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- ; “ No w,” Philosopher l’
93 “L‘ITTLE’ ‘-pozazercm ‘<2 I w
. Hc'is a soldier with‘ grey hair-'But l-’-’ a’ very decided-
restindeed,‘ and a very vigorous-play, from side to side
, of.-the back-handed forefingers-‘.‘ he isalso' this man that
you see.” ' " '
p w ltwvas noticealblehtliat, in his old habit of siihmission
to one who had been at the trouble ‘of asserting superior-
. ity over him, he even then bestowed upon’ Rigaud a con-
fusedfbcnd of his head, after thus pointing him out.‘ w
' 3.‘f.Eh well, Signorc I ” he cried in conclusion,‘ address-
‘ ing>-Artliiir-agairi. ."I waited-for a good-opportunity.
I writed some words to Signor Panco,” an air of novelty
came 'over'Mr. Pancks with this designation,-’,“ to‘ come
and help. ’ I showed him, Rigaud, at his window to Sign-
or Panco, who was often the’ spy in the day. ’I slept at
night near the door of the house. At last we entered,
only this ‘to-day, and now- you see him I . As he -would
not come up in presence of the illustrious Advocate,”
such was Mr. Baptist’s honourable mention of Mr.'Rug'g,
‘fwe waited ‘down below: there, -f together, and Signor
‘ ' 9 ‘ ' V V . , . . . i
Pauco guarded the street
..‘At the closeof this recital, Artliuryturned his eyes, up-
i
on the! inipudent and wicked face- -As it met Ihis,,tlic’
nose "came down over the inoustaclie,’and the moustache
went-‘up under the nose. VVlien I10Se'alld'1110l1St3.Clle
had . settled;-iiito -their places‘ again, Monsieur Rigaud
‘loudly snapped his fingers half a dozen times ; bending
forward to jerk the snaps at Arthur, as if. they were pal-
pable missiles which" he jerked into his face. -- , v '1
‘ ’- said Rigaudy v “ VVhat do you
want'witli.me‘2”; 4-‘ 7 i ‘ l ’“ ' ‘
“ Iwant to know,” returned'Artlinr,- withouti disguis-
ing his abhorreiice,g“ how you dare direct a suspicion’ of
murder against my mothcr’s house?” - v > i
’i‘.‘ Dare !” .cried ,-Rigaud. . - ‘‘Ho,' ho! - -Hear ‘ liiml
Dare?’ Is it dare? Byllcaven, my small boy, but you
nrealittle imprudent!” ‘ r " ff“ ‘ 7‘ "
r.“ I want that suspicion to be -cleared away,” said 'Ar-
tliiirn, 55 You shall be.,taken there, and-be publicly seen.
I want to know, moreover, what business you had there,
when’ I had a burning desire to fling you down-stairs.
Don’t frown at me, man ! ‘ I have S6Bl1'(3l10l1gll of you to
know that you are a bully, and coward. - I need no revival
of my spirits from the effects of this wretched place, to
tellryou so plain a fact, and one that you know so well."
‘VVhite to the lips, Rigaud stroked his moustache, mut-
tering!‘ By Heaven, my small boy, but you are a little
compromising of my lady your respectable mother,”-
aud seemed for a minute undecided how to act. v llis in-
decision was "soon gone. He sat himself down with a.
threatening sw-agger,'and said :' , - r i w ' ‘ ‘
“ Give me a bottle of wine. You-‘can buy wine here.
Send one of your uiadmcn to get me a bottle of wine. I
won't talk to you without wine. "Come 1 V Yes or no ?” '
‘‘ Fetch him what he‘ wants, 'Cavalletto,’,’ ‘ said“Arthur
scornfully, producing the money. - ‘ ' “ r " ‘
‘‘ Contraband beast,” -added ‘Rigaud, “bring Port
wine if I'll drink nothing but Porto-Porto.”'v - V ‘
.'l‘lie contraband beast, however, assuring all 'present
with his significant finger, that he peremptorily declined
toleaveliis post at the door, Signor Panco offered his
services.‘ jIIe soon -returned with the bottle of-wine:
which, according-to the custom of the ‘place, originating
in -a’ scarcity-‘of corkscrews among the Collegians (in
common with a scarcity? of much else), , was‘ already
opeiicdvforuse. > ' :f - Vi‘ " " '
‘9 Madman l "A large glass,’.’vsaid Rigaud. ‘ r ' ‘ - ‘
‘Signor Panco put a tumbler before him ; not withouta
visible conflict of feeling on the question of throwing ‘it
11tliis,liead.-1- ’ --"i ' " ’ ‘
‘jylialia l” boasted Rigaud. “ Once a gentleman, and
always axgentleman. - A gentleman from the beginning,
and a gentleman to the end. What the Devil l . A gen-
tleman must be- waited on,‘l hope? It’s‘ a‘part of- my
character to he waited on i" ' < i‘ " ' ‘ ‘ ’
-He lialffilled the tumbler as he’ said it, and 'drank oi?
the contents when he had done saying it; ' " "
K,“ Ilah I ” smacking his lips. “ Not a very old prisoner
that] I judge by your looks, brave sir,'th'at imprison-
meat will subdue yourbloodinuch sooner than it softens
ihlsl hot wine.‘ "You are mellowing-losing body’and
09100‘. already. Igsalutc you l" ‘ r H '
He tossedofi another half glass: holding it up both
o
rcpt in-that regard, we are all alike.
’ 925
bcforeand afterwards, so as "to display his small, white
hand. .
";“To business,”-lie thenycontinued. "‘To‘conversa-
tion. " You have shown’ yourself <'more‘free"of speech
than body, sir.” ‘ ‘ ' ' v -’ "
' “ l have used the freedom’ of “telling you, wliatyou
know‘-yourself to be.‘ vYou know yourself, aswe ‘all
know you, to be far worsethan that.” ' ' = L‘ “‘
" “Add, always, a’ gentleman,‘ and it’s no matter. Ex-
For' example ;
you'couldn’t for your life be agentleinan ; I coiildn’t for
myflife‘-be otherwise. How great the difference! Let
us go on." ‘Verde, sir,‘ ncverinfluence the coursclof the
cards,ror- the COll!’SH‘Of the dice.’ ‘Do-you know that?
You'do! I‘also play a'ganie,-and words are without
power over it.” ‘ ’ " ' ‘ f: ,.
' Nowitliat‘ he‘ was confronted with Cavalletto, and
knew thatliis story was k1i0Wn%Wh:it0Vel' thin‘ disguise
he had wo'rn,lhe dropped ; and faced it out, with"a bare
face, as the infamous wrctcli he was. ' "1 '
“ No, my son,” he resumed, with asnap of his fingers.
“I play my game to the end‘in'spite of words; and
Death of my Body and Death of my Soul l I’ll win it.
You want’ to knowwby I pla ed this little trick that you
liave“interru'pted‘? Know ‘tlien’that I liad,Aand,tliat I
have”-do you understand me? have-a commodity to sell
to my lady your respcctablernothcr. Idcscribed my
precious commodity, and fixed jniy‘price. ‘ Toucliing the
bargain, your admirable mother was a little too calm, too
stolid, too immovable and statue-like.” “ In fine,‘yoiir ad-9
miriible niotlicrlvcxedme.‘ ‘To make variety in inv'po-
sition, and to amuse myself-what l a gentleman must
be amused at .soinebody’s expense l-’-‘I cohceivedihe
happy idea of disappearing. An idea,‘ see you", that your
'cliar'acteristic :inotlicr and my‘Flintwinch would have
been well enough pleased to execute. ’Ah l‘ 'Bali', bah,
bah,‘ don’t‘ look as ‘from high‘ to low‘at me l ' I repeat
it. " lVcll enough pleased,’excessivelyencliantcd, with
’t’heirVhcarts ravislicd. " Ilow stronglywill you have
< ’Hc threw out the lccs of'liis ‘glass ‘on tlicground, so
that they nearly‘ spattcred'Cavalletto. 'This seemed‘ to
draw his attention to him anew. He set down his gliisa
D.l1(1S21l(1:" ‘ V " 5"
“ l’ll not‘ fill it.‘ ‘What! ' I‘ amborn’ to be‘ served.
Comeithengyou Cavallctto,‘ and fill I" - " " ’
The little man looked at Clennam, whose ey'es”3verc
occupied with 'Rigaud,'and, seeing no prohibitionfgot
up from the ground, and poured out from the bottle into
the glass. .',"l‘ho' blending, as he did so, of his old submis-
sion witli ‘asense of ‘sometliiiig humorous ; thestriving
of that with a certain smouldering ferocity, which might
have flashed fire in an instant (as the horn gentleman
seemed to’tliinkf for he had ‘a waryeye upon him) ; and
thceasy yielding of all,‘ to a'good-natured, careless, pre-
dominant propensity to sit down on“the ground again ;
formed a very remarkable combination of character. ’
'1 !‘ This=happy idea,-"bravo sir,” Rigaud resumed after
drinking. “ was :3. ha py idea for several‘ reasons. ' It
amused mc,‘it worrie your dear mama and ‘my Flint-
which,‘ it caused you‘ agonies (my terms ’for a lesson in
politeness towards a‘ gentleman), and irsiiggcsted to all
the amiable persons interested that your entirely devoted
is a man toifear. By Heaven,‘ he is a man tovfeiir I Be-
yond this; it might have restored her‘ wit‘ to my lady
your mother4miglit, under the pressing little suspicion
your wisdom has recognised,‘ have persuaded her at last
to announce, covertly,.in the journals that the ‘difficul-
ties of acei-tain contract would‘be'reinovcd by the ap-
pearance of 'a‘ certain‘ important party to it. Perhaps
yes, perhaps no;' But, that you have interrupted." Now,
what is it yousay? 'VVliat is it you )vant‘Z” ’ ' H y‘ -
Never had Clennam felt more acutely ihilhlle was a.
prisoner’ in’ bonds,‘ than when lie'saw this inaifpbefore
iim, and could not accompany him to ,his mother’s
house. All the undisccrniblc diflicultiesgand dangers he
had ever feared were closing in, when 110‘ could not stir
handorfoot."' ‘ ‘ " ," ”‘ i ‘’
“Perhaps, my friend,"pli‘i1osoplier,‘ man ‘of virtue,‘
Imbccilc, what you will; perhaps," said Iiigau(l;'paus-
ing in his drinkto look out of his glass withhis horrible
smile, " you would have done better to leave me alone?"