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3' No,.I thank you,‘ma’am,” replied my aunt. i
“ “Would you let me fetch another pat of butter,
ma’am ?7" said Mrs. Crupp. ..“ Orwould you be persuaded
to try a new-laid hegg? or should I brile a rasher? Ain't
E1l5Ii’e.nothi'ng I could do for your dear aunt, Mr. Copper-
?” " an. .. I‘ J‘
v ‘f Nothing, ma’am,’,’, returned my aunt.’ “I shall do
Very.well,.I thank you..”: . . ’ L'-
. "Mrs. Crupp, who had been incessantly smiling to ex-
press sweet temper, and incessantly holding her head on
one side, to express D. general fcebleness of constitution,
and incessantly rubbing her hands, to express a desire to
begof service to all -deserving objects, gradually smiled
herself, one-sided herself, and rubbed herself, out of the
room. , . i . . , V
‘ f‘Dick I” said my aunt. “ Youknow what I told you
about time-servers and wealth-worshippers 7 ”
Mr. Dick-with rather a scared look, as if he had for-
gotten it-returned a hasty answer in the affirmative.
-“Mrs. Crupp is one of them,” said my aunt. “ Barkis,
I'll trouble you to look after the tea,’ and let me have
another cup, forI don’t fancy that woman’s pouring out I ”
.:I knew my aunt sufficiently well to know that she had
something of importance on her mind, and that there
“'33 far more matter in this arrival than a stranger might
have supposed. I noticed how her eye lighted on me,
when she thought my attention otherwise occupied : and
3‘ what a curious process of hesitation appeared to be going
V v on within her, while shepreserved her outward stiffness
and composure. I began to refiect whether I had done
anything to offend her; and my conscience whispered
me that I had not yet told her about Dora. Could it by
1 any means be that, I wondered! I
’ A3 I knew she would only speak in her own good time,
, I?4‘l?- down near her, and spoke to the birds, and played
With the cat, and was as easy as I could be. But I was
791')’ far from being really easy; and I should still have
bee’,1‘50. even if Mr. Dick,‘lenning over the great kite
ehind my aunt, had not taken every secret opportunity
Of Shaking his head darkly at me, and pointing at her.
' ‘v‘TT0t,” said my aunt at last, when she had finished
631‘. tea, and carefully smoothed. down her dress, and
“Fed her lips-“ you needn’t go,‘Barkis l--Trot, have
“R got to be firm, and self-reliant ‘I ” '
A - I hope so, aunt.”
‘ What do you think?” inquired Miss Betsey.
Ithink so, aunt." ‘ I ‘
" hen why, my love,” said my aunt, looking earnest-
17 at me, “why do you think I prefer to sit upon this
vprgperty of mine to-night ? " .
“shook my head, unable to guess.
'1 - ecause,” said my aunt, “it’s all I have. Because
111 ruiiied,.rny dear I” '
I the house and every one of us, had tumbled ‘mt
M0 the river together I could hardly have received a
Sreater shock. ,
. . V 7 u ick knows it 1‘: said my aunt, laying her hand
‘v , calmly on my shoulder - “ I am ruined, my dear Trot l
' A1 “lave in the world.is in this room, except the cot-
‘age: and that I haveileft Janet to let. Barkis, I Want
get a bed for this gentleman to-night. ('To save ex-
‘ 5 Pen“: Perhaps you can make up something here for in)"
. Self, Anything will do It's only for tosnlght. ‘V941
talk about this, more, tovmorrow.” I l f I
, ’ Was roused fromfmy amazementyimd concern or
’ ’ ' her‘I am sure for her--by her falling on 1113' neckmr 3'
moment. and er in that she only gifieved for me. in
alinther moinentyshgd suppressed this ‘ emotion ; and Said
(4 an aspect more triumphant than dejected ’ I h
l . T9 must meet reverses boldly, and not 511501’ I em
, , to “gllien us, my dear. We must learn to act the play
‘ ‘ W?‘ ” We must live misfortune down, TF0“
. .5 1- ICEAPTERXXXV.
I ‘ I Dqn-anion."
ce of mind, which
xii‘.
ring shock of ID)’
‘oon as I could recover my N659”
DA VID UOPPERFIELD. '
251
"to the chandlei-’s shop. and take possession of the bed
which Mr. Peggotty had lately vacated. The chandler’s
shop being in llungerford Market, and Hungerford Mar-
ket being a very different place in those days, there
was a low wooden colonnado before the door (not very
unlike that before the house where the little man and
woman used to live, in the old weather-glass),‘which
pleased Mr. Dick mightily. The glory of lodging over
this structure would have compensated him, I dare say,
to bear, beyond thehcomppund of flafvoilirs 11 have allrgady
mentioned and er a )S tie want 0 a in e more e ow-
room, he was pgrfectiy charmed with his accoinnioda-
tioii. Mrs. Crupp had indignantly assured him that
there wasn’t room to swing a eat there; but, as Mr. Dick
justly observed to me, sitting down on the foot of the
bed, nursing his leg, “You know, 'I‘i'otwood, I dout
want to swing a cat. Inever do swing acat. There-
fore, what does that signify to me! " .
I tried to ascertain whether Mr. Dick had any under-
standing of the causes of this sudden and great change
in my aunt's affairs. ‘ As I might have expected,-he had
none at all. The only account he could give of it, was,
that my aunt had said to him, the day befrireiycstcruaf.
“ Now, Dick, are you really and truly the philosopher I
take you for? ” That then he had said, Ies,.he I.IC')’p(;(I so.
That then my aunt had said, “ Dick, Iain ruined. 1' hat
then he had said, “ Oli, indeed l” 'lliat then my aunt
had praised him highly, which he was veff 8]“‘1 “L And
that then they had come to me, and had had bottled
porter and sandwiches on the road. . ‘ f
Mr. Dick was so very complacent, sitting on. the foot (3
the bed, nursing his leg, and telling me this, with his
eyes wide open and a surprised S‘u1plIC, “lat um 50”) 30
say I was provoked into explaiiiing to him that rum
meant distress, want, and starvation; but,.I was soon
bitterly reproved for this harshness, by S(‘(3lllgdI1l1$] fice
turn pale, and tears course down his lengthcnc c cc s,
while he fixed upon me a look of such unutterlable “lot,
that it might have softened a far harderllieart t iaii inlne.
I took infinitely greater pains to cheerliim up ngaiiti ( mill
I had taken to depress liiin ; and I soon (pilrdcnstoo zilsti
ought to have known at first) thathc ha '. (citl S0dC0 05;
dent, merely because of his faith in the uises an in 1
wonderful of women. and 1H5 Ullbounded ii‘? 'fmC1‘:"“ En)’
intellectual resources. The latter,‘ I be 0V(‘,b 01 1: 1-
sidered ,, match for any kind of disaster not a so u e y
mifiiihat can we do, Trotwood 2 " said Mr. Dick.
“ ' orial-” '
rilhrfge 1SmmSeu?(I,e:111,9;-e is,” said I, “ But all we can do
just now, Mr. Dick, is to keep a CIl(‘]Cil'l:iiI C()n1IJ1I9I:3i1t“;"3a
and not let my aunt see that we are t i l1lg'3 p011 . 3-ad
He assented to this in the niost eaigest ]1ldIlli'T1I'1.l out
implored me, if I should see him “ 311 emltfl ‘$0’: '55“ eg
of the right course, to rccal hiin DY 501"“ 0 he gut
rior methods which were always at my. cOnin]l;lxI)1l .mWd
I regret to state that the fright I had gi; en t1 X" the
too much for his best attempts at concea lnfll . with m]
evening his eyes wandered t0 mi’ “““t:,S affifhe ca“,
expression of the most dismal a1)prcl.icii.101:,;-(ins oftilis
her growing thin on the spot. . He is ti’ont.Cl-is keeping:
and put a constraint iipon 11.13.1191! , ‘ups iike “piece
that immovable, and sitting rolling his chin I Saw mm
of machinery’ did not mend the mlimcr hed to he a small
look at til? loaji‘ at suplpgrs(tsg’iCilC1l:ct us and famine;
One), “5 5 110, ‘mg, 9:‘ - -' ' ustonia
and my on has ';"%;:i.::::
repast, I detected him in the ac’ o opdoubt fr-gr the Pm‘.
0f M3 bread ‘md “heiise I I hm iivlinvrs when we should
pose of reviving us with those sof atcignuation.
have reached an advanced sttzilicms in n composed frame
Myaunt, on the other han . :0 “,1 of usgm mo’ Inm
of mind. which ‘ms “ lesson creme rcgsofty. except
sure‘ she was cxtrenlelilgdalicr by that name ; and,
when I inadmrtenuy Ca in London nlvpcai-ed quite at
strange as I know she felt bed nndyl ‘ms to He in the
She was to have 1J(11YoWr'hor' She made 3 great
Si“ing.;(I?I.n,g'.;‘;(I(uI1Ilre river, in 0950 of ‘‘ Comlilgrj“
Oillt 0 9"’ ‘ - s 1‘ satisfaction n
Eon ; and I suppose really did I:lHd 011 V x
' Em‘? deserted me in the first ovet'P0“'e.
7 nut 5: intelligence, I proposed to Mr, Di
x
ck to come round
that circunistilllws
for many inconveniences; but, as there were really few v
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