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diff --git a/30127-h/30127-h.htm b/30127-h/30127-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2b5490 --- /dev/null +++ b/30127-h/30127-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15354 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tales from Dickens, by Charles Dickens and Hallie Erminie Rives</title> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; clear: both;} +p { margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} +p.title { text-align:center; text-indent:0; font-weight:bold; + font-variant:small-caps; line-height:1.4; margin-bottom:1.5em;} +p.sign { text-align: center; line-height: 1.5;} +p.signbig { text-align: center; font-size: 120%; line-height: 1.2;} +small { font-size:80%; } +big { font-size:120%; } +hr { width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} +hr.chap {width: 65%; page-break-before: always;} +table { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} +.pagenum { position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; font-style: normal;} +.blockquot { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;} +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} +.center {text-align: center;} +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} +.u {text-decoration: underline;} +cite { font-style: italic;} +.caption { font-size: 90%;} +.info { margin-left:20%; margin-right:20%; } +.signbox { margin: 0 auto; padding: .5em; border: solid black 1px; text-align: center;} +div.set {text-align: center; font-size: 90%;} +tr.maj {height: 2em;} +td.majr { text-align: left; vertical-align: bottom;} +td.minr { text-align: right; vertical-align: top; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em;} +td.desc { text-align: left; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;} +td.pgno { text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; padding-left: 0.5em;} +a img { border: none; } +.figcenter { margin: auto; text-align: center; width: auto;} +.poem { margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} +.poem br {display: none;} +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} +.poem span.i0 { display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; font-size:90%;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30127 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Tales from Dickens, by Charles Dickens and +Hallie Erminie Rives, Illustrated by Reginald B. Birch</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 524px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="524" height="600" alt="Cover —Tales from Dickens" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 277px;"> +<a href="images/illus-1.png"><img src="images/illus-1tn.png" width="277" height="400" alt="" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">David Copperfield and his friend, Mr. Micawber +<br /> +<i>See page <a href="#Page_112">112</a></i></span> +</div> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h1><big>TALES +<br /> +FROM DICKENS</big></h1> + +<p class="center" style="margin-top:4em;"><i><big>By</big></i></p> + +<h2><big>HALLIE ERMINIE RIVES</big></h2> + +<p class="center" style="margin-top:0;"><big>Author of<br /> +The Castaway, Hearts Courageous<br /> +A Furnace of Earth, etc.</big></p> + +<p class="center" style="margin-top:4em; margin-bottom:0em;">WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY</p> +<h3 style="margin-top:.25em;"><big>REGINALD B. BIRCH</big></h3> + +<p class="center" style="margin-top:4em;">INDIANAPOLIS<br /> +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY<br /> +PUBLISHERS</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span> 1905<br /> +<span class="smcap">The Bobbs-Merrill Company</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">November</span></p> +<hr /> + +<p class="title">To +<br /> +GEORGE BAKER ROBBINS, Jr.</p> +<hr /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="2">CHARLES DICKENS</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">Little Nell</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">The Wanderers</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">The Search</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">OLIVER TWIST</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">How Oliver Came to London and What He Found There</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">Oliver's Adventures</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">How Everything Turned Out Right for Oliver in the End</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">BARNABY RUDGE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">Barnaby's Boyhood</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">The Mysterious Stranger and Who He Was</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">Barnaby Gets Into Trouble</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> IV</td><td class="desc">Barnaby Prospers at Last</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">DAVID COPPERFIELD</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">David's Early Ups and Downs</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">Little Em'ly</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">David and His Child-Wife</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> IV</td><td class="desc">David Finds All Well at Last</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">GREAT EXPECTATIONS</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">Pip and the Convict</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">The Queer Miss Havisham</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">Pip Discovers His Benefactor</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> IV</td><td class="desc">Pip Comes to Himself</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">NICHOLAS NICKLEBY</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">Nicholas at Dotheboys Hall</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">Nicholas Becomes an Actor</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">Nicholas Comes to Kate's Rescue</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> IV</td><td class="desc">What Happened to Everybody</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">DOMBEY AND SON</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">Little Paul</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">How Florence Lost Her Father</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">How Florence Reached a Refuge</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> IV</td><td class="desc">How Florence Found Her Father at Last</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">THE PICKWICK PAPERS</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">The Pickwickians Begin Their Adventures. They Meet Mr. Alfred Jingle, and Winkle Is Involved in a Duel</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">Tupman Has a Love-Affair With a Spinster, and the Pickwickians Find Out the Real Character of Jingle</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">Mr. Pickwick Has an Interesting Scene With Mrs. Bardell, His Housekeeper. Further Pursuit of Jingle Leads to an Adventure at a Young Ladies' Boarding School</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> IV</td><td class="desc">Sam Weller Meets His Father, and the Pursuit of Jingle Is Continued. Mr. Pickwick Makes a Strange Call on a Middle-Aged Lady in Yellow Curl Papers</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> V</td><td class="desc">The Pickwickians Find Themselves in the Grasp of the Law. The Final Exposure of Jingle, and a Christmas Merrymaking</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> VI</td><td class="desc">The Celebrated Case of Bardell Against Pickwick. Sergeant Buzfuz's Speech and an Unexpected Verdict</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> VII</td><td class="desc">Winkle Has an Exciting Adventure With Mr. Dowler, and With the Aid of Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller Discovers the Whereabouts of Miss Arabella Allen</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> VIII</td><td class="desc">Mr. Pickwick's Experiences in the Debtors' Prison, Where He Finds an Old Enemy and Heaps Coals of Fire on the Head of Mrs. Bardell</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> IX</td><td class="desc">Snodgrass Gets Into Difficulties, But Wins His Lady-Love. The Adventures of the Pickwickians Come to an End</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">LITTLE DORRIT</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> I</td><td class="desc">How Arthur Came Home from China</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> II</td><td class="desc">The Child of the Marshalsea</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> III</td><td class="desc">What Riches Brought to the Dorrits</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_274">274</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> IV</td><td class="desc">What Happened to Arthur Clennam</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr"> V</td><td class="desc">"All's Well That Ends Well"</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">I</td><td class="desc">How Martin Left England</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">II</td><td class="desc">Pecksniff and Old Chuzzlewit</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_302">302</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">III</td><td class="desc">Jonas Gets Rid of an Enemy</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_308">308</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">IV</td><td class="desc">What Came of Martin's Trip to America</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">V</td><td class="desc">Old Chuzzlewit's Plot Succeeds</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_318">318</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">OUR MUTUAL FRIEND</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">I</td><td class="desc">What Happened to John Harmon</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_325">325</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">II</td><td class="desc">Lizzie Hexam and the Dolls' Dressmaker</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">III</td><td class="desc">The Rise and Fall of Silas Wegg</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">IV</td><td class="desc">Bella and the Golden Dustman</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_343">343</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">V</td><td class="desc">The End of the Story</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_348">348</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">A TALE OF TWO CITIES</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">I</td><td class="desc">How Lucie Found a Father</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_357">357</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">II</td><td class="desc">Darnay Caught in the Net</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_367">367</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">III</td><td class="desc">Sydney Carton's Sacrifice</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_375">375</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">BLEAK HOUSE</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">I</td><td class="desc">The Court of Chancery</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_383">383</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">II</td><td class="desc">Lady Dedlock's Secret</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_390">390</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">III</td><td class="desc">Little Joe Plays a Part</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_398">398</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">IV</td><td class="desc">Esther Becomes the Mistress of Bleak House</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_405">405</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">HARD TIMES</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">I</td><td class="desc">Mr. Gradgrind and His "System"</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_413">413</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">II</td><td class="desc">The Robbery of Bounderby's Bank</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_420">420</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">III</td><td class="desc">Harthouse's Plan Fails</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_427">427</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">IV</td><td class="desc">Stephen's Return</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_432">432</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="3">THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD</td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">I</td><td class="desc">John Jasper</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_441">441</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">II</td><td class="desc">The Coming of Neville Landless</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_444">444</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">III</td><td class="desc">The Choirmaster's Dinner</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_449">449</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="minr">IV</td><td class="desc">Jasper Shows His Teeth</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_455">455</a></td></tr> +<tr class="maj"><td class="majr" colspan="2">INDEX TO CHARACTERS</td><td class="pgno"><a href="#Page_463">463</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2><a name="TALES_FROM_DICKENS" id="TALES_FROM_DICKENS"></a>TALES FROM DICKENS</h2> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHARLES_DICKENS" id="CHARLES_DICKENS"></a>CHARLES DICKENS</h2> + +<p>Charles John Huffham Dickens, the master +story-teller, was born in Landport, England, February +7, 1812. His father was a clerk in one of the +offices of the Navy, and he was one of eight children.</p> + +<p>When he was four years old, his father moved to +the town of Chatham, near the old city of +Rochester. Round about are chalk hills, green +lanes, forests and marshes, and amid such scenes +the little Charles's genius first began to show itself.</p> + +<p>He did not like the rougher sports of his school-fellows +and preferred to amuse himself in his own +way, or to wander about with his older sister, +Fanny, whom he especially loved. They loved to +watch the stars together, and there was one particular +star which they used to pretend was their +own. People called him a "very queer small boy" +because he was always thinking or reading instead +of playing. The children of the neighborhood +would gather around him to listen while he told +them stories or sang comic songs to them, and +when he was only eight years old he taught them +to act in plays which he invented. He was fond of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +reading books of travel, and most of all he loved +<cite>The Arabian Nights</cite> and <cite>Robinson Crusoe</cite>.</p> + +<p>He had a great affection for Chatham and +Rochester, and after he began to write stories that +were printed, he often used to put these places +into them. It was at Chatham that poor little +David in the story, <cite>David Copperfield</cite>, lay down +to sleep when he was running away from London +to find his aunt, Miss Betsy Trotwood. It was +to Rochester that Mr. Pickwick in <cite>Pickwick +Papers</cite>, rode with Jingle. Rochester was really +the "Cloisterham" where the wicked choir master, +John Jasper, killed his nephew, in <cite>The Mystery of +Edwin Drood</cite>. And it was in those very marshes +near by, that Magwitch, the escaped convict in +<cite>Great Expectations</cite>, so frightened little Pip. It +is easy to see that the young Charles Dickens noted +carefully and remembered everything he saw, and +this habit was of great use to him all his life.</p> + +<p>These happy years were not to last long. When +he was nine years old, his father became poor and +the family was obliged to move to London, where +it lived in a shabby house in a poor suburb. Before +another year had passed, his father was put +into prison for debt—the same prison in which +Little Dorrit, in the story of that name, grew up. +A very bitter period followed for the solitary ten-year-old +boy—a time in which, he long afterward +wrote, "but for the mercy of God, he might easily +have become, for any care that was taken of him, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +little robber or a little vagabond." The earlier +history of David in <cite>David Copperfield</cite> is really +and truly a history of the real Charles Dickens +in London. He was left to the city streets, or +to earn a hard and scanty living in a dirty warehouse, +by pasting labels on pots of blacking. All +of this wretched experience he has written in +<cite>David Copperfield</cite>, and the sad scenes of the +debtors' prison he has put into <cite>Pickwick Papers</cite> +and into <cite>Little Dorrit</cite>. Even Mrs. Pipchin, of +whom he told in <cite>Dombey and Son</cite>, and Mr. Micawber +in <cite>David Copperfield</cite>, were real people +whom he knew in these years of poverty and +despair. Dickens's life at this time was so miserable +that always afterward he dreaded to speak of +it, and never could bear even to walk in the street +where the blacking warehouse of his boyhood had +stood.</p> + +<p>Better days, however, came at last. He was able +to begin school again, and though the head-master +was ignorant and brutal (just such a one as Mr. +Creakle in <cite>David Copperfield</cite>) yet Dickens profited +by such teaching as he received.</p> + +<p>After two or three years of school, he found employment +as clerk in a lawyer's office. This did not +content him and he made up his mind to learn to +write shorthand so as to become a reporter, in the +Houses of Parliament, for a newspaper. This was +by no means an easy task. But Dickens had great +strength of will and a determination to do well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +whatever he did at all, and he succeeded, just as +David Copperfield did in the story.</p> + +<p>And like the latter, too, about this time Dickens +fell in love. He did not marry on this occasion, +as did David, but how much he was in love one +may see by the story of David's Dora.</p> + +<p>The theater had always a great attraction for +Dickens. Throughout his life he loved to act in +plays got up and often written, too, by himself and +his friends. Some of his early experiences of this +kind he has told in the adventures of Nicholas +Nickleby at Mr. Crummles's theater. But his +acting was for his own amusement, and it is doubtful +if he ever thought seriously of adopting the +stage as a profession. If he did, his success as a +reporter soon determined him otherwise.</p> + +<p>When he was twenty-one he saw his first printed +sketch in a monthly magazine. He had dropped it +into a letter-box with mingled hope and fear, and +read it now through tears of joy and pride. He +followed this with others as successful, signed +"Boz"—the child nickname of one of his younger +brothers. This was his beginning. He was soon +on the road to a comfortable fortune, and when +at length <cite>Pickwick Papers</cite> appeared, Dickens's +fame was assured. This was his first long story. It +became, almost at once, the most popular book of +its day, perhaps, indeed, the most popular book +ever published in England. Soon after the appearance +of its first chapters, Dickens married Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +Catherine Hogarth, daughter of the editor of one +of the London newspapers, who had helped him +in his career.</p> + +<p>Many have tried to explain the marvelous popularity +of <cite>Pickwick Papers</cite>. Certainly its honest +fun, its merriment, its quaintness, good humor and +charity appealed to every reader. More than all, +it made people acquainted with a new company of +characters, none of whom had ever existed, or +could ever exist, and yet whose manners and appearance +were pictured so really that they seemed +to be actual persons whom one might meet and +laugh with anywhere.</p> + +<p>With such a success, and the money it brought +him, Dickens had leisure to begin the wonderful +series of stories which endeared him to the whole +English-speaking world, and made him the most +famous author of his day. <cite>Oliver Twist</cite> came first, +and it was followed by <cite>Nicholas Nickleby</cite> and +<cite>The Old Curiosity Shop</cite>.</p> + +<p>In the first two of these stories one may see most +clearly the principle that underlay almost all of +Dickens's work. He was never content merely to +tell an interesting story. He wrote with a purpose. +In <cite>Oliver Twist</cite> that purpose was, first, to +better the poorhouse system, and second, to show +that even in the lowest and wickedest paths of +life (the life wherein lived Fagin with his pupils +in crime and Bill Sikes the brutal burglar) there +could yet be found, as in the case of poor Nancy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +real kindness and sacrifice. In <cite>Nicholas Nickleby</cite> +the purpose was to show what terrible wrongs were +done to children in country schools, numbers of +which at that time were managed by men almost as +cruel and inhuman as was Squeers in the story. It +is good to learn that, as a result of this novel, an +end was made of many such boys' schools. True +artist as he was, Dickens seldom wrote without +having in his mind the thought of showing some +defect in the law, or some wrong condition of affairs +which might be righted. No one could read +<cite>Pickwick Papers</cite> or <cite>Little Dorrit</cite> without realizing +how much wrong and misery was caused by +the law which made it possible to throw a man +into prison for debt. Nor can one read <cite>Bleak +House</cite> without seeing that the legal system which +robbed quaint Miss Flite of her mind and kept +poor Richard Carstone from his fortune till +the fortune itself had disappeared, was a very +wrong legal system indeed. Often, too, Dickens's +stories are, in a sense, sermons against very human +sins. In <cite>The Old Curiosity Shop</cite> it is the sin of +gambling which brings about the death of Little +Nell. In <cite>Great Expectations</cite> it is the sin of pride +which Pip has to fight. In <cite>Martin Chuzzlewit</cite> the +evil and folly of selfishness is what Dickens had in +mind.</p> + +<p>With his increasing wealth, Dickens had, of +course, changed his manner of life. He lived part +of the time in the country near London, in Brighton,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +in Dover, and in France and Italy. He liked +best, however, a little English watering place +called Broadstairs—a tiny fishing village, built +on a cliff, with the sea rolling and dashing beneath +it. In such a place he felt that he could write best, +but he greatly missed his London friends. He used +to say that being without them was "like losing his +arms and legs."</p> + +<p>The first great grief of his life came to him at +this time, in the death of his wife's sister, Mary +Hogarth, a gentle, lovable girl of seventeen. No +sorrow ever touched him as this did. "After she +died," he wrote years afterward, "I dreamed of +her every night for many weeks, and always with a +kind of quiet happiness, so that I never lay down +at night without a hope of the vision coming +back." Hers was the character he drew in Little +Nell in <cite>The Old Curiosity Shop</cite>. When he came +to the part of the story which tells of Little Nell's +death, he could scarcely write the chapter. When +he ended it he said, "It seems as though dear Mary +died but yesterday."</p> + +<p>When he was less than thirty, Dickens was invited +to visit Scotland, and there he received his +first great national tribute. A public banquet was +given him in Edinburgh, and he was much sought +after and entertained. Up to this time he had +never seen the United States; he decided now to +visit this country and meet his American readers +face to face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>He landed at Boston accompanied by his wife, +in 1842, and visited many of the greater cities of +the Eastern states. Everywhere he was counted +the guest of the nation, and the four months of +his stay were one continual welcome. Unfortunately, +however, Dickens had taken a dislike to +American ways, and this dislike appeared in many +things he wrote after his return to England. The +pictures he drew of American life in <cite>Martin +Chuzzlewit</cite> were both unjust and untrue, and +made him for a time lose a large part of the good +opinion which American readers had had for him. +Dickens soon came to regret the writing of these +chapters, and when, twenty-five years later, he visited +the United States a second time, he did all in +his power to show his kindly feeling, and America +admired and loved him so much that it gradually +forgot the incident in the great pleasure with +which it read his stories.</p> + +<p>Dickens was a very active man, and his life was +simple and full of work and exercise. He rose +early and almost every day might have been seen +tramping for miles along the country roads, or +riding horseback with his dogs racing after him. +He liked best to wander along the cliffs or across +the downs by the sea. When he was in London +he often walked the streets half the night, thinking +out his stories, or searching for the odd characters +which he put in them. This natural activity +and restlessness even led him sometimes to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +make political speeches, and finally to the establishment +of a new London newspaper—the <cite>Daily +News</cite>—of which he was the first editor. Before +this, he had started a weekly journal, in which several +of his stories had appeared, but it had not +been very successful. It was not long before he +withdrew also from this second venture.</p> + +<p>In the meantime he had met with both joy and +sorrow. Several children had been born to him. +His much loved sister, his father, and his own little +daughter, the youngest of his family, had died. +These sorrows made him throw himself into his +work with greater earnestness. He even found +leisure to organize a theatrical company (in which +he himself acted with a number of other famous +writers of the time), which gave several plays for +the benefit of charity. One of these was performed +before Queen Victoria.</p> + +<p>People have often wondered how Dickens found +time to accomplish so many different things. One +of the secrets of this, no doubt, was his love of +order. He was the most systematic of men. Everything +he did "went like clockwork," and he +prided himself on his punctuality. He could not +work in a room unless everything in it was in its +proper place. As a consequence of this habit of +regularity, he never wasted time.</p> + +<p>The work of editorship was very pleasant to +Dickens, and scarcely three years after his leaving +the <cite>Daily News</cite> he began the publication of a new<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +magazine which he called <cite>Household Words</cite>. +His aim was to make it cheerful, useful and at the +same time cheap, so that the poor could afford to +buy it as well as the rich. His own story, <cite>Hard +Times</cite>, first appeared in this, with the earliest +work of more than one writer who later became +celebrated. Dickens loved to encourage young +writers, and would just as quickly accept a good +story or poem from an unknown author as from +the most famous.</p> + +<p>It was while engaged in this work that Dickens +wrote the best one of all his tales—<cite>David Copperfield</cite>, +the one which is in so large a part the history +of his own early life.</p> + +<p>This book brought Dickens to the height of his +career. He was now both famous and rich. He +bought a house on Gad's Hill—a place near +Chatham, where he had spent the happiest part of +his childhood—and settled down to a life of comfort +and labor. When he was a little boy his father +had pointed out this fine house to him, and told +him he might even come to live there some day, if +he were very persevering and worked hard. And +so, indeed, it had proved.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it is in connection with this house on +Gad's Hill that the world oftenest remembers +Dickens now. Everyone, old and young throughout +the neighborhood, liked him. Children, dogs +and horses were his friends. His hand was open for +charity, and he was always the champion of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +poor, the helpless and the outcast. Everyone, he +thought, had some good in him, and in all he met +he was on the lookout to find it. The great purpose +underneath all his writings was after all to +teach that every man and woman, however degraded, +has his or her better side. So earnest was +he in this that he was not pleased at all when a person +praised one of his stories, unless the other +showed that he had grasped the lesson that lay beneath +it. The text of Dickens's whole life and +work is best expressed in his own words: "I hope +to do some solid good, and I mean to be as cheery +and pleasant as I can." The wrongs and sufferings +of the young especially appealed to him, and perhaps +the most beautiful speech he ever made was +one asking for money for the support of the London +Hospital for Sick Children. He spoke often +in behalf of workingmen, and once he spoke for +the benefit of a company of poor actors, when, unknown +to him, a little child of his own was lying +dead at home.</p> + +<p>With such a tender heart for all the world, he +was more than an affectionate father to his own +children, and gave much thought to their happiness +and education. In order that they should +properly learn of their own country, he went to +the labor of preparing a <cite>Child's History of England</cite> +for them, and at another time he wrote out +the story of the Gospels, to help them in their +study of the New Testament. As the years went by,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +his letters to his oldest son told of his own work +and plans. When his youngest son sailed away to +live in Australia, he wrote: "Poor Plorn is gone. +It was a hard parting at the last. He seemed to +me to become once more my youngest and favorite +child as the day drew near, and I did not think I +could have been so shaken."</p> + +<p>When he moved to Gad's Hill it seemed as +though Dickens had gained almost all of the +things men strive most for. But he was not to be +happy there—nor, perhaps, was he ever again to +be really happy anywhere. He and his wife were +very different in all their tastes and habits, and +had never loved each other as well as people +should when they marry. Perhaps, after all, it +would have been better if in his youth he had married +his Dora—the one whom he had pictured in +the love-story of David Copperfield and his child-wife. +But, however this may be, Dickens and his +wife had not lived happily together, and now decided +to part, and from that time, though they +wrote to each other, he never saw her again. It +is sad to reflect that he who has painted so beautifully +for others the joys and sorrows of perfect +love and home, was himself destined to know +neither.</p> + +<p>The years that followed this separation were +years of constant labor for Dickens. His restlessness, +perhaps also his lack of happiness, drove him +to work without rest. He wrote to a friend: "I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +quite confident I should rust, break and die if I +spared myself. Much better to die doing." The +idea of giving public readings from his stories suggested +itself to him, and he was soon engaged in +preparation. "I must do <em>something</em>," he wrote, +"or I shall wear my heart away." That heart his +physician had declared out of order, and this effort +was destined to wear it away in quite another +sense, though for some time Dickens felt no ill effects.</p> + +<p>He gave readings, not only in England, but also +in Scotland and Ireland, and everywhere he met +with enormous success. The first series was hardly +over, when he was at work on a new story, and this +was scarcely completed when he was planning +more readings. The strain of several seasons of +such work told on his health. A serious illness followed, +and afterward he was troubled with an increasing +lameness—the first real warning of the +end.</p> + +<p>In spite of his weakness, he decided on another +trip to America, and here, in 1867, he began a +series of readings which left him in a far worse +condition. Often at the close of an evening he +would become so faint that he would have to lie +down. He was unable to sleep and his appetite +entirely failed him. Yet his wonderful determination +and energy made him able to complete +the task. A great banquet of farewell was given +to him in New York and he returned to England<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +bearing the admiration and love of the whole +American people.</p> + +<p>Before leaving England he had promised to +give one other course of readings there, and this +promise, after a summer's quiet at home, he attempted +to fulfil. But he was too ill. He found +himself for the first time in his life feeling, as he +said, "giddy, jarred, shaken, faint, uncertain of +voice and sight, and tread and touch, and dull of +spirit." He was obliged to discontinue the course +and to rest.</p> + +<p>This summer of 1869—the last summer of his +life—was a contented and even a happy one. At +home, at first in London, and later in the house on +Gad's Hill, surrounded by his children and by the +friends he loved best, Dickens lived quietly, working +at his last story which his death was to leave +for ever unfinished—The <cite>Mystery of Edwin +Drood</cite>. He attempted one more series of readings, +and with their close bade farewell for ever to his +English audience.</p> + +<p>He was seen in public but a few times more—once +at the last dinner party he ever attended, to +meet the Prince of Wales and the King of the +Belgians, and once when the Queen invited him to +Buckingham Palace. Soon after, the end came.</p> + +<p>One day as he entered the house at Gad's Hill, +he seemed tired and silent. As he sat down to dinner +all present noticed that he looked very ill. +They begged him to lie down. "Yes, on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +ground," he said—these were the last words he +ever uttered—and as he spoke he slipped down +upon the floor.</p> + +<p>He never fully recovered consciousness, and +next day, June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens breathed +his last. Five days later he was laid to rest in +Westminster Abbey, where are buried so many of +the greatest of England's dead. For days, thousands +came to visit the spot, and rich and poor +alike looked upon his grave with tears.</p> + +<p style="text-align:right; margin-right: 5%;"><span class="smcap">Hallie Erminie Rives.</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1840</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Story setting"> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London and Neighboring Towns</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1840</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">"Little Nell"</td><td align="right">An orphan girl</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Trent</td><td align="right">Her aged grandfather</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">Proprietor of "The Old Curiosity Shop"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Stranger"</td><td align="right">Mr. Trent's brother</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Christopher Nubbles</td><td align="right">Little Nell's friend and protector</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">Known as "Kit"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Quilp</td><td align="right">A dwarf</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Quilp</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Jarley</td><td align="right">Proprietress of "Jarley's Waxwork"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Brass</td><td align="right">A dishonest lawyer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sally Brass</td><td align="right">His sister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Dick Swiveller</td><td align="right">Brass's clerk</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP" id="THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"></a>THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +LITTLE NELL</h3> + +<p>In a narrow side street in London there once +stood a shabby building called The Old Curiosity +Shop, because all sorts of curious things were +kept for sale there—such as rusty swords, china +figures, quaint carvings and old-fashioned furniture.</p> + +<p>A little old man named Trent owned the shop, +and he looked as old as anything in it. He was +thin and bent, with long gray hair and bright blue +eyes, and his face was wrinkled and full of care. +He had an orphan grandchild who lived with +him—a pretty little golden-haired girl whom +every one called Little Nell, who kept the shop +clean and neat and cooked the meals just as a +grown woman would have done. She slept in a +back room in a bed so small it might almost have +been a fairy's. She lived a very lonely life, but +she kept a cheerful face and did not complain.</p> + +<p>She had only one protector besides her grandfather, +and that was a big, awkward boy named +Christopher Nubbles, called Kit for short. He +had a very large mouth and a turned-up nose, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +when he spoke he had a habit of standing sidewise +and twisting his head back over his shoulder. +Everything he did seemed funny, and little Nell +laughed at him all the while, though she loved +him almost as much as she did her grandfather. +He ran errands for them, and in the long winter +evenings she used to teach him to read and write.</p> + +<p>Kit liked to be taught and even liked to be +laughed at, and always ended by laughing himself, +with his mouth wide open and his eyes shut. He +was the best-natured lad in the world, and would +have given his life to make little Nell happy.</p> + +<p>She was not as happy as she seemed to her +grandfather's eyes. There was some mystery +about the old man that she could not understand. +Almost every night he left her to go to bed all +alone in the shop, and went away and did not come +back till sunrise, when the door-bell woke her and +she let him in.</p> + +<p>And, too, he always talked of the great fortune +she was to have sometime—if only some mysterious +plan he was working on turned out right—the +carriages and fine frocks and jewels. But the +plan seemed always to go wrong, and the poor old +man grew sadder and sadder as he grew more +feeble.</p> + +<p>Often at night little Nell sat at the upper window, +watching for him, crying, and fearing that +he might die or lose his mind; she never knew that +Kit used to stand in the shadow of an archway opposite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +and watch to see that no harm came to her, +till she vanished and he knew she had gone to bed.</p> + +<p>What troubled little Nell most of all was a +strange visitor her grandfather used to have. This +was a hideous man named Quilp, with the body +of a dwarf and the head of a giant. His black eyes +were sharp and cunning, his face was always covered +with a stubby beard and he had a cruel smile +that made him look like a panting dog. He had +grizzled, tangled hair, crooked finger nails, and +wore a dirty handkerchief tied around his neck, +instead of a collar. He used to bring money to her +grandfather, and little Nell more than once saw +him look at her and at the contents of the shop in +a gloating way that made her shiver.</p> + +<p>Indeed, everybody who ever met Quilp was +afraid of him, and most afraid of all was his wife. +He had a habit of drinking scalding tea and of +eating boiled eggs, shell and all, that quite terrified +her. Besides, he treated the poor woman +cruelly. Sometimes, for instance, when she displeased +him, he made her sit bolt upright in a +chair all night, without moving or going to bed, +while he sat smoking and making faces at her.</p> + +<p>Little Nell often had to carry messages from her +grandfather to the dwarf, and came to know that +he had somehow fallen into Quilp's power.</p> + +<p>The fact was that the old man had been borrowing +money from the dwarf for a long time, and +had spent it on the great plan, which he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +thought sure to succeed, and he now owed the +other much more than all the shop and everything +in it was worth.</p> + +<p>Quilp had loaned the money because he thought +when the wonderful plan succeeded he would +make the grandfather give him back very much +more than he had loaned him. But when the old +man continually wanted to borrow more money +and yet paid none back, the dwarf grew suspicious +and tried hard to find out what the great +plan was. To do this he used to question little +Nell and try to persuade her to tell how her grandfather +passed the time.</p> + +<p>She would never tell him anything, but one day, +when she had brought a message to his house, the +dwarf hid in a closet and listened while the child +told his wife how her grandfather, every night +after Quilp had brought him money, went out and +did not come home till daybreak, and always +sadly then. You see, little Nell was in such +trouble that she had to tell somebody about it and +ask advice, and the dwarf's wife had always been +very kind to her.</p> + +<p>When Quilp heard the story he guessed the +secret—that her grandfather, hoping to win more +for little Nell, had gambled away all the money. +He was full of rage and sent word that he would +loan no more.</p> + +<p>The old man was in great grief at this. His +mind had not been strong for a long time, or this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +foolish and wrong plan would never have misled +him, and now, at the thought that he would have +no more chance to win the fortune for his grandchild, +he fell ill. The child did her best to comfort +him, but he told her that if Quilp deserted +them they would be no better than beggars.</p> + +<p>"Let us be beggars then, and be happy," said +little Nell, putting her arms around his neck. "I +would rather beg than live as we do now. If you +are sorrowful now, let me know it. If you are +weaker, let me be your nurse. It breaks my heart +to see you so and not to know why. Let us leave this +place and sleep in the fields in the country and +never think of money again, and I will beg for us +both."</p> + +<p>Neither had heard the dwarf, who had stolen +into the shop behind them. Little Nell shrieked +when she saw him, and her grandfather sent her +into her own room.</p> + +<p>"So that is the way all the money I have loaned +you has gone!" sneered Quilp. "Your precious +scheme to make a fortune was the gaming-table!"</p> + +<p>The old man cried out at this, trembling, that he +had done it all for little Nell; that he had never +staked a single penny for himself, or without praying +that it might win for her good. He told how +he had begun gambling months before, knowing +he must soon die, hoping thus to leave her enough +to live on; how, after losing all his own savings, he +had borrowed and lost all that, too. And he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +begged the dwarf to loan him a little more so that +he might tempt luck again.</p> + +<p>Any one but Quilp would have pitied the poor +old man, but not he. He refused, and thinking of +a lie which would make the other yet more miserable, +he told him as he left that it was Kit who had +told him where the money was going.</p> + +<p>The first Kit knew of this was that night when +little Nell came to tell him her grandfather was +very ill, and that he raved continually against +Kit so that he must never come to the shop again. +Kit was stupefied at this, but there was no help +for it, so little Nell went sorrowfully back alone.</p> + +<p>The Old Curiosity Shop belonged to the dwarf +now and he at once moved into the parlor. He +took little Nell's own bed for himself and she had +to sleep on a pallet on the floor up stairs. She was +busy nursing her grandfather, for he was very +ill for some time, and she scarcely ever came down +because she was so afraid of the dwarf.</p> + +<p>Quilp was waiting for the old man to die, thinking +that then he would have the shop for his own, +and meantime he did a hundred disagreeable +things, such as filling the house with strong tobacco +smoke from a big pipe he used all the time +and driving every one away who came to ask how +the sick man was. He even drove off Kit when +he came below the window to beg little Nell to +come and bring her grandfather to live at his own +mother's house.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>The old man would certainly have died if little +Nell had not nursed him so faithfully, all alone, till +he grew better and at length was able to sit up.</p> + +<p>But it was a bitter thing to live as they did, and +one day little Nell begged her grandfather to +come away with her—to wander anywhere in the +world, only so it was under God's sky and away +from every one that pursued them—and he agreed.</p> + +<p>So that night they dressed and stole down stairs +very quietly in order not to waken the dwarf who +was snoring frightfully in the back room, and went +through the shop to the front door. The bolts +were rusty and creaked loudly, and, worst of all, +they found the key was not in the lock. Little Nell +had to take off her shoes and creep into the back +room to get it out of the dwarf's pocket.</p> + +<p>She was terribly frightened at the sight of +Quilp, for he was having a bad dream, and was +hanging so far out of bed that he was almost standing +on his head; his ugly mouth was wide open, +and his breath came in a sort of growl. But she +found the key at last, and they unlocked the door +and came safely into the dark street.</p> + +<p>The old man did not know where to go, but little +Nell took his hand and led him gently away.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +THE WANDERERS</h3> + +<p>It was a bright June morning. They walked +through many city streets, then through more scattered +suburbs, and at last came to the open country. +That night they slept at a cottage where the +people were kind to them, and all the next day +they walked on and on.</p> + +<p>At sunset they stopped to rest in a churchyard, +where two men were sitting patching a Punch-and-Judy +show booth, while the figures of Punch, +the doctor, the executioner and the devil were lying +on the grass waiting to be mended.</p> + +<p>The men were mending the dolls very badly, so +little Nell took a needle and sewed them all neatly. +They were delighted at this, and took the pair to +the inn where they were to show the Punch-and-Judy, +and there they found them a place to sleep +in an empty loft.</p> + +<p>The next day the wanderers went on with the +showmen. Whenever they came to a village, the +booth was pitched and the show took place, and +they never left a town without a pack of ragged +children at their heels. The Punch-and-Judy show +grew tiresome, but the company seemed better +than none. Little Nell was weary with walking, +but she tried to hide it from her grandfather.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>The inn at which they lodged the next night was +full of showmen with trained dogs, conjurers and +others, hurrying to a town where there was to be a +fair with horse-races, to which the Punch-and-Judy +partners were bound, and little Nell began +to distrust their company.</p> + +<p>To tell the truth, the others believed the child +and the old man were running away from their +friends, and that a reward might be obtained for +giving them up. The way in which the men +watched them frightened little Nell, and when +they reached the scene of the fair she had determined +to escape.</p> + +<p>It was the second day of the races before a +chance came, and then, while the showmen's backs +were turned, they slipped away in the crowd to +the open fields again.</p> + +<p>These alarms and the exposure had begun to +affect the old man. He seemed to understand that +he was not wholly in his right mind. He was full +of the fear that he would be taken from her and +chained in a dungeon, and little Nell had great +trouble in cheering him.</p> + +<p>At evening when they were both worn out, they +came to a village where stood a cottage with the +sign SCHOOL in big letters in its window. The +pale old schoolmaster sat smoking in the garden. +He was a sad, solitary man, and loved little Nell +when he first saw her, because she was like a favorite +pupil he once had. He made them sleep in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +the school-room that night, and he begged them +to stay longer next day, but little Nell was anxious +to get as far as possible from London and from +the dwarf, who she was all the time in fear might +find them. So they bade the schoolmaster good-by +and walked on.</p> + +<p>Another day's journey left them so exhausted +they could scarcely keep moving. They had almost +reached another village when they came to a tiny +painted house on wheels with horses to draw it. +At its door sat a stout lady wearing a large bonnet, +taking tea with a big drum for a table.</p> + +<p>The lady, as it happened, had seen them at the +fair, and had wondered then to see them in company +with a Punch-and-Judy show. Noticing how +tired they were, she gave them tea and then took +them into the wagon with her to help them on +their way.</p> + +<p>The inside of the wagon was like a cozy room. +It had a little bed in one end, and a kitchen in the +other, and had two curtained windows. As the +wheels rattled on the old man fell asleep, and the +stout lady made little Nell sit by her and talk. In +the wagon was a big canvas sign that read:</p> + +<div class="signbox" style="width: 15em;"><p class="sign"><big>JARLEY'S WAXWORK</big><br /> +<small>ONE HUNDRED FIGURES</small><br /> +THE FULL SIZE OF LIFE<br /> +NOW EXHIBITED WITHIN<br /></p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am Mrs. Jarley," the woman said, "and my +waxwork is gone to the next town, where it is to be +exhibited." She thought little Nell and her grandfather +were in the show business, too, and when +she found they were not, that they had no home, +and did not even know where they were going, she +held up her hands in astonishment.</p> + +<p>But it was easy to see that they were not ordinary +beggars, and she was kind-hearted and +wanted to help them. So, after much thought, she +asked little Nell if they would take a situation +with her. She explained that the child's duty +would be to point out the wax figures to the visitors +and tell their names, while her grandfather +could help dust them.</p> + +<p>They accepted this offer very thankfully (for +almost all the money they had brought was now +spent), and when the wagon arrived at the place +of exhibition and the waxwork had been set up, +Mrs. Jarley put a long wand in little Nell's hand +and taught her to point out each figure and describe +it:</p> + +<p>"This, ladies and gentlemen," little Nell learned +to say, "is Jasper Packlemerton, who murdered +fourteen wives by tickling the soles of their feet," +or, "this is Queen Elizabeth's maid of honor, who +died from pricking her finger while sewing on +Sunday."</p> + +<p>She was quick to learn and soon became a great +favorite with the visitors. Mrs. Jarley was kind,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +and but for the fact that her grandfather's mind +failed more and more every day little Nell would +have been quite happy.</p> + +<p>One evening the two walked into the country beyond +the town and a sudden thunder-storm arose. +They took shelter at an inn on the highroad, and +while they waited there some rough men began a +noisy game of cards behind a screen.</p> + +<p>The talk and the chink of the money roused the +old man's failing senses. He imagined himself +still gambling to win the old fortune for little +Nell. He made her give him the money she had +earned from the waxwork, joined the gamblers +and in a few hours had lost it all. His insanity +had made him forget the presence of the child he +so loved, and when the game was done it was too +late to leave the inn that night.</p> + +<p>Little Nell had now only one piece of money +left, a gold piece sewed in her dress. This she had +to change into silver and to pay a part for their +lodging. When she was abed she could not sleep +for fear of the wicked men she had seen gambling.</p> + +<p>When at last she fell asleep she waked suddenly +to see a figure in the room. She was too frightened +to scream, and lay very still and trembled. The +robber searched her clothing, took the rest of the +money and went out. She was dreadfully afraid +he might return to harm her. If she could get to +her grandfather, she thought, she would be safe.</p> + +<p>She opened the door softly, and in the moonlight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +saw the figure entering the old man's room. She +caught a view of his face and then she knew that +the figure was her own grandfather, and that, +crazed by the gambling scene, he himself had +robbed her!</p> + +<p>All that night little Nell lay and cried. She +knew, to be sure, that her grandfather was not a +thief and that he did not know what he was doing +when he stole her money; but she knew, too, that +if people found out he was crazy they would take +him away from her and shut him up where she +could not be with him, and of this she could not +bear to think.</p> + +<p>The next day, when they had gone back to the +waxwork, she was in even greater terror for fear +he should rob Mrs. Jarley, their benefactress. So, +to lessen the chance of this, each day she gave +him every penny she earned. This, she soon knew, +he gambled away, for often he was out all night, +and even seemed to shun her; so she was sad and +took many long walks alone through the fields.</p> + +<p>One evening it happened that she passed a +meadow where, beside a hedge, a fire was burning, +with three men sitting and lying around it. She +was in the shadow and they did not see her. One, +she saw, was her grandfather, and the others were +the gamblers with whom he had played at the inn +on the night of the storm.</p> + +<p>Little Nell crept close. They were tempting +the poor daft old man to steal the money from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +Mrs. Jarley's strong box, and while she listened he +consented.</p> + +<p>She ran home in terrible grief. She tried to +sleep, but could not. At last she could bear it no +longer. She went to the old man's room and wakened +him.</p> + +<p>"I have had a dreadful dream," she told him, "a +dream of an old gray-haired man like you robbing +people of their gold. I can not stay! I can not +leave you here. We must go."</p> + +<p>To the crazy old man she seemed an angel. He +dressed himself in fear, and with her little basket +on her arm she led him out of the house, on, away +from the town, into the country, far away from +Mrs. Jarley, who had been so kind to them, and +from the new home they had found.</p> + +<p>They climbed a high hill just as the sun was +rising, and far behind them little Nell caught a +last view of the village. As she looked back and +thought how contented they had been there at first, +and of the further wandering that lay before them +now, poor little Nell burst into tears.</p> + +<p>But at length she bravely dried her tears lest +they sadden her grandfather, and they went on. +When the sun grew warm they fell asleep on the +bank of the canal, and when they awoke in the +afternoon some rough canal men took them aboard +their dirty craft as far as the next town.</p> + +<p>The men were well-meaning enough and meant +the travelers no harm, but after a while they began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +to drink and quarreled and fought among +themselves, and little Nell sat all night, wet with +the rain, and sang to them to quiet them.</p> + +<p>The place to which they finally came was a town +of wretched workmen who toiled all day in iron +furnaces for little wages, and were almost as miserable +and hungry as the wanderers themselves. +No one gave them anything, and they lived for +three days with only two penny loaves to eat (for +all their money was now gone), and slept at night +in the ashes of some poor laborer's hut.</p> + +<p>The fourth day they dragged themselves into +the country again. Little Nell's shoes were worn +through to the bare ground, her feet were bleeding, +her limbs ached and she was deadly faint. +They begged, but no one would help them.</p> + +<p>The child's strength was almost gone, when they +met a traveler who was reading in a book as he +walked along. He looked up as they came near. +It was the kind old schoolmaster in whose school +they had slept before they met Mrs. Jarley in her +house on wheels. When she saw him little Nell +shrieked and fell unconscious at his feet.</p> + +<p>The schoolmaster carried her to an inn near by, +where she was put to bed and doctored under his +care, for she was very weak. She told him all the +story of their wanderings, and he heard it with astonishment +and wonder to find such a great heart +and heroism in a child.</p> + +<p>He had been appointed schoolmaster, he told<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +her, in another town, to which he was then on his +way, and he declared they should go with him +and he would care for them. He hired a farm +wagon to carry little Nell, and he and the old man +walked beside it, and so they came to their new +place.</p> + +<p>Next door to the school-house was the church. +A very old woman, nearly a hundred years old, +had lived in a tenement near by to keep the keys +and open the church for services. The old woman +was now dead, and the schoolmaster went to the +clergyman and asked that her place be given to +the grandfather, so that he and little Nell could +live in the house next to his own dwelling.</p> + +<p>The child sewed the tattered curtains and +mended the worn carpet and the schoolmaster +trimmed the long grass and trained the ivy before +the door. In the evening a bright fire was kindled +and they all three took their supper together, and +then the schoolmaster said a prayer before they +went gladly to bed.</p> + +<p>They were very happy in this new home. The +old man lost the insane thirst for gaming and the +mad look faded from his eyes, but poor little Nell +grew paler and more fragile every day. The long +days of hunger and nights of exposure had sowed +the seeds of illness.</p> + +<p>The whole village soon grew to love her. Many +came to visit her and the schoolmaster read to her +each day, so that she was content even when she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +could no longer walk abroad as she had always +done.</p> + +<p>As she lay looking out at the peaceful churchyard, +where so many whose lives were over lay +sleeping, it seemed to her that the painful past +was only an ugly vision. And at night she often +dreamed of the roof opening and a column of +bright faces, rising far into the sky, looking down +on her asleep. The quiet spot outside remained +the same, save that the air was full of music and a +sound of angels' wings.</p> + +<p>So the weeks passed into winter, and though she +came soon to know that she was not long for earth, +she thought of death without regret and of heaven +with joy.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +THE SEARCH</h3> + +<p>It is not to be supposed, of course, that the flight +of little Nell and her grandfather from the Old +Curiosity Shop was not noticed. All the time, +while they were wandering about homeless and +wretched, more than one went searching everywhere +for them without success.</p> + +<p>One of these was Quilp, the ugly dwarf. He had +loaned the grandfather more money than the shop +would bring, and he made up his mind now that +the old man had a secret hoard somewhere, which +might be his if he could find it. He soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +learned that if Kit knew anything about it he +would not tell, so he and his lawyer (a sleek, oily +rascal named Brass) made many plans for finding +them. But for a long time Quilp could get no +trace.</p> + +<p>Another who tried to find them was a curious +lodger who roomed in Brass's house. He seemed +to have plenty of money but was very eccentric. +Nobody knew even his name and so they called +him The Stranger.</p> + +<p>He kept in his room a big box-like trunk, in +which was a silver stove that he used to cook his +meals. The stove had a lot of little openings. In +one he would put an egg, in another some coffee, in +another a piece of meat and in the fourth some +water. Then he would light a lamp that stood under +it, and in five minutes the egg would be +cooked, the coffee boiled and the meat done—all +ready to eat.</p> + +<p>He was the queerest sort of boarder! The +strangest habit he had was this: He seemed to be +very fond of Punch-and-Judy shows, and whenever +he heard one on the street he would run out +without his hat, make the showmen perform in +front of the house and then invite them to his +rooms, where he would question them for a long +time. This habit used to puzzle both Brass and +Quilp, the dwarf, and they never could guess why +he did it.</p> + +<p>The truth was, the mysterious Stranger was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +long-missing brother of little Nell's grandfather. +A misunderstanding had come between them many +years before when both were young men. The +younger had become a traveler in many countries +and had never seen his brother since. But he +dreamed often of the days when they had been +children and at last he forgot the thing that had +driven them apart. He had come back now to +England, a rich man, to find the other had vanished +with little Nell, his grandchild. He had +soon learned the story of their misfortune and how +the fear of Quilp had driven them away. After +much inquiry he had discovered they had been +seen with a Punch-and-Judy show and now he was +trying to find the showmen. And finally, in this +way, he did find the very same pair the wanderers +had met!</p> + +<p>He learned from them all they could tell him—that +the child and the old man had disappeared at +the fair, and that since then (so they had heard) a +pair resembling them had been seen with the Jarley +waxwork exhibition. The Stranger easily discovered +where Mrs. Jarley was, and determined to +set out to her at once. But he remembered that his +brother, little Nell's grandfather, could not be expected +to know him after all the years he had been +gone, and as for little Nell herself, she had never +seen him, and he was afraid if they heard a strange +man had come for them they would take fright and +run away again. So he tried to find some one they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +had loved to go with him to show that he intended +only kindness.</p> + +<p>He was not long in hearing of Kit, who had +found a situation as footman, and he gained his +employer's leave to take the lad with him. When +Kit learned that The Stranger had discovered +where little Nell was he was overjoyed; but he +knew he himself was not the one to go, because +before they disappeared she had told him he must +never come to the Old Curiosity Shop again and +that her grandfather blamed him as the cause of +their misfortune. But Kit promised the Stranger +that his mother should go in his place, and went +to tell her at once.</p> + +<p>Kit found his mother was at church, but the +matter was so urgent that he went straight to the +pew and brought her out, which caused even the +minister to pause in his sermon and made all the +congregation look surprised. Kit took her home, +packed her box and bundled her into the coach +which the Stranger brought, and away they went +to find the wanderers.</p> + +<p>Now Quilp had all along suspected that Kit and +his mother knew something of their whereabouts, +and he had made it his business to watch either one +or the other. The dwarf, in fact, was in the church +when Kit came for his mother, and he followed. +When she left with the Stranger he took another +coach and pursued, feeling certain he was on the +right track.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>But they were all too late. When the Stranger +found Mrs. Jarley next day she could only tell him +that little Nell and her grandfather had disappeared +again, and he had to return with Kit's +mother, much discouraged, to London.</p> + +<p>The part Kit had played in this made the dwarf +hate him, if possible, more than ever, and he +agreed to pay Brass, his rascally lawyer, to ruin +the lad by making a false charge of theft against +him.</p> + +<p>One day, when Kit came to Brass's house to see +the Stranger, who lodged up stairs, the lawyer +cunningly hid a five-pound note in the lad's hat +and as soon as he left ran after him, seized him in +the street and accused him of taking it from his +office desk.</p> + +<p>Kit was arrested, and the note, of course, was +found on his person. The evidence seemed so +strong that the poor fellow was quickly tried, +found guilty and sentenced to prison for a long +time.</p> + +<p>All might have gone wrong but for a little maid-servant +of Brass's, whom the lawyer had starved +and mistreated for years. He used to keep her +locked in the moldy cellar and gave her so little +to eat that she would creep into the office at night +(she had found a key that fitted the door) to pick +up the bits of bread that Dick Swiveller, Brass's +clerk, had left when he ate his luncheon.</p> + +<p>One night, while this little drudge was prowling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +about above stairs, she overheard Brass telling his +sister, Sally (who was his partner and colder and +crueler and more wicked even than he was), the +trick he was going to play. After Kit was arrested +she ran away from Brass's house and told her story +to Kit's employer, who had all along believed in +his innocence.</p> + +<p>Brass in the meantime had gone to Quilp to get +his reward for this evil deed, but the terrible +dwarf now only laughed at him and pretended to +remember nothing at all about the bargain.</p> + +<p>This so enraged the lawyer that, when he was +brought face to face with the little maid's evidence +and found that he himself was caught, he made +full confession of the part Quilp had played, and +told the whole story to revenge himself on the +dwarf.</p> + +<p>Officers were sent at once to arrest Quilp at a +dingy dwelling on a wharf in the river where he +often slept with the object of terrifying his wife by +his long absences. Here he had set up the battered +figurehead of a wrecked ship and, imagining that +its face resembled that of Kit whom he so fiendishly +hated, he used to amuse himself by screwing +gimlets into its breast, sticking forks into its eyes +and beating it with a poker.</p> + +<p>A few minutes before the officers arrived the +dwarf received warning from Sally Brass, but he +had no time to get away. When he heard the +knocking on the gates and knew that the law he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +had so long defied was at last upon him, he fell +into a panic and did not know which way to turn. +He tried to cover the light of the fire, but only succeeded +in upsetting the stove. Then he ran out of +the house on to the dock in the darkness.</p> + +<p>It was a black, foggy night, and he could not +see a foot before him. He thought he could climb +over the wall to the next wharf and so escape, but +in his fright he missed his way and fell over the +edge of the platform into the swift-flowing river.</p> + +<p>He screamed in terror, but the water filled his +throat and the knocking on the gates was so loud +that no one heard him. The water swept him close +to a ship, but its keel was smooth and slippery and +there was nothing to cling to. He had been so +wicked that he was afraid to die and he fought desperately, +but the rapid tide smothered his cries and +dragged him down—to death.</p> + +<p>The waves threw his drowned body finally on +the edge of a dismal swamp, in the red glare of +the blazing ruin which the overturned stove that +night made of the building in which he had +framed his evil plots. And this was the end of +Quilp, the dwarf.</p> + +<p>As for Kit, he found himself all at once not only +free, but a hero. His employer came to the jail to +tell him that he was free and that everyone knew +now of his innocence, and they made him eat and +drink, and everybody shook hands with him. Then +he was put into a coach and they drove straight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +home, where his mother was waiting to kiss him +and cry over him with joy.</p> + +<p>And last, but by no means least of all his new +good fortune, he learned then that the Stranger +who had been searching so long for little Nell and +her grandfather had found certainly where they +were and that Kit was to go with him and his employer +at once and bring them back again to London.</p> + +<p>They started the next day, and on the long road +they talked much of little Nell and the strange +chance by which the lost had been found. A gentleman +who lived in the village to which they were +now bound, who had himself been kind to the +child and to the old man whom the new schoolmaster +had brought with him, had written of the +pair to Kit's employer, and the letter had been the +lost clue, so long sought, to their hiding-place.</p> + +<p>Snow began falling as the daylight wore away, +and the coach wheels made no noise. All night +and all the next day, they rode, and it was midnight +before they came to the town where the two +wanderers had taken refuge.</p> + +<p>The village was very still, and the air was frosty +and cold. Only a single light was to be seen, coming +from a window beside a church. This was the +house which the Stranger knew sheltered those +they sought, but both he and Kit felt a strange fear +as they saw that light—the only one in the whole +village.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>They left the driver to take the horses to the inn +and approached the building afoot. They went +quite close and looked through the window. In +the room an old man bent low over a fire crooning +to himself, and Kit, seeing that it was his old master, +opened the door, ran in, knelt by him and +caught his hand.</p> + +<p>The old grandfather did not recognize Kit. He +believed him a spirit, as he thought many spirits +had talked to him that day. He was much changed, +and it seemed as if some great blow or grief had +crazed him. He had a dress of little Nell's in his +hand and smoothed and patted it as he muttered +that she had been asleep—asleep a long time now, +and was marble cold and would not wake.</p> + +<p>"Her little homely dress!" he said. "And see +here—these shoes—how worn they are! You see +where her feet went bare upon the ground. They +told me afterward that the stones had cut and +bruised them. She never told me that. No, no, +God bless her! And I have remembered since how +she walked behind me, that I might not see how +lame she was, but yet she had my hand in hers and +seemed to lead me still."</p> + +<p>So he muttered on, and the cheeks of the others +were wet with tears, for they had begun to understand +the sad truth.</p> + +<p>Kit could not speak, but the Stranger did: "You +speak of little Nell," he said. "Do you remember, +long ago, another child, too, who loved you when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +you were a child yourself? Say that you had a +brother, long forgotten, who now at last came back +to you to be what you were then to him. Give me +but one word, dear brother, to say you know me, +and life will still be precious to us again."</p> + +<p>The old man shook his head, for grief had killed +all memory. Pushing them aside, he went into the +next room, calling little Nell's name softly as he +went.</p> + +<p>They followed. Kit sobbed as they entered, for +there on her bed little Nell lay dead.</p> + +<p>Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell! The schoolmaster +told them of her last hours. They had read +and talked to her a while, and then she had sunk +peacefully to sleep. They knew by what she said in +her dreams that they were of her wanderings, and +of the people who had helped them, for often she +whispered, "God bless you." And she spoke once +of beautiful music that was in the air.</p> + +<p>Opening her eyes at last, she begged that they +would kiss her once again. That done, she turned +to the old man with a lovely smile on her face—such, +he said, as he had never seen—and threw +both arms about his neck. They did not know at +first that she was dead.</p> + +<p>They laid little Nell to rest the next day in the +churchyard where she had so often sat. The old +man never realized quite what had happened. He +thought she would come back to him some day, and +that then they would go away together. He used<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +to sit beside her grave and watch for her each +afternoon.</p> + +<p>One day he did not return at the usual hour and +they went to look for him. He was lying dead upon +the stone.</p> + +<p>They buried him beside the child he had loved, +and there in the churchyard where they had often +talked together they both lie side by side.</p> + +<p>None of those who had known little Nell ever +forgot her story. After the death of the old man, +his brother, the Stranger who had sought them so +long, traveled in the footsteps of the two wanderers +to search out and reward all who had been kind +to them—Mrs. Jarley of the waxwork, the Punch-and-Judy +showmen, he found them all. Even the +rough canal boatmen were not forgotten.</p> + +<p>Kit's story got abroad and he found himself with +hosts of friends, who gave him a good position and +secured his mother from want. So that his greatest +misfortune turned out, after all, to be his greatest +good.</p> + +<p>The little maid whose evidence cleared Kit of +the terrible charge against him lived to marry Dick +Swiveller, the clerk of Brass, the lawyer, while +meek Mrs. Quilp, after her husband's drowning, +married a clever young man and lived a pleasant +life on the dead dwarf's money.</p> + +<p>The fate of the others, whose wickedness has +been a part of this story, was not so pleasant. The +two gamblers who tempted the old man to steal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +Mrs. Jarley's strong box were detected in another +crime and sent to jail. Brass became a convict, condemned +to walk on a treadmill, chained to a long +line of other evil men, and dragging wherever he +went a heavy iron ball. After he was released he +joined his wicked sister, Sally, and the two sank +lower and lower till they might even be seen on +dark nights on narrow London streets searching in +refuse boxes for bits of food, like twin spirits of +wickedness and crime.</p> + +<p>When Kit had grown to be a man and had children +of his own, he often took them to the spot +where stood what had been The Old Curiosity +Shop and told them over and over the story of little +Nell. And he always ended by saying that if +they were good like her they might go some time +where they could see and know her as he had done +when he was a boy.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE ADVENTURES OF OLIVER TWIST</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1837</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London and Neighboring Towns</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1825 to 1837</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Oliver Twist</td><td align="right">A foundling</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Bumble</td><td align="right">The master of the poorhouse</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Bumble</td><td align="right">The mistress of the poorhouse</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Monks</td><td align="right">Oliver's half-brother and his enemy</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Brownlow</td><td align="right">Oliver's benefactor</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Maylie</td><td align="right">Oliver's benefactress</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Miss Rose</td><td align="right">Mrs. Maylie's adopted niece</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">In reality Oliver's aunt</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fagin</td><td align="right">A Jew</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Leader of a gang of thieves in London</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bill Sikes</td><td align="right">A burglar</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nancy</td><td align="right">Sikes's partner in crime</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Artful Dodger"</td><td align="right">A youthful pickpocket</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="OLIVER_TWIST" id="OLIVER_TWIST"></a>OLIVER TWIST</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +HOW OLIVER CAME TO LONDON AND WHAT HE<br /> +FOUND THERE</h3> + +<p>Oliver Twist was the son of a poor lady who was +found lying in the street one day in an English village, +almost starved and very ill. She had walked +a long way, for her shoes were worn to pieces, but +where she came from or where she was going nobody +knew. As she had no money, she was taken to +the poorhouse, where she died the next day without +even telling her name, leaving behind her only +a gold locket, which was around her neck, and a +baby.</p> + +<p>The locket fell into the hands of the mistress of +the poorhouse, who was named Mrs. Bumble. It +contained the dead mother's wedding-ring, and, as +Mrs. Bumble was a dishonest woman, she hid both +locket and ring, intending sometime to sell them.</p> + +<p>The baby was left, with no one to care for it, to +grow up at the poorhouse with the other wretched +orphan children, who wore calico dresses all alike +and had little to eat and many whippings.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bumble, the master of the poorhouse, was a +pompous, self-important bully who browbeat every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +one weaker than himself and scolded and cuffed +the paupers to his heart's content. It was he who +named the baby "Oliver Twist." He used to name +all the babies as they came along, by the letters of +the alphabet. The one before Oliver was named +Swubble; then came Oliver with a T; the next +would be Unwin, the next Vilkins, and so on down +to Z. Then he would begin the alphabet all over +again.</p> + +<p>Little Oliver, the baby, grew without any idea +of who he was. When he was a year old he was sent +to the poor-farm where an old woman took care +of orphan children for a very small sum apiece +each week. This money, which was paid by the +town, was hardly enough to buy them food, but +nevertheless the old woman took good care to save +the bigger share for herself.</p> + +<p>He lived there till he was a pale, handsome boy +of nine years, and then he was taken to the workhouse, +where, with many other boys of his own age +or older, he had to work hard all day picking +oakum.</p> + +<p>The boys had nothing but thin gruel for their +meals, with an onion twice a week and half a roll +on Sundays. They ate in a great stone hall, in one +end of which stood the big copper of gruel which +Mr. Bumble ladled out. Each boy got only one +helping, and the bowls never needed washing, because, +when the meal was through, there was not a +drop of gruel left in them. After each meal they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +all sat staring at the copper and sucking their fingers, +but nobody dared ask for more.</p> + +<p>One day they felt so terribly hungry that one of +the biggest boys said unless he got another helping +of gruel he was afraid he would have to eat the boy +who slept next him. The little boys all believed +this and cast lots to see who should ask for more. +It fell to Oliver Twist.</p> + +<p>So that night after supper, though he was dreadfully +frightened, Oliver rose and went up to the +end of the room and said to Mr. Bumble, "Please, +sir, I want some more."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bumble was so surprised he turned pale. +"What!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"Please, sir," said Oliver again, "I want some +more."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bumble picked up the ladle and struck +Oliver on the head with it; then he pounced on him +and shook him. When he was tired shaking him, +he dragged him away and shut him up in a dark +room, where he stayed a whole week, and was only +taken out once a day to be whipped. Then, to make +an example of him, a notice was pasted on the gate +of the workhouse offering a reward to anybody +who would take poor Oliver away and do what he +liked with him.</p> + +<p>The first one who came by was a middle-aged +chimney-sweep, who wanted a boy to climb up the +insides of chimneys and clean out the soot. This +was a dangerous thing to do, for sometimes the boys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +who did it got burned or choked with the smoke, +and when Oliver found what they were going to +do with him and looked at the man's cruel face, +he burst out crying, so that a kind-hearted magistrate +interfered and would not let the chimney-sweep +have him.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bumble finally gave him to the village undertaker, +and there he had to mind the shop and do +all the chores. He slept under the counter among +piles of empty coffins. The undertaker's wife beat +him often, and whenever he was not at work he +had to attend funerals, which was by no means +amusing, so that he found life no better than it had +been at the workhouse. The undertaker had an apprentice, +too, who kicked him whenever he came +near.</p> + +<p>All this wretchedness Oliver bore as well as he +could, without complaining. But one day the cowardly +apprentice began to say unkind things of +Oliver's dead mother, and this he could not stand. +His anger made him stronger even than his tormentor, +though the latter was more than a head +taller and much older, and he sprang upon him, +caught him by the throat and, after shaking him till +his teeth rattled, knocked him flat on the floor.</p> + +<p>The big bully screamed for help and cried that +he was being murdered, so that the undertaker and +his wife came running in. Oliver told them what +the apprentice had said, but that made no difference. +The undertaker sent for Mr. Bumble, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +between them they flogged him till he could hardly +stand and sent him to bed without anything to eat.</p> + +<p>Till then Oliver had not shed a tear, but now, +alone in the dark, he felt so miserable that he cried +for a long time.</p> + +<p>There was nothing to do, he thought at last, but +to run away. So he tied up his few belongings in +a handkerchief and, waiting till the first beam of +sunrise, he unbarred the door and ran away as fast +as he could, through the town into the country.</p> + +<p>He hid behind hedges whenever he saw anybody, +for fear the undertaker or Mr. Bumble were after +him, and before long he found a road that he knew +led to London. Oliver had never seen a city, but he +thought where there were so many people there +would certainly be something for a boy to do to +earn his living, so he trudged stoutly on and before +nightfall had walked twenty miles. He begged a +crust of bread at a cottage and slept under a hayrick. +The next day and night he was so very hungry +and cold that when morning came again he +could scarcely walk at all.</p> + +<p>He sat down finally at the edge of a village, +wondering whether he was going to die, when he +saw coming along the queerest-looking boy. He +was about Oliver's age, with a snub nose, bow legs +and little sharp eyes. His face was very dirty and +he wore a man's coat, whose ragged tails came to +his heels.</p> + +<p>The boy saw Oliver's plight and asked him what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +the matter was, mixing his words with such a lot +of strange slang that Oliver could hardly understand +him. When Oliver explained that he had +been walking a number of days and was very +hungry, the other took him to a shop near by, +bought him some bread and ham, and watched him +eat it with great attention, asking him many questions—whether +he had any money or knew any +place in London where he could stay. Oliver answered +no.</p> + +<p>"Don't fret about that," said the other. "I know +a 'spectable old genelman as lives there wot'll give +you lodgings for nothing if I interduce you."</p> + +<p>Oliver did not think his new host looked very +respectable himself, but he thought it might be as +well for him to know the old gentleman, particularly +as he had nowhere else to go. So they set off.</p> + +<p>It was night when they reached London, and it +was so big and crowded that Oliver kept close to +his guide. He noticed, however, that the streets +they passed through were narrow and dirty and the +houses old and hideously filthy. The people, too, +seemed low and wretched.</p> + +<p>He was just wondering if he had not better run +away when the boy pushed open a door, drew +Oliver inside, up a broken stairway and into a back +room.</p> + +<p>Here, frying some sausages over a stove, was a +shriveled old Jew in a greasy flannel gown. He was +very ugly and his matted red hair hung down over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +his villainous face. In a corner stood a clothes-horse +on which hung hundreds of silk handkerchiefs, +and four or five boys, as dirty and oddly +dressed as the one who had brought Oliver, sat +about a table smoking pipes like rough, grown +men.</p> + +<p>Oliver's guide introduced him to the Jew, whose +name was Fagin, and the boys crowded around +him, putting their hands into his pockets, which he +thought a queer joke. Fagin grinned horribly as he +shook hands with him and told him he was very +welcome, which did not tend to reassure him, and +then the sausages were passed around. The Jew +gave Oliver a glass of something to drink, and as +soon as he drank it he became very sleepy and knew +nothing more till the following morning.</p> + +<p>The next few days Oliver saw much to wonder +at. When he woke up, Fagin was sorting over a +great box full of watches, which he hid away when +he saw Oliver was looking. Every day the boy who +had brought him there, whom they called "the Artful +Dodger," came in and gave the Jew some +pocketbooks and handkerchiefs. Oliver thought he +must have made the pocketbooks, only they did not +look new, and some seemed to have money in them. +He noticed, too, that whenever the Artful Dodger +came home empty-handed Fagin seemed angry and +cuffed and kicked him and sent him to bed supperless; +but when he brought home a good number +everything was very jolly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whenever there was nothing else to do, the old +Jew played a very curious game with the boys. +This was the way they played it:</p> + +<p>Fagin would put a snuff-box in one pocket, a +watch in another and a handkerchief in a third; +then he would walk about the room just as any old +gentleman would walk about the street, stopping +now and then, as if he were looking into shop-windows. +All the time the boys followed him closely, +sometimes treading on his toes or stumbling against +him, and when this happened one of them would +slip a hand into his pocket and take out either the +watch or the snuff-box or the handkerchief. If the +Jew felt a hand in his pocket he cried out which it +was, and then the game began all over again. At +last Fagin made Oliver try if he could take something +out of his pocket without his knowing it, and +when Oliver succeeded he patted his head and +seemed well pleased.</p> + +<p>But Oliver grew very tired of the dirty room and +the same game. He longed for the open air and +begged to be allowed to go out; so one day the Jew +put him in charge of the Artful Dodger and they +went upon the streets, Oliver wondering where in +the world he was going to be taught to make pocketbooks.</p> + +<p>He was on the point of asking, when the Artful +Dodger signed to him to be silent, and slunk behind +an old gentleman who was reading a book in +front of a book-stall. You can imagine Oliver's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +horror when he saw him thrust his hand into the +old gentleman's pocket, draw out a silk handkerchief +and run off at full speed.</p> + +<p>In an instant Oliver understood the mystery of +the handkerchiefs, the watches, the purses and the +curious game he had learned at Fagin's. He knew +then that the Artful Dodger was a pickpocket. He +was so frightened that for a minute he lost his wits +and ran off as fast as he could go.</p> + +<p>Just then the old gentleman found his handkerchief +was gone and, seeing Oliver running away, +shouted "Stop thief!" which frightened the poor +boy even more and made him run all the faster. +Everybody joined the chase, and before he had +gone far a burly fellow overtook Oliver and +knocked him down.</p> + +<p>A policeman was at hand and he was dragged, +more dead than alive, to the police court, followed +by the angry old gentleman.</p> + +<p>The moment the latter saw the boy's face, however, +he could not believe it was the face of a thief, +and refused to appear against him, but the magistrate +was in a bad humor and was about to sentence +Oliver to prison, anyway, when the owner of the +book-stall came hurrying in. He had seen the +theft and knew Oliver was not guilty, so the magistrate +was obliged to let him go.</p> + +<p>But the terror and the blow he had received had +been too much for Oliver. He fell down in a faint, +and the old gentleman, whose name was Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +Brownlow, overcome with pity, put him into a +coach and drove him to his own home, determined, +if the boy had no parents, to adopt him as his own +son.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +OLIVER'S ADVENTURES</h3> + +<p>While Oliver was resting in such good hands, +very strange things were occurring in the house of +Fagin. When the Artful Dodger told him of the +arrest the Jew was full of anger. He had intended +to make a clever thief of Oliver and compel him to +bring him many stolen things; now he had not only +failed in this and lost the boy's help, but he was also +afraid that Oliver would tell all about the wicked +practices he had seen and show the officers where +he had lived. This he thought was likely to happen +at any time, unless he could get the boy into his +power again.</p> + +<p>Something had occurred, too, meantime, that +made Fagin almost crazy with rage at losing him. +It was this: A wicked man—so wicked that he was +afraid of thunder—who went by the name of +Monks, had come to him and told him he would +pay a large sum of money if he could succeed in +making Oliver a thief and so ruin his reputation +and his good name.</p> + +<p>It was plain enough that for some reason the man +hated Oliver, but, cunning as Fagin was, he would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +never have guessed why. For Monks was really +Oliver's older half-brother!</p> + +<p>A little while before this story began, Oliver's +father had been obliged to go on a trip to a foreign +country, where he died very suddenly. But before +he died he made a will, in which he left all his fortune +to be divided between the baby Oliver and his +mother. He left only a small sum to his older son, +because he knew that he was wicked, and did not +deserve any. The will declared Oliver should have +the money only on condition that he never stain his +name with any act of meanness, dishonor, cowardice +or wrong. If he did do this, then half the +money was to go to the older son. The dying man +also wrote a letter to Oliver's mother, telling her +that he had made the will and that he was dying; +but the older son, who was with him when he died, +found the letter and destroyed it.</p> + +<p>So Oliver's poor mother, knowing nothing of all +this, when his father did not come back, thought at +last that he had deserted her, and in her shame stole +away from her home, poor and ill-clad, to die +finally in the poorhouse.</p> + +<p>The older brother, who had taken the name of +Monks, hunted and hunted for them, because he +hated Oliver on account of their father's will, and +wanted to do him all the harm he could. He discovered +that they had been taken into the poorhouse, +and went there, but this was after Oliver +had run away. He found, however, to his satisfaction,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +that the boy knew nothing about his parentage +or his real name, and Monks made up his mind +to prevent his ever learning.</p> + +<p>There was only one person who could have told +Oliver, and that one was Mrs. Bumble. She knew +through the locket she had kept, which had belonged +to Oliver's mother and which contained the +dead woman's wedding-ring with her name engraved +inside it. When Mrs. Bumble heard that a +man named Monks was searching for news of Oliver, +she thought it a capital chance to make some +money. She went, therefore, to Monks's house and +sold the locket and ring to him. These, Monks +thought, were the only proofs in the world that +could ever show Oliver who he was, and to make it +impossible for him ever to see them, he dropped +them through a trap-door in his house down into +the river, where they could never be found.</p> + +<p>But Monks did not give up searching for Oliver, +and at last, on the very day that Oliver was arrested, +he saw him coming from Fagin's house with the +Artful Dodger.</p> + +<p>From his wonderful resemblance to their dead +father, he guessed at once that Oliver was the +half-brother whose very name he hated. Knowing +the other now to be in London, Monks was afraid +that by some accident he might yet find out what a +fortune had been willed him. If he could only +make Oliver dishonest, Monks reflected, half their +father's fortune would become his own. With this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +thought in mind he had gone to Fagin and had +made him his offer of money to make the boy a +thief.</p> + +<p>Fagin, of course, had agreed, and now, to find +his victim was out of his power made the Jew +grind his teeth with rage.</p> + +<p>All these things made Fagin determined to gain +possession of Oliver again, and to do this he got the +help of two others—a young woman named Nancy +and her lover, a brutal robber named Bill Sikes. +These two discovered that Oliver was at Mr. +Brownlow's house, and lay in wait to kidnap him +if he ever came out.</p> + +<p>The chance they waited for occurred before +many days. Mr. Brownlow sent Oliver to take +some money to the very book-stall in front of which +the Artful Dodger had stolen the handkerchief, +and Oliver went without dreaming of any danger.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a young woman in a cap and apron +screamed out behind him very loudly: "Oh, my +dear little brother!" and threw her arms tight +around him. "Oh, my gracious, I've found him!" +she cried. "Come home directly, you naughty boy! +For shame, to treat your poor mother so!"</p> + +<p>Oliver struggled, but to no purpose. Nancy (for +it was she) told the people that crowded about +them that it was her little brother, who had run +away from home and nearly broken his mother's +heart, and that she wanted to take him back.</p> + +<p>Oliver insisted that he didn't know her at all and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +hadn't any sister, but just then Bill Sikes appeared +(as he had planned) and said the young woman +was telling the truth and that Oliver was a little +rascal and a liar. The people were all convinced +at this, and when Sikes struck Oliver and seized +him by the collar they said, "Serves him right!" +And so Oliver found himself dragged away from +Mr. Brownlow to the filthy house where lived +Fagin.</p> + +<p>The wily old Jew was overjoyed to see them. He +smiled such a fiendish smile that Oliver screamed +for help as loud as he could, and at this Fagin +picked up a great jagged club to beat him with.</p> + +<p>Now, Nancy had been very wicked all her life, +but in spite of this there was a little good in her. +She had already begun to repent having helped +steal the boy, and now his plight touched her heart. +She seized the club and threw it into the fire, and so +saved him the beating for that time.</p> + +<p>For many days Oliver was kept a prisoner. He +was free to wander about the mildewed old house, +but every outer door was locked and every window +had closed iron shutters. All the light came in +through small round holes at the top, which made +the rooms gloomy and full of shadows. Spiderwebs +were over all the walls, and often the mice +would go scampering across the floor. There was +only one window to look out of, and that was in a +back garret, but it had iron bars and looked out +only on to the housetops.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>He found only one book to read: this was a history +of the lives of great criminals and was full of +stories of secret thefts and murders. For the old +Jew, having tortured his mind by loneliness and +gloom, had left the volume in his way, hoping it +would instil into his soul the poison that would +blacken it for ever.</p> + +<p>But Oliver's blood ran cold as he read, and he +pushed the book away in horror, and, falling on his +knees, prayed that he might be spared from such +deeds and rescued from that terrible place.</p> + +<p>He was still on his knees when Nancy came in +and told him he must get ready at once to go on a +journey with Bill Sikes. She had been crying and +her face was bruised as though she had been beaten. +Oliver saw she was very sorry for him, and, indeed, +she told him she would help him if she could, but +that there was no use trying to escape now, because +they were watched all the time, and if he got away +Sikes would certainly kill her.</p> + +<p>Nancy took him to the house where Sikes lived, +and the next morning the latter started out, making +Oliver go with him. Sikes had a loaded pistol in +his overcoat pocket, and he showed this to Oliver +and told him if he spoke to anybody on the road or +tried to get away he would shoot him with it.</p> + +<p>They walked a long way out of London, once or +twice riding in carts which were going in their direction. +Whenever this happened Sikes kept his +hand in the pocket where the pistol was, so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +Oliver was afraid to appeal for help. Late at night +they came to an old deserted mansion in the country, +and in the basement of this, where a fire had +been kindled, they joined two other men whom +Oliver had seen more than once in Fagin's house in +London.</p> + +<p>The journey had been cold and long and Oliver +was very hungry, but he could scarcely eat the supper +that was given him for fear of what they intended +to do with him in that lonely spot. He was +so tired, however, that he finally went fast asleep +and knew nothing more till two o'clock in the +morning, when Sikes woke him roughly and bade +him come with them.</p> + +<p>It was foggy and cold and dark outside. Sikes +and one of the others each took one of Oliver's +hands, and so they walked a quarter of a mile to +where was a fine house with a high wall around it. +They made him climb over the wall with them, +and, pulling him along, crept toward the house.</p> + +<p>It was not till now that Oliver knew what they +intended—that they were going to rob the house +and make him help them, so that he, too, would be +a burglar. His limbs began to tremble and he sank +to his knees, begging them to have mercy and to +let him run away and die in the fields rather than +to make him steal. But Sikes drew his pistol with +a frightful oath and dragged him on.</p> + +<p>In the back of the house was a window, which +was not fastened, because it was much too small for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +a man to get through. But Oliver was so little that +he could do it easily. With the pistol in his hand, +Sikes put Oliver through the window, gave him a +lantern and bade him go and unlock the front door +for them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 265px;"> +<a href="images/illus-2.png"><img src="images/illus-2tn.png" width="265" height="400" alt="" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">"The Artful Dodger" introducing Oliver Twist to Fagin +<br /> +<i>See page <a href="#Page_55">55</a></i></span> +</div> + +<p>Oliver had made up his mind that as soon as he +got beyond the range of Sikes's pistol he would +scream and wake everybody in the house, but just +then there was a sound from inside, and Sikes +called to him to come back.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a loud shout from the top of +the stairs—a flash—a report—and Oliver staggered +back with a terrible pain in his arm and with everything +swimming before his eyes.</p> + +<p>He heard cries and the loud ringing of a bell and +felt Sikes drag him backward through the window. +He felt himself being carried along rapidly, and +then a cold sensation crept over his heart and he +knew no more.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +HOW EVERYTHING TURNED OUT RIGHT FOR OLIVER<br /> +IN THE END</h3> + +<p>After a long, long time Oliver came to himself. +The morning was breaking. He tried to rise and +found that his arm was wounded and his clothes +wet with blood.</p> + +<p>He was so dizzy he could hardly stand, but it +was freezing cold, and he knew if he stayed there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +he must die. So he staggered on till he came to a +road where, a little way off, he saw a house. There, +he thought, he might get help. But when he came +closer he saw that it was the very house the men had +tried to rob that night. Fear came over him then, +and he would have run away, but he was too weak.</p> + +<p>He had just strength left to push open the gate, +totter across the lawn and knock at the door; then +he sank in a faint on the steps.</p> + +<p>In the house lived a lady named Mrs. Maylie, +just as kind-hearted as was Mr. Brownlow who +had rescued Oliver at the police station, and with +her lived a beautiful girl whom she had adopted, +named Rose. The servants, when they came to the +door, made sure Oliver was one of the robbers, and +sent at once for policemen to take him in charge; +but Miss Rose, the moment she saw what a good +face the boy had and how little he looked like a +thief, made them put him to bed and send at once +for the doctor.</p> + +<p>When the good doctor arrived and saw Oliver, +who was still unconscious, he thought Miss Rose +was right, and when the boy had come to himself +and told them how he had suffered, he was certain +of it. They were both sorry the policemen had been +sent for, because the doctor was sure they would +not believe Oliver's story, especially as he had been +arrested once before. He would have taken him +away, but he was too sick to be moved.</p> + +<p>So when the officers came the doctor told them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +that the boy had been accidentally shot and had +come to the house for assistance, when the servants +had mistaken him for one of the burglars. This +was not exactly the truth, but it seemed necessary +to deceive the policemen if Oliver was to be saved. +Of course, the servant that had fired the pistol was +not able to swear that he had hit anybody at all, so +the officers had to go away without arresting anybody.</p> + +<p>After this Oliver was ill for a long time, but he +was carefully nursed, especially by Miss Rose, who +grew as fond of him as if she had been his sister. +As soon as he grew better she wrote a letter for him +to Mr. Brownlow, the old gentleman who had rescued +him from the police station, but to Oliver's +grief she found that he had gone to the West Indies.</p> + +<p>Thus the time passed till Oliver was quite well, +and then Miss Rose (first carefully instructing the +servant who went with them not to lose sight of +him for a moment for fear of his old enemies) +took him with her for a visit to London.</p> + +<p>Meantime there had been a dreadful scene in +Fagin's house when Bill Sikes got back to London +and told the old Jew that the robbery had failed +and that Oliver was lost again. They were more +afraid than ever that they would be caught and sent +to prison. Fagin swore at Sikes, and Monks cursed +Fagin, and between them all they determined that +Oliver must either be captured or killed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>While they were plotting afresh Nancy, who +had been feeling sorrier and sorrier for what she +had done, overheard them, and so found out that +Monks was Oliver's half-brother and why he so +hated him; and she made up her mind to save the +boy from his last and greatest danger.</p> + +<p>So one evening, when she was alone with him, +she gave Sikes some laudanum in a glass of liquor, +and when he was asleep she slipped away, found +Miss Rose and told her all about it. Bad as Nancy +was, however, she was not willing to betray Fagin +or Bill Sikes, so she only told her of Monks.</p> + +<p>Miss Rose was greatly astonished, for she had +never heard of him before, but she pitied Nancy +because she had tried to help Oliver, and, of +course, she herself wanted very much to help him +discover who he was and who his parents had been. +She thanked Nancy and begged her to come to see +her again. Nancy was afraid to do this, because +Bill Sikes watched her so closely, but she promised +that on the next Sunday at midnight she would +be on a certain bridge where Miss Rose might see +her. Then Nancy hurried back before Sikes +should wake up.</p> + +<p>Miss Rose was in trouble now, for there was no +one in London with her then who could help her. +But the same afternoon, whom should Oliver see +at a distance, walking into his house, but Mr. +Brownlow. He came back in great joy to tell +Miss Rose, and she concluded that the old gentleman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +would be the very one to aid her. She took +Oliver to the house, and, sure enough, there was +the boy's old benefactor.</p> + +<p>Very glad, indeed, he was to hear what she told +him. For the old gentleman, when Oliver had disappeared +with the money he had given him to take +to the bookseller, had been reluctant to think the +boy he had befriended was, after all, a liar and a +thief. He had advertised for him, but the only result +had been a call from Mr. Bumble, who told +him terrible tales of Oliver's wickedness. To find +now, after all this time, that Oliver had not run +away, and that Mr. Bumble's tales were lying ones, +was a joyful surprise to Mr. Brownlow.</p> + +<p>After he had heard the whole, and when Oliver +had gone into the garden, Miss Rose told him of +Nancy's visit and of the man Monks who still pursued +the boy to do him harm.</p> + +<p>It was fortunate that she had come to Mr. +Brownlow, for, as it happened, he knew a great +deal about Monks and his evil life. Years before +the old gentleman himself had been a friend of +Oliver's father. He knew all about his death in a +foreign country, and had watched his older son's +career of shame with sorrow. The very trip +he had made to the West Indies had acquainted +him with a crime Monks had committed there, +from which he had fled to England. But, while +Mr. Brownlow knew of the curious will Oliver's +father had made, what had become of the baby to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +which the latter referred he had never known. +Now, from the story Miss Rose told him, he was +assured that Oliver was, indeed, this baby half-brother +of Monks.</p> + +<p>But it was one thing to know this and quite another +to enable Oliver to prove it. The old gentleman +was quick to see that they must get possession +of Monks and frighten him into confessing the fact—whose +only proofs had been lost when he threw +the locket and ring into the river. Mr. Brownlow, +for this reason, agreed with Miss Rose that they +should both meet Nancy on the bridge on the coming +Sunday to hear all she had been able to find +out.</p> + +<p>They said not a word of this to Oliver, and when +Sunday night came they drove to the spot where +Nancy had promised to meet them. She had kept +her word. She was there before them, and Mr. +Brownlow heard her story over again from her +own lips.</p> + +<p>But some one else was there, too, hidden behind +a pillar, where he could hear every word she said, +and this listener was a spy of Fagin's.</p> + +<p>Nancy had cried so much and acted so strangely +that the old Jew had grown suspicious and had set +some one to watch her. And who do you suppose +this spy was? No other than the cowardly apprentice +who had bullied Oliver until he ran away from +the undertaker's house. The apprentice had finally +run away, too, had come to London and begun a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +wicked life. He was too big a coward to rob any +one but little children who had been sent to the +shop to buy something, so Fagin had given him +spying work to do, and in this, being by nature a +sneak, he proved very successful.</p> + +<p>The spy lay hid till he had heard all Nancy said; +then he slipped out and ran as fast as his legs would +carry him back to Fagin. The latter sent for Bill +Sikes, knowing him to be the most brutal and +bloodthirsty ruffian of all, and told him what +Nancy had done.</p> + +<p>The knowledge, as the Jew expected, turned +Sikes into a demon. He rushed to where Nancy +lived. She had returned and was asleep on her +couch, but she woke as he entered, and saw by his +face that he meant to murder her. Through all +her evil career Nancy had been true to Sikes and +would not have betrayed him. But he would not +listen now, though she pleaded with him pitifully +to come with her to some foreign country (as Miss +Rose had begged her to do), where they might +both lead better lives. Fury had made him mad. +As she clung to his knees, he seized a heavy club +and struck her down.</p> + +<p>So poor Nancy died, with only time for a feeble +prayer to God for mercy.</p> + +<p>Of all bad deeds that Sikes had ever done, that +was the worst. The sun shone through the window +and lit the room where Nancy lay. He tried to +shut it out, but he could not. He grew suddenly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +afraid. Horror came upon him. He crept out of +the room, locked the door behind him, and +plunged into the crowded street.</p> + +<p>He walked for miles and miles, here and there, +without purpose. Whichever way he went he could +not rid himself of that horror. When night came +he crawled into a disused shed, but he could not +sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes he seemed to +see Nancy's eyes looking at him. He got up and +wandered on again, desperately lonely for some one +to talk to.</p> + +<p>He heard a man telling another about the murder +as he read the account in a newspaper, and +knew that he must hide. He hastened then to a den +he knew in a house beside the river, dirty and dismal +and the haunt of thieves. Some of his old companions +were there, but even they shrank from him.</p> + +<p>He had been seen to enter the place, however, +and in a few minutes the street was full of people, +all yelling for his capture. He barred the doors +and windows, but they began to break down the +shutters with sledge-hammers.</p> + +<p>He ran to the roof with a rope, thinking to let +himself down on the side next the river and so escape. +Here he fastened one end of the rope to the +chimney, and, making a loop in the other end, put +it over his head.</p> + +<p>Just at that instant he imagined he saw Nancy's +eyes again looking at him. He staggered back in +terror, missed his footing, and fell over the edge of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +the roof. He had not had time to draw the noose +down under his arms, so that it slipped up around +his neck, and there he hung, dead, with a broken +neck.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Mr. Brownlow had acted very +quickly, so that Monks had got no warning. He +had had men watching for the latter and now, having +found out all he wanted to know, he had him +seized in the street, put into a coach and driven to +his office, where he brought him face to face with +Oliver.</p> + +<p>The old gentleman told Monks he could do one +of two things: either he could confess before witnesses +the whole infamous plot he had framed +against Oliver, and so restore to him his rights and +name, or else he could refuse, in which case he +would at once be arrested and sent to prison. Seeing +that Mr. Brownlow knew all about the part he +had played, Monks, to save himself, made a full +confession—how he had planned to keep his half-brother +from his inheritance. And he also confessed +what no one there had guessed: that Miss +Rose, who had been adopted in her infancy, was +really the sister of Oliver's dead mother—his aunt, +indeed. This was the happiest of all Oliver's surprises +that day, for he had learned to love Miss +Rose very dearly.</p> + +<p>Monks thus bought his own freedom, and cheap +enough he probably thought it, for before he had +finished his story, word came that Fagin the Jew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +had been captured by the police and was to be tried +without delay for his life.</p> + +<p>Oliver no longer had anything to fear, and came +into possession of his true name and his fortune. +Mr. Brownlow adopted him as his own son, and +moved to the village where Oliver had been cared +for in the family of Miss Rose, and where they all +lived happily ever afterward.</p> + +<p>The company of thieves was broken up with Fagin's +arrest. Fagin himself was found guilty, and +died on the gallows shrieking with fear. Monks +sailed for America, where he was soon detected in +crime and died in prison.</p> + +<p>The wicked apprentice, who had been the real +cause of poor Nancy's murder, was so frightened at +the fate of Fagin that he reformed and became a +spy for the police, and by his aid the Artful +Dodger, who continued to pick pockets, soon found +himself in jail.</p> + +<p>As for Mr. and Mrs. Bumble, they, of course, +lost their positions, and sank from bad to worse till +they finally became paupers and were sent to the +very same poorhouse where they had tortured little +Oliver Twist.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> +<h2>BARNABY RUDGE</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1841</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London and the Country</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1775 to 1780</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Barnaby Rudge</td><td align="right">A half-witted boy</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rudge</td><td align="right">His father</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">A murderer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Rudge</td><td align="right">His mother</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Geoffrey Haredale</td><td align="right">A country gentleman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Emma Haredale</td><td align="right">His niece</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sir John Chester</td><td align="right">An enemy of Haredale's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Edward Chester</td><td align="right">His son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">In love with Emma Haredale</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Varden</td><td align="right">A locksmith</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Dolly Varden</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">A friend of Emma Haredale's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Simon Tappertit</td><td align="right">Varden's apprentice</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Joe Willet</td><td align="right">The son of an innkeeper</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">In love with Dolly Varden</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Maypole Hugh"</td><td align="right">A giant hostler</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">In reality, the son of Sir John Chester</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lord George Gordon</td><td align="right">A deluded nobleman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gashford</td><td align="right">His secretary</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Dennis</td><td align="right">A hangman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Grip"</td><td align="right">Barnaby's tame raven</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="BARNABY_RUDGE" id="BARNABY_RUDGE"></a>BARNABY RUDGE</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +BARNABY'S BOYHOOD</h3> + +<p>Many years ago a gentleman named Haredale +lived at a house called The Warren, near London. +His wife was dead and he had one baby +daughter, Emma.</p> + +<p>One morning he was found murdered in his +house, which had been robbed. Both the gardener +and the steward, Rudge, were missing, and +some people thought one had done it and some +thought the other. But some days later a disfigured +body was found in a pond on the grounds which, +by its clothes and a watch and ring, was recognized +as that of Rudge, the missing steward. Then, of +course, every one believed the gardener had murdered +both, and the police searched for him a long +time, but he was never found.</p> + +<p>On the same day this cruel murder was discovered, +a baby was born to Mrs. Rudge, the wife of +the steward—a pretty boy, though with a birth-mark +on the wrist as red as blood, and a strange +look of terror on the baby face. He was named +Barnaby, and his mother loved him all the more +because it was soon seen he was weak-minded, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +could never be in his right senses. She herself, +poor woman! seemed never able to forget the horror +of that day.</p> + +<p>Geoffrey Haredale, the brother and heir of the +murdered man, took up his abode at The Warren +and adopted the little Emma, his niece, as his own +daughter. He was kind to Mrs. Rudge also. Not +only did he let her live rent-free in a house he +owned, but he did many a kind deed secretly for +her half-witted son as he grew older.</p> + +<p>Barnaby Rudge grew up a strange, weird creature. +His hair was long and red and hung in disorder +about his shoulders. His skin was pale, his +eyes bright and his clothes he trimmed most curiously +with bits of gaudy lace and bright ribbons +and glass toys. He wore a cluster of broken peacock +feathers in his hat and girded at his side was +the broken hilt of an old sword without a blade. +But strangest of all was a little wicker basket he +always carried on his back. When he set this down +and opened it, there hopped out a tame raven who +would cock its head on one side and say hoarsely +and very knowingly:</p> + +<p>"Hello! Hello! Hello! What's the matter here? +Keep up your spirits. Never say die. I'm a devil, +I'm a devil, I'm a devil! Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>Then it would whistle or make a noise like the +drawing of a cork out of a bottle, repeated a great +many times, and flap its wings against its sides as +if it were bursting with laughter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>. +This raven was named Grip and was Barnaby's +constant companion. The neighbors used to say +it was one hundred and twenty years old (for ravens +live a very long time), and some said it knew +altogether too much to be only a bird. But Barnaby +would hear nothing said against it, and, next +to his mother, loved it better than anything in the +world.</p> + +<p>Barnaby knew that folks called him half-witted, +but he cared little for that. Sometimes he would +laugh at what they said.</p> + +<p>"Why," he would say, "how much better to be +silly than as wise as you! <i>You</i> don't see shadowy +people like those that live in sleep—not you. Nor +eyes in the knotted panes of glass, nor swift ghosts +when it blows hard, nor do you hear voices in the +air, nor see men stalking in the sky—not you. I lead +a merrier life than you with all your cleverness. +<i>You're</i> the dull men. <i>We're</i> the bright ones. Ha, +ha! I'll not change with you, not I!"</p> + +<p>Haredale, who had been so kind to Barnaby's +mother, was a burly, stern man who had few acquaintances +and lived much alone. When first he +came to live at The Warren an enemy of his, Sir +John Chester, had circulated suspicious rumors +about him, so that some came half to believe he +himself had had something to do with his brother's +murder.</p> + +<p>These whispers so affected Haredale that as time +passed he grew gloomy and morose and lived in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +seclusion, thinking only how he could solve the +mystery of the murder, and loving more and more +the little Emma as she grew into a beautiful girl. +He neglected The Warren so that the property +looked quite desolate and ruined, and at length +superstitious people in the neighborhood came to +mutter that it was haunted by the ghost of Rudge, +the steward, whose body had been found in the +pond.</p> + +<p>The old bell-ringer of the near-by church even +said he had seen this ghost once, when he went, +late one night, to wind the church clock. But of +course others, who knew there were no such things +as ghosts, only smiled at these stories.</p> + +<p>Sir John Chester, who so hated Haredale, was +just as smooth and smiling and elegant as the other +was rough. Haredale had been Sir John's drudge +and scapegoat at school and the latter had always +despised him. And as the years went by Sir John +came to hate him.</p> + +<p>His own son Edward had fallen in love with +Emma, Haredale's niece, and she loved him in +return. Sir John had been all his life utterly selfish +and without conscience. He had little money +and was much in debt and wanted his son to marry +an heiress, so that he himself could continue his +life of pleasure. Edward, however, gave his father +to understand that he would never give up his love +for Emma. Sir John believed that if Haredale +chose, he could make his niece dislike Edward,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +and because he did not, Sir John hated Haredale +the more bitterly.</p> + +<p>Emma had a close friend named Dolly Varden, +the daughter of a locksmith. Dolly was a pretty, +dimpled, roguish little flirt, as rosy and sparkling +and fresh as an apple, and she had a great many +lovers.</p> + +<p>One of these was her father's apprentice, who +lived in the same house. His name was Simon Tappertit—a +conceited, bragging, empty-headed young +man with a great opinion of his own good looks. +When he looked at his thin legs, which he admired +exceedingly, he could not see how it was +that Dolly could help worshiping him.</p> + +<p>Tappertit had ambitions of his own and thought +himself a great man who was kept down by a +tyrannical master, though the good-natured locksmith +was the kindest man in London. He had +formed a society of apprentices whose toast was, +"Death to all masters, life to all apprentices, and +love to all fair damsels!" He was their leader. +He had made them all keys to fit their masters' +doors, and at night, when they were supposed to +be asleep in bed, they would steal out to meet in +a dirty cellar owned by an old blind man, where +they kept a skull and cross-bones and signed high-sounding +oaths with a pen dipped in blood, and did +other silly things. The object of the society was to +hurt, annoy, wrong and pick quarrels with such of +their masters as happened not to please them. With<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +such cheap fooleries Tappertit had convinced himself +that he was fit to be a great general.</p> + +<p>But with all his smirking, Dolly Varden only +laughed at him. To tell the truth, she was very +fond of young Joe Willet, whose father kept the +Maypole Inn, very near The Warren where her +friend Emma Haredale lived. Joe was a good, +brave fellow, and was head over ears in love with +Dolly, but Dolly was a coquette, and never let him +know how much she cared for him. Joe was not +contented at home, for his father seemed to think +him a child and did not treat him according to his +years, so that but for leaving Dolly Varden he +would long ago have run away to seek his fortune.</p> + +<p>Both Joe and Dolly knew how Edward Chester +loved Emma Haredale, and they used sometimes to +carry notes from one to the other, since the hatred +of Sir John for Emma's uncle often prevented the +lovers from meeting.</p> + +<p>Sir John found this out, and bribed a hostler at +the Maypole Inn to spy for him and prevent, if he +could, these letters passing. The hostler was an uncouth, +drunken giant that people called Maypole +Hugh, as strong as an ox, and cruel and cunning. +Hugh watched carefully, and from time to time +would go to Sir John's house in London and report +what he had seen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER AND WHO HE WAS</h3> + +<p>About this time residents in the neighborhood +of The Warren and the Maypole Inn began to tell +tales of a mysterious man who roamed about the +country-side.</p> + +<p>He was seen often and by many persons, always +at night, skulking in the shadow or riding furiously +on a horse. He was fierce and haggard and discourteous +to travelers, wore a slouch hat which +he never took off, and generally kept the lower +part of his face muffled in a handkerchief. He always +went alone. Some said he slept in church-yards, +others that he never slept at all, and still +others that he was a wicked man who had sold +his soul to the Evil One.</p> + +<p>One night he rested at the Maypole Inn, and +a little while after he had gone, Varden the locksmith, +Dolly's father, as he drove home, found Edward +Chester lying in the road, having been +wounded and robbed of his money. Barnaby +Rudge had seen the attack and was bending over +him. He had been too frightened to give aid, but +from his description Varden knew the robber was +the stranger who had stopped at the inn.</p> + +<p>The honest locksmith took Edward into his +chaise, drove him to Barnaby's house, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +near by, and left him in care of Mrs. Rudge, where +a doctor soon dressed the wound, which was not +serious.</p> + +<p>Next day Mr. Varden came to see how the +wounded man was. As he sat talking with Mrs. +Rudge a tapping came at the window. She went +to the door. The locksmith heard her cry out, and +sprang forward to find standing there, to his astonishment, +the robber of the night before. He +grasped at him, but the woman threw herself before +him, clasped his arm and besought him, for +her life's sake, not to pursue the man.</p> + +<p>The locksmith had known Barnaby's mother all +his life, but so strange was her action now (especially +since she refused to answer any question, +begging him to ask her nothing) that he almost +wondered if she herself could be in league with a +crime-doer. Her apparent agony touched him, +however, and, raising no alarm, he went home in +great puzzle of mind.</p> + +<p>He would have been far more disturbed if he +had known the whole truth. For the mysterious +stranger he had seen, who by night had haunted +the neighborhood, was none other than Mrs. +Rudge's husband, Barnaby's father, the steward +who everybody believed had been murdered with +his master, and whose body had been found in the +pond.</p> + +<p>Rudge himself had committed that wicked deed. +He had killed both master and gardener, and to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +cover the crime had put his own clothes, his watch +and ring on the latter's body and sunk it in the +pond. When, on the night of the murder, he told +his wife what he had done, she had shrunk fearfully +from him, declaring that, although being his +wife she would not give him up to justice, yet she +would never own him or shelter him. He had fled +then with the money he had stolen, and that night, +while she lay sick with horror, Barnaby had been +born with his poor crazed brain, the look of terror +in his baby face and the birth-mark of blood on his +wrist.</p> + +<p>For many years the guilty wretch had wandered +the earth, but he could not escape the knowledge +of his deed. And at last his conscience had driven +him back to the scene of his crime, friendless, penniless, +fearful of the sunlight, slinking by night +like a ghost about the house in which he had +murdered his master, and hounding his miserable +wife for money with which to buy food and drink. +The poor woman had kept her terrible secret, giving +him every coin she could save, striving so that +Barnaby, unhappily born as he was, should never +know the shame of having his father suffer death +on the gallows. When Rudge had come to her +house that day he had thought her alone, and she +had saved him from capture only by begging the +locksmith to stay his hand.</p> + +<p>After his hairbreadth escape from Varden, +Rudge hid himself in a narrow street. When the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +next dawn came, as he searched for some dark den +in which he might lie sheltered till another night, +he saw Simon Tappertit issuing with his noisy apprentice +crew from the cellar in which they held +their meetings. He entered its door, made friends +with the villainous blind man who kept it and there +established his headquarters.</p> + +<p>Once more, one night after the wounded Edward +had been taken to his own home, Rudge hunted +out his trembling wife and demanded money, +threatening to bring harm to Barnaby if she refused +him, and she gave him all she had.</p> + +<p>But this time dread of him made her desperate. +When morning came she went to Haredale and +told him that she and her son could no longer live +on his bounty. The next day, with Barnaby, who +carried on his back his beloved raven, Grip, she +left the house afoot, telling no one where they were +going lest her husband find her out, and pushed +far into the country to find a home in some obscure +village. And though Rudge, the murderer, and the +blind man (who was much more crafty and cunning +than many men with eyesight) searched for +them everywhere, it was a long time before they +found any trace.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Joe and Dolly Varden missed poor +cheery Barnaby more than did any one else. But +several events occurred soon after this that gave +them other things to think of.</p> + +<p>Maypole Hugh, the savage hostler, had continued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +his spying work for Edward's father, and +Sir John determined it was high time to break off +his son's attachment for Emma Haredale.</p> + +<p>One day Dolly was carrying a letter from Emma +at The Warren to Edward, and as she passed +through the fields, Hugh attacked her, throwing +his arms around her and pretending to make coarse +love to her. She was dreadfully frightened and +screamed as loud as she could. Joe, as it happened, +was walking within sound of her voice, and ran +like the wind to her aid.</p> + +<p>In another moment Hugh had leaped the hedge +and disappeared and Dolly was sobbing in her +rescuer's arms. She was afraid to tell Joe who had +frightened her, for fear the hostler would take his +revenge by harming him, so she only said she had +been attacked by a man whom she had never seen.</p> + +<p>In her scare she had forgotten all about the letter +she had carried, and now she discovered it was +gone. It was nowhere to be found.</p> + +<p>This, of course, was because Hugh had stolen it. +It was to get the letter that he had frightened her, +and he was soon on his way to carry it to Sir John. +Dolly did not guess this. She wrote to Emma telling +her of the mishap, and this note Joe, to whom +she intrusted it, knowing no reason to distrust the +hostler, gave to Hugh to deliver. So Sir John +got both missives in the end.</p> + +<p>Emma Haredale, not understanding why Edward +returned no answer to her letter, was hurt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +and thought him cold. Sir John, seizing his opportunity, +told her one day (pretending sorrow +while he did so) that his son, naturally fickle, had +fallen in love with some one else, to whom he was +soon to be married.</p> + +<p>Emma, not dreaming the father of the man she +loved could be such a false liar, believed him, and +when Edward wrote her, speaking of his poverty +and telling her he was going to leave England to +try to better his prospects, she thought his manly +letter only an excuse to part from her.</p> + +<p>Proud, though heartbroken, she did not answer +it, and so, thanks to his father's selfish scheming, +Edward sailed away to the West Indies, hopeless +and despairing.</p> + +<p>Another left England at the same time whose +going meant far more to Dolly Varden. This was +Joe. His father, the innkeeper, had been restraining +him more and more, until his treatment had +become the jest of the country-side, and Joe had +chafed to the point of rebellion at the gibes that +continually met him. One day, at the jeer of an old +enemy of his, his wrath boiled over. He sprang +upon him and thrashed him soundly in the inn before +the assembled guests. Then, knowing his father +would never forgive him, he went to his own +room and barricaded the door. That night Joe let +himself down from his window and before daylight +was in London.</p> + +<p>He went first to the locksmith's house to tell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +Dolly he had run away and that he loved her, but +Dolly being a flirt, only laughed. To tell the truth, +she was so very fond of Joe that she didn't like to +show him how sorry she was. So the poor fellow +went away thinking she cared very little (though +as soon as he was out of sight she nearly cried her +eyes out), and enlisted as a soldier. That same +night Joe started from London to fight in the war +in America. And it was a long time before either +he or Edward Chester was heard of again.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +BARNABY GETS INTO TROUBLE</h3> + +<p>Five years went by, and Edward Chester remained +in the West Indies and prospered. For five +years Joe Willet fought in the war in America. +And for five years Barnaby Rudge with his mother +and Grip, the raven, lived unmolested in their little +village and were happy.</p> + +<p>At the end of the five years three things happened +at about the same time: Edward started +back to England from the West Indies with a fair +fortune in his pocket; Joe was sent back from +America with one arm gone, and Barnaby and his +mother left their village home again, secretly, and +set out for London, hoping to lose themselves in its +hugeness. The wily blind man, the companion now +of Rudge, the murderer, had found them out!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<p>He came one day and made Mrs. Rudge give +him all the money she had been able to lay by in +these five years except a single gold piece. He told +her he would return in a week for more and that +if she had not got it then, he would entice Barnaby +away to join in the evil life of his father. So she +left the village the very next morning, and she and +Barnaby trudged afoot all the weary way to the +great city.</p> + +<p>Though they knew nothing of it, there was great +excitement in London. Lord George Gordon, a +well-meaning but crack-brained nobleman, led +astray by flatterers till he believed he had a God-given +mission to drive all Catholics out of England, +had, sometime before this, begun to hold +meetings and to stir up the people with the cry of +"No Popery!"</p> + +<p>He declared that the religion of the country was +in danger of being overthrown and that the Pope +of Rome was plotting to make his religion supreme. +And this idea he talked wherever he went. +He was a slender, sallow man who dressed in +severe black and wore his hair smoothly combed, +and his bright, restless eyes and his look of uncertainty +made it clear that he was no man to +lead, but was rather himself the misled dupe of +others.</p> + +<p>One of these schemers who ruled him was his +secretary, Gashford, a man of ugly face, with +beetling brows and great flapped ears. He had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +been a thief and a scoundrel all his life, and had +wormed himself into Lord George's confidence by +flattery. He easily fooled his master into believing +that the rabble who flocked to hear him, and the +idle loungers who yelled themselves hoarse at what +he said, were crowds of honest citizens who believed +as he did, and were ready to follow his +leadership. Gashford had added to his followers +even Dennis, the hangman of London, and the +foolish nobleman not knowing the ruffian's true +calling, thought him a man to trust.</p> + +<p>For many weeks this banding together of all the +lawless ragamuffins of London had gone on, till +one had only to shout "No Popery!" on any street +corner to draw together a crowd bent on mischief. +Respectable people grew afraid and kept to their +houses, and criminals and street vagabonds grew +bolder and bolder.</p> + +<p>As may be guessed, Simon Tappertit, the one-time +apprentice of Varden the locksmith, rejoiced +at this excitement as at a chance to show his talent +for leadership. His apprentice society had now become +the "United Bulldogs," and he himself, helping +the schemes of Gashford, strutted about among +the crowds with an air of vast importance.</p> + +<p>Sir John Chester watched the trouble gathering +with glee. His old enemy Haredale, he knew, was +a Catholic, and as this movement, if it grew bold +enough, meant harm to all of that religion, he +hoped for its success. He was too cunning to aid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +it publicly, but he sent Maypole Hugh, who was +still his spy, to Gashford; and the brawny hostler, +who savagely longed for fighting and plunder, +joined with the secretary and with Dennis the +hangman to help increase the tumult.</p> + +<p>A day had been set on which Lord George Gordon +had vowed he would march to Parliament at +the head of forty thousand men to demand the passing +of a law to forbid all Catholics to enter the +country. This vast rabble-army gathered in a great +field, under the command of these sorry leaders—the +misguided lord, Dennis the hangman, Tappertit, +Hugh the hostler, Gashford the secretary, and +other rowdies picked for their boldness and daring. +The mob thus formed covered an immense +space. All wore blue cockades in their hats or carried +blue flags, and from them went up a hoarse +roar of oaths, shouts and ribald songs.</p> + +<p>Such was the scene on which Barnaby and his +mother came as they walked into London. They +knew nothing of its cause or its meaning. Mrs. +Rudge saw its rough disorder with terror, but the +confusion, the waving flags and the shouts had got +into Barnaby's brain. To him this seemed a splendid +host marching to some noble cause. He +watched with sparkling eyes, longing to join it.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Maypole Hugh rushed from the +crowd with a shout of recognition, and, thrusting +a flagstaff into Barnaby's hands, drew him into the +ranks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + +<p>His mother shrieked and ran forward, but she +was thrown to the ground; Barnaby was whirled +away into the moving mass and she saw him no +more.</p> + +<p>Barnaby enjoyed that hour of march with all his +soul, and the louder the howling the more he was +thrilled. The crowd surrounded the houses of +Parliament and fought the police. At length a +regiment of mounted soldiers charged them. Barnaby +thought this brave work and held his ground +valiantly, even knocking one soldier off his horse +with the flagstaff, until others dragged him to a +place of safety.</p> + +<p>That night the drunken mob, grown bolder, tore +down, pillaged and burned all the Catholic chapels +within their reach, and, with Hugh and Dennis the +hangman, poor crazed Barnaby ran at its head, +covered with dirt, his garments torn to rags, singing +and leaping with delight. He thought he was +the most courageous of all, that he was helping to +destroy the country's enemies, and that when the +fighting was over he and his mother would be rich +and she would always be proud that he was so +noble and so brave.</p> + +<p>The golden cups, the candlesticks and the money +they stole from the burned chapels Hugh and the +hangman buried under a heap of straw in the tavern +which they had made their headquarters, and +left Barnaby to guard the place. He counted this +a sacred trust, and when soldiers came to arrest all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +in the building he refused to fly in time. He even +fought them single-handed and felled two before +he was knocked down with the butt of a musket +and handcuffed.</p> + +<p>While he had been resisting, Grip had been +busily plucking away the straw from the hidden +plunder; now his hoarse croak showed them the +hoard and they unearthed it all. At length, closing +ranks around Barnaby, they marched him off to a +barracks, from which he was taken to Newgate +Prison, where a blacksmith put irons on his arms +and legs, and he and the raven were locked in a +cell.</p> + +<p>While Barnaby was guarding the tavern room, +Hugh, egged on by his master, Sir John Chester, +had proposed the burning of The Warren, where +Haredale still lived with Emma, his niece, and +Dolly Varden, now her companion.</p> + +<p>The crowd agreed gladly, since Haredale was +a Catholic and that same day in London had given +evidence to the police against the rioters who had +burned the chapels. They rushed away, marched +hastily across the fields, tied the old host of the Maypole +Inn to his chair, drank all the liquor they +could find and then rushed to The Warren. There +they put the servants to flight, burst in the doors, +staved the wine-casks in the cellar, split up the +costly furniture with hammers and axes and set +fire to the building, so that it soon burned to the +ground.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>Haredale, in London, saw the red glare in the +sky and rode post-haste to the place, but found on +his arrival only ruins and ashes. He believed that +Emma and Dolly had had time to escape to safety; +but while he was searching the grounds for some +sign of them he saw in the starlight a man hiding +in a broken turret.</p> + +<p>He drew his sword and advanced. As the figure +moved into the light he rushed forward, flung himself +upon him and clutched his throat.</p> + +<p>"Villain!" he cried in a terrible voice, "dead +and buried as all men supposed, at last, at last I +have you! You, Rudge, slayer of my brother and +of his faithful servant! Double murderer and +monster, I arrest you in the name of God!"</p> + +<p>Bound and fettered in his carriage, Haredale +took Rudge back to London and had him locked in +Newgate Prison.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +BARNABY PROSPERS AT LAST</h3> + +<p>Haredale searched vainly next day for Emma +and Dolly Varden. He could not believe they had +lost their lives in the burning building, yet he was +filled with anxiety because of their disappearance. +Could he have known what had happened he +would have been even more fearful.</p> + +<p>Simon Tappertit had seen his chance at last to +win for himself the lovely Dolly, who had scorned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +him when he was an apprentice of the locksmith. +He had bribed Hugh and the hangman to aid him. +While the mob was occupied at the front of the +house this precious pair had entered from the back, +seized the two girls and put them into a coach.</p> + +<p>This they guarded at a distance till the burning +was done; then, with Tappertit on the box and +surrounded by his ruffians, the coach was driven +into the city.</p> + +<p>Emma had spent the day in the fear that her +uncle had been killed with other Catholics in +London, and at this new and surpassing fright she +had fainted. Dolly, though no less concerned, had +fought her captors bravely, though vainly. Often +in that long ride she wished that Joe, her vanished +lover, were there to rescue her as he had rescued +her once from Maypole Hugh.</p> + +<p>She had determined when she reached the London +streets to scream as loudly as she could for help; +but before they came to the city Hugh climbed into +the carriage and sat between them, threatening to +choke either if she made a noise.</p> + +<p>In this wise they were driven to a miserable cottage, +and in the dirty apartment to which they were +taken Dolly threw herself upon the unconscious +Emma and wept pitifully, unmindful of the jeers +of Hugh and of the hangman.</p> + +<p>When Tappertit entered the room suddenly, +Dolly, not knowing his part in the plot, screamed +with joy and threw herself into his arms crying:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I knew it! My dear father's at the door! +Heaven bless you for rescuing us!"</p> + +<p>But she saw in an instant her mistake, when the +ridiculous braggart laid his hand on his breast and +told her, now that he no longer was an apprentice +but a famous leader of the people, he had chosen +to be her husband. With this announcement he +left them.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Mrs. Rudge, day and night, had +searched everywhere for Barnaby. In one of the +riots she was injured, and was taken to a hospital, +and while she lay there she heard with agony that +her son had been so active in the disturbances that +a price had been put by the Government on his +head.</p> + +<p>But in his present trouble Barnaby had unexpectedly +found an old friend. Joe Willet, just returned +with one empty sleeve from his five years of +soldiering in America, had been with the soldiers +in the barracks when Barnaby had been brought +there on his way to prison. He soon discovered +who the boy's rioting companions had been and +took them word of his plight, for he knew it meant +death to Barnaby unless he escaped.</p> + +<p>Maypole Hugh, Tappertit and the hangman +were all itching for more disorder, and this news +gave them an excuse. They went out at once and +gathered the mob together to attack Newgate +Prison and to release all the prisoners. They themselves +led the procession. The house of Varden,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +Dolly's father, was on their way; they stopped +there, and, in spite of the lusty fight he made, carried +the locksmith with them to compel him to +open the prison gates with his tools.</p> + +<p>This he refused to do, and they would doubtless +have killed him, but for two men who dragged +him from their clutches in the nick of time. These +two men were the one-armed Joe and Edward +Chester, just returned from the West Indies, whom +the former had met by accident that day. They +took the locksmith to his home, while the raging +crowd brought furniture from neighboring houses +and built a bonfire of it to burn down the great +prison gate.</p> + +<p>From this same mob Haredale himself had a +narrow escape. He was staying at a house near by, +which, belonging to a Catholic, was attacked. He +tried to escape across the roof, but was recognized +from the street by the giant Hugh. The cellar +luckily had a back door opening into a lane, and +with the assistance of Joe and Edward, who had +hastened to the rear to aid him, he escaped that +way.</p> + +<p>Maypole Hugh, during this terrible time while +the mob was burning houses everywhere and the +soldiers firing on the rioters in every quarter of +London, seemed to bear a charmed life. He rode a +great brewer's horse and carried an ax, and wherever +the fight was thickest there he was to be +found.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>Never had such a sight been seen in London +as when the prison gate fell and the crowd rushed +from cell to cell, smashing the iron doors to release +the prisoners, some of whom, being under sentence +of death, had never expected to be free again. +Rudge, the murderer, knowing nothing of what the +uproar meant, suffered tortures, thinking in his +guilty fear that the hordes were howling for his +life. When he was finally released and in the open +street he found Barnaby beside him.</p> + +<p>They broke off their fetters, and that night took +refuge in a shed in a field. Next day Rudge sent +Barnaby to try to find the blind man, his cunning +partner, in whose wits he trusted to help them get +away. Barnaby brought the blind man, and +brought also Hugh, whom he found wounded in +the street, but in so doing he was seen by Dennis, +the hangman.</p> + +<p>This villainous sneak, knowing that the daring +of the rioters had reached its limit, and that they +must soon be scattered and captured, and thinking +to buy pardon for himself by a piece of treachery, +without delay brought soldiers, who surrounded +the shed. The blind man, attempting to run away, +was shot dead, and the others, Rudge, Hugh and +poor, innocent Barnaby, were captured.</p> + +<p>Then, well satisfied with his work, Dennis set +out for the house where Simon Tappertit had confined +Emma Haredale and Dolly Varden. The +hangman wanted them well out of the way, so they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +could not testify that he had helped to burn The +Warren and to kidnap them. He had thought of a +plan to have them taken to a boat in the river and +conveyed where their friends would never find +them, and to carry them off he chose Gashford, +Lord George Gordon's secretary, who was the +more willing as he had fallen in love with Emma's +beauty.</p> + +<p>But this wicked plan was never to be carried out. +The very hour that Gashford came on this pitiless +errand, while he roughly bade Emma prepare to +depart, the doors flew open. Men poured in, led +by Edward Chester, who knocked Gashford +down; and in another moment Emma was clasped +in her uncle's embrace, and Dolly, laughing and +crying at the same time, fell into the arms of her +father. Their place of concealment had been discovered +a few hours before, and the three men had +lost no time in planning their capture.</p> + +<p>Dennis the hangman, in spite of his previous +treachery, caught in the trap, was taken straight-way +to jail, and Simon Tappertit, wounded and +raging, watched Dolly's departure from the floor, +where he lay with his wonderful legs, the pride +and glory of his life, broken and crushed into +shapeless ugliness. The famous riots were over. +Lord George Gordon was a prisoner, hundreds +were being arrested, and London was again growing +quiet.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Rudge, poor mother! at last found Barnaby<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +where he lay chained in his cell and condemned +to death. Day after day she never left +him, while Varden, the locksmith, and Haredale +worked hard for his release. They carried his +case even to the King, and at the last moment, +while he rode on his way to execution, his pardon +was granted.</p> + +<p>Of the rest who died on the scaffold, Rudge, the +murderer, was hanged, cursing all men to the last; +Maypole Hugh died glorying in his evil life and +with a jest on his lips, and Dennis, the hangman, +was dragged to the gallows cringing and shrieking +for mercy.</p> + +<p>A few weeks later Emma Haredale was married +to Edward Chester and sailed with him back +to the West Indies, where he had established a +flourishing business.</p> + +<p>Before this, however, his father, Sir John Chester, +was well punished for his hard heart and bad +deeds by the discovery that Maypole Hugh, the +hostler, was really his own unacknowledged son, +whose mother he had deserted many years before. +But even this blow, and the marriage of his son Edward +to the niece of his lifelong enemy, did not +soften him. He still hated Haredale with his old +venom and loved to go to the ruins of The Warren +and gloat over its destruction.</p> + +<p>On one of these visits he met and taunted Haredale +beyond all endurance. The two men drew +their swords and fought a duel, which ended by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +Haredale's running Sir John through the heart. +Haredale left England at once, entered a convent +in a foreign country and spent his few remaining +years in penance and remorse.</p> + +<p>Lord George Gordon, the poor deluded noble +who had been the cause of all this disorder, finally +died, harmless and quite crazy, in Newgate Prison. +Simon Tappertit, in spite of his active part in the +riots, was luckier, for he got off with two wooden +legs and lived for many years, a corner boot-black.</p> + +<p>Joe, of course, married Dolly Varden, and the +locksmith gave her such a generous marriage portion +that he was able to set up in business, succeeding +his father as landlord of the old Maypole Inn, +and there they lived long and happily.</p> + +<p>Barnaby Rudge, after the death of his father, +gradually became more rational and was everywhere +a great favorite with old and young. He +and his mother lived always on the Maypole farm, +and there were never two more contented souls than +they.</p> + +<p>As for Grip, the raven, he soon forgot his jail experience +and grew sleek and glossy again. For a +whole year he never uttered a word till one sunny +morning he suddenly broke out with, "I'm a devil, +I'm a devil, I'm a devil!" in extraordinary rapture. +From that time on he talked more and more, and as +he was only one hundred and fifty years old when +Barnaby was gray headed (a mere infant for a +raven) he is very probably talking yet.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID +COPPERFIELD</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1849–1850</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London, Yarmouth, Dover and the Country</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1812 to 1842</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">David Copperfield</td><td align="right">A fatherless boy</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Miss Betsy Trotwood</td><td align="right">His aunt</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Peggotty</td><td align="right">His nurse</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Murdstone</td><td align="right">His stepfather</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Miss Murdstone</td><td align="right">Mr. Murdstone's sister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Peggotty</td><td align="right">A fisherman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Peggotty's brother</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Ham</td><td align="right">Their nephew</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mrs. Gummidge</td><td align="right">The widow of Mr. Peggotty's dead partner</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">"Little Em'ly"</td><td align="right">Peggotty's orphan niece</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Barkis</td><td align="right">A cart driver</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Later, Peggotty's husband</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Creakle</td><td align="right">Proprietor of a boys' school</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tommy Traddles<br />James Steerforth</td> + <td align="left" class="bt br bb"> </td><td> </td> + <td align="right">Schoolmates and friends of David's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Micawber</td><td align="right">A London friend of David's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Always "waiting for something to turn up"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">"Mr. Dick"</td><td align="right">A simple-minded relative of Miss Betsy Trotwood's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Wickfield</td><td align="right">Miss Betsy's lawyer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Agnes</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Uriah Heep</td><td align="right">His clerk</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Later, his partner</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Doctor Strong</td><td align="right">David's schoolmaster in Dover</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Dora Spenlow</td><td align="right">The daughter of David's employer and his "child-wife"</td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="DAVID_COPPERFIELD" id="DAVID_COPPERFIELD"></a>DAVID COPPERFIELD</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +DAVID'S EARLY UPS AND DOWNS</h3> + +<p>There was once a little boy by the name of David +Copperfield, whose father had died before he was +born. The night he was born his great-aunt, Miss +Betsy Trotwood—a grim lady with a black cap tied +under her chin and a great gold watch chain—came +to the house to ask his mother to name the +baby, which she took for granted was a girl, after +her; but as soon as she found it was a boy she +flounced out in anger and never came back again.</p> + +<p>The first thing David remembered was living in +a big country house in England with his pretty, +golden-haired mother and with Peggotty, his nurse, +a red-faced, kindly woman, with a habit of wearing +her dresses so tight that whenever she hugged him +some buttons would fly off the back. He loved his +mother dearly—so dearly that when a tall, handsome +man named Murdstone began to come to see +her in the evenings David was jealous and sad. +Mr. Murdstone acted as if he liked him, and even +took him riding on his horse; but there was something +in his face that David could not like.</p> + +<p>One summer day David was sent off with Peggotty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +for a two weeks' visit to her brother's house +in Yarmouth. Yarmouth was a queer fishing town +on the sea-coast, and the house they went to was the +queerest thing in it. It was made of an old barge, +drawn up high and dry on the beach. It had a +chimney on one side and little windows, and there +were sea-shells around the door. David's room was +in the stern, and the window was the hole which the +rudder had once passed through. Everything +smelled of salt water and lobsters, and David +thought it was the most wonderful house in the +world.</p> + +<p>He soon made friends with the family—Mr. +Peggotty, a big fisherman with a laugh like a gale +of wind; Ham, his nephew, a big, overgrown boy +who carried David from the coach on his back, and +Mrs. Gummidge, who was the widow of Mr. Peggotty's +drowned partner.</p> + +<p>And, last of all, there was a beautiful little girl +with curly hair and a string of blue beads around +her neck whom they called Little Em'ly. She was +an orphan niece of Peggotty's. None of these people +belonged to Mr. Peggotty, but, though he was +only a poor fisherman himself, he was so kind that +he gave them all a home. David played with little +Em'ly, and went out in the boat with Mr. +Peggotty, and enjoyed his visit greatly, though he +grew anxious to see his mother again.</p> + +<p>He had no idea what had happened to her till +he got back home with Peggotty. Then he found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +why he had been sent off on his visit. While he +was away his mother had married Mr. Murdstone.</p> + +<p>David found things sadly altered after this. Mr. +Murdstone was a hard, cruel master. He cared +nothing for the little boy and was harsh to him in +everything. He even took away David's own cozy +bedroom and made him sleep in a gloomy chamber. +When he was sad Mr. Murdstone called him +obstinate and locked him up and forbade his +mother to pet or comfort him.</p> + +<p>David's mother loved him, but she loved her new +husband, too, and it was a most unhappy state of +things. To make it worse, Mr. Murdstone's sister +came to live with them. She was an unlovely old +maid with big black eyebrows, and liked David no +better than her brother did.</p> + +<p>After this there were no more pleasant hours of +sitting with his mother or walking with her to +church, for Mr. Murdstone and his sister kept +them apart. The only happy moments David spent +were in a little upper room where there was a collection +of books left by his dead father. He got +some comfort from reading these.</p> + +<p>Mr. Murdstone made David's mother give him +hard tasks and lessons to do, and when David recited +them he and his sister both sat and listened. +To feel their presence and disapproval confused +the little fellow so much that even when he knew +his lesson he failed.</p> + +<p>One day when he came to recite he saw Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +Murdstone finishing the handle of a whip he had +been making. This frightened him so that he +could scarcely remember a word. Mr. Murdstone +grasped him then and led him to his room to whip +him.</p> + +<p>Poor little David was so terrified that he hardly +knew what he was doing, and in his agony and terror, +while the merciless blows were falling, he +seized the hand that held him and bit it as hard as +he could. Mr. Murdstone then beat him almost to +death and locked him in the room.</p> + +<p>He was kept there for five days with only bread +and milk to eat. Every day he was taken down for +family prayers and then taken back again, and during +prayers he was made to sit in a corner where +he could not even see his mother's face. He had to +sit all day long with nothing to do but think of +Mr. Peggotty's house-boat and of little Em'ly and +wish he was there. The last night Peggotty, his +nurse, crept up and whispered through the keyhole +that Mr. Murdstone was going to send him +away the next day to a school near London.</p> + +<p>The next morning he started in a carrier's cart. +His mother was so much in awe of Mr. Murdstone +that she hardly dared kiss David good-by, and he +saw nothing of Peggotty. But as he was crying, +Peggotty came running from behind a hedge and +jumped into the cart and hugged him so hard that +all the buttons flew off the back of her dress.</p> + +<p>The man who drove the cart was named Barkis.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +He seemed to be very much taken with Peggotty, +and after she had gone back David told him all +about her. Before they parted he made David +promise to write her a message for him. It was a +very short message—"Barkis is willin'." David +didn't know in the least what the driver meant, but +he promised, and he sent the message in his very +first letter.</p> + +<p>Probably Peggotty knew what he meant, though, +for before David came back again Mr. Barkis and +she were courting. However, that has not much to +do with this part of the story.</p> + +<p>The school to which Mr. Murdstone had sent +him was a bare building with gratings on all +the windows like a prison, and a high brick wall +around it. It was owned by a man named Creakle, +who had begun by raising hops, and had gone into +the school business because he had lost all of his +own and his wife's money and had no other way to +live. He was fat and spoke always in a whisper, +and he was so cruel and bad-tempered that not only +the boys, but his wife, too, was terribly afraid of +him.</p> + +<p>He nearly twisted David's ear off the first day, +and he made one of the teachers tie a placard to +David's back (this, he said, was by Mr. Murdstone's +order) which read:</p> + +<div class="signbox" style="width: 15em;"><p class="sign"><big>TAKE CARE OF HIM<br /> +HE BITES</big></p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>To have to wear this before everybody made +David sorrowful and ashamed, but luckily a good-natured +boy named Tommy Traddles, who liked +David's looks, said it was a shame to make him +wear it, and as Tommy Traddles was very popular, +all the other boys said it was a shame, too. So, beyond +calling him "Towser" for a few days, and +saying "Lie down, sir!" as if he were a dog, they +did not make much fun of him while he wore it.</p> + +<p>Besides Tommy Traddles, David liked best the +head boy, James Steerforth—the oldest boy in the +school, and the only one Creakle did not dare beat +or mistreat. Steerforth took David under his wing +and helped him with his lessons, while in return +David used to tell him stories from the books he +had read.</p> + +<p>What with the beatings and tasks, David was +glad enough when vacation time came. But his +home-coming was anything but pleasant. He +found his mother with a little baby, and she looked +careworn and ill.</p> + +<p>Mr. Murdstone, he saw at once, hated him as +much as ever, and Miss Murdstone would not let +him even so much as touch his baby brother. He +was forbidden to sit in the kitchen with Peggotty, +and when he crept away to the upper room with +the books Mr. Murdstone called him sullen and obstinate. +David was so miserable every day that he +was almost glad to bid his mother good-by, and as +he rode away, to look back at her as she stood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +there at the gate holding up her baby for David +to see.</p> + +<p>That was the last picture David carried in his +heart of his pretty mother. One day not long after, +he was called from the school-room to the parlor, +and there Mr. Creakle told him that his mother +was dead and that the baby had died, too.</p> + +<p>David reached home the next day. Peggotty +took him into her arms at the door and called his +mother her "dear, poor pretty," and comforted +him, but he was very sad. It seemed to him that +life could never be bright again.</p> + +<p>After the funeral Miss Murdstone discharged +Peggotty and, probably not knowing what else to +do with him, let David go with the faithful old +servant down to the old house-boat at Yarmouth, +where he had been visiting when his mother was +married to Mr. Murdstone.</p> + +<p>The wonderful house on the beach was just the +same. Mr. Peggotty and Ham and Mrs. Gummidge +were still there, with everything smelling +just as usual of salt water and lobsters; and little +Em'ly was there, too, grown to be quite a big girl. +It seemed, somehow, like coming back to a dear old +quiet home, where nothing changed and where all +was restful and good.</p> + +<p>But this happiness was not to last. David had to +go home again, and there it was worse than ever. +He was utterly neglected. He was sent to no +school, taught nothing, allowed to make no friends.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +And at last Mr. Murdstone, as if he could think +of nothing worse, apprenticed him as a chore boy +in a warehouse in London.</p> + +<p>The building where David now was compelled +to work was on a wharf on the river bank, and was +dirty and dark and overrun with rats. Here he had +to labor hard for bare living wages, among rough +boys and rougher men, with no counselor, hearing +their coarse oaths about him, and fearing that one +day he would grow up to be no better than they. +He was given a bedroom in the house of a Mr. +Micawber, and this man was, in his way, a friend.</p> + +<p>There was never a better-hearted man than Mr. +Micawber, but he seemed to be always unlucky. +He had a head as bald as an egg, wore a tall, +pointed collar, and carried for ornament an eye-glass +which he never used. He never had any +money, was owing everybody who would lend him +any, and was always, as he said, "waiting for something +to turn up." With this exception David had +not a friend in London, and finally Mr. Micawber +himself was put in prison for debt, and his relatives, +who paid his debts to release him, did so on condition +that he leave London. So at length David had +not even this one friend.</p> + +<p>David bore this friendless and wretched life as +long as he could, but at length he felt that he could +stay at the warehouse no longer and made up his +mind to run away.</p> + +<p>The only one in the world he could think of who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +might help him was—whom do you think? His +great-aunt, Miss Betsy Trotwood, who had left +his mother's house the night he was born because +he did not happen to be a girl. She was the only +real relative he had in the world.</p> + +<p>She lived, Peggotty had told him, in Dover, and +that was seventy miles away; but the distance did +not daunt him. So one day he put all his things +into a box and hired a boy with a cart to take it +to the coach office. But the boy robbed him of all +the money he had (a gold piece Peggotty had sent +him) and drove off with his box besides, and poor +David, crying, set out afoot, without a penny, in +the direction he thought Dover lay.</p> + +<p>That evening he sold his waistcoat to a clothes-dealer +for a few pennies, and when night came he +slept on the ground, under the walls of Mr. +Creakle's old school where he had known Steerforth +and Tommy Traddles. The next day he offered +his jacket for sale to a half-crazy old store-keeper, +who took the coat but would not pay him at +first, and David had to sit all day on the door-step +before the other would give him the money.</p> + +<p>The next four nights he slept under haystacks, +greatly in fear of tramps, and at length, on the sixth +day, ragged, sunburned, dusty and almost dead +from weariness, he got to Dover.</p> + +<p>He had to ask many people before he could find +out where Miss Betsy Trotwood lived. It was outside +the town, in a cottage with a little garden.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +Here she lived all alone, except for a simple-minded +old man, whom she called Mr. Dick, +who was a relative of hers, and who did nothing all +day but fly big kites and write petitions to the king, +which he began every morning and never finished. +All the neighbors thought Miss Betsy Trotwood a +most queer old woman, but those who knew her best +knew that she had a very kind heart under her grim +appearance.</p> + +<p>When David reached the house Miss Betsy was +digging at some flowers in the garden. All she +saw was a ragged, dirty little boy, and she called +out, without even turning her head: "Go away; no +boys here!"</p> + +<p>But David was so wretched that he went right +in at the gate and went up behind her and said: "If +you please, aunt, I'm your nephew."</p> + +<p>His aunt was so startled at his looks and at what +he said, that she sat down plump on the ground; +and David, his misery getting all at once the better +of him, sobbed out all the pitiful tale of his wrongs +and sorrows since his mother had died.</p> + +<p>Miss Betsy Trotwood's heart was touched. She +seized David by the collar, led him into the house, +made him drink something and then made him lie +down on the sofa while she fed him hot broth. +Then she had a warm bath prepared, and at last, +very tired and comfortable, and wrapped up in a +big shawl, David fell asleep on the sofa.</p> + +<p>That night he was put to bed in a clean room,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +and before he slept he prayed that he might never +be homeless and friendless again.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +LITTLE EM'LY</h3> + +<p>Good fortune was with David now. His aunt +wrote to Mr. Murdstone, and he and his sister +came, fully expecting to take the boy back with +them, but, instead, Miss Betsy told Mr. Murdstone +plainly that he was a stony-hearted hypocrite, who +had broken his wife's heart and tortured her son, +and she ordered him and his sister from the house. +David was so delighted at this that he threw his +arms around her neck and kissed her, and from +that moment Miss Betsy Trotwood began to love +him as if he had been her own son.</p> + +<p>David loved her in return. He drove out with +her and helped Mr. Dick fly his kites and was very +grateful. And at length his aunt placed him in a +school in Dover and found him pleasant lodgings +there in the house of her lawyer, Mr. Wickfield.</p> + +<p>It was a different sort of school from what his +first had been. His teacher was a Doctor Strong, +and the school-boys were not the frightened, ill-treated +lot he had known at Mr. Creakle's house. +He was happy there, but his happiest hours of all +were those spent, after school was out, at Mr. +Wickfield's. The lawyer had an only daughter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +Agnes, just David's age, a sweet, gentle girl, who +seemed to live for her father, and whom David +came to consider before long almost as a sister.</p> + +<p>One person connected with the lawyer's household +whom he did not like so well was Uriah Heep. +Heep was a high-shouldered, red-headed, bony +young man, with no eyebrows or eyelashes, and +with long skeleton fingers. He dressed all in black, +and his hands were clammy and cold, like a fish, so +that it chilled one to touch them. He never smiled—the +nearest he could come to it was to make two +creases down his cheeks. He was always cringing +and pretending to be humble, but really he was a +sneak and a scoundrel at heart. David detested +him without knowing why, the more so when he +came to see that Heep was gaining an influence +over Agnes's father. All the while, too, Heep pretended +to like David, though David knew very +well he did not.</p> + +<p>So time went on. David studied hard and was a +favorite with both pupils and teachers. At length +he was head boy himself, and at seventeen his +school life was finished.</p> + +<p>He parted regretfully from Doctor Strong and +from Agnes, and after paying his aunt, Miss Betsy +Trotwood, a visit, he started off to Yarmouth to +see his old nurse, now the wife of Barkis, the +driver, and just as fond of David as ever. On his +way through London, as it happened, David met +the old school-fellow whom he had so liked, James<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +Steerforth, and, loath to part with him so quickly, +he proposed that the latter accompany him to Yarmouth.</p> + +<p>Steerforth agreed and they went together. They +took dinner at Peggotty's and spent the first evening +in the old house-boat, where Mr. Peggotty still +lived with Ham and Mrs. Gummidge and little +Em'ly, the latter now grown to be a lovely girl and +engaged to marry Ham. They spent some weeks +there, each amusing himself in his own way, and +soon Steerforth was as popular as David had always +been, for he sang beautifully and talked entertainingly, +and all, from Mr. Peggotty to little +Em'ly, thought they had never seen so brilliant and +handsome a lad.</p> + +<p>If David could have read the thoughts that were +in Steerforth's mind he would have grieved that +he had ever brought him to that peaceful, innocent +spot. For Steerforth had changed since the old +school-days when David had been so fond of him. +He had learned wickedness, and now, while he was +exerting himself in every way to make the Peggottys +like and admire him, in his heart he was +trying to fascinate little Em'ly and to steal her +love that she had given to Ham, till she would +leave her home and run away with him to a foreign +country. This, however, David could not guess, +nor could any of the others, who regretted when the +two friends' visit was over.</p> + +<p>Now that his school-days were finished David's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +aunt had planned for him to study law in an office +in London, and accordingly David began his new +life there, very near the street where he had once +toiled, a wretched, friendless helper, in the dirty +warehouse on the dock. He found Tommy Traddles, +who had stood his friend at Mr. Creakle's +school, studying now to be a lawyer also, and +boarding, curiously enough, at the house of Mr. +Micawber, who had drifted back to London, still +as poor and as hopeful as ever and still "waiting +for something to turn up."</p> + +<p>In spite of these and all his new acquaintances, +David was very lonely at first and missed Agnes, +who all through his life at Doctor Strong's school +had been his friend and adviser.</p> + +<p>He saw her once when she was visiting in London, +and then she had bad news to tell him; her +father had been steadily failing in health and business, +and little by little Uriah Heep, his red-headed +clerk with the clammy hands, had got him and his +affairs into his power and made himself a partner +in the firm. David guessed that Heep had planned +to entrap her father so as to compel Agnes herself +to marry him, and this suspicion made David despise +the clerk more and more. But he knew of no +way to help.</p> + +<p>All this time he often saw Steerforth, but never +guessed how often the latter had been secretly to +see little Em'ly or of the wicked part he was playing. +But one day David heard that Barkis, Peggotty's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +husband (whose early courtship he himself +had aided when he took her the message "Barkis +is willin'") had died, and David went at once to +Yarmouth to try to comfort his old nurse in her +loss.</p> + +<p>While he was there the blow came which caused +such sorrow to all who lived in the old house-boat. +Little Em'ly, the pride and joy of Mr. Peggotty's +tender heart, ran away with Steerforth.</p> + +<p>She left a letter, begging them to forgive her, +especially her uncle, Mr. Peggotty—and bidding +them all good-by. It broke Mr. Peggotty's heart, +and Ham's, too. And David was scarcely less sorrowful. +Because, for what he had done, Steerforth, +whose friendship had been so much to him, +could never be his friend again.</p> + +<p>But nothing could change Mr. Peggotty's love +for little Em'ly. He determined to start out and +search throughout the world for her; and, meantime, +Ham and Mrs. Gummidge were to stay there +in the old home, to keep it looking just the same, +with a lighted candle in the window every night, +so that if little Em'ly by any chance came back it +would be bright and warm to welcome her. Mr. +Peggotty's parting words to David were:</p> + +<p>"I'm a-going to seek her far and wide. If any +hurt should come to me, remember that the last +word I left for her was, 'My unchanged love is +with my darling child, and I forgive her.'"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +DAVID AND HIS CHILD-WIFE</h3> + +<p>Though Agnes always held a large place in his +heart, David was very impressionable. In the next +few years he thought himself in love a good many +times, but when finally he met Dora Spenlow, the +daughter of one of the members of the law firm +with which he was studying, he knew that all his +other love-affairs had been only fancies. Dora was +blue-eyed, with cheeks like a pink sea-shell, and +looked like a fairy. David fell head over ears in +love with her the first time he ever saw her. He +lost his appetite, and took to wearing tight gloves +and shoes too small for him, and he used to put on +his best clothes and walk around her house in the +moonlight and do other extravagant things.</p> + +<p>They found a good deal of trouble in their love-making, +for Dora was under the care of none other +than the terrible sister of Mr. Murdstone, who had +made David so miserable in his childhood, but he +and Dora used to meet sometimes, and they sent +each other letters through one of Dora's girl +friends. David, perhaps, would not have done this +if he had thought he would have a fair chance to +win Dora; but with his old enemy, Miss Murdstone, +against him, he was afraid to tell her father +of his love. But one day he told it to Dora, and she +promised to marry him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>Good luck, however, never comes without a bit +of bad luck. Soon after this David came home to +his rooms one night to find his aunt, Miss Betsy +Trotwood, there, with her trunk and Mr. Dick, +kites and all. She told David she had no other +place to go; that she had lost all of her money and +was quite ruined.</p> + +<p>This was misfortune indeed, for it seemed to put +his hope of marrying Dora a great deal further +away; but David faced the situation bravely and +began at once to look for something to do outside +of the law office to earn money enough to support +them all.</p> + +<p>In this trouble Agnes was his true friend. He +had written her already of his love for Dora and +she had advised him. Through her now he found +employment as secretary to his old schoolmaster, +Doctor Strong, who had given up the school at +Dover and had moved to London. He told Dora, +of course, all about his changed prospects, but +Dora was like a little butterfly who knew only how +to fly about among flowers; she hardly knew what +poverty meant, and thought he was scolding when +he told her.</p> + +<p>David worked hard in the morning at Doctor +Strong's, in the afternoons at the law office, and in +the evenings he studied shorthand so he might come +to be a newspaper reporter. And all this while he +wrote to Dora every day.</p> + +<p>It was one of these letters that at last betrayed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +their secret. Dora dropped it from her pocket and +Miss Murdstone picked it up. She showed it to +Dora's father and he sent at once for David and +told him angrily that he could never marry his +child and that he must not see Dora any more. And +David went home disconsolate.</p> + +<p>This might have ended their engagement for +ever, but that same day Dora's father dropped dead +of heart-disease. Instead of being rich he was +found to have left no money at all, and Dora was +taken to live with two aunts on the outskirts of +London. David did not know what was best to do +now, so he went to Dover to ask Agnes's advice.</p> + +<p>He was shocked at the changes he found there. +Her father looked ill and scarcely seemed himself. +Uriah Heep, his new partner, with his ugly, fawning +way and clammy hands, was living in their +house and eating with them at their table. He had +obtained more and more power over Mr. Wickfield +and gloried in it. And the other seemed no +longer to dare to oppose Uriah in anything.</p> + +<p>But in spite of all this, Agnes talked bravely and +cheerfully with David. Under her direction, he +wrote a letter to Dora's aunts, declaring his love +and asking permission to call, and they, pleased +with his frankness, gave their permission. Before +the year was out David began to earn money with +his shorthand, reporting speeches in Parliament for +a newspaper. He had discovered besides that he +could write stories that the magazines were glad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +to buy. So one day David married Dora and they +went to housekeeping in a tiny house of their own.</p> + +<p>Life seemed very sweet to them both, though +Dora, while she was the most loving little wife in +the world, knew no more about housekeeping than +a bird. The servants stole the silver spoons, and the +storekeepers overcharged them, and the house was +never tidy or comfortable. For a while David tried +to make Dora learn these things, but when he chid +her the tears would come, and she would throw her +arms around his neck and sob that she was only his +child-wife after all, and he would end by kissing +her and telling her not to mind. She was most like +a beautiful toy; and like a toy, she seemed made +only to play with, just as she played with her dog +Jip, instead of helping and encouraging David in +his work.</p> + +<p>But at length Dora fell ill—so ill that they knew +she was too frail and weak to get well and strong +again. David carried her down stairs every day, +and every day the burden grew lighter. She never +complained, but called him her poor, dear boy, and +one day she whispered that she was only his child-wife +and could never have been more, so that it was +better as it was!</p> + +<p>Agnes came, and was there when Dora died. +But for her comfort all the world would have been +blank for poor David as he sat alone, longing for +the child-wife who could never be his again!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +DAVID FINDS ALL WELL AT LAST</h3> + +<p>More than once during this life of David's with +his child-wife he had seen Mr. Peggotty. The +brave old man had searched Europe for little +Em'ly in vain; then he had come back to London, +feeling somehow that some day she would stray +there. He used to walk the streets by night, looking +at every face he passed. In the room where he +lived he kept a candle always lighted and one of +her dresses hanging on a chair for her.</p> + +<p>After Dora's death David joined in the search, +and at length they did find poor little Em'ly. +Steerforth had treated her cruelly and finally deserted +her, and she had crept back to London heartbroken +and repentant, hoping for nothing but to +die within sight of those who had loved her so.</p> + +<p>But nothing had dimmed Mr. Peggotty's love. +Wretched as she was, he caught her in his arms, +held her to his breast as he had done so often when +she was a child, and told her she was still his own +little Em'ly, just as she had always been.</p> + +<p>She was ill, but he nursed her back to health. +Then he went to Yarmouth to fetch Mrs. Gummidge, +and they and the little Em'ly that had been +found took passage for Australia, where they might +forget the dark past and find happiness in a new +life.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>But before they sailed fate had brought to +naught the villainous plot that had been woven by +Uriah Heep about Agnes and her father. And the +one whom they had most to thank for this was Mr. +Micawber.</p> + +<p>Heep had met Mr. Micawber once, when the +latter, as usual, was in money difficulties, and, +thinking to make a tool of him, had hired him for +his clerk. Little by little Heep had then got the +other into his debt, till Mr. Micawber saw no prospect +before him but the debtors' prison.</p> + +<p>Threatening him with this, Heep tried to compel +him to do various bits of dirty and dishonest +work, at which the other's soul revolted until at +length he made up his mind to expose his employer. +So, pretending obedience, Mr. Micawber +wormed himself into all of the sneaking Heep's +affairs, found out the evidence of his guilt, and +finally taking all the books and papers from the +office safe, sent for David and his friend Tommy +Traddles and told them all he had discovered. +They found it was by forgery that Heep had got +Agnes's father into his power in the first place, and +that among others whom he had robbed was +David's aunt, Miss Betsy Trotwood, whose fortune +he had stolen.</p> + +<p>David and Tommy Traddles sent for Miss Betsy +and for Agnes and her father, and they faced +Uriah all together. He tried to brazen it out, but +when he saw the empty safe he knew that all was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +known. They told him the only way he could save +himself from prison was by giving back the business +to Agnes's father, just as it had been years before, +when David had lived there, and by restoring +to Miss Betsy Trotwood every cent he had robbed +her of. This he did with no very good grace and +with an especial curse for David, whom he seemed +to blame for it all.</p> + +<p>In reward for Mr. Micawber's good services, +Miss Betsy and Agnes's father paid off all his debts +and gave him money enough to take him and his +family to Australia. They sailed in the same vessel +that carried Mr. Peggotty and little Em'ly.</p> + +<p>Before it sailed little Em'ly had written a letter +to Ham, whose promised wife she had been before +she ran away with Steerforth, begging his forgiveness, +and this letter she had asked David to give +him after they had gone. Accordingly one day he +went to Yarmouth to do this.</p> + +<p>That night a terrible storm arose. The wind was +so strong that it uprooted trees and threw down +chimneys and rolled waves mountain high on the +sand where stood the old deserted house-boat of the +Peggottys. Next morning David was awakened +with the news that a Spanish ship had gone ashore +and was fast going to pieces, and he ran to the +beach, where all the town was gathered.</p> + +<p>He could see the doomed vessel plainly where +the surf broke over her. Her masts had snapped +short off and at every wave she rolled and beat the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +sand as if she would pound herself to fragments. +Several figures were clinging to the broken masts, +and one by one the waves beat them off, and they +went down for ever.</p> + +<p>At length but one was left, and he held on so long +that a shout of encouragement went up from the +throng. At this Ham, the bravest and strongest of +all the hardy boatmen there, tied a rope about his +waist and plunged into the sea to try to save him. +But it was not to be. The same huge wave that +dashed the vessel to pieces threw the rescuer back +on the sand, dead. The body of the man he had +tried to save was washed ashore, too, and it was that +of James Steerforth, who had so wronged little +Em'ly!</p> + +<p>So poor, great-souled Ham died, honest and +faithful to the last, giving his life for the man who +had injured him. And so, too, James Steerforth +met his fate on the very spot where he had done +such evil, for his corpse was found among the fragments +of the old Peggotty house-boat, which the +tempest tore down that night.</p> + +<p>After this David went abroad and stayed three +years. He lived in Switzerland, and wrote novels +that were printed in London and made him famous +there.</p> + +<p>And now, alone, he had time to think of all that +made up his past. He thought of Dora, his child-wife, +and sorrowed for her, and of the Peggottys +and little Em'ly; but most of all he found himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +thinking of Agnes, who, throughout his youth, had +seemed like his guiding star.</p> + +<p>So one day he went back to England and told +her, and asked her if she would marry him. And +with her sweet face on his breast she whispered that +she had loved him all her life!</p> + +<p>David and Agnes lived long and happily, and +their children had three guardians who loved them +all—Miss Betsy Trotwood, David's old nurse, Peggotty, +and white-haired Mr. Dick, who taught +them to fly kites and thought them the greatest +children in the world. Tommy Traddles, when he +had become a famous lawyer, often visited them, +and once, too, Mr. Peggotty, older, but still hale +and strong, came back from Australia to tell them +how he had prospered and grown rich, and had always +his little Em'ly beside him, and how Mr. +Micawber had ceased to owe everybody money and +had become a magistrate, and many other things.</p> + +<p>David had one thing, however, to tell Mr. Peggotty, +and that was of a certain prisoner he had +seen in one of the country's greatest prisons, sentenced +for life for an attempt to rob the Bank of +England, and whose name was—Uriah Heep.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> +<h2>GREAT EXPECTATIONS</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1860–1861</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London, Neighboring Towns and the Country</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1830 to 1860</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Philip Pirrip</td><td align="right">An orphan boy</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Known as "Pip"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Joe Gargery</td><td align="right">A blacksmith</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Mrs. Joe"</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Pip's sister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Uncle Pumblechook</td><td align="right">Joe's pompous uncle</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wopsle</td><td align="right">Clerk of the village church</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later, an actor</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Orlick</td><td align="right">A workman of Joe's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Biddy</td><td align="right">A girl friend of Pip's and Mrs. Joe's nurse</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later, Joe's wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Abel Magwitch</td><td align="right">A convict</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Miss Havisham</td><td align="right">An eccentric woman once disappointed in love</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Estella</td><td align="right">Her ward</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">In reality, Magwitch's daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Compeyson</td><td align="right">Miss Havisham's former suitor and deceiver</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">A convict</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Jaggers</td><td align="right">Lawyer for Miss Havisham and for Magwitch</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wemmick</td><td align="right">His clerk</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Pocket</td><td align="right">Pip's tutor</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pocket</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Herbert Pocket</td><td align="right">His son. Pip's comrade in London</td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="GREAT_EXPECTATIONS" id="GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"></a>GREAT EXPECTATIONS</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +PIP AND THE CONVICT</h3> + +<p>In England, in a lonely village not far from +London, there once lived a little orphan boy named +Philip Pirrip, whom everybody called, for short, +"Pip." His parents had died when he was a baby, +and he had been brought up by his older sister, the +wife of Joe Gargery, a blacksmith whose forge +looked out across wide marshes and a river that +flowed through them.</p> + +<p>Joe, the blacksmith, was a fair-faced man with +flaxen whiskers and very bright blue eyes. He was +a mild, honest, good-natured, sweet-tempered, +easy-going, foolish, dear fellow, tender-hearted +and kind to little Pip and yet a Hercules for +strength.</p> + +<p>Very different, indeed, was "Mrs. Joe," as everybody +spoke of her. She was tall and bony and had +black hair, a red skin and a continual habit of +scolding. She may have loved Pip in her way, but +that way was a very cross-grained one. She treated +Joe, the big blacksmith, and Pip, the little boy, just +alike, and they were both equally in dread of her. +This made them quite like partners. Whenever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +Pip came into the house he used to look at Joe's +fingers; if Joe crossed them that was a sign Mrs. +Joe was cross and that Pip was to look out for himself.</p> + +<p>Joe had an uncle named Pumblechook, who was +a corn seller in the next town and a pompous old +hypocrite. He had a way of standing Pip before +him, rumpling up his hair and asking him hard +questions out of the multiplication table. And +whenever he told a story of any one who was ungrateful +or wicked he would glower at Pip in a +way that made him feel very uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>Another who came as often and was almost as +dismal to see was Wopsle, the clerk, who read the +lesson in church every Sunday. He had an idea he +would make a great actor and used to recite whole +pages from Shakespeare when he could find any +one to listen to him.</p> + +<p>Worst of all was a workman of Joe's named Orlick. +He was a loose-limbed, swarthy, slouching +giant with a hangdog look. He used to tell Pip +that the devil lived in a certain corner of the forge, +and once in every seven years the fire had to be rekindled +with a live boy. Orlick at heart disliked +everybody—especially harmless little Pip—and +often quarreled with Mrs. Joe.</p> + +<p>Beside the blacksmith, the only one who understood +Pip was a little girl named Biddy, about his +own age and an orphan, too. She liked him and +used to help him with his lessons at school.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>But in spite of Joe and Biddy, Pip was sometimes +so lonely and miserable that he would steal +off alone to the village churchyard, where his +father and mother lay buried, to cry.</p> + +<p>One afternoon—it was the day before Christmas—Pip +was more wretched than usual, and was sitting +crying among the graves when suddenly a +rough voice spoke behind him. "Keep still, you +little imp!" it said, "or I'll cut your throat!" With +the words a man rose up from behind a tombstone +and seized him.</p> + +<p>He was a fearful-looking man, dressed all in +gray clothes, with a great iron band riveted on +his leg. His shoes were torn, he had no hat and +wore a ragged, dirty handkerchief tied around his +head. He was soaked with water, caked with mud +and limped and shivered as he walked. He set Pip +on a tombstone and tilted him so far back that the +church steeple seemed to turn a somersault, growling +at him in a terrible voice.</p> + +<p>Pip had never been so frightened in his life. +With a trembling voice he begged his captor to +spare him. The man asked him his name and where +he lived, and told him he would let him go on one +condition. He had to promise to come next morning +at daybreak to a certain spot in the marshes and +to bring a file and something to eat. And the man +said if Pip did not do so, or if he told any one what +he was going to do, he would catch him again and +cut out his heart and eat it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>This terrible threat frightened poor little Pip +more than ever. His voice shook so that he could +hardly promise, and when the man set him down he +ran home as fast as his legs would carry him.</p> + +<p>The evening was a miserable one. Pip thought +he would save his own supper for the man in case +he should not be able to get into his sister's pantry, +so instead of eating his bread and butter he slipped +it down his trouser-leg.</p> + +<p>Before long a great gun began to boom, and he +asked Joe what it was. The blacksmith told him +that in the river across the marshes were anchored +some big hulks of ships, like wicked Noah's arks, +where convicts were kept prisoners, and that the +gun was a signal that some of these convicts had +escaped. Then Pip knew the man he had promised +to help was a criminal—perhaps a murderer—who +had got away and was hiding from the soldiers.</p> + +<p>All night he did not sleep. He hated to steal the +food, but he felt certain he would be killed if he +did not. So at dawn he slipped down stairs, got a +file from the forge, unlocked the pantry, took some +bread and cheese and a pork pie that Uncle Pumblechook +had sent for Christmas dinner, and ran +out through the foggy morning to the marshes.</p> + +<p>He had not got quite there when he came on a +man in gray, sitting on the ground, with an iron +fetter on his leg. Pip thought he was the one he +was in search of, but as soon as the other turned +his face he saw by a bruise on the cheek that he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +not. This second man in gray, as soon as he saw +him, sprang to his feet and ran away.</p> + +<p>Greatly wondering, Pip went on, and at the +right spot he found the man who had frightened +him in the graveyard. He seemed now to be almost +starved, for he snatched the food and ate it like a +hungry dog. He asked Pip if he had seen any one +else on his way there, and Pip told him of the other +man in gray who also wore an iron on his leg.</p> + +<p>He asked Pip to describe the other, and when +Pip told of the bruised cheek, the man he was +feeding flew into a rage. He began to curse, and, +seizing the file, set to filing like mad at his fetter. +Pip could see that he hated the other convict, and +was sorry he had escaped; but he had fulfilled his +promise now, so he turned and ran home again, +and the last thing he heard was the rasp of the file +as the man worked madly at the iron.</p> + +<p>Very guilty Pip felt all that Christmas morning. +He went to church with Joe, and after service +Uncle Pumblechook, Wopsle, the clerk, and other +company came to dinner. He could not enjoy the +good things to eat, for he knew now his sister must +discover that the pork pie was gone. Just as she +went to get it he got up from the table to run away, +but as he opened the door he ran plump into a file +of soldiers.</p> + +<p>He was sure at first they had come to arrest him +for helping the convict, but he was soon relieved, +when the officer at their head explained that they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +were on their way to search the marshes for the escaped +men and wanted the blacksmith to mend a +broken handcuff.</p> + +<p>In the flurry of their arrival the pork pie was +forgotten, while Joe mended the handcuff in the +forge. When the soldiers left, the blacksmith set +Pip on his broad shoulder, and he and Wopsle +went striding with them to see the result of the +hunt.</p> + +<p>It was sunset as the party entered the marshes, +and the searchers opened out into a wide line. On +a sudden all stopped, for a confused shouting had +come from the distance. They ran toward it, cocking +their guns, and Wopsle and Joe, with Pip on +his shoulder, followed. The shouts became plainer +and plainer. All at once they came to a ditch and +in it the convict Pip had fed and the one with the +bruised cheek were struggling fiercely together.</p> + +<p>The soldiers seized and handcuffed them both, +the man with the bruised cheek pale and trembling, +the other boasting that he had dragged the man he +hated back to captivity, even though it cost him +his own freedom.</p> + +<p>While the soldiers were preparing to take their +prisoners back, Pip's convict saw the boy standing +there with Joe. Pip hoped he would not think he +had had anything to do with bringing the soldiers. +He was pretty sure the man did not, because he +presently told the officer, in every one's hearing, +that the night before he had broken into a house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +where a blacksmith lived, near a church, and had +stolen a pork pie. Joe heard this and so Pip knew +that he himself would be clear of any blame.</p> + +<p>The convicts were taken back to their cells and +Joe and Pip went home to tell the company of their +adventure. But neither then nor ever afterward +did Pip find courage to tell Joe the part he had +played; for Pip loved the honest blacksmith and +did not want him to think him worse than he really +was.</p> + +<p>Time went on and Pip grew older and bigger, +and though he never forgot the adventure of the +churchyard, yet the memory of it grew dimmer. In +the next few years only one thing happened to recall +it to him.</p> + +<p>One evening Mrs. Joe sent Pip to the village inn, +The Three Jolly Bargemen, with a message. Pip +found Joe there, sitting with a stranger—a secret-looking +man, who held his head on one side and +kept one eye perpetually shut as if he were taking +aim with a gun. This man, when he heard +Pip's name, looked at him with a curious wink, +and when no one but Pip was looking he took out +of his pocket, to stir his drink with, the very file +Pip had stolen from Joe's forge.</p> + +<p>Pip knew that minute that the man was a friend +of the convict he had aided. When Pip left the +inn the stranger called him back and gave him +a shilling wrapped up in a piece of paper.</p> + +<p>When he got home Mrs. Joe (who took the prize<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +away from him) discovered that the piece of paper +was in reality two bank-notes, and both Joe and she +wondered at it. The blacksmith tried next day to +find the stranger to restore the money, but he had +left the inn.</p> + +<p>So it always remained a mystery—to all but Pip +of course, who knew in his heart that the convict +had remembered his aid and had taken this means +of repaying him.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +THE QUEER MISS HAVISHAM</h3> + +<p>One day, when Pip was considerably older, +Uncle Pumblechook brought Mrs. Joe word that +a Miss Havisham, a lady who lived in his own +town, had heard of Pip, and wanted him to come +to her house to see her.</p> + +<p>Miss Havisham was a very queer lady, indeed; +so queer that some said she was crazy. But she was +rich, and for this reason Mrs. Joe scrubbed Pip and +dressed him in his best clothes and sent him off in +care of Uncle Pumblechook, who took him as far +as Miss Havisham's gate.</p> + +<p>Miss Havisham, when a beautiful young lady, +had been engaged to marry a man named Compeyson, +whom she loved very much. He was a +wicked, heartless villain, however, and had made +her love him only that he might persuade her to +give him great sums of money.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + +<p>The marriage day finally was fixed, her wedding-clothes +were bought, the house was decorated +for the ceremony, the bride-cake was put on the +table in the dining-room and the guests arrived. +But Compeyson, the bridegroom, did not come.</p> + +<p>Miss Havisham was dressing for the wedding +when she received a cruel note from him telling +her he did not intend to marry her. She had put on +her white wedding gown and her lace veil and one +of her satin slippers—the other lay on the dressing-table. +It was exactly twenty minutes to nine o'clock +when she read the note.</p> + +<p>She fainted and afterward lay for a long time +ill. When she recovered she laid the whole place +waste. She never afterward let the light of day into +the old mansion. The shutters were closed, candles +were kept always lighted, and all the clocks in the +house were stopped at exactly twenty minutes to +nine o'clock. Not a thing in any room was changed. +The bride-cake rotted on the table, the decorations +faded on the walls, and day after day Miss Havisham +sat in the dressing-room clad in her wedding +gown and veil, with one slipper on, the dead flowers +on her table and the trunks for her wedding +journey scattered about half-packed. In time she +became shrunken and old and the white satin and +lace became faded yellow, but she never varied +this habit of life.</p> + +<p>Soon after her love disappointment she had written +to her lawyer in London, who was named Jaggers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +asking him to find a baby girl for her to adopt +as her own. Now Mr. Jaggers had just defended in +court a man named Abel Magwitch, the tool of +Compeyson, who had broken Miss Havisham's +heart. Compeyson had tempted Magwitch into +passing some stolen money and they had both been +arrested. At the trial Compeyson (sneak and liar +as he was!) threw all the blame on his comrade, +who was duller and less sharp than he, and as a +consequence, while Compeyson got a light sentence, +Magwitch, though really the more innocent of the +two, had been sent to the prison-ship for a term of +many years. These two men, by the way, were the +pair who escaped from the hulks into the marshes. +Magwitch was Pip's convict of the churchyard, +and Compeyson was the one he had dragged back +to capture. This Magwitch, at the time of his arrest, +had a baby daughter, who had fallen into +Mr. Jaggers's care, and in answer to Miss Havisham's +request the lawyer had sent the little girl +to her, telling her nothing whatever of the child's +parentage.</p> + +<p>Miss Havisham had named the child Estella, +and, seeing she would be a very beautiful woman, +had determined to bring her up heartless and cold, +to ruin as many men's lives as possible, so as to +avenge her own wrongs and broken heart.</p> + +<p>So Estella had grown up in the dismal house, +Miss Havisham's only companion. Day by day she +became more lovely, and even while she was still a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +little girl, the same age as Pip, Miss Havisham was +impatient to begin teaching her her lesson.</p> + +<p>This was the reason Pip had received his invitation +to Miss Havisham's house. Though he had +no idea of it, he was intended only as practice for +little Estella, who under Miss Havisham's teaching +was growing up very fond of admiration and +very cold-hearted, too.</p> + +<p>Pip thought Miss Havisham the strangest lady +he had ever seen, and the yellow satin, the candle-lighted +rooms, and the stopped clocks seemed to +him very odd. But Estella was so pretty that from +the first moment he saw her he had no eyes for anything +else. Even though she called him clumsy and +common, and seemed to delight in hurting his feelings, +Pip fell in love with her and could not help +himself. Miss Havisham made them play together +and told him to come again the next week.</p> + +<p>Pip went home in very bad humor on account of +all the hurts which Estella had given his feelings. +Uncle Pumblechook, being very curious to +know all about his trip, bullied and questioned him +so (beginning as usual with the multiplication +table) that Pip, perfectly frantic, told him the most +impossible tales. He said Miss Havisham was in a +black coach inside the house, and had cake and +wine handed to her through the coach window on +a golden plate, and that he and she played with +flags and swords, while four dogs fought for veal +cutlets out of a silver basket.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>But when Uncle Pumblechook told Joe these +wonders, Pip was remorseful. He went to the +forge and confessed to Joe that he had been telling +a falsehood, and promised he would never do so +again.</p> + +<p>This visit was the first of many that Pip paid to +the gloomy house whose shutters were always +closed. Next time he went he was taken into the +chamber where the decayed wedding-cake sat on +the table. The room was full of relatives of Miss +Havisham (for it was her birthday), who spent +their lives flattering and cringing, hoping when she +died she would leave them some money.</p> + +<p>After a time Pip went into the garden and there +he met another relative in the person of a pale +young gentleman about his own age, but larger, +who promptly lowered his head, butted Pip in the +stomach and invited him to fight. Pip was so sure +nobody else's head belonged in the pit of his stomach +that he obliged him at once, and as practice at +the forge had made him tough, it was not many +minutes before the pale young gentleman was lying +on his back, looking up at him out of an exceedingly +black eye and with a bleeding countenance.</p> + +<p>When Estella let Pip out of the gate that day he +guessed that she had seen the encounter and that +somehow it had pleased her, for she gave him her +cheek to kiss. Yet he knew that at heart she thought +him only a coarse, common boy, fit to be treated +rudely and insolently. This thought rankled more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +and more in him. He made up his mind to study +and learn, and he got faithful little Biddy to teach +him all she knew.</p> + +<p>Pip saw no more of the pale young gentleman, +though for almost a year he went to Miss Havisham's +every other day. Each time he saw Estella +and found himself loving her more and more. But +she was always unkind, and often, when she had +been ruder than usual, he saw that Miss Havisham +seemed to take delight in his mortification. Sometimes +she would fondle Estella's hand, and he +would hear her say:</p> + +<p>"That's right! Break their hearts, my pride and +hope! Break their hearts and have no mercy!"</p> + +<p>One day Miss Havisham sent for Joe, the blacksmith, +and gave him a bag of money, telling him +that he was not to send Pip to her any more, but +that he should put him to work and teach him the +trade of blacksmithing. So Uncle Pumblechook +took Pip to town that very day and had him bound +to Joe as an apprentice.</p> + +<p>This was just what Pip had once looked forward +to with pleasure. But now it made him wretched. +Through Estella's jeers he had come to feel that +blacksmithing was common and low. As he helped +Joe to blow the forge fire, he thought constantly +of Estella's looks of disdain, yet in spite of all he +longed to see her.</p> + +<p>On his first half-holiday he went to call on Miss +Havisham. But there was no Estella. Miss Havisham<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +told him she had sent her abroad to be educated +as a lady, and when the miserable tears +sprang to Pip's eyes, she laughed.</p> + +<p>When he got home he confided in Biddy. He +told her how he loved Estella, and that he wanted +more than anything else in the world to be a gentleman. +Meanwhile he began to study hard in any +spare time he had, and Biddy helped him all she +could.</p> + +<p>Pip might have fallen in love with Biddy if he +had not had Estella always in his mind. Orlick, +Joe's helper, indeed, thought he had done so, and +it made him hate Pip more than ever, for he was in +love with Biddy himself. He grew morose and +quarrelsome and spoke so roughly to Mrs. Joe one +day that she was not satisfied till the blacksmith +took off his singed apron and knocked the surly +Orlick flat in the coal dust.</p> + +<p>This was a costly revenge for Mrs. Joe, however. +Orlick never forgave it, and a few nights after, +when no one was at home but herself he crept in +behind her in the kitchen and struck her a terrible +blow on the head with a piece of iron.</p> + +<p>Hours afterward Joe found her lying senseless, +and though she lived to recover a part of her senses, +she never scolded or spoke again. She grew well +enough at last to sit all day in her chair, but was so +helpless that Biddy came to the house to be her +nurse. It chanced that a prisoner had escaped from +the prison-boats on the night Mrs. Joe was injured,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +and he was thought to be the one who attacked her. +But Pip suspected Orlick all the while.</p> + +<p>So time went on. Once a year, on his birthday, +Pip went to see Miss Havisham, but he never saw +Estella there. And nothing else of particular importance +occurred till he had been for four years +Joe's apprentice.</p> + +<p>One night, as Pip sat with Joe before the fire in +The Three Jolly Bargemen, they were called out +by a gentleman whom Pip remembered to have +seen once at Miss Havisham's. It was, as a matter +of fact, Mr. Jaggers, her lawyer, who had sent Estella +to her as a baby.</p> + +<p>The lawyer walked home with them, for he had +a wonderful piece of news to relate. It was that an +unknown benefactor, whose name he was not permitted +to tell, intended when he died to leave Pip +a fortune. In the meantime he wished to have him +educated to become a gentleman, and as a lad of +Great Expectations, and, the better to accomplish +this, he wished Pip to go without delay to London.</p> + +<p>This great good fortune seemed so marvelous +that Pip could hardly believe it. He had never imagined +Miss Havisham intended to befriend him, +but now he guessed at once that she was this unknown +benefactor. And he jumped next to another +conclusion even more splendid—that she intended +him sometime to marry Estella and was even then +educating her for him. Pip went home almost in a +dream, too full of his own prospects to see how sad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +Biddy was beneath her gladness for him, or how +sorrowful the good news made Joe.</p> + +<p>That night Estella's face came before him, more +full of disdain than ever. As he thought of her +and of the fine gentleman he was to be, the humble +kitchen and forge seemed to grow commoner and +meaner by contrast. He began to become a little +spoiled and disdainful himself.</p> + +<p>The news soon spread about, and every one who +had looked down upon Pip now gave him smiles +and flattery. Uncle Pumblechook wept on his +shoulder and (instead of telling him, as usual, that +he was sure to come to a bad end) reminded him +that he had always been his favorite.</p> + +<p>Mr. Jaggers had given Pip a generous amount +of money to buy new clothes with, and these tended +to make him more spoiled than ever. He began to +feel condescending toward Biddy, and found himself +wondering whether, when he should be rich +and educated, Joe's manners would not make him +blush if they should meet.</p> + +<p>And even when the day came for him to bid them +good-by and he climbed aboard the coach for London, +he thought more of these things and his own +good luck than of the home he was parting from +for ever, or of the true and loving hearts he was +leaving behind him.</p> + +<p>This was an ignoble beginning for Pip and one +that he came afterward to remember with shame!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +PIP DISCOVERS HIS BENEFACTOR</h3> + +<p>Mr. Jaggers, the lawyer in whose care Pip +found himself in London, was sharp and secret, +and was so feared by criminals that they would +never go near his house, though he never locked +his door, even at night.</p> + +<p>He had a crusty clerk named Wemmick, as +secret as he and a deal queerer. Wemmick lived in +a little wooden cottage that he called The Castle, +and which had its top cut out like a fort. It had a +ditch all around it with a plank drawbridge. +When he got home from the office in the evening +he pulled up the drawbridge and ran up a flag on +a flagstaff planted there. And exactly at nine +every night he fired off a brass cannon that he kept +in a latticework fortress beside it.</p> + +<p>Wemmick was the first one Pip met in London, +and the clerk took him to the rooms where Mr. +Jaggers had arranged for Pip to live, with the son +of a gentleman who was to be his teacher. This +gentleman was a Mr. Pocket, a relative (as Pip +discovered) of Miss Havisham, which fact made +him all the more certain that she was his unknown +friend. Mr. Pocket's son was named Herbert, and +the minute he and Pip first saw each other they +burst out laughing. For Herbert was none other +than the pale young gentleman who, years before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +in Miss Havisham's garden, Pip had last seen looking +up at him out of a very black eye.</p> + +<p>They were excellent friends from that hour. +They occupied the rooms together when they were +in London, and Pip also had a room of his own at +Mr. Pocket's house in the country.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pocket was a helpless scholarly man who +depended on Mrs. Pocket to manage everything, +and she depended on the servants. There were +seven little Pockets of various ages tumbling about +the house, and Mrs. Pocket's only idea of management +seemed to be to send them all to bed when any +one of them was troublesome. At such times Mr. +Pocket would groan, put his hands in his hair, lift +himself several inches out of his chair and then let +himself down again.</p> + +<p>In spite of his oddities, however, Mr. Pocket was +an excellent teacher, and Pip in some ways made +progress. But his Great Expectations taught him +bad habits. He found it so easy to spend money +that he soon overstepped the allowance Mr. Jaggers +had told him was his, and not only had got into +debt himself, but had led Herbert, who was far +poorer, into debt also.</p> + +<p>Joe came to see him only once, and then Pip's +spoiled eyes overlooked his true, rugged manliness +and noted more clearly his awkward manners and +halting speech. Joe was quick to see this difference +in the Pip he had known and he did not stay long—only +long enough to leave a message from Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +Havisham: that Estella had returned from abroad +and would be glad to see him if he came.</p> + +<p>Pip lost no time in making this visit, and started +the very next day. The old house looked just the +same, but a new servant opened the gate for him: +it was Orlick, as low-browed and sullen and surly +as ever, and Pip saw at the first glance that his old +hatred was still smoldering.</p> + +<p>Miss Havisham was in her room, dressed in the +same worn wedding dress, and beside her, with diamonds +on her neck and hair, sat Estella. Pip +hardly knew her, she had grown so beautiful. But +she was proud and wilful as of old, and though he +felt the old love growing stronger every moment, +he felt no nearer to her than in those past wretched +days of his boyhood. Before he left, Miss Havisham +asked him eagerly if Estella was not more +lovely, and, as he sat by her alone, she drew his +head close to her lips and whispered fiercely:</p> + +<p>"Love her, love her, love her! If she favors you, +love her! If she tears your heart to pieces, love her, +love her, love her!"</p> + +<p>Though this visit took him so near the old forge, +Pip did not go to see Joe and Biddy. Indeed, only +once in the months that followed did he see them—when +he went to attend the funeral of Mrs. Joe.</p> + +<p>After that he had no need to leave the city to see +Estella, for Miss Havisham soon sent her to live +in London. From there she required her to write +letters weekly, telling how many men she had fascinated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +and made wretched. Pip saw her constantly +and tortured himself with the growing belief that +Miss Havisham's training (the purpose of which +he had begun to guess) was really succeeding in +crushing her heart, and was leaving her with no +power to love any one.</p> + +<p>Thus, between hope and despair, Pip became of +age. Mr. Jaggers now told him that a certain +large sum was his to spend each year. He was +deeply in debt and a great part of his first year's +portion went to pay his creditors. But with the remainder +he did a good and unselfish deed: he +bought secretly a share in a good business for Herbert, +so that his comrade became a partner in it.</p> + +<p>A great blow was now to fall upon Pip without +warning—something that changed the whole +course of his life. One rainy night, when Herbert +was away from London, as he sat alone in their +rooms, a heavy step stumbled up the stair and a +man entered. He was coarse and rough-looking +and tanned with exposure, with a furrowed bald +head, tufted at the sides with gray hair.</p> + +<p>There was something strangely familiar to Pip +in his face, but at first he did not recognize him. +Seeing this, the stranger threw down his hat, +twisted a handkerchief around his head, took a file +from his pocket and walked across the room with a +curious shivering gait that brought back to Pip's +mind, like a lightning flash, the scene in the churchyard +so many years ago, when he had sat perched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +on a tombstone looking in terror at that same man's +face. And he knew all at once that the man was the +escaped convict of that day!</p> + +<p>It was a strange tale the new-comer told then, +one that Pip's heart sank to hear. Miss Havisham +had not been his benefactor after all. The one +whose money had educated him, had set him there +in London to live the life of a gentleman, the one +to whom he was indebted for every penny he +owned, was Abel Magwitch, a criminal—the convict +for whom he had once stolen food years before!</p> + +<p>Pip sank into a chair trembling as Magwitch, in +a hoarse voice, told his story. He told how the man +Compeyson had led him into crime and then deserted +him. How he had hated the other so fiercely +that after they both had escaped from the prison-hulks +he had dragged Compeyson back to imprisonment +even at the loss of his own liberty. How +for that attempt to escape he had been sentenced to +transportation for life, and had been sent to Botany +Bay in Australia, where in time he became in a +measure free, though forbidden under penalty of +death to return to England. How he had never forgotten +the little Pip who had tried to aid him, and +how he had sworn that he would repay him many +times over. How he had taken to sheep-raising and +prospered, and became a rich man. How he had +written to Mr. Jaggers, the lawyer who had defended +him, and paid him to find Pip and educate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +him. And how at last he had dared even the death +penalty to come to England to see how he fared.</p> + +<p>His voice shook as he told how he had slaved +through all the years, looking forward only to this +moment when he should come back to see the little +Pip whom he had made into a gentleman.</p> + +<p>Poor Pip! It was an end to all his dreams of +Miss Havisham and of Estella. He shrank from +Magwitch, horrified at the bare thought of what he +owed to him. He forced himself to utter some +trembling words and set food before the convict, +watching him as he ate like a ravenous old dog. +His heart was like lead, all his plans knocked +askew. Even while he pitied the old man, he +shrank from him as if from a wild beast, with all +his childish dread increased a hundredfold.</p> + +<p>At length Pip put Magwitch in Herbert's room +to sleep, but all that night he himself lay tossing +and sleepless, staring into the darkness and listening +to the rain outside.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +PIP COMES TO HIMSELF</h3> + +<p>The days that followed were one long agony to +Pip. When Herbert returned he told him the +whole story. Herbert was shocked and surprised, +but he was true to his friendship and together they +planned what to do.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was clear to Pip that he could not spend any +more of Magwitch's money; indeed, recoiling +from him as he did, he would gladly have repaid +every penny if it had been possible. To make the +matter worse, it seemed that Magwitch had +brought a great deal of money with him and was +determined that Pip should move into a fashionable +house, buy fast horses, keep servants and live +most expensively.</p> + +<p>Pip hesitated to tell Magwitch his decision, however, +for what the convict now planned showed +how much he had thought of him and loved him in +his rough way during all his years in Australia.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile he and Herbert kept Magwitch hidden +as much as possible, and gave out that the old +man was Pip's uncle, on a visit from the country.</p> + +<p>Unluckily, however, Magwitch's presence in +London had been seen. He had been recognized +in the street and followed to Pip's rooms. And the +man who saw him was his bitterest enemy—Compeyson, +the breaker of Miss Havisham's heart, who +had first made Magwitch a criminal, and whom the +convict so hated. Compeyson had served out his +term, and was now free. He saw his chance to pay +the old grudge with Magwitch's life. In order, +however, to make sure of his capture he decided to +entice Pip away and bring the police upon Magwitch +when he would have no one to warn him.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, unconscious of this plot, Pip made +a last visit to Miss Havisham. He felt now that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +was again poor and without prospects, and with +small hope of winning Estella.</p> + +<p>But finding her there, in Miss Havisham's presence, +he told her how dearly he had always loved +her since the first day they had met. She seemed +moved by his distress, but her heart had not yet +awakened. She told him that she was about to +marry one whom he knew for a coarse, brutal man, +in every way beneath her. And then Pip knew for +certain that Miss Havisham's bitter teaching had +borne its fruit at last, and that Estella was to marry +this man, not because she loved him, but merely as +a final stab to all the other worthier ones.</p> + +<p>In spite of her years of self-torture and revengeful +thoughts, Miss Havisham had still a spark of +real pity. As Pip reminded her of the wreck she +had made of him, through Estella, and through allowing +him falsely to believe her his benefactor, his +agony struck her with remorse. She put her hand +to her heart as he ended, and as he left them he saw +through his own tears her hand still pressed to her +side and her faded face ghastly in the candlelight.</p> + +<p>Sick with despair, Pip went back to London, to +learn from Wemmick, Mr. Jaggers's friendly +clerk, that the rooms were being watched, and that +he and Herbert (who in the absence of Pip had +confided in him) had removed Magwitch to another +lodging—a room overlooking the river, from +which it would be easier, if worst came to worst, +to get him on a ship and so out of the country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>To do this it was necessary to wait for a favorable +chance. So Pip, providing for Magwitch's comfort +meantime, bought a boat, and he and Herbert +rowed daily up and down the river, so that when +the time came to row the convict to some sea-going +ship they would know the turns of the stream.</p> + +<p>Pip soon learned that Compeyson was their spy. +Wopsle, who in Pip's boyhood had been the clerk +in the village church, had turned actor (he made, +to be sure, a very poor one!), and was now playing +in London. In the theater one night he recognized +in the audience the pale-faced convict whom he +had once, with Joe, the blacksmith, and little Pip, +seen dragged back to capture by his more powerful +fellow. Pip had long ago learned from Magwitch +that this man was Compeyson, and when +Wopsle said he had seen him sitting directly back +of Pip at the play, the latter realized that they had +this bitter enemy to reckon with, and that Magwitch +was in terrible danger.</p> + +<p>Only once was this time of waiting interrupted, +and that was by a letter from Miss Havisham begging +Pip to come to see her. He went, and she told +him she realized now too late how wicked her plans +had been, and begged him with tears to try to forgive +her. Pip, sore as his own heart was, forgave +her freely, and he was glad ever afterward that he +had done so, for that same evening, while he was +standing near her, her yellowed wedding veil, +sweeping too near the hearth, caught fire and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +an instant her whole dress burst into flame. Pip +worked desperately to put out the fire, but she was +so frightfully burned that it was plain she could +not live long. His own hands and arms were +painfully injured, so that he returned to London +with one arm, for the time being, almost useless.</p> + +<p>Compeyson, meanwhile, made friends with Orlick, +and between them they wrote Pip a letter, decoying +him to a lonely hut in the marshes. When +he came there Orlick threw a noose over his head, +tied him to the wall and would have killed him +with a great stone-hammer but for Herbert, who +broke down the door and rushed in just in time to +put Orlick to flight and to save Pip's life. Herbert +had picked up the letter Pip had thrown down, +read it, seen in it something suspicious, and had followed +from London.</p> + +<p>Pip saw now there was no time to lose if he +would save Magwitch. They made haste to London, +and when night fell, took the convict in the +rowboat and rowing a few miles down the river, +waited to board a steamer bound for Germany.</p> + +<p>What happened next happened very speedily. +They were about to board the steamer when a boat +containing Compeyson and some police shot out +from the bank, Compeyson calling on Magwitch +to surrender. The two boats clashed together, and +the steamer, unable to stop, ran them both down. +At the same moment Magwitch seized Compeyson +and they went into the water together.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Pip came to himself the steamer had gone, +his own boat had sunk and he and Herbert had +been dragged aboard the other. A few minutes +later Magwitch was picked up, badly injured in +the chest, and was handcuffed. But they did not +find Compeyson—the other had killed him in that +fearful struggle under water.</p> + +<p>That night Magwitch was lodged in jail. Before +many days he was tried for returning to England +and was sentenced to be hanged. But it was clear +before the trial ended that his injury would never +let him live to suffer this penalty.</p> + +<p>And now, as he saw the convict lying day by day +drawing nearer to death, calling him "dear boy" +and watching for his face, all the loathing and repugnance +Pip had felt for him vanished away. He +had sat beside the sick man at his trial; now he sat +beside his cot each day in his cell, holding his hand. +He knew there could be no longer any possibility +of his taking the fortune the convict would leave, +for, being condemned to death, all Magwitch's +property went to the Crown. But he did not tell +this to Magwitch.</p> + +<p>One thing he discovered, however, which he told +the dying man. This concerned Estella. As the +film of death came over the convict's face Pip said:</p> + +<p>"Dear Magwitch, you had a child once, whom +you loved and lost. She is living still. She is a lady +and very beautiful. And I love her!" And hearing +this last glad news, Magwitch died.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + +<p>Before this happened Herbert had left England +for Egypt where his business took him. Left alone, +after the strain, Pip fell sick of a fever and in the +midst of this found himself arrested for debt.</p> + +<p>That was the last he knew for many weeks. +When he came to himself he found Joe, the true-hearted +blacksmith, nursing him. He had paid +Pip's debts. Miss Havisham was dead and Orlick +had been sent to jail for robbing Uncle Pumblechook's +house.</p> + +<p>Joe's faithfulness smote Pip with a sense of his +own ingratitude. After a visit to the old forge with +Joe and Biddy, now Joe's wife, Pip felt how true +were the old friends. He buried for ever the past +false pride and folly and knew himself for all his +trials a nobler man.</p> + +<p>He sailed to Egypt, where he became a clerk in +Herbert's business house, and finally a partner, and +it was eleven years before he was in England again.</p> + +<p>Then, one day he went down to the old ruined +house where Miss Havisham had lived.</p> + +<p>He entered the weed-grown garden, and there +on a bench, a sad, beautiful widow, sat Estella. +Her husband had treated her brutally till he died, +and she had learned through suffering to know that +she had a heart and had thrown away the one thing +that could have made her happy—Pip's love.</p> + +<p>When Pip and she left the old house that day it +was hand in hand, never to part again.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> +<h2>LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS +NICKLEBY</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1839</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London, Portsmouth and the Country</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">About 1830</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Nicholas Nickleby</td><td align="right">A young gentleman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Nickleby</td><td align="right">His mother</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kate</td><td align="right">His sister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ralph Nickleby</td><td align="right">His uncle</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">A miserly money-lender</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Noggs</td><td align="right">Ralph Nickleby's clerk</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Squeers</td><td align="right">The proprietor of Dotheboys Hall,<br /> a country school for boys</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Squeers</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fanny</td><td align="right">Their daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wackford</td><td align="right">Their son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Smike</td><td align="right">A poor drudge at Dotheboys Hall</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Befriended by Nicholas. In reality Ralph Nickleby's son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Madame Mantalini</td><td align="right">A London dressmaker</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Kate's first employer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Mantalini</td><td align="right">Her husband</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Miss Knag</td><td align="right">Her forewoman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sir Mulberry Hawk</td><td align="right">A dissolute man of the world</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lord Frederick Verisopht</td><td align="right">A young nobleman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Hawk's friend</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Vincent Crummles</td><td align="right">Manager of a theater in Portsmouth</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Crummles</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ninetta</td><td align="right">Their daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Known as "The Infant Phenomenon"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Wititterly</td><td align="right">A would-be fashionable lady</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Kate's second employer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Cheeryble Brothers</td><td align="right">Twin merchants</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Nicholas's benefactors</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bray</td><td align="right">A spendthrift and invalid</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Madeline</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gride</td><td align="right">A miser</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY" id="NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"></a>NICHOLAS NICKLEBY</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +NICHOLAS AT DOTHEBOYS HALL</h3> + +<p>Once on a time, in England, there were two +brothers named Nickleby who had grown up to be +very different men. Ralph was a rich and miserly +money-lender who gained his wealth by persecuting +the poor of London—a thin, cold-hearted, +crafty man with a cruel smile. The other, who +lived in the country, was generous but poor, so +that when he died he left his wife and two children, +Nicholas and Kate, with hardly a penny to keep +them from starving.</p> + +<p>In their trouble the mother decided to go and +try to obtain help from her husband's brother, +Ralph Nickleby.</p> + +<p>Ralph was angry when he learned they had come +to London, for he loved his gold better than anything +else in the world. He lived in Golden +Square, a very rich part of the city, in a great fine +house, all alone save for one servant, and he kept +only one clerk.</p> + +<p>This clerk, who was named Noggs, had one glass +eye and long, bony fingers which he had an uncomfortable +habit of cracking together when he spoke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +to any one. He had once been rich, but he had +given his money to Ralph Nickleby to invest for +him, and the money-lender had ended by getting it +all, so that the poor man at last had to become the +other's clerk. When he first saw Nicholas and +Kate, Noggs was sorry enough for them, because +he knew it would be little help they would get from +their stingy uncle.</p> + +<p>Nicholas was proud-mettled, and his very bearing +angered the money-lender. He called him a +young puppy, and a pauper besides, to which +Nicholas replied with heat and spirit. His mother +succeeded in smoothing things over for the time, +and though Ralph Nickleby from that moment +hated the boy, he grudgingly promised her to get +him a situation as a teacher.</p> + +<p>The school the miser selected was one called +Dotheboys Hall, a long, cold-looking, tumble-down +building, one story high, in a dreary part of +the country. It belonged to a man named Squeers, +a burly, ruffianly hypocrite, who pretended to the +world to be a kind, fatherly master, but in fact +treated his pupils with such cruelty that almost the +only ones ever sent there were poor little orphans, +whose guardians were glad to get rid of them. +Squeers had an oily, wrinkled face and flat shiny +hair, brushed straight up from his forehead. His +sleeves were too long and his trousers too short, and +he carried a leather whip about in his pocket to +punish the boys with.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Squeers was a fat woman, who wore a +soiled dressing-gown, kept her hair in curl papers +all day, and always had a yellow handkerchief tied +around her neck. She was as cruel as her husband. +They had one daughter and a son named Wackford. +The latter they kept as plump as could be, so +he would serve as an advertisement of the school; +the rest of the boys, however, were pale and thin.</p> + +<p>No wonder, for they got almost nothing to eat. +For dinner all they had was a bowl of thin porridge +with a wedge of bread for a spoon. When +they had eaten the porridge they ate the spoon. +Once a week they were forced to swallow a dreadful +mixture of brimstone and sulphur, because this +dose took away their appetites so that they ate less +for several days afterward. They were made to +sleep five in a bed, and were poorly clothed, for +whenever a new boy came Mrs. Squeers took his +clothes away from him for Wackford, and made +the new boy wear any old ones she could find. +They were allowed to write only letters telling +how happy they were there, and when letters came +for any of them, Mrs. Squeers opened them first +and took for herself any money that they contained.</p> + +<p>There was no attempt at teaching at Dotheboys +Hall. The books were dirty and torn and the +classes were scarecrows. All the boys were made +to work hard at chores about the place, and were +flogged almost every day, so that their lives were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +miserable. What Squeers wanted was the money +their guardians paid him for keeping them.</p> + +<p>This was the kind of school for which Nicholas +found himself hired at very low wages as a teacher.</p> + +<p>He knew nothing about it yet, however, and +thought himself lucky and his uncle kind as he +bade his mother and Kate good-by and took the +coach for Dotheboys Hall. Noggs, Ralph Nickleby's +one-eyed clerk, was there to see him off, and +put a letter into his hand as he started. Nicholas +was so sad at leaving the two he loved best in the +world, that he put it into his pocket and for the +time forgot all about it.</p> + +<p>On his arrival next day Nicholas's heart sank +into his boots. When he saw the boys gathered in +the barn, which served for a school-room, he was +ready to die with shame and disgust to think he +was to be a teacher in such a place.</p> + +<p>But he had no money to take him back to London, +and because he did not want to make his +mother and Kate unhappy, he wrote them as cheerfully +as he could. The letter Noggs had given him +he remembered at last to read. It told him the +writer feared his uncle had deceived him in regard +to the school, and said if Nicholas needed a +friend at any time, he would find one in him, +Noggs. These kind words from the old clerk +brought tears to Nicholas's eyes.</p> + +<p>Of all the wretched boys there Nicholas pitied +most a poor fellow named Smike, whom Squeers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +had made a drudge. He was tall and lanky and +wore a little boy's suit, too short in the arms and +legs. He had been placed there when a child, and +the man who had brought him had disappeared +and left no money to pay for his keep. Squeers's +cruelties had made the unfortunate lad simple-minded. +Besides this he was lame. Nicholas +helped Smike all he could, and the poor fellow +was so grateful that he followed the other about +like a slave.</p> + +<p>Squeers's daughter was named Fanny. She had +red hair, which she wore in five exact rows on the +top of her head. She thought herself very beautiful +and at once fell in love with Nicholas. As he +could not help showing that he did not like her, +Miss Fanny grew spiteful and in revenge began +to persecute Smike, knowing Nicholas liked him.</p> + +<p>Smike stood this as long as he could, but at last +one day he ran away. Squeers was furious. He +took one chaise and Mrs. Squeers another, and +off they went in different directions to find him. +Nicholas was miserable, for he knew Smike would +be caught. Sure enough, on the second day Mrs. +Squeers returned, dragging her victim. When +Squeers arrived Smike was taken from the cellar, +where he had been locked up, and brought before +the assembled boys for a public thrashing.</p> + +<p>At the rain of brutal blows which began Nicholas's +blood boiled. He stepped forward, crying "Stop!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>For answer Squeers struck him savagely in the +face with his heavy ruler. Then Nicholas threw +away his self-control, and leaping on the bully, +to the unmeasured delight of the boys, took the +ruler from him and thrashed him until he cried +for mercy. All the while Mrs. Squeers was trying +to drag the victor away by his coat tails, while the +spiteful Miss Fanny threw inkstands at his head.</p> + +<p>When his arm was tired Nicholas gave Squeers +a final blow, which knocked him senseless into a +corner, coolly went to his room, packed his few belongings +in a bundle and left Dotheboys Hall for +ever.</p> + +<p>He was two hundred and fifty miles from London +and had very little money. Snow was falling +and for that night he took refuge in an empty barn. +In the morning he awoke, startled, to see a figure +sitting by him. It was Smike, who had followed +him.</p> + +<p>The poor creature fell on his knees. "Let me go +with you!" he cried. "I want no clothes and I can +beg my food. I will be your faithful servant. Only +let me go with you."</p> + +<p>"And so you shall!" said Nicholas. "Come!" +He rose, took up his bundle, gave his hand to +Smike and so they set out toward London together.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +NICHOLAS BECOMES AN ACTOR</h3> + +<p>Meanwhile Ralph Nickleby, the money-lender, +had given Kate and her mother leave to live in a +rickety, unoccupied house which he owned. It +was a dingy building on an old wharf, but Noggs, +the clerk, himself cleaned and furnished one of its +rooms so that it was fairly comfortable. When they +were settled Ralph took Kate to a dressmaker's, +where he got her a situation, hoping thus they +would not call on him for any money.</p> + +<p>The dressmaker called herself Madame Mantalini. +Her real name was Muntle, but she thought +the other sounded better. Her husband was a +plump, lazy man with huge side-whiskers, who +spent most of the time curling them and betting on +horse-races. He gambled away all the money +Madame Mantalini made, but he pretended to be +terribly fond of her, and was always calling her +his "little fairy" and his "heart's delight," so that +the silly woman always forgave him. He tried to +kiss Kate the first day, which made her detest him.</p> + +<p>At Madame Mantalini's Kate had to stand up +all day trying on dresses for rich ladies, who were +often rude to her. And because they preferred to +be waited on by the pretty, rosy-cheeked girl, Miss +Knag, the ugly forewoman, hated the child, and +did all she could to make her unhappy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> + +<p>Kate's mother used to wait each evening on the +street corner outside, and they would walk home +together. They had no idea what trouble Nicholas +was having all this time, because he had written +them such cheerful letters, and whenever they felt +sadder than usual they would comfort themselves +by thinking how well he was getting along and +what a fine position he had.</p> + +<p>If they could have seen him when he finally got +to London after running away from Dotheboys +Hall, they would hardly have known him. Both +he and poor Smike were hungry and muddy and +tired. Remembering Noggs's kind letter, Nicholas +went first to the little garret where the clerk +lived, and through him he found a cheap room on +the roof of the building, which he rented for himself +and Smike. Then he started out to find his +mother and Kate.</p> + +<p>He would have hastened if he had guessed +what was happening or how badly Kate had been +treated by Ralph Nickleby.</p> + +<p>The evening before, as it happened, Kate had +been invited to dinner at her uncle's fine house, and +there she had met two dissipated young men—Lord +Frederick Verisopht and Sir Mulberry +Hawk, the latter of whom had looked at her and +talked to her so rudely that she had indignantly left +the table and gone home. She had not slept a wink +that night, and the next morning, to make her and +her mother more wretched still, Ralph Nickleby<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +called with a letter he had just received from +Fanny Squeers, declaring that Nicholas was a +thief and a scoundrel; that he had tried to murder +her father and all his family, and had run off with +one of the pupils of Dotheboys Hall.</p> + +<p>To be sure, neither of them believed it, but if +made them very unhappy. And then, just as Ralph +was reading them the last line of the letter, in came +Nicholas! You may be sure he comforted them and +told them it was a lie. He told Ralph what he +thought of him also in stern language, which made +his uncle angrier than ever.</p> + +<p>Then, seeing that his presence was making things +worse, and realizing in what poverty his dear ones +were, and that they were so wholly dependent on +Ralph for help, Nicholas came to a very brave determination. +He told them that, as he could not +help them himself, he would go away from them +until his fortune bettered. So, bidding them good-by, +and telling his uncle he should keep watch over +them and that if any harm came to them he would +hold him accountable, Nicholas went sadly back +to his garret room and to Smike.</p> + +<p>He tried hard for some days to find a situation, +but failed, and he would not take money from +Noggs, who was so poor himself. So at last, with +Smike, he set out on foot for Portsmouth, which +was a seaport, thinking there they might find a +chance to go as sailors in some ship.</p> + +<p>At an inn on the way, however, Nicholas met a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +man who caused him to change all his plans. This +man was a Mr. Vincent Crummles. When Nicholas +first saw him in the inn he was teaching his +two sons to make-believe fight with swords. They +were practising for a play, for Mr. Crummles was +manager of a theater in Portsmouth, and he proposed +that Nicholas join the company and become +an actor.</p> + +<p>There seemed nothing else to do, so Nicholas +agreed, and next day they went to the Portsmouth +theater, where he was introduced to all the company.</p> + +<p>It was a very curious mixture. There was Mrs. +Crummles, who took the tickets, and little Miss +Crummles, whom the bills called "The Infant Phenomenon," +and who was always said to be only ten +years old. There was a slim young man with weak +eyes who played the lover, and a fat man with a +turned-up nose who played the funny countryman, +and a shabby old man whose breath smelled of +gin, who took the part of the good old banker +with the gray side-whiskers. Then there was the +lady who acted the rôle of the wicked adventuress, +and all the others.</p> + +<p>Nicholas had to begin by writing a play which +had parts for all of them, and it proved a great success. +Smike, whom he drilled himself, took the +part of a hungry boy, and he looked so starved, +naturally, from his life with Squeers, that he was +tremendously applauded.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + +<p>One of the other actors was so jealous at the +play's success that he sent Nicholas a challenge to +a duel, but Nicholas walked on to the stage before +the whole company and knocked the actor down, +and after that he had no trouble and was a great +favorite.</p> + +<p>He might have stayed a long time at Mr. Crummles's +theater, for he had earned quite a good deal +of money, but one day he got a letter from Noggs, +the clerk, telling him that all was not well with +his mother and Kate. And without waiting an +hour, Nicholas resigned from the company and, +with Smike, set out again for London.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +NICHOLAS COMES TO KATE'S RESCUE</h3> + +<p>Noggs was right. Ralph Nickleby had never +ceased to persecute Kate and her mother. In fact, +when he had invited Kate to the dinner at which +she had been insulted, it was for his own evil purpose. +He had done so, hoping she might impress +the foolish young Lord Verisopht, whose money +he was hoping to get, and whom he wished to attract +to his house.</p> + +<p>The young nobleman, as Ralph had intended, +fell in love with Kate's sweet face at once, and +found out from her uncle where she lived.</p> + +<p>She had lost her first position at the dressmaker's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +(for Mr. Mantalini had thrown away his wife's +money on race-horses until the sheriff had seized +the business), and she was acting now as companion +to a Mrs. Wititterly, a pale, languid lady +who considered herself a very fashionable person +indeed, and was always suffering from imaginary +ailments. Lord Frederick and Sir Mulberry Hawk +came often to the house, pretending to flatter Mrs. +Wititterly, but really to see Kate, who heartily disliked +them both.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wititterly at last came to realize that the +two men at whose attentions she had felt so flattered +really cared only for her young companion, and, +being vain and jealous, she tormented and scolded +Kate till the poor girl's life was a burden.</p> + +<p>At length, feeling that she could endure it no +longer, Kate went to Ralph and begged him with +tears to help her find another situation, but the +money-lender refused to aid her. Noggs, the clerk, +was sorry for her, but could do nothing except +write to Nicholas, and this was the reason for the +letter that had brought Nicholas post-haste back +to London.</p> + +<p>Just what kind of persecution Kate had had to +bear he learned by accident almost as soon as he +got there.</p> + +<p>As he sat in a coffee-house he suddenly heard +the words, "little Kate Nickleby," spoken by a +man behind him. He turned and listened.</p> + +<p>Four men whom he had never seen were drinking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +toasts to her, and Nicholas grew hot with +rage at the coarse words they used. Sitting there, +scarcely able to contain himself, he heard the whole +story of his Uncle Ralph's plot, he heard his sister's +sufferings derided, her goodness jeered at, her +beauty made the subject of insolent jests. One of +the four men, of course, was Lord Frederick Verisopht, +and the coarsest and the most vulgar of +them all, as may be guessed, was Sir Mulberry +Hawk.</p> + +<p>White with anger, Nicholas confronted the party +and, throwing down his card on the table, declared +that the lady in question was his sister, and demanded +of Hawk his name. Hawk refused to answer. +Nicholas called him a liar and a coward, and +seating himself, swore the other should not leave +his sight before he knew who he was.</p> + +<p>When Hawk attempted to enter his carriage +Nicholas sprang on to the step. The other, in a fury, +struck him with the whip, and Nicholas, wrenching +it from him, with one blow laid open Hawk's +cheek. The horse, frightened at the struggle, +started off at a terrific speed, and Nicholas felt +himself hurled to the ground.</p> + +<p>As he rose, he saw the runaway horse, whirling +across the pavement, upset the carriage with a crash +of breaking glass. Nicholas had no doubt that the +man it held had been frightfully hurt if not killed. +He felt faint from his own fall, and it was with +difficulty that he reached Noggs's garret, whither,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +before the adventure in the coffee-room, he had sent +Smike to announce his coming.</p> + +<p>His first step now was to write a letter to Ralph, +telling him he at last knew what a villain he +was, and that he and his mother and sister cast him +off for ever, with shame that they had ever asked +his aid. The next day Nicholas took Kate from the +Wititterly house and his mother from her poor +lodging, and rented them rooms in another part of +the city. Then he started out to find some employment +for himself.</p> + +<p>For a long time he was unsuccessful, but one day +(and a very lucky day Nicholas thought it ever +afterward) he met on the street a round-faced, +jolly-looking old gentleman, with whom he fell into +conversation, and before long, almost without +knowing it, he had told him all his troubles.</p> + +<p>This old gentleman was named Cheeryble, and +the firm to which he belonged was Cheeryble +Brothers. He and his twin brother had come to +London, barefoot, when they were boys, and though +they had grown very rich, they had never forgotten +what it was to be poor and wretched. The old +gentleman asked Nicholas to come with him to his +office and there they met the other Mr. Cheeryble.</p> + +<p>Nicholas could scarcely tell the two brothers +apart, for they were like as two peas. They were +precisely the same size, wore clothes just alike and +laughed in the same key. Each had even lost exactly +the same number of teeth. They were loved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +by everybody, for they went through life doing +good wherever they could. They both liked Nicholas +at once, and the upshot was that they gave +him a position in their counting-room and rented +a pleasant cottage near by for his mother and +Kate.</p> + +<p>So there Nicholas took up work and they were +all happy and comfortable—very different from +Ralph Nickleby, the money-lender, in his fine +house, with only the memory of his own wickedness +for company.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +WHAT HAPPENED TO EVERYBODY</h3> + +<p>Ralph Nickleby's hatred had been growing day +by day. As he could not harm Nicholas now, he +tried to hurt him through Smike. He sent for +Squeers, and the latter, finding Smike alone one +day on the street, seized him, put him in a coach +and started to take him back to Dotheboys Hall. +But luckily his victim escaped and got back to +London.</p> + +<p>Then Ralph formed a wicked plot to get Smike +surely into their hands. He hired a man to claim +that he was the boy's father, who had first taken +him to Squeers's school. Squeers, too, swore to +this lying tale. But the Cheeryble brothers suspected +the story, and when Ralph saw they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +determined to help Nicholas protect Smike, he was +afraid to go any further with the plan. So he +smothered his rage for the time being, and meanwhile +a most important thing happened to Nicholas—he +fell in love!</p> + +<p>It came about in this way: There was a man +named Bray, who had been arrested for debt and +was allowed to live only in a certain street under +the guardianship of the jailer, for this was the law +in England then. He was slowly dying of heart-disease, +and all the money he had to live on was +what his only daughter, a lovely girl named Madeline, +earned by painting and selling pictures.</p> + +<p>The Cheeryble brothers had learned of their +poverty, (for it was hard for Madeline to find purchasers), +and they sent Nicholas to buy some of +the pictures. He was to pretend to be a dealer, so +that Madeline would not suspect it was done for +charity. Nicholas went more than once and soon +had fallen very much in love with Madeline Bray.</p> + +<p>He was not the only one who admired her, however. +There was an old man named Gride, almost +as stingy as Ralph Nickleby, who had discovered +by accident that a large sum of money really belonged +to Madeline, which she and her father +knew nothing about, and he thought it would be +a fine thing to marry her and thus get this fortune +into his hands. Now, Ralph Nickleby was one of +the men who was keeping Bray a prisoner, and so +Gride went to him and asked him to help him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +marry Madeline. If Bray made his daughter +marry the old miser he himself was to be set free. +Ralph, for his share, was to get some of the money +the old man Gride knew should be Madeline's.</p> + +<p>It was a pretty plan and it pleased Ralph, for +he cared little what lives he ruined so long as he +got money by it. So he agreed, and soon convinced +Bray (who, ill as he was, was utterly selfish) that +it would be a fine thing for Madeline to marry +the hideous old Gride and so free her father. At +length, in despair, because she thought it her duty +to her heartless father, Madeline consented to do +so.</p> + +<p>Nicholas might never have known of this till +after the wedding, but luckily Noggs, the clerk, +had overheard the old skinflint make the bargain +with Ralph, and when one day Nicholas confessed +that he was in love with Madeline, the good-hearted +clerk told him all that he had found out.</p> + +<p>Nicholas was in great trouble, for he loved Madeline +very dearly. He went to her and begged +her not to marry Gride, but she thought it her +duty. He went to Gride, too, but the hideous old +miser only sneered at him.</p> + +<p>At last, in desperation, he told Kate, and the +brother and sister went together to Bray's house. +They reached it just as the wedding was about to +begin.</p> + +<p>Ralph Nickleby, who was there, foamed with +fury to find the nephew he so hated again stepping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +between him and his evil designs. He tried to bar +them out, but Nicholas forced him back.</p> + +<p>They would doubtless have come to blows, but +at that moment there came from another room the +sound of a fall, and a scream from Madeline. The +excitement had proved too much for her father. +His heart had failed and he had fallen dead on the +floor. Thus Providence interfered to bring the +wicked scheme of the marriage to naught.</p> + +<p>Vainly did Gride bemoan the loss of the money +he had hoped to gain, and vainly did Ralph Nickleby, +with curses, try to prevent. Nicholas thrust +them both aside, lifted the unconscious Madeline +as easily as if she had been a baby, placed her +with Kate in a coach and, daring Ralph to follow; +jumped up beside the coachman and bade him +drive away.</p> + +<p>He took her to his own home, where his mother +and Kate cared for her tenderly till she had recovered +from the shock and was her own lovely self +again.</p> + +<p>The penalty that he had so long deserved was +soon to overtake Ralph Nickleby. He lost much +of his wealth through a failure, and close on the +heels of this misfortune came the news that the infamous +plot he had formed against Smike had been +discovered and that Squeers, his accomplice, had +been arrested.</p> + +<p>The most terrible blow came last. A man whom +Ralph had long ago ruined and had caused to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +transported for a crime, confessed that he had been +the one who, many years before, had left Smike +at Dotheboys Hall, and he confessed also that +Smike was really Ralph Nickleby's own son by a +secret marriage. Ralph had not known this, because +the man, in revenge, had falsely told him +the child was dead.</p> + +<p>The knowledge that, in Smike, he had been persecuting +his own son was the crowning blow for +cruel Ralph Nickleby. When he heard this he +locked himself up alone in his great house and +never was seen alive again. His body was found in +the garret where he had hanged himself to a +rafter.</p> + +<p>Poor Smike, however, did not live to sorrow +over the villainy of his father. The exposure and +hardships of his years at Squeers's school had +broken his health. He had for long been gradually +growing weaker, and at last one day he died +peacefully, with Nicholas's arms around him.</p> + +<p>Every one of whose villainy this story tells came +to a bad end. Sir Mulberry Hawk quarreled with +young Lord Verisopht and shot him dead in the +duel that followed. For this he himself had to fly +to a foreign country, where he finally died miserably +in jail. Gride, the miser who had plotted to +marry Madeline, met almost as terrible a fate as +Ralph's. His house was broken into by burglars +one night and he was found murdered in his bed.</p> + +<p>Squeers was declared guilty and transported for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +seven years. When the news reached Dotheboys +Hall such a cheer arose as had never been heard +there. It came on the weekly "treacle day," and the +boys ducked young Wackford in the soup kettle +and made Mrs. Squeers swallow a big dose of her +own brimstone. Then, big and little, they all ran +away, just as Nicholas and Smike had done.</p> + +<p>Kate married a nephew of the Cheeryble +brothers, and Nicholas, of course, married Madeline, +and in time became a partner in the firm. All +of them lived near by, and their little children +played together under the watchful care of old +Noggs, the one-eyed clerk, who loved them all +alike.</p> + +<p>The children laid flowers every day on poor +Smike's grave, and often their eyes filled with tears +as they spoke low and softly of the dead cousin +they had never known.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> +<h2><small>DEALINGS WITH THE FIRM OF</small><br /> +DOMBEY AND SON<br /> +<small>WHOLESALE, RETAIL, AND FOR EXPORTATION</small></h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1846–1848</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London, Brighton, and France</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">About 1830 to 1846</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Dombey</td><td align="right">A London merchant</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Head of the firm of Dombey and Son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Little Paul"</td><td align="right">His son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Florence</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Called by little Paul, "Floy"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Edith Granger</td><td align="right">A widow</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later, Mr. Dombey's wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Walter Gay</td><td align="right">A clerk for Dombey and Son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later, Florence's husband</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Solomon Gills</td><td align="right">His uncle</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">A ship's instrument maker. Known as Old Sol</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Captain Cuttle</td><td align="right">A retired seaman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Bosom friend of Old Sol's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Carker</td><td align="right">Manager for Dombey and Son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pipchin</td><td align="right">Proprietress of a children's boarding-house at Brighton</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later, Mr. Dombey's housekeeper</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Doctor Blimber</td><td align="right">Proprietor of a boys' school at Brighton</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Major Bagstock</td><td align="right">A retired army officer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Diogenes</td><td align="right">Doctor Blimber's dog</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later a pet of Florence's</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="DOMBEY_AND_SON" id="DOMBEY_AND_SON"></a>DOMBEY AND SON</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +LITTLE PAUL</h3> + +<p>In London there was once a business house +known as Dombey and Son. It had borne that +name for generations, though at the time this +story begins Mr. Dombey, the head of the house, +had no son. He was a merchant, hard, cold and +selfish, who thought the world was made only for +his firm to trade in. He had one little daughter, +Florence, but never since her birth had he loved +or petted her because of his disappointment that +she was not a boy.</p> + +<p>When at last a son was born to him it wakened +something at the bottom of his cold and heavy +heart that he had never known before. He scarcely +grieved for his wife, who died when the baby was +born, but gave all his thought to the child. He +named him Paul, and began at once to long for +the time when he should become old enough to be +a real member of the firm in which all his own +interest centered—Dombey and Son. He hired the +best nurse he could find, and, when he was not +at his office, would sit and watch the baby Paul +hour after hour, laying plans for his future. So<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +selfishly was the father's soul wrapped up in this +that he scarcely ever noticed poor, lonely little +Florence, whose warm heart was starving for affection.</p> + +<p>Little Paul's nurse was very fond of him, and +of his sister, too; but she had children of her own +also, and one day, instead of walking up and down +with Florence and the baby near the Dombey +house, she took the children to another part of the +city to visit her own home.</p> + +<p>This was a wrong thing to do, and resulted in a +very unhappy adventure for Florence. On their +way home a mad bull broke away from his keepers +and charged through the crowded street. There +was great screaming and confusion and people ran +in every direction, Florence among the rest. She +ran for a long way, and when she stopped, her +nurse was nowhere to be seen. Terrified to find +herself lost in the great city, she began to cry.</p> + +<p>The next thing she knew, an ugly old woman, +with red-rimmed eyes and a mouth that mumbled +all the while, grasped her by the wrist and dragged +her through the shabby doorway of a dirty house +into a back room heaped with rags.</p> + +<p>"I want that pretty frock," said she, "and that +little bonnet and your petticoat. Come! Take them +off!"</p> + +<p>Florence, dreadfully frightened, obeyed. The +old woman took away her shoes, too, and made +her put on some filthy ragged clothing from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +heaps on the floor. Then she let her go, first making +her promise she would not ask any one to show +her the way home.</p> + +<p>The poor child could think of nothing else but +to find her father's office at Dombey and Son's, and +for two hours she walked, asking the way of everybody +she met. She might not have found it at all, +but at a wharf where she wandered, there happened +to be a young clerk of Dombey and Son's, +and the minute he was pointed out to her she felt +such trust in his bright and open face that she +caught his hand and sobbed out all her story.</p> + +<p>This lad's name was Walter Gay. He lived with +his uncle, honest old Solomon Gills, a maker of +ship's instruments, who kept a little shop with the +wooden figure of a midshipman set outside. Very +few customers ever came into the shop, and, indeed, +hardly any one else, for Old Sol, as the neighbors +called him, had only one intimate friend.</p> + +<p>This friend was a retired seaman named Captain +Cuttle, who always dressed in blue, as if he were +a bird and those were his feathers. He had a hook +instead of a hand attached to his right wrist, a shirt +collar so large that it looked like a small sail, and +wherever he went he carried in his left hand a thick +stick that was covered all over (like his nose) with +knobs.</p> + +<p>Captain Cuttle used to talk on land just as if he +were at sea. He would say "Steady!" and "Belay, +there!" and called Old Sol "Shipmate," as though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +the little shop, in which he spent his evenings, was +a ship. He had a deep, rumbling voice, in which +he would sing <i>Lovely Peg</i>, the only song he knew, +and which he never but once got through to the +last line. But in spite of his queer ways and talk, +Captain Cuttle had the softest, kindest heart in +the world. He thought old Solomon Gills the +greatest man alive, and was as fond as possible of +"Wal'r," as he called the nephew. And, indeed, +Walter was a handsome boy, and as good as he was +handsome.</p> + +<p>Walter soothed Florence's tears and took her, +ragged clothes and all, straight home to Solomon +Gills's shop, where his uncle gave her a warm supper, +while Walter ran to the Dombey house with +the news that she was found, and to bring back a +dress for her to wear.</p> + +<p>So Florence's adventure turned out very well in +one way, since through it she first met Walter Gay; +but it turned out badly in another way, for Mr. +Dombey was angry that any one should have seen +a daughter of his in such a plight, and, unjustly +enough, treasured this anger against Walter. Florence, +however, never forgot her rescuer after that +day, and as for Walter, he fell quite in love with +her.</p> + +<p>Florence loved her little brother very dearly, but +Paul, in the constant companionship of his father, +grew up without boys or play. His face was old +and wistful, and he had an old-fashioned way of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +sitting, brooding in his little arm-chair beside his +father, looking into the fire. He used to ask +strange, wise questions, and the only time he +seemed childlike at all was when he was with Florence. +He was never strong and well, like her, but +he grew tired easily, and used to say that his bones +ached.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dombey at length grew anxious about Paul's +health and sent him with Florence to Brighton, a +town on the sea-coast, to the house of a Mrs. Pipchin, +a stooped old lady with a mottled face, a +hooked nose and a hard gray eye.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pipchin took little children to board, and +her idea of "managing" them was to give them +everything they didn't like and nothing they did +like. She lived in a gloomy house, so windy that +it always sounded to any one in it like a great shell +which one had to hold to his ear whether he liked +it or not. The children there stayed most of the +time in a bare room they called "the dungeon," +with a big ragged fireplace in it. They, had only +bread and butter and rice to eat, while Mrs. Pipchin +had tea and mutton chops and buttered toast +and other nice things.</p> + +<p>Little Paul's father did not know what a dreary +place this was for a child, or doubtless he would +not have sent him there. Mr. Dombey knew so little +about children that it seemed as if he had never +been a child himself. Paul was not happy—except +when he was out on the beach with Florence, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +used to draw him in a little carriage and sing to +him and tell him stories. Once a week Mr. Dombey +came to Brighton and then she and little Paul +would go to his hotel to take tea with him.</p> + +<p>Paul seemed to find a curious fascination in Mrs. +Pipchin. He would sit by the hour before the fire +looking steadily at her, where she sat with her old +black cat beside her, till his gaze quite disturbed +her. He did not care to play with other children—only +with Florence, whom he called "Floy." +Often, as they sat together on the beach, he would +ask her what it was the sea was always saying, and +would rise up on his couch to listen to something +he seemed to hear, far, far away.</p> + +<p>Walter Gay, meanwhile, in London, was working +away and thinking often of Florence. He was +greatly worried about his Uncle Solomon, for the +business of the old instrument maker was in a bad +way, and Old Sol himself was melancholy.</p> + +<p>One day Walter came home from his work at +Dombey and Son's to find that an officer had taken +possession of the shop and all that was in it for +debt. His old Uncle Sol was sobbing like a child, +and not knowing what else to do, he went post-haste +for Captain Cuttle.</p> + +<p>He found the captain with his hat on, peeling +potatoes with a knife screwed into the wooden +socket in his wrist instead of the hook. When he +told him what had happened, Captain Cuttle +jumped up, put all the money he had, his silver<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +watch, some spoons and a pair of sugar-tongs into +his pocket and went back at once with him to the +shop.</p> + +<p>But the debt, he found, was far too big to be +thus paid, and Captain Cuttle advised Walter to +go to Mr. Dombey and ask him to help them, or +else everything in the shop would have to be sold, +and that would kill old Solomon Gills.</p> + +<p>It was Saturday, and Mr. Dombey had gone to +see little Paul, so Walter and Captain Cuttle took +the next coach for Brighton.</p> + +<p>They found him with the children at breakfast, +and Walter, discouraged by his cold look, faltered +lamely through his story, while Captain Cuttle laid +on the table the money, the watch, the spoons and +the sugar-tongs, offering them to help pay the debt. +Mr. Dombey was astonished at his strange appearance +and indignant at being annoyed by such an +errand, so that Florence, seeing his mood and +Walter's trouble, began to sob. Little Paul, however, +stood looking from Walter to his father so intently +and wisely that the latter, telling him he was +one day to be a part of Dombey and Son, asked him +if he would like to loan Walter the money.</p> + +<p>Paul joyfully said yes, and Mr. Dombey, telling +Walter that it was to be considered a loan from the +boy, gave him a note which would at once release +his uncle from his difficulty. So Walter and Captain +Cuttle went gladly back to London.</p> + +<p>Soon after this, when Paul was six years old, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +father thought he should be studying, so he put him +in a school next door to Mrs. Pipchin's.</p> + +<p>The master was Doctor Blimber, a portly gentleman +in knee-breeches, with a bald head and a +double chin. He made all the boys there study +much too hard; even those only six years old had to +learn Greek and history. Poor little Paul did the +best he could, but such difficult tasks made him +giddy and dull. It was only the Saturdays he enjoyed; +these he spent with Florence on the seashore +or in Mrs. Pipchin's bare room.</p> + +<p>Paul would have broken down sooner under +Doctor Blimber's system but that Florence bought +all the books he studied and studied them herself, +so as to help him on Saturdays. People called +him "old-fashioned," and that troubled him a great +deal, but he tried to love even the old watch-dog +at Doctor Blimber's, and before the holidays came +everybody in the school liked him.</p> + +<p>But before the term ended little Paul fell sick. +He seemed not to be ill of any particular disease, +but only weak; so weak he had to sit propped +up with pillows at the entertainment Doctor +Blimber gave on the final evening. After that +everything was hazy until he found himself, somehow, +at home in bed, with Florence beside him.</p> + +<p>He lay there day after day, watching and dreaming. +He dreamed often of a swift, silent river that +flowed on and on, and he wanted to stop it with his +hands.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why will it never stop, Floy?" he would ask +her. "It is bearing me away, I think."</p> + +<p>There were many shadowy figures that came and +went. One came often and sat long, but never +spoke. One day he saw it was his father, and he +called out to it: "Don't be so sorry for me, dear +papa. Indeed, I am quite happy."</p> + +<p>Once he roused himself, and there were many +about the bed: Florence, his father, his old nurse +and Walter Gay, and he called each by name and +waved his hand to them.</p> + +<p>Florence took him in her arms and he heard the +swift river flowing.</p> + +<p>"How fast it runs, Floy! It is taking me with +it. There is a shore before me now. Who is standing +on the bank?"</p> + +<p>He put his hands together behind her neck, as he +had been used to do at his prayers.</p> + +<p>"Mama is like you, Floy," he said. "I know +her by her face. The light about the head is shining +upon me as I go."</p> + +<p>So little Paul died.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +HOW FLORENCE LOST HER FATHER</h3> + +<p>It was a sad, sad house for many days after that, +and Florence, in her loneliness, often thought her +heart would break. Her father she scarcely ever +saw, for he sat alone in his room. Every night she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +would steal down the dark hall to his door, and lay +her head against the panels, hungering for a little +love; but he thought only of his dead son, and gave +no sign of tenderness to her.</p> + +<p>One of Doctor Blimber's pupils begged for and +brought her Diogenes, the old watch-dog which +little Paul had petted at the school and this dog +was all she had to love. She had not seen Walter +Gay since the death of her brother, though he +himself thought of her very often.</p> + +<p>Walter's prospects, thanks to an enemy he had +made without knowing it, had changed since then. +This enemy was Carker, the manager at Dombey +and Son's.</p> + +<p>Carker was a thin man, with the whitest, most +regular teeth, which he continually showed in an +unpleasant smile. There was something cat-like +about him; the more he disliked a person the wider +was his smile. Carker had a brother whom he +hated, and Walter unconsciously earned his enmity +by liking and being kind to this brother.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dombey was not fond of Walter either, the +less so because Florence liked him, and disliking +Florence, he disliked all for whom she cared. So, +between Mr. Dombey and Carker, Walter was ordered +to go, on business for the firm, on a long +voyage to the West Indies.</p> + +<p>Walter was not deceived. He knew he was not +sent there for his own good, but in order not to +worry his uncle he and Captain Cuttle pretended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +that it was a splendid opportunity. So old Solomon +Gills tried not to sorrow for his going.</p> + +<p>Florence heard of the voyage, and, the night before +Walter sailed, in she came to the little shop +where Walter had brought her years before when +she had been lost. She kissed Old Sol and called +Walter her brother, and said she would never forget +him.</p> + +<p>And so Walter, when next day he sailed away, +waving his hand to his uncle and Captain Cuttle, +went with even more of love in his heart for Florence +than he had had.</p> + +<p>After his going Florence was lonelier than +before. She was all alone, save for the dog Diogenes +and her books and music. Her father was +much away, and in the evenings she could go into +his room and nestle in his easy chair without fear +of repulse. She kept the room in order and a fresh +nosegay on the table, and never left it without leaving +on his deserted desk a kiss and a tear. The purpose +of her life, she determined, should be to try +continually to let her father know how much she +loved him.</p> + +<p>But months passed and she had no chance. Her +father, in fact, seldom came near the house. He +was away visiting in the country with a Major +Bagstock, who had struck up an acquaintance with +him because of Mr. Dombey's wealth.</p> + +<p>Bagstock (who had a habit of referring to himself +as "J. B." or "Joey B.," or almost anything but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +his full name) was as fat as a dancing bear, with a +purple, apoplectic-looking face, and a laugh like +a horse's cough. He was a glutton, and stuffed himself +so at meals that he did little but choke and +wheeze through the latter half of them. He was a +great flatterer, however, and he flattered so well +that Mr. Dombey, blind from his own pride, +thought him a very proper person indeed. And +even though everybody laughed at the major, Mr. +Dombey always found him most agreeable company.</p> + +<p>There was an old lady at the town they visited +who was poor, but very fond of fashion and rich +people. She had no heart, and was silly enough, +even though she was seventy years old, to wear +rouge on her cheeks and dress like a girl of seventeen. +She had a widowed daughter, Edith +Granger, a proud, lovely woman, who despised +the life her mother led, but, in spite of this, was +weak enough to be influenced by her.</p> + +<p>Major Bagstock introduced Mr. Dombey to the +mother, and the latter soon made up her mind that +her daughter should marry him. The major (who +wanted Mr. Dombey to marry so he himself could +profit by the dinners and entertainments that would +follow) helped this affair on all he could, and +Edith, though at times she hated herself for the +false part she was playing, agreed to it.</p> + +<p>To tell the truth, Mr. Dombey was so full of his +own conceit that he never stopped to wonder if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +Edith could really love him. She was beautiful +and as cold and haughty as he was himself, and +that was all he considered. So Major Bagstock +and the old lady were soon chuckling and wheezing +together with delight at the success of their +plan, and before long Edith had promised to marry +Florence's father.</p> + +<p>Poor Florence! She had other griefs of her own +by this time. Carker, of Dombey and Son, with +the false smile and the white teeth, came several +times to see her, asking if she had messages to send +to her father—each time seeming purposely to +wound her by recalling her father's dislike. She +tried to like the smooth, oily manager, but there +was something in his face she could not but distrust.</p> + +<p>To add to her trouble, the ship by which Walter +Gay had sailed for the West Indies had not yet arrived +there. It was long overdue, and in the absence +of news people began to fear it had been lost. +She went to the little shop where the wooden midshipman +stood, but found old Solomon Gills and +Captain Cuttle in as great anxiety.</p> + +<p>Old Sol, indeed, was soon in such distress for +fear Walter had been drowned, that he felt he +could bear the suspense no longer. One day, soon +after Florence's visit, he disappeared from London, +leaving a letter for Captain Cuttle.</p> + +<p>This letter said he had gone to the West Indies +to search for Walter, and asked the captain to care<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +for the little shop and keep it open, so that it could +be a home for his nephew if he should ever appear. +As for himself, Old Sol said if he did not return +within a year he would be dead, and the captain +should take the shop for his own.</p> + +<p>The disappearance of his old friend was a great +blow to bluff Captain Cuttle, but, determined to do +his part, he left his own lodgings and took up his +place at the sign of the wooden midshipman to +wait for news either of Walter or of old Solomon +Gills.</p> + +<p>Florence knew nothing about this, for the captain +had not the heart to tell her. And, for her own +part, she had much to think of in the approaching +marriage of her father, in preparation for which +the house was full of painters and paper-hangers, +making it over for the bride.</p> + +<p>The first time Florence saw Edith was when one +day she entered the parlor to find her father there +with a strange, beautiful lady beside him. Mr. +Dombey told her the lady would soon be her +mama, and Edith, touched by the child's sweet +face, bent down and kissed her so tenderly that +Florence, so starved for affection, began at that moment +to love her, and to hope through Edith's love +finally to win the love of her father.</p> + +<p>The wedding was a very grand one, and many +people were at the church to see it. Even Captain +Cuttle watched it from the gallery, and Carker's +smile, as he looked on, showed more of his white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +teeth than ever. The only thing that marred Florence's +happiness and hope on this day was the +knowledge that Walter had not been heard from +and the fear that he might never return.</p> + +<p>But in spite of her brave hope, after her father +and Edith came back from their wedding journey +and the life of parties and dinners began, Florence +was soon disheartened. In the first flush of confidence +she opened all her soul to Edith and begged +her to teach her to win her father's liking. But +Edith, knowing (as Florence did not know) how +she had sold herself in this rich marriage and +that she had no particle of love in her heart for her +husband, told her sadly that she could not help her. +This puzzled Florence greatly, for she loved Edith +and knew that Edith loved her in return.</p> + +<p>In fact, it was Florence's trust and innocence +that made Edith's conscience torture her the more. +In Florence's pure presence she felt more and more +unworthy, and the knowledge that her husband's +hardness of heart was crushing the child's life and +happiness made her hate him.</p> + +<p>Florence saw, before many months passed, that +her father and Edith did not live in love and contentment. +Indeed, how could they? She had married +for ambition, he for pride, and neither loved +nor would yield to the other. They had not the +same friends or acquaintances. Hers were people +of fashion; his were men of business. At the dinners +they gave, Mr. Dombey did not think Edith<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +treated his friends politely enough. He began to +reprove her more and more often, and when she +paid no heed he finally chid her openly and +sternly in the presence of Carker (who brought +his smile and gleaming teeth often to the house), +knowing this action would most wound Edith's +pride. And at length he took the management of +the house out of her hands and hired as housekeeper +Mrs. Pipchin, the old ogre of Brighton, at +whose house Florence and little Paul had once +lived.</p> + +<p>The worst of it all was that the more Mr. Dombey +grew to dislike his wife the more he saw she +loved Florence, and this made him detest the poor +child more than ever. He imagined, in his cruel +selfishness, that as Florence had come between him +and the love of little Paul, so she was now coming +between him and his wife. Finally he sent Carker +to Edith, telling her she must no longer sit or talk +with Florence—that they must see each other only +in his presence.</p> + +<p>Florence's cup of bitterness was now almost full, +for she knew nothing of this command, and, when +she saw that Edith avoided her, sorrowed in secret. +She was quite alone again now, save for Diogenes. +Neither Major Bagstock, her father's flatterer, nor +Carker, with his cat-like smile, could she see +without a shudder, and all the while her heart was +aching for her father's love.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dombey's insults were heaped more and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +more upon the defenseless Edith, till at last, made +desperate by his pride and cruelty, she prepared a +terrible revenge. On the morning of the anniversary +of their wedding-day Mr. Dombey was startled +by the news that Edith had run away with the +false-hearted Carker!</p> + +<p>On that terrible morning, when the proud old +man sat stunned in his room, Florence, yielding to +her first impulse of grief and pity for him, ran to +him to comfort him. But when she would have +thrown her arms around his neck he lifted his arm +and struck her so that she tottered.</p> + +<p>And as he did so he bade her follow Edith, since +they had always been in league!</p> + +<p>In that blow Florence felt at last his cruelty, +neglect and hatred trampling down any feeling of +compassion he may once have had for her. She +saw she had no longer a father she could love; and, +wringing her hands, with her head bent to hide her +agony of tears, ran out of the house that could no +more be her home, into the heartless street.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +HOW FLORENCE REACHED A REFUGE</h3> + +<p>For a long time she ran without purpose, weeping, +and not knowing where to go. But at last she +thought of the day, so many years before, when she +had been lost and when Walter Gay had found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +her. He had taken her then to the shop of his +uncle, old Solomon Gills. There, she thought, +she might at least find shelter.</p> + +<p>When she got to the sign of the wooden midshipman +she had just enough strength to knock +and push open the door, and then, at sight of +Captain Cuttle's honest face, all her strength left +her, and she fainted on the threshold.</p> + +<p>Captain Cuttle was cooking his breakfast. He +knew her at once, even though she had grown to be +a young lady. He lifted her and laid her on the +sofa, calling her his "lady lass," and bathed her face +in cold water till she opened her eyes and knew +him. She told him all her story, and he comforted +her, and told her the shop should be her home just +as long as she would stay in it. When she had +eaten some toast and drunk some tea he made her +lie down in the little upper room and sleep till she +woke refreshed at evening.</p> + +<p>When she came down the stair she found Captain +Cuttle cooking dinner. He seemed to her +then to have some great, joyful and mysterious +secret. All through the evening and until she went +to bed he would persist in drawing the conversation +around to Walter, which brought the tears +again and again to her eyes.</p> + +<p>Then he would rumble out, "Wal'r's drown-ded, +ain't he, pretty?" and nod his head and look very +wise.</p> + +<p>Indeed, Captain Cuttle <i>did</i> have a wonderful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +secret. While Florence had been sleeping he had +received a great piece of news: Walter, whom +every one had believed drowned, had escaped +death alone of all on the wrecked vessel. He had +clung to a spar when the ship went down, and had +been picked up by a vessel going in another direction, +so he had had no way of sending back news +of his safety. The ship that had rescued him had +at last brought him back to London, and it would +not be long now before he would appear at the +shop.</p> + +<p>You may guess Captain Cuttle's heart was full of +thankfulness. But, not knowing much about such +matters, he had an idea that the good news must be +broken very gently to Florence. So at last he commenced +to tell her a story about a shipwreck in +which only one was saved, and then she began to +suspect the truth and her heart beat joyfully. Just +as he finished the story the door opened. There was +Walter himself, alive and well, and with a cry of +joy she sprang to his arms.</p> + +<p>There was much to talk of that night in the little +shop. With her face on Captain Cuttle's shoulder, +Florence told him how and why she had left her +home. And Walter, as he took her hand and kissed +it, knew that she was a homeless, wandering fugitive, +but richer to him thus than in all the wealth +and pride of her former station, that had once +made her seem so far off from him. Very soon +after that he told Florence that he loved her—not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +as a brother, but as something even dearer—and +she promised to be his wife.</p> + +<p>On the evening before their wedding-day one +more surprise came to them. They were all gathered +in the shop when the outer door opened. Captain +Cuttle suddenly hit the table a terrific blow +with his hook, shouted "Sol Gills, ahoy!" and tumbled +into the arms of a man in an old, weather-beaten +coat. It was old Solomon Gills indeed, returned +from his long search, and now, to see Walter +there, weeping with joy.</p> + +<p>In another moment Walter and Florence were +both in his arms, too, and everybody was laughing +and crying and talking together. Old Sol had been +half-way around the world in his search for Walter, +but had finally heard of his safety and started +home, knowing he would go there also. It was a +very joyous evening, that last evening of Florence's +girl life.</p> + +<p>The next morning Walter and Florence paid an +early visit to the grave of little Paul. She bade it a +long good-by, for Walter had become an officer of +a ship and she was to make the coming voyage with +her husband. Then they went to the church, where +they were married, and a few days later they sailed +away to China (with Captain Cuttle's big watch +and sugar-tongs and teaspoons, that he had once offered +to Mr. Dombey, for wedding presents), content +in each other's love.</p> + +<p>Often, indeed, in this happy honeymoon Florence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +remembered the father who had spurned her. +But Walter's love had taken away the bitterness of +that thought. She tried to love her father now +rather as she loved the memory of little Paul—not +as a cruel, cold, living man, but as some one who +had once lived and who might once have loved her.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +HOW FLORENCE FOUND HER FATHER AT LAST</h3> + +<p>Mr. Dombey, alone in the silent house, had made +no search for Florence. His pride bade him hide +all traces of his grief and rage from the world. He +had only one thought—to find where Carker had +fled with his wife, to follow and to kill him. He +hired detectives and at last discovered that Carker +had gone to a certain city in France. And to that +place he followed him.</p> + +<p>Now Edith, desperate as she had been, had not +really been so wicked as Mr. Dombey supposed +her. She had deserted him, but she had <i>not</i> run +away with Carker. In all the trouble between herself +and Mr. Dombey, Carker (the smooth, smiling +hypocrite!) had labored to make matters worse. +He had lied to Mr. Dombey about his wife and +taunted her with her position, and done everything +in his power to make them hate each other more +bitterly. At last, when he saw Edith could bear it +no longer, he had begged her to run away with him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +and when she refused, he had threatened her in +many cowardly ways. But Edith hated him as +much as she disliked her husband, and had not the +least idea of running away with him. She had pretended +to Carker that she would do so, and had led +her husband and everybody else to think she <i>had</i> +done so, but this was only to wound her husband's +pride, and to punish him for all his tortures. Carker +had followed her to France, but, once there, he +had found the tables turned. Edith laughed at him +and scorned him, and sent him from her, baffled +and furious.</p> + +<p>Carker was thus caught in his own trap. He had +lost his own position and reputation, and had +gained nothing for all his evil plots. And besides +this, he was a fugitive, and Mr. Dombey, the man +he had wronged, was on his track.</p> + +<p>When he learned his enemy had followed him to +France, Carker, raging, but cowardly, fled back to +England; and back to England Edith's revengeful +husband followed him day and night. The wicked +manager knew no more peace or rest. He traveled +into the country, seeking some lonely village in +which to hide, but he could not shake off that grim +pursuer.</p> + +<p>They met at last face to face one day on a railroad +platform when neither was expecting to see +the other.</p> + +<p>In the surprise of the meeting, Carker's foot +slipped—he stepped backward, directly in the path<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +of the engine that was roaring up the track. It +caught him, and tossed him, and tore him limb +from limb, and its iron wheels crushed and ground +him to pieces.</p> + +<p>And that was the end of Carker, of the white +teeth and false smile, and Mr. Dombey went back +to London, still proud and alone, still cold and forbidding.</p> + +<p>But his conscience at last had begun to cry out +against him, and to deafen its voice he plunged +more and more recklessly into business, spending +money too lavishly, and taking risks of which, in +other days, he would not have thought.</p> + +<p>The months went by and little by little the old +firm of Dombey and Son became more entangled. +Soon there were whispers that the business was +in difficulty, but Mr. Dombey did not hear them. +One morning the crash came. A bank closed and +then suddenly the word went around that the old +firm had failed.</p> + +<p>It was too true. The proud, hard-hearted merchant, +who had driven his daughter from him, was +ruined and a beggar. His rich friends, whom he +had treated so haughtily, shrugged their shoulders +and sneered. Even Major Bagstock at his club +grew purple in the face with chuckling.</p> + +<p>The servants were all sent away, most of the +furniture was sold at a public sale, and the old man, +who had once been so proud and held his gray head +so high, still sat on hour after hour in the echoing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +house, so empty now that even the rats would not +live in it. What was he thinking?</p> + +<p>At last, in his agony, his sorrow, his remorse, his +despair, he remembered Florence. He saw again +her trembling lips, her lonely face longing for love—the +terrible hopeless change that came over it +when his own cruel arm struck her on that final +day when she had stood before him.</p> + +<p>His pride at last had fallen. He knew now himself +what it was to be rejected and deserted. He +thought how the daughter he had disliked, of them +all, had never changed in her love for him. And +by his own act he had lost her for ever. His son, +his wife, his fortune, all had gone, and now at last +in his wretchedness he knew that Florence would +always have been true to him if he had only let +her.</p> + +<p>Days passed, but he never left the house; every +night he wandered through the empty rooms like +a ghost. He grew to be a haggard, wasted likeness +of himself. And one day the thought came to him +that it would be better if he, too, were dead, even +if it be by his own hand. This thought clung to +him. He could not shake it off.</p> + +<p>One day he took a pistol from his dressing-table +and sat hugging it to his breast. At length he rose +and stood in front of a mirror with the weapon in +his hand.</p> + +<p>But suddenly he heard a cry—a piercing, loving, +rapturous cry—and he saw at his feet, clasping his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +knees, with her face lifted to his, Florence, his +long-lost daughter.</p> + +<p>"Papa, dearest papa!" she cried, "I have come +back to you. I never can be happy more without +you."</p> + +<p>He tottered to a chair, feeling her draw his arms +around her neck. He felt her wet cheek laid +against his own. He heard her soft voice telling +him that now she herself had a little child—a baby +boy born at sea—whom she and Walter had named +Paul.</p> + +<p>"Dear papa," she said, "you will come home +with me. We will teach our little child to love and +honor you, and we will tell him when he can understand +that you had a son of that name once, and +that he died and that you were sorry; but that he is +gone to Heaven, where we all hope to see him +sometime. Kiss me, papa, as a promise that you +will be reconciled. Never let us be parted any +more!"</p> + +<p>His hard heart had been melting while she +spoke. As she clung closer to him he kissed her, +and she heard him mutter, "Oh, God forgive me, +for I need it very much!"</p> + +<p>She drew him to his feet, and walking with a +feeble gait he went with her. With her eyes upon +his face and his arm about her, she led him to the +coach waiting at the door and carried him away.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dombey was very ill for a long time. +When he recovered he was no longer his old self,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +but a gentle, loving, white-haired old man. Walter +did not go to sea again, but found a position of +great trust and confidence in London, and in their +home the old man felt growing stronger and +stronger his new-found love for the daughter +whom till now he had never really known.</p> + +<p>Florence never saw Edith again but once. Then +the latter came back to bid her farewell for ever +before she went to live in Italy. In these years +Edith had seen her own pride and grieved for her +fault. There were tears in her stern, dark eyes +when Florence asked if she would send some message +to Mr. Dombey.</p> + +<p>"Tell him," she answered, "that if in his own +present he can find a reason to think less bitterly +of me, I asked him to do so. I will try to forgive +him his share of blame; let him try to forgive me +mine."</p> + +<p>Time went happily by in the home of Walter +and Florence. They often visited the little shop +where stood the wooden midshipman, now in a new +suit of paint. The sign above the door had become +"Gills and Cuttle," for Old Sol and the Captain +had gone into partnership, and the firm had grown +rich through the successes of some of Solomon +Gills's old investments which had finally turned +out well.</p> + +<p>Walter was beloved by everybody who knew +him, and in time refounded the old firm of Dombey +and Son.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>Often in the summer, on the sea-beach, old Mr. +Dombey might have been seen wandering with +Florence's little children. The oldest was little +Paul, and he thought of him sometimes almost +as of the other little Paul who died.</p> + +<p>But most of all the old gentleman loved the little +girl. He could not bear to see her sit apart or with +a cloud on her face. He often stole away to look at +her in her sleep, and was fondest and most loving +to her when there was no one by.</p> + +<p>The child used to say then sometimes:</p> + +<p>"Dear grandpa, why do you cry when you kiss +me?"</p> + +<p>But he would only answer, "Little Florence! +Little Florence!" and smooth away the curls that +shaded her earnest eyes. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +</p> +<h2>THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE +PICKWICK CLUB</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1836–1837</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London, Neighboring Towns, Bath, and the Country</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1827 to 1831</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Samuel Pickwick</td><td align="right">A gentleman of an inquiring mind</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Founder and chairman of "The Pickwick Club"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Sam Weller</td><td align="right">His body-servant</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mrs. Bardell</td><td align="right">His London landlady</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tupman<br />Snodgrass<br />Winkle</td> + <td align="left" class="bt br bb"> </td><td> </td> + <td align="right">Members of "The Pickwick Club"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Alfred Jingle</td><td align="right">A strolling actor and adventurer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Later, known as "Fitz-Marshall"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Job Trotter</td><td align="right">His servant</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mrs. Budger</td><td align="right">A rich widow</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Doctor Slammer</td><td align="right">An army surgeon</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Mrs. Budger's suitor</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Wardle</td><td align="right">A country gentleman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">A friend of the Pickwickians</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Emily</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Miss Wardle</td><td align="right">His spinster sister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Joe</td><td align="right">Mr. Wardle's footman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Known as "The Fat Boy"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Tony Weller</td><td align="right">A stage driver. Sam's father</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mrs. Weller</td><td align="right">His second wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mrs. Leo Hunter</td><td align="right">A lady with a fondness for knowing<br />celebrated persons</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Peter Magnus</td><td align="right">One of Mr. Pickwick's traveling acquaintances</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Nupkins</td><td align="right">Mayor of Ipswich</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mrs. Nupkins</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Miss Nupkins</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ben Allen<br />Bob Sawyer</td><td align="left" class="bt br bb"> </td> + <td align="left"> </td><td align="right">Medical students</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Arabella Allen</td><td align="right">Ben's pretty sister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Sergeant Buzfuz</td><td align="right">Mrs. Bardell's lawyer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Dowler</td><td align="right">One of Mr. Pickwick's acquaintances at Bath</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mrs. Dowler</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mr. Angelo Cyrus Bantam</td><td align="right">A society leader at Bath</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="3">Mary</td><td align="right">Nupkins's pretty housemaid</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a name="THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS" id="THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"></a>THE PICKWICK PAPERS</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +THE PICKWICKIANS BEGIN THEIR ADVENTURES<br /> +THEY MEET MR. ALFRED JINGLE, AND WINKLE<br /> +IS INVOLVED IN A DUEL</h3> + +<p>Once upon a time, in London, there was a club +called "The Pickwick Club." Mr. Samuel Pickwick, +its founder and chairman, was a benevolent, +simple-hearted old gentleman of some wealth, with +a taste for science. He delighted to invent the most +profound theories, to explain the most ordinary +happenings and to write long papers to be read before +the Club. He had a large bald head, and eyes +that twinkled behind round spectacles, and he +made a speech with one hand under his coat tails +and the other waving in the air.</p> + +<p>His fellow members looked upon Mr. Pickwick +as a very great man, and when he proposed that he +and three others form a "Corresponding Society," +which should travel about and forward to the club +accounts of their adventures, the idea was at once +adopted.</p> + +<p>The three that Mr. Pickwick chose were named +Tupman, Snodgrass and Winkle. Tupman was +middle-aged with a double chin and was so fat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +that for years he had not seen the watch chain +that crossed his silk waistcoat. But he had a youthful, +romantic disposition, and a great liking for the +fair sex. Snodgrass, who had no parents, was a +ward of Mr. Pickwick's and imagined himself a +poet. Winkle was a young man whose father had +sent him to London to learn life; he wore a green +shooting-coat and his great ambition was to be considered +a sportsman, though at heart he was afraid +of either a horse or a gun. With these three companions +Mr. Pickwick prepared to set out in +search of adventures.</p> + +<p>Next morning as he drove in a cab to the inn +where all were to take the coach, Mr. Pickwick +began to chat with the driver. The cabman amused +himself by telling the most impossible things, all +of which Mr. Pickwick believed. When he +said his horse was forty-two years old and that +he often kept him out three weeks at a time without +resting, down it went in Mr. Pickwick's note-book +as a wonderful instance of the endurance of horses. +Unfortunately, however, the driver thought Mr. +Pickwick was putting down the number of the cab +so as to complain of him, and as they arrived just +then at the inn, he jumped from his seat with the +intention of fighting his dismayed passenger. He +knocked off Mr. Pickwick's spectacles and, dancing +back and forth as the other's three comrades +rushed to the rescue, planted a blow in Mr. Snodgrass's +eye, another in Tupman's waistcoat and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +ended by knocking all the breath out of Winkle's +body.</p> + +<p>From this dilemma they were rescued by a tall, +thin, long-haired, young man in a faded green coat, +worn black trousers and patched shoes, who seized +Mr. Pickwick and lugged him into the inn by main +force, talking with a jaunty independent manner +and in rapid and broken sentences:</p> + +<p>"This way, sir—where's your friends?—all a +mistake—never mind—here, waiter—brandy and +water—raw beefsteak for the gentleman's eye—eh,—ha-ha!"</p> + +<p>The seedy-looking stranger, whose name was Alfred +Jingle, was a passenger on the same coach that +day and entertained the Pickwickians with marvelous +stories of his life in Spain. None of these was +true, to be sure, but they were all entered in Mr. +Pickwick's note-book. In gratitude, that night the +latter invited Jingle to dinner at the town inn where +they stopped.</p> + +<p>The dinner was long, and almost before it was +over not only Mr. Pickwick, but Snodgrass and +Winkle also were asleep. Tupman, however, was +more wakeful; a ball, the waiter had told him, was +to be held that night on the upper floor and he +longed to attend it. Jingle readily agreed, especially +when Tupman said he could borrow for him +a blue dress suit, the property of the sleeping Winkle.</p> + +<p>They were soon dressed and at the ball. Jingle's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +jaunty air gained him a number of introductions. +Before long he was dancing with a little old widow +named Mrs. Budger, who was very rich, and to +whom he at once began to make love. There was an +army surgeon present named Slammer—a short +fat man with a ring of upright black hair around +his head, and a bald plain on top of it—who had +been courting the rich widow himself. Doctor +Slammer was old; Jingle was young, and the lady +felt flattered. Every moment the doctor grew angrier +and at last tried to pick a quarrel with the +wearer of the blue dress suit, at which Jingle only +laughed. The ball over, Tupman and Jingle went +down stairs. Winkle's clothes were returned to +their place, and Jingle, promising to join the party +at dinner next day, took his departure.</p> + +<p>The Pickwickians were hardly awake next morning +when an army officer came to the inn inquiring +which gentleman of their number owned a blue +dress suit with gilt buttons. When told that Mr. +Winkle had such a costume he demanded to see +him, and at once, in the name of his friend Doctor +Slammer, challenged him to fight a duel that night +at sunset.</p> + +<p>Poor Winkle almost fainted with surprise. +When the stranger explained that the wearer of the +blue suit had insulted Doctor Slammer, Winkle +concluded that he must have drunk too much wine +at dinner, changed his clothes, gone somewhere, +and insulted somebody—of all of which he had no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +recollection. He saw no way, therefore, but to accept +the bloodthirsty challenge, hoping that something +would happen to prevent the duel.</p> + +<p>Winkle was dreadfully afraid, for he had never +fired a pistol in his life. He chose Snodgrass for his +second, hoping the latter would tell Mr. Pickwick; +but Snodgrass, he soon found to his dismay, had +no idea of doing so. The day wore heavily away, +and Winkle could think of no escape. At sunset +they walked to the appointed spot—a lonely +field—and at last Winkle found himself, pistol in +hand, opposite another man armed likewise, and +waiting the signal to shoot.</p> + +<p>At that moment Doctor Slammer saw that the +man he faced was not the one who had insulted +him at the ball. Explanations were soon made and +the whole party walked back together to the inn, +where Winkle introduced his new friends to the +Pickwickians. Jingle, however, was with the latter, +and Doctor Slammer at once recognized him +as the wearer of the blue dress suit. The doctor +flew into a rage and only the statement of his fellow +officer, that Jingle was not a gentleman, but a strolling +actor far beneath the doctor's dignity, prevented +an encounter. As it was, Slammer stumped +off in anger, leaving the Pickwickians to enjoy the +evening in their own way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +TUPMAN HAS A LOVE-AFFAIR WITH A SPINSTER, AND<br /> +THE PICKWICKIANS FIND OUT THE REAL<br /> +CHARACTER OF JINGLE</h3> + +<p>Next day a military drill was held just outside +the town and the Pickwickians went to see it. In +the confusion of running officers and prancing +horses they became separated from one another. +Mr. Pickwick, Snodgrass and Winkle found themselves +between two lines of troops, in danger of being +run down. At this moment they saw Tupman +standing in an open carriage near by and, hurrying +to it, were hoisted in.</p> + +<p>The carriage belonged to a short, stout old gentleman +named Wardle who had attended some of +the club's meetings in London and knew Mr. Pickwick +by sight. He lived at a place near by called +Dingley Dell, from which he had driven to see +the drill, with his old maid sister and his own two +pretty daughters. Fastened behind was a big hamper +of lunch and on the box was a fat boy named +Joe, whom Mr. Wardle kept as a curiosity because +he did nothing but eat and sleep. Joe went on errands +fast asleep and snored as he waited on the +table. He had slept all through the roaring of the +cannon and the old gentleman had to pinch him +awake to serve the luncheon.</p> + +<p>They had a merry time that day, Tupman being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +deeply smitten with the charms of the elderly +Miss Wardle, and Snodgrass no less in love +with Emily, one of the pretty daughters. When the +review was over the old gentleman invited them all +to visit Dingley Dell next day.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning they set out, Mr. Pickwick +driving Tupman and Snodgrass in a chaise, +while Winkle rode on horseback to uphold his +reputation as a sportsman. Mr. Pickwick was distrustful +of the horse he hired, but the hostler assured +him that even a wagon-load of monkeys with +their tails burnt off would not make him shy.</p> + +<p>Winkle had never ridden a horse before, but he +was ashamed to admit it.</p> + +<p>For a while all went well; then the luckless Winkle +dropped his whip and when he dismounted the +horse would not let him mount again. Mr. Pickwick +got out of the chaise to help, and at this the +animal jerked the bridle away and trotted home. +Hearing the clatter the other horse bolted, too. +Snodgrass and Tupman jumped for their lives and +the chaise was smashed to pieces against a wooden +bridge. With difficulty the horse was freed from +the ruins and, leading him, the four friends walked +the seven miles to Dingley Dell, where they found +Mr. Wardle and the fat boy, the latter fast asleep +as usual, posted in the lane to meet them.</p> + +<p>Brushes, a needle and thread and some cherry-brandy +soon cured their rents and bruises and they +forgot their misfortunes in an evening of pleasure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +Mr. Wardle's mother was a deaf old lady with an +ear-trumpet, who loved to play whist. When she +disliked a person she would pretend she could not +hear a word he said, but Mr. Pickwick's jollity and +compliments made her forget even to use her ear-trumpet. +Tupman flirted with the spinster aunt +and Snodgrass whispered poetry into Emily's ear +to his heart's content.</p> + +<p>Next morning Mr. Wardle took Winkle rook-shooting. +The pair set out with their guns, preceded +by the fat boy and followed by Mr. Pickwick, +Snodgrass and the corpulent Tupman. +Winkle, who disliked to admit his ignorance of +guns, showed it in a painful way. His first shot +missed the birds, and lodged itself in the arm of +Tupman, who fell to the ground. The confusion +that followed can not be described. They +bound up his wounds and supported him to the +house, where the ladies waited at the garden gate, +Mr. Wardle calling out to them not to be frightened.</p> + +<p>The warning, however, had no effect on the +spinster aunt. At the sight of her Tupman wounded, +she began to scream. Old Mr. Wardle told her +not to be a fool, but Tupman was affected almost +to tears and spoke her name with such romantic +tenderness that the poor foolish lady felt quite a +flutter at her heart.</p> + +<p>A surgeon found the wound a slight one, and as +a cricket match was to be played that day, the host<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +left Tupman in the care of the ladies and carried +off the others to the game.</p> + +<p>When they reached the field, the first words that +fell on Mr. Pickwick's ear made him start:</p> + +<p>"This way—capital fun—glorious day—make +yourself at home—glad to see you—very." It was +Jingle, still clad in his faded green coat. He had +fallen in with the visiting players, and by telling +wonderful tales of the games he had played in the +West Indies, soon convinced them he was a great +cricket player. Seeing him greet Mr. Pickwick, +Mr. Wardle, thinking him a friend of his guest, +procured him an invitation to the dinner that followed +the match. There Jingle made good use of +his time in eating and drinking, and at midnight +was heard leading with great effect the chorus:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"We won't go home till morning."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Meanwhile, the romantic Tupman at Dingley +Dell had been free to woo the middle-aged spinster. +This he did with such success that when evening +came, he and she sat together in a vine-covered +arbor in the garden like a pair of carefully folded +kid gloves—bound up in each other. He had just +printed a kiss on her lips when both looked up to +see the fat boy, perfectly motionless, staring into +the arbor.</p> + +<p>"Supper's ready," said the fat boy, and his look +was so blank that they both concluded he must have +been asleep and had seen nothing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was long past midnight when a tremendous +noise told that the absent ones had returned. All +rushed to the kitchen, where Jingle's voice was +heard crying: "Cricket dinner—glorious party—capital +songs—very good—wine ma'am—wine!" +Mr. Pickwick, Snodgrass and Winkle went to bed, +but the talkative Jingle remained with the ladies +and before they retired had made Tupman almost +mad with jealousy by his attentions to the spinster +aunt, who showed herself greatly pleased with his +politeness.</p> + +<p>Now the fat boy, for once in his life, had not +been asleep when he had announced supper that +evening. He had seen Tupman's love-making, and +took the first occasion to tell the deaf old lady, as +she sat in the garden arbor next morning. He was +obliged to shout it in her ear, and thus the whole +story was overheard by Jingle, who happened to +be near.</p> + +<p>The deceitful Jingle saw in this a chance to benefit +himself. The spinster, he thought, had money; +what could he better do than turn her against Tupman, +and marry her himself? With this plan he +went to Tupman, recited what the fat boy had told, +and advised him, for a time, in order to throw off +the suspicions of the old lady and of Mr. Wardle, +to pay special attention to one of the younger +daughters and to pretend to care nothing for the +spinster. He told Tupman that the latter herself +had made this plan and wished him to carry it out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +for her sake. Tupman, thinking it the wish of his +lady-love, did this with such success that the old +lady concluded the fat boy must have been dreaming.</p> + +<p>The spinster, however, thought Tupman false, +and Jingle used the next few days to make such +violent love to her that the silly creature believed +him, forgot Tupman, and agreed to run away with +the deceiver to London.</p> + +<p>There was great excitement when their absence +was discovered, and the wrathful Mr. Wardle and +Mr. Pickwick pursued them at once in a four-horse +chaise. They rode all night and, reaching London, +at once began to inquire at various inns to find a +trace of the runaway pair.</p> + +<p>They came at length to one called The White +Hart, in whose courtyard a round-faced man-servant +was cleaning boots. This servant, whose +name was Sam Weller, wore a coat with blue glass +buttons, a bright red handkerchief tied around his +neck and an old white hat stuck on the side of his +head. He spoke with a quaint country accent, but +he was a witty fellow, with a clever answer for +every one.</p> + +<p>"Werry well, I'm agreeable," he said when Mr. +Pickwick gave him a gold piece. "What the devil +do you want with me, as the man said when he see +the ghost?"</p> + +<p>With Sam Weller's aid, they soon found that +Jingle and the spinster were there, and entered the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +room in which the couple sat at the very moment +Jingle was showing the marriage license which he +had just brought. The spinster at once went into +violent hysterics, and Jingle, seeing the game was +up, accepted the sum of money which Mr. Wardle +offered him to take himself off.</p> + +<p>There were deep lamentations when the confiding +spinster found herself deserted by the faithless +Jingle, and slowly and sadly Mr. Pickwick and +Mr. Wardle bore her back to Dingley Dell.</p> + +<p>The heartbroken Tupman had already left there, +and with feelings of gloom Mr. Pickwick, with +Snodgrass and Winkle, also departed.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +MR. PICKWICK HAS AN INTERESTING SCENE WITH MRS.<br /> +BARDELL, HIS HOUSEKEEPER. FURTHER PURSUIT<br /> +OF JINGLE LEADS TO AN ADVENTURE<br /> +AT A YOUNG LADIES'<br /> +BOARDING-SCHOOL</h3> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick lived in lodgings, let for a single +gentleman, in the house of a Mrs. Bardell, a widow +with one little boy. For a long time she had secretly +adored her benevolent lodger, as some one +far above her own humble station.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick had not forgotten Sam Weller, +the servant who had aided in the pursuit of Jingle, +and on returning to London he wrote, asking Sam<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +to come to see him, intending to offer him a position +as body-servant. Sam came promptly and Mr. +Pickwick then proceeded to tell his landlady of his +plan—a more or less delicate matter, since it would +cause some change in her household affairs.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Bardell," said he, "do you think it a much +greater expense to keep two people than one?"</p> + +<p>"La, Mr. Pickwick!" answered Mrs. Bardell, +fancying she saw matrimony in his eye. "That depends +on whether it's a saving person."</p> + +<p>"Very true," said Mr. Pickwick, "but the person +I have in my eye"—here he looked at Mrs. Bardell—"has +this quality. And to tell you the truth, +I have made up my mind."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bardell blushed to her cap border. Her +lodger was going to propose! "Oh, Mr. Pickwick!" +she said, "you're very kind, sir. I'm sure I +ought to be a very happy woman."</p> + +<p>"It'll save you a deal of trouble," Mr. Pickwick +went on, "and when I'm in town you'll always have +somebody to sit with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you dear—" said Mrs. Bardell.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick started.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you kind, good, playful dear!" said Mrs. +Bardell, and flung herself on his neck with a cataract +of tears.</p> + +<p>The astonished Mr. Pickwick struggled violently, +pleading and reproving, but in vain. Mrs. +Bardell clung the tighter, and exclaiming frantically +that she would never leave him, fainted away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +in his arms. At the same moment Tupman, Winkle +and Snodgrass entered the room. Mr. Pickwick +tried to explain, but in their faces he read that they +suspected him of making love to the widow.</p> + +<p>This reflection made him miserable and ill at +ease. He lost no time in taking Sam Weller into +his service, on condition that he travel with the +Pickwickians in their further search for adventures, +and at once proposed to his three comrades +another journey.</p> + +<p>Next day, therefore, found them on the road for +Eatanswill, a town near London which was then on +the eve of a political election. This was a very +exciting struggle and interested them greatly.</p> + +<p>Here, one morning soon after their arrival, a +fancy dress breakfast was given by Mrs. Leo +Hunter, a lady who had once written an <i>Ode to an +Expiring Frog</i> and who made a great point of +knowing everybody who was at all celebrated for +anything. All of the Pickwickians attended the +breakfast. Mr. Pickwick's dignity was too great +for him to don a fancy costume, but the rest wore +them, Tupman going as a bandit in a green velvet +coat with a two-inch tail.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Leo Hunter herself, in the character of +Minerva, insisted on presenting Mr. Pickwick to +all the guests.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the gaiety Mrs. Leo Hunter's +husband called out: "My dear, here comes Mr. +Fitz-Marshall," and, to his astonishment, Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +Pickwick heard a well-known voice exclaiming: +"Coming, my dear ma'am—crowds of people—full +room—hard work—very!"</p> + +<p>It was Jingle. Mr. Pickwick indignantly faced +him, but the impostor, at the first glance turned +and fled. Mr. Pickwick, after hurriedly questioning +his hostess, who told him Mr. Fitz-Marshall +lived at an inn in a village not far away, left the +entertainment instantly, bent on pursuit. With +Sam Weller, his faithful servant, he took the next +stage-coach and nightfall found him lodged in a +room in that very inn, while Sam set himself to +discover Jingle's whereabouts.</p> + +<p>With the money Mr. Wardle had paid him +Jingle had set up as a gentleman: he even had a +servant—a sneaking fellow with a sallow, solemn +face and lank hair, named Job Trotter, who could +burst into tears whenever it suited his purpose and +whose favorite occupation seemed to be reading a +hymn-book. Sam Weller soon picked an acquaintance +with Job, and it was not long before the latter +confided to him that Jingle his master (whom he +pretended to think very wicked) had plotted to +run away that same night, with a beautiful young +lady from a boarding-school just outside the village, +at which he was a frequent caller. Job said +his master was such a villain that he had made up +his mind to betray him.</p> + +<p>Sam took Job to Mr. Pickwick, to whom he repeated +his tale, adding that he and his master were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +to be let into the school building at ten o'clock, and +that if Mr. Pickwick would climb over the garden +wall and tap on the kitchen door a little before +midnight, he, Job, would let him in to catch Jingle +in the very act of eloping.</p> + +<p>This seemed to Mr. Pickwick a good plan, and +he proceeded to act upon it. In good time that +night Sam hoisted him over the high garden-wall +of the school, after which he returned to the inn, +while his master stealthily approached the building.</p> + +<p>It was very still. When the church chimes struck +half-past eleven Mr. Pickwick tapped on the door. +Instead of being opened by Job, however, a servant-girl +appeared with a candle. Mr. Pickwick +had presence of mind enough to hide behind the +door as she opened it. She concluded the noise +must have been the cat.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick did not know what was best to +do. To make matters worse, a thunder-storm broke +and he had no refuge from the rain. He was +thoroughly drenched before he dared repeat the +signal.</p> + +<p>This time windows were thrown open and +frightened voices demanded "Who's there?" Mr. +Pickwick was in a dreadful situation. He could +not retreat, and when the door was timidly opened +and some one screamed "A man!" there was a +dreadful chorus of shrieks from the lady principal, +three teachers, five female servants and thirty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +young lady boarders, all half-dressed and in a +forest of curl papers.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick was desperate. He protested that +he was no robber—that he would even consent to +be tied or locked up, only to convince them. A +closet stood in the hall; as a pledge of good faith he +stepped inside it. Its door was quickly locked and +only then the trembling principal consented to listen +to him. By the time he had told his story, he +knew that he had been cruelly hoaxed by Jingle +and Job Trotter. She knew not even the name of +Mr. Fitz-Marshall. For her own part she was +certain Mr. Pickwick was crazy, and he had to +stay in the stuffy closet over an hour while at his +request some one was sent to find Sam Weller.</p> + +<p>The latter came at length, bringing with him old +Mr. Wardle, who, as it happened, unknown to Mr. +Pickwick, was stopping at the inn. Explanations +were made and Mr. Pickwick, choking with wrath, +returned to the inn to find Jingle and his servant +gone, and to be, himself, for some time thereafter, +a prey to rheumatism.</p> + +<p>A serious matter at this juncture called Mr. +Pickwick home. This was a legal summons notifying +him that Mrs. Bardell, his landlady, had +brought a suit for damages against him, claiming +he had promised to marry her and had then run +away. A firm of tricky lawyers had persuaded +her to this in the hope of getting some money out +of it themselves. Mr. Pickwick was very angry,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +but there was nothing for it but to hire a lawyer, +so he and Sam Weller set out without delay.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +SAM WELLER MEETS HIS FATHER, AND THE PURSUIT<br /> +OF JINGLE IS CONTINUED. MR. PICKWICK MAKES<br /> +A STRANGE CALL ON A MIDDLE-AGED<br /> +LADY IN YELLOW<br /> +CURL PAPERS</h3> + +<p>Having arranged this matter in London, master +and servant sat one evening in a public house when +Sam recognized in a stout man with his face buried +in a quart pot, his own father, old Tony Weller, the +stage-coach driver, and with great affection introduced +him to Mr. Pickwick.</p> + +<p>"How's mother-in-law?" asked Sam.</p> + +<p>The elder Mr. Weller shook his head as he replied, +"I've done it once too often, Samivel. Take +example by your father, my boy, and be very careful +o' widders, 'specially if they've kept a public +house."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Weller the second, indeed, was the proprietress +of a public house. To a shrill voice and a +complaining disposition she added a dismal sort of +piety which showed itself in much going to meeting, +in considering her husband a lost and sinful +wretch and in the entertaining of a prim-faced, +red-nosed, rusty old hypocrite of a preacher who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +sat by her fireside every evening consuming quantities +of toast and pineapple rum, and groaning at +the depravity of her husband, who declined to give +money to the preacher's society for sending flannel +waistcoats and colored handkerchiefs to the infant +negroes of the West Indies. As may be imagined, +Sam's father led a sorry life at home.</p> + +<p>The meeting with the elder Weller proved a fortunate +one, for when Sam told of their experiences +with Jingle and Job Trotter, his father declared +that he himself had driven the pair to the town of +Ipswich, where they were then living. Nothing +would satisfy Mr. Pickwick, when he heard this, +but pursuit, and he and Sam set out next morning +by coach, Mr. Pickwick having written to the other +Pickwickians to follow him.</p> + +<p>On the coach was a red-haired man with an inquisitive +nose and blue spectacles, whose name was +Mr. Peter Magnus, and with whom (since they +stopped at the same inn) Mr. Pickwick dined on +his arrival. Mr. Magnus, before they parted for +the night, grew confidential and informed him that +he had come there to propose to a lady who was in +the inn at that very moment.</p> + +<p>For some time after he retired, Mr. Pickwick +sat in his bedroom thinking. At length he rose to +undress, when he remembered he had left his watch +down stairs, and taking a candle he went to get it. +He found it easily, but to retrace his steps proved +more difficult. A dozen doors he thought his own,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +and a dozen times he turned a door-knob only to +hear a gruff voice within. At last he found what he +thought was his own room, the door ajar. The +wind had blown out his candle, but the fire was +bright, and Mr. Pickwick, as he retired behind the +bed curtains to undress, smiled till he almost +cracked his nightcap strings as he thought of his +wanderings.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the smile faded—some one had entered +the room and locked the door. "Robbers!" +thought Mr. Pickwick. He peered out between +the curtains and almost fainted with horror. +Standing before the mirror was a middle-aged +lady in yellow curl papers, brushing her back-hair.</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul!" thought Mr. Pickwick. "I +must be in the wrong room. This is fearful!"</p> + +<p>He waited a while, then coughed, first gently, +then more loudly.</p> + +<p>"Gracious Heaven!" said the middle-aged lady. +"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"It's—it's only a gentleman, ma'am," said Mr. +Pickwick.</p> + +<p>"A strange man!" exclaimed the lady with a terrific +scream.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick put out his head in desperation.</p> + +<p>"Wretch!" she said, covering her face with her +hands. "What do you want here?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, ma'am—nothing whatever, ma'am," +said Mr. Pickwick earnestly. "I am almost ready<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +to sink, ma'am, beneath the confusion of addressing +a lady in my nightcap (here the lady snatched +off hers) but I can't get it off, ma'am! (here Mr. +Pickwick gave it a tremendous tug). It is evident +to me now that I have mistaken this bedroom for +my own."</p> + +<p>"If this be true," said the lady sobbing violently, +"you will leave it instantly."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, ma'am," answered Mr. Pickwick appearing, +"I—I—am very sorry, ma'am."</p> + +<p>The lady pointed to the door. With his hat on +over his nightcap, his shoes in his hand and his +coat over his arm, Mr. Pickwick opened the door, +dropping both shoes with a crash. "I trust, +ma'am," he resumed, bowing very low, "that my +unblemished character—" but before he could finish +the sentence the lady had thrust him into the +hall and bolted the door.</p> + +<p>Luckily Mr. Pickwick met, coming along the +corridor, the faithful Sam Weller who took him +safely to his room.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>V</big><br /> +<br /> +THE PICKWICKIANS FIND THEMSELVES IN THE<br /> +GRASP OF THE LAW. THE FINAL EXPOSURE<br /> +OF JINGLE, AND A CHRISTMAS<br /> +MERRYMAKING</h3> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick was still indoors next morning, +when Sam, strolling through the town, met, coming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +from a certain garden-gate, the wily Job Trotter. +Job tried at first to disguise himself by making a +horrible face, but Sam was not to be deceived, and +finding this trick vain, the other burst into tears of +joy to see him.</p> + +<p>Job told Sam that his master, Jingle, had bribed +the mistress of the boarding-school to deny to Mr. +Pickwick that she knew him, and had then cruelly +deserted the beautiful young lady for a richer one. +But this time Sam was too wise to believe anything +Job said.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, in the inn, Mr. Pickwick was giving +Mr. Peter Magnus some good advice as to the best +method of proposing. The latter finally plucked +up his courage, saw the lady, proposed to her, and +was accepted. In his gratitude, he insisted on taking +Mr. Pickwick to be introduced to her.</p> + +<p>The instant he saw her, however, Mr. Pickwick +uttered an exclamation, and the lady, with a +slight scream, hid her face in her hands. She was +none other than the owner of the room into which +Mr. Pickwick had intruded the night before.</p> + +<p>Mr. Peter Magnus, in astonishment, demanded +where and when they had seen each other before. +This the lady declared she would not reveal for the +world, and Mr. Pickwick likewise refusing, the +other flew into a jealous rage, which ended in his +rushing from the room swearing he would challenge +Mr. Pickwick to mortal combat. Tupman, +Winkle and Snodgrass being announced at that moment,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +Mr. Pickwick joined them, and the middle-aged +lady was left alone in a state of terrible alarm.</p> + +<p>The longer she thought the more terrified she became +at the idea of possible bloodshed and harm +to her lover. At length, overcome by dread, +and knowing no other way to stop the duel, she +hastened to the house of the mayor of the town, a +pompous magistrate named Nupkins, and begged +him to stop the duel. Not wishing to make trouble +for Mr. Peter Magnus, she declared that the two +rioters who threatened to disturb the peace of the +town were named Pickwick and Tupman; these +two, Nupkins, thinking them cutthroats from London, +at once sent men to arrest.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick was just telling his followers the +story of his mishap of the night before, when a +half-dozen officers burst into the room. Boiling +with indignation, Mr. Pickwick had to submit, and +the officers put him and Tupman into an old sedan-chair +and carried them off, followed by Winkle +and Snodgrass and by all the town loafers.</p> + +<p>Sam Weller met the procession and tried to rescue +them, but was knocked down and taken prisoner +also. So they were all brought to Nupkins's +house.</p> + +<p>The mayor refused to hear a word Mr. Pickwick +said and was about to send them all to jail +as desperate characters when Sam Weller called +his master aside and whispered to him that the +house they were in was the very one from which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +he had seen Job Trotter come, and from this fact +he guessed that Jingle himself had wormed himself +into the good graces of the mayor. At this Mr. +Pickwick asked to have a private talk with Nupkins.</p> + +<p>This was grudgingly granted and in a few moments +Mr. Pickwick had learned that Jingle, calling +himself "Captain Fitz-Marshall," had imposed +so well on the pompous mayor that the latter's +wife and daughter had introduced him everywhere +and he himself had boasted to everybody of +his acquaintance.</p> + +<p>It was Nupkins's turn to feel humble when Mr. +Pickwick told him Jingle's real character. He was +terribly afraid the story would get out and that the +town would laugh at him, so he became all at once +tremendously polite, declared their arrest had been +all a mistake and begged the Pickwickians to make +themselves at home. Sam Weller was sent down to +the kitchen to get his dinner, where he met a pretty +housemaid named Mary, with whom he proceeded +to fall very much in love for the first time in his +life.</p> + +<p>Jingle and Job walked into the trap a little later, +not expecting the kind of reception they were to +find there. But even before the combined scorn of +Nupkins, Mrs. Nupkins, Miss Nupkins and the +Pickwickians, Jingle showed a brazen front. He +knew pride would prevent the mayor from exposing +him, and when finally shown the door, he left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +with a mocking jeer, followed by the chuckling +Job.</p> + +<p>In spite of his own troubles Mr. Pickwick left +Ipswich comforted by the defeat of Jingle. As for +Sam, he kissed the pretty housemaid behind the +door and they parted with mutual regrets.</p> + +<p>To atone for these difficult adventures, the Pickwickians +prepared for a long visit to Dingley Dell, +where they spent an old-fashioned Merry Christmas; +where they found the fat boy even fatter and +Mr. Wardle even jollier; where Tupman was not +saddened by the sight of his lost love, the spinster +aunt, who had been sent to live with another relative; +where Snodgrass came more than ever to admire +Emily, the pretty daughter; where Winkle +fell head over ears in love with a black-eyed young +lady visitor named Arabella Allen, who wore a +nice little pair of boots with fur around the top; +where they went skating and Mr. Pickwick broke +through, and had to be carried home and put to +bed; where they hung mistletoe and told stories, +and altogether enjoyed themselves in a hundred +ways.</p> + +<p>Ben Allen, Arabella's brother, reached Dingley +Dell on Christmas Day—a thick-set, mildewy +young man, with short black hair, a long white +face and spectacles. He was a medical student, +and brought with him his chum, Bob Sawyer, a +slovenly, smart, swaggering young gentleman, +who smelled strongly of tobacco smoke and looked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +like a dissipated Robinson Crusoe. Ben intended +that his chum should marry his sister Arabella, +and Bob Sawyer paid her so much attention that +Winkle began to hate him on the spot.</p> + +<p>The Christmas merrymaking was all too soon +over, and as Mrs. Bardell's lawsuit against Mr. +Pickwick was shortly to be tried, the Pickwickians +returned regretfully to the city.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>VI</big><br /> +<br /> +THE CELEBRATED CASE OF BARBELL AGAINST PICKWICK.<br /> +SERGEANT BUZFUZ'S SPEECH AND<br /> +AN UNEXPECTED VERDICT</h3> + +<p>On the morning of the trial Mr. Pickwick went +to court certain that the outcome would be in his +favor. The room was full of people, and all the +Pickwickians were there when he arrived. The +Judge was a very short man, so plump that he +seemed all face and waistcoat. When he had +rolled in upon two little turned legs, and sat down +at his desk, all you could see of him was two little +eyes, one broad pink face, and about half of a +comical, big wig. Scarcely had the jurors taken +their seats, when Mrs. Bardell's lawyers brought +in the lady herself, half hysterical, and supported +by two tearful lady friends. The ushers called for +silence and the trial began.</p> + +<p>The lawyer who spoke for Mrs. Bardell was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +named Sergeant Buzfuz, a blustering man with a +fat body and a red face. He began by picturing +Mr. Pickwick's housekeeper as a lonely widow +who had been heartlessly deceived by the villainy +of her lodger. He declared that for two years, +Mrs. Bardell had attended to Mr. Pickwick's +comforts, that once he had patted her little boy on +the head and asked him how he would like to have +another father; that he had also asked her to +marry him, and on the same day had been seen by +three of his friends holding her in his arms and +soothing her agitation. Drawing forth two scraps +of paper, Sergeant Buzfuz went on:</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, one word more. Two letters have +passed between these parties, which speak volumes. +They are not open, fervent letters of affection. +They are sly, underhanded communications evidently +intended by Pickwick to mislead and delude +any one into whose hands they might fall. Let me +read the first: '<i>Dear Mrs. B.—Chops and tomato +Sauce. Yours, Pickwick.</i>' Gentlemen, what does +this mean? Chops! Gracious Heavens! and Tomato +Sauce. Gentlemen, is the happiness of a trusting +female to be trifled away by such shallow +tricks? The next has no date. '<i>Dear Mrs. B.—I +shall not be at home till to-morrow.</i>' And then follows +this remarkable expression—'<i>Don't trouble +yourself about the warming-pan.</i>' The warming-pan! +Why is Mrs. Bardell begged not to trouble +herself about this warming-pan, unless (as is no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +doubt the case) it is a mere substitute for some endearing +word or promise, cunningly used by Pickwick, +with a view to his intended desertion?</p> + +<p>"But enough of this, gentlemen. It is hard to +smile with an aching heart. My client's hopes are +ruined. All is gloom in the house; the child's +sports are forgotten while his mother weeps. But +Pickwick, gentlemen, Pickwick, the pitiless destroyer—Pickwick +who comes before you to-day +with his heartless tomato sauce and warming-pans—Pickwick +still rears his head, and gazes without +a sigh on the ruins he has made. Damages, gentlemen, +heavy damages is the only punishment with +which you can visit him. And for these damages, +my client now appeals to a high-minded, a right-feeling, +a sympathizing jury of her countrymen!"</p> + +<p>With this Sergeant Buzfuz stopped, and began +to call his witnesses. The first was one of Mrs. +Bardell's female cronies, whose testimony of +course, was all in her favor.</p> + +<p>Then Winkle was called. Knowing that he was +a friend of Mr. Pickwick's, Mrs. Bardell's lawyers +browbeat and puzzled him till poor Mr. Winkle +had the air of a disconcerted pickpocket, and was +in a terrible state of confusion. He was soon made +to tell how, with Tupman and Snodgrass, he had +come into Mr. Pickwick's lodgings one day to find +him holding Mrs. Bardell in his arms. The other +two Pickwickians were also compelled to testify to +this.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>Nor was this all. Sergeant Buzfuz finally entrapped +the agonized Winkle into telling how Mr. +Pickwick had been found at night in the wrong +room at the Ipswich Inn and how as a result a +lady's marriage had been broken off and the whole +party arrested and taken before the mayor. Poor +Winkle was obliged to tell this, though he knew it +would hurt the case of Mr. Pickwick. When he +was released he rushed away to the nearest inn, +where he was found some hours later by the waiter, +groaning dismally with his head under the sofa +cushions.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick's case looked black. The only +comfort he received was from the testimony of Sam +Weller, who tried to do Mrs. Bardell's side all possible +harm yet say as little about his master as he +could, and who kept the court room in a roar of +laughter with his sallies.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to tell me, Mr. Weller," said Sergeant +Buzfuz finally, "that you saw nothing of +Mrs. Bardell's fainting in the arms of Mr. Pickwick? +Have you a pair of eyes, Mr. Weller?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I <i>have</i> a pair of eyes," replied Sam, "and +that's just it. If they was a pair o' +patent-double-million-magnifyin'-gas-miscroscopes of hextra +power, p'r'aps I might be able to see through a +flight o' stairs and a deal door; but bein' only eyes, +you see, my wision's limited." Sergeant Buzfuz +could make nothing out of Sam, and so the case for +Mrs. Bardell closed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick's lawyer made a long speech in +his favor, but it was of no use. The evidence +seemed all against him. The jury found him guilty +of breach of promise of marriage, and sentenced +him to pay Mrs. Bardell her damages.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick was speechless with indignation. +He vowed that not one penny would he ever pay if +he spent the rest of his life in a jail. His own lawyer +warned him that if he did not pay within two +months, Mrs. Bardell's lawyers could put him into +the debtors' prison, but Mr. Pickwick prepared to +start on another excursion with his three friends, +still declaring that he would never pay.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>VII</big><br /> +<br /> +WINKLE HAS AN EXCITING ADVENTURE WITH MR.<br /> +DOWLER, AND WITH THE AID OF MR. PICKWICK<br /> +AND SAM WELLER DISCOVERS<br /> +THE WHEREABOUTS OF MISS<br /> +ARABELLA ALLEN</h3> + +<p>At Bath, a resort very popular with people of +fashion, the Pickwickians decided to spend the +next two months, and started by coach at once, accompanied +by Sam Weller. On the coach they fell +in with a fierce-looking, abrupt gentleman named +Dowler, with a bald, glossy forehead and large +black whiskers, who introduced them to the society +of Bath, particularly to Mr. Angelo Cyrus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +Bantam, master of ceremonies at the famous Assembly-Room, +where the fashionable balls were +held. Mr. Bantam carried a gold eye-glass, a gold +snuff-box, gold rings on his finger, a gold watch +in his waistcoat pocket, a gold chain and an ebony +cane with a gold head. His linen was the whitest, +his wig the blackest, and his teeth were so fine that +it was hard to tell the real ones from the false ones.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bantam made the Pickwickians welcome +and in three days' time they were settled in a fine +house, where Mr. and Mrs. Dowler also lodged. +Mr. Pickwick passed his days in drinking the +spring-water for which Bath was famous, and in +walking; his evenings he spent at the Assembly +balls, at the theater or in making entries in his +journal.</p> + +<p>One evening Mrs. Dowler was carried off to a +party in her sedan-chair, leaving her husband to +sit up for her. The Pickwickians had long since +gone to bed, and Mr. Dowler fell fast asleep while +he waited. It was a very windy night and the sedan-carriers, +who brought the lady home, knocked +in vain at the door. Mr. Dowler did not wake, +though they knocked like an insane postman.</p> + +<p>At length Winkle in his own room was roused +by the racket. He donned slippers and dressing-gown, +hurried down stairs half asleep and opened +the door. At the glare of the torches he jumped to +the conclusion that the house was on fire and rushed +outside, when the door blew shut behind him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> + +<p>Seeing a lady's face at the window of the sedan-chair, +he turned and knocked at the door frantically, +but with no response. He was undressed and +the wind blew his dressing-gown in a most unpleasant +manner. "There are people coming down the +street now. There are ladies with 'em; cover me +up with something! Stand before me!" roared +Winkle, but the chairmen only laughed. The +ladies were nearer and in desperation he bolted +into the sedan-chair where Mrs. Dowler was.</p> + +<p>Now Mr. Dowler, a moment before, had +bounced off the bed, and now threw open the window +just in time to see this. He thought his wife +was running away with another man, and seizing a +supper knife, the indignant husband tore into the +street, shouting furiously.</p> + +<p>Winkle, hearing his horrible threats, did not +wait. He leaped out of the sedan-chair and took to +his heels, hotly pursued by Dowler. He dodged +his pursuer at length, rushed back, slammed the +door in Dowler's face, gained his bedroom, barricaded +his door with furniture and packed his belongings. +At the first streak of dawn, he slipped +out and took coach for Bristol.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick was greatly vexed over Winkle's +unheroic flight. Sam Weller soon discovered +where he had gone, and Mr. Pickwick sent him +after the fugitive, bidding him find Winkle and +either compel him to return or keep him in sight +until Mr. Pickwick himself could follow.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>Winkle, meanwhile, walking about the Bristol +streets, chanced to stop at a doctor's office to make +some inquiries, and in a young medical gentleman +in green spectacles recognized, to his huge surprise, +Bob Sawyer, the bosom friend of Ben Allen, +both of whom he had met on Christmas Day at +Dingley Dell. Bob, in delight, dragged Winkle +into the back room where sat Ben Allen, amusing +himself by boring holes in the chimney piece with +a red-hot poker.</p> + +<p>The precious couple had, in fact, set up shop together, +and were using every trick they knew to +make people think them great doctors with a tremendous +practice. They insisted on Winkle's staying +to supper, and it was lucky he did so, for he +heard news of Arabella, the pretty girl who had +worn the little boots with fur around the top at +Dingley Dell, and with whom he had fallen in +love. He learned that Arabella had scorned the +sprightly Bob Sawyer, and that her brother, in +anger, had taken her away from Mr. Wardle's and +put her in the house of an old aunt—a dull, close +place not far from Bristol. Before he bade them +good night, Winkle had determined to find her.</p> + +<p>He met with a shock, on returning to his inn, +to come suddenly upon Dowler sitting in the coffee-room. +Winkle drew back, very pale, and was +greatly surprised to see the bloodthirsty Dowler +do likewise as, growing even paler than Winkle, he +began an apology for his action of the evening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +before. As a matter of fact, Dowler had run away +from Bath, too, at dawn, in fear of Winkle, and +thought now the latter had pursued him. Winkle, +suspecting this, put on a look of great fierceness +but accepted the apology, and the pair shook +hands.</p> + +<p>Winkle's plan for finding Arabella Allen met +now with a set-back. Sam Weller arrived at midnight +and insisted that Winkle be waked at once. +Once in his room, Sam told him Mr. Pickwick's +instructions and declared he would not leave his +sight till Winkle came back with him to Bath. This +was awkward, but luckily, Mr. Pickwick himself, +to whom Sam wrote, arrived next day and released +his follower.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick approved of Winkle's determination +to find the pretty Arabella, and so the next +morning Sam Weller was sent on a voyage of discovery +among the servants of the town. For many +hours Sam searched in vain without a clue.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon he sat in a lane running between +rows of gardens in one of the suburbs, when +a gate opened and a maid-servant came out to +shake some carpets. Sam gallantly rose to help +her, when she uttered a half-suppressed scream. +It was Mary, the good-looking housemaid whom +Sam had kissed at the house of Nupkins, the mayor +of Ipswich, on the day of the arrest of the Pickwickians +and the exposure of Jingle. She had left +her place there for this new situation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Sam had finished his gallant speeches and +Mary her blushing, he told her of Winkle's search. +What was his surprise when she told him that +Arabella was living the very next door. She let +Sam come into the garden, and presently when +Arabella came out to walk, he scrambled on to the +wall and pleaded Winkle's cause.</p> + +<p>"Ve thought ve should ha' been obliged to straitveskit +him last night," he declared. "He's been +a-ravin' all day; and he says if he can't see you +afore to-morrow night's over, he vishes he may be +somethin'-unpleasanted if he don't drownd hisself."</p> + +<p>Arabella, in great distress at this prospect, promised +she would be in the garden next evening, and +Sam returned with the news to Mr. Pickwick and +Winkle.</p> + +<p>The next evening all three set out for the spot. +Mary let them into the garden and, while Winkle +climbed the wall to throw himself at Arabella's +feet, Mr. Pickwick kept guard at the gate with a +dark lantern. So far he threw its beam that a +scientific gentleman who lived a few houses away, +seeing the light from his window, took it for some +new and wonderful freak of electricity and came +out to investigate.</p> + +<p>Before he arrived, however, Winkle had scrambled +back over the wall and Arabella had run into +the house. Seeing the scientific gentleman's head +poked out of a garden-gate as they passed, Sam<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +gave it a gentle tap with his fist and then, hoisting +Mr. Pickwick on his back, and followed by +Winkle, he ran off at full speed, leaving the scientific +gentleman to go back to his room and write +a long article about the wonderful light and to tell +how he had received a shock of electricity which +left him stunned for a quarter of an hour afterward.</p> + +<p>The Pickwickians' stay at Bath came to an end +soon after this adventure, and their leader, with +Sam Weller, returned to London.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>VIII</big><br /> +<br /> +MR. PICKWICK'S EXPERIENCES IN THE DEBTORS'<br /> +PRISON, WHERE HE FINDS AN OLD ENEMY<br /> +AND HEAPS COALS OF FIRE ON THE<br /> +HEAD OF MRS. BARDELL</h3> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick had not been long in London +when his lawyer's warning proved too true. One +morning a bailiff forced his way to his bedroom +and, since he had not paid the damages to Mrs. +Bardell, arrested him in bed, waited till he was +dressed and carried him off to the debtors' prison.</p> + +<p>The prison was called The Fleet. It was a +gloomy building with a heavy gate, guarded by a +turnkey, holding all classes, from laboring men +to broken-down spendthrifts. Its filthy galleries, +and low coffee-room reeked with tobacco smoke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +and its open court was noisy with the oaths of card-players. +In some of the rooms lived men with their +wives and whole families of children, and Mr. +Pickwick found he would have to pay extra even +to have a room to himself.</p> + +<p>Caged with this coarse, vulgar crowd, Mr. Pickwick +suffered greatly, but no idea of paying the unjust +damages entered his mind. Instead, he busied +himself with wandering about the prison and +learning all he could of its customs and inmates. +Those who, like himself, had money were well-treated. +Those who had none lived in starvation +and wretchedness. In one wall was a kind of iron +cage, within which was posted a lean and hungry +prisoner who rattled a money-box and called out: +"Remember the poor debtors!" The money he +collected from passers-by in the street was divided +and bought food for the poorest.</p> + +<p>As Mr. Pickwick entered the room given over to +the latter class, he started. In one of its occupants, +clad in tattered garments and yellow shirt, pinched +with starvation and pale with illness, he saw Alfred +Jingle; and near him, faithful still in rags +and dirt, was Job Trotter.</p> + +<p>Jingle was no longer jaunty and impudent. He +had pawned all his belongings; had lived, in fact, +for the last week on a silk umbrella with an ivory +handle. His smile now was a mere twitch of the +face as he said: "Nothing soon—starve—die—workhouse +funeral—serve him right—all over—drop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +the curtain!" Unable, however, to keep up +this make-believe recklessness, Jingle sat down +at length and sobbed like a child.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick was greatly moved at the sight, +and gave Job some money for his master as he +turned away.</p> + +<p>Sam Weller had come with Mr. Pickwick to +the prison. The latter, however, told his servant +he must now leave him, though his wages would go +on as usual. Sam pretended to agree, but lost no +time in going to his father with a plan by which he, +too, should be sent to the Fleet Prison for debt, so +as to be near his master. He borrowed some money +from the old stage-driver, and then when he refused +to pay it, his father had him arrested and sent +to the prison as he wished. Old Tony Weller and +all his friends went with him, and gave him three +tremendous cheers at the door. When Mr. Pickwick +saw Sam return and learned what he had +done, he was much affected at the devotion of this +faithful servant and felt himself more fond of him +than ever.</p> + +<p>It was a long time before Winkle, Tupman and +Snodgrass learned of their leader's imprisonment +and came to see him. Sam also had visitors in the +person of his mother-in-law (who, of course, did +not know he had brought about his own arrest) +and the hypocritical, red-nosed preacher who came +with her to lecture him on his evil ways.</p> + +<p>Old Tony Weller came, too, with a plan that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +he had thought of for Mr. Pickwick's escape in a +piano.</p> + +<p>"It'll hold him easy," he whispered, "with his +hat and shoes on, and breathe through the legs, +vich is holler. Have a passage ready taken for +'Mericker. The 'Merikin gov'ment will never give +him up when they finds as he's got money to +spend, Sammy. Let him stop there till Mrs. Bardell's +dead, then let him come back and write +a book about the 'Merikins as'll pay all his expenses +and more if he blows 'em up enough."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Pickwick did not avail himself of this +plan to escape to America. Day by day he wandered +about the prison, learning its tales of misery +and hopelessness, till his head and his heart ached +and he could bear no more. For three months he +remained there, shut up all day, stealing from his +room only at night, and no entreaties would induce +him to pay the money which was keeping him a +prisoner.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bardell's lawyers meanwhile grew impatient. +They had not been paid even the costs of +the trial, and these Mrs. Bardell had agreed to pay +if they won the suit. As Mr. Pickwick had not +paid the damages, however, she had no money, and +so the lawyers at last had her arrested, and she, too, +was sent to the Fleet Prison. After a few hours +there, Mrs. Bardell was willing to do anything to +escape, and she agreed if Mr. Pickwick paid the +costs, to release him from the damages.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick was still so indignant that he +would possibly not have consented, but at this juncture +Winkle entered, leading by the hand the +beautiful girl who had been Arabella Allen, but +whom he introduced now as Mrs. Winkle. He +had run away with her from the old aunt's house, +with the help of Mary, the pretty housemaid, and +they had been married without the knowledge of +Winkle's father. They had come to Mr. Pickwick +to beg him to go and plead with old Mr. Winkle +for forgiveness.</p> + +<p>Arabella's tears and Winkle's plight proved too +much for Mr. Pickwick's resolution. He paid Mrs. +Bardell's costs and left Fleet Prison that very day, +with Sam Weller, whose father, of course, immediately +released him also.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IX</big><br /> +<br /> +SNODGRASS GETS INTO DIFFICULTIES, BUT WINS<br /> +HIS LADY-LOVE. THE ADVENTURES OF THE<br /> +PICKWICKIANS COME TO AN END</h3> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick journeyed first to Bristol, to break +the news of Arabella's marriage to her brother, +Ben Allen. The latter was angry at first, but finally +he and Bob Sawyer shook hands with the visitor +and agreed to treasure no ill-feeling.</p> + +<p>Both the young gentlemen insisted on going with +Mr. Pickwick to the Winkle homestead—a circumstance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +which did not make that visit an easy +one. Arabella's brother went fast asleep in the parlor +while they waited, and when Bob Sawyer +pinched him, as the old gentleman entered, he +awoke with a shriek without the least idea where +he was.</p> + +<p>This was most embarrassing to Mr. Pickwick, +but he said all he could for Winkle. The old +gentleman, however, would send no message to +his son, and Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller returned +with disappointment.</p> + +<p>In London Sam found a letter awaiting him +from his father. His mother-in-law was dead and +the public house and its earnings were now the old +stage-driver's. Sam went to see old Tony and found +him terrified. All the widows in town were setting +their caps for him and he was afraid one of them +would succeed in marrying him. He had determined +to sell out the business, give the money to +Mr. Pickwick to invest for him, and keep to stage-driving +so as to be safe.</p> + +<p>While Sam sat with his father talking matters +over, the red-nosed preacher came sidling in to inquire +whether Mrs. Weller's will had not left +some money for him. He felt so much at home +that he went to the cupboard and poured himself +out a big tumbler of his favorite pineapple rum. +This was more than old Tony Weller could stand. +He fell upon the old hypocrite, kicked him through +the door and ducked him in the horse trough.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick, meanwhile, had been arranging +to buy the release of Jingle and Job Trotter, and to +send them to the West Indies, where they might +have a chance to make an honest living. While +he was attending to this at his lawyer's, a prolonged +knock came at the door. It was Joe, Mr. Wardle's +fat boy, erect, but gone fast asleep between his +knocks.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wardle came up from his carriage, delighted +to see his old friend, of whose imprisonment +he had just heard. He told Mr. Pickwick +that his daughter Emily had fallen in love +with Snodgrass, and that, discovering it, he had +brought her to London to ask the advice of Mr. +Pickwick in the matter. While they talked he sent +the fat boy back to the inn to tell Emily that Mr. +Pickwick would dine there with them.</p> + +<p>The fat boy went on this errand, and coming +suddenly into the inn sitting-room, discovered +Emily, with her waist encircled with Snodgrass's +arm while Arabella and her pretty housemaid +were obligingly looking out of the window. There +was but one thing to do: they bribed the fat boy +not to tell!</p> + +<p>Snodgrass, unluckily, stayed too long. As he +was leaving, he heard Mr. Wardle, with Mr. Pickwick +and Winkle, coming up the stair. He was +obliged to retreat, and took refuge in Mr. Wardle's +bedroom, from which there was no escape, save +through the dining-room.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<p>The dinner hour was a painful one to Emily, +for the fat boy's secret kept him awake, and he +winked at her and at Arabella so often that Mr. +Wardle noticed it. The latter sent him into the +bedroom finally for his snuff-box and he came out +very pale, Mr. Snodgrass having seized him there, +and begged him to tell some one secretly to release +him.</p> + +<p>Accordingly the fat boy made desperate efforts +to attract Mr. Pickwick's attention—first by making +faces at him when he thought no one else was +looking and finally by running a pin into his leg. +But this did not have the desired results. Mr. Pickwick +concluded he was crazy, and Mr. Wardle was +about to have him taken down stairs, when into the +confusion, with a very red face, walked Snodgrass, +out of the bedroom. He explained his presence +there, declared his love for Emily, was forgiven +on the spot and joined the dinner.</p> + +<p>The happiness of all was complete when old +Mr. Winkle arrived (having made up his mind +to see his son's wife and judge for himself) and +found Arabella so sweet that he kissed her and forgave +Winkle on the instant.</p> + +<p>Thus the last adventure of the Pickwickians +ended happily. Mr. Pickwick had seen, before this, +that the marriage of his companions would change +his own life. He withdrew his name from the Pickwick +Club (which thereupon went to pieces), and +purchased a house near London for the entertainment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +of his friends, and there a few days later Snodgrass +and Emily were married in the presence of +Mr. Wardle and all the Pickwickians.</p> + +<p>After the wedding, Snodgrass bought a farm +near Dingley Dell where, with Emily, he lived +many years, and was always accounted a great poet +on account of his pensive and absent-minded manner. +Winkle, with Arabella, settled a half-mile +from Mr. Pickwick. Tupman never again fell in +love, though for years his romantic air made him +the admiration of numerous single ladies of the +neighborhood.</p> + +<p>Ben Allen and Bob Sawyer went to India as surgeons +where (after having had yellow fever fourteen +times) they became teetotalers and thereafter +did well. Mrs. Bardell continued to let lodgings +to single gentlemen, but never had another breach +of promise suit. Old Tony Weller finally gave up +business and retired to live on the interest of the +money Mr. Pickwick had invested for him, having, +to the end of his life, a great dislike for +widows. His son, Sam, remaining faithful to his +master, Mr. Pickwick at length made Mary, the +pretty maid, his housekeeper, on condition that +she marry Sam, which she did at once.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pickwick lived happily, occupied in writing +his adventures and in acting as godfather to +the children of Snodgrass and Winkle. He never +regretted what he had done for Jingle and Job +Trotter, who became in time worthy members of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +society. He was a favorite with all and the children +loved him. Every year he went to Mr. Wardle's +to a large merrymaking, attended by his faithful +Sam Weller, between whom and his master there +was a regard that nothing but death could end. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> +<h2>LITTLE DORRIT</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1855–1857</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London and Various Places on the Continent</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1827 to 1830</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Dorrit</td><td align="right">An inmate of the debtors' prison</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Known as "The Father of the Marshalsea." Later a<br />wealthy man of the world</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Little Dorrit"</td><td align="right">His daughter Amy</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fanny</td><td align="right">His older daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Tip"</td><td align="right">His son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. General</td><td align="right">His daughters' chaperon</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Arthur Clennam</td><td align="right">Little Dorrit's champion</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Clennam</td><td align="right">His father</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Clennam</td><td align="right">His supposed mother</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Flintwinch</td><td align="right">A family servant</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later Mrs. Clennam's partner in business</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Affery</td><td align="right">His wife, and Mrs. Clennam's servant</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pancks</td><td align="right">A rent collector. Little Dorrit's friend</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John Chivery</td><td align="right">The son of one of the prison turnkeys</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Little Dorrit's suitor</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Maggy</td><td align="right">A half-witted woman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Doyce</td><td align="right">An inventor. Arthur's partner in business</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rigaud</td><td align="right">A blackmailing adventurer and jailbird</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Tite Barnacle</td><td align="right">A self-important official in the<br />"Circumlocution Office"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Merdle</td><td align="right">A supposedly wealthy man of affairs in<br />London</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Merdle</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Meagles</td><td align="right">A business man. Arthur's friend</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Meagles</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Pet"</td><td align="right">Their daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Tattycoram"</td><td align="right">Pet's maid</td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="LITTLE_DORRIT" id="LITTLE_DORRIT"></a>LITTLE DORRIT</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +HOW ARTHUR CAME HOME FROM CHINA</h3> + +<p>A long, long time ago there lived in London a +young man named Clennam. He was an orphan, +and was brought up by a stern uncle, who crushed +and repressed his youth and finally forced him to +marry a cold, unfeeling, stubborn woman whom he +did not in the least love.</p> + +<p>Some time before this marriage, the nephew had +met a beautiful young woman, also an orphan, +whom a rich man named Dorrit was educating to +be a singer, since she had a remarkable voice. +Clennam had fallen in love with her and had persuaded +her to give him all her love in return. +There had even been a kind of ceremony of marriage +between them.</p> + +<p>But they were both very poor and could not +really marry for fear of the anger of Clennam's +cruel uncle, who finally compelled his nephew to +marry the other woman, whom he had picked out +for him. And the singer, because she loved him +and could not bear to see him made a beggar, gave +him up. So Clennam married one woman while +loving another, and this, as all wrong things must +do, resulted in unhappiness for them both.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + +<p>The singer had given him a little silk watch-paper +worked in beads with the initials D. N. F. +These letters stood for the words, "Do Not Forget."</p> + +<p>The wife saw the paper with her husband's +watch in his secret drawer and wondered what it +meant. One day she found an old letter, that had +passed between her husband and the singer, which +explained the initials and betrayed the secret of +their love.</p> + +<p>She was hard and unforgiving. Though she had +never loved Clennam herself, her anger was terrible. +She went to the singer, and under threat of +for ever disgracing her in the eyes of the world, +she made her give up to her her baby boy, Arthur, +to rear as her own. She promised, in return, that +the little Arthur should be provided for and should +never know the real history of his parentage. She +also compelled her husband and the singer to take +an oath that neither would ever see or communicate +with the other again.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Clennam, in taking this terrible revenge, +cheated herself into believing that she was only the +instrument of God, carrying out His will and punishment. +But in reality she was satisfying the rage +and hatred of her own heart. Year by year she +nursed this rage in the gloomy house in which +Clennam lived and where he carried on the London +branch of his business.</p> + +<p>It was an old brick house separated from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +street by a rusty courtyard. It seemed to have +once been about to slide down sidewise, but had +been propped up as though it leaned on some half-dozen +gigantic crutches. Inside it was dark and +miserable, with sunken floors and blackened furniture. +In a corner of the sitting-room was an +ugly old clock that was wound once a week with +an iron handle, and on the walls were pictures +showing the "Plagues of Egypt." The only pleasure +the grim woman enjoyed was reading aloud +from those parts of the Old Testament which call +for dreadful punishments to fall upon all the enemies +of the righteous, and in these passages she +gloried.</p> + +<p>In this melancholy place the boy Arthur Clennam +grew up in silence and in dread, wondering +much why they lived so lonely and why his father +and mother (for so he thought Mrs. Clennam to +be) sat always so silent with faces turned from +each other.</p> + +<p>There were but two servants, an old woman +named Affery, and Flintwinch, her husband, a +short, bald man, who was both clerk and footman, +and who carried his head awry and walked in a +one-sided crab-like way, as though he were falling +and needed propping up like the house. Flintwinch +was cunning and without conscience. Very +few secrets his mistress had which he did not +know, and they often quarreled.</p> + +<p>At length the uncle, who had compelled the unhappy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +marriage of Arthur's father, died. Feeling +sorry at the last for the wretched singer, whose life +had been ruined, he left her in his will a sum of +money, and another sum to the youngest niece of +the man who had befriended and educated her—Mr. +Dorrit.</p> + +<p>This money, however, Mrs. Clennam did not +intend either the woman she hated or the niece of +her patron should get. She hid the part of the +will which referred to it, and made Flintwinch +(who, beside her husband, was the only one who +knew of it) promise not to tell. Arthur's father +she compelled to sail to China, to take charge of +the branch of his business in that country, and +when Arthur was old enough, she sent him there +also.</p> + +<p>For twenty years, while Arthur stayed with his +father on the other side of the world, Mrs. Clennam, +cold and unforgiving as ever, lived on in the +old, tumbling house, carrying on the London business +with the aid of Flintwinch.</p> + +<p>The poor, forsaken singer lost her mind and at +last died. Mr. Dorrit, of course, knowing nothing +about the hidden will, could not claim his +share, and the guilty secret remained (except for +Arthur's unhappy father) in possession of only +Mrs. Clennam and the crafty Flintwinch.</p> + +<p>So the years rolled by, and Mrs. Clennam's cold +gray eyes grew colder, her gray hair grayer and +her face more hard and stony. She went out less<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +and less, and finally paralysis made her keep to her +room and her chair.</p> + +<p>The time came when Arthur's father lay dying +with his son beside him. On his death-bed he did +not forget the money which had never been restored. +He had not strength to write, but with his +dying hand he gave Arthur his watch, making him +promise to take it back to England to the wife +whose anger and hatred still lived. The watch +still held the little paper with the bead initials that +stood for "Do not forget," and he meant thus to +remind her of the wrong which was still unrighted.</p> + +<p>Many times thereafter, on his way back to London, +Arthur thought of his father's strange manner +and wondered if it could be that some wrong +deed lay on his conscience. This idea clung to +him, so that when he saw Mrs. Clennam again +on his arrival, and spoke to her of his father's last +hours, he asked her if she thought this might be +so. But at this her anger rose; she upbraided +him and declared if he ever referred again to the +subject she would renounce him as her son and cast +him off for ever.</p> + +<p>It was her guilty conscience, of course, that +caused this burst of rage. And yet, just because it +was not for the money's sake that she had done +that evil act, but because she so hated the woman +to whom it should have been given, she tried +to convince herself that she had acted rightly, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +the instrument of God, to punish wickedness. She +had told herself this falsehood over and over again +so often that she had ended by quite believing it +to be the truth.</p> + +<p>Arthur said no more to her about the matter. +He was a man now, and his father's death had +made him master of a very considerable fortune. +He decided that he would not carry on the business, +but would make a new one for himself. +This resolution angered Mrs. Clennam greatly, +but she grimly determined to carry it on herself, +and in Arthur's place took the wily Flintwinch +as her partner and told Arthur coldly to go his +own way.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +THE CHILD OF THE MARSHALSEA</h3> + +<p>On the first night of his return to the house of +his childhood Arthur had noticed there a little +seamstress, with pale, transparent face, hazel eyes +and a figure as small as a child's. She wore a +spare thin dress, spoke little, and passed through +the rooms noiselessly and shy. They called her +"Little Dorrit." She came in the morning and +sewed quietly till nightfall, when she vanished. It +had been so rare in the old days for any one to +please the mistress of that gloomy house that the +little creature's presence there interested Arthur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +greatly and he longed to know something of her +history.</p> + +<p>He soon found there was nothing to be learned +from Flintwinch, and so one night he followed +Little Dorrit when she left the house. To his +great surprise he saw her finally enter a great bare +building surrounded with spiked walls and called +The Marshalsea.</p> + +<p>This was a famous prison where debtors were +kept. In those days the law not only permitted a +man to be put in jail for debt, but compelled him +to stay there till all he owed was paid—a strange +custom, since while he was in jail he was unable to +earn any money to pay with. In fact, in many +cases poor debtors had to stay there all their +lives.</p> + +<p>Inside the walls of the Marshalsea the wives +and children of unfortunate prisoners were allowed +to come to live with them just as in a boarding-house +or hotel, but the debtors themselves +could never pass out of the gate. Arthur entered +the prison ignorant of its rules and so stayed too +long, for presently the bell for closing rang, the +gates were shut, and he had to stay inside all night. +This was not so pleasant, but it gave him a chance +easily to find out all he wished to learn of Little +Dorrit's history.</p> + +<p>Her father, before she was born, had lost all his +money through a business failure, and had thus +been thrown into the Marshalsea. There Amy, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +Little Dorrit, as they came to call her, was born; +there her mother had languished away, and there +she herself had always lived, mothering her pretty +frivolous sister Fanny, and her lazy, ne'er-do-well +brother, "Tip."</p> + +<p>Her father had been an inmate of the prison so +many years that he was called "The Father of the +Marshalsea." From being a haughty man of +wealth, he had become a shabby old white-haired +dignitary with a soft manner, who took little gifts +of money which any one gave him half-shame-facedly +and to the mortification of Little Dorrit +alone.</p> + +<p>The child had grown up the favorite of the turnkeys +and of all the prison, calling the high, blank +walls "home." When she was a little slip of a girl +she had her sister and brother sent to night-school +for a time, and later taught herself fine sewing, so +that at the time Arthur Clennam returned to London +she was working every day outside the walls, +for small wages. Each night she returned to the +prison to prepare her father's supper, bringing +him whatever she could hide from her own dinner +at the house where she sewed, loving him devotedly +through all.</p> + +<p>She even had a would-be lover, too. The son of +one of the turnkeys, a young man with weak legs +and weak, light hair, soft-hearted and soft-headed, +had long pursued her in vain. He was now +engaged in seeking comfort for his hopeless love<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +by composing epitaphs for his own tombstone, +such as:</p> + +<div class="signbox" style="width: 18em;"><p class="signbig"> + <small>Here Lie the Mortal Remains of</small><br /> + <big>JOHN CHIVERY</big><br /> + <small> Never Anything Worth Mentioning<br /> +Who Died of a Broken Heart, Requesting With<br /> + His Last Breath that the Word</small><br /> + <big>AMY</big><br /> + <small> Might be Inscribed Over His Ashes<br /> + Which Was Done by His Afflicted Parents</small></p></div> + +<p>Old Mr. Dorrit held his position among the +Marshalsea prisoners with great fancied dignity +and received all visitors and new-comers in his +room like a man of society at home. During that +evening Arthur called on him and treated the old +man so courteously and talked to Little Dorrit +with such kindness that she began to love him from +that moment.</p> + +<p>Many things of Little Dorrit's pathetic story +Arthur learned that night. His first surprise at +finding her in the Clennam house mingled strangely +with his old thought that his father on his death-bed +seemed to be troubled by some remorseful +memory; and as he slept in the gloomy prison he +dreamed that the little seamstress was in some +mysterious way mingled with this wrong and remorse.</p> + +<p>There was more truth than fancy in this dream. +Not knowing the true history of his parentage, and +wholly ignorant of the sad life and death of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +poor singer, his own unhappy mother, Arthur had +never heard the name Dorrit. He did not know, +to be sure, that it was the name of the wealthy +patron who had once educated her. As a matter +of fact, this patron had been Little Dorrit's own +uncle, who now was living in poverty. It was to +his youngest niece that the will Mrs. Clennam had +wickedly hidden declared the money should go. +And as Little Dorrit was this niece, it rightfully +belonged to her. The real reason of Mrs. Clennam's +apparent kindness to Little Dorrit was the +pricking of her conscience, which gave her no rest.</p> + +<p>But all this Arthur could not guess. Nevertheless, +he had gained such an interest in the little +seamstress that next day he determined to find +out all he could about her father's unfortunate +affairs.</p> + +<p>He had great difficulty in this. The Government +had taken charge of old Mr. Dorrit's debts, +and his affairs were in the hands of a department +which some people sneeringly called the "Circumlocution +Office"—because it took so much time and +talk for it to accomplish anything. This department +had a great many clerks, every one of whom +seemed to have nothing to do but to keep people +from troubling them by finding out anything.</p> + +<p>Arthur went to one clerk, who sent him to a Mr. +Tite Barnacle, a fat, pompous man with a big +collar, a big watch chain and stiff boots. Mr. Barnacle +treated him quite as an outsider and would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +give him no information whatever. Then he +tried another department, where they said they +knew nothing of the matter. Still a third advised +him not to bother about it. So at last he had to give +up, quite discouraged.</p> + +<p>Though he could do nothing for Little Dorrit's +father, Arthur did what he could for her lazy +brother. He paid his debts so that he was released +from the Marshalsea, and this kindness, +though Tip himself was ungrateful to the last degree, +endeared him still more to Little Dorrit, +who needed his friendship so greatly.</p> + +<p>The night her brother was released she came to +Arthur to thank him—alone save for a half-witted +woman named Maggie, who believed she herself +was only ten years old, and called Little Dorrit +"Little Mother," and who used to go with her +when she went through the streets at night. Little +Dorrit was dressed so thinly and looked so slight +and helpless that when she left, Arthur felt as if he +would like to take her up in his arms and carry +her home again.</p> + +<p>It would have been better if he had. For when +they got back to the Marshalsea the prison gates +had closed for the night and they had to stay out +till morning. They wandered in the cold street +till nearly dawn; then a kind-hearted sexton +who was opening a church let them come in +and made Little Dorrit a bed of pew cushions, and +there she slept a while with a big church-book for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +a pillow. Arthur did not know of this adventure +till long afterward, for Little Dorrit would not +tell him for fear he should blame himself for +letting them go home alone.</p> + +<p>Little Dorrit had one other valuable friend beside +Arthur at this time. This was a rent collector +named Pancks, who was really kind-hearted, but +who was compelled to squeeze rent money out of +the poor by his master. The latter looked so good +and benevolent that people called him "The +Patriarch," but he was at heart a genuine skinflint, +for whose meanness Pancks got all the credit. +Pancks was a short, wiry man, with a scrubby chin +and jet-black eyes, and when he walked or talked +he puffed and blew and snorted like a little steam-engine.</p> + +<p>Little Dorrit used sometimes to go to sew at the +house of "The Patriarch," and Pancks often saw +her there. One day he greatly surprised her by +asking to see the palm of her hand, and then he +pretended to read her fortune. He told her all +about herself (which astonished her, for she did +not know that he knew anything of her history), +and then, with many mysterious puffs and winks, +he told her she would finally be happy. After that +she seemed to meet Pancks wherever she went—at +Mrs. Clennam's and at the Marshalsea as well—but +at such meetings he would pretend not to know +her. Only sometimes, when no one else was near, +he would whisper:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 277px;"> +<a href="images/illus-3.png"><img src="images/illus-3tn.png" width="277" height="400" alt="" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">Arthur Clennam calling on Little Dorrit and her father at The Marshalsea +<br /> +<i>See page <a href="#Page_269">269</a></i></span> +</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm Pancks, the gipsy—fortune-telling."</p> + +<p>These strange actions puzzled Little Dorrit +very much. But she was far from guessing the +truth: that Pancks had for some time been interested +(as had Arthur Clennam) in finding out +how her father's affairs stood. He had discovered +thus, accidentally, that old Mr. Dorrit was probably +the heir at law to a great estate that had lain +for years forgotten, unclaimed and growing larger +all the time. The question now was to prove this, +and this, Pancks, out of friendship for Little Dorrit, +was busily trying to do.</p> + +<p>One day the rent-collector came to Arthur to +tell him that he had succeeded. The proof was +all found. Mr. Dorrit's right was clear; all he +had to do was to sign his name to a paper, and the +Marshalsea gates would open and he would be +free and a rich man.</p> + +<p>Arthur found Little Dorrit and told her the +glad tidings. They made her almost faint for joy, +although all her rejoicing was for her father. +Then he put her in a carriage and drove as fast +as possible with her to the prison to carry her +father the great news.</p> + +<p>Little Dorrit told the old man with her arms +around his neck, and as she clasped him, thinking +that she had never yet in her life known him as he +had once been, before his prison years, she cried:</p> + +<p>"I shall see him as I never saw him yet—my +dear love, with the dark cloud cleared away! I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +shall see him, as my poor mother saw him long +ago! O my dear, my dear! O father, father! O +thank God, thank God!"</p> + +<p>So "The Father of the Marshalsea" left the old +prison, in which he had lived so long, and all the +prisoners held a mass-meeting and gave him a farewell +address and a dinner.</p> + +<p>On the last day, when they drove away from the +iron gates, old Mr. Dorrit was in fine, new clothing, +and Tip and Fanny were clad in the height +of fashion. Poor Little Dorrit, in joy for her +father and grief at parting from Arthur (for they +were to go abroad at once), did not appear at the +last moment, and Arthur, who had come to see +them off, hastening to her room, found that she +had fainted away. He carried her gently down to +the carriage, and as he lifted her in, he saw she +had put on the same thin little dress that she had +worn on the day he had first seen her.</p> + +<p>So, amid cheers and good wishes, they drove +away, and Arthur, as he walked back through the +crowded streets, somehow felt very lonely.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +WHAT RICHES BROUGHT TO THE DORRITS</h3> + +<p>Great changes came to old Mr. Dorrit with his +money. As they traveled slowly through Switzerland +and into Italy, he put on greater dignity daily.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +He lived each day suspecting that every one was +in some way trying to slight him and grew very +much ashamed of his past years in the Marshalsea, +and forbade all mention of them. He hired a great +number of servants, and, to improve the manners +of Fanny and Little Dorrit, he employed a woman +named Mrs. General, who had many silly notions +of society.</p> + +<p>Little Dorrit could not even say "father" without +being reproved by Mrs. General. "Papa is +preferable, my dear," the lady would insist, "and, +besides, it gives a pretty form to the lips. Papa, potatoes, +poultry, prunes and prisms are all good +words for the lips. You will find it serviceable in +the formation of a demeanor, if you say to yourself +in company—on entering a room, for instance—'Papa, +potatoes, poultry, prunes and +prisms!'"</p> + +<p>Fanny and Tip were as spoiled as possible. +Fanny, morning and night, thought of nothing but +wearing costly dresses and "going into society," +and Tip did little but play cards and bet on +horse-races. Only Little Dorrit, through all, kept +her old sweet self unchanged.</p> + +<p>Wherever they went they lived in splendid +hotels. In Venice the palace they occupied was +six times as big as the whole Marshalsea. Mr. +Dorrit, when he remembered Arthur Clennam at +all, spoke of him as an upstart who had intruded +his presence upon them in their poverty, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +quickly forgot all his kindness and his efforts to +help and comfort them.</p> + +<p>But Little Dorrit never forgot. Her present +existence seemed a dream. She tried to care for +her father as she used to do, but he was afraid people +would think he had not been used to servants +(foolish man!) so she lost even the little pleasure +of her old prison life in the Marshalsea. There +were valets and maids now to do all the little +things she had once loved to do with her own +hands, and she seemed to be no longer of use to +him. She loved her father as dearly as she always +had, but now she had begun to feel that she could +never see him as he used to be before his prison +days, because first poverty and now wealth had +changed him. The old sad shadow came over her. +He grew angry at her and chid her, and hurt her. +It seemed he had entirely forgotten the old days +when she slaved so for him.</p> + +<p>Poor little Dorrit! She was far lonelier now +than she had ever been before in the debtors' prison—lonelier +and unhappier than Arthur Clennam in +London could have guessed. The gay, fashionable +life of her brother and sister did not attract her. +She was timid of joining in their gaieties. She +asked leave only to be left alone, and went about +the city in a gondola in a quiet, scared, lost manner. +It often seemed to her as if the Marshalsea +must be just behind the next big building, or Mrs. +Clennam's house, where she had first met Arthur,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +just around the next corner. And she used to look +into gondolas as they passed, as if she might see +Arthur any minute.</p> + +<p>In the days of their prison-poverty Fanny had +occasionally earned some money by dancing at a +theater. There she had met a silly, chuckle-headed +young man, the son of a Mrs. Merdle, and he had +been fascinated by her beauty. Now, in their +wealth, he saw Fanny again and fell even more +deeply in love with her. Mrs. Merdle was a cold-hearted, +artificial woman, who kept a parrot that +was always shrieking, and who thought of nothing +but riches and society. She would have refused +to let her son marry Fanny in the old days, but now +it was another matter. He proposed, and Fanny, +who had been made angry a thousand times by +Mrs. Merdle's insolence and patronizing ways, +made up her mind to marry him if only to take her +revenge on his mother.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Merdle's husband always stayed in London. +He was immensely rich—so rich that people +said everything he touched turned into gold. He +was a quiet, dull man, with dull red cheeks, and +cared nothing at all for society, though everybody +flattered and courted him.</p> + +<p>When old Mr. Dorrit saw Mrs. Merdle's son +was in love with Fanny he was greatly pleased. +He had by this time grown so selfish that he considered +much less her happiness than his own +profit, and he thought if they were married he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +could persuade Mr. Merdle to invest his own great +fortune for him, so that he would be even richer +than he was now. Mr. Merdle's name had been +growing bigger and bigger every day. Nobody believed +the great man could make a mistake, but +that he was going to keep on getting richer and +richer (though nobody knew how he did it) as +long as he lived.</p> + +<p>So, before long, Fanny married Mrs. Merdle's +son, and went back to London to take up life in +the magnificent Merdle mansion with her silly, +chuckle-headed husband. Mr. Merdle had got a +very rich position for him in the "Circumlocution +Office" with which Arthur Clennam had had so +much trouble once on a time.</p> + +<p>Old Mr. Dorrit went to London, too, and, as he +had schemed, gave the famous Mr. Merdle all his +fortune to invest. Then he returned to Italy, +where, in Rome, his faithful and lonely Little +Dorrit waited lovingly for him.</p> + +<p>On the night after he reached Rome Mrs. Merdle +gave a dinner party to a large company, and +Little Dorrit and her father attended.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the dinner he suddenly called +to her across the table. His voice was so loud and +excited that all the guests were frightened and rose +to their feet. Little Dorrit ran to him and put +her arms about him, for she saw at once that he +was not himself.</p> + +<p>He began to address the company, and his first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +words showed that his mind had failed. He imagined +he was still in the debtors' prison and that +all the rich people about him were the other poor +prisoners. He made them a speech, welcoming +them to its walls, thanking them in advance for +any money they might give to him as "The Father +of the Marshalsea." And he ended by calling for +the old turnkey he had known there to help him +up the narrow stair to bed, as he had been used +to do in the prison.</p> + +<p>Little Dorrit was not ashamed—she loved him +too much for that. Her only wish was to soothe +him, and with a pale, frightened face, she begged +him to come with her.</p> + +<p>They got him away at last and carried him to +his house. Once laid on his bed, he never rose +from it again. Nor did he regain his memory of +the immediate present. That, with its show and +its servants, its riches and power, in which Little +Dorrit had had so small a part, had faded out for +ever, and now his mind, back in the Marshalsea, +recognized his daughter as his only stay and faithful +comfort.</p> + +<p>It was well so, for this was the father she had +most loved.</p> + +<p>So she watched beside him day and night, while +every day his life grew weaker and weaker. Every +day the shadow of death stole deeper and deeper +over his face, until one morning, when the dawn +came, they saw that he would never wake again.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +WHAT HAPPENED TO ARTHUR CLENNAM</h3> + +<p>Arthur, meanwhile, had missed Little Dorrit +greatly. He was very friendly with a couple +named Meagles—a comely, healthy, good-humored +and kind-hearted pair, and he was so lonely +he almost thought himself in love with their +daughter "Pet" for a while. But Pet soon married +a portrait-painter and went to live abroad.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Meagles had a little orphan maid +whom they called "Tattycoram," for no particular +reason except that her first name had been Hattie, +and the name of the man who founded the asylum +where they found her was "Coram." Tattycoram +had a very bad temper, so that Mr. Meagles, when +he saw one of these fits coming on, used to stop +and say, "Count twenty-five, Tattycoram." And +Tattycoram would count twenty-five, and by that +time the fit of temper was over.</p> + +<p>But one day she had an attack that was very +much worse than usual—so much worse that she +couldn't wait to count twenty-five, and ran away. +And it was a long time before they saw Tattycoram +again.</p> + +<p>At Mr. Meagles's house Arthur met an inventor +named Doyce, a quiet, straightforward man, +whom he soon came to like. Doyce had made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +a useful invention and for twelve years had been +trying to bring it to the notice of the British Government. +But this matter, too, had to go through +the famous "Circumlocution Office," and so there +it had stuck just as Arthur's inquiry had done.</p> + +<p>Arthur having chosen no new business as yet, +before long proposed a partnership between himself +and Doyce. The latter agreed readily, and +the new firm was established. Soon after this +Doyce went abroad on business, leaving Arthur +to manage the affairs.</p> + +<p>All might have gone well but for the fame of +Mr. Merdle. His wealth seemed so enormous, +and his plans so sure, that many people throughout +England, just as old Mr. Dorrit had done, put +their money in his care. Even Pancks, the rent +collector, did so, and strongly advised Arthur to +do the same. Convinced by such advice Arthur +was unhappily led to invest the money of the new +firm in Merdle's schemes.</p> + +<p>One day soon after, Mr. Merdle, whom every +one had looked up to and respected, killed himself, +and then to every one's astonishment it was found +that his money was all gone, that his schemes were +all exploded, and that the famous man who had +dined and wined with the great was simply the +greatest forger and the greatest thief that had ever +cheated the gallows.</p> + +<p>But it was too late then. Arthur's firm was utterly +ruined with all the rest. What hurt him most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +was the knowledge that by using the firm's money +he had ruined his honest partner, Doyce.</p> + +<p>In order to set the latter as near right as he could, +Arthur turned over every cent of his own personal +fortune to pay as much of the firm's debt as it +would, keeping nothing of value but his clothes +and his books. Beside doing this, he wrote out a +statement, declaring that he, Arthur Clennam, had +of his own act and against his partner's express +caution, used the firm's money for this purpose, +and that he alone, and not Doyce, was to blame. +He declared also that his own share (if any remained +out of the wreck) should go to his partner, +and that he himself would work as a mere clerk, +at as small a salary as he could live on.</p> + +<p>He published this statement at once, unwisely +no doubt, when all London was so enraged against +Merdle and glad to have some one on whom to +vent its madness. In the public anger and excitement +the generosity of his act was lost sight of. A +few hours later a man who had invested some of +his money in Arthur's firm, and thus lost it, had +him arrested for debt, and that night he entered +the dismal iron gates of the Marshalsea prison, not +now as a visitor, but as one whom the pitiless bars +locked in from liberty.</p> + +<p>The turnkey took him up the old familiar staircase +and into the old familiar room in which he +had so often been. And as he sat down in its loneliness, +thinking of the fair, slight form that had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +dwelt in it so long, he turned his face to the wall +and sobbed aloud, "Oh, my Little Dorrit!"</p> + +<p>Wherever he looked he seemed to see her, and +just as she herself in a foreign country found herself +looking and listening for his step and voice, +so, too, it was with him.</p> + +<p>In the days that followed he thought of her all +the while. He was too depressed and too retiring +and unhappy to mingle with the other prisoners, +so he kept his own room and made no friends. The +rest disliked him and said he was proud or sullen.</p> + +<p>A burning, reckless mood soon added its sufferings +to his dread and hatred of the place. The +thought grew on him that he would in the end +break his heart and die there. He felt that he +was being stifled, and at times the longing to be +free made him believe he must go mad. A week of +this suffering found him in his bed in the grasp of +a slow, wasting fever. He felt light-headed and +delirious, and heard tunes playing that he knew +were only in his brain.</p> + +<p>One day when he had dragged himself to his +chair by the window, the door of his room seemed +to open to a quiet figure, which dropped a mantle +it wore; then it seemed to be Little Dorrit in her +old dress, and it seemed first to smile and then to +burst into tears.</p> + +<p>He roused himself, and all at once he saw that +it was no dream. She was really there, kneeling +by him now with her tears falling on his hands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +and her voice crying, "Oh, my best friend! Don't +let me see you weep! I am your own poor child +come back!"</p> + +<p>No one had told her he was ill, for she had just +returned from Italy. She made the room fresh +and neat, sewed a white curtain for its window, +and sent out for grapes, roast chicken and jellies, +and every good thing. She sat by him all day, +smoothing his hot pillow or giving him a cooling +drink.</p> + +<p>Though he had been strangely blind, he knew at +last that she must have loved him all along. And +to find her great heart turned to him thus in his +misfortune made him realize that during all those +months in the lonely prison he had been loving her, +too, though he had not known it.</p> + +<p>A feeling of peace came to him. Whenever he +opened his eyes he saw her at his side—the same +trusting Little Dorrit that he had always known.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>V</big><br /> +<br /> +"ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL"</h3> + +<p>All the while these things were happening, Mrs. +Clennam and Flintwinch had continued their +grim partnership.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Clennam at last decided to burn the part +of the will she had hidden, so that her share in the +wicked plan could never be found out. Flintwinch,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +however, wishing for his own purposes to +keep her in his power, deceived her. He cunningly +put in its place a worthless piece of paper, and this +Mrs. Clennam burned instead. Flintwinch then +locked up the real piece in an iron box, with a lot +of private letters that had been written by the poor +crazed singer to Mrs. Clennam, begging her forgiveness. +The box he gave to his brother, who +took it to Holland with him for safe-keeping.</p> + +<p>But Flintwinch, in this deception, overreached +himself.</p> + +<p>There was an adventurer in Holland named +Rigaud, who used to drink and smoke with this +brother. He was an oily villain, who had been +in jail in France on suspicion of having murdered +his wife. He had shaggy dry hair streaked with +red, and a thick mustache, and when he smiled +his eyes went close together, his mustache went up +under his hooked nose, and his nose came down +over his mustache. Rigaud saw the box, concluded +it contained something valuable, and made up his +mind to get it. His chance came when the brother +of Flintwinch died suddenly one day, and he lost +no time in making away with the iron box.</p> + +<p>By means of the letters it contained, he soon +guessed the secret which Mrs. Clennam had been +for so many years at such pains to conceal, and, +deciding that by this knowledge he could squeeze +money out of her, he came to London to find and +threaten her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> + +<p>But she, believing she had burned the part of +the will which Rigaud claimed to possess, refused +to listen to him, until at last, maddened by her refusals, +he searched out the Dorrits.</p> + +<p>He soon discovered that the man who had educated +the singer (Arthur's real mother) was Frederick +Dorrit, Little Dorrit's dead uncle, and that +it was Little Dorrit herself, since she was his +youngest niece, from whom the money was now +being unjustly kept.</p> + +<p>Rigaud easily found Little Dorrit, for she was +now in the Marshalsea nursing Arthur, where he +lay sick, and to her the cunning adventurer sent +a copy of the paper in a sealed packet, asking her, +if it was not reclaimed before the prison closed +that same night, to open and read it herself.</p> + +<p>He then went to the Clennam house, told Mrs. +Clennam and Flintwinch what he had done and +demanded money at once as the price of his reclaiming +the packet before Little Dorrit should +learn the secret it held.</p> + +<p>At this Flintwinch had to confess what he had +done, and Mrs. Clennam knew that the fatal paper +had not been burned, after all.</p> + +<p>The wretched woman, seeing this sharp end to +all her scheming, was almost distracted. She had +not walked a step for twelve years, but now her +excitement and frenzy gave her unnatural strength. +She rose from her invalid chair and ran with all +her speed from the house. Old Affery, the servant,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +followed her mistress, wringing her hands as she +tried vainly to overtake her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Clennam did not pause till she had reached +the prison and found Little Dorrit. She told her +to open the packet at once and to read what it +contained, and then, kneeling at her feet, she +promised to restore to her all she had withheld, +and begged her to forgive and to come back +with her to tell Rigaud that she already knew the +secret and that he might do his worst.</p> + +<p>Little Dorrit was greatly moved to see the stern, +gray-haired woman at her feet. She raised and +comforted her, assuring her that, come what +would, Arthur should never learn the truth from +her lips. This return of good for evil from the +one she had most injured brought the tears to the +hard woman's eyes. "God bless you," she said in +a broken voice.</p> + +<p>Side by side they hastened back to the Clennam +house, but as they reached the entrance of its dark +courtyard there came a sudden noise like thunder. +For one instant they saw the building, with the +insolent Rigaud waiting smoking in the window; +then the walls heaved, surged outward, opened and +fell into pieces. Its great pile of chimneys rocked, +broke and tumbled on the fragments, and only a +huge mass of timbers and stone, with a cloud of +dust hovering over it, marked the spot where it +had stood.</p> + +<p>The rotten old building, propped up so long,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +had fallen at last. For years old Affery had insisted +that the house was haunted. She had often +heard mysterious rustlings and noises, and in the +mornings sometimes she would find little heaps +of dust on the floors. Curious, crooked cracks +would appear, too, in the walls, and the doors +would stick with no apparent reason. These +things, of course, had been caused by the gradual +settling of the crazy walls and timbers, which now +finally had collapsed all at once.</p> + +<p>Frightened, they ran back to the street and there +Mrs. Clennam's strange strength left her, and she +fell in a heap upon the pavement.</p> + +<p>She never from that hour was able to speak a +word or move a finger. She lived for three years +in a wheel-chair, but she lived—and died—like +a statue.</p> + +<p>For two days workmen dug industriously in +the ruins before they found the body of Rigaud, +with his head smashed to atoms beneath a huge +beam.</p> + +<p>They dug longer than that for the body of Flintwinch, +and stopped at last when they came to the +conclusion that he was not there. By that time, +however, he had had a chance to get together all +of the firm's money he could lay his hands on and +to decamp. He was never seen again in England, +but travelers claimed to have seen him in Holland, +where he lived comfortably under the name of +"Mynheer Von Flyntevynge"—which is, after all,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +about as near as one can come to saying "Flintwinch" +in Dutch.</p> + +<p>No one grieved greatly over his loss. It was +long before Arthur knew of these events, and Little +Dorrit was too happy in nursing him back to +health to think much about it.</p> + +<p>She was not content with this, either, but wrote +to Mr. and Mrs. Meagles, who were abroad, of +the sick man's misfortune. The former went at +once in search of Doyce and brought him back to +London, where together they set the firm of +"Doyce and Clennam" on its feet again and arranged +to buy Arthur's liberty. They did not tell +Arthur anything of this, however, in order that +they might surprise him.</p> + +<p>Mr. Meagles, for Little Dorrit's sake, tried hard +to find the fragment of the will which Rigaud had +kept in the iron box. But it was Tattycoram, the +little maid with the bad temper, who finally found +it in a lodging Rigaud had occupied, and brought +it to Mr. Meagles, praying on her knees that he +take her back into his service, which, to be sure, he +was very glad to do.</p> + +<p>Arthur, while he was slowly growing better, had +thought much of his condition. Though Little +Dorrit had begged him again and again to take +her money and use it as his own, he had refused, +telling her as gently as he could that now that she +was rich and he a ruined man, this could never be, +and that, as the time had long gone by when she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +and the Marshalsea had anything in common, they +two must soon part.</p> + +<p>One day, however, when he was well enough +to sit up, Little Dorrit came to his room in the +prison and told him she had received a very +great fortune and asked him again if he would +not take it.</p> + +<p>"Never," he told her.</p> + +<p>"You will not take even half of it?" she asked +pleadingly.</p> + +<p>"Never, dear Little Dorrit!" he said emphatically.</p> + +<p>Then, at last, she laid her face on his breast +crying:</p> + +<p>"I have nothing in the world. I am as poor as +when I lived here in the Marshalsea. I have just +found that papa gave all we had to Mr. Merdle +and it is swept away with the rest. My great fortune +now is poverty, because it is all you will take. +Oh, my dearest and best, are you quite sure you +will not share my fortune with me now?"</p> + +<p>He had locked her in his arms, and his tears +were falling on her cheek as she said joyfully:</p> + +<p>"I never was rich before, or proud, or happy. +I would rather pass my life here in prison with +you, and work daily for my bread, than to have +the greatest fortune that ever was told and be the +greatest lady that ever was honored!"</p> + +<p>But Arthur's prison life was to be short. For +Mr. Meagles and Doyce burst upon them with all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +the other good news at once. Arthur was free, the +firm had been reëstablished with him at its head, +and to-morrow the debtors' prison would be only +a memory.</p> + +<p>Next morning, before they left the Marshalsea +for ever, Little Dorrit handed Arthur a folded +paper, and asked him to please her by putting it +into the fire with his own hand.</p> + +<p>"Is it a charm?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"It is anything you like best," she answered, +standing on tiptoe to kiss him. "Only say 'I love +you' as you do it!"</p> + +<p>He said it, and the paper burned away. And +so the will that had been the cause of so much pain +and wrong was turned to ashes. Little Dorrit kept +the promise she had made, and Arthur never +learned of the sin of which the woman he had +always called his mother had been guilty.</p> + +<p>Then, when all good-bys had been said, they +walked together to the very same church where +Little Dorrit had slept on the cushions the night +she had been locked out of the Marshalsea, and +there she and Arthur were married. Doyce gave +the bride away.</p> + +<p>And among the many who came to witness the +wedding were not only Pancks, and Maggie, the +half-witted woman, but even a group of Little +Dorrit's old turnkey friends from the prison—among +whom was the disconsolate Chivery, who +had so long solaced himself by composing epitaphs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +for his own tombstone, and who went home to +meditate over his last inscription:</p> + +<div class="signbox" style="width: 20em;"><p class="signbig"> + <small>STRANGER! Respect the Tomb of</small><br /> + <big>JOHN CHIVERY, JUNIOR</big><br /> +<small>Who Died at an Advanced Age not Necessary to<br /> + Mention. He Encountered His Rival and<br /> + Felt Inclined<br /> + <i>To Have a Round with Him;</i><br /> +But, for the Sake of the Loved One, Conquered<br /> + Those Feelings of Bitterness and Became</small><br /> + MAGNANIMOUS</p></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> +<h2>LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN +CHUZZLEWIT</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1843–1844</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London, Neighboring Towns, New York and the Mississippi Valley</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1842</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Martin Chuzzlewit</td><td align="right">A young gentleman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chuzzlewit</td><td align="right">His grandfather. A rich old man</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mary Graham</td><td align="right">Old Chuzzlewit's nurse and secretary</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Jonas</td><td align="right">His grasping nephew</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chuffey</td><td align="right">An aged clerk to Jonas's father</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pecksniff</td><td align="right">An architect and hypocrite</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">A distant relative of Old Chuzzlewit's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Charity</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mercy</td><td align="right">His daughter. Later, Jonas's wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tom Pinch</td><td align="right">A charity pupil of Pecksniff's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ruth</td><td align="right">His sister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John Westlock</td><td align="right">One of Pecksniff's former pupils</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mark Tapley</td><td align="right">An assistant at a village inn</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later, Martin's comrade in the United States</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bevan</td><td align="right">An American</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Todgers</td><td align="right">The proprietress of a London boarding-house</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Montague Tigg</td><td align="right">A penniless adventurer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later known as "Tigg Montague," and president of the<br /> Anglo-Bengalee Company</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Sairey" Gamp</td><td align="right">A nurse</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Mrs. Harris"</td><td align="right">An imaginary friend of Sairey Gamp's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nadgett</td><td align="right">A police spy</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT" id="MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"></a>MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +HOW MARTIN LEFT ENGLAND</h3> + +<p>Martin Chuzzlewit was the grandson of an old +man who, from being poor, became so rich that +he found not only that people bowed low and flattered +him, but that many of his relatives were +trying by every trick to get some of his money.</p> + +<p>The old man was naturally suspicious and obstinate, +and when he saw this he began to distrust +everybody and to think the whole world selfish and +deceitful. He had loved most of all his grandson, +Martin, but at length his heart became hardened +to him also.</p> + +<p>This was partly Martin's own fault, for he was +somewhat selfish, but he had, nevertheless, a great +deal of good in him. And perhaps his selfishness +was partly his grandfather's fault, too, because the +latter had brought him up to believe he would inherit +all his money and would sometime be very +rich.</p> + +<p>At last, ill and grown suspicious of every one +he met, old Chuzzlewit gave a home to a beautiful +orphan girl named Mary Graham, and kept her +near him as his nurse and secretary. In order that +she might not have any selfish interest in being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +kind to him, he took an oath in her presence that +he would not leave her a cent when he died. He +paid her monthly wages and it was agreed that +there should be no affection shown between them.</p> + +<p>In spite of his seeming harshness, Mary knew +his heart was naturally kind, and she soon loved +him as a father. And he, softened by her sympathy, +came in spite of himself to love her as a +daughter.</p> + +<p>It was not long before young Martin, too, had +fallen very deeply in love with Mary. He concluded +too hastily, however, that his grandfather +would not approve of his marrying her, and told +the old man his intentions in such a fiery way that +Chuzzlewit resented it.</p> + +<p>The old man accused Martin of a selfish attempt +to steal from him Mary's care, and at this, Martin, +whose temper was as quick as his grandfather's +flew to anger. They quarreled and Martin left +him, declaring he would henceforth make his own +way until he was able to claim Mary for his wife.</p> + +<p>While he was wondering what he should do, +Martin saw in a newspaper the advertisement of +a Mr. Pecksniff, an architect, living near Salisbury, +not many miles from London, who wished a +pupil to board and teach. An architect was what +Martin wanted to be, and he answered the advertisement +at once and accepted Pecksniff's terms.</p> + +<p>Now, to tell the truth, Martin had another reason +for this. Pecksniff was his grandfather's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +cousin, and he knew the old man thought him the +worst hypocrite of all his relatives, and disliked +him accordingly. And Martin was so angry with +his grandfather that he went to Pecksniff's partly +to vex him.</p> + +<p>Pecksniff was just the man old Chuzzlewit +thought him. He was a smooth, sleek hypocrite, +with an oily manner. He had heavy eyelids and a +wide, whiskerless throat, and when he talked he +fairly oozed virtuous sayings, for which people +deemed him a most moral and upright man. He +was a widower with two daughters, Charity and +Mercy, the older of whom had a very bitter temper, +which made it hard for the few students as +long as they stayed there.</p> + +<p>After Pecksniff had once got a pupil's money +in advance, he made no pretense of teaching him. +He kept him drawing designs for buildings, and +that was all. If any of the designs were good, he +said nothing to the pupil, but sold them as his +own, and pocketed the money. His pupils soon +saw through him and none of them had ever stayed +long except one.</p> + +<p>This one was named Tom Pinch. He had been +poor and Mr. Pecksniff had pretended to take him +in at a reduced rate. But really Pinch paid as +much as the others, beside being a clever fellow +who made himself useful in a thousand ways. He +was a musician, too, and played the organ in the +village church, which was a credit to Pecksniff.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p> + +<p>With all this, Pinch was a generous, open-hearted +lad, who believed every one honest and +true, and he was so grateful to Pecksniff (whose +hypocrisy he never imagined) that he was always +singing his praises everywhere. In return for all +this, Pecksniff treated him with contempt and +made him quite like a servant.</p> + +<p>Tom Pinch, however, was a favorite with every +one else. He had a sister Ruth who loved him +dearly, but he seldom saw her, for she was a governess +in the house of a brass and iron founder, +who did not like her to have company. One of +Tom's greatest friends had been a pupil named +John Westlock, who in vain had tried to open the +other's eyes to Pecksniff's real character. When +Westlock came into his money he had left and +gone to live in London, and it was to take his vacant +place that the new pupil Martin was now +coming.</p> + +<p>Another friend of Pinch's was Mark Tapley, a +rakish, good-humored fellow, whose one ambition +was to find a position so uncomfortable and dismal +that he would get some credit for being jolly in it. +Tapley was an assistant at The Blue Dragon, the +village inn, whose plump, rosy landlady was so +fond of him that he might have married her if +he had chosen to. But, as Tapley said, there was +no credit in being jolly where he was so comfortable, +so he left The Blue Dragon and went off, +too, to London.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> + +<p>With neither Westlock nor Mark Tapley there +Tom Pinch was lonely and welcomed the arrival +of Martin, with whom he soon made friends. Mr. +Pecksniff folded his new pupil to his breast, shed +a crocodile tear and set him to work designing a +grammar-school.</p> + +<p>Old Chuzzlewit soon heard where Martin his +grandson was, and wrote to Pecksniff asking him +to meet him in London. Pecksniff was so anxious +to curry favor with the rich old man that, taking +his daughters with him, he left at once for London, +where they put up at a boarding-house kept by a +Mrs. Todgers, while Pecksniff awaited the arrival +of old Chuzzlewit.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Todgers's house smelled of cabbage and +greens and mice, and Mrs. Todgers herself was +bony and wore a row of curls on the front of her +head like little barrels of flour. But a number of +young men boarded there, and Charity and Mercy +enjoyed themselves very much.</p> + +<p>One whom they met on this trip to London was +a remote relative of theirs, a nephew of old +Chuzzlewit's, named Jonas. Jonas's father was +eighty years old and a miser, and the son, too, was +so mean and grasping that he often used to wish +his father were dead so he would have his money.</p> + +<p>The old father, indeed, would have had no +friend in his own house but for an old clerk, Chuffey, +who had been his schoolmate in boyhood and +had always lived with him. Chuffey was as old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +and dusty and rusty as if he had been put away +and forgotten fifty years before and some one had +just found him in a lumber closet. But in his own +way Chuffey loved his master.</p> + +<p>Jonas called on the two Pecksniff daughters, +and Charity, the elder, determined to marry him. +Jonas, however, had his own opinion, and made up +his mind to marry Mercy, her younger sister.</p> + +<p>Before long old Chuzzlewit reached London, +and when Pecksniff called he told him his grandson, +Martin, was an ingrate, who had left his protection, +and asked the architect not to harbor him. +Pecksniff, who worshiped the other's money and +would have betrayed his best friend for old Chuzzlewit's +favor, returned home instantly, heaped +harsh names upon Martin and ordered him to +leave his house at once.</p> + +<p>Martin guessed what had caused Pecksniff to +change his mind so suddenly, and with hearty contempt +for his truckling action, he left that very +hour in the rain, though he had only a single silver +piece in his pocket. Tom Pinch, in great grief for +his trouble, ran after him with a book as a parting +gift, and between its leaves Martin found another +silver piece—all Tom had.</p> + +<p>Most of the way to London Martin walked. +Once there he took a cheap lodging, and tried to +find some vessel on which he could work his passage +to America, for there, as he walked, he had +made up his mind to go. But he found no such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +opportunity. His money gone, he pawned first +his watch and then his other belongings, one by +one, until he had nothing left, and was even in +distress for food.</p> + +<p>Yet his pride was strong, and he gave what was +almost his last coin to escape the attentions of one +Montague Tigg, a dirty, jaunty, bold, mean, swaggering, +slinking vagabond of the shabby-genteel +sort, whom he recognized as one who had more +than once tried to squeeze money out of his grandfather.</p> + +<p>At last, when he was almost in despair, a surprise +came in the shape of an envelop addressed +to himself, containing no letter, but a bank-note +for a generous amount. There was no clue whatever +to the sender, but the sum was enough to pay +his passage and he determined therefore to sail +next day.</p> + +<p>While he was still wondering at this good luck, +Martin chanced to come upon Mark Tapley, the +old assistant at The Blue Dragon Inn. Tapley had +found London too pleasant a place to be jolly in +with any credit, and, as he had heard America +was a very dismal place, he proposed to go with +Martin.</p> + +<p>As it happened, Tapley knew that Mary Graham +was then in London, for he had seen old +Chuzzlewit going into his house. When Martin +learned this he sent a letter to her by Tapley, and +she met him next morning in a little park near by.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +There he told her of his leaving Pecksniff's and +of his coming voyage.</p> + +<p>She was very sorrowful over his departure, but +he cheered her by telling her he would soon return, +well and prosperous, for her. She told him that +Pecksniff seemed somehow to have made his +grandfather trust him, and that by his advice they +were both to move to The Blue Dragon Inn, near +his house. Martin told her of Pecksniff's true character, +warned her against him, and begged her to +trust in Tom Pinch as a true friend. So they parted, +pledging each other their love whatever befell.</p> + +<p>Before Martin left next day Mary sent him a +diamond ring, which he thought his grandfather +had given her, but for which in reality she had +paid all her savings, so that he should have with +him something of value to sell if he be in want.</p> + +<p>So Martin and Mark Tapley took ship for +America, and Mary Graham and old Chuzzlewit +went to live at The Blue Dragon, to the huge satisfaction +of the oily Pecksniff, who thought now he +could easily get the rich old man under his thumb.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +PECKSNIFF AND OLD CHUZZLEWIT</h3> + +<p>After his first burst of anger at Martin's leaving +him, old Chuzzlewit, to Mary's eyes, seemed to +grow gradually a different man. He appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +more old and stooped and deaf, and took little +interest in anything.</p> + +<p>After they came to The Blue Dragon Inn, Pecksniff +threw himself constantly in old Chuzzlewit's +way, flattering and smooth, and before long Mary +saw, to her grief, that the old man was coming +more and more under the other's influence. When +she was alone with him he seemed more his former +eager self; but let Pecksniff appear and the strange +dull look would come and he would seem only +anxious to ask his advice about the smallest matters.</p> + +<p>Little wonder Pecksniff concluded he could +wind his victim around his finger. At length he +proposed that old Chuzzlewit and Mary leave The +Blue Dragon, where he said he felt sure they were +not comfortable, and come and live with him +under his own roof. To Mary's dismay, the old +man consented, and they were soon settled in the +architect's house.</p> + +<p>The only thing that now seemed to stand in +Pecksniff's way was Mary, and he decided that, as +old Chuzzlewit was fond of her, he himself would +marry her. Once married to her, he reasoned, with +both of them to influence old Chuzzlewit, it would +be easy to do what they pleased with him and with +his money, too. With this end in view, he began to +persecute poor Mary with his attentions, squeezing +her hand and throwing kisses to her when no +one else was looking.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> + +<p>Charity, Pecksniff's older daughter, was not +blind to his plan. She was in a sour temper because +the miserly Jonas, who came from London often +now to see them, had begun to make love to Mercy +instead of to her. To see her father now paying +so much attention to Mary Graham made Charity +angry, and she left her father's house and went to +live in London at Mrs. Todgers's boarding-house, +where she set her cap to catch a young man, whether +he wanted to be caught or not. As for Mercy, +the younger sister, she was leading Jonas such a +dance that she thought very little of her father's +schemes.</p> + +<p>His vinegary daughter Charity out of the way, +Pecksniff began to persecute Mary more and more. +One day he made her so angry by holding her +hand and kissing it that she threatened to complain +to old Chuzzlewit. Pecksniff told her that if she +did he would use all his influence to turn the old +man still more against his grandson. The poor girl +was in great trouble then, for she loved Martin +and feared Pecksniff's growing power with old +Chuzzlewit. And seeing that this threat frightened +her, Pecksniff continued his annoyances.</p> + +<p>According to Martin's parting advice, Mary +had learned to like and to trust Tom Pinch, in +spite of his mistaken worship of Pecksniff. One +day while Tom was practising the organ at the +church she came to him and, confiding in him, +told all that she had endured.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p> + +<p>In his simple-heartedness he had admired and +looked up to Pecksniff all his life, but this evidence +opened Tom Pinch's eyes. At last he saw the +pompous hypocrite in his true light. He agreed +with her that the architect was a scoundrel, and +comforted her, and asked her always to trust in +his own friendship.</p> + +<p>Unluckily while they talked there was an eavesdropper +near. It was Pecksniff himself. He had +gone into the church to rest, and lying down in +one of the high-back pews, had gone to sleep, and +now the voices of Tom and Mary had awakened +him. He listened and waited till they had both +gone; then he stole out and went home by a roundabout +way.</p> + +<p>That night he went to old Chuzzlewit and, pretending +to shed tears of sorrow, told him he had +overheard Tom Pinch, the pauper pupil, whom he +had trusted and befriended, making love to Mary, +the old man's ward, in the church. Making a great +show of his respect and regard for old Chuzzlewit, +he told him this villain should not remain under +his roof one night longer. Then he called in Tom +Pinch and, abusing and insulting him in Chuzzlewit's +presence, sent him away as he had sent away +Martin.</p> + +<p>Tom was feeling so bad over his loss of faith +in his idol, Pecksniff, that he did not greatly mind +this last blow. In fact, he had about concluded +he could not live any longer with such a wicked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +hypocrite anyway. He packed his things and set +off for London, feeling almost as if the world had +come to an end.</p> + +<p>Once there, however, he plucked up spirit and +felt better. First of all he looked up Westlock, +the former pupil of Pecksniff's, and found him the +same friendly, clever fellow now in his riches as +he was of old. Westlock was glad Tom had at +last found his master out, and began at once to +plan for his future. Next Tom went to see his sister +Ruth at the house where she was governess.</p> + +<p>He arrived there at a fortunate time, for the +vulgar brass and iron founder who had hired her +to try to teach his spoiled little daughter was at +that moment scolding Ruth harshly for what was +not her fault at all.</p> + +<p>Tom had been gaining a spirit of his own since +he had parted from Pecksniff, and, now, at sight +of his gentle little sister's tears, his honest indignation +rose. He gave her unjust employer a lecture +that left him much astonished, and then, drawing +Ruth's arm through his, he led her from the house +for ever.</p> + +<p>It was not long before each had told the other +all that had happened. Tom decided that they +should part no more, and they set out together to +find a lodging. They took some rooms in a quiet +neighborhood and settled down together till Tom +could find something to do.</p> + +<p>Ruth was a neat housekeeper, but she had to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +learn to cook, and they had great fun over their +first meal. While she was making her first beefsteak +pudding Westlock called with a great piece +of news. An agent had come to him asking him +to offer to his friend Tom Pinch a position as a +librarian at a good salary. Who the employer was +Tom was not to know. Here was a rare mystery, +and Ruth in her mingled excitement and pie-making +looked so sweet and charming that then and +there Westlock fell in love with her.</p> + +<p>Tom and he went at once to the agent who had +made this extraordinary offer, and he took them +to an unoccupied house, to a dusty room whose +floor was covered all over with books. Tom, he +said, was to arrange and make a list of these. Then +he gave him the key, told him to come to him each +week for his salary, and disappeared.</p> + +<p>Still wondering, the two friends went back together, +for of course Westlock had to taste the +beefsteak pudding. Ruth had supper waiting for +them. Every minute Westlock thought she grew +more lovely, and as he walked home he knew he +was in love at last.</p> + +<p>Now, the mystery of Tom's library, and of the +bank-note that Martin had received when his +money was all gone, would have been a very joyful +one to them both if they could have guessed +it. Old Chuzzlewit, whom they believed so harsh, +and whom the wily Pecksniff thought he had got +under his thumb, was a very deep and knowing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +old man indeed. He had never ceased to love +Martin, his grandson, though he had misunderstood +him at first, but he had seen very plainly +that the lad was growing selfish and he wished to +save him from this. He had longed for nothing +more than that Martin and Mary should marry, +but he wished to try their love for each other as +well as Martin's affection for him. It was to test +Pecksniff that old Chuzzlewit had asked the architect +to send Martin from his house, and when he +saw that Pecksniff was fawning hound enough to +do it, he determined to punish him in the end. It +was old Chuzzlewit who had found where Martin +lodged in London, and had sent him the bank-note. +And, won by Tom Pinch's goodness and honor, it +was he who now, secretly, made him this position. +If Pecksniff had guessed all this, he would probably +have had a stroke of apoplexy.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +JONAS GETS RID OF AN ENEMY</h3> + +<p>Jonas, meanwhile, in his miserly soul, had been +wishing that his old father would hurry and die. +He wanted the money and he wanted to marry +Mercy Pecksniff, and to do both he preferred the +old man out of his way. He thought of this and +wished it so long that at last he began to think of +helping the matter along.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p> + +<p>His father kept in a drawer some cough lozenges +which he constantly used. Jonas at last +bought some poison from a dissipated man who +needed money badly, and made some lozenges like +them. These he put in his father's drawer instead +of the others.</p> + +<p>His father, however, and Chuffey, the old clerk, +noticed that the lozenges were not the same, and +they guessed what Jonas had done. The shock of +discovering that his own son had tried to murder +him proved the old man's death. He made Chuffey +promise not to betray Jonas, then fell in a fit +and never spoke again.</p> + +<p>Jonas naturally thought the poison had done the +work, and was at first in dreadful fear of discovery. +He made a fine funeral, with four-horse +coaches, velvet trappings and silver plate, so that +people would think he loved his father, and not +till the body was buried did he forget his dread.</p> + +<p>Chuffey, however, seemed to go almost daft. +He would walk and cry and wring his hands and +talk so strangely about his master's death that +Jonas feared he would cause suspicion that all was +not right. So he hired a nurse to come and keep +him in his room.</p> + +<p>This nurse went by the name of "Sairey" Gamp. +She was a fat old woman, with a red face, a husky +voice and a moist eye, which often turned up so +as to show only the white. Wherever she went she +carried a faded umbrella with a round white patch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +on top, and she always smelled of whisky. Mrs. +Gamp was fond of talking of a certain "Mrs. +Harris," whom she spoke of as a dear friend, but +whom nobody else had ever seen. When she wanted +to say something nice of herself she would put +it in the mouth of Mrs. Harris. She was always +quoting, "I says to Mrs. Harris," or "Mrs. Harris +says to me." People used to say there was no such +person at all, but this never failed to make Mrs. +Gamp very angry.</p> + +<p>She was a cruel nurse, and her way of making +a sick man swallow a dose of medicine was by +choking him till he gasped and then putting the +spoon down his throat.</p> + +<p>Such was the guardian Jonas chose to keep old +Chuffey quiet in London, while he himself courted +Pecksniff's daughter at her father's house. And it +was not very long before he proposed to Mercy +and they were married.</p> + +<p>If Pecksniff had searched London he could not +have found a worse man for his daughter to marry. +But Pecksniff cared for nothing but money, and, +as Jonas was now rich, he pretended great love for +his new son-in-law and went around with his hands +clasped and his eyes lifted to Heaven in pious +thankfulness. As for Jonas, he began to treat +Mercy brutally and soon she was miserable.</p> + +<p>Jonas, meanwhile, had fallen in with a very +prosperous individual. This was none other than +Montague Tigg, the bold, jaunty, swaggering,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +shabby-genteel Tigg, who had once been glad to +beg a coin from any one he knew. Now he had +changed in both appearance and name. His face +was covered with glossy black whiskers, his clothes +were the costliest and his jewelry the most expensive. +He was known now as "Mr. Tigg Montague," +and was president of the great "Anglo-Bengalee +Company."</p> + +<p>The Anglo-Bengalee Company was a business +which pretended to insure people's lives. It had +fine offices with new furniture, new paper and a +big brass plate on the door. It looked most solid +and respectable, but it was really a trap, for Tigg +and its other officers were only waiting until they +had taken in enough money to run away with it to +a foreign country. Jonas, sharp as he was, was deceived +into believing it an honest enterprise. He +came there to get his wife's life insured, and so he +met Tigg.</p> + +<p>Tigg, however, knowing Jonas of old, knew he +had a great deal of money of his own, and thought, +too, that he might influence Mr. Pecksniff, now +his father-in-law. Tigg flattered Jonas accordingly, +telling him what a sharp man he was and offered +to make him a director in the company. He +assured Jonas that there would be enormous profits +and showed him how, by putting his own money +into it, he could cheat other people out of much +more. This idea tickled Jonas and he agreed.</p> + +<p>Having got thus far, Tigg hired a spy named<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +Nadgett to see if he could discover whether Jonas +had ever committed any crime, the knowledge of +which would put him in their power. Nadgett +began his work, got on the right side of Sairey +Gamp, the nurse, found out that old Chuffey was +locked up for fear he might talk, and soon had a +suspicion that Jonas had been concerned in his +father's death.</p> + +<p>As an experiment Tigg boldly charged him +with it one day, and knew in an instant, by the way +Jonas's face whitened with fear, that he had stumbled +on the truth. He then told Jonas he not only +must put into the company more of his own money, +but must persuade Pecksniff to do likewise.</p> + +<p>Jonas dared not now refuse. He thought of escaping +to some other country, but wherever he +turned he found Tigg's spies watching, and at last, +he determined on a second murder to hide the first—the +murder of Tigg, who knew his secret.</p> + +<p>Tigg did not forget his plan to ensnare Pecksniff. +To do this he took Jonas by carriage from +London to Salisbury and, mile by mile, as they +sped, the latter laid his plans. Near their destination +accident came near assisting him. In the storm +the carriage was upset and Tigg was thrown under +the horses' feet. Jonas lashed the struggling horses, +hoping they would trample and kill his companion, +but the driver pulled him out just in time.</p> + +<p>They finally reached The Blue Dragon Inn, and +there, the next day, Jonas brought Pecksniff to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +dine with Tigg, and the latter told the architect +all about his wonderful company. Though Pecksniff +pretended he took the idea as a joke, yet the +thought of cheating other people for big profits +was very attractive to him. Before the evening +was over he had fallen into the trap and had +promised next day to give Tigg his money.</p> + +<p>Jonas, his part of the bargain finished, hurried +back to London. There, after telling Mercy not +to disturb him, as he expected to sleep all next day, +he locked himself into his room. When it was dark +he dressed himself in a rough suit that he had prepared +for disguise, let himself out by a rear way +and took the stage back again to the village where +he had left Tigg with Pecksniff.</p> + +<p>He lay in wait in a wood through which Tigg +passed after his last call on the architect, and there +he killed him with a club. Then he went swiftly +back to London and let himself into his room +again, thinking no one had noticed his absence.</p> + +<p>But there had been an eye at the shutter of the +window in the house opposite that did not fail +to observe Jonas when he went and when he came. +And this eye belonged to Nadgett, the spy.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +WHAT CAME OF MARTIN'S TRIP TO AMERICA</h3> + +<p>While these things were occurring, much had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +happened to Martin and Mark Tapley far away +in America.</p> + +<p>The sailing vessel on which they crossed was +crowded and dirty, and in order to save their +money they had taken passage in the steerage. For +a long time Martin was very seasick, and even +when he grew better he was so ashamed at having +to travel in the worst and cheapest part of the +vessel that he would not go on deck.</p> + +<p>But Tapley had none of this false pride. He +made friends with all, helped every one he could +and soon became such a general favorite that (as +he thought sadly) he was having much too good +a time for him to be jolly with any credit.</p> + +<p>The long voyage of so many weeks came to an +end at last, and they reached New York. They +found it a strange place indeed, and met many +strange characters in it. Only one they met pleased +them: a gentleman named Bevan, and from him +they got much information and advice. There +seemed, however, to be little opening for an architect +in New York, and Martin at length decided +to go West and settle in some newer region.</p> + +<p>In the western town where they left the train +they found a land agent who was selling lots in +a new settlement, on the Mississippi River, called +Eden. To buy their railway tickets Martin had +already sold the ring Mary Graham had given +him, and he had just enough to purchase a tract of +land in Eden and to pay their fare there.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> + +<p>Martin looked at the agent's splendid plans +of the new town, showing wharves, churches and +public buildings, and thought it a capital place +for a young architect; so they closed the bargain +without more ado and took the next steamer down +the desolate Mississippi.</p> + +<p>A terrible disappointment awaited them when +they found what Eden really was—a handful of +rotting log cabins set in a swamp. The wharves +and public buildings existed only on the agent's +map with which he had so cruelly cheated them. +There were only a few wan men alive there—the +rest had succumbed to the sickly hot vapor that +rose from the swamp and hung in the air. At the +sight of what they had come to, Martin lay down +and wept in very despair. But for his comrade's +cheerfulness he would have wholly given up hope.</p> + +<p>Next morning Martin found himself in the grip +of the deadly fever with which the place reeked, +and for many days thereafter he lay helpless and +burning, nursed like a child by the faithful Mark +Tapley. When he had begun to recover it came +the other's turn to fall ill and Martin took his +place at nursing.</p> + +<p>Through all Tapley never complained. At last +he found himself in circumstances where to be +jolly was really a credit to anybody. He always insisted +that he was in great spirits, and when he was +weakest and could not speak he wrote "jolly" on +a slate for Martin to see.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> + +<p>Watching beside his friend day by day, Martin +came to know himself truly and to see his own +selfishness. As he nursed Tapley to health again +he determined to root it out of his nature and to +return to England a nobler man. He began to +think not of what he had sacrificed for Mary, but +of what she would have sacrificed for him, and +to wish with all his heart that he had not parted +from his grandfather in anger. And even before +Tapley was able to sit up Martin had determined +to return as soon as possible to England.</p> + +<p>He laid aside his pride and wrote to Bevan, who +had befriended them in New York, to borrow +money enough to bring them both to that city. +Once there, Tapley found a position as cook in +the same ship that had brought them from England +and his wages proved sufficient to pay for +Martin's passage.</p> + +<p>So Martin started back to the home he had +parted from a year before, poorer than he had +left it, but at heart a better and a sounder man. His +false pride was gone now. He mingled with others +and helped them, and by the time they landed +he was as popular a passenger as Mark Tapley was +a cook.</p> + +<p>Almost the first man they saw on landing, +curiously enough, was the oily Pecksniff. They +saw him escorted along the street, pointed out by +the crowds as "the great architect." On that day +the corner stone of a splendid public building was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +to be laid, and Pecksniff's design for this structure +had taken the prize. The two comrades went with +the crowd to hear Pecksniff's speech, and looking +over a gentleman's shoulder at a picture of the +building as it was to look, Martin saw that it was +the very grammar school he himself had designed +when he had first come to Pecksniff's. The old +rascal had stolen the plans!</p> + +<p>Martin was angry, of course, but there was no +help for it, and besides he had other things to +think of. Mary Graham, to be sure, was his first +thought, and he and Tapley set out at once for The +Blue Dragon to learn the latest news.</p> + +<p>The rosy landlady laughed and cried together +to see them and Mark Tapley kissed her so many +times that she was quite out of breath. She cooked +the finest dinner in the world for them and told +them all she knew about their friends: how Tom +Pinch had been sent away, and how every one +said that Pecksniff intended to marry Mary. This +news made Martin grind his teeth, and it would +have been unlucky for the architect if he had been +near at that moment.</p> + +<p>Martin first sent Tapley with a note addressed +to his grandfather, but Pecksniff, who came to the +door, tore up the letter before the bearer's face. +Mark told Martin of this, and together they forced +themselves into the house, and into the room where +old Chuzzlewit sat, with Pecksniff beside him, and +Mary standing behind his chair.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> + +<p>Martin's grandfather hardly looked at him, +keeping his eyes on Pecksniff's face, as though he +depended on him even for his thoughts. Martin, +seeing this, was almost hopeless, but he did as he +had determined, and in a few manly words begged +old Chuzzlewit's pardon for his own haste and +temper, and asked him to take him back to his +favor. While he talked, Mary had hidden her +face in her hands and was weeping, for she believed +his grandfather so wholly in Pecksniff's +power that she had no hope for Martin.</p> + +<p>Pecksniff was in rare good humor, for it was +this very day that he had turned his money over +to Tigg to make a fortune for him in the great +Anglo-Bengalee Company. Now, rejoicing in his +opportunity, he took it upon himself to answer. +He called Martin a shameless, cowardly vagabond +and ordered him from the door. Then he gave +his arm to the old man and led him out of the +room.</p> + +<p>Martin clasped Mary for a moment in his arms +as he kissed her and told her to keep up heart. +Then he left the house and set out with Mark +Tapley for London.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>V</big><br /> +<br /> +OLD CHUZZLEWIT'S PLOT SUCCEEDS</h3> + +<p>Where was the guilty Jonas meanwhile? Shivering +at every sound, listening for the news that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +Tigg's body had been found in the wood, wondering +if by any chance the crime might be laid on +him.</p> + +<p>Already fate was weaving a net about his feet. +The man from whom he had bought the poison +to kill his father had fallen very ill, and in his illness +had repented of the part he had played. He +had confessed to Westlock, whom, before he had +fallen into wicked company, he had once known. +Westlock sent for old Chuzzlewit, and he, too, was +told the story of the purchased poison. Then together +the three went to Jonas's house and brought +him face to face with his accuser.</p> + +<p>Confronted with their evidence Jonas gave himself +up for lost, but old Chuffey, whom he had so +abused, escaped the watchful eye of Sairey Gamp +and entered just in time to keep his promise to his +dead master and to clear Jonas, the son. He told +them how it had really happened: How Jonas +had intended to kill his father but how the latter's +death had been due, not to the poison which he had +never taken, but to the knowledge of his son's +wickedness.</p> + +<p>Jonas, in the reaction from his fear, laughed +aloud, and was abusively ordering them to leave, +when the door opened and the color suddenly left +his cheeks. Policemen stood there, and at their +head was Nadgett, the spy.</p> + +<p>In another moment there were handcuffs on +his wrists and he knew not only that the murder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +of Tigg had been discovered, but that every action +of his own on that fatal night had been traced +and that he was surely doomed to die on the gallows.</p> + +<p>When he realized that he was lost he fell to the +floor in pitiable fear. They put him in a wagon +to take him to jail, but when they arrived there +they found him motionless in his seat. He had +swallowed some of his own poison which he carried +in his pocket, and was as dead as any hangman +could have made him.</p> + +<p>Old Chuzzlewit had yet another purpose to +carry out before he left London, and for this purpose +he asked Westlock to meet him in his rooms +at a certain time next day. He sent for Tom Pinch +and his sister Ruth, for his grandson Martin, and +Mark Tapley, and last, but not least, for Pecksniff +himself, all to meet him there at the same hour.</p> + +<p>All save Pecksniff arrived together, and greatly +astonished most of them were, you may be sure, +to see old Chuzzlewit so changed. For now the +dull, bent look had vanished. His eyes were +bright, his form erect and every feature eager and +full of purpose. Even Mary Graham scarcely +knew what to make of it.</p> + +<p>As they sat wondering and waiting for old +Chuzzlewit to speak, Pecksniff came hurriedly in, +to start back as if at a shock of electricity. But +he recovered himself, and clasped his hands with +a look of pious joy to see the old man safe and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +well. Then he looked around him and shook his +head.</p> + +<p>"Oh, vermin! Oh, bloodsuckers!" he said. +"Horde of unnatural plunderers and robbers! Begone! +Leave him and do not stay in a spot hallowed +by the gray hairs of this patriarchal gentleman!"</p> + +<p>He advanced with outstretched arms, but he had +not seen how tightly old Chuzzlewit's hand clasped +the walking-stick he held. The latter, in one great +burst of indignation, rose up, and with a single +blow, stretched him on the ground. Mark Tapley +dragged him into a corner and propped him +against the wall, and in this ridiculous position, +cringing, and with his assurance all gone, Pecksniff +listened, as did they all, to the old man's story.</p> + +<p>He told the assembled company how the curse +of selfishness had seemed to him always to rest +upon his family. How he had misunderstood Martin, +his best loved grandson, and how he had seen +Pecksniff doing his best to add to this bad feeling. +He beckoned Martin to him and put Mary's +hand in his, as he told how he had tested them +both and had at last resolved to see to what a +length the hypocrisy of Pecksniff would lead him. +How to this end he had pretended feebleness of +mind and had planned and plotted finally to expose +Pecksniff and set all right.</p> + +<p>When he had finished the door was opened and +Pecksniff, looking all shrunken and frowsy and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> +yellow, passed out, never to enter again into the +lives of any of them.</p> + +<p>There was a great and joyful gathering that +night, when all these, so strangely united, took dinner +together. Martin sat beside Mary, while Westlock +walked home with Ruth, and before they +reached there she had promised to be his wife.</p> + +<p>Martin and Mary were married soon, and old +Chuzzlewit made Martin his heir. He also gave +a home to poor Mercy, the wife of the dead Jonas. +Tom Pinch lived a long and happy life in the home +which Westlock made for Ruth, where he had a +fine organ on which he played every day. Mark +Tapley, of course, married the rosy landlady of +The Blue Dragon, and settled down at the inn, +which he renamed The Jolly Tapley.</p> + +<p>Charity Pecksniff succeeded in ensnaring her +young man at last. The day they were to be married, +however, he did not come to the church, but +ran off to Van Diemen's Land, and she lived and +died a vinegary, shrewish old maid.</p> + +<p>As for Pecksniff himself, having lost all his +money in the Anglo-Bengalee Company (which, +of course, went to pieces on Tigg's death), he sank +lower and lower, till at last, a drunken, squalid +old man, he eked out a miserable existence writing +whining begging letters to the very people +whom he had once labored so hard to make unhappy.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> +<h2>OUR MUTUAL FRIEND</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1864–1865</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London and Neighboring Towns</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1860</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Harmon</td><td align="right">A rich dust collector</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Boffin</td><td align="right">Foreman of the dust business and<br /> heir to the Harmon fortune</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Known as "The Golden Dustman"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Boffin</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John Harmon</td><td align="right">Mr. Harmon's son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later Mr. Boffin's secretary, under the name of<br /> "John Rokesmith"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Veneering</td><td align="right">A rich man with social and political <br />ambitions</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Wilfer</td><td align="right">A clerk in Mr. Veneering's office</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bella</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Silas Wegg</td><td align="right">A one-legged ballad seller</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Rogue" Riderhood</td><td align="right">A riverman of bad reputation</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">Later a lock tender</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hexam</td><td align="right">A riverman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Charley</td><td align="right">His son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lizzie</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Jenny Wren"</td><td align="right">A crippled friend of Lizzie's, known<br /> as "The Dolls' Dressmaker"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Eugene Wrayburn</td><td align="right">A reckless young lawyer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Headstone</td><td align="right">A schoolmaster</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Venus</td><td align="right">A dismal young man with a dismal trade—the <br />stringing together of human skeletons on wires</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND" id="OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"></a>OUR MUTUAL FRIEND</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +WHAT HAPPENED TO JOHN HARMON</h3> + +<p>In London there once lived an old man named +Harmon who had made a great fortune by gathering +the dust and ashes of the city and sorting it for +whatever it contained of value. He lived in a +house surrounded by great mounds of dust that +he had collected.</p> + +<p>He was a hard-hearted man and when his +daughter would not marry as he wished he turned +her out of the house on a winter's night. The poor +girl died soon after, and her younger brother (a +boy of only fourteen), indignant at his father's +cruelty, ran away to a foreign country, where for +years he was not heard of.</p> + +<p>The old man, hard-hearted as he was, and +though he never spoke of the son save with anger +and curses, felt this keenly, for in his own way he +had loved the boy.</p> + +<p>A Mr. Boffin was foreman of Harmon's dust +business, and both he and his wife had loved the +two children. Being kind and just people, they +did not hesitate to let the father know how wicked +they considered his action, and they never ceased<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> +to grieve for the poor little John who had run +away. So, though they did not guess it, the old +man made up his mind they were an honest and deserving +pair.</p> + +<p>One morning the dust collector was discovered +dead in his bed, and then it was found that he had +left a very curious will. The will bequeathed all +his vast fortune to the son who had run away, on +one condition: that he marry a young lady by the +name of Bella Wilfer, the daughter of a poor +London clerk.</p> + +<p>The son had never seen Bella in his life, and in +fact the old man himself had seen her only a few +times—and that was a long, long time before, +when she was a very little girl. He was sitting in +the park one Sunday morning, and the baby Bella, +because her father would not go the exact way she +wanted, was screaming and stamping her little +foot. Old Mr. Harmon, having such a stubborn +temper himself, admired it in the little child, and +came to watch for her. Then, for some strange +reason, which nobody ever could guess, he had put +the baby's name in his will, declaring that his son +John should get his money only by marrying this +little girl. And the will declared, moreover, that +if the son, John Harmon, should die, or should +refuse to marry Bella, all the fortune should go to +Mr. Boffin.</p> + +<p>The lawyers had great trouble in finding where +John Harmon was, but finally they did so, and received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +word that he would return at once to England.</p> + +<p>The ship he sailed on reached London, but the +passenger it carried did not appear. A few days +later, a riverman named Hexam found a body +floating in the River Thames, which flows through +the middle of London. In his pockets were the letters +the lawyers had written to John Harmon, and +there seemed no doubt that the unfortunate young +man had been murdered and his body thrown into +the river.</p> + +<p>The night the body was found, while it lay at +the police station, a young man, very much excited, +came and asked to see it. He would not tell who he +was, and his whole appearance was most wild and +strange. The police wondered, but they saw no +reason to detain the stranger, so after looking at +the body, he went away again very hastily.</p> + +<p>A great stir was made about the case, and the +police tried their best to discover the murderer, +but they were unsuccessful. Then it occurred to +them that there was something suspicious in the +appearance of the young man that night. They +tried to find him, but he seemed to have disappeared.</p> + +<p>At last the fortune was turned over to Mr. Boffin, +and all but a few people thought no more about +the murder.</p> + +<p>Now, it was not really true that John Harmon +had been drowned. This is what had happened:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p> + +<p>The young man had come back to England unwillingly, +though he was coming to such wealth. +Having left his father so long before in anger, he +hardly liked to touch the money. And he dreaded +having to marry a young lady he had never seen, +with whom all his life he might be most unhappy.</p> + +<p>On the ship was a seaman about his own age +whose face somewhat resembled his own. With +this man Harmon became friendly and before the +ship reached England he had told him his trouble +and his dread. The other proposed that Harmon +disguise himself in sailor's clothes, go into the +neighborhood where Miss Bella Wilfer lived, and +see if she was one whom he could love.</p> + +<p>Now the man whom Harmon was thus trusting +was a villain, who, while he had been listening to +the other's story, had been planning a crime +against him. He had made up his mind to kill +Harmon, and, as he looked so much like him, to +marry Bella himself and claim the fortune.</p> + +<p>Near the docks where the ship came in was a +sailors' boarding-house owned by a riverman of +bad reputation named "Rogue" Riderhood. Riderhood +had once been the partner of Hexam, the +man who found the floating body, but one day he +was caught trying to rob a live man and Hexam +had cast him off. The seaman took Harmon to +this house and there he secretly got from Riderhood +some poison. Last he persuaded Harmon to +change clothes with him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p> + +<p>All that remained now was to get rid of the real +Harmon. To do this he put the poison in a cup of +coffee, and Harmon, drinking this, became insensible.</p> + +<p>The lodging-house hung out over the river and +the wicked man had intended throwing the other's +body, dressed now in seaman's clothing, into the +water. But fate was quickly to spoil his plan. He +and some others fell to quarreling over the money +found in the clothing of the unconscious man. The +result was a desperate fight, and when it was over +there were <i>two</i> bodies thrown from the window +into the black river—the drugged man and the +seaman who had planned his murder.</p> + +<p>The shock of the cold water brought the +drugged Harmon to his senses. He struck out, and +after a terrible struggle succeeded in reaching +shore. The exposure and the poison made him +very ill and he lay abed in an inn for some days. +While he was lying helpless there the drowned +body of the seaman was found by Hexam, the +riverman. As it wore the clothes of John Harmon, +and had his papers in its pockets, every one supposed, +of course, that it was the body of the missing +heir.</p> + +<p>The first thing John Harmon saw after he was +well enough to walk was a printed notice announcing +the finding of his own dead body—which gave +him a very queer sensation. Lying there he had +had time to think over the adventure and he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +guessed pretty nearly how it all had happened. +He went at once to the police station to look at the +corpse and saw it was that of his false friend, who +had tried to lure him to his death. So it was the +real John Harmon who had so excitedly appeared +that night to the police inspectors, and had vanished +immediately, and whom they had searched +for so long in vain, under the suspicion that he +himself was the murderer.</p> + +<p>He had a very good reason for not letting the +police find him, too. Now that the world considered +him dead, he had determined, before he came +to life, to carry out his first plan, and to find out +for himself just what kind of person the Bella +Wilfer he was expected to marry was, and whether +Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, who had been so kind to him +in his childhood, would still be as true to his memory +in their wealth. For this reason he did not +correct the error that had been made. He took the +name of John Rokesmith, and, to get acquainted +with Bella, hired lodgings in her own father's +house.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wilfer was a clerk for a Mr. Veneering, a +man who had made a big fortune in the drug business +and wanted now to get into Parliament. +Everything the Veneerings had was brand new. +They spent a great deal of money entertaining society +people at dinners, but Mr. Veneering spent +very little on his clerks. Bella's father, though he +was always as happy as a cherub, was so poor that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +he never had been able to buy a whole new suit at +once. His hat was shabby before he could afford a +coat, and his trousers were worn before he got to +new shoes. So he was glad enough indeed to get +a lodger.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, to be sure, now had the +great fortune. They bought a fine house, and +everybody called Mr. Boffin "The Golden Dustman," +because he was so rich. Mrs. Boffin wore +velvet dresses, and Mr. Boffin, thinking that now +he was rich he ought to know a great deal about +books, bought a big volume of the <i>History of the +Roman Empire</i> and hired a man with a wooden +leg who kept a ballad shop near by to come and +read to him in the evenings.</p> + +<p>But in spite of all their fine things, Mr. and Mrs. +Boffin remained the same good, kind-hearted +couple they had always been. John Harmon (or +John Rokesmith, as he now called himself), soon +found this out, for he cleverly got a position as Mr. +Boffin's secretary, taking charge of all his papers +and preventing many dishonest people from cheating +him. And Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, never suspecting +who he really was, instead of "secretary," +called him "Our Mutual Friend," and soon grew +fond of him.</p> + +<p>Nor did they forget Bella Wilfer (for whose +disappointment, at not getting the rich husband +she had expected, they felt very sorry), and soon +invited her to live with them. Bella was a good-tempered,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +pretty girl, though inclined to be somewhat +selfish and spoiled, and she was not sure, +after all, that she would have liked a husband who +had been willed to her like a dozen silver spoons; +so she did not grieve greatly, and accepted Mr. +and Mrs. Boffin's offer gratefully.</p> + +<p>So now the secretary, John Rokesmith, beside +being constantly with Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, whom +he had always loved, had a chance to see Bella +every day, and he was not long in finding out that +it would be very easy, indeed, for him to fall in +love with her.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +LIZZIE HEXAM AND THE DOLLS' DRESSMAKER</h3> + +<p>Hexam, the riverman who had found the body +floating in the Thames, made a living by watching +in his boat for drowned bodies, and getting any +rewards that might be offered for finding them. +He had two children—a daughter, Lizzie, who +used to row the boat for him, and a younger son, +Charley.</p> + +<p>Lizzie was a beautiful girl and a good daughter, +and she never ceased to beseech her father to quit +this ghastly business. She saved every cent she +could get to give her brother some schooling, and +kept urging the boy until he left home and became +a teacher in a respectable school. For her own part +she chose to stay by her father, hoping, in spite of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> +her hatred of his calling, to make him sometime +something better.</p> + +<p>The night Hexam found the body the lawyers +who had the Harmon will in charge came to his +house to see about it. One of them, a careless +young man by the name of Eugene Wrayburn, +was greatly struck with the beauty of Lizzie, and +pitied her because of the life she was obliged to +live, and this interest in her made him even more +deeply interested in the case of the odd will and +the strange murder.</p> + +<p>Now Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, since they were rich, +had offered a great reward for the arrest of the +murderer of John Harmon. To get this reward +and at the same time to avenge himself on his old +partner Hexam for casting him off, Rogue Riderhood +went to the lawyers and declared that it +was Hexam himself who had really killed the man +whose body he had found. Riderhood swore that +Hexam had confessed the crime to him.</p> + +<p>Wrayburn, knowing what a shock this charge +against her father would be for Lizzie, went with +the officers sent to seize him. But they made no arrest, +for that night Hexam himself was drowned +by accidentally falling from his own boat.</p> + +<p>But the false charge against him lay heavy on +Lizzie's mind. She hated the river and all that +was connected with it, and soon found herself a +decent lodging in another part of London.</p> + +<p>Here she lived with a weird little dwarf of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> +girl, so deformed that she could scarcely walk at +all.</p> + +<p>"I can't get up," she used to say to strangers, +"because my back's bad and my legs are queer."</p> + +<p>She had an odd face, with sharp gray eyes, and +her wits were sharper yet. She worked at the +strangest trade in the world. She had visiting +cards on which was printed:</p> + +<div class="signbox" style="width: 16em;"><p class="signbig"> +<big><br />MISS JENNIE WREN</big><br /> + +<small>DOLLS' DRESSMAKER</small><br /></p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: 0;"><small>Dolls Attended at Their Own Residence</small></p> +</div> + +<p>She was really and truly a dolls' dressmaker and +sat all day long making tiny frocks out of silk and +ribbon. Every evening she would hobble out to +the door of the theater or of a house where a ball +was going on and wait until a lady came out in a +beautiful costume; then she would take careful +note of it and go home and dress a doll just like it. +She even made a minister doll, in clerical collar +and surplice, and used to rent him out for doll +weddings.</p> + +<p>But in spite of her trade she disliked children, +because the rude ones of the neighborhood called +her names through her keyhole and mimicked her +bent back and crooked legs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Don't talk to <i>me</i> of children," she often said; +"<i>I</i> know their tricks and their manners!" and when +she said this she would make a fierce little jab in +the air with her needle, as if she were putting out +somebody's eyes.</p> + +<p>Jennie Wren had a miserable drunkard of a +father, whom she called her "troublesome child."</p> + +<p>"He is enough to break his mother's heart," she +would say when he staggered in. "I wish I had +never brought him up. Ugh! You muddling, disgraceful, +prodigal old son! I can't bear to look at +you. Go into your corner this minute." And the +wretched creature, whining and maudlin, would +shuffle into his corner in disgrace, not daring to +disobey her.</p> + +<p>The odd little dolls' dressmaker was cheerful +and merry with all her trials and loved Lizzie +Hexam very much. Wrayburn, the young lawyer, +used to come to see them, but she did not approve +of him. She saw almost before Lizzie did herself +that the latter was falling in love with Wrayburn, +and the wise little creature feared that this would +only bring pain to Lizzie, because she was an uneducated +girl and Wrayburn a gentleman, who, +when he married, would be expected to marry a +lady far above Lizzie's station. Lizzie knew this, +too, but she could not help loving Wrayburn, and +as for the lawyer, he thought nothing of what the +outcome might be.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Lizzie's brother Charley, for whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> +she had worked so hard, was doing well at school, +but now that he was getting up in the world he had +turned out to be a selfish boy and was afraid that +his sister might draw him down.</p> + +<p>One day he came to visit her, bringing with him +the master of his school. The master's name was +Headstone. He was a gloomy, passionate, revengeful +man who dressed always in black and had no +friends. Unfortunately enough, the first time he +saw Lizzie he fell in love with her. It was unfortunate +in more ways than one, for Lizzie disliked +him greatly, and he was, as it proved, a man who +would stop at nothing—not even at the worst of +crimes—to attain an object.</p> + +<p>When Lizzie's brother found Headstone wanted +to marry her, in his selfishness he saw only what a +fine thing it would be for himself, and when she +refused, he said many harsh things and finally left +her in anger, telling her she was no longer a sister +of his.</p> + +<p>This was not the worst either, for she knew +Headstone had been made almost angry by her dislike, +and she was in dreadful fear lest he do harm +to Eugene Wrayburn, whom he suspected she +loved.</p> + +<p>In her anxiety Lizzie left her lodging with the +dolls' dressmaker, and found employment in a paper-mill +in a village on the river, some miles from +London, letting neither Wrayburn nor Headstone +know where she had gone.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p> + +<p>The schoolmaster imagined that the lawyer +(whom he now hated with a deadly hatred) knew +where she was, and in order to discover if he visited +her he began to dog the other's footsteps. At +night, after teaching all day in school, Headstone +would lie in wait outside the lawyer's door and +whenever he came out would follow him.</p> + +<p>Wrayburn soon discovered this and delighted to +fool his enemy. Every night he would take a new +direction and lead his pursuer for hours about the +city. So that in a few weeks Headstone became almost +insane with murderous anger and disappointment.</p> + +<p>So things went on for a long while. Lizzie continued +to love Eugene Wrayburn, who kept trying +in every way to find her. Headstone, the schoolmaster, +kept watching him and meditating evil. +The little dolls' dressmaker worked on cheerily +every day in the city, and in their fine house Mr. +and Mrs. Boffin grew fonder and fonder of Miss +Bella, whom John Rokesmith, the secretary, +thought more beautiful every day.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +THE RISE AND FALL OF SILAS WEGG</h3> + +<p>The wooden-legged ballad seller whom Mr. +Boffin had hired to read to him was a sly, dishonest +rascal named Silas Wegg, who soon made up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> +his mind to get all the money he could out of his +employer.</p> + +<p>There is an old story of a camel who once asked +a shopkeeper to let him put his nose in at the shop +door to warm it. The shopkeeper consented, and +little by little the camel got his head, then his neck, +then his shoulders and at last his whole body into +the shop, so that there was no room for the poor +shopkeeper, who had to sit outside in the cold. +Wegg soon began to act like the camel and took +such advantage of easy-going Mr. Boffin that the +latter at last let him live rent-free in the house +amid the dust heaps, which he himself had occupied +before he got old Harmon's money.</p> + +<p>Wegg imagined the mounds contained treasures +hidden by the old man and thought it would be a +fine thing to cheat Mr. Boffin out of them. So +every night he spent hours prodding the heaps. +Finally he persuaded a Mr. Venus (a man who +had been disappointed in love and made a melancholy +living by stringing skeletons together on +wires), to become his partner in the search.</p> + +<p>One day Wegg really did find something. It +was a parchment hidden in an empty pump, and he +soon saw that it was a second will of old Harmon's, +later than the one already known, leaving the +whole fortune, not to the son at all, but to the +Crown.</p> + +<p>When Wegg saw this his hypocritical soul +swelled with joy, for he thought, sooner than give<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +up all the money to the Crown, Mr. Boffin would +pay him a great deal to destroy this new will. He +was such a rascal himself that it never occurred to +him that maybe Mr. Boffin would prefer to be honest. +He took it for granted everybody else was as +bad as he was himself, yet all the while he tried to +make himself believe that he was upright and noble +in all he did, as hypocrites generally do.</p> + +<p>The only point Wegg could not make up his +mind about was how much he could squeeze out of +his benefactor, Mr. Boffin. At first he had thought +of asking for half, but the more he hugged his secret +the lesser the half seemed. At last he determined +to demand for himself, as the price for giving +up the will, all but a very small share of the +whole fortune.</p> + +<p>Now Mr. Venus, though he had yielded at first +to the rosy temptations of Wegg, was after all quite +honest at heart, and his conscience troubled him so +that at last he went and told Mr. Boffin all about +Wegg's discovery.</p> + +<p>The Golden Dustman at first thought Mr. Venus +had some underhanded plan, so he pretended he +was terribly frightened for fear of Wegg and the +will he had found.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, sly old Mr. Boffin was not +afraid in the least, because he knew something that +neither Wegg nor Venus, nor even John Rokesmith, +the secretary, knew. This was, that the old +original dustman, Harmon, had made still a <i>third</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> +will, later than either of the others. The first will +found was the one that had called the son back to +England to marry Bella. The second will was the +one leaving all his fortune to the Crown, which +Wegg had found in the empty pump. The third +and last one gave all the money to Mr. Boffin, no +matter whom the son married, and gave none to +any one else. And this third and last will, the one +that was the <i>true</i> will, The Golden Dustman had +long ago found himself, buried in a bottle in one +of the dust heaps.</p> + +<p>Mr. Boffin had never told any one about this last +will, because he had all the fortune anyway. Now, +however, seeing how Wegg had planned to act, he +was very glad he had found it. And when he was +convinced that Mr. Venus was really honest and +wanted no reward whatever, Mr. Boffin determined +to fool the rascally Wegg up to the very +last moment.</p> + +<p>Wegg's plan was not to demand the money until +he had fully searched all the dust mounds. Mr. +Boffin spurred Wegg on in this regard by making +him read to him in the evenings from a book called +<i>The Lives of Famous Misers</i> which he had bought: +about the famous Mr. Dancer who had warmed his +dinner by sitting on it and died naked in a sack, +and yet had gold and bank-notes hidden in the +crevices of the walls and in cracked jugs and tea-pots; +of an old apple woman in whose house a fortune +was found wrapped up in little scraps of paper;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +of "Vulture Hopkins" and "Blewbury Jones" +and many others whose riches after their death +were found hidden in strange places. While Wegg +read, Mr. Boffin would pretend to get tremendously +excited about his dust mounds, so that +Wegg grew surer and surer there must be riches +hidden in them.</p> + +<p>Finally The Golden Dustman sold the mounds +and had them carted away little by little, Wegg +watching every shovelful for fear he would miss +something.</p> + +<p>Mr. Boffin hired a foreman to manage the removal +of the dust who wore Wegg down to skin +and bone. He worked by daylight and torchlight, +too. Just as Wegg, tired out by watching all day in +the rain, would crawl into bed, the foreman, like a +goblin, would reappear and go to work again. +Sometimes Wegg would be waked in the middle +of the night, and sometimes kept at his post for as +much as forty-eight hours at a stretch, till he grew +so gaunt and haggard that even his wooden leg +looked chubby in comparison.</p> + +<p>At last he could not keep quiet any longer and +he told Mr. Boffin what he had found. Mr. Boffin +pretended the most abject dread. Wegg bullied +and browbeat him to his heart's content, and ended +by ordering him, like a slave, to be ready to receive +him on a certain morning, and to have the money +ready to pay him.</p> + +<p>When he went to the fine Boffin house to keep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> +this appointment he entered insolently, whistling +and with his hat on. A servant showed him into +the library where Mr. Boffin and the secretary sat +waiting, and where the secretary at once astonished +him by taking off the hat and throwing it out of +the window.</p> + +<p>In another moment Wegg found himself seized +by the cravat, shaken till his teeth rattled, and +pinned in a corner of the room, where the secretary +knocked his head against the wall while he told +him in a few words what a scoundrel he was.</p> + +<p>When he learned that the will he had discovered +was worthless paper, Wegg lost all his bullying air +and cringed before them. Mr. Boffin was disposed +to be merciful and offered to make good his loss of +his ballad business, but Wegg, grasping and mean +to the last, set its value at such a ridiculously high +figure that Mr. Boffin put his money back into his +pocket.</p> + +<p>Then, at a sign from John Rokesmith, one of the +servants caught Wegg by the collar, hoisted him on +his back, ran down to the street with him and +threw him into a garbage cart, where he disappeared +from view with a tremendous splash.</p> + +<p>And that, so far as this story is concerned, was the +end of Silas Wegg.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +BELLA AND THE GOLDEN DUSTMAN</h3> + +<p>It was not long before John Rokesmith, the secretary, +was very much in love with Bella indeed. +Bella saw this plainly, but the fine house and costly +clothes had quite spoiled her, and, thinking him +only a poor secretary and her father's lodger, she +treated him almost with contempt.</p> + +<p>Yet he would not tell her who he was, for he did +not want her to marry him merely because of the +money it would bring her. She hurt his feelings +often, but in spite of it she could not help being attracted +to him. He had a way, too, of looking at +her that made her feel how proud and unjust she +was, and sometimes made her quite despise herself.</p> + +<p>But having had a taste of the pleasures and comforts +that wealth would bring, Bella had quite determined +when she married to marry nobody but a +very rich man. Mr. and Mrs. Boffin both noticed +how changed she was growing from her own sweet +self and regretted it, for they liked Bella and they +liked the secretary, too, and they could easily see +that the latter was in love with her.</p> + +<p>One day Mrs. Boffin went to the secretary's room +for something. As she entered, Rokesmith, who +was sitting sadly over the fire, looked up with a peculiar +expression that told the good woman all in a +flash who he was.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I know you now," she cried, "you're little John +Harmon!"</p> + +<p>In the joy and surprise she almost fainted, but he +caught her and set her down beside him. Just then +in came Mr. Boffin, and the secretary told them the +whole story, and how he now loved Bella, but +would not declare himself because of her contempt.</p> + +<p>Both Mr. and Mrs. Boffin were so glad to know +he was really alive they fell to crying with joy. +The Golden Dustman declared that, no matter how +the last will read, John should have the fortune for +his own. Rokesmith (or Harmon) at first refused +to do this, but Mr. Boffin swore that if he did not +he himself would not touch the money, and it +would have to go to the Crown anyway. So at last +it was agreed that Mr. Boffin should keep a small +portion for his own, but that the other should take +all the rest.</p> + +<p>Mr. Boffin wanted to tell everybody the truth at +once, but John would not let them. You see he +wouldn't marry Bella for anything unless she loved +him for himself alone. And she was growing so +fond of riches that there seemed little chance of this +happening.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless they believed that at heart Bella +was good and sweet, if they could only get to her +real self, so Mr. Boffin that moment made a plan.</p> + +<p>He determined to show Bella how much unhappiness +misused riches could cause, and how too +much money might sometimes spoil the kindest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> +and best people. As a lesson to her in this he was to +pretend gradually to turn into a mean, hard-hearted +miser. They agreed that he should begin +to treat the secretary harshly and unjustly in Bella's +presence, feeling sure that her true self would +stand up for him when he was slighted, and be +kinder to him when he seemed poorest and most +friendless.</p> + +<p>The Golden Dustman began the new plan that +very night. Every day he made himself act like a +regular brown bear, and every evening he would +say, "I'll be a grislier old growler to-morrow." He +made the secretary slave from morning till night +and found fault with him and sneered at his poverty +and cut down his wages.</p> + +<p>Each afternoon, when he went walking with +Bella, Mr. Boffin would make her go into bookshops +and inquire if they had any book about a +miser. If they had, he would buy it, no matter +what it cost, and lug it home to read. He began to +drive hard bargains for everything he bought and +all his talk came to be about money and the fine +thing it was to have it.</p> + +<p>"Go in for money, my dear," he would say to +Bella. "Money's the article! You'll make money +of your good looks, and of the money Mrs. Boffin +and me will leave you, and you'll live and die rich. +That's the state to live and die in—R-r-rich!"</p> + +<p>Bella was greatly shocked at the sorrowful +change in Mr. Boffin. Wealth began to look less<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> +lovely when she saw him growing so miserly. She +began to wonder if she herself might ever become +like that, too, and sometimes, when she thought how +kind and generous the old Mr. Boffin had been, she +fairly hated money and wished it had never been +invented.</p> + +<p>There was an old woman who peddled knitting-work +through the country whom Mr. and Mrs. +Boffin had befriended, and to whom they had given +a letter to carry wherever she went. This letter +asked whoever should find her, if she fell sick, to +let them know. The old woman fell and died one +day by the roadside near the spot where Lizzie +Hexam was now living, and Lizzie, finding the letter, +wrote about it to Mr. and Mrs. Boffin.</p> + +<p>They sent the secretary and Bella, to make arrangements +for the poor woman's burial, and in +this way Bella met Lizzie and became her friend. +Lizzie soon told her all her story, and Bella, seeing +how unselfishly she loved, began to think her own +ambition to marry for money a mean and ignoble +thing. She thought how patient and kind the secretary +had always been, and, knowing he loved her, +wished heartily that her own coldness had not forbidden +him to tell her so.</p> + +<p>One day Mr. Boffin's pretended harsh treatment +of his secretary seemed to come to a climax. He +sent for him to come to the room where Mrs. Boffin +and Bella sat, and made a fearful scene. He said +he had just heard that he, Rokesmith, had been presuming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> +on his position to make love to Bella—a +young lady who wanted to marry money, who had +<i>a right</i> to marry money, and who was very far from +wanting to marry a poor beggar of a private secretary! +He threw the wages that were due Rokesmith +on the floor and discharged him on the spot, +telling him the sooner he could pack up and leave, +the better.</p> + +<p>Then, at last, in the face of this apparent meanness +and injustice, Bella saw herself and Mr. Boffin's +money and John Rokesmith's love and dignity, +all in their true light. She burst out crying, begged +Rokesmith's forgiveness, told Mr. Boffin he was an +old wretch of a miser, and when the secretary had +gone, she said Rokesmith was a gentleman and +worth a million Boffins, and she would not stay in +the house a minute longer.</p> + +<p>Then she packed up her things and went straight +to her father's office. All the other clerks had gone +home, for it was after hours, and she put her head +on his shoulder and told him all about it.</p> + +<p>And while they were talking, in came John +Rokesmith, and seeing her there alone with her +father, rushed to her and caught her in his arms.</p> + +<p>"My dear, brave, noble, generous girl!" he said, +and Bella, feeling all at once that she had never +been quite so happy in her life, laid her head on his +breast, as if that were the one place for it in all the +world.</p> + +<p>They had a talk together and then walked home<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> +to Mr. Wilfer's poor little house, Bella's father +agreeing that she had done exactly the proper +thing, and Bella herself feeling so happy now in +having John Rokesmith's love, that she cared not a +bit for the fine mansion and clothes and money of +the Boffins which she had left for ever.</p> + +<p>A few days later John Rokesmith and Bella were +married and went to live in a little furnished cottage +outside of London, where they settled down as +happy as two birds.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>V</big><br /> +<br /> +THE END OF THE STORY</h3> + +<p>While these things were happening at Mr. Boffin's +house, Eugene Wrayburn, with Headstone the +schoolmaster watching him like a hawk, had never +left off trying to find where Lizzie Hexam had +gone. At length, through the "troublesome child" +of the little dolls' dressmaker, he learned the name +of the village where she was living and went at once +to see her.</p> + +<p>Headstone followed close behind him and when, +from his hiding-place, he saw how glad Lizzie was +to see the lawyer, he went quite mad with jealousy +and hate, and that moment he determined to kill +Wrayburn.</p> + +<p>It happened that Rogue Riderhood was then +working on the river that flowed past the village, +where he tended a lock. The schoolmaster, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> +order to turn suspicion from himself in case any +one should see him when he did this wicked deed, +observing carefully how Riderhood was dressed, +got himself clothes exactly like the lock tender's, +even to a red handkerchief tied around his neck.</p> + +<p>In this guise, with murder in his heart, he lay in +wait along the riverside till Wrayburn passed one +evening just after he had bade good night to Lizzie +Hexam. The schoolmaster crept up close behind +the lawyer and struck him a fearful crashing blow +on the head with a club. Wrayburn grappled with +him, but Headstone struck again and again with +the bloody weapon, and still again as the other lay +prostrate at his feet, and dragging the body to the +bank, threw it into the river. Then he fled.</p> + +<p>Lizzie Hexam had not yet turned homeward +from the riverside. She heard through the night +the sound of the blows, the faint moan and the +splash. She ran to the spot, saw the trampled grass, +and, looking across the water, saw a bloody face +drifting away. She ran to launch a boat, and rowed +with all her strength to overtake it.</p> + +<p>But for her dreadful life on the river with her +father she could not have found the drowning man +in the darkness, but she did, and then she saw it +was the man she loved. One terrible cry she uttered, +then rowed with desperate strokes to the +shore and with superhuman strength carried him +to a near-by inn.</p> + +<p>Wrayburn was not dead, but was dreadfully disfigured.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> +For many days he hovered between life +and death. Jennie Wren, the dolls' dressmaker, +came, and she and Lizzie nursed him. As soon as +he could speak he made them understand that before +he died he wanted Lizzie to marry him. A +minister was sent for, and with him came John +Rokesmith and Bella. So the sick man was married +to Lizzie, and from that hour he began to get better, +till before long they knew that he would recover.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, not waiting to see the result of his +murderous attack, Headstone had fled down the +river bank to the hut where Riderhood lived and +there the villainous lock tender let him rest and +sleep. As the schoolmaster tossed in his guilty +slumber, Riderhood noted that his clothes were +like his own. He unbuttoned the sleeping man's +jacket, saw the red handkerchief, and, having +heard from a passing boatman of the attempted +murder, he guessed that Headstone had done it and +saw how he had plotted to lay the crime on him.</p> + +<p>When the schoolmaster went away Riderhood +followed him, watched him change clothes in the +bushes and rescued the bloody garments the other +threw away.</p> + +<p>With these in his hands he faced the schoolmaster +one day in his class room and made him promise, +under threat of exposure, to come that night to +the hut by the lock. Headstone was afraid to disobey. +When he came, Riderhood told him he must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> +give him money at once or he would follow him till +he did.</p> + +<p>Headstone refused and, as the other had threatened, +when he started back to London, he found +the lock tender by his side. He returned to the hut +and the other did the same.</p> + +<p>He started again, and again the other walked beside +him. Then Headstone, turning suddenly, +caught Riderhood around the waist and dragged +him to the edge of the lock.</p> + +<p>"Let go!" said Riderhood. "You can't drown +me!"</p> + +<p>"I can," panted Headstone. "And I can drown +myself. I'll hold you living and I'll hold you dead. +Come down!"</p> + +<p>Riderhood went over backward into the water, +and the schoolmaster upon him. When they found +them, long afterward, Riderhood's body was girdled +still with the schoolmaster's arms and they +held him tight.</p> + +<p>This was the awful end of the two wicked men +whom fate had brought into Lizzie's life.</p> + +<p>All this time, of course, Bella had been believing +her husband to be very poor. At first he had intended +to tell her who he was on the day they were +married, but he said to himself: "No, she's so unselfish +and contented I can't afford to be rich yet." +So he pretended to get a position in the city at small +wages. Then after a few months he thought it over +again, and he said to himself, "She's such a cheerful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> +little housewife that I can't afford to be rich +yet." And at last a little baby was born to Bella, +and then they were so happy that he said, "She's so +much sweeter than she ever was that I can't afford +to be rich just yet!"</p> + +<p>But meantime Bella was imagining that Mr. +Boffin was a cruel old miser, and Mr. Boffin didn't +like this, so John agreed that he would tell her all +about it.</p> + +<p>But first he got Bella to describe exactly the kind +of house she would like if they were very, very +rich, and when she told him, he and Mr. Boffin +had the Boffin mansion fixed over in just the way +she had said—with a nursery with rainbow-colored +walls and flowers on the staircase, and even a little +room full of live birds, and a jewel box full of +jewels on the dressing-table.</p> + +<p>Fate, however, had arranged even a greater trial +of Bella's love for him than all the others. As they +walked together on the street one day, they came +face to face with a man who had been in the police +office on the night the body which every one believed +to be John Harmon's had lain there. He +had seen the entrance of the agitated stranger, and +had helped the police in their later vain search for +Rokesmith. Now he at once recognized Bella's +husband as that man, who the police believed had +probably committed the murder.</p> + +<p>Rokesmith knew the man had recognized him, +and when they got home he told Bella that he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> +accused of killing the man the Harmon will had +bidden her marry.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 266px;"> +<a href="images/illus-4.png"><img src="images/illus-4tn.png" width="266" height="400" alt="" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">Jennie Wren and her "troublesome child" +<br /> +<i>See page <a href="#Page_335">335</a></i></span> +</div> + +<p>But nothing now could shake her faith in him. +"How dare they!" she cried indignantly. "My beloved +husband." He caught her in his arms at that, +and while he held her thus the officers entered to +arrest him.</p> + +<p>Rokesmith found the matter very easy to explain +to the satisfaction of the police, but he told Bella +nothing as yet, and, trusting and believing in him +absolutely, she waited in great wonder. Next day +he told her he had a new position and that now they +must live in the city where he had taken a furnished +house for them.</p> + +<p>They drove together to see it. Strangely enough +it seemed to be in the same street as Mr. Boffin's +house, and stranger yet, the coach stopped at Mr. +Boffin's own door. Her husband put his arm +around her and drew her in, and she saw that +everything was covered with flowers. As he led +her on she exclaimed in astonishment to see the little +room full of birds just as she had wished.</p> + +<p>Suddenly her husband opened a door and there +was Mr. Boffin beaming and Mrs. Boffin shedding +tears of joy, and folding her to her breast as she +said: "My deary, deary, deary, wife of John and +mother of his little child! My loving loving, +bright bright, pretty pretty! Welcome to your +house and home, my deary!"</p> + +<p>Then of course the whole story came out. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> +mystery was solved and she knew that John Rokesmith +was the true John Harmon and that her husband +was really the man the Harmon will had +picked out for her to marry.</p> + +<p>In the splendid Boffin house they lived happily +for many years, surrounded by Bella's children. +And they were never so happy as when they welcomed +Eugene Wrayburn with Lizzie his wife, or +Jennie Wren, the little dolls' dressmaker.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span></p> +<h2>A TALE OF TWO CITIES</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1859</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London and Paris</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1775 to 1792</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Doctor Manette</td><td align="right">A French physician</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan='2'>Rescued after long imprisonment in the Bastille</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lucie</td><td align="right">His daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Miss Pross</td><td align="right">Her English nurse</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sydney Carton</td><td align="right">An idle and dissipated law student</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Lorry</td><td align="right">The agent of an English bank doing<br /> business in Paris</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Marquis de St. Evrémonde</td><td align="right">A French nobleman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Charles Darnay</td><td align="right">His nephew</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan='2'>A young Frenchman living in England as a tutor<br /> Later, the Marquis de St. Evrémonde, and Lucie's<br /> husband</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gabelle</td><td align="right">The steward of Darnay's French estates</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Defarge</td><td align="right">A Paris wine shop keeper</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan='2'>A leader of the revolutionists</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Madame Defarge</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Barsad</td><td align="right">A spy and turnkey</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES" id="A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"></a>A TALE OF TWO CITIES</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +HOW LUCIE FOUND A FATHER</h3> + +<p>A little more than a hundred years ago there +lived in London (one of the two cities of this tale) +a lovely girl of seventeen named Lucie Manette. +Her mother had died when she was a baby, in +France, and she lived alone with her old nurse, +Miss Pross, a homely, grim guardian with hair as +red as her face, who called Lucie "ladybird" and +loved her very much. Miss Pross was sharp of +speech and was always snapping people up as if +she would bite their heads off, but, though she seldom +chose to show it, she was the kindest, truest, +most unselfish person in the world. Lucie had no +memory of her father, and had always believed he +also had died when she was a baby.</p> + +<p>One day, however, through a Mr. Lorry, the +agent of a bank, she learned a wonderful piece of +news. He told her that her father was not dead, +but that he had been wickedly thrown into a secret +prison in Paris before she was born, and had been +lost thus for eighteen long years. This prison was +the Bastille—a cold, dark building like a castle, +with high gray towers, a deep moat and drawbridge, +and soldiers and cannon to defend it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span></p> + +<p>In those days in France the rich nobles who belonged +to the royal court were very powerful and +overbearing, and the rest of the people had few +rights. One could be put into prison then without +any trial at all, so that many innocent people suffered. +Lucie's mother had guessed that Doctor +Manette (for he was a physician) had in some way +incurred the hatred of some one of the nobles and +had thus been taken from her; but all she certainly +knew was that he had disappeared one day in Paris +and had never come back.</p> + +<p>For a year she had tried in every way to find +him, but at length, desolate and heartbroken, she +had fallen ill and died, leaving little Lucie with +only Miss Pross, her English nurse, to care for +her. Mr. Lorry himself, who told Lucie this story, +having known her father, had brought her, a baby, +to London in his arms.</p> + +<p>Now, he told her, after all these years, her father +had been released, and was at that moment in Paris +in charge of a man named Defarge, who had once +been his servant. But the long imprisonment had +affected his mind, so that he was little more than +the broken wreck of the man he had once been. +Mr. Lorry was about to go to Paris to identify him, +and he wished Lucie to go also to bring him to himself.</p> + +<p>You can imagine that Lucie's heart was both +glad and sorrowful at the news; joyful that the +father she had always believed dead was alive, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> +yet full of grief for his condition. She hastily made +ready and that same day set out with Mr. Lorry for +France.</p> + +<p>When they reached Paris they went at once to +find Defarge. He was a stern, forbidding man, +who kept a cheap wine shop in one of the poorer +quarters of the city. He took them through a dirty +courtyard behind the shop and up five flights of +filthy stairs to a door, which he unlocked for them +to enter.</p> + +<p>In the dim room sat a withered, white-haired +old man on a low bench making shoes. His cheeks +were worn and hollow, his eyes were bright and his +long beard was as white as snow. He wore a ragged +shirt, and his hands were thin and transparent from +confinement. It was Lucie's father, Doctor Manette!</p> + +<p>He scarcely looked up when they entered, for +his mind was gone and he knew no one. All that +seemed to interest him was his shoemaking. He +had forgotten everything else. He even thought +his own name was "One hundred and five, North +Tower," which had been the number of his cell in +the Bastille.</p> + +<p>Lucie's heart almost broke to see him. She +wanted to throw her arms about him, to lay her +head on his breast and tell him she was his daughter +who loved him and had come to take him home +at last. But she was afraid this would frighten him.</p> + +<p>She came close to him, and after a while he began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> +to look at her. She greatly resembled her dead +mother, and presently her face seemed to remind +him of something. He unwound a string from +around his neck and unfolded a little rag which +was tied to it, and there was a lock of hair like +Lucie's. Then he suddenly burst into tears—the +first he had shed for long, long years—and the +tears seemed to bring back a part of the past. Lucie +took him in her arms and soothed him, while Mr. +Lorry went to bring the coach that was to take them +to England.</p> + +<p>Through all their preparations for departure +her father sat watching in a sort of scared wonder, +holding tight to Lucie's hand like a child, and +when they told him to come with them he descended +the stairs obediently. But he would not go into +the coach without his bench and shoemaking tools, +and, to quiet him, they were obliged to take them, +too.</p> + +<p>So the father and daughter and Mr. Lorry journeyed +back to Lucie's home in London. All the +miles they rode Lucie held her father's hand, and +the touch seemed to give him strength and confidence.</p> + +<p>On the boat crossing to London was a young man +who called himself Charles Darnay, handsome, +dark and pale. He was most kind to Lucie, and +showed her how to make a couch on deck for her +father, and how she could shelter it from the wind. +In the long months that followed their arrival,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> +while the poor old man regained a measure of +health, she never forgot Darnay's face and his +kindness to them.</p> + +<p>Doctor Manette's mind and memory came +slowly back with his improving health. There +were some days when his brain clouded. Then +Lucie would find him seated at his old prison +bench making shoes, and she would coax him away +and talk to him until the insanity would pass away.</p> + +<p>So time went by peacefully till a strange thing +happened: Charles Darnay, who had been so kind +to Lucie and her father on the boat, was arrested +on a charge of treason.</p> + +<p>England at that time was not on good terms with +France, and Darnay, who was of French birth, +was accused of selling information concerning the +English forts and army to the French Government. +This was a very serious charge, for men convicted +of treason then were put to death in the cruelest +ways that could be invented.</p> + +<p>The charge was not true, and Darnay himself +knew quite well who was working against him.</p> + +<p>The fact was that Charles Darnay was not his +true name. He was really Charles St. Evrémonde, +the descendant of a rich and noble French family, +though he chose to live in London as Charles Darnay, +and earned his living by giving lessons in +French. He did this because he would not be one +of the hated noble class of his own country, who +treated the poor so heartlessly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span></p> + +<p>In France the peasants had to pay many oppressive +taxes, and were wretched and half-starved, +while the rich nobles rode in gilded coaches, and, +if they ran over a little peasant child, threw a coin +to its mother and drove on without a further +thought. Among the hardest-hearted of all, and +the most hated by the common people, were the +Evrémondes, the family of the young man who +was now accused of treason. As soon as he was old +enough to know how unjust was his family's treatment +of the poor who were dependent on them, he +had protested against it. When he became a man he +had refused to live on the money that was thus +taken from the hungry peasantry, and had left his +home and come to London to earn his own way by +teaching.</p> + +<p>His heartless uncle, the Marquis de St. Evrémonde, +in France, the head of the family, hated +the young man for this noble spirit. It was this +uncle who had invented the plot to accuse his +nephew of treason. He had hired a dishonest spy +known as Barsad, who swore he had found papers +in Darnay's trunk that proved his guilt, and, as +Darnay had been often back and forth to France +on family matters, the case looked dark for him.</p> + +<p>Cruelly enough, among those who were called +to the trial as witnesses, to show that Darnay had +made these frequent journeys to France, were Doctor +Manette and Lucie—because they had seen him +on the boat during that memorable crossing. Lucie's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> +tears fell fast as she gave her testimony, believing +him innocent and knowing that her words +would be used to condemn him.</p> + +<p>Darnay would doubtless have been convicted +but for a curious coincidence: A dissipated young +lawyer, named Sydney Carton, sitting in the court +room, had noticed with surprise that he himself +looked very much like the prisoner; in fact, that +they were so much alike they might almost have +been taken for twin brothers. He called the attention +of Darnay's lawyer to this, and the latter—while +one of the witnesses against Darnay was +making oath that he had seen him in a certain place +in France—made Carton take off his wig (all lawyers +wear wigs in England while in court) and +stand up beside Darnay. The two were so alike +the witness was puzzled, and he could not swear +which of the two he had seen. For this reason Darnay, +to Lucie's great joy, was found not guilty.</p> + +<p>Sydney Carton, who had thought of and suggested +this clever thing, was a reckless, besotted +young man. He cared for nobody, and nobody, he +used to say, cared for him. He lacked energy and +ambition to work and struggle for himself, but for +the sake of plenty of money with which to buy +liquor, he studied cases for another lawyer, who +was fast growing rich by his labor. His master, +who hired him, was the lion; Carton was content, +through his own indolence and lack of purpose, to +be the jackal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span></p> + +<p>His conscience had always condemned him for +this, and now, as he saw the innocent Darnay's +look, noble and straightforward, so like himself as +he might have been, and as he thought of Lucie's +sweet face and of how she had wept as she was +forced to give testimony against the other, Carton +felt that he almost hated the man whose life he +had saved.</p> + +<p>The trial brought Lucie and these two men (so +like each other in feature, yet so unlike in character) +together, and afterward they often met at +Doctor Manette's house.</p> + +<p>It was in a quiet part of London that Lucie and +her father lived, all alone save for the faithful +Miss Pross. They had little furniture, for they +were quite poor, but Lucie made the most of everything. +Doctor Manette had recovered his mind, +but not all of his memory. Sometimes he would +get up in the night and walk up and down, up and +down, for hours. At such times Lucie would hurry +to him and walk up and down with him till he was +calm again. She never knew why he did this, but +she came to believe he was trying vainly to remember +all that had happened in those lost years which +he had forgotten. He kept his prison bench and +tools always by him, but as time went on he gradually +used them less and less often.</p> + +<p>Mr. Lorry, with his flaxen wig and constant +smile, came to tea every Sunday with them and +helped to keep Doctor Manette cheerful. Sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> +Darnay, Sydney Carton and Mr. Lorry +would meet there together, but of them all, Darnay +came oftenest, and soon it was easy to see that he +was in love with Lucie.</p> + +<p>Sydney Carton, too, was in love with her, but he +was perfectly aware that he was quite undeserving, +and that Lucie could never love him in return. She +was the last dream of his wild, careless life, the life +he had wasted and thrown away. Once he told her +this, and said that, although he could never be +anything to her himself, he would give his life +gladly to save any one who was near and dear to +her.</p> + +<p>Lucie fell in love with Darnay at length and one +day they were married and went away on their wedding +journey.</p> + +<p>Until then, since his rescue, Lucie had never +been out of Doctor Manette's sight. Now, though +he was glad for her happiness, yet he felt the pain +of the separation so keenly that it unhinged his +mind again. Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry found him +next morning making shoes at the old prison +bench and for nine days he did not know them at +all. At last, however, he recovered, and then, lest +the sight of it affect him, one day when he was not +there they chopped the bench to pieces and burned +it up.</p> + +<p>But her father was better after Lucie came back +with her husband, and they took up their quiet +life again. Darnay loved Lucie devotedly. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> +supported himself still by teaching. Mr. Lorry +came from the bank oftener to tea and Sydney Carton +more rarely, and their life was peaceful and +content.</p> + +<p>Once after his marriage, his cruel uncle, the +Marquis de St. Evrémonde, sent for Darnay to +come to France on family matters. Darnay went, +but declined to remain or to do the other's bidding.</p> + +<p>But his uncle's evil life was soon to be ended. +While Darnay was there the marquis was murdered +one night in his bed by a grief-crazed laborer, +whose little child his carriage had run over.</p> + +<p>Darnay returned to England, shocked and horrified +the more at the indifference of the life led +by his race in France. Although now, by the death +of his uncle, he had himself become the Marquis +de St. Evrémonde, yet he would not lay claim to +the title, and left all the estates in charge of one +of the house servants, an honest steward named +Gabelle.</p> + +<p>He had intended after his return to Lucie to +settle all these affairs and to dispose of the property, +which he felt it wrong for him to hold; but in the +peace and happiness of his life in England he put +it off and did nothing further.</p> + +<p>And this neglect of Darnay's—as important +things neglected are apt to prove—came before +long to be the cause of terrible misfortune and +agony to them all.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +DARNAY CAUGHT IN THE NET</h3> + +<p>While these things were happening in London, +the one city of this tale, other very different events +were occurring in the other city of the story—Paris, +the French capital.</p> + +<p>The indifference and harsh oppression of the +court and the nobles toward the poor had gone on +increasing day by day, and day by day the latter +had grown more sullen and resentful. All the +while the downtrodden people of Paris were plotting +secretly to rise in rebellion, kill the king +and queen and all the nobles, seize their riches and +govern France themselves.</p> + +<p>The center of this plotting was Defarge, the +keeper of the wine shop, who had cared for Doctor +Manette when he had first been released from +prison. Defarge and those he trusted met and +planned often in the very room where Mr. Lorry +and Lucie had found her father making shoes. +They kept a record of all acts of cruelty toward +the poor committed by the nobility, determining +that, when they themselves should be strong +enough, those thus guilty should be killed, their +fine houses burned, and all their descendants put to +death, so that not even their names should remain +in France. This was a wicked and awful determination, +but these poor, wretched people had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> +made to suffer all their lives, and their parents +before them, and centuries of oppression had killed +all their pity and made them as fierce as wild beasts +that only wait for their cages to be opened to destroy +all in their path.</p> + +<p>They were afraid, of course, to keep any written +list of persons whom they had thus condemned, so +Madame Defarge, the wife of the wine seller, used +to knit the names in fine stitches into a long piece +of knitting that she seemed always at work on.</p> + +<p>Madame Defarge was a stout woman with big +coarse hands and eyes that never seemed to look +at any one, yet saw everything that happened. She +was as strong as a man and every one was somewhat +afraid of her. She was even crueler and more +resolute than her husband. She would sit knitting +all day long in the dirty wine shop, watching and +listening, and knitting in the names of people +whom she hoped soon to see killed.</p> + +<p>One of the hated names that she knitted over and +over again was "Evrémonde." The laborer who, +in the madness of his grief for his dead child, had +murdered the Marquis de St. Evrémonde, Darnay's +hard-hearted uncle, had been caught and +hanged; and, because of this, Defarge and his wife +and the other plotters had condemned all of the +name of Evrémonde to death.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the king and queen of France and +all their gay and careless court of nobles feasted +and danced as heedlessly as ever. They did not see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> +the storm rising. The bitter taxes still went on. +The wine shop of Defarge looked as peaceful as +ever, but the men who drank there now were +dreaming of murder and revenge. And the half-starved +women, who sat and looked on as the gilded +coaches of the rich rolled through the streets, were +sullenly waiting—watching Madame Defarge as +she silently knitted, knitted into her work names +of those whom the people had condemned to death +without mercy.</p> + +<p>One day this frightful human storm, which for +so many years had been gathering in France, burst +over Paris. The poor people rose by thousands, +seized whatever weapons they could get—guns, +axes, or even stones of the street—and, led by Defarge +and his tigerish wife, set out to avenge their +wrongs. Their rage turned first of all against the +Bastille, the old stone prison in which so many of +their kind had died, where Doctor Manette for +eighteen years had made shoes. They beat down +the thick walls and butchered the soldiers who defended +it, and released the prisoners. And wherever +they saw one of the king's uniforms they +hanged the wearer to the nearest lamp post. It was +the beginning of the terrible Revolution in France +that was to end in the murder of thousands of innocent +lives. It was the beginning of a time when +Paris's streets were to run with blood, when all the +worst passions of the people were loosed, and when +they went mad with the joy of revenge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span></p> + +<p>The storm spread over France—to the village +where stood the great château of the Evrémonde +family, and the peasants set fire to it and burned +it to the ground. And Gabelle (the servant who +had been left in charge by Darnay, the new Marquis +de St. Evrémonde, whom they had never seen, +but yet hated) they seized and put in prison. They +stormed the royal palace and arrested the king and +queen, threw all who bore noble names or titles +into dungeons, and, as they had planned, set up a +government of their own.</p> + +<p>Darnay, safe in London with Lucie, knew little +and thought less of all this, till he received a pitiful +letter from Gabelle, who expected each morning +to be dragged out to be killed, telling of the plight +into which his faithfulness had brought him, and +beseeching his master's aid.</p> + +<p>This letter made Darnay most uneasy. He +blamed himself, because he knew it was his fault +that Gabelle had been left so long in such a dangerous +post. He did not forget that his own family, +the Evrémondes, had been greatly hated. But he +thought the fact that he himself had refused to be +one of them, and had given his sympathy rather to +the people they oppressed, would make it possible +for him to obtain Gabelle's release. And with this +idea he determined to go himself to Paris.</p> + +<p>He knew the very thought of his going, now that +France was mad with violence, would frighten +Lucie, so he determined not to tell her. He packed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> +some clothing hurriedly and left secretly, sending +a letter back telling her where and why he was +going. And by the time she read this he was well +on his way from England.</p> + +<p>Darnay had expected to find no trouble in his +errand and little personal risk in his journey, but +as soon as he landed on the shores of France he discovered +his mistake. He had only to give his real +name, "the Marquis de St. Evrémonde," which +he was obliged to do if he would help Gabelle, +and the title was the signal for rude threats and ill +treatment. Once in, he could not go back, and +he felt as if a monstrous net were closing around +him (as indeed, it was) from which there was no +escape.</p> + +<p>He was sent on to Paris under a guard of soldiers, +and there he was at once put into prison to be +tried—and in all probability condemned to death—as +one of the hated noble class whom the people +were now killing as fast as they could.</p> + +<p>The great room of the prison to which he was +taken Darnay found full of ladies and gentlemen, +most of them rich and titled, the men chatting, the +women reading or doing embroidery, all courteous +and polite, as if they sat in their own splendid +homes, instead of in a prison from which most of +them could issue only to a dreadful death. He was +allowed to remain here only a few moments; then +he was taken to an empty cell and left alone.</p> + +<p>It happened that the bank of which Mr. Lorry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> +was agent had an office also in Paris, and the old +gentleman had come there on business the day before +Darnay arrived. Mr. Lorry was an Englishman +born, and for him there was no danger. He +knew nothing of the arrest of Darnay until a day or +two later, when, as he sat in his room, Doctor Manette +and Lucie entered, just arrived from London, +deeply agitated and in great fear for Darnay's +safety.</p> + +<p>As soon as Lucie had read her husband's letter +she had followed at once with her father and Miss +Pross. Doctor Manette, knowing Darnay's real +name and title (for, before he married Lucie, he +had told her father everything concerning himself), +feared danger for him. But he had reasoned +that his own long imprisonment in the Bastille—the +building the people had first destroyed—would +make him a favorite, and render him able to +aid Darnay if danger came. On the way, they +had heard the sad news of his arrest, and had +come at once to Mr. Lorry to consider what might +best be done.</p> + +<p>While they talked, through the window they saw +a great crowd of people come rushing into the +courtyard of the building to sharpen weapons at +a huge grindstone that stood there. They were going +to murder the prisoners with which the jails +were by this time full!</p> + +<p>Fearful that he would be too late to save Darnay, +Doctor Manette rushed to the yard, his white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> +hair streaming in the wind, and told the leaders +of the mob who he was—how he had been imprisoned +for eighteen years in the Bastille, and that +now one of his kindred, by some unknown error, +had been seized. They cheered him, lifted him on +their shoulders and rushed away to demand for +him the release of Darnay, while Lucie, in tears, +with Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross, waited all night +for tidings.</p> + +<p>But none came that night. The rescue had not +proved easy. Next day Defarge, the wine shop +keeper, brought a short note to Lucie from Darnay +at the prison, but it was four days before Doctor +Manette returned to the house. He had, indeed, +by the story of his own sufferings, saved Darnay's +life for the time being, but the prisoner, he had +been told, could not be released without trial.</p> + +<p>For this trial they waited, day after day. The +time passed slowly and terribly. Prisoners were no +longer murdered without trial, but few escaped +the death penalty. The king and queen were beheaded. +Thousands were put to death merely on +suspicion, and thousands more were thrown into +prison to await their turn. This was that dreadful +period which has always since been called "The +Reign of Terror," when no one felt sure of +his safety.</p> + +<p>There was a certain window in the prison +through which Darnay sometimes found a chance +to look, and from which he could see one dingy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> +street corner. On this corner, every afternoon, +Lucie took her station for hours, rain or shine. She +never missed a day, and thus at long intervals her +husband got a view of her.</p> + +<p>So months passed till a year had gone. All the +while Doctor Manette, now become a well-known +figure in Paris, worked hard for Darnay's release. +And at length his turn came to be tried and he was +brought before the drunken, ignorant men who +called themselves judge and jury.</p> + +<p>He told how he had years before renounced +his family and title, left France, and supported +himself rather than be a burden on the peasantry. +He told how he had married a woman of French +birth, the only daughter of the good Doctor +Manette, whom all Paris knew, and had come to +Paris now of his own accord to help a poor servant +who was in danger through his fault.</p> + +<p>The story caught the fancy of the changeable +crowd in the room. They cheered and applauded +it. When he was acquitted they were quite as +pleased as if he had been condemned to be beheaded, +and put him in a great chair and carried +him home in triumph to Lucie.</p> + +<p>There was only one there, perhaps, who did not +rejoice at the result, and that was the cold, cruel +wife of the wine seller, Madame Defarge, who +had knitted the name "Evrémonde" so many times +into her knitting.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span></p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +SYDNEY CARTON'S SACRIFICE</h3> + +<p>That same night of his release all the happiness +of Darnay and Lucie was suddenly broken. Soldiers +came and again arrested him. Defarge and +his wife were the accusers this time, and he was +to be retried.</p> + +<p>The first one to bring this fresh piece of bad +news to Mr. Lorry was Sydney Carton, the reckless +and dissipated young lawyer. Probably he had +heard, in London, of Lucie's trouble, and out of his +love for her, which he always carried hidden in his +heart, had come to Paris to try to aid her husband. +He had arrived only to hear, at the same +time, of the acquittal and the rearrest.</p> + +<p>As Carton walked along the street thinking sadly +of Lucie's new grief, he saw a man whose face and +figure seemed familiar. Following, he soon recognized +him as the English spy, Barsad, whose false +testimony, years before in London, had come so +near convicting Darnay when he was tried for treason. +Barsad (who, as it happened, was now a turnkey +in the very prison where Darnay was confined) +had left London to become a spy in France, first +on the side of the king and then on the side of the +people.</p> + +<p>At the time of this story England was so hated +by France that if the people had known of Barsad's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> +career in London they would have cut off his head +at once. Carton, who was well aware of this, +threatened the spy with his knowledge and made +him swear that if worst came to worst and Darnay +were condemned, he would admit Carton to the cell +to see him once before he was taken to execution. +Why Carton asked this Barsad could not guess, +but to save himself he had to promise.</p> + +<p>Next day Darnay was tried for the second time. +When the judge asked for the accusation, Defarge +laid a paper before him.</p> + +<p>It was a letter that had been found when the +Bastille fell, in the cell that had been occupied +for eighteen years by Doctor Manette. He had +written it before his reason left him, and hidden +it behind a loosened stone in the wall; and in +it he had told the story of his own unjust arrest. +Defarge read it aloud to the jury. And this was +the terrible tale it told:</p> + +<p>The Marquis de St. Evrémonde (the cruel uncle +of Darnay), when he was a young man, had dreadfully +wronged a young peasant woman, had caused +her husband's death and killed her brother with +his own hand. As the brother lay dying from the +sword wound, Doctor Manette, then also a young +man, had been called to attend him, and so, by accident, +had learned the whole. Horrified at the +wicked wrong, he wrote of it in a letter to the +Minister of Justice. The Marquis whom it accused +learned of this, and, to put Doctor Manette<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> +out of the way, had him arrested secretly, taken +from his wife and baby daughter and thrown into +a secret cell of the Bastille, where he had lived +those eighteen years, not knowing whether his wife +and child lived or died. He waited ten years for +release, and when none came, at last, feeling his +mind giving way, he wrote the account, which he +concealed in the cell wall, denouncing the family +of Evrémonde and all their descendants.</p> + +<p>The reading of this paper by Defarge, as may +be guessed, aroused all the murderous passions of +the people in the court room. There was a further +reason for Madame Defarge's hatred, for the poor +woman whom Darnay's uncle had so wronged had +been her own sister! In vain old Doctor Manette +pleaded. That his own daughter was now Darnay's +wife made no difference in their eyes. The jury +at once found Darnay guilty and sentenced him to +die by the guillotine the next morning.</p> + +<p>Lucie fainted when the sentence was pronounced. +Sydney Carton, who had witnessed the trial, lifted +her and bore her to a carriage. When they reached +home he carried her up the stairs and laid her on +a couch.</p> + +<p>Before he went, he bent down and touched her +cheek with his lips, and they heard him whisper: +"For a life you love!"</p> + +<p>They did not know until next day what he meant.</p> + +<p>Carton had, in fact, formed a desperate plan to +rescue Lucie's husband, whom he so much resembled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> +in face and figure, even though it meant +his own death. He went to Mr. Lorry and made +him promise to have ready next morning passports +and a coach and swift horses to leave Paris for England +with Doctor Manette, Lucie and himself, telling +him that if they delayed longer, Lucie's life +and her father's also would be lost.</p> + +<p>Next, Carton bought a quantity of a drug whose +fumes would render a man insensible, and with +this in his pocket early next morning he went to +the spy, Barsad, and bade him redeem his promise +and take him to the cell where Darnay waited for +the signal of death.</p> + +<p>Darnay was seated, writing a last letter to Lucie, +when Carton entered. Pretending that he wished +him to write something that he dictated, Carton +stood over him and held the phial of the drug to +his face. In a moment the other was unconscious. +Then Carton changed clothes with him and called +in the spy, directing him to take the unconscious +man, who now seemed to be Sydney Carton instead +of Charles Darnay, to Mr. Lorry's house. +He himself was to take the prisoner's place and +suffer the penalty.</p> + +<p>The plan worked well. Darnay, who would not +have allowed this sacrifice if he had known, was +carried safely and without discovery, past the +guards. Mr. Lorry, guessing what had happened +when he saw the unconscious figure, took coach at +once with him, Doctor Manette and Lucie, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> +started for England that very hour. Miss Pross +was left to follow them in another carriage.</p> + +<p>While Miss Pross sat waiting in the empty house, +who should come in but the terrible Madame Defarge! +The latter had made up her mind, as Carton +had suspected, to denounce Lucie also. It was +against the law to mourn for any one who had been +condemned as an enemy to France, and the woman +was sure, of course, that Lucie would be mourning +for her husband, who was to die within the hour. +So she stopped on her way to the execution to see +Lucie and thus have evidence against her.</p> + +<p>When Madame Defarge entered, Miss Pross +read the hatred and evil purpose in her face. The +grim old nurse knew if it were known that Lucie +had gone, the coach would be pursued and brought +back. So she planted herself in front of the door +of Lucie's room, and would not let Madame Defarge +open it.</p> + +<p>The savage Frenchwoman tried to tear her away, +but Miss Pross seized her around the waist, and +held her back. The other drew a loaded pistol +from her breast to shoot her, but in the struggle +it went off and killed Madame Defarge herself.</p> + +<p>Then Miss Pross, all of a tremble, locked the +door, threw the key into the river, took a carriage +and followed after the coach.</p> + +<p>Not long after the unconscious Darnay, with +Lucie and Doctor Manette, passed the gates of +Paris, the jailer came to the cell where Sydney<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> +Carton sat and called him. It was the summons +to die. And with his thoughts on Lucie, whom he +had always hopelessly loved, and on her husband, +whom he had thus saved to her, he went almost +gladly.</p> + +<p>A poor little seamstress rode in the death cart +beside him. She was so small and weak that she +feared to die, and Carton held her cold hand all +the way and comforted her to the end. Cruel +women of the people sat about the guillotine knitting +and counting with their stitches, as each poor +victim died. And when Carton's turn came, thinking +he was Darnay, the hated Marquis de St. Evrémonde, +they cursed him and laughed.</p> + +<p>Men said of him about the city that night that it +was the peacefullest man's face ever beheld there. +If they could have read his thought, if he could +have spoken it in words it would have been these:</p> + +<p>"I see the lives, for which I lay down mine, +peaceful and happy in that England I shall see +no more. I see Lucie and Darnay with a child that +bears my name, and I see that I shall hold a place +in their hearts for ever. I see her weeping for me +on the anniversary of this day. I see the blot I +threw upon my name faded away, and I know that +till they die neither shall be more honored in the +soul of the other than I am honored in the souls +of both. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than +I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go +to than I have ever known!"</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span></p> +<h2>BLEAK HOUSE</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1852–1853</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London and the Country</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">1832 to 1852</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mr. Jarndyce</td><td align="right">Master of Bleak House</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mr. Boythorn</td><td align="right">His friend</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Sir Leicester Dedlock</td><td align="right">An aged nobleman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan='3'>Mr. Boythorn's neighbor</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Lady Dedlock</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mr. Tulkinghorn</td><td align="right">His lawyer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Captain Hawdon</td><td align="right">A dissipated and poverty-stricken copyist <br />in London, known as "Nemo"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Esther Summerson</td><td align="right">Mr. Jarndyce's ward</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan='3'>In reality a daughter of Captain Hawdon and Lady Dedlock</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ada Clare <br />Richard Carstone</td> + <td class='bt br bb'> </td><td align="right">Wards of Mr. Jarndyce</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Vholes</td><td align="right">Richard's lawyer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mrs. Rouncewell</td><td align="right">Sir Leicester's housekeeper</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>"Mr. George"</td><td align="right">Proprietor of a London shooting-gallery</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan='3'>Her son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Hortense</td><td align="right">Lady Dedlock's French maid</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Miss Flite</td><td align="right">A little, old, demented woman</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mrs. Jellyby</td><td align="right">A lady greatly interested in the welfare<br /> of the heathen</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Caddy Jellyby</td><td align="right">Her daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Harold Skimpole</td><td align="right">A trifler with life, preferring to<br /> live at other people's expense</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Allan Woodcourt</td><td align="right">A young surgeon</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Grandfather Smallweed</td><td align="right">A money-lender</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mrs. Smallweed</td><td align="right">His crazy wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mr. Turveydrop</td><td align="right">The proprietor of a dancing school<br /> and a model of deportment</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Prince Turveydrop</td><td align="right">His son. Later, Caddy's husband</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Joe</td><td align="right">A crossing sweeper</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Krook</td><td align="right">A dealer in rags and old bottles</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>"Lady Jane"</td><td align="right">His cat</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="BLEAK_HOUSE" id="BLEAK_HOUSE"></a>BLEAK HOUSE</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +THE COURT OF CHANCERY</h3> + +<p>An Englishman named Jarndyce, once upon a +time having made a great fortune, died and left +a great will. The persons appointed to carry out +its provisions could not agree; they fell to disputing +among themselves and went to law over it.</p> + +<p>The court which in England decides such suits +is called the Court of Chancery. Its action is slow +and its delays many, so that men generally consider +it a huge misfortune to be obliged to have anything +to do with it. Sometimes it has kept cases undecided +for many years, till the heirs concerned were +dead and gone; and often when the decision came +at last there was no money left to be divided, because +it had all been eaten up by the costs of the +suit. Lawyers inherited some cases from their fathers, +who themselves had made a living by them, +and many suits had become so twisted that nobody +alive could have told at last what they really +meant.</p> + +<p>Such came to be the case with the Jarndyce will. +It had been tried for so many years that the very +name had become a joke. Those who began it were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> +long since dead and their heirs either knew nothing +of it or had given up hope of its ever being +ended.</p> + +<p>The only one who seemed to be interested in +it was a little old woman named Miss Flite, whom +delay and despair in a suit of her own had made +half crazy. For many years she had attended the +Chancery Court every day and many thoughtless +people made fun of her.</p> + +<p>She was wretchedly poor and lived in a small +room over a rag-and-bottle shop kept by a man +named Krook. Here she had a great number of +birds in little cages—larks and linnets and goldfinches. +She had given them names to represent +the different things which the cruel Chancery +Court required to carry on these shameful suits, +such as Hope, Youth, Rest, Ashes, Ruin, Despair, +Madness, Folly, Words, Plunder and Jargon. She +used to say that when the Jarndyce case was decided +she would open the cages and let the birds all +go.</p> + +<p>The last Jarndyce that was left had given up in +disgust all thought of the famous lawsuit and +steadfastly refused to have anything to do with it. +He lived quietly in the country in a big, bare building +called Bleak House. He was past middle-age, +and his hair was silver-gray, but he was straight +and strong and merry.</p> + +<p>He was rich, yet was so tender-hearted and benevolent +that all who knew him loved him. Most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> +of his good deeds he never told, for he had a great +dislike to being thanked. It used to be said that +once, after he had done an extremely generous +thing for a relative of his, seeing her coming in the +front gate to thank him, he escaped by the back +door and was not seen again for three months. He +never spoke ill of his neighbors, and whenever he +was vexed he would pretend to look for a weather-cock +and say, "Dear, dear! The wind must be +coming from the east!"</p> + +<p>It happened, finally, that all the other Jarndyce +heirs had died except two, a young girl named Ada +Clare and a young man named Richard Carstone. +These two, who were cousins, were left orphans. +The master of Bleak House, therefore, in the goodness +of his heart, offered them a home with him, +and this they thankfully accepted. Mr. Jarndyce +now wished to find a companion for Ada Clare; +and this is how Esther Summerson comes into this +story.</p> + +<p>Esther was a sweet girl who had been brought +up by a stern, hard-hearted woman whom she had +always called "godmother," in ignorance of her +parentage. She had never known who were her +mother or father, for from earliest babyhood her +godmother had forbidden her to ask questions concerning +them, and she would have had a sad and +lonely youth but for her sunny disposition.</p> + +<p>It was not till her godmother died suddenly that +she found she had a guardian, and that he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> +Mr. Jarndyce of Bleak House. How he came +to be her guardian was a mystery to her, but she +was glad to find herself not altogether friendless. +Although he had taken the pains to see her more +than once, and had noticed with pleasure what a +cheerful, loving nature she had, yet Esther had +never, so far as she knew, seen him, so that she received +his invitation to come and live at Bleak +House with joyful surprise.</p> + +<p>She went, on the day appointed, to London, and +there she met Ada, whom she began to love at once, +and Richard, a handsome, careless young fellow of +nineteen. They spent the day together and got well +acquainted before they took the morrow's coach to +Bleak House.</p> + +<p>At the Chancery Court they met poor, crazy little +Miss Flite, who insisted on taking them to her +room above the rag-and-bottle shop to show them +her caged birds. And that night (as they had been +directed) they stayed at the house of a Mrs. Jellyby, +of whom Mr. Jarndyce had heard as a woman of +great charity.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jellyby was a woman with a mission, which +mission was the education of the natives of Borrioboola-Gha, +in Africa, and the cultivation there +of the coffee-bean. She thought of nothing else, +and was for ever sending out letters or pamphlets +about it.</p> + +<p>But she seemed unable to see or think of anything +nearer home than Africa. The house was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> +unswept, the children dirty and always under foot, +and the meals half-cooked. She would sit all day in +slipshod slippers and a dress that did not meet in +the back, drinking coffee and dictating to her eldest +daughter Caddy (who hated Africa and all its +natives) letters about coffee cultivation and the uplifting +of the natives of Borrioboola-Gha.</p> + +<p>A very strange sort of philanthropist both Esther +and Ada thought Mrs. Jellyby. Perhaps, however, +Mr. Jarndyce sent them there for a useful lesson, +for he afterward asked them what they thought of +her, and he seemed well pleased to learn that they +considered her ideas of doing good in the world +extremely odd.</p> + +<p>Next day they drove to Bleak House. Not one +of them had ever seen Mr. Jarndyce, but they found +him all they had imagined and more—the kindest, +pleasantest and most thoughtful person in the +world. Before they had been there two days they +felt as if they had known him all their lives.</p> + +<p>Bleak House was a building where one went up +and down steps from one room to another, and +where there were always more rooms when one +thought he had seen them all. In the daytime there +was horseback riding or walking to amuse them, +and in the evenings Ada often sang and played to +the rest. Altogether the time flew by most pleasantly, +and, judging by Mr. Jarndyce's jollity, the +wind seldom showed any signs of coming from the +east.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was soon clear to everybody that Richard was +in love with Ada and that Ada was beginning +to love him in return. This pleased Mr. Jarndyce, +for he was fond of both.</p> + +<p>But he was fondest of Esther. He made her his +housekeeper and she carried a big bunch of keys +and kept the house as clean as a new pin. He used +to say she reminded him of:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Little old woman and whither so high?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To sweep the cobwebs out of the sky."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>She was so cheerful, he said, she would sweep +the cobwebs out of anybody's sky. And from this +they took to calling her "Little Old Woman," and +"Cobweb," and "Mother Hubbard," till none of +them thought of her real name at all.</p> + +<p>Bleak House had a number of visitors who came +more or less often. One of these was an old school +friend of Mr. Jarndyce's, named Boythorn. He +was a big, blustering man with a laugh as big as +himself. Wherever he went he carried a tiny tame +canary, that used to sit at meal-time perched on the +top of his great shaggy head. It was odd to see this +wee bird sitting there unafraid, even at one of his +"ha-ha-ha's" that shook the whole house.</p> + +<p>Mr. Boythorn was exceedingly tender-hearted, +but took delight in pretending to be the stubbornest, +most cross-grained, worst-tempered individual +possible. His neighbor was Sir Leicester Dedlock, +a dignified and proud old baronet, and him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> +Mr. Boythorn loved to keep in perpetual anger by +bringing against him all manner of lawsuits regarding +the boundary between their land.</p> + +<p>Another visitor whom Esther found amusing +was Harold Skimpole, a light, bright creature of +charming manners, with a large head and full of +simple gaiety. He was a man who seemed to trifle +with everything. He sang a little, composed a little +and sketched a little. But his songs were never +completed and his sketches never finished.</p> + +<p>His aim in life seemed to be to avoid all responsibility, +and to find some one else to pay his debts. +He always spoke of himself as a "child," though he +was middle-aged. He claimed to have no idea +whatever of the value of money. He would take +a handful of coins from his pocket and say laughing, +"Now, there's some money. I have no idea +how much. I don't know how to count it. I dare +say I owe more than that. If good-natured people +don't stop letting me owe them, why should I? +There you have Harold Skimpole." Mr. Jarndyce +was far too honest and innocent himself +to see through the man's hollow selfishness +and was continually paying his debts, as they soon +learned.</p> + +<p>Most of all Bleak House's visitors, Esther came +to like Allan Woodcourt, a handsome dark-haired +young surgeon, and before long she found herself +unconsciously looking and longing for his coming. +Woodcourt was poor, however, and although he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> +was in love with Esther he did not tell her, but soon +sailed away on a long voyage as a ship's doctor.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +LADY DEDLOCK'S SECRET</h3> + +<p>Sir Leicester Dedlock, whom Mr. Boythorn so +loved to torment, was seventy years old. His wife, +many years younger than himself, he had married +for love. Lady Dedlock was not noble by birth—no +one, indeed, knew who she had been before her +marriage—but she was very beautiful. She was as +proud and haughty, too, as she was lovely, and was +much sought after. But with all her popularity +she had few close friends, and no one in whom she +confided.</p> + +<p>Even her housekeeper, Mrs. Rouncewell, a fine, +handsome old woman who had been Sir Leicester's +servant for fifty years, thought her cold and reserved. +Mrs. Rouncewell herself had had a son +George, who many years before had gone off to be +a soldier and had never come back; and, looking at +her mistress's face, she often wondered if the +shadow of pain there was the mark of some old +grief or loss of which no one knew. However that +may have been, the old baronet loved his wife and +was very proud of her.</p> + +<p>Sir Leicester's family lawyer was named Tulkinghorn. +He was a dull, dignified man who always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> +dressed in black and seldom spoke unless he +had to. His one passion was the discovery of other +people's secrets. He knew more family secrets than +any one else in London, and to discover a new one +he would have risked all his fortune.</p> + +<p>Now, among the very many persons connected in +some way or other with the famous Jarndyce case, +which seemed destined never to end, was Sir +Leicester Dedlock, and one day (the Chancery +Court having actually made a little progress) Mr. +Tulkinghorn brought the baronet some legal +papers to read to him.</p> + +<p>As the lawyer held one in his hand, Lady Dedlock, +seeing the handwriting, asked in an agitated +voice who had written it. He answered that it was +the work of one of his copyists. A moment later, +as he went on reading, they found that Lady Dedlock +had fainted away.</p> + +<p>Her husband did not connect her faintness with +the paper, but Mr. Tulkinghorn did, and that instant +he determined that Lady Dedlock had a +secret, that this secret had something to do with the +copyist, and that what this secret was, he, Tulkinghorn, +would discover.</p> + +<p>He easily found that the writing had been done +by a man who called himself "Nemo," and who +lived above Krook's rag-and-bottle shop, a neighbor +to crazy little Miss Flite of the Chancery Court +and the many bird-cages.</p> + +<p>Krook himself was an ignorant, spectacled old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> +rascal, whose sole occupations seemed to be to +sleep and to drink gin, a bottle of which stood always +near him. His only intimate was a big, gray, +evil-tempered cat called "Lady Jane," who, when +not lying in wait for Miss Flite's birds, used to sit +on his shoulder with her tail sticking straight up +like a hairy feather. People in the neighborhood +called his dirty shop the "Court of Chancery," because, +like that other court, it had so many old +things in it and whatever its owner once got into it +never got out again.</p> + +<p>In return for Mr. Tulkinghorn's money Krook +told him all he knew about his lodger. Nemo, +it seemed, was surly and dissipated and did what +legal copying he could get to do in order to buy +opium with which he drugged himself daily. So +far as was known, he had but one friend—Joe, a +wretched crossing sweeper, to whom, when he had +it, he often gave a coin.</p> + +<p>Thus much the lawyer learned, but from the +strange lodger himself he learned nothing. For +when Krook took him to the room Nemo occupied, +they found the latter stretched on his couch, +dead (whether by accident or design no one could +tell) of an overdose of opium.</p> + +<p>Curious to see how Lady Dedlock would receive +this news, Mr. Tulkinghorn called on her and told +her of the unknown man's death. She pretended to +listen with little interest, but his trained eye saw +that she was deeply moved by it, and he became<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> +more anxious than ever to find out what connection +there could be between this proud and titled +woman and the miserable copyist who had lived +and died in squalor.</p> + +<p>Chance favored Mr. Tulkinghorn's object. One +night he saw Joe, the ragged crossing sweeper +pointing out to a woman whose face was hidden +by a veil, and whose form was closely +wrapped in a French shawl, the gate of the cemetery +where Nemo had been buried. Later, at +Sir Leicester's, he saw Lady Dedlock's maid, Hortense—a +black-haired, jealous French woman, +with wolf-like ways—wearing the same shawl.</p> + +<p>He cunningly entrapped the maid into coming +to his house one night wearing both veil and shawl, +and there brought her unexpectedly face to face +with Joe. By the boy's actions Mr. Tulkinghorn +decided at once that Joe had never seen Hortense +before, and that instant, he guessed the truth—that +the veiled woman who had gone to the cemetery +was really Lady Dedlock herself, and that she had +worn her maid's clothes to mislead any observer.</p> + +<p>This was a clever trick in the lawyer, but it +proved too clever for his own good, for, finding she +had been enticed there for some deeper purpose, +Hortense flew into a passion with him. He sneered +at her and turned her out into the street, threatening +if she troubled him to have her put into prison. +Because of this she began to hate him with a fierceness +which he did not guess.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Tulkinghorn felt himself getting nearer to +his goal. But he now had to find out who Nemo +really had been.</p> + +<p>If he had only known it, Krook could have aided +him. The old man had found a bundle of old letters +in Nemo's room after his death, and these +were all addressed to "Captain Hawdon."</p> + +<p>Krook himself could not read, except enough to +spell out an address, and he had no idea what the +letters contained. But he was quick to think the +bundle might be worth some money. So he put it +carefully away.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Tulkinghorn found out nothing from +Krook, for one day a strange thing happened. +Krook had drunk so much gin in his life that he +had become perfectly soaked with alcohol, so that +he was just like a big spongeful of it. Now, it is a +curious fact that when a great mass of inflammable +material is heaped together, sometimes it will suddenly +burst into flame and burn up all in a minute, +without anything or anybody setting fire to it. This +is just what happened to Krook. As he stood in the +middle of the dirty shop, without any warning, all +in a twinkling, he blazed up and burned, clothes +and all, and in less time than it takes to tell it, +there was nothing left but a little pile of ashes, a +burnt mark in the floor and a sticky smoke that +stuck to the window-panes and hung in the air like +soot. And this was all the neighbors found when +they came to search for him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span></p> + +<p>This was the end of Krook, and the rag-and-bottle +shop was taken possession of by Grandfather +Smallweed, a hideous, crippled money-lender, +who had been his brother-in-law, and who at once +went to work ransacking all the papers he could +find on the premises.</p> + +<p>Grandfather Smallweed was a thin, toothless, +wheezy, green-eyed old miser, who was so nearly +dead from age and asthma that he had to be +wheeled about by his granddaughter Judy.</p> + +<p>He had a wife who was out of her mind. Everything +said in her hearing she connected with the +idea of money. If one said, for example, "It's +twenty minutes past noon," Mrs. Smallweed would +at once begin to gabble: "Twenty pence! Twenty +pounds! Twenty thousand millions of bank-notes +locked up in a black box!" and she would not stop +till her husband threw a cushion at her (which he +kept beside him for that very purpose) and +knocked her mouth shut.</p> + +<p>Grandfather Smallweed soon discovered the +bundle of letters hidden back of the shelf where +Lady Jane, Krook's big cat, slept.</p> + +<p>The name they bore, "Captain Hawdon," was +familiar enough to the money-lender. Long ago, +when Hawdon was living a dissipated life in London, +he had borrowed money from Grandfather +Smallweed, and this money was still unpaid when +he had disappeared. It was said that he had fallen +overboard from a vessel and had been drowned.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span></p> + +<p>To think now that the captain had been living +as a copyist all these years in London, free from arrest +for the debt, filled the wizened soul of the old +man with rage. He was ready enough to talk when +Mr. Tulkinghorn questioned him, and finally sold +him the bundle of letters.</p> + +<p>The lawyer saw that they were in Lady Dedlock's +penmanship; it remained to prove that the +dead Nemo had really been Captain Hawdon.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tulkinghorn, of course, had many specimens +of the copyist's hand, and after much search +he found a man who had once been a fellow soldier +of the captain's. He was called "Mr. George," +and kept a shooting-gallery. Mr. George had +among his papers a letter once written him by Captain +Hawdon, and not knowing the purpose for +which it was to be used, loaned it to the lawyer. +The handwriting was the same! And thus Mr. +Tulkinghorn knew that the copyist had really been +Captain Hawdon and that the letters in the bundle +had once been written to him by the woman who +was now the haughty Lady Dedlock.</p> + +<p>It was a strange, sad story that the letters disclosed, +as Mr. Tulkinghorn, gloating over his success, +read them, line by line. The man who had +fallen so low as to drag out a wretched existence by +copying law papers—whom, until she saw the +handwriting in the lawyer's hands, she had believed +to be dead—was a man Lady Dedlock had once +loved.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span></p> + +<p>Many years before, when a young woman, she +had run away from home with him. A little child +was born to them whom she named Esther. When +she and Hawdon had separated, her sister, to hide +from the world the knowledge of the elopement, +had told her the baby Esther was dead, had taken +the child to another part of the country, given her +the name of Summerson, and, calling herself her +godmother instead of her aunt, brought her up in +ignorance of the truth. Years had gone by and +Captain Hawdon was reported drowned. At +length the little Esther's mother had met and married +Sir Leicester Dedlock, and in his love and protection +had thought her dark past buried from +view for ever.</p> + +<p>All this the pitiless lawyer read in the letters, +and knew that Lady Dedlock's happiness was now +in his hands. And as he thought how, with this +knowledge, he could torture her with the fear of +discovery, his face took on the look of a cat's when +it plays with a mouse it has caught.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Lady Dedlock had suffered much. +The knowledge that Hawdon had not been +drowned as she had supposed, had come to her like +a thunderclap. And the news of his death, following +so soon after this discovery, had unnerved +her. She felt Mr. Tulkinghorn's suspicious eyes +watching her always and began to tremble in dread +of what he might know.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these fears, she accidentally discovered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> +one day that the baby name of Esther +Summerson of Bleak House had been, not Summerson, +but Hawdon.</p> + +<p>This made Lady Dedlock guess the whole truth—that +Esther was in reality her own daughter. As +soon as she was alone, she threw herself on her +knees in the empty room with sobs, crying:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my child! My child! Not dead in the first +hours of her life, as my cruel sister told me, but +sternly nurtured by her, after she had renounced +me and my name! Oh, my child! My child!"</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +LITTLE JOE PLAYS A PART</h3> + +<p>While these events, which so closely concerned +Esther, were occurring in London, life at Bleak +House went quietly on. Ada and Esther had become +bosom friends, and both loved and respected +Mr. Jarndyce above every one. Harold Skimpole, +as charming and careless as ever, and as willing as +ever that some one else should pay his debts for +him, was often there, and whenever they went to +the city they saw Miss Flite and Mrs. Jellyby, the +latter still busily sending letters about the growing +of coffee and the education of the natives of Borrioboola-Gha.</p> + +<p>Esther grew especially to like Caddy, the slipshod +daughter to whom Mrs. Jellyby dictated her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> +letters. The poor girl had much good in her, and +Esther encouraged and helped her all she could. +Caddy finally fell in love with Prince Turveydrop, +a blue-eyed, flaxen-haired young man whose +father kept a dancing school.</p> + +<p>Old Mr. Turveydrop, his father, was a fat man +with a false complexion, false teeth, false whiskers, +a wig and a padded chest. He always carried a +cane, eye-glass and snuff-box and was so tightly +buttoned up that when he bowed you could almost +see creases come into the whites of his eyes. He +thought himself a model of politeness and stood +about to show off his clothes while he made his +son, Prince, do all the teaching.</p> + +<p>Caddy was so tired of hearing about Africa that +at last she married Prince and moved into the Turveydrop +dancing school, and Mrs. Jellyby had to +hire a boy to help her with her great plans for the +education of the natives of Borrioboola-Gha.</p> + +<p>Once Esther and Ada went with Mr. Jarndyce to +visit Mr. Boythorn—the man with the tremendous +laugh and the pet canary—at his country house +where he lived in one perpetual quarrel with his +neighbor, Sir Leicester Dedlock. Esther had often +heard of the beauty of Lady Dedlock, and one Sunday +in the village church she saw her. There was +something strangely familiar in her look that reminded +Esther of her godmother. An odd sensation +came over her then and she felt her heart beat +quickly. But this was before Lady Dedlock had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span> +guessed the truth, and Esther and she did not meet.</p> + +<p>Richard Carstone had soon begun to be a +source of great anxiety to all at Bleak House. It +was plainly to be seen that he loved Ada dearly, +and that she loved him as well, but to Mr. Jarndyce's +regret he had begun to think and dream of +the famous chancery suit and of the fortune that +would be his when it ended. Mr. Jarndyce, from +his own bitter experience, hated the Chancery +Court and everything connected with it, and saw +with grief that Richard was growing to be a ne'er-do-well, +who found it easier to trust in the future +than to labor in the present.</p> + +<p>In spite of all advice Richard went from bad to +worse. He began the study of medicine, soon +changed this for law, and lastly decided to enter +the army. He was naturally a spendthrift, and as +long as his money lasted Harold Skimpole found +him a very fine friend and helped him spend it.</p> + +<p>Skimpole also introduced to him a knavish +lawyer named Vholes, who made him believe the +great chancery suit must soon end in his favor, +and who (when Richard had put the case in his +hands) proceeded to rob him of all he had. He +poisoned his mind, too, against Mr. Jarndyce, +so that Richard began to think his truest friend deceitful.</p> + +<p>Ada saw this with pain, but she loved Richard +above all else, and the more so when she saw him +so wretched and deceived; and at last, without telling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> +either Mr. Jarndyce or Esther what she was +going to do, she went to Richard one day and married +him, so that, as her husband, he could take the +little fortune she possessed to pay Vholes to go on +with the chancery suit.</p> + +<p>A great misfortune befell Esther about this time—a +misfortune that came to her, strangely enough, +through little Joe, the crossing sweeper.</p> + +<p>Half-starved, ragged and homeless all his life, +Joe had never known kindness save that given to +him by the poor copyist who had lived above +Krook's rag-and-bottle shop. He lived (if having +a corner to sleep in can be called living) in a filthy +alley called "Tom-all-Alone's." It seemed to him +that every one he met told him to "move on." The +policeman, the shopkeepers at whose doors he +stopped for warmth, all told him to "move on," till +the wretched lad wondered if there was any spot in +London where he could rest undisturbed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tulkinghorn, in his search to find out the +woman who had hired Joe to show her the cemetery, +had dogged him so with his detective that at +length the lad had become frightened and left London +for the open country. There he was taken very +ill, and on the highway near Bleak House one +evening Esther found him helpless and delirious +with fever.</p> + +<p>Touched by his condition she had him taken at +once to Bleak House and put to bed, intending +when morning came to send for a doctor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span></p> + +<p>But in the morning little Joe was missing. +Though they searched high and low he was not to +be found, and they decided that in his delirium he +had taken to the road again. It was not till long +after that Esther found his leaving had been +brought about by Harold Skimpole, who was then +visiting Bleak House, and who, in his selfishness, +feared the boy might be the bearer of some contagious +disease.</p> + +<p>This unfortunately proved to be the case. Joe's +illness was smallpox, and a few days later a maid +of Esther's fell ill with it. Esther nursed her day +and night, and just as she was recovering was +stricken with it herself.</p> + +<p>In her unselfishness and love for the rest, before +unconsciousness came, she made the maid promise +faithfully to allow no one (particularly neither +Mr. Jarndyce nor her beloved Ada) to enter the +room till all danger was past.</p> + +<p>For many days Esther hovered between life and +death and all the time the maid kept her word. +Caddy came from the Turveydrop dancing school +early and late, and little Miss Flite walked the +twenty miles from London in thin shoes to inquire +for her. And at length, slowly, she began to grow +well again.</p> + +<p>But the disease had left its terrible mark. When +she first looked in a mirror she found that her +beauty was gone and her face strangely altered.</p> + +<p>This was a great grief to her at first, but on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span> +day when Mr. Jarndyce came into her sick-room +and held her in his arms and said, "My dear, dear +girl!" she thought, "He has seen me and is fonder +of me than before. So what have I to mourn for?" +She thought of Allan Woodcourt, too, the young +surgeon somewhere on the sea, and she was glad +that, if he had loved her before he sailed away, he +had not told her so. Now, she told herself, when +they met again and he saw her so sadly changed he +would have given her no promise he need regret.</p> + +<p>When she was able to travel, Esther went for a +short stay at the house of Mr. Boythorn, and there, +walking under the trees she grew stronger.</p> + +<p>One day, as she sat in the park that surrounded +the house, she saw Lady Dedlock coming toward +her, and seeing how pale and agitated she was, +Esther felt the same odd sensation she had felt in +the church. Lady Dedlock threw herself sobbing +at her feet, and put her arms around her and kissed +her, as she told her that she was her unhappy +mother, who must keep her secret for the sake of +her husband, Sir Leicester.</p> + +<p>Esther thought her heart must break with both +grief and joy at once. But she comforted Lady +Dedlock, and told her nothing would ever change +her love for her, and they parted with tears and +kisses.</p> + +<p>Another surprise of a different sort awaited +Esther on her return to Bleak House. Mr. Jarndyce +told her that he loved her and asked her if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span> +she would marry him. And, remembering how +tender he had always been, and knowing that he +loved her in spite of her disfigured face, she said +yes.</p> + +<p>But one day—the very day he returned—Esther +saw Allan Woodcourt on the street. Somehow at +the first glimpse of him she knew that she had loved +him all along. Then she remembered that she had +promised to marry Mr. Jarndyce, and she began to +tremble and ran away without speaking to Woodcourt +at all.</p> + +<p>But they soon met, and this time it was Joe the +crossing sweeper who brought them together. +Woodcourt found the poor ragged wanderer in +the street, so ill that he could hardly walk. He had +recovered from smallpox, but it had left him so +weak that he had become a prey to consumption. +The kind-hearted surgeon took the boy to little +Miss Flite and they found him a place to stay in +Mr. George's shooting-gallery, where they did +what they could for him, and where Esther and +Mr. Jarndyce came to see him.</p> + +<p>Joe was greatly troubled when he learned he had +brought the smallpox to Bleak House, and one day +he got some one to write out for him in very large +letters that he was sorry and hoped Esther and all +the others would forgive him. And this was his +will.</p> + +<p>On the last day Allan Woodcourt sat beside him, +"Joe, my poor fellow," he said.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I hear you, sir, but it's dark—let me catch your +hand."</p> + +<p>"Joe, can you say what I say?"</p> + +<p>"I'll say anything as you do, sir, for I know it's +good."</p> + +<p>"Our Father."</p> + +<p>"Our Father; yes, that's very good, sir."</p> + +<p>"Which art in Heaven."</p> + +<p>"Art in Heaven. Is the light a-comin', sir?"</p> + +<p>"Hallowed be thy name."</p> + +<p>"Hallowed be—thy——"</p> + +<p>But the light had come at last. Little Joe was +dead.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +ESTHER BECOMES THE MISTRESS OF BLEAK HOUSE</h3> + +<p>When the last bit of proof was fast in his possession +Mr. Tulkinghorn, pluming himself on the +cleverness with which he had wormed his way into +Lady Dedlock's secret, went to her at her London +home and informed her of all he had discovered, +delighting in the fear and dread which she could +not help showing. She knew now that this cruel +man would always hold his knowledge over her +head, torturing her with the threat of making it +known to her husband.</p> + +<p>Some hours after he had gone home, she followed +him there to beg him not to tell her husband +what he had discovered. But all was dark in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> +the lawyer's house. She rang the private bell twice, +but there was no answer, and she returned in despair.</p> + +<p>By a coincidence some one else had been seen to +call at Mr. Tulkinghorn's that same night. This +was Mr. George, of the shooting-gallery, who came +to get back the letter he had loaned to the lawyer.</p> + +<p>When morning came it was found that a dreadful +deed had been done that night. Mr. Tulkinghorn +was found lying dead on the floor of his private +apartment, shot through the heart. All the +secrets he had so cunningly discovered and gloated +over with such delight had not been able to save his +life there in that room.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tulkinghorn was so well-known that the +murder made a great sensation. The police went at +once to the shooting-gallery to arrest Mr. George +and he was put into jail.</p> + +<p>He was able later to prove his innocence, however, +and, all in all, his arrest turned out to be a +fortunate thing. For by means of it old Mrs. +Rouncewell, Lady Dedlock's housekeeper, discovered +that he was her own son George, who had gone +off to be a soldier so many years before. He had +made up his mind not to return till he was prospering. +But somehow this time had never come; bad +fortune had followed him and he had been +ashamed to go back.</p> + +<p>But though he had acted so wrongly he had never +lost his love for his mother, and was glad to give<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> +up the shooting-gallery and go with Mrs. Rouncewell +to become Sir Leicester's personal attendant.</p> + +<p>At first, after the death of Mr. Tulkinghorn, +Lady Dedlock had hoped that her dread and fear +were now ended, but she soon found that this was +not to be. The telltale bundle of letters was in the +possession of a detective whom the cruel lawyer +had long ago called to his aid, and the detective, +thinking Lady Dedlock herself might have had +something to do with the murder, thought it his +duty to tell all that his dead employer had discovered +to Sir Leicester.</p> + +<p>It was a fearful shock to the haughty baronet to +find so many tongues had been busy with the name +his wife had borne so proudly. When the detective +finished, Sir Leicester fell unconscious, and when +he came to his senses had lost the power to speak.</p> + +<p>They laid him on his bed, sent for doctors and +went to tell Lady Dedlock, but she had disappeared.</p> + +<p>Almost at one and the same moment the unhappy +woman had learned not only that the detective +had told his story to Sir Leicester, but that she +herself was suspected of the murder. These two +blows were more than she could bear. She put on +a cloak and veil and, leaving all her money and +jewels behind her, with a note for her husband, +went out into the shrill, frosty wind. The note +read:</p> + +<p>"If I am sought for or accused of his murder, believe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> +I am wholly innocent. I have no home left, +I will trouble you no more. May you forget me +and forgive me."</p> + +<p>They gave Sir Leicester this note, and great +agony came to the stricken man's heart. He had +always loved and honored her, and he loved her no +less now for what had been told him. Nor did +he believe for a moment that she could be guilty of +the murder. He wrote on a slate the words, "Forgive—find," +and the detective started at once to +overtake the fleeing woman.</p> + +<p>He went first to Esther, to whom he told the sad +outcome, and together they began the search. For +two days they labored, tracing Lady Dedlock's +movements step by step, through the pelting snow +and wind, across the frozen wastes outside of London, +where brick-kilns burned and where she had +exchanged clothes with a poor laboring woman, +the better to elude pursuit—then back to London +again, where at last they found her.</p> + +<p>But it was too late. She was lying frozen in the +snow, at the gate of the cemetery where Captain +Hawdon, the copyist whom she had once loved, lay +buried.</p> + +<p>So Lady Dedlock's secret was hidden at last by +death. Only the detective, whose business was silence, +Sir Leicester her husband, and Esther her +daughter, knew what her misery had been or the +strange circumstances of her flight, for the police +soon succeeded in tracing the murder of Mr. Tulkinghorn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> +to Hortense, the revengeful French maid +whom he had threatened to put in prison.</p> + +<p>One other shadow fell on Esther's life before the +clouds cleared away for ever.</p> + +<p>Grandfather Smallweed, rummaging among the +papers in Krook's shop, found an old will, and this +proved to be a last will made by the original Jarndyce, +whose affairs the Court of Chancery had been +all these years trying to settle. This will bequeathed +the greater part of the fortune to Richard +Carstone, and its discovery, of course, would have +put a stop to the famous suit.</p> + +<p>But the suit stopped of its own accord, for it was +found now that there was no longer any fortune left +to go to law about or to be willed to anybody. All +the money had been eaten up by the costs.</p> + +<p>After all the years of hope and strain, this disappointment +was too much for Richard, and he +died that night, at the very hour when poor crazed +little Miss Flite (as she had said she would do when +the famous suit ended) gave all her caged birds +their liberty.</p> + +<p>The time came at length, after the widowed Ada +and her baby boy had come to make their home +with Mr. Jarndyce, when Esther felt that she +should fulfil her promise and become the mistress +of Bleak House. So she told her guardian she was +ready to marry him when he wished. He appointed +a day, and she began to prepare her wedding-clothes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Mr. Jarndyce, true-hearted and generous as +he had always been, had an idea very different +from this in his mind. He had found, on Allan +Woodcourt's return from his voyage, that the +young surgeon still loved Esther. His keen eye had +seen that she loved him in return, and he well knew +that if she married him, Jarndyce, it would be because +of her promise and because her grateful +heart could not find it possible to refuse him. So, +wishing most of all her happiness, he determined +to give up his own love for her sake.</p> + +<p>He bought a house in the town in which Woodcourt +had decided to practise medicine, remodeled +it and named it "Bleak House," after his own. +When it was finished in the way he knew Esther +liked best, he took her to see it, telling her it was +to be a present from him to the surgeon to repay +him for his kindness to little Joe.</p> + +<p>Then, when she had seen it all, he told her that +he had guessed her love for Woodcourt, and that, +though she married the surgeon and not himself, +she would still be carrying out her promise and +would still become the mistress of "Bleak House."</p> + +<p>When she lifted her tearful face from his shoulder +she saw that Woodcourt was standing near +them.</p> + +<p>"This is 'Bleak House,'" said Jarndyce. "This +day I give this house its little mistress, and, before +God, it is the brightest day of my life!"</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span></p> +<h2>HARD TIMES</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1854</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">Coketown (an English factory town) and the Country.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">About 1850</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mr. Gradgrind</td><td align="right">A believer in "facts"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mrs. Gradgrind</td><td align="right">His wife</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Louisa</td><td align="right">Their daughter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Tom</td><td align="right">Their son</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Josiah Bounderby</td><td align="right">A pompous mill owner and banker</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan='3'>Later, Louisa's husband</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>"Mrs. Pegler"</td><td align="right">His mother</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mrs. Sparsit</td><td align="right">His housekeeper</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Mr. M'Choakumchild</td><td align="right">A schoolmaster</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Sleary</td><td align="right">The proprietor of a circus</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>"Signor" Jupe</td><td align="right">The clown</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>Cecelia Jupe</td><td align="right">His daughter. Known as "Sissy"</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left">Stephen Blackpool<br /> Rachel</td> + <td class='bt br bb'> </td><td align="right">Mill workers</td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>James Harthouse</td><td align="right">A man of the world</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan='2'>"Merrylegs"</td><td align="right">Signor Jupe's performing dog</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="HARD_TIMES" id="HARD_TIMES"></a>HARD TIMES</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +MR. GRADGRIND AND HIS "SYSTEM"</h3> + +<p>In a cheerless house called Stone Lodge, in +Coketown, a factory town in England, where great +weaving mills made the sky a blur of soot and +smoke, lived a man named Gradgrind. He was an +obstinate, stubborn man, with a square wall of a +forehead and a wide, thin, set mouth. His head +was bald and shining, covered with knobs like the +crust of a plum pie, and skirted with bristling hair. +He had grown rich in the hardware business, and +was a school director of the town.</p> + +<p>He believed in nothing but "facts." Everything +in the world to him was good only to weigh and +measure, and wherever he went one would have +thought he carried in his pocket a rule and scales +and the multiplication table. He seemed a kind of +human cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts.</p> + +<p>"Now, what I want is facts!" he used to say to +Mr. M'Choakumchild, the schoolmaster. "Teach +boys and girls nothing but facts. Facts alone are +wanted in life. Nothing else is of any service to +anybody. Stick to facts, sir."</p> + +<p>He had several children whom he had brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span> +up according to this system of his, and they led +wretched lives. No little Gradgrind child had +ever seen a face in the moon, or learned <i>Mother +Goose</i> or listened to fairy stories, or read <i>The +Arabian Nights</i>. They all hated Coketown, always +rattling and throbbing with machinery; they hated +its houses all built of brick as red as an Indian's +face, and its black canal and river purple with +dyes. And most of all they hated facts.</p> + +<p>Louisa, the eldest daughter, looked jaded, for +her imagination was quite starved under their +teachings. Tom, her younger brother, was defiant +and sullen. "I wish," he used to say, "that I could +collect all the facts and all the figures in the world, +and all the people who found them out, and I wish +I could put a thousand pounds of gunpowder under +them and blow them all up together!"</p> + +<p>Louisa was generous, and the only love she knew +was for her selfish, worthless brother, who repaid +her with very little affection. Of their mother they +saw very little; she was a thin, white, pink-eyed +bundle of shawls, feeble and ailing, and had too +little mind to oppose her husband in anything.</p> + +<p>Strangely enough, Mr. Gradgrind had once had +a tender heart, and down beneath the facts of his +system he had it still, though it had been covered +up so long that nobody would have guessed it. +Least of all, perhaps, his own children.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gradgrind's intimate friend,—one whom he +was foolish enough to admire,—was Josiah Bounderby,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span> +a big, loud, staring man with a puffed head +whose skin was stretched so tight it seemed to hold +his eyes open. He owned the Coketown mills and +a bank besides, and was very rich and pompous.</p> + +<p>Bounderby was a precious hypocrite, of an odd +sort. His greatest pride was to talk continually of +his former poverty and wretchedness, and he delighted +to tell everybody that he had been born in +a ditch, deserted by his wicked mother, and +brought up a vagabond by a drunken grandmother—from +which low state he had made himself +wealthy and respected by his own unaided efforts.</p> + +<p>Now, this was not in the least true. As a matter +of fact, his grandmother had been a respectable, +honest soul, and his mother had pinched and saved +to bring him up decently, had given him some +schooling, and finally apprenticed him in a good +trade. But Bounderby was so ungrateful and so +anxious to have people think he himself deserved +all the credit, that after he became rich he forbade +his mother even to tell any one who she was, and +made her live in a little shop in the country forty +miles from Coketown.</p> + +<p>But in her good and simple heart the old woman +was so proud of her son that she used to spend all +her little savings to come into town, sometimes +walking a good part of the way, cleanly and plainly +dressed, and with her spare shawl and umbrella, +just to watch him go into his fine house or to look +in admiration at the mills or the fine bank he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> +owned. On such occasions she called herself "Mrs. +Pegler," and thought no one else would be the +wiser.</p> + +<p>The house in which Bounderby lived had no ornaments. +It was cold and lonely and rich. He +made his mill-hands more than earn their wages, +and when any of them complained, he sneered that +they wanted to be fed on turtle-soup and venison +with a golden spoon.</p> + +<p>Bounderby had for housekeeper a Mrs. Sparsit, +who talked a great deal of her genteel birth, rich +relatives and of the better days she had once seen. +She was a busybody, and when she sat of an evening +cutting out embroidery with sharp scissors, her +bushy eyebrows and Roman nose made her look +like a hawk picking out the eyes of a very tough +little bird. In her own mind she had set her cap at +Bounderby.</p> + +<p>So firmly had Mr. Gradgrind put his trust in the +gospel of facts which he had taught Louisa and +Tom that he was greatly shocked one day to catch +them (instead of studying any one of the dry sciences +ending in "ology" which he made them +learn) peeping through the knot holes in a wooden +pavilion along the road at the performance of a +traveling circus.</p> + +<p>The circus, which was run by a man named +Sleary, had settled itself in the neighborhood for +some time to come, and all the performers meanwhile +boarded in a near-by public house, The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> +Pegasus's Arms. The show was given every day, +and at the moment of Mr. Gradgrind's appearance +one "Signor" Jupe, the clown, was showing the +tricks of his trained dog, Merrylegs, and entertaining +the audience with his choicest jokes.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gradgrind, dumb with amazement, seized +both Louisa and Tom and led them home, repeating +at intervals, with indignation: "What would +Mr. Bounderby say!"</p> + +<p>This question was soon answered, for the latter +was at Stone Lodge when they arrived. He reminded +Mr. Gradgrind that there was an evil influence +in the school the children attended, which +no doubt had led them to such idle pursuits—this +evil influence being the little daughter of Jupe, +the circus clown. And Bounderby advised Mr. +Gradgrind to have the child put out of the school +at once.</p> + +<p>The name of the clown's little daughter was +Cecelia, but every one called her Sissy. She was a +dark-eyed, dark-haired, appealing child, frowned +upon by Mr. M'Choakumchild, the schoolmaster, +because somehow many figures would not stay in +her head at one time.</p> + +<p>When the circus first came, her father, who +loved her very much, had brought her to the Gradgrind +house and begged that she be allowed to attend +school. Mr. Gradgrind had consented. Now, +however, at Bounderby's advice, he wished he had +not done so, and started off with the other to The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> +Pegasus's Arms to find Signor Jupe and deny to +little Sissy the right of any more schooling.</p> + +<p>Poor Jupe had been in great trouble that day. +For a long time he had felt that he was growing +too old for the circus business. His joints were getting +stiff, he missed in his tumbling, and he could +no longer make the people laugh as he had once +done. He knew that before long Sleary would be +obliged to discharge him, and this he thought he +could not bear to have Sissy see.</p> + +<p>He had therefore made up his mind to leave the +company and disappear. He was too poor to take +Sissy with him, so, loving her as he did, he decided +to leave her there where at least she had some +friends. He had come to this melancholy conclusion +this very day, and had sent Sissy out on an errand +so that he might slip away, accompanied only +by his dog, Merrylegs, while she was absent.</p> + +<p>Sissy was returning when she met Mr. Gradgrind +and Bounderby, and came with them to find +her father. But at the public house she met only +sympathizing looks, for all of the performers had +guessed what her father had done. They told her +as gently as they could, but poor Sissy was at first +broken-hearted in her grief and was comforted +only by the assurance that her father would certainly +come back to her before long.</p> + +<p>While Sissy wept Mr. Gradgrind had been pondering. +He saw here an excellent chance to put his +"system" to the test. To take this untaught girl and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> +bring her up from the start entirely on facts would +be a good experiment. With this in view, then, he +proposed to take Sissy to his house and to care for +and teach her, provided she promised to have nothing +further to do with the circus or its members.</p> + +<p>Sissy knew how anxious her father had been to +have her learn, so she agreed, and was taken at once +to Stone Lodge and set to work upon facts.</p> + +<p>But alas! Mr. Gradgrind's education seemed to +make Sissy low-spirited, but no wiser. Every day +she watched and longed for some message from her +father, but none came. She was loving and lovable, +and Louisa liked her and comforted her as well +as she could. But Louisa was far too unhappy herself +to be of much help to any one else.</p> + +<p>Several years went by. Sissy's father had never +returned. She had grown into a quiet, lovely girl, +the only ray of light in that gloomy home. Mr. +Gradgrind had realized one of his ambitions, had +been elected to Parliament and now spent much +time in London. Mrs. Gradgrind was yet feebler +and more ailing. Tom had grown to be a young +man, a selfish and idle one, and Bounderby had +made him a clerk in his bank. Louisa, not blind to +her brother's faults, but loving him devotedly, had +become, in this time, an especial object of Bounderby's +notice.</p> + +<p>Indeed, the mill owner had determined to +marry her. Louisa had always been repelled by his +coarseness and rough ways, and when he proposed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span> +for her hand she shrank from the thought. If her +father had ever encouraged her confidence she +might then have thrown herself on his breast and +told him all that she felt, but to Mr. Gradgrind +marriage was only a cold fact with no romance +in it, and his manner chilled her. Tom, in his utter +selfishness, thought only of what a good thing it +would be for him if his sister married his employer, +and urged it on her with no regard whatever for +her own liking.</p> + +<p>At length, thinking, as long as she had never +been allowed to have a sentiment that could not be +put down in black and white, that it did not much +matter whom she married after all, and believing +that at least it would help Tom, she consented.</p> + +<p>She married Bounderby, the richest man in +Coketown, and went to live in his fine house, while +Mrs. Sparsit, the housekeeper, angry and revengeful, +found herself compelled to move into small +rooms over Bounderby's bank.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +THE ROBBERY OF BOUNDERBY'S BANK</h3> + +<p>In one of Bounderby's weaving mills a man +named Stephen Blackpool had worked for years. +He was sturdy and honest, but had a stooping +frame, a knitted brow and iron-gray hair, for in his +forty years he had known much trouble.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span></p> + +<p>Many years before he had married; unhappily, +for through no fault or failing of his own, his wife +took to drink, left off work, and became a shame +and a disgrace to the town. When she could get no +money to buy drink with, she sold his furniture, +and often he would come home from the mill to +find the rooms stripped of all their belongings and +his wife stretched on the floor in drunken slumber. +At last he was compelled to pay her to stay away, +and even then he lived in daily fear lest she return +to disgrace him afresh.</p> + +<p>What made this harder for Stephen to bear was +the true love he had for a sweet, patient, working +woman in the mill named Rachel. She had an +oval, delicate face, with gentle eyes and dark, shining +hair. She knew his story and loved him, too. +He could not marry her, because his own wife +stood in the way, nor could he even see or walk +with her often, for fear busy tongues might talk of +it, but he watched every flutter of her shawl.</p> + +<p>One night Stephen went home to his lodging to +find his wife returned. She was lying drunk across +his bed, a besotted creature, stained and splashed, +and evil to look at. All that night he sat sleepless +and sick at heart.</p> + +<p>Next day, at the noon hour, he went to his employer's +house to ask his advice. He knew the law +sometimes released two people from the marriage +tie when one or the other lived wickedly, and his +whole heart longed to marry Rachel.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Bounderby told him bluntly that the law he +had in mind was only for rich men, who could afford +to spend a great deal of money. And he further +added (according to his usual custom) that he +had no doubt Stephen would soon be demanding +the turtle-soup and venison and the golden spoon.</p> + +<p>Stephen went home that night hopeless, knowing +what he should find there. But Rachel had heard +and was there before him. She had tidied the room +and was tending the woman who was his wife. It +seemed to Stephen, as he saw her in her work of +mercy, there was an angel's halo about her head.</p> + +<p>Soon the wretched creature she had aided passed +out of his daily life again to go he knew not where, +and this act of Rachel's remained to make his love +and longing greater.</p> + +<p>About this time a stranger came to Coketown. +He was James Harthouse, a suave, polished man +of the world, good-looking, well-dressed, with a +gallant yet indolent manner and bold eyes.</p> + +<p>Being wealthy, he had tried the army, tried a +Government position, tried Jerusalem, tried yachting +and found himself bored by them all. At last +he had tried facts and figures, having some idea +these might help in politics. In London he had +met the great believer in facts, Mr. Gradgrind, +and had been sent by him to Coketown to make the +acquaintance of his friend Bounderby. Harthouse +thus met the mill owner, who introduced him to +Louisa, now his wife.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span></p> + +<p>The year of married life had not been a happy +one for her. She was reserved and watchful and +cold as ever, but Harthouse easily saw that she was +ashamed of Bounderby's bragging talk and shrank +from his coarseness as from a blow. He soon perceived, +too, that the only love she had for any one +was given to Tom, though the latter little deserved +it. In his own mind Harthouse called her father a +machine, her brother a whelp and her husband a +bear.</p> + +<p>Harthouse was attracted by Louisa's beauty no +less than by her pride. He was without conscience +or honor, and determined, though she was already +married, to make her fall in love with him. He +knew the surest way to her liking was to pretend an +interest in Tom, and he at once began to flatter the +sullen young fellow. Under his influence the latter +was not long in telling the story of Louisa's marriage, +and in boasting that he himself had brought +it about for his own advancement.</p> + +<p>To Louisa, Harthouse spoke regretfully of the +lad's idle habits, yet hopefully of his future, so that +she, deeming him honestly Tom's friend, confided +in him, telling him of her brother's love of gambling +and how she had more than once paid his +debts by selling some of her own jewelry. In such +ways as these Harthouse, step by step, gained an +intimacy with her.</p> + +<p>While Harthouse was thus setting his net, +Stephen Blackpool, the mill worker, was on trial.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was a time of great dissatisfaction among +workmen throughout the country. In many towns +they were banding themselves together into +"unions" in order to gain more privileges and +higher wages from their employers. This movement +in time had reached Coketown. Rachel was +opposed to these unions, believing they would in +the end do their members more harm than good, +and knowing her mind, Stephen had long ago +promised her that he would never join one. The +day had come, however, when a workman who thus +declined was looked on with suspicion and dislike +by his fellows, and at length—though all had liked +and respected Stephen—because he steadfastly refused +to join the rest, he found himself shunned. +Day after day he went to and from his work alone +and spoken to by none, and, not seeing Rachel in +these days, was lonely and disheartened.</p> + +<p>This condition of things did not escape the eye of +Bounderby, who sent for Stephen and questioned +him. But even in his trouble, thinking his fellow +workmen believed themselves in the right, Stephen +refused to complain or to bear tales of them. Bounderby, +in his arrogance, chose to be angry that one +of his mill-hands should presume not to answer his +questions and discharged him forthwith, so that +now Stephen found himself without friends, money +or work.</p> + +<p>Not wholly without friends, either, for Rachel +was still the same. And he had gained another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span> +friend, too. While he told her that evening in his +lodgings what had occurred, and that he must soon +go in search of work in some other town, Louisa +came to him. She had witnessed the interview in +which her husband had discharged this faithful +workman, had found out where he lived, and had +made her brother Tom bring her there that she +might tell Stephen how sorry she was and beg him +to accept money from her to help him in his distress.</p> + +<p>This kindness touched Stephen. He thanked her +and took as a loan a small portion of the money she +offered him.</p> + +<p>Tom had come on this errand with his sister in +a sulky humor. While he listened now a thought +came to him. As Louisa talked with Rachel, he +beckoned Stephen from the room and told him that +he could perhaps aid him in finding work. He told +him to wait during the next two or three evenings +near the door of Bounderby's bank, and promised +that he himself would seek Stephen there and tell +him further.</p> + +<p>There was no kindness, however, in this proposal. +It was a sudden plan, wicked and cowardly. +Tom had become a criminal. He had stolen money +from the bank and trembled daily lest the theft become +known. What would be easier now, he +thought, than to hide his crime, by throwing suspicion +on some one else? He could force the door +of the safe before he left at night, and drop a key<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> +of the bank door, which he had secretly made, in +the street where it would afterward be found. He +himself, then, next morning, could appear to find +the safe open and the money missing. Stephen, he +considered, would be just the one to throw suspicion +upon.</p> + +<p>All unconscious of this plot, Stephen in good +faith waited near the bank during three evenings, +walking past the building again and again, watching +vainly for Tom to appear. Mrs. Sparsit, at her +upper window, wondered to see his bowed form +haunting the place. Nothing came of his waiting, +however, and the fourth morning saw him, with +his thoughts on Rachel, trudging out of town along +the highroad, bravely and uncomplainingly, toward +whatever new lot the future held for him.</p> + +<p>Tom's plot worked well. Next day there was a +sensation in Coketown. Bounderby's bank was +found to have been robbed. The safe, Tom declared, +he had found open, with a large part of its +contents missing. A key to the bank door was +picked up in the street; this, it was concluded, the +thief had thrown away after using. Who had done +it? Had any suspicious person been seen about the +place?</p> + +<p>Many people remembered a strange old woman, +apparently from the country, who called herself +"Mrs. Pegler," and who had often been seen standing +looking fixedly at the bank. What more natural +than to suspect her?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then another rumor began to grow. Stephen +Blackpool, discharged from the mill by Bounderby +himself—the workman who had been shunned by +all his comrades, to whom no one spoke—he had +been seen recently loitering, night after night, near +the robbed bank. Where was he? Gone, none knew +where!</p> + +<p>In an hour Stephen was suspected. By the next +day half of Coketown believed him guilty.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +HARTHOUSE'S PLAN FAILS</h3> + +<p>Two persons, however, had a suspicion of the +truth. One of these was the porter of the bank, +whose suspicion was strong. The other was Louisa, +who, though her love denied it room, hid in her +secret heart a fear that her brother had had a share +in the crime. In the night she went to Tom's bedside, +put her arms around him and begged him to +tell her any secret he might be keeping from her. +But he answered sullenly that he did not know +what she meant.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sparsit's fine-bred nerves (so she insisted) +were so shaken by the robbery that she came to +Bounderby's house to remain till she recovered.</p> + +<p>The feeble, pink-eyed bundle of shawls that was +Mrs. Gradgrind, happening to die at this time, and +Louisa being absent at her mother's funeral, Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> +Sparsit saw her opportunity. She had never forgiven +Louisa for marrying Bounderby, and she +now revenged herself by a course of such flattery +that the vulgar bully began to think his cold, proud +wife much too regardless of him and of his importance.</p> + +<p>What pleased the hawk-faced old busybody most +was the game the suave Harthouse was playing, +which she was sharp enough to see through at once. +If Louisa would only disgrace herself by running +away with Harthouse, thought Mrs. Sparsit, Bounderby +might be free again and she might marry +him. So she watched narrowly the growing intimacy +between them, hoping for Louisa's ruin.</p> + +<p>There came a day when Bounderby was summoned +on business to London, and Louisa stayed +meanwhile at the Bounderby country house, which +lay some distance from Coketown. Mrs. Sparsit +guessed that Harthouse would use this chance to +see Louisa alone, and, to spy upon her, took the +train herself, reaching there at nightfall.</p> + +<p>She went afoot from the station to the grounds, +opened the gate softly and crept close to the house. +Here and there in the dusk, through garden and +wood, she stole, and at length she found what she +sought. There under the trees stood Harthouse, his +horse tied near by, and talking with him was +Louisa.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sparsit stood behind a tree, like Robinson +Crusoe in his ambuscade against the savages, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> +listened with all her ears. She could not hear all, +but caught enough to know that he was telling her +he loved her, and begging her to leave her husband, +her home and friends, and to run away with +him.</p> + +<p>In her delight and in the noise of rain upon the +foliage (for a thunder-storm was rolling up) Mrs. +Sparsit did not catch Louisa's answer. Where and +when Harthouse asked her to join him, she could +not hear, but as he mounted and rode away she +thought he said "To-night."</p> + +<p>She waited in the rain, rejoicing, till her patience +was at length rewarded by seeing Louisa, cloaked +and veiled as if for a journey, come from the house +and go toward the railroad station. Then Mrs. +Sparsit, drawing her draggled shawl over her head +to hide her face, followed, boarded the same train, +and hastened to tell the news of his wife's elopement +to Bounderby in London.</p> + +<p>Wet to the skin, her feet squashing in her shoes, +her clothes spoiled and her bonnet looking like an +over-ripe fig, with a terrible cold that made her +voice only a whisper, and sneezing herself almost +to pieces, Mrs. Sparsit found Bounderby at his city +hotel, exploded with the combustible information +she carried and fainted quite away on his coat +collar.</p> + +<p>Furious at the news she brought, Bounderby +hustled her into a fast train, and together, he raging +and glaring and she inwardly jubilant, they hurried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> +toward Coketown to inform Mr. Gradgrind, +who was then at home, of his daughter's doings.</p> + +<p>But where, meanwhile, was Louisa? Not run +away with Harthouse, as Mrs. Sparsit so fondly +imagined, but safe in her own father's house in +Coketown.</p> + +<p>She had suffered much without complaint, but +Harthouse's proposal had been the last straw. Added +to all the insults she had suffered at her husband's +hands, and her fearful suspicion of Tom's +guilt, it had proven too much for her to bear. +She had pretended to agree to Harthouse's plan +only that she might the more quickly rid herself +of his presence.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gradgrind, astonished at her sudden arrival +at Stone Lodge, was shocked no less at her ghastly +appearance than by what she said. She told him +she cursed the hour when she had been born to +grow up a victim to his teachings; that her whole +life had been empty; that every hope, affection and +fancy had been crushed from her very infancy and +her better angel made a demon. She told him the +whole truth about her marriage to Bounderby—that +she had married him solely for the advancement +of Tom, the only one she had ever loved—and +that now she could no longer live with her husband +or bear the life she had made for herself.</p> + +<p>And when she had said this, Louisa, the daughter +his "system" had brought to such despair, fell +at his feet.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span></p> + +<p>At her pitiful tale the tender heart that Mr. +Gradgrind had buried in his long-past youth under +his mountain of facts stirred again and began to +beat. The mountain crumbled away, and he saw in +an instant, as by a lightning flash, that the plan of +life to which he had so rigidly held was a complete +and hideous failure. He had thought there was but +one wisdom, that of the head; he knew at last that +there was a deeper wisdom of the heart also, which +all these years he had denied!</p> + +<p>When she came to herself, Louisa found her +father sitting by her bedside. His face looked +worn and older. He told her he realized at last +his life mistake and bitterly reproached himself. +Sissy, too, was there, her love shining like a beautiful +light on the other's darkness. She knelt beside +the bed and laid the weary head on her breast, and +then for the first time Louisa burst into sobs.</p> + +<p>Next day Sissy sought out Harthouse, who was +waiting, full of sulky impatience at the failure of +Louisa to appear as he had expected. Sissy told +him plainly what had occurred, and that he should +never see Louisa again. Harthouse, realizing that +his plan had failed, suddenly discovered that he +had a great liking for camels, and left the same +hour for Egypt, never to return to Coketown.</p> + +<p>It was while Sissy was absent on this errand of +her own that the furious Bounderby and the triumphant +Mrs. Sparsit, the latter voiceless and still +sneezing, appeared at Stone Lodge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Gradgrind took the mill owner greatly +aback with the statement that Louisa had had no +intention whatever of eloping and was then in that +same house and under his care. Angry and blustering +at being made such a fool of, Bounderby +turned on Mrs. Sparsit, but in her disappointment +at finding it a mistake, she had dissolved in tears. +When Mr. Gradgrind told him he had concluded +it would be better for Louisa to remain for some +time there with him, Bounderby flew into a still +greater rage and stamped off, swearing his wife +should come home by noon next day or not at all.</p> + +<p>To be sure Louisa did not go, and next day Bounderby +sent her clothes to Mr. Gradgrind, advertised +his country house for sale, and, needing something +to take his spite out upon, redoubled his efforts +to find the robber of the bank.</p> + +<p>And he began by covering the town with printed +placards, offering a large regard for the arrest of +Stephen Blackpool.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +STEPHEN'S RETURN</h3> + +<p>Rachel had known, of course, of the rumors +against Stephen, and had been both indignant and +sorrowful. She alone knew where he was, and how +to find him, for deeming it impossible, because of +his trouble with the Coketown workmen, to get +work under his own name, he had taken another.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now that he was directly charged with the +crime, she wrote him the news at once, so that he +might lose no time in returning to face the unjust +accusation. Being so certain herself of his innocence, +she made no secret of what she had done, and +all Coketown waited, wondering whether he would +appear or not.</p> + +<p>Two days passed and he had not come, and then +Rachel told Bounderby the address to which she +had written him. Messengers were sent, who came +back with the report that Stephen had received her +letter and had left at once, saying he was going to +Coketown, where he should long since have arrived.</p> + +<p>Another day with no Stephen, and now almost +every one believed he was guilty, had taken +Rachel's letter as a warning and had fled. All the +while Tom waited nervously, biting his nails and +with fevered lips, knowing that Stephen, when he +came, would tell the real reason why he had loitered +near the bank, and so point suspicion to himself.</p> + +<p>On the third day Mrs. Sparsit saw a chance to +distinguish herself. She recognized on the street +"Mrs. Pegler," the old countrywoman who also +had been suspected. She seized her and, regardless +of her entreaties, dragged her to Bounderby's +house and into his dining-room, with a curious +crowd flocking at their heels.</p> + +<p>She plumed herself on catching one of the robbers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> +but what was her astonishment when the old +woman called Bounderby her dear son, pleading +that her coming to his house was not her fault and +begging him not to be angry even if people did +know at last that she was his mother.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gradgrind, who was present when they entered, +having always heard Bounderby tell such +dreadful tales of his bringing-up, reproached her +for deserting her boy in his infancy to a drunken +grandmother. At this the old woman nearly burst +with indignation, calling on Bounderby himself to +tell how false this was and how she had pinched +and denied herself for him till he had begun to be +successful.</p> + +<p>Everybody laughed at this, for now the true +story of the bullying mill owner's tales was out. +Bounderby, who had turned very red, was the +only one who did not seem to enjoy the scene. +After he had wrathfully shut every one else from +the house, he vented his anger on Mrs. Sparsit for +meddling (as he called it) with his own family +affairs. He ended by giving her the wages due her +and inviting her to take herself off at once.</p> + +<p>So Mrs. Sparsit, for all her cap-setting and spying, +had to leave her comfortable nest and go to live +in a poor lodging as companion to the most grudging, +peevish, tormenting one of her noble relatives, +an invalid with a lame leg.</p> + +<p>But meanwhile another day had passed—the +fourth since Rachel had sent her letter—and still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span> +Stephen had not come. On this day, full of her +trouble, Rachel had wandered with Sissy, now her +fast friend, some distance out of the town, through +some fields where mining had once been carried on.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she cried out—she had picked up a hat +and inside it was the name "Stephen Blackpool." +An instant later a scream broke from her lips that +echoed over the country-side. Before them, at +their very feet, half-hidden by rubbish and grasses, +yawned the ragged mouth of a dark, abandoned +shaft. That instant both Rachel and Sissy guessed +the truth—that Stephen, returning, had not seen +the chasm in the darkness, and had fallen into its +depths.</p> + +<p>They ran and roused the town. Crowds came +from Coketown. Rope and windlass were brought +and two men were lowered into the pit. The poor +fellow was there, alive but terribly injured. A +rough bed was made, and so at last the crushed and +broken form was brought up to the light and air.</p> + +<p>A surgeon was at hand with wine and medicines, +but it was too late. Stephen spoke with Rachel +first, then called Mr. Gradgrind to him and asked +him to clear the blemish from his name. He told +him simply that he could do so through his son +Tom. This was all. He died while they bore him +home, holding the hand of Rachel, whom he loved.</p> + +<p>Stephen's last words had told the truth to Mr. +Gradgrind. He read in them that his own son was +the robber. Tom's guilty glance had seen also.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span> +With suspicion removed from Stephen, he felt his +own final arrest sure.</p> + +<p>Sissy noted Tom's pale face and trembling +limbs. Guessing that he would attempt flight too +late, and longing to save the heartbroken father +from the shame of seeing his son's arrest and imprisonment, +she drew the shaking thief aside and +in a whisper bade him go at once to Sleary, the +proprietor of the circus to which her father had +once belonged. She told him where the circus was +to be found at that season of the year, and bade +him ask Sleary to hide him for her sake till she +came. Tom obeyed. He disappeared that night, +and later Sissy told his father what she had done.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gradgrind, with Sissy and Louisa, followed +as soon as possible, intending to get his son to the +nearest seaport and so out of the country on a vessel, +for he knew that soon he himself, Tom's father, +would be questioned and obliged to tell the truth. +They traveled all night, and at length reached the +town where the circus showed.</p> + +<p>Sleary, for Sissy's sake, had provided Tom with +a disguise in which not even his father recognized +him. He had blacked his sullen face and dressed +him in a moth-eaten greatcoat and a mad cocked +hat, in which attire he played the role of a black +servant in the performance. Tom met them, grimy +and defiant, ashamed to meet Louisa's eyes, brazen +to his father, anxious only to be saved from his +deserved punishment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span></p> + +<p>A seaport was but three hours away. He was +soon dressed and plans for his departure were completed. +But at the last moment danger appeared. +It came in the person of the porter of Bounderby's +bank, who had all along suspected Tom. He had +watched the Gradgrind house, followed its master +when he left and now laid hands on Tom, vowing +he would take him back to Coketown.</p> + +<p>In this moment of the father's despair, Sleary the +showman saved the day for the shivering thief. He +agreed with the porter that as Tom was guilty of a +crime he must certainly go with him, and he offered, +moreover, to drive the captor and his prisoner +at once to the nearest railroad station. He +winked at Sissy as he proposed this, and she was not +alarmed. The porter accepted the proposal at once, +but he did not guess what the showman had in +mind.</p> + +<p>Sleary's horse was an educated horse. At a certain +word from its owner it would stop and begin +to dance, and would not budge from the spot till +he gave the command in a particular way. He had +an educated dog, also, that would do anything it +was told. With this horse hitched to the carriage +and this dog trotting innocently behind, the showman +set off with the porter and Tom, while Mr. +Gradgrind and Louisa, whom Sissy had told to +trust in Sleary, waited all night for his return.</p> + +<p>It was morning before Sleary came back, with +the news that Tom was undoubtedly safe from pursuit,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span> +if not already aboard ship. He told them how, +at the word from him, the educated horse had begun +to dance; how Tom had slipped down and got +away, while the educated dog, at his command, +had penned the frightened porter in the carriage +all night, fearing to stir.</p> + +<p>Thus Tom, who did not deserve any such good +luck, got safely away, but though his father was +spared the shame of ever seeing his son behind the +bars of a jail, yet he was a broken man ever after +the truth became known.</p> + +<p>What was the fate of all these? Bounderby, a +bully to the last, died of a fit five years afterward, +leaving his entire fortune to the perpetual support +of twenty-five humbugs, each of whom was required +to take the name of "Josiah Bounderby of +Coketown." Louisa never remarried, but lived to +be the comfort of her father and the loving comrade +of Sissy Jupe. Sissy never found her father, +and when at last Merrylegs, his wonderful dog, +came back alone to die of old age at Sleary's feet, +all knew that his master must be dead. Tom died, +softened and penitent, in a foreign land. Rachel +remained the same pensive little worker, always +dressed in black, beloved by all and helping every +one, even Stephen's besotted wife.</p> + +<p>As for Mr. Gradgrind, a white-haired, decrepit +old man, he forgot all the facts on which he had so +depended, and tried for ever after to mingle his +life's acts with Faith, Hope and Charity.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD</h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published</span> 1870</p> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Scene</i>:</td><td align="left">London and Cloisterham, a Neighboring Town</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Time</i>:</td><td align="left">About 1865</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<h4>CHARACTERS</h4> + +<div class="set"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of characters"> +<tr><td align="left">Edwin Drood</td><td align="right">A young engineer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John Jasper</td><td align="right">His uncle and guardian. A choir master</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rosa Bud</td><td align="right">An orphan girl, engaged to marry Drood<br /> Known as "Rosebud"</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mr. Grewgious</td><td align="right">A lawyer. Her guardian</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Miss Twinkleton</td><td align="right">The principal of the Young Ladies'<br /> Seminary in Cloisterham</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Reverend Mr. Crisparkle</td><td align="right">A minister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Neville Landless</td><td align="right">Mr. Crisparkle's pupil</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Helena</td><td align="right">His twin sister</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan='2'>Rosebud's room-mate in the seminary</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Luke Honeythunder</td><td align="right">A self-styled "philanthropist" and<br /> bore. Guardian of Neville and Helena</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lieutenant Tartar</td><td align="right">A retired naval officer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"Dick Datchery"</td><td align="right">A detective</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Durdles</td><td align="right">A stone-mason and chiseler of tombstones</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">"The Deputy"</td><td align="right">A street Arab</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD" id="THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"></a>THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD</h2> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>I</big><br /> +<br /> +JOHN JASPER</h3> + +<p>In the quiet town of Cloisterham, in England, +in a boarding-school, once lived a beautiful girl +named Rosa Bud—an amiable, wilful, winning, +whimsical little creature whom every one called +Rosebud. She was an orphan. Her mother had +been drowned when she was only seven years old +and her father had died of grief on the first anniversary +of that day.</p> + +<p>Her father's friend and college mate, a Mr. +Drood, had comforted his last hours, and they +had agreed between them that when Rosebud was +old enough she should marry Mr. Drood's son Edwin, +then a little boy. Her father put this wish +in his will, as did Mr. Drood, who died also soon +after his friend, and so Rosebud and Edwin Drood +grew up knowing that, though not bound in any +way, each was intended for the other. So it came +about that, while if they had been let alone they +might have fallen in love naturally, yet as it was +they were always shy and ill at ease with one another. +Yet they liked each other, too.</p> + +<p>Rosebud's guardian was a Mr. Grewgious, an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span> +arid, sandy man who looked as if he might be +put in a grinding-mill and turned out first-class +snuff. He had scanty hair like a yellow fur tippet, +and deep notches in his forehead, and was very +near-sighted. He seemed to have been born old, +so that when he came to London to call on Rosebud +amid all the school-girls he used to say he +felt like a bear with the cramp. Grewgious, however, +under his oddity had a very tender heart, +particularly for Rosebud, whose mother he had +been secretly in love with before she married. But +he had grown up a dry old bachelor, living in +gloomy rooms in London, and no one would have +guessed him ever to have been a bit romantic.</p> + +<p>The school Rosebud attended was called Nun's +House. Miss Twinkleton, the prim old maid who +managed it, termed it a "Seminary for Young +Ladies." It had a worn front, with a shining brass +door-plate that made it look at a distance like a +battered old beau with a big new eye-glass stuck in +his blind eye. Here Rosebud lived a happy life, +the pet of the whole seminary, till she was a young +lady.</p> + +<p>Cloisterham was a dull, gray town with an ancient +cathedral, which was so cold and dark and +damp that looking into its door was like looking +down the throat of old Father Time. The cathedral +had a fine choir, which sang at all the services +and was taught and led by a music-master +whose name was John Jasper. This Jasper, as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span> +happened, was the uncle and guardian of Edwin +Drood.</p> + +<p>Drood, who was studying to be an engineer, was +very fond of his uncle and came often to Cloisterham +to visit him, so that Rosebud saw a great deal +of her intended husband. He always called her +"Pussy." He used to call on her at the school and +take her walking and buy her candy at a Turkish +shop, called "Lumps of Delight," and did his best +to get on well with her, though he felt awkward.</p> + +<p>Drood and Jasper were much more like two +friends than like uncle and nephew, for the choir +master was very little older than the other.</p> + +<p>Jasper seemed to be wonderfully fond of Drood, +and every one who knew him thought him a most +honorable and upright man; but in reality he was +far different. At heart he hated the cathedral and +the singing, and wished often that he could find +relief, like some old monk, in carving demons out +of the desks and seats. He had a soul that was +without fear or conscience.</p> + +<p>One vile and wicked practice he had which he +had hidden from all who knew him. He was an +opium smoker. He would steal away to London +to a garret kept by a mumbling old woman who +knew the secret of mixing the drug, and there, +stretched on a dirty pallet, sometimes with a +drunken Chinaman or a Lascar beside him, would +smoke pipe after pipe of the dreadful mixture that +stole away his senses and left him worse than before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</a></span> +Hours later he would awake, give the woman +money and hurry back to Cloisterham just in time, +perhaps, to put on his church robes and lead the +cathedral choir.</p> + +<p>Though no one knew of this, and though Edwin +Drood thought his uncle was well-nigh perfect, +Rosebud, after she grew up, had no liking +for Jasper. He gave her music lessons and every +time they met he terrified her. She felt sometimes +that he haunted her thoughts like a dreadful +ghost. He seemed almost to make a slave of her +with his looks, and she felt that in every glance +he was telling her that he, Jasper, loved her and +yet compelled her to keep silence. But, though +disliking the choir master so, and shivering whenever +he came near her, Rosebud did not know how +to tell Edwin, who she knew loved and believed +in Jasper, of her feelings.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>II</big><br /> +<br /> +THE COMING OF NEVILLE LANDLESS</h3> + +<p>One of the ministers in charge of the cathedral +was the Reverend Mr. Crisparkle, a ruddy, young, +active, honest fellow, who was perpetually practising +boxing before the looking-glass or pitching +himself head-foremost into all the streams about +the town for a swim, even when it was winter and +he had to break the ice with his head.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Crisparkle sometimes took young men into +his home to live while he tutored them to prepare +them for college. One day he received word from +a Mr. Luke Honeythunder in London, telling him +he was about to bring to Cloisterham a twin +brother and sister, Neville and Helena Landless, +the young man to be taught by Mr. Crisparkle and +his sister Helena to be put in Miss Twinkleton's +seminary.</p> + +<p>This Luke Honeythunder called himself a +philanthropist, but he was a queer sort of one, +indeed. He was always getting up public meetings +and talking loudly, insisting on everybody's thinking +exactly as he did, and saying dreadful things +of them if they did not.</p> + +<p>Helena and Neville Landless had been born in +Ceylon, where as little children they had been +cruelly treated by their stepfather. But they had +brave spirits, and four times in six years they had +run away, only to be brought back each time and +punished. On each of these occasions (the first had +been when they were but seven years old) Helena +had dressed as a boy and once had even tried to cut +off her long hair with Neville's pocket-knife. At +length their cruel stepfather died, and they were +sent to England, where for no other reason than +that his name was continually appearing in the +newspapers, Mr. Honeythunder had been appointed +their guardian.</p> + +<p>No wonder the brother and sister had grown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</a></span> +up thinking everybody was their enemy. They +were quite prepared to hate Mr. Crisparkle when +their guardian brought them. But by the time Mr. +Honeythunder had gone (and Mr. Crisparkle was +as glad as they were when he went home) they +liked the young minister and felt that they would +be happy there. They were a handsome pair, and +Mr. Crisparkle was attracted to them both. Neville +was lithe, and dark and rich in color; Helena +was almost like a gypsy, slender, supple and quick. +Both seemed half shy, half defiant, as though their +blood were untamed.</p> + +<p>To make them welcome that first evening, Mr. +Crisparkle invited to his house Jasper, the choir +master, with Edwin Drood, who was visiting him, +and Rosebud from the seminary. Before they +parted Rosebud was asked to sing.</p> + +<p>Jasper played her accompaniment, and while +she sang he watched her lips intently. All at once, +to their great astonishment, Rosebud covered her +face with her hands and, crying out, "I can't bear +this! I am frightened! Take me away!" burst +into tears.</p> + +<p>Helena, the new-comer, who had liked Rosebud +at first sight, seemed to understand her better than +any one else. She laid her on a sofa, soothed her, +and in a few moments Rosebud seemed again as +usual. Mr. Crisparkle and Edwin Drood thought +it only a fit of nervousness. To her relief, they +made light of the matter, and so the evening ended.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</a></span></p> + +<p>But later, at Nun's House, where she and Helena +were to be room-mates, Rosebud told her new +friend how much she disliked Jasper and how his +eyes terrified her, and how, as she sang, with his +eyes watching her lips, she felt as if he had kissed +her.</p> + +<p>While the two girls were talking of this, Neville +and Edwin Drood, who had gone with them +as far as the door of the seminary, were walking +back together. Mr. Crisparkle had told Neville +of Drood's betrothal to Rosebud, and Neville +now spoke of it. Drood, who had felt all along +that he and Rosebud did not get along well together +and who was sensitive on the subject, was +unjustly angry that the other should so soon know +what he considered his own private affair. He +answered in a surly way and, as both were quick-tempered, +they soon came to high words.</p> + +<p>As it happened, Jasper was walking near, and, +overhearing, came between them. He reproved +them good-naturedly and took them to his rooms, +where he insisted they should drink a glass of wine +with him to their good fellowship. There he did a +dastardly thing. He mixed with the wine a drug +which, once drunk, aroused their angry passions. +Their speech grew thick and the quarrel began +again. Safe now from any spectator, Jasper did +not attempt to soothe them. He let them go on until +they were about to come to blows. Then, pretending +the greatest indignation, he threw himself upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</a></span> +Neville and forced him, hatless, from the +house.</p> + +<p>In the cool night air Neville's strange dizziness, +and with it his rage, cleared away. He realized +that the blame for the quarrel had been Jasper's, +but he did not guess the drugging of the wine and +could not explain the incident even to himself. +He went, however, manfully and sorrowfully to +Mr. Crisparkle and told him what had occurred, +and naturally Mr. Crisparkle, who had never +found Edwin Drood quarrelsome, thought it the +fault of Neville's hot blood and revengeful character.</p> + +<p>He was the more certain of this when Jasper +came to him, bringing Neville's hat, and told him +his own story of the meeting. Jasper told him +falsely that Neville had made a murderous attack +on Drood, and but for him would have laid his +nephew dead at his feet. He warned the minister +that Neville had a tigerish nature and would yet be +guilty of terrible crime. Mr. Crisparkle liked +Neville, and all this saddened him, for he had not +the least suspicion that Jasper was lying for a cruel +purpose of his own.</p> + +<p>The affair was an unhappy one for Neville. +Jasper took care that the story spread abroad, and +as it went it grew, so that almost everybody in +Cloisterham came to consider Helena's brother +a sullen fellow of a furious temper. And they believed +it the more because Neville made no secret<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</a></span> +of the fact that he had fallen in love, too, with +Rosebud, and in this they thought they saw a reason +for his hating Edwin Drood.</p> + +<p>Mr. Crisparkle was a faithful friend. He concluded +soon that the fault was not all on Neville's +side. But he was anxious to have the two young +men friends, and he begged his pupil for his own +part to lay aside the ill feeling. He went to the +choir master also on the same errand, and Jasper +assured him that his nephew would do the same. +He even promised, hypocritically, that to bring +this about he would invite both Edwin Drood and +Neville to dine with him on Christmas Eve, in his +own rooms, where they might meet and shake +hands.</p> + +<p>Both young men promised to come to the dinner, +and Mr. Crisparkle was highly pleased, little +dreaming what the outcome would be.</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>III</big><br /> +<br /> +THE CHOIR MASTER'S DINNER</h3> + +<p>There was a quaint character in Cloisterham +named Durdles. He was a stone-mason whose specialty +was the chiseling of tombstones. He was an +old bachelor and was both a very skilful workman +and a very great sot. He had keys to all the cathedral +vaults and was fond of prowling about the old +pile and its dismal crypt, for ever tap-tapping, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</a></span> +a little hammer he carried, on its stones and walls, +hunting for forgotten cavities, in which, perhaps, +centuries before, persons had been buried. He +wore a coarse flannel suit with horn buttons and a +yellow handkerchief with draggled ends, and it +was a daily sight to see him perched on a tombstone +eating his dinner out of a bundle. When he was +not feeling well he used to say he had a touch of +"tomb-atism," instead of rheumatism.</p> + +<p>Durdles was drunk so much that he was never +certain about getting home at night, so he had +hired, at a penny a day, a hideous small boy, +known as "The Deputy" to throw stones at him +whenever he found him out of doors after ten +o'clock, and drive him home to his little hole of an +unfurnished stone house.</p> + +<p>The Deputy used to watch for Durdles after this +hour, and when he saw him he would dance up +and sing:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Widdy, widdy, wen!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I ketches—him—out—arter ten!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Widdy, widdy wy!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When he—don't—go—then—I shy!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Widdy, widdy, Wake-Cock-Warning!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It was a part of the bargain that he must give +this warning before he began to throw the stones, +and when Durdles heard this yell he knew what +was coming.</p> + +<p>Before the Christmas Eve dinner Jasper picked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</a></span> +a friendship with Durdles, and, pretending he +wanted to make a trip by moonlight with him +among the vaults, he persuaded him one night +to be his guide. While they were in the crypt of +the cathedral Jasper plied him with liquor which +he had brought, to such purpose that Durdles went +fast asleep and the key of the crypt fell from his +hand. He had a dim idea that Jasper picked up +the key and went away with it, and was a long time +gone, but when he awoke he could not tell whether +this had really happened or not. And this, when +The Deputy stoned him home that night, was all +he could remember of the expedition.</p> + +<p>But what Jasper had really done while Durdles +was asleep—whether he had taken away the key +to make a copy of it so as to make one like it for +some evil purpose of his own, or whether he +wanted to be able to unlock that dark underground +place and hide something in it sometime when no +one would be with him—this only Jasper himself +knew!</p> + +<p>The Christmas season arrived, and Edwin +Drood, according to his promise, came to Cloisterham +to his uncle's dinner, at which he was to meet +Neville.</p> + +<p>Before leaving, however, he called upon Mr. +Grewgious, Rosebud's guardian, who had sent for +him with a particular purpose. This purpose was +to give into his hands a ring set with diamonds and +rubies that had belonged to Rosebud's mother. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</a></span> +had been left in trust to Mr. Grewgious to give to +the man who married her, that he might himself +put it on her finger. And in accordance with the +trust, the lawyer charged Drood if anything should +be amiss or if anything happened between him and +Rosebud, to bring back the ring.</p> + +<p>Mr. Grewgious gave him this keepsake with +such wise and friendly advice on the seriousness +of marriage that all the way to Cloisterham with +the ring in his pocket, Edwin Drood was very +thoughtful. He asked himself whether he really +loved Rosebud as a man should love his wife, +whether he had not drifted into this betrothal +rather as a result of their parents' wish and wills +than from any deeper feeling. And he began to +wonder if by marrying her thus he would not be +doing her a vast injustice. He decided, therefore, +to tell her all that was in his mind and be guided +by her judgment.</p> + +<p>Rosebud, meanwhile, in the silence of the +Christmas vacation, with only Helena for her companion, +had been thinking of the same matter, and +her wise little head had reached almost the same +conclusion. When Drood came they walked out +together under the trees by the cathedral. Their +talk was not so difficult after all as each had feared +it would be, and both felt relieved when they decided +they could be far happier to remain as +brother and sister, and not become husband and +wife. So they agreed without pain on either side.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</a></span></p> + +<p>Drood's only anxiety was for his uncle. He +thought Jasper had looked forward to his marriage +to Rosebud so long that he would be pained +and disappointed to learn it was not to be. So he +concluded he would not tell him as yet. Poor +Rosebud! She was greatly agitated. She felt the +falseness of Jasper, and knew that he loved her +himself, but she realized the impossibility of telling +this to the nephew who believed in him. So she +was silent. Drood, for his part, since the betrothal +was ended, said nothing to her of the ring Grewgious +had given to him, intending to return it to +the lawyer.</p> + +<p>They kissed each other when they parted. The +wicked choir master, who happened to be walking +near, saw the embrace and thought it the kiss of +lovers soon to be wed. Drood left Rosebud then, +to pass the time till the hour of the dinner in +Jasper's rooms.</p> + +<p>Neville that day had determined, the dinner +over, to start at dawn next morning on a walking +tour, to be absent a fortnight. He bought a knapsack +and a heavy steel-shod stick in preparation +for this expedition, and bade his sister Helena and +Mr. Crisparkle good-by before he went to the appointed +meeting at the choir master's.</p> + +<p>Jasper himself, it was noticed, had never seemed +in better spirits than on that day, nor had he ever +sung more sweetly than in the afternoon service +before the dinner which he gave to the two young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</a></span> +men. If he was contemplating a terrible crime, +no one would have guessed it from his serene face +and his agreeable manner.</p> + +<p>Edwin Drood had one warning just before he +went up the postern stair that led to his Uncle +Jasper's. The old hag who mixed the opium in +the London garret where the choir master smoked +the drug, had more than once tried to find out who +her strange, gentlemanly visitor was. She had +listened to his mutterings in his drunken slumber, +and at length that day had followed him from +London to Cloisterham, only to lose track of him +there. As Drood strolled, waiting for the dinner +hour to strike from the cathedral chimes, he passed +her and she begged money from him.</p> + +<p>He gave it to her and she asked him his name +and whether he had a sweetheart. He answered +Edwin, and that he had none. "Be thankful your +name's not Ned," she said, "for it's a bad name and +a threatened name!"</p> + +<p>"Ned" was the name Jasper always called him +by, but Drood did not think seriously of the old +woman's words. He could not have guessed that +the threats she spoke of against the Ned who had a +sweetheart had been murmured in his drugged +slumber by his own uncle against himself. And +yet something at just that moment made him shudder.</p> + +<p>So the chimes struck, and Edwin Drood went +on to Jasper's rooms to meet his uncle and Neville<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</a></span> +Landless—went to his doom! For from that time +no one who loved him ever saw him again in this +world!</p> + +<h3 style="margin-top:2em;"><big>IV</big><br /> +<br /> +JASPER SHOWS HIS TEETH</h3> + +<p>That night a fearful tempest howled over Cloisterham. +In the morning early, as the storm was +breaking, Jasper, the choir master, came pale, +panting and half-dressed, to Mr. Crisparkle's, +asking for Edwin Drood. He said his nephew had +left his rooms the evening before with Neville +Landless to go to the river to look at the storm, and +had not returned.</p> + +<p>Strange rumors sprang up at once. Neville had +left for his walking tour and an ugly suspicion flew +from house to house. He had got only a few miles +from the town when he was overtaken by a party +of men, who surrounded him. Thinking at first +that they were thieves, he fought them, but was +soon rendered helpless and bleeding, and in the +midst of them was taken back toward Cloisterham. +Mr. Crisparkle and Jasper met them on the way, +and from the former Neville first learned of what +he was suspected.</p> + +<p>The blood from his encounter with his captors +was on his clothes and stick. Jasper pointed it +out, and even those who had seen it fall there +looked darkly at the stains. He was taken back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</a></span> +to the town and to Mr. Crisparkle's house, who +promised that he should remain in his own custody.</p> + +<p>Neville's story was simple. He said they had +gone to the river, as Jasper had said, and returned +together, he to Mr. Crisparkle's, Edwin Drood +to his uncle's. He had not seen the other since that +time.</p> + +<p>The river was dragged and its banks searched, +but to no purpose, till Mr. Crisparkle himself +found Drood's watch caught among some timbers +in a weir.</p> + +<p>But as the body could not be found, it could not +be definitely proven that Drood was dead, or that +any murder had been committed, so at last Neville +was released. The whole neighborhood, however, +believed him guilty of the murder. No one spoke +to him and he was obliged to quit the place.</p> + +<p>Beside his sister Helena and Rosebud, who, of +course, believed in his innocence, he had but one +friend there—Mr. Crisparkle. The latter stoutly +refused to believe him guilty. When Neville +left for London, through Mr. Grewgious, Rosebud's +guardian, the minister found him a cheap +lodging and made frequent trips to the city to help +and advise him in his studies.</p> + +<p>Mr. Grewgious had his own opinion of the affair. +One day he went to Cloisterham to see +Jasper, and there told him a thing the other did +not yet know—that before that last night Edwin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</a></span> +Drood and Rosebud had agreed not to marry. +When he heard this the choir master's face turned +the color of lead. He shrieked and fell senseless at +the lawyer's feet. Mr. Grewgious went back to +the city more thoughtful than ever, and it was not +long before a detective came from London to +Cloisterham and began to interest himself in all +the doings of John Jasper.</p> + +<p>The detective, to be sure, was not known as such. +He called himself "Dick Datchery" and gave it +out that he was an idle dog who lived on his money +and had nothing to do. He was a curious-looking +man, with a great shock of white hair, black eyebrows +and a military air. He rented lodgings next +door to the choir master, and before long had made +friends with Durdles, the tombstone maker, and +even with The Deputy of the "wake-cock warning."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Jasper, haggard and red-eyed, took +again his place in the cathedral choir, while +Neville Landless worked sadly and alone in his +London garret. The latter made but one friend +in this time—a lodger whose window adjoined his +own. This lodger was Lieutenant Tartar, a retired +young naval officer. Tartar might have +lived in fine apartments, for he was rich, but he +had been so long on shipboard that he felt more at +home where the walls were low enough for him to +knock his head on the ceiling. He used to climb +across to Neville's room by the window ledges, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</a></span> +they became friendly—the warmer friends when +Mr. Crisparkle discovered in the lieutenant a +schoolmate who had once saved his life.</p> + +<p>Later, too, Helena left Miss Twinkleton's Seminary +and came to be with her brother. And so a +year went by.</p> + +<p>Vacation arrived, and one day when Rosebud +was alone at Nun's House, Jasper, for the first time +since Edwin Drood's disappearance, came to see +her.</p> + +<p>He found her in the garden, and she felt again +the repulsion and fear she had always felt at sight +of him. This time the choir master threw away all +concealment. He told her that he had always loved +her hopelessly and madly, though while she was +betrothed to his nephew he had hidden the fact. +She answered indignantly that, by look if not by +word, he had always been false to Edwin Drood; +that he had made her life unhappy by his pursuit +of her, and that, though she had shrunk from opening +his nephew's eyes, she had always known he +was a wicked man.</p> + +<p>Then, maddened by her dislike, Jasper swore +that no one else should ever marry her—that he +would pursue her to the death, and that if she repulsed +him he would bring dreadful ruin upon +Neville Landless. He said this, no doubt, knowing +that Neville loved Rosebud, and thinking, perhaps, +that she loved him in return.</p> + +<p>When Jasper left her, Rosebud was faint from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</a></span> +fear of his wicked eyes. She made up her mind to +go at once for protection to Mr. Grewgious in +London, and, leaving a note for Miss Twinkleton, +she left by the next omnibus.</p> + +<p>She told her guardian her story, he told it to +Mr. Crisparkle, who came to London next morning, +and between them they told Lieutenant Tartar. +While Rosebud visited with Helena the three +men took counsel together, agreeing that Jasper +was a villain and planning how best to deal with +him.</p> + +<p>The next time the choir master visited the opium +garret the old woman tracked him back to Cloisterham, +with more success—with such success, indeed, +that she heard him sing in the cathedral and +found out his name from a stranger whom she encountered. +This stranger was Dick Datchery, the +detective, who discovered so much, before he left +her, of Jasper's London habits that he went home +in high good humor.</p> + +<p>Datchery had a trick, whenever he was following +a particular search, of marking each step of +his progress by a chalk mark on a wall or door. +To-day he must have been highly pleased, for he +drew a thick line from the very top of the cupboard +door to the bottom!</p> + +<p style="margin-top: 2.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em;"><i>When Charles Dickens, the master story-teller, +had told this tale thus far, he fell ill and died, and +it was never finished. The mystery of the disappearance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</a></span> +of Edwin Drood, what became of Rosebud +and of Mr. Crisparkle, how Neville and +Helena fared and what was the end of Jasper, are +matters for each one of us to guess. Many have +tried to finish this story and they have ended it in +various ways. Before Dickens died, however, he +told to a friend the part of the story that remained +unwritten, and this, the friend has recorded, was +to be as follows</i>:</p> + +<p>By means of the old woman of the opium den, +Durdles, the tombstone maker, and The Deputy, +the ragged stone-thrower, Dick Datchery unraveled +the threads which finally, made into a net, +caught Jasper, the murderer, in its meshes. Little +by little, word by word, he was made at last to betray +himself.</p> + +<p>He had killed Edwin Drood, had hidden his +body in one of the vaults and covered it with lime. +But there had been one thing in the dead man's +pocket which the lime could not destroy: this was +the ring set with diamonds and rubies, that had +been given to him by Mr. Grewgious. By this the +murder was proven. Mr. Crisparkle and Mr. +Grewgious worked hard to clear Neville Landless +(of whose guilt, by the way, Mr. Honeythunder +remained always sure), but poor Neville himself +perished in aiding Lieutenant Tartar to seize the +murderer.</p> + +<p>Finding all hope of escape gone, Jasper confessed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</a></span> +his crime in the cell in which he waited for +death.</p> + +<p>But, after all, the story closed happily, with the +marriage of Mr. Crisparkle to Neville's sister +Helena, and that of Lieutenant Tartar to pretty +little Rosebud.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INDEX_TO_CHARACTERS" id="INDEX_TO_CHARACTERS"></a>INDEX TO CHARACTERS</h2> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</a></span></p> +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[Pg 465]</a></span></p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Affery</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Agnes</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Allen, Arabella</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Allen, Ben</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Artful Dodger, The"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bagstock, Major</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bantam, Angelo Cyrus</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bardell, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Barkis</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Barnaby Rudge</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Barnacle, Mr. Tite</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Barsad</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bevan</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Biddy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Blackpool, Stephen</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Blimber, Doctor</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Boffin, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Boffin, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bounderby, Josiah</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Boythorn, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Brass</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Brass, Sally</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bray</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bray, Madeline</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Brownlow, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bud, Rosa</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Budger, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bumble, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bumble, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Buzfuz, Sergeant</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[Pg 466]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Carker</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Carstone, Richard</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Carton, Sydney</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Cheeryble Brothers, The</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chester, Edward</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chester, Sir John</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chivery, John</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chuffey</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chuzzlewit</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chuzzlewit, Martin</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Clare, Ada</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Clennam, Arthur</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Clennam, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Clennam, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Compeyson</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Copperfield, David</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Creakle, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Crisparkle, Reverend Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Crummles, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Crummles, Ninetta</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Crummles, Vincent</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Cuttle, Captain</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Darnay, Charles</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Datchery, Dick</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dedlock, Lady</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dedlock, Sir Leicester</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Defarge</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Defarge, Madame</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dennis</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Deputy, The"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Dick, Mr."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Diogenes"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Dodger, The Artful"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dombey, Florence</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dombey, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[Pg 467]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dombey, Paul</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dorrit, Amy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dorrit, Fanny</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Dorrit, Little"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dorrit, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dorrit, "Tip"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dowler, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dowler, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Doyce</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Drood, Edwin</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Durdles</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Em'ly, Little"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Estella</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Fagin</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Fat Boy, The"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Father of the Marshalsea, The"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Fitz-Marshall, Mr."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Fitz-Marshall, Captain"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Flintwinch</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Flite, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Floy"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gabelle</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gamp, "Sairey"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gargery, Joe</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gargery, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gashford</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gay, Walter</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">General, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"George, Mr."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Golden Dustman, The"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gordon, Lord George</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gills, Solomon</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gradgrind, Louisa</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gradgrind, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gradgrind, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[Pg 468]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gradgrind, Tom</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Graham, Mary</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Grandfather Smallweed</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Granger, Edith</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Grewgious, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gride</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Grip"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gummidge, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Ham</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Haredale, Emma</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Haredale, Geoffrey</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Harmon, John</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Harmon, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Harris, Mrs."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Harthouse, James</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Havisham, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hawdon, Captain</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hawk, Sir Mulberry</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Headstone</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Heep, Uriah</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hexam</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hexam, Charlie</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hexam, Lizzie</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Honeythunder, Luke</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hortense</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Hugh, Maypole"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hunter, Mrs. Leo</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Infant Phenomenon, The"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jaggers, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jarley, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jarndyce, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jasper, John</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jellyby, Caddy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jellyby, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Jenny Wren"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[Pg 469]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jingle, Alfred</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Joe</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Joe</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Joe, Mrs."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jonas</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jupe, Cecelia</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Jupe, Signor"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Kit"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Knag, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Krook</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Lady Jane"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Landless, Helena</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Landless, Neville</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Little Em'ly"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Little Nell"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Little Paul"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Lorry, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Maggie</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Magnus, Mr. Peter</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Magwitch, Abel</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Manette, Doctor</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Manette, Lucie</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mantalini, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mantalini, Madame</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mary</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Maylie, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Maypole Hugh"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">M'Choakumchild, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Meagles, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Meagles, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Meagles, "Pet"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Merdle, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Merdle, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Merrylegs"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Micawber, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[Pg 470]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Jingle, Alfred</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Monks</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Montague, Tigg</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Murdstone, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Murdstone, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nadgett</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nancy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Nell, Little"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Nemo"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nickleby, Kate</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nickleby, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nickleby, Nicholas</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nickleby, Ralph</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Noggs</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nubbles, Christopher</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nupkins</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nupkins, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nupkins, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Old Sol"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Orlick</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pancks</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Paul, Little"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pecksniff</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pecksniff, Charity</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pecksniff, Mercy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Peggotty</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Peggotty, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Pegler, Mrs."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pickwick, Mr. Samuel</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pinch, Tom</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pinch, Ruth</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Pip"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pipchin, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pirrip, Philip</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pocket, Herbert</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pocket, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[Pg 471]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pocket, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pross, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pumblechook, Uncle</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Quilp</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Quilp, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Rachel</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Rigaud</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Riderhood, "Rogue"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Rokesmith," John</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Rosebud"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Rose, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Rouncewell, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Rudge</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Rudge, Barnaby</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Rudge, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">St. Evrémonde, Charles</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">St. Evrémonde, Marquis de</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TALE_OF_TWO_CITIES"><i>Tale of Two Cities</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Sawyer, Bob</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Sikes, Bill</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Sissy"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Skimpole, Harold</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Slammer, Doctor</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Sleary</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Smallweed, Grandfather</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Smallweed, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Smike</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Snodgrass</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Sol, Old"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DOMBEY_AND_SON"><i>Dombey and Son</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Sparsit, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HARD_TIMES"><i>Hard Times</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Spenlow, Dora</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Squeers</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Squeers, Fanny</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Squeers, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Squeers, Wackford</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Steerforth, James</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[Pg 472]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Stranger, The"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Strong, Doctor</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Summerson, Esther</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Swiveller, Dick</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Tapley, Mark</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Tappertit, Simon</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Tartar, Lieutenant</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Tattycoram"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#LITTLE_DORRIT"><i>Little Dorrit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Tigg, Montague</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Todgers, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Traddles, Tommy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Trent, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_OLD_CURIOSITY_SHOP"><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Trotter, Job</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Trotwood, Miss Betsy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Tulkinghorn, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Tupman</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Turveydrop, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Turveydrop, Prince</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Twinkleton, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_MYSTERY_OF_EDWIN_DROOD"><i>Edwin Drood</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Twist, Oliver</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OLIVER_TWIST"><i>Oliver Twist</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Uncle Pumblechook</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Varden</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Varden, Dolly</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Veneering, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Venus, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Verisopht, Lord Frederick</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Vholes</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wardle, Emily</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wardle, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wardle, Miss</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wegg, Silas</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Weller, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Weller, Sam</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Weller, Tony</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wemmick</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[Pg 473]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Westlock, John</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MARTIN_CHUZZLEWIT"><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wickfield, Agnes</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wickfield, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#DAVID_COPPERFIELD"><i>David Copperfield</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wilfer, Bella</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wilfer, Mr.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Willet, Joe</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BARNABY_RUDGE"><i>Barnaby Rudge</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Winkle</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_PICKWICK_PAPERS"><i>Pickwick Papers</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wititterly, Mrs.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NICHOLAS_NICKLEBY"><i>Nicholas Nickleby</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Woodcourt, Allan</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BLEAK_HOUSE"><i>Bleak House</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wopsle</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GREAT_EXPECTATIONS"><i>Great Expectations</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Wrayburn, Eugene</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Wren, Jennie"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#OUR_MUTUAL_FRIEND"><i>Our Mutual Friend</i></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30127 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/30127-h/images/cover.jpg b/30127-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..102dbe1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30127-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/30127-h/images/illus-1.png b/30127-h/images/illus-1.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..89cd7ac --- /dev/null +++ b/30127-h/images/illus-1.png diff --git a/30127-h/images/illus-1tn.png b/30127-h/images/illus-1tn.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..efb0844 --- /dev/null +++ b/30127-h/images/illus-1tn.png diff --git a/30127-h/images/illus-2.png 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