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punch was cooling in an ornamental lake,‘on whose mar,
gin the bower was raised. , This piece of water (with an
island in the middle which might have been the salad
for supper) was of circular form, and he had constructed
a fountain in it, which when you set 9. little mill going
and took a cork out, of a pipe, played to that powerful
extent that it made thehack of your hand quite wet.
' “ I am my owuengineer and my own carpenter, and my
own plumber, and my own gardener, and my own Jack of
all Trades,” said VVemmick, in acknowledging my coin-
pliments. “ VVell ; it’s a good thing, you know.‘ It
brushes . the N ewgate cobwebs away, and pleases the
Aged. You wouldn't mind being at once introduced to
the Aged, would you? It woiildn’t put you out?" .
I expressed the readiness I felt, and we went into the
Castle. There, we found, sitting by a fire, a very old
man in a flannel coat : clean, cheerful, comfortable, and
well cared for, but intensely deaf. .‘
" ‘Veil, aged parent,” said VVemmick, shaking hands
with‘ him in a cordial and jocose way, “ how am you?”
“ All right, John ; all right i ” replied the old man. 3
“ Herc’s Mr. Pip, aged parent,” said lVemmick, “ and
I wish you could hear his name. Nodaway at him, Mr.
Pip ; that’s what he likes. Nod away at him, if you
please, likewinking l” ’ .
“This is a fine lace of my son’s, sir,” cried the old
man, while I nod ed as hard as I possibly could. “. This
is :1. pretty pleasure ground, sir. is spot and these
beautiful works upon it ought to be kept together by the
Nation, after my son's time, for the people's enjoyment.”
“ You're as proud of it as Punch ; ain’t you, Aged?”
said “'cinmick, contemplating the old man, with his
hard face really softened ; “ there's a nod for you ;”
giving him a tremendous one ; “ tlLe're’.9 another for you ; "
giving him astill more tremendous one ; “you like that,
don’t you? If you’rc not tired, Mr. Pip-though I know
it’s tiring to strangers-will you tip him one more‘? You
,can’t think how it pleases him.” '
I tip cd him several more, and he was in great spirits. ,
“Te lc thim bcstirring himself to feed the fowls, and we
sat down to our punch in the arbonr;' where Wemmick
told me as he smoked a pipe, that it had taken him a
good many years to bring the property up to its present
pitch of perfection. ‘ ' , , ,
" Is it your own, Mr. .lVemmick? " - ' .
“ Oh yes," said “Temmick. “‘I have got hold of it, a
‘bit at a time. It's a freehold, by George !” ‘
“ Is it,‘ indeed‘? I hope Mr. Jaggersiadinires it?”
“ Never seen it,” said lVemmick. “ Never heard of
it. Never seen the Aged. Never heard of him. ' No;
the office is one thing, and private life is another. lVlicn
I go into the office, I leave the Castle behind me, and
when I come into the Castle, Ileavc the oflice behind
me. If it’s'not in any way disagreeable to you, you'll
oblige me by doing the same.’ I don't wish it profes-
sionally spoken about.” ’ - ' 1 r
Of course I felt my good faith involved in the observ-
ance of his request. The punch being very nice, we sat
there. drinking it and talkin, , until it was ‘almost nine
o'clock. “Getting near gui1- ire,” said “'enimick then,
as he laid down his pipe; “it’s the Agcd’s treat”. ’ ,
' " Proceeding into the Castle again, we found the Aged
heating the poker, withcxpectant eyes, as a preliminary
to the performance of this eat nightly ceremony.
W'emmick stood with hiswatcgr in his hand until the
moment was come for him to take the red-hot poker from
the Aged, and repair to the battery. He took it. and
went out, and presently the Stinger went off with a Banrr
that shook the crazy little box of a cottage as if it must
fall .to pieces, and made every ‘glass and teacup in it
ring. Upon this, the Aged-who I believe would have
been blown out of - his arm-chair but for holding on
by the elbows-cried out exultingly, " Hc’s tired I I
heard him I" and I nodded at the old gentleman until it
is no figure of speech to declare that I absolutely could
not see him. - ‘ i , = .
The interval between that time and supper, Weminick
devoted to showingme his collection of curiosities.‘ They
Were mostly. of a felonious character ; comprising‘ the
Pen with which a celebrated forgery had been commit-
ted‘. 11 dlstmguished razor or two, sonic locks of hair, and
sew eral manuscript confessions written under condeinna.
. bE4RLES vDIO'KENS’ WORKS.
tion-upon which Mr.‘ lVerninick set partictilaizvalue. as
being, to use his own words,’ “ every one of em LIBS.
sir.” These were agreeably dispersed among small spe-
cimens ofichina and glass, various neat triiles made by
the proprietor ofthc museum, and some ‘tobacco-stoppers
carved by the Aged. -They were- all displayedi in that
chamber of the Castle intowhich I had been .firstr1.n-
ducted, and which -served, not only as ‘the general sit-
ting-room but as the kitchen too, if I rnight Judge from
a. saucepan on the hob, and a. brazen bijou overgthe fire-
place designed for the suspension of a roasting-Jock.
There was a neat little girl in attendance, who looked
after the A ed in the day. wVVhen she had laid the sup-
per-cloth, the bridge was lowered to give her the means
of egressyuiid she withdrew>for the night. The supper
was excellent ; and though the Castle was rather subject
to dry-rot, iusomuch that it tasted like a bad nut, and
though the pig mighthave been farther oil, I was heartily
pleased with my whole entertainment. Nor Wasiillele
any drawback on my little turret bedroom; beyond; there
being such a very thin ceiling between me and. the flag-
stail, that when'I lay down on my back in bed, it seemed
as if I had to balance that polo on my forehead all night.
lVenimick was up > early in the morning. and ‘l ‘.3111
afraid I heard him cleaiiin my boots. After that. he
fell to gardening, and I S2LW%llI!1 from my gothic window
pretending to employ the Aged, and nodding atchim in a
most devoted manner. Our breakfast was as good as the
supper, and at half-past eight prccisel y we started for
Little Britain; ’By degrees, VVcrnmick got dryer, ‘and
harder as we went along, and his mouth tightened into
:1 post-office again. At last, when we got to his place of
business and he pulled out his key from his coat-collar,
he looked as unconscious of his VValworth property as if
the Castle and the drawbridge and the arbour and the
lake and the fountain and the Aged. had all been blown
into space together by the last discharge of the Stinger.
,,;
; x
CHAPTER XXVI.
‘Ir fell out as lifemmick had told me it would, that I
had an early opportunity of comparing my guurdian’s
"establishment with ‘that of his cashier and clerk. My
guardian was IITIIIS room, washin his hands withrhis
scented soap, when- I went into t e ofiice from VVal-
worth ; and he called me to him, and gave me the invie
tation for myself and friends which VVemmick had-pre-
pared me to -receive. “No=ceremony,"? he stipulated;
" and no dinner dress, and say to-morrow.”.. I asked him
where we should come to (forl had no idea where he
lived), and I believe it was in his general objection to make
anything like an admission, ‘that he replied, ‘f Come here,
and I'll take you home with me.” I embrace this oppor-
tunity 0f'I‘eI1'1a1‘kIIig -that he’ washed‘ his clients off, as
if,lio wasa surgeon or‘a dentist. .He had a closet in his
room, fitted ‘up -for1the,purpose,‘ whicliwsmclt of. the
scented soap like u. perfumcr's shop. It. had an unusu-
ally large jack-towel on a roller inside the door,‘and he
would’ wash his hands, and wipe them and (lry.them 311
over this towel, whenever he came in from a police coil
or dismissed a. client from his room. lVlien I and THY
friends repaired to him at six " o’clock :next day; he
seemed to’ have been engaged on .3. -case , of . a darker
complexion than usual, for, we found him with his head
butted into this closet, not only washing his hand5, but
laving his face and gurgling his throat; And even .wbE-'11
he had done all that, and had gone all round the ‘jack-
towel, he took out his penknife and scrapedthe case 011‘
of his nails before he put his coat on. r V ' " '
There were some people slinking about as usual W119”
we passed out into the street, who were evidently: 3113'
ions -to speak with him;'but there was something 50
conclusive in the halo of scented soap which encircle
his presence, that they gave it up for that day. 1A5 We
walked along westward, he was recognized ever and
again by some face in the crowd of’ the streets, an
whenever that happened he talked louder to me ; vbl” ‘,3
never otherwise recognized anybody, or took noticetha
an body recognized him. i l- ‘ ‘ i
e conducted us to Gerrardstreet, Soho, to :1 11011590”