29892sometimes--nay, don't shake your head and smile so sadly.'<br><br>
29893
29894'Not sadly, if you knew my heart.  Do not look at me as if you thought
29895
29896me sorrowful.  There is not a happier creature on earth, than I am now.'<br><br>
29897
29898Full of grateful tenderness, the child took his hand, and folded it
29899
29900between her own.  'It's God's will!' she said, when they had been
29901
29902silent for some time.<br><br>
29903
29904'What?'<br><br>
29905
29906'All this,' she rejoined; 'all this about us.  But which of us is sad
29907
29908now?  You see that I am smiling.'<br><br>
29909
29910'And so am I,' said the schoolmaster; 'smiling to think how often we
29911
29912shall laugh in this same place.  Were you not talking yonder?'<br><br>
29913
29914'Yes,'the child rejoined.<br><br>
29915
29916'Of something that has made you sorrowful?'<br><br>
29917
29918There was a long pause.<br><br>
29919
29920'What was it?' said the schoolmaster, tenderly.  'Come.  Tell me what
29921
29922it was.'<br><br>
29923
29924'I rather grieve--I do rather grieve to think,' said the child,
29925
29926bursting into tears, 'that those who die about us, are so soon
29927
29928forgotten.'<br><br>
29929
29930'And do you think,' said the schoolmaster, marking the glance she had
29931
29932thrown around, 'that an unvisited grave, a withered tree, a faded
29933
29934flower or two, are tokens of forgetfulness or cold neglect?  Do you
29935
29936think there are no deeds, far away from here, in which these dead may
29937
29938be best remembered?  Nell, Nell, there may be people busy in the world,
29939
29940at this instant, in whose good actions and good thoughts these very
29941
29942graves--neglected as they look to us--are the chief instruments.'<br><br>
29943
29944'Tell me no more,' said the child quickly.  'Tell me no more.  I feel,
29945
29946I know it.  How could I be unmindful of it, when I thought of you?'<br><br>
29947
29948'There is nothing,' cried her friend, 'no, nothing innocent or good,
29949
29950that dies, and is forgotten.  Let us hold to that faith, or none.  An
29951
29952infant, a prattling child, dying in its cradle, will live again in the
29953
29954better thoughts of those who loved it, and will play its part, through
29955
29956them, in the redeeming actions of the world, though its body be burnt
29957
29958to ashes or drowned in the deepest sea.  There is not an angel added to
29959
29960the Host of Heaven but does its blessed work on earth in those that
29961
29962loved it here.  Forgotten! oh, if the good deeds of human creatures
29963
29964could be traced to their source, how beautiful would even death appear;
29965
29966for how much charity, mercy, and purified affection, would be seen to
29967
29968have their growth in dusty graves!'<br><br>
29969
29970'Yes,' said the child, 'it is the truth; I know it is.  Who should feel
29971
29972its force so much as I, in whom your little scholar lives again!  Dear,
29973
29974dear, good friend, if you knew the comfort you have given me!'<br><br>
29975
29976The poor schoolmaster made her no answer, but bent over her in silence;
29977
29978for his heart was full.<br><br>
29979
29980They were yet seated in the same place, when the grandfather
29981
29982approached.  Before they had spoken many words together, the church
29983
29984clock struck the hour of school, and their friend withdrew.<br><br>
29985
29986'A good man,' said the grandfather, looking after him; 'a kind man.
29987
29988Surely he will never harm us, Nell.  We are safe here, at last, eh?  We
29989
29990will never go away from here?'<br><br>
29991
29992The child shook her head and smiled.<br><br>
29993
29994'She needs rest,' said the old man, patting her cheek; 'too pale--too
29995
29996pale.  She is not like what she was.'<br><br>
29997
29998When?' asked the child.<br><br>
29999
30000'Ha!' said the old man, 'to be sure--when?  How many weeks ago?  Could
30001
30002I count them on my fingers?  Let them rest though; they're better
30003
30004gone.' 'Much better, dear,' replied the child.  'We will forget them;
30005
30006or, if we ever call them to mind, it shall be only as some uneasy dream
30007
30008that has passed away.'<br><br>
30009
30010'Hush!' said the old man, motioning hastily to her with his hand and
30011
30012looking over his shoulder; 'no more talk of the dream, and all the
30013
30014miseries it brought.  There are no dreams here.  'Tis a quiet place,
30015
30016and they keep away.  Let us never think about them, lest they should
30017
30018pursue us again.  Sunken eyes and hollow cheeks--wet, cold, and
30019
30020famine--and horrors before them all, that were even worse--we must
30021
30022forget such things if we would be tranquil here.'<br><br>
30023
30024'Thank Heaven!' inwardly exclaimed the child, 'for this most happy
30025
30026change!'<br><br>
30027
30028'I will be patient,' said the old man, 'humble, very thankful, and
30029
30030obedient, if you will let me stay.  But do not hide from me; do not
30031
30032steal away alone; let me keep beside you.  Indeed, I will be very true
30033
30034and faithful, Nell.'<br><br>
30035
30036'I steal away alone! why that,' replied the child, with assumed gaiety,
30037
30038'would be a pleasant jest indeed.  See here, dear grandfather, we'll
30039
30040make this place our garden--why not!  It is a very good one--and
30041
30042to-morrow we'll begin, and work together, side by side.'<br><br>
30043
30044'It is a brave thought!' cried her grandfather.  'Mind, darling--we
30045
30046begin to-morrow!'<br><br>
30047
30048Who so delighted as the old man, when they next day began their labour!
30049
30050Who so unconscious of all associations connected with the spot, as he!
30051
30052They plucked the long grass and nettles from the tombs, thinned the
30053
30054poor shrubs and roots, made the turf smooth, and cleared it of the
30055
30056leaves and weeds.  They were yet in the ardour of their work, when the
30057
30058child, raising her head from the ground over which she bent, observed
30059
30060that the bachelor was sitting on the stile close by, watching them in
30061
30062silence.<br><br>
30063
30064'A kind office,' said the little gentleman, nodding to Nell as she
30065
30066curtseyed to him.  'Have you done all that, this morning?'<br><br>
30067
30068'It is very little, sir,' returned the child, with downcast eyes, 'to
30069
30070what we mean to do.'<br><br>
30071
30072'Good work, good work,' said the bachelor.  'But do you only labour at
30073
30074the graves of children, and young people?'<br><br>
30075
30076'We shall come to the others in good time, sir,' replied Nell, turning
30077
30078her head aside, and speaking softly.<br><br>
30079
30080It was a slight incident, and might have been design or accident, or
30081
30082the child's unconscious sympathy with youth.  But it seemed to strike
30083
30084upon her grandfather, though he had not noticed it before.  He looked
30085
30086in a hurried manner at the graves, then anxiously at the child, then
30087
30088pressed her to his side, and bade her stop to rest.  Something he had
30089
30090long forgotten, appeared to struggle faintly in his mind.  It did not
30091
30092pass away, as weightier things had done; but came uppermost again, and
30093
30094yet again, and many times that day, and often afterwards.  Once, while
30095
30096they were yet at work, the child, seeing that he often turned and
30097
30098looked uneasily at her, as though he were trying to resolve some
30099
30100painful doubts or collect some scattered thoughts, urged him to tell
30101
30102the reason.  But he said it was nothing--nothing--and, laying her head
30103
30104upon his arm, patted her fair cheek with his hand, and muttered that
30105
30106she grew stronger every day, and would be a woman, soon.<br><br>
30107
30108CHAPTER 55<br><br>
30109
30110From that time, there sprung up in the old man's mind, a solicitude
30111
30112about the child which never slept or left him.  There are chords in the
30113
30114human heart--strange, varying strings--which are only struck by
30115
30116accident; which will remain mute and senseless to appeals the most
30117
30118passionate and earnest, and respond at last to the slightest casual
30119
30120touch.  In the most insensible or childish minds, there is some train
30121
30122of reflection which art can seldom lead, or skill assist, but which
30123
30124will reveal itself, as great truths have done, by chance, and when the
30125
30126discoverer has the plainest end in view.  From that time, the old man
30127
30128never, for a moment, forgot the weakness and devotion of the child;
30129
30130from the time of that slight incident, he who had seen her toiling by
30131
30132his side through so much difficulty and suffering, and had scarcely
30133
30134thought of her otherwise than as the partner of miseries which he felt
30135
30136severely in his own person, and deplored for his own sake at least as
30137
30138much as hers, awoke to a sense of what he owed her, and what those
30139
30140miseries had made her.  Never, no, never once, in one unguarded moment
30141
30142from that time to the end, did any care for himself, any thought of his
30143
30144own comfort, any selfish consideration or regard distract his thoughts
30145
30146from the gentle object of his love.<br><br>
30147
30148He would follow her up and down, waiting till she should tire and lean
30149
30150upon his arm--he would sit opposite to her in the chimney-corner,
30151
30152content to watch, and look, until she raised her head and smiled upon
30153
30154him as of old--he would discharge by stealth, those household duties
30155
30156which tasked her powers too heavily--he would rise, in the cold dark
30157
30158nights, to listen to her breathing in her sleep, and sometimes crouch
30159
30160for hours by her bedside only to touch her hand.  He who knows all, can
30161
30162only know what hopes, and fears, and thoughts of deep affection, were
30163
30164in that one disordered brain, and what a change had fallen on the poor
30165
30166old man.  Sometimes--weeks had crept on, then--the child, exhausted,
30167
30168though with little fatigue, would pass whole evenings on a couch beside
30169
30170the fire.  At such times, the schoolmaster would bring in books, and
30171
30172read to her aloud; and seldom an evening passed, but the bachelor came
30173
30174in, and took his turn of reading.  The old man sat and listened--with
30175
30176little understanding for the words, but with his eyes fixed upon the
30177
30178child--and if she smiled or brightened with the story, he would say it
30179
30180was a good one, and conceive a fondness for the very book.  When, in
30181
30182their evening talk, the bachelor told some tale that pleased her (as
30183
30184his tales were sure to do), the old man would painfully try to store it
30185
30186in his mind; nay, when the bachelor left them, he would sometimes slip
30187
30188out after him, and humbly beg that he would tell him such a part again,
30189
30190that he might learn to win a smile from Nell.<br><br>
30191
30192But these were rare occasions, happily; for the child yearned to be out
30193
30194of doors, and walking in her solemn garden.  Parties, too, would come
30195
30196to see the church; and those who came, speaking to others of the child,
30197
30198sent more; so even at that season of the year they had visitors almost
30199
30200daily.  The old man would follow them at a little distance through the
30201
30202building, listening to the voice he loved so well; and when the
30203
30204strangers left, and parted from Nell, he would mingle with them to
30205
30206catch up fragments of their conversation; or he would stand for the
30207
30208same purpose, with his grey head uncovered, at the gate as they passed
30209
30210through.<br><br>
30211
30212They always praised the child, her sense and beauty, and he was proud
30213
30214to hear them!  But what was that, so often added, which wrung his
30215
30216heart, and made him sob and weep alone, in some dull corner!  Alas!
30217
30218even careless strangers--they who had no feeling for her, but the
30219
30220interest of the moment--they who would go away and forget next week
30221
30222that such a being lived--even they saw it--even they pitied her--even
30223
30224they bade him good day compassionately, and whispered as they passed.<br><br>
30225
30226The people of the village, too, of whom there was not one but grew to
30227
30228have a fondness for poor Nell; even among them, there was the same
30229
30230feeling; a tenderness towards her--a compassionate regard for her,
30231
30232increasing every day.  The very schoolboys, light-hearted and
30233
30234thoughtless as they were, even they cared for her.  The roughest among
30235
30236them was sorry if he missed her in the usual place upon his way to
30237
30238school, and would turn out of the path to ask for her at the latticed
30239
30240window.  If she were sitting in the church, they perhaps might peep in
30241
30242softly at the open door; but they never spoke to her, unless she rose
30243
30244and went to speak to them.  Some feeling was abroad which raised the
30245
30246child above them all.<br><br>
30247
30248So, when Sunday came.  They were all poor country people in the church,
30249
30250for the castle in which the old family had lived, was an empty ruin,
30251
30252and there were none but humble folks for seven miles around.  There, as
30253
30254elsewhere, they had an interest in Nell.  They would gather round her
30255
30256in the porch, before and after service; young children would cluster at
30257
30258her skirts; and aged men and women forsake their gossips, to give her
30259
30260kindly greeting.  None of them, young or old, thought of passing the
30261
30262child without a friendly word.  Many who came from three or four miles
30263
30264distant, brought her little presents; the humblest and rudest had good
30265
30266wishes to bestow.<br><br>
30267
30268She had sought out the young children whom she first saw playing in the
30269
30270churchyard.  One of these--he who had spoken of his brother--was her
30271
30272little favourite and friend, and often sat by her side in the church,
30273
30274or climbed with her to the tower-top.  It was his delight to help her,
30275
30276or to fancy that he did so, and they soon became close companions.<br><br>
30277
30278It happened, that, as she was reading in the old spot by herself one
30279
30280day, this child came running in with his eyes full of tears, and after
30281
30282holding her from him, and looking at her eagerly for a moment, clasped
30283
30284his little arms passionately about her neck.<br><br>
30285
30286'What now?' said Nell, soothing him.  'What is the matter?'<br><br>
30287
30288'She is not one yet!' cried the boy, embracing her still more closely.
30289
30290'No, no.  Not yet.'<br><br>
30291
30292She looked at him wonderingly, and putting his hair back from his face,
30293
30294and kissing him, asked what he meant.<br><br>
30295
30296'You must not be one, dear Nell,' cried the boy.  'We can't see them.
30297
30298They never come to play with us, or talk to us.  Be what you are.  You
30299
30300are better so.'<br><br>
30301
30302'I do not understand you,' said the child.  'Tell me what you mean.'<br><br>
30303
30304'Why, they say,' replied the boy, looking up into her face, that you
30305
30306will be an Angel, before the birds sing again.  But you won't be, will
30307
30308you?  Don't leave us Nell, though the sky is bright.  Do not leave us!'<br><br>
30309
30310The child dropped her head, and put her hands before her face.<br><br>
30311
30312'She cannot bear the thought!' cried the boy, exulting through his
30313
30314tears.  'You will not go.  You know how sorry we should be.  Dear Nell,
30315
30316tell me that you'll stay amongst us.  Oh!  Pray, pray, tell me that you
30317
30318will.'<br><br>
30319
30320The little creature folded his hands, and knelt down at her feet.<br><br>
30321
30322'Only look at me, Nell,' said the boy, 'and tell me that you'll stop,
30323
30324and then I shall know that they are wrong, and will cry no more.  Won't
30325
30326you say yes, Nell?'<br><br>
30327
30328Still the drooping head and hidden face, and the child quite
30329
30330silent--save for her sobs.<br><br>
30331
30332'After a time,' pursued the boy, trying to draw away her hand, the kind
30333
30334angels will be glad to think that you are not among them, and that you
30335
30336stayed here to be with us.  Willy went away, to join them; but if he
30337
30338had known how I should miss him in our little bed at night, he never
30339
30340would have left me, I am sure.'<br><br>
30341
30342Yet the child could make him no answer, and sobbed as though her heart
30343
30344were bursting.  'Why would you go, dear Nell?  I know you would not be
30345
30346happy when you heard that we were crying for your loss.  They say that
30347
30348Willy is in Heaven now, and that it's always summer there, and yet I'm
30349
30350sure he grieves when I lie down upon his garden bed, and he cannot turn
30351
30352to kiss me.  But if you do go, Nell,' said the boy, caressing her, and
30353
30354pressing his face to hers, 'be fond of him for my sake.  Tell him how I
30355
30356love him still, and how much I loved you; and when I think that you two
30357
30358are together, and are happy, I'll try to bear it, and never give you
30359
30360pain by doing wrong--indeed I never will!'<br><br>
30361
30362The child suffered him to move her hands, and put them round his neck.
30363
30364There was a tearful silence, but it was not long before she looked upon
30365
30366him with a smile, and promised him, in a very gentle, quiet voice, that
30367
30368she would stay, and be his friend, as long as Heaven would let her.  He
30369
30370clapped his hands for joy, and thanked her many times; and being
30371
30372charged to tell no person what had passed between them, gave her an
30373
30374earnest promise that he never would.<br><br>
30375
30376Nor did he, so far as the child could learn; but was her quiet
30377
30378companion in all her walks and musings, and never again adverted to the
30379
30380theme, which he felt had given her pain, although he was unconscious of
30381
30382its cause.  Something of distrust lingered about him still; for he
30383
30384would often come, even in the dark evenings, and call in a timid voice
30385
30386outside the door to know if she were safe within; and being answered
30387
30388yes, and bade to enter, would take his station on a low stool at her
30389
30390feet, and sit there patiently until they came to seek, and take him
30391
30392home.  Sure as the morning came, it found him lingering near the house
30393
30394to ask if she were well; and, morning, noon, or night, go where she
30395
30396would, he would forsake his playmates and his sports to bear her
30397
30398company.<br><br>
30399
30400'And a good little friend he is, too,' said the old sexton to her once.
30401
30402'When his elder brother died--elder seems a strange word, for he was
30403
30404only seven years old--I remember this one took it sorely to heart.'<br><br>
30405
30406The child thought of what the schoolmaster had told her, and felt how
30407
30408its truth was shadowed out even in this infant.<br><br>
30409
30410'It has given him something of a quiet way, I think,' said the old man,
30411
30412'though for that he is merry enough at times.  I'd wager now that you
30413
30414and he have been listening by the old well.'<br><br>
30415
30416'Indeed we have not,' the child replied.  'I have been afraid to go
30417
30418near it; for I am not often down in that part of the church, and do not
30419
30420know the ground.'<br><br>
30421
30422'Come down with me,' said the old man.  'I have known it from a boy.
30423
30424Come!'<br><br>
30425
30426They descended the narrow steps which led into the crypt, and paused
30427
30428among the gloomy arches, in a dim and murky spot.<br><br>
30429
30430'This is the place,' said the old man.  'Give me your hand while you
30431
30432throw back the cover, lest you should stumble and fall in.  I am too
30433
30434old--I mean rheumatic--to stoop, myself.'<br><br>
30435
30436'A black and dreadful place!' exclaimed the child.<br><br>
30437
30438'Look in,' said the old man, pointing downward with his finger.<br><br>
30439
30440The child complied, and gazed down into the pit.<br><br>
30441
30442'It looks like a grave itself,' said the old man.<br><br>
30443
30444'It does,' replied the child.<br><br>
30445
30446'I have often had the fancy,' said the sexton, 'that it might have been
30447
30448dug at first to make the old place more gloomy, and the old monks more
30449
30450religious.  It's to be closed up, and built over.'<br><br>
30451
30452The child still stood, looking thoughtfully into the vault.<br><br>
30453
30454'We shall see,' said the sexton, 'on what gay heads other earth will
30455
30456have closed, when the light is shut out from here.  God knows!  They'll
30457
30458close it up, next spring.'<br><br>
30459
30460'The birds sing again in spring,' thought the child, as she leaned at
30461
30462her casement window, and gazed at the declining sun.  'Spring! a
30463
30464beautiful and happy time!'<br><br>
30465
30466CHAPTER 56<br><br>
30467
30468A day or two after the Quilp tea-party at the Wilderness, Mr Swiveller
30469
30470walked into Sampson Brass's office at the usual hour, and being alone
30471
30472in that Temple of Probity, placed his hat upon the desk, and taking
30473
30474from his pocket a small parcel of black crape, applied himself to
30475
30476folding and pinning the same upon it, after the manner of a hatband.
30477
30478Having completed the construction of this appendage, he surveyed his
30479
30480work with great complacency, and put his hat on again--very much over
30481
30482one eye, to increase the mournfulness of the effect.  These
30483
30484arrangements perfected to his entire satisfaction, he thrust his hands
30485
30486into his pockets, and walked up and down the office with measured steps.<br><br>
30487
30488'It has always been the same with me,' said Mr Swiveller, 'always.
30489
30490'Twas ever thus--from childhood's hour I've seen my fondest hopes
30491
30492decay, I never loved a tree or flower but 'twas the first to fade away;
30493
30494I never nursed a dear Gazelle, to glad me with its soft black eye, but
30495
30496when it came to know me well, and love me, it was sure to marry a
30497
30498market-gardener.'<br><br>
30499
30500Overpowered by these reflections, Mr Swiveller stopped short at the
30501
30502clients' chair, and flung himself into its open arms.<br><br>
30503
30504'And this,' said Mr Swiveller, with a kind of bantering composure, 'is
30505
30506life, I believe.  Oh, certainly.  Why not!  I'm quite satisfied.  I
30507
30508shall wear,' added Richard, taking off his hat again and looking hard
30509
30510at it, as if he were only deterred by pecuniary considerations from
30511
30512spurning it with his foot, 'I shall wear this emblem of woman's
30513
30514perfidy, in remembrance of her with whom I shall never again thread the
30515
30516windings of the mazy; whom I shall never more pledge in the rosy; who,
30517
30518during the short remainder of my existence, will murder the balmy.  Ha,
30519
30520ha, ha!'<br><br>
30521
30522It may be necessary to observe, lest there should appear any
30523
30524incongruity in the close of this soliloquy, that Mr Swiveller did not
30525
30526wind up with a cheerful hilarious laugh, which would have been
30527
30528undoubtedly at variance with his solemn reflections, but that, being in
30529
30530a theatrical mood, he merely achieved that performance which is
30531
30532designated in melodramas 'laughing like a fiend,'--for it seems that
30533
30534your fiends always laugh in syllables, and always in three syllables,
30535
30536never more nor less, which is a remarkable property in such gentry, and
30537
30538one worthy of remembrance.<br><br>
30539
30540The baleful sounds had hardly died away, and Mr Swiveller was still
30541
30542sitting in a very grim state in the clients' chair, when there came a
30543
30544ring--or, if we may adapt the sound to his then humour, a knell--at
30545
30546the office bell.  Opening the door with all speed, he beheld the
30547
30548expressive countenance of Mr Chuckster, between whom and himself a
30549
30550fraternal greeting ensued.<br><br>
30551
30552'You're devilish early at this pestiferous old slaughter-house,' said
30553
30554that gentleman, poising himself on one leg, and shaking the other in an
30555
30556easy manner.<br><br>
30557
30558'Rather,' returned Dick.<br><br>
30559
30560'Rather!' retorted Mr Chuckster, with that air of graceful trifling
30561
30562which so well became him.  'I should think so.  Why, my good feller, do
30563
30564you know what o'clock it is--half-past nine a.m. in the morning?'<br><br>
30565
30566'Won't you come in?' said Dick.  'All alone.  Swiveller solus.  'Tis
30567
30568now the witching--'<br><br>
30569
30570'"Hour of night!"'<br><br>
30571
30572'"When churchyards yawn,"'<br><br>
30573
30574'"And graves give up their dead."'<br><br>
30575
30576At the end of this quotation in dialogue, each gentleman struck an
30577
30578attitude, and immediately subsiding into prose walked into the office.
30579
30580Such morsels of enthusiasm are common among the Glorious Apollos, and
30581
30582were indeed the links that bound them together, and raised them above
30583
30584the cold dull earth.<br><br>
30585
30586'Well, and how are you my buck?' said Mr Chuckster, taking a stool.  'I
30587
30588was forced to come into the City upon some little private matters of my
30589
30590own, and couldn't pass the corner of the street without looking in, but
30591
30592upon my soul I didn't expect to find you.  It is so everlastingly
30593
30594early.'<br><br>
30595
30596Mr Swiveller expressed his acknowledgments; and it appearing on further
30597
30598conversation that he was in good health, and that Mr Chuckster was in
30599
30600the like enviable condition, both gentlemen, in compliance with a
30601
30602solemn custom of the ancient Brotherhood to which they belonged, joined
30603
30604in a fragment of the popular duet of 'All's Well,' with a long shake'
30605
30606at the end.<br><br>
30607
30608'And what's the news?' said Richard.<br><br>
30609
30610'The town's as flat, my dear feller,' replied Mr Chuckster, 'as the
30611
30612surface of a Dutch oven.  There's no news.  By-the-bye, that lodger of
30613
30614yours is a most extraordinary person.  He quite eludes the most
30615
30616vigorous comprehension, you know.  Never was such a feller!'<br><br>
30617
30618'What has he been doing now?' said Dick.<br><br>
30619
30620'By Jove, Sir,' returned Mr Chuckster, taking out an oblong snuff-box,
30621
30622the lid whereof was ornamented with a fox's head curiously carved in
30623
30624brass, 'that man is an unfathomable.  Sir, that man has made friends
30625
30626with our articled clerk.  There's no harm in him, but he is so
30627
30628amazingly slow and soft.  Now, if he wanted a friend, why couldn't he
30629
30630have one that knew a thing or two, and could do him some good by his
30631
30632manners and conversation.  I have my faults, sir,' said Mr Chuckster--<br><br>
30633
30634'No, no,' interposed Mr Swiveller.<br><br>
30635
30636'Oh yes I have, I have my faults, no man knows his faults better than I
30637
30638know mine.  But,' said Mr Chuckster, 'I'm not meek.  My worst
30639
30640enemies--every man has his enemies, Sir, and I have mine--never
30641
30642accused me of being meek.  And I tell you what, Sir, if I hadn't more
30643
30644of these qualities that commonly endear man to man, than our articled
30645
30646clerk has, I'd steal a Cheshire cheese, tie it round my neck, and drown
30647
30648myself.  I'd die degraded, as I had lived.  I would upon my honour.'<br><br>
30649
30650Mr Chuckster paused, rapped the fox's head exactly on the nose with the
30651
30652knuckle of the fore-finger, took a pinch of snuff, and looked steadily
30653
30654at Mr Swiveller, as much as to say that if he thought he was going to
30655
30656sneeze, he would find himself mistaken.<br><br>
30657
30658'Not contented, Sir,' said Mr Chuckster, 'with making friends with
30659
30660Abel, he has cultivated the acquaintance of his father and mother.
30661
30662Since he came home from that wild-goose chase, he has been there--
30663
30664actually been there.  He patronises young Snobby besides; you'll find,
30665
30666Sir, that he'll be constantly coming backwards and forwards to this
30667
30668place: yet I don't suppose that beyond the common forms of civility, he
30669
30670has ever exchanged half-a-dozen words with me.  Now, upon my soul, you
30671
30672know,' said Mr Chuckster, shaking his head gravely, as men are wont to
30673
30674do when they consider things are going a little too far, 'this is
30675
30676altogether such a low-minded affair, that if I didn't feel for the
30677
30678governor, and know that he could never get on without me, I should be
30679
30680obliged to cut the connection.  I should have no alternative.'<br><br>
30681
30682Mr Swiveller, who sat on another stool opposite to his friend, stirred
30683
30684the fire in an excess of sympathy, but said nothing.<br><br>
30685
30686'As to young Snob, sir,' pursued Mr Chuckster with a prophetic look,
30687
30688'you'll find he'll turn out bad.  In our profession we know something
30689
30690of human nature, and take my word for it, that the feller that came
30691
30692back to work out that shilling, will show himself one of these days in
30693
30694his true colours.  He's a low thief, sir.  He must be.'<br><br>
30695
30696Mr Chuckster being roused, would probably have pursued this subject
30697
30698further, and in more emphatic language, but for a tap at the door,
30699
30700which seeming to announce the arrival of somebody on business, caused
30701
30702him to assume a greater appearance of meekness than was perhaps quite
30703
30704consistent with his late declaration.  Mr Swiveller, hearing the same
30705
30706sound, caused his stool to revolve rapidly on one leg until it brought
30707
30708him to his desk, into which, having forgotten in the sudden flurry of
30709
30710his spirits to part with the poker, he thrust it as he cried 'Come in!'<br><br>
30711
30712Who should present himself but that very Kit who had been the theme of
30713
30714Mr Chuckster's wrath!  Never did man pluck up his courage so quickly,
30715
30716or look so fierce, as Mr Chuckster when he found it was he.  Mr
30717
30718Swiveller stared at him for a moment, and then leaping from his stool,
30719
30720and drawing out the poker from its place of concealment, performed the
30721
30722broad-sword exercise with all the cuts and guards complete, in a
30723
30724species of frenzy.<br><br>
30725
30726'Is the gentleman at home?' said Kit, rather astonished by this
30727
30728uncommon reception.<br><br>
30729
30730Before Mr Swiveller could make any reply, Mr Chuckster took occasion to
30731
30732enter his indignant protest against this form of inquiry; which he held
30733
30734to be of a disrespectful and snobbish tendency, inasmuch as the
30735
30736inquirer, seeing two gentlemen then and there present, should have
30737
30738spoken of the other gentleman; or rather (for it was not impossible
30739
30740that the object of his search might be of inferior quality) should have
30741
30742mentioned his name, leaving it to his hearers to determine his degree
30743
30744as they thought proper.  Mr Chuckster likewise remarked, that he had
30745
30746some reason to believe this form of address was personal to himself,
30747
30748and that he was not a man to be trifled with--as certain snobs (whom he
30749
30750did not more particularly mention or describe) might find to their cost.<br><br>
30751
30752'I mean the gentleman up-stairs,' said Kit, turning to Richard
30753
30754Swiveller.  'Is he at home?'<br><br>
30755
30756'Why?' rejoined Dick.<br><br>
30757
30758'Because if he is, I have a letter for him.'<br><br>
30759
30760'From whom?' said Dick.<br><br>
30761
30762'From Mr Garland.'<br><br>
30763
30764'Oh!' said Dick, with extreme politeness.  'Then you may hand it over,
30765
30766Sir.  And if you're to wait for an answer, Sir, you may wait in the
30767
30768passage, Sir, which is an airy and well-ventilated apartment, sir.'<br><br>
30769
30770'Thank you,' returned Kit.  'But I am to give it to himself, if you
30771
30772please.'<br><br>
30773
30774The excessive audacity of this retort so overpowered Mr Chuckster, and
30775
30776so moved his tender regard for his friend's honour, that he declared,
30777
30778if he were not restrained by official considerations, he must certainly
30779
30780have annihilated Kit upon the spot; a resentment of the affront which
30781
30782he did consider, under the extraordinary circumstances of aggravation
30783
30784attending it, could but have met with the proper sanction and approval
30785
30786of a jury of Englishmen, who, he had no doubt, would have returned a
30787
30788verdict of justifiable Homicide, coupled with a high testimony to the
30789
30790morals and character of the Avenger.  Mr Swiveller, without being quite
30791
30792so hot upon the matter, was rather shamed by his friend's excitement,
30793
30794and not a little puzzled how to act (Kit being quite cool and
30795
30796good-humoured), when the single gentleman was heard to call violently
30797
30798down the stairs.<br><br>
30799
30800'Didn't I see somebody for me, come in?' cried the lodger.<br><br>
30801
30802'Yes, Sir,' replied Dick.  'Certainly, Sir.'<br><br>
30803
30804'Then where is he?' roared the single gentleman.<br><br>
30805
30806'He's here, sir,' rejoined Mr Swiveller.  'Now young man, don't you
30807
30808hear you're to go up-stairs?  Are you deaf?'<br><br>
30809
30810Kit did not appear to think it worth his while to enter into any
30811
30812altercation, but hurried off and left the Glorious Apollos gazing at
30813
30814each other in silence.<br><br>
30815
30816'Didn't I tell you so?' said Mr Chuckster.  'What do you think of that?'<br><br>
30817
30818Mr Swiveller being in the main a good-natured fellow, and not
30819
30820perceiving in the conduct of Kit any villany of enormous magnitude,
30821
30822scarcely knew what answer to return.  He was relieved from his
30823
30824perplexity, however, by the entrance of Mr Sampson and his sister,
30825
30826Sally, at sight of whom Mr Chuckster precipitately retired.<br><br>
30827
30828Mr Brass and his lovely companion appeared to have been holding a
30829
30830consultation over their temperate breakfast, upon some matter of great
30831
30832interest and importance.  On the occasion of such conferences, they
30833
30834generally appeared in the office some half an hour after their usual
30835
30836time, and in a very smiling state, as though their late plots and
30837
30838designs had tranquillised their minds and shed a light upon their
30839
30840toilsome way.  In the present instance, they seemed particularly gay;
30841
30842Miss Sally's aspect being of a most oily kind, and Mr Brass rubbing his
30843
30844hands in an exceedingly jocose and light-hearted manner.  'Well, Mr
30845
30846Richard,' said Brass.  'How are we this morning?  Are we pretty fresh
30847
30848and cheerful sir--eh, Mr Richard?'<br><br>
30849
30850'Pretty well, sir,' replied Dick.<br><br>
30851
30852'That's well,' said Brass.  'Ha ha!  We should be as gay as larks, Mr
30853
30854Richard--why not?  It's a pleasant world we live in sir, a very
30855
30856pleasant world.  There are bad people in it, Mr Richard, but if there
30857
30858were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.  Ha ha!  Any
30859
30860letters by the post this morning, Mr Richard?'<br><br>
30861
30862Mr Swiveller answered in the negative.<br><br>
30863
30864'Ha!' said Brass, 'no matter.  If there's little business to-day,
30865
30866there'll be more to-morrow.  A contented spirit, Mr Richard, is the
30867
30868sweetness of existence.  Anybody been here, sir?'<br><br>
30869
30870'Only my friend'--replied Dick.  'May we ne'er want a--'<br><br>
30871
30872'Friend,' Brass chimed in quickly, 'or a bottle to give him.'  Ha ha!
30873
30874That's the way the song runs, isn't it?  A very good song, Mr Richard,
30875
30876very good.  I like the sentiment of it.  Ha ha!  Your friend's the
30877
30878young man from Witherden's office I think--yes--May we ne'er want a--
30879
30880Nobody else at all, been, Mr Richard?'<br><br>
30881
30882'Only somebody to the lodger,' replied Mr Swiveller.<br><br>
30883
30884'Oh indeed!' cried Brass.  'Somebody to the lodger eh?  Ha ha!  May we
30885
30886ne'er want a friend, or a----  Somebody to the lodger, eh, Mr Richard?'<br><br>
30887
30888'Yes,' said Dick, a little disconcerted by the excessive buoyancy of
30889
30890spirits which his employer displayed.  'With him now.'<br><br>
30891
30892'With him now!' cried Brass; 'Ha ha!  There let 'em be, merry and free,
30893
30894toor rul rol le.  Eh, Mr Richard?  Ha ha!'<br><br>
30895
30896'Oh certainly,' replied Dick.<br><br>
30897
30898'And who,' said Brass, shuffling among his papers, 'who is the lodger's
30899
30900visitor--not a lady visitor, I hope, eh, Mr Richard?  The morals of the
30901
30902Marks you know, sir--"when lovely women stoops to folly"--and all
30903
30904that--eh, Mr Richard?'<br><br>
30905
30906'Another young man, who belongs to Witherden's too, or half belongs
30907
30908there,' returned Richard.  'Kit, they call him.'<br><br>
30909
30910'Kit, eh!' said Brass.  'Strange name--name of a dancing-master's
30911
30912fiddle, eh, Mr Richard?  Ha ha!  Kit's there, is he?  Oh!'<br><br>
30913
30914Dick looked at Miss Sally, wondering that she didn't check this
30915
30916uncommon exuberance on the part of Mr Sampson; but as she made no
30917
30918attempt to do so, and rather appeared to exhibit a tacit acquiescence
30919
30920in it, he concluded that they had just been cheating somebody, and
30921
30922receiving the bill.<br><br>
30923
30924'Will you have the goodness, Mr Richard,' said Brass, taking a letter
30925
30926from his desk, 'just to step over to Peckham Rye with that?  There's no
30927
30928answer, but it's rather particular and should go by hand.  Charge the
30929
30930office with your coach-hire back, you know; don't spare the office; get
30931
30932as much out of it as you can--clerk's motto--Eh, Mr Richard?  Ha ha!'<br><br>
30933
30934Mr Swiveller solemnly doffed the aquatic jacket, put on his coat, took
30935
30936down his hat from its peg, pocketed the letter, and departed.  As soon
30937
30938as he was gone, up rose Miss Sally Brass, and smiling sweetly at her
30939
30940brother (who nodded and smote his nose in return) withdrew also.<br><br>
30941
30942Sampson Brass was no sooner left alone, than he set the office-door
30943
30944wide open, and establishing himself at his desk directly opposite, so
30945
30946that he could not fail to see anybody who came down-stairs and passed
30947
30948out at the street door, began to write with extreme cheerfulness and
30949
30950assiduity; humming as he did so, in a voice that was anything but
30951
30952musical, certain vocal snatches which appeared to have reference to the
30953
30954union between Church and State, inasmuch as they were compounded of the
30955
30956Evening Hymn and God save the King.<br><br>
30957
30958Thus, the attorney of Bevis Marks sat, and wrote, and hummed, for a
30959
30960long time, except when he stopped to listen with a very cunning face,
30961
30962and hearing nothing, went on humming louder, and writing slower than
30963
30964ever.  At length, in one of these pauses, he heard his lodger's door
30965
30966opened and shut, and footsteps coming down the stairs.  Then, Mr Brass
30967
30968left off writing entirely, and, with his pen in his hand, hummed his
30969
30970very loudest; shaking his head meanwhile from side to side, like a man
30971
30972whose whole soul was in the music, and smiling in a manner quite
30973
30974seraphic.<br><br>
30975
30976It was towards this moving spectacle that the staircase and the sweet
30977
30978sounds guided Kit; on whose arrival before his door, Mr Brass stopped
30979
30980his singing, but not his smiling, and nodded affably: at the same time
30981
30982beckoning to him with his pen.<br><br>
30983
30984'Kit,' said Mr Brass, in the pleasantest way imaginable, 'how do you
30985
30986do?'<br><br>
30987
30988Kit, being rather shy of his friend, made a suitable reply, and had his
30989
30990hand upon the lock of the street door when Mr Brass called him softly
30991
30992back.<br><br>
30993
30994'You are not to go, if you please, Kit,' said the attorney in a
30995
30996mysterious and yet business-like way.  'You are to step in here, if you
30997
30998please.  Dear me, dear me!  When I look at you,' said the lawyer,
30999
31000quitting his stool, and standing before the fire with his back towards
31001
31002it, 'I am reminded of the sweetest little face that ever my eyes
31003
31004beheld.  I remember your coming there, twice or thrice, when we were in
31005
31006possession.  Ah Kit, my dear fellow, gentleman in my profession have
31007
31008such painful duties to perform sometimes, that you needn't envy us--you
31009
31010needn't indeed!'<br><br>
31011
31012'I don't, sir,' said Kit, 'though it isn't for the like of me to judge.'<br><br>
31013
31014'Our only consolation, Kit,' pursued the lawyer, looking at him in a
31015
31016sort of pensive abstraction, 'is, that although we cannot turn away the
31017
31018wind, we can soften it; we can temper it, if I may say so, to the shorn
31019
31020lambs.'<br><br>
31021
31022'Shorn indeed!' thought Kit.  'Pretty close!' But he didn't say SO.<br><br>
31023
31024'On that occasion, Kit,' said Mr Brass, 'on that occasion that I have
31025
31026just alluded to, I had a hard battle with Mr Quilp (for Mr Quilp is a
31027
31028very hard man) to obtain them the indulgence they had.  It might have
31029
31030cost me a client.  But suffering virtue inspired me, and I prevailed.'<br><br>
31031
31032'He's not so bad after all,' thought honest Kit, as the attorney pursed
31033
31034up his lips and looked like a man who was struggling with his better
31035
31036feelings.<br><br>
31037
31038'I respect you, Kit,' said Brass with emotion.  'I saw enough of your
31039
31040conduct, at that time, to respect you, though your station is humble,
31041
31042and your fortune lowly.  It isn't the waistcoat that I look at.  It is
31043
31044the heart.  The checks in the waistcoat are but the wires of the cage.
31045
31046But the heart is the bird.  Ah!  How many sich birds are perpetually
31047
31048moulting, and putting their beaks through the wires to peck at all
31049
31050mankind!'<br><br>
31051
31052This poetic figure, which Kit took to be in a special allusion to his
31053
31054own checked waistcoat, quite overcame him; Mr Brass's voice and manner
31055
31056added not a little to its effect, for he discoursed with all the mild
31057
31058austerity of a hermit, and wanted but a cord round the waist of his
31059
31060rusty surtout, and a skull on the chimney-piece, to be completely set
31061
31062up in that line of business.<br><br>
31063
31064'Well, well,' said Sampson, smiling as good men smile when they
31065
31066compassionate their own weakness or that of their fellow-creatures,
31067
31068'this is wide of the bull's-eye.  You're to take that, if you please.'
31069
31070As he spoke, he pointed to a couple of half-crowns on the desk.<br><br>
31071
31072Kit looked at the coins, and then at Sampson, and hesitated.<br><br>
31073
31074'For yourself,' said Brass.  'From--'<br><br>
31075
31076'No matter about the person they came from,' replied the lawyer.  'Say
31077
31078me, if you like.  We have eccentric friends overhead, Kit, and we
31079
31080mustn't ask questions or talk too much--you understand?  You're to take
31081
31082them, that's all; and between you and me, I don't think they'll be the
31083
31084last you'll have to take from the same place.  I hope not.  Good bye,
31085
31086Kit.  Good bye!'<br><br>
31087
31088With many thanks, and many more self-reproaches for having on such
31089
31090slight grounds suspected one who in their very first conversation
31091
31092turned out such a different man from what he had supposed, Kit took the
31093
31094money and made the best of his way home.  Mr Brass remained airing
31095
31096himself at the fire, and resumed his vocal exercise, and his seraphic
31097
31098smile, simultaneously.<br><br>
31099
31100'May I come in?' said Miss Sally, peeping.<br><br>
31101
31102'Oh yes, you may come in,' returned her brother.<br><br>
31103
31104'Ahem!' coughed Miss Brass interrogatively.<br><br>
31105
31106'Why, yes,' returned Sampson, 'I should say as good as done.'<br><br>
31107
31108CHAPTER 57<br><br>
31109
31110Mr Chuckster's indignant apprehensions were not without foundation.
31111
31112Certainly the friendship between the single gentleman and Mr Garland
31113
31114was not suffered to cool, but had a rapid growth and flourished
31115
31116exceedingly.  They were soon in habits of constant intercourse and
31117
31118communication; and the single gentleman labouring at this time under a
31119
31120slight attack of illness--the consequence most probably of his late
31121
31122excited feelings and subsequent disappointment--furnished a reason for
31123
31124their holding yet more frequent correspondence; so that some one of the
31125
31126inmates of Abel Cottage, Finchley, came backwards and forwards between
31127
31128that place and Bevis Marks, almost every day.<br><br>
31129
31130As the pony had now thrown off all disguise, and without any mincing of
31131
31132the matter or beating about the bush, sturdily refused to be driven by
31133
31134anybody but Kit, it generally happened that whether old Mr Garland
31135
31136came, or Mr Abel, Kit was of the party.  Of all messages and inquiries,
31137
31138Kit was, in right of his position, the bearer; thus it came about that,
31139
31140while the single gentleman remained indisposed, Kit turned into Bevis
31141
31142Marks every morning with nearly as much regularity as the General
31143
31144Postman.<br><br>
31145
31146Mr Sampson Brass, who no doubt had his reasons for looking sharply
31147
31148about him, soon learnt to distinguish the pony's trot and the clatter
31149
31150of the little chaise at the corner of the street.  Whenever the sound
31151
31152reached his ears, he would immediately lay down his pen and fall to
31153
31154rubbing his hands and exhibiting the greatest glee.<br><br>
31155
31156'Ha ha!' he would cry.  'Here's the pony again!  Most remarkable pony,
31157
31158extremely docile, eh, Mr Richard, eh sir?'<br><br>
31159
31160Dick would return some matter-of-course reply, and Mr Brass standing on
31161
31162the bottom rail of his stool, so as to get a view of the street over
31163
31164the top of the window-blind, would take an observation of the visitors.<br><br>
31165
31166'The old gentleman again!' he would exclaim, 'a very prepossessing old
31167
31168gentleman, Mr Richard--charming countenance sir--extremely
31169
31170calm--benevolence in every feature, sir.  He quite realises my idea of
31171
31172King Lear, as he appeared when in possession of his kingdom, Mr
31173
31174Richard--the same good humour, the same white hair and partial
31175
31176baldness, the same liability to be imposed upon.  Ah!  A sweet subject
31177
31178for contemplation, sir, very sweet!'<br><br>
31179
31180Then Mr Garland having alighted and gone up-stairs, Sampson would nod
31181
31182and smile to Kit from the window, and presently walk out into the
31183
31184street to greet him, when some such conversation as the following would
31185
31186ensue.<br><br>
31187
31188'Admirably groomed, Kit'--Mr Brass is patting the pony--'does you great
31189
31190credit--amazingly sleek and bright to be sure.  He literally looks as
31191
31192if he had been varnished all over.'<br><br>
31193
31194Kit touches his hat, smiles, pats the pony himself, and expresses his
31195
31196conviction, 'that Mr Brass will not find many like him.'<br><br>
31197
31198'A beautiful animal indeed!' cries Brass.  'Sagacious too?'<br><br>
31199
31200'Bless you!' replies Kit, 'he knows what you say to him as well as a
31201
31202Christian does.'<br><br>
31203
31204'Does he indeed!' cries Brass, who has heard the same thing in the same
31205
31206place from the same person in the same words a dozen times, but is
31207
31208paralysed with astonishment notwithstanding.  'Dear me!'<br><br>
31209
31210'I little thought the first time I saw him, Sir,' says Kit, pleased
31211
31212with the attorney's strong interest in his favourite, 'that I should
31213
31214come to be as intimate with him as I am now.'<br><br>
31215
31216'Ah!' rejoins Mr Brass, brim-full of moral precepts and love of virtue.
31217
31218'A charming subject of reflection for you, very charming.  A subject of
31219
31220proper pride and congratulation, Christopher.  Honesty is the best
31221
31222policy.--I always find it so myself.  I lost forty-seven pound ten by
31223
31224being honest this morning.  But it's all gain, it's gain!'<br><br>
31225
31226Mr Brass slyly tickles his nose with his pen, and looks at Kit with the
31227
31228water standing in his eyes.  Kit thinks that if ever there was a good
31229
31230man who belied his appearance, that man is Sampson Brass.<br><br>
31231
31232'A man,' says Sampson, 'who loses forty-seven pound ten in one morning
31233
31234by his honesty, is a man to be envied.  If it had been eighty pound,
31235
31236the luxuriousness of feeling would have been increased.  Every pound
31237
31238lost, would have been a hundredweight of happiness gained.  The still
31239
31240small voice, Christopher,' cries Brass, smiling, and tapping himself on
31241
31242the bosom, 'is a-singing comic songs within me, and all is happiness
31243
31244and joy!'<br><br>
31245
31246Kit is so improved by the conversation, and finds it go so completely
31247
31248home to his feelings, that he is considering what he shall say, when Mr
31249
31250Garland appears.  The old gentleman is helped into the chaise with
31251
31252great obsequiousness by Mr Sampson Brass; and the pony, after shaking
31253
31254his head several times, and standing for three or four minutes with all
31255
31256his four legs planted firmly on the ground, as if he had made up his
31257
31258mind never to stir from that spot, but there to live and die, suddenly
31259
31260darts off, without the smallest notice, at the rate of twelve English
31261
31262miles an hour.  Then, Mr Brass and his sister (who has joined him at
31263
31264the door) exchange an odd kind of smile--not at all a pleasant one in
31265
31266its expression--and return to the society of Mr Richard Swiveller,
31267
31268who, during their absence, has been regaling himself with various feats
31269
31270of pantomime, and is discovered at his desk, in a very flushed and
31271
31272heated condition, violently scratching out nothing with half a penknife.<br><br>
31273
31274Whenever Kit came alone, and without the chaise, it always happened
31275
31276that Sampson Brass was reminded of some mission, calling Mr Swiveller,
31277
31278if not to Peckham Rye again, at all events to some pretty distant place
31279
31280from Which he could not be expected to return for two or three hours,
31281
31282or in all probability a much longer period, as that gentleman was not,
31283
31284to say the truth, renowned for using great expedition on such
31285
31286occasions, but rather for protracting and spinning out the time to the
31287
31288very utmost limit of possibility.  Mr Swiveller out of sight, Miss
31289
31290Sally immediately withdrew.  Mr Brass would then set the office-door
31291
31292wide open, hum his old tune with great gaiety of heart, and smile
31293
31294seraphically as before.  Kit coming down-stairs would be called in;
31295
31296entertained with some moral and agreeable conversation; perhaps
31297
31298entreated to mind the office for an instant while Mr Brass stepped over
31299
31300the way; and afterwards presented with one or two half-crowns as the
31301
31302case might be.  This occurred so often, that Kit, nothing doubting but
31303
31304that they came from the single gentleman who had already rewarded his
31305
31306mother with great liberality, could not enough admire his generosity;
31307
31308and bought so many cheap presents for her, and for little Jacob, and
31309
31310for the baby, and for Barbara to boot, that one or other of them was
31311
31312having some new trifle every day of their lives.<br><br>
31313
31314While these acts and deeds were in progress in and out of the office of
31315
31316Sampson Brass, Richard Swiveller, being often left alone therein, began
31317
31318to find the time hang heavy on his hands.  For the better preservation
31319
31320of his cheerfulness therefore, and to prevent his faculties from
31321
31322rusting, he provided himself with a cribbage-board and pack of cards,
31323
31324and accustomed himself to play at cribbage with a dummy, for twenty,
31325
31326thirty, or sometimes even fifty thousand pounds aside, besides many
31327
31328hazardous bets to a considerable amount.<br><br>
31329
31330As these games were very silently conducted, notwithstanding the
31331
31332magnitude of the interests involved, Mr Swiveller began to think that
31333
31334on those evenings when Mr and Miss Brass were out (and they often went
31335
31336out now) he heard a kind of snorting or hard-breathing sound in the
31337
31338direction of the door, which it occurred to him, after some reflection,
31339
31340must proceed from the small servant, who always had a cold from damp
31341
31342living.  Looking intently that way one night, he plainly distinguished
31343
31344an eye gleaming and glistening at the keyhole; and having now no doubt
31345
31346that his suspicions were correct, he stole softly to the door, and
31347
31348pounced upon her before she was aware of his approach.<br><br>
31349
31350'Oh! I didn't mean any harm indeed, upon my word I didn't,' cried the
31351
31352small servant, struggling like a much larger one.  'It's so very dull,
31353
31354down-stairs, Please don't you tell upon me, please don't.'<br><br>
31355
31356'Tell upon you!' said Dick.  'Do you mean to say you were looking
31357
31358through the keyhole for company?'<br><br>
31359
31360'Yes, upon my word I was,' replied the small servant.<br><br>
31361
31362'How long have you been cooling your eye there?' said Dick.<br><br>
31363
31364'Oh ever since you first began to play them cards, and long before.'<br><br>
31365
31366Vague recollections of several fantastic exercises with which he had
31367
31368refreshed himself after the fatigues of business, and to all of which,
31369
31370no doubt, the small servant was a party, rather disconcerted Mr
31371
31372Swiveller; but he was not very sensitive on such points, and recovered
31373
31374himself speedily.<br><br>
31375
31376'Well--come in'--he said, after a little consideration.  'Here--sit
31377
31378down, and I'll teach you how to play.'<br><br>
31379
31380'Oh! I durstn't do it,' rejoined the small servant; 'Miss Sally 'ud
31381
31382kill me, if she know'd I come up here.'<br><br>
31383
31384'Have you got a fire down-stairs?' said Dick.<br><br>
31385
31386'A very little one,' replied the small servant.<br><br>
31387
31388'Miss Sally couldn't kill me if she know'd I went down there, so I'll
31389
31390come,' said Richard, putting the cards into his pocket.  'Why, how thin
31391
31392you are!  What do you mean by it?'<br><br>
31393
31394'It ain't my fault.'<br><br>
31395
31396'Could you eat any bread and meat?' said Dick, taking down his hat.
31397
31398'Yes?  Ah! I thought so.  Did you ever taste beer?' 'I had a sip of it
31399
31400once,' said the small servant.<br><br>
31401
31402'Here's a state of things!' cried Mr Swiveller, raising his eyes to the
31403
31404ceiling.  'She never tasted it--it can't be tasted in a sip!  Why, how
31405
31406old are you?'<br><br>
31407
31408'I don't know.'<br><br>
31409
31410Mr Swiveller opened his eyes very wide, and appeared thoughtful for a
31411
31412moment; then, bidding the child mind the door until he came back,
31413
31414vanished straightway.<br><br>
31415
31416Presently, he returned, followed by the boy from the public-house, who
31417
31418bore in one hand a plate of bread and beef, and in the other a great
31419
31420pot, filled with some very fragrant compound, which sent forth a
31421
31422grateful steam, and was indeed choice purl, made after a particular
31423
31424recipe which Mr Swiveller had imparted to the landlord, at a period
31425
31426when he was deep in his books and desirous to conciliate his
31427
31428friendship.  Relieving the boy of his burden at the door, and charging
31429
31430his little companion to fasten it to prevent surprise, Mr Swiveller
31431
31432followed her into the kitchen.<br><br>
31433
31434'There!' said Richard, putting the plate before her.  'First of all
31435
31436clear that off, and then you'll see what's next.'<br><br>
31437
31438The small servant needed no second bidding, and the plate was soon
31439
31440empty.<br><br>
31441
31442'Next,' said Dick, handing the purl, 'take a pull at that; but moderate
31443
31444your transports, you know, for you're not used to it.  Well, is it
31445
31446good?'<br><br>
31447
31448'Oh! isn't it?' said the small servant.<br><br>
31449
31450Mr Swiveller appeared gratified beyond all expression by this reply,
31451
31452and took a long draught himself, steadfastly regarding his companion
31453
31454while he did so.  These preliminaries disposed of, he applied himself
31455
31456to teaching her the game, which she soon learnt tolerably well, being
31457
31458both sharp-witted and cunning.<br><br>
31459
31460'Now,' said Mr Swiveller, putting two sixpences into a saucer, and
31461
31462trimming the wretched candle, when the cards had been cut and dealt,
31463
31464'those are the stakes.  If you win, you get 'em all.  If I win, I get
31465
31466'em.  To make it seem more real and pleasant, I shall call you the
31467
31468Marchioness, do you hear?'<br><br>
31469
31470The small servant nodded.<br><br>
31471
31472'Then, Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller, 'fire away!'<br><br>
31473
31474The Marchioness, holding her cards very tight in both hands, considered
31475
31476which to play, and Mr Swiveller, assuming the gay and fashionable air
31477
31478which such society required, took another pull at the tankard, and
31479
31480waited for her lead.<br><br>
31481
31482CHAPTER 58<br><br>
31483
31484Mr Swiveller and his partner played several rubbers with varying
31485
31486success, until the loss of three sixpences, the gradual sinking of the
31487
31488purl, and the striking of ten o'clock, combined to render that
31489
31490gentleman mindful of the flight of Time, and the expediency of
31491
31492withdrawing before Mr Sampson and Miss Sally Brass returned.<br><br>
31493
31494'With which object in view, Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller gravely, 'I
31495
31496shall ask your ladyship's permission to put the board in my pocket, and
31497
31498to retire from the presence when I have finished this tankard; merely
31499
31500observing, Marchioness, that since life like a river is flowing, I care
31501
31502not how fast it rolls on, ma'am, on, while such purl on the bank still
31503
31504is growing, and such eyes light the waves as they run.  Marchioness,
31505
31506your health.  You will excuse my wearing my hat, but the palace is
31507
31508damp, and the marble floor is--if I may be allowed the
31509
31510expression--sloppy.'<br><br>
31511
31512As a precaution against this latter inconvenience, Mr Swiveller had
31513
31514been sitting for some time with his feet on the hob, in which attitude
31515
31516he now gave utterance to these apologetic observations, and slowly
31517
31518sipped the last choice drops of nectar.<br><br>
31519
31520'The Baron Sampsono Brasso and his fair sister are (you tell me) at the
31521
31522Play?' said Mr Swiveller, leaning his left arm heavily upon the table,
31523
31524and raising his voice and his right leg after the manner of a
31525
31526theatrical bandit.<br><br>
31527
31528The Marchioness nodded.<br><br>
31529
31530'Ha!' said Mr Swiveller, with a portentous frown.  ''Tis well.
31531
31532Marchioness!--but no matter.  Some wine there.  Ho!' He illustrated
31533
31534these melodramatic morsels by handing the tankard to himself with great
31535
31536humility, receiving it haughtily, drinking from it thirstily, and
31537
31538smacking his lips fiercely.<br><br>
31539
31540The small servant, who was not so well acquainted with theatrical
31541
31542conventionalities as Mr Swiveller (having indeed never seen a play, or
31543
31544heard one spoken of, except by chance through chinks of doors and in
31545
31546other forbidden places), was rather alarmed by demonstrations so novel
31547
31548in their nature, and showed her concern so plainly in her looks, that
31549
31550Mr Swiveller felt it necessary to discharge his brigand manner for one
31551
31552more suitable to private life, as he asked,<br><br>
31553
31554'Do they often go where glory waits 'em, and leave you here?'<br><br>
31555
31556'Oh, yes; I believe you they do,' returned the small servant.  'Miss
31557
31558Sally's such a one-er for that, she is.'<br><br>
31559
31560'Such a what?' said Dick.<br><br>
31561
31562'Such a one-er,' returned the Marchioness.<br><br>
31563
31564After a moment's reflection, Mr Swiveller determined to forego his
31565
31566responsible duty of setting her right, and to suffer her to talk on; as
31567
31568it was evident that her tongue was loosened by the purl, and her
31569
31570opportunities for conversation were not so frequent as to render a
31571
31572momentary check of little consequence.<br><br>
31573
31574'They sometimes go to see Mr Quilp,' said the small servant with a
31575
31576shrewd look; 'they go to a many places, bless you!'<br><br>
31577
31578'Is Mr Brass a wunner?' said Dick.<br><br>
31579
31580'Not half what Miss Sally is, he isn't,' replied the small servant,
31581
31582shaking her head.  'Bless you, he'd never do anything without her.'<br><br>
31583
31584'Oh!  He wouldn't, wouldn't he?' said Dick.<br><br>
31585
31586'Miss Sally keeps him in such order,' said the small servant; 'he
31587
31588always asks her advice, he does;
31588 and he catches it sometimes.  Bless
31589
31590you, you wouldn't believe how much he catches it.'<br><br>
31591
31592'I suppose,' said Dick, 'that they consult together, a good deal, and
31593
31594talk about a great many people--about me for instance, sometimes, eh,
31595
31596Marchioness?'<br><br>
31597
31598The Marchioness nodded amazingly.<br><br>
31599
31600'Complimentary?' said Mr Swiveller.<br><br>
31601
31602The Marchioness changed the motion of her head, which had not yet left
31603
31604off nodding, and suddenly began to shake it from side to side, with a
31605
31606vehemence which threatened to dislocate her neck.<br><br>
31607
31608'Humph!' Dick muttered.  'Would it be any breach of confidence,
31609
31610Marchioness, to relate what they say of the humble individual who has
31611
31612now the honour to--?'<br><br>
31613
31614'Miss Sally says you're a funny chap,' replied his friend.<br><br>
31615
31616'Well, Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller, 'that's not uncomplimentary.
31617
31618Merriment, Marchioness, is not a bad or a degrading quality.  Old King
31619
31620Cole was himself a merry old soul, if we may put any faith in the pages
31621
31622of history.'<br><br>
31623
31624'But she says,' pursued his companion, 'that you an't to be trusted.'<br><br>
31625
31626'Why, really Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller, thoughtfully; 'several
31627
31628ladies and gentlemen--not exactly professional persons, but
31629
31630tradespeople, ma'am, tradespeople--have made the same remark.  The
31631
31632obscure citizen who keeps the hotel over the way, inclined strongly to
31633
31634that opinion to-night when I ordered him to prepare the banquet.  It's
31635
31636a popular prejudice, Marchioness; and yet I am sure I don't know why,
31637
31638for I have been trusted in my time to a considerable amount, and I can
31639
31640safely say that I never forsook my trust until it deserted me--never.
31641
31642Mr Brass is of the same opinion, I suppose?'<br><br>
31643
31644His friend nodded again, with a cunning look which seemed to hint that
31645
31646Mr Brass held stronger opinions on the subject than his sister; and
31647
31648seeming to recollect herself, added imploringly, 'But don't you ever
31649
31650tell upon me, or I shall be beat to death.'<br><br>
31651
31652'Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller, rising, 'the word of a gentleman is
31653
31654as good as his bond--sometimes better, as in the present case, where
31655
31656his bond might prove but a doubtful sort of security.  I am your
31657
31658friend, and I hope we shall play many more rubbers together in this
31659
31660same saloon.  But, Marchioness,' added Richard, stopping in his way to
31661
31662the door, and wheeling slowly round upon the small servant, who was
31663
31664following with the candle; 'it occurs to me that you must be in the
31665
31666constant habit of airing your eye at keyholes, to know all this.'<br><br>
31667
31668'I only wanted,' replied the trembling Marchioness, 'to know where the
31669
31670key of the safe was hid; that was all; and I wouldn't have taken much,
31671
31672if I had found it--only enough to squench my hunger.'<br><br>
31673
31674'You didn't find it then?' said Dick.  'But of course you didn't, or
31675
31676you'd be plumper.  Good night, Marchioness.  Fare thee well, and if for
31677
31678ever, then for ever fare thee well--and put up the chain, Marchioness,
31679
31680in case of accidents.'<br><br>
31681
31682With this parting injunction, Mr Swiveller emerged from the house; and
31683
31684feeling that he had by this time taken quite as much to drink as
31685
31686promised to be good for his constitution (purl being a rather strong
31687
31688and heady compound), wisely resolved to betake himself to his lodgings,
31689
31690and to bed at once.  Homeward he went therefore; and his apartments
31691
31692(for he still retained the plural fiction) being at no great distance
31693
31694from the office, he was soon seated in his own bed-chamber, where,
31695
31696having pulled off one boot and forgotten the other, he fell into deep
31697
31698cogitation.<br><br>
31699
31700'This Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller, folding his arms, 'is a very
31701
31702extraordinary person--surrounded by mysteries, ignorant of the taste of
31703
31704beer, unacquainted with her own name (which is less remarkable), and
31705
31706taking a limited view of society through the keyholes of doors--can
31707
31708these things be her destiny, or has some unknown person started an
31709
31710opposition to the decrees of fate?  It is a most inscrutable and
31711
31712unmitigated staggerer!'<br><br>
31713
31714When his meditations had attained this satisfactory point, he became
31715
31716aware of his remaining boot, of which, with unimpaired solemnity he
31717
31718proceeded to divest himself; shaking his head with exceeding gravity
31719
31720all the time, and sighing deeply.<br><br>
31721
31722'These rubbers,' said Mr Swiveller, putting on his nightcap in exactly
31723
31724the same style as he wore his hat, 'remind me of the matrimonial
31725
31726fireside.  Cheggs's wife plays cribbage; all-fours likewise.  She rings
31727
31728the changes on 'em now.  From sport to sport they hurry her to banish
31729
31730her regrets, and when they win a smile from her, they think that she
31731
31732forgets--but she don't.  By this time, I should say,' added Richard,
31733
31734getting his left cheek into profile, and looking complacently at the
31735
31736reflection of a very little scrap of whisker in the looking-glass; 'by
31737
31738this time, I should say, the iron has entered into her soul.  It serves
31739
31740her right!'<br><br>
31741
31742Melting from this stern and obdurate, into the tender and pathetic
31743
31744mood, Mr Swiveller groaned a little, walked wildly up and down, and
31745
31746even made a show of tearing his hair, which, however, he thought better
31747
31748of, and wrenched the tassel from his nightcap instead.  At last,
31749
31750undressing himself with a gloomy resolution, he got into bed.<br><br>
31751
31752Some men in his blighted position would have taken to drinking; but as
31753
31754Mr Swiveller had taken to that before, he only took, on receiving the
31755
31756news that Sophy Wackles was lost to him for ever, to playing the flute;
31757
31758thinking after mature consideration that it was a good, sound, dismal
31759
31760occupation, not only in unison with his own sad thoughts, but
31761
31762calculated to awaken a fellow-feeling in the bosoms of his neighbours.
31763
31764In pursuance of this resolution, he now drew a little table to his
31765
31766bedside, and arranging the light and a small oblong music-book to the
31767
31768best advantage, took his flute from its box, and began to play most
31769
31770mournfully.<br><br>
31771
31772The air was 'Away with melancholy'--a composition, which, when it is
31773
31774played very slowly on the flute, in bed, with the further disadvantage
31775
31776of being performed by a gentleman but imperfectly acquainted with the
31777
31778instrument, who repeats one note a great many times before he can find
31779
31780the next, has not a lively effect.  Yet, for half the night, or more,
31781
31782Mr Swiveller, lying sometimes on his back with his eyes upon the
31783
31784ceiling, and sometimes half out of bed to correct himself by the book,
31785
31786played this unhappy tune over and over again; never leaving off, save
31787
31788for a minute or two at a time to take breath and soliloquise about the
31789
31790Marchioness, and then beginning again with renewed vigour.  It was not
31791
31792until he had quite exhausted his several subjects of meditation, and
31793
31794had breathed into the flute the whole sentiment of the purl down to its
31795
31796very dregs, and had nearly maddened the people of the house, and at
31797
31798both the next doors, and over the way--that he shut up the music-book,
31799
31800extinguished the candle, and finding himself greatly lightened and
31801
31802relieved in his mind, turned round and fell asleep.<br><br>
31803
31804He awoke in the morning, much refreshed; and having taken half an
31805
31806hour's exercise at the flute, and graciously received a notice to quit
31807
31808from his landlady, who had been in waiting on the stairs for that
31809
31810purpose since the dawn of day, repaired to Bevis Marks; where the
31811
31812beautiful Sally was already at her post, bearing in her looks a
31813
31814radiance, mild as that which beameth from the virgin moon.<br><br>
31815
31816Mr Swiveller acknowledged her presence by a nod, and exchanged his coat
31817
31818for the aquatic jacket; which usually took some time fitting on, for in
31819
31820consequence of a tightness in the sleeves, it was only to be got into
31821
31822by a series of struggles.  This difficulty overcome, he took his seat
31823
31824at the desk.<br><br>
31825
31826'I say'--quoth Miss Brass, abruptly breaking silence, 'you haven't seen
31827
31828a silver pencil-case this morning, have you?'<br><br>
31829
31830'I didn't meet many in the street,' rejoined Mr Swiveller.  'I saw
31831
31832one--a stout pencil-case of respectable appearance--but as he was in
31833
31834company with an elderly penknife, and a young toothpick with whom he
31835
31836was in earnest conversation, I felt a delicacy in speaking to him.'<br><br>
31837
31838'No, but have you?' returned Miss Brass.  'Seriously, you know.'<br><br>
31839
31840'What a dull dog you must be to ask me such a question seriously,' said
31841
31842Mr Swiveller.  'Haven't I this moment come?'<br><br>
31843
31844'Well, all I know is,' replied Miss Sally, 'that it's not to be found,
31845
31846and that it disappeared one day this week, when I left it on the desk.'<br><br>
31847
31848'Halloa!' thought Richard, 'I hope the Marchioness hasn't been at work
31849
31850here.'<br><br>
31851
31852'There was a knife too,' said Miss Sally, 'of the same pattern.  They
31853
31854were given to me by my father, years ago, and are both gone.  You
31855
31856haven't missed anything yourself, have you?'<br><br>
31857
31858Mr Swiveller involuntarily clapped his hands to the jacket to be quite
31859
31860sure that it WAS a jacket and not a skirted coat; and having satisfied
31861
31862himself of the safety of this, his only moveable in Bevis Marks, made
31863
31864answer in the negative.<br><br>
31865
31866'It's a very unpleasant thing, Dick,' said Miss Brass, pulling out the
31867
31868tin box and refreshing herself with a pinch of snuff; 'but between you
31869
31870and me--between friends you know, for if Sammy knew it, I should never
31871
31872hear the last of it--some of the office-money, too, that has been left
31873
31874about, has gone in the same way.  In particular, I have missed three
31875
31876half-crowns at three different times.'<br><br>
31877
31878'You don't mean that?' cried Dick.  'Be careful what you say, old boy,
31879
31880for this is a serious matter.  Are you quite sure?  Is there no
31881
31882mistake?'<br><br>
31883
31884'It is so, and there can't be any mistake at all,' rejoined Miss Brass
31885
31886emphatically.<br><br>
31887
31888'Then by Jove,' thought Richard, laying down his pen, 'I am afraid the
31889
31890Marchioness is done for!'<br><br>
31891
31892The more he discussed the subject in his thoughts, the more probable it
31893
31894appeared to Dick that the miserable little servant was the culprit.
31895
31896When he considered on what a spare allowance of food she lived, how
31897
31898neglected and untaught she was, and how her natural cunning had been
31899
31900sharpened by necessity and privation, he scarcely doubted it.  And yet
31901
31902he pitied her so much, and felt so unwilling to have a matter of such
31903
31904gravity disturbing the oddity of their acquaintance, that he thought,
31905
31906and thought truly, that rather than receive fifty pounds down, he would
31907
31908have the Marchioness proved innocent.<br><br>
31909
31910While he was plunged in very profound and serious meditation upon this
31911
31912theme, Miss Sally sat shaking her head with an air of great mystery and
31913
31914doubt; when the voice of her brother Sampson, carolling a cheerful
31915
31916strain, was heard in the passage, and that gentleman himself, beaming
31917
31918with virtuous smiles, appeared.<br><br>
31919
31920'Mr Richard, sir, good morning!  Here we are again, sir, entering upon
31921
31922another day, with our bodies strengthened by slumber and breakfast, and
31923
31924our spirits fresh and flowing.  Here we are, Mr Richard, rising with
31925
31926the sun to run our little course--our course of duty, sir--and, like
31927
31928him, to get through our day's work with credit to ourselves and
31929
31930advantage to our fellow-creatures.  A charming reflection sir, very
31931
31932charming!'<br><br>
31933
31934While he addressed his clerk in these words, Mr Brass was, somewhat
31935
31936ostentatiously, engaged in minutely examining and holding up against
31937
31938the light a five-pound bank note, which he had brought in, in his hand.<br><br>
31939
31940Mr Richard not receiving his remarks with anything like enthusiasm, his
31941
31942employer turned his eyes to his face, and observed that it wore a
31943
31944troubled expression.<br><br>
31945
31946'You're out of spirits, sir,' said Brass.  'Mr Richard, sir, we should
31947
31948fall to work cheerfully, and not in a despondent state.  It becomes us,
31949
31950Mr Richard, sir, to--'<br><br>
31951
31952Here the chaste Sarah heaved a loud sigh.<br><br>
31953
31954'Dear me!' said Mr Sampson, 'you too!  Is anything the matter?  Mr
31955
31956Richard, sir--'<br><br>
31957
31958Dick, glancing at Miss Sally, saw that she was making signals to him,
31959
31960to acquaint her brother with the subject of their recent conversation.
31961
31962As his own position was not a very pleasant one until the matter was
31963
31964set at rest one way or other, he did so; and Miss Brass, plying her
31965
31966snuff-box at a most wasteful rate, corroborated his account.<br><br>
31967
31968The countenance of Sampson fell, and anxiety overspread his features.
31969
31970Instead of passionately bewailing the loss of his money, as Miss Sally
31971
31972had expected, he walked on tiptoe to the door, opened it, looked
31973
31974outside, shut it softly, returned on tiptoe, and said in a whisper,<br><br>
31975
31976'This is a most extraordinary and painful circumstance--Mr Richard,
31977
31978sir, a most painful circumstance.  The fact is, that I myself have
31979
31980missed several small sums from the desk, of late, and have refrained
31981
31982from mentioning it, hoping that accident would discover the offender;
31983
31984but it has not done so--it has not done so.  Sally--Mr Richard,
31985
31986sir--this is a particularly distressing affair!'<br><br>
31987
31988As Sampson spoke, he laid the bank-note upon the desk among some
31989
31990papers, in an absent manner, and thrust his hands into his pockets.
31991
31992Richard Swiveller pointed to it, and admonished him to take it up.<br><br>
31993
31994'No, Mr Richard, sir,' rejoined Brass with emotion, 'I will not take it
31995
31996up.  I will let it lie there, sir.  To take it up, Mr Richard, sir,
31997
31998would imply a doubt of you; and in you, sir, I have unlimited
31999
32000confidence.  We will let it lie there, Sir, if you please, and we will
32001
32002not take it up by any means.'  With that, Mr Brass patted him twice or
32003
32004thrice on the shoulder, in a most friendly manner, and entreated him to
32005
32006believe that he had as much faith in his honesty as he had in his own.<br><br>
32007
32008Although at another time Mr Swiveller might have looked upon this as a
32009
32010doubtful compliment, he felt it, under the then-existing circumstances,
32011
32012a great relief to be assured that he was not wrongfully suspected.
32013
32014When he had made a suitable reply, Mr Brass wrung him by the hand, and
32015
32016fell into a brown study, as did Miss Sally likewise.  Richard too
32017
32018remained in a thoughtful state; fearing every moment to hear the
32019
32020Marchioness impeached, and unable to resist the conviction that she
32021
32022must be guilty.<br><br>
32023
32024When they had severally remained in this condition for some minutes,
32025
32026Miss Sally all at once gave a loud rap upon the desk with her clenched
32027
32028fist, and cried, 'I've hit it!'--as indeed she had, and chipped a piece
32029
32030out of it too; but that was not her meaning.<br><br>
32031
32032'Well,' cried Brass anxiously.  'Go on, will you!'<br><br>
32033
32034'Why,' replied his sister with an air of triumph, 'hasn't there been
32035
32036somebody always coming in and out of this office for the last three or
32037
32038four weeks; hasn't that somebody been left alone in it
32039
32040sometimes--thanks to you; and do you mean to tell me that that somebody
32041
32042isn't the thief!'<br><br>
32043
32044'What somebody?' blustered Brass.<br><br>
32045
32046'Why, what do you call him--Kit.'<br><br>
32047
32048'Mr Garland's young man?'<br><br>
32049
32050'To be sure.'<br><br>
32051
32052'Never!' cried Brass.  'Never.  I'll not hear of it.  Don't tell
32053
32054me'--said Sampson, shaking his head, and working with both his hands as
32055
32056if he were clearing away ten thousand cobwebs.  'I'll never believe it
32057
32058of him.  Never!'<br><br>
32059
32060'I say,' repeated Miss Brass, taking another pinch of snuff, 'that he's
32061
32062the thief.'<br><br>
32063
32064'I say,' returned Sampson violently, 'that he is not.  What do you
32065
32066mean?  How dare you?  Are characters to be whispered away like this?
32067
32068Do you know that he's the honestest and faithfullest fellow that ever
32069
32070lived, and that he has an irreproachable good name?  Come in, come in!'<br><br>
32071
32072These last words were not addressed to Miss Sally, though they partook
32073
32074of the tone in which the indignant remonstrances that preceded them had
32075
32076been uttered.  They were addressed to some person who had knocked at
32077
32078the office-door; and they had hardly passed the lips of Mr Brass, when
32079
32080this very Kit himself looked in.<br><br>
32081
32082'Is the gentleman up-stairs, sir, if you please?'<br><br>
32083
32084'Yes, Kit,' said Brass, still fired with an honest indignation, and
32085
32086frowning with knotted brows upon his sister; 'Yes Kit, he is.  I am
32087
32088glad to see you Kit, I am rejoiced to see you.  Look in again, as you
32089
32090come down-stairs, Kit.  That lad a robber!' cried Brass when he had
32091
32092withdrawn, 'with that frank and open countenance!  I'd trust him with
32093
32094untold gold.  Mr Richard, sir, have the goodness to step directly to
32095
32096Wrasp and Co.'s in Broad Street, and inquire if they have had
32097
32098instructions to appear in Carkem and Painter.  THAT lad a robber,'
32099
32100sneered Sampson, flushed and heated with his wrath.  'Am I blind, deaf,
32101
32102silly; do I know nothing of human nature when I see it before me?  Kit
32103
32104a robber!  Bah!'<br><br>
32105
32106Flinging this final interjection at Miss Sally with immeasurable scorn
32107
32108and contempt, Sampson Brass thrust his head into his desk, as if to
32109
32110shut the base world from his view, and breathed defiance from under its
32111
32112half-closed lid.<br><br>
32113
32114CHAPTER 59<br><br>
32115
32116When Kit, having discharged his errand, came down-stairs from the
32117
32118single gentleman's apartment after the lapse of a quarter of an hour or
32119
32120so, Mr Sampson Brass was alone in the office.  He was not singing as
32121
32122usual, nor was he seated at his desk.  The open door showed him
32123
32124standing before the fire with his back towards it, and looking so very
32125
32126strange that Kit supposed he must have been suddenly taken ill.<br><br>
32127
32128'Is anything the matter, sir?' said Kit.<br><br>
32129
32130'Matter!' cried Brass.  'No.  Why anything the matter?'<br><br>
32131
32132'You are so very pale,' said Kit, 'that I should hardly have known you.'<br><br>
32133
32134'Pooh pooh! mere fancy,' cried Brass, stooping to throw up the cinders.
32135
32136'Never better, Kit, never better in all my life.  Merry too.  Ha ha!
32137
32138How's our friend above-stairs, eh?'<br><br>
32139
32140'A great deal better,' said Kit.<br><br>
32141
32142'I'm glad to hear it,' rejoined Brass; 'thankful, I may say.  An
32143
32144excellent gentleman--worthy, liberal, generous, gives very little
32145
32146trouble--an admirable lodger.  Ha ha!  Mr Garland--he's well I hope,
32147
32148Kit--and the pony--my friend, my particular friend you know.  Ha ha!'<br><br>
32149
32150Kit gave a satisfactory account of all the little household at Abel
32151
32152Cottage.  Mr Brass, who seemed remarkably inattentive and impatient,
32153
32154mounted on his stool, and beckoning him to come nearer, took him by the
32155
32156button-hole.<br><br>
32157
32158'I have been thinking, Kit,' said the lawyer, 'that I could throw some
32159
32160little emoluments in your mother's way--You have a mother, I think?  If
32161
32162I recollect right, you told me--'<br><br>
32163
32164'Oh yes, Sir, yes certainly.'<br><br>
32165
32166'A widow, I think? an industrious widow?'<br><br>
32167
32168'A harder-working woman or a better mother never lived, Sir.'<br><br>
32169
32170'Ah!' cried Brass.  'That's affecting, truly affecting.  A poor widow
32171
32172struggling to maintain her orphans in decency and comfort, is a
32173
32174delicious picture of human goodness.--Put down your hat, Kit.'<br><br>
32175
32176'Thank you Sir, I must be going directly.'<br><br>
32177
32178'Put it down while you stay, at any rate,' said Brass, taking it from
32179
32180him and making some confusion among the papers, in finding a place for
32181
32182it on the desk.  'I was thinking, Kit, that we have often houses to let
32183
32184for people we are concerned for, and matters of that sort.  Now you
32185
32186know we're obliged to put people into those houses to take care of
32187
32188'em--very often undeserving people that we can't depend upon.  What's
32189
32190to prevent our having a person that we CAN depend upon, and enjoying
32191
32192the delight of doing a good action at the same time?  I say, what's to
32193
32194prevent our employing this worthy woman, your mother?  What with one
32195
32196job and another, there's lodging--and good lodging too--pretty well
32197
32198all the year round, rent free, and a weekly allowance besides, Kit,
32199
32200that would provide her with a great many comforts she don't at present
32201
32202enjoy.  Now what do you think of that?  Do you see any objection?  My
32203
32204only desire is to serve you, Kit; therefore if you do, say so freely.'<br><br>
32205
32206As Brass spoke, he moved the hat twice or thrice, and shuffled among
32207
32208the papers again, as if in search of something.<br><br>
32209
32210'How can I see any objection to such a kind offer, sir?' replied Kit
32211
32212with his whole heart.  'I don't know how to thank you sir, I don't
32213
32214indeed.'<br><br>
32215
32216'Why then,' said Brass, suddenly turning upon him and thrusting his
32217
32218face close to Kit's with such a repulsive smile that the latter, even
32219
32220in the very height of his gratitude, drew back, quite startled.  'Why
32221
32222then, it's done.'<br><br>
32223
32224Kit looked at him in some confusion.<br><br>
32225
32226'Done, I say,' added Sampson, rubbing his hands and veiling himself
32227
32228again in his usual oily manner.  'Ha ha! and so you shall find Kit, so
32229
32230you shall find.  But dear me,' said Brass, 'what a time Mr Richard is
32231
32232gone!  A sad loiterer to be sure!  Will you mind the office one minute,
32233
32234while I run up-stairs?  Only one minute.  I'll not detain you an
32235
32236instant longer, on any account, Kit.'<br><br>
32237
32238Talking as he went, Mr Brass bustled out of the office, and in a very
32239
32240short time returned.  Mr Swiveller came back, almost at the same
32241
32242instant; and as Kit was leaving the room hastily, to make up for lost
32243
32244time, Miss Brass herself encountered him in the doorway.<br><br>
32245
32246'Oh!' sneered Sally, looking after him as she entered.  'There goes
32247
32248your pet, Sammy, eh?'<br><br>
32249
32250'Ah!  There he goes,' replied Brass.  'My pet, if you please.  An
32251
32252honest fellow, Mr Richard, sir--a worthy fellow indeed!'<br><br>
32253
32254'Hem!' coughed Miss Brass.<br><br>
32255
32256'I tell you, you aggravating vagabond,' said the angry Sampson, 'that
32257
32258I'd stake my life upon his honesty.  Am I never to hear the last of
32259
32260this?  Am I always to be baited, and beset, by your mean suspicions?
32261
32262Have you no regard for true merit, you malignant fellow?  If you come
32263
32264to that, I'd sooner suspect your honesty than his.'<br><br>
32265
32266Miss Sally pulled out the tin snuff-box, and took a long, slow pinch,
32267
32268regarding her brother with a steady gaze all the time.<br><br>
32269
32270'She drives me wild, Mr Richard, sir,' said Brass, 'she exasperates me
32271
32272beyond all bearing.  I am heated and excited, sir, I know I am.  These
32273
32274are not business manners, sir, nor business looks, but she carries me
32275
32276out of myself.'<br><br>
32277
32278'Why don't you leave him alone?' said Dick.<br><br>
32279
32280'Because she can't, sir,' retorted Brass; 'because to chafe and vex me
32281
32282is a part of her nature, Sir, and she will and must do it, or I don't
32283
32284believe she'd have her health.  But never mind,' said Brass, 'never
32285
32286mind.  I've carried my point.  I've shown my confidence in the lad.  He
32287
32288has minded the office again.  Ha ha!  Ugh, you viper!'<br><br>
32289
32290The beautiful virgin took another pinch, and put the snuff-box in her
32291
32292pocket; still looking at her brother with perfect composure.<br><br>
32293
32294'He has minded the office again,' said Brass triumphantly; 'he has had
32295
32296my confidence, and he shall continue to have it; he--why, where's the--'<br><br>
32297
32298'What have you lost?' inquired Mr Swiveller.<br><br>
32299
32300'Dear me!' said Brass, slapping all his pockets, one after another, and
32301
32302looking into his desk, and under it, and upon it, and wildly tossing
32303
32304the papers about, 'the note, Mr Richard, sir, the five-pound note--what
32305
32306can have become of it?  I laid it down here--God bless me!'<br><br>
32307
32308'What!' cried Miss Sally, starting up, clapping her hands, and
32309
32310scattering the papers on the floor.  'Gone!  Now who's right?  Now
32311
32312who's got it?  Never mind five pounds--what's five pounds?  He's
32313
32314honest, you know, quite honest.  It would be mean to suspect him.
32315
32316Don't run after him.  No, no, not for the world!'<br><br>
32317
32318'Is it really gone though?' said Dick, looking at Brass with a face as
32319
32320pale as his own.<br><br>
32321
32322'Upon my word, Mr Richard, Sir,' replied the lawyer, feeling in all his
32323
32324pockets with looks of the greatest agitation, 'I fear this is a black
32325
32326business.  It's certainly gone, Sir.  What's to be done?'<br><br>
32327
32328'Don't run after him,' said Miss Sally, taking more snuff.  'Don't run
32329
32330after him on any account.  Give him time to get rid of it, you know.
32331
32332It would be cruel to find him out!'<br><br>
32333
32334Mr Swiveller and Sampson Brass looked from Miss Sally to each other, in
32335
32336a state of bewilderment, and then, as by one impulse, caught up their
32337
32338hats and rushed out into the street--darting along in the middle of the
32339
32340road, and dashing aside all obstructions, as though they were running
32341
32342for their lives.<br><br>
32343
32344It happened that Kit had been running too, though not so fast, and
32345
32346having the start of them by some few minutes, was a good distance
32347
32348ahead.  As they were pretty certain of the road he must have taken,
32349
32350however, and kept on at a great pace, they came up with him, at the
32351
32352very moment when he had taken breath, and was breaking into a run again.<br><br>
32353
32354'Stop!' cried Sampson, laying his hand on one shoulder, while Mr
32355
32356Swiveller pounced upon the other.  'Not so fast sir.  You're in a
32357
32358hurry?'<br><br>
32359
32360'Yes, I am,' said Kit, looking from one to the other in great surprise.<br><br>
32361
32362'I--I--can hardly believe it,' panted Sampson, 'but something of value
32363
32364is missing from the office.  I hope you don't know what.'<br><br>
32365
32366'Know what! good Heaven, Mr Brass!' cried Kit, trembling from head to
32367
32368foot; 'you don't suppose--'<br><br>
32369
32370'No, no,' rejoined Brass quickly, 'I don't suppose anything.  Don't say
32371
32372I said you did.  You'll come back quietly, I hope?'<br><br>
32373
32374'Of course I will,' returned Kit.  'Why not?'<br><br>
32375
32376'To be sure!' said Brass.  'Why not?  I hope there may turn out to be
32377
32378no why not.  If you knew the trouble I've been in, this morning,
32379
32380through taking your part, Christopher, you'd be sorry for it.'<br><br>
32381
32382'And I am sure you'll be sorry for having suspected me sir,' replied
32383
32384Kit.  'Come.  Let us make haste back.'<br><br>
32385
32386'Certainly!' cried Brass, 'the quicker, the better.  Mr Richard--have
32387
32388the goodness, sir, to take that arm.  I'll take this one.  It's not
32389
32390easy walking three abreast, but under these circumstances it must be
32391
32392done, sir; there's no help for it.'<br><br>
32393
32394Kit did turn from white to red, and from red to white again, when they
32395
32396secured him thus, and for a moment seemed disposed to resist.  But,
32397
32398quickly recollecting himself, and remembering that if he made any
32399
32400struggle, he would perhaps be dragged by the collar through the public
32401
32402streets, he only repeated, with great earnestness and with the tears
32403
32404standing in his eyes, that they would be sorry for this--and suffered
32405
32406them to lead him off.  While they were on the way back, Mr Swiveller,
32407
32408upon whom his present functions sat very irksomely, took an opportunity
32409
32410of whispering in his ear that if he would confess his guilt, even by so
32411
32412much as a nod, and promise not to do so any more, he would connive at
32413
32414his kicking Sampson Brass on the shins and escaping up a court; but Kit
32415
32416indignantly rejecting this proposal, Mr Richard had nothing for it, but
32417
32418to hold him tight until they reached Bevis Marks, and ushered him into
32419
32420the presence of the charming Sarah, who immediately took the precaution
32421
32422of locking the door.<br><br>
32423
32424'Now, you know,' said Brass, 'if this is a case of innocence, it is a
32425
32426case of that description, Christopher, where the fullest disclosure is
32427
32428the best satisfaction for everybody.  Therefore if you'll consent to an
32429
32430examination,' he demonstrated what kind of examination he meant by
32431
32432turning back the cuffs of his coat, 'it will be a comfortable and
32433
32434pleasant thing for all parties.'<br><br>
32435
32436'Search me,' said Kit, proudly holding up his arms.  'But mind, sir--I
32437
32438know you'll be sorry for this, to the last day of your life.'<br><br>
32439
32440'It is certainly a very painful occurrence,' said Brass with a sigh, as
32441
32442he dived into one of Kit's pockets, and fished up a miscellaneous
32443
32444collection of small articles; 'very painful.  Nothing here, Mr Richard,
32445
32446Sir, all perfectly satisfactory.  Nor here, sir.  Nor in the waistcoat,
32447
32448Mr Richard, nor in the coat tails.  So far, I am rejoiced, I am sure.'<br><br>
32449
32450Richard Swiveller, holding Kit's hat in his hand, was watching the
32451
32452proceedings with great interest, and bore upon his face the slightest
32453
32454possible indication of a smile, as Brass, shutting one of his eyes,
32455
32456looked with the other up the inside of one of the poor fellow's sleeves
32457
32458as if it were a telescope--when Sampson turning hastily to him, bade
32459
32460him search the hat.<br><br>
32461
32462'Here's a handkerchief,' said Dick.<br><br>
32463
32464'No harm in that sir,' rejoined Brass, applying his eye to the other
32465
32466sleeve, and speaking in the voice of one who was contemplating an
32467
32468immense extent of prospect.  'No harm in a handkerchief Sir, whatever.
32469
32470The faculty don't consider it a healthy custom, I believe, Mr Richard,
32471
32472to carry one's handkerchief in one's hat--I have heard that it keeps
32473
32474the head too warm--but in every other point of view, its being there,
32475
32476is extremely satisfactory--extremely so.'<br><br>
32477
32478An exclamation, at once from Richard Swiveller, Miss Sally, and Kit
32479
32480himself, cut the lawyer short.  He turned his head, and saw Dick
32481
32482standing with the bank-note in his hand.<br><br>
32483
32484'In the hat?' cried Brass in a sort of shriek.<br><br>
32485
32486'Under the handkerchief, and tucked beneath the lining,' said Dick,
32487
32488aghast at the discovery.<br><br>
32489
32490Mr Brass looked at him, at his sister, at the walls, at the ceiling, at
32491
32492the floor--everywhere but at Kit, who stood quite stupefied and
32493
32494motionless.<br><br>
32495
32496'And this,' cried Sampson, clasping his hands, 'is the world that turns
32497
32498upon its own axis, and has Lunar influences, and revolutions round
32499
32500Heavenly Bodies, and various games of that sort!  This is human natur,
32501
32502is it!  Oh natur, natur!  This is the miscreant that I was going to
32503
32504benefit with all my little arts, and that, even now, I feel so much
32505
32506for, as to wish to let him go!  But,' added Mr Brass with greater
32507
32508fortitude, 'I am myself a lawyer, and bound to set an example in
32509
32510carrying the laws of my happy country into effect.  Sally my dear,
32511
32512forgive me, and catch hold of him on the other side.  Mr Richard, sir,
32513
32514have the goodness to run and fetch a constable.  The weakness is past
32515
32516and over sir, and moral strength returns.  A constable, sir, if you
32517
32518please!'<br><br>
32519
32520CHAPTER 60<br><br>
32521
32522Kit stood as one entranced, with his eyes opened wide and fixed upon
32523
32524the ground, regardless alike of the tremulous hold which Mr Brass
32525
32526maintained on one side of his cravat, and of the firmer grasp of Miss
32527
32528Sally upon the other; although this latter detention was in itself no
32529
32530small inconvenience, as that fascinating woman, besides screwing her
32531
32532knuckles inconveniently into his throat from time to time, had fastened
32533
32534upon him in the first instance with so tight a grip that even in the
32535
32536disorder and distraction of his thoughts he could not divest himself of
32537
32538an uneasy sense of choking.  Between the brother and sister he remained
32539
32540in this posture, quite unresisting and passive, until Mr Swiveller
32541
32542returned, with a police constable at his heels.<br><br>
32543
32544This functionary, being, of course, well used to such scenes; looking
32545
32546upon all kinds of robbery, from petty larceny up to housebreaking or
32547
32548ventures on the highway, as matters in the regular course of business;
32549
32550and regarding the perpetrators in the light of so many customers coming
32551
32552to be served at the wholesale and retail shop of criminal law where he
32553
32554stood behind the counter; received Mr Brass's statement of facts with
32555
32556about as much interest and surprise, as an undertaker might evince if
32557
32558required to listen to a circumstantial account of the last illness of a
32559
32560person whom he was called in to wait upon professionally; and took Kit
32561
32562into custody with a decent indifference.<br><br>
32563
32564'We had better,' said this subordinate minister of justice, 'get to the
32565
32566office while there's a magistrate sitting.  I shall want you to come
32567
32568along with us, Mr Brass, and the--' he looked at Miss Sally as if in
32569
32570some doubt whether she might not be a griffin or other fabulous monster.<br><br>
32571
32572'The lady, eh?' said Sampson.<br><br>
32573
32574'Ah!' replied the constable.  'Yes--the lady.  Likewise the young man
32575
32576that found the property.'<br><br>
32577
32578'Mr Richard, Sir,' said Brass in a mournful voice.  'A sad necessity.
32579
32580But the altar of our country sir--'<br><br>
32581
32582'You'll have a hackney-coach, I suppose?' interrupted the constable,
32583
32584holding Kit (whom his other captors had released) carelessly by the
32585
32586arm, a little above the elbow.  'Be so good as send for one, will you?'<br><br>
32587
32588'But, hear me speak a word,' cried Kit, raising his eyes and looking
32589
32590imploringly about him.  'Hear me speak a word.  I am no more guilty
32591
32592than any one of you.  Upon my soul I am not.  I a thief!  Oh, Mr Brass,
32593
32594you know me better.  I am sure you know me better.  This is not right
32595
32596of you, indeed.'<br><br>
32597
32598'I give you my word, constable--' said Brass.  But here the constable
32599
32600interposed with the constitutional principle 'words be blowed;'
32601
32602observing that words were but spoon-meat for babes and sucklings, and
32603
32604that oaths were the food for strong men.<br><br>
32605
32606'Quite true, constable,' assented Brass in the same mournful tone.
32607
32608'Strictly correct.  I give you my oath, constable, that down to a few
32609
32610minutes ago, when this fatal discovery was made, I had such confidence
32611
32612in that lad, that I'd have trusted him with--a hackney-coach, Mr
32613
32614Richard, sir; you're very slow, Sir.'<br><br>
32615
32616'Who is there that knows me,' cried Kit, 'that would not trust me--
32617
32618that does not? ask anybody whether they have ever doubted me; whether I
32619
32620have ever wronged them of a farthing.  Was I ever once dishonest when I
32621
32622was poor and hungry, and is it likely I would begin now!  Oh consider
32623
32624what you do.  How can I meet the kindest friends that ever human
32625
32626creature had, with this dreadful charge upon me!'<br><br>
32627
32628Mr Brass rejoined that it would have been well for the prisoner if he
32629
32630had thought of that, before, and was about to make some other gloomy
32631
32632observations when the voice of the single gentleman was heard,
32633
32634demanding from above-stairs what was the matter, and what was the cause
32635
32636of all that noise and hurry.  Kit made an involuntary start towards the
32637
32638door in his anxiety to answer for himself, but being speedily detained
32639
32640by the constable, had the agony of seeing Sampson Brass run out alone
32641
32642to tell the story in his own way.<br><br>
32643
32644'And he can hardly believe it, either,' said Sampson, when he returned,
32645
32646'nor nobody will.  I wish I could doubt the evidence of my senses, but
32647
32648their depositions are unimpeachable.  It's of no use cross-examining my
32649
32650eyes,' cried Sampson, winking and rubbing them, 'they stick to their
32651
32652first account, and will.  Now, Sarah, I hear the coach in the Marks;
32653
32654get on your bonnet, and we'll be off.  A sad errand! a moral funeral,
32655
32656quite!'<br><br>
32657
32658'Mr Brass,' said Kit.  'Do me one favour.  Take me to Mr Witherden's
32659
32660first.'<br><br>
32661
32662Sampson shook his head irresolutely.<br><br>
32663
32664'Do,' said Kit.  'My master's there.  For Heaven's sake, take me there,
32665
32666first.'<br><br>
32667
32668'Well, I don't know,' stammered Brass, who perhaps had his reasons for
32669
32670wishing to show as fair as possible in the eyes of the notary.  'How do
32671
32672we stand in point of time, constable, eh?'<br><br>
32673
32674The constable, who had been chewing a straw all this while with great
32675
32676philosophy, replied that if they went away at once they would have time
32677
32678enough, but that if they stood shilly-shallying there, any longer, they
32679
32680must go straight to the Mansion House; and finally expressed his
32681
32682opinion that that was where it was, and that was all about it.<br><br>
32683
32684Mr Richard Swiveller having arrived inside the coach, and still
32685
32686remaining immoveable in the most commodious corner with his face to the
32687
32688horses, Mr Brass instructed the officer to remove his prisoner, and
32689
32690declared himself quite ready.  Therefore, the constable, still holding
32691
32692Kit in the same manner, and pushing him on a little before him, so as
32693
32694to keep him at about three-quarters of an arm's length in advance
32695
32696(which is the professional mode), thrust him into the vehicle and
32697
32698followed himself.  Miss Sally entered next; and there being now four
32699
32700inside, Sampson Brass got upon the box, and made the coachman drive on.<br><br>
32701
32702Still completely stunned by the sudden and terrible change which had
32703
32704taken place in his affairs, Kit sat gazing out of the coach window,
32705
32706almost hoping to see some monstrous phenomenon in the streets which
32707
32708might give him reason to believe he was in a dream.  Alas!  Everything
32709
32710was too real and familiar: the same succession of turnings, the same
32711
32712houses, the same streams of people running side by side in different
32713
32714directions upon the pavement, the same bustle of carts and carriages in
32715
32716the road, the same well-remembered objects in the shop windows: a
32717
32718regularity in the very noise and hurry which no dream ever mirrored.
32719
32720Dream-like as the story was, it was true.  He stood charged with
32721
32722robbery; the note had been found upon him, though he was innocent in
32723
32724thought and deed; and they were carrying him back, a prisoner.<br><br>
32725
32726Absorbed in these painful ruminations, thinking with a drooping heart
32727
32728of his mother and little Jacob, feeling as though even the
32729
32730consciousness of innocence would be insufficient to support him in the
32731
32732presence of his friends if they believed him guilty, and sinking in
32733
32734hope and courage more and more as they drew nearer to the notary's,
32735
32736poor Kit was looking earnestly out of the window, observant of
32737
32738nothing,--when all at once, as though it had been conjured up by magic,
32739
32740he became aware of the face of Quilp.<br><br>
32741
32742And what a leer there was upon the face!  It was from the open window
32743
32744of a tavern that it looked out; and the dwarf had so spread himself
32745
32746over it, with his elbows on the window-sill and his head resting on
32747
32748both his hands, that what between this attitude and his being swoln
32749
32750with suppressed laughter, he looked puffed and bloated into twice his
32751
32752usual breadth.  Mr Brass, on recognising him, immediately stopped the
32753
32754coach.  As it came to a halt directly opposite to where he stood, the
32755
32756dwarf pulled off his hat, and saluted the party with a hideous and
32757
32758grotesque politeness.  'Aha!' he cried.  'Where now, Brass? where now?
32759
32760Sally with you too?  Sweet Sally!  And Dick?  Pleasant Dick!  And Kit!
32761
32762Honest Kit!'<br><br>
32763
32764'He's extremely cheerful!' said Brass to the coachman.  'Very much so!
32765
32766Ah, sir--a sad business!  Never believe in honesty any more, sir.'<br><br>
32767
32768'Why not?' returned the dwarf.  'Why not, you rogue of a lawyer, why
32769
32770not?'<br><br>
32771
32772'Bank-note lost in our office sir,' said Brass, shaking his head.
32773
32774'Found in his hat sir--he previously left alone there--no mistake at
32775
32776all sir--chain of evidence complete--not a link wanting.'<br><br>
32777
32778'What!' cried the dwarf, leaning half his body out of window.  'Kit a
32779
32780thief!  Kit a thief!  Ha ha ha!  Why, he's an uglier-looking thief than
32781
32782can be seen anywhere for a penny.  Eh, Kit--eh?  Ha ha ha!  Have you
32783
32784taken Kit into custody before he had time and opportunity to beat me!
32785
32786Eh, Kit, eh?'  And with that, he burst into a yell of laughter,
32787
32788manifestly to the great terror of the coachman, and pointed to a dyer's
32789
32790pole hard by, where a dangling suit of clothes bore some resemblance to
32791
32792a man upon a gibbet.<br><br>
32793
32794'Is it coming to that, Kit!' cried the dwarf, rubbing his hands
32795
32796violently.  'Ha ha ha ha!  What a disappointment for little Jacob, and
32797
32798for his darling mother!  Let him have the Bethel minister to comfort
32799
32800and console him, Brass.  Eh, Kit, eh?  Drive on coachey, drive on.  Bye
32801
32802bye, Kit; all good go with you; keep up your spirits; my love to the
32803
32804Garlands--the dear old lady and gentleman.  Say I inquired after 'em,
32805
32806will you?  Blessings on 'em, on you, and on everybody, Kit.  Blessings
32807
32808on all the world!'<br><br>
32809
32810With such good wishes and farewells, poured out in a rapid torrent
32811
32812until they were out of hearing, Quilp suffered them to depart; and when
32813
32814he could see the coach no longer, drew in his head, and rolled upon the
32815
32816ground in an ecstacy of enjoyment.<br><br>
32817
32818When they reached the notary's, which they were not long in doing, for
32819
32820they had encountered the dwarf in a bye street at a very little
32821
32822distance from the house, Mr Brass dismounted; and opening the coach
32823
32824door with a melancholy visage, requested his sister to accompany him
32825
32826into the office, with the view of preparing the good people within, for
32827
32828the mournful intelligence that awaited them.  Miss Sally complying, he
32829
32830desired Mr Swiveller to accompany them.  So, into the office they went;
32831
32832Mr Sampson and his sister arm-in-arm; and Mr Swiveller following, alone.<br><br>
32833
32834The notary was standing before the fire in the outer office, talking to
32835
32836Mr Abel and the elder Mr Garland, while Mr Chuckster sat writing at the
32837
32838desk, picking up such crumbs of their conversation as happened to fall
32839
32840in his way.  This posture of affairs Mr Brass observed through the
32841
32842glass-door as he was turning the handle, and seeing that the notary
32843
32844recognised him, he began to shake his head and sigh deeply while that
32845
32846partition yet divided them.<br><br>
32847
32848'Sir,' said Sampson, taking off his hat, and kissing the two
32849
32850fore-fingers of his right hand beaver glove, 'my name is Brass--Brass
32851
32852of Bevis Marks, Sir.  I have had the honour and pleasure, Sir, of being
32853
32854concerned against you in some little testamentary matters.  How do you
32855
32856do, sir?'<br><br>
32857
32858'My clerk will attend to any business you may have come upon, Mr
32859
32860Brass,' said the notary, turning away.<br><br>
32861
32862'Thank you Sir,' said Brass, 'thank you, I am sure.  Allow me, Sir, to
32863
32864introduce my sister--quite one of us Sir, although of the weaker
32865
32866sex--of great use in my business Sir, I assure you.  Mr Richard, sir,
32867
32868have the goodness to come foward if you please--No really,' said Brass,
32869
32870stepping between the notary and his private office (towards which he
32871
32872had begun to retreat), and speaking in the tone of an injured man,
32873
32874'really Sir, I must, under favour, request a word or two with you,
32875
32876indeed.'<br><br>
32877
32878'Mr Brass,' said the other, in a decided tone, 'I am engaged.  You see
32879
32880that I am occupied with these gentlemen.  If you will communicate your
32881
32882business to Mr Chuckster yonder, you will receive every attention.'<br><br>
32883
32884'Gentlemen,' said Brass, laying his right hand on his waistcoat, and
32885
32886looking towards the father and son with a smooth smile--'Gentlemen, I
32887
32888appeal to you--really, gentlemen--consider, I beg of you.  I am of the
32889
32890law.  I am styled "gentleman" by Act of Parliament.  I maintain the
32891
32892title by the annual payment of twelve pound sterling for a certificate.
32893
32894I am not one of your players of music, stage actors, writers of books,
32895
32896or painters of pictures, who assume a station that the laws of their
32897
32898country don't recognise.  I am none of your strollers or vagabonds.  If
32899
32900any man brings his action against me, he must describe me as a
32901
32902gentleman, or his action is null and void.  I appeal to you--is this
32903
32904quite respectful?  Really gentlemen--'<br><br>
32905
32906'Well, will you have the goodness to state your business then, Mr
32907
32908Brass?' said the notary.<br><br>
32909
32910'Sir,' rejoined Brass, 'I will.  Ah Mr Witherden! you little know
32911
32912the--but I will not be tempted to travel from the point, sir, I believe
32913
32914the name of one of these gentlemen is Garland.'<br><br>
32915
32916'Of both,' said the notary.<br><br>
32917
32918'In-deed!' rejoined Brass, cringing excessively.  'But I might have
32919
32920known that, from the uncommon likeness.  Extremely happy, I am sure, to
32921
32922have the honour of an introduction to two such gentlemen, although the
32923
32924occasion is a most painful one.  One of you gentlemen has a servant
32925
32926called Kit?'<br><br>
32927
32928'Both,' replied the notary.  'Two Kits?' said Brass smiling.  'Dear me!'<br><br>
32929
32930'One Kit, sir,' returned Mr Witherden angrily, 'who is employed by both
32931
32932gentlemen.  What of him?'<br><br>
32933
32934'This of him, sir,' rejoined Brass, dropping his voice impressively.
32935
32936'That young man, sir, that I have felt unbounded and unlimited
32937
32938confidence in, and always behaved to as if he was my equal--that young
32939
32940man has this morning committed a robbery in my office, and been taken
32941
32942almost in the fact.'<br><br>
32943
32944'This must be some falsehood!' cried the notary.<br><br>
32945
32946'It is not possible,' said Mr Abel.<br><br>
32947
32948'I'll not believe one word of it,' exclaimed the old gentleman.<br><br>
32949
32950Mr Brass looked mildly round upon them, and rejoined,<br><br>
32951
32952'Mr Witherden, sir, YOUR words are actionable, and if I was a man of
32953
32954low and mean standing, who couldn't afford to be slandered, I should
32955
32956proceed for damages.  Hows'ever, sir, being what I am, I merely scorn
32957
32958such expressions.  The honest warmth of the other gentleman I respect,
32959
32960and I'm truly sorry to be the messenger of such unpleasant news.  I
32961
32962shouldn't have put myself in this painful position, I assure you, but
32963
32964that the lad himself desired to be brought here in the first instance,
32965
32966and I yielded to his prayers.  Mr Chuckster, sir, will you have the
32967
32968goodness to tap at the window for the constable that's waiting in the
32969
32970coach?'<br><br>
32971
32972The three gentlemen looked at each other with blank faces when these
32973
32974words were uttered, and Mr Chuckster, doing as he was desired, and
32975
32976leaping off his stool with something of the excitement of an inspired
32977
32978prophet whose foretellings had in the fulness of time been realised,
32979
32980held the door open for the entrance of the wretched captive.<br><br>
32981
32982Such a scene as there was, when Kit came in, and bursting into the rude
32983
32984eloquence with which Truth at length inspired him, called Heaven to
32985
32986witness that he was innocent, and that how the property came to be
32987
32988found upon him he knew not!  Such a confusion of tongues, before the
32989
32990circumstances were related, and the proofs disclosed!  Such a dead
32991
32992silence when all was told, and his three friends exchanged looks of
32993
32994doubt and amazement!<br><br>
32995
32996'Is it not possible,' said Mr Witherden, after a long pause, 'that this
32997
32998note may have found its way into the hat by some accident,--such as
32999
33000the removal of papers on the desk, for instance?'<br><br>
33001
33002But this was clearly shown to be quite impossible.  Mr Swiveller,
33003
33004though an unwilling witness, could not help proving to demonstration,
33005
33006from the position in which it was found, that it must have been
33007
33008designedly secreted.<br><br>
33009
33010'It's very distressing,' said Brass, 'immensely distressing, I am sure.
33011
33012When he comes to be tried, I shall be very happy to recommend him to
33013
33014mercy on account of his previous good character.  I did lose money
33015
33016before, certainly, but it doesn't quite follow that he took it.  The
33017
33018presumption's against him--strongly against him--but we're Christians,
33019
33020I hope?'<br><br>
33021
33022'I suppose,' said the constable, looking round, 'that no gentleman here
33023
33024can give evidence as to whether he's been flush of money of late, Do
33025
33026you happen to know, Sir?'<br><br>
33027
33028'He has had money from time to time, certainly,' returned Mr Garland,
33029
33030to whom the man had put the question.  'But that, as he always told me,
33031
33032was given him by Mr Brass himself.'<br><br>
33033
33034'Yes to be sure,' said Kit eagerly.  'You can bear me out in that, Sir?'<br><br>
33035
33036'Eh?' cried Brass, looking from face to face with an expression of
33037
33038stupid amazement.<br><br>
33039
33040'The money you know, the half-crowns, that you gave me--from the
33041
33042lodger,' said Kit.<br><br>
33043
33044'Oh dear me!' cried Brass, shaking his head and frowning heavily.
33045
33046'This is a bad case, I find; a very bad case indeed.'<br><br>
33047
33048'What!  Did you give him no money on account of anybody, Sir?' asked Mr
33049
33050Garland, with great anxiety.<br><br>
33051
33052'I give him money, Sir!' returned Sampson.  'Oh, come you know, this is
33053
33054too barefaced.  Constable, my good fellow, we had better be going.'<br><br>
33055
33056'What!' shrieked Kit.  'Does he deny that he did? ask him, somebody,
33057
33058pray.  Ask him to tell you whether he did or not!'<br><br>
33059
33060'Did you, sir?' asked the notary.<br><br>
33061
33062'I tell you what, gentlemen,' replied Brass, in a very grave manner,
33063
33064'he'll not serve his case this way, and really, if you feel any
33065
33066interest in him, you had better advise him to go upon some other tack.
33067
33068Did I, sir?  Of course I never did.'<br><br>
33069
33070'Gentlemen,' cried Kit, on whom a light broke suddenly, 'Master, Mr
33071
33072Abel, Mr Witherden, every one of you--he did it!  What I have done to
33073
33074offend him, I don't know, but this is a plot to ruin me.  Mind,
33075
33076gentlemen, it's a plot, and whatever comes of it, I will say with my
33077
33078dying breath that he put that note in my hat himself!  Look at him,
33079
33080gentlemen! see how he changes colour.  Which of us looks the guilty
33081
33082person--he, or I?'<br><br>
33083
33084'You hear him, gentlemen?' said Brass, smiling, 'you hear him.  Now,
33085
33086does this case strike you as assuming rather a black complexion, or
33087
33088does it not?  Is it at all a treacherous case, do you think, or is it
33089
33090one of mere ordinary guilt?  Perhaps, gentlemen, if he had not said
33091
33092this in your presence and I had reported it, you'd have held this to be
33093
33094impossible likewise, eh?'<br><br>
33095
33096With such pacific and bantering remarks did Mr Brass refute the foul
33097
33098aspersion on his character; but the virtuous Sarah, moved by stronger
33099
33100feelings, and having at heart, perhaps, a more jealous regard for the
33101
33102honour of her family, flew from her brother's side, without any
33103
33104previous intimation of her design, and darted at the prisoner with the
33105
33106utmost fury.  It would undoubtedly have gone hard with Kit's face, but
33107
33108that the wary constable, foreseeing her design, drew him aside at the
33109
33110critical moment, and thus placed Mr Chuckster in circumstances of some
33111
33112jeopardy; for that gentleman happening to be next the object of Miss
33113
33114Brass's wrath; and rage being, like love and fortune, blind; was
33115
33116pounced upon by the fair enslaver, and had a false collar plucked up by
33117
33118the roots, and his hair very much dishevelled, before the exertions of
33119
33120the company could make her sensible of her mistake.<br><br>
33121
33122The constable, taking warning by this desperate attack, and thinking
33123
33124perhaps that it would be more satisfactory to the ends of justice if
33125
33126the prisoner were taken before a magistrate, whole, rather than 
33126in
33127
33128small pieces, led him back to the hackney-coach without more ado, and
33129
33130moreover insisted on Miss Brass becoming an outside passenger; to which
33131
33132proposal the charming creature, after a little angry discussion,
33133
33134yielded her consent; and so took her brother Sampson's place upon the
33135
33136box: Mr Brass with some reluctance agreeing to occupy her seat inside.
33137
33138These arrangements perfected, they drove to the justice-room with all
33139
33140speed, followed by the notary and his two friends in another coach.  Mr
33141
33142Chuckster alone was left behind--greatly to his indignation; for he
33143
33144held the evidence he could have given, relative to Kit's returning to
33145
33146work out the shilling, to be so very material as bearing upon his
33147
33148hypocritical and designing character, that he considered its
33149
33150suppression little better than a compromise of felony.<br><br>
33151
33152At the justice-room, they found the single gentleman, who had gone
33153
33154straight there, and was expecting them with desperate impatience.  But
33155
33156not fifty single gentlemen rolled into one could have helped poor Kit,
33157
33158who in half an hour afterwards was committed for trial, and was assured
33159
33160by a friendly officer on his way to prison that there was no occasion
33161
33162to be cast down, for the sessions would soon be on, and he would, in
33163
33164all likelihood, get his little affair disposed of, and be comfortably
33165
33166transported, in less than a fortnight.<br><br>
33167
33168CHAPTER 61<br><br>
33169
33170Let moralists and philosophers say what they may, it is very
33171
33172questionable whether a guilty man would have felt half as much misery
33173
33174that night, as Kit did, being innocent.  The world, being in the
33175
33176constant commission of vast quantities of injustice, is a little too
33177
33178apt to comfort itself with the idea that if the victim of its falsehood
33179
33180and malice have a clear conscience, he cannot fail to be sustained
33181
33182under his trials, and somehow or other to come right at last; 'in which
33183
33184case,' say they who have hunted him down, '--though we certainly don't
33185
33186expect it--nobody will be better pleased than we.'  Whereas, the world
33187
33188would do well to reflect, that injustice is in itself, to every
33189
33190generous and properly constituted mind, an injury, of all others the
33191
33192most insufferable, the most torturing, and the most hard to bear; and
33193
33194that many clear consciences have gone to their account elsewhere, and
33195
33196many sound hearts have broken, because of this very reason; the
33197
33198knowledge of their own deserts only aggravating their sufferings, and
33199
33200rendering them the less endurable.<br><br>
33201
33202The world, however, was not in fault in Kit's case.  But Kit was
33203
33204innocent; and knowing this, and feeling that his best friends deemed
33205
33206him guilty--that Mr and Mrs Garland would look upon him as a monster of
33207
33208ingratitude--that Barbara would associate him with all that was bad and
33209
33210criminal--that the pony would consider himself forsaken--and that even
33211
33212his own mother might perhaps yield to the strong appearances against
33213
33214him, and believe him to be the wretch he seemed--knowing and feeling
33215
33216all this, he experienced, at first, an agony of mind which no words can
33217
33218describe, and walked up and down the little cell in which he was locked
33219
33220up for the night, almost beside himself with grief.<br><br>
33221
33222Even when the violence of these emotions had in some degree subsided,
33223
33224and he was beginning to grow more calm, there came into his mind a new
33225
33226thought, the anguish of which was scarcely less.  The child--the bright
33227
33228star of the simple fellow's life--she, who always came back upon him
33229
33230like a beautiful dream--who had made the poorest part of his existence,
33231
33232the happiest and best--who had ever been so gentle, and considerate,
33233
33234and good--if she were ever to hear of this, what would she think!  As
33235
33236this idea occurred to him, the walls of the prison seemed to melt away,
33237
33238and the old place to reveal itself in their stead, as it was wont to be
33239
33240on winter nights--the fireside, the little supper table, the old man's
33241
33242hat, and coat, and stick--the half-opened door, leading to her little
33243
33244room--they were all there.  And Nell herself was there, and he--both
33245
33246laughing heartily as they had often done--and when he had got as far as
33247
33248this, Kit could go no farther, but flung himself upon his poor bedstead
33249
33250and wept.<br><br>
33251
33252It was a long night, which seemed as though it would have no end; but
33253
33254he slept too, and dreamed--always of being at liberty, and roving
33255
33256about, now with one person and now with another, but ever with a vague
33257
33258dread of being recalled to prison; not that prison, but one which was
33259
33260in itself a dim idea--not of a place, but of a care and sorrow: of
33261
33262something oppressive and always present, and yet impossible to define.
33263
33264At last, the morning dawned, and there was the jail itself--cold,
33265
33266black, and dreary, and very real indeed.  He was left to himself,
33267
33268however, and there was comfort in that.  He had liberty to walk in a
33269
33270small paved yard at a certain hour, and learnt from the turnkey, who
33271
33272came to unlock his cell and show him where to wash, that there was a
33273
33274regular time for visiting, every day, and that if any of his friends
33275
33276came to see him, he would be fetched down to the grate.  When he had
33277
33278given him this information, and a tin porringer containing his
33279
33280breakfast, the man locked him up again; and went clattering along the
33281
33282stone passage, opening and shutting a great many other doors, and
33283
33284raising numberless loud echoes which resounded through the building for
33285
33286a long time, as if they were in prison too, and unable to get out.<br><br>
33287
33288This turnkey had given him to understand that he was lodged, like some
33289
33290few others in the jail, apart from the mass of prisoners; because he
33291
33292was not supposed to be utterly depraved and irreclaimable, and had
33293
33294never occupied apartments in that mansion before.  Kit was thankful for
33295
33296this indulgence, and sat reading the church catechism very attentively
33297
33298(though he had known it by heart from a little child), until he heard
33299
33300the key in the lock, and the man entered again.<br><br>
33301
33302'Now then,' he said, 'come on!'<br><br>
33303
33304'Where to, Sir?' asked Kit.<br><br>
33305
33306The man contented himself by briefly replying 'Wisitors;' and taking
33307
33308him by the arm in exactly the same manner as the constable had done the
33309
33310day before, led him, through several winding ways and strong gates,
33311
33312into a passage, where he placed him at a grating and turned upon his
33313
33314heel.  Beyond this grating, at the distance of about four or five feet,
33315
33316was another exactly like it.  In the space between, sat a turnkey
33317
33318reading a newspaper, and outside the further railing, Kit saw, with a
33319
33320palpitating heart, his mother with the baby in her arms; Barbara's
33321
33322mother with her never-failing umbrella; and poor little Jacob, staring
33323
33324in with all his might, as though he were looking for the bird, or the
33325
33326wild beast, and thought the men were mere accidents with whom the bars
33327
33328could have no possible concern.<br><br>
33329
33330But when little Jacob saw his brother, and, thrusting his arms between
33331
33332the rails to hug him, found that he came no nearer, but still stood
33333
33334afar off with his head resting on the arm by which he held to one of
33335
33336the bars, he began to cry most piteously; whereupon, Kit's mother and
33337
33338Barbara's mother, who had restrained themselves as much as possible,
33339
33340burst out sobbing and weeping afresh.  Poor Kit could not help joining
33341
33342them, and not one of them could speak a word.  During this melancholy
33343
33344pause, the turnkey read his newspaper with a waggish look (he had
33345
33346evidently got among the facetious paragraphs) until, happening to take
33347
33348his eyes off for an instant, as if to get by dint of contemplation at
33349
33350the very marrow of some joke of a deeper sort than the rest, it
33351
33352appeared to occur to him, for the first time, that somebody was crying.<br><br>
33353
33354'Now, ladies, ladies,' he said, looking round with surprise, 'I'd
33355
33356advise you not to waste time like this.  It's allowanced here, you
33357
33358know.  You mustn't let that child make that noise either.  It's against
33359
33360all rules.'<br><br>
33361
33362'I'm his poor mother, sir,'--sobbed Mrs Nubbles, curtseying humbly,
33363
33364'and this is his brother, sir.  Oh dear me, dear me!'<br><br>
33365
33366'Well!' replied the turnkey, folding his paper on his knee, so as to
33367
33368get with greater convenience at the top of the next column.  'It can't
33369
33370be helped you know.  He ain't the only one in the same fix.  You
33371
33372mustn't make a noise about it!'<br><br>
33373
33374With that he went on reading.  The man was not unnaturally cruel or
33375
33376hard-hearted.  He had come to look upon felony as a kind of disorder,
33377
33378like the scarlet fever or erysipelas: some people had it--some
33379
33380hadn't--just as it might be.<br><br>
33381
33382'Oh! my darling Kit,' said his mother, whom Barbara's mother had
33383
33384charitably relieved of the baby, 'that I should see my poor boy here!'<br><br>
33385
33386'You don't believe that I did what they accuse me of, mother dear?'
33387
33388cried Kit, in a choking voice.<br><br>
33389
33390'I believe it!' exclaimed the poor woman, 'I that never knew you tell a
33391
33392lie, or do a bad action from your cradle--that have never had a
33393
33394moment's sorrow on your account, except it was the poor meals that you
33395
33396have taken with such good humour and content, that I forgot how little
33397
33398there was, when I thought how kind and thoughtful you were, though you
33399
33400were but a child!--I believe it of the son that's been a comfort to me
33401
33402from the hour of his birth until this time, and that I never laid down
33403
33404one night in anger with!  I believe it of you Kit!--'<br><br>
33405
33406'Why then, thank God!' said Kit, clutching the bars with an earnestness
33407
33408that shook them, 'and I can bear it, mother!  Come what may, I shall
33409
33410always have one drop of happiness in my heart when I think that you
33411
33412said that.'<br><br>
33413
33414At this the poor woman fell a-crying again, and Barbara's mother too.
33415
33416And little Jacob, whose disjointed thoughts had by this time resolved
33417
33418themselves into a pretty distinct impression that Kit couldn't go out
33419
33420for a walk if he wanted, and that there were no birds, lions, tigers or
33421
33422other natural curiosities behind those bars--nothing indeed, but a
33423
33424caged brother--added his tears to theirs with as little noise as
33425
33426possible.<br><br>
33427
33428Kit's mother, drying her eyes (and moistening them, poor soul, more
33429
33430than she dried them), now took from the ground a small basket, and
33431
33432submissively addressed herself to the turnkey, saying, would he please
33433
33434to listen to her for a minute?  The turnkey, being in the very crisis
33435
33436and passion of a joke, motioned to her with his hand to keep silent one
33437
33438minute longer, for her life.  Nor did he remove his hand into its
33439
33440former posture, but kept it in the same warning attitude until he had
33441
33442finished the paragraph, when he paused for a few seconds, with a smile
33443
33444upon his face, as who should say 'this editor is a comical blade--a
33445
33446funny dog,' and then asked her what she wanted.<br><br>
33447
33448'I have brought him a little something to eat,' said the good woman.
33449
33450'If you please, Sir, might he have it?'<br><br>
33451
33452'Yes,--he may have it.  There's no rule against that.  Give it to me
33453
33454when you go, and I'll take care he has it.'<br><br>
33455
33456'No, but if you please sir--don't be angry with me sir--I am his
33457
33458mother, and you had a mother once--if I might only see him eat a little
33459
33460bit, I should go away, so much more satisfied that he was all
33461
33462comfortable.'<br><br>
33463
33464And again the tears of Kit's mother burst forth, and of Barbara's
33465
33466mother, and of little Jacob.  As to the baby, it was crowing and
33467
33468laughing with its might--under the idea, apparently, that the whole
33469
33470scene had been invented and got up for its particular satisfaction.<br><br>
33471
33472The turnkey looked as if he thought the request a strange one and
33473
33474rather out of the common way, but nevertheless he laid down his paper,
33475
33476and coming round where Kit's mother stood, took the basket from her,
33477
33478and after inspecting its contents, handed it to Kit, and went back to
33479
33480his place.  It may be easily conceived that the prisoner had no great
33481
33482appetite, but he sat down on the ground, and ate as hard as he could,
33483
33484while, at every morsel he put into his mouth, his mother sobbed and
33485
33486wept afresh, though with a softened grief that bespoke the satisfaction
33487
33488the sight afforded her.<br><br>
33489
33490While he was thus engaged, Kit made some anxious inquiries about his
33491
33492employers, and whether they had expressed any opinion concerning him;
33493
33494but all he could learn was that Mr Abel had himself broken the
33495
33496intelligence to his mother, with great kindness and delicacy, late on
33497
33498the previous night, but had himself expressed no opinion of his
33499
33500innocence or guilt.  Kit was on the point of mustering courage to ask
33501
33502Barbara's mother about Barbara, when the turnkey who had conducted him,
33503
33504reappeared, a second turnkey appeared behind his visitors, and the
33505
33506third turnkey with the newspaper cried 'Time's up!'--adding in the same
33507
33508breath 'Now for the next party!' and then plunging deep into his
33509
33510newspaper again.  Kit was taken off in an instant, with a blessing from
33511
33512his mother, and a scream from little Jacob, ringing in his ears.  As he
33513
33514was crossing the next yard with the basket in his hand, under the
33515
33516guidance of his former conductor, another officer called to them to
33517
33518stop, and came up with a pint pot of porter in his hand.<br><br>
33519
33520'This is Christopher Nubbles, isn't it, that come in last night for
33521
33522felony?' said the man.<br><br>
33523
33524His comrade replied that this was the chicken in question.<br><br>
33525
33526'Then here's your beer,' said the other man to Christopher.  'What are
33527
33528you looking at?  There an't a discharge in it.'<br><br>
33529
33530'I beg your pardon,' said Kit.  'Who sent it me?'<br><br>
33531
33532'Why, your friend,' replied the man.  'You're to have it every day, he
33533
33534says.  And so you will, if he pays for it.'<br><br>
33535
33536'My friend!' repeated Kit.<br><br>
33537
33538'You're all abroad, seemingly,' returned the other man.  'There's his
33539
33540letter.  Take hold!'<br><br>
33541
33542Kit took it, and when he was locked up again, read as follows.<br><br>
33543
33544'Drink of this cup, you'll find there's a spell in its every drop
33545
33546'gainst the ills of mortality.  Talk of the cordial that sparkled for
33547
33548Helen!  HER cup was a fiction, but this is reality (Barclay and
33549
33550Co.'s).--If they ever send it in a flat state, complain to the
33551
33552Governor.  Yours, R. S.'<br><br>
33553
33554'R. S.!' said Kit, after some consideration.  'It must be Mr Richard
33555
33556Swiveller.  Well, its very kind of him, and I thank him heartily.'<br><br>
33557
33558CHAPTER 62<br><br>
33559
33560A faint light, twinkling from the window of the counting-house on
33561
33562Quilp's wharf, and looking inflamed and red through the night-fog, as
33563
33564though it suffered from it like an eye, forewarned Mr Sampson Brass, as
33565
33566he approached the wooden cabin with a cautious step, that the excellent
33567
33568proprietor, his esteemed client, was inside, and probably waiting with
33569
33570his accustomed patience and sweetness of temper the fulfilment of the
33571
33572appointment which now brought Mr Brass within his fair domain.<br><br>
33573
33574'A treacherous place to pick one's steps in, of a dark night,' muttered
33575
33576Sampson, as he stumbled for the twentieth time over some stray lumber,
33577
33578and limped in pain.  'I believe that boy strews the ground differently
33579
33580every day, on purpose to bruise and maim one; unless his master does it
33581
33582with his own hands, which is more than likely.  I hate to come to this
33583
33584place without Sally.  She's more protection than a dozen men.'<br><br>
33585
33586As he paid this compliment to the merit of the absent charmer, Mr Brass
33587
33588came to a halt; looking doubtfully towards the light, and over his
33589
33590shoulder.<br><br>
33591
33592'What's he about, I wonder?' murmured the lawyer, standing on tiptoe,
33593
33594and endeavouring to obtain a glimpse of what was passing inside, which
33595
33596at that distance was impossible--'drinking, I suppose,--making himself
33597
33598more fiery and furious, and heating his malice and mischievousness till
33599
33600they boil.  I'm always afraid to come here by myself, when his
33601
33602account's a pretty large one.  I don't believe he'd mind throttling me,
33603
33604and dropping me softly into the river when the tide was at its
33605
33606strongest, any more than he'd mind killing a rat--indeed I don't know
33607
33608whether he wouldn't consider it a pleasant joke.  Hark!  Now he's
33609
33610singing!'<br><br>
33611
33612Mr Quilp was certainly entertaining himself with vocal exercise, but it
33613
33614was rather a kind of chant than a song; being a monotonous repetition
33615
33616of one sentence in a very rapid manner, with a long stress upon the
33617
33618last word, which he swelled into a dismal roar.  Nor did the burden of
33619
33620this performance bear any reference to love, or war, or wine, or
33621
33622loyalty, or any other, the standard topics of song, but to a subject
33623
33624not often set to music or generally known in ballads; the words being
33625
33626these:--'The worthy magistrate, after remarking that the prisoner would
33627
33628find some difficulty in persuading a jury to believe his tale,
33629
33630committed him to take his trial at the approaching sessions; and
33631
33632directed the customary recognisances to be entered into for the
33633
33634pros-e-cu-tion.'<br><br>
33635
33636Every time he came to this concluding word, and had exhausted all
33637
33638possible stress upon it, Quilp burst into a shriek of laughter, and
33639
33640began again.<br><br>
33641
33642'He's dreadfully imprudent,' muttered Brass, after he had listened to
33643
33644two or three repetitions of the chant.  'Horribly imprudent.  I wish he
33645
33646was dumb.  I wish he was deaf.  I wish he was blind.  Hang him,' cried
33647
33648Brass, as the chant began again.  'I wish he was dead!'<br><br>
33649
33650Giving utterance to these friendly aspirations in behalf of his client,
33651
33652Mr Sampson composed his face into its usual state of smoothness, and
33653
33654waiting until the shriek came again and was dying away, went up to the
33655
33656wooden house, and knocked at the door.<br><br>
33657
33658'Come in!' cried the dwarf.<br><br>
33659
33660'How do you do to-night sir?' said Sampson, peeping in.  'Ha ha ha!
33661
33662How do you do sir?  Oh dear me, how very whimsical!  Amazingly
33663
33664whimsical to be sure!'<br><br>
33665
33666'Come in, you fool!' returned the dwarf, 'and don't stand there shaking
33667
33668your head and showing your teeth.  Come in, you false witness, you
33669
33670perjurer, you suborner of evidence, come in!'<br><br>
33671
33672'He has the richest humour!' cried Brass, shutting the door behind him;
33673
33674'the most amazing vein of comicality!  But isn't it rather injudicious,
33675
33676sir--?'<br><br>
33677
33678'What?' demanded Quilp.  'What, Judas?'<br><br>
33679
33680'Judas!' cried Brass.  'He has such extraordinary spirits!  His humour
33681
33682is so extremely playful!  Judas!  Oh yes--dear me, how very good!  Ha
33683
33684ha ha!' All this time, Sampson was rubbing his hands, and staring, with
33685
33686ludicrous surprise and dismay, at a great, goggle-eyed, blunt-nosed
33687
33688figure-head of some old ship, which was reared up against the wall in a
33689
33690corner near the stove, looking like a goblin or hideous idol whom the
33691
33692dwarf worshipped.  A mass of timber on its head, carved into the dim
33693
33694and distant semblance of a cocked hat, together with a representation
33695
33696of a star on the left breast and epaulettes on the shoulders, denoted
33697
33698that it was intended for the effigy of some famous admiral; but,
33699
33700without those helps, any observer might have supposed it the authentic
33701
33702portrait of a distinguished merman, or great sea-monster.  Being
33703
33704originally much too large for the apartment which it was now employed
33705
33706to decorate, it had been sawn short off at the waist.  Even in this
33707
33708state it reached from floor to ceiling; and thrusting itself forward,
33709
33710with that excessively wide-awake aspect, and air of somewhat obtrusive
33711
33712politeness, by which figure-heads are usually characterised, seemed to
33713
33714reduce everything else to mere pigmy proportions.<br><br>
33715
33716'Do you know it?' said the dwarf, watching Sampson's eyes.  'Do you see
33717
33718the likeness?'<br><br>
33719
33720'Eh?' said Brass, holding his head on one side, and throwing it a
33721
33722little back, as connoisseurs do.  'Now I look at it again, I fancy I
33723
33724see a--yes, there certainly is something in the smile that reminds me
33725
33726of--and yet upon my word I--'<br><br>
33727
33728Now, the fact was, that Sampson, having never seen anything in the
33729
33730smallest degree resembling this substantial phantom, was much
33731
33732perplexed; being uncertain whether Mr Quilp considered it like himself,
33733
33734and had therefore bought it for a family portrait; or whether he was
33735
33736pleased to consider it as the likeness of some enemy.  He was not very
33737
33738long in doubt; for, while he was surveying it with that knowing look
33739
33740which people assume when they are contemplating for the first time
33741
33742portraits which they ought to recognise but don't, the dwarf threw down
33743
33744the newspaper from which he had been chanting the words already quoted,
33745
33746and seizing a rusty iron bar, which he used in lieu of poker, dealt the
33747
33748figure such a stroke on the nose that it rocked again.<br><br>
33749
33750'Is it like Kit--is it his picture, his image, his very self?' cried
33751
33752the dwarf, aiming a shower of blows at the insensible countenance, and
33753
33754covering it with deep dimples.  'Is it the exact model and counterpart
33755
33756of the dog--is it--is it--is it?'  And with every repetition of the
33757
33758question, he battered the great image, until the perspiration streamed
33759
33760down his face with the violence of the exercise.<br><br>
33761
33762Although this might have been a very comical thing to look at from a
33763
33764secure gallery, as a bull-fight is found to be a comfortable spectacle
33765
33766by those who are not in the arena, and a house on fire is better than a
33767
33768play to people who don't live near it, there was something in the
33769
33770earnestness of Mr Quilp's manner which made his legal adviser feel that
33771
33772the counting-house was a little too small, and a deal too lonely, for
33773
33774the complete enjoyment of these humours.  Therefore, he stood as far
33775
33776off as he could, while the dwarf was thus engaged; whimpering out but
33777
33778feeble applause; and when Quilp left off and sat down again from pure
33779
33780exhaustion, approached with more obsequiousness than ever.<br><br>
33781
33782'Excellent indeed!' cried Brass.  'He he!  Oh, very good Sir.  You
33783
33784know,' said Sampson, looking round as if in appeal to the bruised
33785
33786animal, 'he's quite a remarkable man--quite!'<br><br>
33787
33788'Sit down,' said the dwarf.  'I bought the dog yesterday.  I've been
33789
33790screwing gimlets into him, and sticking forks in his eyes, and cutting
33791
33792my name on him.  I mean to burn him at last.'<br><br>
33793
33794'Ha ha!' cried Brass.  'Extremely entertaining, indeed!'<br><br>
33795
33796'Come here,' said Quilp, beckoning him to draw near.  'What's
33797
33798injudicious, hey?'<br><br>
33799
33800'Nothing Sir--nothing.  Scarcely worth mentioning Sir; but I thought
33801
33802that song--admirably humorous in itself you know--was perhaps rather--'<br><br>
33803
33804'Yes,' said Quilp, 'rather what?'<br><br>
33805
33806'Just bordering, or as one may say remotely verging, upon the confines
33807
33808of injudiciousness perhaps, Sir,' returned Brass, looking timidly at
33809
33810the dwarf's cunning eyes, which were turned towards the fire and
33811
33812reflected its red light.<br><br>
33813
33814'Why?' inquired Quilp, without looking up.<br><br>
33815
33816'Why, you know, sir,' returned Brass, venturing to be more familiar:
33817
33818'--the fact is, sir, that any allusion to these little combinings
33819
33820together, of friends, for objects in themselves extremely laudable, but
33821
33822which the law terms conspiracies, are--you take me, sir?--best kept
33823
33824snug and among friends, you know.'<br><br>
33825
33826'Eh!' said Quilp, looking up with a perfectly vacant countenance.
33827
33828'What do you mean?'<br><br>
33829
33830'Cautious, exceedingly cautious, very right and proper!' cried Brass,
33831
33832nodding his head.  'Mum, sir, even here--my meaning, sir, exactly.'<br><br>
33833
33834'YOUR meaning exactly, you brazen scarecrow,--what's your meaning?'
33835
33836retorted Quilp.  'Why do you talk to me of combining together?  Do I
33837
33838combine?  Do I know anything about your combinings?'<br><br>
33839
33840'No no, sir--certainly not; not by any means,' returned Brass.<br><br>
33841
33842'If you so wink and nod at me,' said the dwarf, looking about him as if
33843
33844for his poker, 'I'll spoil the expression of your monkey's face, I
33845
33846will.' 'Don't put yourself out of the way I beg, sir,' rejoined Brass,
33847
33848checking himself with great alacrity.  'You're quite right, sir, quite
33849
33850right.  I shouldn't have mentioned the subject, sir.  It's much better
33851
33852not to.  You're quite right, sir.  Let us change it, if you please.
33853
33854You were asking, sir, Sally told me, about our lodger.  He has not
33855
33856returned, sir.'<br><br>
33857
33858'No?' said Quilp, heating some rum in a little saucepan, and watching
33859
33860it to prevent its boiling over.  'Why not?'<br><br>
33861
33862'Why, sir,' returned Brass, 'he--dear me, Mr Quilp, sir--'<br><br>
33863
33864'What's the matter?' said the dwarf, stopping his hand in the act of
33865
33866carrying the saucepan to his mouth.<br><br>
33867
33868'You have forgotten the water, sir,' said Brass.  'And--excuse me,
33869
33870sir--but it's burning hot.'<br><br>
33871
33872Deigning no other than a practical answer to this remonstrance, Mr
33873
33874Quilp raised the hot saucepan to his lips, and deliberately drank off
33875
33876all the spirit it contained, which might have been in quantity about
33877
33878half a pint, and had been but a moment before, when he took it off the
33879
33880fire, bubbling and hissing fiercely.  Having swallowed this gentle
33881
33882stimulant, and shaken his fist at the admiral, he bade Mr Brass proceed.<br><br>
33883
33884'But first,' said Quilp, with his accustomed grin, 'have a drop
33885
33886yourself--a nice drop--a good, warm, fiery drop.'<br><br>
33887
33888'Why, sir,' replied Brass, 'if there was such a thing as a mouthful of
33889
33890water that could be got without trouble--'<br><br>
33891
33892'There's no such thing to be had here,' cried the dwarf.  'Water for
33893
33894lawyers!  Melted lead and brimstone, you mean, nice hot blistering
33895
33896pitch and tar--that's the thing for them--eh, Brass, eh?'<br><br>
33897
33898'Ha ha ha!' laughed Mr Brass.  'Oh very biting! and yet it's like being
33899
33900tickled--there's a pleasure in it too, sir!'<br><br>
33901
33902'Drink that,' said the dwarf, who had by this time heated some more.
33903
33904'Toss it off, don't leave any heeltap, scorch your throat and be happy!'<br><br>
33905
33906The wretched Sampson took a few short sips of the liquor, which
33907
33908immediately distilled itself into burning tears, and in that form came
33909
33910rolling down his cheeks into the pipkin again, turning the colour of
33911
33912his face and eyelids to a deep red, and giving rise to a violent fit of
33913
33914coughing, in the midst of which he was still heard to declare, with the
33915
33916constancy of a martyr, that it was 'beautiful indeed!'  While he was
33917
33918yet in unspeakable agonies, the dwarf renewed their conversation.<br><br>
33919
33920'The lodger,' said Quilp, '--what about him?' 'He is still, sir,'
33921
33922returned Brass, with intervals of coughing, 'stopping with the Garland
33923
33924family.  He has only been home once, Sir, since the day of the
33925
33926examination of that culprit.  He informed Mr Richard, sir, that he
33927
33928couldn't bear the house after what had taken place; that he was
33929
33930wretched in it; and that he looked upon himself as being in a certain
33931
33932kind of way the cause of the occurrence.--A very excellent lodger Sir.
33933
33934I hope we may not lose him.'<br><br>
33935
33936'Yah!' cried the dwarf.  'Never thinking of anybody but yourself--why
33937
33938don't you retrench then--scrape up, hoard, economise, eh?'<br><br>
33939
33940'Why, sir,' replied Brass, 'upon my word I think Sarah's as good an
33941
33942economiser as any going.  I do indeed, Mr Quilp.'<br><br>
33943
33944'Moisten your clay, wet the other eye, drink, man!' cried the dwarf.
33945
33946'You took a clerk to oblige me.'<br><br>
33947
33948'Delighted, sir, I am sure, at any time,' replied Sampson.  'Yes, Sir,
33949
33950I did.'<br><br>
33951
33952'Then now you may discharge him,' said Quilp.  'There's a means of
33953
33954retrenchment for you at once.'<br><br>
33955
33956'Discharge Mr Richard, sir?' cried Brass.<br><br>
33957
33958'Have you more than one clerk, you parrot, that you ask the question?
33959
33960Yes.'<br><br>
33961
33962'Upon my word, Sir,' said Brass, 'I wasn't prepared for this-'<br><br>
33963
33964'How could you be?' sneered the dwarf, 'when I wasn't?  How often am I
33965
33966to tell you that I brought him to you that I might always have my eye
33967
33968on him and know where he was--and that I had a plot, a scheme, a little
33969
33970quiet piece of enjoyment afoot, of which the very cream and essence
33971
33972was, that this old man and grandchild (who have sunk underground I
33973
33974think) should be, while he and his precious friend believed them rich,
33975
33976in reality as poor as frozen rats?'<br><br>
33977
33978'I quite understood that, sir,' rejoined Brass.  'Thoroughly.'<br><br>
33979
33980'Well, Sir,' retorted Quilp, 'and do you understand now, that they're
33981
33982not poor--that they can't be, if they have such men as your lodger
33983
33984searching for them, and scouring the country far and wide?'<br><br>
33985
33986'Of course I do, Sir,' said Sampson.<br><br>
33987
33988'Of course you do,' retorted the dwarf, viciously snapping at his
33989
33990words.  'Of course do you understand then, that it's no matter what
33991
33992comes of this fellow? of course do you understand that for any other
33993
33994purpose he's no man for me, nor for you?'<br><br>
33995
33996'I have frequently said to Sarah, sir,' returned Brass, 'that he was of
33997
33998no use at all in the business.  You can't put any confidence in him,
33999
34000sir.  If you'll believe me I've found that fellow, in the commonest
34001
34002little matters of the office that have been trusted to him, blurting
34003
34004out the truth, though expressly cautioned.  The aggravation of that
34005
34006chap sir, has exceeded anything you can imagine, it has indeed.
34007
34008Nothing but the respect and obligation I owe to you, sir--'<br><br>
34009
34010As it was plain that Sampson was bent on a complimentary harangue,
34011
34012unless he received a timely interruption, Mr Quilp politely tapped him
34013
34014on the crown of his head with the little saucepan, and requested that
34015
34016he would be so obliging as to hold his peace.<br><br>
34017
34018'Practical, sir, practical,' said Brass, rubbing the place and smiling;
34019
34020'but still extremely pleasant--immensely so!'<br><br>
34021
34022'Hearken to me, will you?' returned Quilp, 'or I'll be a little more
34023
34024pleasant, presently.  There's no chance of his comrade and friend
34025
34026returning.  The scamp has been obliged to fly, as I learn, for some
34027
34028knavery, and has found his way abroad.  Let him rot there.'<br><br>
34029
34030'Certainly, sir.  Quite proper.--Forcible!' cried Brass, glancing at
34031
34032the admiral again, as if he made a third in company.  'Extremely
34033
34034forcible!'<br><br>
34035
34036'I hate him,' said Quilp between his teeth, 'and have always hated him,
34037
34038for family reasons.  Besides, he was an intractable ruffian; otherwise
34039
34040he would have been of use.  This fellow is pigeon-hearted and
34041
34042light-headed.  I don't want him any longer.  Let him hang or
34043
34044drown--starve--go to the devil.'<br><br>
34045
34046'By all means, sir,' returned Brass.  'When would you wish him, sir,
34047
34048to--ha, ha!--to make that little excursion?'<br><br>
34049
34050'When this trial's over,' said Quilp.  'As soon as that's ended, send
34051
34052him about his business.'<br><br>
34053
34054'It shall be done, sir,' returned Brass; 'by all means.  It will be
34055
34056rather a blow to Sarah, sir, but she has all her feelings under
34057
34058control.  Ah, Mr Quilp, I often think, sir, if it had only pleased
34059
34060Providence to bring you and Sarah together, in earlier life, what
34061
34062blessed results would have flowed from such a union!  You never saw our
34063
34064dear father, sir?--A charming gentleman.  Sarah was his pride and j
34064oy,
34065
34066sir.  He would have closed his eyes in bliss, would Foxey, Mr Quilp, if
34067
34068he could have found her such a partner.  You esteem her, sir?'<br><br>
34069
34070'I love her,' croaked the dwarf.<br><br>
34071
34072'You're very good, Sir,' returned Brass, 'I am sure.  Is there any
34073
34074other order, sir, that I can take a note of, besides this little matter
34075
34076of Mr Richard?'<br><br>
34077
34078'None,' replied the dwarf, seizing the saucepan.  'Let us drink the
34079
34080lovely Sarah.'<br><br>
34081
34082'If we could do it in something, sir, that wasn't quite boiling,'
34083
34084suggested Brass humbly, 'perhaps it would be better.  I think it will
34085
34086be more agreeable to Sarah's feelings, when she comes to hear from me
34087
34088of the honour you have done her, if she learns it was in liquor rather
34089
34090cooler than the last, Sir.'<br><br>
34091
34092But to these remonstrances, Mr Quilp turned a deaf ear.  Sampson Brass,
34093
34094who was, by this time, anything but sober, being compelled to take
34095
34096further draughts of the same strong bowl, found that, instead of at all
34097
34098contributing to his recovery, they had the novel effect of making the
34099
34100counting-house spin round and round with extreme velocity, and causing
34101
34102the floor and ceiling to heave in a very distressing manner.  After a
34103
34104brief stupor, he awoke to a consciousness of being partly under the
34105
34106table and partly under the grate.  This position not being the most
34107
34108comfortable one he could have chosen for himself, he managed to stagger
34109
34110to his feet, and, holding on by the admiral, looked round for his host.<br><br>
34111
34112Mr Brass's first impression was, that his host was gone and had left
34113
34114him there alone--perhaps locked him in for the night.  A strong smell
34115
34116of tobacco, however, suggested a new train of ideas, he looked upward,
34117
34118and saw that the dwarf was smoking in his hammock.<br><br>
34119
34120'Good bye, Sir,' cried Brass faintly.  'Good bye, Sir.'<br><br>
34121
34122'Won't you stop all night?' said the dwarf, peeping out.  'Do stop all
34123
34124night!'<br><br>
34125
34126'I couldn't indeed, Sir,' replied Brass, who was almost dead from
34127
34128nausea and the closeness of the room.  'If you'd have the goodness to
34129
34130show me a light, so that I may see my way across the yard, sir--'<br><br>
34131
34132Quilp was out in an instant; not with his legs first, or his head
34133
34134first, or his arms first, but bodily--altogether.<br><br>
34135
34136'To be sure,' he said, taking up a lantern, which was now the only
34137
34138light in the place.  'Be careful how you go, my dear friend.  Be sure
34139
34140to pick your way among the timber, for all the rusty nails are upwards.
34141
34142There's a dog in the lane.  He bit a man last night, and a woman the
34143
34144night before, and last Tuesday he killed a child--but that was in play.
34145
34146Don't go too near him.'<br><br>
34147
34148'Which side of the road is he, sir?' asked Brass, in great dismay.<br><br>
34149
34150'He lives on the right hand,' said Quilp, 'but sometimes he hides on
34151
34152the left, ready for a spring.  He's uncertain in that respect.  Mind
34153
34154you take care of yourself.  I'll never forgive you if you don't.
34155
34156There's the light out--never mind--you know the way--straight on!'
34157
34158Quilp had slily shaded the light by holding it against his breast, and
34159
34160now stood chuckling and shaking from head to foot in a rapture of
34161
34162delight, as he heard the lawyer stumbling up the yard, and now and then
34163
34164falling heavily down.  At length, however, he got quit of the place,
34165
34166and was out of hearing.<br><br>
34167
34168The dwarf shut himself up again, and sprang once more into his hammock.<br><br>
34169
34170CHAPTER 63<br><br>
34171
34172The professional gentleman who had given Kit the consolatory piece of
34173
34174information relative to the settlement of his trifle of business at the
34175
34176Old Bailey, and the probability of its being very soon disposed of,
34177
34178turned out to be quite correct in his prognostications.  In eight days'
34179
34180time, the sessions commenced.  In one day afterwards, the Grand jury
34181
34182found a True Bill against Christopher Nubbles for felony; and in two
34183
34184days from that finding, the aforesaid Christopher Nubbles was called
34185
34186upon to plead Guilty or Not Guilty to an Indictment for that he the
34187
34188said Christopher did feloniously abstract and steal from the
34189
34190dwelling-house and office of one Sampson Brass, gentleman, one Bank
34191
34192Note for Five Pounds issued by the Governor and Company of the Bank of
34193
34194England; in contravention of the Statutes in that case made and
34195
34196provided, and against the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King, his
34197
34198crown and dignity.<br><br>
34199
34200To this indictment, Christopher Nubbles, in a low and trembling voice,
34201
34202pleaded Not Guilty; and here, let those who are in the habit of forming
34203
34204hasty judgments from appearances, and who would have had Christopher,
34205
34206if innocent, speak out very strong and loud, observe, that confinement
34207
34208and anxiety will subdue the stoutest hearts; and that to one who has
34209
34210been close shut up, though it be only for ten or eleven days, seeing
34211
34212but stone walls and a very few stony faces, the sudden entrance into a
34213
34214great hall filled with life, is a rather disconcerting and startling
34215
34216circumstance.  To this, it must be added, that life in a wig is to a
34217
34218large class of people much more terrifying and impressive than life
34219
34220with its own head of hair; and if, in addition to these considerations,
34221
34222there be taken into account Kit's natural emotion on seeing the two Mr
34223
34224Garlands and the little Notary looking on with pale and anxious faces,
34225
34226it will perhaps seem matter of no very great wonder that he should have
34227
34228been rather out of sorts, and unable to make himself quite at home.<br><br>
34229
34230Although he had never seen either of the Mr Garlands, or Mr Witherden,
34231
34232since the time of his arrest, he had been given to understand that they
34233
34234had employed counsel for him.  Therefore, when one of the gentlemen in
34235
34236wigs got up and said 'I am for the prisoner, my Lord,' Kit made him a
34237
34238bow; and when another gentleman in a wig got up and said 'And I'm
34239
34240against him, my Lord,' Kit trembled very much, and bowed to him too.
34241
34242And didn't he hope in his own heart that his gentleman was a match for
34243
34244the other gentleman, and would make him ashamed of himself in no time!<br><br>
34245
34246The gentleman who was against him had to speak first, and being in
34247
34248dreadfully good spirits (for he had, in the last trial, very nearly
34249
34250procured the acquittal of a young gentleman who had had the misfortune
34251
34252to murder his father) he spoke up, you may be sure; telling the jury
34253
34254that if they acquitted this prisoner they must expect to suffer no less
34255
34256pangs and agonies than he had told the other jury they would certainly
34257
34258undergo if they convicted that prisoner.  And when he had told them all
34259
34260about the case, and that he had never known a worse case, he stopped a
34261
34262little while, like a man who had something terrible to tell them, and
34263
34264then said that he understood an attempt would be made by his learned
34265
34266friend (and here he looked sideways at Kit's gentleman) to impeach the
34267
34268testimony of those immaculate witnesses whom he should call before
34269
34270them; but he did hope and trust that his learned friend would have a
34271
34272greater respect and veneration for the character of the prosecutor;
34273
34274than whom, as he well knew, there did not exist, and never had existed,
34275
34276a more honourable member of that most honourable profession to which he
34277
34278was attached.  And then he said, did the jury know Bevis Marks?  And if
34279
34280they did know Bevis Marks (as he trusted for their own character, they
34281
34282did) did they know the historical and elevating associations connected
34283
34284with that most remarkable spot?  Did they believe that a man like Brass
34285
34286could reside in a place like Bevis Marks, and not be a virtuous and
34287
34288most upright character?  And when he had said a great deal to them on
34289
34290this point, he remembered that it was an insult to their understandings
34291
34292to make any remarks on what they must have felt so strongly without
34293
34294him, and therefore called Sampson Brass into the witness-box,
34295
34296straightway.<br><br>
34297
34298Then up comes Mr Brass, very brisk and fresh; and, having bowed to the
34299
34300judge, like a man who has had the pleasure of seeing him before, and
34301
34302who hopes he has been pretty well since their last meeting, folds his
34303
34304arms, and looks at his gentleman as much as to say 'Here I am--full of
34305
34306evidence--Tap me!'  And the gentleman does tap him presently, and with
34307
34308great discretion too; drawing off the evidence by little and little,
34309
34310and making it run quite clear and bright in the eyes of all present.
34311
34312Then, Kit's gentleman takes him in hand, but can make nothing of him;
34313
34314and after a great many very long questions and very short answers, Mr
34315
34316Sampson Brass goes down in glory.<br><br>
34317
34318To him succeeds Sarah, who in like manner is easy to be managed by Mr
34319
34320Brass's gentleman, but very obdurate to Kit's.  In short, Kit's
34321
34322gentleman can get nothing out of her but a repetition of what she has
34323
34324said before (only a little stronger this time, as against his client),
34325
34326and therefore lets her go, in some confusion.  Then, Mr Brass's
34327
34328gentleman calls Richard Swiveller, and Richard Swiveller appears
34329
34330accordingly.<br><br>
34331
34332Now, Mr Brass's gentleman has it whispered in his ear that this witness
34333
34334is disposed to be friendly to the prisoner--which, to say the truth, he
34335
34336is rather glad to hear, as his strength is considered to lie in what is
34337
34338familiarly termed badgering.  Wherefore, he begins by requesting the
34339
34340officer to be quite sure that this witness kisses the book, then goes
34341
34342to work at him, tooth and nail.<br><br>
34343
34344'Mr Swiveller,' says this gentleman to Dick, when he had told his tale
34345
34346with evident reluctance and a desire to make the best of it: 'Pray sir,
34347
34348where did you dine yesterday?'--'Where did I dine yesterday?'--'Aye,
34349
34350sir, where did you dine yesterday--was it near here, sir?'--'Oh to be
34351
34352sure--yes--just over the way.'--'To be sure.  Yes.  Just over the way,'
34353
34354repeats Mr Brass's gentleman, with a glance at the court.--'Alone,
34355
34356sir?'--'I beg your pardon,' says Mr Swiveller, who has not caught the
34357
34358question--'Alone, sir?' repeats Mr Brass's gentleman in a voice of
34359
34360thunder, 'did you dine alone?  Did you treat anybody, sir? Come!'--'Oh
34361
34362yes, to be sure--yes, I did,' says Mr Swiveller with a smile.--'Have
34363
34364the goodness to banish a levity, sir, which is very ill-suited to the
34365
34366place in which you stand (though perhaps you have reason to be thankful
34367
34368that it's only that place),' says Mr Brass's gentleman, with a nod of
34369
34370the head, insinuating that the dock is Mr Swiveller's legitimate sphere
34371
34372of action; 'and attend to me.  You were waiting about here, yesterday,
34373
34374in expectation that this trial was coming on.  You dined over the way.
34375
34376You treated somebody.  Now, was that somebody brother to the prisoner
34377
34378at the bar?'--Mr Swiveller is proceeding to explain--'Yes or No, sir,'
34379
34380cries Mr Brass's gentleman--'But will you allow me--'--'Yes or No,
34381
34382sir'--'Yes it was, but--'--'Yes it was,' cries the gentleman, taking
34383
34384him up short.  'And a very pretty witness YOU are!'<br><br>
34385
34386Down sits Mr Brass's gentleman.  Kit's gentleman, not knowing how the
34387
34388matter really stands, is afraid to pursue the subject.  Richard
34389
34390Swiveller retires abashed.  Judge, jury and spectators have visions of
34391
34392his lounging about, with an ill-looking, large-whiskered, dissolute
34393
34394young fellow of six feet high.  The reality is, little Jacob, with the
34395
34396calves of his legs exposed to the open air, and himself tied up in a
34397
34398shawl.  Nobody knows the truth; everybody believes a falsehood; and all
34399
34400because of the ingenuity of Mr Brass's gentleman.<br><br>
34401
34402Then come the witnesses to character, and here Mr Brass's gentleman
34403
34404shines again.  It turns out that Mr Garland has had no character with
34405
34406Kit, no recommendation of him but from his own mother, and that he was
34407
34408suddenly dismissed by his former master for unknown reasons.  'Really
34409
34410Mr Garland,' says Mr Brass's gentleman, 'for a person who has arrived
34411
34412at your time of life, you are, to say the least of it, singularly
34413
34414indiscreet, I think.'  The jury think so too, and find Kit guilty.  He
34415
34416is taken off, humbly protesting his innocence.  The spectators settle
34417
34418themselves in their places with renewed attention, for there are
34419
34420several female witnesses to be examined in the next case, and it has
34421
34422been rumoured that Mr Brass's gentleman will make great fun in
34423
34424cross-examining them for the prisoner.<br><br>
34425
34426Kit's mother, poor woman, is waiting at the grate below stairs,
34427
34428accompanied by Barbara's mother (who, honest soul! never does anything
34429
34430but cry, and hold the baby), and a sad interview ensues.  The
34431
34432newspaper-reading turnkey has told them all.  He don't think it will be
34433
34434transportation for life, because there's time to prove the good
34435
34436character yet, and that is sure to serve him.  He wonders what he did
34437
34438it for.  'He never did it!' cries Kit's mother.  'Well,' says the
34439
34440turnkey, 'I won't contradict you.  It's all one, now, whether he did it
34441
34442or not.'<br><br>
34443
34444Kit's mother can reach his hand through the bars, and she clasps it--
34445
34446God, and those to whom he has given such tenderness, only know in how
34447
34448much agony.  Kit bids her keep a good heart, and, under pretence of
34449
34450having the children lifted up to kiss him, prays Barbara's mother in a
34451
34452whisper to take her home.<br><br>
34453
34454'Some friend will rise up for us, mother,' cried Kit, 'I am sure.  If
34455
34456not now, before long.  My innocence will come out, mother, and I shall
34457
34458be brought back again; I feel confidence in that.  You must teach
34459
34460little Jacob and the baby how all this was, for if they thought I had
34461
34462ever been dishonest, when they grew old enough to understand, it would
34463
34464break my heart to know it, if I was thousands of miles away.--Oh! is
34465
34466there no good gentleman here, who will take care of her!'<br><br>
34467
34468The hand slips out of his, for the poor creature sinks down upon the
34469
34470earth, insensible.  Richard Swiveller comes hastily up, elbows the
34471
34472bystanders out of the way, takes her (after some trouble) in one arm
34473
34474after the manner of theatrical ravishers, and, nodding to Kit, and
34475
34476commanding Barbara's mother to follow, for he has a coach waiting,
34477
34478bears her swiftly off.<br><br>
34479
34480Well; Richard took her home.  And what astonishing absurdities in the
34481
34482way of quotation from song and poem he perpetrated on the road, no man
34483
34484knows.  He took her home, and stayed till she was recovered; and,
34485
34486having no money to pay the coach, went back in state to Bevis Marks,
34487
34488bidding the driver (for it was Saturday night) wait at the door while
34489
34490he went in for 'change.'<br><br>
34491
34492'Mr Richard, sir,' said Brass cheerfully, 'Good evening!'<br><br>
34493
34494Monstrous as Kit's tale had appeared, at first, Mr Richard did, that
34495
34496night, half suspect his affable employer of some deep villany.  Perhaps
34497
34498it was but the misery he had just witnessed which gave his careless
34499
34500nature this impulse; but, be that as it may, it was very strong upon
34501
34502him, and he said in as few words as possible, what he wanted.<br><br>
34503
34504'Money?' cried Brass, taking out his purse.  'Ha ha!  To be sure, Mr
34505
34506Richard, to be sure, sir.  All men must live.  You haven't change for a
34507
34508five-pound note, have you sir?'<br><br>
34509
34510'No,' returned Dick, shortly.<br><br>
34511
34512'Oh!' said Brass, 'here's the very sum.  That saves trouble.  You're
34513
34514very welcome I'm sure.--Mr Richard, sir--' Dick, who had by this time
34515
34516reached the door, turned round.<br><br>
34517
34518'You needn't,' said Brass, 'trouble yourself to come back any more,
34519
34520Sir.'<br><br>
34521
34522'Eh?'<br><br>
34523
34524'You see, Mr Richard,' said Brass, thrusting his hands in his pockets,
34525
34526and rocking himself to and fro on his stool, 'the fact is, that a man
34527
34528of your abilities is lost, Sir, quite lost, in our dry and mouldy line.
34529
34530It's terrible drudgery--shocking.  I should say, now, that the stage,
34531
34532or the--or the army, Mr Richard--or something very superior in the
34533
34534licensed victualling way--was the kind of thing that would call out the
34535
34536genius of such a man as you.  I hope you'll look in to see us now and
34537
34538then.  Sally, Sir, will be delighted I'm sure.  She's extremely sorry
34539
34540to lose you, Mr Richard, but a sense of her duty to society reconciles
34541
34542her.  An amazing creature that, sir!  You'll find the money quite
34543
34544correct, I think.  There's a cracked window sir, but I've not made any
34545
34546deduction on that account.  Whenever we part with friends, Mr Richard,
34547
34548let us part liberally.  A delightful sentiment, sir!'<br><br>
34549
34550To all these rambling observations, Mr Swiveller answered not one word,
34551
34552but, returning for the aquatic jacket, rolled it into a tight round
34553
34554ball: looking steadily at Brass meanwhile as if he had some intention
34555
34556of bowling him down with it.  He only took it under his arm, however,
34557
34558and marched out of the office in profound silence.  When he had closed
34559
34560the door, he re-opened it, stared in again for a few moments with the
34561
34562same portentous gravity, and nodding his head once, in a slow and
34563
34564ghost-like manner, vanished.<br><br>
34565
34566He paid the coachman, and turned his back on Bevis Marks, big with
34567
34568great designs for the comforting of Kit's mother and the aid of Kit
34569
34570himself.<br><br>
34571
34572But the lives of gentlemen devoted to such pleasures as Richard
34573
34574Swiveller, are extremely precarious.  The spiritual excitement of the
34575
34576last fortnight, working upon a system affected in no slight degree by
34577
34578the spirituous excitement of some years, proved a little too much for
34579
34580him.  That very night, Mr Richard was seized with an alarming illness,
34581
34582and in twenty-four hours was stricken with a raging fever.<br><br>
34583
34584CHAPTER 64<br><br>
34585
34586Tossing to and fro upon his hot, uneasy bed; tormented by a fierce
34587
34588thirst which nothing could appease; unable to find, in any change of
34589
34590posture, a moment's peace or ease; and rambling, ever, through deserts
34591
34592of thought where there was no resting-place, no sight or sound
34593
34594suggestive of refreshment or repose, nothing but a dull eternal
34595
34596weariness, with no change but the restless shiftings of his miserable
34597
34598body, and the weary wandering of his mind, constant still to one
34599
34600ever-present anxiety--to a sense of something left undone, of some
34601
34602fearful obstacle to be surmounted, of some carking care that would not
34603
34604be driven away, and which haunted the distempered brain, now in this
34605
34606form, now in that, always shadowy and dim, but recognisable for the
34607
34608same phantom in every shape it took: darkening every vision like an
34609
34610evil conscience, and making slumber horrible--in these slow tortures
34611
34612of his dread disease, the unfortunate Richard lay wasting and consuming
34613
34614inch by inch, until, at last, when he seemed to fight and struggle to
34615
34616rise up, and to be held down by devils, he sank into a deep sleep, and
34617
34618dreamed no more.<br><br>
34619
34620He awoke.  With a sensation of most blissful rest, better than sleep
34621
34622itself, he began gradually to remember something of these sufferings,
34623
34624and to think what a long night it had been, and whether he had not been
34625
34626delirious twice or thrice.  Happening, in the midst of these
34627
34628cogitations, to raise his hand, he was astonished to find how heavy it
34629
34630seemed, and yet how thin and light it really was.  Still, he felt
34631
34632indifferent and happy; and having no curiosity to pursue the subject,
34633
34634remained in the same waking slumber until his attention was attracted
34635
34636by a cough.  This made him doubt whether he had locked his door last
34637
34638night, and feel a little surprised at having a companion in the room.
34639
34640Still, he lacked energy to follow up this train of thought; and
34641
34642unconsciously fell, in a luxury of repose, to staring at some green
34643
34644stripes on the bed-furniture, and associating them strangely with
34645
34646patches of fresh turf, while the yellow ground between made
34647
34648gravel-walks, and so helped out a long perspective of trim gardens.<br><br>
34649
34650He was rambling in imagination on these terraces, and had quite lost
34651
34652himself among them indeed, when he heard the cough once more.  The
34653
34654walks shrunk into stripes again at the sound, and raising himself a
34655
34656little in the bed, and holding the curtain open with one hand, he
34657
34658looked out.<br><br>
34659
34660The same room certainly, and still by candlelight; but with what
34661
34662unbounded astonishment did he see all those bottles, and basins, and
34663
34664articles of linen airing by the fire, and such-like furniture of a sick
34665
34666chamber--all very clean and neat, but all quite different from anything
34667
34668he had left there, when he went to bed!  The atmosphere, too, filled
34669
34670with a cool smell of herbs and vinegar; the floor newly sprinkled;
34671
34672the--the what?  The Marchioness?<br><br>
34673
34674Yes; playing cribbage with herself at the table.  There she sat, intent
34675
34676upon her game, coughing now and then in a subdued manner as if she
34677
34678feared to disturb him--shuffling the cards, cutting, dealing, playing,
34679
34680counting, pegging--going through all the mysteries of cribbage as if
34681
34682she had been in full practice from her cradle!  Mr Swiveller
34683
34684contemplated these things for a short time, and suffering the curtain
34685
34686to fall into its former position, laid his head on the pillow again.<br><br>
34687
34688'I'm dreaming,' thought Richard, 'that's clear.  When I went to bed, my
34689
34690hands were not made of egg-shells; and now I can almost see through
34691
34692'em.  If this is not a dream, I have woke up, by mistake, in an Arabian
34693
34694Night, instead of a London one.  But I have no doubt I'm asleep.  Not
34695
34696the least.'<br><br>
34697
34698Here the small servant had another cough.<br><br>
34699
34700'Very remarkable!' thought Mr Swiveller.  'I never dreamt such a real
34701
34702cough as that before.  I don't know, indeed, that I ever dreamt either
34703
34704a cough or a sneeze.  Perhaps it's part of the philosophy of dreams
34705
34706that one never does.  There's another--and another--I say!--I'm
34707
34708dreaming rather fast!'<br><br>
34709
34710For the purpose of testing his real condition, Mr Swiveller, after some
34711
34712reflection, pinched himself in the arm.<br><br>
34713
34714'Queerer still!' he thought.  'I came to bed rather plump than
34715
34716otherwise, and now there's nothing to lay hold of.  I'll take another
34717
34718survey.'<br><br>
34719
34720The result of this additional inspection was, to convince Mr Swiveller
34721
34722that the objects by which he was surrounded were real, and that he saw
34723
34724them, beyond all question, with his waking eyes.<br><br>
34725
34726'It's an Arabian Night; that's what it is,' said Richard.  'I'm in
34727
34728Damascus or Grand Cairo.  The Marchioness is a Genie, and having had a
34729
34730wager with another Genie about who is the handsomest young man alive,
34731
34732and the worthiest to be the husband of the Princess of China, has
34733
34734brought me away, room and all, to compare us together.  Perhaps,' said
34735
34736Mr Swiveller, turning languidly round on his pillow, and looking on
34737
34738that side of his bed which was next the wall, 'the Princess may be
34739
34740still--No, she's gone.'<br><br>
34741
34742Not feeling quite satisfied with this explanation, as, even taking it
34743
34744to be the correct one, it still involved a little mystery and doubt, Mr
34745
34746Swiveller raised the curtain again, determined to take the first
34747
34748favourable opportunity of addressing his companion.  An occasion
34749
34750presented itself.  The Marchioness dealt, turned up a knave, and
34751
34752omitted to take the usual advantage; upon which Mr Swiveller called out
34753
34754as loud as he could--'Two for his heels!'<br><br>
34755
34756The Marchioness jumped up quickly and clapped her hands.  'Arabian
34757
34758Night, certainly,' thought Mr Swiveller; 'they always clap their hands
34759
34760instead of ringing the bell.  Now for the two thousand black slaves,
34761
34762with jars of jewels on their heads!'<br><br>
34763
34764It appeared, however, that she had only clapped her hands for joy; for
34765
34766directly afterward she began to laugh, and then to cry; declaring, not
34767
34768in choice Arabic but in familiar English, that she was 'so glad, she
34769
34770didn't know what to do.'<br><br>
34771
34772'Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller, thoughtfully, 'be pleased to draw
34773
34774nearer.  First of all, will you have the goodness to inform me where I
34775
34776shall find my voice; and secondly, what has become of my flesh?'<br><br>
34777
34778The Marchioness only shook her head mournfully, and cried again;
34779
34780whereupon Mr Swiveller (being very weak) felt his own eyes affected
34781
34782likewise.<br><br>
34783
34784'I begin to infer, from your manner, and these appearances,
34785
34786Marchioness,' said Richard after a pause, and smiling with a trembling
34787
34788lip, 'that I have been ill.'<br><br>
34789
34790'You just have!' replied the small servant, wiping her eyes.  'And
34791
34792haven't you been a talking nonsense!'<br><br>
34793
34794'Oh!' said Dick.  'Very ill, Marchioness, have I been?'<br><br>
34795
34796'Dead, all but,' replied the small servant.  'I never thought you'd get
34797
34798better.  Thank Heaven you have!'<br><br>
34799
34800Mr Swiveller was silent for a long while.  By and bye, he began to talk
34801
34802again, inquiring how long he had been there.<br><br>
34803
34804'Three weeks to-morrow,' replied the servant.<br><br>
34805
34806'Three what?' said Dick.<br><br>
34807
34808'Weeks,' returned the Marchioness emphatically; 'three long, slow
34809
34810weeks.'<br><br>
34811
34812The bare thought of having been in such extremity, caused Richard to
34813
34814fall into another silence, and to lie flat down again, at his full
34815
34816length.  The Marchioness, having arranged the bed-clothes more
34817
34818comfortably, and felt that his hands and forehead were quite cool--a
34819
34820discovery that filled her with delight--cried a little more, and then
34821
34822applied herself to getting tea ready, and making some thin dry toast.<br><br>
34823
34824While she was thus engaged, Mr Swiveller looked on with a grateful
34825
34826heart, very much astonished to see how thoroughly at home she made
34827
34828herself, and attributing this attention, in its origin, to Sally Brass,
34829
34830whom, in his own mind, he could not thank enough.  When the Marchioness
34831
34832had finished her toasting, she spread a clean cloth on a tray, and
34833
34834brought him some crisp slices and a great basin of weak tea, with which
34835
34836(she said) the doctor had left word he might refresh himself when he
34837
34838awoke.  She propped him up with pillows, if not as skilfully as if she
34839
34840had been a professional nurse all her life, at least as tenderly; and
34841
34842looked on with unutterable satisfaction while the patient--stopping
34843
34844every now and then to shake her by the hand--took his poor meal with an
34845
34846appetite and relish, which the greatest dainties of the earth, under
34847
34848any other circumstances, would have failed to provoke.  Having cleared
34849
34850away, and disposed everything comfortably about him again, she sat down
34851
34852at the table to take her own tea.<br><br>
34853
34854'Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller, 'how's Sally?'<br><br>
34855
34856The small servant screwed her face into an expression of the very
34857
34858uttermost entanglement of slyness, and shook her head.<br><br>
34859
34860'What, haven't you seen her lately?' said Dick.<br><br>
34861
34862'Seen her!' cried the small servant.  'Bless you, I've run away!'<br><br>
34863
34864Mr Swiveller immediately laid himself down again quite flat, and so
34865
34866remained for about five minutes.  By slow degrees he resumed his
34867
34868sitting posture after that lapse of time, and inquired:<br><br>
34869
34870'And where do you live, Marchioness?'<br><br>
34871
34872'Live!' cried the small servant.  'Here!'<br><br>
34873
34874'Oh!' said Mr Swiveller.<br><br>
34875
34876And with that he fell down flat again, as suddenly as if he had been
34877
34878shot.  Thus he remained, motionless and bereft of speech, until she had
34879
34880finished her meal, put everything in its place, and swept the hearth;
34881
34882when he motioned her to bring a chair to the bedside, and, being
34883
34884propped up again, opened a farther conversation.<br><br>
34885
34886'And so,' said Dick, 'you have run away?'<br><br>
34887
34888'Yes,' said the Marchioness, 'and they've been a tizing of me.'<br><br>
34889
34890'Been--I beg your pardon,' said Dick--'what have they been doing?'<br><br>
34891
34892'Been a tizing of me--tizing you know--in the newspapers,' rejoined the
34893
34894Marchioness.<br><br>
34895
34896'Aye, aye,' said Dick, 'advertising?'<br><br>
34897
34898The small servant nodded, and winked.  Her eyes were so red with waking
34899
34900and crying, that the Tragic Muse might have winked with greater
34901
34902consistency.  And so Dick felt.<br><br>
34903
34904'Tell me,' said he, 'how it was that you thought of coming here.'<br><br>
34905
34906'Why, you see,' returned the Marchioness, 'when you was gone, I hadn't
34907
34908any friend at all, because the lodger he never come back, and I didn't
34909
34910know where either him or you was to be found, you know.  But one
34911
34912morning, when I was-'<br><br>
34913
34914'Was near a keyhole?' suggested Mr Swiveller, observing that she
34915
34916faltered.<br><br>
34917
34918'Well then,' said the small servant, nodding; 'when I was near the
34919
34920office keyhole--as you see me through, you know--I heard somebody
34921
34922saying that she lived here, and was the lady whose house you lodged at,
34923
34924and that you was took very bad, and wouldn't nobody come and take care
34925
34926of you.  Mr Brass, he says, "It's no business of mine," he says; and
34927
34928Miss Sally, she says, "He's a funny chap, but it's no business of
34929
34930mine;" and the lady went away, and slammed the door to, when she went
34931
34932out, I can tell you.  So I run away that night, and come here, and told
34933
34934'em you was my brother, and they believed me, and I've been here ever
34935
34936since.'<br><br>
34937
34938'This poor little Marchioness has been wearing herself to death!' cried
34939
34940Dick.<br><br>
34941
34942'No I haven't,' she returned, 'not a bit of it.  Don't you mind about
34943
34944me.  I like sitting up, and I've often had a sleep, bless you, in one
34945
34946of them chairs.  But if you could have seen how you tried to jump out
34947
34948o' winder, and if you could have heard how you used to keep on singing
34949
34950and making speeches, you wouldn't have believed it--I'm so glad you're
34951
34952better, Mr Liverer.'<br><br>
34953
34954'Liverer indeed!' said Dick thoughtfully.  'It's well I am a liverer.
34955
34956I strongly suspect I should have died, Marchioness, but for you.'<br><br>
34957
34958At this point, Mr Swiveller took the small servant's hand in his again,
34959
34960and being, as we have seen, but poorly, might in struggling to express
34961
34962his thanks have made his eyes as red as hers, but that she quickly
34963
34964changed the theme by making him lie down, and urging him to keep very
34965
34966quiet.<br><br>
34967
34968'The doctor,' she told him, 'said you was to be kept quite still, and
34969
34970there was to be no noise nor nothing.  Now, take a rest, and then we'll
34971
34972talk again.  I'll sit by you, you know.  If you shut your eyes, perhaps
34973
34974you'll go to sleep.  You'll be all the better for it, if you do.'<br><br>
34975
34976The Marchioness, in saying these words, brought a little table to the
34977
34978bedside, took her seat at it, and began to work away at the concoction
34979
34980of some cooling drink, with the address of a score of chemists.
34981
34982Richard Swiveller being indeed fatigued, fell into a slumber, and
34983
34984waking in about half an hour, inquired what time it was.<br><br>
34985
34986'Just gone half after six,' replied his small friend, helping him to
34987
34988sit up again.<br><br>
34989
34990'Marchioness,' said Richard, passing his hand over his forehead and
34991
34992turning suddenly round, as though the subject but that moment flashed
34993
34994upon him, 'what has become of Kit?'<br><br>
34995
34996He had been sentenced to transportation for a great many years, she
34997
34998said.<br><br>
34999
35000'Has he gone?' asked Dick--'his mother--how is she,--what has become of
35001
35002her?'<br><br>
35003
35004His nurse shook her head, and answered that she knew nothing about
35005
35006them.  'But, if I thought,' said she, very slowly, 'that you'd keep
35007
35008quiet, and not put yourself into another fever, I could tell you--but
35009
35010I won't now.'<br><br>
35011
35012'Yes, do,' said Dick.  'It will amuse me.'<br><br>
35013
35014'Oh! would it though!' rejoined the small servant, with a horrified
35015
35016look.  'I know better than that.  Wait till you're better and then I'll
35017
35018tell you.'<br><br>
35019
35020Dick looked very earnestly at his little friend: and his eyes, being
35021
35022large and hollow from illness, assisted the expression so much, that
35023
35024she was quite frightened, and besought him not to think any more about
35025
35026it.  What had already fallen from her, however, had not only piqued his
35027
35028curiosity, but seriously alarmed him, wherefore he urged her to tell
35029
35030him the worst at once.<br><br>
35031
35032'Oh there's no worst in it,' said the small servant.  'It hasn't
35033
35034anything to do with you.'<br><br>
35035
35036'Has it anything to do with--is it anything you heard through chinks or
35037
35038keyholes--and that you were not intended to hear?' asked Dick, in a
35039
35040breathless state.<br><br>
35041
35042'Yes,' replied the small servant.<br><br>
35043
35044'In--in Bevis Marks?' pursued Dick hastily.  'Conversations between
35045
35046Brass and Sally?'<br><br>
35047
35048'Yes,' cried the small servant again.<br><br>
35049
35050Richard Swiveller thrust his lank arm out of bed, and, gripping her by
35051
35052the wrist and drawing her close to him, bade her out with it, and
35053
35054freely too, or he would not answer for the consequences; being wholly
35055
35056unable to endure the state of excitement and expectation.  She, seeing
35057
35058that he was greatly agitated, and that the effects of postponing her
35059
35060revelation might be much more injurious than any that were likely to
35061
35062ensue from its being made at once, promised compliance, on condition
35063
35064that the patient kept himself perfectly quiet, and abstained from
35065
35066starting up or tossing about.<br><br>
35067
35068'But if you begin to do that,' said the small servant, 'I'll leave off.
35069
35070And so I tell you.'<br><br>
35071
35072'You can't leave off, till you have gone on,' said Dick.  'And do go
35073
35074on, there's a darling.  Speak, sister, speak.  Pretty Polly say.  Oh
35075
35076tell me when, and tell me where, pray Marchioness, I beseech you!'<br><br>
35077
35078Unable to resist these fervent adjurations, which Richard Swiveller
35079
35080poured out as passionately as if they had been of the most solemn and
35081
35082tremendous nature, his companion spoke thus:<br><br>
35083
35084'Well!  Before I run away, I used to sleep in the kitchen--where we
35085
35086played cards, you know.  Miss Sally used to keep the key of the kitchen
35087
35088door in her pocket, and she always come down at night to take away the
35089
35090candle and rake out the fire.  When she had done that, she left me to
35091
35092go to bed in the dark, locked the door on the outside, put the key in
35093
35094her pocket again, and kept me locked up till she come down in the
35095
35096morning--very early I can tell you--and let me out.  I was terrible
35097
35098afraid of being kept like this, because if there was a fire, I thought
35099
35100they might forget me and only take care of themselves you know.  So,
35101
35102whenever I see an old rusty key anywhere, I picked it up and tried if
35103
35104it would fit the door, and at last I found in the dust cellar a key
35105
35106that did fit it.'<br><br>
35107
35108Here, Mr Swiveller made a violent demonstration with his legs.  But the
35109
35110small servant immediately pausing in her talk, he subsided again, and
35111
35112pleading a momentary forgetfulness of their compact, entreated her to
35113
35114proceed.<br><br>
35115
35116'They kept me very short,' said the small servant.  'Oh! you can't
35117
35118think how short they kept me!  So I used to come out at night after
35119
35120they'd gone to bed, and feel about in the dark for bits of biscuit, or
35121
35122sangwitches that you'd left in the office, or even pieces of orange
35123
35124peel to put into cold water and make believe it was wine.  Did you ever
35125
35126taste orange peel and water?'<br><br>
35127
35128Mr Swiveller replied that he had never tasted that ardent liquor; and
35129
35130once more urged his friend to resume the thread of her narrative.<br><br>
35131
35132'If you make believe very much, it's quite nice,' said the small
35133
35134servant, 'but if you don't, you know, it seems as if it would bear a
35135
35136little more seasoning, certainly.  Well, sometimes I used to come out
35137
35138after they'd gone to bed, and sometimes before, you know; and one or
35139
35140two nights before there was all that precious noise in the office--when
35141
35142the young man was took, I mean--I come upstairs while Mr Brass and Miss
35143
35144Sally was a-sittin' at the office fire; and I tell you the truth, that
35145
35146I come to listen again, about the key of the safe.'<br><br>
35147
35148Mr Swiveller gathered up his knees so as to make a great cone of the
35149
35150bedclothes, and conveyed into his countenance an expression of the
35151
35152utmost concern.  But the small servant pausing, and holding up her
35153
35154finger, the cone gently disappeared, though the look of concern did not.<br><br>
35155
35156'There was him and her,' said the small servant, 'a-sittin' by the
35157
35158fire, and talking softly together.  Mr Brass says to Miss Sally, "Upon
35159
35160my word," he says "it's a dangerous thing, and it might get us into a
35161
35162world of trouble, and I don't half like it." She says--you know her
35163
35164way--she says, "You're the chickenest-hearted, feeblest, faintest man I
35165
35166ever see, and I think," she says, "that I ought to have been the
35167
35168brother, and you the sister.  Isn't Quilp," she says, "our principal
35169
35170support?" "He certainly is," says Mr Brass, "And an't we," she says,
35171
35172"constantly ruining somebody or other in the way of business?" "We
35173
35174certainly are," says Mr Brass.  "Then does it signify," she says,
35175
35176"about ruining this Kit when Quilp desires it?" "It certainly does not
35177
35178signify," says Mr Brass.  Then they whispered and laughed for a long
35179
35180time about there being no danger if it was well done, and then Mr Brass
35181
35182pulls out his pocket-book, and says, "Well," he says, "here it
35183
35184is--Quilp's own five-pound note.  We'll agree that way, then," he says.
35185
35186"Kit's coming to-morrow morning, I know.  While he's up-stairs, you'll
35187
35188get out of the way, and I'll clear off Mr Richard.  Having Kit alone,
35189
35190I'll hold him in conversation, and put this property in his hat.  I'll
35191
35192manage so, besides," he says, "that Mr Richard shall find it there, and
35193
35194be the evidence.  And if that don't get Christopher out of Mr Quilp's
35195
35196way, and satisfy Mr Quilp's grudges," he says, "the Devil's in it."
35197
35198Miss Sally laughed, and said that was the plan, and as they seemed to
35199
35200be moving away, and I was afraid to stop any longer, I went down-stairs
35201
35202again.--There!'<br><br>
35203
35204The small servant had gradually worked herself into as much agitation
35205
35206as Mr Swiveller, and therefore made no effort to restrain him when he
35207
35208sat up in bed and hastily demanded whether this story had been told to
35209
35210anybody.<br><br>
35211
35212'How could it be?' replied his nurse.  'I was almost afraid to think
35213
35214about it, and hoped the young man would be let off.  When I heard 'em
35215
35216say they had found him guilty of what he didn't do, you was gone, and
35217
35218so was the lodger--though I think I should have been frightened to tell
35219
35220him, even if he'd been there.  Ever since I come here, you've been out
35221
35222of your senses, and what would have been the good of telling you then?'<br><br>
35223
35224'Marchioness,' said Mr Swiveller, plucking off his nightcap and
35225
35226flinging it to the other end of the room; 'if you'll do me the favour
35227
35228to retire for a few minutes and see what sort of a night it is, I'll
35229
35230get up.'<br><br>
35231
35232'You mustn't think of such a thing,' cried his nurse.<br><br>
35233
35234'I must indeed,' said the patient, looking round the room.
35235
35236'Whereabouts are my clothes?'<br><br>
35237
35238'Oh, I'm so glad--you haven't got any,' replied the Marchioness.<br><br>
35239
35240'Ma'am!' said Mr Swiveller, in great astonishment.<br><br>
35241
35242'I've been obliged to sell them, every one, to get the things that was
35243
35244ordered for you.  But don't take on about that,' urged the Marchioness,
35245
35246as Dick fell back upon his pillow.  'You're too weak to stand, indeed.'<br><br>
35247
35248'I am afraid,' said Richard dolefully, 'that you're right.  What ought
35249
35250I to do! what is to be done!'<br><br>
35251
35252It naturally occurred to him on very little reflection, that the first
35253
35254step to take would be to communicate with one of the Mr Garlands
35255
35256instantly.  It was very possible that Mr Abel had not yet left the
35257
35258office.  In as little time as it takes to tell it, the small servant
35259
35260had the address in pencil on a piece of paper; a verbal description of
35261
35262father and son, which would enable her to recognise either, without
35263
35264difficulty; and a special caution to be shy of Mr Chuckster, in
35265
35266consequence of that gentleman's known antipathy to Kit.  Armed with
35267
35268these slender powers, she hurried away, commissioned to bring either
35269
35270old Mr Garland or Mr Abel, bodily, to that apartment.<br><br>
35271
35272'I suppose,' said Dick, as she closed the door slowly, and peeped into
35273
35274the room again, to make sure that he was comfortable, 'I suppose
35275
35276there's nothing left--not so much as a waistcoat even?'<br><br>
35277
35278'No, nothing.'<br><br>
35279
35280'It's embarrassing,' said Mr Swiveller, 'in case of fire--even an
35281
35282umbrella would be something--but you did quite right, dear Marchioness.
35283
35284I should have died without you!'<br><br>
35285
35286CHAPTER 65<br><br>
35287
35288It was well for the small servant that she was of a sharp, quick
35289
35290nature, or the consequence of sending her out alone, from the very
35291
35292neighbourhood in which it was most dangerous for her to appear, would
35293
35294probably have been the restoration of Miss Sally Brass to the supreme
35295
35296authority over her person.  Not unmindful of the risk she ran, however,
35297
35298the Marchioness no sooner left the house than she dived into the first
35299
35300dark by-way that presented itself, and, without any present reference
35301
35302to the point to which her journey tended, made it her first business to
35303
35304put two good miles of brick and mortar between herself and Bevis Marks.<br><br>
35305
35306When she had accomplished this object, she began to shape her course
35307
35308for the notary's office, to which--shrewdly inquiring of apple-women
35309
35310and oyster-sellers at street-corners, rather than in lighted shops or
35311
35312of well-dressed people, at the hazard of attracting notice--she easily
35313
35314procured a direction.  As carrier-pigeons, on being first let loose in
35315
35316a strange place, beat the air at random for a short time before darting
35317
35318off towards the spot for which they are designed, so did the
35319
35320Marchioness flutter round and round until she believed herself in
35321
35322safety, and then bear swiftly down upon the port for which she was
35323
35324bound.<br><br>
35325
35326She had no bonnet--nothing on her head but a great cap which, in some
35327
35328old time, had been worn by Sally Brass, whose taste in head-dresses
35329
35330was, as we have seen, peculiar--and her speed was rather retarded than
35331
35332assisted by her shoes, which, being extremely large and slipshod, flew
35333
35334off every now and then, and were difficult to find again, among the
35335
35336crowd of passengers.  Indeed, the poor little creature experienced so
35337
35338much trouble and delay from having to grope for these articles of dress
35339
35340in mud and kennel, and suffered in these researches so much jostling,
35341
35342pushing, squeezing and bandying from hand to hand, that by the time she
35343
35344reached the street in which the notary lived, she was fairly worn out
35345
35346and exhausted, and could not refrain from tears.<br><br>
35347
35348But to have got there at last was a great comfort, especially as there
35349
35350were lights still burning in the office window, and therefore some hope
35351
35352that she was not too late.  So the Marchioness dried her eyes with the
35353
35354backs of her hands, and, stealing softly up the steps, peeped in
35355
35356through the glass door.<br><br>
35357
35358Mr Chuckster was standing behind the lid of his desk, making such
35359
35360preparations towards finishing off for the night, as pulling down his
35361
35362wristbands and pulling up his shirt-collar, settling his neck more
35363
35364gracefully in his stock, and secretly arranging his whiskers by the aid
35365
35366of a little triangular bit of looking glass.  Before the ashes of the
35367
35368fire stood two gentlemen, one of whom she rightly judged to be the
35369
35370notary, and the other (who was buttoning his great-coat and was
35371
35372evidently about to depart immediately) Mr Abel Garland.<br><br>
35373
35374Having made these observations, the small spy took counsel with
35375
35376herself, and resolved to wait in the street until Mr Abel came out, as
35377
35378there would be then no fear of having to speak before Mr Chuckster, and
35379
35380less difficulty in delivering her message.  With this purpose she
35381
35382slipped out again, and crossing the road, sat down upon a door-step
35383
35384just opposite.<br><br>
35385
35386She had hardly taken this position, when there came dancing up the
35387
35388street, with his legs all wrong, and his head everywhere by turns, a
35389
35390pony.  This pony had a little phaeton behind him, and a man in it; but
35391
35392neither man nor phaeton seemed to embarrass him in the least, as he
35393
35394reared up on his hind legs, or stopped, or went on, or stood still
35395
35396again, or backed, or went side-ways, without the smallest reference to
35397
35398them--just as the fancy seized him, and as if he were the freest animal
35399
35400in creation.  When they came to the notary's door, the man called out
35401
35402in a very respectful manner, 'Woa then'--intimating that if he might
35403
35404venture to express a wish, it would be that they stopped there.  The
35405
35406pony made a moment's pause; but, as if it occurred to him that to stop
35407
35408when he was required might be to establish an inconvenient and
35409
35410dangerous precedent, he immediately started off again, rattled at a
35411
35412fast trot to the street corner, wheeled round, came back, and then
35413
35414stopped of his own accord.<br><br>
35415
35416'Oh! you're a precious creatur!' said the man--who didn't venture by
35417
35418the bye to come out in his true colours until he was safe on the
35419
35420pavement.  'I wish I had the rewarding of you--I do.'<br><br>
35421
35422'What has he been doing?' said Mr Abel, tying a shawl round his neck as
35423
35424he came down the steps.<br><br>
35425
35426'He's enough to fret a man's heart out,' replied the hostler.  'He is
35427
35428the most wicious rascal--Woa then, will you?'<br><br>
35429
35430'He'll never stand still, if you call him names,' said Mr Abel, getting
35431
35432in, and taking the reins.  'He's a very good fellow if you know how to
35433
35434manage him.  This is the first time he has been out, this long while,
35435
35436for he has lost his old driver and wouldn't stir for anybody else, till
35437
35438this morning.  The lamps are right, are they?  That's well.  Be here to
35439
35440take him to-morrow, if you please.  Good night!'<br><br>
35441
35442And, after one or two strange plunges, quite of his own invention, the
35443
35444pony yielded to Mr Abel's mildness, and trotted gently off.<br><br>
35445
35446All this time Mr Chuckster had been standing at the door, and the small
35447
35448servant had been afraid to approach.  She had nothing for it now,
35449
35450therefore, but to run after the chaise, and to call to Mr Abel to stop.
35451
35452Being out of breath when she came up with it, she was unable to make
35453
35454him hear.  The case was desperate; for the pony was quickening his
35455
35456pace.  The Marchioness hung on behind for a few moments, and, feeling
35457
35458that she could go no farther, and must soon yield, clambered by a
35459
35460vigorous effort into the hinder seat, and in so doing lost one of the
35461
35462shoes for ever.<br><br>
35463
35464Mr Abel being in a thoughtful frame of mind, and having quite enough to
35465
35466do to keep the pony going, went jogging on without looking round:
35467
35468little dreaming of the strange figure that was close behind him, until
35469
35470the Marchioness, having in some degree recovered her breath, and the
35471
35472loss of her shoe, and the novelty of her position, uttered close into
35473
35474his ear, the words--'I say, Sir'--<br><br>
35475
35476He turned his head quickly enough then, and stopping the pony, cried,
35477
35478with some trepidation, 'God bless me, what is this!'<br><br>
35479
35480'Don't be frightened, Sir,' replied the still panting messenger.  'Oh
35481
35482I've run such a way after you!'<br><br>
35483
35484'What do you want with me?' said Mr Abel.  'How did you come here?'<br><br>
35485
35486'I got in behind,' replied the Marchioness.  'Oh please drive on,
35487
35488sir--don't stop--and go towards the City, will you?  And oh do please
35489
35490make haste, because it's of consequence.  There's somebody wants to see
35491
35492you there.  He sent me to say would you come directly, and that he
35493
35494knowed all about Kit, and could save him yet, and prove his innocence.'<br><br>
35495
35496'What do you tell me, child?'<br><br>
35497
35498'The truth, upon my word and honour I do.  But please to drive on--
35499
35500quick, please!  I've been such a time gone, he'll think I'm lost.'<br><br>
35501
35502Mr Abel involuntarily urged the pony forward.  The pony, impelled by
35503
35504some secret sympathy or some new caprice, burst into a great pace, and
35505
35506neither slackened it, nor indulged in any eccentric performances, until
35507
35508they arrived at the door of Mr Swiveller's lodging, where, marvellous
35509
35510to relate, he consented to stop when Mr Abel checked him.<br><br>
35511
35512'See!  It's the room up there,' said the Marchioness, pointing to one
35513
35514where there was a faint light.  'Come!'<br><br>
35515
35516Mr Abel, who was one of the simplest and most retiring creatures in
35517
35518existence, and naturally timid withal, hesitated; for he had heard of
35519
35520people being decoyed into strange places to be robbed and murdered,
35521
35522under circumstances very like the present, and, for anything he knew to
35523
35524the contrary, by guides very like the Marchioness.  His regard for Kit,
35525
35526however, overcame every other consideration.  So, entrusting Whisker to
35527
35528the charge of a man who was lingering hard by in expectation of the
35529
35530Job, he suffered his companion to take his hand, and to lead him up the
35531
35532dark and narrow stairs.<br><br>
35533
35534He was not a little surprised to find himself conducted into a
35535
35536dimly-lighted sick chamber, where a man was sleeping tranquilly in bed.<br><br>
35537
35538'An't it nice to see him lying there so quiet?' said his guide, in an
35539
35540earnest whisper.  'Oh! you'd say it was, if you had only seen him two
35541
35542or three days ago.'<br><br>
35543
35544Mr Abel made no answer, and, to say the truth, kept a long way from the
35545
35546bed and very near the door.  His guide, who appeared to understand his
35547
35548reluctance, trimmed the candle, and taking it in her hand, approached
35549
35550the bed.  As she did so, the sleeper started up, and he recognised in
35551
35552the wasted face the features of Richard Swiveller.<br><br>
35553
35554'Why, how is this?' said Mr Abel kindly, as he hurried towards him.
35555
35556'You have been ill?'<br><br>
35557
35558'Very,' replied Dick.  'Nearly dead.  You might have chanced to hear of
35559
35560your Richard on his bier, but for the friend I sent to fetch you.
35561
35562Another shake of the hand, Marchioness, if you please.  Sit down, Sir.'<br><br>
35563
35564Mr Abel seemed rather astonished to hear of the quality of his guide,
35565
35566and took a chair by the bedside.<br><br>
35567
35568'I have sent for you, Sir,' said Dick--'but she told you on what
35569
35570account?'<br><br>
35571
35572'She did.  I am quite bewildered by all this.  I really don't know 
35572what
35573
35574to say or think,' replied Mr Abel.<br><br>
35575
35576'You'll say that presently,' retorted Dick.  'Marchioness, take a seat
35577
35578on the bed, will you?  Now, tell this gentleman all that you told me;
35579
35580and be particular.  Don't you speak another word, Sir.'<br><br>
35581
35582The story was repeated; it was, in effect, exactly the same as before,
35583
35584without any deviation or omission.  Richard Swiveller kept his eyes
35585
35586fixed on his visitor during its narration, and directly it was
35587
35588concluded, took the word again.<br><br>
35589
35590'You have heard it all, and you'll not forget it.  I'm too giddy and
35591
35592too queer to suggest anything; but you and your friends will know what
35593
35594to do.  After this long delay, every minute is an age.  If ever you
35595
35596went home fast in your life, go home fast to-night.  Don't stop to say
35597
35598one word to me, but go.  She will be found here, whenever she's wanted;
35599
35600and as to me, you're pretty sure to find me at home, for a week or two.
35601
35602There are more reasons than one for that.  Marchioness, a light!  If
35603
35604you lose another minute in looking at me, sir, I'll never forgive you!'<br><br>
35605
35606Mr Abel needed no more remonstrance or persuasion.  He was gone in an
35607
35608instant; and the Marchioness, returning from lighting him down-stairs,
35609
35610reported that the pony, without any preliminary objection whatever, had
35611
35612dashed away at full gallop.<br><br>
35613
35614'That's right!' said Dick; 'and hearty of him; and I honour him from
35615
35616this time.  But get some supper and a mug of beer, for I am sure you
35617
35618must be tired.  Do have a mug of beer.  It will do me as much good to
35619
35620see you take it as if I might drink it myself.'<br><br>
35621
35622Nothing but this assurance could have prevailed upon the small nurse to
35623
35624indulge in such a luxury.  Having eaten and drunk to Mr Swiveller's
35625
35626extreme contentment, given him his drink, and put everything in neat
35627
35628order, she wrapped herself in an old coverlet and lay down upon the rug
35629
35630before the fire.<br><br>
35631
35632Mr Swiveller was by that time murmuring in his sleep, 'Strew then, oh
35633
35634strew, a bed of rushes.  Here will we stay, till morning blushes.  Good
35635
35636night, Marchioness!'<br><br>
35637
35638CHAPTER 66<br><br>
35639
35640On awaking in the morning, Richard Swiveller became conscious, by slow
35641
35642degrees, of whispering voices in his room.  Looking out between the
35643
35644curtains, he espied Mr Garland, Mr Abel, the notary, and the single
35645
35646gentleman, gathered round the Marchioness, and talking to her with
35647
35648great earnestness but in very subdued tones--fearing, no doubt, to
35649
35650disturb him.  He lost no time in letting them know that this precaution
35651
35652was unnecessary, and all four gentlemen directly approached his
35653
35654bedside.  Old Mr Garland was the first to stretch out his hand, and
35655
35656inquire how he felt.<br><br>
35657
35658Dick was about to answer that he felt much better, though still as weak
35659
35660as need be, when his little nurse, pushing the visitors aside and
35661
35662pressing up to his pillow as if in jealousy of their interference, set
35663
35664his breakfast before him, and insisted on his taking it before he
35665
35666underwent the fatigue of speaking or of being spoken to.  Mr Swiveller,
35667
35668who was perfectly ravenous, and had had, all night, amazingly distinct
35669
35670and consistent dreams of mutton chops, double stout, and similar
35671
35672delicacies, felt even the weak tea and dry toast such irresistible
35673
35674temptations, that he consented to eat and drink on one condition.<br><br>
35675
35676'And that is,' said Dick, returning the pressure of Mr Garland's hand,
35677
35678'that you answer me this question truly, before I take a bit or drop.
35679
35680Is it too late?'<br><br>
35681
35682'For completing the work you began so well last night?' returned the
35683
35684old gentleman.  'No.  Set your mind at rest on that point.  It is not,
35685
35686I assure you.'<br><br>
35687
35688Comforted by this intelligence, the patient applied himself to his food
35689
35690with a keen appetite, though evidently not with a greater zest in the
35691
35692eating than his nurse appeared to have in seeing him eat.  The manner
35693
35694of this meal was this:--Mr Swiveller, holding the slice of toast or cup
35695
35696of tea in his left hand, and taking a bite or drink, as the case might
35697
35698be, constantly kept, in his right, one palm of the Marchioness tight
35699
35700locked; and to shake, or even to kiss this imprisoned hand, he would
35701
35702stop every now and then, in the very act of swallowing, with perfect
35703
35704seriousness of intention, and the utmost gravity.  As often as he put
35705
35706anything into his mouth, whether for eating or drinking, the face of
35707
35708the Marchioness lighted up beyond all description; but whenever he gave
35709
35710her one or other of these tokens of recognition, her countenance became
35711
35712overshadowed, and she began to sob.  Now, whether she was in her
35713
35714laughing joy, or in her crying one, the Marchioness could not help
35715
35716turning to the visitors with an appealing look, which seemed to say,
35717
35718'You see this fellow--can I help this?'--and they, being thus made, as
35719
35720it were, parties to the scene, as regularly answered by another look,
35721
35722'No.  Certainly not.'  This dumb-show, taking place during the whole
35723
35724time of the invalid's breakfast, and the invalid himself, pale and
35725
35726emaciated, performing no small part in the same, it may be fairly
35727
35728questioned whether at any meal, where no word, good or bad, was spoken
35729
35730from beginning to end, so much was expressed by gestures in themselves
35731
35732so slight and unimportant.<br><br>
35733
35734At length--and to say the truth before very long--Mr Swiveller had
35735
35736despatched as much toast and tea as in that stage of his recovery it
35737
35738was discreet to let him have.  But the cares of the Marchioness did not
35739
35740stop here; for, disappearing for an instant and presently returning
35741
35742with a basin of fair water, she laved his face and hands, brushed his
35743
35744hair, and in short made him as spruce and smart as anybody under such
35745
35746circumstances could be made; and all this, in as brisk and
35747
35748business-like a manner, as if he were a very little boy, and she his
35749
35750grown-up nurse.  To these various attentions, Mr Swiveller submitted in
35751
35752a kind of grateful astonishment beyond the reach of language.  When
35753
35754they were at last brought to an end, and the Marchioness had withdrawn
35755
35756into a distant corner to take her own poor breakfast (cold enough by
35757
35758that time), he turned his face away for some few moments, and shook
35759
35760hands heartily with the air.<br><br>
35761
35762'Gentlemen,' said Dick, rousing himself from this pause, and turning
35763
35764round again, 'you'll excuse me.  Men who have been brought so low as I
35765
35766have been, are easily fatigued.  I am fresh again now, and fit for
35767
35768talking.  We're short of chairs here, among other trifles, but if
35769
35770you'll do me the favour to sit upon the bed--'<br><br>
35771
35772'What can we do for you?' said Mr Garland, kindly.<br><br>
35773
35774'If you could make the Marchioness yonder, a Marchioness, in real,
35775
35776sober earnest,' returned Dick, 'I'd thank you to get it done off-hand.
35777
35778But as you can't, and as the question is not what you will do for me,
35779
35780but what you will do for somebody else who has a better claim upon you,
35781
35782pray sir let me know what you intend doing.'<br><br>
35783
35784'It's chiefly on that account that we have come just now,' said the
35785
35786single gentleman, 'for you will have another visitor presently.  We
35787
35788feared you would be anxious unless you knew from ourselves what steps
35789
35790we intended to take, and therefore came to you before we stirred in the
35791
35792matter.'<br><br>
35793
35794'Gentlemen,' returned Dick, 'I thank you.  Anybody in the helpless
35795
35796state that you see me in, is naturally anxious.  Don't let me interrupt
35797
35798you, sir.'<br><br>
35799
35800'Then, you see, my good fellow,' said the single gentleman, 'that while
35801
35802we have no doubt whatever of the truth of this disclosure, which has so
35803
35804providentially come to light--'<br><br>
35805
35806'Meaning hers?' said Dick, pointing towards the Marchioness.<br><br>
35807
35808'--Meaning hers, of course.  While we have no doubt of that, or that a
35809
35810proper use of it would procure the poor lad's immediate pardon and
35811
35812liberation, we have a great doubt whether it would, by itself, enable
35813
35814us to reach Quilp, the chief agent in this villany.  I should tell you
35815
35816that this doubt has been confirmed into something very nearly
35817
35818approaching certainty by the best opinions we have been enabled, in
35819
35820this short space of time, to take upon the subject.  You'll agree with
35821
35822us, that to give him even the most distant chance of escape, if we
35823
35824could help it, would be monstrous.  You say with us, no doubt, if
35825
35826somebody must escape, let it be any one but he.'<br><br>
35827
35828'Yes,' returned Dick, 'certainly.  That is if somebody must--but upon
35829
35830my word, I'm unwilling that Anybody should.  Since laws were made for
35831
35832every degree, to curb vice in others as well as in me--and so forth
35833
35834you know--doesn't it strike you in that light?'<br><br>
35835
35836The single gentleman smiled as if the light in which Mr Swiveller had
35837
35838put the question were not the clearest in the world, and proceeded to
35839
35840explain that they contemplated proceeding by stratagem in the first
35841
35842instance; and that their design was to endeavour to extort a confession
35843
35844from the gentle Sarah.<br><br>
35845
35846'When she finds how much we know, and how we know it,' he said, 'and
35847
35848that she is clearly compromised already, we are not without strong
35849
35850hopes that we may be enabled through her means to punish the other two
35851
35852effectually.  If we could do that, she might go scot-free for aught I
35853
35854cared.'<br><br>
35855
35856Dick received this project in anything but a gracious manner,
35857
35858representing with as much warmth as he was then capable of showing,
35859
35860that they would find the old buck (meaning Sarah) more difficult to
35861
35862manage than Quilp himself--that, for any tampering, terrifying, or
35863
35864cajolery, she was a very unpromising and unyielding subject--that she
35865
35866was of a kind of brass not easily melted or moulded into shape--in
35867
35868short, that they were no match for her, and would be signally defeated.
35869
35870But it was in vain to urge them to adopt some other course.  The single
35871
35872gentleman has been described as explaining their joint intentions, but
35873
35874it should have been written that they all spoke together; that if any
35875
35876one of them by chance held his peace for a moment, he stood gasping and
35877
35878panting for an opportunity to strike in again: in a word, that they had
35879
35880reached that pitch of impatience and anxiety where men can neither be
35881
35882persuaded nor reasoned with; and that it would have been as easy to
35883
35884turn the most impetuous wind that ever blew, as to prevail on them to
35885
35886reconsider their determination.  So, after telling Mr Swiveller how
35887
35888they had not lost sight of Kit's mother and the children; how they had
35889
35890never once even lost sight of Kit himself, but had been unremitting in
35891
35892their endeavours to procure a mitigation of his sentence; how they had
35893
35894been perfectly distracted between the strong proofs of his guilt, and
35895
35896their own fading hopes of his innocence; and how he, Richard Swiveller,
35897
35898might keep his mind at rest, for everything should be happily adjusted
35899
35900between that time and night;--after telling him all this, and adding a
35901
35902great many kind and cordial expressions, personal to himself, which it
35903
35904is unnecessary to recite, Mr Garland, the notary, and the single
35905
35906gentleman, took their leaves at a very critical time, or Richard
35907
35908Swiveller must assuredly have been driven into another fever, whereof
35909
35910the results might have been fatal.<br><br>
35911
35912Mr Abel remained behind, very often looking at his watch and at the
35913
35914room door, until Mr Swiveller was roused from a short nap, by the
35915
35916setting-down on the landing-place outside, as from the shoulders of a
35917
35918porter, of some giant load, which seemed to shake the house, and made
35919
35920the little physic bottles on the mantel-shelf ring again.  Directly
35921
35922this sound reached his ears, Mr Abel started up, and hobbled to the
35923
35924door, and opened it; and behold! there stood a strong man, with a
35925
35926mighty hamper, which, being hauled into the room and presently
35927
35928unpacked, disgorged such treasures as tea, and coffee, and wine, and
35929
35930rusks, and oranges, and grapes, and fowls ready trussed for boiling,
35931
35932and calves'-foot jelly, and arrow-root, and sago, and other delicate
35933
35934restoratives, that the small servant, who had never thought it possible
35935
35936that such things could be, except in shops, stood rooted to the spot in
35937
35938her one shoe, with her mouth and eyes watering in unison, and her power
35939
35940of speech quite gone.  But, not so Mr Abel; or the strong man who
35941
35942emptied the hamper, big as it was, in a twinkling; and not so the nice
35943
35944old lady, who appeared so suddenly that she might have come out of the
35945
35946hamper too (it was quite large enough), and who, bustling about on
35947
35948tiptoe and without noise--now here, now there, now everywhere at
35949
35950once--began to fill out the jelly in tea-cups, and to make chicken
35951
35952broth in small saucepans, and to peel oranges for the sick man and to
35953
35954cut them up in little pieces, and to ply the small servant with glasses
35955
35956of wine and choice bits of everything until more substantial meat could
35957
35958be prepared for her refreshment.  The whole of which appearances were
35959
35960so unexpected and bewildering, that Mr Swiveller, when he had taken two
35961
35962oranges and a little jelly, and had seen the strong man walk off with
35963
35964the empty basket, plainly leaving all that abundance for his use and
35965
35966benefit, was fain to lie down and fall asleep again, from sheer
35967
35968inability to entertain such wonders in his mind.<br><br>
35969
35970Meanwhile, the single gentleman, the Notary, and Mr Garland, repaired
35971
35972to a certain coffee-house, and from that place indited and sent a
35973
35974letter to Miss Sally Brass, requesting her, in terms mysterious and
35975
35976brief, to favour an unknown friend who wished to consult her, with her
35977
35978company there, as speedily as possible.  The communication performed
35979
35980its errand so well, that within ten minutes of the messenger's return
35981
35982and report of its delivery, Miss Brass herself was announced.<br><br>
35983
35984'Pray ma'am,' said the single gentleman, whom she found alone in the
35985
35986room, 'take a chair.'<br><br>
35987
35988Miss Brass sat herself down, in a very stiff and frigid state, and
35989
35990seemed--as indeed she was--not a little astonished to find that the
35991
35992lodger and her mysterious correspondent were one and the same person.<br><br>
35993
35994'You did not expect to see me?' said the single gentleman.<br><br>
35995
35996'I didn't think much about it,' returned the beauty.  'I supposed it
35997
35998was business of some kind or other.  If it's about the apartments, of
35999
36000course you'll give my brother regular notice, you know--or money.
36001
36002That's very easily settled.  You're a responsible party, and in such a
36003
36004case lawful money and lawful notice are pretty much the same.'<br><br>
36005
36006'I am obliged to you for your good opinion,' retorted the single
36007
36008gentleman, 'and quite concur in these sentiments.  But that is not the
36009
36010subject on which I wish to speak with you.'<br><br>
36011
36012'Oh!' said Sally.  'Then just state the particulars, will you?  I
36013
36014suppose it's professional business?'<br><br>
36015
36016'Why, it is connected with the law, certainly.'<br><br>
36017
36018'Very well,' returned Miss Brass.  'My brother and I are just the same.
36019
36020I can take any instructions, or give you any advice.'<br><br>
36021
36022'As there are other parties interested besides myself,' said the single
36023
36024gentleman, rising and opening the door of an inner room, 'we had better
36025
36026confer together.  Miss Brass is here, gentlemen.' Mr Garland and the
36027
36028Notary walked in, looking very grave; and, drawing up two chairs, one
36029
36030on each side of the single gentleman, formed a kind of fence round the
36031
36032gentle Sarah, and penned her into a corner.  Her brother Sampson under
36033
36034such circumstances would certainly have evinced some confusion or
36035
36036anxiety, but she--all composure--pulled out the tin box, and calmly
36037
36038took a pinch of snuff.<br><br>
36039
36040'Miss Brass,' said the Notary, taking the word at this crisis, 'we
36041
36042professional people understand each other, and, when we choose, can say
36043
36044what we have to say, in very few words.  You advertised a runaway
36045
36046servant, the other day?'<br><br>
36047
36048'Well,' returned Miss Sally, with a sudden flush overspreading her
36049
36050features, 'what of that?'<br><br>
36051
36052'She is found, ma'am,' said the Notary, pulling out his
36053
36054pocket-handkerchief with a flourish.  'She is found.'<br><br>
36055
36056'Who found her?' demanded Sarah hastily.<br><br>
36057
36058'We did, ma'am--we three.  Only last night, or you would have heard
36059
36060from us before.'<br><br>
36061
36062'And now I have heard from you,' said Miss Brass, folding her arms as
36063
36064though she were about to deny something to the death, 'what have you
36065
36066got to say?  Something you have got into your heads about her, of
36067
36068course.  Prove it, will you--that's all.  Prove it.  You have found
36069
36070her, you say.  I can tell you (if you don't know it) that you have
36071
36072found the most artful, lying, pilfering, devilish little minx that was
36073
36074ever born.--Have you got her here?' she added, looking sharply round.<br><br>
36075
36076'No, she is not here at present,' returned the Notary.  'But she is
36077
36078quite safe.'<br><br>
36079
36080'Ha!' cried Sally, twitching a pinch of snuff out of her box, as
36081
36082spitefully as if she were in the very act of wrenching off the small
36083
36084servant's nose; 'she shall be safe enough from this time, I warrant
36085
36086you.'<br><br>
36087
36088'I hope so,' replied the Notary.  'Did it occur to you for the first
36089
36090time, when you found she had run away, that there were two keys to your
36091
36092kitchen door?'<br><br>
36093
36094Miss Sally took another pinch, and putting her head on one side, looked
36095
36096at her questioner, with a curious kind of spasm about her mouth, but
36097
36098with a cunning aspect of immense expression.<br><br>
36099
36100'Two keys,' repeated the Notary; 'one of which gave her the
36101
36102opportunities of roaming through the house at nights when you supposed
36103
36104her fast locked up, and of overhearing confidential
36105
36106consultations--among others, that particular conference, to be
36107
36108described to-day before a justice, which you will have an opportunity
36109
36110of hearing her relate; that conference which you and Mr Brass held
36111
36112together, on the night before that most unfortunate and innocent young
36113
36114man was accused of robbery, by a horrible device of which I will only
36115
36116say that it may be characterised by the epithets which you have applied
36117
36118to this wretched little witness, and by a few stronger ones besides.'<br><br>
36119
36120Sally took another pinch.  Although her face was wonderfully composed,
36121
36122it was apparent that she was wholly taken by surprise, and that what
36123
36124she had expected to be taxed with, in connection with her small
36125
36126servant, was something very different from this.<br><br>
36127
36128'Come, come, Miss Brass,' said the Notary, 'you have great command of
36129
36130feature, but you feel, I see, that by a chance which never entered your
36131
36132imagination, this base design is revealed, and two of its plotters must
36133
36134be brought to justice.  Now, you know the pains and penalties you are
36135
36136liable to, and so I need not dilate upon them, but I have a proposal to
36137
36138make to you.  You have the honour of being sister to one of the
36139
36140greatest scoundrels unhung; and, if I may venture to say so to a lady,
36141
36142you are in every respect quite worthy of him.  But connected with you
36143
36144two is a third party, a villain of the name of Quilp, the prime mover
36145
36146of the whole diabolical device, who I believe to be worse than either.
36147
36148For his sake, Miss Brass, do us the favour to reveal the whole history
36149
36150of this affair.  Let me remind you that your doing so, at our instance,
36151
36152will place you in a safe and comfortable position--your present one is
36153
36154not desirable--and cannot injure your brother; for against him and you
36155
36156we have quite sufficient evidence (as you hear) already.  I will not
36157
36158say to you that we suggest this course in mercy (for, to tell you the
36159
36160truth, we do not entertain any regard for you), but it is a necessity
36161
36162to which we are reduced, and I recommend it to you as a matter of the
36163
36164very best policy.  Time,' said Mr Witherden, pulling out his watch, 'in
36165
36166a business like this, is exceedingly precious.  Favour us with your
36167
36168decision as speedily as possible, ma'am.'<br><br>
36169
36170With a smile upon her face, and looking at each of the three by turns,
36171
36172Miss Brass took two or three more pinches of snuff, and having by this
36173
36174time very little left, travelled round and round the box with her
36175
36176forefinger and thumb, scraping up another.  Having disposed of this
36177
36178likewise and put the box carefully in her pocket, she said,--<br><br>
36179
36180'I am to accept or reject at once, am I?'<br><br>
36181
36182'Yes,' said Mr Witherden.<br><br>
36183
36184The charming creature was opening her lips to speak in reply, when the
36185
36186door was hastily opened too, and the head of Sampson Brass was thrust
36187
36188into the room.<br><br>
36189
36190'Excuse me,' said the gentleman hastily.  'Wait a bit!'<br><br>
36191
36192So saying, and quite indifferent to the astonishment his presence
36193
36194occasioned, he crept in, shut the door, kissed his greasy glove as
36195
36196servilely as if it were the dust, and made a most abject bow.<br><br>
36197
36198'Sarah,' said Brass, 'hold your tongue if you please, and let me speak.
36199
36200Gentlemen, if I could express the pleasure it gives me to see three
36201
36202such men in a happy unity of feeling and concord of sentiment, I think
36203
36204you would hardly believe me.  But though I am unfortunate--nay,
36205
36206gentlemen, criminal, if we are to use harsh expressions in a company
36207
36208like this--still, I have my feelings like other men.  I have heard of a
36209
36210poet, who remarked that feelings were the common lot of all.  If he
36211
36212could have been a pig, gentlemen, and have uttered that sentiment, he
36213
36214would still have been immortal.'<br><br>
36215
36216'If you're not an idiot,' said Miss Brass harshly, 'hold your peace.'<br><br>
36217
36218'Sarah, my dear,' returned her brother, 'thank you.  But I know what I
36219
36220am about, my love, and will take the liberty of expressing myself
36221
36222accordingly.  Mr Witherden, Sir, your handkerchief is hanging out of
36223
36224your pocket--would you allow me to--,<br><br>
36225
36226As Mr Brass advanced to remedy this accident, the Notary shrunk from
36227
36228him with an air of disgust.  Brass, who over and above his usual
36229
36230prepossessing qualities, had a scratched face, a green shade over one
36231
36232eye, and a hat grievously crushed, stopped short, and looked round with
36233
36234a pitiful smile.<br><br>
36235
36236'He shuns me,' said Sampson, 'even when I would, as I may say, heap
36237
36238coals of fire upon his head.  Well!  Ah! But I am a falling house, and
36239
36240the rats (if I may be allowed the expression in reference to a
36241
36242gentleman I respect and love beyond everything) fly from me!
36243
36244Gentlemen--regarding your conversation just now, I happened to see my
36245
36246sister on her way here, and, wondering where she could be going to, and
36247
36248being--may I venture to say?--naturally of a suspicious turn, followed
36249
36250her.  Since then, I have been listening.'<br><br>
36251
36252'If you're not mad,' interposed Miss Sally, 'stop there, and say no
36253
36254more.'<br><br>
36255
36256'Sarah, my dear,' rejoined Brass with undiminished politeness, 'I thank
36257
36258you kindly, but will still proceed.  Mr Witherden, sir, as we have the
36259
36260honour to be members of the same profession--to say nothing of that
36261
36262other gentleman having been my lodger, and having partaken, as one may
36263
36264say, of the hospitality of my roof--I think you might have given me the
36265
36266refusal of this offer in the first instance.  I do indeed.  Now, my
36267
36268dear Sir,' cried Brass, seeing that the Notary was about to interrupt
36269
36270him, 'suffer me to speak, I beg.'<br><br>
36271
36272Mr Witherden was silent, and Brass went on.<br><br>
36273
36274'If you will do me the favour,' he said, holding up the green shade,
36275
36276and revealing an eye most horribly discoloured, 'to look at this, you
36277
36278will naturally inquire, in your own minds, how did I get it.  If you
36279
36280look from that, to my face, you will wonder what could have been the
36281
36282cause of all these scratches.  And if from them to my hat, how it came
36283
36284into the state in which you see it.  Gentlemen,' said Brass, striking
36285
36286the hat fiercely with his clenched hand, 'to all these questions I
36287
36288answer--Quilp!'<br><br>
36289
36290The three gentlemen looked at each other, but said nothing.<br><br>
36291
36292'I say,' pursued Brass, glancing aside at his sister, as though he were
36293
36294talking for her information, and speaking with a snarling malignity, in
36295
36296violent contrast to his usual smoothness, 'that I answer to all these
36297
36298questions,--Quilp--Quilp, who deludes me into his infernal den, and
36299
36300takes a delight in looking on and chuckling while I scorch, and burn,
36301
36302and bruise, and maim myself--Quilp, who never once, no never once, in
36303
36304all our communications together, has treated me otherwise than as a
36305
36306dog--Quilp, whom I have always hated with my whole heart, but never so
36307
36308much as lately.  He gives me the cold shoulder on this very matter as
36309
36310if he had had nothing to do with it, instead of being the first to
36311
36312propose it.  I can't trust him.  In one of his howling, raving, blazing
36313
36314humours, I believe he'd let it out, if it was murder, and never think
36315
36316of himself so long as he could terrify me.  Now,' said Brass, picking
36317
36318up his hat again and replacing the shade over his eye, and actually
36319
36320crouching down, in the excess of his servility, 'What does all this
36321
36322lead to?--what should you say it led me to, gentlemen?--could you guess
36323
36324at all near the mark?'<br><br>
36325
36326Nobody spoke.  Brass stood smirking for a little while, as if he had
36327
36328propounded some choice conundrum; and then said:<br><br>
36329
36330'To be short with you, then, it leads me to this.  If the truth has
36331
36332come out, as it plainly has in a manner that there's no standing up
36333
36334against--and a very sublime and grand thing is Truth, gentlemen, in its
36335
36336way, though like other sublime and grand things, such as thunder-storms
36337
36338and that, we're not always over and above glad to see it--I had better
36339
36340turn upon this man than let this man turn upon me.  It's clear to me
36341
36342that I am done for.  Therefore, if anybody is to split, I had better be
36343
36344the person and have the advantage of it.  Sarah, my dear, comparatively
36345
36346speaking you're safe.  I relate these circumstances for my own profit.'<br><br>
36347
36348With that, Mr Brass, in a great hurry, revealed the whole story;
36349
36350bearing as heavily as possible on his amiable employer, and making
36351
36352himself out to be rather a saint-like and holy character, though
36353
36354subject--he acknowledged--to human weaknesses.  He concluded thus:<br><br>
36355
36356'Now, gentlemen, I am not a man who does things by halves.  Being in
36357
36358for a penny, I am ready, as the saying is, to be in for a pound.  You
36359
36360must do with me what you please, and take me where you please.  If you
36361
36362wish to have this in writing, we'll reduce it into manuscript
36363
36364immediately.  You will be tender with me, I am sure.  I am quite
36365
36366confident you will be tender with me.  You are men of honour, and have
36367
36368feeling hearts.  I yielded from necessity to Quilp, for though
36369
36370necessity has no law, she has her lawyers.  I yield to you from
36371
36372necessity too; from policy besides; and because of feelings that have
36373
36374been a pretty long time working within me.  Punish Quilp, gentlemen.
36375
36376Weigh heavily upon him.  Grind him down.  Tread him under foot.  He has
36377
36378done as much by me, for many and many a day.'<br><br>
36379
36380Having now arrived at the conclusion of his discourse, Sampson checked
36381
36382the current of his wrath, kissed his glove again, and smiled as only
36383
36384parasites and cowards can.<br><br>
36385
36386'And this,' said Miss Brass, raising her head, with which she had
36387
36388hitherto sat resting on her hands, and surveying him from head to foot
36389
36390with a bitter sneer, 'this is my brother, is it!  This is my brother,
36391
36392that I have worked and toiled for, and believed to have had something
36393
36394of the man in him!'<br><br>
36395
36396'Sarah, my dear,' returned Sampson, rubbing his hands feebly; you
36397
36398disturb our friends.  Besides you--you're disappointed, Sarah, and, not
36399
36400knowing what you say, expose yourself.'<br><br>
36401
36402'Yes, you pitiful dastard,' retorted the lovely damsel, 'I understand
36403
36404you.  You feared that I should be beforehand with you.  But do you
36405
36406think that I would have been enticed to say a word!  I'd have scorned
36407
36408it, if they had tried and tempted me for twenty years.'<br><br>
36409
36410'He he!' simpered Brass, who, in his deep debasement, really seemed to
36411
36412have changed sexes with his sister, and to have made over to her any
36413
36414spark of manliness he might have possessed.  'You think so, Sarah, you
36415
36416think so perhaps; but you would have acted quite different, my good
36417
36418fellow.  You will not have forgotten that it was a maxim with
36419
36420Foxey--our revered father, gentlemen--"Always suspect everybody."
36421
36422That's the maxim to go through life with!  If you were not actually
36423
36424about to purchase your own safety when I showed myself, I suspect you'd
36425
36426have done it by this time.  And therefore I've done it myself, and
36427
36428spared you the trouble as well as the shame.  The shame, gentlemen,'
36429
36430added Brass, allowing himself to be slightly overcome, 'if there is
36431
36432any, is mine.  It's better that a female should be spared it.'<br><br>
36433
36434With deference to the better opinion of Mr Brass, and more particularly
36435
36436to the authority of his Great Ancestor, it may be doubted, with
36437
36438humility, whether the elevating principle laid down by the latter
36439
36440gentleman, and acted upon by his descendant, is always a prudent one,
36441
36442or attended in practice with the desired results.  This is, beyond
36443
36444question, a bold and presumptuous doubt, inasmuch as many distinguished
36445
36446characters, called men of the world, long-headed customers, knowing
36447
36448dogs, shrewd fellows, capital hands at business, and the like, have
36449
36450made, and do daily make, this axiom their polar star and compass.
36451
36452Still, the doubt may be gently insinuated.  And in illustration it may
36453
36454be observed, that if Mr Brass, not being over-suspicious, had, without
36455
36456prying and listening, left his sister to manage the conference on their
36457
36458joint behalf, or prying and listening, had not been in such a mighty
36459
36460hurry to anticipate her (which he would not have been, but for his
36461
36462distrust and jealousy), he would probably have found himself much
36463
36464better off in the end.  Thus, it will always happen that these men of
36465
36466the world, who go through it in armour, defend themselves from quite as
36467
36468much good as evil; to say nothing of the inconvenience and absurdity of
36469
36470mounting guard with a microscope at all times, and of wearing a coat of
36471
36472mail on the most innocent occasions.<br><br>
36473
36474The three gentlemen spoke together apart, for a few moments.  At the
36475
36476end of their consultation, which was very brief, the Notary pointed to
36477
36478the writing materials on the table, and informed Mr Brass that if he
36479
36480wished to make any statement in writing, he had the opportunity of
36481
36482doing so.  At the same time he felt bound to tell him that they would
36483
36484require his attendance, presently, before a justice of the peace, and
36485
36486that in what he did or said, he was guided entirely by his own
36487
36488discretion.<br><br>
36489
36490'Gentlemen,' said Brass, drawing off his glove, and crawling in spirit
36491
36492upon the ground before them, 'I will justify the tenderness with which
36493
36494I know I shall be treated; and as, without tenderness, I should, now
36495
36496that this discovery has been made, stand in the worst position of the
36497
36498three, you may depend upon it I will make a clean breast.  Mr
36499
36500Witherden, sir, a kind of faintness is upon my spirits--if you would
36501
36502do me the favour to ring the bell and order up a glass of something
36503
36504warm and spicy, I shall, notwithstanding what has passed, have a
36505
36506melancholy pleasure in drinking your good health.  I had hoped,' said
36507
36508Brass, looking round with a mournful smile, 'to have seen you three
36509
36510gentlemen, one day or another, with your legs under the mahogany in my
36511
36512humble parlour in the Marks.  But hopes are fleeting.  Dear me!'<br><br>
36513
36514Mr Brass found himself so exceedingly affected, at this point, that he
36515
36516could say or do nothing more until some refreshment arrived.  Having
36517
36518partaken of it, pretty freely for one in his agitated state, he sat
36519
36520down to write.<br><br>
36521
36522The lovely Sarah, now with her arms folded, and now with her hands
36523
36524clasped behind her, paced the room with manly strides while her brother
36525
36526was thus employed, and sometimes stopped to pull out her snuff-box and
36527
36528bite the lid.  She continued to pace up and down until she was quite
36529
36530tired, and then fell asleep on a chair near the door.<br><br>
36531
36532It has been since supposed, with some reason, that this slumber was a
36533
36534sham or feint, as she contrived to slip away unobserved in the dusk of
36535
36536the afternoon.  Whether this was an intentional and waking departure,
36537
36538or a somnambulistic leave-taking and walking in her sleep, may remain a
36539
36540subject of contention; but, on one point (and indeed the main one) all
36541
36542parties are agreed.  In whatever state she walked away, she certainly
36543
36544did not walk back again.<br><br>
36545
36546Mention having been made of the dusk of the afternoon, it will be
36547
36548inferred that Mr Brass's task occupied some time in the completion.  It
36549
36550was not finished until evening; but, being done at last, that worthy
36551
36552person and the three friends adjourned in a hackney-coach to the
36553
36554private office of a justice, who, giving Mr Brass a warm reception and
36555
36556detaining him in a secure place that he might insure to himself the
36557
36558pleasure of seeing him on the morrow, dismissed the others with the
36559
36560cheering assurance that a warrant could not fail to be granted next day
36561
36562for the apprehension of Mr Quilp, and that a proper application and
36563
36564statement of all the circumstances to the secretary of state (who was
36565
36566fortunately in town), would no doubt procure Kit's free pardon and
36567
36568liberation without delay.<br><br>
36569
36570And now, indeed, it seemed that Quilp's malignant career was drawing to
36571
36572a close, and that retribution, which often travels slowly--especially
36573
36574when heaviest--had tracked his footsteps with a sure and certain scent
36575
36576and was gaining on him fast.  Unmindful of her stealthy tread, her
36577
36578victim holds his course in fancied triumph.  Still at his heels she
36579
36580comes, and once afoot, is never turned aside!<br><br>
36581
36582Their business ended, the three gentlemen hastened back to the lodgings
36583
36584of Mr Swiveller, whom they found progressing so favourably in his
36585
36586recovery as to have been able to sit up for half an hour, and to have
36587
36588conversed with cheerfulness.  Mrs Garland had gone home some time
36589
36590since, but Mr Abel was still sitting with him.  After telling him all
36591
36592they had done, the two Mr Garlands and the single gentleman, as if by
36593
36594some previous understanding, took their leaves for the night, leaving
36595
36596the invalid alone with the Notary and the small servant.<br><br>
36597
36598'As you are so much better,' said Mr Witherden, sitting down at the
36599
36600bedside, 'I may venture to communicate to you a piece of news which has
36601
36602come to me professionally.'<br><br>
36603
36604The idea of any professional intelligence from a gentleman connected
36605
36606with legal matters, appeared to afford Richard any-thing but a pleasing
36607
36608anticipation.  Perhaps he connected it in his own mind with one or two
36609
36610outstanding accounts, in reference to which he had already received
36611
36612divers threatening letters.  His countenance fell as he replied,<br><br>
36613
36614'Certainly, sir.  I hope it's not anything of a very disagreeable
36615
36616nature, though?'<br><br>
36617
36618'If I thought it so, I should choose some better time for communicating
36619
36620it,' replied the Notary.  'Let me tell you, first, that my friends who
36621
36622have been here to-day, know nothing of it, and that their kindness to
36623
36624you has been quite spontaneous and with no hope of return.  It may do a
36625
36626thoughtless, careless man, good, to know that.'<br><br>
36627
36628Dick thanked him, and said he hoped it would.<br><br>
36629
36630'I have been making some inquiries about you,' said Mr Witherden,
36631
36632'little thinking that I should find you under such circumstances as
36633
36634those which have brought us together.  You are the nephew of Rebecca
36635
36636Swiveller, spinster, deceased, of Cheselbourne in Dorsetshire.'<br><br>
36637
36638'Deceased!' cried Dick.<br><br>
36639
36640'Deceased.  If you had been another sort of nephew, you would have come
36641
36642into possession (so says the will, and I see no reason to doubt it) of
36643
36644five-and-twenty thousand pounds.  As it is, you have fallen into an
36645
36646annuity of one hundred and fifty pounds a year; but I think I may
36647
36648congratulate you even upon that.'<br><br>
36649
36650'Sir,' said Dick, sobbing and laughing together, 'you may.  For, please
36651
36652God, we'll make a scholar of the poor Marchioness yet!  And she shall
36653
36654walk in silk attire, and siller have to spare, or may I never rise from
36655
36656this bed again!'<br><br>
36657
36658CHAPTER 67<br><br>
36659
36660Unconscious of the proceedings faithfully narrated in the last chapter,
36661
36662and little dreaming of the mine which had been sprung beneath him (for,
36663
36664to the end that he should have no warning of the business a-foot, the
36665
36666profoundest secrecy was observed in the whole transaction), Mr Quilp
36667
36668remained shut up in his hermitage, undisturbed by any suspicion, and
36669
36670extremely well satisfied with the result of his machinations.  Being
36671
36672engaged in the adjustment of some accounts--an occupation to which the
36673
36674silence and solitude of his retreat were very favourable--he had not
36675
36676strayed from his den for two whole days.  The third day of his devotion
36677
36678to this pursuit found him still hard at work, and little disposed to
36679
36680stir abroad.<br><br>
36681
36682It was the day next after Mr Brass's confession, and consequently, that
36683
36684which threatened the restriction of Mr Quilp's liberty, and the abrupt
36685
36686communication to him of some very unpleasant and unwelcome facts.
36687
36688Having no intuitive perception of the cloud which lowered upon his
36689
36690house, the dwarf was in his ordinary state of cheerfulness; and, when
36691
36692he found he was becoming too much engrossed by business with a due
36693
36694regard to his health and spirits, he varied its monotonous routine with
36695
36696a little screeching, or howling, or some other innocent relaxation of
36697
36698that nature.<br><br>
36699
36700He was attended, as usual, by Tom Scott, who sat crouching over the
36701
36702fire after the manner of a toad, and, from time to time, when his
36703
36704master's back was turned, imitating his grimaces with a fearful
36705
36706exactness.  The figure-head had not yet disappeared, but remained in
36707
36708its old place.  The face, horribly seared by the frequent application
36709
36710of the red-hot poker, and further ornamented by the insertion, in the
36711
36712tip of the nose, of a tenpenny nail, yet smiled blandly in its less
36713
36714lacerated parts, and seemed, like a sturdy martyr, to provoke its
36715
36716tormentor to the commission of new outrages and insults.  The day, in
36717
36718the highest and brightest quarters of the town, was damp, dark, cold
36719
36720and gloomy.  In that low and marshy spot, the fog filled every nook and
36721
36722corner with a thick dense cloud.  Every object was obscure at one or
36723
36724two yards' distance.  The warning lights and fires upon the river were
36725
36726powerless beneath this pall, and, but for a raw and piercing chillness
36727
36728in the air, and now and then the cry of some bewildered boatman as he
36729
36730rested on his oars and tried to make out where he was, the river itself
36731
36732might have been miles away.<br><br>
36733
36734The mist, though sluggish and slow to move, was of a keenly searching
36735
36736kind.  No muffling up in furs and broadcloth kept it out.  It seemed to
36737
36738penetrate into the very bones of the shrinking wayfarers, and to rack
36739
36740them with cold and pains.  Everything was wet and clammy to the touch.
36741
36742The warm blaze alone defied it, and leaped and sparkled merrily.  It
36743
36744was a day to be at home, crowding about the fire, telling stories of
36745
36746travellers who had lost their way in such weather on heaths and moors;
36747
36748and to love a warm hearth more than ever.<br><br>
36749
36750The dwarf's humour, as we know, was to have a fireside to himself; and
36751
36752when he was disposed to be convivial, to enjoy himself alone.  By no
36753
36754means insensible to the comfort of being within doors, he ordered Tom
36755
36756Scott to pile the little stove with coals, and, dismissing his work for
36757
36758that day, determined to be jovial.<br><br>
36759
36760To this end, he lighted up fresh candles and heaped more fuel on the
36761
36762fire; and having dined off a beefsteak, which he cooked himself in
36763
36764somewhat of a savage and cannibal-like manner, brewed a great bowl of
36765
36766hot punch, lighted his pipe, and sat down to spend the evening.<br><br>
36767
36768At this moment, a low knocking at the cabin-door arrested his
36769
36770attention.  When it had been twice or thrice repeated, he softly opened
36771
36772the little window, and thrusting his head out, demanded who was there.<br><br>
36773
36774'Only me, Quilp,' replied a woman's voice.<br><br>
36775
36776'Only you!' cried the dwarf, stretching his neck to obtain a better
36777
36778view of his visitor.  'And what brings you here, you jade?  How dare
36779
36780you approach the ogre's castle, eh?'<br><br>
36781
36782'I have come with some news,' rejoined his spouse.  'Don't be angry
36783
36784with me.'<br><br>
36785
36786'Is it good news, pleasant news, news to make a man skip and snap his
36787
36788fingers?' said the dwarf.  'Is the dear old lady dead?'<br><br>
36789
36790'I don't know what news it is, or whether it's good or bad,' rejoined
36791
36792his wife.<br><br>
36793
36794'Then she's alive,' said Quilp, 'and there's nothing the matter with
36795
36796her.  Go home again, you bird of evil note, go home!' 'I have brought a
36797
36798letter,' cried the meek little woman.<br><br>
36799
36800'Toss it in at the window here, and go your ways,' said Quilp,
36801
36802interrupting her, 'or I'll come out and scratch you.'<br><br>
36803
36804'No, but please, Quilp--do hear me speak,' urged his submissive wife,
36805
36806in tears.  'Please do!'<br><br>
36807
36808'Speak then,' growled the dwarf with a malicious grin.  'Be quick and
36809
36810short about it.  Speak, will you?'<br><br>
36811
36812'It was left at our house this afternoon,' said Mrs Quilp, trembling,
36813
36814'by a boy who said he didn't know from whom it came, but that it was
36815
36816given to him to leave, and that he was told to say it must be brought
36817
36818on to you directly, for it was of the very greatest consequence.--But
36819
36820please,' she added, as her husband stretched out his hand for it,
36821
36822'please let me in.  You don't know how wet and cold I am, or how many
36823
36824times I have lost my way in coming here through this thick fog.  Let me
36825
36826dry myself at the fire for five minutes.  I'll go away directly you
36827
36828tell me to, Quilp.  Upon my word I will.'<br><br>
36829
36830Her amiable husband hesitated for a few moments; but, bethinking
36831
36832himself that the letter might require some answer, of which she could
36833
36834be the bearer, closed the window, opened the door, and bade her enter.
36835
36836Mrs Quilp obeyed right willingly, and, kneeling down before the fire to
36837
36838warm her hands, delivered into his a little packet.<br><br>
36839
36840'I'm glad you're wet,' said Quilp, snatching it, and squinting at her.
36841
36842'I'm glad you're cold.  I'm glad you lost your way.  I'm glad your eyes
36843
36844are red with crying.  It does my heart good to see your little nose so
36845
36846pinched and frosty.'<br><br>
36847
36848'Oh Quilp!' sobbed his wife.  'How cruel it is of you!'<br><br>
36849
36850'Did she think I was dead?' said Quilp, wrinkling his face into a most
36851
36852extraordinary series of grimaces.  'Did she think she was going to have
36853
36854all the money, and to marry somebody she liked?  Ha ha ha!  Did she?'<br><br>
36855
36856These taunts elicited no reply from the poor little woman, who remained
36857
36858on her knees, warming her hands, and sobbing, to Mr Quilp's great
36859
36860delight.  But, just as he was contemplating her, and chuckling
36861
36862excessively, he happened to observe that Tom Scott was delighted too;
36863
36864wherefore, that he might have no presumptuous partner in his glee, the
36865
36866dwarf instantly collared him, dragged him to the door, and after a
36867
36868short scuffle, kicked him into the yard.  In return for this mark of
36869
36870attention, Tom immediately walked upon his hands to the window, and--if
36871
36872the expression be allowable--looked in with his shoes: besides
36873
36874rattling his feet upon the glass like a Banshee upside down.  As a
36875
36876matter of course, Mr Quilp lost no time in resorting to the infallible
36877
36878poker, with which, after some dodging and lying in ambush, he paid his
36879
36880young friend one or two such unequivocal compliments that he vanished
36881
36882precipitately, and left him in quiet possession of the field.<br><br>
36883
36884'So!  That little job being disposed of,' said the dwarf, coolly, 'I'll
36885
36886read my letter.  Humph!' he muttered, looking at the direction.  'I
36887
36888ought to know this writing.  Beautiful Sally!'<br><br>
36889
36890Opening it, he read, in a fair, round, legal hand, as follows:<br><br>
36891
36892'Sammy has been practised upon, and has broken confidence.  It has all
36893
36894come out.  You had better not be in the way, for strangers are going to
36895
36896call upon you.  They have been very quiet as yet, because they mean to
36897
36898surprise you.  Don't lose time.  I didn't.  I am not to be found
36899
36900anywhere.  If I was you, I wouldn't either.  S. B., late of B. M.'<br><br>
36901
36902To describe the changes that passed over Quilp's face, as he read this
36903
36904letter half-a-dozen times, would require some new language: such, for
36905
36906power of expression, as was never written, read, or spoken.  For a long
36907
36908time he did not utter one word; but, after a considerable interval,
36909
36910during which Mrs Quilp was almost paralysed with the alarm his looks
36911
36912engendered, he contrived to gasp out,<br><br>
36913
36914'If I had him here.  If I only had him here--'<br><br>
36915
36916'Oh Quilp!' said his wife, 'what's the matter?  Who are you angry with?'<br><br>
36917
36918'--I should drown him,' said the dwarf, not heeding her.  'Too easy a
36919
36920death, too short, too quick--but the river runs close at hand.  Oh! if
36921
36922I had him here! just to take him to the brink coaxingly and
36923
36924pleasantly,--holding him by the button-hole--joking with him,--and,
36925
36926with a sudden push, to send him splashing down!  Drowning men come to
36927
36928the surface three times they say.  Ah!  To see him those three times,
36929
36930and mock him as his face came bobbing up,--oh, what a rich treat that
36931
36932would be!'<br><br>
36933
36934'Quilp!' stammered his wife, venturing at the same time to touch him on
36935
36936the shoulder: 'what has gone wrong?'<br><br>
36937
36938She was so terrified by the relish with which he pictured this pleasure
36939
36940to himself that she could scarcely make herself intelligible.<br><br>
36941
36942'Such a bloodless cur!' said Quilp, rubbing his hands very slowly, and
36943
36944pressing them tight together.  'I thought his cowardice and servility
36945
36946were the best guarantee for his keeping silence.  Oh Brass, Brass--my
36947
36948dear, good, affectionate, faithful, complimentary, charming friend--if
36949
36950I only had you here!'<br><br>
36951
36952His wife, who had retreated lest she should seem to listen to these
36953
36954mutterings, ventured to approach him again, and was about to speak,
36955
36956when he hurried to the door, and called Tom Scott, who, remembering his
36957
36958late gentle admonition, deemed it prudent to appear immediately.<br><br>
36959
36960'There!' said the dwarf, pulling him in.  'Take her home.  Don't come
36961
36962here to-morrow, for this place will be shut up.  Come back no more till
36963
36964you hear from me or see me.  Do you mind?'<br><br>
36965
36966Tom nodded sulkily, and beckoned Mrs Quilp to lead the way.<br><br>
36967
36968'As for you,' said the dwarf, addressing himself to her, 'ask no
36969
36970questions about me, make no search for me, say nothing concerning me.
36971
36972I shall not be dead, mistress, and that'll comfort you.  He'll take
36973
36974care of you.'<br><br>
36975
36976'But, Quilp?  What is the matter?  Where are you going?  Do say
36977
36978something more?'<br><br>
36979
36980'I'll say that,' said the dwarf, seizing her by the arm, 'and do that
36981
36982too, which undone and unsaid would be best for you, unless you go
36983
36984directly.'<br><br>
36985
36986'Has anything happened?' cried his wife.  'Oh!  Do tell me that?'<br><br>
36987
36988'Yes,' snarled the dwarf.  'No.  What matter which?  I have told you
36989
36990what to do.  Woe betide you if you fail to do it, or disobey me by a
36991
36992hair's breadth.  Will you go!'<br><br>
36993
36994'I am going, I'll go directly; but,' faltered his wife, 'answer me one
36995
36996question first.  Has this letter any connexion with dear little Nell?
36997
36998I must ask you that--I must indeed, Quilp.  You cannot think what days
36999
37000and nights of sorrow I have had through having once deceived that
37001
37002child.  I don't know what harm I may have brought about, but, great or
37003
37004little, I did it for you, Quilp.  My conscience misgave me when I did
37005
37006it.  Do answer me this question, if you please?'<br><br>
37007
37008The exasperated dwarf returned no answer, but turned round and caught
37009
37010up his usual weapon with such vehemence, that Tom Scott dragged his
37011
37012charge away, by main force, and as swiftly as he could.  It was well he
37013
37014did so, for Quilp, who was nearly mad with rage, pursued them to the
37015
37016neighbouring lane, and might have prolonged the chase but for the dense
37017
37018mist which obscured them from his view and appeared to thicken every
37019
37020moment.<br><br>
37021
37022'It will be a good night for travelling anonymously,' he said, as he
37023
37024returned slowly, being pretty well breathed with his run.  'Stay.  We
37025
37026may look better here.  This is too hospitable and free.'<br><br>
37027
37028By a great exertion of strength, he closed the two old gates, which
37029
37030were deeply sunken in the mud, and barred them with a heavy beam.  That
37031
37032done, he shook his matted hair from about his eyes, and tried
37033
37034them.--Strong and fast.<br><br>
37035
37036'The fence between this wharf and the next is easily climbed,' said the
37037
37038dwarf, when he had taken these precautions.  'There's a back lane, too,
37039
37040from there.  That shall be my way out.  A man need know his road well,
37041
37042to find it in this lovely place to-night.  I need fear no unwelcome
37043
37044visitors while this lasts, I think.'<br><br>
37045
37046Almost reduced to the necessity of groping his way with his hands (it
37047
37048had grown so dark and the fog had so much increased), he returned to
37049
37050his lair; and, after musing for some time over the fire, busied himself
37051
37052in preparations for a speedy departure.<br><br>
37053
37054While he was collecting a few necessaries and cramming them into his
37055
37056pockets, he never once ceased communing with himself in a low voice, or
37057
37058unclenched his teeth, which he had ground together on finishing Miss
37059
37060Brass's note.<br><br>
37061
37062'Oh Sampson!' he muttered, 'good worthy creature--if I could but hug
37063
37064you!  If I could only fold you in my arms, and squeeze your ribs, as I
37065
37066COULD squeeze them if I once had you tight--what a meeting there would
37067
37068be between us!  If we ever do cross each other again, Sampson, we'll
37069
37070have a greeting not easily to be forgotten, trust me.  This time,
37071
37072Sampson, this moment when all had gone on so well, was so nicely
37073
37074chosen!  It was so thoughtful of you, so penitent, so good.  Oh, if we
37075
37076were face to face in this room again, my white-livered man of law, how
37077
37078well contented one of us would be!'<br><br>
37079
37080There he stopped; and raising the bowl of punch to his lips, drank a
37081
37082long deep draught, as if it were fair water and cooling to his parched
37083
37084mouth.  Setting it down abruptly, and resuming his preparations, he
37085
37086went on with his soliloquy.<br><br>
37087
37088'There's Sally,' he said, with flashing eyes; 'the woman has spirit,
37089
37090determination, purpose--was she asleep, or petrified?  She could have
37091
37092stabbed him--poisoned him safely.  She might have seen this coming on.
37093
37094Why does she give me notice when it's too late?  When he sat
37095
37096there,--yonder there, over there,--with his white face, and red head,
37097
37098and sickly smile, why didn't I know what was passing in his heart?  It
37099
37100should have stopped beating, that night, if I had been in his secret,
37101
37102or there are no drugs to lull a man to sleep, or no fire to burn him!'<br><br>
37103
37104Another draught from the bowl; and, cowering over the fire with a
37105
37106ferocious aspect, he muttered to himself again.<br><br>
37107
37108'And this, like every other trouble and anxiety I have had of late
37109
37110times, springs from that old dotard and his darling child--two wretched
37111
37112feeble wanderers!  I'll be their evil genius yet.  And you, sweet Kit,
37113
37114honest Kit, virtuous, innocent Kit, look to yourself.  Where I hate, I
37115
37116bite.  I hate you, my darling fellow, with good cause, and proud as you
37117
37118are to-night, I'll have my turn.----What's that?'<br><br>
37119
37120A knocking at the gate he had closed.  A loud and violent knocking.
37121
37122Then, a pause; as if those who knocked had stopped to listen.  Then,
37123
37124the noise again, more clamorous and importunate than before.  'So
37125
37126soon!' said the dwarf.  'And so eager!  I am afraid I shall disappoint
37127
37128you.  It's well I'm quite prepared.  Sally, I thank you!'<br><br>
37129
37130As he spoke, he extinguished the candle.  In his impetuous attempts to
37131
37132subdue the brightness of the fire, he overset the stove, which came
37133
37134tumbling forward, and fell with a crash upon the burning embers it had
37135
37136shot forth in its descent, leaving the room in pitchy darkness.  The
37137
37138noise at the gate still continuing, he felt his way to the door, and
37139
37140stepped into the open air.<br><br>
37141
37142At that moment the knocking ceased.  It was about eight o'clock; but
37143
37144the dead of the darkest night would have been as noon-day in comparison
37145
37146with the thick cloud which then rested upon the earth, and shrouded
37147
37148everything from view.  He darted forward for a few paces, as if into
37149
37150the mouth of some dim, yawning cavern; then, thinking he had gone
37151
37152wrong, changed the direction of his steps; then stood still, not
37153
37154knowing where to turn.<br><br>
37155
37156'If they would knock again,' said Quilp, trying to peer into the gloom
37157
37158by which he was surrounded, 'the sound might guide me!  Come!  Batter
37159
37160the gate once more!'<br><br>
37161
37162He stood listening intently, but the noise was not renewed.  Nothing
37163
37164was to be heard in that deserted place, but, at intervals, the distant
37165
37166barkings of dogs.  The sound was far away--now in one quarter, now
37167
37168answered in another--nor was it any guide, for it often came from
37169
37170shipboard, as he knew.<br><br>
37171
37172'If I could find a wall or fence,' said the dwarf, stretching out his
37173
37174arms, and walking slowly on, 'I should know which way to turn.  A good,
37175
37176black, devil's night this, to have my dear friend here!  If I had but
37177
37178that wish, it might, for anything I cared, never be day again.'<br><br>
37179
37180As the word passed his lips, he staggered and fell--and next moment was
37181
37182fighting with the cold dark water!<br><br>
37183
37184For all its bubbling up and rushing in his ears, he could hear the
37185
37186knocking at the gate again--could hear a shout that followed it--could
37187
37188recognise the voice.  For all his struggling and plashing, he could
37189
37190understand that they had lost their way, and had wandered back to the
37191
37192point from which they started; that they were all but looking on, while
37193
37194he was drowned; that they were close at hand, but could not make an
37195
37196effort to save him; that he himself had shut and barred them out.  He
37197
37198answered the shout--with a yell, which seemed to make the hundred fires
37199
37200that danced before his eyes tremble and flicker, as if a gust of wind
37201
37202had stirred them.  It was of no avail.  The strong tide filled his
37203
37204throat, and bore him on, upon its rapid current.<br><br>
37205
37206Another mortal struggle, and he was up again, beating the water with
37207
37208his hands, and looking out, with wild and glaring eyes that showed him
37209
37210some black object he was drifting close upon.  The hull of a ship!  He
37211
37212could touch its smooth and slippery surface with his hand.  One loud
37213
37214cry, now--but the resistless water bore him down before he could give
37215
37216it utterance, and, driving him under it, carried away a corpse.<br><br>
37217
37218It toyed and sported with its ghastly freight, now bruising it against
37219
37220the slimy piles, now hiding it in mud or long rank grass, now dragging
37221
37222it heavily over rough stones and gravel, now feigning to yield it to
37223
37224its own element, and in the same action luring it away, until, tired of
37225
37226the ugly plaything, it flung it on a swamp--a dismal place where
37227
37228pirates had swung in chains through many a wintry night--and left it
37229
37230there to bleach.<br><br>
37231
37232And there it lay alone.  The sky was red with flame, and the water that
37233
37234bore it there had been tinged with the sullen light as it flowed along.
37235
37236The place the deserted carcass had left so recently, a living man, was
37237
37238now a blazing ruin.  There was something of the glare upon its face.
37239
37240The hair, stirred by the damp breeze, played in a kind of mockery of
37241
37242death--such a mockery as the dead man himself would have delighted in
37243
37244when alive--about its head, and its dress fluttered idly in the night
37245
37246wind.<br><br>
37247
37248CHAPTER 68<br><br>
37249
37250Lighted rooms, bright fires, cheerful faces, the music of glad voices,
37251
37252words of love and welcome, warm hearts, and tears of happiness--what a
37253
37254change is this!  But it is to such delights that Kit is hastening.
37255
37256They are awaiting him, he knows.  He fears he will die of joy, before
37257
37258he gets among them.<br><br>
37259
37260They have prepared him for this, all day.  He is not to be carried off
37261
37262to-morrow with the rest, they tell him first.  By degrees they let him
37263
37264know that doubts have arisen, that inquiries are to be made, and
37265
37266perhaps he may be pardoned after all.  At last, the evening being come,
37267
37268they bring him to a room where some gentlemen are assembled.  Foremost
37269
37270among them is his good old master, who comes and takes him by the hand.
37271
37272He hears that his innocence is established, and that he is pardoned.
37273
37274He cannot see the speaker, but he turns towards the voice, and in
37275
37276trying to answer, falls down insensible.<br><br>
37277
37278They recover him again, and tell him he must be composed, and bear this
37279
37280like a man.  Somebody says he must think of his poor mother.  It is
37281
37282because he does think of her so much, that the happy news had
37283
37284overpowered him.  They crowd about him, and tell him that the truth has
37285
37286gone abroad, and that all the town and country ring with sympathy for
37287
37288his misfortunes.  He has no ears for this.  His thoughts, as yet, have
37289
37290no wider range than home.  Does she know it?  what did she say? who
37291
37292told her?  He can speak of nothing else.<br><br>
37293
37294They make him drink a little wine, and talk kindly to him for a while,
37295
37296until he is more collected, and can listen, and thank them.  He is free
37297
37298to go.  Mr Garland thinks, if he feels better, it is time they went
37299
37300away.  The gentlemen cluster round him, and shake hands with him.  He
37301
37302feels very grateful to them for the interest they have in him, and for
37303
37304the kind promises they make; but the power of speech is gone again, and
37305
37306he has much ado to keep his feet, even though leaning on his master's
37307
37308arm.<br><br>
37309
37310As they come through the dismal passages, some officers of the jail who
37311
37312are in waiting there, congratulate him, in their rough way, on his
37313
37314release.  The newsmonger is of the number, but his manner is not quite
37315
37316hearty--there is something of surliness in his compliments.  He looks
37317
37318upon Kit as an intruder, as one who has obtained admission to that
37319
37320place on false pretences, who has enjoyed a privilege without being
37321
37322duly qualified.  He may be a very good sort of young man, he thinks,
37323
37324but he has no business there, and the sooner he is gone, the better.<br><br>
37325
37326The last door shuts behind them.  They have passed the outer wall, and
37327
37328stand in the open air--in the street he has so often pictured to
37329
37330himself when hemmed in by the gloomy stones, and which has been in all
37331
37332his dreams.  It seems wider and more busy than it used to be.  The
37333
37334night is bad, and yet how cheerful and gay in his eyes!  One of the
37335
37336gentlemen, in taking leave of him, pressed some money into his hand.
37337
37338He has not counted it; but when they have gone a few paces beyond the
37339
37340box for poor Prisoners, he hastily returns and drops it in.<br><br>
37341
37342Mr Garland has a coach waiting in a neighbouring street, and, taking
37343
37344Kit inside with him, bids the man drive home.  At first, they can only
37345
37346travel at a foot pace, and then with torches going on before, because
37347
37348of the heavy fog.  But, as they get farther from the river, and leave
37349
37350the closer portions of the town behind, they are able to dispense with
37351
37352this precaution and to proceed at a brisker rate.  On the road, hard
37353
37354galloping would be too slow for Kit; but, when they are drawing near
37355
37356their journey's end, he begs they may go more slowly, and, when the
37357
37358house appears in sight, that they may stop--only for a minute or two,
37359
37360to give him time to breathe.<br><br>
37361
37362But there is no stopping then, for the old gentleman speaks stoutly to
37363
37364him, the horses mend their pace, and they are already at the
37365
37366garden-gate.  Next minute, they are at the door.  There is a noise of
37367
37368tongues, and tread of feet, inside.  It opens.  Kit rushes in, and
37369
37370finds his mother clinging round his neck.<br><br>
37371
37372And there, too, is the ever faithful Barbara's mother, still holding
37373
37374the baby as if she had never put it down since that sad day when they
37375
37376little hoped to have such joy as this--there she is, Heaven bless her,
37377
37378crying her eyes out, and sobbing as never woman sobbed before; and
37379
37380there is little Barbara--poor little Barbara, so much thinner and so
37381
37382much paler, and yet so very pretty--trembling like a leaf and
37383
37384supporting herself against the wall; and there is Mrs Garland, neater
37385
37386and nicer than ever, fainting away stone dead with nobody to help her;
37387
37388and there is Mr Abel, violently blowing his nose, and wanting to
37389
37390embrace everybody; and there is the single gentleman hovering round
37391
37392them all, and constant to nothing for an instant; and there is that
37393
37394good, dear, thoughtful little Jacob, sitting all alone by himself on
37395
37396the bottom stair, with his hands on his knees like an old man, roaring
37397
37398fearfully without giving any trouble to anybody; and each and all of
37399
37400them are for the time clean out of their wits, and do jointly and
37401
37402severally commit all manner of follies.<br><br>
37403
37404And even when the rest have in some measure come to themselves again,
37405
37406and can find words and smiles, Barbara--that soft-hearted, gentle,
37407
37408foolish little Barbara--is suddenly missed, and found to be in a swoon
37409
37410by herself in the back parlour, from which swoon she falls into
37411
37412hysterics, and from which hysterics into a swoon again, and is, indeed,
37413
37414so bad, that despite a mortal quantity of vinegar and cold water she is
37415
37416hardly a bit better at last than she was at first.  Then, Kit's mother
37417
37418comes in and says, will he come and speak to her; and Kit says 'Yes,'
37419
37420and goes; and he says in a kind voice 'Barbara!' and Barbara's mother
37421
37422tells her that 'it's only Kit;' and Barbara says (with her eyes closed
37423
37424all the time) 'Oh! but is it him indeed?' and Barbara's mother says 'To
37425
37426be sure it is, my dear; there's nothing the matter now.'  And in
37427
37428further assurance that he's safe and sound, Kit speaks to her again;
37429
37430and then Barbara goes off into another fit of laughter, and then into
37431
37432another fit of crying; and then Barbara's mother and Kit's mother nod
37433
37434to each other and pretend to scold her--but only to bring her to
37435
37436herself the faster, bless you!--and being experienced matrons, and
37437
37438acute at perceiving the first dawning symptoms of recovery, they
37439
37440comfort Kit with the assurance that 'she'll do now,' and so dismiss him
37441
37442to the place from whence he came.<br><br>
37443
37444Well!  In that place (which is the next room) there are decanters of
37445
37446wine, and all that sort of thing, set out as grand as if Kit and his
37447
37448friends were first-rate company; and there is little Jacob, walking, as
37449
37450the popular phrase is, into a home-made plum-cake, at a most surprising
37451
37452pace, and keeping his eye on the figs and oranges which are to follow,
37453
37454and making the best use of his time, you may believe.  Kit no sooner
37455
37456comes in, than that single gentleman (never was such a busy gentleman)
37457
37458charges all the glasses--bumpers--and drinks his health, and tells him
37459
37460he shall never want a friend while he lives; and so does Mr Garland,
37461
37462and so does Mrs Garland, and so does Mr Abel.  But even this honour and
37463
37464distinction is not all, for the single gentleman forthwith pulls out of
37465
37466his pocket a massive silver watch--going hard, and right to half a
37467
37468second--and upon the back of this watch is engraved Kit's name, with
37469
37470flourishes all over; and in short it is Kit's watch, bought expressly
37471
37472for him, and presented to him on the spot.  You may rest assured that
37473
37474Mr and Mrs Garland can't help hinting about their present, in store,
37475
37476and that Mr Abel tells outright that he has his; and that Kit is the
37477
37478happiest of the happy.<br><br>
37479
37480There is one friend he has not seen yet, and as he cannot be
37481
37482conveniently introduced into the family circle, by reason of his being
37483
37484an iron-shod quadruped, Kit takes the first opportunity of slipping
37485
37486away and hurrying to the stable.  The moment he lays his hand upon the
37487
37488latch, the pony neighs the loudest pony's greeting; before he has
37489
37490crossed the threshold, the pony is capering about his loose box (for he
37491
37492brooks not the indignity of a halter), mad to give him welcome; and
37493
37494when Kit goes up to caress and pat him, the pony rubs his nose against
37495
37496his coat, and fondles him more lovingly than ever pony fondled man.  It
37497
37498is the crowning circumstance of his earnest, heartfelt reception; and
37499
37500Kit fairly puts his arm round Whisker's neck and hugs him.<br><br>
37501
37502But how comes Barbara to trip in there? and how smart she is again!
37503
37504she has been at her glass since she recovered.  How comes Barbara in
37505
37506the stable, of all places in the world?  Why, since Kit has been away,
37507
37508the pony would take his food from nobody but her, and Barbara, you see,
37509
37510not dreaming that Christopher was there, and just looking in, to see
37511
37512that everything was right, has come upon him unawares.  Blushing little
37513
37514Barbara!<br><br>
37515
37516It may be that Kit has caressed the pony enough; it may be that there
37517
37518are even better things to caress than ponies.  He leaves him for
37519
37520Barbara at any rate, and hopes she is better.  Yes.  Barbara is a great
37521
37522deal better.  She is afraid--and here Barbara looks down and blushes
37523
37524more--that he must have thought her very foolish.  'Not at all,' says
37525
37526Kit.  Barbara is glad of that, and coughs--Hem!--just the slightest
37527
37528cough possible--not more than that.<br><br>
37529
37530What a discreet pony when he chooses!  He is as quiet now as if he were
37531
37532of marble.  He has a very knowing look, but that he always has.  'We
37533
37534have hardly had time to shake hands, Barbara,' says Kit.  Barbara gives
37535
37536him hers.  Why, she is trembling now!  Foolish, fluttering Barbara!<br><br>
37537
37538Arm's length?  The length of an arm is not much.  Barbara's was not a
37539
37540long arm, by any means, and besides, she didn't hold it out straight,
37541
37542but bent a little.  Kit was so near her when they shook hands, that he
37543
37544could see a small tiny tear, yet trembling on an eyelash.  It was
37545
37546natural that he should look at it, unknown to Barbara.  It was natural
37547
37548that Barbara should raise her eyes unconsciously, and find him out.
37549
37550Was it natural that at that instant, without any previous impulse or
37551
37552design, Kit should kiss Barbara?  He did it, whether or no.  Barbara
37553
37554said 'for shame,' but let him do it too--twice.  He might have done it
37555
37556thrice, but the pony kicked up his heels and shook his head, as if he
37557
37558were suddenly taken with convulsions of delight, and Barbara being
37559
37560frightened, ran away--not straight to where her mother and Kit's mother
37561
37562were, though, lest they should see how red her cheeks were, and should
37563
37564ask her why.  Sly little Barbara!<br><br>
37565
37566When the first transports of the whole party had subsided, and Kit and
37567
37568his mother, and Barbara and her mother, with little Jacob and the baby
37569
37570to boot, had had their suppers together--which there was no hurrying
37571
37572over, for they were going to stop there all night--Mr Garland called
37573
37574Kit to him, and taking him into a room where they could be alone, told
37575
37576him that he had something yet to say, which would surprise him greatly.
37577
37578Kit looked so anxious and turned so pale on hearing this, that the old
37579
37580gentleman hastened to add, he would be agreeably surprised; and asked
37581
37582him if he would be ready next morning for a journey.<br><br>
37583
37584'For a journey, sir!' cried Kit.<br><br>
37585
37586'In company with me and my friend in the next room.  Can you guess its
37587
37588purpose?'<br><br>
37589
37590Kit turned paler yet, and shook his head.<br><br>
37591
37592'Oh yes.  I think you do already,' said his master.  'Try.'<br><br>
37593
37594Kit murmured something rather rambling and unintelligible, but he
37595
37596plainly pronounced the words 'Miss Nell,' three or four times--shaking
37597
37598his head while he did so, as if he would add that there was no hope of
37599
37600that.<br><br>
37601
37602But Mr Garland, instead of saying 'Try again,' as Kit had made sure he
37603
37604would, told him very seriously, that he had guessed right.<br><br>
37605
37606'The place of their retreat is indeed discovered,' he said, 'at last.
37607
37608And that is our journey's end.'<br><br>
37609
37610Kit faltered out such questions as, where was it, and how had it been
37611
37612found, and how long since, and was she well and happy?<br><br>
37613
37614'Happy she is, beyond all doubt,' said Mr Garland.  'And well, I--I
37615
37616trust she will be soon.  She has been weak and ailing, as I learn, but
37617
37618she was better when I heard this morning, and they were full of hope.
37619
37620Sit you down, and you shall hear the rest.'<br><br>
37621
37622Scarcely venturing to draw his breath, Kit did as he was told.  Mr
37623
37624Garland then related to him, how he had a brother (of whom he would
37625
37626remember to have heard him speak, and whose picture, taken when he was
37627
37628a young man, hung in the best room), and how this brother lived a long
37629
37630way off, in a country-place, with an old clergyman who had been his
37631
37632early friend.  How, although they loved each other as brothers should,
37633
37634they had not met for many years, but had communicated by letter from
37635
37636time to time, always looking forward to some period when they would
37637
37638take each other by the hand once more, and still letting the Present
37639
37640time steal on, as it was the habit for men to do, and suffering the
37641
37642Future to melt into the Past.  How this brother, whose temper was very
37643
37644mild and quiet and retiring--such as Mr Abel's--was greatly beloved by
37645
37646the simple people among whom he dwelt, who quite revered the Bachelor
37647
37648(for so they called him), and had every one experienced his charity and
37649
37650benevolence.  How even those slight circumstances had come to his
37651
37652knowledge, very slowly and in course of years, for the Bachelor was one
37653
37654of those whose goodness shuns the light, and who have more pleasure in
37655
37656discovering and extolling the good deeds of others, than in trumpeting
37657
37658their own, be they never so commendable.  How, for that reason, he
37659
37660seldom told them of his village friends; but how, for all that, his
37661
37662mind had become so full of two among them--a child and an old man, to
37663
37664whom he had been very kind--that, in a letter received a few days
37665
37666before, he had dwelt upon them from first to last, and had told such a
37667
37668tale of their wandering, and mutual love, that few could read it
37669
37670without being moved to tears.  How he, the recipient of that letter,
37671
37672was directly led to the belief that these must be the very wanderers
37673
37674for whom so much search had been made, and whom Heaven had directed to
37675
37676his brother's care.  How he had written for such further information as
37677
37678would put the fact beyond all doubt; how it had that morning arrived;
37679
37680had confirmed his first impression into a certainty; and was the
37681
37682immediate cause of that journey being planned, which they were to take
37683
37684to-morrow.<br><br>
37685
37686'In the meantime,' said the old gentleman rising, and laying his hand
37687
37688on Kit's shoulder, 'you have a great need of rest; for such a day as
37689
37690this would wear out the strongest man.  Good night, and Heaven send our
37691
37692journey may have a prosperous ending!'<br><br>
37693
37694CHAPTER 69<br><br>
37695
37696Kit was no sluggard next morning, but, springing from his bed some time
37697
37698before day, began to prepare for his welcome expedition.  The hurry of
37699
37700spirits consequent upon the events of yesterday, and the unexpected
37701
37702intelligence he had heard at night, had troubled his sleep through the
37703
37704long dark hours, and summoned such uneasy dreams about his pillow that
37705
37706it was rest to rise.<br><br>
37707
37708But, had it been the beginning of some great labour with the same end
37709
37710in view--had it been the commencement of a long journey, to be
37711
37712performed on foot in that inclement season of the year, to be pursued
37713
37714under very privation and difficulty, and to be achieved only with great
37715
37716distress, fatigue, and suffering--had it been the dawn of some painful
37717
37718enterprise, certain to task his utmost powers of resolution and
37719
37720endurance, and to need his utmost fortitude, but only likely to end, if
37721
37722happily achieved, in good fortune and delight to Nell--Kit's cheerful
37723
37724zeal would have been as highly roused: Kit's ardour and impatience
37725
37726would have been, at least, the same.<br><br>
37727
37728Nor was he alone excited and eager.  Before he had been up a quarter of
37729
37730an hour the whole house were astir and busy.  Everybody hurried to do
37731
37732something towards facilitating the preparations.  The single gentleman,
37733
37734it is true, could do nothing himself, but he overlooked everybody else
37735
37736and was more locomotive than anybody.  The work of packing and making
37737
37738ready went briskly on, and by daybreak every preparation for the
37739
37740journey was completed.  Then Kit began to wish they had not been quite
37741
37742so nimble; for the travelling-carriage which had been hired for the
37743
37744occasion was not to arrive until nine o'clock, and there was nothing
37745
37746but breakfast to fill up the intervening blank of one hour and a half.
37747
37748Yes there was, though.  There was Barbara.  Barbara was busy, to be
37749
37750sure, but so much the better--Kit could help her, and that would pass
37751
37752away the time better than any means that could be devised.  Barbara had
37753
37754no objection to this arrangement, and Kit, tracking out the idea which
37755
37756had come upon him so suddenly overnight, began to think that surely
37757
37758Barbara was fond of him, and surely he was fond of Barbara.<br><br>
37759
37760Now, Barbara, if the truth must be told--as it must and ought to
37761
37762be--Barbara seemed, of all the little household, to take least pleasure
37763
37764in the bustle of the occasion; and when Kit, in the openness of his
37765
37766heart, told her how glad and overjoyed it made him, Barbara became more
37767
37768downcast still, and seemed to have even less pleasure in it than before!<br><br>
37769
37770'You have not been home so long, Christopher,' said Barbara--and it is
37771
37772impossible to tell how carelessly she said it--'You have not been home
37773
37774so long, that you need to be glad to go away again, I should think.'<br><br>
37775
37776'But for such a purpose,' returned Kit.  'To bring back Miss Nell!  To
37777
37778see her again!  Only think of that!  I am so pleased too, to think that
37779
37780you will see her, Barbara, at last.'<br><br>
37781
37782Barbara did not absolutely say that she felt no gratification on this
37783
37784point, but she expressed the sentiment so plainly by one little toss of
37785
37786her head, that Kit was quite disconcerted, and wondered, in his
37787
37788simplicity, why she was so cool about it.<br><br>
37789
37790'You'll say she has the sweetest and beautifullest face you ever saw, I
37791
37792know,' said Kit, rubbing his hands.  'I'm sure you'll say that.'<br><br>
37793
37794Barbara tossed her head again.<br><br>
37795
37796'What's the matter, Barbara?' said Kit.<br><br>
37797
37798'Nothing,' cried Barbara.  And Barbara pouted--not sulkily, or in an
37799
37800ugly manner, but just enough to make her look more cherry-lipped than
37801
37802ever.<br><br>
37803
37804There is no school in which a pupil gets on so fast, as that in which
37805
37806Kit became a scholar when he gave Barbara the kiss.  He saw what
37807
37808Barbara meant now--he had his lesson by heart all at once--she was the
37809
37810book--there it was before him, as plain as print.<br><br>
37811
37812'Barbara,' said Kit, 'you're not cross with me?'<br><br>
37813
37814Oh dear no!  Why should Barbara be cross?  And what right had she to be
37815
37816cross?  And what did it matter whether she was cross or not?  Who
37817
37818minded her!<br><br>
37819
37820'Why, I do,' said Kit.  'Of course I do.'<br><br>
37821
37822Barbara didn't see why it was of course, at all.<br><br>
37823
37824Kit was sure she must.  Would she think again?<br><br>
37825
37826Certainly, Barbara would think again.  No, she didn't see why it was of
37827
37828course.  She didn't understand what Christopher meant.  And besides she
37829
37830was sure they wanted her up stairs by this time, and she must go,
37831
37832indeed--<br><br>
37833
37834'No, but Barbara,' said Kit, detaining her gently, 'let us part
37835
37836friends.  I was always thinking of you, in my troubles.  I should have
37837
37838been a great deal more miserable than I was, if it hadn't been for you.'<br><br>
37839
37840Goodness gracious, how pretty Barbara was when she coloured--and when
37841
37842she trembled, like a little shrinking bird!<br><br>
37843
37844'I am telling you the truth, Barbara, upon my word, but not half so
37845
37846strong as I could wish,' said Kit.  'When I want you to be pleased to
37847
37848see Miss Nell, it's only because I like you to be pleased with what
37849
37850pleases me--that's all.  As to her, Barbara, I think I could almost die
37851
37852to do her service, but you would think so too, if you knew her as I do.
37853
37854I am sure you would.'<br><br>
37855
37856Barbara was touched, and sorry to have appeared indifferent.<br><br>
37857
37858'I have been used, you see,' said Kit, 'to talk and think of her,
37859
37860almost as if she was an angel.  When I look forward to meeting her
37861
37862again, I think of her smiling as she used to do, and being glad to see
37863
37864me, and putting out her hand and saying, "It's my own old Kit," or some
37865
37866such words as those--like what she used to say.  I think of seeing her
37867
37868happy, and with friends about her, and brought up as she deserves, and
37869
37870as she ought to be.  When I think of myself, it's as her old servant,
37871
37872and one that loved her dearly, as his kind, good, gentle mistress; and
37873
37874who would have gone--yes, and still would go--through any harm to serve
37875
37876her.  Once, I couldn't help being afraid that if she came back with
37877
37878friends about her she might forget, or be ashamed of having known, a
37879
37880humble lad like me, and so might speak coldly, which would have cut me,
37881
37882Barbara, deeper than I can tell.  But when I came to think again, I
37883
37884felt sure that I was doing her wrong in this; and so I went on, as I
37885
37886did at first, hoping to see her once more, just as she used to be.
37887
37888Hoping this, and remembering what she was, has made me feel as if I
37889
37890would always try to please her, and always be what I should like to
37891
37892seem to her if I was still her servant.  If I'm the better for
37893
37894that--and I don't think I'm the worse--I am grateful to her for it, and
37895
37896love and honour her the more.  That's the plain honest truth, dear
37897
37898Barbara, upon my word it is!'<br><br>
37899
37900Little Barbara was not of a wayward or capricious nature, and, being
37901
37902full of remorse, melted into tears.  To what more conversation this
37903
37904might have led, we need not stop to inquire; for the wheels of the
37905
37906carriage were heard at that moment, and, being followed by a smart ring
37907
37908at the garden gate, caused the bustle in the house, which had laid
37909
37910dormant for a short time, to burst again into tenfold life and vigour.<br><br>
37911
37912Simultaneously with the travelling equipage, arrived Mr Chuckster in a
37913
37914hackney cab, with certain papers and supplies of money for the single
37915
37916gentleman, into whose hands he delivered them.  This duty discharged,
37917
37918he subsided into the bosom of the family; and, entertaining himself
37919
37920with a strolling or peripatetic breakfast, watched, with genteel
37921
37922indifference, the process of loading the carriage.<br><br>
37923
37924'Snobby's in this, I see, Sir?' he said to Mr Abel Garland.  'I thought
37925
37926he wasn't in the last trip because it was expected that his presence
37927
37928wouldn't be acceptable to the ancient buffalo.'<br><br>
37929
37930'To whom, Sir?' demanded Mr Abel.<br><br>
37931
37932'To the old gentleman,' returned Mr Chuckster, slightly abashed.<br><br>
37933
37934'Our client prefers to take him now,' said Mr Abel, drily.  'There is
37935
37936no longer any need for that precaution, as my father's relationship to
37937
37938a gentleman in whom the objects of his search have full confidence,
37939
37940will be a sufficient guarantee for the friendly nature of their errand.'<br><br>
37941
37942'Ah!' thought Mr Chuckster, looking out of window, 'anybody but me!
37943
37944Snobby before me, of course.  He didn't happen to take that particular
37945
37946five-pound note, but I have not the smallest doubt that he's always up
37947
37948to something of that sort.  I always said it, long before this came
37949
37950out.  Devilish pretty girl that!  'Pon my soul, an amazing little
37951
37952creature!'<br><br>
37953
37954Barbara was the subject of Mr Chuckster's commendations; and as she was
37955
37956lingering near the carriage (all being now ready for its departure),
37957
37958that gentleman was suddenly seized with a strong interest in the
37959
37960proceedings, which impelled him to swagger down the garden, and take up
37961
37962his position at a convenient ogling distance.  Having had great
37963
37964experience of the sex, and being perfectly acquainted with all those
37965
37966little artifices which find the readiest road to their hearts, Mr
37967
37968Chuckster, on taking his ground, planted one hand on his hip, and with
37969
37970the other adjusted his flowing hair.  This is a favourite attitude in
37971
37972the polite circles, and, accompanied with a graceful whistling, has
37973
37974been known to do immense execution.<br><br>
37975
37976Such, however, is the difference between town and country, that nobody
37977
37978took the smallest notice of this insinuating figure; the wretches being
37979
37980wholly engaged in bidding the travellers farewell, in kissing hands to
37981
37982each other, waving handkerchiefs, and the like tame and vulgar
37983
37984practices.  For now the single gentleman and Mr Garland were in the
37985
37986carriage, and the post-boy was in the saddle, and Kit, well wrapped and
37987
37988muffled up, was in the rumble behind; and Mrs Garland was there, and Mr
37989
37990Abel was there, and Kit's mother was there, and little Jacob was there,
37991
37992and Barbara's mother was visible in remote perspective, nursing the
37993
37994ever-wakeful baby; and all were nodding, beckoning, curtseying, or
37995
37996crying out, 'Good bye!' with all the energy they could express.  In
37997
37998another minute, the carriage was out of sight; and Mr Chuckster
37999
38000remained alone on the spot where it had lately been, with a vision of
38001
38002Kit standing up in the rumble waving his hand to Barbara, and of
38003
38004Barbara in the full light and lustre of his eyes--his
38005
38006eyes--Chuckster's--Chuckster the successful--on whom ladies of quality
38007
38008had looked with favour from phaetons in the parks on Sundays--waving
38009
38010hers to Kit!<br><br>
38011
38012How Mr Chuckster, entranced by this monstrous fact, stood for some time
38013
38014rooted to the earth, protesting within himself that Kit was the Prince
38015
38016of felonious characters, and very Emperor or Great Mogul of Snobs, and
38017
38018how he clearly traced this revolting circumstance back to that old
38019
38020villany of the shilling, are matters foreign to our purpose; which is
38021
38022to track the rolling wheels, and bear the travellers company on their
38023
38024cold, bleak journey.<br><br>
38025
38026It was a bitter day.  A keen wind was blowing, and rushed against them
38027
38028fiercely: bleaching the hard ground, shaking the white frost from the
38029
38030trees and hedges, and whirling it away like dust.  But little cared Kit
38031
38032for weather.  There was a freedom and freshness in the wind, as it came
38033
38034howling by, which, let it cut never so sharp, was welcome.  As it swept
38035
38036on with its cloud of frost, bearing down the dry twigs and boughs and
38037
38038withered leaves, and carrying them away pell-mell, it seemed as though
38039
38040some general sympathy had got abroad, and everything was in a hurry,
38041
38042like themselves.  The harder the gusts, the better progress they
38043
38044appeared to make.  It was a good thing to go struggling and fighting
38045
38046forward, vanquishing them one by one; to watch them driving up,
38047
38048gathering strength and fury as they came along; to bend for a moment,
38049
38050as they whistled past; and then to look back and see them speed away,
38051
38052their hoarse noise dying in the distance, and the stout trees cowering
38053
38054down before them.<br><br>
38055
38056All day long, it blew without cessation.  The night was clear and
38057
38058starlight, but the wind had not fallen, and the cold was piercing.
38059
38060Sometimes--towards the end of a long stage--Kit could not help wishing
38061
38062it were a little warmer: but when they stopped to change horses, and he
38063
38064had had a good run, and what with that, and the bustle of paying the
38065
38066old postilion, and rousing the new one, and running to and fro again
38067
38068until the horses were put to, he was so warm that the blood tingled and
38069
38070smarted in his fingers' ends--then, he felt as if to have it one
38071
38072degree less cold would be to lose half the delight and glory of the
38073
38074journey: and up he jumped again, right cheerily, singing to the merry
38075
38076music of the wheels as they rolled away, and, leaving the townspeople
38077
38078in their warm beds, pursued their course along the lonely road.<br><br>
38079
38080Meantime the two gentlemen inside, who were little disposed to sleep,
38081
38082beguiled the time with conversation.  As both were anxious and
38083
38084expectant, it naturally turned upon the subject of their expedition, on
38085
38086the manner in which it had been brought about, and on the hopes and
38087
38088fears they entertained respecting it.  Of the former they had many, of
38089
38090the latter few--none perhaps beyond that indefinable uneasiness which
38091
38092is inseparable from suddenly awakened hope, and protracted expectation.<br><br>
38093
38094In one of the pauses of their discourse, and when half the night had
38095
38096worn away, the single gentleman, who had gradually become more and more
38097
38098silent and thoughtful, turned to his companion and said abruptly:<br><br>
38099
38100'Are you a good listener?'<br><br>
38101
38102'Like most other men, I suppose,' returned Mr Garland, smiling.  'I can
38103
38104be, if I am interested; and if not interested, I should still try to
38105
38106appear so.  Why do you ask?'<br><br>
38107
38108'I have a short narrative on my lips,' rejoined his friend, 'and will
38109
38110try you with it.  It is very brief.'<br><br>
38111
38112Pausing for no reply, he laid his hand on the old gentleman's sleeve,
38113
38114and proceeded thus:<br><br>
38115
38116'There were once two brothers, who loved each other dearly.  There was
38117
38118a disparity in their ages--some twelve years.  I am not sure but they
38119
38120may insensibly have loved each other the better for that reason.  Wide
38121
38122as the interval between them was, however, they became rivals too soon.
38123
38124The deepest and strongest affection of both their hearts settled upon
38125
38126one object.<br><br>
38127
38128'The youngest--there were reasons for his being sensitive and
38129
38130watchful--was the first to find this out.  I will not tell you what
38131
38132misery he underwent, what agony of soul he knew, how great his mental
38133
38134struggle was.  He had been a sickly child.  His brother, patient and
38135
38136considerate in the midst of his own high health and strength, had many
38137
38138and many a day denied himself the sports he loved, to sit beside his
38139
38140couch, telling him old stories till his pale face lighted up with an
38141
38142unwonted glow; to carry him in his arms to some green spot, where he
38143
38144could tend the poor pensive boy as he looked upon the bright summer
38145
38146day, and saw all nature healthy but himself; to be, in any way, his
38147
38148fond and faithful nurse.  I may not dwell on all he did, to make the
38149
38150poor, weak creature love him, or my tale would have no end.  But when
38151
38152the time of trial came, the younger brother's heart was full of those
38153
38154old days.  Heaven strengthened it to repay the sacrifices of
38155
38156inconsiderate youth by one of thoughtful manhood.  He left his brother
38157
38158to be happy.  The truth never passed his lips, and he quitted the
38159
38160country, hoping to die abroad.<br><br>
38161
38162'The elder brother married her.  She was in Heaven before long, and
38163
38164left him with an infant daughter.<br><br>
38165
38166'If you have seen the picture-gallery of any one old family, you will
38167
38168remember how the same face and figure--often the fairest and slightest
38169
38170of them all--come upon you in different generations; and how you trace
38171
38172the same sweet girl through a long line of portraits--never growing
38173
38174old or changing--the Good Angel of the race--abiding by them in all
38175
38176reverses--redeeming all their sins--<br><br>
38177
38178'In this daughter the mother lived again.  You may judge with what
38179
38180devotion he who lost that mother almost in the winning, clung to this
38181
38182girl, her breathing image.  She grew to womanhood, and gave her heart
38183
38184to one who could not know its worth.  Well!  Her fond father could not
38185
38186see her pine and droop.  He might be more deserving than he thought
38187
38188him.  He surely might become so, with a wife like her.  He joined their
38189
38190hands, and they were married.<br><br>
38191
38192'Through all the misery that followed this union; through all the cold
38193
38194neglect and undeserved reproach; through all the poverty he brought
38195
38196upon her; through all the struggles of their daily life, too mean and
38197
38198pitiful to tell, but dreadful to endure; she toiled on, in the deep
38199
38200devotion of her spirit, and in her better nature, as only women can.
38201
38202Her means and substance wasted; her father nearly beggared by her
38203
38204husband's hand, and the hourly witness (for they lived now under one
38205
38206roof) of her ill-usage and unhappiness,--she never, but for him,
38207
38208bewailed her fate.  Patient, and upheld by strong affection to the
38209
38210last, she died a widow of some three weeks' date, leaving to her
38211
38212father's care two orphans; one a son of ten or twelve years old; the
38213
38214other a girl--such another infant child--the same in helplessness, in
38215
38216age, in form, in feature--as she had been herself when her young mother
38217
38218died.<br><br>
38219
38220'The elder brother, grandfather to these two children, was now a broken
38221
38222man; crushed and borne down, less by the weight of years than by the
38223
38224heavy hand of sorrow.  With the wreck of his possessions, he began to
38225
38226trade--in pictures first, and then in curious ancient things.  He had
38227
38228entertained a fondness for such matters from a boy, and the tastes he
38229
38230had cultivated were now to yield him an anxious and precarious
38231
38232subsistence.<br><br>
38233
38234'The boy grew like his father in mind and person; the girl so like her
38235
38236mother, that when the old man had her on his knee, and looked into her
38237
38238mild blue eyes, he felt as if awakening from a wretched dream, and his
38239
38240daughter were a little child again.  The wayward boy soon spurned the
38241
38242shelter of his roof, and sought associates more congenial to his taste.
38243
38244The old man and the child dwelt alone together.<br><br>
38245
38246'It was then, when the love of two dead people who had been nearest and
38247
38248dearest to his heart, was all transferred to this slight creature; when
38249
38250her face, constantly before him, reminded him, from hour to hour, of
38251
38252the too early change he had seen in such another--of all the
38253
38254sufferings he had watched and known, and all his child had undergone;
38255
38256when the young man's profligate and hardened course drained him of
38257
38258money as his father's had, and even sometimes occasioned them temporary
38259
38260privation and distress; it was then that there began to beset him, and
38261
38262to be ever in his mind, a gloomy dread of poverty and want.  He had no
38263
38264thought for himself in this.  His fear was for the child.  It was a
38265
38266spectre in his house, and haunted him night and day.<br><br>
38267
38268'The younger brother had been a traveller in many countries, and had
38269
38270made his pilgrimage through life alone.  His voluntary banishment had
38271
38272been misconstrued, and he had borne (not without pain) reproach and
38273
38274slight for doing that which had wrung his heart, and cast a mournful
38275
38276shadow on his path.  Apart from this, communication between him and the
38277
38278elder was difficult, and uncertain, and often failed; still, it was not
38279
38280so wholly broken off but that he learnt--with long blanks and gaps
38281
38282between each interval of information--all that I have told you now.<br><br>
38283
38284'Then, dreams of their young, happy life--happy to him though laden
38285
38286with pain and early care--visited his pillow yet oftener than before;
38287
38288and every night, a boy again, he was at his brother's side.  With the
38289
38290utmost speed he could exert, he settled his affairs; converted into
38291
38292money all the goods he had; and, with honourable wealth enough for
38293
38294both, with open heart and hand, with limbs that trembled as they bore
38295
38296him on, with emotion such as men can hardly bear and live, arrived one
38297
38298evening at his brother's door!'<br><br>
38299
38300The narrator, whose voice had faltered lately, stopped.<br><br>
38301
38302'The rest,' said Mr Garland, pressing his hand after a pause, 'I know.'<br><br>
38303
38304'Yes,' rejoined his friend, 'we may spare ourselves the sequel.  You
38305
38306know the poor result of all my search.  Even when by dint of such
38307
38308inquiries as the utmost vigilance and sagacity could set on foot, we
38309
38310found they had been seen with two poor travelling showmen--and in time
38311
38312discovered the men themselves--and in time, the actual place of their
38313
38314retreat; even then, we were too late.  Pray God, we are not too late
38315
38316again!'<br><br>
38317
38318'We cannot be,' said Mr Garland.  'This time we must succeed.'<br><br>
38319
38320'I have believed and hoped so,' returned the other.  'I try to believe
38321
38322and hope so still.  But a heavy weight has fallen on my spirits, my
38323
38324good friend, and the sadness that gathers over me, will yield to
38325
38326neither hope nor reason.'<br><br>
38327
38328'That does not surprise me,' said Mr Garland; 'it is a natural
38329
38330consequence of the events you have recalled; of this dreary time and
38331
38332place; and above all, of this wild and dismal night.  A dismal night,
38333
38334indeed!  Hark! how the wind is howling!'<br><br>
38335
38336CHAPTER 70<br><br>
38337
38338Day broke, and found them still upon their way.  Since leaving home,
38339
38340they had halted here and there for necessary refreshment, and had
38341
38342frequently been delayed, especially in the night time, by waiting for
38343
38344fresh horses.  They had made no other stoppages, but the weather
38345
38346continued rough, and the roads were often steep and heavy.  It would be
38347
38348night again before they reached their place of destination.<br><br>
38349
38350Kit, all bluff and hardened with the cold, went on manfully; and,
38351
38352having enough to do to keep his blood circulating, to picture to
38353
38354himself the happy end of this adventurous journey, and to look about
38355
38356him and be amazed at everything, had little spare time for thinking of
38357
38358discomforts.  Though his impatience, and that of his fellow-travellers,
38359
38360rapidly increased as the day waned, the hours did not stand still.  The
38361
38362short daylight of winter soon faded away, and it was dark again when
38363
38364they had yet many miles to travel.<br><br>
38365
38366As it grew dusk, the wind fell; its distant moanings were more low and
38367
38368mournful; and, as it came creeping up the road, and rattling covertly
38369
38370among the dry brambles on either hand, it seemed like some great
38371
38372phantom for whom the way was narrow, whose garments rustled as it
38373
38374stalked along.  By degrees it lulled and died away, and then it came on
38375
38376to snow.<br><br>
38377
38378The flakes fell fast and thick, soon covering the ground some inches
38379
38380deep, and spreading abroad a solemn stillness.  The rolling wheels were
38381
38382noiseless, and the sharp ring and clatter of the horses' hoofs, became
38383
38384a dull, muffled tramp.  The life of their progress seemed to be slowly
38385
38386hushed, and something death-like to usurp its place.<br><br>
38387
38388Shading his eyes from the falling snow, which froze upon their lashes
38389
38390and obscured his sight, Kit often tried to catch the earliest glimpse
38391
38392of twinkling lights, denoting their approach to some not distant town.
38393
38394He could descry objects enough at such times, but none correctly.  Now,
38395
38396a tall church spire appeared in view, which presently became a tree, a
38397
38398barn, a shadow on the ground, thrown on it by their own bright lamps.
38399
38400Now, there were horsemen, foot-passengers, carriages, going on before,
38401
38402or meeting them in narrow ways; which, when they were close upon them,
38403
38404turned to shadows too.  A wall, a ruin, a sturdy gable end, would rise
38405
38406up in the road; and, when they were plunging headlong at it, would be
38407
38408the road itself.  Strange turnings too, bridges, and sheets of water,
38409
38410appeared to start up here and there, making the way doubtful and
38411
38412uncertain; and yet they were on the same bare road, and these things,
38413
38414like the others, as they were passed, turned into dim illusions.<br><br>
38415
38416He descended slowly from his seat--for his limbs were numbed--when
38417
38418they arrived at a lone posting-house, and inquired how far they had to
38419
38420go to reach their journey's end.  It was a late hour in such by-places,
38421
38422and the people were abed; but a voice answered from an upper window,
38423
38424Ten miles.  The ten minutes that ensued appeared an hour; but at the
38425
38426end of that time, a shivering figure led out the horses they required,
38427
38428and after another brief delay they were again in motion.  It was a
38429
38430cross-country road, full, after the first three or four miles, of holes
38431
38432and cart-ruts, which, being covered by the snow, were so many pitfalls
38433
38434to the trembling horses, and obliged them to keep a footpace.  As it
38435
38436was next to impossible for men so much agitated as they were by this
38437
38438time, to sit still and move so slowly, all three got out and plodded on
38439
38440behind the carriage.  The distance seemed interminable, and the walk
38441
38442was most laborious.  As each was thinking within himself that the
38443
38444driver must have lost his way, a church bell, close at hand, struck the
38445
38446hour of midnight, and the carriage stopped.  It had moved softly
38447
38448enough, but when it ceased to crunch the snow, the silence was as
38449
38450startling as if some great noise had been replaced by perfect stillness.<br><br>
38451
38452'This is the place, gentlemen,' said the driver, dismounting from his
38453
38454horse, and knocking at the door of a little inn.  'Halloa!  Past twelve
38455
38456o'clock is the dead of night here.'<br><br>
38457
38458The knocking was loud and long, but it failed to rouse the drowsy
38459
38460inmates.  All continued dark and silent as before.  They fell back a
38461
38462little, and looked up at the windows, which were mere black patches in
38463
38464the whitened house front.  No light appeared.  The house might have
38465
38466been deserted, or the sleepers dead, for any air of life it had about
38467
38468it.<br><br>
38469
38470They spoke together with a strange inconsistency, in whispers;
38471
38472unwilling to disturb again the dreary echoes they had just now raised.<br><br>
38473
38474'Let us go on,' said the younger brother, 'and leave this good fellow
38475
38476to wake them, if he can.  I cannot rest until I know that we are not
38477
38478too late.  Let us go on, in the name of Heaven!'<br><br>
38479
38480They did so, leaving the postilion to order such accommodation as the
38481
38482house afforded, and to renew his knocking.  Kit accompanied them with a
38483
38484little bundle, which he had hung in the carriage when they left home,
38485
38486and had not forgotten since--the bird in his old cage--just as she had
38487
38488left him.  She would be glad to see her bird, he knew.<br><br>
38489
38490The road wound gently downward.  As they proceeded, they lost sight of
38491
38492the church whose clock they had heard, and of the small village
38493
38494clustering round it.  The knocking, which was now renewed, and which in
38495
38496that stillness they could plainly hear, troubled them.  They wished the
38497
38498man would forbear, or that they had told him not to break the silence
38499
38500until they returned.<br><br>
38501
38502The old church tower, clad in a ghostly garb of pure cold white, again
38503
38504rose up before them, and a few moments brought them close beside it.  A
38505
38506venerable building--grey, even in the midst of the hoary landscape.  An
38507
38508ancient sun-dial on the belfry wall was nearly hidden by the
38509
38510snow-drift, and scarcely to be known for what it was.  Time itself
38511
38512seemed to have grown dull and old, as if no day were ever to displace
38513
38514the melancholy night.<br><br>
38515
38516A wicket gate was close at hand, but there was more than one path
38517
38518across the churchyard to which it led, and, uncertain which to take,
38519
38520they came to a stand again.<br><br>
38521
38522The village street--if street that could be called which was an
38523
38524irregular cluster of poor cottages of many heights and ages, some with
38525
38526their fronts, some with their backs, and some with gable ends towards
38527
38528the road, with here and there a signpost, or a shed encroaching on the
38529
38530path--was close at hand.  There was a faint light in a chamber window
38531
38532not far off, and Kit ran towards that house to ask their way.<br><br>
38533
38534His first shout was answered by an old man within, who presently
38535
38536appeared at the casement, wrapping some garment round his throat as a
38537
38538protection from the cold, and demanded who was abroad at that
38539
38540unseasonable hour, wanting him.<br><br>
38541
38542''Tis hard weather this,' he grumbled, 'and not a night to call me up
38543
38544in.  My trade is not of that kind that I need be roused from bed.  The
38545
38546business on which folks want me, will keep cold, especially at this
38547
38548season.  What do you want?'<br><br>
38549
38550'I would not have roused you, if I had known you were old and ill,'
38551
38552said Kit.<br><br>
38553
38554'Old!' repeated the other peevishly.  'How do you know I am old?  Not
38555
38556so old as you think, friend, perhaps.  As to being ill, you will find
38557
38558many young people in worse case than I am.  More's the pity that it
38559
38560should be so--not that I should be strong and hearty for my years, I
38561
38562mean, but that they should be weak and tender.  I ask your pardon
38563
38564though,' said the old man, 'if I spoke rather rough at first.  My eyes
38565
38566are not good at night--that's neither age nor illness; they never
38567
38568were--and I didn't see you were a stranger.'<br><br>
38569
38570'I am sorry to call you from your bed,' said Kit, 'but those gentlemen
38571
38572you may see by the churchyard gate, are strangers too, who have just
38573
38574arrived from a long journey, and seek the parsonage-house.  You can
38575
38576direct us?'<br><br>
38577
38578'I should be able to,' answered the old man, in a trembling voice,
38579
38580'for, come next summer, I have been sexton here, good fifty years.  The
38581
38582right hand path, friend, is the road.--There is no ill news for our
38583
38584good gentleman, I hope?'<br><br>
38585
38586Kit thanked him, and made him a hasty answer in the negative; he was
38587
38588turning back, when his attention was caught by the voice of a child.
38589
38590Looking up, he saw a very little creature at a neighbouring window.<br><br>
38591
38592'What is that?' cried the child, earnestly.  'Has my dream come true?
38593
38594Pray speak to me, whoever that is, awake and up.'<br><br>
38595
38596'Poor boy!' said the sexton, before Kit could answer, 'how goes it,
38597
38598darling?' 'Has my dream come true?' exclaimed the child again, in a
38599
38600voice so fervent that it might have thrilled to the heart of any
38601
38602listener.  'But no, that can never be!  How could it be--Oh! how could
38603
38604it!'<br><br>
38605
38606'I guess his meaning,' said the sexton.  'To bed again, poor boy!'<br><br>
38607
38608'Ay!' cried the child, in a burst of despair.  'I knew it could never
38609
38610be, I felt too sure of that, before I asked!  But, all to-night, and
38611
38612last night too, it was the same.  I never fall asleep, but that cruel
38613
38614dream comes back.'<br><br>
38615
38616'Try to sleep again,' said the old man, soothingly.  'It will go in
38617
38618time.'<br><br>
38619
38620'No no, I would rather that it staid--cruel as it is, I would rather
38621
38622that it staid,' rejoined the child.  'I am not afraid to have it in my
38623
38624sleep, but I am so sad--so very, very sad.'<br><br>
38625
38626The old man blessed him, the child in tears replied Good night, and Kit
38627
38628was again alone.<br><br>
38629
38630He hurried back, moved by what he had heard, though more by the child's
38631
38632manner than by anything he had said, as his meaning was hidden from
38633
38634him.  They took the path indicated by the sexton, and soon arrived
38635
38636before the parsonage wall.  Turning round to look about them when they
38637
38638had got thus far, they saw, among some ruined buildings at a distance,
38639
38640one single solitary light.<br><br>
38641
38642It shone from what appeared to be an old oriel window, and being
38643
38644surrounded by the deep shadows of overhanging walls, sparkled like a
38645
38646star.  Bright and glimmering as the stars above their heads, lonely and
38647
38648motionless as they, it seemed to claim some kindred with the eternal
38649
38650lamps of Heaven, and to burn in fellowship with them.<br><br>
38651
38652'What light is that!' said the younger brother.<br><br>
38653
38654'It is surely,' said Mr Garland, 'in the ruin where they live.  I see
38655
38656no other ruin hereabouts.'<br><br>
38657
38658'They cannot,' returned the brother hastily, 'be waking at this late
38659
38660hour--'<br><br>
38661
38662Kit interposed directly, and begged that, while they rang and waited at
38663
38664the gate, they would let him make his way to where this light was
38665
38666shining, and try to ascertain if any people were about.  Obtaining the
38667
38668permission he desired, he darted off with breathless eagerness, and,
38669
38670still carrying the birdcage in his hand, made straight towards the spot.<br><br>
38671
38672It was not easy to hold that pace among the graves, and at another time
38673
38674he might have gone more slowly, or round by the path.  Unmindful of all
38675
38676obstacles, however, he pressed forward without slackening his speed,
38677
38678and soon arrived within a few yards of the window.  He approached as
38679
38680softly as he could, and advancing so near the wall as to brush the
38681
38682whitened ivy with his dress, listened.  There was no sound inside.  The
38683
38684church itself was not more quiet.  Touching the glass with his cheek,
38685
38686he listened again.  No.  And yet there was such a silence all around,
38687
38688that he felt sure he could have heard even the breathing of a sleeper,
38689
38690if there had been one there.<br><br>
38691
38692A strange circumstance, a light in such a place at that time of night,
38693
38694with no one near it.<br><br>
38695
38696A curtain was drawn across the lower portion of the window, and he
38697
38698could not see into the room.  But there was no shadow thrown upon it
38699
38700from within.  To have gained a footing on the wall and tried to look in
38701
38702from above, would have been attended with some danger--certainly with
38703
38704some noise, and the chance of terrifying the child, if that really were
38705
38706her habitation.  Again and again he listened; again and again the same
38707
38708wearisome blank.<br><br>
38709
38710Leaving the spot with slow and cautious steps, and skirting the ruin
38711
38712for a few paces, he came at length to a door.  He knocked.  No answer.
38713
38714But there was a curious noise inside.  It was difficult to determine
38715
38716what it was.  It bore a resemblance to the low moaning of one in pain,
38717
38718but it was not that, being far too regular and constant.  Now it seemed
38719
38720a kind of song, now a wail--seemed, that is, to his changing fancy, for
38721
38722the sound itself was never changed or checked.  It was unlike anything
38723
38724he had ever heard; and in its tone there was something fearful,
38725
38726chilling, and unearthly.<br><br>
38727
38728The listener's blood ran colder now than ever it had done in frost and
38729
38730snow, but he knocked again.  There was no answer, and the sound went on
38731
38732without any interruption.  He laid his hand softly upon the latch, and
38733
38734put his knee against the door.  It was secured on the inside, but
38735
38736yielded to the pressure, and turned upon its hinges.  He saw the
38737
38738glimmering of a fire upon the old walls, and entered.<br><br>
38739
38740CHAPTER 71<br><br>
38741
38742The dull, red glow of a wood fire--for no lamp or candle burnt within
38743
38744the room--showed him a figure, seated on the hearth with its back
38745
38746towards him, bending over the fitful light.  The attitude was that of
38747
38748one who sought the heat.  It was, and yet was not.  The stooping
38749
38750posture and the cowering form were there, but no hands were stretched
38751
38752out to meet the grateful warmth, no shrug or shiver compared its luxury
38753
38754with the piercing cold outside.  With limbs huddled together, head
38755
38756bowed down, arms crossed upon the breast, and fingers tightly clenched,
38757
38758it rocked to and fro upon its seat without a moment's pause,
38759
38760accompanying the action with the mournful sound he had heard.<br><br>
38761
38762The heavy door had closed behind him on his entrance, with a crash that
38763
38764made him start.  The figure neither spoke, nor turned to look, nor gave
38765
38766in any other way the faintest sign of having heard the noise.  The form
38767
38768was that of an old man, his white head akin in colour to the mouldering
38769
38770embers upon which he gazed.  He, and the failing light and dying fire,
38771
38772the time-worn room, the solitude, the wasted life, and gloom, were all
38773
38774in fellowship.  Ashes, and dust, and ruin!<br><br>
38775
38776Kit tried to speak, and did pronounce some words, though what they were
38777
38778he scarcely knew.  Still the same terrible low cry went on--still the
38779
38780same rocking in the chair--the same stricken figure was there,
38781
38782unchanged and heedless of his presence.<br><br>
38783
38784He had his hand upon the latch, when something in the form--distinctly
38785
38786seen as one log broke and fell, and, as it fell, blazed up--arrested
38787
38788it.  He returned to where he had stood before--advanced a
38789
38790pace--another--another still.  Another, and he saw the face.  Yes!
38791
38792Changed as it was, he knew it well.<br><br>
38793
38794'Master!' he cried, stooping on one knee and catching at his hand.
38795
38796'Dear master.  Speak to me!'<br><br>
38797
38798The old man turned slowly towards him; and muttered in a hollow voice,<br><br>
38799
38800'This is another!--How many of these spirits there have been to-night!'<br><br>
38801
38802'No spirit, master.  No one but your old servant.  You know me now, I
38803
38804am sure?  Miss Nell--where is she--where is she?'<br><br>
38805
38806'They all say that!' cried the old man.  'They all ask the same
38807
38808question.  A spirit!'<br><br>
38809
38810'Where is she?' demanded Kit.  'Oh tell me but that,--but that, dear
38811
38812master!'<br><br>
38813
38814'She is asleep--yonder--in there.'<br><br>
38815
38816'Thank God!'<br><br>
38817
38818'Aye!  Thank God!' returned the old man.  'I have prayed to Him, many,
38819
38820and many, and many a livelong night, when she has been asleep, He
38821
38822knows.  Hark!  Did she call?'<br><br>
38823
38824'I heard no voice.'<br><br>
38825
38826'You did.  You hear her now.  Do you tell me that you don't hear THAT?'<br><br>
38827
38828He started up, and listened again.<br><br>
38829
38830'Nor that?' he cried, with a triumphant smile, 'Can any body know that
38831
38832voice so well as I?  Hush!  Hush!' Motioning to him to be silent, he
38833
38834stole away into another chamber.  After a short absence (during which
38835
38836he could be heard to speak in a softened soothing tone) he returned,
38837
38838bearing in his hand a lamp.<br><br>
38839
38840'She is still asleep,' he whispered.  'You were right.  She did not
38841
38842call--unless she did so in her slumber.  She has called to me in her
38843
38844sleep before now, sir; as I have sat by, watching, I have seen her lips
38845
38846move, and have known, though no sound came from them, that she spoke of
38847
38848me.  I feared the light might dazzle her eyes and wake her, so I
38849
38850brought it here.'<br><br>
38851
38852He spoke rather to himself than to the visitor, but when he had put the
38853
38854lamp upon the table, he took it up, as if impelled by some momentary
38855
38856recollection or curiosity, and held it near his face.  Then, as if
38857
38858forgetting his motive in the very action, he turned away and put it
38859
38860down again.<br><br>
38861
38862'She is sleeping soundly,' he said; 'but no wonder.  Angel hands have
38863
38864strewn the ground deep with snow, that the lightest footstep may be
38865
38866lighter yet; and the very birds are dead, that they may not wake her.
38867
38868She used to feed them, Sir.  Though never so cold and hungry, the timid
38869
38870things would fly from us.  They never flew from her!'<br><br>
38871
38872Again he stopped to listen, and scarcely drawing breath, listened for a
38873
38874long, long time.  That fancy past, he opened an old chest, took out
38875
38876some clothes as fondly as if they had been living things, and began to
38877
38878smooth and brush them with his hand.<br><br>
38879
38880'Why dost thou lie so idle there, dear Nell,' he murmured, 'when there
38881
38882are bright red berries out of doors waiting for thee to pluck them!
38883
38884Why dost thou lie so idle there, when thy little friends come creeping
38885
38886to the door, crying "where is Nell--sweet Nell?"--and sob, and weep,
38887
38888because they do not see thee.  She was always gentle with children.
38889
38890The wildest would do her bidding--she had a tender way with them,
38891
38892indeed she had!'<br><br>
38893
38894Kit had no power to speak.  His eyes were filled with tears.<br><br>
38895
38896'Her little homely dress,--her favourite!' cried the old man, pressing
38897
38898it to his breast, and patting it with his shrivelled hand.  'She will
38899
38900miss it when she wakes.  They have hid it here in sport, but she shall
38901
38902have it--she shall have it.  I would not vex my darling, for the wide
38903
38904world's riches.  See here--these shoes--how worn they are--she kept
38905
38906them to remind her of our last long journey.  You see where the little
38907
38908feet went bare upon the ground.  They told me, afterwards, that the
38909
38910stones had cut and bruised them.  She never told me that.  No, no, God
38911
38912bless her! and, I have remembered since, she walked behind me, sir,
38913
38914that I might not see how lame she was--but yet she had my hand in hers,
38915
38916and seemed to lead me still.'<br><br>
38917
38918He pressed them to his lips, and having carefully put them back again,
38919
38920went on communing with himself--looking wistfully from time to time
38921
38922towards the chamber he had lately visited.<br><br>
38923
38924'She was not wont to be a lie-abed; but she was well then.  We must
38925
38926have patience.  When she is well again, she will rise early, as she
38927
38928used to do, and ramble abroad in the healthy morning time.  I often
38929
38930tried to track the way she had gone, but her small footstep left no
38931
38932print upon the dewy ground, to guide me.  Who is that?  Shut the door.
38933
38934Quick!--Have we not enough to do to drive away that marble cold, and
38935
38936keep her warm!'<br><br>
38937
38938The door was indeed opened, for the entrance of Mr Garland and his
38939
38940friend, accompanied by two other persons.  These were the schoolmaster,
38941
38942and the bachelor.  The former held a light in his hand.  He had, it
38943
38944seemed, but gone to his own cottage to replenish the exhausted lamp, at
38945
38946the moment when Kit came up and found the old man alone.<br><br>
38947
38948He softened again at sight of these two friends, and, laying aside the
38949
38950angry manner--if to anything so feeble and so sad the term can be
38951
38952applied--in which he had spoken when the door opened, resumed his
38953
38954former seat, and subsided, by little and little into the old action,
38955
38956and the old, dull, wandering sound.<br><br>
38957
38958Of the strangers, he took no heed whatever.  He had seen them, but
38959
38960appeared quite incapable of interest or curiosity.  The younger brother
38961
38962stood apart.  The bachelor drew a chair towards the old man, and sat
38963
38964down close beside him.  After a long silence, he ventured to speak.<br><br>
38965
38966'Another night, and not in bed!' he said softly; 'I hoped you would be
38967
38968more mindful of your promise to me.  Why do you not take some rest?'<br><br>
38969
38970'Sleep has left me,' returned the old man.  'It is all with her!'<br><br>
38971
38972'It would pain her very much to know that you were watching thus,' said
38973
38974the bachelor.  'You would not give her pain?'<br><br>
38975
38976'I am not so sure of that, if it would only rouse her.  She has slept
38977
38978so very long.  And yet I am rash to say so.  It is a good and happy
38979
38980sleep--eh?'<br><br>
38981
38982'Indeed it is,' returned the bachelor.  'Indeed, indeed, it is!'<br><br>
38983
38984'That's well!--and the waking--' faltered the old man.<br><br>
38985
38986'Happy too.  Happier than tongue can tell, or heart of man conceive.'<br><br>
38987
38988They watched him as he rose and stole on tiptoe to the other chamber
38989
38990where the lamp had been replaced.  They listened as he spoke again
38991
38992within its silent walls.  They looked into the faces of each other, and
38993
38994no man's cheek was free from tears.  He came back, whispering that she
38995
38996was still asleep, but that he thought she had moved.  It was her hand,
38997
38998he said--a little--a very, very little--but he was pretty sure she had
38999
39000moved it--perhaps in seeking his.  He had known her do that, before
39001
39002now, though in the deepest sleep the while.  And when he had said this,
39003
39004he dropped into his chair again, and clasping his hands above his head,
39005
39006uttered a cry never to be forgotten.<br><br>
39007
39008The poor schoolmaster motioned to the bachelor that he would come on
39009
39010the other side, and speak to him.  They gently unlocked his fingers,
39011
39012which he had twisted in his grey hair, and pressed them in their own.<br><br>
39013
39014'He will hear me,' said the schoolmaster, 'I am sure.  He will hear
39015
39016either me or you if we beseech him.  She would, at all times.'<br><br>
39017
39018'I will hear any voice she liked to hear,' cried the old man.  'I love
39019
39020all she loved!'<br><br>
39021
39022'I know you do,' returned the schoolmaster.  'I am certain of it.
39023
39024Think of her; think of all the sorrows and afflictions you have shared
39025
39026together; of all the trials, and all the peaceful pleasures, you have
39027
39028jointly known.'<br><br>
39029
39030'I do.  I do.  I think of nothing else.'<br><br>
39031
39032'I would have you think of nothing else to-night--of nothing but those
39033
39034things which will soften your heart, dear friend, and open it to old
39035
39036affections and old times.  It is so that she would speak to you
39037
39038herself, and in her name it is that I speak now.'<br><br>
39039
39040'You do well to speak softly,' said the old man.  'We will not wake
39041
39042her.  I should be glad to see her eyes again, and to see her smile.
39043
39044There is a smile upon her young face now, but it is fixed and
39045
39046changeless.  I would have it come and go.  That shall be in Heaven's
39047
39048good time.  We will not wake her.'<br><br>
39049
39050'Let us not talk of her in her sleep, but as she used to be when you
39051
39052were Journeying together, far away--as she was at home, in the old
39053
39054house from which you fled together--as she was, in the old cheerful
39055
39056time,' said the schoolmaster.<br><br>
39057
39058'She was always cheerful--very cheerful,' cried the old man, looking
39059
39060steadfastly at him.  'There was ever something mild and quiet about
39061
39062her, I remember, from the first; but she was of a happy nature.'<br><br>
39063
39064'We have heard you say,' pursued the schoolmaster, 'that in this and in
39065
39066all goodness, she was like her mother.  You can think of, and remember
39067
39068her?'<br><br>
39069
39070He maintained his steadfast look, but gave no answer.<br><br>
39071
39072'Or even one before her,' said the bachelor.  'It is many years ago,
39073
39074and affliction makes the time longer, but you have not forgotten her
39075
39076whose death contributed to make this child so dear to you, even before
39077
39078you knew her worth or could read her heart?  Say, that you could carry
39079
39080back your thoughts to very distant days--to the time of your early
39081
39082life--when, unlike this fair flower, you did not pass your youth alone.
39083
39084Say, that you could remember, long ago, another child who loved you
39085
39086dearly, you being but a child yourself.  Say, that you had a brother,
39087
39088long forgotten, long unseen, long separated from you, who now, at last,
39089
39090in your utmost need came back to comfort and console you--'<br><br>
39091
39092'To be to you what you were once to him,' cried the younger, falling on
39093
39094his knee before him; 'to repay your old affection, brother dear, by
39095
39096constant care, solicitude, and love; to be, at your right hand, what he
39097
39098has never ceased to be when oceans rolled between us; to call to
39099
39100witness his unchanging truth and mindfulness of bygone days, whole
39101
39102years of desolation.  Give me but one word of recognition, brother--and
39103
39104never--no never, in the brightest moment of our youngest days, when,
39105
39106poor silly boys, we thought to pass our lives together--have we been
39107
39108half as dear and precious to each other as we shall be from this time
39109
39110hence!'<br><br>
39111
39112The old man looked from face to face, and his lips moved; but no sound
39113
39114came from them in reply.<br><br>
39115
39116'If we were knit together then,' pursued the younger brother, 'what
39117
39118will be the bond between us now!  Our love and fellowship began in
39119
39120childhood, when life was all before us, and will be resumed when we
39121
39122have proved it, and are but children at the last.  As many restless
39123
39124spirits, who have hunted fortune, fame, or pleasure through the world,
39125
39126retire in their decline to where they first drew breath, vainly seeking
39127
39128to be children once again before they die, so we, less fortunate than
39129
39130they in early life, but happier in its closing scenes, will set up our
39131
39132rest again among our boyish haunts, and going home with no hope
39133
39134realised, that had its growth in manhood--carrying back nothing that
39135
39136we brought away, but our old yearnings to each other--saving no
39137
39138fragment from the wreck of life, but that which first endeared it--may
39139
39140be, indeed, but children as at first.  And even,' he added in an
39141
39142altered voice, 'even if what I dread to name has come to pass--even if
39143
39144that be so, or is to be (which Heaven forbid and spare us!)--still,
39145
39146dear brother, we are not apart, and have that comfort in our great
39147
39148affliction.'<br><br>
39149
39150By little and little, the old man had drawn back towards the inner
39151
39152chamber, while these words were spoken.  He pointed there, as he
39153
39154replied, with trembling lips.<br><br>
39155
39156'You plot among you to wean my heart from her.  You never will do
39157
39158that--never while I have life.  I have no relative or friend but her--I
39159
39160never had--I never will have.  She is all in all to me.  It is too late
39161
39162to part us now.'<br><br>
39163
39164Waving them off with his hand, and calling softly to her as he went, he
39165
39166stole into the room.  They who were left behind, drew close together,
39167
39168and after a few whispered words--not unbroken by emotion, or easily
39169
39170uttered--followed him.  They moved so gently, that their footsteps made
39171
39172no noise; but there were sobs from among the group, and sounds of grief
39173
39174and mourning.<br><br>
39175
39176For she was dead.  There, upon her little bed, she lay at rest.  The
39177
39178solemn stillness was no marvel now.<br><br>
39179
39180She was dead.  No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of
39181
39182pain, so fair to look upon.  She seemed a creature fresh from the hand
39183
39184of God, and waiting for the breath of life; not one who had lived and
39185
39186suffered death.<br><br>
39187
39188Her couch was dressed with here and there some winter berries and green
39189
39190leaves, gathered in a spot she had been used to favour.  'When I die,
39191
39192put near me something that has loved the light, and had the sky above
39193
39194it always.'  Those were her words.<br><br>
39195
39196She was dead.  Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead.  Her little
39197
39198bird--a poor slight thing the pressure of a finger would have
39199
39200crushed--was stirring nimbly in its cage; and the strong heart of its
39201
39202child mistress was mute and motionless for ever.<br><br>
39203
39204Where were the traces of her early cares, her sufferings, and fatigues?
39205
39206All gone.  Sorrow was dead indeed in her, but peace and perfect
39207
39208happiness were born; imaged in her tranquil beauty and profound repose.<br><br>
39209
39210And still her former self lay there, unaltered in this change.  Yes.
39211
39212The old fireside had smiled upon that same sweet face; it had passed,
39213
39214like a dream, through haunts of misery and care; at the door of the
39215
39216poor schoolmaster on the summer evening, before the furnace fire upon
39217
39218the cold wet night, at the still bedside of the dying boy, there had
39219
39220been the same mild lovely look.  So shall we know the angels in their
39221
39222majesty, after death.<br><br>
39223
39224The old man held one languid arm in his, and had the small hand tight
39225
39226folded to his breast, for warmth.  It was the hand she had stretched
39227
39228out to him with her last smile--the hand that had led him on, through
39229
39230all their wanderings.  Ever and anon he pressed it to his lips; then
39231
39232hugged it to his breast again, murmuring that it was warmer now; and,
39233
39234as he said it, he looked, in agony, to those who stood around, as if
39235
39236imploring them to help her.<br><br>
39237
39238She was dead, and past all help, or need of it.  The ancient rooms she
39239
39240had seemed to fill with life, even while her own was waning fast--the
39241
39242garden she had tended--the eyes she had gladdened--the noiseless haunts
39243
39244of many a thoughtful hour--the paths she had trodden as it were but
39245
39246yesterday--could know her never more.<br><br>
39247
39248'It is not,' said the schoolmaster, as he bent down to kiss her on the
39249
39250cheek, and gave his tears free vent, 'it is not on earth that Heaven's
39251
39252justice ends.  Think what earth is, compared with the World to which
39253
39254her young spirit has winged its early flight; and say, if one
39255
39256deliberate wish expressed in solemn terms above this bed could call her
39257
39258back to life, which of us would utter it!'<br><br>
39259
39260CHAPTER 72<br><br>
39261
39262When morning came, and they could speak more calmly on the subject of
39263
39264their grief, they heard how her life had closed.<br><br>
39265
39266She had been dead two days.  They were all about her at the time,
39267
39268knowing that the end was drawing on.  She died soon after daybreak.
39269
39270They had read and talked to her in the earlier portion of the night,
39271
39272but as the hours crept on, she sunk to sleep.  They could tell, by what
39273
39274she faintly uttered in her dreams, that they were of her journeyings
39275
39276with the old man; they were of no painful scenes, but of people who had
39277
39278helped and used them kindly, for she often said 'God bless you!' with
39279
39280great fervour.  Waking, she never wandered in her mind but once, and
39281
39282that was of beautiful music which she said was in the air.  God knows.
39283
39284It may have been.<br><br>
39285
39286Opening her eyes at last, from a very quiet sleep, she begged that they
39287
39288would kiss her once again.  That done, she turned to the old man with a
39289
39290lovely smile upon her face--such, they said, as they had never seen,
39291
39292and never could forget--and clung with both her arms about his neck.
39293
39294They did not know that she was dead, at first.<br><br>
39295
39296She had spoken very often of the two sisters, who, she said, were like
39297
39298dear friends to her.  She wished they could be told how much she
39299
39300thought about them, and how she had watched them as they walked
39301
39302together, by the river side at night.  She would like to see poor Kit,
39303
39304she had often said of late.  She wished there was somebody to take her
39305
39306love to Kit.  And, even then, she never thought or spoke about him, but
39307
39308with something of her old, clear, merry laugh.<br><br>
39309
39310For the rest, she had never murmured or complained; but with a quiet
39311
39312mind, and manner quite unaltered--save that she every day became more
39313
39314earnest and more grateful to them--faded like the light upon a summer's
39315
39316evening.<br><br>
39317
39318The child who had been her little friend came there, almost as soon as
39319
39320it was day, with an offering of dried flowers which he begged them to
39321
39322lay upon her breast.  It was he who had come to the window overnight
39323
39324and spoken to the sexton, and they saw in the snow traces of small
39325
39326feet, where he had been lingering near the room in which she lay,
39327
39328before he went to bed.  He had a fancy, it seemed, that they had left
39329
39330her there alone; and could not bear the thought.<br><br>
39331
39332He told them of his dream again, and that it was of her being restored
39333
39334to them, just as she used to be.  He begged hard to see her, saying
39335
39336that he would be very quiet, and that they need not fear his being
39337
39338alarmed, for he had sat alone by his young brother all day long when he
39339
39340was dead, and had felt glad to be so near him.  They let him have his
39341
39342wish; and indeed he kept his word, and was, in his childish way, a
39343
39344lesson to them all.<br><br>
39345
39346Up to that time, the old man had not spoken once--except to her--or
39347
39348stirred from the bedside.  But, when he saw her little favourite, he
39349
39350was moved as they had not seen him yet, and made as though he would
39351
39352have him come nearer.  Then, pointing to the bed, he burst into tears
39353
39354for the first time, and they who stood by, knowing that the sight of
39355
39356this child had done him good, left them alone together.<br><br>
39357
39358Soothing him with his artless talk of her, the child persuaded him to
39359
39360take some rest, to walk abroad, to do almost as he desired him.  And
39361
39362when the day came on, which must remove her in her earthly shape from
39363
39364earthly eyes for ever, he led him away, that he might not know when she
39365
39366was taken from him.<br><br>
39367
39368They were to gather fresh leaves and berries for her bed.  It was
39369
39370Sunday--a bright, clear, wintry afternoon--and as they traversed the
39371
39372village street, those who were walking in their path drew back to make
39373
39374way for them, and gave them a softened greeting.  Some shook the old
39375
39376man kindly by the hand, some stood uncovered while he tottered by, and
39377
39378many cried 'God help him!' as he passed along.<br><br>
39379
39380'Neighbour!' said the old man, stopping at the cottage where his young
39381
39382guide's mother dwelt, 'how is it that the folks are nearly all in black
39383
39384to-day?  I have seen a mourning ribbon or a piece of crape on almost
39385
39386every one.'<br><br>
39387
39388She could not tell, the woman said.  'Why, you yourself--you wear the
39389
39390colour too?' he said.  'Windows are closed that never used to be by
39391
39392day.  What does this mean?'<br><br>
39393
39394Again the woman said she could not tell.<br><br>
39395
39396'We must go back,' said the old man, hurriedly.  'We must see what this
39397
39398is.'<br><br>
39399
39400'No, no,' cried the child, detaining him.  'Remember what you promised.
39401
39402Our way is to the old green lane, where she and I so often were, and
39403
39404where you found us, more than once, making those garlands for her
39405
39406garden.  Do not turn back!'<br><br>
39407
39408'Where is she now?' said the old man.  'Tell me that.'<br><br>
39409
39410'Do you not know?' returned the child.  'Did we not leave her, but just
39411
39412now?'<br><br>
39413
39414'True.  True.  It was her we left--was it?'<br><br>
39415
39416He pressed his hand upon his brow, looked vacantly round, and as if
39417
39418impelled by a sudden thought, crossed the road, and entered the
39419
39420sexton's house.  He and his deaf assistant were sitting before the
39421
39422fire.  Both rose up, on seeing who it was.<br><br>
39423
39424The child made a hasty sign to them with his hand.  It was the action
39425
39426of an instant, but that, and the old man's look, were quite enough.<br><br>
39427
39428'Do you--do you bury any one to-day?' he said, eagerly.<br><br>
39429
39430'No, no!  Who should we bury, Sir?' returned the sexton.<br><br>
39431
39432'Aye, who indeed!  I say with you, who indeed!'<br><br>
39433
39434'It is a holiday with us, good Sir,' returned the sexton mildly.  'We
39435
39436have no work to do to-day.'<br><br>
39437
39438'Why then, I'll go where you will,' said the old man, turning to the
39439
39440child.  'You're sure of what you tell me?  You would not deceive me?  I
39441
39442am changed, even in the little time since you last saw me.'<br><br>
39443
39444'Go thy ways with him, Sir,' cried the sexton, 'and Heaven be with ye
39445
39446both!'<br><br>
39447
39448'I am quite ready,' said the old man, meekly.  'Come, boy, come--' and
39449
39450so submitted to be led away.<br><br>
39451
39452And now the bell--the bell she had so often heard, by night and day,
39453
39454and listened to with solemn pleasure almost as a living voice--rung
39455
39456its remorseless toll, for her, so young, so beautiful, so good.
39457
39458Decrepit age, and vigorous life, and blooming youth, and helpless
39459
39460infancy, poured forth--on crutches, in the pride of strength and
39461
39462health, in the full blush of promise, in the mere dawn of life--to
39463
39464gather round her tomb.  Old men were there, whose eyes were dim and
39465
39466senses failing--grandmothers, who might have died ten years ago, and
39467
39468still been old--the deaf, the blind, the lame, the palsied, the living
39469
39470dead in many shapes and forms, to see the closing of that early grave.
39471
39472What was the death it would shut in, to that which still could crawl
39473
39474and creep above it!<br><br>
39475
39476Along the crowded path they bore her now; pure as the newly-fallen snow
39477
39478that covered it; whose day on earth had been as fleeting.  Under the
39479
39480porch, where she had sat when Heaven in its mercy brought her to that
39481
39482peaceful spot, she passed again; and the old church received her in its
39483
39484quiet shade.<br><br>
39485
39486They carried her to one old nook, where she had many and many a time
39487
39488sat musing, and laid their burden softly on the pavement.  The light
39489
39490streamed on it through the coloured window--a window, where the boughs
39491
39492of trees were ever rustling in the summer, and where the birds sang
39493
39494sweetly all day long.  With every breath of air that stirred among
39495
39496those branches in the sunshine, some trembling, changing light, would
39497
39498fall upon her grave.<br><br>
39499
39500Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust!  Many a young hand
39501
39502dropped in its little wreath, many a stifled sob was heard.  Some--and
39503
39504they were not a few--knelt down.  All were sincere and truthful in
39505
39506their sorrow.<br><br>
39507
39508The service done, the mourners stood apart, and the villagers closed
39509
39510round to look into the grave before the pavement-stone should be
39511
39512replaced.  One called to mind how he had seen her sitting on that very
39513
39514spot, and how her book had fallen on her lap, and she was gazing with a
39515
39516pensive face upon the sky.  Another told, how he had wondered much that
39517
39518one so delicate as she, should be so bold; how she had never feared to
39519
39520enter the church alone at night, but had loved to linger there when all
39521
39522was quiet, and even to climb the tower stair, with no more light than
39523
39524that of the moon rays stealing through the loopholes in the thick old
39525
39526wall.  A whisper went about among the oldest, that she had seen and
39527
39528talked with angels; and when they called to mind how she had looked,
39529
39530and spoken, and her early death, some thought it might be so, indeed.
39531
39532Thus, coming to the grave in little knots, and glancing down, and
39533
39534giving place to others, and falling off in whispering groups of three
39535
39536or four, the church was cleared in time, of all but the sexton and the
39537
39538mourning friends.<br><br>
39539
39540They saw the vault covered, and the stone fixed down.  Then, when the
39541
39542dusk of evening had come on, and not a sound disturbed the sacred
39543
39544stillness of the place--when the bright moon poured in her light on
39545
39546tomb and monument, on pillar, wall, and arch, and most of all (it
39547
39548seemed to them) upon her quiet grave--in that calm time, when outward
39549
39550things and inward thoughts teem with assurances of immortality, and
39551
39552worldly hopes and fears are humbled in the dust before them--then, with
39553
39554tranquil and submissive hearts they turned away, and left the child
39555
39556with God.<br><br>
39557
39558Oh! it is hard to take to heart the lesson that such deaths will teach,
39559
39560but let no man reject it, for it is one that all must learn, and is a
39561
39562mighty, universal Truth.  When Death strikes down the innocent and
39563
39564young, for every fragile form from which he lets the panting spirit
39565
39566free, a hundred virtues rise, in shapes of mercy, charity, and love, to
39567
39568walk the world, and bless it.  Of every tear that sorrowing mortals
39569
39570shed on such green graves, some good is born, some gentler nature
39571
39572comes.  In the Destroyer's steps there spring up bright creations that
39573
39574defy his power, and his dark path becomes a way of light to Heaven.<br><br>
39575
39576It was late when the old man came home.  The boy had led him to his own
39577
39578dwelling, under some pretence, on their way back; and, rendered drowsy
39579
39580by his long ramble and late want of rest, he had sunk into a deep sleep
39581
39582by the fireside.  He was perfectly exhausted, and they were careful not
39583
39584to rouse him.  The slumber held him a long time, and when he at length
39585
39586awoke the moon was shining.<br><br>
39587
39588The younger brother, uneasy at his protracted absence, was watching at
39589
39590the door for his coming, when he appeared in the pathway with his
39591
39592little guide.  He advanced to meet them, and tenderly obliging the old
39593
39594man to lean upon his arm, conducted him with slow and trembling steps
39595
39596towards the house.<br><br>
39597
39598He repaired to her chamber, straight.  Not finding what he had left
39599
39600there, he returned with distracted looks to the room in which they were
39601
39602assembled.  From that, he rushed into the schoolmaster's cottage,
39603
39604calling her name.  They followed close upon him, and when he had vainly
39605
39606searched it, brought him home.<br><br>
39607
39608With such persuasive words as pity and affection could suggest, they
39609
39610prevailed upon him to sit among them and hear what they should tell
39611
39612him.  Then endeavouring by every little artifice to prepare his mind
39613
39614for what must come, and dwelling with many fervent words upon the happy
39615
39616lot to which she had been removed, they told him, at last, the truth.
39617
39618The moment it had passed their lips, he fell down among them like a
39619
39620murdered man.<br><br>
39621
39622For many hours, they had little hope of his surviving; but grief is
39623
39624strong, and he recovered.<br><br>
39625
39626If there be any who have never known the blank that follows death--the
39627
39628weary void--the sense of desolation that will come upon the strongest
39629
39630minds, when something familiar and beloved is missed at every turn--the
39631
39632connection between inanimate and senseless things, and the object of
39633
39634recollection, when every household god becomes a monument and every
39635
39636room a grave--if there be any who have not known this, and proved it by
39637
39638their own experience, they can never faintly guess how, for many days,
39639
39640the old man pined and moped away the time, and wandered here and there
39641
39642as seeking something, and had no comfort.<br><br>
39643
39644Whatever power of thought or memory he retained, was all bound up in
39645
39646her.  He never understood, or seemed to care to understand, about his
39647
39648brother.  To every endearment and attention he continued listless.  If
39649
39650they spoke to him on this, or any other theme--save one--he would hear
39651
39652them patiently for awhile, then turn away, and go on seeking as before.<br><br>
39653
39654On that one theme, which was in his and all their minds, it was
39655
39656impossible to touch.  Dead!  He could not hear or bear the word.  The
39657
39658slightest hint of it would throw him into a paroxysm, like that he had
39659
39660had when it was first spoken.  In what hope he lived, no man could
39661
39662tell; but that he had some hope of finding her again--some faint and
39663
39664shadowy hope, deferred from day to day, and making him from day to day
39665
39666more sick and sore at heart--was plain to all.<br><br>
39667
39668They bethought them of a removal from the scene of this last sorrow; of
39669
39670trying whether change of place would rouse or cheer him.  His brother
39671
39672sought the advice of those who were accounted skilful in such matters,
39673
39674and they came and saw him.  Some of the number staid upon the spot,
39675
39676conversed with him when he would converse, and watched him as he
39677
39678wandered up and down, alone and silent.  Move him where they might,
39679
39680they said, he would ever seek to get back there.  His mind would run
39681
39682upon that spot.  If they confined him closely, and kept a strict guard
39683
39684upon him, they might hold him prisoner, but if he could by any means
39685
39686escape, he would surely wander back to that place, or die upon the road.<br><br>
39687
39688The boy, to whom he had submitted at first, had no longer any influence
39689
39690with him.  At times he would suffer the child to walk by his side, or
39691
39692would even take such notice of his presence as giving him his hand, or
39693
39694would stop to kiss his cheek, or pat him on the head.  At other times,
39695
39696he would entreat him--not unkindly--to be gone, and would not brook him
39697
39698near.  But, whether alone, or with this pliant friend, or with those
39699
39700who would have given him, at any cost or sacrifice, some consolation or
39701
39702some peace of mind, if happily the means could have been devised; he
39703
39704was at all times the same--with no love or care for anything in life--a
39705
39706broken-hearted man.<br><br>
39707
39708At length, they found, one day, that he had risen early, and, with his
39709
39710knapsack on his back, his staff in hand, her own straw hat, and little
39711
39712basket full of such things as she had been used to carry, was gone.  As
39713
39714they were making ready to pursue him far and wide, a frightened
39715
39716schoolboy came who had seen him, but a moment before, sitting in the
39717
39718church--upon her grave, he said.<br><br>
39719
39720They hastened there, and going softly to the door, espied him in the
39721
39722attitude of one who waited patiently.  They did not disturb him then,
39723
39724but kept a watch upon him all that day.  When it grew quite dark, he
39725
39726rose and returned home, and went to bed, murmuring to himself, 'She
39727
39728will come to-morrow!'<br><br>
39729
39730Upon the morrow he was there again from sunrise until night; and still
39731
39732at night he laid him down to rest, and murmured, 'She will come
39733
39734to-morrow!'<br><br>
39735
39736And thenceforth, every day, and all day long, he waited at her grave,
39737
39738for her.  How many pictures of new journeys over pleasant country, of
39739
39740resting-places under the free broad sky, of rambles in the fields and
39741
39742woods, and paths not often trodden--how many tones of that one
39743
39744well-remembered voice, how many glimpses of the form, the fluttering
39745
39746dress, the hair that waved so gaily in the wind--how many visions of
39747
39748what had been, and what he hoped was yet to be--rose up before him, in
39749
39750the old, dull, silent church!  He never told them what he thought, or
39751
39752where he went.  He would sit with them at night, pondering with a
39753
39754secret satisfaction, they could see, upon the flight that he and she
39755
39756would take before night came again; and still they would hear him
39757
39758whisper in his prayers, 'Lord!  Let her come to-morrow!'<br><br>
39759
39760The last time was on a genial day in spring.  He did not return at the
39761
39762usual hour, and they went to seek him.  He was lying dead upon the
39763
39764stone.<br><br>
39765
39766They laid him by the side of her whom he had loved so well; and, in the
39767
39768church where they had often prayed, and mused, and lingered hand in
39769
39770hand, the child and the old man slept together.<br><br>
39771
39772CHAPTER 73<br><br>
39773
39774The magic reel, which, rolling on before, has led the chronicler thus
39775
39776far, now slackens in its pace, and stops.  It lies before the goal; the
39777
39778pursuit is at an end.<br><br>
39779
39780It remains but to dismiss the leaders of the little crowd who have
39781
39782borne us company upon the road, and so to close the journey.<br><br>
39783
39784Foremost among them, smooth Sampson Brass and Sally, arm in arm, claim
39785
39786our polite attention.<br><br>
39787
39788Mr Sampson, then, being detained, as already has been shown, by the
39789
39790justice upon whom he called, and being so strongly pressed to protract
39791
39792his stay that he could by no means refuse, remained under his
39793
39794protection for a considerable time, during which the great attention of
39795
39796his entertainer kept him so extremely close, that he was quite lost to
39797
39798society, and never even went abroad for exercise saving into a small
39799
39800paved yard.  So well, indeed, was his modest and retiring temper
39801
39802understood by those with whom he had to deal, and so jealous were they
39803
39804of his absence, that they required a kind of friendly bond to be
39805
39806entered into by two substantial housekeepers, in the sum of fifteen
39807
39808hundred pounds a-piece, before they would suffer him to quit their
39809
39810hospitable roof--doubting, it appeared, that he would return, if once
39811
39812let loose, on any other terms.  Mr Brass, struck with the humour of
39813
39814this jest, and carrying out its spirit to the utmost, sought from his
39815
39816wide connection a pair of friends whose joint possessions fell some
39817
39818halfpence short of fifteen pence, and proffered them as bail--for that
39819
39820was the merry word agreed upon both sides.  These gentlemen being
39821
39822rejected after twenty-four hours' pleasantry, Mr Brass consented to
39823
39824remain, and did remain, until a club of choice spirits called a Grand
39825
39826jury (who were in the joke) summoned him to a trial before twelve other
39827
39828wags for perjury and fraud, who in their turn found him guilty with a
39829
39830most facetious joy,--nay, the very populace entered into the whim, and
39831
39832when Mr Brass was moving in a hackney-coach towards the building where
39833
39834these wags assembled, saluted him with rotten eggs and carcases of
39835
39836kittens, and feigned to wish to tear him into shreds, which greatly
39837
39838increased the comicality of the thing, and made him relish it the more,
39839
39840no doubt.<br><br>
39841
39842To work this sportive vein still further, Mr Brass, by his counsel,
39843
39844moved in arrest of judgment that he had been led to criminate himself,
39845
39846by assurances of safety and promises of pardon, and claimed the
39847
39848leniency which the law extends to such confiding natures as are thus
39849
39850deluded.  After solemn argument, this point (with others of a technical
39851
39852nature, whose humorous extravagance it would be difficult to
39853
39854exaggerate) was referred to the judges for their decision, Sampson
39855
39856being meantime removed to his former quarters.  Finally, some of the
39857
39858points were given in Sampson's favour, and some against him; and the
39859
39860upshot was, that, instead of being desired to travel for a time in
39861
39862foreign parts, he was permitted to grace the mother country under
39863
39864certain insignificant restrictions.<br><br>
39865
39866These were, that he should, for a term of years, reside in a spacious
39867
39868mansion where several other gentlemen were lodged and boarded at the
39869
39870public charge, who went clad in a sober uniform of grey turned up with
39871
39872yellow, had their hair cut extremely short, and chiefly lived on gruel
39873
39874and light soup.  It was also required of him that he should partake of
39875
39876their exercise of constantly ascending an endless flight of stairs;
39877
39878and, lest his legs, unused to such exertion, should be weakened by it,
39879
39880that he should wear upon one ankle an amulet or charm of iron.  These
39881
39882conditions being arranged, he was removed one evening to his new abode,
39883
39884and enjoyed, in common with nine other gentlemen, and two ladies, the
39885
39886privilege of being taken to his place of retirement in one of Royalty's
39887
39888own carriages.<br><br>
39889
39890Over and above these trifling penalties, his name was erased and
39891
39892blotted out from the roll of attorneys; which erasure has been always
39893
39894held in these latter times to be a great degradation and reproach, and
39895
39896to imply the commission of some amazing villany--as indeed it would
39897
39898seem to be the case, when so many worthless names remain among its
39899
39900better records, unmolested.<br><br>
39901
39902Of Sally Brass, conflicting rumours went abroad.  Some said with
39903
39904confidence that she had gone down to the docks in male attire, and had
39905
39906become a female sailor; others darkly whispered that she had enlisted
39907
39908as a private in the second regiment of Foot Guards, and had been seen
39909
39910in uniform, and on duty, to wit, leaning on her musket and looking out
39911
39912of a sentry-box in St james's Park, one evening.  There were many such
39913
39914whispers as these in circulation; but the truth appears to be that,
39915
39916after the lapse of some five years (during which there is no direct
39917
39918evidence of her having been seen at all), two wretched people were more
39919
39920than once observed to crawl at dusk from the inmost recesses of St
39921
39922Giles's, and to take their way along the streets, with shuffling steps
39923
39924and cowering shivering forms, looking into the roads and kennels as
39925
39926they went in search of refuse food or disregarded offal.  These forms
39927
39928were never beheld but in those nights of cold and gloom, when the
39929
39930terrible spectres, who lie at all other times in the obscene
39931
39932hiding-places of London, in archways, dark vaults and cellars, venture
39933
39934to creep into the streets; the embodied spirits of Disease, and Vice,
39935
39936and Famine.  It was whispered by those who should have known, that
39937
39938these were Sampson and his sister Sally; and to this day, it is said,
39939
39940they sometimes pass, on bad nights, in the same loathsome guise, close
39941
39942at the elbow of the shrinking passenger.<br><br>
39943
39944The body of Quilp being found--though not until some days had
39945
39946elapsed--an inquest was held on it near the spot where it had been
39947
39948washed ashore.  The general supposition was that he had committed
39949
39950suicide, and, this appearing to be favoured by all the circumstances of
39951
39952his death, the verdict was to that effect.  He was left to be buried
39953
39954with a stake through his heart in the centre of four lonely roads.<br><br>
39955
39956It was rumoured afterwards that this horrible and barbarous ceremony
39957
39958had been dispensed with, and that the remains had been secretly given
39959
39960up to Tom Scott.  But even here, opinion was divided; for some said Tom
39961
39962dug them up at midnight, and carried them to a place indicated to him
39963
39964by the widow.  It is probable that both these stories may have had
39965
39966their origin in the simple fact of Tom's shedding tears upon the
39967
39968inquest--which he certainly did, extraordinary as it may appear.  He
39969
39970manifested, besides, a strong desire to assault the jury; and being
39971
39972restrained and conducted out of court, darkened its only window by
39973
39974standing on his head upon the sill, until he was dexterously tilted
39975
39976upon his feet again by a cautious beadle.<br><br>
39977
39978Being cast upon the world by his master's death, he determined to go
39979
39980through it upon his head and hands, and accordingly began to tumble for
39981
39982his bread.  Finding, however, his English birth an insurmountable
39983
39984obstacle to his advancement in this pursuit (notwithstanding that his
39985
39986art was in high repute and favour), he assumed the name of an Italian
39987
39988image lad, with whom he had become acquainted; and afterwards tumbled
39989
39990with extraordinary success, and to overflowing audiences.  Little Mrs
39991
39992Quilp never quite forgave herself the one deceit that lay so heavy on
39993
39994her conscience, and never spoke or thought of it but with bitter tears.
39995
39996Her husband had no relations, and she was rich.  He had made no will,
39997
39998or she would probably have been poor.  Having married the first time at
39999
40000her mother's instigation, she consulted in her second choice nobody but
40001
40002herself.  It fell upon a smart young fellow enough; and as he made it a
40003
40004preliminary condition that Mrs Jiniwin should be thenceforth an
40005
40006out-pensioner, they lived together after marriage with no more than the
40007
40008average amount of quarrelling, and led a merry life upon the dead
40009
40010dwarf's money.<br><br>
40011
40012Mr and Mrs Garland, and Mr Abel, went out as usual (except that there
40013
40014was a change in their household, as will be seen presently), and in due
40015
40016time the latter went into partnership with his friend the notary, on
40017
40018which occasion there was a dinner, and a ball, and great extent of
40019
40020dissipation.  Unto this ball there happened to be invited the most
40021
40022bashful young lady that was ever seen, with whom Mr Abel happened to
40023
40024fall in love.  HOW it happened, or how they found it out, or which of
40025
40026them first communicated the discovery to the other, nobody knows.  But
40027
40028certain it is that in course of time they were married; and equally
40029
40030certain it is that they were the happiest of the happy; and no less
40031
40032certain it is that they deserved to be so.  And it is pleasant to write
40033
40034down that they reared a family; because any propagation of goodness and
40035
40036benevolence is no small addition to the aristocracy of nature, and no
40037
40038small subject of rejoicing for mankind at large.<br><br>
40039
40040The pony preserved his character for independence and principle down to
40041
40042the last moment of his life; which was an unusually long one, and
40043
40044caused him to be looked upon, indeed, as the very Old Parr of ponies.
40045
40046He often went to and fro with the little phaeton between Mr Garland's
40047
40048and his son's, and, as the old people and the young were frequently
40049
40050together, had a stable of his own at the new establishment, into which
40051
40052he would walk of himself with surprising dignity.  He condescended to
40053
40054play with the children, as they grew old enough to cultivate his
40055
40056friendship, and would run up and down the little paddock with them like
40057
40058a dog; but though he relaxed so far, and allowed them such small
40059
40060freedoms as caresses, or even to look at his shoes or hang on by his
40061
40062tail, he never permitted any one among them to mount his back or drive
40063
40064him; thus showing that even their familiarity must have its limits, and
40065
40066that there were points between them far too serious for trifling.<br><br>
40067
40068He was not unsusceptible of warm attachments in his later life, for
40069
40070when the good bachelor came to live with Mr Garland upon the
40071
40072clergyman's decease, he conceived a great friendship for him, and
40073
40074amiably submitted to be driven by his hands without the least
40075
40076resistance.  He did no work for two or three years before he died, but
40077
40078lived in clover; and his last act (like a choleric old gentleman) was
40079
40080to kick his doctor.<br><br>
40081
40082Mr Swiveller, recovering very slowly from his illness, and entering
40083
40084into the receipt of his annuity, bought for the Marchioness a handsome
40085
40086stock of clothes, and put her to school forthwith, in redemption of the
40087
40088vow he had made upon his fevered bed.  After casting about for some
40089
40090time for a name which should be worthy of her, he decided in favour of
40091
40092Sophronia Sphynx, as being euphonious and genteel, and furthermore
40093
40094indicative of mystery.  Under this title the Marchioness repaired, in
40095
40096tears, to the school of his selection, from which, as she soon
40097
40098distanced all competitors, she was removed before the lapse of many
40099
40100quarters to one of a higher grade.  It is but bare justice to Mr
40101
40102Swiveller to say, that, although the expenses of her education kept him
40103
40104in straitened circumstances for half a dozen years, he never slackened
40105
40106in his zeal, and always held himself sufficiently repaid by the
40107
40108accounts he heard (with great gravity) of her advancement, on his
40109
40110monthly visits to the governess, who looked upon him as a literary
40111
40112gentleman of eccentric habits, and of a most prodigious talent in
40113
40114quotation.<br><br>
40115
40116In a word, Mr Swiveller kept the Marchioness at this establishment
40117
40118until she was, at a moderate guess, full nineteen years of age--
40119
40120good-looking, clever, and good-humoured; when he began to consider
40121
40122seriously what was to be done next.  On one of his periodical visits,
40123
40124while he was revolving this question in his mind, the Marchioness came
40125
40126down to him, alone, looking more smiling and more fresh than ever.
40127
40128Then, it occurred to him, but not for the first time, that if she would
40129
40130marry him, how comfortable they might be!  So Richard asked her;
40131
40132whatever she said, it wasn't No; and they were married in good earnest
40133
40134that day week.  Which gave Mr Swiveller frequent occasion to remark at
40135
40136divers subsequent periods that there had been a young lady saving up
40137
40138for him after all.<br><br>
40139
40140A little cottage at Hampstead being to let, which had in its garden a
40141
40142smoking-box, the envy of the civilised world, they agreed to become its
40143
40144tenants, and, when the honey-moon was over, entered upon its
40145
40146occupation.  To this retreat Mr Chuckster repaired regularly every
40147
40148Sunday to spend the day--usually beginning with breakfast--and here he
40149
40150was the great purveyor of general news and fashionable intelligence.
40151
40152For some years he continued a deadly foe to Kit, protesting that he had
40153
40154a better opinion of him when he was supposed to have stolen the
40155
40156five-pound note, than when he was shown to be perfectly free of the
40157
40158crime; inasmuch as his guilt would have had in it something daring and
40159
40160bold, whereas his innocence was but another proof of a sneaking and
40161
40162crafty disposition.  By slow degrees, however, he was reconciled to him
40163
40164in the end; and even went so far as to honour him with his patronage,
40165
40166as one who had in some measure reformed, and was therefore to be
40167
40168forgiven.  But he never forgot or pardoned that circumstance of the
40169
40170shilling; holding that if he had come back to get another he would have
40171
40172done well enough, but that his returning to work out the former gift
40173
40174was a stain upon his moral character which no penitence or contrition
40175
40176could ever wash away.<br><br>
40177
40178Mr Swiveller, having always been in some measure of a philosophic and
40179
40180reflective turn, grew immensely contemplative, at times, in the
40181
40182smoking-box, and was accustomed at such periods to debate in his own
40183
40184mind the mysterious question of Sophronia's parentage.  Sophronia
40185
40186herself supposed she was an orphan; but Mr Swiveller, putting various
40187
40188slight circumstances together, often thought Miss Brass must know
40189
40190better than that; and, having heard from his wife of her strange
40191
40192interview with Quilp, entertained sundry misgivings whether that
40193
40194person, in his lifetime, might not also have been able to solve the
40195
40196riddle, had he chosen.  These speculations, however, gave him no
40197
40198uneasiness; for Sophronia was ever a most cheerful, affectionate, and
40199
40200provident wife to him; and Dick (excepting for an occasional outbreak
40201
40202with Mr Chuckster, which she had the good sense rather to encourage
40203
40204than oppose) was to her an attached and domesticated husband.  And they
40205
40206played many hundred thousand games of cribbage together.  And let it be
40207
40208added, to Dick's honour, that, though we have called her Sophronia, he
40209
40210called her the Marchioness from first to last; and that upon every
40211
40212anniversary of the day on which he found her in his sick room, Mr
40213
40214Chuckster came to dinner, and there was great glorification.<br><br>
40215
40216The gamblers, Isaac List and Jowl, with their trusty confederate Mr
40217
40218James Groves of unimpeachable memory, pursued their course with varying
40219
40220success, until the failure of a spirited enterprise in the way of their
40221
40222profession, dispersed them in various directions, and caused their
40223
40224career to receive a sudden check from the long and strong arm of the
40225
40226law.  This defeat had its origin in the untoward detection of a new
40227
40228associate--young Frederick Trent--who thus became the unconscious
40229
40230instrument of their punishment and his own.<br><br>
40231
40232For the young man himself, he rioted abroad for a brief term, living by
40233
40234his wits--which means by the abuse of every faculty that worthily
40235
40236employed raises man above the beasts, and so degraded, sinks him far
40237
40238below them.  It was not long before his body was recognised by a
40239
40240stranger, who chanced to visit that hospital in Paris where the drowned
40241
40242are laid out to be owned; despite the bruises and disfigurements which
40243
40244were said to have been occasioned by some previous scuffle.  But the
40245
40246stranger kept his own counsel until he returned home, and it was never
40247
40248claimed or cared for.<br><br>
40249
40250The younger brother, or the single gentleman, for that designation is
40251
40252more familiar, would have drawn the poor schoolmaster from his lone
40253
40254retreat, and made him his companion and friend.  But the humble village
40255
40256teacher was timid of venturing into the noisy world, and had become
40257
40258fond of his dwelling in the old churchyard.  Calmly happy in his
40259
40260school, and in the spot, and in the attachment of Her little mourner,
40261
40262he pursued his quiet course in peace; and was, through the righteous
40263
40264gratitude of his friend--let this brief mention suffice for that--a
40265
40266POOR school-master no more.<br><br>
40267
40268That friend--single gentleman, or younger brother, which you will--had
40269
40270at his heart a heavy sorrow; but it bred in him no misanthropy or
40271
40272monastic gloom.  He went forth into the world, a lover of his kind.
40273
40274For a long, long time, it was his chief delight to travel in the steps
40275
40276of the old man and the child (so far as he could trace them from her
40277
40278last narrative), to halt where they had halted, sympathise where they
40279
40280had suffered, and rejoice where they had been made glad.  Those who had
40281
40282been kind to them, did not escape his search.  The sisters at the
40283
40284school--they who were her friends, because themselves so
40285
40286friendless--Mrs Jarley of the wax-work, Codlin, Short--he found them
40287
40288all; and trust me, the man who fed the furnace fire was not forgotten.<br><br>
40289
40290Kit's story having got abroad, raised him up a host of friends, and
40291
40292many offers of provision for his future life.  He had no idea at first
40293
40294of ever quitting Mr Garland's service; but, after serious remonstrance
40295
40296and advice from that gentleman, began to contemplate the possibility of
40297
40298such a change being brought about in time.  A good post was procured
40299
40300for him, with a rapidity which took away his breath, by some of the
40301
40302gentlemen who had believed him guilty of the offence laid to his
40303
40304charge, and who had acted upon that belief.  Through the same kind
40305
40306agency, his mother was secured from want, and made quite happy.  Thus,
40307
40308as Kit often said, his great misfortune turned out to be the source of
40309
40310all his subsequent prosperity.<br><br>
40311
40312Did Kit live a single man all his days, or did he marry?  Of course he
40313
40314married, and who should be his wife but Barbara?  And the best of it
40315
40316was, he married so soon that little Jacob was an uncle, before the
40317
40318calves of his legs, already mentioned in this history, had ever been
40319
40320encased in broadcloth pantaloons,--though that was not quite the best
40321
40322either, for of necessity the baby was an uncle too.  The delight of
40323
40324Kit's mother and of Barbara's mother upon the great occasion is past
40325
40326all telling; finding they agreed so well on that, and on all other
40327
40328subjects, they took up their abode together, and were a most harmonious
40329
40330pair of friends from that time forth.  And hadn't Astley's cause to
40331
40332bless itself for their all going together once a quarter--to the
40333
40334pit--and didn't Kit's mother always say, when they painted the outside,
40335
40336that Kit's last treat had helped to that, and wonder what the manager
40337
40338would feel if he but knew it as they passed his house!<br><br>
40339
40340When Kit had children six and seven years old, there was a Barbara
40341
40342among them, and a pretty Barbara she was.  Nor was there wanting an
40343
40344exact facsimile and copy of little Jacob, as he appeared in those
40345
40346remote times when they taught him what oysters meant.  Of course there
40347
40348was an Abel, own godson to the Mr Garland of that name; and there was a
40349
40350Dick, whom Mr Swiveller did especially favour.  The little group would
40351
40352often gather round him of a night and beg him to tell again that story
40353
40354of good Miss Nell who died.  This, Kit would do; and when they cried to
40355
40356hear it, wishing it longer too, he would teach them how she had gone to
40357
40358Heaven, as all good people did; and how, if they were good, like her,
40359
40360they might hope to be there too, one day, and to see and know her as he
40361
40362had done when he was quite a boy.  Then, he would relate to them how
40363
40364needy he used to be, and how she had taught him what he was otherwise
40365
40366too poor to learn, and how the old man had been used to say 'she always
40367
40368laughs at Kit;' at which they would brush away their tears, and laugh
40369
40370themselves to think that she had done so, and be again quite merry.<br><br>
40371
40372He sometimes took them to the street where she had lived; but new
40373
40374improvements had altered it so much, it was not like the same.  The old
40375
40376house had been long ago pulled down, and a fine broad road was in its
40377
40378place.  At first he would draw with his stick a square upon the ground
40379
40380to show them where it used to stand.  But he soon became uncertain of
40381
40382the spot, and could only say it was thereabouts, he thought, and these
40383
40384alterations were confusing.<br><br>
40385
40386Such are the changes which a few years bring about, and so do things
40387
40388pass away, like a tale that is told!<br><br>
40389
40390THE END<br><p Align="center"></div>&nbsp;
40391
40392</div></div><font face="Arial Narrow" color="#CC3300">
40393<p align="center">&#9829; FINE AREA VOCALIZZATA CON READSPEAKER</font>&nbsp;
40393<script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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40406  </TBODY></TABLE>
40407
40408
40409
40410
40411
40412			</div>
40413
40414
40415
40416
40417
40418			</font>
40419
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40425<hr color="#666666" size="1">
40426<font size="4"></div>
40427
40428
40429			<hr size="1"><hr size="1"><hr size="1">
40430
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40432
40433			</td>
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40437
40438
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40440
40441			<td valign="top" width="254">
40442
40443		
40444
40445<script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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40456
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40463<font size="1">
40464
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40466
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40468
40469			</font>
40470
40471<p></p>
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40477			<font size="1" 
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40501<font size="1">
40502
40503			<p align="left"><a href="../../../elingue/landing.htm" 
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40507			<img border="0" 
40508
40509
40510
40511  src="../../../2/elingue-logo.png" width="254" height="57"></a><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Prodotti straordinari per le tue lingue<font face="Tahoma"><font face="Arial" size="1"><hr size="4" color="#FFCC00">
40512
40513			</font>
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40516
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40518
40519    align="left"><font size="2" color="#000000">
40520
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40522
40523style="text-decoration: none">
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40530
40531<font size="1" <font>
40532
40533<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/elingue/e4l-rivista.htm" 
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40537height="20"></a></font><font size="2" color="#000000"><br><br>
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40541    href="http://www.englishgratis.com/elingue/e4l-rivista.htm" 
40542
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40544
40545<img 
40546
40547    border="0" src="http://www.englishgratis.com/2/e4l-rivista6.jpg" width="100" 
40548
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40550
40551online il primo numero di <b>
40552
40553			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="../../../elingue/e4l-rivista.htm">
40554
40555			<font color="#CC3300">English4Life</font></a></b></font><font 
40556
40557
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40559    size="2" color="#CC3300">,</font><font size="2" color="#000000"> 
40560
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40563				l'anglorivista che mette il turbo al tuo inglese, l'unica con 
40564
40565				pronuncia guidata e doppia traduzione italiana per capire sempre 
40566
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40568
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40591<font> <font face="Arial">
40592
40593<br>
40594
40595&nbsp;</font></font><font size="1" 
40596
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40599
40600
40601
40602
40603  
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40619<font size="1"><font face="Tahoma"></font><font size="2" 
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40627  
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40630
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40632
40633
40634
40635
40636
40637
40638
40639
40640
40641
40642
40643<font <li><ol>
40644
40645	<li><strong><a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/elingue/e4l-rivista.htm" 
40646
40647 style="text-decoration: none">A chi serve</a></strong></li>
40648
40649	</font><font face="Arial">
40650
40651			<font face="Tahoma">
40652
40653	<font size="1" size="1" face="Verdana" <li <font>
40654
40655	<li><small><strong>
40656
40657	<font color="#0033CC" size="2">
40658
40659	<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/elingue/e4l-rivista.htm#leggi" style="text-decoration: none"><span style="text-decoration: none">Leggi il n. 1 gratis!</span></a></font></strong></small></li>
40660
40661	<li><small><strong>
40662
40663	<font color="#ffffff" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none; color: #b67">
40664
40665	<a style="text-decoration: none" 
40666
40667 href="http://www.englishgratis.com/elingue/ordine-rivista.htm">
40668
40669	<font color="#0033CC">Acquista gli arretrati</font></a></span></font></strong></small></li>
40670
40671
40672
40673</font>
40674
40675
40676
40677			<font size="1" 
40678
40679
40680
40681
40682
40683
40684
40685  
40686
40687
40688
40689
40690
40691
40692
40693
40694
40695
40696
40697
40698
40699
40700
40701<font size="1"><font size="2" size="1" face="Verdana">
40702
40703	<li><strong><font color="#0033CC">
40704
40705	<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/elingue/e4l-rivista.htm#diconodinoi" style="text-decoration: none">
40706
40707	<span style="text-decoration: none">Cosa dicono i lettori </span></a> </font></strong>
40708
40709	</li>
40710
40711	<li><strong>
40712
40713	<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/elingue/e4l-rivista.htm#metodo" style="text-decoration: none">
40714
40715	Il&nbsp; metodo</a></strong></li>
40716
40717
40718
40719</font>
40720
40721</ol>
40722
40723			<font face="Arial" size="1">
40724
40725			<hr size="4" color="#FFCC00">
40726
40727			</font>
40728
40729<p align="left"><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF">
40730
40731			<font size="2" color="#000000">
40732
40733			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/ing.htm">
40734
40735			<img border="0" src="http://www.englishgratis.com/2/i/inglese-per-chi-viaggia.png" width="163" 
40736
40737height="21"></a>
40738
40739			</font></span>
40740
40741<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/ing.htm"><img border="0" src="../../../2/info.png" width="55" 
40742
40743height="20"></a><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF"><font size="2" color="#000000"><br>
40744
40745			</font></span></font></font></font>
40746
40747
40748
40749			<font size="1" 
40750
40751
40752
40753
40754
40755
40756
40757  
40758
40759
40760
40761
40762
40763
40764
40765
40766
40767
40768
40769
40770
40771
40772
40773<font size="1"><span style="background-color: #FFFFFF"><font size="2" color="#000000">Scopri <b>
40774
40775			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/ing.htm">
40776
40777			<font color="#CC3300">Total Audio</font></a></b>, la versione del 
40778
40779			</font></span><font color="#000000" size="2">
40780
40781			<span style="background-color: #FFFFFF">corso 20 ORE fatta 
40782
40783				apposta per chi come te passa tanto tempo viaggiando! Ideale per 
40784
40785				chi fa il pendolare o compie ogni giorno lunghi tragitti sui 
40786
40787				mezzi. Sfrutta anche tu i tempi morti per imparare o migliorare 
40788
40789				il tuo inglese! </span></font> </font><font face="Arial">
40790
40791			<font face="Arial" size="1">
40792
40793			<hr size="4" color="#FFCC00">
40794
40795			</font>
40796
40797
40798
40799			<font size="2">
40800
40801			<p align="left">
40802
40803			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/ing.htm">
40804
40805			<img border="0" src="http://www.englishgratis.com/imm/eg-elingue-crisi.png" width="218" 
40806
40807
40808
40809    height="18"></a></font><font size="1" <font face="Tahoma"><a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/ing.htm"><img border="0" src="../../../2/info.png" width="55" 
40810
40811height="20"></a></font><font size="2" <font><br>
40812
40813			</font></font><font size="2" <font>CORSI 20 ORE - I corsi di lingue più 
40814
40815
40816
40817				completi per una preparazione di base superiore alla media in 5 
40818
40819
40820
40821				lingue: <b><font color="#0000FF">
40822
40823			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/ing.htm">
40824
40825			<font color="#CC3300">Inglese</font></a> -
40826
40827
40828
40829				</font></b><font color="#0000FF"><b>
40830
40831			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/fra.htm"><font color="#CC3300">Francese</font></a></b></font> 
40832
40833
40834
40835				- <font color="#0000FF"><b>
40836
40837			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/spa.htm"><font color="#CC3300">Spagnolo</font></a><font color="#CC3300"> 
40838
40839				- </font>
40840
40841			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/ted.htm"><font color="#CC3300">Tedesco</font></a></b></font> 
40842
40843
40844
40845				- <font color="#0000FF"><b>
40846
40847			<a style="text-decoration: none" href="http://www.englishgratis.com/shop/rus.htm"><font color="#CC3300">Russo</font></a><font color="#CC3300">
40848
40849			</font></b></font></font></font>
40850
40851			<font face="Arial" size="1">
40852
40853			<hr size="4" color="#FFCC00">
40854
40855			</font>
40856
40857			<p align="center">
40858
40859			<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/elingue/c-skype.htm">
40860
40861			<img border="0" src="../../../2/skype.jpg" width="200" height="190"></a></p>
40862
40863
40864
40865			<!--webbot bot="Include" i-checksum="7691" endspan --><p>
40866			&nbsp;</td>
40867
40868
40869
40870		</tr>
40871
40872
40873
40874		</table>
40875
40876
40877
40878			</div>
40879
40880
40881
40882			<div align="center">
40883
40884
40885
40886<!--webbot bot="Include" U-Include="../../../2/00-DOWN.htm" TAG="BODY" startspan -->
40887
40888
40889
40890<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; </p>
40891
40892
40893
40894<!--webbot bot="Include" i-checksum="56141" endspan --></div>
40895	</form> 
40896 
40897
40898
40899<html>
40900
40901<head>
40902<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
40903<title></title>
40904</head>
40905
40906<body style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt">
40907
40908<div align="center">
40909	<hr color="#FF0000" size="4">
40910	<table border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="800" cellpadding="2">
40911		<tr>
40912			<td>&nbsp;</td>
40913			<td>
40914			<p align="center">
40915			<img border="0" src="http://www.englishgratis.com/2/eg-logo_mini.png" width="207" height="40">&nbsp;
40916			<font color="#cc3300"><b><br>
40917			<font face="Tahoma">CONDIZIONI DI USO DI QUESTO SITO <br>
40918			</font></b></font><font face="Tahoma">L&#39;utente può utilizzare il nostro 
40919			sito solo se comprende e accetta quanto segue:</font></p>
40920			<ul>
40921				<li><font face="Tahoma" size="2">Le risorse linguistiche gratuite 
40922				presentate in questo sito si possono utilizzare esclusivamente per 
40923				uso personale e non commerciale con tassativa esclusione di ogni 
40924				condivisione comunque effettuata. Tutti i diritti sono riservati. 
40925				La riproduzione anche parziale è vietata senza autorizzazione scritta.</font></li>
40926				<li><font face="Tahoma" size="2">Il nome del sito EnglishGratis 
40927				è esclusivamente un marchio e un nome di dominio internet che fa 
40928				riferimento alla disponibilità sul sito di un numero molto elevato 
40929				di risorse gratuite 
40930				</font></li>
40931				<li><font face="Tahoma "><font size="2">L'utente accetta di 
40932				tenerci indenni da qualsiasi tipo di responsabilità per l'uso - 
40933				ed eventuali conseguenze di esso - degli esercizi e delle 
40934				informazioni linguistiche e grammaticali contenute sul siti. Le 
40935				risposte grammaticali sono infatti improntate ad un criterio di 
40936				praticità e pragmaticità più che ad una completezza ed 
40937				esaustività che finirebbe per frastornare, per l'eccesso di 
40938				informazione fornita, il nostro utente. La segnalazione di 
40939				eventuali errori è comunque gradita.<br>
40940				</font><br>
40941&nbsp;</font><hr width="250" size="1">
40942				<p align="center"><font face="Tahoma" size="3">
40943				<img border="0" src="http://www.englishgratis.com/2/crystal-jones.jpg" width="90" height="140" align="right"></font><img border="0" src="http://www.englishgratis.com/2/rbc.JPG" width="108" height="126" align="left"><font face="Tahoma" size="3">ENGLISHGRATIS.COM 
40944				è un sito personale di <br>
40945				Roberto Casiraghi e Crystal Jones <br>
40946				email: [email protected]<br>
40947				</font><font face="Arial" size="2"><i>
40948				<br>
40949				Roberto Casiraghi&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
40950				</i>&nbsp;
40951				<i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Crystal Jones</i></font></p>
40952				<p align="center"><font face="Arial"><b>
40953				<span style="text-decoration: none">
40954				<font color="#3399FF" size="2"><font color="#3399FF">
40955				<a href="http://www.gratis.it">
40956				<img border="0" src="http://www.englishgratis.com/2/gratis.gif" width="120" height="31"></a></font></a></font></span></b><br>
40957				<b><span style="text-decoration: none">
40958				<font color="#3399FF" size="2">
40959				<a href="../amici/sitiamici.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
40960				I nostri siti: </a></font></span><font color="#3399FF" size="2">&nbsp;<br>
40961				</font><font size="2">
40962				<a title="Foreign languages, Parallel Text, Bilingual" href="http://www.lonweb.org">
40963				<font color="#3399FF"><span style="text-decoration: none">Corsi 
40964				20 ORE Digital Edition </span></font></a></font>
40965				<font color="#3399FF" size="2"> 
40966				• </font><font size="2">
40967				<a title="Foreign languages, Parallel Text, Bilingual" href="http://www.lonweb.org">
40968				<font color="#3399FF"><span style="text-decoration: none">Lonweb</span></font></a></font><font color="#3399FF" size="2"> 
40969				• </font><font size="2" color="#3EA4E1">
40970				<a href="http://www.daisystories.com">
40971				<font color="#3399FF"><span style="text-decoration: none">Daisy 
40972				Stories</span></font></a></font><font size="2" color="#3399FF"> 
40973				• 
40974				<a href="http://www.scuolitalia.com">
40975				<font color="#3399FF"><span style="text-decoration: none">Scuolitalia</span></font></a></font></b><a href="http://www.scuolitalia.com"><font size="1" color="#3399FF"><span style="text-decoration: none">
40976				</span> </font>
40977				</a><br>
40978				<font color="#FF0000" size="1">
40979				<span style="text-decoration: none"><b><font color="#0033CC">
40980				<a href="http://www.inglese.it" title="Scuole di Inglese, Corsi di Inglese, Vacanze Studio" style="text-decoration: none">
40981				<font color="#FF0000">Sito segnalato da INGLESE.IT</font></a></font></b></span></font></font></p>
40982				<p align="center"><b><font color="#CC3300" size="2" face="Arial Black">
40983				<a href="http://www.englishgratis.com/informativa.htm" style="text-decoration: none">
40984				<font color="#808080">INFORMATIVA SULLA PRIVACY</font></a></font><font face="Arial" size="2">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </font>
40985				</b></p>
40986				</li>
40987			</ul>
40988			</td>
40989			<td width="4">&nbsp;</td>
40990		</tr>
40991	</table>
40992</div>
40993
40994</body>
40995
40996</html></body></html>

Line numbers count LF bytes from the start of the resource, as the search results do. Vendor segments are library code the classifier recognised; they are stored but not indexed. Bytes are shown as Latin1 characters, one per byte.