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,,,‘,,V.D. V7 7
180 CHARLES DICKENS’ ll70RK5'-
‘ - . . . . , ood ,deal of Mrs. Strong, both because she
lace’ and m Bustammg ‘ts dmmcull dmtxd fthglmhi hall liiifeii 1% liking to me on the morning of my introduc.
Ie“c.'3r ,“"’ 50”“ b’3c7'““e Warmly “vmlc 0“ ‘0 It?‘ a f tion to the Doctor, and was always afterwards kind to
sure i did for one, and Ineyerlxne3,11n a 1me,0(f)>d me and interested in me; and because she was ve
mly 0””? P07 bemg.0thcn.‘ 156.91] earn‘ “I I 3 g ' ll f A nes and was often backwards and forwards
will, desmnrr to do it credit. ll (3 had noble games out ! fon 0 g ;
. < 'I‘h re was a curious constraint betwee
of hours, an Dlent)‘ of liberty; but even then, as I re- at our house. vickffiield’ I thought (Of whom She Seemea
- - Ir. V
member we were well spoken of in the town, and rarely her and ll. ’ were om ‘Vhen she came th
did disgiace, by our appearance or manner, tp) the re- 3; b‘:anafer':’1:1l1)i,nt;ra;:hr:3eVsrwlys shrunk from accepting (123:
putatron of Doctor Stron alnd Dp)ctop1S(ire.ng;:1a <B':&tor’S escort home’ and ran away wiupme instead, And some-
Somc of the lngher so 0 ars oar e in re . G mnnim, any across the Cathedral
1 (1 ti trh tl Il r ed at second hand times, as W0 W91" . 5 g
muse’ an' 1 mm?’ 1 iim ’cl 'nt ’ h w he had yard together, expecting to meet “"""“>‘: .“"’ ‘“"1l<1
hlixllydtahtdgh ihilsagriddetivgltvfzar :n(1)lXftl.l:y’t(i1Stl10o beautiful meet Mr. Jack Maiden, who was alwa)’5.S‘n'I?TlSed to see
younor lady I had seen in the study, whom he had us. ’ v 1 d I took To t d 1. ‘
nlarrlbed fm 10"“ 3 as She lmd not ”‘ 5‘X'l’e“ce.’ and had a’ - Mrsl Strong Stvhnsal:l?s“li‘Isarclrld1l1tlin ; but d;ur:l>ovsg1iE2d
world of poor relations (so our fellows said) rcadv to m. i or name ‘ ' . t f 1 -
1 (1 1 Also ,0“, to call her the Old boldrer, on accoun o ier general.
ill: IDI(1)<:ti:!xl):"? :(dt‘%:'l(ll11’l oIfnalIl)I‘ll(:1? digs algiillfutalile to his ship. Mid the Skin with which she nmrslmued great‘ forces
beinrr always ebngagc in looking out for Greek roots, of relations agailnst tl1edD0c‘t‘0eI;;r '>‘5‘li(=C;]V11si:ll‘lj1tsle(ir5el:z:rg.
‘.5 . . . . gd - wro use 0 ' y ' 4 ‘we,
“l:“i“’ -mi“;:“"“”":12.s‘3,;e;?;“‘:;,‘: ‘.:“;:3::r;‘:: 3: 53,: cap, some
D‘, 9 zimlm ‘. 301; CE ,1 ,1 I 1;‘, ‘I;-lllged about Howers and two artificial butterthes supposed to be how.
a ‘lillls (r)i(de‘i'sto‘i>d thhtgllioeunxveliolfgots of words with ti. ering above the flowers. There was a S“P91'5mi011 among
irliexlv teua new Dictionar ' which he had in conterirplation. i us that this cap had come from France, and. could only
Ad ms our h ad be r wlho had a turn for mathematics originate in the workmanship ofithnt ingenious nation:
had mzide a caflculatldn I was informed of the time this i but all I certainly know about 1t 13, that It !1l‘V’1."S Wide
Dictionary would takci in completing ’on the Doctor’s its appearance of an eyenmgs lvheresoewr Mm M“Tkl9-
plan, and at the Doctor's rate of going. He considered ‘ .
that it rnirrht be done in one thousand six hundred and , fncndlyrneetmgs 1 I V . '
forty-nine” years, counting from the Doctor‘s last, or llhad the ift of t.rem%)11D8 C:t"%‘:nggr6n‘:f,‘: ‘lglyinlgnlllslff
sixty-second, birthday. 1 1 lproveg t 0 Shilling 10”“ ‘ D P “I 9
But the Doctor himself was the idol of the w 10 e’ nsy ees. , '
school : and it must have been a badly composed school I observed the Old Soldier-nvot t0 adopt “I? name tl1s<
if he had been anythinrr else for he was the kindest of respectfullysm Pratt)’ good ad‘ ““mEi'J‘?i 0“ 9‘ m M “inch
men: with a simple faith in him that might have touched ; is made memorable to me by somet mg else shall re.
the stone hearts of the very urns upon the wall. As he late. It was the niglat of a little px%r;yI' atJtl11p 1I‘)Ioc1:‘0r’s,
' : t f tl - d 'h' l '1‘ch was iven on re occasion 0 Ir. ac a .0115
:21 glfeusigedhlglllfghoggdt saith 1t.l1(3cz11'tr)oli‘:: algd llelplarture fgr India, whither he'was going as a cadet, or
jackdaws lookinrr after him ’with their heads cocked something of that kind: Mr. VVickfield having at length
silly as if theyaknew how much more knowing they arranrved the business. It hap ened to be the Doctor’:
were in worldly aiiairs than he, it‘ any sort of vagabond birth ay, too. ‘V0 had had a. ioliday, had made pres-
ceuld only get near enough to his creaking shoes to ut- ents to him in the mornin , had made ,1). speech to bun
tract his attention to one sentence of '9. tale of distress, ithrough the head-boy, an had cheered him until we
that vatrabond. was made for the next two days. It was were hoarse, and until he had shed tears. And now, in
so notorgious in the house, that tire maisfters andlhcad-b(pyt's the evgnilrig, hlnl -Vi’i<:ll'iii:tl((31,c;5p‘b:‘I(1;:!),YIlD(l 1, went 10 lme
t l ' t t th t es n 0 tea wi 1 nm in ns p v .
g(:2(l(oIhatmdf zvidldoivseisltdtialiiiln etlleih ollit adlgthti nceurt- Mr. Jack Maiden was there before us. Mrs. Strong,
yard before they could make the Doctor aware of their dressed in white, with cherry-coloured ribbons, was
presence ; which was sometimes happily effected within playing the piano, when we went in ; and he was leaning
a few yards of him, without his knowing anything ‘of over her to turn the leaves. The clear red and white of
the matter, as he jogged to and fro. Outside his own her complexion was not so blooming and flower-like as
domain, and unprotected, he was a very sheep for the usual, I thought, when she turned round ; but she looked
h . H ‘o 1d 1 ' t ken his alters elf his lerrs, ver pretty wonderfully pretty. '
f,,:3,’f,,’S,,,,,.,y? “Inufactl,nlli,er: was a sgory current amocng “Y1 have lorgotten, Doctor,” said Mrs. Stronrr’s mama,
us (I have no idea, and never had, on what authority, when we were seated, “ to pay you the compliments of
but I have believed it for so many years, that I feel the day-though they are, as you may suppose, very far
quite certain it is true), that on a frosty day, one from being mere compliments in my case. Allow me to
winter time, he actually did bestow his gaiters on a beg- wish you many happy returns.” . , ,
.ar.woman, who occasioned some scandal in the neigh- “ I thank you, ma’am,” replied the Doctor.
many, many happy returns,” said the old
ourhood by exhibiting a fine infant from door to door, “ Many, '
wrapped in those garments, which were universally re- Soldier. “ Not only for your own sake, but for Annie's,
and John Maldon’s, and many other people’s. It seems
but yesterday to me, John, when you were a little crea-
ture, a head shorter than Master Copperfield, making
baby love to Annie behind the goosebcrry bushes lathe
back-garden.” , I
“ My dear mama,” said Mrs. Strong, “ never mindthat
now.”
“ Annie, don't be absurd,” returned her mother. “If
you are to blush to hear of such things, now you are an
old married woman, when are you not to blush to hear
of them?”
“ Old?” exclaimed Mr. Jack Maiden. “Annie?
Come 7 ” ,
“ Yes, John,” returned the Soldier, “ Virtually an old
married woman. Although not old by years-for when
cognized, being as well known in the vicinity as the
Cathedral. - The lerrend added that the only person who
did not identify them was the Doctor himself, who,
when they were shortly afterwards displayed at the door
of a little second-hand shop of-no very good repute,
where such things were taken in exchange for gin, was
more than once observed to handle them approvingly,
as if admiring some curious novelty in the pattern, and
considering them an improvement on his own.
It was very pleasant to see the Doctor with his pretty
young wife. He had a fatherly. benignant way of show-
ing his fondness for her, which seemed in itself to ex.
press a good man. I often saw them walking in the
garden where the peaches were, and I sometimes had a
nearer observation of them in the study or the parlour.
She appeared to me to take great care of the Doctor, and
to like him very much, though I never thought her
vitally interested in the Dictionary : some cnmbrous
fragments of which work the Doctor always mrriediin
his pockets, and in the lining of his hat, and generally
seemed to be expounding to her as they walked about.
that a. girl of twenty was old by years l-your cousin is
scribed her. It is well for you, Jolm, that your cousin
is the wife of the Doctor. You have found in himan
influential and kind friend, who will be kinder yeti
1 1 her appearance ; that it was carried about to '
mm mm 6 ‘n a Ilindoo basket ; that the butterflies :
did you ever hear me say, or who has ever heard me 8115. ‘
the wife of the Doctor, and, as such, what.I have dew '
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