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. in the meauwhilo,iand don't talk about it.
I
L -,;w,Mrs. Gamp nodded--made ,as , if S1lC"SVCl‘O swallowing,
L and went. on, . . j, W A, '3’, It ' ," W
i . .g ;“'.,W.ho’s4lying dead up-stairs ; secliwas his Bible lan-T
, guage ;.’and where was Mr. Chuzzlewlt‘as,' had’ the only
‘son ;’and Vvhenjie goes up-stairs a lookiiigin the, beds
’ land wandering about the rooms, andcomes‘ down again a
5 yvhisperin’, softly to.liis-self about foul ‘play and that ; it
,giveJne sich a turnil don’t,deny it, Mr. Chuzzlewit, that
I never could have kep myself up but for a little drain
o’,spirits,..which Iseldoin touches, but could always wish
. to,know,wliere, to find, if so dis oged, never knowiu’ wot
Inayrhappen next, the world hem’ so, uncertain.” ' '. '
:5--“V VVhy,the old fool’s mad!”cried Jonas, much disturbed.
‘ ..,-“ That’s my opinion, sir,’f said Mrs. Gamp, “,and Iwill
; not deceive you. , .I believe as Mr.‘.Chutfey,‘sii-, rekwires
, attention (if I may make so bold), and should not have his
5 libertyto weir. andworrit your sweet lady" as he does.”
"‘ VVhy, whoininds‘ what he says?” retorted Jonas.
“Still he is worritin, sir,” said Mrs. Gainp. " No one
, dou’tim,ind him,,but he is 3. ill conwelnience.” .
I " 1“.Ecod.you’re. right,’f said Jonas, looking doubtfully at
’ the subject ofthis conversatiomgf‘ Ihave half a mind to
j shut him.up.j’: . ; , ., p . ., g .
. Mrs. Gamp rubbed her hands,,and smiled, and shook
‘ her head, and suitfed expressively, as scentlng a job.
‘ v “ Could . you-could‘ you take care of such an idiot,
, now,ein somespare ,rooin.iip-stairs ‘Z ” asked J oiias.
I wff Me and a friend of mine,,one‘otf, one on, could do it,
Mr. Chuzzlewit,’,’ ‘replied the nurse‘; ‘four charges not
f bein’ high, but wishin’, they was lower, and allowance
, niade,,considerin’, not strangers. ’ Me and Betsey Prig,
. sir, would undertake Mr. Chuftey, reasonable,” said Mrs.
‘ Gamp, looking at him with her head on one side, as if
he had been a. piece of goods, for which she was driving
5 a bargain ; “ and give every satigefaction. Betsey, Prig'
hasnussed a inanytlunacies,-'.and well shefknowstlieir
Ways, which uttin’ ,’ein right close afore the ‘fire, when
fractions, is t ie certainest and most compoging,”‘ ,
,,w.VVhile Mrs. Gainp discourscd to this effect, Jonas was
walking up and down the room again: glancing covertly at
the old clerk as he did so. 1 He now made a stop, and said :
3 ..‘fl must look afterthiui, I suppose, or I may have him
‘ doing some mischief. What say you ‘I?’ ’ , .
‘ 7.‘. N othin’, more likely I," Mrs. Gamp, replied. “ As
well I have experienged. I do assure you, sir.” V
“ VVell I Look after him for the present, and-let me
E . see,-threedays, from this time let the other woman come
here,'a.ud we’ll see if we can make a bargain of it. About
a nine or ten' o'clock at night, say. , Keep your eye. upon
' ‘ He’; as
I .n1ad asaltlarcli harct” .- , . "
“Madder I” cried Mrs. Gainp. ‘,‘ A deal mmlder I
,“ See to him then ; take care that hetdocs no ‘harm ;
and recollectavliat I have told you.” V: - .
Leaving Mrs. Gamp inthe act of repeating all she haul
1 ,,been,.told, and of producing in support of her memory
and trustworthincss',,niany comniendations selected from
among the most remarkable opinions of the celebrated
Mrs. -Harris, .he,dcscended to the little room prepared for
;him,'a.nd‘.pul1ing‘ off his coat and his boots, put them
- outside the door before he ,locked‘it.
personwlio might try to peep , in through the keyhole‘;
‘ gandgwhen, he had taken these preca11t'l011-‘5: 1,19 55!‘ down
' - to his supper.‘
z-“Mr. Chutf,” he muttered, an be pretty easy to be
even with you; ‘.' 'lt’s of no use ‘doing things by, 11’-11,V9S.
and as long as I-stop here, I’ll take good care of you.
VVhen I'm off, you may say :Wl1iIt'5’011 P19“59- But ‘It 5 “
‘d-d strange thing.” he added. Pushing 3‘‘‘‘’-3’ 1115. 1111-‘.
touched plate, and xstriding moodilyto mid fm. " 915311.13
: I-drivellings should have taken this turn ]ust,Ii0w. .,
‘ - .:,vAfter pacing the little room. from end to tend several
times, he sat down in another chair: ‘ . V V , ,
i -if.‘;I,say just now,.but for anything I know. 119 may
i,11aVe.[been,C3.I'X'yil'lg on the.same game all along. , Old
1‘ dog I -He shall be gagged I7’ ‘ '
, . ‘ " tliobsarne restless and nn!
V H9 Paced the mom ‘f,f;,’;‘3o13,p upon the bedstead, lean-‘
. in his chin upon his hand, and looking at the table. I
1 isteadyway; and then
3 hen he had looked at. it for a longtime, he remembered
his supper : and resuming the chair he had. first occu-
Jl[AItTIN:C’IIUZZLEWI.’I'. ' - ’
In.‘1ocking it, he‘
1 , was careful so to adjust the key, as to batllo any curious
114;!)
pied, began to eat with great rapacity : not.like a hungry
man], but as if ,he were determined to do it. . He drank,
too, roundly ; sometimes ’ stop ing in the middle of ‘a
draught towalk, and change iis seat and walk again,
and dart back to, the table and fall to, in ii ravenous
hurry, as before. ‘ ,, ‘ ' , ' .
It was now growing dark.’ Asthe gloom of evening,
deepening into ni ht, came on, another dark shade emerg-t
ing from within im seemed to overspread his face, and
slowly change it. Slowly, slowly; darker and darker ;
more and more haggard ; creeping over him by little and
little ; until it was black night within him and without. ‘
. The room in which he had shut himself up, wason
the ground fioor, at the back of the house. It was
lighted. by a dirty skylight, and had a door in the wall,
opening into 2124 narrow covered passage or‘ blind-alley,
very little frequented after five or six o’clock in the even-
ing, and not in much use as a thoroughfareat any hour.
But it had an outlet in a neighbouring street. ..
The ground on which this chamber stood, had, atone
time, not within his recollection, been a yard’; and had
been converted to its present purpose, for use as an oflicc.
But the occasion for it, died with the man who built it ;
andsaving that it had sometimes served as an apology
for a spare bed-room, and that the old clerk had ‘once
held it (but that was years ago) as his recogniz,ed'apart-
merit; it had been little troubled by'Anthoiiy Chuzzlewit
and Son. lt was a blotched, stained, mouldcring room,
like :1 vault ; and there were water-pipes running through
it, which at unexpected times in the night, when other
things were quiet, clicked and gurgled suddenly, as if
they were choking. ’ . V I ,
The door into the court had not been opened for along,
long time; but the key had always hung in one place,
and thereitliung-now. He was prepared for its bcin
rusty ; for he hail a little bottle of oil in his pocket and
the feather of a pen, with which he lubricated the key,
and tliclock too, carefully. All this while he had been
without his coat, andliad nothing on his feet’ but his
stockings. He now got softly into bed, in the same
state, and tossed from side to side.to tumble it. In his
restless condition, that was easily done. . ”
When he arose, he took from his portmanteau. which
he had caused to he carried into that place when he came
home, a air of clums " shoes, and lit them on his feet ;
also a pair of leather eggings, suc as countrymen are
used to wear, with straps to fasten them to the waistband.
In these he dressed himself at leisure. Lastly he took
out :1 common frock of coarse dark 'can,‘ which he ‘drew
over'his own uindur-clothing; an a felt hat--he had
purposely left his own up-stairs. He‘ then then sat
down by the door, with the key in his llilIl(l,1V'11li.lIlg.
He had nolight ; the time was dreary, long, and awful.
The ringers were practising iuxineighbouring church,
and the clasliing of the bells was almost maddening.
Curse the claniourin bells, they seemed to know that ho
was listeniiigat the oorgaud to proclaim it in ii crowd
of "voices to all the town’ 1 “’ould they never be still?
They ccascd at last, and then the silence was so new
and terrible that itseemed the prelude to some dreadful
noise.’ , Footsteps in ’ the "court I Two men. He fell
back’ from the door on iiptoe, as ifythey could have seen
him through its ‘wooden panels. , i , .. ..
' They passed on. talking (he could make out) about a
skeleton which had been dug up yesterday,in some work of
excavation near at hand, and was supposed to be that of a
murdered man. “ So murder is not always found out, you
see," they said to one another as they turned the corner. ,
‘Hush l , ‘ , A ;, ,
. He put the key intotlie lock, and turned it. The door
resistodfor a while, but soon came stillly open :.min'gling
; with the sense of fever in his ,mouth. a taste of rust, and
dust, and earth, and rotting wood. He looked out‘;
’ passed out ; locked it after him.
p All was clear and quiet,'as he fled away.’ 1 t
. cinu1Tjeii‘xi.viiL
Coridusioli qflhe Eliterprixc (f.llr.‘Jorms andlliis Friend.
DID no men‘pas'sing through the dim streets shrink
without knowing why, when he came stealing up behind