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1’;
32' ‘
in .
ill .-
iVnlI, and thenigcttinghimselfwrosswise into ,Thames
Street.“-ii an instinct tliatwould have been gmarvellous
if he ha had .the least desir'e,'or;reasou to- go " there,‘ he
founduhimself, at last, hard-by the Monument. " l <
;1'l‘lie Man‘. in ‘the,-‘Monument was quite,as‘myste“rious a’
being to -Tomas the Man in , the, ‘Moon.-; It '.imme'diately
occurred. to him, that.the lonely creature who held him-
self laloof from allniankind in that-pillair. like some-old
hermit; was the very man of whom to ask his wiry.‘ . Cold,
he might be ;'little sympathy he had, perhaps,‘ with hu-
man-passion-tlie column- seemed too tall for that ; but if
Truth didn’t.live initho base of the Monument, notwith-v
standing I’ope’s couplet about,the outside ‘ofVit,'wliere in‘
London (Tom thought) was she likelyto be found I -
sComing close,-.,bclow the pillar, it was a great encour-
agement to,’I‘om ‘to find that the Man in the Monument
hadsimple tastes;1that stonypandiartificialeas his resi-
deuce was, he still preserved , some yrustic recollections ;
that he liked plants, hung up bird-cages, was not wholly
cutgjolf from fresii-groundsel, and kept young't'ree‘s.in
tubs: The‘Man in the Monument liiniself, was sititng
outsideltlie,door-hislown door:-the Monument door:
what avgrand ‘idea !-and was actually. yawning, as-. if
there were no, Monument to stop his mouth, and give him
a perpetual interest in his’ own existence. r .
:;-Torn was advancing towards this remarkable creature,"
to inquire the:way;to Furnival’s: Inn, when two people
cainetolsee the Monument. ‘They were a gentleman and
a.lady-; and the gentleman said, “ How much a-piec'e‘.”'
,The Man in the Monument replied; ‘.‘ A Tanner.” '
-iIt seemed a low expression, compared with the Menu-
ment. -- s V r -
nTho gentleman put a shilling into his hand, and the
Man in the Monument o ened a dark little door. i VVhen
the gentleman and lady adpassed out of. view, he shut
it againhand came slowl , back to his chair.
i-He sat down and laug ied. , = -
4-‘-They don't’ know. what a many steps there is,” he
said. e f‘ It's worth twice-the ‘money to stop here. Oh,
myeyei” 4 ,7, “f =33
,The ‘Man in the Monument was a Cynic; a. worldly
man lg; Toin>cou1dn't ask his way of him. He was pre-
' pared-to put no couiidencein anything he said. a
',‘.‘.‘My) gracious ! ”i cried a well-known voice behind Mr.
Pinch. “ VVhy, to be sure it is i”-
,-At- the same ' time he.-was poked in the back by a
arasol. Turning round to inquire into this salute, he
elicld the eldest daughter of his late patron.
“ Miss Pecksniif i ” said Tom.
“ Why, my goodness, Mr. Pinch I ” cried Cherry.
'5 i,Vhat are you doing here?”
I““I have rather -wandered from my way,” said Tom.
ll 7’ .
i.?"'I hope ou have run away,” said Charity. “ It would
be quite spirited and proper if you had, when my Papa
so far;forgetsvliimself." . ' .
'3.“-I have left him,”<returned Tom. “But it was per-
fectly understood ou both sides. It was not done clan-
destinely.”4 5 . ,
“ Is he married ?” asked Cherry with a spasmodic
shake of her chin.‘
w“- No, nottyet,” said Tom, colouring : “Ito tell you the
truth, I-don't-think he is likely to be, if-if Miss Graham
is-the object of his passion.” - .
>" Tcha,‘ Mr.‘-Pinch I” cried -Charity, with sharp impa-
tience, “ You're very easily deceived. You don't know
the arts of which such a creature is capable. Oh ! it s a
wicked world.” . .
-' " You are not married?” Tom hinted, to divert the cou-
versation. ,
" N-no i” said Cherry, tracing out one particular pav-
ing stone’ in Monument Yard with the end of her parasol.
“ I-but really it’s quite impossible to explain. ‘Von t
you walk in? ” A
“‘- You live licre,- then?" said Tom. ‘
- -“Yes,” returned Miss Pecksni if, pointing with her paga-
sol to Toilgers’s : “ I reside with this lady, at present.
1- The greatstress on the two last words suggested to
’l'om that he was expected to say something in reference
to them. -So he said : " ' . , ,,
1 4: Only-at present 1- Are you going homeagama 5001‘?
"No, Mr. Pinch,” ‘returned Charity. - “No thank you.
v 5rMA‘R‘TIN:‘ 0HU,2zLE,iiqT,.. -. .-
1111
N01 A riiothver.in-laVw,wlio,is younger tlian,--I,.mean to
say, who is as nearly’as possible about ‘the same age -as
one’s self, would not quite. suit my spirit."
said Cherry, with a spiteful shiver.‘ ‘ : ,
‘ “. I thought‘ from ‘your ‘saying ‘at present "-Tom 'ob-
served. V; ,. .. , .- .. . ,"
"f,lieally’.iipon‘rnyjwordi I had no idea‘ you would
press-Lnie so ‘.very,closcly on‘the sub'ect,’Mr.'Pincli,",.sand
Charity, blushing,‘or I should not‘ ave bcerrso ‘fdolisli
as to allude to-Uh really l-'w‘on’t ouwalk in?”. : "
-, Tom mentioned, to excuse himse f, ‘that he had unap-
pointment in Furnival’s Inn, and that comii:g"from'Is‘-'
lington he had7taken a few wrong tiirnings; and arrived
. at the ‘Monument instead.. Miss Pecksniff simperedvery
much when he asked her if ‘she knew the way to‘ Furni-
val’s Inn, and at length found courage toreply : 9 .;,“,-"'i '
“ A gentleman who is a friend of mine, or at leastiwho
is not exactly a friend so much as a sort of ac ‘uaintance
-Oh, upon my word, I, hardly, know what say, ‘Mr.
Pinch ; you mustn't suppose there is any engagenient be.
tween us ; or atleast if there is, that it is at all a settled
thing as yet-is going to Furnival’s Inn immediately; I‘
believe upon a.li,ttle business, and I am sure he would be
very glad to accompany you, so as to’ prevent‘your going
wrong again. You had better walk in. You will very
likely find my sister‘Merry here," she said, with a eu-
rious toss of her head, and anything but airagreeablo
smile. - ' " " “
“ ’I‘hen,vI think, I'll endeavour to find my way alone,"
said Tom ; “ for I fear she would not be very glad to see
me. That unfortunate occurrence, in relation’ to which
you and I had some amicable words together, in rivate.
is not likely to have impressed her with any frien ly feel-
ing towards me. Though it really was not my fault."
=“ She has never heard of that, you may depend,” said
Chcrry, gathering up the corners of her mouth, and nod-
ding at"l‘om. “ I am far from sure that she would beat
you any mighty ill will for it, if she had.”
“ You don't say so ‘I ” cried Tom, who was. really con-
cerned by this insinuatioii. ' ‘I
“ I SlIy‘l10iilllIl g,” said Charity. “ If Lhad not already
known what shocking things treachery and deceit are in
‘ themselves, Mr. Pinch, I might perhaps have learnt'it
from the success the meet witli-from the success they
meet with.” Here S16 smiled as before. ‘.‘ But I dou’t
sayanything. On the contrary, I should scorn it. You
had better walk in i” . ’
There was somethin hidden here which picqued Tom's
interest and troubled is tender heart. VVh‘en, in a mo-
ment's irresolution, he looked at Charity, he could not
but observe a struggle in her face between a sense of
triumph and-a sense of shame ; nor could lie but remark
how, meeting even his eyes, which she cared so little for,
she turned away her own, for all the splenetic defiance in
her manner. i a
An uneasy thought entered Toui’s head ; a shadow
inisgiving that the altered relations between himself an
Pecksniif, were somehow to involve an altered knowl-
edge on his part of other people, and were to give him
an insight into much of w icli he had had no previous
suspicion. And at he put no definite construction upon
Charity’s procee ings. He certainly had no idea that as
he hail been the audience and spectator of her mortifica-
tion, she griispedwith ’eag'er‘deliglit at any opportunity
of reproacliing her sister with his presence. in her far
deeper misery ; for he knew nothing of it, and only pic-
tured that sistcr as the same giddy, careless, trivial crea-
ture she always had been, with the same slight’estima-
tion of himself which she had never been at the least
pains to ‘conceal. In short, he had merely a confused
impression that Miss Pecksniff was not quite sisterly or
kind ; and being curious to set it right, accompanied her
as she desired. -
Tho house-door being opened, she went in before Tom;
requesting him to follow her; and led the way to the
parlour door. ‘ . . . ‘
“Oh, Merry i ” she said, locking in, “I am so glad
you have not gone home. VVho do you think I have
met in the street, and brought to see you I Mr. Pinch i
There. Now you are surprised, I am sure i"
.1Not more-surprised. than .>'I'om:was,;when he looked
Not half so much.
upon her. Not so much.
‘Not ‘quite I5’,
.. ..,.