Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
.; sure whenahe did tux-n‘it; the same voice‘ came rushing
’ . ‘ slippers .(with"hiS"bqots‘ beside: him readyrto' putrou), .
‘ iPin"ch2v "“ Good gracious me. how kind you are l’.’ “
. .‘-I i ' '
- ,but they nre‘not"at"all ‘bad. ‘,Boar's Head pottcdl
' ‘l1eWs,”I‘om.‘ ‘ Imprimis, how's Pe'cksnifH.”'i
. '1saving that I wish him no ill, Idonft care.‘
lliln. Jol1nZ‘1 Iihave left hlnrfor 'evcr.'f '
w1rARTIN"0HUzzLEWIT. 2
amliafraidr that’s, notta‘ London knoclr,”a thought -
‘ om.‘ '
f’ivliy'nobody'an'swers' the doorl’-'5 -“
I c
,-3'(; -4,4; :
'Itis%E1uite’ certain’ that’ nobody"came;'and 'that;'l‘o'm I.
[stood looking 'n‘t"the‘fknocker.‘:- wonderingfwhereabouts
inf the; neigbourhood a"'certain' gentleman‘ resided,“ who
' ' ’ t to'soznebody,'7“rCome in'l”‘with-:'all"his
’.;l.,‘v. ,. H ‘ . , ,,.H
I “ .“Bless my soul l”'tthou'gh=-Torn’at‘la’st.‘ % “ Perhaps he
jlives here, and is calling tornef ’ I neventhouglit of that.
;.Can‘I, open .the ‘doori from the '3o1itside,' I‘ wonder. 1 3 Yes,
.“to be‘ s‘ure,I'can.-8":-‘xi -2-Mil < -Y, yr 4'” - ’? r '7? ‘U at "'
f ‘. To be sure he could,‘ byturningithe handle :. and to be
i, out, crying “ Vyhy don’t you comepinfl ‘Come in, do you
;;l1eaii‘fl"VVhat'are yo", standing there for? ’,’-'-quite vio-
ff pm y.’<i.,::lf>‘.:i,r.‘f’-('73- nwt -‘,“‘;,1z:‘1[,,f.>.'.‘
",",fIfom stepped r from f the’ ’ little ‘ passage intowthegroom
‘”fron'1’,which ‘-'tl1'e’se'-. sounds proceeded,‘ and had ‘barely
fcaught a‘ glimpse of aigentleman in'a‘dressing'-gowniand
f'sitting.'at’his breakfast‘ With‘ a‘newspaper in ‘hishand,
-fwhen‘ the sai I gentleman at the imminent hazard of over-
;ietting his’ tea-tablegmade a plunge at Tom, andlzugged
. lmu. 3.”; It ,; 3,: ;..-WI ., ...; ,; no -,
j" ‘-‘V’ VVhy,‘ Tom, my boy I” cried the gentleman’. 5“ Tom! ”
1 ‘fHowjglad' I “am-to's'ee' you,‘ Mr: VVestlock ! ” "said
N"l‘t)u1fPinch,' shaking both his hands,‘and trembling more
,'than'ever.- j““How kind you are l ”"-“' '“ ‘A H r
;‘ ‘i ‘f Mr. ‘Westlock 1”’ re eated ‘John;-“ what do you mean
i,by,that;-‘Pinch ‘if’ You‘ ‘lav’ "not gforgottentmy Christian
filiime. Isuppose‘Z.”- . A v v : . 3 ' 4 V
-‘.‘v'No1 John,‘-no.1 . I have not forgotten it,” said Thomas
versaw such a'fellowli‘n‘all 1ny>lifel’’-cried
,, ' ‘VVl1at‘-doyoujmean‘ by saying. that over, and
‘over again ‘I " ‘Vila: did you ‘expect me to be, I wonder I
=IIcre',5 sit‘down; Tom,‘ and be a reasonable creature‘; How r
PT8 you, my boy? I am delighted to'sco you l "4 r
, , , “And I'am delighted to seeeyou," said Tom,“
“lt’s' mutual; of coi1rse,"7 returned John; "‘ It always
'“’35,, ‘I’, hope’. " If-'I= had known ‘:you. had ‘been coming,
‘,TOIn, I wouldvhave had something for breakfast: I would
‘rather have. such‘ :1‘ surpriseitlialn thebestrbreakfast in
(the world, myself ; but yoursjs another case, and Ihave ‘‘
Hnodoubt on are as hungry as a. hunter. ‘You mustlmake
‘out.-as’ asyou can‘, Tom,'and7we’ll recompense ‘our-
i.Selves at dinner time. I You take sugar I know : I<reooI-
-leictzthei sugar “at= Pecksnilfs.’ IIn,g11f1‘.",i11’- 1' HOW 53
‘Pecksnilt? I When ‘did you come to town ‘I ='Do begin at
'S0I,nething:or‘otl1'cr, Tom.’ ’ There are onlyscraps hrzire,
. U.
it, Tom! Make a beginning'wliatevcr youdo.’ j V,Vh'-tt
an old ‘Blade you are l1 ‘,I am delighted to'see you.’f ’ ‘
I ‘VVhile he delivered himself of,these‘words ‘in a. state"
of‘ great,'commotibn,’John was constantly running back-
v,3V3-rds and forwards‘to and ‘from thecloset, bringing out
Jill‘! sorts of things in'pots; scooping extraordinary quanti-
jties o'f‘t'e'a out of the caddy, dropping French’ rolls into
iihislpboots,‘ pouring‘ hot water over the butter, and making
.j!1.'variety of similar mistakes without disconcerting him-
Ssilfintlieleast. H A , ” "" " "
" "There 1” said ‘John, sitting ‘down for- the -fiftieth
‘time, and instantly starting up again to make some other
. addition to the breakfast. " N ow,w‘e are 115. “'9” .03 '35
. ‘Vii.-l11',e likely-to be till dinner.“ ‘And now letus(liav:e.tl1e
Y
.. ‘.‘-I t1,on’t, know how he is,” was 'l‘om’s2 graveanswer.
'fJohn'VVestlock"put‘the"teapot"dow!1,‘ and 1P0k9d at
- - , mg -.4'1‘r:.‘ '
3.;,I1iII1i,in’astonishinent; -‘Vi ’, ‘ , ' . . , . M H
-i . 3" I don’t l:n’owlho'w‘he'is," said Thomas Pinch ;: and
' I5 have 'left
L.",‘Volu'ntaril 1”. ,‘ . . . .
I‘ “' VVhy'no,‘fhr lie dismissed moi‘ But I had firstyfound
Eoutithat I was niistakeniin‘ him ;‘ ‘and I could not have
remained ‘with him’ under any‘ circurnstances.‘." g1’leV0
to say‘. that von were right in your estimate’ of his char-
. actor. 4 It may be a ridicnlous’wcakness,' John,‘ but it
"has been vex-ypainfnl andvbittcrto mote find this out,
'Ido'assure)’0u.’' ‘ I "" i’ ("H " .‘3A 2 "
’ Tom had no need to direct that appealing look towards
.1107
his friend; in mild and gentle deprecation of his answer-
“ It didn't sound bold. Perhaps that's the reason -inggwitli a laughlvix John VVestlock- would-as "soon, have
thought of striking him’ down upon the floor.’-ta ‘: . r:'. 5
V‘ It was all a dream: of vmlne,"lsaid-T Tom, 5‘ and it is
over.,.-s'I’ll tell you ghowit happened, at some other time.
Bear with,rny' folly, John. ‘ I do not,Vjust. now,‘ lil-:e:to
think orspeak about it.’’--' -9 A: 1%: ’ .1; .-I r n 3; j
' r‘fI swear .to' you,‘ Tom,’.’: returned:his .friend, with
great earnestness of manner, after‘ remainingsilcntlfor
a few‘ moments,: ‘-‘ that ‘when ;I.sce,‘as .1 do 7now,!how
deeply you feel this, I don't know whether to be gladvor
sorry,:that‘you have made’ the’ discovery at- last.’ (LI. re-
proach myself with the thought that I ever jested on the
subject; I ought to have known‘better.’.’..'v:.w ; 1 . 7 . .
.-‘:“- My dear friend,“ said Tom, extending his hand; “-it
is veryagenerous and gallant in you’-to receive me and
mydisclosure in this spirit ;.it makes me blushto think
that I should have felt a moment’s uneasiness, as I came
along. You can’t think what ‘a weight‘ is’ lifted "OE my
mind,” said Tom, taking up his knife and fork? again,
and'lookin'r very cheerful“ “ I shall punish the 'Boar's
Head'dreadfu1ly.”" 4 1+ .'- ': v w . I 1 w.
e The host, thus reminded of his duties, instantlybetook
himself to piling up all kinds of ‘irreconcilable and .con-
tradictory viands in Tom's’ plate,- and averyzcapital
breakfast Tom made,’ and very much the better for it,
Tom felt- . Wu 4 i -V H v '
“ That's all right,” said John, after contemplating his
visitorsproceedings, with infinite. satisfaction.’ :“'N ow,
about‘ our 'plans‘.: You’ are going tovstay with me -of
coarse. ”- VVhere’s you-box?-"----I r- ‘Y ' V‘ < 1 V ‘
“ It's at the Inn,” said Tom. ‘”I didn't intend-3-’l H:
‘ <" Never mind-‘what you didn't intend,f? John “'cstlock
interposed. "'lVl1'at you did intend is more to the .pur-
pose‘. You intended, in coming here, to ask my advice,
didyounot'I'om‘2” "'w"w‘ '1'!“ '
-“Certainly.”-A“ ‘ V l" N -1 =
‘ “And totake it when‘ I gave it to on 7" r7 z 4
‘f Yes,” rejoined Tom, smiling,’ ‘fi it were odTnd-
vice, which, being yours, I have no doubt it wil 'be."‘ .
' “Very well; V Then don't be an obstinate old humbug
in the outset,-Tom, or I shall shutlup shop and dispense
noneiof that invaluable commodity. 'ou are on a visit
to me. " I wish I had an organ for you, Tom l"-' . z!‘ =
“ So do the gentlemen downstairs, and tliegcntleman
over head, I have no doubt," was Tom's reply.‘ >' " ' w ‘
“Let me ‘see. In the first place,-'you will wish mean
your sister this’moming'," pursued his fricnd,A“ahd of
course you will like to go there alone. I'll walk part of
the way with you; and see about a little business or my
own, and meet you here again in the aftcrnoon.< "Put
that in your =pocket, 'I‘om.‘r It's only vthe key of'1he
door. If you come home first, you'll want lt."r . :
“Really,” said: Tom;‘“qu'artering one‘s self upon a
friend in this way--’,' - v v - -V; ' w I = ‘
' “ Why, there are two keys," interposed ‘John “'est-
lock.’ “ I can’t open the door withi them both at once,
can 1.? ' VVhat zrridiculous fellow you are, Tom I ‘Noth-
ing particular you'd like for dinncr,'is there?” i '
‘-“0l1dea'rno,-”said'I'0m.c’: v ‘I -1 -
v ‘f Very well; then‘.you mayvas well leave itrtorme.
Have zrglass of cherry brandy.’ Tom ‘I ” .- I -- ‘
“Not it 7drop l‘? ‘Vhat remarkable chambers these
are I " said Pinch, " there’s everything in ’em l” 1 I.
' " Bless your soul, Tom, nothing but a few little bach-
elor contrivances I the sort of impromptuarrangements
that might have suggested themselves to Philip Quarll
or Robinson Crusoe: that's all.‘ What ‘do ‘you say?
Shall'wewalk‘2”-I '2‘ H V "”"';
' l “ By an means,”.cricd,Tom,' “As soon nsgrou like."
Accordingly John VVestlock tool: the Frenchrolls out
of.his boots,‘ and put his boots on,‘ and dressed himself :
giving Tom the paper to read in the‘1ncanwhile.' '“’hcn
he returned equippediforavalking, he t'ound"I‘om in a
brown study, with the paper inhis hand. ‘ ‘
"Dreaming, Toni?” 7 ' ‘C ‘ W -“, ’
‘ '”No,”v said Mr. Pinch, ‘.‘ No.‘ I have been looking.
over the advertising shoot, thinking there might be some-
thing in it,‘wliiclx would be likely to suit. me. A But, as I
often think, thestrango thing seems to be that nobody
is suited. i Here are all kinds of employers wanting nil
sortsof servants, and‘all sorts of servants wanting all
r-,
‘i4