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+****The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Cricket on the Hearth****
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+The Cricket on the Hearth
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+by Charles Dickens
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+October, 1996  [Etext #678]
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+
+
+The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
+SCanned and David Price ccx074@coventry.ac.uk
+
+
+
+
+
+The Cricket on the Hearth
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I - Chrip the First
+
+
+
+THE kettle began it!  Don't tell me what Mrs. Peerybingle said.  I 
+know better.  Mrs. Peerybingle may leave it on record to the end of 
+time that she couldn't say which of them began it; but, I say the 
+kettle did.  I ought to know, I hope!  The kettle began it, full 
+five minutes by the little waxy-faced Dutch clock in the corner, 
+before the Cricket uttered a chirp.
+
+As if the clock hadn't finished striking, and the convulsive little 
+Haymaker at the top of it, jerking away right and left with a 
+scythe in front of a Moorish Palace, hadn't mowed down half an acre 
+of imaginary grass before the Cricket joined in at all!
+
+Why, I am not naturally positive.  Every one knows that.  I 
+wouldn't set my own opinion against the opinion of Mrs. 
+Peerybingle, unless I were quite sure, on any account whatever.  
+Nothing should induce me.  But, this is a question of act.  And the 
+fact is, that the kettle began it, at least five minutes before the 
+Cricket gave any sign of being in existence.  Contradict me, and 
+I'll say ten.
+
+Let me narrate exactly how it happened.  I should have proceeded to 
+do so in my very first word, but for this plain consideration - if 
+I am to tell a story I must begin at the beginning; and how is it 
+possible to begin at the beginning, without beginning at the 
+kettle?
+
+It appeared as if there were a sort of match, or trial of skill, 
+you must understand, between the kettle and the Cricket.  And this 
+is what led to it, and how it came about.
+
+Mrs. Peerybingle, going out into the raw twilight, and clicking 
+over the wet stones in a pair of pattens that worked innumerable 
+rough impressions of the first proposition in Euclid all about the 
+yard - Mrs. Peerybingle filled the kettle at the water-butt.  
+Presently returning, less the pattens (and a good deal less, for 
+they were tall and Mrs. Peerybingle was but short), she set the 
+kettle on the fire.  In doing which she lost her temper, or mislaid 
+it for an instant; for, the water being uncomfortably cold, and in 
+that slippy, slushy, sleety sort of state wherein it seems to 
+penetrate through every kind of substance, patten rings included - 
+had laid hold of Mrs. Peerybingle's toes, and even splashed her 
+legs.  And when we rather plume ourselves (with reason too) upon 
+our legs, and keep ourselves particularly neat in point of 
+stockings, we find this, for the moment, hard to bear.
+
+Besides, the kettle was aggravating and obstinate.  It wouldn't 
+allow itself to be adjusted on the top bar; it wouldn't hear of 
+accommodating itself kindly to the knobs of coal; it WOULD lean 
+forward with a drunken air, and dribble, a very Idiot of a kettle, 
+on the hearth.  It was quarrelsome, and hissed and spluttered 
+morosely at the fire.  To sum up all, the lid, resisting Mrs. 
+Peerybingle's fingers, first of all turned topsy-turvy, and then, 
+with an ingenious pertinacity deserving of a better cause, dived 
+sideways in - down to the very bottom of the kettle.  And the hull 
+of the Royal George has never made half the monstrous resistance to 
+coming out of the water, which the lid of that kettle employed 
+against Mrs. Peerybingle, before she got it up again.
+
+It looked sullen and pig-headed enough, even then; carrying its 
+handle with an air of defiance, and cocking its spout pertly and 
+mockingly at Mrs. Peerybingle, as if it said, 'I won't boil.  
+Nothing shall induce me!'
+
+But Mrs. Peerybingle, with restored good humour, dusted her chubby 
+little hands against each other, and sat down before the kettle, 
+laughing.  Meantime, the jolly blaze uprose and fell, flashing and 
+gleaming on the little Haymaker at the top of the Dutch clock, 
+until one might have thought he stood stock still before the 
+Moorish Palace, and nothing was in motion but the flame.
+
+He was on the move, however; and had his spasms, two to the second, 
+all right and regular.  But, his sufferings when the clock was 
+going to strike, were frightful to behold; and, when a Cuckoo 
+looked out of a trap-door in the Palace, and gave note six times, 
+it shook him, each time, like a spectral voice - or like a 
+something wiry, plucking at his legs.
+
+It was not until a violent commotion and a whirring noise among the 
+weights and ropes below him had quite subsided, that this terrified 
+Haymaker became himself again.  Nor was he startled without reason; 
+for these rattling, bony skeletons of clocks are very disconcerting 
+in their operation, and I wonder very much how any set of men, but 
+most of all how Dutchmen, can have had a liking to invent them.  
+There is a popular belief that Dutchmen love broad cases and much 
+clothing for their own lower selves; and they might know better 
+than to leave their clocks so very lank and unprotected, surely.
+
+Now it was, you observe, that the kettle began to spend the 
+evening.  Now it was, that the kettle, growing mellow and musical, 
+began to have irrepressible gurglings in its throat, and to indulge 
+in short vocal snorts, which it checked in the bud, as if it hadn't 
+quite made up its mind yet, to be good company.  Now it was, that 
+after two or three such vain attempts to stifle its convivial 
+sentiments, it threw off all moroseness, all reserve, and burst 
+into a stream of song so cosy and hilarious, as never maudlin 
+nightingale yet formed the least idea of.
+
+So plain too!  Bless you, you might have understood it like a book 
+- better than some books you and I could name, perhaps.  With its 
+warm breath gushing forth in a light cloud which merrily and 
+gracefully ascended a few feet, then hung about the chimney-corner 
+as its own domestic Heaven, it trolled its song with that strong 
+energy of cheerfulness, that its iron body hummed and stirred upon 
+the fire; and the lid itself, the recently rebellious lid - such is 
+the influence of a bright example - performed a sort of jig, and 
+clattered like a deaf and dumb young cymbal that had never known 
+the use of its twin brother.
+
+That this song of the kettle's was a song of invitation and welcome 
+to somebody out of doors:  to somebody at that moment coming on, 
+towards the snug small home and the crisp fire:  there is no doubt 
+whatever.  Mrs. Peerybingle knew it, perfectly, as she sat musing 
+before the hearth.  It's a dark night, sang the kettle, and the 
+rotten leaves are lying by the way; and, above, all is mist and 
+darkness, and, below, all is mire and clay; and there's only one 
+relief in all the sad and murky air; and I don't know that it is 
+one, for it's nothing but a glare; of deep and angry crimson, where 
+the sun and wind together; set a brand upon the clouds for being 
+guilty of such weather; and the widest open country is a long dull 
+streak of black; and there's hoar-frost on the finger-post, and 
+thaw upon the track; and the ice it isn't water, and the water 
+isn't free; and you couldn't say that anything is what it ought to 
+be; but he's coming, coming, coming! -
+
+And here, if you like, the Cricket DID chime in! with a Chirrup, 
+Chirrup, Chirrup of such magnitude, by way of chorus; with a voice 
+so astoundingly disproportionate to its size, as compared with the 
+kettle; (size! you couldn't see it!) that if it had then and there 
+burst itself like an overcharged gun, if it had fallen a victim on 
+the spot, and chirruped its little body into fifty pieces, it would 
+have seemed a natural and inevitable consequence, for which it had 
+expressly laboured.
+
+The kettle had had the last of its solo performance.  It persevered 
+with undiminished ardour; but the Cricket took first fiddle and 
+kept it.  Good Heaven, how it chirped!  Its shrill, sharp, piercing 
+voice resounded through the house, and seemed to twinkle in the 
+outer darkness like a star.  There was an indescribable little 
+trill and tremble in it, at its loudest, which suggested its being 
+carried off its legs, and made to leap again, by its own intense 
+enthusiasm.  Yet they went very well together, the Cricket and the 
+kettle.  The burden of the song was still the same; and louder, 
+louder, louder still, they sang it in their emulation.
+
+The fair little listener - for fair she was, and young:  though 
+something of what is called the dumpling shape; but I don't myself 
+object to that - lighted a candle, glanced at the Haymaker on the 
+top of the clock, who was getting in a pretty average crop of 
+minutes; and looked out of the window, where she saw nothing, owing 
+to the darkness, but her own face imaged in the glass.  And my 
+opinion is (and so would yours have been), that she might have 
+looked a long way, and seen nothing half so agreeable.  When she 
+came back, and sat down in her former seat, the Cricket and the 
+kettle were still keeping it up, with a perfect fury of 
+competition.  The kettle's weak side clearly being, that he didn't 
+know when he was beat.
+
+There was all the excitement of a race about it.  Chirp, chirp, 
+chirp!  Cricket a mile ahead.  Hum, hum, hum - m - m!  Kettle 
+making play in the distance, like a great top.  Chirp, chirp, 
+chirp!  Cricket round the corner.  Hum, hum, hum - m - m!  Kettle 
+sticking to him in his own way; no idea of giving in.  Chirp, 
+chirp, chirp!  Cricket fresher than ever.  Hum, hum, hum - m - m!  
+Kettle slow and steady.  Chirp, chirp, chirp!  Cricket going in to 
+finish him.  Hum, hum, hum - m - m!  Kettle not to be finished.  
+Until at last they got so jumbled together, in the hurry-skurry, 
+helter-skelter, of the match, that whether the kettle chirped and 
+the Cricket hummed, or the Cricket chirped and the kettle hummed, 
+or they both chirped and both hummed, it would have taken a clearer 
+head than yours or mine to have decided with anything like 
+certainty.  But, of this, there is no doubt:  that, the kettle and 
+the Cricket, at one and the same moment, and by some power of 
+amalgamation best known to themselves, sent, each, his fireside 
+song of comfort streaming into a ray of the candle that shone out 
+through the window, and a long way down the lane.  And this light, 
+bursting on a certain person who, on the instant, approached 
+towards it through the gloom, expressed the whole thing to him, 
+literally in a twinkling, and cried, 'Welcome home, old fellow!  
+Welcome home, my boy!'
+
+This end attained, the kettle, being dead beat, boiled over, and 
+was taken off the fire.  Mrs. Peerybingle then went running to the 
+door, where, what with the wheels of a cart, the tramp of a horse, 
+the voice of a man, the tearing in and out of an excited dog, and 
+the surprising and mysterious appearance of a baby, there was soon 
+the very What's-his-name to pay.
+
+Where the baby came from, or how Mrs. Peerybingle got hold of it in 
+that flash of time, I don't know.  But a live baby there was, in 
+Mrs. Peerybingle's arms; and a pretty tolerable amount of pride she 
+seemed to have in it, when she was drawn gently to the fire, by a 
+sturdy figure of a man, much taller and much older than herself, 
+who had to stoop a long way down, to kiss her.  But she was worth 
+the trouble.  Six foot six, with the lumbago, might have done it.
+
+'Oh goodness, John!' said Mrs. P.  'What a state you are in with 
+the weather!'
+
+He was something the worse for it, undeniably.  The thick mist hung 
+in clots upon his eyelashes like candied thaw; and between the fog 
+and fire together, there were rainbows in his very whiskers.
+
+'Why, you see, Dot,' John made answer, slowly, as he unrolled a 
+shawl from about his throat; and warmed his hands; 'it - it an't 
+exactly summer weather.  So, no wonder.'
+
+'I wish you wouldn't call me Dot, John.  I don't like it,' said 
+Mrs. Peerybingle:  pouting in a way that clearly showed she DID 
+like it, very much.
+
+'Why what else are you?' returned John, looking down upon her with 
+a smile, and giving her waist as light a squeeze as his huge hand 
+and arm could give.  'A dot and' - here he glanced at the baby - 'a 
+dot and carry - I won't say it, for fear I should spoil it; but I 
+was very near a joke.  I don't know as ever I was nearer.'
+
+He was often near to something or other very clever, by his own 
+account:  this lumbering, slow, honest John; this John so heavy, 
+but so light of spirit; so rough upon the surface, but so gentle at 
+the core; so dull without, so quick within; so stolid, but so good!  
+Oh Mother Nature, give thy children the true poetry of heart that 
+hid itself in this poor Carrier's breast - he was but a Carrier by 
+the way - and we can bear to have them talking prose, and leading 
+lives of prose; and bear to bless thee for their company!
+
+It was pleasant to see Dot, with her little figure, and her baby in 
+her arms:  a very doll of a baby:  glancing with a coquettish 
+thoughtfulness at the fire, and inclining her delicate little head 
+just enough on one side to let it rest in an odd, half-natural, 
+half-affected, wholly nestling and agreeable manner, on the great 
+rugged figure of the Carrier.  It was pleasant to see him, with his 
+tender awkwardness, endeavouring to adapt his rude support to her 
+slight need, and make his burly middle-age a leaning-staff not 
+inappropriate to her blooming youth.  It was pleasant to observe 
+how Tilly Slowboy, waiting in the background for the baby, took 
+special cognizance (though in her earliest teens) of this grouping; 
+and stood with her mouth and eyes wide open, and her head thrust 
+forward, taking it in as if it were air.  Nor was it less agreeable 
+to observe how John the Carrier, reference being made by Dot to the 
+aforesaid baby, checked his hand when on the point of touching the 
+infant, as if he thought he might crack it; and bending down, 
+surveyed it from a safe distance, with a kind of puzzled pride, 
+such as an amiable mastiff might be supposed to show, if he found 
+himself, one day, the father of a young canary.
+
+'An't he beautiful, John?  Don't he look precious in his sleep?'
+
+'Very precious,' said John.  'Very much so.  He generally IS 
+asleep, an't he?'
+
+'Lor, John!  Good gracious no!'
+
+'Oh,' said John, pondering.  'I thought his eyes was generally 
+shut.  Halloa!'
+
+'Goodness, John, how you startle one!'
+
+'It an't right for him to turn 'em up in that way!' said the 
+astonished Carrier, 'is it?  See how he's winking with both of 'em 
+at once!  And look at his mouth!  Why he's gasping like a gold and 
+silver fish!'
+
+'You don't deserve to be a father, you don't,' said Dot, with all 
+the dignity of an experienced matron.  'But how should you know 
+what little complaints children are troubled with, John!  You 
+wouldn't so much as know their names, you stupid fellow.'  And when 
+she had turned the baby over on her left arm, and had slapped its 
+back as a restorative, she pinched her husband's ear, laughing.
+
+'No,' said John, pulling off his outer coat.  'It's very true, Dot.  
+I don't know much about it.  I only know that I've been fighting 
+pretty stiffly with the wind to-night.  It's been blowing north-
+east, straight into the cart, the whole way home.'
+
+'Poor old man, so it has!' cried Mrs. Peerybingle, instantly 
+becoming very active.  'Here!  Take the precious darling, Tilly, 
+while I make myself of some use.  Bless it, I could smother it with 
+kissing it, I could!  Hie then, good dog!  Hie, Boxer, boy!  Only 
+let me make the tea first, John; and then I'll help you with the 
+parcels, like a busy bee.  "How doth the little" - and all the rest 
+of it, you know, John.  Did you ever learn "how doth the little," 
+when you went to school, John?'
+
+'Not to quite know it,' John returned.  'I was very near it once.  
+But I should only have spoilt it, I dare say.'
+
+'Ha ha,' laughed Dot.  She had the blithest little laugh you ever 
+heard.  'What a dear old darling of a dunce you are, John, to be 
+sure!'
+
+Not at all disputing this position, John went out to see that the 
+boy with the lantern, which had been dancing to and fro before the 
+door and window, like a Will of the Wisp, took due care of the 
+horse; who was fatter than you would quite believe, if I gave you 
+his measure, and so old that his birthday was lost in the mists of 
+antiquity.  Boxer, feeling that his attentions were due to the 
+family in general, and must be impartially distributed, dashed in 
+and out with bewildering inconstancy; now, describing a circle of 
+short barks round the horse, where he was being rubbed down at the 
+stable-door; now feigning to make savage rushes at his mistress, 
+and facetiously bringing himself to sudden stops; now, eliciting a 
+shriek from Tilly Slowboy, in the low nursing-chair near the fire, 
+by the unexpected application of his moist nose to her countenance; 
+now, exhibiting an obtrusive interest in the baby; now, going round 
+and round upon the hearth, and lying down as if he had established 
+himself for the night; now, getting up again, and taking that 
+nothing of a fag-end of a tail of his, out into the weather, as if 
+he had just remembered an appointment, and was off, at a round 
+trot, to keep it.
+
+'There!  There's the teapot, ready on the hob!' said Dot; as 
+briskly busy as a child at play at keeping house.  'And there's the 
+old knuckle of ham; and there's the butter; and there's the crusty 
+loaf, and all!  Here's the clothes-basket for the small parcels, 
+John, if you've got any there - where are you, John?'
+
+'Don't let the dear child fall under the grate, Tilly, whatever you 
+do!'
+
+It may be noted of Miss Slowboy, in spite of her rejecting the 
+caution with some vivacity, that she had a rare and surprising 
+talent for getting this baby into difficulties and had several 
+times imperilled its short life, in a quiet way peculiarly her own.  
+She was of a spare and straight shape, this young lady, insomuch 
+that her garments appeared to be in constant danger of sliding off 
+those sharp pegs, her shoulders, on which they were loosely hung.  
+Her costume was remarkable for the partial development, on all 
+possible occasions, of some flannel vestment of a singular 
+structure; also for affording glimpses, in the region of the back, 
+of a corset, or pair of stays, in colour a dead-green.  Being 
+always in a state of gaping admiration at everything, and absorbed, 
+besides, in the perpetual contemplation of her mistress's 
+perfections and the baby's, Miss Slowboy, in her little errors of 
+judgment, may be said to have done equal honour to her head and to 
+her heart; and though these did less honour to the baby's head, 
+which they were the occasional means of bringing into contact with 
+deal doors, dressers, stair-rails, bed-posts, and other foreign 
+substances, still they were the honest results of Tilly Slowboy's 
+constant astonishment at finding herself so kindly treated, and 
+installed in such a comfortable home.  For, the maternal and 
+paternal Slowboy were alike unknown to Fame, and Tilly had been 
+bred by public charity, a foundling; which word, though only 
+differing from fondling by one vowel's length, is very different in 
+meaning, and expresses quite another thing.
+
+To have seen little Mrs. Peerybingle come back with her husband, 
+tugging at the clothes-basket, and making the most strenuous 
+exertions to do nothing at all (for he carried it), would have 
+amused you almost as much as it amused him.  It may have 
+entertained the Cricket too, for anything I know; but, certainly, 
+it now began to chirp again, vehemently.
+
+'Heyday!' said John, in his slow way.  'It's merrier than ever, to-
+night, I think.'
+
+'And it's sure to bring us good fortune, John!  It always has done 
+so.  To have a Cricket on the Hearth, is the luckiest thing in all 
+the world!'
+
+John looked at her as if he had very nearly got the thought into 
+his head, that she was his Cricket in chief, and he quite agreed 
+with her.  But, it was probably one of his narrow escapes, for he 
+said nothing.
+
+'The first time I heard its cheerful little note, John, was on that 
+night when you brought me home - when you brought me to my new home 
+here; its little mistress.  Nearly a year ago.  You recollect, 
+John?'
+
+O yes.  John remembered.  I should think so!
+
+'Its chirp was such a welcome to me!  It seemed so full of promise 
+and encouragement.  It seemed to say, you would be kind and gentle 
+with me, and would not expect (I had a fear of that, John, then) to 
+find an old head on the shoulders of your foolish little wife.'
+
+John thoughtfully patted one of the shoulders, and then the head, 
+as though he would have said No, no; he had had no such 
+expectation; he had been quite content to take them as they were.  
+And really he had reason.  They were very comely.
+
+'It spoke the truth, John, when it seemed to say so; for you have 
+ever been, I am sure, the best, the most considerate, the most 
+affectionate of husbands to me.  This has been a happy home, John; 
+and I love the Cricket for its sake!'
+
+'Why so do I then,' said the Carrier.  'So do I, Dot.'
+
+'I love it for the many times I have heard it, and the many 
+thoughts its harmless music has given me.  Sometimes, in the 
+twilight, when I have felt a little solitary and down-hearted, John 
+- before baby was here to keep me company and make the house gay - 
+when I have thought how lonely you would be if I should die; how 
+lonely I should be if I could know that you had lost me, dear; its 
+Chirp, Chirp, Chirp upon the hearth, has seemed to tell me of 
+another little voice, so sweet, so very dear to me, before whose 
+coming sound my trouble vanished like a dream.  And when I used to 
+fear - I did fear once, John, I was very young you know - that ours 
+might prove to be an ill-assorted marriage, I being such a child, 
+and you more like my guardian than my husband; and that you might 
+not, however hard you tried, be able to learn to love me, as you 
+hoped and prayed you might; its Chirp, Chirp, Chirp has cheered me 
+up again, and filled me with new trust and confidence.  I was 
+thinking of these things to-night, dear, when I sat expecting you; 
+and I love the Cricket for their sake!'
+
+'And so do I,' repeated John.  'But, Dot?  I hope and pray that I 
+might learn to love you?  How you talk!  I had learnt that, long 
+before I brought you here, to be the Cricket's little mistress, 
+Dot!'
+
+She laid her hand, an instant, on his arm, and looked up at him 
+with an agitated face, as if she would have told him something.  
+Next moment she was down upon her knees before the basket, speaking 
+in a sprightly voice, and busy with the parcels.
+
+'There are not many of them to-night, John, but I saw some goods 
+behind the cart, just now; and though they give more trouble, 
+perhaps, still they pay as well; so we have no reason to grumble, 
+have we?  Besides, you have been delivering, I dare say, as you 
+came along?'
+
+'Oh yes,' John said.  'A good many.'
+
+'Why what's this round box?  Heart alive, John, it's a wedding-
+cake!'
+
+'Leave a woman alone to find out that,' said John, admiringly.  
+'Now a man would never have thought of it.  Whereas, it's my belief 
+that if you was to pack a wedding-cake up in a tea-chest, or a 
+turn-up bedstead, or a pickled salmon keg, or any unlikely thing, a 
+woman would be sure to find it out directly.  Yes; I called for it 
+at the pastry-cook's.'
+
+'And it weighs I don't know what - whole hundredweights!' cried 
+Dot, making a great demonstration of trying to lift it.
+
+'Whose is it, John?  Where is it going?'
+
+'Read the writing on the other side,' said John.
+
+'Why, John!  My Goodness, John!'
+
+'Ah! who'd have thought it!' John returned.
+
+'You never mean to say,' pursued Dot, sitting on the floor and 
+shaking her head at him, 'that it's Gruff and Tackleton the 
+toymaker!'
+
+John nodded.
+
+Mrs. Peerybingle nodded also, fifty times at least.  Not in assent 
+- in dumb and pitying amazement; screwing up her lips the while 
+with all their little force (they were never made for screwing up; 
+I am clear of that), and looking the good Carrier through and 
+through, in her abstraction.  Miss Slowboy, in the mean time, who 
+had a mechanical power of reproducing scraps of current 
+conversation for the delectation of the baby, with all the sense 
+struck out of them, and all the nouns changed into the plural 
+number, inquired aloud of that young creature, Was it Gruffs and 
+Tackletons the toymakers then, and Would it call at Pastry-cooks 
+for wedding-cakes, and Did its mothers know the boxes when its 
+fathers brought them homes; and so on.
+
+'And that is really to come about!' said Dot.  'Why, she and I were 
+girls at school together, John.'
+
+He might have been thinking of her, or nearly thinking of her, 
+perhaps, as she was in that same school time.  He looked upon her 
+with a thoughtful pleasure, but he made no answer.
+
+'And he's as old!  As unlike her! - Why, how many years older than 
+you, is Gruff and Tackleton, John?'
+
+'How many more cups of tea shall I drink to-night at one sitting, 
+than Gruff and Tackleton ever took in four, I wonder!' replied 
+John, good-humouredly, as he drew a chair to the round table, and 
+began at the cold ham.  'As to eating, I eat but little; but that 
+little I enjoy, Dot.'
+
+Even this, his usual sentiment at meal times, one of his innocent 
+delusions (for his appetite was always obstinate, and flatly 
+contradicted him), awoke no smile in the face of his little wife, 
+who stood among the parcels, pushing the cake-box slowly from her 
+with her foot, and never once looked, though her eyes were cast 
+down too, upon the dainty shoe she generally was so mindful of.  
+Absorbed in thought, she stood there, heedless alike of the tea and 
+John (although he called to her, and rapped the table with his 
+knife to startle her), until he rose and touched her on the arm; 
+when she looked at him for a moment, and hurried to her place 
+behind the teaboard, laughing at her negligence.  But, not as she 
+had laughed before.  The manner and the music were quite changed.
+
+The Cricket, too, had stopped.  Somehow the room was not so 
+cheerful as it had been.  Nothing like it.
+
+'So, these are all the parcels, are they, John?' she said, breaking 
+a long silence, which the honest Carrier had devoted to the 
+practical illustration of one part of his favourite sentiment - 
+certainly enjoying what he ate, if it couldn't be admitted that he 
+ate but little.  'So, these are all the parcels; are they, John?'
+
+'That's all,' said John.  'Why - no - I - ' laying down his knife 
+and fork, and taking a long breath.  'I declare - I've clean 
+forgotten the old gentleman!'
+
+'The old gentleman?'
+
+'In the cart,' said John.  'He was asleep, among the straw, the 
+last time I saw him.  I've very nearly remembered him, twice, since 
+I came in; but he went out of my head again.  Holloa!  Yahip there!  
+Rouse up!  That's my hearty!'
+
+John said these latter words outside the door, whither he had 
+hurried with the candle in his hand.
+
+Miss Slowboy, conscious of some mysterious reference to The Old 
+Gentleman, and connecting in her mystified imagination certain 
+associations of a religious nature with the phrase, was so 
+disturbed, that hastily rising from the low chair by the fire to 
+seek protection near the skirts of her mistress, and coming into 
+contact as she crossed the doorway with an ancient Stranger, she 
+instinctively made a charge or butt at him with the only offensive 
+instrument within her reach.  This instrument happening to be the 
+baby, great commotion and alarm ensued, which the sagacity of Boxer 
+rather tended to increase; for, that good dog, more thoughtful than 
+its master, had, it seemed, been watching the old gentleman in his 
+sleep, lest he should walk off with a few young poplar trees that 
+were tied up behind the cart; and he still attended on him very 
+closely, worrying his gaiters in fact, and making dead sets at the 
+buttons.
+
+'You're such an undeniable good sleeper, sir,' said John, when 
+tranquillity was restored; in the mean time the old gentleman had 
+stood, bareheaded and motionless, in the centre of the room; 'that 
+I have half a mind to ask you where the other six are - only that 
+would be a joke, and I know I should spoil it.  Very near though,' 
+murmured the Carrier, with a chuckle; 'very near!'
+
+The Stranger, who had long white hair, good features, singularly 
+bold and well defined for an old man, and dark, bright, penetrating 
+eyes, looked round with a smile, and saluted the Carrier's wife by 
+gravely inclining his head.
+
+His garb was very quaint and odd - a long, long way behind the 
+time.  Its hue was brown, all over.  In his hand he held a great 
+brown club or walking-stick; and striking this upon the floor, it 
+fell asunder, and became a chair.  On which he sat down, quite 
+composedly.
+
+'There!' said the Carrier, turning to his wife.  'That's the way I 
+found him, sitting by the roadside!  Upright as a milestone.  And 
+almost as deaf.'
+
+'Sitting in the open air, John!'
+
+'In the open air,' replied the Carrier, 'just at dusk.  "Carriage 
+Paid," he said; and gave me eighteenpence.  Then he got in.  And 
+there he is.'
+
+'He's going, John, I think!'
+
+Not at all.  He was only going to speak.
+
+'If you please, I was to be left till called for,' said the 
+Stranger, mildly.  'Don't mind me.'
+
+With that, he took a pair of spectacles from one of his large 
+pockets, and a book from another, and leisurely began to read.  
+Making no more of Boxer than if he had been a house lamb!
+
+The Carrier and his wife exchanged a look of perplexity.  The 
+Stranger raised his head; and glancing from the latter to the 
+former, said,
+
+'Your daughter, my good friend?'
+
+'Wife,' returned John.
+
+'Niece?' said the Stranger.
+
+'Wife,' roared John.
+
+'Indeed?' observed the Stranger.  'Surely?  Very young!'
+
+He quietly turned over, and resumed his reading.  But, before he 
+could have read two lines, he again interrupted himself to say:
+
+'Baby, yours?'
+
+John gave him a gigantic nod; equivalent to an answer in the 
+affirmative, delivered through a speaking trumpet.
+
+'Girl?'
+
+'Bo-o-oy!' roared John.
+
+'Also very young, eh?'
+
+Mrs. Peerybingle instantly struck in.  'Two months and three da-
+ays!  Vaccinated just six weeks ago-o!  Took very fine-ly!  
+Considered, by the doctor, a remarkably beautiful chi-ild!  Equal 
+to the general run of children at five months o-old!  Takes notice, 
+in a way quite wonderful!  May seem impossible to you, but feels 
+his legs al-ready!'
+
+Here the breathless little mother, who had been shrieking these 
+short sentences into the old man's ear, until her pretty face was 
+crimsoned, held up the Baby before him as a stubborn and triumphant 
+fact; while Tilly Slowboy, with a melodious cry of 'Ketcher, 
+Ketcher' - which sounded like some unknown words, adapted to a 
+popular Sneeze - performed some cow-like gambols round that all 
+unconscious Innocent.
+
+'Hark!  He's called for, sure enough,' said John.  'There's 
+somebody at the door.  Open it, Tilly.'
+
+Before she could reach it, however, it was opened from without; 
+being a primitive sort of door, with a latch, that any one could 
+lift if he chose - and a good many people did choose, for all kinds 
+of neighbours liked to have a cheerful word or two with the 
+Carrier, though he was no great talker himself.  Being opened, it 
+gave admission to a little, meagre, thoughtful, dingy-faced man, 
+who seemed to have made himself a great-coat from the sack-cloth 
+covering of some old box; for, when he turned to shut the door, and 
+keep the weather out, he disclosed upon the back of that garment, 
+the inscription G & T in large black capitals.  Also the word GLASS 
+in bold characters.
+
+'Good evening, John!' said the little man.  'Good evening, Mum.  
+Good evening, Tilly.  Good evening, Unbeknown!  How's Baby, Mum?  
+Boxer's pretty well I hope?'
+
+'All thriving, Caleb,' replied Dot.  'I am sure you need only look 
+at the dear child, for one, to know that.'
+
+'And I'm sure I need only look at you for another,' said Caleb.
+
+He didn't look at her though; he had a wandering and thoughtful eye 
+which seemed to be always projecting itself into some other time 
+and place, no matter what he said; a description which will equally 
+apply to his voice.
+
+'Or at John for another,' said Caleb.  'Or at Tilly, as far as that 
+goes.  Or certainly at Boxer.'
+
+'Busy just now, Caleb?' asked the Carrier.
+
+'Why, pretty well, John,' he returned, with the distraught air of a 
+man who was casting about for the Philosopher's stone, at least.  
+'Pretty much so.  There's rather a run on Noah's Arks at present.  
+I could have wished to improve upon the Family, but I don't see how 
+it's to be done at the price.  It would be a satisfaction to one's 
+mind, to make it clearer which was Shems and Hams, and which was 
+Wives.  Flies an't on that scale neither, as compared with 
+elephants you know!  Ah! well!  Have you got anything in the parcel 
+line for me, John?'
+
+The Carrier put his hand into a pocket of the coat he had taken 
+off; and brought out, carefully preserved in moss and paper, a tiny 
+flower-pot.
+
+'There it is!' he said, adjusting it with great care.  'Not so much 
+as a leaf damaged.  Full of buds!'
+
+Caleb's dull eye brightened, as he took it, and thanked him.
+
+'Dear, Caleb,' said the Carrier.  'Very dear at this season.'
+
+'Never mind that.  It would be cheap to me, whatever it cost,' 
+returned the little man.  'Anything else, John?'
+
+'A small box,' replied the Carrier.  'Here you are!'
+
+'"For Caleb Plummer,"' said the little man, spelling out the 
+direction.  '"With Cash."  With Cash, John?  I don't think it's for 
+me.'
+
+'With Care,' returned the Carrier, looking over his shoulder.  
+'Where do you make out cash?'
+
+'Oh!  To be sure!' said Caleb.  'It's all right.  With care!  Yes, 
+yes; that's mine.  It might have been with cash, indeed, if my dear 
+Boy in the Golden South Americas had lived, John.  You loved him 
+like a son; didn't you?  You needn't say you did.  I know, of 
+course.  "Caleb Plummer.  With care."  Yes, yes, it's all right.  
+It's a box of dolls' eyes for my daughter's work.  I wish it was 
+her own sight in a box, John.'
+
+'I wish it was, or could be!' cried the Carrier.
+
+'Thank'ee,' said the little man.  'You speak very hearty.  To think 
+that she should never see the Dolls - and them a-staring at her, so 
+bold, all day long!  That's where it cuts.  What's the damage, 
+John?'
+
+'I'll damage you,' said John, 'if you inquire.  Dot!  Very near?'
+
+'Well! it's like you to say so,' observed the little man.  'It's 
+your kind way.  Let me see.  I think that's all.'
+
+'I think not,' said the Carrier.  'Try again.'
+
+'Something for our Governor, eh?' said Caleb, after pondering a 
+little while.  'To be sure.  That's what I came for; but my head's 
+so running on them Arks and things!  He hasn't been here, has he?'
+
+'Not he,' returned the Carrier.  'He's too busy, courting.'
+
+'He's coming round though,' said Caleb; 'for he told me to keep on 
+the near side of the road going home, and it was ten to one he'd 
+take me up.  I had better go, by the bye. - You couldn't have the 
+goodness to let me pinch Boxer's tail, Mum, for half a moment, 
+could you?'
+
+'Why, Caleb! what a question!'
+
+'Oh never mind, Mum,' said the little man.  'He mightn't like it 
+perhaps.  There's a small order just come in, for barking dogs; and 
+I should wish to go as close to Natur' as I could, for sixpence.  
+That's all.  Never mind, Mum.'
+
+It happened opportunely, that Boxer, without receiving the proposed 
+stimulus, began to bark with great zeal.  But, as this implied the 
+approach of some new visitor, Caleb, postponing his study from the 
+life to a more convenient season, shouldered the round box, and 
+took a hurried leave.  He might have spared himself the trouble, 
+for he met the visitor upon the threshold.
+
+'Oh!  You are here, are you?  Wait a bit.  I'll take you home.  
+John Peerybingle, my service to you.  More of my service to your 
+pretty wife.  Handsomer every day!  Better too, if possible!  And 
+younger,' mused the speaker, in a low voice; 'that's the Devil of 
+it!'
+
+'I should be astonished at your paying compliments, Mr. Tackleton,' 
+said Dot, not with the best grace in the world; 'but for your 
+condition.'
+
+'You know all about it then?'
+
+'I have got myself to believe it, somehow,' said Dot.
+
+'After a hard struggle, I suppose?'
+
+'Very.'
+
+Tackleton the Toy-merchant, pretty generally known as Gruff and 
+Tackleton - for that was the firm, though Gruff had been bought out 
+long ago; only leaving his name, and as some said his nature, 
+according to its Dictionary meaning, in the business - Tackleton 
+the Toy-merchant, was a man whose vocation had been quite 
+misunderstood by his Parents and Guardians.  If they had made him a 
+Money Lender, or a sharp Attorney, or a Sheriff's Officer, or a 
+Broker, he might have sown his discontented oats in his youth, and, 
+after having had the full run of himself in ill-natured 
+transactions, might have turned out amiable, at last, for the sake 
+of a little freshness and novelty.  But, cramped and chafing in the 
+peaceable pursuit of toy-making, he was a domestic Ogre, who had 
+been living on children all his life, and was their implacable 
+enemy.  He despised all toys; wouldn't have bought one for the 
+world; delighted, in his malice, to insinuate grim expressions into 
+the faces of brown-paper farmers who drove pigs to market, bellmen 
+who advertised lost lawyers' consciences, movable old ladies who 
+darned stockings or carved pies; and other like samples of his 
+stock in trade.  In appalling masks; hideous, hairy, red-eyed Jacks 
+in Boxes; Vampire Kites; demoniacal Tumblers who wouldn't lie down, 
+and were perpetually flying forward, to stare infants out of 
+countenance; his soul perfectly revelled.  They were his only 
+relief, and safety-valve.  He was great in such inventions.  
+Anything suggestive of a Pony-nightmare was delicious to him.  He 
+had even lost money (and he took to that toy very kindly) by 
+getting up Goblin slides for magic-lanterns, whereon the Powers of 
+Darkness were depicted as a sort of supernatural shell-fish, with 
+human faces.  In intensifying the portraiture of Giants, he had 
+sunk quite a little capital; and, though no painter himself, he 
+could indicate, for the instruction of his artists, with a piece of 
+chalk, a certain furtive leer for the countenances of those 
+monsters, which was safe to destroy the peace of mind of any young 
+gentleman between the ages of six and eleven, for the whole 
+Christmas or Midsummer Vacation.
+
+What he was in toys, he was (as most men are) in other things.  You 
+may easily suppose, therefore, that within the great green cape, 
+which reached down to the calves of his legs, there was buttoned up 
+to the chin an uncommonly pleasant fellow; and that he was about as 
+choice a spirit, and as agreeable a companion, as ever stood in a 
+pair of bull-headed-looking boots with mahogany-coloured tops.
+
+Still, Tackleton, the toy-merchant, was going to be married.  In 
+spite of all this, he was going to be married.  And to a young wife 
+too, a beautiful young wife.
+
+He didn't look much like a bridegroom, as he stood in the Carrier's 
+kitchen, with a twist in his dry face, and a screw in his body, and 
+his hat jerked over the bridge of his nose, and his hands tucked 
+down into the bottoms of his pockets, and his whole sarcastic ill-
+conditioned self peering out of one little corner of one little 
+eye, like the concentrated essence of any number of ravens.  But, a 
+Bridegroom he designed to be.
+
+'In three days' time.  Next Thursday.  The last day of the first 
+month in the year.  That's my wedding-day,' said Tackleton.
+
+Did I mention that he had always one eye wide open, and one eye 
+nearly shut; and that the one eye nearly shut, was always the 
+expressive eye?  I don't think I did.
+
+'That's my wedding-day!' said Tackleton, rattling his money.
+
+'Why, it's our wedding-day too,' exclaimed the Carrier.
+
+'Ha ha!' laughed Tackleton.  'Odd!  You're just such another 
+couple.  Just!'
+
+The indignation of Dot at this presumptuous assertion is not to be 
+described.  What next?  His imagination would compass the 
+possibility of just such another Baby, perhaps.  The man was mad.
+
+'I say!  A word with you,' murmured Tackleton, nudging the Carrier 
+with his elbow, and taking him a little apart.  'You'll come to the 
+wedding?  We're in the same boat, you know.'
+
+'How in the same boat?' inquired the Carrier.
+
+'A little disparity, you know,' said Tackleton, with another nudge.  
+'Come and spend an evening with us, beforehand.'
+
+'Why?' demanded John, astonished at this pressing hospitality.
+
+'Why?' returned the other.  'That's a new way of receiving an 
+invitation.  Why, for pleasure - sociability, you know, and all 
+that!'
+
+'I thought you were never sociable,' said John, in his plain way.
+
+'Tchah!  It's of no use to be anything but free with you, I see,' 
+said Tackleton.  'Why, then, the truth is you have a - what tea-
+drinking people call a sort of a comfortable appearance together, 
+you and your wife.  We know better, you know, but - '
+
+'No, we don't know better,' interposed John.  'What are you talking 
+about?'
+
+'Well!  We DON'T know better, then,' said Tackleton.  'We'll agree 
+that we don't.  As you like; what does it matter?  I was going to 
+say, as you have that sort of appearance, your company will produce 
+a favourable effect on Mrs. Tackleton that will be.  And, though I 
+don't think your good lady's very friendly to me, in this matter, 
+still she can't help herself from falling into my views, for 
+there's a compactness and cosiness of appearance about her that 
+always tells, even in an indifferent case.  You'll say you'll 
+come?'
+
+'We have arranged to keep our Wedding-Day (as far as that goes) at 
+home,' said John.  'We have made the promise to ourselves these six 
+months.  We think, you see, that home - '
+
+'Bah! what's home?' cried Tackleton.  'Four walls and a ceiling! 
+(why don't you kill that Cricket?  I would!  I always do.  I hate 
+their noise.)  There are four walls and a ceiling at my house.  
+Come to me!'
+
+'You kill your Crickets, eh?' said John.
+
+'Scrunch 'em, sir,' returned the other, setting his heel heavily on 
+the floor.  'You'll say you'll come? it's as much your interest as 
+mine, you know, that the women should persuade each other that 
+they're quiet and contented, and couldn't be better off.  I know 
+their way.  Whatever one woman says, another woman is determined to 
+clinch, always.  There's that spirit of emulation among 'em, sir, 
+that if your wife says to my wife, "I'm the happiest woman in the 
+world, and mine's the best husband in the world, and I dote on 
+him," my wife will say the same to yours, or more, and half believe 
+it.'
+
+'Do you mean to say she don't, then?' asked the Carrier.
+
+'Don't!' cried Tackleton, with a short, sharp laugh.  'Don't what?'
+
+The Carrier had some faint idea of adding, 'dote upon you.'  But, 
+happening to meet the half-closed eye, as it twinkled upon him over 
+the turned-up collar of the cape, which was within an ace of poking 
+it out, he felt it such an unlikely part and parcel of anything to 
+be doted on, that he substituted, 'that she don't believe it?'
+
+'Ah you dog!  You're joking,' said Tackleton.
+
+But the Carrier, though slow to understand the full drift of his 
+meaning, eyed him in such a serious manner, that he was obliged to 
+be a little more explanatory.
+
+'I have the humour,' said Tackleton:  holding up the fingers of his 
+left hand, and tapping the forefinger, to imply 'there I am, 
+Tackleton to wit:' 'I have the humour, sir, to marry a young wife, 
+and a pretty wife:' here he rapped his little finger, to express 
+the Bride; not sparingly, but sharply; with a sense of power.  'I'm 
+able to gratify that humour and I do.  It's my whim.  But - now 
+look there!'
+
+He pointed to where Dot was sitting, thoughtfully, before the fire; 
+leaning her dimpled chin upon her hand, and watching the bright 
+blaze.  The Carrier looked at her, and then at him, and then at 
+her, and then at him again.
+
+'She honours and obeys, no doubt, you know,' said Tackleton; 'and 
+that, as I am not a man of sentiment, is quite enough for ME.  But 
+do you think there's anything more in it?'
+
+'I think,' observed the Carrier, 'that I should chuck any man out 
+of window, who said there wasn't.'
+
+'Exactly so,' returned the other with an unusual alacrity of 
+assent.  'To be sure!  Doubtless you would.  Of course.  I'm 
+certain of it.  Good night.  Pleasant dreams!'
+
+The Carrier was puzzled, and made uncomfortable and uncertain, in 
+spite of himself.  He couldn't help showing it, in his manner.
+
+'Good night, my dear friend!' said Tackleton, compassionately.  
+'I'm off.  We're exactly alike, in reality, I see.  You won't give 
+us to-morrow evening?  Well!  Next day you go out visiting, I know.  
+I'll meet you there, and bring my wife that is to be.  It'll do her 
+good.  You're agreeable?  Thank'ee.  What's that!'
+
+It was a loud cry from the Carrier's wife:  a loud, sharp, sudden 
+cry, that made the room ring, like a glass vessel.  She had risen 
+from her seat, and stood like one transfixed by terror and 
+surprise.  The Stranger had advanced towards the fire to warm 
+himself, and stood within a short stride of her chair.  But quite 
+still.
+
+'Dot!' cried the Carrier.  'Mary!  Darling!  What's the matter?'
+
+They were all about her in a moment.  Caleb, who had been dozing on 
+the cake-box, in the first imperfect recovery of his suspended 
+presence of mind, seized Miss Slowboy by the hair of her head, but 
+immediately apologised.
+
+'Mary!' exclaimed the Carrier, supporting her in his arms.  'Are 
+you ill!  What is it?  Tell me, dear!'
+
+She only answered by beating her hands together, and falling into a 
+wild fit of laughter.  Then, sinking from his grasp upon the 
+ground, she covered her face with her apron, and wept bitterly.  
+And then she laughed again, and then she cried again, and then she 
+said how cold it was, and suffered him to lead her to the fire, 
+where she sat down as before.  The old man standing, as before, 
+quite still.
+
+'I'm better, John,' she said.  'I'm quite well now - I -'
+
+'John!'  But John was on the other side of her.  Why turn her face 
+towards the strange old gentleman, as if addressing him!  Was her 
+brain wandering?
+
+'Only a fancy, John dear - a kind of shock - a something coming 
+suddenly before my eyes - I don't know what it was.  It's quite 
+gone, quite gone.'
+
+'I'm glad it's gone,' muttered Tackleton, turning the expressive 
+eye all round the room.  'I wonder where it's gone, and what it 
+was.  Humph!  Caleb, come here!  Who's that with the grey hair?'
+
+'I don't know, sir,' returned Caleb in a whisper.  'Never see him 
+before, in all my life.  A beautiful figure for a nut-cracker; 
+quite a new model.  With a screw-jaw opening down into his 
+waistcoat, he'd be lovely.'
+
+'Not ugly enough,' said Tackleton.
+
+'Or for a firebox, either,' observed Caleb, in deep contemplation, 
+'what a model!  Unscrew his head to put the matches in; turn him 
+heels up'ards for the light; and what a firebox for a gentleman's 
+mantel-shelf, just as he stands!'
+
+'Not half ugly enough,' said Tackleton.  'Nothing in him at all!  
+Come!  Bring that box!  All right now, I hope?'
+
+'Quite gone!' said the little woman, waving him hurriedly away.  
+'Good night!'
+
+'Good night,' said Tackleton.  'Good night, John Peerybingle!  Take 
+care how you carry that box, Caleb.  Let it fall, and I'll murder 
+you!  Dark as pitch, and weather worse than ever, eh?  Good night!'
+
+So, with another sharp look round the room, he went out at the 
+door; followed by Caleb with the wedding-cake on his head.
+
+The Carrier had been so much astounded by his little wife, and so 
+busily engaged in soothing and tending her, that he had scarcely 
+been conscious of the Stranger's presence, until now, when he again 
+stood there, their only guest.
+
+'He don't belong to them, you see,' said John.  'I must give him a 
+hint to go.'
+
+'I beg your pardon, friend,' said the old gentleman, advancing to 
+him; 'the more so, as I fear your wife has not been well; but the 
+Attendant whom my infirmity,' he touched his ears and shook his 
+head, 'renders almost indispensable, not having arrived, I fear 
+there must be some mistake.  The bad night which made the shelter 
+of your comfortable cart (may I never have a worse!) so acceptable, 
+is still as bad as ever.  Would you, in your kindness, suffer me to 
+rent a bed here?'
+
+'Yes, yes,' cried Dot.  'Yes!  Certainly!'
+
+'Oh!' said the Carrier, surprised by the rapidity of this consent.
+
+'Well!  I don't object; but, still I'm not quite sure that - '
+
+'Hush!' she interrupted.  'Dear John!'
+
+'Why, he's stone deaf,' urged John.
+
+'I know he is, but - Yes, sir, certainly.  Yes! certainly!  I'll 
+make him up a bed, directly, John.'
+
+As she hurried off to do it, the flutter of her spirits, and the 
+agitation of her manner, were so strange that the Carrier stood 
+looking after her, quite confounded.
+
+'Did its mothers make it up a Beds then!' cried Miss Slowboy to the 
+Baby; 'and did its hair grow brown and curly, when its caps was 
+lifted off, and frighten it, a precious Pets, a-sitting by the 
+fires!'
+
+With that unaccountable attraction of the mind to trifles, which is 
+often incidental to a state of doubt and confusion, the Carrier as 
+he walked slowly to and fro, found himself mentally repeating even 
+these absurd words, many times.  So many times that he got them by 
+heart, and was still conning them over and over, like a lesson, 
+when Tilly, after administering as much friction to the little bald 
+head with her hand as she thought wholesome (according to the 
+practice of nurses), had once more tied the Baby's cap on.
+
+'And frighten it, a precious Pets, a-sitting by the fires.  What 
+frightened Dot, I wonder!' mused the Carrier, pacing to and fro.
+
+He scouted, from his heart, the insinuations of the Toy-merchant, 
+and yet they filled him with a vague, indefinite uneasiness.  For, 
+Tackleton was quick and sly; and he had that painful sense, 
+himself, of being of slow perception, that a broken hint was always 
+worrying to him.  He certainly had no intention in his mind of 
+linking anything that Tackleton had said, with the unusual conduct 
+of his wife, but the two subjects of reflection came into his mind 
+together, and he could not keep them asunder.
+
+The bed was soon made ready; and the visitor, declining all 
+refreshment but a cup of tea, retired.  Then, Dot - quite well 
+again, she said, quite well again - arranged the great chair in the 
+chimney-corner for her husband; filled his pipe and gave it him; 
+and took her usual little stool beside him on the hearth.
+
+She always WOULD sit on that little stool.  I think she must have 
+had a kind of notion that it was a coaxing, wheedling little stool.
+
+She was, out and out, the very best filler of a pipe, I should say, 
+in the four quarters of the globe.  To see her put that chubby 
+little finger in the bowl, and then blow down the pipe to clear the 
+tube, and, when she had done so, affect to think that there was 
+really something in the tube, and blow a dozen times, and hold it 
+to her eye like a telescope, with a most provoking twist in her 
+capital little face, as she looked down it, was quite a brilliant 
+thing.  As to the tobacco, she was perfect mistress of the subject; 
+and her lighting of the pipe, with a wisp of paper, when the 
+Carrier had it in his mouth - going so very near his nose, and yet 
+not scorching it - was Art, high Art.
+
+And the Cricket and the kettle, turning up again, acknowledged it!  
+The bright fire, blazing up again, acknowledged it!  The little 
+Mower on the clock, in his unheeded work, acknowledged it!  The 
+Carrier, in his smoothing forehead and expanding face, acknowledged 
+it, the readiest of all.
+
+And as he soberly and thoughtfully puffed at his old pipe, and as 
+the Dutch clock ticked, and as the red fire gleamed, and as the 
+Cricket chirped; that Genius of his Hearth and Home (for such the 
+Cricket was) came out, in fairy shape, into the room, and summoned 
+many forms of Home about him.  Dots of all ages, and all sizes, 
+filled the chamber.  Dots who were merry children, running on 
+before him gathering flowers, in the fields; coy Dots, half 
+shrinking from, half yielding to, the pleading of his own rough 
+image; newly-married Dots, alighting at the door, and taking 
+wondering possession of the household keys; motherly little Dots, 
+attended by fictitious Slowboys, bearing babies to be christened; 
+matronly Dots, still young and blooming, watching Dots of 
+daughters, as they danced at rustic balls; fat Dots, encircled and 
+beset by troops of rosy grandchildren; withered Dots, who leaned on 
+sticks, and tottered as they crept along.  Old Carriers too, 
+appeared, with blind old Boxers lying at their feet; and newer 
+carts with younger drivers ('Peerybingle Brothers' on the tilt); 
+and sick old Carriers, tended by the gentlest hands; and graves of 
+dead and gone old Carriers, green in the churchyard.  And as the 
+Cricket showed him all these things - he saw them plainly, though 
+his eyes were fixed upon the fire - the Carrier's heart grew light 
+and happy, and he thanked his Household Gods with all his might, 
+and cared no more for Gruff and Tackleton than you do.
+
+
+But, what was that young figure of a man, which the same Fairy 
+Cricket set so near Her stool, and which remained there, singly and 
+alone?  Why did it linger still, so near her, with its arm upon the 
+chimney-piece, ever repeating 'Married! and not to me!'
+
+O Dot!  O failing Dot!  There is no place for it in all your 
+husband's visions; why has its shadow fallen on his hearth!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II - Chirp The Second
+
+
+
+CALEB PLUMMER and his Blind Daughter lived all alone by themselves, 
+as the Story-books say - and my blessing, with yours to back it I 
+hope, on the Story-books, for saying anything in this workaday 
+world! - Caleb Plummer and his Blind Daughter lived all alone by 
+themselves, in a little cracked nutshell of a wooden house, which 
+was, in truth, no better than a pimple on the prominent red-brick 
+nose of Gruff and Tackleton.  The premises of Gruff and Tackleton 
+were the great feature of the street; but you might have knocked 
+down Caleb Plummer's dwelling with a hammer or two, and carried off 
+the pieces in a cart.
+
+If any one had done the dwelling-house of Caleb Plummer the honour 
+to miss it after such an inroad, it would have been, no doubt, to 
+commend its demolition as a vast improvement.  It stuck to the 
+premises of Gruff and Tackleton, like a barnacle to a ship's keel, 
+or a snail to a door, or a little bunch of toadstools to the stem 
+of a tree.
+
+But, it was the germ from which the full-grown trunk of Gruff and 
+Tackleton had sprung; and, under its crazy roof, the Gruff before 
+last, had, in a small way, made toys for a generation of old boys 
+and girls, who had played with them, and found them out, and broken 
+them, and gone to sleep.
+
+I have said that Caleb and his poor Blind Daughter lived here.  I 
+should have said that Caleb lived here, and his poor Blind Daughter 
+somewhere else - in an enchanted home of Caleb's furnishing, where 
+scarcity and shabbiness were not, and trouble never entered.  Caleb 
+was no sorcerer, but in the only magic art that still remains to 
+us, the magic of devoted, deathless love, Nature had been the 
+mistress of his study; and from her teaching, all the wonder came.
+
+The Blind Girl never knew that ceilings were discoloured, walls 
+blotched and bare of plaster here and there, high crevices 
+unstopped and widening every day, beams mouldering and tending 
+downward.  The Blind Girl never knew that iron was rusting, wood 
+rotting, paper peeling off; the size, and shape, and true 
+proportion of the dwelling, withering away.  The Blind Girl never 
+knew that ugly shapes of delf and earthenware were on the board; 
+that sorrow and faintheartedness were in the house; that Caleb's 
+scanty hairs were turning greyer and more grey, before her 
+sightless face.  The Blind Girl never knew they had a master, cold, 
+exacting, and uninterested - never knew that Tackleton was 
+Tackleton in short; but lived in the belief of an eccentric 
+humourist who loved to have his jest with them, and who, while he 
+was the Guardian Angel of their lives, disdained to hear one word 
+of thankfulness.
+
+And all was Caleb's doing; all the doing of her simple father!  But 
+he too had a Cricket on his Hearth; and listening sadly to its 
+music when the motherless Blind Child was very young, that Spirit 
+had inspired him with the thought that even her great deprivation 
+might be almost changed into a blessing, and the girl made happy by 
+these little means.  For all the Cricket tribe are potent Spirits, 
+even though the people who hold converse with them do not know it 
+(which is frequently the case); and there are not in the unseen 
+world, voices more gentle and more true, that may be so implicitly 
+relied on, or that are so certain to give none but tenderest 
+counsel, as the Voices in which the Spirits of the Fireside and the 
+Hearth address themselves to human kind.
+
+Caleb and his daughter were at work together in their usual 
+working-room, which served them for their ordinary living-room as 
+well; and a strange place it was.  There were houses in it, 
+finished and unfinished, for Dolls of all stations in life.  
+Suburban tenements for Dolls of moderate means; kitchens and single 
+apartments for Dolls of the lower classes; capital town residences 
+for Dolls of high estate.  Some of these establishments were 
+already furnished according to estimate, with a view to the 
+convenience of Dolls of limited income; others could be fitted on 
+the most expensive scale, at a moment's notice, from whole shelves 
+of chairs and tables, sofas, bedsteads, and upholstery.  The 
+nobility and gentry, and public in general, for whose accommodation 
+these tenements were designed, lay, here and there, in baskets, 
+staring straight up at the ceiling; but, in denoting their degrees 
+in society, and confining them to their respective stations (which 
+experience shows to be lamentably difficult in real life), the 
+makers of these Dolls had far improved on Nature, who is often 
+froward and perverse; for, they, not resting on such arbitrary 
+marks as satin, cotton-print, and bits of rag, had superadded 
+striking personal differences which allowed of no mistake.  Thus, 
+the Doll-lady of distinction had wax limbs of perfect symmetry; but 
+only she and her compeers.  The next grade in the social scale 
+being made of leather, and the next of coarse linen stuff.  As to 
+the common-people, they had just so many matches out of tinder-
+boxes, for their arms and legs, and there they were - established 
+in their sphere at once, beyond the possibility of getting out of 
+it.
+
+There were various other samples of his handicraft, besides Dolls, 
+in Caleb Plummer's room.  There were Noah's Arks, in which the 
+Birds and Beasts were an uncommonly tight fit, I assure you; though 
+they could be crammed in, anyhow, at the roof, and rattled and 
+shaken into the smallest compass.  By a bold poetical licence, most 
+of these Noah's Arks had knockers on the doors; inconsistent 
+appendages, perhaps, as suggestive of morning callers and a 
+Postman, yet a pleasant finish to the outside of the building.  
+There were scores of melancholy little carts, which, when the 
+wheels went round, performed most doleful music.  Many small 
+fiddles, drums, and other instruments of torture; no end of cannon, 
+shields, swords, spears, and guns.  There were little tumblers in 
+red breeches, incessantly swarming up high obstacles of red-tape, 
+and coming down, head first, on the other side; and there were 
+innumerable old gentlemen of respectable, not to say venerable, 
+appearance, insanely flying over horizontal pegs, inserted, for the 
+purpose, in their own street doors.  There were beasts of all 
+sorts; horses, in particular, of every breed, from the spotted 
+barrel on four pegs, with a small tippet for a mane, to the 
+thoroughbred rocker on his highest mettle.  As it would have been 
+hard to count the dozens upon dozens of grotesque figures that were 
+ever ready to commit all sorts of absurdities on the turning of a 
+handle, so it would have been no easy task to mention any human 
+folly, vice, or weakness, that had not its type, immediate or 
+remote, in Caleb Plummer's room.  And not in an exaggerated form, 
+for very little handles will move men and women to as strange 
+performances, as any Toy was ever made to undertake.
+
+In the midst of all these objects, Caleb and his daughter sat at 
+work.  The Blind Girl busy as a Doll's dressmaker; Caleb painting 
+and glazing the four-pair front of a desirable family mansion.
+
+The care imprinted in the lines of Caleb's face, and his absorbed 
+and dreamy manner, which would have sat well on some alchemist or 
+abstruse student, were at first sight an odd contrast to his 
+occupation, and the trivialities about him.  But, trivial things, 
+invented and pursued for bread, become very serious matters of 
+fact; and, apart from this consideration, I am not at all prepared 
+to say, myself, that if Caleb had been a Lord Chamberlain, or a 
+Member of Parliament, or a lawyer, or even a great speculator, he 
+would have dealt in toys one whit less whimsical, while I have a 
+very great doubt whether they would have been as harmless.
+
+'So you were out in the rain last night, father, in your beautiful 
+new great-coat,' said Caleb's daughter.
+
+'In my beautiful new great-coat,' answered Caleb, glancing towards 
+a clothes-line in the room, on which the sack-cloth garment 
+previously described, was carefully hung up to dry.
+
+'How glad I am you bought it, father!'
+
+'And of such a tailor, too,' said Caleb.  'Quite a fashionable 
+tailor.  It's too good for me.'
+
+The Blind Girl rested from her work, and laughed with delight.
+
+'Too good, father!  What can be too good for you?'
+
+'I'm half-ashamed to wear it though,' said Caleb, watching the 
+effect of what he said, upon her brightening face; 'upon my word!  
+When I hear the boys and people say behind me, "Hal-loa!  Here's a 
+swell!"  I don't know which way to look.  And when the beggar 
+wouldn't go away last night; and when I said I was a very common 
+man, said "No, your Honour!  Bless your Honour, don't say that!"  I 
+was quite ashamed.  I really felt as if I hadn't a right to wear 
+it.'
+
+Happy Blind Girl!  How merry she was, in her exultation!
+
+'I see you, father,' she said, clasping her hands, 'as plainly, as 
+if I had the eyes I never want when you are with me.  A blue coat - 
+'
+
+'Bright blue,' said Caleb.
+
+'Yes, yes!  Bright blue!' exclaimed the girl, turning up her 
+radiant face; 'the colour I can just remember in the blessed sky!  
+You told me it was blue before!  A bright blue coat - '
+
+'Made loose to the figure,' suggested Caleb.
+
+'Made loose to the figure!' cried the Blind Girl, laughing 
+heartily; 'and in it, you, dear father, with your merry eye, your 
+smiling face, your free step, and your dark hair - looking so young 
+and handsome!'
+
+'Halloa!  Halloa!' said Caleb.  'I shall be vain, presently!'
+
+'I think you are, already,' cried the Blind Girl, pointing at him, 
+in her glee.  'I know you, father!  Ha, ha, ha!  I've found you 
+out, you see!'
+
+How different the picture in her mind, from Caleb, as he sat 
+observing her!  She had spoken of his free step.  She was right in 
+that.  For years and years, he had never once crossed that 
+threshold at his own slow pace, but with a footfall counterfeited 
+for her ear; and never had he, when his heart was heaviest, 
+forgotten the light tread that was to render hers so cheerful and 
+courageous!
+
+Heaven knows!  But I think Caleb's vague bewilderment of manner may 
+have half originated in his having confused himself about himself 
+and everything around him, for the love of his Blind Daughter.  How 
+could the little man be otherwise than bewildered, after labouring 
+for so many years to destroy his own identity, and that of all the 
+objects that had any bearing on it!
+
+'There we are,' said Caleb, falling back a pace or two to form the 
+better judgment of his work; 'as near the real thing as 
+sixpenn'orth of halfpence is to sixpence.  What a pity that the 
+whole front of the house opens at once!  If there was only a 
+staircase in it, now, and regular doors to the rooms to go in at!  
+But that's the worst of my calling, I'm always deluding myself, and 
+swindling myself.'
+
+'You are speaking quite softly.  You are not tired, father?'
+
+'Tired!' echoed Caleb, with a great burst of animation, 'what 
+should tire me, Bertha?  I was never tired.  What does it mean?'
+
+To give the greater force to his words, he checked himself in an 
+involuntary imitation of two half-length stretching and yawning 
+figures on the mantel-shelf, who were represented as in one eternal 
+state of weariness from the waist upwards; and hummed a fragment of 
+a song.  It was a Bacchanalian song, something about a Sparkling 
+Bowl.  He sang it with an assumption of a Devil-may-care voice, 
+that made his face a thousand times more meagre and more thoughtful 
+than ever.
+
+'What!  You're singing, are you?' said Tackleton, putting his head 
+in at the door.  'Go it!  I can't sing.'
+
+Nobody would have suspected him of it.  He hadn't what is generally 
+termed a singing face, by any means.
+
+'I can't afford to sing,' said Tackleton.  'I'm glad YOU CAN.  I 
+hope you can afford to work too.  Hardly time for both, I should 
+think?'
+
+'If you could only see him, Bertha, how he's winking at me!' 
+whispered Caleb.  'Such a man to joke! you'd think, if you didn't 
+know him, he was in earnest - wouldn't you now?'
+
+The Blind Girl smiled and nodded.
+
+'The bird that can sing and won't sing, must be made to sing, they 
+say,' grumbled Tackleton.  'What about the owl that can't sing, and 
+oughtn't to sing, and will sing; is there anything that HE should 
+be made to do?'
+
+'The extent to which he's winking at this moment!' whispered Caleb 
+to his daughter.  'O, my gracious!'
+
+'Always merry and light-hearted with us!' cried the smiling Bertha.
+
+'O, you're there, are you?' answered Tackleton.  'Poor Idiot!'
+
+He really did believe she was an Idiot; and he founded the belief, 
+I can't say whether consciously or not, upon her being fond of him.
+
+'Well! and being there, - how are you?' said Tackleton, in his 
+grudging way.
+
+'Oh! well; quite well.  And as happy as even you can wish me to be.  
+As happy as you would make the whole world, if you could!'
+
+'Poor Idiot!' muttered Tackleton.  'No gleam of reason.  Not a 
+gleam!'
+
+The Blind Girl took his hand and kissed it; held it for a moment in 
+her own two hands; and laid her cheek against it tenderly, before 
+releasing it.  There was such unspeakable affection and such 
+fervent gratitude in the act, that Tackleton himself was moved to 
+say, in a milder growl than usual:
+
+'What's the matter now?'
+
+'I stood it close beside my pillow when I went to sleep last night, 
+and remembered it in my dreams.  And when the day broke, and the 
+glorious red sun - the RED sun, father?'
+
+'Red in the mornings and the evenings, Bertha,' said poor Caleb, 
+with a woeful glance at his employer.
+
+'When it rose, and the bright light I almost fear to strike myself 
+against in walking, came into the room, I turned the little tree 
+towards it, and blessed Heaven for making things so precious, and 
+blessed you for sending them to cheer me!'
+
+'Bedlam broke loose!' said Tackleton under his breath.  'We shall 
+arrive at the strait-waistcoat and mufflers soon.  We're getting 
+on!'
+
+Caleb, with his hands hooked loosely in each other, stared vacantly 
+before him while his daughter spoke, as if he really were uncertain 
+(I believe he was) whether Tackleton had done anything to deserve 
+her thanks, or not.  If he could have been a perfectly free agent, 
+at that moment, required, on pain of death, to kick the Toy-
+merchant, or fall at his feet, according to his merits, I believe 
+it would have been an even chance which course he would have taken.  
+Yet, Caleb knew that with his own hands he had brought the little 
+rose-tree home for her, so carefully, and that with his own lips he 
+had forged the innocent deception which should help to keep her 
+from suspecting how much, how very much, he every day, denied 
+himself, that she might be the happier.
+
+'Bertha!' said Tackleton, assuming, for the nonce, a little 
+cordiality.  'Come here.'
+
+'Oh!  I can come straight to you!  You needn't guide me!' she 
+rejoined.
+
+'Shall I tell you a secret, Bertha?'
+
+'If you will!' she answered, eagerly.
+
+How bright the darkened face!  How adorned with light, the 
+listening head!
+
+'This is the day on which little what's-her-name, the spoilt child, 
+Peerybingle's wife, pays her regular visit to you - makes her 
+fantastic Pic-Nic here; an't it?' said Tackleton, with a strong 
+expression of distaste for the whole concern.
+
+'Yes,' replied Bertha.  'This is the day.'
+
+'I thought so,' said Tackleton.  'I should like to join the party.'
+
+'Do you hear that, father!' cried the Blind Girl in an ecstasy.
+
+'Yes, yes, I hear it,' murmured Caleb, with the fixed look of a 
+sleep-walker; 'but I don't believe it.  It's one of my lies, I've 
+no doubt.'
+
+'You see I - I want to bring the Peerybingles a little more into 
+company with May Fielding,' said Tackleton.  'I am going to be 
+married to May.'
+
+'Married!' cried the Blind Girl, starting from him.
+
+'She's such a con-founded Idiot,' muttered Tackleton, 'that I was 
+afraid she'd never comprehend me.  Ah, Bertha!  Married!  Church, 
+parson, clerk, beadle, glass-coach, bells, breakfast, bride-cake, 
+favours, marrow-bones, cleavers, and all the rest of the 
+tomfoolery.  A wedding, you know; a wedding.  Don't you know what a 
+wedding is?'
+
+'I know,' replied the Blind Girl, in a gentle tone.  'I 
+understand!'
+
+'Do you?' muttered Tackleton.  'It's more than I expected.  Well!  
+On that account I want to join the party, and to bring May and her 
+mother.  I'll send in a little something or other, before the 
+afternoon.  A cold leg of mutton, or some comfortable trifle of 
+that sort.  You'll expect me?'
+
+'Yes,' she answered.
+
+She had drooped her head, and turned away; and so stood, with her 
+hands crossed, musing.
+
+'I don't think you will,' muttered Tackleton, looking at her; 'for 
+you seem to have forgotten all about it, already.  Caleb!'
+
+'I may venture to say I'm here, I suppose,' thought Caleb.  'Sir!'
+
+'Take care she don't forget what I've been saying to her.'
+
+'SHE never forgets,' returned Caleb.  'It's one of the few things 
+she an't clever in.'
+
+'Every man thinks his own geese swans,' observed the Toy-merchant, 
+with a shrug.  'Poor devil!'
+
+Having delivered himself of which remark, with infinite contempt, 
+old Gruff and Tackleton withdrew.
+
+Bertha remained where he had left her, lost in meditation.  The 
+gaiety had vanished from her downcast face, and it was very sad.  
+Three or four times she shook her head, as if bewailing some 
+remembrance or some loss; but her sorrowful reflections found no 
+vent in words.
+
+It was not until Caleb had been occupied, some time, in yoking a 
+team of horses to a waggon by the summary process of nailing the 
+harness to the vital parts of their bodies, that she drew near to 
+his working-stool, and sitting down beside him, said:
+
+'Father, I am lonely in the dark.  I want my eyes, my patient, 
+willing eyes.'
+
+'Here they are,' said Caleb.  'Always ready.  They are more yours 
+than mine, Bertha, any hour in the four-and-twenty.  What shall 
+your eyes do for you, dear?'
+
+'Look round the room, father.'
+
+'All right,' said Caleb.  'No sooner said than done, Bertha.'
+
+'Tell me about it.'
+
+'It's much the same as usual,' said Caleb.  'Homely, but very snug.  
+The gay colours on the walls; the bright flowers on the plates and 
+dishes; the shining wood, where there are beams or panels; the 
+general cheerfulness and neatness of the building; make it very 
+pretty.'
+
+Cheerful and neat it was wherever Bertha's hands could busy 
+themselves.  But nowhere else, were cheerfulness and neatness 
+possible, in the old crazy shed which Caleb's fancy so transformed.
+
+'You have your working dress on, and are not so gallant as when you 
+wear the handsome coat?' said Bertha, touching him.
+
+'Not quite so gallant,' answered Caleb.  'Pretty brisk though.'
+
+'Father,' said the Blind Girl, drawing close to his side, and 
+stealing one arm round his neck, 'tell me something about May.  She 
+is very fair?'
+
+'She is indeed,' said Caleb.  And she was indeed.  It was quite a 
+rare thing to Caleb, not to have to draw on his invention.
+
+'Her hair is dark,' said Bertha, pensively, 'darker than mine.  Her 
+voice is sweet and musical, I know.  I have often loved to hear it.  
+Her shape - '
+
+'There's not a Doll's in all the room to equal it,' said Caleb.  
+'And her eyes! - '
+
+He stopped; for Bertha had drawn closer round his neck, and from 
+the arm that clung about him, came a warning pressure which he 
+understood too well.
+
+He coughed a moment, hammered for a moment, and then fell back upon 
+the song about the sparkling bowl; his infallible resource in all 
+such difficulties.
+
+'Our friend, father, our benefactor.  I am never tired, you know, 
+of hearing about him. - Now, was I ever?' she said, hastily.
+
+'Of course not,' answered Caleb, 'and with reason.'
+
+'Ah!  With how much reason!' cried the Blind Girl.  With such 
+fervency, that Caleb, though his motives were so pure, could not 
+endure to meet her face; but dropped his eyes, as if she could have 
+read in them his innocent deceit.
+
+'Then, tell me again about him, dear father,' said Bertha.  'Many 
+times again!  His face is benevolent, kind, and tender.  Honest and 
+true, I am sure it is.  The manly heart that tries to cloak all 
+favours with a show of roughness and unwillingness, beats in its 
+every look and glance.'
+
+'And makes it noble!' added Caleb, in his quiet desperation.
+
+'And makes it noble!' cried the Blind Girl.  'He is older than May, 
+father.'
+
+'Ye-es,' said Caleb, reluctantly.  'He's a little older than May.  
+But that don't signify.'
+
+'Oh father, yes!  To be his patient companion in infirmity and age; 
+to be his gentle nurse in sickness, and his constant friend in 
+suffering and sorrow; to know no weariness in working for his sake; 
+to watch him, tend him, sit beside his bed and talk to him awake, 
+and pray for him asleep; what privileges these would be!  What 
+opportunities for proving all her truth and devotion to him!  Would 
+she do all this, dear father?
+
+'No doubt of it,' said Caleb.
+
+'I love her, father; I can love her from my soul!' exclaimed the 
+Blind Girl.  And saying so, she laid her poor blind face on Caleb's 
+shoulder, and so wept and wept, that he was almost sorry to have 
+brought that tearful happiness upon her.
+
+In the mean time, there had been a pretty sharp commotion at John 
+Peerybingle's, for little Mrs. Peerybingle naturally couldn't think 
+of going anywhere without the Baby; and to get the Baby under weigh 
+took time.  Not that there was much of the Baby, speaking of it as 
+a thing of weight and measure, but there was a vast deal to do 
+about and about it, and it all had to be done by easy stages.  For 
+instance, when the Baby was got, by hook and by crook, to a certain 
+point of dressing, and you might have rationally supposed that 
+another touch or two would finish him off, and turn him out a tip-
+top Baby challenging the world, he was unexpectedly extinguished in 
+a flannel cap, and hustled off to bed; where he simmered (so to 
+speak) between two blankets for the best part of an hour.  From 
+this state of inaction he was then recalled, shining very much and 
+roaring violently, to partake of - well?  I would rather say, if 
+you'll permit me to speak generally - of a slight repast.  After 
+which, he went to sleep again.  Mrs. Peerybingle took advantage of 
+this interval, to make herself as smart in a small way as ever you 
+saw anybody in all your life; and, during the same short truce, 
+Miss Slowboy insinuated herself into a spencer of a fashion so 
+surprising and ingenious, that it had no connection with herself, 
+or anything else in the universe, but was a shrunken, dog's-eared, 
+independent fact, pursuing its lonely course without the least 
+regard to anybody.  By this time, the Baby, being all alive again, 
+was invested, by the united efforts of Mrs. Peerybingle and Miss 
+Slowboy, with a cream-coloured mantle for its body, and a sort of 
+nankeen raised-pie for its head; and so in course of time they all 
+three got down to the door, where the old horse had already taken 
+more than the full value of his day's toll out of the Turnpike 
+Trust, by tearing up the road with his impatient autographs; and 
+whence Boxer might be dimly seen in the remote perspective, 
+standing looking back, and tempting him to come on without orders.
+
+As to a chair, or anything of that kind for helping Mrs. 
+Peerybingle into the cart, you know very little of John, if you 
+think THAT was necessary.  Before you could have seen him lift her 
+from the ground, there she was in her place, fresh and rosy, 
+saying, 'John!  How CAN you!  Think of Tilly!'
+
+If I might be allowed to mention a young lady's legs, on any terms, 
+I would observe of Miss Slowboy's that there was a fatality about 
+them which rendered them singularly liable to be grazed; and that 
+she never effected the smallest ascent or descent, without 
+recording the circumstance upon them with a notch, as Robinson 
+Crusoe marked the days upon his wooden calendar.  But as this might 
+be considered ungenteel, I'll think of it.
+
+'John?  You've got the Basket with the Veal and Ham-Pie and things, 
+and the bottles of Beer?' said Dot.  'If you haven't, you must turn 
+round again, this very minute.'
+
+'You're a nice little article,' returned the Carrier, 'to be 
+talking about turning round, after keeping me a full quarter of an 
+hour behind my time.'
+
+'I am sorry for it, John,' said Dot in a great bustle, 'but I 
+really could not think of going to Bertha's - I would not do it, 
+John, on any account - without the Veal and Ham-Pie and things, and 
+the bottles of Beer.  Way!'
+
+This monosyllable was addressed to the horse, who didn't mind it at 
+all.
+
+'Oh DO way, John!' said Mrs. Peerybingle.  'Please!'
+
+'It'll be time enough to do that,' returned John, 'when I begin to 
+leave things behind me.  The basket's here, safe enough.'
+
+'What a hard-hearted monster you must be, John, not to have said 
+so, at once, and save me such a turn!  I declared I wouldn't go to 
+Bertha's without the Veal and Ham-Pie and things, and the bottles 
+of Beer, for any money.  Regularly once a fortnight ever since we 
+have been married, John, have we made our little Pic-Nic there.  If 
+anything was to go wrong with it, I should almost think we were 
+never to be lucky again.'
+
+'It was a kind thought in the first instance,' said the Carrier:  
+'and I honour you for it, little woman.'
+
+'My dear John,' replied Dot, turning very red, 'don't talk about 
+honouring ME.  Good Gracious!'
+
+'By the bye - ' observed the Carrier.  'That old gentleman - '
+
+Again so visibly, and instantly embarrassed!
+
+'He's an odd fish,' said the Carrier, looking straight along the 
+road before them.  'I can't make him out.  I don't believe there's 
+any harm in him.'
+
+'None at all.  I'm - I'm sure there's none at all.'
+
+'Yes,' said the Carrier, with his eyes attracted to her face by the 
+great earnestness of her manner.  'I am glad you feel so certain of 
+it, because it's a confirmation to me.  It's curious that he should 
+have taken it into his head to ask leave to go on lodging with us; 
+an't it?  Things come about so strangely.'
+
+'So very strangely,' she rejoined in a low voice, scarcely audible.
+
+'However, he's a good-natured old gentleman,' said John, 'and pays 
+as a gentleman, and I think his word is to be relied upon, like a 
+gentleman's.  I had quite a long talk with him this morning:  he 
+can hear me better already, he says, as he gets more used to my 
+voice.  He told me a great deal about himself, and I told him a 
+great deal about myself, and a rare lot of questions he asked me.  
+I gave him information about my having two beats, you know, in my 
+business; one day to the right from our house and back again; 
+another day to the left from our house and back again (for he's a 
+stranger and don't know the names of places about here); and he 
+seemed quite pleased.  "Why, then I shall be returning home to-
+night your way," he says, "when I thought you'd be coming in an 
+exactly opposite direction.  That's capital!  I may trouble you for 
+another lift perhaps, but I'll engage not to fall so sound asleep 
+again."  He WAS sound asleep, sure-ly! - Dot! what are you thinking 
+of?'
+
+'Thinking of, John?  I - I was listening to you.'
+
+'O!  That's all right!' said the honest Carrier.  'I was afraid, 
+from the look of your face, that I had gone rambling on so long, as 
+to set you thinking about something else.  I was very near it, I'll 
+be bound.'
+
+Dot making no reply, they jogged on, for some little time, in 
+silence.  But, it was not easy to remain silent very long in John 
+Peerybingle's cart, for everybody on the road had something to say.  
+Though it might only be 'How are you!' and indeed it was very often 
+nothing else, still, to give that back again in the right spirit of 
+cordiality, required, not merely a nod and a smile, but as 
+wholesome an action of the lungs withal, as a long-winded 
+Parliamentary speech.  Sometimes, passengers on foot, or horseback, 
+plodded on a little way beside the cart, for the express purpose of 
+having a chat; and then there was a great deal to be said, on both 
+sides.
+
+Then, Boxer gave occasion to more good-natured recognitions of, and 
+by, the Carrier, than half-a-dozen Christians could have done!  
+Everybody knew him, all along the road - especially the fowls and 
+pigs, who when they saw him approaching, with his body all on one 
+side, and his ears pricked up inquisitively, and that knob of a 
+tail making the most of itself in the air, immediately withdrew 
+into remote back settlements, without waiting for the honour of a 
+nearer acquaintance.  He had business everywhere; going down all 
+the turnings, looking into all the wells, bolting in and out of all 
+the cottages, dashing into the midst of all the Dame-Schools, 
+fluttering all the pigeons, magnifying the tails of all the cats, 
+and trotting into the public-houses like a regular customer.  
+Wherever he went, somebody or other might have been heard to cry, 
+'Halloa!  Here's Boxer!' and out came that somebody forthwith, 
+accompanied by at least two or three other somebodies, to give John 
+Peerybingle and his pretty wife, Good Day.
+
+The packages and parcels for the errand cart, were numerous; and 
+there were many stoppages to take them in and give them out, which 
+were not by any means the worst parts of the journey.  Some people 
+were so full of expectation about their parcels, and other people 
+were so full of wonder about their parcels, and other people were 
+so full of inexhaustible directions about their parcels, and John 
+had such a lively interest in all the parcels, that it was as good 
+as a play.  Likewise, there were articles to carry, which required 
+to be considered and discussed, and in reference to the adjustment 
+and disposition of which, councils had to be holden by the Carrier 
+and the senders:  at which Boxer usually assisted, in short fits of 
+the closest attention, and long fits of tearing round and round the 
+assembled sages and barking himself hoarse.  Of all these little 
+incidents, Dot was the amused and open-eyed spectatress from her 
+chair in the cart; and as she sat there, looking on - a charming 
+little portrait framed to admiration by the tilt - there was no 
+lack of nudgings and glancings and whisperings and envyings among 
+the younger men.  And this delighted John the Carrier, beyond 
+measure; for he was proud to have his little wife admired, knowing 
+that she didn't mind it - that, if anything, she rather liked it 
+perhaps.
+
+The trip was a little foggy, to be sure, in the January weather; 
+and was raw and cold.  But who cared for such trifles?  Not Dot, 
+decidedly.  Not Tilly Slowboy, for she deemed sitting in a cart, on 
+any terms, to be the highest point of human joys; the crowning 
+circumstance of earthly hopes.  Not the Baby, I'll be sworn; for 
+it's not in Baby nature to be warmer or more sound asleep, though 
+its capacity is great in both respects, than that blessed young 
+Peerybingle was, all the way.
+
+You couldn't see very far in the fog, of course; but you could see 
+a great deal!  It's astonishing how much you may see, in a thicker 
+fog than that, if you will only take the trouble to look for it.  
+Why, even to sit watching for the Fairy-rings in the fields, and 
+for the patches of hoar-frost still lingering in the shade, near 
+hedges and by trees, was a pleasant occupation:  to make no mention 
+of the unexpected shapes in which the trees themselves came 
+starting out of the mist, and glided into it again.  The hedges 
+were tangled and bare, and waved a multitude of blighted garlands 
+in the wind; but there was no discouragement in this.  It was 
+agreeable to contemplate; for it made the fireside warmer in 
+possession, and the summer greener in expectancy.  The river looked 
+chilly; but it was in motion, and moving at a good pace - which was 
+a great point.  The canal was rather slow and torpid; that must be 
+admitted.  Never mind.  It would freeze the sooner when the frost 
+set fairly in, and then there would be skating, and sliding; and 
+the heavy old barges, frozen up somewhere near a wharf, would smoke 
+their rusty iron chimney pipes all day, and have a lazy time of it.
+
+In one place, there was a great mound of weeds or stubble burning; 
+and they watched the fire, so white in the daytime, flaring through 
+the fog, with only here and there a dash of red in it, until, in 
+consequence, as she observed, of the smoke 'getting up her nose,' 
+Miss Slowboy choked - she could do anything of that sort, on the 
+smallest provocation - and woke the Baby, who wouldn't go to sleep 
+again.  But, Boxer, who was in advance some quarter of a mile or 
+so, had already passed the outposts of the town, and gained the 
+corner of the street where Caleb and his daughter lived; and long 
+before they had reached the door, he and the Blind Girl were on the 
+pavement waiting to receive them.
+
+Boxer, by the way, made certain delicate distinctions of his own, 
+in his communication with Bertha, which persuade me fully that he 
+knew her to be blind.  He never sought to attract her attention by 
+looking at her, as he often did with other people, but touched her 
+invariably.  What experience he could ever have had of blind people 
+or blind dogs, I don't know.  He had never lived with a blind 
+master; nor had Mr. Boxer the elder, nor Mrs. Boxer, nor any of his 
+respectable family on either side, ever been visited with 
+blindness, that I am aware of.  He may have found it out for 
+himself, perhaps, but he had got hold of it somehow; and therefore 
+he had hold of Bertha too, by the skirt, and kept bold, until Mrs. 
+Peerybingle and the Baby, and Miss Slowboy, and the basket, were 
+all got safely within doors.
+
+May Fielding was already come; and so was her mother - a little 
+querulous chip of an old lady with a peevish face, who, in right of 
+having preserved a waist like a bedpost, was supposed to be a most 
+transcendent figure; and who, in consequence of having once been 
+better off, or of labouring under an impression that she might have 
+been, if something had happened which never did happen, and seemed 
+to have never been particularly likely to come to pass - but it's 
+all the same - was very genteel and patronising indeed.  Gruff and 
+Tackleton was also there, doing the agreeable, with the evident 
+sensation of being as perfectly at home, and as unquestionably in 
+his own element, as a fresh young salmon on the top of the Great 
+Pyramid.
+
+'May!  My dear old friend!' cried Dot, running up to meet her.  
+'What a happiness to see you.'
+
+Her old friend was, to the full, as hearty and as glad as she; and 
+it really was, if you'll believe me, quite a pleasant sight to see 
+them embrace.  Tackleton was a man of taste beyond all question.  
+May was very pretty.
+
+You know sometimes, when you are used to a pretty face, how, when 
+it comes into contact and comparison with another pretty face, it 
+seems for the moment to be homely and faded, and hardly to deserve 
+the high opinion you have had of it.  Now, this was not at all the 
+case, either with Dot or May; for May's face set off Dot's, and 
+Dot's face set off May's, so naturally and agreeably, that, as John 
+Peerybingle was very near saying when he came into the room, they 
+ought to have been born sisters - which was the only improvement 
+you could have suggested.
+
+Tackleton had brought his leg of mutton, and, wonderful to relate, 
+a tart besides - but we don't mind a little dissipation when our 
+brides are in the case. we don't get married every day - and in 
+addition to these dainties, there were the Veal and Ham-Pie, and 
+'things,' as Mrs. Peerybingle called them; which were chiefly nuts 
+and oranges, and cakes, and such small deer.  When the repast was 
+set forth on the board, flanked by Caleb's contribution, which was 
+a great wooden bowl of smoking potatoes (he was prohibited, by 
+solemn compact, from producing any other viands), Tackleton led his 
+intended mother-in-law to the post of honour.  For the better 
+gracing of this place at the high festival, the majestic old soul 
+had adorned herself with a cap, calculated to inspire the 
+thoughtless with sentiments of awe.  She also wore her gloves.  But 
+let us be genteel, or die!
+
+Caleb sat next his daughter; Dot and her old schoolfellow were side 
+by side; the good Carrier took care of the bottom of the table.  
+Miss Slowboy was isolated, for the time being, from every article 
+of furniture but the chair she sat on, that she might have nothing 
+else to knock the Baby's head against.
+
+As Tilly stared about her at the dolls and toys, they stared at her 
+and at the company.  The venerable old gentlemen at the street 
+doors (who were all in full action) showed especial interest in the 
+party, pausing occasionally before leaping, as if they were 
+listening to the conversation, and then plunging wildly over and 
+over, a great many times, without halting for breath - as in a 
+frantic state of delight with the whole proceedings.
+
+Certainly, if these old gentlemen were inclined to have a fiendish 
+joy in the contemplation of Tackleton's discomfiture, they had good 
+reason to be satisfied.  Tackleton couldn't get on at all; and the 
+more cheerful his intended bride became in Dot's society, the less 
+he liked it, though he had brought them together for that purpose.  
+For he was a regular dog in the manger, was Tackleton; and when 
+they laughed and he couldn't, he took it into his head, 
+immediately, that they must be laughing at him.
+
+'Ah, May!' said Dot.  'Dear dear, what changes!  To talk of those 
+merry school-days makes one young again.'
+
+'Why, you an't particularly old, at any time; are you?' said 
+Tackleton.
+
+'Look at my sober plodding husband there,' returned Dot.  'He adds 
+twenty years to my age at least.  Don't you, John?'
+
+'Forty,' John replied.
+
+'How many YOU'll add to May's, I am sure I don't know,' said Dot, 
+laughing.  'But she can't be much less than a hundred years of age 
+on her next birthday.'
+
+'Ha ha!' laughed Tackleton.  Hollow as a drum, that laugh though.  
+And he looked as if he could have twisted Dot's neck, comfortably.
+
+'Dear dear!' said Dot.  'Only to remember how we used to talk, at 
+school, about the husbands we would choose.  I don't know how 
+young, and how handsome, and how gay, and how lively, mine was not 
+to be!  And as to May's! - Ah dear!  I don't know whether to laugh 
+or cry, when I think what silly girls we were.'
+
+May seemed to know which to do; for the colour flushed into her 
+face, and tears stood in her eyes.
+
+'Even the very persons themselves - real live young men - were 
+fixed on sometimes,' said Dot.  'We little thought how things would 
+come about.  I never fixed on John I'm sure; I never so much as 
+thought of him.  And if I had told you, you were ever to be married 
+to Mr. Tackleton, why you'd have slapped me.  Wouldn't you, May?'
+
+Though May didn't say yes, she certainly didn't say no, or express 
+no, by any means.
+
+Tackleton laughed - quite shouted, he laughed so loud.  John 
+Peerybingle laughed too, in his ordinary good-natured and contented 
+manner; but his was a mere whisper of a laugh, to Tackleton's.
+
+'You couldn't help yourselves, for all that.  You couldn't resist 
+us, you see,' said Tackleton.  'Here we are!  Here we are!'
+
+'Where are your gay young bridegrooms now!'
+
+'Some of them are dead,' said Dot; 'and some of them forgotten.  
+Some of them, if they could stand among us at this moment, would 
+not believe we were the same creatures; would not believe that what 
+they saw and heard was real, and we COULD forget them so.  No! they 
+would not believe one word of it!'
+
+'Why, Dot!' exclaimed the Carrier.  'Little woman!'
+
+She had spoken with such earnestness and fire, that she stood in 
+need of some recalling to herself, without doubt.  Her husband's 
+cheek was very gentle, for he merely interfered, as he supposed, to 
+shield old Tackleton; but it proved effectual, for she stopped, and 
+said no more.  There was an uncommon agitation, even in her 
+silence, which the wary Tackleton, who had brought his half-shut 
+eye to bear upon her, noted closely, and remembered to some purpose 
+too.
+
+May uttered no word, good or bad, but sat quite still, with her 
+eyes cast down, and made no sign of interest in what had passed.  
+The good lady her mother now interposed, observing, in the first 
+instance, that girls were girls, and byegones byegones, and that so 
+long as young people were young and thoughtless, they would 
+probably conduct themselves like young and thoughtless persons:  
+with two or three other positions of a no less sound and 
+incontrovertible character.  She then remarked, in a devout spirit, 
+that she thanked Heaven she had always found in her daughter May, a 
+dutiful and obedient child; for which she took no credit to 
+herself, though she had every reason to believe it was entirely 
+owing to herself.  With regard to Mr. Tackleton she said, That he 
+was in a moral point of view an undeniable individual, and That he 
+was in an eligible point of view a son-in-law to be desired, no one 
+in their senses could doubt.  (She was very emphatic here.)  With 
+regard to the family into which he was so soon about, after some 
+solicitation, to be admitted, she believed Mr. Tackleton knew that, 
+although reduced in purse, it had some pretensions to gentility; 
+and if certain circumstances, not wholly unconnected, she would go 
+so far as to say, with the Indigo Trade, but to which she would not 
+more particularly refer, had happened differently, it might perhaps 
+have been in possession of wealth.  She then remarked that she 
+would not allude to the past, and would not mention that her 
+daughter had for some time rejected the suit of Mr. Tackleton; and 
+that she would not say a great many other things which she did say, 
+at great length.  Finally, she delivered it as the general result 
+of her observation and experience, that those marriages in which 
+there was least of what was romantically and sillily called love, 
+were always the happiest; and that she anticipated the greatest 
+possible amount of bliss - not rapturous bliss; but the solid, 
+steady-going article - from the approaching nuptials.  She 
+concluded by informing the company that to-morrow was the day she 
+had lived for, expressly; and that when it was over, she would 
+desire nothing better than to be packed up and disposed of, in any 
+genteel place of burial.
+
+As these remarks were quite unanswerable - which is the happy 
+property of all remarks that are sufficiently wide of the purpose - 
+they changed the current of the conversation, and diverted the 
+general attention to the Veal and Ham-Pie, the cold mutton, the 
+potatoes, and the tart.  In order that the bottled beer might not 
+be slighted, John Peerybingle proposed To-morrow:  the Wedding-Day; 
+and called upon them to drink a bumper to it, before he proceeded 
+on his journey.
+
+For you ought to know that he only rested there, and gave the old 
+horse a bait.  He had to go some four of five miles farther on; and 
+when he returned in the evening, he called for Dot, and took 
+another rest on his way home.  This was the order of the day on all 
+the Pic-Nic occasions, had been, ever since their institution.
+
+There were two persons present, besides the bride and bridegroom 
+elect, who did but indifferent honour to the toast.  One of these 
+was Dot, too flushed and discomposed to adapt herself to any small 
+occurrence of the moment; the other, Bertha, who rose up hurriedly, 
+before the rest, and left the table.
+
+'Good bye!' said stout John Peerybingle, pulling on his dreadnought 
+coat.  'I shall be back at the old time.  Good bye all!'
+
+'Good bye, John,' returned Caleb.
+
+He seemed to say it by rote, and to wave his hand in the same 
+unconscious manner; for he stood observing Bertha with an anxious 
+wondering face, that never altered its expression.
+
+'Good bye, young shaver!' said the jolly Carrier, bending down to 
+kiss the child; which Tilly Slowboy, now intent upon her knife and 
+fork, had deposited asleep (and strange to say, without damage) in 
+a little cot of Bertha's furnishing; 'good bye!  Time will come, I 
+suppose, when YOU'LL turn out into the cold, my little friend, and 
+leave your old father to enjoy his pipe and his rheumatics in the 
+chimney-corner; eh?  Where's Dot?'
+
+'I'm here, John!' she said, starting.
+
+'Come, come!' returned the Carrier, clapping his sounding hands.  
+'Where's the pipe?'
+
+'I quite forgot the pipe, John.'
+
+Forgot the pipe!  Was such a wonder ever heard of!  She!  Forgot 
+the pipe!
+
+'I'll - I'll fill it directly.  It's soon done.'
+
+But it was not so soon done, either.  It lay in the usual place - 
+the Carrier's dreadnought pocket - with the little pouch, her own 
+work, from which she was used to fill it, but her hand shook so, 
+that she entangled it (and yet her hand was small enough to have 
+come out easily, I am sure), and bungled terribly.  The filling of 
+the pipe and lighting it, those little offices in which I have 
+commended her discretion, were vilely done, from first to last.  
+During the whole process, Tackleton stood looking on maliciously 
+with the half-closed eye; which, whenever it met hers - or caught 
+it, for it can hardly be said to have ever met another eye:  rather 
+being a kind of trap to snatch it up - augmented her confusion in a 
+most remarkable degree.
+
+'Why, what a clumsy Dot you are, this afternoon!' said John.  'I 
+could have done it better myself, I verify believe!'
+
+With these good-natured words, he strode away, and presently was 
+heard, in company with Boxer, and the old horse, and the cart, 
+making lively music down the road.  What time the dreamy Caleb 
+still stood, watching his blind daughter, with the same expression 
+on his face.
+
+'Bertha!' said Caleb, softly.  'What has happened?  How changed you 
+are, my darling, in a few hours - since this morning.  YOU silent 
+and dull all day!  What is it?  Tell me!'
+
+'Oh father, father!' cried the Blind Girl, bursting into tears.  
+'Oh my hard, hard fate!'
+
+Caleb drew his hand across his eyes before he answered her.
+
+'But think how cheerful and how happy you have been, Bertha!  How 
+good, and how much loved, by many people.'
+
+'That strikes me to the heart, dear father!  Always so mindful of 
+me!  Always so kind to me!'
+
+Caleb was very much perplexed to understand her.
+
+'To be - to be blind, Bertha, my poor dear,' he faltered, 'is a 
+great affliction; but - '
+
+'I have never felt it!' cried the Blind Girl.  'I have never felt 
+it, in its fulness.  Never!  I have sometimes wished that I could 
+see you, or could see him - only once, dear father, only for one 
+little minute - that I might know what it is I treasure up,' she 
+laid her hands upon her breast, 'and hold here!  That I might be 
+sure and have it right!  And sometimes (but then I was a child) I 
+have wept in my prayers at night, to think that when your images 
+ascended from my heart to Heaven, they might not be the true 
+resemblance of yourselves.  But I have never had these feelings 
+long.  They have passed away and left me tranquil and contented.'
+
+'And they will again,' said Caleb.
+
+'But, father!  Oh my good, gentle father, bear with me, if I am 
+wicked!' said the Blind Girl.  'This is not the sorrow that so 
+weighs me down!'
+
+Her father could not choose but let his moist eyes overflow; she 
+was so earnest and pathetic, but he did not understand her, yet.
+
+'Bring her to me,' said Bertha.  'I cannot hold it closed and shut 
+within myself.  Bring her to me, father!'
+
+She knew he hesitated, and said, 'May.  Bring May!'
+
+May heard the mention of her name, and coming quietly towards her, 
+touched her on the arm.  The Blind Girl turned immediately, and 
+held her by both hands.
+
+'Look into my face, Dear heart, Sweet heart!' said Bertha.  'Read 
+it with your beautiful eyes, and tell me if the truth is written on 
+it.'
+
+'Dear Bertha, Yes!'
+
+The Blind Girl still, upturning the blank sightless face, down 
+which the tears were coursing fast, addressed her in these words:
+
+'There is not, in my soul, a wish or thought that is not for your 
+good, bright May!  There is not, in my soul, a grateful 
+recollection stronger than the deep remembrance which is stored 
+there, of the many many times when, in the full pride of sight and 
+beauty, you have had consideration for Blind Bertha, even when we 
+two were children, or when Bertha was as much a child as ever 
+blindness can be!  Every blessing on your head!  Light upon your 
+happy course!  Not the less, my dear May;' and she drew towards 
+her, in a closer grasp; 'not the less, my bird, because, to-day, 
+the knowledge that you are to be His wife has wrung my heart almost 
+to breaking!  Father, May, Mary! oh forgive me that it is so, for 
+the sake of all he has done to relieve the weariness of my dark 
+life:  and for the sake of the belief you have in me, when I call 
+Heaven to witness that I could not wish him married to a wife more 
+worthy of his goodness!'
+
+While speaking, she had released May Fielding's hands, and clasped 
+her garments in an attitude of mingled supplication and love.  
+Sinking lower and lower down, as she proceeded in her strange 
+confession, she dropped at last at the feet of her friend, and hid 
+her blind face in the folds of her dress.
+
+'Great Power!' exclaimed her father, smitten at one blow with the 
+truth, 'have I deceived her from the cradle, but to break her heart 
+at last!'
+
+It was well for all of them that Dot, that beaming, useful, busy 
+little Dot - for such she was, whatever faults she had, and however 
+you may learn to hate her, in good time - it was well for all of 
+them, I say, that she was there:  or where this would have ended, 
+it were hard to tell.  But Dot, recovering her self-possession, 
+interposed, before May could reply, or Caleb say another word.
+
+'Come, come, dear Bertha! come away with me!  Give her your arm, 
+May.  So!  How composed she is, you see, already; and how good it 
+is of her to mind us,' said the cheery little woman, kissing her 
+upon the forehead.  'Come away, dear Bertha.  Come! and here's her 
+good father will come with her; won't you, Caleb?  To - be - sure!'
+
+Well, well! she was a noble little Dot in such things, and it must 
+have been an obdurate nature that could have withstood her 
+influence.  When she had got poor Caleb and his Bertha away, that 
+they might comfort and console each other, as she knew they only 
+could, she presently came bouncing back, - the saying is, as fresh 
+as any daisy; I say fresher - to mount guard over that bridling 
+little piece of consequence in the cap and gloves, and prevent the 
+dear old creature from making discoveries.
+
+'So bring me the precious Baby, Tilly,' said she, drawing a chair 
+to the fire; 'and while I have it in my lap, here's Mrs. Fielding, 
+Tilly, will tell me all about the management of Babies, and put me 
+right in twenty points where I'm as wrong as can be.  Won't you, 
+Mrs. Fielding?'
+
+Not even the Welsh Giant, who, according to the popular expression, 
+was so 'slow' as to perform a fatal surgical operation upon 
+himself, in emulation of a juggling-trick achieved by his arch-
+enemy at breakfast-time; not even he fell half so readily into the 
+snare prepared for him, as the old lady did into this artful 
+pitfall.  The fact of Tackleton having walked out; and furthermore, 
+of two or three people having been talking together at a distance, 
+for two minutes, leaving her to her own resources; was quite enough 
+to have put her on her dignity, and the bewailment of that 
+mysterious convulsion in the Indigo trade, for four-and-twenty 
+hours.  But this becoming deference to her experience, on the part 
+of the young mother, was so irresistible, that after a short 
+affectation of humility, she began to enlighten her with the best 
+grace in the world; and sitting bolt upright before the wicked Dot, 
+she did, in half an hour, deliver more infallible domestic recipes 
+and precepts, than would (if acted on) have utterly destroyed and 
+done up that Young Peerybingle, though he had been an Infant 
+Samson.
+
+To change the theme, Dot did a little needlework - she carried the 
+contents of a whole workbox in her pocket; however she contrived 
+it, I don't know - then did a little nursing; then a little more 
+needlework; then had a little whispering chat with May, while the 
+old lady dozed; and so in little bits of bustle, which was quite 
+her manner always, found it a very short afternoon.  Then, as it 
+grew dark, and as it was a solemn part of this Institution of the 
+Pic-Nic that she should perform all Bertha's household tasks, she 
+trimmed the fire, and swept the hearth, and set the tea-board out, 
+and drew the curtain, and lighted a candle.  Then she played an air 
+or two on a rude kind of harp, which Caleb had contrived for 
+Bertha, and played them very well; for Nature had made her delicate 
+little ear as choice a one for music as it would have been for 
+jewels, if she had had any to wear.  By this time it was the 
+established hour for having tea; and Tackleton came back again, to 
+share the meal, and spend the evening.
+
+Caleb and Bertha had returned some time before, and Caleb had sat 
+down to his afternoon's work.  But he couldn't settle to it, poor 
+fellow, being anxious and remorseful for his daughter.  It was 
+touching to see him sitting idle on his working-stool, regarding 
+her so wistfully, and always saying in his face, 'Have I deceived 
+her from her cradle, but to break her heart!'
+
+When it was night, and tea was done, and Dot had nothing more to do 
+in washing up the cups and saucers; in a word - for I must come to 
+it, and there is no use in putting it off - when the time drew nigh 
+for expecting the Carrier's return in every sound of distant 
+wheels, her manner changed again, her colour came and went, and she 
+was very restless.  Not as good wives are, when listening for their 
+husbands.  No, no, no.  It was another sort of restlessness from 
+that.
+
+Wheels heard.  A horse's feet.  The barking of a dog.  The gradual 
+approach of all the sounds.  The scratching paw of Boxer at the 
+door!
+
+'Whose step is that!' cried Bertha, starting up.
+
+'Whose step?' returned the Carrier, standing in the portal, with 
+his brown face ruddy as a winter berry from the keen night air.  
+'Why, mine.'
+
+'The other step,' said Bertha.  'The man's tread behind you!'
+
+'She is not to be deceived,' observed the Carrier, laughing.  'Come 
+along, sir.  You'll be welcome, never fear!'
+
+He spoke in a loud tone; and as he spoke, the deaf old gentleman 
+entered.
+
+'He's not so much a stranger, that you haven't seen him once, 
+Caleb,' said the Carrier.  'You'll give him house-room till we go?'
+
+'Oh surely, John, and take it as an honour.'
+
+'He's the best company on earth, to talk secrets in,' said John.  
+'I have reasonable good lungs, but he tries 'em, I can tell you.  
+Sit down, sir.  All friends here, and glad to see you!'
+
+When he had imparted this assurance, in a voice that amply 
+corroborated what he had said about his lungs, he added in his 
+natural tone, 'A chair in the chimney-corner, and leave to sit 
+quite silent and look pleasantly about him, is all he cares for.  
+He's easily pleased.'
+
+Bertha had been listening intently.  She called Caleb to her side, 
+when he had set the chair, and asked him, in a low voice, to 
+describe their visitor.  When he had done so (truly now; with 
+scrupulous fidelity), she moved, for the first time since he had 
+come in, and sighed, and seemed to have no further interest 
+concerning him.
+
+The Carrier was in high spirits, good fellow that he was, and 
+fonder of his little wife than ever.
+
+'A clumsy Dot she was, this afternoon!' he said, encircling her 
+with his rough arm, as she stood, removed from the rest; 'and yet I 
+like her somehow.  See yonder, Dot!'
+
+He pointed to the old man.  She looked down.  I think she trembled.
+
+'He's - ha ha ha! - he's full of admiration for you!' said the 
+Carrier.  'Talked of nothing else, the whole way here.  Why, he's a 
+brave old boy.  I like him for it!'
+
+'I wish he had had a better subject, John,' she said, with an 
+uneasy glance about the room.  At Tackleton especially.
+
+'A better subject!' cried the jovial John.  'There's no such thing.  
+Come, off with the great-coat, off with the thick shawl, off with 
+the heavy wrappers! and a cosy half-hour by the fire!  My humble 
+service, Mistress.  A game at cribbage, you and I?  That's hearty.  
+The cards and board, Dot.  And a glass of beer here, if there's any 
+left, small wife!'
+
+His challenge was addressed to the old lady, who accepting it with 
+gracious readiness, they were soon engaged upon the game.  At 
+first, the Carrier looked about him sometimes, with a smile, or now 
+and then called Dot to peep over his shoulder at his hand, and 
+advise him on some knotty point.  But his adversary being a rigid 
+disciplinarian, and subject to an occasional weakness in respect of 
+pegging more than she was entitled to, required such vigilance on 
+his part, as left him neither eyes nor ears to spare.  Thus, his 
+whole attention gradually became absorbed upon the cards; and he 
+thought of nothing else, until a hand upon his shoulder restored 
+him to a consciousness of Tackleton.
+
+'I am sorry to disturb you - but a word, directly.'
+
+'I'm going to deal,' returned the Carrier.  'It's a crisis.'
+
+'It is,' said Tackleton.  'Come here, man!'
+
+There was that in his pale face which made the other rise 
+immediately, and ask him, in a hurry, what the matter was.
+
+'Hush!  John Peerybingle,' said Tackleton.  'I am sorry for this.  
+I am indeed.  I have been afraid of it.  I have suspected it from 
+the first.'
+
+'What is it?' asked the Carrier, with a frightened aspect.
+
+'Hush!  I'll show you, if you'll come with me.'
+
+The Carrier accompanied him, without another word.  They went 
+across a yard, where the stars were shining, and by a little side-
+door, into Tackleton's own counting-house, where there was a glass 
+window, commanding the ware-room, which was closed for the night.  
+There was no light in the counting-house itself, but there were 
+lamps in the long narrow ware-room; and consequently the window was 
+bright.
+
+'A moment!' said Tackleton.  'Can you bear to look through that 
+window, do you think?'
+
+'Why not?' returned the Carrier.
+
+'A moment more,' said Tackleton.  'Don't commit any violence.  It's 
+of no use.  It's dangerous too.  You're a strong-made man; and you 
+might do murder before you know it.'
+
+The Carrier looked him in the face, and recoiled a step as if he 
+had been struck.  In one stride he was at the window, and he saw -
+
+Oh Shadow on the Hearth!  Oh truthful Cricket!  Oh perfidious Wife!
+
+He saw her, with the old man - old no longer, but erect and gallant 
+- bearing in his hand the false white hair that had won his way 
+into their desolate and miserable home.  He saw her listening to 
+him, as he bent his head to whisper in her ear; and suffering him 
+to clasp her round the waist, as they moved slowly down the dim 
+wooden gallery towards the door by which they had entered it.  He 
+saw them stop, and saw her turn - to have the face, the face he 
+loved so, so presented to his view! - and saw her, with her own 
+hands, adjust the lie upon his head, laughing, as she did it, at 
+his unsuspicious nature!
+
+He clenched his strong right hand at first, as if it would have 
+beaten down a lion.  But opening it immediately again, he spread it 
+out before the eyes of Tackleton (for he was tender of her, even 
+then), and so, as they passed out, fell down upon a desk, and was 
+as weak as any infant.
+
+He was wrapped up to the chin, and busy with his horse and parcels, 
+when she came into the room, prepared for going home.
+
+'Now, John, dear!  Good night, May!  Good night, Bertha!'
+
+Could she kiss them?  Could she be blithe and cheerful in her 
+parting?  Could she venture to reveal her face to them without a 
+blush?  Yes.  Tackleton observed her closely, and she did all this.
+
+Tilly was hushing the Baby, and she crossed and re-crossed 
+Tackleton, a dozen times, repeating drowsily:
+
+'Did the knowledge that it was to be its wifes, then, wring its 
+hearts almost to breaking; and did its fathers deceive it from its 
+cradles but to break its hearts at last!'
+
+'Now, Tilly, give me the Baby!  Good night, Mr. Tackleton.  Where's 
+John, for goodness' sake?'
+
+'He's going to walk beside the horse's head,' said Tackleton; who 
+helped her to her seat.
+
+'My dear John.  Walk?  To-night?'
+
+The muffled figure of her husband made a hasty sign in the 
+affirmative; and the false stranger and the little nurse being in 
+their places, the old horse moved off.  Boxer, the unconscious 
+Boxer, running on before, running back, running round and round the 
+cart, and barking as triumphantly and merrily as ever.
+
+When Tackleton had gone off likewise, escorting May and her mother 
+home, poor Caleb sat down by the fire beside his daughter; anxious 
+and remorseful at the core; and still saying in his wistful 
+contemplation of her, 'Have I deceived her from her cradle, but to 
+break her heart at last!'
+
+The toys that had been set in motion for the Baby, had all stopped, 
+and run down, long ago.  In the faint light and silence, the 
+imperturbably calm dolls, the agitated rocking-horses with 
+distended eyes and nostrils, the old gentlemen at the street-doors, 
+standing half doubled up upon their failing knees and ankles, the 
+wry-faced nut-crackers, the very Beasts upon their way into the 
+Ark, in twos, like a Boarding School out walking, might have been 
+imagined to be stricken motionless with fantastic wonder, at Dot 
+being false, or Tackleton beloved, under any combination of 
+circumstances.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III - Chirp the Third
+
+
+
+THE Dutch clock in the corner struck Ten, when the Carrier sat down 
+by his fireside.  So troubled and grief-worn, that he seemed to 
+scare the Cuckoo, who, having cut his ten melodious announcements 
+as short as possible, plunged back into the Moorish Palace again, 
+and clapped his little door behind him, as if the unwonted 
+spectacle were too much for his feelings.
+
+If the little Haymaker had been armed with the sharpest of scythes, 
+and had cut at every stroke into the Carrier's heart, he never 
+could have gashed and wounded it, as Dot had done.
+
+It was a heart so full of love for her; so bound up and held 
+together by innumerable threads of winning remembrance, spun from 
+the daily working of her many qualities of endearment; it was a 
+heart in which she had enshrined herself so gently and so closely; 
+a heart so single and so earnest in its Truth, so strong in right, 
+so weak in wrong; that it could cherish neither passion nor revenge 
+at first, and had only room to hold the broken image of its Idol.
+
+But, slowly, slowly, as the Carrier sat brooding on his hearth, now 
+cold and dark, other and fiercer thoughts began to rise within him, 
+as an angry wind comes rising in the night.  The Stranger was 
+beneath his outraged roof.  Three steps would take him to his 
+chamber-door.  One blow would beat it in.  'You might do murder 
+before you know it,' Tackleton had said.  How could it be murder, 
+if he gave the villain time to grapple with him hand to hand!  He 
+was the younger man.
+
+It was an ill-timed thought, bad for the dark mood of his mind.  It 
+was an angry thought, goading him to some avenging act, that should 
+change the cheerful house into a haunted place which lonely 
+travellers would dread to pass by night; and where the timid would 
+see shadows struggling in the ruined windows when the moon was dim, 
+and hear wild noises in the stormy weather.
+
+He was the younger man!  Yes, yes; some lover who had won the heart 
+that HE had never touched.  Some lover of her early choice, of whom 
+she had thought and dreamed, for whom she had pined and pined, when 
+he had fancied her so happy by his side.  O agony to think of it!
+
+She had been above-stairs with the Baby, getting it to bed.  As he 
+sat brooding on the hearth, she came close beside him, without his 
+knowledge - in the turning of the rack of his great misery, he lost 
+all other sounds - and put her little stool at his feet.  He only 
+knew it, when he felt her hand upon his own, and saw her looking up 
+into his face.
+
+With wonder?  No.  It was his first impression, and he was fain to 
+look at her again, to set it right.  No, not with wonder.  With an 
+eager and inquiring look; but not with wonder.  At first it was 
+alarmed and serious; then, it changed into a strange, wild, 
+dreadful smile of recognition of his thoughts; then, there was 
+nothing but her clasped hands on her brow, and her bent head, and 
+falling hair.
+
+Though the power of Omnipotence had been his to wield at that 
+moment, he had too much of its diviner property of Mercy in his 
+breast, to have turned one feather's weight of it against her.  But 
+he could not bear to see her crouching down upon the little seat 
+where he had often looked on her, with love and pride, so innocent 
+and gay; and, when she rose and left him, sobbing as she went, he 
+felt it a relief to have the vacant place beside him rather than 
+her so long-cherished presence.  This in itself was anguish keener 
+than all, reminding him how desolate he was become, and how the 
+great bond of his life was rent asunder.
+
+The more he felt this, and the more he knew he could have better 
+borne to see her lying prematurely dead before him with their 
+little child upon her breast, the higher and the stronger rose his 
+wrath against his enemy.  He looked about him for a weapon.
+
+There was a gun, hanging on the wall.  He took it down, and moved a 
+pace or two towards the door of the perfidious Stranger's room.  He 
+knew the gun was loaded.  Some shadowy idea that it was just to 
+shoot this man like a wild beast, seized him, and dilated in his 
+mind until it grew into a monstrous demon in complete possession of 
+him, casting out all milder thoughts and setting up its undivided 
+empire.
+
+That phrase is wrong.  Not casting out his milder thoughts, but 
+artfully transforming them.  Changing them into scourges to drive 
+him on.  Turning water into blood, love into hate, gentleness into 
+blind ferocity.  Her image, sorrowing, humbled, but still pleading 
+to his tenderness and mercy with resistless power, never left his 
+mind; but, staying there, it urged him to the door; raised the 
+weapon to his shoulder; fitted and nerved his finger to the 
+trigger; and cried 'Kill him!  In his bed!'
+
+He reversed the gun to beat the stock up the door; he already held 
+it lifted in the air; some indistinct design was in his thoughts of 
+calling out to him to fly, for God's sake, by the window -
+
+When, suddenly, the struggling fire illumined the whole chimney 
+with a glow of light; and the Cricket on the Hearth began to Chirp!
+
+No sound he could have heard, no human voice, not even hers, could 
+so have moved and softened him.  The artless words in which she had 
+told him of her love for this same Cricket, were once more freshly 
+spoken; her trembling, earnest manner at the moment, was again 
+before him; her pleasant voice - O what a voice it was, for making 
+household music at the fireside of an honest man! - thrilled 
+through and through his better nature, and awoke it into life and 
+action.
+
+He recoiled from the door, like a man walking in his sleep, 
+awakened from a frightful dream; and put the gun aside.  Clasping 
+his hands before his face, he then sat down again beside the fire, 
+and found relief in tears.
+
+The Cricket on the Hearth came out into the room, and stood in 
+Fairy shape before him.
+
+'"I love it,"' said the Fairy Voice, repeating what he well 
+remembered, '"for the many times I have heard it, and the many 
+thoughts its harmless music has given me."'
+
+'She said so!' cried the Carrier.  'True!'
+
+'"This has been a happy home, John; and I love the Cricket for its 
+sake!"'
+
+'It has been, Heaven knows,' returned the Carrier.  'She made it 
+happy, always, - until now.'
+
+'So gracefully sweet-tempered; so domestic, joyful, busy, and 
+light-hearted!' said the Voice.
+
+'Otherwise I never could have loved her as I did,' returned the 
+Carrier.
+
+The Voice, correcting him, said 'do.'
+
+The Carrier repeated 'as I did.'  But not firmly.  His faltering 
+tongue resisted his control, and would speak in its own way, for 
+itself and him.
+
+The Figure, in an attitude of invocation, raised its hand and said:
+
+'Upon your own hearth - '
+
+'The hearth she has blighted,' interposed the Carrier.
+
+'The hearth she has - how often! - blessed and brightened,' said 
+the Cricket; 'the hearth which, but for her, were only a few stones 
+and bricks and rusty bars, but which has been, through her, the 
+Altar of your Home; on which you have nightly sacrificed some petty 
+passion, selfishness, or care, and offered up the homage of a 
+tranquil mind, a trusting nature, and an overflowing heart; so that 
+the smoke from this poor chimney has gone upward with a better 
+fragrance than the richest incense that is burnt before the richest 
+shrines in all the gaudy temples of this world! - Upon your own 
+hearth; in its quiet sanctuary; surrounded by its gentle influences 
+and associations; hear her!  Hear me!  Hear everything that speaks 
+the language of your hearth and home!'
+
+'And pleads for her?' inquired the Carrier.
+
+'All things that speak the language of your hearth and home, must 
+plead for her!' returned the Cricket.  'For they speak the truth.'
+
+And while the Carrier, with his head upon his hands, continued to 
+sit meditating in his chair, the Presence stood beside him, 
+suggesting his reflections by its power, and presenting them before 
+him, as in a glass or picture.  It was not a solitary Presence.  
+From the hearthstone, from the chimney, from the clock, the pipe, 
+the kettle, and the cradle; from the floor, the walls, the ceiling, 
+and the stairs; from the cart without, and the cupboard within, and 
+the household implements; from every thing and every place with 
+which she had ever been familiar, and with which she had ever 
+entwined one recollection of herself in her unhappy husband's mind; 
+Fairies came trooping forth.  Not to stand beside him as the 
+Cricket did, but to busy and bestir themselves.  To do all honour 
+to her image.  To pull him by the skirts, and point to it when it 
+appeared.  To cluster round it, and embrace it, and strew flowers 
+for it to tread on.  To try to crown its fair head with their tiny 
+hands.  To show that they were fond of it and loved it; and that 
+there was not one ugly, wicked or accusatory creature to claim 
+knowledge of it - none but their playful and approving selves.
+
+His thoughts were constant to her image.  It was always there.
+
+She sat plying her needle, before the fire, and singing to herself.  
+Such a blithe, thriving, steady little Dot!  The fairy figures 
+turned upon him all at once, by one consent, with one prodigious 
+concentrated stare, and seemed to say, 'Is this the light wife you 
+are mourning for!'
+
+There were sounds of gaiety outside, musical instruments, and noisy 
+tongues, and laughter.  A crowd of young merry-makers came pouring 
+in, among whom were May Fielding and a score of pretty girls.  Dot 
+was the fairest of them all; as young as any of them too.  They 
+came to summon her to join their party.  It was a dance.  If ever 
+little foot were made for dancing, hers was, surely.  But she 
+laughed, and shook her head, and pointed to her cookery on the 
+fire, and her table ready spread:  with an exulting defiance that 
+rendered her more charming than she was before.  And so she merrily 
+dismissed them, nodding to her would-be partners, one by one, as 
+they passed, but with a comical indifference, enough to make them 
+go and drown themselves immediately if they were her admirers - and 
+they must have been so, more or less; they couldn't help it.  And 
+yet indifference was not her character.  O no!  For presently, 
+there came a certain Carrier to the door; and bless her what a 
+welcome she bestowed upon him!
+
+Again the staring figures turned upon him all at once, and seemed 
+to say, 'Is this the wife who has forsaken you!'
+
+A shadow fell upon the mirror or the picture:  call it what you 
+will.  A great shadow of the Stranger, as he first stood underneath 
+their roof; covering its surface, and blotting out all other 
+objects.  But the nimble Fairies worked like bees to clear it off 
+again.  And Dot again was there.  Still bright and beautiful.
+
+Rocking her little Baby in its cradle, singing to it softly, and 
+resting her head upon a shoulder which had its counterpart in the 
+musing figure by which the Fairy Cricket stood.
+
+The night - I mean the real night:  not going by Fairy clocks - was 
+wearing now; and in this stage of the Carrier's thoughts, the moon 
+burst out, and shone brightly in the sky.  Perhaps some calm and 
+quiet light had risen also, in his mind; and he could think more 
+soberly of what had happened.
+
+Although the shadow of the Stranger fell at intervals upon the 
+glass - always distinct, and big, and thoroughly defined - it never 
+fell so darkly as at first.  Whenever it appeared, the Fairies 
+uttered a general cry of consternation, and plied their little arms 
+and legs, with inconceivable activity, to rub it out.  And whenever 
+they got at Dot again, and showed her to him once more, bright and 
+beautiful, they cheered in the most inspiring manner.
+
+They never showed her, otherwise than beautiful and bright, for 
+they were Household Spirits to whom falsehood is annihilation; and 
+being so, what Dot was there for them, but the one active, beaming, 
+pleasant little creature who had been the light and sun of the 
+Carrier's Home!
+
+The Fairies were prodigiously excited when they showed her, with 
+the Baby, gossiping among a knot of sage old matrons, and affecting 
+to be wondrous old and matronly herself, and leaning in a staid, 
+demure old way upon her husband's arm, attempting - she! such a bud 
+of a little woman - to convey the idea of having abjured the 
+vanities of the world in general, and of being the sort of person 
+to whom it was no novelty at all to be a mother; yet in the same 
+breath, they showed her, laughing at the Carrier for being awkward, 
+and pulling up his shirt-collar to make him smart, and mincing 
+merrily about that very room to teach him how to dance!
+
+They turned, and stared immensely at him when they showed her with 
+the Blind Girl; for, though she carried cheerfulness and animation 
+with her wheresoever she went, she bore those influences into Caleb 
+Plummer's home, heaped up and running over.  The Blind Girl's love 
+for her, and trust in her, and gratitude to her; her own good busy 
+way of setting Bertha's thanks aside; her dexterous little arts for 
+filling up each moment of the visit in doing something useful to 
+the house, and really working hard while feigning to make holiday; 
+her bountiful provision of those standing delicacies, the Veal and 
+Ham-Pie and the bottles of Beer; her radiant little face arriving 
+at the door, and taking leave; the wonderful expression in her 
+whole self, from her neat foot to the crown of her head, of being a 
+part of the establishment - a something necessary to it, which it 
+couldn't be without; all this the Fairies revelled in, and loved 
+her for.  And once again they looked upon him all at once, 
+appealingly, and seemed to say, while some among them nestled in 
+her dress and fondled her, 'Is this the wife who has betrayed your 
+confidence!'
+
+More than once, or twice, or thrice, in the long thoughtful night, 
+they showed her to him sitting on her favourite seat, with her bent 
+head, her hands clasped on her brow, her falling hair.  As he had 
+seen her last.  And when they found her thus, they neither turned 
+nor looked upon him, but gathered close round her, and comforted 
+and kissed her, and pressed on one another to show sympathy and 
+kindness to her, and forgot him altogether.
+
+Thus the night passed.  The moon went down; the stars grew pale; 
+the cold day broke; the sun rose.  The Carrier still sat, musing, 
+in the chimney corner.  He had sat there, with his head upon his 
+hands, all night.  All night the faithful Cricket had been Chirp, 
+Chirp, Chirping on the Hearth.  All night he had listened to its 
+voice.  All night the household Fairies had been busy with him.  
+All night she had been amiable and blameless in the glass, except 
+when that one shadow fell upon it.
+
+He rose up when it was broad day, and washed and dressed himself.  
+He couldn't go about his customary cheerful avocations - he wanted 
+spirit for them - but it mattered the less, that it was Tackleton's 
+wedding-day, and he had arranged to make his rounds by proxy.  He 
+thought to have gone merrily to church with Dot.  But such plans 
+were at an end.  It was their own wedding-day too.  Ah! how little 
+he had looked for such a close to such a year!
+
+The Carrier had expected that Tackleton would pay him an early 
+visit; and he was right.  He had not walked to and fro before his 
+own door, many minutes, when he saw the Toy-merchant coming in his 
+chaise along the road.  As the chaise drew nearer, he perceived 
+that Tackleton was dressed out sprucely for his marriage, and that 
+he had decorated his horse's head with flowers and favours.
+
+The horse looked much more like a bridegroom than Tackleton, whose 
+half-closed eye was more disagreeably expressive than ever.  But 
+the Carrier took little heed of this.  His thoughts had other 
+occupation.
+
+'John Peerybingle!' said Tackleton, with an air of condolence.  'My 
+good fellow, how do you find yourself this morning?'
+
+'I have had but a poor night, Master Tackleton,' returned the 
+Carrier, shaking his head:  'for I have been a good deal disturbed 
+in my mind.  But it's over now!  Can you spare me half an hour or 
+so, for some private talk?'
+
+'I came on purpose,' returned Tackleton, alighting.  'Never mind 
+the horse.  He'll stand quiet enough, with the reins over this 
+post, if you'll give him a mouthful of hay.'
+
+The Carrier having brought it from his stable, and set it before 
+him, they turned into the house.
+
+'You are not married before noon,' he said, 'I think?'
+
+'No,' answered Tackleton.  'Plenty of time.  Plenty of time.'
+
+When they entered the kitchen, Tilly Slowboy was rapping at the 
+Stranger's door; which was only removed from it by a few steps.  
+One of her very red eyes (for Tilly had been crying all night long, 
+because her mistress cried) was at the keyhole; and she was 
+knocking very loud; and seemed frightened.
+
+'If you please I can't make nobody hear,' said Tilly, looking 
+round.  'I hope nobody an't gone and been and died if you please!'
+
+This philanthropic wish, Miss Slowboy emphasised with various new 
+raps and kicks at the door; which led to no result whatever.
+
+'Shall I go?' said Tackleton.  'It's curious.'
+
+The Carrier, who had turned his face from the door, signed to him 
+to go if he would.
+
+So Tackleton went to Tilly Slowboy's relief; and he too kicked and 
+knocked; and he too failed to get the least reply.  But he thought 
+of trying the handle of the door; and as it opened easily, he 
+peeped in, looked in, went in, and soon came running out again.
+
+'John Peerybingle,' said Tackleton, in his ear.  'I hope there has 
+been nothing - nothing rash in the night?'
+
+The Carrier turned upon him quickly.
+
+'Because he's gone!' said Tackleton; 'and the window's open.  I 
+don't see any marks - to be sure it's almost on a level with the 
+garden:  but I was afraid there might have been some - some 
+scuffle.  Eh?'
+
+He nearly shut up the expressive eye altogether; he looked at him 
+so hard.  And he gave his eye, and his face, and his whole person, 
+a sharp twist.  As if he would have screwed the truth out of him.
+
+'Make yourself easy,' said the Carrier.  'He went into that room 
+last night, without harm in word or deed from me, and no one has 
+entered it since.  He is away of his own free will.  I'd go out 
+gladly at that door, and beg my bread from house to house, for 
+life, if I could so change the past that he had never come.  But he 
+has come and gone.  And I have done with him!'
+
+'Oh! - Well, I think he has got off pretty easy,' said Tackleton, 
+taking a chair.
+
+The sneer was lost upon the Carrier, who sat down too, and shaded 
+his face with his hand, for some little time, before proceeding.
+
+'You showed me last night,' he said at length, 'my wife; my wife 
+that I love; secretly - '
+
+'And tenderly,' insinuated Tackleton.
+
+'Conniving at that man's disguise, and giving him opportunities of 
+meeting her alone.  I think there's no sight I wouldn't have rather 
+seen than that.  I think there's no man in the world I wouldn't 
+have rather had to show it me.'
+
+'I confess to having had my suspicions always,' said Tackleton.  
+'And that has made me objectionable here, I know.'
+
+'But as you did show it me,' pursued the Carrier, not minding him; 
+'and as you saw her, my wife, my wife that I love' - his voice, and 
+eye, and hand, grew steadier and firmer as he repeated these words:  
+evidently in pursuance of a steadfast purpose - 'as you saw her at 
+this disadvantage, it is right and just that you should also see 
+with my eyes, and look into my breast, and know what my mind is, 
+upon the subject.  For it's settled,' said the Carrier, regarding 
+him attentively.  'And nothing can shake it now.'
+
+Tackleton muttered a few general words of assent, about its being 
+necessary to vindicate something or other; but he was overawed by 
+the manner of his companion.  Plain and unpolished as it was, it 
+had a something dignified and noble in it, which nothing but the 
+soul of generous honour dwelling in the man could have imparted.
+
+'I am a plain, rough man,' pursued the Carrier, 'with very little 
+to recommend me.  I am not a clever man, as you very well know.  I 
+am not a young man.  I loved my little Dot, because I had seen her 
+grow up, from a child, in her father's house; because I knew how 
+precious she was; because she had been my life, for years and 
+years.  There's many men I can't compare with, who never could have 
+loved my little Dot like me, I think!'
+
+He paused, and softly beat the ground a short time with his foot, 
+before resuming.
+
+'I often thought that though I wasn't good enough for her, I should 
+make her a kind husband, and perhaps know her value better than 
+another; and in this way I reconciled it to myself, and came to 
+think it might be possible that we should be married.  And in the 
+end it came about, and we were married.'
+
+'Hah!' said Tackleton, with a significant shake of the head.
+
+'I had studied myself; I had had experience of myself; I knew how 
+much I loved her, and how happy I should be,' pursued the Carrier.  
+'But I had not - I feel it now - sufficiently considered her.'
+
+'To be sure,' said Tackleton.  'Giddiness, frivolity, fickleness, 
+love of admiration!  Not considered!  All left out of sight!  Hah!'
+
+'You had best not interrupt me,' said the Carrier, with some 
+sternness, 'till you understand me; and you're wide of doing so.  
+If, yesterday, I'd have struck that man down at a blow, who dared 
+to breathe a word against her, to-day I'd set my foot upon his 
+face, if he was my brother!'
+
+The Toy-merchant gazed at him in astonishment.  He went on in a 
+softer tone:
+
+'Did I consider,' said the Carrier, 'that I took her - at her age, 
+and with her beauty - from her young companions, and the many 
+scenes of which she was the ornament; in which she was the 
+brightest little star that ever shone, to shut her up from day to 
+day in my dull house, and keep my tedious company?  Did I consider 
+how little suited I was to her sprightly humour, and how wearisome 
+a plodding man like me must be, to one of her quick spirit?  Did I 
+consider that it was no merit in me, or claim in me, that I loved 
+her, when everybody must, who knew her?  Never.  I took advantage 
+of her hopeful nature and her cheerful disposition; and I married 
+her.  I wish I never had!  For her sake; not for mine!'
+
+The Toy-merchant gazed at him, without winking.  Even the half-shut 
+eye was open now.
+
+'Heaven bless her!' said the Carrier, 'for the cheerful constancy 
+with which she tried to keep the knowledge of this from me!  And 
+Heaven help me, that, in my slow mind, I have not found it out 
+before!  Poor child!  Poor Dot!  I not to find it out, who have 
+seen her eyes fill with tears, when such a marriage as our own was 
+spoken of!  I, who have seen the secret trembling on her lips a 
+hundred times, and never suspected it till last night!  Poor girl!  
+That I could ever hope she would be fond of me!  That I could ever 
+believe she was!'
+
+'She made a show of it,' said Tackleton.  'She made such a show of 
+it, that to tell you the truth it was the origin of my misgivings.'
+
+And here he asserted the superiority of May Fielding, who certainly 
+made no sort of show of being fond of HIM.
+
+'She has tried,' said the poor Carrier, with greater emotion than 
+he had exhibited yet; 'I only now begin to know how hard she has 
+tried, to be my dutiful and zealous wife.  How good she has been; 
+how much she has done; how brave and strong a heart she has; let 
+the happiness I have known under this roof bear witness!  It will 
+be some help and comfort to me, when I am here alone.'
+
+'Here alone?' said Tackleton.  'Oh!  Then you do mean to take some 
+notice of this?'
+
+'I mean,' returned the Carrier, 'to do her the greatest kindness, 
+and make her the best reparation, in my power.  I can release her 
+from the daily pain of an unequal marriage, and the struggle to 
+conceal it.  She shall be as free as I can render her.'
+
+'Make HER reparation!' exclaimed Tackleton, twisting and turning 
+his great ears with his hands.  'There must be something wrong 
+here.  You didn't say that, of course.'
+
+The Carrier set his grip upon the collar of the Toy-merchant, and 
+shook him like a reed.
+
+'Listen to me!' he said.  'And take care that you hear me right.  
+Listen to me.  Do I speak plainly?'
+
+'Very plainly indeed,' answered Tackleton.
+
+'As if I meant it?'
+
+'Very much as if you meant it.'
+
+'I sat upon that hearth, last night, all night,' exclaimed the 
+Carrier.  'On the spot where she has often sat beside me, with her 
+sweet face looking into mine.  I called up her whole life, day by 
+day.  I had her dear self, in its every passage, in review before 
+me.  And upon my soul she is innocent, if there is One to judge the 
+innocent and guilty!'
+
+Staunch Cricket on the Hearth!  Loyal household Fairies!
+
+'Passion and distrust have left me!' said the Carrier; 'and nothing 
+but my grief remains.  In an unhappy moment some old lover, better 
+suited to her tastes and years than I; forsaken, perhaps, for me, 
+against her will; returned.  In an unhappy moment, taken by 
+surprise, and wanting time to think of what she did, she made 
+herself a party to his treachery, by concealing it.  Last night she 
+saw him, in the interview we witnessed.  It was wrong.  But 
+otherwise than this she is innocent if there is truth on earth!'
+
+'If that is your opinion' - Tackleton began.
+
+'So, let her go!' pursued the Carrier.  'Go, with my blessing for 
+the many happy hours she has given me, and my forgiveness for any 
+pang she has caused me.  Let her go, and have the peace of mind I 
+wish her!  She'll never hate me.  She'll learn to like me better, 
+when I'm not a drag upon her, and she wears the chain I have 
+riveted, more lightly.  This is the day on which I took her, with 
+so little thought for her enjoyment, from her home.  To-day she 
+shall return to it, and I will trouble her no more.  Her father and 
+mother will be here to-day - we had made a little plan for keeping 
+it together - and they shall take her home.  I can trust her, 
+there, or anywhere.  She leaves me without blame, and she will live 
+so I am sure.  If I should die - I may perhaps while she is still 
+young; I have lost some courage in a few hours - she'll find that I 
+remembered her, and loved her to the last!  This is the end of what 
+you showed me.  Now, it's over!'
+
+'O no, John, not over.  Do not say it's over yet!  Not quite yet.  
+I have heard your noble words.  I could not steal away, pretending 
+to be ignorant of what has affected me with such deep gratitude.  
+Do not say it's over, 'till the clock has struck again!'
+
+She had entered shortly after Tackleton, and had remained there.  
+She never looked at Tackleton, but fixed her eyes upon her husband.  
+But she kept away from him, setting as wide a space as possible 
+between them; and though she spoke with most impassioned 
+earnestness, she went no nearer to him even then.  How different in 
+this from her old self!
+
+'No hand can make the clock which will strike again for me the 
+hours that are gone,' replied the Carrier, with a faint smile.  
+'But let it be so, if you will, my dear.  It will strike soon.  
+It's of little matter what we say.  I'd try to please you in a 
+harder case than that.'
+
+'Well!' muttered Tackleton.  'I must be off, for when the clock 
+strikes again, it'll be necessary for me to be upon my way to 
+church.  Good morning, John Peerybingle.  I'm sorry to be deprived 
+of the pleasure of your company.  Sorry for the loss, and the 
+occasion of it too!'
+
+'I have spoken plainly?' said the Carrier, accompanying him to the 
+door.
+
+'Oh quite!'
+
+'And you'll remember what I have said?'
+
+'Why, if you compel me to make the observation,' said Tackleton, 
+previously taking the precaution of getting into his chaise; 'I 
+must say that it was so very unexpected, that I'm far from being 
+likely to forget it.'
+
+'The better for us both,' returned the Carrier.  'Good bye.  I give 
+you joy!'
+
+'I wish I could give it to YOU,' said Tackleton.  'As I can't; 
+thank'ee.  Between ourselves, (as I told you before, eh?) I don't 
+much think I shall have the less joy in my married life, because 
+May hasn't been too officious about me, and too demonstrative.  
+Good bye!  Take care of yourself.'
+
+The Carrier stood looking after him until he was smaller in the 
+distance than his horse's flowers and favours near at hand; and 
+then, with a deep sigh, went strolling like a restless, broken man, 
+among some neighbouring elms; unwilling to return until the clock 
+was on the eve of striking.
+
+His little wife, being left alone, sobbed piteously; but often 
+dried her eyes and checked herself, to say how good he was, how 
+excellent he was! and once or twice she laughed; so heartily, 
+triumphantly, and incoherently (still crying all the time), that 
+Tilly was quite horrified.
+
+'Ow if you please don't!' said Tilly.  'It's enough to dead and 
+bury the Baby, so it is if you please.'
+
+'Will you bring him sometimes, to see his father, Tilly,' inquired 
+her mistress, drying her eyes; 'when I can't live here, and have 
+gone to my old home?'
+
+'Ow if you please don't!' cried Tilly, throwing back her head, and 
+bursting out into a howl - she looked at the moment uncommonly like 
+Boxer.  'Ow if you please don't!  Ow, what has everybody gone and 
+been and done with everybody, making everybody else so wretched!  
+Ow-w-w-w!'
+
+The soft-hearted Slowboy trailed off at this juncture, into such a 
+deplorable howl, the more tremendous from its long suppression, 
+that she must infallibly have awakened the Baby, and frightened him 
+into something serious (probably convulsions), if her eyes had not 
+encountered Caleb Plummer, leading in his daughter.  This spectacle 
+restoring her to a sense of the proprieties, she stood for some few 
+moments silent, with her mouth wide open; and then, posting off to 
+the bed on which the Baby lay asleep, danced in a weird, Saint 
+Vitus manner on the floor, and at the same time rummaged with her 
+face and head among the bedclothes, apparently deriving much relief 
+from those extraordinary operations.
+
+'Mary!' said Bertha.  'Not at the marriage!'
+
+'I told her you would not be there, mum,' whispered Caleb.  'I 
+heard as much last night.  But bless you,' said the little man, 
+taking her tenderly by both hands, 'I don't care for what they say.  
+I don't believe them.  There an't much of me, but that little 
+should be torn to pieces sooner than I'd trust a word against you!'
+
+He put his arms about her and hugged her, as a child might have 
+hugged one of his own dolls.
+
+'Bertha couldn't stay at home this morning,' said Caleb.  'She was 
+afraid, I know, to hear the bells ring, and couldn't trust herself 
+to be so near them on their wedding-day.  So we started in good 
+time, and came here.  I have been thinking of what I have done,' 
+said Caleb, after a moment's pause; 'I have been blaming myself 
+till I hardly knew what to do or where to turn, for the distress of 
+mind I have caused her; and I've come to the conclusion that I'd 
+better, if you'll stay with me, mum, the while, tell her the truth.  
+You'll stay with me the while?' he inquired, trembling from head to 
+foot.  'I don't know what effect it may have upon her; I don't know 
+what she'll think of me; I don't know that she'll ever care for her 
+poor father afterwards.  But it's best for her that she should be 
+undeceived, and I must bear the consequences as I deserve!'
+
+' Mary,' said Bertha, 'where is your hand!  Ah!  Here it is here it 
+is!' pressing it to her lips, with a smile, and drawing it through 
+her arm.  'I heard them speaking softly among themselves, last 
+night, of some blame against you.  They were wrong.'
+
+The Carrier's Wife was silent.  Caleb answered for her.
+
+'They were wrong,' he said.
+
+'I knew it!' cried Bertha, proudly.  'I told them so.  I scorned to 
+hear a word!  Blame HER with justice!' she pressed the hand between 
+her own, and the soft cheek against her face.  'No!  I am not so 
+blind as that.'
+
+Her father went on one side of her, while Dot remained upon the 
+other:  holding her hand.
+
+'I know you all,' said Bertha, 'better than you think.  But none so 
+well as her.  Not even you, father.  There is nothing half so real 
+and so true about me, as she is.  If I could be restored to sight 
+this instant, and not a word were spoken, I could choose her from a 
+crowd!  My sister!'
+
+'Bertha, my dear!' said Caleb, 'I have something on my mind I want 
+to tell you, while we three are alone.  Hear me kindly!  I have a 
+confession to make to you, my darling.'
+
+'A confession, father?'
+
+'I have wandered from the truth and lost myself, my child,' said 
+Caleb, with a pitiable expression in his bewildered face.  'I have 
+wandered from the truth, intending to be kind to you; and have been 
+cruel.'
+
+She turned her wonder-stricken face towards him, and repeated 
+'Cruel!'
+
+'He accuses himself too strongly, Bertha,' said Dot.  'You'll say 
+so, presently.  You'll be the first to tell him so.'
+
+'He cruel to me!' cried Bertha, with a smile of incredulity.
+
+'Not meaning it, my child,' said Caleb.  'But I have been; though I 
+never suspected it, till yesterday.  My dear blind daughter, hear 
+me and forgive me!  The world you live in, heart of mine, doesn't 
+exist as I have represented it.  The eyes you have trusted in, have 
+been false to you.'
+
+She turned her wonder-stricken face towards him still; but drew 
+back, and clung closer to her friend.
+
+'Your road in life was rough, my poor one,' said Caleb, 'and I 
+meant to smooth it for you.  I have altered objects, changed the 
+characters of people, invented many things that never have been, to 
+make you happier.  I have had concealments from you, put deceptions 
+on you, God forgive me! and surrounded you with fancies.'
+
+'But living people are not fancies!' she said hurriedly, and 
+turning very pale, and still retiring from him.  'You can't change 
+them.'
+
+'I have done so, Bertha,' pleaded Caleb.  'There is one person that 
+you know, my dove - '
+
+'Oh father! why do you say, I know?' she answered, in a term of 
+keen reproach.  'What and whom do I know!  I who have no leader!  I 
+so miserably blind.'
+
+In the anguish of her heart, she stretched out her hands, as if she 
+were groping her way; then spread them, in a manner most forlorn 
+and sad, upon her face.
+
+'The marriage that takes place to-day,' said Caleb, 'is with a 
+stern, sordid, grinding man.  A hard master to you and me, my dear, 
+for many years.  Ugly in his looks, and in his nature.  Cold and 
+callous always.  Unlike what I have painted him to you in 
+everything, my child.  In everything.'
+
+'Oh why,' cried the Blind Girl, tortured, as it seemed, almost 
+beyond endurance, 'why did you ever do this!  Why did you ever fill 
+my heart so full, and then come in like Death, and tear away the 
+objects of my love!  O Heaven, how blind I am!  How helpless and 
+alone!'
+
+Her afflicted father hung his head, and offered no reply but in his 
+penitence and sorrow.
+
+She had been but a short time in this passion of regret, when the 
+Cricket on the Hearth, unheard by all but her, began to chirp.  Not 
+merrily, but in a low, faint, sorrowing way.  It was so mournful 
+that her tears began to flow; and when the Presence which had been 
+beside the Carrier all night, appeared behind her, pointing to her 
+father, they fell down like rain.
+
+She heard the Cricket-voice more plainly soon, and was conscious, 
+through her blindness, of the Presence hovering about her father.
+
+'Mary,' said the Blind Girl, 'tell me what my home is.  What it 
+truly is.'
+
+'It is a poor place, Bertha; very poor and bare indeed.  The house 
+will scarcely keep out wind and rain another winter.  It is as 
+roughly shielded from the weather, Bertha,' Dot continued in a low, 
+clear voice, 'as your poor father in his sack-cloth coat.'
+
+The Blind Girl, greatly agitated, rose, and led the Carrier's 
+little wife aside.
+
+'Those presents that I took such care of; that came almost at my 
+wish, and were so dearly welcome to me,' she said, trembling; 
+'where did they come from?  Did you send them?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Who then?'
+
+Dot saw she knew, already, and was silent.  The Blind Girl spread 
+her hands before her face again.  But in quite another manner now.
+
+'Dear Mary, a moment.  One moment?  More this way.  Speak softly to 
+me.  You are true, I know.  You'd not deceive me now; would you?'
+
+'No, Bertha, indeed!'
+
+'No, I am sure you would not.  You have too much pity for me.  
+Mary, look across the room to where we were just now - to where my 
+father is - my father, so compassionate and loving to me - and tell 
+me what you see.'
+
+'I see,' said Dot, who understood her well, 'an old man sitting in 
+a chair, and leaning sorrowfully on the back, with his face resting 
+on his hand.  As if his child should comfort him, Bertha.'
+
+'Yes, yes.  She will.  Go on.'
+
+'He is an old man, worn with care and work.  He is a spare, 
+dejected, thoughtful, grey-haired man.  I see him now, despondent 
+and bowed down, and striving against nothing.  But, Bertha, I have 
+seen him many times before, and striving hard in many ways for one 
+great sacred object.  And I honour his grey head, and bless him!'
+
+The Blind Girl broke away from her; and throwing herself upon her 
+knees before him, took the grey head to her breast.
+
+'It is my sight restored.  It is my sight!' she cried.  'I have 
+been blind, and now my eyes are open.  I never knew him!  To think 
+I might have died, and never truly seen the father who has been so 
+loving to me!'
+
+There were no words for Caleb's emotion.
+
+'There is not a gallant figure on this earth,' exclaimed the Blind 
+Girl, holding him in her embrace, 'that I would love so dearly, and 
+would cherish so devotedly, as this!  The greyer, and more worn, 
+the dearer, father!  Never let them say I am blind again.  There's 
+not a furrow in his face, there's not a hair upon his head, that 
+shall be forgotten in my prayers and thanks to Heaven!'
+
+Caleb managed to articulate 'My Bertha!'
+
+'And in my blindness, I believed him,' said the girl, caressing him 
+with tears of exquisite affection, 'to be so different!  And having 
+him beside me, day by day, so mindful of me - always, never dreamed 
+of this!'
+
+'The fresh smart father in the blue coat, Bertha,' said poor Caleb.  
+'He's gone!'
+
+'Nothing is gone,' she answered.  'Dearest father, no!  Everything 
+is here - in you.  The father that I loved so well; the father that 
+I never loved enough, and never knew; the benefactor whom I first 
+began to reverence and love, because he had such sympathy for me; 
+All are here in you.  Nothing is dead to me.  The soul of all that 
+was most dear to me is here - here, with the worn face, and the 
+grey head.  And I am NOT blind, father, any longer!'
+
+Dot's whole attention had been concentrated, during this discourse, 
+upon the father and daughter; but looking, now, towards the little 
+Haymaker in the Moorish meadow, she saw that the clock was within a 
+few minutes of striking, and fell, immediately, into a nervous and 
+excited state.
+
+'Father,' said Bertha, hesitating.  'Mary.'
+
+'Yes, my dear,' returned Caleb.  'Here she is.'
+
+'There is no change in HER.  You never told me anything of HER that 
+was not true?'
+
+'I should have done it, my dear, I am afraid,' returned Caleb, 'if 
+I could have made her better than she was.  But I must have changed 
+her for the worse, if I had changed her at all.  Nothing could 
+improve her, Bertha.'
+
+Confident as the Blind Girl had been when she asked the question, 
+her delight and pride in the reply and her renewed embrace of Dot, 
+were charming to behold.
+
+'More changes than you think for, may happen though, my dear,' said 
+Dot.  'Changes for the better, I mean; changes for great joy to 
+some of us.  You mustn't let them startle you too much, if any such 
+should ever happen, and affect you?  Are those wheels upon the 
+road?  You've a quick ear, Bertha.  Are they wheels?'
+
+'Yes.  Coming very fast.'
+
+'I - I - I know you have a quick ear,' said Dot, placing her hand 
+upon her heart, and evidently talking on, as fast as she could to 
+hide its palpitating state, 'because I have noticed it often, and 
+because you were so quick to find out that strange step last night.  
+Though why you should have said, as I very well recollect you did 
+say, Bertha, "Whose step is that!" and why you should have taken 
+any greater observation of it than of any other step, I don't know.  
+Though as I said just now, there are great changes in the world:  
+great changes:  and we can't do better than prepare ourselves to be 
+surprised at hardly anything.'
+
+Caleb wondered what this meant; perceiving that she spoke to him, 
+no less than to his daughter.  He saw her, with astonishment, so 
+fluttered and distressed that she could scarcely breathe; and 
+holding to a chair, to save herself from falling.
+
+'They are wheels indeed!' she panted.  'Coming nearer!  Nearer!  
+Very close!  And now you hear them stopping at the garden-gate!  
+And now you hear a step outside the door - the same step, Bertha, 
+is it not! - and now!' -
+
+She uttered a wild cry of uncontrollable delight; and running up to 
+Caleb put her hands upon his eyes, as a young man rushed into the 
+room, and flinging away his hat into the air, came sweeping down 
+upon them.
+
+'Is it over?' cried Dot.
+
+'Yes!'
+
+'Happily over?'
+
+'Yes!'
+
+'Do you recollect the voice, dear Caleb?  Did you ever hear the 
+like of it before?' cried Dot.
+
+'If my boy in the Golden South Americas was alive' - said Caleb, 
+trembling.
+
+'He is alive!' shrieked Dot, removing her hands from his eyes, and 
+clapping them in ecstasy; 'look at him!  See where he stands before 
+you, healthy and strong!  Your own dear son!  Your own dear living, 
+loving brother, Bertha
+
+All honour to the little creature for her transports!  All honour 
+to her tears and laughter, when the three were locked in one 
+another's arms!  All honour to the heartiness with which she met 
+the sunburnt sailor-fellow, with his dark streaming hair, half-way, 
+and never turned her rosy little mouth aside, but suffered him to 
+kiss it, freely, and to press her to his bounding heart!
+
+And honour to the Cuckoo too - why not! - for bursting out of the 
+trap-door in the Moorish Palace like a house-breaker, and 
+hiccoughing twelve times on the assembled company, as if he had got 
+drunk for joy!
+
+The Carrier, entering, started back.  And well he might, to find 
+himself in such good company.
+
+'Look, John!' said Caleb, exultingly, 'look here!  My own boy from 
+the Golden South Americas!  My own son!  Him that you fitted out, 
+and sent away yourself!  Him that you were always such a friend 
+to!'
+
+The Carrier advanced to seize him by the hand; but, recoiling, as 
+some feature in his face awakened a remembrance of the Deaf Man in 
+the Cart, said:
+
+'Edward!  Was it you?'
+
+'Now tell him all!' cried Dot.  'Tell him all, Edward; and don't 
+spare me, for nothing shall make me spare myself in his eyes, ever 
+again.'
+
+'I was the man,' said Edward.
+
+'And could you steal, disguised, into the house of your old 
+friend?' rejoined the Carrier.  'There was a frank boy once - how 
+many years is it, Caleb, since we heard that he was dead, and had 
+it proved, we thought? - who never would have done that.'
+
+'There was a generous friend of mine, once; more a father to me 
+than a friend;' said Edward, 'who never would have judged me, or 
+any other man, unheard.  You were he.  So I am certain you will 
+hear me now.'
+
+The Carrier, with a troubled glance at Dot, who still kept far away 
+from him, replied, 'Well! that's but fair.  I will.'
+
+'You must know that when I left here, a boy,' said Edward, 'I was 
+in love, and my love was returned.  She was a very young girl, who 
+perhaps (you may tell me) didn't know her own mind.  But I knew 
+mine, and I had a passion for her.'
+
+'You had!' exclaimed the Carrier.  'You!'
+
+'Indeed I had,' returned the other.  'And she returned it.  I have 
+ever since believed she did, and now I am sure she did.'
+
+'Heaven help me!' said the Carrier.  'This is worse than all.'
+
+'Constant to her,' said Edward, 'and returning, full of hope, after 
+many hardships and perils, to redeem my part of our old contract, I 
+heard, twenty miles away, that she was false to me; that she had 
+forgotten me; and had bestowed herself upon another and a richer 
+man.  I had no mind to reproach her; but I wished to see her, and 
+to prove beyond dispute that this was true.  I hoped she might have 
+been forced into it, against her own desire and recollection.  It 
+would be small comfort, but it would be some, I thought, and on I 
+came.  That I might have the truth, the real truth; observing 
+freely for myself, and judging for myself, without obstruction on 
+the one hand, or presenting my own influence (if I had any) before 
+her, on the other; I dressed myself unlike myself - you know how; 
+and waited on the road - you know where.  You had no suspicion of 
+me; neither had - had she,' pointing to Dot, 'until I whispered in 
+her ear at that fireside, and she so nearly betrayed me.'
+
+'But when she knew that Edward was alive, and had come back,' 
+sobbed Dot, now speaking for herself, as she had burned to do, all 
+through this narrative; 'and when she knew his purpose, she advised 
+him by all means to keep his secret close; for his old friend John 
+Peerybingle was much too open in his nature, and too clumsy in all 
+artifice - being a clumsy man in general,' said Dot, half laughing 
+and half crying - 'to keep it for him.  And when she - that's me, 
+John,' sobbed the little woman - 'told him all, and how his 
+sweetheart had believed him to be dead; and how she had at last 
+been over-persuaded by her mother into a marriage which the silly, 
+dear old thing called advantageous; and when she - that's me again, 
+John - told him they were not yet married (though close upon it), 
+and that it would be nothing but a sacrifice if it went on, for 
+there was no love on her side; and when he went nearly mad with joy 
+to hear it; then she - that's me again - said she would go between 
+them, as she had often done before in old times, John, and would 
+sound his sweetheart and be sure that what she - me again, John - 
+said and thought was right.  And it was right, John!  And they were 
+brought together, John!  And they were married, John, an hour ago!  
+And here's the Bride!  And Gruff and Tackleton may die a bachelor!  
+And I'm a happy little woman, May, God bless you!'
+
+She was an irresistible little woman, if that be anything to the 
+purpose; and never so completely irresistible as in her present 
+transports.  There never were congratulations so endearing and 
+delicious, as those she lavished on herself and on the Bride.
+
+Amid the tumult of emotions in his breast, the honest Carrier had 
+stood, confounded.  Flying, now, towards her, Dot stretched out her 
+hand to stop him, and retreated as before.
+
+'No, John, no!  Hear all!  Don't love me any more, John, till 
+you've heard every word I have to say.  It was wrong to have a 
+secret from you, John.  I'm very sorry I didn't think it any harm, 
+till I came and sat down by you on the little stool last night.  
+But when I knew by what was written in your face, that you had seen 
+me walking in the gallery with Edward, and when I knew what you 
+thought, I felt how giddy and how wrong it was.  But oh, dear John, 
+how could you, could you, think so!'
+
+Little woman, how she sobbed again!  John Peerybingle would have 
+caught her in his arms.  But no; she wouldn't let him.
+
+'Don't love me yet, please, John!  Not for a long time yet!  When I 
+was sad about this intended marriage, dear, it was because I 
+remembered May and Edward such young lovers; and knew that her 
+heart was far away from Tackleton.  You believe that, now.  Don't 
+you, John?'
+
+John was going to make another rush at this appeal; but she stopped 
+him again.
+
+'No; keep there, please, John!  When I laugh at you, as I sometimes 
+do, John, and call you clumsy and a dear old goose, and names of 
+that sort, it's because I love you, John, so well, and take such 
+pleasure in your ways, and wouldn't see you altered in the least 
+respect to have you made a King to-morrow.'
+
+'Hooroar!' said Caleb with unusual vigour.  'My opinion!'
+
+'And when I speak of people being middle-aged, and steady, John, 
+and pretend that we are a humdrum couple, going on in a jog-trot 
+sort of way, it's only because I'm such a silly little thing, John, 
+that I like, sometimes, to act a kind of Play with Baby, and all 
+that:  and make believe.'
+
+She saw that he was coming; and stopped him again.  But she was 
+very nearly too late.
+
+'No, don't love me for another minute or two, if you please, John!  
+What I want most to tell you, I have kept to the last.  My dear, 
+good, generous John, when we were talking the other night about the 
+Cricket, I had it on my lips to say, that at first I did not love 
+you quite so dearly as I do now; that when I first came home here, 
+I was half afraid I mightn't learn to love you every bit as well as 
+I hoped and prayed I might - being so very young, John!  But, dear 
+John, every day and hour I loved you more and more.  And if I could 
+have loved you better than I do, the noble words I heard you say 
+this morning, would have made me.  But I can't.  All the affection 
+that I had (it was a great deal, John) I gave you, as you well 
+deserve, long, long ago, and I have no more left to give.  Now, my 
+dear husband, take me to your heart again!  That's my home, John; 
+and never, never think of sending me to any other!'
+
+You never will derive so much delight from seeing a glorious little 
+woman in the arms of a third party, as you would have felt if you 
+had seen Dot run into the Carrier's embrace.  It was the most 
+complete, unmitigated, soul-fraught little piece of earnestness 
+that ever you beheld in all your days.
+
+You maybe sure the Carrier was in a state of perfect rapture; and 
+you may be sure Dot was likewise; and you may be sure they all 
+were, inclusive of Miss Slowboy, who wept copiously for joy, and 
+wishing to include her young charge in the general interchange of 
+congratulations, handed round the Baby to everybody in succession, 
+as if it were something to drink.
+
+But, now, the sound of wheels was heard again outside the door; and 
+somebody exclaimed that Gruff and Tackleton was coming back.  
+Speedily that worthy gentleman appeared, looking warm and 
+flustered.
+
+'Why, what the Devil's this, John Peerybingle!' said Tackleton.  
+'There's some mistake.  I appointed Mrs. Tackleton to meet me at 
+the church, and I'll swear I passed her on the road, on her way 
+here.  Oh! here she is!  I beg your pardon, sir; I haven't the 
+pleasure of knowing you; but if you can do me the favour to spare 
+this young lady, she has rather a particular engagement this 
+morning.'
+
+'But I can't spare her,' returned Edward.  'I couldn't think of 
+it.'
+
+'What do you mean, you vagabond?' said Tackleton.
+
+'I mean, that as I can make allowance for your being vexed,' 
+returned the other, with a smile, 'I am as deaf to harsh discourse 
+this morning, as I was to all discourse last night.'
+
+The look that Tackleton bestowed upon him, and the start he gave!
+
+'I am sorry, sir,' said Edward, holding out May's left hand, and 
+especially the third finger; 'that the young lady can't accompany 
+you to church; but as she has been there once, this morning, 
+perhaps you'll excuse her.'
+
+Tackleton looked hard at the third finger, and took a little piece 
+of silver-paper, apparently containing a ring, from his waistcoat-
+pocket.
+
+'Miss Slowboy,' said Tackleton.  'Will you have the kindness to 
+throw that in the fire?  Thank'ee.'
+
+'It was a previous engagement, quite an old engagement, that 
+prevented my wife from keeping her appointment with you, I assure 
+you,' said Edward.
+
+'Mr. Tackleton will do me the justice to acknowledge that I 
+revealed it to him faithfully; and that I told him, many times, I 
+never could forget it,' said May, blushing.
+
+'Oh certainly!' said Tackleton.  'Oh to be sure.  Oh it's all 
+right.  It's quite correct.  Mrs. Edward Plummer, I infer?'
+
+'That's the name,' returned the bridegroom.
+
+'Ah, I shouldn't have known you, sir,' said Tackleton, scrutinising 
+his face narrowly, and making a low bow.  'I give you joy, sir!'
+
+'Thank'ee.'
+
+'Mrs. Peerybingle,' said Tackleton, turning suddenly to where she 
+stood with her husband; 'I am sorry.  You haven't done me a very 
+great kindness, but, upon my life I am sorry.  You are better than 
+I thought you.  John Peerybingle, I am sorry.  You understand me; 
+that's enough.  It's quite correct, ladies and gentlemen all, and 
+perfectly satisfactory.  Good morning!'
+
+With these words he carried it off, and carried himself off too:  
+merely stopping at the door, to take the flowers and favours from 
+his horse's head, and to kick that animal once, in the ribs, as a 
+means of informing him that there was a screw loose in his 
+arrangements.
+
+Of course it became a serious duty now, to make such a day of it, 
+as should mark these events for a high Feast and Festival in the 
+Peerybingle Calendar for evermore.  Accordingly, Dot went to work 
+to produce such an entertainment, as should reflect undying honour 
+on the house and on every one concerned; and in a very short space 
+of time, she was up to her dimpled elbows in flour, and whitening 
+the Carrier's coat, every time he came near her, by stopping him to 
+give him a kiss.  That good fellow washed the greens, and peeled 
+the turnips, and broke the plates, and upset iron pots full of cold 
+water on the fire, and made himself useful in all sorts of ways:  
+while a couple of professional assistants, hastily called in from 
+somewhere in the neighbourhood, as on a point of life or death, ran 
+against each other in all the doorways and round all the corners, 
+and everybody tumbled over Tilly Slowboy and the Baby, everywhere.  
+Tilly never came out in such force before.  Her ubiquity was the 
+theme of general admiration.  She was a stumbling-block in the 
+passage at five-and-twenty minutes past two; a man-trap in the 
+kitchen at half-past two precisely; and a pitfall in the garret at 
+five-and-twenty minutes to three.  The Baby's head was, as it were, 
+a test and touchstone for every description of matter, - animal, 
+vegetable, and mineral.  Nothing was in use that day that didn't 
+come, at some time or other, into close acquaintance with it.
+
+Then, there was a great Expedition set on foot to go and find out 
+Mrs. Fielding; and to be dismally penitent to that excellent 
+gentlewoman; and to bring her back, by force, if needful, to be 
+happy and forgiving.  And when the Expedition first discovered her, 
+she would listen to no terms at all, but said, an unspeakable 
+number of times, that ever she should have lived to see the day! 
+and couldn't be got to say anything else, except, 'Now carry me to 
+the grave:' which seemed absurd, on account of her not being dead, 
+or anything at all like it.  After a time, she lapsed into a state 
+of dreadful calmness, and observed, that when that unfortunate 
+train of circumstances had occurred in the Indigo Trade, she had 
+foreseen that she would be exposed, during her whole life, to every 
+species of insult and contumely; and that she was glad to find it 
+was the case; and begged they wouldn't trouble themselves about 
+her, - for what was she? oh, dear! a nobody! - but would forget 
+that such a being lived, and would take their course in life 
+without her.  From this bitterly sarcastic mood, she passed into an 
+angry one, in which she gave vent to the remarkable expression that 
+the worm would turn if trodden on; and, after that, she yielded to 
+a soft regret, and said, if they had only given her their 
+confidence, what might she not have had it in her power to suggest!  
+Taking advantage of this crisis in her feelings, the Expedition 
+embraced her; and she very soon had her gloves on, and was on her 
+way to John Peerybingle's in a state of unimpeachable gentility; 
+with a paper parcel at her side containing a cap of state, almost 
+as tall, and quite as stiff, as a mitre.
+
+Then, there were Dot's father and mother to come, in another little 
+chaise; and they were behind their time; and fears were 
+entertained; and there was much looking out for them down the road; 
+and Mrs. Fielding always would look in the wrong and morally 
+impossible direction; and being apprised thereof, hoped she might 
+take the liberty of looking where she pleased.  At last they came:  
+a chubby little couple, jogging along in a snug and comfortable 
+little way that quite belonged to the Dot family; and Dot and her 
+mother, side by side, were wonderful to see.  They were so like 
+each other.
+
+Then, Dot's mother had to renew her acquaintance with May's mother; 
+and May's mother always stood on her gentility; and Dot's mother 
+never stood on anything but her active little feet.  And old Dot - 
+so to call Dot's father, I forgot it wasn't his right name, but 
+never mind - took liberties, and shook hands at first sight, and 
+seemed to think a cap but so much starch and muslin, and didn't 
+defer himself at all to the Indigo Trade, but said there was no 
+help for it now; and, in Mrs. Fielding's summing up, was a good-
+natured kind of man - but coarse, my dear.
+
+I wouldn't have missed Dot, doing the honours in her wedding-gown, 
+my benison on her bright face! for any money.  No! nor the good 
+Carrier, so jovial and so ruddy, at the bottom of the table.  Nor 
+the brown, fresh sailor-fellow, and his handsome wife.  Nor any one 
+among them.  To have missed the dinner would have been to miss as 
+jolly and as stout a meal as man need eat; and to have missed the 
+overflowing cups in which they drank The Wedding-Day, would have 
+been the greatest miss of all.
+
+After dinner, Caleb sang the song about the Sparkling Bowl.  As I'm 
+a living man, hoping to keep so, for a year or two, he sang it 
+through.
+
+And, by-the-by, a most unlooked-for incident occurred, just as he 
+finished the last verse.
+
+There was a tap at the door; and a man came staggering in, without 
+saying with your leave, or by your leave, with something heavy on 
+his head.  Setting this down in the middle of the table, 
+symmetrically in the centre of the nuts and apples, he said:
+
+'Mr. Tackleton's compliments, and as he hasn't got no use for the 
+cake himself, p'raps you'll eat it.'
+
+And with those words, he walked off.
+
+There was some surprise among the company, as you may imagine.  
+Mrs. Fielding, being a lady of infinite discernment, suggested that 
+the cake was poisoned, and related a narrative of a cake, which, 
+within her knowledge, had turned a seminary for young ladies, blue.  
+But she was overruled by acclamation; and the cake was cut by May, 
+with much ceremony and rejoicing.
+
+I don't think any one had tasted it, when there came another tap at 
+the door, and the same man appeared again, having under his arm a 
+vast brown-paper parcel.
+
+'Mr. Tackleton's compliments, and he's sent a few toys for the 
+Babby.  They ain't ugly.'
+
+After the delivery of which expressions, he retired again.
+
+The whole party would have experienced great difficulty in finding 
+words for their astonishment, even if they had had ample time to 
+seek them.  But they had none at all; for the messenger had 
+scarcely shut the door behind him, when there came another tap, and 
+Tackleton himself walked in.
+
+'Mrs. Peerybingle!' said the Toy-merchant, hat in hand.  'I'm 
+sorry.  I'm more sorry than I was this morning.  I have had time to 
+think of it.  John Peerybingle!  I'm sour by disposition; but I 
+can't help being sweetened, more or less, by coming face to face 
+with such a man as you.  Caleb!  This unconscious little nurse gave 
+me a broken hint last night, of which I have found the thread.  I 
+blush to think how easily I might have bound you and your daughter 
+to me, and what a miserable idiot I was, when I took her for one!  
+Friends, one and all, my house is very lonely to-night.  I have not 
+so much as a Cricket on my Hearth.  I have scared them all away.  
+Be gracious to me; let me join this happy party!'
+
+He was at home in five minutes.  You never saw such a fellow.  What 
+HAD he been doing with himself all his life, never to have known, 
+before, his great capacity of being jovial!  Or what had the 
+Fairies been doing with him, to have effected such a change!
+
+'John! you won't send me home this evening; will you?' whispered 
+Dot.
+
+He had been very near it though!
+
+There wanted but one living creature to make the party complete; 
+and, in the twinkling of an eye, there he was, very thirsty with 
+hard running, and engaged in hopeless endeavours to squeeze his 
+head into a narrow pitcher.  He had gone with the cart to its 
+journey's end, very much disgusted with the absence of his master, 
+and stupendously rebellious to the Deputy.  After lingering about 
+the stable for some little time, vainly attempting to incite the 
+old horse to the mutinous act of returning on his own account, he 
+had walked into the tap-room and laid himself down before the fire.  
+But suddenly yielding to the conviction that the Deputy was a 
+humbug, and must be abandoned, he had got up again, turned tail, 
+and come home.
+
+There was a dance in the evening.  With which general mention of 
+that recreation, I should have left it alone, if I had not some 
+reason to suppose that it was quite an original dance, and one of a 
+most uncommon figure.  It was formed in an odd way; in this way.
+
+Edward, that sailor-fellow - a good free dashing sort of a fellow 
+he was - had been telling them various marvels concerning parrots, 
+and mines, and Mexicans, and gold dust, when all at once he took it 
+in his head to jump up from his seat and propose a dance; for 
+Bertha's harp was there, and she had such a hand upon it as you 
+seldom hear.  Dot (sly little piece of affectation when she chose) 
+said her dancing days were over; I think because the Carrier was 
+smoking his pipe, and she liked sitting by him, best.  Mrs. 
+Fielding had no choice, of course, but to say HER dancing days were 
+over, after that; and everybody said the same, except May; May was 
+ready.
+
+So, May and Edward got up, amid great applause, to dance alone; and 
+Bertha plays her liveliest tune.
+
+Well! if you'll believe me, they have not been dancing five 
+minutes, when suddenly the Carrier flings his pipe away, takes Dot 
+round the waist, dashes out into the room, and starts off with her, 
+toe and heel, quite wonderfully.  Tackleton no sooner sees this, 
+than he skims across to Mrs. Fielding, takes her round the waist, 
+and follows suit.  Old Dot no sooner sees this, than up he is, all 
+alive, whisks off Mrs. Dot in the middle of the dance, and is the 
+foremost there.  Caleb no sooner sees this, than he clutches Tilly 
+Slowboy by both hands and goes off at score; Miss Slowboy, firm in 
+the belief that diving hotly in among the other couples, and 
+effecting any number of concussions with them, is your only 
+principle of footing it.
+
+Hark! how the Cricket joins the music with its Chirp, Chirp, Chirp; 
+and how the kettle hums!
+
+* * * * *
+
+But what is this!  Even as I listen to them, blithely, and turn 
+towards Dot, for one last glimpse of a little figure very pleasant 
+to me, she and the rest have vanished into air, and I am left 
+alone.  A Cricket sings upon the Hearth; a broken child's-toy lies 
+upon the ground; and nothing else remains.
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Cricket on the Hearth
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cricket on the Hearth, by Charles Dickens
+(#10 in our series by Charles Dickens)
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: The Cricket on the Hearth
+
+Author: Charles Dickens
+
+Release Date: October, 1996  [EBook #678]
+[This file was first posted on September 25, 1996]
+[Most recently updated: September 8, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH ***
+
+
+
+
+Transcribed from the Charles Scribner's Sons "Works of Charles
+Dickens" edition by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk
+
+
+
+
+THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I--Chirp the First
+
+
+
+The kettle began it!  Don't tell me what Mrs. Peerybingle said.  I
+know better.  Mrs. Peerybingle may leave it on record to the end of
+time that she couldn't say which of them began it; but, I say the
+kettle did.  I ought to know, I hope!  The kettle began it, full
+five minutes by the little waxy-faced Dutch clock in the corner,
+before the Cricket uttered a chirp.
+
+As if the clock hadn't finished striking, and the convulsive little
+Haymaker at the top of it, jerking away right and left with a
+scythe in front of a Moorish Palace, hadn't mowed down half an acre
+of imaginary grass before the Cricket joined in at all!
+
+Why, I am not naturally positive.  Every one knows that.  I
+wouldn't set my own opinion against the opinion of Mrs.
+Peerybingle, unless I were quite sure, on any account whatever.
+Nothing should induce me.  But, this is a question of act.  And the
+fact is, that the kettle began it, at least five minutes before the
+Cricket gave any sign of being in existence.  Contradict me, and
+I'll say ten.
+
+Let me narrate exactly how it happened.  I should have proceeded to
+do so in my very first word, but for this plain consideration--if I
+am to tell a story I must begin at the beginning; and how is it
+possible to begin at the beginning, without beginning at the
+kettle?
+
+It appeared as if there were a sort of match, or trial of skill,
+you must understand, between the kettle and the Cricket.  And this
+is what led to it, and how it came about.
+
+Mrs. Peerybingle, going out into the raw twilight, and clicking
+over the wet stones in a pair of pattens that worked innumerable
+rough impressions of the first proposition in Euclid all about the
+yard--Mrs. Peerybingle filled the kettle at the water-butt.
+Presently returning, less the pattens (and a good deal less, for
+they were tall and Mrs. Peerybingle was but short), she set the
+kettle on the fire.  In doing which she lost her temper, or mislaid
+it for an instant; for, the water being uncomfortably cold, and in
+that slippy, slushy, sleety sort of state wherein it seems to
+penetrate through every kind of substance, patten rings included--
+had laid hold of Mrs. Peerybingle's toes, and even splashed her
+legs.  And when we rather plume ourselves (with reason too) upon
+our legs, and keep ourselves particularly neat in point of
+stockings, we find this, for the moment, hard to bear.
+
+Besides, the kettle was aggravating and obstinate.  It wouldn't
+allow itself to be adjusted on the top bar; it wouldn't hear of
+accommodating itself kindly to the knobs of coal; it WOULD lean
+forward with a drunken air, and dribble, a very Idiot of a kettle,
+on the hearth.  It was quarrelsome, and hissed and spluttered
+morosely at the fire.  To sum up all, the lid, resisting Mrs.
+Peerybingle's fingers, first of all turned topsy-turvy, and then,
+with an ingenious pertinacity deserving of a better cause, dived
+sideways in--down to the very bottom of the kettle.  And the hull
+of the Royal George has never made half the monstrous resistance to
+coming out of the water, which the lid of that kettle employed
+against Mrs. Peerybingle, before she got it up again.
+
+It looked sullen and pig-headed enough, even then; carrying its
+handle with an air of defiance, and cocking its spout pertly and
+mockingly at Mrs. Peerybingle, as if it said, 'I won't boil.
+Nothing shall induce me!'
+
+But Mrs. Peerybingle, with restored good humour, dusted her chubby
+little hands against each other, and sat down before the kettle,
+laughing.  Meantime, the jolly blaze uprose and fell, flashing and
+gleaming on the little Haymaker at the top of the Dutch clock,
+until one might have thought he stood stock still before the
+Moorish Palace, and nothing was in motion but the flame.
+
+He was on the move, however; and had his spasms, two to the second,
+all right and regular.  But, his sufferings when the clock was
+going to strike, were frightful to behold; and, when a Cuckoo
+looked out of a trap-door in the Palace, and gave note six times,
+it shook him, each time, like a spectral voice--or like a something
+wiry, plucking at his legs.
+
+It was not until a violent commotion and a whirring noise among the
+weights and ropes below him had quite subsided, that this terrified
+Haymaker became himself again.  Nor was he startled without reason;
+for these rattling, bony skeletons of clocks are very disconcerting
+in their operation, and I wonder very much how any set of men, but
+most of all how Dutchmen, can have had a liking to invent them.
+There is a popular belief that Dutchmen love broad cases and much
+clothing for their own lower selves; and they might know better
+than to leave their clocks so very lank and unprotected, surely.
+
+Now it was, you observe, that the kettle began to spend the
+evening.  Now it was, that the kettle, growing mellow and musical,
+began to have irrepressible gurglings in its throat, and to indulge
+in short vocal snorts, which it checked in the bud, as if it hadn't
+quite made up its mind yet, to be good company.  Now it was, that
+after two or three such vain attempts to stifle its convivial
+sentiments, it threw off all moroseness, all reserve, and burst
+into a stream of song so cosy and hilarious, as never maudlin
+nightingale yet formed the least idea of.
+
+So plain too!  Bless you, you might have understood it like a book-
+-better than some books you and I could name, perhaps.  With its
+warm breath gushing forth in a light cloud which merrily and
+gracefully ascended a few feet, then hung about the chimney-corner
+as its own domestic Heaven, it trolled its song with that strong
+energy of cheerfulness, that its iron body hummed and stirred upon
+the fire; and the lid itself, the recently rebellious lid--such is
+the influence of a bright example--performed a sort of jig, and
+clattered like a deaf and dumb young cymbal that had never known
+the use of its twin brother.
+
+That this song of the kettle's was a song of invitation and welcome
+to somebody out of doors:  to somebody at that moment coming on,
+towards the snug small home and the crisp fire:  there is no doubt
+whatever.  Mrs. Peerybingle knew it, perfectly, as she sat musing
+before the hearth.  It's a dark night, sang the kettle, and the
+rotten leaves are lying by the way; and, above, all is mist and
+darkness, and, below, all is mire and clay; and there's only one
+relief in all the sad and murky air; and I don't know that it is
+one, for it's nothing but a glare; of deep and angry crimson, where
+the sun and wind together; set a brand upon the clouds for being
+guilty of such weather; and the widest open country is a long dull
+streak of black; and there's hoar-frost on the finger-post, and
+thaw upon the track; and the ice it isn't water, and the water
+isn't free; and you couldn't say that anything is what it ought to
+be; but he's coming, coming, coming! -
+
+And here, if you like, the Cricket DID chime in! with a Chirrup,
+Chirrup, Chirrup of such magnitude, by way of chorus; with a voice
+so astoundingly disproportionate to its size, as compared with the
+kettle; (size! you couldn't see it!) that if it had then and there
+burst itself like an overcharged gun, if it had fallen a victim on
+the spot, and chirruped its little body into fifty pieces, it would
+have seemed a natural and inevitable consequence, for which it had
+expressly laboured.
+
+The kettle had had the last of its solo performance.  It persevered
+with undiminished ardour; but the Cricket took first fiddle and
+kept it.  Good Heaven, how it chirped!  Its shrill, sharp, piercing
+voice resounded through the house, and seemed to twinkle in the
+outer darkness like a star.  There was an indescribable little
+trill and tremble in it, at its loudest, which suggested its being
+carried off its legs, and made to leap again, by its own intense
+enthusiasm.  Yet they went very well together, the Cricket and the
+kettle.  The burden of the song was still the same; and louder,
+louder, louder still, they sang it in their emulation.
+
+The fair little listener--for fair she was, and young:  though
+something of what is called the dumpling shape; but I don't myself
+object to that--lighted a candle, glanced at the Haymaker on the
+top of the clock, who was getting in a pretty average crop of
+minutes; and looked out of the window, where she saw nothing, owing
+to the darkness, but her own face imaged in the glass.  And my
+opinion is (and so would yours have been), that she might have
+looked a long way, and seen nothing half so agreeable.  When she
+came back, and sat down in her former seat, the Cricket and the
+kettle were still keeping it up, with a perfect fury of
+competition.  The kettle's weak side clearly being, that he didn't
+know when he was beat.
+
+There was all the excitement of a race about it.  Chirp, chirp,
+chirp!  Cricket a mile ahead.  Hum, hum, hum--m--m!  Kettle making
+play in the distance, like a great top.  Chirp, chirp, chirp!
+Cricket round the corner.  Hum, hum, hum--m--m!  Kettle sticking to
+him in his own way; no idea of giving in.  Chirp, chirp, chirp!
+Cricket fresher than ever.  Hum, hum, hum--m--m!  Kettle slow and
+steady.  Chirp, chirp, chirp!  Cricket going in to finish him.
+Hum, hum, hum--m--m!  Kettle not to be finished.  Until at last
+they got so jumbled together, in the hurry-skurry, helter-skelter,
+of the match, that whether the kettle chirped and the Cricket
+hummed, or the Cricket chirped and the kettle hummed, or they both
+chirped and both hummed, it would have taken a clearer head than
+yours or mine to have decided with anything like certainty.  But,
+of this, there is no doubt:  that, the kettle and the Cricket, at
+one and the same moment, and by some power of amalgamation best
+known to themselves, sent, each, his fireside song of comfort
+streaming into a ray of the candle that shone out through the
+window, and a long way down the lane.  And this light, bursting on
+a certain person who, on the instant, approached towards it through
+the gloom, expressed the whole thing to him, literally in a
+twinkling, and cried, 'Welcome home, old fellow!  Welcome home, my
+boy!'
+
+This end attained, the kettle, being dead beat, boiled over, and
+was taken off the fire.  Mrs. Peerybingle then went running to the
+door, where, what with the wheels of a cart, the tramp of a horse,
+the voice of a man, the tearing in and out of an excited dog, and
+the surprising and mysterious appearance of a baby, there was soon
+the very What's-his-name to pay.
+
+Where the baby came from, or how Mrs. Peerybingle got hold of it in
+that flash of time, _I_ don't know.  But a live baby there was, in
+Mrs. Peerybingle's arms; and a pretty tolerable amount of pride she
+seemed to have in it, when she was drawn gently to the fire, by a
+sturdy figure of a man, much taller and much older than herself,
+who had to stoop a long way down, to kiss her.  But she was worth
+the trouble.  Six foot six, with the lumbago, might have done it.
+
+'Oh goodness, John!' said Mrs. P.  'What a state you are in with
+the weather!'
+
+He was something the worse for it, undeniably.  The thick mist hung
+in clots upon his eyelashes like candied thaw; and between the fog
+and fire together, there were rainbows in his very whiskers.
+
+'Why, you see, Dot,' John made answer, slowly, as he unrolled a
+shawl from about his throat; and warmed his hands; 'it--it an't
+exactly summer weather.  So, no wonder.'
+
+'I wish you wouldn't call me Dot, John.  I don't like it,' said
+Mrs. Peerybingle:  pouting in a way that clearly showed she DID
+like it, very much.
+
+'Why what else are you?' returned John, looking down upon her with
+a smile, and giving her waist as light a squeeze as his huge hand
+and arm could give.  'A dot and'--here he glanced at the baby--'a
+dot and carry--I won't say it, for fear I should spoil it; but I
+was very near a joke.  I don't know as ever I was nearer.'
+
+He was often near to something or other very clever, by his own
+account:  this lumbering, slow, honest John; this John so heavy,
+but so light of spirit; so rough upon the surface, but so gentle at
+the core; so dull without, so quick within; so stolid, but so good!
+Oh Mother Nature, give thy children the true poetry of heart that
+hid itself in this poor Carrier's breast--he was but a Carrier by
+the way--and we can bear to have them talking prose, and leading
+lives of prose; and bear to bless thee for their company!
+
+It was pleasant to see Dot, with her little figure, and her baby in
+her arms:  a very doll of a baby:  glancing with a coquettish
+thoughtfulness at the fire, and inclining her delicate little head
+just enough on one side to let it rest in an odd, half-natural,
+half-affected, wholly nestling and agreeable manner, on the great
+rugged figure of the Carrier.  It was pleasant to see him, with his
+tender awkwardness, endeavouring to adapt his rude support to her
+slight need, and make his burly middle-age a leaning-staff not
+inappropriate to her blooming youth.  It was pleasant to observe
+how Tilly Slowboy, waiting in the background for the baby, took
+special cognizance (though in her earliest teens) of this grouping;
+and stood with her mouth and eyes wide open, and her head thrust
+forward, taking it in as if it were air.  Nor was it less agreeable
+to observe how John the Carrier, reference being made by Dot to the
+aforesaid baby, checked his hand when on the point of touching the
+infant, as if he thought he might crack it; and bending down,
+surveyed it from a safe distance, with a kind of puzzled pride,
+such as an amiable mastiff might be supposed to show, if he found
+himself, one day, the father of a young canary.
+
+'An't he beautiful, John?  Don't he look precious in his sleep?'
+
+'Very precious,' said John.  'Very much so.  He generally IS
+asleep, an't he?'
+
+'Lor, John!  Good gracious no!'
+
+'Oh,' said John, pondering.  'I thought his eyes was generally
+shut.  Halloa!'
+
+'Goodness, John, how you startle one!'
+
+'It an't right for him to turn 'em up in that way!' said the
+astonished Carrier, 'is it?  See how he's winking with both of 'em
+at once!  And look at his mouth!  Why he's gasping like a gold and
+silver fish!'
+
+'You don't deserve to be a father, you don't,' said Dot, with all
+the dignity of an experienced matron.  'But how should you know
+what little complaints children are troubled with, John!  You
+wouldn't so much as know their names, you stupid fellow.'  And when
+she had turned the baby over on her left arm, and had slapped its
+back as a restorative, she pinched her husband's ear, laughing.
+
+'No,' said John, pulling off his outer coat.  'It's very true, Dot.
+I don't know much about it.  I only know that I've been fighting
+pretty stiffly with the wind to-night.  It's been blowing north-
+east, straight into the cart, the whole way home.'
+
+'Poor old man, so it has!' cried Mrs. Peerybingle, instantly
+becoming very active.  'Here!  Take the precious darling, Tilly,
+while I make myself of some use.  Bless it, I could smother it with
+kissing it, I could!  Hie then, good dog!  Hie, Boxer, boy!  Only
+let me make the tea first, John; and then I'll help you with the
+parcels, like a busy bee.  "How doth the little"--and all the rest
+of it, you know, John.  Did you ever learn "how doth the little,"
+when you went to school, John?'
+
+'Not to quite know it,' John returned.  'I was very near it once.
+But I should only have spoilt it, I dare say.'
+
+'Ha ha,' laughed Dot.  She had the blithest little laugh you ever
+heard.  'What a dear old darling of a dunce you are, John, to be
+sure!'
+
+Not at all disputing this position, John went out to see that the
+boy with the lantern, which had been dancing to and fro before the
+door and window, like a Will of the Wisp, took due care of the
+horse; who was fatter than you would quite believe, if I gave you
+his measure, and so old that his birthday was lost in the mists of
+antiquity.  Boxer, feeling that his attentions were due to the
+family in general, and must be impartially distributed, dashed in
+and out with bewildering inconstancy; now, describing a circle of
+short barks round the horse, where he was being rubbed down at the
+stable-door; now feigning to make savage rushes at his mistress,
+and facetiously bringing himself to sudden stops; now, eliciting a
+shriek from Tilly Slowboy, in the low nursing-chair near the fire,
+by the unexpected application of his moist nose to her countenance;
+now, exhibiting an obtrusive interest in the baby; now, going round
+and round upon the hearth, and lying down as if he had established
+himself for the night; now, getting up again, and taking that
+nothing of a fag-end of a tail of his, out into the weather, as if
+he had just remembered an appointment, and was off, at a round
+trot, to keep it.
+
+'There!  There's the teapot, ready on the hob!' said Dot; as
+briskly busy as a child at play at keeping house.  'And there's the
+old knuckle of ham; and there's the butter; and there's the crusty
+loaf, and all!  Here's the clothes-basket for the small parcels,
+John, if you've got any there--where are you, John?'
+
+'Don't let the dear child fall under the grate, Tilly, whatever you
+do!'
+
+It may be noted of Miss Slowboy, in spite of her rejecting the
+caution with some vivacity, that she had a rare and surprising
+talent for getting this baby into difficulties and had several
+times imperilled its short life, in a quiet way peculiarly her own.
+She was of a spare and straight shape, this young lady, insomuch
+that her garments appeared to be in constant danger of sliding off
+those sharp pegs, her shoulders, on which they were loosely hung.
+Her costume was remarkable for the partial development, on all
+possible occasions, of some flannel vestment of a singular
+structure; also for affording glimpses, in the region of the back,
+of a corset, or pair of stays, in colour a dead-green.  Being
+always in a state of gaping admiration at everything, and absorbed,
+besides, in the perpetual contemplation of her mistress's
+perfections and the baby's, Miss Slowboy, in her little errors of
+judgment, may be said to have done equal honour to her head and to
+her heart; and though these did less honour to the baby's head,
+which they were the occasional means of bringing into contact with
+deal doors, dressers, stair-rails, bed-posts, and other foreign
+substances, still they were the honest results of Tilly Slowboy's
+constant astonishment at finding herself so kindly treated, and
+installed in such a comfortable home.  For, the maternal and
+paternal Slowboy were alike unknown to Fame, and Tilly had been
+bred by public charity, a foundling; which word, though only
+differing from fondling by one vowel's length, is very different in
+meaning, and expresses quite another thing.
+
+To have seen little Mrs. Peerybingle come back with her husband,
+tugging at the clothes-basket, and making the most strenuous
+exertions to do nothing at all (for he carried it), would have
+amused you almost as much as it amused him.  It may have
+entertained the Cricket too, for anything I know; but, certainly,
+it now began to chirp again, vehemently.
+
+'Heyday!' said John, in his slow way.  'It's merrier than ever, to-
+night, I think.'
+
+'And it's sure to bring us good fortune, John!  It always has done
+so.  To have a Cricket on the Hearth, is the luckiest thing in all
+the world!'
+
+John looked at her as if he had very nearly got the thought into
+his head, that she was his Cricket in chief, and he quite agreed
+with her.  But, it was probably one of his narrow escapes, for he
+said nothing.
+
+'The first time I heard its cheerful little note, John, was on that
+night when you brought me home--when you brought me to my new home
+here; its little mistress.  Nearly a year ago.  You recollect,
+John?'
+
+O yes.  John remembered.  I should think so!
+
+'Its chirp was such a welcome to me!  It seemed so full of promise
+and encouragement.  It seemed to say, you would be kind and gentle
+with me, and would not expect (I had a fear of that, John, then) to
+find an old head on the shoulders of your foolish little wife.'
+
+John thoughtfully patted one of the shoulders, and then the head,
+as though he would have said No, no; he had had no such
+expectation; he had been quite content to take them as they were.
+And really he had reason.  They were very comely.
+
+'It spoke the truth, John, when it seemed to say so; for you have
+ever been, I am sure, the best, the most considerate, the most
+affectionate of husbands to me.  This has been a happy home, John;
+and I love the Cricket for its sake!'
+
+'Why so do I then,' said the Carrier.  'So do I, Dot.'
+
+'I love it for the many times I have heard it, and the many
+thoughts its harmless music has given me.  Sometimes, in the
+twilight, when I have felt a little solitary and down-hearted,
+John--before baby was here to keep me company and make the house
+gay--when I have thought how lonely you would be if I should die;
+how lonely I should be if I could know that you had lost me, dear;
+its Chirp, Chirp, Chirp upon the hearth, has seemed to tell me of
+another little voice, so sweet, so very dear to me, before whose
+coming sound my trouble vanished like a dream.  And when I used to
+fear--I did fear once, John, I was very young you know--that ours
+might prove to be an ill-assorted marriage, I being such a child,
+and you more like my guardian than my husband; and that you might
+not, however hard you tried, be able to learn to love me, as you
+hoped and prayed you might; its Chirp, Chirp, Chirp has cheered me
+up again, and filled me with new trust and confidence.  I was
+thinking of these things to-night, dear, when I sat expecting you;
+and I love the Cricket for their sake!'
+
+'And so do I,' repeated John.  'But, Dot?  _I_ hope and pray that I
+might learn to love you?  How you talk!  I had learnt that, long
+before I brought you here, to be the Cricket's little mistress,
+Dot!'
+
+She laid her hand, an instant, on his arm, and looked up at him
+with an agitated face, as if she would have told him something.
+Next moment she was down upon her knees before the basket, speaking
+in a sprightly voice, and busy with the parcels.
+
+'There are not many of them to-night, John, but I saw some goods
+behind the cart, just now; and though they give more trouble,
+perhaps, still they pay as well; so we have no reason to grumble,
+have we?  Besides, you have been delivering, I dare say, as you
+came along?'
+
+'Oh yes,' John said.  'A good many.'
+
+'Why what's this round box?  Heart alive, John, it's a wedding-
+cake!'
+
+'Leave a woman alone to find out that,' said John, admiringly.
+'Now a man would never have thought of it.  Whereas, it's my belief
+that if you was to pack a wedding-cake up in a tea-chest, or a
+turn-up bedstead, or a pickled salmon keg, or any unlikely thing, a
+woman would be sure to find it out directly.  Yes; I called for it
+at the pastry-cook's.'
+
+'And it weighs I don't know what--whole hundredweights!' cried Dot,
+making a great demonstration of trying to lift it.
+
+'Whose is it, John?  Where is it going?'
+
+'Read the writing on the other side,' said John.
+
+'Why, John!  My Goodness, John!'
+
+'Ah! who'd have thought it!' John returned.
+
+'You never mean to say,' pursued Dot, sitting on the floor and
+shaking her head at him, 'that it's Gruff and Tackleton the
+toymaker!'
+
+John nodded.
+
+Mrs. Peerybingle nodded also, fifty times at least.  Not in assent-
+-in dumb and pitying amazement; screwing up her lips the while with
+all their little force (they were never made for screwing up; I am
+clear of that), and looking the good Carrier through and through,
+in her abstraction.  Miss Slowboy, in the mean time, who had a
+mechanical power of reproducing scraps of current conversation for
+the delectation of the baby, with all the sense struck out of them,
+and all the nouns changed into the plural number, inquired aloud of
+that young creature, Was it Gruffs and Tackletons the toymakers
+then, and Would it call at Pastry-cooks for wedding-cakes, and Did
+its mothers know the boxes when its fathers brought them homes; and
+so on.
+
+'And that is really to come about!' said Dot.  'Why, she and I were
+girls at school together, John.'
+
+He might have been thinking of her, or nearly thinking of her,
+perhaps, as she was in that same school time.  He looked upon her
+with a thoughtful pleasure, but he made no answer.
+
+'And he's as old!  As unlike her!--Why, how many years older than
+you, is Gruff and Tackleton, John?'
+
+'How many more cups of tea shall I drink to-night at one sitting,
+than Gruff and Tackleton ever took in four, I wonder!' replied
+John, good-humouredly, as he drew a chair to the round table, and
+began at the cold ham.  'As to eating, I eat but little; but that
+little I enjoy, Dot.'
+
+Even this, his usual sentiment at meal times, one of his innocent
+delusions (for his appetite was always obstinate, and flatly
+contradicted him), awoke no smile in the face of his little wife,
+who stood among the parcels, pushing the cake-box slowly from her
+with her foot, and never once looked, though her eyes were cast
+down too, upon the dainty shoe she generally was so mindful of.
+Absorbed in thought, she stood there, heedless alike of the tea and
+John (although he called to her, and rapped the table with his
+knife to startle her), until he rose and touched her on the arm;
+when she looked at him for a moment, and hurried to her place
+behind the teaboard, laughing at her negligence.  But, not as she
+had laughed before.  The manner and the music were quite changed.
+
+The Cricket, too, had stopped.  Somehow the room was not so
+cheerful as it had been.  Nothing like it.
+
+'So, these are all the parcels, are they, John?' she said, breaking
+a long silence, which the honest Carrier had devoted to the
+practical illustration of one part of his favourite sentiment--
+certainly enjoying what he ate, if it couldn't be admitted that he
+ate but little.  'So, these are all the parcels; are they, John?'
+
+'That's all,' said John.  'Why--no--I--' laying down his knife and
+fork, and taking a long breath.  'I declare--I've clean forgotten
+the old gentleman!'
+
+'The old gentleman?'
+
+'In the cart,' said John.  'He was asleep, among the straw, the
+last time I saw him.  I've very nearly remembered him, twice, since
+I came in; but he went out of my head again.  Holloa!  Yahip there!
+Rouse up!  That's my hearty!'
+
+John said these latter words outside the door, whither he had
+hurried with the candle in his hand.
+
+Miss Slowboy, conscious of some mysterious reference to The Old
+Gentleman, and connecting in her mystified imagination certain
+associations of a religious nature with the phrase, was so
+disturbed, that hastily rising from the low chair by the fire to
+seek protection near the skirts of her mistress, and coming into
+contact as she crossed the doorway with an ancient Stranger, she
+instinctively made a charge or butt at him with the only offensive
+instrument within her reach.  This instrument happening to be the
+baby, great commotion and alarm ensued, which the sagacity of Boxer
+rather tended to increase; for, that good dog, more thoughtful than
+its master, had, it seemed, been watching the old gentleman in his
+sleep, lest he should walk off with a few young poplar trees that
+were tied up behind the cart; and he still attended on him very
+closely, worrying his gaiters in fact, and making dead sets at the
+buttons.
+
+'You're such an undeniable good sleeper, sir,' said John, when
+tranquillity was restored; in the mean time the old gentleman had
+stood, bareheaded and motionless, in the centre of the room; 'that
+I have half a mind to ask you where the other six are--only that
+would be a joke, and I know I should spoil it.  Very near though,'
+murmured the Carrier, with a chuckle; 'very near!'
+
+The Stranger, who had long white hair, good features, singularly
+bold and well defined for an old man, and dark, bright, penetrating
+eyes, looked round with a smile, and saluted the Carrier's wife by
+gravely inclining his head.
+
+His garb was very quaint and odd--a long, long way behind the time.
+Its hue was brown, all over.  In his hand he held a great brown
+club or walking-stick; and striking this upon the floor, it fell
+asunder, and became a chair.  On which he sat down, quite
+composedly.
+
+'There!' said the Carrier, turning to his wife.  'That's the way I
+found him, sitting by the roadside!  Upright as a milestone.  And
+almost as deaf.'
+
+'Sitting in the open air, John!'
+
+'In the open air,' replied the Carrier, 'just at dusk.  "Carriage
+Paid," he said; and gave me eighteenpence.  Then he got in.  And
+there he is.'
+
+'He's going, John, I think!'
+
+Not at all.  He was only going to speak.
+
+'If you please, I was to be left till called for,' said the
+Stranger, mildly.  'Don't mind me.'
+
+With that, he took a pair of spectacles from one of his large
+pockets, and a book from another, and leisurely began to read.
+Making no more of Boxer than if he had been a house lamb!
+
+The Carrier and his wife exchanged a look of perplexity.  The
+Stranger raised his head; and glancing from the latter to the
+former, said,
+
+'Your daughter, my good friend?'
+
+'Wife,' returned John.
+
+'Niece?' said the Stranger.
+
+'Wife,' roared John.
+
+'Indeed?' observed the Stranger.  'Surely?  Very young!'
+
+He quietly turned over, and resumed his reading.  But, before he
+could have read two lines, he again interrupted himself to say:
+
+'Baby, yours?'
+
+John gave him a gigantic nod; equivalent to an answer in the
+affirmative, delivered through a speaking trumpet.
+
+'Girl?'
+
+'Bo-o-oy!' roared John.
+
+'Also very young, eh?'
+
+Mrs. Peerybingle instantly struck in.  'Two months and three da-
+ays!  Vaccinated just six weeks ago-o!  Took very fine-ly!
+Considered, by the doctor, a remarkably beautiful chi-ild!  Equal
+to the general run of children at five months o-old!  Takes notice,
+in a way quite wonderful!  May seem impossible to you, but feels
+his legs al-ready!'
+
+Here the breathless little mother, who had been shrieking these
+short sentences into the old man's ear, until her pretty face was
+crimsoned, held up the Baby before him as a stubborn and triumphant
+fact; while Tilly Slowboy, with a melodious cry of 'Ketcher,
+Ketcher'--which sounded like some unknown words, adapted to a
+popular Sneeze--performed some cow-like gambols round that all
+unconscious Innocent.
+
+'Hark!  He's called for, sure enough,' said John.  'There's
+somebody at the door.  Open it, Tilly.'
+
+Before she could reach it, however, it was opened from without;
+being a primitive sort of door, with a latch, that any one could
+lift if he chose--and a good many people did choose, for all kinds
+of neighbours liked to have a cheerful word or two with the
+Carrier, though he was no great talker himself.  Being opened, it
+gave admission to a little, meagre, thoughtful, dingy-faced man,
+who seemed to have made himself a great-coat from the sack-cloth
+covering of some old box; for, when he turned to shut the door, and
+keep the weather out, he disclosed upon the back of that garment,
+the inscription G & T in large black capitals.  Also the word GLASS
+in bold characters.
+
+'Good evening, John!' said the little man.  'Good evening, Mum.
+Good evening, Tilly.  Good evening, Unbeknown!  How's Baby, Mum?
+Boxer's pretty well I hope?'
+
+'All thriving, Caleb,' replied Dot.  'I am sure you need only look
+at the dear child, for one, to know that.'
+
+'And I'm sure I need only look at you for another,' said Caleb.
+
+He didn't look at her though; he had a wandering and thoughtful eye
+which seemed to be always projecting itself into some other time
+and place, no matter what he said; a description which will equally
+apply to his voice.
+
+'Or at John for another,' said Caleb.  'Or at Tilly, as far as that
+goes.  Or certainly at Boxer.'
+
+'Busy just now, Caleb?' asked the Carrier.
+
+'Why, pretty well, John,' he returned, with the distraught air of a
+man who was casting about for the Philosopher's stone, at least.
+'Pretty much so.  There's rather a run on Noah's Arks at present.
+I could have wished to improve upon the Family, but I don't see how
+it's to be done at the price.  It would be a satisfaction to one's
+mind, to make it clearer which was Shems and Hams, and which was
+Wives.  Flies an't on that scale neither, as compared with
+elephants you know!  Ah! well!  Have you got anything in the parcel
+line for me, John?'
+
+The Carrier put his hand into a pocket of the coat he had taken
+off; and brought out, carefully preserved in moss and paper, a tiny
+flower-pot.
+
+'There it is!' he said, adjusting it with great care.  'Not so much
+as a leaf damaged.  Full of buds!'
+
+Caleb's dull eye brightened, as he took it, and thanked him.
+
+'Dear, Caleb,' said the Carrier.  'Very dear at this season.'
+
+'Never mind that.  It would be cheap to me, whatever it cost,'
+returned the little man.  'Anything else, John?'
+
+'A small box,' replied the Carrier.  'Here you are!'
+
+'"For Caleb Plummer,"' said the little man, spelling out the
+direction.  '"With Cash."  With Cash, John?  I don't think it's for
+me.'
+
+'With Care,' returned the Carrier, looking over his shoulder.
+'Where do you make out cash?'
+
+'Oh!  To be sure!' said Caleb.  'It's all right.  With care!  Yes,
+yes; that's mine.  It might have been with cash, indeed, if my dear
+Boy in the Golden South Americas had lived, John.  You loved him
+like a son; didn't you?  You needn't say you did.  _I_ know, of
+course.  "Caleb Plummer.  With care."  Yes, yes, it's all right.
+It's a box of dolls' eyes for my daughter's work.  I wish it was
+her own sight in a box, John.'
+
+'I wish it was, or could be!' cried the Carrier.
+
+'Thank'ee,' said the little man.  'You speak very hearty.  To think
+that she should never see the Dolls--and them a-staring at her, so
+bold, all day long!  That's where it cuts.  What's the damage,
+John?'
+
+'I'll damage you,' said John, 'if you inquire.  Dot!  Very near?'
+
+'Well! it's like you to say so,' observed the little man.  'It's
+your kind way.  Let me see.  I think that's all.'
+
+'I think not,' said the Carrier.  'Try again.'
+
+'Something for our Governor, eh?' said Caleb, after pondering a
+little while.  'To be sure.  That's what I came for; but my head's
+so running on them Arks and things!  He hasn't been here, has he?'
+
+'Not he,' returned the Carrier.  'He's too busy, courting.'
+
+'He's coming round though,' said Caleb; 'for he told me to keep on
+the near side of the road going home, and it was ten to one he'd
+take me up.  I had better go, by the bye.--You couldn't have the
+goodness to let me pinch Boxer's tail, Mum, for half a moment,
+could you?'
+
+'Why, Caleb! what a question!'
+
+'Oh never mind, Mum,' said the little man.  'He mightn't like it
+perhaps.  There's a small order just come in, for barking dogs; and
+I should wish to go as close to Natur' as I could, for sixpence.
+That's all.  Never mind, Mum.'
+
+It happened opportunely, that Boxer, without receiving the proposed
+stimulus, began to bark with great zeal.  But, as this implied the
+approach of some new visitor, Caleb, postponing his study from the
+life to a more convenient season, shouldered the round box, and
+took a hurried leave.  He might have spared himself the trouble,
+for he met the visitor upon the threshold.
+
+'Oh!  You are here, are you?  Wait a bit.  I'll take you home.
+John Peerybingle, my service to you.  More of my service to your
+pretty wife.  Handsomer every day!  Better too, if possible!  And
+younger,' mused the speaker, in a low voice; 'that's the Devil of
+it!'
+
+'I should be astonished at your paying compliments, Mr. Tackleton,'
+said Dot, not with the best grace in the world; 'but for your
+condition.'
+
+'You know all about it then?'
+
+'I have got myself to believe it, somehow,' said Dot.
+
+'After a hard struggle, I suppose?'
+
+'Very.'
+
+Tackleton the Toy-merchant, pretty generally known as Gruff and
+Tackleton--for that was the firm, though Gruff had been bought out
+long ago; only leaving his name, and as some said his nature,
+according to its Dictionary meaning, in the business--Tackleton the
+Toy-merchant, was a man whose vocation had been quite misunderstood
+by his Parents and Guardians.  If they had made him a Money Lender,
+or a sharp Attorney, or a Sheriff's Officer, or a Broker, he might
+have sown his discontented oats in his youth, and, after having had
+the full run of himself in ill-natured transactions, might have
+turned out amiable, at last, for the sake of a little freshness and
+novelty.  But, cramped and chafing in the peaceable pursuit of toy-
+making, he was a domestic Ogre, who had been living on children all
+his life, and was their implacable enemy.  He despised all toys;
+wouldn't have bought one for the world; delighted, in his malice,
+to insinuate grim expressions into the faces of brown-paper farmers
+who drove pigs to market, bellmen who advertised lost lawyers'
+consciences, movable old ladies who darned stockings or carved
+pies; and other like samples of his stock in trade.  In appalling
+masks; hideous, hairy, red-eyed Jacks in Boxes; Vampire Kites;
+demoniacal Tumblers who wouldn't lie down, and were perpetually
+flying forward, to stare infants out of countenance; his soul
+perfectly revelled.  They were his only relief, and safety-valve.
+He was great in such inventions.  Anything suggestive of a Pony-
+nightmare was delicious to him.  He had even lost money (and he
+took to that toy very kindly) by getting up Goblin slides for
+magic-lanterns, whereon the Powers of Darkness were depicted as a
+sort of supernatural shell-fish, with human faces.  In intensifying
+the portraiture of Giants, he had sunk quite a little capital; and,
+though no painter himself, he could indicate, for the instruction
+of his artists, with a piece of chalk, a certain furtive leer for
+the countenances of those monsters, which was safe to destroy the
+peace of mind of any young gentleman between the ages of six and
+eleven, for the whole Christmas or Midsummer Vacation.
+
+What he was in toys, he was (as most men are) in other things.  You
+may easily suppose, therefore, that within the great green cape,
+which reached down to the calves of his legs, there was buttoned up
+to the chin an uncommonly pleasant fellow; and that he was about as
+choice a spirit, and as agreeable a companion, as ever stood in a
+pair of bull-headed-looking boots with mahogany-coloured tops.
+
+Still, Tackleton, the toy-merchant, was going to be married.  In
+spite of all this, he was going to be married.  And to a young wife
+too, a beautiful young wife.
+
+He didn't look much like a bridegroom, as he stood in the Carrier's
+kitchen, with a twist in his dry face, and a screw in his body, and
+his hat jerked over the bridge of his nose, and his hands tucked
+down into the bottoms of his pockets, and his whole sarcastic ill-
+conditioned self peering out of one little corner of one little
+eye, like the concentrated essence of any number of ravens.  But, a
+Bridegroom he designed to be.
+
+'In three days' time.  Next Thursday.  The last day of the first
+month in the year.  That's my wedding-day,' said Tackleton.
+
+Did I mention that he had always one eye wide open, and one eye
+nearly shut; and that the one eye nearly shut, was always the
+expressive eye?  I don't think I did.
+
+'That's my wedding-day!' said Tackleton, rattling his money.
+
+'Why, it's our wedding-day too,' exclaimed the Carrier.
+
+'Ha ha!' laughed Tackleton.  'Odd!  You're just such another
+couple.  Just!'
+
+The indignation of Dot at this presumptuous assertion is not to be
+described.  What next?  His imagination would compass the
+possibility of just such another Baby, perhaps.  The man was mad.
+
+'I say!  A word with you,' murmured Tackleton, nudging the Carrier
+with his elbow, and taking him a little apart.  'You'll come to the
+wedding?  We're in the same boat, you know.'
+
+'How in the same boat?' inquired the Carrier.
+
+'A little disparity, you know,' said Tackleton, with another nudge.
+'Come and spend an evening with us, beforehand.'
+
+'Why?' demanded John, astonished at this pressing hospitality.
+
+'Why?' returned the other.  'That's a new way of receiving an
+invitation.  Why, for pleasure--sociability, you know, and all
+that!'
+
+'I thought you were never sociable,' said John, in his plain way.
+
+'Tchah!  It's of no use to be anything but free with you, I see,'
+said Tackleton.  'Why, then, the truth is you have a--what tea-
+drinking people call a sort of a comfortable appearance together,
+you and your wife.  We know better, you know, but--'
+
+'No, we don't know better,' interposed John.  'What are you talking
+about?'
+
+'Well!  We DON'T know better, then,' said Tackleton.  'We'll agree
+that we don't.  As you like; what does it matter?  I was going to
+say, as you have that sort of appearance, your company will produce
+a favourable effect on Mrs. Tackleton that will be.  And, though I
+don't think your good lady's very friendly to me, in this matter,
+still she can't help herself from falling into my views, for
+there's a compactness and cosiness of appearance about her that
+always tells, even in an indifferent case.  You'll say you'll
+come?'
+
+'We have arranged to keep our Wedding-Day (as far as that goes) at
+home,' said John.  'We have made the promise to ourselves these six
+months.  We think, you see, that home--'
+
+'Bah! what's home?' cried Tackleton.  'Four walls and a ceiling!
+(why don't you kill that Cricket?  _I_ would!  I always do.  I hate
+their noise.)  There are four walls and a ceiling at my house.
+Come to me!'
+
+'You kill your Crickets, eh?' said John.
+
+'Scrunch 'em, sir,' returned the other, setting his heel heavily on
+the floor.  'You'll say you'll come? it's as much your interest as
+mine, you know, that the women should persuade each other that
+they're quiet and contented, and couldn't be better off.  I know
+their way.  Whatever one woman says, another woman is determined to
+clinch, always.  There's that spirit of emulation among 'em, sir,
+that if your wife says to my wife, "I'm the happiest woman in the
+world, and mine's the best husband in the world, and I dote on
+him," my wife will say the same to yours, or more, and half believe
+it.'
+
+'Do you mean to say she don't, then?' asked the Carrier.
+
+'Don't!' cried Tackleton, with a short, sharp laugh.  'Don't what?'
+
+The Carrier had some faint idea of adding, 'dote upon you.'  But,
+happening to meet the half-closed eye, as it twinkled upon him over
+the turned-up collar of the cape, which was within an ace of poking
+it out, he felt it such an unlikely part and parcel of anything to
+be doted on, that he substituted, 'that she don't believe it?'
+
+'Ah you dog!  You're joking,' said Tackleton.
+
+But the Carrier, though slow to understand the full drift of his
+meaning, eyed him in such a serious manner, that he was obliged to
+be a little more explanatory.
+
+'I have the humour,' said Tackleton:  holding up the fingers of his
+left hand, and tapping the forefinger, to imply 'there I am,
+Tackleton to wit:' 'I have the humour, sir, to marry a young wife,
+and a pretty wife:' here he rapped his little finger, to express
+the Bride; not sparingly, but sharply; with a sense of power.  'I'm
+able to gratify that humour and I do.  It's my whim.  But--now look
+there!'
+
+He pointed to where Dot was sitting, thoughtfully, before the fire;
+leaning her dimpled chin upon her hand, and watching the bright
+blaze.  The Carrier looked at her, and then at him, and then at
+her, and then at him again.
+
+'She honours and obeys, no doubt, you know,' said Tackleton; 'and
+that, as I am not a man of sentiment, is quite enough for ME.  But
+do you think there's anything more in it?'
+
+'I think,' observed the Carrier, 'that I should chuck any man out
+of window, who said there wasn't.'
+
+'Exactly so,' returned the other with an unusual alacrity of
+assent.  'To be sure!  Doubtless you would.  Of course.  I'm
+certain of it.  Good night.  Pleasant dreams!'
+
+The Carrier was puzzled, and made uncomfortable and uncertain, in
+spite of himself.  He couldn't help showing it, in his manner.
+
+'Good night, my dear friend!' said Tackleton, compassionately.
+'I'm off.  We're exactly alike, in reality, I see.  You won't give
+us to-morrow evening?  Well!  Next day you go out visiting, I know.
+I'll meet you there, and bring my wife that is to be.  It'll do her
+good.  You're agreeable?  Thank'ee.  What's that!'
+
+It was a loud cry from the Carrier's wife:  a loud, sharp, sudden
+cry, that made the room ring, like a glass vessel.  She had risen
+from her seat, and stood like one transfixed by terror and
+surprise.  The Stranger had advanced towards the fire to warm
+himself, and stood within a short stride of her chair.  But quite
+still.
+
+'Dot!' cried the Carrier.  'Mary!  Darling!  What's the matter?'
+
+They were all about her in a moment.  Caleb, who had been dozing on
+the cake-box, in the first imperfect recovery of his suspended
+presence of mind, seized Miss Slowboy by the hair of her head, but
+immediately apologised.
+
+'Mary!' exclaimed the Carrier, supporting her in his arms.  'Are
+you ill!  What is it?  Tell me, dear!'
+
+She only answered by beating her hands together, and falling into a
+wild fit of laughter.  Then, sinking from his grasp upon the
+ground, she covered her face with her apron, and wept bitterly.
+And then she laughed again, and then she cried again, and then she
+said how cold it was, and suffered him to lead her to the fire,
+where she sat down as before.  The old man standing, as before,
+quite still.
+
+'I'm better, John,' she said.  'I'm quite well now--I -'
+
+'John!'  But John was on the other side of her.  Why turn her face
+towards the strange old gentleman, as if addressing him!  Was her
+brain wandering?
+
+'Only a fancy, John dear--a kind of shock--a something coming
+suddenly before my eyes--I don't know what it was.  It's quite
+gone, quite gone.'
+
+'I'm glad it's gone,' muttered Tackleton, turning the expressive
+eye all round the room.  'I wonder where it's gone, and what it
+was.  Humph!  Caleb, come here!  Who's that with the grey hair?'
+
+'I don't know, sir,' returned Caleb in a whisper.  'Never see him
+before, in all my life.  A beautiful figure for a nut-cracker;
+quite a new model.  With a screw-jaw opening down into his
+waistcoat, he'd be lovely.'
+
+'Not ugly enough,' said Tackleton.
+
+'Or for a firebox, either,' observed Caleb, in deep contemplation,
+'what a model!  Unscrew his head to put the matches in; turn him
+heels up'ards for the light; and what a firebox for a gentleman's
+mantel-shelf, just as he stands!'
+
+'Not half ugly enough,' said Tackleton.  'Nothing in him at all!
+Come!  Bring that box!  All right now, I hope?'
+
+'Quite gone!' said the little woman, waving him hurriedly away.
+'Good night!'
+
+'Good night,' said Tackleton.  'Good night, John Peerybingle!  Take
+care how you carry that box, Caleb.  Let it fall, and I'll murder
+you!  Dark as pitch, and weather worse than ever, eh?  Good night!'
+
+So, with another sharp look round the room, he went out at the
+door; followed by Caleb with the wedding-cake on his head.
+
+The Carrier had been so much astounded by his little wife, and so
+busily engaged in soothing and tending her, that he had scarcely
+been conscious of the Stranger's presence, until now, when he again
+stood there, their only guest.
+
+'He don't belong to them, you see,' said John.  'I must give him a
+hint to go.'
+
+'I beg your pardon, friend,' said the old gentleman, advancing to
+him; 'the more so, as I fear your wife has not been well; but the
+Attendant whom my infirmity,' he touched his ears and shook his
+head, 'renders almost indispensable, not having arrived, I fear
+there must be some mistake.  The bad night which made the shelter
+of your comfortable cart (may I never have a worse!) so acceptable,
+is still as bad as ever.  Would you, in your kindness, suffer me to
+rent a bed here?'
+
+'Yes, yes,' cried Dot.  'Yes!  Certainly!'
+
+'Oh!' said the Carrier, surprised by the rapidity of this consent.
+
+'Well!  I don't object; but, still I'm not quite sure that--'
+
+'Hush!' she interrupted.  'Dear John!'
+
+'Why, he's stone deaf,' urged John.
+
+'I know he is, but--Yes, sir, certainly.  Yes! certainly!  I'll
+make him up a bed, directly, John.'
+
+As she hurried off to do it, the flutter of her spirits, and the
+agitation of her manner, were so strange that the Carrier stood
+looking after her, quite confounded.
+
+'Did its mothers make it up a Beds then!' cried Miss Slowboy to the
+Baby; 'and did its hair grow brown and curly, when its caps was
+lifted off, and frighten it, a precious Pets, a-sitting by the
+fires!'
+
+With that unaccountable attraction of the mind to trifles, which is
+often incidental to a state of doubt and confusion, the Carrier as
+he walked slowly to and fro, found himself mentally repeating even
+these absurd words, many times.  So many times that he got them by
+heart, and was still conning them over and over, like a lesson,
+when Tilly, after administering as much friction to the little bald
+head with her hand as she thought wholesome (according to the
+practice of nurses), had once more tied the Baby's cap on.
+
+'And frighten it, a precious Pets, a-sitting by the fires.  What
+frightened Dot, I wonder!' mused the Carrier, pacing to and fro.
+
+He scouted, from his heart, the insinuations of the Toy-merchant,
+and yet they filled him with a vague, indefinite uneasiness.  For,
+Tackleton was quick and sly; and he had that painful sense,
+himself, of being of slow perception, that a broken hint was always
+worrying to him.  He certainly had no intention in his mind of
+linking anything that Tackleton had said, with the unusual conduct
+of his wife, but the two subjects of reflection came into his mind
+together, and he could not keep them asunder.
+
+The bed was soon made ready; and the visitor, declining all
+refreshment but a cup of tea, retired.  Then, Dot--quite well
+again, she said, quite well again--arranged the great chair in the
+chimney-corner for her husband; filled his pipe and gave it him;
+and took her usual little stool beside him on the hearth.
+
+She always WOULD sit on that little stool.  I think she must have
+had a kind of notion that it was a coaxing, wheedling little stool.
+
+She was, out and out, the very best filler of a pipe, I should say,
+in the four quarters of the globe.  To see her put that chubby
+little finger in the bowl, and then blow down the pipe to clear the
+tube, and, when she had done so, affect to think that there was
+really something in the tube, and blow a dozen times, and hold it
+to her eye like a telescope, with a most provoking twist in her
+capital little face, as she looked down it, was quite a brilliant
+thing.  As to the tobacco, she was perfect mistress of the subject;
+and her lighting of the pipe, with a wisp of paper, when the
+Carrier had it in his mouth--going so very near his nose, and yet
+not scorching it--was Art, high Art.
+
+And the Cricket and the kettle, turning up again, acknowledged it!
+The bright fire, blazing up again, acknowledged it!  The little
+Mower on the clock, in his unheeded work, acknowledged it!  The
+Carrier, in his smoothing forehead and expanding face, acknowledged
+it, the readiest of all.
+
+And as he soberly and thoughtfully puffed at his old pipe, and as
+the Dutch clock ticked, and as the red fire gleamed, and as the
+Cricket chirped; that Genius of his Hearth and Home (for such the
+Cricket was) came out, in fairy shape, into the room, and summoned
+many forms of Home about him.  Dots of all ages, and all sizes,
+filled the chamber.  Dots who were merry children, running on
+before him gathering flowers, in the fields; coy Dots, half
+shrinking from, half yielding to, the pleading of his own rough
+image; newly-married Dots, alighting at the door, and taking
+wondering possession of the household keys; motherly little Dots,
+attended by fictitious Slowboys, bearing babies to be christened;
+matronly Dots, still young and blooming, watching Dots of
+daughters, as they danced at rustic balls; fat Dots, encircled and
+beset by troops of rosy grandchildren; withered Dots, who leaned on
+sticks, and tottered as they crept along.  Old Carriers too,
+appeared, with blind old Boxers lying at their feet; and newer
+carts with younger drivers ('Peerybingle Brothers' on the tilt);
+and sick old Carriers, tended by the gentlest hands; and graves of
+dead and gone old Carriers, green in the churchyard.  And as the
+Cricket showed him all these things--he saw them plainly, though
+his eyes were fixed upon the fire--the Carrier's heart grew light
+and happy, and he thanked his Household Gods with all his might,
+and cared no more for Gruff and Tackleton than you do.
+
+
+But, what was that young figure of a man, which the same Fairy
+Cricket set so near Her stool, and which remained there, singly and
+alone?  Why did it linger still, so near her, with its arm upon the
+chimney-piece, ever repeating 'Married! and not to me!'
+
+O Dot!  O failing Dot!  There is no place for it in all your
+husband's visions; why has its shadow fallen on his hearth!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II--Chirp The Second
+
+
+
+Caleb Plummer and his Blind Daughter lived all alone by themselves,
+as the Story-books say--and my blessing, with yours to back it I
+hope, on the Story-books, for saying anything in this workaday
+world!--Caleb Plummer and his Blind Daughter lived all alone by
+themselves, in a little cracked nutshell of a wooden house, which
+was, in truth, no better than a pimple on the prominent red-brick
+nose of Gruff and Tackleton.  The premises of Gruff and Tackleton
+were the great feature of the street; but you might have knocked
+down Caleb Plummer's dwelling with a hammer or two, and carried off
+the pieces in a cart.
+
+If any one had done the dwelling-house of Caleb Plummer the honour
+to miss it after such an inroad, it would have been, no doubt, to
+commend its demolition as a vast improvement.  It stuck to the
+premises of Gruff and Tackleton, like a barnacle to a ship's keel,
+or a snail to a door, or a little bunch of toadstools to the stem
+of a tree.
+
+But, it was the germ from which the full-grown trunk of Gruff and
+Tackleton had sprung; and, under its crazy roof, the Gruff before
+last, had, in a small way, made toys for a generation of old boys
+and girls, who had played with them, and found them out, and broken
+them, and gone to sleep.
+
+I have said that Caleb and his poor Blind Daughter lived here.  I
+should have said that Caleb lived here, and his poor Blind Daughter
+somewhere else--in an enchanted home of Caleb's furnishing, where
+scarcity and shabbiness were not, and trouble never entered.  Caleb
+was no sorcerer, but in the only magic art that still remains to
+us, the magic of devoted, deathless love, Nature had been the
+mistress of his study; and from her teaching, all the wonder came.
+
+The Blind Girl never knew that ceilings were discoloured, walls
+blotched and bare of plaster here and there, high crevices
+unstopped and widening every day, beams mouldering and tending
+downward.  The Blind Girl never knew that iron was rusting, wood
+rotting, paper peeling off; the size, and shape, and true
+proportion of the dwelling, withering away.  The Blind Girl never
+knew that ugly shapes of delf and earthenware were on the board;
+that sorrow and faintheartedness were in the house; that Caleb's
+scanty hairs were turning greyer and more grey, before her
+sightless face.  The Blind Girl never knew they had a master, cold,
+exacting, and uninterested--never knew that Tackleton was Tackleton
+in short; but lived in the belief of an eccentric humourist who
+loved to have his jest with them, and who, while he was the
+Guardian Angel of their lives, disdained to hear one word of
+thankfulness.
+
+And all was Caleb's doing; all the doing of her simple father!  But
+he too had a Cricket on his Hearth; and listening sadly to its
+music when the motherless Blind Child was very young, that Spirit
+had inspired him with the thought that even her great deprivation
+might be almost changed into a blessing, and the girl made happy by
+these little means.  For all the Cricket tribe are potent Spirits,
+even though the people who hold converse with them do not know it
+(which is frequently the case); and there are not in the unseen
+world, voices more gentle and more true, that may be so implicitly
+relied on, or that are so certain to give none but tenderest
+counsel, as the Voices in which the Spirits of the Fireside and the
+Hearth address themselves to human kind.
+
+Caleb and his daughter were at work together in their usual
+working-room, which served them for their ordinary living-room as
+well; and a strange place it was.  There were houses in it,
+finished and unfinished, for Dolls of all stations in life.
+Suburban tenements for Dolls of moderate means; kitchens and single
+apartments for Dolls of the lower classes; capital town residences
+for Dolls of high estate.  Some of these establishments were
+already furnished according to estimate, with a view to the
+convenience of Dolls of limited income; others could be fitted on
+the most expensive scale, at a moment's notice, from whole shelves
+of chairs and tables, sofas, bedsteads, and upholstery.  The
+nobility and gentry, and public in general, for whose accommodation
+these tenements were designed, lay, here and there, in baskets,
+staring straight up at the ceiling; but, in denoting their degrees
+in society, and confining them to their respective stations (which
+experience shows to be lamentably difficult in real life), the
+makers of these Dolls had far improved on Nature, who is often
+froward and perverse; for, they, not resting on such arbitrary
+marks as satin, cotton-print, and bits of rag, had superadded
+striking personal differences which allowed of no mistake.  Thus,
+the Doll-lady of distinction had wax limbs of perfect symmetry; but
+only she and her compeers.  The next grade in the social scale
+being made of leather, and the next of coarse linen stuff.  As to
+the common-people, they had just so many matches out of tinder-
+boxes, for their arms and legs, and there they were--established in
+their sphere at once, beyond the possibility of getting out of it.
+
+There were various other samples of his handicraft, besides Dolls,
+in Caleb Plummer's room.  There were Noah's Arks, in which the
+Birds and Beasts were an uncommonly tight fit, I assure you; though
+they could be crammed in, anyhow, at the roof, and rattled and
+shaken into the smallest compass.  By a bold poetical licence, most
+of these Noah's Arks had knockers on the doors; inconsistent
+appendages, perhaps, as suggestive of morning callers and a
+Postman, yet a pleasant finish to the outside of the building.
+There were scores of melancholy little carts, which, when the
+wheels went round, performed most doleful music.  Many small
+fiddles, drums, and other instruments of torture; no end of cannon,
+shields, swords, spears, and guns.  There were little tumblers in
+red breeches, incessantly swarming up high obstacles of red-tape,
+and coming down, head first, on the other side; and there were
+innumerable old gentlemen of respectable, not to say venerable,
+appearance, insanely flying over horizontal pegs, inserted, for the
+purpose, in their own street doors.  There were beasts of all
+sorts; horses, in particular, of every breed, from the spotted
+barrel on four pegs, with a small tippet for a mane, to the
+thoroughbred rocker on his highest mettle.  As it would have been
+hard to count the dozens upon dozens of grotesque figures that were
+ever ready to commit all sorts of absurdities on the turning of a
+handle, so it would have been no easy task to mention any human
+folly, vice, or weakness, that had not its type, immediate or
+remote, in Caleb Plummer's room.  And not in an exaggerated form,
+for very little handles will move men and women to as strange
+performances, as any Toy was ever made to undertake.
+
+In the midst of all these objects, Caleb and his daughter sat at
+work.  The Blind Girl busy as a Doll's dressmaker; Caleb painting
+and glazing the four-pair front of a desirable family mansion.
+
+The care imprinted in the lines of Caleb's face, and his absorbed
+and dreamy manner, which would have sat well on some alchemist or
+abstruse student, were at first sight an odd contrast to his
+occupation, and the trivialities about him.  But, trivial things,
+invented and pursued for bread, become very serious matters of
+fact; and, apart from this consideration, I am not at all prepared
+to say, myself, that if Caleb had been a Lord Chamberlain, or a
+Member of Parliament, or a lawyer, or even a great speculator, he
+would have dealt in toys one whit less whimsical, while I have a
+very great doubt whether they would have been as harmless.
+
+'So you were out in the rain last night, father, in your beautiful
+new great-coat,' said Caleb's daughter.
+
+'In my beautiful new great-coat,' answered Caleb, glancing towards
+a clothes-line in the room, on which the sack-cloth garment
+previously described, was carefully hung up to dry.
+
+'How glad I am you bought it, father!'
+
+'And of such a tailor, too,' said Caleb.  'Quite a fashionable
+tailor.  It's too good for me.'
+
+The Blind Girl rested from her work, and laughed with delight.
+
+'Too good, father!  What can be too good for you?'
+
+'I'm half-ashamed to wear it though,' said Caleb, watching the
+effect of what he said, upon her brightening face; 'upon my word!
+When I hear the boys and people say behind me, "Hal-loa!  Here's a
+swell!"  I don't know which way to look.  And when the beggar
+wouldn't go away last night; and when I said I was a very common
+man, said "No, your Honour!  Bless your Honour, don't say that!"  I
+was quite ashamed.  I really felt as if I hadn't a right to wear
+it.'
+
+Happy Blind Girl!  How merry she was, in her exultation!
+
+'I see you, father,' she said, clasping her hands, 'as plainly, as
+if I had the eyes I never want when you are with me.  A blue coat--
+'
+
+'Bright blue,' said Caleb.
+
+'Yes, yes!  Bright blue!' exclaimed the girl, turning up her
+radiant face; 'the colour I can just remember in the blessed sky!
+You told me it was blue before!  A bright blue coat--'
+
+'Made loose to the figure,' suggested Caleb.
+
+'Made loose to the figure!' cried the Blind Girl, laughing
+heartily; 'and in it, you, dear father, with your merry eye, your
+smiling face, your free step, and your dark hair--looking so young
+and handsome!'
+
+'Halloa!  Halloa!' said Caleb.  'I shall be vain, presently!'
+
+'I think you are, already,' cried the Blind Girl, pointing at him,
+in her glee.  'I know you, father!  Ha, ha, ha!  I've found you
+out, you see!'
+
+How different the picture in her mind, from Caleb, as he sat
+observing her!  She had spoken of his free step.  She was right in
+that.  For years and years, he had never once crossed that
+threshold at his own slow pace, but with a footfall counterfeited
+for her ear; and never had he, when his heart was heaviest,
+forgotten the light tread that was to render hers so cheerful and
+courageous!
+
+Heaven knows!  But I think Caleb's vague bewilderment of manner may
+have half originated in his having confused himself about himself
+and everything around him, for the love of his Blind Daughter.  How
+could the little man be otherwise than bewildered, after labouring
+for so many years to destroy his own identity, and that of all the
+objects that had any bearing on it!
+
+'There we are,' said Caleb, falling back a pace or two to form the
+better judgment of his work; 'as near the real thing as
+sixpenn'orth of halfpence is to sixpence.  What a pity that the
+whole front of the house opens at once!  If there was only a
+staircase in it, now, and regular doors to the rooms to go in at!
+But that's the worst of my calling, I'm always deluding myself, and
+swindling myself.'
+
+'You are speaking quite softly.  You are not tired, father?'
+
+'Tired!' echoed Caleb, with a great burst of animation, 'what
+should tire me, Bertha?  _I_ was never tired.  What does it mean?'
+
+To give the greater force to his words, he checked himself in an
+involuntary imitation of two half-length stretching and yawning
+figures on the mantel-shelf, who were represented as in one eternal
+state of weariness from the waist upwards; and hummed a fragment of
+a song.  It was a Bacchanalian song, something about a Sparkling
+Bowl.  He sang it with an assumption of a Devil-may-care voice,
+that made his face a thousand times more meagre and more thoughtful
+than ever.
+
+'What!  You're singing, are you?' said Tackleton, putting his head
+in at the door.  'Go it!  _I_ can't sing.'
+
+Nobody would have suspected him of it.  He hadn't what is generally
+termed a singing face, by any means.
+
+'I can't afford to sing,' said Tackleton.  'I'm glad YOU CAN.  I
+hope you can afford to work too.  Hardly time for both, I should
+think?'
+
+'If you could only see him, Bertha, how he's winking at me!'
+whispered Caleb.  'Such a man to joke! you'd think, if you didn't
+know him, he was in earnest--wouldn't you now?'
+
+The Blind Girl smiled and nodded.
+
+'The bird that can sing and won't sing, must be made to sing, they
+say,' grumbled Tackleton.  'What about the owl that can't sing, and
+oughtn't to sing, and will sing; is there anything that HE should
+be made to do?'
+
+'The extent to which he's winking at this moment!' whispered Caleb
+to his daughter.  'O, my gracious!'
+
+'Always merry and light-hearted with us!' cried the smiling Bertha.
+
+'O, you're there, are you?' answered Tackleton.  'Poor Idiot!'
+
+He really did believe she was an Idiot; and he founded the belief,
+I can't say whether consciously or not, upon her being fond of him.
+
+'Well! and being there,--how are you?' said Tackleton, in his
+grudging way.
+
+'Oh! well; quite well.  And as happy as even you can wish me to be.
+As happy as you would make the whole world, if you could!'
+
+'Poor Idiot!' muttered Tackleton.  'No gleam of reason.  Not a
+gleam!'
+
+The Blind Girl took his hand and kissed it; held it for a moment in
+her own two hands; and laid her cheek against it tenderly, before
+releasing it.  There was such unspeakable affection and such
+fervent gratitude in the act, that Tackleton himself was moved to
+say, in a milder growl than usual:
+
+'What's the matter now?'
+
+'I stood it close beside my pillow when I went to sleep last night,
+and remembered it in my dreams.  And when the day broke, and the
+glorious red sun--the RED sun, father?'
+
+'Red in the mornings and the evenings, Bertha,' said poor Caleb,
+with a woeful glance at his employer.
+
+'When it rose, and the bright light I almost fear to strike myself
+against in walking, came into the room, I turned the little tree
+towards it, and blessed Heaven for making things so precious, and
+blessed you for sending them to cheer me!'
+
+'Bedlam broke loose!' said Tackleton under his breath.  'We shall
+arrive at the strait-waistcoat and mufflers soon.  We're getting
+on!'
+
+Caleb, with his hands hooked loosely in each other, stared vacantly
+before him while his daughter spoke, as if he really were uncertain
+(I believe he was) whether Tackleton had done anything to deserve
+her thanks, or not.  If he could have been a perfectly free agent,
+at that moment, required, on pain of death, to kick the Toy-
+merchant, or fall at his feet, according to his merits, I believe
+it would have been an even chance which course he would have taken.
+Yet, Caleb knew that with his own hands he had brought the little
+rose-tree home for her, so carefully, and that with his own lips he
+had forged the innocent deception which should help to keep her
+from suspecting how much, how very much, he every day, denied
+himself, that she might be the happier.
+
+'Bertha!' said Tackleton, assuming, for the nonce, a little
+cordiality.  'Come here.'
+
+'Oh!  I can come straight to you!  You needn't guide me!' she
+rejoined.
+
+'Shall I tell you a secret, Bertha?'
+
+'If you will!' she answered, eagerly.
+
+How bright the darkened face!  How adorned with light, the
+listening head!
+
+'This is the day on which little what's-her-name, the spoilt child,
+Peerybingle's wife, pays her regular visit to you--makes her
+fantastic Pic-Nic here; an't it?' said Tackleton, with a strong
+expression of distaste for the whole concern.
+
+'Yes,' replied Bertha.  'This is the day.'
+
+'I thought so,' said Tackleton.  'I should like to join the party.'
+
+'Do you hear that, father!' cried the Blind Girl in an ecstasy.
+
+'Yes, yes, I hear it,' murmured Caleb, with the fixed look of a
+sleep-walker; 'but I don't believe it.  It's one of my lies, I've
+no doubt.'
+
+'You see I--I want to bring the Peerybingles a little more into
+company with May Fielding,' said Tackleton.  'I am going to be
+married to May.'
+
+'Married!' cried the Blind Girl, starting from him.
+
+'She's such a con-founded Idiot,' muttered Tackleton, 'that I was
+afraid she'd never comprehend me.  Ah, Bertha!  Married!  Church,
+parson, clerk, beadle, glass-coach, bells, breakfast, bride-cake,
+favours, marrow-bones, cleavers, and all the rest of the
+tomfoolery.  A wedding, you know; a wedding.  Don't you know what a
+wedding is?'
+
+'I know,' replied the Blind Girl, in a gentle tone.  'I
+understand!'
+
+'Do you?' muttered Tackleton.  'It's more than I expected.  Well!
+On that account I want to join the party, and to bring May and her
+mother.  I'll send in a little something or other, before the
+afternoon.  A cold leg of mutton, or some comfortable trifle of
+that sort.  You'll expect me?'
+
+'Yes,' she answered.
+
+She had drooped her head, and turned away; and so stood, with her
+hands crossed, musing.
+
+'I don't think you will,' muttered Tackleton, looking at her; 'for
+you seem to have forgotten all about it, already.  Caleb!'
+
+'I may venture to say I'm here, I suppose,' thought Caleb.  'Sir!'
+
+'Take care she don't forget what I've been saying to her.'
+
+'SHE never forgets,' returned Caleb.  'It's one of the few things
+she an't clever in.'
+
+'Every man thinks his own geese swans,' observed the Toy-merchant,
+with a shrug.  'Poor devil!'
+
+Having delivered himself of which remark, with infinite contempt,
+old Gruff and Tackleton withdrew.
+
+Bertha remained where he had left her, lost in meditation.  The
+gaiety had vanished from her downcast face, and it was very sad.
+Three or four times she shook her head, as if bewailing some
+remembrance or some loss; but her sorrowful reflections found no
+vent in words.
+
+It was not until Caleb had been occupied, some time, in yoking a
+team of horses to a waggon by the summary process of nailing the
+harness to the vital parts of their bodies, that she drew near to
+his working-stool, and sitting down beside him, said:
+
+'Father, I am lonely in the dark.  I want my eyes, my patient,
+willing eyes.'
+
+'Here they are,' said Caleb.  'Always ready.  They are more yours
+than mine, Bertha, any hour in the four-and-twenty.  What shall
+your eyes do for you, dear?'
+
+'Look round the room, father.'
+
+'All right,' said Caleb.  'No sooner said than done, Bertha.'
+
+'Tell me about it.'
+
+'It's much the same as usual,' said Caleb.  'Homely, but very snug.
+The gay colours on the walls; the bright flowers on the plates and
+dishes; the shining wood, where there are beams or panels; the
+general cheerfulness and neatness of the building; make it very
+pretty.'
+
+Cheerful and neat it was wherever Bertha's hands could busy
+themselves.  But nowhere else, were cheerfulness and neatness
+possible, in the old crazy shed which Caleb's fancy so transformed.
+
+'You have your working dress on, and are not so gallant as when you
+wear the handsome coat?' said Bertha, touching him.
+
+'Not quite so gallant,' answered Caleb.  'Pretty brisk though.'
+
+'Father,' said the Blind Girl, drawing close to his side, and
+stealing one arm round his neck, 'tell me something about May.  She
+is very fair?'
+
+'She is indeed,' said Caleb.  And she was indeed.  It was quite a
+rare thing to Caleb, not to have to draw on his invention.
+
+'Her hair is dark,' said Bertha, pensively, 'darker than mine.  Her
+voice is sweet and musical, I know.  I have often loved to hear it.
+Her shape--'
+
+'There's not a Doll's in all the room to equal it,' said Caleb.
+'And her eyes!--'
+
+He stopped; for Bertha had drawn closer round his neck, and from
+the arm that clung about him, came a warning pressure which he
+understood too well.
+
+He coughed a moment, hammered for a moment, and then fell back upon
+the song about the sparkling bowl; his infallible resource in all
+such difficulties.
+
+'Our friend, father, our benefactor.  I am never tired, you know,
+of hearing about him.--Now, was I ever?' she said, hastily.
+
+'Of course not,' answered Caleb, 'and with reason.'
+
+'Ah!  With how much reason!' cried the Blind Girl.  With such
+fervency, that Caleb, though his motives were so pure, could not
+endure to meet her face; but dropped his eyes, as if she could have
+read in them his innocent deceit.
+
+'Then, tell me again about him, dear father,' said Bertha.  'Many
+times again!  His face is benevolent, kind, and tender.  Honest and
+true, I am sure it is.  The manly heart that tries to cloak all
+favours with a show of roughness and unwillingness, beats in its
+every look and glance.'
+
+'And makes it noble!' added Caleb, in his quiet desperation.
+
+'And makes it noble!' cried the Blind Girl.  'He is older than May,
+father.'
+
+'Ye-es,' said Caleb, reluctantly.  'He's a little older than May.
+But that don't signify.'
+
+'Oh father, yes!  To be his patient companion in infirmity and age;
+to be his gentle nurse in sickness, and his constant friend in
+suffering and sorrow; to know no weariness in working for his sake;
+to watch him, tend him, sit beside his bed and talk to him awake,
+and pray for him asleep; what privileges these would be!  What
+opportunities for proving all her truth and devotion to him!  Would
+she do all this, dear father?
+
+'No doubt of it,' said Caleb.
+
+'I love her, father; I can love her from my soul!' exclaimed the
+Blind Girl.  And saying so, she laid her poor blind face on Caleb's
+shoulder, and so wept and wept, that he was almost sorry to have
+brought that tearful happiness upon her.
+
+In the mean time, there had been a pretty sharp commotion at John
+Peerybingle's, for little Mrs. Peerybingle naturally couldn't think
+of going anywhere without the Baby; and to get the Baby under weigh
+took time.  Not that there was much of the Baby, speaking of it as
+a thing of weight and measure, but there was a vast deal to do
+about and about it, and it all had to be done by easy stages.  For
+instance, when the Baby was got, by hook and by crook, to a certain
+point of dressing, and you might have rationally supposed that
+another touch or two would finish him off, and turn him out a tip-
+top Baby challenging the world, he was unexpectedly extinguished in
+a flannel cap, and hustled off to bed; where he simmered (so to
+speak) between two blankets for the best part of an hour.  From
+this state of inaction he was then recalled, shining very much and
+roaring violently, to partake of--well?  I would rather say, if
+you'll permit me to speak generally--of a slight repast.  After
+which, he went to sleep again.  Mrs. Peerybingle took advantage of
+this interval, to make herself as smart in a small way as ever you
+saw anybody in all your life; and, during the same short truce,
+Miss Slowboy insinuated herself into a spencer of a fashion so
+surprising and ingenious, that it had no connection with herself,
+or anything else in the universe, but was a shrunken, dog's-eared,
+independent fact, pursuing its lonely course without the least
+regard to anybody.  By this time, the Baby, being all alive again,
+was invested, by the united efforts of Mrs. Peerybingle and Miss
+Slowboy, with a cream-coloured mantle for its body, and a sort of
+nankeen raised-pie for its head; and so in course of time they all
+three got down to the door, where the old horse had already taken
+more than the full value of his day's toll out of the Turnpike
+Trust, by tearing up the road with his impatient autographs; and
+whence Boxer might be dimly seen in the remote perspective,
+standing looking back, and tempting him to come on without orders.
+
+As to a chair, or anything of that kind for helping Mrs.
+Peerybingle into the cart, you know very little of John, if you
+think THAT was necessary.  Before you could have seen him lift her
+from the ground, there she was in her place, fresh and rosy,
+saying, 'John!  How CAN you!  Think of Tilly!'
+
+If I might be allowed to mention a young lady's legs, on any terms,
+I would observe of Miss Slowboy's that there was a fatality about
+them which rendered them singularly liable to be grazed; and that
+she never effected the smallest ascent or descent, without
+recording the circumstance upon them with a notch, as Robinson
+Crusoe marked the days upon his wooden calendar.  But as this might
+be considered ungenteel, I'll think of it.
+
+'John?  You've got the Basket with the Veal and Ham-Pie and things,
+and the bottles of Beer?' said Dot.  'If you haven't, you must turn
+round again, this very minute.'
+
+'You're a nice little article,' returned the Carrier, 'to be
+talking about turning round, after keeping me a full quarter of an
+hour behind my time.'
+
+'I am sorry for it, John,' said Dot in a great bustle, 'but I
+really could not think of going to Bertha's--I would not do it,
+John, on any account--without the Veal and Ham-Pie and things, and
+the bottles of Beer.  Way!'
+
+This monosyllable was addressed to the horse, who didn't mind it at
+all.
+
+'Oh DO way, John!' said Mrs. Peerybingle.  'Please!'
+
+'It'll be time enough to do that,' returned John, 'when I begin to
+leave things behind me.  The basket's here, safe enough.'
+
+'What a hard-hearted monster you must be, John, not to have said
+so, at once, and save me such a turn!  I declared I wouldn't go to
+Bertha's without the Veal and Ham-Pie and things, and the bottles
+of Beer, for any money.  Regularly once a fortnight ever since we
+have been married, John, have we made our little Pic-Nic there.  If
+anything was to go wrong with it, I should almost think we were
+never to be lucky again.'
+
+'It was a kind thought in the first instance,' said the Carrier:
+'and I honour you for it, little woman.'
+
+'My dear John,' replied Dot, turning very red, 'don't talk about
+honouring ME.  Good Gracious!'
+
+'By the bye--' observed the Carrier.  'That old gentleman--'
+
+Again so visibly, and instantly embarrassed!
+
+'He's an odd fish,' said the Carrier, looking straight along the
+road before them.  'I can't make him out.  I don't believe there's
+any harm in him.'
+
+'None at all.  I'm--I'm sure there's none at all.'
+
+'Yes,' said the Carrier, with his eyes attracted to her face by the
+great earnestness of her manner.  'I am glad you feel so certain of
+it, because it's a confirmation to me.  It's curious that he should
+have taken it into his head to ask leave to go on lodging with us;
+an't it?  Things come about so strangely.'
+
+'So very strangely,' she rejoined in a low voice, scarcely audible.
+
+'However, he's a good-natured old gentleman,' said John, 'and pays
+as a gentleman, and I think his word is to be relied upon, like a
+gentleman's.  I had quite a long talk with him this morning:  he
+can hear me better already, he says, as he gets more used to my
+voice.  He told me a great deal about himself, and I told him a
+great deal about myself, and a rare lot of questions he asked me.
+I gave him information about my having two beats, you know, in my
+business; one day to the right from our house and back again;
+another day to the left from our house and back again (for he's a
+stranger and don't know the names of places about here); and he
+seemed quite pleased.  "Why, then I shall be returning home to-
+night your way," he says, "when I thought you'd be coming in an
+exactly opposite direction.  That's capital!  I may trouble you for
+another lift perhaps, but I'll engage not to fall so sound asleep
+again."  He WAS sound asleep, sure-ly!--Dot! what are you thinking
+of?'
+
+'Thinking of, John?  I--I was listening to you.'
+
+'O!  That's all right!' said the honest Carrier.  'I was afraid,
+from the look of your face, that I had gone rambling on so long, as
+to set you thinking about something else.  I was very near it, I'll
+be bound.'
+
+Dot making no reply, they jogged on, for some little time, in
+silence.  But, it was not easy to remain silent very long in John
+Peerybingle's cart, for everybody on the road had something to say.
+Though it might only be 'How are you!' and indeed it was very often
+nothing else, still, to give that back again in the right spirit of
+cordiality, required, not merely a nod and a smile, but as
+wholesome an action of the lungs withal, as a long-winded
+Parliamentary speech.  Sometimes, passengers on foot, or horseback,
+plodded on a little way beside the cart, for the express purpose of
+having a chat; and then there was a great deal to be said, on both
+sides.
+
+Then, Boxer gave occasion to more good-natured recognitions of, and
+by, the Carrier, than half-a-dozen Christians could have done!
+Everybody knew him, all along the road--especially the fowls and
+pigs, who when they saw him approaching, with his body all on one
+side, and his ears pricked up inquisitively, and that knob of a
+tail making the most of itself in the air, immediately withdrew
+into remote back settlements, without waiting for the honour of a
+nearer acquaintance.  He had business everywhere; going down all
+the turnings, looking into all the wells, bolting in and out of all
+the cottages, dashing into the midst of all the Dame-Schools,
+fluttering all the pigeons, magnifying the tails of all the cats,
+and trotting into the public-houses like a regular customer.
+Wherever he went, somebody or other might have been heard to cry,
+'Halloa!  Here's Boxer!' and out came that somebody forthwith,
+accompanied by at least two or three other somebodies, to give John
+Peerybingle and his pretty wife, Good Day.
+
+The packages and parcels for the errand cart, were numerous; and
+there were many stoppages to take them in and give them out, which
+were not by any means the worst parts of the journey.  Some people
+were so full of expectation about their parcels, and other people
+were so full of wonder about their parcels, and other people were
+so full of inexhaustible directions about their parcels, and John
+had such a lively interest in all the parcels, that it was as good
+as a play.  Likewise, there were articles to carry, which required
+to be considered and discussed, and in reference to the adjustment
+and disposition of which, councils had to be holden by the Carrier
+and the senders:  at which Boxer usually assisted, in short fits of
+the closest attention, and long fits of tearing round and round the
+assembled sages and barking himself hoarse.  Of all these little
+incidents, Dot was the amused and open-eyed spectatress from her
+chair in the cart; and as she sat there, looking on--a charming
+little portrait framed to admiration by the tilt--there was no lack
+of nudgings and glancings and whisperings and envyings among the
+younger men.  And this delighted John the Carrier, beyond measure;
+for he was proud to have his little wife admired, knowing that she
+didn't mind it--that, if anything, she rather liked it perhaps.
+
+The trip was a little foggy, to be sure, in the January weather;
+and was raw and cold.  But who cared for such trifles?  Not Dot,
+decidedly.  Not Tilly Slowboy, for she deemed sitting in a cart, on
+any terms, to be the highest point of human joys; the crowning
+circumstance of earthly hopes.  Not the Baby, I'll be sworn; for
+it's not in Baby nature to be warmer or more sound asleep, though
+its capacity is great in both respects, than that blessed young
+Peerybingle was, all the way.
+
+You couldn't see very far in the fog, of course; but you could see
+a great deal!  It's astonishing how much you may see, in a thicker
+fog than that, if you will only take the trouble to look for it.
+Why, even to sit watching for the Fairy-rings in the fields, and
+for the patches of hoar-frost still lingering in the shade, near
+hedges and by trees, was a pleasant occupation:  to make no mention
+of the unexpected shapes in which the trees themselves came
+starting out of the mist, and glided into it again.  The hedges
+were tangled and bare, and waved a multitude of blighted garlands
+in the wind; but there was no discouragement in this.  It was
+agreeable to contemplate; for it made the fireside warmer in
+possession, and the summer greener in expectancy.  The river looked
+chilly; but it was in motion, and moving at a good pace--which was
+a great point.  The canal was rather slow and torpid; that must be
+admitted.  Never mind.  It would freeze the sooner when the frost
+set fairly in, and then there would be skating, and sliding; and
+the heavy old barges, frozen up somewhere near a wharf, would smoke
+their rusty iron chimney pipes all day, and have a lazy time of it.
+
+In one place, there was a great mound of weeds or stubble burning;
+and they watched the fire, so white in the daytime, flaring through
+the fog, with only here and there a dash of red in it, until, in
+consequence, as she observed, of the smoke 'getting up her nose,'
+Miss Slowboy choked--she could do anything of that sort, on the
+smallest provocation--and woke the Baby, who wouldn't go to sleep
+again.  But, Boxer, who was in advance some quarter of a mile or
+so, had already passed the outposts of the town, and gained the
+corner of the street where Caleb and his daughter lived; and long
+before they had reached the door, he and the Blind Girl were on the
+pavement waiting to receive them.
+
+Boxer, by the way, made certain delicate distinctions of his own,
+in his communication with Bertha, which persuade me fully that he
+knew her to be blind.  He never sought to attract her attention by
+looking at her, as he often did with other people, but touched her
+invariably.  What experience he could ever have had of blind people
+or blind dogs, I don't know.  He had never lived with a blind
+master; nor had Mr. Boxer the elder, nor Mrs. Boxer, nor any of his
+respectable family on either side, ever been visited with
+blindness, that I am aware of.  He may have found it out for
+himself, perhaps, but he had got hold of it somehow; and therefore
+he had hold of Bertha too, by the skirt, and kept hold, until Mrs.
+Peerybingle and the Baby, and Miss Slowboy, and the basket, were
+all got safely within doors.
+
+May Fielding was already come; and so was her mother--a little
+querulous chip of an old lady with a peevish face, who, in right of
+having preserved a waist like a bedpost, was supposed to be a most
+transcendent figure; and who, in consequence of having once been
+better off, or of labouring under an impression that she might have
+been, if something had happened which never did happen, and seemed
+to have never been particularly likely to come to pass--but it's
+all the same--was very genteel and patronising indeed.  Gruff and
+Tackleton was also there, doing the agreeable, with the evident
+sensation of being as perfectly at home, and as unquestionably in
+his own element, as a fresh young salmon on the top of the Great
+Pyramid.
+
+'May!  My dear old friend!' cried Dot, running up to meet her.
+'What a happiness to see you.'
+
+Her old friend was, to the full, as hearty and as glad as she; and
+it really was, if you'll believe me, quite a pleasant sight to see
+them embrace.  Tackleton was a man of taste beyond all question.
+May was very pretty.
+
+You know sometimes, when you are used to a pretty face, how, when
+it comes into contact and comparison with another pretty face, it
+seems for the moment to be homely and faded, and hardly to deserve
+the high opinion you have had of it.  Now, this was not at all the
+case, either with Dot or May; for May's face set off Dot's, and
+Dot's face set off May's, so naturally and agreeably, that, as John
+Peerybingle was very near saying when he came into the room, they
+ought to have been born sisters--which was the only improvement you
+could have suggested.
+
+Tackleton had brought his leg of mutton, and, wonderful to relate,
+a tart besides--but we don't mind a little dissipation when our
+brides are in the case. we don't get married every day--and in
+addition to these dainties, there were the Veal and Ham-Pie, and
+'things,' as Mrs. Peerybingle called them; which were chiefly nuts
+and oranges, and cakes, and such small deer.  When the repast was
+set forth on the board, flanked by Caleb's contribution, which was
+a great wooden bowl of smoking potatoes (he was prohibited, by
+solemn compact, from producing any other viands), Tackleton led his
+intended mother-in-law to the post of honour.  For the better
+gracing of this place at the high festival, the majestic old soul
+had adorned herself with a cap, calculated to inspire the
+thoughtless with sentiments of awe.  She also wore her gloves.  But
+let us be genteel, or die!
+
+Caleb sat next his daughter; Dot and her old schoolfellow were side
+by side; the good Carrier took care of the bottom of the table.
+Miss Slowboy was isolated, for the time being, from every article
+of furniture but the chair she sat on, that she might have nothing
+else to knock the Baby's head against.
+
+As Tilly stared about her at the dolls and toys, they stared at her
+and at the company.  The venerable old gentlemen at the street
+doors (who were all in full action) showed especial interest in the
+party, pausing occasionally before leaping, as if they were
+listening to the conversation, and then plunging wildly over and
+over, a great many times, without halting for breath--as in a
+frantic state of delight with the whole proceedings.
+
+Certainly, if these old gentlemen were inclined to have a fiendish
+joy in the contemplation of Tackleton's discomfiture, they had good
+reason to be satisfied.  Tackleton couldn't get on at all; and the
+more cheerful his intended bride became in Dot's society, the less
+he liked it, though he had brought them together for that purpose.
+For he was a regular dog in the manger, was Tackleton; and when
+they laughed and he couldn't, he took it into his head,
+immediately, that they must be laughing at him.
+
+'Ah, May!' said Dot.  'Dear dear, what changes!  To talk of those
+merry school-days makes one young again.'
+
+'Why, you an't particularly old, at any time; are you?' said
+Tackleton.
+
+'Look at my sober plodding husband there,' returned Dot.  'He adds
+twenty years to my age at least.  Don't you, John?'
+
+'Forty,' John replied.
+
+'How many YOU'll add to May's, I am sure I don't know,' said Dot,
+laughing.  'But she can't be much less than a hundred years of age
+on her next birthday.'
+
+'Ha ha!' laughed Tackleton.  Hollow as a drum, that laugh though.
+And he looked as if he could have twisted Dot's neck, comfortably.
+
+'Dear dear!' said Dot.  'Only to remember how we used to talk, at
+school, about the husbands we would choose.  I don't know how
+young, and how handsome, and how gay, and how lively, mine was not
+to be!  And as to May's!--Ah dear!  I don't know whether to laugh
+or cry, when I think what silly girls we were.'
+
+May seemed to know which to do; for the colour flushed into her
+face, and tears stood in her eyes.
+
+'Even the very persons themselves--real live young men--were fixed
+on sometimes,' said Dot.  'We little thought how things would come
+about.  I never fixed on John I'm sure; I never so much as thought
+of him.  And if I had told you, you were ever to be married to Mr.
+Tackleton, why you'd have slapped me.  Wouldn't you, May?'
+
+Though May didn't say yes, she certainly didn't say no, or express
+no, by any means.
+
+Tackleton laughed--quite shouted, he laughed so loud.  John
+Peerybingle laughed too, in his ordinary good-natured and contented
+manner; but his was a mere whisper of a laugh, to Tackleton's.
+
+'You couldn't help yourselves, for all that.  You couldn't resist
+us, you see,' said Tackleton.  'Here we are!  Here we are!'
+
+'Where are your gay young bridegrooms now!'
+
+'Some of them are dead,' said Dot; 'and some of them forgotten.
+Some of them, if they could stand among us at this moment, would
+not believe we were the same creatures; would not believe that what
+they saw and heard was real, and we COULD forget them so.  No! they
+would not believe one word of it!'
+
+'Why, Dot!' exclaimed the Carrier.  'Little woman!'
+
+She had spoken with such earnestness and fire, that she stood in
+need of some recalling to herself, without doubt.  Her husband's
+check was very gentle, for he merely interfered, as he supposed, to
+shield old Tackleton; but it proved effectual, for she stopped, and
+said no more.  There was an uncommon agitation, even in her
+silence, which the wary Tackleton, who had brought his half-shut
+eye to bear upon her, noted closely, and remembered to some purpose
+too.
+
+May uttered no word, good or bad, but sat quite still, with her
+eyes cast down, and made no sign of interest in what had passed.
+The good lady her mother now interposed, observing, in the first
+instance, that girls were girls, and byegones byegones, and that so
+long as young people were young and thoughtless, they would
+probably conduct themselves like young and thoughtless persons:
+with two or three other positions of a no less sound and
+incontrovertible character.  She then remarked, in a devout spirit,
+that she thanked Heaven she had always found in her daughter May, a
+dutiful and obedient child; for which she took no credit to
+herself, though she had every reason to believe it was entirely
+owing to herself.  With regard to Mr. Tackleton she said, That he
+was in a moral point of view an undeniable individual, and That he
+was in an eligible point of view a son-in-law to be desired, no one
+in their senses could doubt.  (She was very emphatic here.)  With
+regard to the family into which he was so soon about, after some
+solicitation, to be admitted, she believed Mr. Tackleton knew that,
+although reduced in purse, it had some pretensions to gentility;
+and if certain circumstances, not wholly unconnected, she would go
+so far as to say, with the Indigo Trade, but to which she would not
+more particularly refer, had happened differently, it might perhaps
+have been in possession of wealth.  She then remarked that she
+would not allude to the past, and would not mention that her
+daughter had for some time rejected the suit of Mr. Tackleton; and
+that she would not say a great many other things which she did say,
+at great length.  Finally, she delivered it as the general result
+of her observation and experience, that those marriages in which
+there was least of what was romantically and sillily called love,
+were always the happiest; and that she anticipated the greatest
+possible amount of bliss--not rapturous bliss; but the solid,
+steady-going article--from the approaching nuptials.  She concluded
+by informing the company that to-morrow was the day she had lived
+for, expressly; and that when it was over, she would desire nothing
+better than to be packed up and disposed of, in any genteel place
+of burial.
+
+As these remarks were quite unanswerable--which is the happy
+property of all remarks that are sufficiently wide of the purpose--
+they changed the current of the conversation, and diverted the
+general attention to the Veal and Ham-Pie, the cold mutton, the
+potatoes, and the tart.  In order that the bottled beer might not
+be slighted, John Peerybingle proposed To-morrow:  the Wedding-Day;
+and called upon them to drink a bumper to it, before he proceeded
+on his journey.
+
+For you ought to know that he only rested there, and gave the old
+horse a bait.  He had to go some four of five miles farther on; and
+when he returned in the evening, he called for Dot, and took
+another rest on his way home.  This was the order of the day on all
+the Pic-Nic occasions, had been, ever since their institution.
+
+There were two persons present, besides the bride and bridegroom
+elect, who did but indifferent honour to the toast.  One of these
+was Dot, too flushed and discomposed to adapt herself to any small
+occurrence of the moment; the other, Bertha, who rose up hurriedly,
+before the rest, and left the table.
+
+'Good bye!' said stout John Peerybingle, pulling on his dreadnought
+coat.  'I shall be back at the old time.  Good bye all!'
+
+'Good bye, John,' returned Caleb.
+
+He seemed to say it by rote, and to wave his hand in the same
+unconscious manner; for he stood observing Bertha with an anxious
+wondering face, that never altered its expression.
+
+'Good bye, young shaver!' said the jolly Carrier, bending down to
+kiss the child; which Tilly Slowboy, now intent upon her knife and
+fork, had deposited asleep (and strange to say, without damage) in
+a little cot of Bertha's furnishing; 'good bye!  Time will come, I
+suppose, when YOU'LL turn out into the cold, my little friend, and
+leave your old father to enjoy his pipe and his rheumatics in the
+chimney-corner; eh?  Where's Dot?'
+
+'I'm here, John!' she said, starting.
+
+'Come, come!' returned the Carrier, clapping his sounding hands.
+'Where's the pipe?'
+
+'I quite forgot the pipe, John.'
+
+Forgot the pipe!  Was such a wonder ever heard of!  She!  Forgot
+the pipe!
+
+'I'll--I'll fill it directly.  It's soon done.'
+
+But it was not so soon done, either.  It lay in the usual place--
+the Carrier's dreadnought pocket--with the little pouch, her own
+work, from which she was used to fill it, but her hand shook so,
+that she entangled it (and yet her hand was small enough to have
+come out easily, I am sure), and bungled terribly.  The filling of
+the pipe and lighting it, those little offices in which I have
+commended her discretion, were vilely done, from first to last.
+During the whole process, Tackleton stood looking on maliciously
+with the half-closed eye; which, whenever it met hers--or caught
+it, for it can hardly be said to have ever met another eye:  rather
+being a kind of trap to snatch it up--augmented her confusion in a
+most remarkable degree.
+
+'Why, what a clumsy Dot you are, this afternoon!' said John.  'I
+could have done it better myself, I verify believe!'
+
+With these good-natured words, he strode away, and presently was
+heard, in company with Boxer, and the old horse, and the cart,
+making lively music down the road.  What time the dreamy Caleb
+still stood, watching his blind daughter, with the same expression
+on his face.
+
+'Bertha!' said Caleb, softly.  'What has happened?  How changed you
+are, my darling, in a few hours--since this morning.  YOU silent
+and dull all day!  What is it?  Tell me!'
+
+'Oh father, father!' cried the Blind Girl, bursting into tears.
+'Oh my hard, hard fate!'
+
+Caleb drew his hand across his eyes before he answered her.
+
+'But think how cheerful and how happy you have been, Bertha!  How
+good, and how much loved, by many people.'
+
+'That strikes me to the heart, dear father!  Always so mindful of
+me!  Always so kind to me!'
+
+Caleb was very much perplexed to understand her.
+
+'To be--to be blind, Bertha, my poor dear,' he faltered, 'is a
+great affliction; but--'
+
+'I have never felt it!' cried the Blind Girl.  'I have never felt
+it, in its fulness.  Never!  I have sometimes wished that I could
+see you, or could see him--only once, dear father, only for one
+little minute--that I might know what it is I treasure up,' she
+laid her hands upon her breast, 'and hold here!  That I might be
+sure and have it right!  And sometimes (but then I was a child) I
+have wept in my prayers at night, to think that when your images
+ascended from my heart to Heaven, they might not be the true
+resemblance of yourselves.  But I have never had these feelings
+long.  They have passed away and left me tranquil and contented.'
+
+'And they will again,' said Caleb.
+
+'But, father!  Oh my good, gentle father, bear with me, if I am
+wicked!' said the Blind Girl.  'This is not the sorrow that so
+weighs me down!'
+
+Her father could not choose but let his moist eyes overflow; she
+was so earnest and pathetic, but he did not understand her, yet.
+
+'Bring her to me,' said Bertha.  'I cannot hold it closed and shut
+within myself.  Bring her to me, father!'
+
+She knew he hesitated, and said, 'May.  Bring May!'
+
+May heard the mention of her name, and coming quietly towards her,
+touched her on the arm.  The Blind Girl turned immediately, and
+held her by both hands.
+
+'Look into my face, Dear heart, Sweet heart!' said Bertha.  'Read
+it with your beautiful eyes, and tell me if the truth is written on
+it.'
+
+'Dear Bertha, Yes!'
+
+The Blind Girl still, upturning the blank sightless face, down
+which the tears were coursing fast, addressed her in these words:
+
+'There is not, in my soul, a wish or thought that is not for your
+good, bright May!  There is not, in my soul, a grateful
+recollection stronger than the deep remembrance which is stored
+there, of the many many times when, in the full pride of sight and
+beauty, you have had consideration for Blind Bertha, even when we
+two were children, or when Bertha was as much a child as ever
+blindness can be!  Every blessing on your head!  Light upon your
+happy course!  Not the less, my dear May;' and she drew towards
+her, in a closer grasp; 'not the less, my bird, because, to-day,
+the knowledge that you are to be His wife has wrung my heart almost
+to breaking!  Father, May, Mary! oh forgive me that it is so, for
+the sake of all he has done to relieve the weariness of my dark
+life:  and for the sake of the belief you have in me, when I call
+Heaven to witness that I could not wish him married to a wife more
+worthy of his goodness!'
+
+While speaking, she had released May Fielding's hands, and clasped
+her garments in an attitude of mingled supplication and love.
+Sinking lower and lower down, as she proceeded in her strange
+confession, she dropped at last at the feet of her friend, and hid
+her blind face in the folds of her dress.
+
+'Great Power!' exclaimed her father, smitten at one blow with the
+truth, 'have I deceived her from the cradle, but to break her heart
+at last!'
+
+It was well for all of them that Dot, that beaming, useful, busy
+little Dot--for such she was, whatever faults she had, and however
+you may learn to hate her, in good time--it was well for all of
+them, I say, that she was there:  or where this would have ended,
+it were hard to tell.  But Dot, recovering her self-possession,
+interposed, before May could reply, or Caleb say another word.
+
+'Come, come, dear Bertha! come away with me!  Give her your arm,
+May.  So!  How composed she is, you see, already; and how good it
+is of her to mind us,' said the cheery little woman, kissing her
+upon the forehead.  'Come away, dear Bertha.  Come! and here's her
+good father will come with her; won't you, Caleb?  To--be--sure!'
+
+Well, well! she was a noble little Dot in such things, and it must
+have been an obdurate nature that could have withstood her
+influence.  When she had got poor Caleb and his Bertha away, that
+they might comfort and console each other, as she knew they only
+could, she presently came bouncing back,--the saying is, as fresh
+as any daisy; I say fresher--to mount guard over that bridling
+little piece of consequence in the cap and gloves, and prevent the
+dear old creature from making discoveries.
+
+'So bring me the precious Baby, Tilly,' said she, drawing a chair
+to the fire; 'and while I have it in my lap, here's Mrs. Fielding,
+Tilly, will tell me all about the management of Babies, and put me
+right in twenty points where I'm as wrong as can be.  Won't you,
+Mrs. Fielding?'
+
+Not even the Welsh Giant, who, according to the popular expression,
+was so 'slow' as to perform a fatal surgical operation upon
+himself, in emulation of a juggling-trick achieved by his arch-
+enemy at breakfast-time; not even he fell half so readily into the
+snare prepared for him, as the old lady did into this artful
+pitfall.  The fact of Tackleton having walked out; and furthermore,
+of two or three people having been talking together at a distance,
+for two minutes, leaving her to her own resources; was quite enough
+to have put her on her dignity, and the bewailment of that
+mysterious convulsion in the Indigo trade, for four-and-twenty
+hours.  But this becoming deference to her experience, on the part
+of the young mother, was so irresistible, that after a short
+affectation of humility, she began to enlighten her with the best
+grace in the world; and sitting bolt upright before the wicked Dot,
+she did, in half an hour, deliver more infallible domestic recipes
+and precepts, than would (if acted on) have utterly destroyed and
+done up that Young Peerybingle, though he had been an Infant
+Samson.
+
+To change the theme, Dot did a little needlework--she carried the
+contents of a whole workbox in her pocket; however she contrived
+it, I don't know--then did a little nursing; then a little more
+needlework; then had a little whispering chat with May, while the
+old lady dozed; and so in little bits of bustle, which was quite
+her manner always, found it a very short afternoon.  Then, as it
+grew dark, and as it was a solemn part of this Institution of the
+Pic-Nic that she should perform all Bertha's household tasks, she
+trimmed the fire, and swept the hearth, and set the tea-board out,
+and drew the curtain, and lighted a candle.  Then she played an air
+or two on a rude kind of harp, which Caleb had contrived for
+Bertha, and played them very well; for Nature had made her delicate
+little ear as choice a one for music as it would have been for
+jewels, if she had had any to wear.  By this time it was the
+established hour for having tea; and Tackleton came back again, to
+share the meal, and spend the evening.
+
+Caleb and Bertha had returned some time before, and Caleb had sat
+down to his afternoon's work.  But he couldn't settle to it, poor
+fellow, being anxious and remorseful for his daughter.  It was
+touching to see him sitting idle on his working-stool, regarding
+her so wistfully, and always saying in his face, 'Have I deceived
+her from her cradle, but to break her heart!'
+
+When it was night, and tea was done, and Dot had nothing more to do
+in washing up the cups and saucers; in a word--for I must come to
+it, and there is no use in putting it off--when the time drew nigh
+for expecting the Carrier's return in every sound of distant
+wheels, her manner changed again, her colour came and went, and she
+was very restless.  Not as good wives are, when listening for their
+husbands.  No, no, no.  It was another sort of restlessness from
+that.
+
+Wheels heard.  A horse's feet.  The barking of a dog.  The gradual
+approach of all the sounds.  The scratching paw of Boxer at the
+door!
+
+'Whose step is that!' cried Bertha, starting up.
+
+'Whose step?' returned the Carrier, standing in the portal, with
+his brown face ruddy as a winter berry from the keen night air.
+'Why, mine.'
+
+'The other step,' said Bertha.  'The man's tread behind you!'
+
+'She is not to be deceived,' observed the Carrier, laughing.  'Come
+along, sir.  You'll be welcome, never fear!'
+
+He spoke in a loud tone; and as he spoke, the deaf old gentleman
+entered.
+
+'He's not so much a stranger, that you haven't seen him once,
+Caleb,' said the Carrier.  'You'll give him house-room till we go?'
+
+'Oh surely, John, and take it as an honour.'
+
+'He's the best company on earth, to talk secrets in,' said John.
+'I have reasonable good lungs, but he tries 'em, I can tell you.
+Sit down, sir.  All friends here, and glad to see you!'
+
+When he had imparted this assurance, in a voice that amply
+corroborated what he had said about his lungs, he added in his
+natural tone, 'A chair in the chimney-corner, and leave to sit
+quite silent and look pleasantly about him, is all he cares for.
+He's easily pleased.'
+
+Bertha had been listening intently.  She called Caleb to her side,
+when he had set the chair, and asked him, in a low voice, to
+describe their visitor.  When he had done so (truly now; with
+scrupulous fidelity), she moved, for the first time since he had
+come in, and sighed, and seemed to have no further interest
+concerning him.
+
+The Carrier was in high spirits, good fellow that he was, and
+fonder of his little wife than ever.
+
+'A clumsy Dot she was, this afternoon!' he said, encircling her
+with his rough arm, as she stood, removed from the rest; 'and yet I
+like her somehow.  See yonder, Dot!'
+
+He pointed to the old man.  She looked down.  I think she trembled.
+
+'He's--ha ha ha!--he's full of admiration for you!' said the
+Carrier.  'Talked of nothing else, the whole way here.  Why, he's a
+brave old boy.  I like him for it!'
+
+'I wish he had had a better subject, John,' she said, with an
+uneasy glance about the room.  At Tackleton especially.
+
+'A better subject!' cried the jovial John.  'There's no such thing.
+Come, off with the great-coat, off with the thick shawl, off with
+the heavy wrappers! and a cosy half-hour by the fire!  My humble
+service, Mistress.  A game at cribbage, you and I?  That's hearty.
+The cards and board, Dot.  And a glass of beer here, if there's any
+left, small wife!'
+
+His challenge was addressed to the old lady, who accepting it with
+gracious readiness, they were soon engaged upon the game.  At
+first, the Carrier looked about him sometimes, with a smile, or now
+and then called Dot to peep over his shoulder at his hand, and
+advise him on some knotty point.  But his adversary being a rigid
+disciplinarian, and subject to an occasional weakness in respect of
+pegging more than she was entitled to, required such vigilance on
+his part, as left him neither eyes nor ears to spare.  Thus, his
+whole attention gradually became absorbed upon the cards; and he
+thought of nothing else, until a hand upon his shoulder restored
+him to a consciousness of Tackleton.
+
+'I am sorry to disturb you--but a word, directly.'
+
+'I'm going to deal,' returned the Carrier.  'It's a crisis.'
+
+'It is,' said Tackleton.  'Come here, man!'
+
+There was that in his pale face which made the other rise
+immediately, and ask him, in a hurry, what the matter was.
+
+'Hush!  John Peerybingle,' said Tackleton.  'I am sorry for this.
+I am indeed.  I have been afraid of it.  I have suspected it from
+the first.'
+
+'What is it?' asked the Carrier, with a frightened aspect.
+
+'Hush!  I'll show you, if you'll come with me.'
+
+The Carrier accompanied him, without another word.  They went
+across a yard, where the stars were shining, and by a little side-
+door, into Tackleton's own counting-house, where there was a glass
+window, commanding the ware-room, which was closed for the night.
+There was no light in the counting-house itself, but there were
+lamps in the long narrow ware-room; and consequently the window was
+bright.
+
+'A moment!' said Tackleton.  'Can you bear to look through that
+window, do you think?'
+
+'Why not?' returned the Carrier.
+
+'A moment more,' said Tackleton.  'Don't commit any violence.  It's
+of no use.  It's dangerous too.  You're a strong-made man; and you
+might do murder before you know it.'
+
+The Carrier looked him in the face, and recoiled a step as if he
+had been struck.  In one stride he was at the window, and he saw -
+
+Oh Shadow on the Hearth!  Oh truthful Cricket!  Oh perfidious Wife!
+
+He saw her, with the old man--old no longer, but erect and gallant-
+-bearing in his hand the false white hair that had won his way into
+their desolate and miserable home.  He saw her listening to him, as
+he bent his head to whisper in her ear; and suffering him to clasp
+her round the waist, as they moved slowly down the dim wooden
+gallery towards the door by which they had entered it.  He saw them
+stop, and saw her turn--to have the face, the face he loved so, so
+presented to his view!--and saw her, with her own hands, adjust the
+lie upon his head, laughing, as she did it, at his unsuspicious
+nature!
+
+He clenched his strong right hand at first, as if it would have
+beaten down a lion.  But opening it immediately again, he spread it
+out before the eyes of Tackleton (for he was tender of her, even
+then), and so, as they passed out, fell down upon a desk, and was
+as weak as any infant.
+
+He was wrapped up to the chin, and busy with his horse and parcels,
+when she came into the room, prepared for going home.
+
+'Now, John, dear!  Good night, May!  Good night, Bertha!'
+
+Could she kiss them?  Could she be blithe and cheerful in her
+parting?  Could she venture to reveal her face to them without a
+blush?  Yes.  Tackleton observed her closely, and she did all this.
+
+Tilly was hushing the Baby, and she crossed and re-crossed
+Tackleton, a dozen times, repeating drowsily:
+
+'Did the knowledge that it was to be its wifes, then, wring its
+hearts almost to breaking; and did its fathers deceive it from its
+cradles but to break its hearts at last!'
+
+'Now, Tilly, give me the Baby!  Good night, Mr. Tackleton.  Where's
+John, for goodness' sake?'
+
+'He's going to walk beside the horse's head,' said Tackleton; who
+helped her to her seat.
+
+'My dear John.  Walk?  To-night?'
+
+The muffled figure of her husband made a hasty sign in the
+affirmative; and the false stranger and the little nurse being in
+their places, the old horse moved off.  Boxer, the unconscious
+Boxer, running on before, running back, running round and round the
+cart, and barking as triumphantly and merrily as ever.
+
+When Tackleton had gone off likewise, escorting May and her mother
+home, poor Caleb sat down by the fire beside his daughter; anxious
+and remorseful at the core; and still saying in his wistful
+contemplation of her, 'Have I deceived her from her cradle, but to
+break her heart at last!'
+
+The toys that had been set in motion for the Baby, had all stopped,
+and run down, long ago.  In the faint light and silence, the
+imperturbably calm dolls, the agitated rocking-horses with
+distended eyes and nostrils, the old gentlemen at the street-doors,
+standing half doubled up upon their failing knees and ankles, the
+wry-faced nut-crackers, the very Beasts upon their way into the
+Ark, in twos, like a Boarding School out walking, might have been
+imagined to be stricken motionless with fantastic wonder, at Dot
+being false, or Tackleton beloved, under any combination of
+circumstances.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III--Chirp the Third
+
+
+
+The Dutch clock in the corner struck Ten, when the Carrier sat down
+by his fireside.  So troubled and grief-worn, that he seemed to
+scare the Cuckoo, who, having cut his ten melodious announcements
+as short as possible, plunged back into the Moorish Palace again,
+and clapped his little door behind him, as if the unwonted
+spectacle were too much for his feelings.
+
+If the little Haymaker had been armed with the sharpest of scythes,
+and had cut at every stroke into the Carrier's heart, he never
+could have gashed and wounded it, as Dot had done.
+
+It was a heart so full of love for her; so bound up and held
+together by innumerable threads of winning remembrance, spun from
+the daily working of her many qualities of endearment; it was a
+heart in which she had enshrined herself so gently and so closely;
+a heart so single and so earnest in its Truth, so strong in right,
+so weak in wrong; that it could cherish neither passion nor revenge
+at first, and had only room to hold the broken image of its Idol.
+
+But, slowly, slowly, as the Carrier sat brooding on his hearth, now
+cold and dark, other and fiercer thoughts began to rise within him,
+as an angry wind comes rising in the night.  The Stranger was
+beneath his outraged roof.  Three steps would take him to his
+chamber-door.  One blow would beat it in.  'You might do murder
+before you know it,' Tackleton had said.  How could it be murder,
+if he gave the villain time to grapple with him hand to hand!  He
+was the younger man.
+
+It was an ill-timed thought, bad for the dark mood of his mind.  It
+was an angry thought, goading him to some avenging act, that should
+change the cheerful house into a haunted place which lonely
+travellers would dread to pass by night; and where the timid would
+see shadows struggling in the ruined windows when the moon was dim,
+and hear wild noises in the stormy weather.
+
+He was the younger man!  Yes, yes; some lover who had won the heart
+that HE had never touched.  Some lover of her early choice, of whom
+she had thought and dreamed, for whom she had pined and pined, when
+he had fancied her so happy by his side.  O agony to think of it!
+
+She had been above-stairs with the Baby, getting it to bed.  As he
+sat brooding on the hearth, she came close beside him, without his
+knowledge--in the turning of the rack of his great misery, he lost
+all other sounds--and put her little stool at his feet.  He only
+knew it, when he felt her hand upon his own, and saw her looking up
+into his face.
+
+With wonder?  No.  It was his first impression, and he was fain to
+look at her again, to set it right.  No, not with wonder.  With an
+eager and inquiring look; but not with wonder.  At first it was
+alarmed and serious; then, it changed into a strange, wild,
+dreadful smile of recognition of his thoughts; then, there was
+nothing but her clasped hands on her brow, and her bent head, and
+falling hair.
+
+Though the power of Omnipotence had been his to wield at that
+moment, he had too much of its diviner property of Mercy in his
+breast, to have turned one feather's weight of it against her.  But
+he could not bear to see her crouching down upon the little seat
+where he had often looked on her, with love and pride, so innocent
+and gay; and, when she rose and left him, sobbing as she went, he
+felt it a relief to have the vacant place beside him rather than
+her so long-cherished presence.  This in itself was anguish keener
+than all, reminding him how desolate he was become, and how the
+great bond of his life was rent asunder.
+
+The more he felt this, and the more he knew he could have better
+borne to see her lying prematurely dead before him with their
+little child upon her breast, the higher and the stronger rose his
+wrath against his enemy.  He looked about him for a weapon.
+
+There was a gun, hanging on the wall.  He took it down, and moved a
+pace or two towards the door of the perfidious Stranger's room.  He
+knew the gun was loaded.  Some shadowy idea that it was just to
+shoot this man like a wild beast, seized him, and dilated in his
+mind until it grew into a monstrous demon in complete possession of
+him, casting out all milder thoughts and setting up its undivided
+empire.
+
+That phrase is wrong.  Not casting out his milder thoughts, but
+artfully transforming them.  Changing them into scourges to drive
+him on.  Turning water into blood, love into hate, gentleness into
+blind ferocity.  Her image, sorrowing, humbled, but still pleading
+to his tenderness and mercy with resistless power, never left his
+mind; but, staying there, it urged him to the door; raised the
+weapon to his shoulder; fitted and nerved his finger to the
+trigger; and cried 'Kill him!  In his bed!'
+
+He reversed the gun to beat the stock up the door; he already held
+it lifted in the air; some indistinct design was in his thoughts of
+calling out to him to fly, for God's sake, by the window -
+
+When, suddenly, the struggling fire illumined the whole chimney
+with a glow of light; and the Cricket on the Hearth began to Chirp!
+
+No sound he could have heard, no human voice, not even hers, could
+so have moved and softened him.  The artless words in which she had
+told him of her love for this same Cricket, were once more freshly
+spoken; her trembling, earnest manner at the moment, was again
+before him; her pleasant voice--O what a voice it was, for making
+household music at the fireside of an honest man!--thrilled through
+and through his better nature, and awoke it into life and action.
+
+He recoiled from the door, like a man walking in his sleep,
+awakened from a frightful dream; and put the gun aside.  Clasping
+his hands before his face, he then sat down again beside the fire,
+and found relief in tears.
+
+The Cricket on the Hearth came out into the room, and stood in
+Fairy shape before him.
+
+'"I love it,"' said the Fairy Voice, repeating what he well
+remembered, '"for the many times I have heard it, and the many
+thoughts its harmless music has given me."'
+
+'She said so!' cried the Carrier.  'True!'
+
+'"This has been a happy home, John; and I love the Cricket for its
+sake!"'
+
+'It has been, Heaven knows,' returned the Carrier.  'She made it
+happy, always,--until now.'
+
+'So gracefully sweet-tempered; so domestic, joyful, busy, and
+light-hearted!' said the Voice.
+
+'Otherwise I never could have loved her as I did,' returned the
+Carrier.
+
+The Voice, correcting him, said 'do.'
+
+The Carrier repeated 'as I did.'  But not firmly.  His faltering
+tongue resisted his control, and would speak in its own way, for
+itself and him.
+
+The Figure, in an attitude of invocation, raised its hand and said:
+
+'Upon your own hearth--'
+
+'The hearth she has blighted,' interposed the Carrier.
+
+'The hearth she has--how often!--blessed and brightened,' said the
+Cricket; 'the hearth which, but for her, were only a few stones and
+bricks and rusty bars, but which has been, through her, the Altar
+of your Home; on which you have nightly sacrificed some petty
+passion, selfishness, or care, and offered up the homage of a
+tranquil mind, a trusting nature, and an overflowing heart; so that
+the smoke from this poor chimney has gone upward with a better
+fragrance than the richest incense that is burnt before the richest
+shrines in all the gaudy temples of this world!--Upon your own
+hearth; in its quiet sanctuary; surrounded by its gentle influences
+and associations; hear her!  Hear me!  Hear everything that speaks
+the language of your hearth and home!'
+
+'And pleads for her?' inquired the Carrier.
+
+'All things that speak the language of your hearth and home, must
+plead for her!' returned the Cricket.  'For they speak the truth.'
+
+And while the Carrier, with his head upon his hands, continued to
+sit meditating in his chair, the Presence stood beside him,
+suggesting his reflections by its power, and presenting them before
+him, as in a glass or picture.  It was not a solitary Presence.
+From the hearthstone, from the chimney, from the clock, the pipe,
+the kettle, and the cradle; from the floor, the walls, the ceiling,
+and the stairs; from the cart without, and the cupboard within, and
+the household implements; from every thing and every place with
+which she had ever been familiar, and with which she had ever
+entwined one recollection of herself in her unhappy husband's mind;
+Fairies came trooping forth.  Not to stand beside him as the
+Cricket did, but to busy and bestir themselves.  To do all honour
+to her image.  To pull him by the skirts, and point to it when it
+appeared.  To cluster round it, and embrace it, and strew flowers
+for it to tread on.  To try to crown its fair head with their tiny
+hands.  To show that they were fond of it and loved it; and that
+there was not one ugly, wicked or accusatory creature to claim
+knowledge of it--none but their playful and approving selves.
+
+His thoughts were constant to her image.  It was always there.
+
+She sat plying her needle, before the fire, and singing to herself.
+Such a blithe, thriving, steady little Dot!  The fairy figures
+turned upon him all at once, by one consent, with one prodigious
+concentrated stare, and seemed to say, 'Is this the light wife you
+are mourning for!'
+
+There were sounds of gaiety outside, musical instruments, and noisy
+tongues, and laughter.  A crowd of young merry-makers came pouring
+in, among whom were May Fielding and a score of pretty girls.  Dot
+was the fairest of them all; as young as any of them too.  They
+came to summon her to join their party.  It was a dance.  If ever
+little foot were made for dancing, hers was, surely.  But she
+laughed, and shook her head, and pointed to her cookery on the
+fire, and her table ready spread:  with an exulting defiance that
+rendered her more charming than she was before.  And so she merrily
+dismissed them, nodding to her would-be partners, one by one, as
+they passed, but with a comical indifference, enough to make them
+go and drown themselves immediately if they were her admirers--and
+they must have been so, more or less; they couldn't help it.  And
+yet indifference was not her character.  O no!  For presently,
+there came a certain Carrier to the door; and bless her what a
+welcome she bestowed upon him!
+
+Again the staring figures turned upon him all at once, and seemed
+to say, 'Is this the wife who has forsaken you!'
+
+A shadow fell upon the mirror or the picture:  call it what you
+will.  A great shadow of the Stranger, as he first stood underneath
+their roof; covering its surface, and blotting out all other
+objects.  But the nimble Fairies worked like bees to clear it off
+again.  And Dot again was there.  Still bright and beautiful.
+
+Rocking her little Baby in its cradle, singing to it softly, and
+resting her head upon a shoulder which had its counterpart in the
+musing figure by which the Fairy Cricket stood.
+
+The night--I mean the real night:  not going by Fairy clocks--was
+wearing now; and in this stage of the Carrier's thoughts, the moon
+burst out, and shone brightly in the sky.  Perhaps some calm and
+quiet light had risen also, in his mind; and he could think more
+soberly of what had happened.
+
+Although the shadow of the Stranger fell at intervals upon the
+glass--always distinct, and big, and thoroughly defined--it never
+fell so darkly as at first.  Whenever it appeared, the Fairies
+uttered a general cry of consternation, and plied their little arms
+and legs, with inconceivable activity, to rub it out.  And whenever
+they got at Dot again, and showed her to him once more, bright and
+beautiful, they cheered in the most inspiring manner.
+
+They never showed her, otherwise than beautiful and bright, for
+they were Household Spirits to whom falsehood is annihilation; and
+being so, what Dot was there for them, but the one active, beaming,
+pleasant little creature who had been the light and sun of the
+Carrier's Home!
+
+The Fairies were prodigiously excited when they showed her, with
+the Baby, gossiping among a knot of sage old matrons, and affecting
+to be wondrous old and matronly herself, and leaning in a staid,
+demure old way upon her husband's arm, attempting--she! such a bud
+of a little woman--to convey the idea of having abjured the
+vanities of the world in general, and of being the sort of person
+to whom it was no novelty at all to be a mother; yet in the same
+breath, they showed her, laughing at the Carrier for being awkward,
+and pulling up his shirt-collar to make him smart, and mincing
+merrily about that very room to teach him how to dance!
+
+They turned, and stared immensely at him when they showed her with
+the Blind Girl; for, though she carried cheerfulness and animation
+with her wheresoever she went, she bore those influences into Caleb
+Plummer's home, heaped up and running over.  The Blind Girl's love
+for her, and trust in her, and gratitude to her; her own good busy
+way of setting Bertha's thanks aside; her dexterous little arts for
+filling up each moment of the visit in doing something useful to
+the house, and really working hard while feigning to make holiday;
+her bountiful provision of those standing delicacies, the Veal and
+Ham-Pie and the bottles of Beer; her radiant little face arriving
+at the door, and taking leave; the wonderful expression in her
+whole self, from her neat foot to the crown of her head, of being a
+part of the establishment--a something necessary to it, which it
+couldn't be without; all this the Fairies revelled in, and loved
+her for.  And once again they looked upon him all at once,
+appealingly, and seemed to say, while some among them nestled in
+her dress and fondled her, 'Is this the wife who has betrayed your
+confidence!'
+
+More than once, or twice, or thrice, in the long thoughtful night,
+they showed her to him sitting on her favourite seat, with her bent
+head, her hands clasped on her brow, her falling hair.  As he had
+seen her last.  And when they found her thus, they neither turned
+nor looked upon him, but gathered close round her, and comforted
+and kissed her, and pressed on one another to show sympathy and
+kindness to her, and forgot him altogether.
+
+Thus the night passed.  The moon went down; the stars grew pale;
+the cold day broke; the sun rose.  The Carrier still sat, musing,
+in the chimney corner.  He had sat there, with his head upon his
+hands, all night.  All night the faithful Cricket had been Chirp,
+Chirp, Chirping on the Hearth.  All night he had listened to its
+voice.  All night the household Fairies had been busy with him.
+All night she had been amiable and blameless in the glass, except
+when that one shadow fell upon it.
+
+He rose up when it was broad day, and washed and dressed himself.
+He couldn't go about his customary cheerful avocations--he wanted
+spirit for them--but it mattered the less, that it was Tackleton's
+wedding-day, and he had arranged to make his rounds by proxy.  He
+thought to have gone merrily to church with Dot.  But such plans
+were at an end.  It was their own wedding-day too.  Ah! how little
+he had looked for such a close to such a year!
+
+The Carrier had expected that Tackleton would pay him an early
+visit; and he was right.  He had not walked to and fro before his
+own door, many minutes, when he saw the Toy-merchant coming in his
+chaise along the road.  As the chaise drew nearer, he perceived
+that Tackleton was dressed out sprucely for his marriage, and that
+he had decorated his horse's head with flowers and favours.
+
+The horse looked much more like a bridegroom than Tackleton, whose
+half-closed eye was more disagreeably expressive than ever.  But
+the Carrier took little heed of this.  His thoughts had other
+occupation.
+
+'John Peerybingle!' said Tackleton, with an air of condolence.  'My
+good fellow, how do you find yourself this morning?'
+
+'I have had but a poor night, Master Tackleton,' returned the
+Carrier, shaking his head:  'for I have been a good deal disturbed
+in my mind.  But it's over now!  Can you spare me half an hour or
+so, for some private talk?'
+
+'I came on purpose,' returned Tackleton, alighting.  'Never mind
+the horse.  He'll stand quiet enough, with the reins over this
+post, if you'll give him a mouthful of hay.'
+
+The Carrier having brought it from his stable, and set it before
+him, they turned into the house.
+
+'You are not married before noon,' he said, 'I think?'
+
+'No,' answered Tackleton.  'Plenty of time.  Plenty of time.'
+
+When they entered the kitchen, Tilly Slowboy was rapping at the
+Stranger's door; which was only removed from it by a few steps.
+One of her very red eyes (for Tilly had been crying all night long,
+because her mistress cried) was at the keyhole; and she was
+knocking very loud; and seemed frightened.
+
+'If you please I can't make nobody hear,' said Tilly, looking
+round.  'I hope nobody an't gone and been and died if you please!'
+
+This philanthropic wish, Miss Slowboy emphasised with various new
+raps and kicks at the door; which led to no result whatever.
+
+'Shall I go?' said Tackleton.  'It's curious.'
+
+The Carrier, who had turned his face from the door, signed to him
+to go if he would.
+
+So Tackleton went to Tilly Slowboy's relief; and he too kicked and
+knocked; and he too failed to get the least reply.  But he thought
+of trying the handle of the door; and as it opened easily, he
+peeped in, looked in, went in, and soon came running out again.
+
+'John Peerybingle,' said Tackleton, in his ear.  'I hope there has
+been nothing--nothing rash in the night?'
+
+The Carrier turned upon him quickly.
+
+'Because he's gone!' said Tackleton; 'and the window's open.  I
+don't see any marks--to be sure it's almost on a level with the
+garden:  but I was afraid there might have been some--some scuffle.
+Eh?'
+
+He nearly shut up the expressive eye altogether; he looked at him
+so hard.  And he gave his eye, and his face, and his whole person,
+a sharp twist.  As if he would have screwed the truth out of him.
+
+'Make yourself easy,' said the Carrier.  'He went into that room
+last night, without harm in word or deed from me, and no one has
+entered it since.  He is away of his own free will.  I'd go out
+gladly at that door, and beg my bread from house to house, for
+life, if I could so change the past that he had never come.  But he
+has come and gone.  And I have done with him!'
+
+'Oh!--Well, I think he has got off pretty easy,' said Tackleton,
+taking a chair.
+
+The sneer was lost upon the Carrier, who sat down too, and shaded
+his face with his hand, for some little time, before proceeding.
+
+'You showed me last night,' he said at length, 'my wife; my wife
+that I love; secretly--'
+
+'And tenderly,' insinuated Tackleton.
+
+'Conniving at that man's disguise, and giving him opportunities of
+meeting her alone.  I think there's no sight I wouldn't have rather
+seen than that.  I think there's no man in the world I wouldn't
+have rather had to show it me.'
+
+'I confess to having had my suspicions always,' said Tackleton.
+'And that has made me objectionable here, I know.'
+
+'But as you did show it me,' pursued the Carrier, not minding him;
+'and as you saw her, my wife, my wife that I love'--his voice, and
+eye, and hand, grew steadier and firmer as he repeated these words:
+evidently in pursuance of a steadfast purpose--'as you saw her at
+this disadvantage, it is right and just that you should also see
+with my eyes, and look into my breast, and know what my mind is,
+upon the subject.  For it's settled,' said the Carrier, regarding
+him attentively.  'And nothing can shake it now.'
+
+Tackleton muttered a few general words of assent, about its being
+necessary to vindicate something or other; but he was overawed by
+the manner of his companion.  Plain and unpolished as it was, it
+had a something dignified and noble in it, which nothing but the
+soul of generous honour dwelling in the man could have imparted.
+
+'I am a plain, rough man,' pursued the Carrier, 'with very little
+to recommend me.  I am not a clever man, as you very well know.  I
+am not a young man.  I loved my little Dot, because I had seen her
+grow up, from a child, in her father's house; because I knew how
+precious she was; because she had been my life, for years and
+years.  There's many men I can't compare with, who never could have
+loved my little Dot like me, I think!'
+
+He paused, and softly beat the ground a short time with his foot,
+before resuming.
+
+'I often thought that though I wasn't good enough for her, I should
+make her a kind husband, and perhaps know her value better than
+another; and in this way I reconciled it to myself, and came to
+think it might be possible that we should be married.  And in the
+end it came about, and we were married.'
+
+'Hah!' said Tackleton, with a significant shake of the head.
+
+'I had studied myself; I had had experience of myself; I knew how
+much I loved her, and how happy I should be,' pursued the Carrier.
+'But I had not--I feel it now--sufficiently considered her.'
+
+'To be sure,' said Tackleton.  'Giddiness, frivolity, fickleness,
+love of admiration!  Not considered!  All left out of sight!  Hah!'
+
+'You had best not interrupt me,' said the Carrier, with some
+sternness, 'till you understand me; and you're wide of doing so.
+If, yesterday, I'd have struck that man down at a blow, who dared
+to breathe a word against her, to-day I'd set my foot upon his
+face, if he was my brother!'
+
+The Toy-merchant gazed at him in astonishment.  He went on in a
+softer tone:
+
+'Did I consider,' said the Carrier, 'that I took her--at her age,
+and with her beauty--from her young companions, and the many scenes
+of which she was the ornament; in which she was the brightest
+little star that ever shone, to shut her up from day to day in my
+dull house, and keep my tedious company?  Did I consider how little
+suited I was to her sprightly humour, and how wearisome a plodding
+man like me must be, to one of her quick spirit?  Did I consider
+that it was no merit in me, or claim in me, that I loved her, when
+everybody must, who knew her?  Never.  I took advantage of her
+hopeful nature and her cheerful disposition; and I married her.  I
+wish I never had!  For her sake; not for mine!'
+
+The Toy-merchant gazed at him, without winking.  Even the half-shut
+eye was open now.
+
+'Heaven bless her!' said the Carrier, 'for the cheerful constancy
+with which she tried to keep the knowledge of this from me!  And
+Heaven help me, that, in my slow mind, I have not found it out
+before!  Poor child!  Poor Dot!  _I_ not to find it out, who have
+seen her eyes fill with tears, when such a marriage as our own was
+spoken of!  I, who have seen the secret trembling on her lips a
+hundred times, and never suspected it till last night!  Poor girl!
+That I could ever hope she would be fond of me!  That I could ever
+believe she was!'
+
+'She made a show of it,' said Tackleton.  'She made such a show of
+it, that to tell you the truth it was the origin of my misgivings.'
+
+And here he asserted the superiority of May Fielding, who certainly
+made no sort of show of being fond of HIM.
+
+'She has tried,' said the poor Carrier, with greater emotion than
+he had exhibited yet; 'I only now begin to know how hard she has
+tried, to be my dutiful and zealous wife.  How good she has been;
+how much she has done; how brave and strong a heart she has; let
+the happiness I have known under this roof bear witness!  It will
+be some help and comfort to me, when I am here alone.'
+
+'Here alone?' said Tackleton.  'Oh!  Then you do mean to take some
+notice of this?'
+
+'I mean,' returned the Carrier, 'to do her the greatest kindness,
+and make her the best reparation, in my power.  I can release her
+from the daily pain of an unequal marriage, and the struggle to
+conceal it.  She shall be as free as I can render her.'
+
+'Make HER reparation!' exclaimed Tackleton, twisting and turning
+his great ears with his hands.  'There must be something wrong
+here.  You didn't say that, of course.'
+
+The Carrier set his grip upon the collar of the Toy-merchant, and
+shook him like a reed.
+
+'Listen to me!' he said.  'And take care that you hear me right.
+Listen to me.  Do I speak plainly?'
+
+'Very plainly indeed,' answered Tackleton.
+
+'As if I meant it?'
+
+'Very much as if you meant it.'
+
+'I sat upon that hearth, last night, all night,' exclaimed the
+Carrier.  'On the spot where she has often sat beside me, with her
+sweet face looking into mine.  I called up her whole life, day by
+day.  I had her dear self, in its every passage, in review before
+me.  And upon my soul she is innocent, if there is One to judge the
+innocent and guilty!'
+
+Staunch Cricket on the Hearth!  Loyal household Fairies!
+
+'Passion and distrust have left me!' said the Carrier; 'and nothing
+but my grief remains.  In an unhappy moment some old lover, better
+suited to her tastes and years than I; forsaken, perhaps, for me,
+against her will; returned.  In an unhappy moment, taken by
+surprise, and wanting time to think of what she did, she made
+herself a party to his treachery, by concealing it.  Last night she
+saw him, in the interview we witnessed.  It was wrong.  But
+otherwise than this she is innocent if there is truth on earth!'
+
+'If that is your opinion'--Tackleton began.
+
+'So, let her go!' pursued the Carrier.  'Go, with my blessing for
+the many happy hours she has given me, and my forgiveness for any
+pang she has caused me.  Let her go, and have the peace of mind I
+wish her!  She'll never hate me.  She'll learn to like me better,
+when I'm not a drag upon her, and she wears the chain I have
+riveted, more lightly.  This is the day on which I took her, with
+so little thought for her enjoyment, from her home.  To-day she
+shall return to it, and I will trouble her no more.  Her father and
+mother will be here to-day--we had made a little plan for keeping
+it together--and they shall take her home.  I can trust her, there,
+or anywhere.  She leaves me without blame, and she will live so I
+am sure.  If I should die--I may perhaps while she is still young;
+I have lost some courage in a few hours--she'll find that I
+remembered her, and loved her to the last!  This is the end of what
+you showed me.  Now, it's over!'
+
+'O no, John, not over.  Do not say it's over yet!  Not quite yet.
+I have heard your noble words.  I could not steal away, pretending
+to be ignorant of what has affected me with such deep gratitude.
+Do not say it's over, 'till the clock has struck again!'
+
+She had entered shortly after Tackleton, and had remained there.
+She never looked at Tackleton, but fixed her eyes upon her husband.
+But she kept away from him, setting as wide a space as possible
+between them; and though she spoke with most impassioned
+earnestness, she went no nearer to him even then.  How different in
+this from her old self!
+
+'No hand can make the clock which will strike again for me the
+hours that are gone,' replied the Carrier, with a faint smile.
+'But let it be so, if you will, my dear.  It will strike soon.
+It's of little matter what we say.  I'd try to please you in a
+harder case than that.'
+
+'Well!' muttered Tackleton.  'I must be off, for when the clock
+strikes again, it'll be necessary for me to be upon my way to
+church.  Good morning, John Peerybingle.  I'm sorry to be deprived
+of the pleasure of your company.  Sorry for the loss, and the
+occasion of it too!'
+
+'I have spoken plainly?' said the Carrier, accompanying him to the
+door.
+
+'Oh quite!'
+
+'And you'll remember what I have said?'
+
+'Why, if you compel me to make the observation,' said Tackleton,
+previously taking the precaution of getting into his chaise; 'I
+must say that it was so very unexpected, that I'm far from being
+likely to forget it.'
+
+'The better for us both,' returned the Carrier.  'Good bye.  I give
+you joy!'
+
+'I wish I could give it to YOU,' said Tackleton.  'As I can't;
+thank'ee.  Between ourselves, (as I told you before, eh?) I don't
+much think I shall have the less joy in my married life, because
+May hasn't been too officious about me, and too demonstrative.
+Good bye!  Take care of yourself.'
+
+The Carrier stood looking after him until he was smaller in the
+distance than his horse's flowers and favours near at hand; and
+then, with a deep sigh, went strolling like a restless, broken man,
+among some neighbouring elms; unwilling to return until the clock
+was on the eve of striking.
+
+His little wife, being left alone, sobbed piteously; but often
+dried her eyes and checked herself, to say how good he was, how
+excellent he was! and once or twice she laughed; so heartily,
+triumphantly, and incoherently (still crying all the time), that
+Tilly was quite horrified.
+
+'Ow if you please don't!' said Tilly.  'It's enough to dead and
+bury the Baby, so it is if you please.'
+
+'Will you bring him sometimes, to see his father, Tilly,' inquired
+her mistress, drying her eyes; 'when I can't live here, and have
+gone to my old home?'
+
+'Ow if you please don't!' cried Tilly, throwing back her head, and
+bursting out into a howl--she looked at the moment uncommonly like
+Boxer.  'Ow if you please don't!  Ow, what has everybody gone and
+been and done with everybody, making everybody else so wretched!
+Ow-w-w-w!'
+
+The soft-hearted Slowboy trailed off at this juncture, into such a
+deplorable howl, the more tremendous from its long suppression,
+that she must infallibly have awakened the Baby, and frightened him
+into something serious (probably convulsions), if her eyes had not
+encountered Caleb Plummer, leading in his daughter.  This spectacle
+restoring her to a sense of the proprieties, she stood for some few
+moments silent, with her mouth wide open; and then, posting off to
+the bed on which the Baby lay asleep, danced in a weird, Saint
+Vitus manner on the floor, and at the same time rummaged with her
+face and head among the bedclothes, apparently deriving much relief
+from those extraordinary operations.
+
+'Mary!' said Bertha.  'Not at the marriage!'
+
+'I told her you would not be there, mum,' whispered Caleb.  'I
+heard as much last night.  But bless you,' said the little man,
+taking her tenderly by both hands, 'I don't care for what they say.
+I don't believe them.  There an't much of me, but that little
+should be torn to pieces sooner than I'd trust a word against you!'
+
+He put his arms about her and hugged her, as a child might have
+hugged one of his own dolls.
+
+'Bertha couldn't stay at home this morning,' said Caleb.  'She was
+afraid, I know, to hear the bells ring, and couldn't trust herself
+to be so near them on their wedding-day.  So we started in good
+time, and came here.  I have been thinking of what I have done,'
+said Caleb, after a moment's pause; 'I have been blaming myself
+till I hardly knew what to do or where to turn, for the distress of
+mind I have caused her; and I've come to the conclusion that I'd
+better, if you'll stay with me, mum, the while, tell her the truth.
+You'll stay with me the while?' he inquired, trembling from head to
+foot.  'I don't know what effect it may have upon her; I don't know
+what she'll think of me; I don't know that she'll ever care for her
+poor father afterwards.  But it's best for her that she should be
+undeceived, and I must bear the consequences as I deserve!'
+
+' Mary,' said Bertha, 'where is your hand!  Ah!  Here it is here it
+is!' pressing it to her lips, with a smile, and drawing it through
+her arm.  'I heard them speaking softly among themselves, last
+night, of some blame against you.  They were wrong.'
+
+The Carrier's Wife was silent.  Caleb answered for her.
+
+'They were wrong,' he said.
+
+'I knew it!' cried Bertha, proudly.  'I told them so.  I scorned to
+hear a word!  Blame HER with justice!' she pressed the hand between
+her own, and the soft cheek against her face.  'No!  I am not so
+blind as that.'
+
+Her father went on one side of her, while Dot remained upon the
+other:  holding her hand.
+
+'I know you all,' said Bertha, 'better than you think.  But none so
+well as her.  Not even you, father.  There is nothing half so real
+and so true about me, as she is.  If I could be restored to sight
+this instant, and not a word were spoken, I could choose her from a
+crowd!  My sister!'
+
+'Bertha, my dear!' said Caleb, 'I have something on my mind I want
+to tell you, while we three are alone.  Hear me kindly!  I have a
+confession to make to you, my darling.'
+
+'A confession, father?'
+
+'I have wandered from the truth and lost myself, my child,' said
+Caleb, with a pitiable expression in his bewildered face.  'I have
+wandered from the truth, intending to be kind to you; and have been
+cruel.'
+
+She turned her wonder-stricken face towards him, and repeated
+'Cruel!'
+
+'He accuses himself too strongly, Bertha,' said Dot.  'You'll say
+so, presently.  You'll be the first to tell him so.'
+
+'He cruel to me!' cried Bertha, with a smile of incredulity.
+
+'Not meaning it, my child,' said Caleb.  'But I have been; though I
+never suspected it, till yesterday.  My dear blind daughter, hear
+me and forgive me!  The world you live in, heart of mine, doesn't
+exist as I have represented it.  The eyes you have trusted in, have
+been false to you.'
+
+She turned her wonder-stricken face towards him still; but drew
+back, and clung closer to her friend.
+
+'Your road in life was rough, my poor one,' said Caleb, 'and I
+meant to smooth it for you.  I have altered objects, changed the
+characters of people, invented many things that never have been, to
+make you happier.  I have had concealments from you, put deceptions
+on you, God forgive me! and surrounded you with fancies.'
+
+'But living people are not fancies!' she said hurriedly, and
+turning very pale, and still retiring from him.  'You can't change
+them.'
+
+'I have done so, Bertha,' pleaded Caleb.  'There is one person that
+you know, my dove--'
+
+'Oh father! why do you say, I know?' she answered, in a term of
+keen reproach.  'What and whom do _I_ know!  I who have no leader!
+I so miserably blind.'
+
+In the anguish of her heart, she stretched out her hands, as if she
+were groping her way; then spread them, in a manner most forlorn
+and sad, upon her face.
+
+'The marriage that takes place to-day,' said Caleb, 'is with a
+stern, sordid, grinding man.  A hard master to you and me, my dear,
+for many years.  Ugly in his looks, and in his nature.  Cold and
+callous always.  Unlike what I have painted him to you in
+everything, my child.  In everything.'
+
+'Oh why,' cried the Blind Girl, tortured, as it seemed, almost
+beyond endurance, 'why did you ever do this!  Why did you ever fill
+my heart so full, and then come in like Death, and tear away the
+objects of my love!  O Heaven, how blind I am!  How helpless and
+alone!'
+
+Her afflicted father hung his head, and offered no reply but in his
+penitence and sorrow.
+
+She had been but a short time in this passion of regret, when the
+Cricket on the Hearth, unheard by all but her, began to chirp.  Not
+merrily, but in a low, faint, sorrowing way.  It was so mournful
+that her tears began to flow; and when the Presence which had been
+beside the Carrier all night, appeared behind her, pointing to her
+father, they fell down like rain.
+
+She heard the Cricket-voice more plainly soon, and was conscious,
+through her blindness, of the Presence hovering about her father.
+
+'Mary,' said the Blind Girl, 'tell me what my home is.  What it
+truly is.'
+
+'It is a poor place, Bertha; very poor and bare indeed.  The house
+will scarcely keep out wind and rain another winter.  It is as
+roughly shielded from the weather, Bertha,' Dot continued in a low,
+clear voice, 'as your poor father in his sack-cloth coat.'
+
+The Blind Girl, greatly agitated, rose, and led the Carrier's
+little wife aside.
+
+'Those presents that I took such care of; that came almost at my
+wish, and were so dearly welcome to me,' she said, trembling;
+'where did they come from?  Did you send them?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Who then?'
+
+Dot saw she knew, already, and was silent.  The Blind Girl spread
+her hands before her face again.  But in quite another manner now.
+
+'Dear Mary, a moment.  One moment?  More this way.  Speak softly to
+me.  You are true, I know.  You'd not deceive me now; would you?'
+
+'No, Bertha, indeed!'
+
+'No, I am sure you would not.  You have too much pity for me.
+Mary, look across the room to where we were just now--to where my
+father is--my father, so compassionate and loving to me--and tell
+me what you see.'
+
+'I see,' said Dot, who understood her well, 'an old man sitting in
+a chair, and leaning sorrowfully on the back, with his face resting
+on his hand.  As if his child should comfort him, Bertha.'
+
+'Yes, yes.  She will.  Go on.'
+
+'He is an old man, worn with care and work.  He is a spare,
+dejected, thoughtful, grey-haired man.  I see him now, despondent
+and bowed down, and striving against nothing.  But, Bertha, I have
+seen him many times before, and striving hard in many ways for one
+great sacred object.  And I honour his grey head, and bless him!'
+
+The Blind Girl broke away from her; and throwing herself upon her
+knees before him, took the grey head to her breast.
+
+'It is my sight restored.  It is my sight!' she cried.  'I have
+been blind, and now my eyes are open.  I never knew him!  To think
+I might have died, and never truly seen the father who has been so
+loving to me!'
+
+There were no words for Caleb's emotion.
+
+'There is not a gallant figure on this earth,' exclaimed the Blind
+Girl, holding him in her embrace, 'that I would love so dearly, and
+would cherish so devotedly, as this!  The greyer, and more worn,
+the dearer, father!  Never let them say I am blind again.  There's
+not a furrow in his face, there's not a hair upon his head, that
+shall be forgotten in my prayers and thanks to Heaven!'
+
+Caleb managed to articulate 'My Bertha!'
+
+'And in my blindness, I believed him,' said the girl, caressing him
+with tears of exquisite affection, 'to be so different!  And having
+him beside me, day by day, so mindful of me--always, never dreamed
+of this!'
+
+'The fresh smart father in the blue coat, Bertha,' said poor Caleb.
+'He's gone!'
+
+'Nothing is gone,' she answered.  'Dearest father, no!  Everything
+is here--in you.  The father that I loved so well; the father that
+I never loved enough, and never knew; the benefactor whom I first
+began to reverence and love, because he had such sympathy for me;
+All are here in you.  Nothing is dead to me.  The soul of all that
+was most dear to me is here--here, with the worn face, and the grey
+head.  And I am NOT blind, father, any longer!'
+
+Dot's whole attention had been concentrated, during this discourse,
+upon the father and daughter; but looking, now, towards the little
+Haymaker in the Moorish meadow, she saw that the clock was within a
+few minutes of striking, and fell, immediately, into a nervous and
+excited state.
+
+'Father,' said Bertha, hesitating.  'Mary.'
+
+'Yes, my dear,' returned Caleb.  'Here she is.'
+
+'There is no change in HER.  You never told me anything of HER that
+was not true?'
+
+'I should have done it, my dear, I am afraid,' returned Caleb, 'if
+I could have made her better than she was.  But I must have changed
+her for the worse, if I had changed her at all.  Nothing could
+improve her, Bertha.'
+
+Confident as the Blind Girl had been when she asked the question,
+her delight and pride in the reply and her renewed embrace of Dot,
+were charming to behold.
+
+'More changes than you think for, may happen though, my dear,' said
+Dot.  'Changes for the better, I mean; changes for great joy to
+some of us.  You mustn't let them startle you too much, if any such
+should ever happen, and affect you?  Are those wheels upon the
+road?  You've a quick ear, Bertha.  Are they wheels?'
+
+'Yes.  Coming very fast.'
+
+'I--I--I know you have a quick ear,' said Dot, placing her hand
+upon her heart, and evidently talking on, as fast as she could to
+hide its palpitating state, 'because I have noticed it often, and
+because you were so quick to find out that strange step last night.
+Though why you should have said, as I very well recollect you did
+say, Bertha, "Whose step is that!" and why you should have taken
+any greater observation of it than of any other step, I don't know.
+Though as I said just now, there are great changes in the world:
+great changes:  and we can't do better than prepare ourselves to be
+surprised at hardly anything.'
+
+Caleb wondered what this meant; perceiving that she spoke to him,
+no less than to his daughter.  He saw her, with astonishment, so
+fluttered and distressed that she could scarcely breathe; and
+holding to a chair, to save herself from falling.
+
+'They are wheels indeed!' she panted.  'Coming nearer!  Nearer!
+Very close!  And now you hear them stopping at the garden-gate!
+And now you hear a step outside the door--the same step, Bertha, is
+it not!--and now!' -
+
+She uttered a wild cry of uncontrollable delight; and running up to
+Caleb put her hands upon his eyes, as a young man rushed into the
+room, and flinging away his hat into the air, came sweeping down
+upon them.
+
+'Is it over?' cried Dot.
+
+'Yes!'
+
+'Happily over?'
+
+'Yes!'
+
+'Do you recollect the voice, dear Caleb?  Did you ever hear the
+like of it before?' cried Dot.
+
+'If my boy in the Golden South Americas was alive'--said Caleb,
+trembling.
+
+'He is alive!' shrieked Dot, removing her hands from his eyes, and
+clapping them in ecstasy; 'look at him!  See where he stands before
+you, healthy and strong!  Your own dear son!  Your own dear living,
+loving brother, Bertha
+
+All honour to the little creature for her transports!  All honour
+to her tears and laughter, when the three were locked in one
+another's arms!  All honour to the heartiness with which she met
+the sunburnt sailor-fellow, with his dark streaming hair, half-way,
+and never turned her rosy little mouth aside, but suffered him to
+kiss it, freely, and to press her to his bounding heart!
+
+And honour to the Cuckoo too--why not!--for bursting out of the
+trap-door in the Moorish Palace like a house-breaker, and
+hiccoughing twelve times on the assembled company, as if he had got
+drunk for joy!
+
+The Carrier, entering, started back.  And well he might, to find
+himself in such good company.
+
+'Look, John!' said Caleb, exultingly, 'look here!  My own boy from
+the Golden South Americas!  My own son!  Him that you fitted out,
+and sent away yourself!  Him that you were always such a friend
+to!'
+
+The Carrier advanced to seize him by the hand; but, recoiling, as
+some feature in his face awakened a remembrance of the Deaf Man in
+the Cart, said:
+
+'Edward!  Was it you?'
+
+'Now tell him all!' cried Dot.  'Tell him all, Edward; and don't
+spare me, for nothing shall make me spare myself in his eyes, ever
+again.'
+
+'I was the man,' said Edward.
+
+'And could you steal, disguised, into the house of your old
+friend?' rejoined the Carrier.  'There was a frank boy once--how
+many years is it, Caleb, since we heard that he was dead, and had
+it proved, we thought?--who never would have done that.'
+
+'There was a generous friend of mine, once; more a father to me
+than a friend;' said Edward, 'who never would have judged me, or
+any other man, unheard.  You were he.  So I am certain you will
+hear me now.'
+
+The Carrier, with a troubled glance at Dot, who still kept far away
+from him, replied, 'Well! that's but fair.  I will.'
+
+'You must know that when I left here, a boy,' said Edward, 'I was
+in love, and my love was returned.  She was a very young girl, who
+perhaps (you may tell me) didn't know her own mind.  But I knew
+mine, and I had a passion for her.'
+
+'You had!' exclaimed the Carrier.  'You!'
+
+'Indeed I had,' returned the other.  'And she returned it.  I have
+ever since believed she did, and now I am sure she did.'
+
+'Heaven help me!' said the Carrier.  'This is worse than all.'
+
+'Constant to her,' said Edward, 'and returning, full of hope, after
+many hardships and perils, to redeem my part of our old contract, I
+heard, twenty miles away, that she was false to me; that she had
+forgotten me; and had bestowed herself upon another and a richer
+man.  I had no mind to reproach her; but I wished to see her, and
+to prove beyond dispute that this was true.  I hoped she might have
+been forced into it, against her own desire and recollection.  It
+would be small comfort, but it would be some, I thought, and on I
+came.  That I might have the truth, the real truth; observing
+freely for myself, and judging for myself, without obstruction on
+the one hand, or presenting my own influence (if I had any) before
+her, on the other; I dressed myself unlike myself--you know how;
+and waited on the road--you know where.  You had no suspicion of
+me; neither had--had she,' pointing to Dot, 'until I whispered in
+her ear at that fireside, and she so nearly betrayed me.'
+
+'But when she knew that Edward was alive, and had come back,'
+sobbed Dot, now speaking for herself, as she had burned to do, all
+through this narrative; 'and when she knew his purpose, she advised
+him by all means to keep his secret close; for his old friend John
+Peerybingle was much too open in his nature, and too clumsy in all
+artifice--being a clumsy man in general,' said Dot, half laughing
+and half crying--'to keep it for him.  And when she--that's me,
+John,' sobbed the little woman--'told him all, and how his
+sweetheart had believed him to be dead; and how she had at last
+been over-persuaded by her mother into a marriage which the silly,
+dear old thing called advantageous; and when she--that's me again,
+John--told him they were not yet married (though close upon it),
+and that it would be nothing but a sacrifice if it went on, for
+there was no love on her side; and when he went nearly mad with joy
+to hear it; then she--that's me again--said she would go between
+them, as she had often done before in old times, John, and would
+sound his sweetheart and be sure that what she--me again, John--
+said and thought was right.  And it was right, John!  And they were
+brought together, John!  And they were married, John, an hour ago!
+And here's the Bride!  And Gruff and Tackleton may die a bachelor!
+And I'm a happy little woman, May, God bless you!'
+
+She was an irresistible little woman, if that be anything to the
+purpose; and never so completely irresistible as in her present
+transports.  There never were congratulations so endearing and
+delicious, as those she lavished on herself and on the Bride.
+
+Amid the tumult of emotions in his breast, the honest Carrier had
+stood, confounded.  Flying, now, towards her, Dot stretched out her
+hand to stop him, and retreated as before.
+
+'No, John, no!  Hear all!  Don't love me any more, John, till
+you've heard every word I have to say.  It was wrong to have a
+secret from you, John.  I'm very sorry.  I didn't think it any
+harm, till I came and sat down by you on the little stool last
+night.  But when I knew by what was written in your face, that you
+had seen me walking in the gallery with Edward, and when I knew
+what you thought, I felt how giddy and how wrong it was.  But oh,
+dear John, how could you, could you, think so!'
+
+Little woman, how she sobbed again!  John Peerybingle would have
+caught her in his arms.  But no; she wouldn't let him.
+
+'Don't love me yet, please, John!  Not for a long time yet!  When I
+was sad about this intended marriage, dear, it was because I
+remembered May and Edward such young lovers; and knew that her
+heart was far away from Tackleton.  You believe that, now.  Don't
+you, John?'
+
+John was going to make another rush at this appeal; but she stopped
+him again.
+
+'No; keep there, please, John!  When I laugh at you, as I sometimes
+do, John, and call you clumsy and a dear old goose, and names of
+that sort, it's because I love you, John, so well, and take such
+pleasure in your ways, and wouldn't see you altered in the least
+respect to have you made a King to-morrow.'
+
+'Hooroar!' said Caleb with unusual vigour.  'My opinion!'
+
+'And when I speak of people being middle-aged, and steady, John,
+and pretend that we are a humdrum couple, going on in a jog-trot
+sort of way, it's only because I'm such a silly little thing, John,
+that I like, sometimes, to act a kind of Play with Baby, and all
+that:  and make believe.'
+
+She saw that he was coming; and stopped him again.  But she was
+very nearly too late.
+
+'No, don't love me for another minute or two, if you please, John!
+What I want most to tell you, I have kept to the last.  My dear,
+good, generous John, when we were talking the other night about the
+Cricket, I had it on my lips to say, that at first I did not love
+you quite so dearly as I do now; that when I first came home here,
+I was half afraid I mightn't learn to love you every bit as well as
+I hoped and prayed I might--being so very young, John!  But, dear
+John, every day and hour I loved you more and more.  And if I could
+have loved you better than I do, the noble words I heard you say
+this morning, would have made me.  But I can't.  All the affection
+that I had (it was a great deal, John) I gave you, as you well
+deserve, long, long ago, and I have no more left to give.  Now, my
+dear husband, take me to your heart again!  That's my home, John;
+and never, never think of sending me to any other!'
+
+You never will derive so much delight from seeing a glorious little
+woman in the arms of a third party, as you would have felt if you
+had seen Dot run into the Carrier's embrace.  It was the most
+complete, unmitigated, soul-fraught little piece of earnestness
+that ever you beheld in all your days.
+
+You maybe sure the Carrier was in a state of perfect rapture; and
+you may be sure Dot was likewise; and you may be sure they all
+were, inclusive of Miss Slowboy, who wept copiously for joy, and
+wishing to include her young charge in the general interchange of
+congratulations, handed round the Baby to everybody in succession,
+as if it were something to drink.
+
+But, now, the sound of wheels was heard again outside the door; and
+somebody exclaimed that Gruff and Tackleton was coming back.
+Speedily that worthy gentleman appeared, looking warm and
+flustered.
+
+'Why, what the Devil's this, John Peerybingle!' said Tackleton.
+'There's some mistake.  I appointed Mrs. Tackleton to meet me at
+the church, and I'll swear I passed her on the road, on her way
+here.  Oh! here she is!  I beg your pardon, sir; I haven't the
+pleasure of knowing you; but if you can do me the favour to spare
+this young lady, she has rather a particular engagement this
+morning.'
+
+'But I can't spare her,' returned Edward.  'I couldn't think of
+it.'
+
+'What do you mean, you vagabond?' said Tackleton.
+
+'I mean, that as I can make allowance for your being vexed,'
+returned the other, with a smile, 'I am as deaf to harsh discourse
+this morning, as I was to all discourse last night.'
+
+The look that Tackleton bestowed upon him, and the start he gave!
+
+'I am sorry, sir,' said Edward, holding out May's left hand, and
+especially the third finger; 'that the young lady can't accompany
+you to church; but as she has been there once, this morning,
+perhaps you'll excuse her.'
+
+Tackleton looked hard at the third finger, and took a little piece
+of silver-paper, apparently containing a ring, from his waistcoat-
+pocket.
+
+'Miss Slowboy,' said Tackleton.  'Will you have the kindness to
+throw that in the fire?  Thank'ee.'
+
+'It was a previous engagement, quite an old engagement, that
+prevented my wife from keeping her appointment with you, I assure
+you,' said Edward.
+
+'Mr. Tackleton will do me the justice to acknowledge that I
+revealed it to him faithfully; and that I told him, many times, I
+never could forget it,' said May, blushing.
+
+'Oh certainly!' said Tackleton.  'Oh to be sure.  Oh it's all
+right.  It's quite correct.  Mrs. Edward Plummer, I infer?'
+
+'That's the name,' returned the bridegroom.
+
+'Ah, I shouldn't have known you, sir,' said Tackleton, scrutinising
+his face narrowly, and making a low bow.  'I give you joy, sir!'
+
+'Thank'ee.'
+
+'Mrs. Peerybingle,' said Tackleton, turning suddenly to where she
+stood with her husband; 'I am sorry.  You haven't done me a very
+great kindness, but, upon my life I am sorry.  You are better than
+I thought you.  John Peerybingle, I am sorry.  You understand me;
+that's enough.  It's quite correct, ladies and gentlemen all, and
+perfectly satisfactory.  Good morning!'
+
+With these words he carried it off, and carried himself off too:
+merely stopping at the door, to take the flowers and favours from
+his horse's head, and to kick that animal once, in the ribs, as a
+means of informing him that there was a screw loose in his
+arrangements.
+
+Of course it became a serious duty now, to make such a day of it,
+as should mark these events for a high Feast and Festival in the
+Peerybingle Calendar for evermore.  Accordingly, Dot went to work
+to produce such an entertainment, as should reflect undying honour
+on the house and on every one concerned; and in a very short space
+of time, she was up to her dimpled elbows in flour, and whitening
+the Carrier's coat, every time he came near her, by stopping him to
+give him a kiss.  That good fellow washed the greens, and peeled
+the turnips, and broke the plates, and upset iron pots full of cold
+water on the fire, and made himself useful in all sorts of ways:
+while a couple of professional assistants, hastily called in from
+somewhere in the neighbourhood, as on a point of life or death, ran
+against each other in all the doorways and round all the corners,
+and everybody tumbled over Tilly Slowboy and the Baby, everywhere.
+Tilly never came out in such force before.  Her ubiquity was the
+theme of general admiration.  She was a stumbling-block in the
+passage at five-and-twenty minutes past two; a man-trap in the
+kitchen at half-past two precisely; and a pitfall in the garret at
+five-and-twenty minutes to three.  The Baby's head was, as it were,
+a test and touchstone for every description of matter,--animal,
+vegetable, and mineral.  Nothing was in use that day that didn't
+come, at some time or other, into close acquaintance with it.
+
+Then, there was a great Expedition set on foot to go and find out
+Mrs. Fielding; and to be dismally penitent to that excellent
+gentlewoman; and to bring her back, by force, if needful, to be
+happy and forgiving.  And when the Expedition first discovered her,
+she would listen to no terms at all, but said, an unspeakable
+number of times, that ever she should have lived to see the day!
+and couldn't be got to say anything else, except, 'Now carry me to
+the grave:' which seemed absurd, on account of her not being dead,
+or anything at all like it.  After a time, she lapsed into a state
+of dreadful calmness, and observed, that when that unfortunate
+train of circumstances had occurred in the Indigo Trade, she had
+foreseen that she would be exposed, during her whole life, to every
+species of insult and contumely; and that she was glad to find it
+was the case; and begged they wouldn't trouble themselves about
+her,--for what was she? oh, dear! a nobody!--but would forget that
+such a being lived, and would take their course in life without
+her.  From this bitterly sarcastic mood, she passed into an angry
+one, in which she gave vent to the remarkable expression that the
+worm would turn if trodden on; and, after that, she yielded to a
+soft regret, and said, if they had only given her their confidence,
+what might she not have had it in her power to suggest!  Taking
+advantage of this crisis in her feelings, the Expedition embraced
+her; and she very soon had her gloves on, and was on her way to
+John Peerybingle's in a state of unimpeachable gentility; with a
+paper parcel at her side containing a cap of state, almost as tall,
+and quite as stiff, as a mitre.
+
+Then, there were Dot's father and mother to come, in another little
+chaise; and they were behind their time; and fears were
+entertained; and there was much looking out for them down the road;
+and Mrs. Fielding always would look in the wrong and morally
+impossible direction; and being apprised thereof, hoped she might
+take the liberty of looking where she pleased.  At last they came:
+a chubby little couple, jogging along in a snug and comfortable
+little way that quite belonged to the Dot family; and Dot and her
+mother, side by side, were wonderful to see.  They were so like
+each other.
+
+Then, Dot's mother had to renew her acquaintance with May's mother;
+and May's mother always stood on her gentility; and Dot's mother
+never stood on anything but her active little feet.  And old Dot--
+so to call Dot's father, I forgot it wasn't his right name, but
+never mind--took liberties, and shook hands at first sight, and
+seemed to think a cap but so much starch and muslin, and didn't
+defer himself at all to the Indigo Trade, but said there was no
+help for it now; and, in Mrs. Fielding's summing up, was a good-
+natured kind of man--but coarse, my dear.
+
+I wouldn't have missed Dot, doing the honours in her wedding-gown,
+my benison on her bright face! for any money.  No! nor the good
+Carrier, so jovial and so ruddy, at the bottom of the table.  Nor
+the brown, fresh sailor-fellow, and his handsome wife.  Nor any one
+among them.  To have missed the dinner would have been to miss as
+jolly and as stout a meal as man need eat; and to have missed the
+overflowing cups in which they drank The Wedding-Day, would have
+been the greatest miss of all.
+
+After dinner, Caleb sang the song about the Sparkling Bowl.  As I'm
+a living man, hoping to keep so, for a year or two, he sang it
+through.
+
+And, by-the-by, a most unlooked-for incident occurred, just as he
+finished the last verse.
+
+There was a tap at the door; and a man came staggering in, without
+saying with your leave, or by your leave, with something heavy on
+his head.  Setting this down in the middle of the table,
+symmetrically in the centre of the nuts and apples, he said:
+
+'Mr. Tackleton's compliments, and as he hasn't got no use for the
+cake himself, p'raps you'll eat it.'
+
+And with those words, he walked off.
+
+There was some surprise among the company, as you may imagine.
+Mrs. Fielding, being a lady of infinite discernment, suggested that
+the cake was poisoned, and related a narrative of a cake, which,
+within her knowledge, had turned a seminary for young ladies, blue.
+But she was overruled by acclamation; and the cake was cut by May,
+with much ceremony and rejoicing.
+
+I don't think any one had tasted it, when there came another tap at
+the door, and the same man appeared again, having under his arm a
+vast brown-paper parcel.
+
+'Mr. Tackleton's compliments, and he's sent a few toys for the
+Babby.  They ain't ugly.'
+
+After the delivery of which expressions, he retired again.
+
+The whole party would have experienced great difficulty in finding
+words for their astonishment, even if they had had ample time to
+seek them.  But they had none at all; for the messenger had
+scarcely shut the door behind him, when there came another tap, and
+Tackleton himself walked in.
+
+'Mrs. Peerybingle!' said the Toy-merchant, hat in hand.  'I'm
+sorry.  I'm more sorry than I was this morning.  I have had time to
+think of it.  John Peerybingle!  I'm sour by disposition; but I
+can't help being sweetened, more or less, by coming face to face
+with such a man as you.  Caleb!  This unconscious little nurse gave
+me a broken hint last night, of which I have found the thread.  I
+blush to think how easily I might have bound you and your daughter
+to me, and what a miserable idiot I was, when I took her for one!
+Friends, one and all, my house is very lonely to-night.  I have not
+so much as a Cricket on my Hearth.  I have scared them all away.
+Be gracious to me; let me join this happy party!'
+
+He was at home in five minutes.  You never saw such a fellow.  What
+HAD he been doing with himself all his life, never to have known,
+before, his great capacity of being jovial!  Or what had the
+Fairies been doing with him, to have effected such a change!
+
+'John! you won't send me home this evening; will you?' whispered
+Dot.
+
+He had been very near it though!
+
+There wanted but one living creature to make the party complete;
+and, in the twinkling of an eye, there he was, very thirsty with
+hard running, and engaged in hopeless endeavours to squeeze his
+head into a narrow pitcher.  He had gone with the cart to its
+journey's end, very much disgusted with the absence of his master,
+and stupendously rebellious to the Deputy.  After lingering about
+the stable for some little time, vainly attempting to incite the
+old horse to the mutinous act of returning on his own account, he
+had walked into the tap-room and laid himself down before the fire.
+But suddenly yielding to the conviction that the Deputy was a
+humbug, and must be abandoned, he had got up again, turned tail,
+and come home.
+
+There was a dance in the evening.  With which general mention of
+that recreation, I should have left it alone, if I had not some
+reason to suppose that it was quite an original dance, and one of a
+most uncommon figure.  It was formed in an odd way; in this way.
+
+Edward, that sailor-fellow--a good free dashing sort of a fellow he
+was--had been telling them various marvels concerning parrots, and
+mines, and Mexicans, and gold dust, when all at once he took it in
+his head to jump up from his seat and propose a dance; for Bertha's
+harp was there, and she had such a hand upon it as you seldom hear.
+Dot (sly little piece of affectation when she chose) said her
+dancing days were over; _I_ think because the Carrier was smoking
+his pipe, and she liked sitting by him, best.  Mrs. Fielding had no
+choice, of course, but to say HER dancing days were over, after
+that; and everybody said the same, except May; May was ready.
+
+So, May and Edward got up, amid great applause, to dance alone; and
+Bertha plays her liveliest tune.
+
+Well! if you'll believe me, they have not been dancing five
+minutes, when suddenly the Carrier flings his pipe away, takes Dot
+round the waist, dashes out into the room, and starts off with her,
+toe and heel, quite wonderfully.  Tackleton no sooner sees this,
+than he skims across to Mrs. Fielding, takes her round the waist,
+and follows suit.  Old Dot no sooner sees this, than up he is, all
+alive, whisks off Mrs. Dot in the middle of the dance, and is the
+foremost there.  Caleb no sooner sees this, than he clutches Tilly
+Slowboy by both hands and goes off at score; Miss Slowboy, firm in
+the belief that diving hotly in among the other couples, and
+effecting any number of concussions with them, is your only
+principle of footing it.
+
+Hark! how the Cricket joins the music with its Chirp, Chirp, Chirp;
+and how the kettle hums!
+
+* * * * *
+
+But what is this!  Even as I listen to them, blithely, and turn
+towards Dot, for one last glimpse of a little figure very pleasant
+to me, she and the rest have vanished into air, and I am left
+alone.  A Cricket sings upon the Hearth; a broken child's-toy lies
+upon the ground; and nothing else remains.
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH ***
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+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
+<title>The Cricket on the Hearth</title>
+</head>
+<body>
+<h2>
+<a href="#startoftext">The Cricket on the Hearth, by Charles Dickens</a>
+</h2>
+<pre>
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cricket on the Hearth, by Charles Dickens
+(#10 in our series by Charles Dickens)
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: The Cricket on the Hearth
+
+Author: Charles Dickens
+
+Release Date: October, 1996  [EBook #678]
+[This file was first posted on September 25, 1996]
+[Most recently updated: September 8, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+</pre>
+<p>
+<a name="startoftext"></a>
+Transcribed from the Charles Scribner&rsquo;s Sons &ldquo;Works of Charles
+Dickens&rdquo; edition by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER I - Chirp the First<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+The kettle began it!&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t tell me what Mrs. Peerybingle
+said.&nbsp; I know better.&nbsp; Mrs. Peerybingle may leave it on record
+to the end of time that she couldn&rsquo;t say which of them began it;
+but, I say the kettle did.&nbsp; I ought to know, I hope!&nbsp; The
+kettle began it, full five minutes by the little waxy-faced Dutch clock
+in the corner, before the Cricket uttered a chirp.<br>
+<br>
+As if the clock hadn&rsquo;t finished striking, and the convulsive little
+Haymaker at the top of it, jerking away right and left with a scythe
+in front of a Moorish Palace, hadn&rsquo;t mowed down half an acre of
+imaginary grass before the Cricket joined in at all!<br>
+<br>
+Why, I am not naturally positive.&nbsp; Every one knows that.&nbsp;
+I wouldn&rsquo;t set my own opinion against the opinion of Mrs. Peerybingle,
+unless I were quite sure, on any account whatever.&nbsp; Nothing should
+induce me.&nbsp; But, this is a question of act.&nbsp; And the fact
+is, that the kettle began it, at least five minutes before the Cricket
+gave any sign of being in existence.&nbsp; Contradict me, and I&rsquo;ll
+say ten.<br>
+<br>
+Let me narrate exactly how it happened.&nbsp; I should have proceeded
+to do so in my very first word, but for this plain consideration - if
+I am to tell a story I must begin at the beginning; and how is it possible
+to begin at the beginning, without beginning at the kettle?<br>
+<br>
+It appeared as if there were a sort of match, or trial of skill, you
+must understand, between the kettle and the Cricket.&nbsp; And this
+is what led to it, and how it came about.<br>
+<br>
+Mrs. Peerybingle, going out into the raw twilight, and clicking over
+the wet stones in a pair of pattens that worked innumerable rough impressions
+of the first proposition in Euclid all about the yard - Mrs. Peerybingle
+filled the kettle at the water-butt.&nbsp; Presently returning, less
+the pattens (and a good deal less, for they were tall and Mrs. Peerybingle
+was but short), she set the kettle on the fire.&nbsp; In doing which
+she lost her temper, or mislaid it for an instant; for, the water being
+uncomfortably cold, and in that slippy, slushy, sleety sort of state
+wherein it seems to penetrate through every kind of substance, patten
+rings included - had laid hold of Mrs. Peerybingle&rsquo;s toes, and
+even splashed her legs.&nbsp; And when we rather plume ourselves (with
+reason too) upon our legs, and keep ourselves particularly neat in point
+of stockings, we find this, for the moment, hard to bear.<br>
+<br>
+Besides, the kettle was aggravating and obstinate.&nbsp; It wouldn&rsquo;t
+allow itself to be adjusted on the top bar; it wouldn&rsquo;t hear of
+accommodating itself kindly to the knobs of coal; it <i>would</i> lean
+forward with a drunken air, and dribble, a very Idiot of a kettle, on
+the hearth.&nbsp; It was quarrelsome, and hissed and spluttered morosely
+at the fire.&nbsp; To sum up all, the lid, resisting Mrs. Peerybingle&rsquo;s
+fingers, first of all turned topsy-turvy, and then, with an ingenious
+pertinacity deserving of a better cause, dived sideways in - down to
+the very bottom of the kettle.&nbsp; And the hull of the Royal George
+has never made half the monstrous resistance to coming out of the water,
+which the lid of that kettle employed against Mrs. Peerybingle, before
+she got it up again.<br>
+<br>
+It looked sullen and pig-headed enough, even then; carrying its handle
+with an air of defiance, and cocking its spout pertly and mockingly
+at Mrs. Peerybingle, as if it said, &lsquo;I won&rsquo;t boil.&nbsp;
+Nothing shall induce me!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+But Mrs. Peerybingle, with restored good humour, dusted her chubby little
+hands against each other, and sat down before the kettle, laughing.&nbsp;
+Meantime, the jolly blaze uprose and fell, flashing and gleaming on
+the little Haymaker at the top of the Dutch clock, until one might have
+thought he stood stock still before the Moorish Palace, and nothing
+was in motion but the flame.<br>
+<br>
+He was on the move, however; and had his spasms, two to the second,
+all right and regular.&nbsp; But, his sufferings when the clock was
+going to strike, were frightful to behold; and, when a Cuckoo looked
+out of a trap-door in the Palace, and gave note six times, it shook
+him, each time, like a spectral voice - or like a something wiry, plucking
+at his legs.<br>
+<br>
+It was not until a violent commotion and a whirring noise among the
+weights and ropes below him had quite subsided, that this terrified
+Haymaker became himself again.&nbsp; Nor was he startled without reason;
+for these rattling, bony skeletons of clocks are very disconcerting
+in their operation, and I wonder very much how any set of men, but most
+of all how Dutchmen, can have had a liking to invent them.&nbsp; There
+is a popular belief that Dutchmen love broad cases and much clothing
+for their own lower selves; and they might know better than to leave
+their clocks so very lank and unprotected, surely.<br>
+<br>
+Now it was, you observe, that the kettle began to spend the evening.&nbsp;
+Now it was, that the kettle, growing mellow and musical, began to have
+irrepressible gurglings in its throat, and to indulge in short vocal
+snorts, which it checked in the bud, as if it hadn&rsquo;t quite made
+up its mind yet, to be good company.&nbsp; Now it was, that after two
+or three such vain attempts to stifle its convivial sentiments, it threw
+off all moroseness, all reserve, and burst into a stream of song so
+cosy and hilarious, as never maudlin nightingale yet formed the least
+idea of.<br>
+<br>
+So plain too!&nbsp; Bless you, you might have understood it like a book
+- better than some books you and I could name, perhaps.&nbsp; With its
+warm breath gushing forth in a light cloud which merrily and gracefully
+ascended a few feet, then hung about the chimney-corner as its own domestic
+Heaven, it trolled its song with that strong energy of cheerfulness,
+that its iron body hummed and stirred upon the fire; and the lid itself,
+the recently rebellious lid - such is the influence of a bright example
+- performed a sort of jig, and clattered like a deaf and dumb young
+cymbal that had never known the use of its twin brother.<br>
+<br>
+That this song of the kettle&rsquo;s was a song of invitation and welcome
+to somebody out of doors: to somebody at that moment coming on, towards
+the snug small home and the crisp fire: there is no doubt whatever.&nbsp;
+Mrs. Peerybingle knew it, perfectly, as she sat musing before the hearth.&nbsp;
+It&rsquo;s a dark night, sang the kettle, and the rotten leaves are
+lying by the way; and, above, all is mist and darkness, and, below,
+all is mire and clay; and there&rsquo;s only one relief in all the sad
+and murky air; and I don&rsquo;t know that it is one, for it&rsquo;s
+nothing but a glare; of deep and angry crimson, where the sun and wind
+together; set a brand upon the clouds for being guilty of such weather;
+and the widest open country is a long dull streak of black; and there&rsquo;s
+hoar-frost on the finger-post, and thaw upon the track; and the ice
+it isn&rsquo;t water, and the water isn&rsquo;t free; and you couldn&rsquo;t
+say that anything is what it ought to be; but he&rsquo;s coming, coming,
+coming! -<br>
+<br>
+And here, if you like, the Cricket DID chime in! with a Chirrup, Chirrup,
+Chirrup of such magnitude, by way of chorus; with a voice so astoundingly
+disproportionate to its size, as compared with the kettle; (size! you
+couldn&rsquo;t see it!) that if it had then and there burst itself like
+an overcharged gun, if it had fallen a victim on the spot, and chirruped
+its little body into fifty pieces, it would have seemed a natural and
+inevitable consequence, for which it had expressly laboured.<br>
+<br>
+The kettle had had the last of its solo performance.&nbsp; It persevered
+with undiminished ardour; but the Cricket took first fiddle and kept
+it.&nbsp; Good Heaven, how it chirped!&nbsp; Its shrill, sharp, piercing
+voice resounded through the house, and seemed to twinkle in the outer
+darkness like a star.&nbsp; There was an indescribable little trill
+and tremble in it, at its loudest, which suggested its being carried
+off its legs, and made to leap again, by its own intense enthusiasm.&nbsp;
+Yet they went very well together, the Cricket and the kettle.&nbsp;
+The burden of the song was still the same; and louder, louder, louder
+still, they sang it in their emulation.<br>
+<br>
+The fair little listener - for fair she was, and young: though something
+of what is called the dumpling shape; but I don&rsquo;t myself object
+to that - lighted a candle, glanced at the Haymaker on the top of the
+clock, who was getting in a pretty average crop of minutes; and looked
+out of the window, where she saw nothing, owing to the darkness, but
+her own face imaged in the glass.&nbsp; And my opinion is (and so would
+yours have been), that she might have looked a long way, and seen nothing
+half so agreeable.&nbsp; When she came back, and sat down in her former
+seat, the Cricket and the kettle were still keeping it up, with a perfect
+fury of competition.&nbsp; The kettle&rsquo;s weak side clearly being,
+that he didn&rsquo;t know when he was beat.<br>
+<br>
+There was all the excitement of a race about it.&nbsp; Chirp, chirp,
+chirp!&nbsp; Cricket a mile ahead.&nbsp; Hum, hum, hum - m - m!&nbsp;
+Kettle making play in the distance, like a great top.&nbsp; Chirp, chirp,
+chirp!&nbsp; Cricket round the corner.&nbsp; Hum, hum, hum - m - m!&nbsp;
+Kettle sticking to him in his own way; no idea of giving in.&nbsp; Chirp,
+chirp, chirp!&nbsp; Cricket fresher than ever.&nbsp; Hum, hum, hum -
+m - m!&nbsp; Kettle slow and steady.&nbsp; Chirp, chirp, chirp!&nbsp;
+Cricket going in to finish him.&nbsp; Hum, hum, hum - m - m!&nbsp; Kettle
+not to be finished.&nbsp; Until at last they got so jumbled together,
+in the hurry-skurry, helter-skelter, of the match, that whether the
+kettle chirped and the Cricket hummed, or the Cricket chirped and the
+kettle hummed, or they both chirped and both hummed, it would have taken
+a clearer head than yours or mine to have decided with anything like
+certainty.&nbsp; But, of this, there is no doubt: that, the kettle and
+the Cricket, at one and the same moment, and by some power of amalgamation
+best known to themselves, sent, each, his fireside song of comfort streaming
+into a ray of the candle that shone out through the window, and a long
+way down the lane.&nbsp; And this light, bursting on a certain person
+who, on the instant, approached towards it through the gloom, expressed
+the whole thing to him, literally in a twinkling, and cried, &lsquo;Welcome
+home, old fellow!&nbsp; Welcome home, my boy!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+This end attained, the kettle, being dead beat, boiled over, and was
+taken off the fire.&nbsp; Mrs. Peerybingle then went running to the
+door, where, what with the wheels of a cart, the tramp of a horse, the
+voice of a man, the tearing in and out of an excited dog, and the surprising
+and mysterious appearance of a baby, there was soon the very What&rsquo;s-his-name
+to pay.<br>
+<br>
+Where the baby came from, or how Mrs. Peerybingle got hold of it in
+that flash of time, <i>I</i> don&rsquo;t know.&nbsp; But a live baby
+there was, in Mrs. Peerybingle&rsquo;s arms; and a pretty tolerable
+amount of pride she seemed to have in it, when she was drawn gently
+to the fire, by a sturdy figure of a man, much taller and much older
+than herself, who had to stoop a long way down, to kiss her.&nbsp; But
+she was worth the trouble.&nbsp; Six foot six, with the lumbago, might
+have done it.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh goodness, John!&rsquo; said Mrs. P.&nbsp; &lsquo;What a state
+you are in with the weather!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He was something the worse for it, undeniably.&nbsp; The thick mist
+hung in clots upon his eyelashes like candied thaw; and between the
+fog and fire together, there were rainbows in his very whiskers.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, you see, Dot,&rsquo; John made answer, slowly, as he unrolled
+a shawl from about his throat; and warmed his hands; &lsquo;it - it
+an&rsquo;t exactly summer weather.&nbsp; So, no wonder.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I wish you wouldn&rsquo;t call me Dot, John.&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t
+like it,&rsquo; said Mrs. Peerybingle: pouting in a way that clearly
+showed she <i>did</i> like it, very much.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why what else are you?&rsquo; returned John, looking down upon
+her with a smile, and giving her waist as light a squeeze as his huge
+hand and arm could give.&nbsp; &lsquo;A dot and&rsquo; - here he glanced
+at the baby - &lsquo;a dot and carry - I won&rsquo;t say it, for fear
+I should spoil it; but I was very near a joke.&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t know
+as ever I was nearer.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He was often near to something or other very clever, by his own account:
+this lumbering, slow, honest John; this John so heavy, but so light
+of spirit; so rough upon the surface, but so gentle at the core; so
+dull without, so quick within; so stolid, but so good!&nbsp; Oh Mother
+Nature, give thy children the true poetry of heart that hid itself in
+this poor Carrier&rsquo;s breast - he was but a Carrier by the way -
+and we can bear to have them talking prose, and leading lives of prose;
+and bear to bless thee for their company!<br>
+<br>
+It was pleasant to see Dot, with her little figure, and her baby in
+her arms: a very doll of a baby: glancing with a coquettish thoughtfulness
+at the fire, and inclining her delicate little head just enough on one
+side to let it rest in an odd, half-natural, half-affected, wholly nestling
+and agreeable manner, on the great rugged figure of the Carrier.&nbsp;
+It was pleasant to see him, with his tender awkwardness, endeavouring
+to adapt his rude support to her slight need, and make his burly middle-age
+a leaning-staff not inappropriate to her blooming youth.&nbsp; It was
+pleasant to observe how Tilly Slowboy, waiting in the background for
+the baby, took special cognizance (though in her earliest teens) of
+this grouping; and stood with her mouth and eyes wide open, and her
+head thrust forward, taking it in as if it were air.&nbsp; Nor was it
+less agreeable to observe how John the Carrier, reference being made
+by Dot to the aforesaid baby, checked his hand when on the point of
+touching the infant, as if he thought he might crack it; and bending
+down, surveyed it from a safe distance, with a kind of puzzled pride,
+such as an amiable mastiff might be supposed to show, if he found himself,
+one day, the father of a young canary.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;An&rsquo;t he beautiful, John?&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t he look precious
+in his sleep?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Very precious,&rsquo; said John.&nbsp; &lsquo;Very much so.&nbsp;
+He generally <i>is</i> asleep, an&rsquo;t he?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Lor, John!&nbsp; Good gracious no!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh,&rsquo; said John, pondering.&nbsp; &lsquo;I thought his eyes
+was generally shut.&nbsp; Halloa!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Goodness, John, how you startle one!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It an&rsquo;t right for him to turn &rsquo;em up in that way!&rsquo;
+said the astonished Carrier, &lsquo;is it?&nbsp; See how he&rsquo;s
+winking with both of &rsquo;em at once!&nbsp; And look at his mouth!&nbsp;
+Why he&rsquo;s gasping like a gold and silver fish!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You don&rsquo;t deserve to be a father, you don&rsquo;t,&rsquo;
+said Dot, with all the dignity of an experienced matron.&nbsp; &lsquo;But
+how should you know what little complaints children are troubled with,
+John!&nbsp; You wouldn&rsquo;t so much as know their names, you stupid
+fellow.&rsquo;&nbsp; And when she had turned the baby over on her left
+arm, and had slapped its back as a restorative, she pinched her husband&rsquo;s
+ear, laughing.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No,&rsquo; said John, pulling off his outer coat.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s
+very true, Dot.&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t know much about it.&nbsp; I only
+know that I&rsquo;ve been fighting pretty stiffly with the wind to-night.&nbsp;
+It&rsquo;s been blowing north-east, straight into the cart, the whole
+way home.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Poor old man, so it has!&rsquo; cried Mrs. Peerybingle, instantly
+becoming very active.&nbsp; &lsquo;Here!&nbsp; Take the precious darling,
+Tilly, while I make myself of some use.&nbsp; Bless it, I could smother
+it with kissing it, I could!&nbsp; Hie then, good dog!&nbsp; Hie, Boxer,
+boy!&nbsp; Only let me make the tea first, John; and then I&rsquo;ll
+help you with the parcels, like a busy bee.&nbsp; &ldquo;How doth the
+little&rdquo; - and all the rest of it, you know, John.&nbsp; Did you
+ever learn &ldquo;how doth the little,&rdquo; when you went to school,
+John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Not to quite know it,&rsquo; John returned.&nbsp; &lsquo;I was
+very near it once.&nbsp; But I should only have spoilt it, I dare say.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ha ha,&rsquo; laughed Dot.&nbsp; She had the blithest little
+laugh you ever heard.&nbsp; &lsquo;What a dear old darling of a dunce
+you are, John, to be sure!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Not at all disputing this position, John went out to see that the boy
+with the lantern, which had been dancing to and fro before the door
+and window, like a Will of the Wisp, took due care of the horse; who
+was fatter than you would quite believe, if I gave you his measure,
+and so old that his birthday was lost in the mists of antiquity.&nbsp;
+Boxer, feeling that his attentions were due to the family in general,
+and must be impartially distributed, dashed in and out with bewildering
+inconstancy; now, describing a circle of short barks round the horse,
+where he was being rubbed down at the stable-door; now feigning to make
+savage rushes at his mistress, and facetiously bringing himself to sudden
+stops; now, eliciting a shriek from Tilly Slowboy, in the low nursing-chair
+near the fire, by the unexpected application of his moist nose to her
+countenance; now, exhibiting an obtrusive interest in the baby; now,
+going round and round upon the hearth, and lying down as if he had established
+himself for the night; now, getting up again, and taking that nothing
+of a fag-end of a tail of his, out into the weather, as if he had just
+remembered an appointment, and was off, at a round trot, to keep it.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There!&nbsp; There&rsquo;s the teapot, ready on the hob!&rsquo;
+said Dot; as briskly busy as a child at play at keeping house.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;And there&rsquo;s the old knuckle of ham; and there&rsquo;s the
+butter; and there&rsquo;s the crusty loaf, and all!&nbsp; Here&rsquo;s
+the clothes-basket for the small parcels, John, if you&rsquo;ve got
+any there - where are you, John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Don&rsquo;t let the dear child fall under the grate, Tilly, whatever
+you do!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+It may be noted of Miss Slowboy, in spite of her rejecting the caution
+with some vivacity, that she had a rare and surprising talent for getting
+this baby into difficulties and had several times imperilled its short
+life, in a quiet way peculiarly her own.&nbsp; She was of a spare and
+straight shape, this young lady, insomuch that her garments appeared
+to be in constant danger of sliding off those sharp pegs, her shoulders,
+on which they were loosely hung.&nbsp; Her costume was remarkable for
+the partial development, on all possible occasions, of some flannel
+vestment of a singular structure; also for affording glimpses, in the
+region of the back, of a corset, or pair of stays, in colour a dead-green.&nbsp;
+Being always in a state of gaping admiration at everything, and absorbed,
+besides, in the perpetual contemplation of her mistress&rsquo;s perfections
+and the baby&rsquo;s, Miss Slowboy, in her little errors of judgment,
+may be said to have done equal honour to her head and to her heart;
+and though these did less honour to the baby&rsquo;s head, which they
+were the occasional means of bringing into contact with deal doors,
+dressers, stair-rails, bed-posts, and other foreign substances, still
+they were the honest results of Tilly Slowboy&rsquo;s constant astonishment
+at finding herself so kindly treated, and installed in such a comfortable
+home.&nbsp; For, the maternal and paternal Slowboy were alike unknown
+to Fame, and Tilly had been bred by public charity, a foundling; which
+word, though only differing from fondling by one vowel&rsquo;s length,
+is very different in meaning, and expresses quite another thing.<br>
+<br>
+To have seen little Mrs. Peerybingle come back with her husband, tugging
+at the clothes-basket, and making the most strenuous exertions to do
+nothing at all (for he carried it), would have amused you almost as
+much as it amused him.&nbsp; It may have entertained the Cricket too,
+for anything I know; but, certainly, it now began to chirp again, vehemently.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Heyday!&rsquo; said John, in his slow way.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s
+merrier than ever, to-night, I think.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And it&rsquo;s sure to bring us good fortune, John!&nbsp; It
+always has done so.&nbsp; To have a Cricket on the Hearth, is the luckiest
+thing in all the world!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+John looked at her as if he had very nearly got the thought into his
+head, that she was his Cricket in chief, and he quite agreed with her.&nbsp;
+But, it was probably one of his narrow escapes, for he said nothing.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The first time I heard its cheerful little note, John, was on
+that night when you brought me home - when you brought me to my new
+home here; its little mistress.&nbsp; Nearly a year ago.&nbsp; You recollect,
+John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+O yes.&nbsp; John remembered.&nbsp; I should think so!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Its chirp was such a welcome to me!&nbsp; It seemed so full of
+promise and encouragement.&nbsp; It seemed to say, you would be kind
+and gentle with me, and would not expect (I had a fear of that, John,
+then) to find an old head on the shoulders of your foolish little wife.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+John thoughtfully patted one of the shoulders, and then the head, as
+though he would have said No, no; he had had no such expectation; he
+had been quite content to take them as they were.&nbsp; And really he
+had reason.&nbsp; They were very comely.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It spoke the truth, John, when it seemed to say so; for you have
+ever been, I am sure, the best, the most considerate, the most affectionate
+of husbands to me.&nbsp; This has been a happy home, John; and I love
+the Cricket for its sake!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why so do I then,&rsquo; said the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;So do
+I, Dot.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I love it for the many times I have heard it, and the many thoughts
+its harmless music has given me.&nbsp; Sometimes, in the twilight, when
+I have felt a little solitary and down-hearted, John - before baby was
+here to keep me company and make the house gay - when I have thought
+how lonely you would be if I should die; how lonely I should be if I
+could know that you had lost me, dear; its Chirp, Chirp, Chirp upon
+the hearth, has seemed to tell me of another little voice, so sweet,
+so very dear to me, before whose coming sound my trouble vanished like
+a dream.&nbsp; And when I used to fear - I did fear once, John, I was
+very young you know - that ours might prove to be an ill-assorted marriage,
+I being such a child, and you more like my guardian than my husband;
+and that you might not, however hard you tried, be able to learn to
+love me, as you hoped and prayed you might; its Chirp, Chirp, Chirp
+has cheered me up again, and filled me with new trust and confidence.&nbsp;
+I was thinking of these things to-night, dear, when I sat expecting
+you; and I love the Cricket for their sake!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And so do I,&rsquo; repeated John.&nbsp; &lsquo;But, Dot?&nbsp;
+<i>I</i> hope and pray that I might learn to love you?&nbsp; How you
+talk!&nbsp; I had learnt that, long before I brought you here, to be
+the Cricket&rsquo;s little mistress, Dot!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She laid her hand, an instant, on his arm, and looked up at him with
+an agitated face, as if she would have told him something.&nbsp; Next
+moment she was down upon her knees before the basket, speaking in a
+sprightly voice, and busy with the parcels.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There are not many of them to-night, John, but I saw some goods
+behind the cart, just now; and though they give more trouble, perhaps,
+still they pay as well; so we have no reason to grumble, have we?&nbsp;
+Besides, you have been delivering, I dare say, as you came along?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh yes,&rsquo; John said.&nbsp; &lsquo;A good many.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why what&rsquo;s this round box?&nbsp; Heart alive, John, it&rsquo;s
+a wedding-cake!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Leave a woman alone to find out that,&rsquo; said John, admiringly.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Now a man would never have thought of it.&nbsp; Whereas, it&rsquo;s
+my belief that if you was to pack a wedding-cake up in a tea-chest,
+or a turn-up bedstead, or a pickled salmon keg, or any unlikely thing,
+a woman would be sure to find it out directly.&nbsp; Yes; I called for
+it at the pastry-cook&rsquo;s.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And it weighs I don&rsquo;t know what - whole hundredweights!&rsquo;
+cried Dot, making a great demonstration of trying to lift it.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Whose is it, John?&nbsp; Where is it going?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Read the writing on the other side,&rsquo; said John.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, John!&nbsp; My Goodness, John!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ah! who&rsquo;d have thought it!&rsquo; John returned.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You never mean to say,&rsquo; pursued Dot, sitting on the floor
+and shaking her head at him, &lsquo;that it&rsquo;s Gruff and Tackleton
+the toymaker!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+John nodded.<br>
+<br>
+Mrs. Peerybingle nodded also, fifty times at least.&nbsp; Not in assent
+- in dumb and pitying amazement; screwing up her lips the while with
+all their little force (they were never made for screwing up; I am clear
+of that), and looking the good Carrier through and through, in her abstraction.&nbsp;
+Miss Slowboy, in the mean time, who had a mechanical power of reproducing
+scraps of current conversation for the delectation of the baby, with
+all the sense struck out of them, and all the nouns changed into the
+plural number, inquired aloud of that young creature, Was it Gruffs
+and Tackletons the toymakers then, and Would it call at Pastry-cooks
+for wedding-cakes, and Did its mothers know the boxes when its fathers
+brought them homes; and so on.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And that is really to come about!&rsquo; said Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;Why,
+she and I were girls at school together, John.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He might have been thinking of her, or nearly thinking of her, perhaps,
+as she was in that same school time.&nbsp; He looked upon her with a
+thoughtful pleasure, but he made no answer.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And he&rsquo;s as old!&nbsp; As unlike her! - Why, how many years
+older than you, is Gruff and Tackleton, John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;How many more cups of tea shall I drink to-night at one sitting,
+than Gruff and Tackleton ever took in four, I wonder!&rsquo; replied
+John, good-humouredly, as he drew a chair to the round table, and began
+at the cold ham.&nbsp; &lsquo;As to eating, I eat but little; but that
+little I enjoy, Dot.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Even this, his usual sentiment at meal times, one of his innocent delusions
+(for his appetite was always obstinate, and flatly contradicted him),
+awoke no smile in the face of his little wife, who stood among the parcels,
+pushing the cake-box slowly from her with her foot, and never once looked,
+though her eyes were cast down too, upon the dainty shoe she generally
+was so mindful of.&nbsp; Absorbed in thought, she stood there, heedless
+alike of the tea and John (although he called to her, and rapped the
+table with his knife to startle her), until he rose and touched her
+on the arm; when she looked at him for a moment, and hurried to her
+place behind the teaboard, laughing at her negligence.&nbsp; But, not
+as she had laughed before.&nbsp; The manner and the music were quite
+changed.<br>
+<br>
+The Cricket, too, had stopped.&nbsp; Somehow the room was not so cheerful
+as it had been.&nbsp; Nothing like it.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;So, these are all the parcels, are they, John?&rsquo; she said,
+breaking a long silence, which the honest Carrier had devoted to the
+practical illustration of one part of his favourite sentiment - certainly
+enjoying what he ate, if it couldn&rsquo;t be admitted that he ate but
+little.&nbsp; &lsquo;So, these are all the parcels; are they, John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;That&rsquo;s all,&rsquo; said John.&nbsp; &lsquo;Why - no - I
+- &rsquo; laying down his knife and fork, and taking a long breath.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I declare - I&rsquo;ve clean forgotten the old gentleman!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The old gentleman?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;In the cart,&rsquo; said John.&nbsp; &lsquo;He was asleep, among
+the straw, the last time I saw him.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ve very nearly remembered
+him, twice, since I came in; but he went out of my head again.&nbsp;
+Holloa!&nbsp; Yahip there!&nbsp; Rouse up!&nbsp; That&rsquo;s my hearty!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+John said these latter words outside the door, whither he had hurried
+with the candle in his hand.<br>
+<br>
+Miss Slowboy, conscious of some mysterious reference to The Old Gentleman,
+and connecting in her mystified imagination certain associations of
+a religious nature with the phrase, was so disturbed, that hastily rising
+from the low chair by the fire to seek protection near the skirts of
+her mistress, and coming into contact as she crossed the doorway with
+an ancient Stranger, she instinctively made a charge or butt at him
+with the only offensive instrument within her reach.&nbsp; This instrument
+happening to be the baby, great commotion and alarm ensued, which the
+sagacity of Boxer rather tended to increase; for, that good dog, more
+thoughtful than its master, had, it seemed, been watching the old gentleman
+in his sleep, lest he should walk off with a few young poplar trees
+that were tied up behind the cart; and he still attended on him very
+closely, worrying his gaiters in fact, and making dead sets at the buttons.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You&rsquo;re such an undeniable good sleeper, sir,&rsquo; said
+John, when tranquillity was restored; in the mean time the old gentleman
+had stood, bareheaded and motionless, in the centre of the room; &lsquo;that
+I have half a mind to ask you where the other six are - only that would
+be a joke, and I know I should spoil it.&nbsp; Very near though,&rsquo;
+murmured the Carrier, with a chuckle; &lsquo;very near!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Stranger, who had long white hair, good features, singularly bold
+and well defined for an old man, and dark, bright, penetrating eyes,
+looked round with a smile, and saluted the Carrier&rsquo;s wife by gravely
+inclining his head.<br>
+<br>
+His garb was very quaint and odd - a long, long way behind the time.&nbsp;
+Its hue was brown, all over.&nbsp; In his hand he held a great brown
+club or walking-stick; and striking this upon the floor, it fell asunder,
+and became a chair.&nbsp; On which he sat down, quite composedly.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There!&rsquo; said the Carrier, turning to his wife.&nbsp; &lsquo;That&rsquo;s
+the way I found him, sitting by the roadside!&nbsp; Upright as a milestone.&nbsp;
+And almost as deaf.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Sitting in the open air, John!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;In the open air,&rsquo; replied the Carrier, &lsquo;just at dusk.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Carriage Paid,&rdquo; he said; and gave me eighteenpence.&nbsp;
+Then he got in.&nbsp; And there he is.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He&rsquo;s going, John, I think!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Not at all.&nbsp; He was only going to speak.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;If you please, I was to be left till called for,&rsquo; said
+the Stranger, mildly.&nbsp; &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t mind me.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+With that, he took a pair of spectacles from one of his large pockets,
+and a book from another, and leisurely began to read.&nbsp; Making no
+more of Boxer than if he had been a house lamb!<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier and his wife exchanged a look of perplexity.&nbsp; The Stranger
+raised his head; and glancing from the latter to the former, said,<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Your daughter, my good friend?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Wife,&rsquo; returned John.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Niece?&rsquo; said the Stranger.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Wife,&rsquo; roared John.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Indeed?&rsquo; observed the Stranger.&nbsp; &lsquo;Surely?&nbsp;
+Very young!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He quietly turned over, and resumed his reading.&nbsp; But, before he
+could have read two lines, he again interrupted himself to say:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Baby, yours?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+John gave him a gigantic nod; equivalent to an answer in the affirmative,
+delivered through a speaking trumpet.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Girl?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bo-o-oy!&rsquo; roared John.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Also very young, eh?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Mrs. Peerybingle instantly struck in.&nbsp; &lsquo;Two months and three
+da-ays!&nbsp; Vaccinated just six weeks ago-o!&nbsp; Took very fine-ly!&nbsp;
+Considered, by the doctor, a remarkably beautiful chi-ild!&nbsp; Equal
+to the general run of children at five months o-old!&nbsp; Takes notice,
+in a way quite wonderful!&nbsp; May seem impossible to you, but feels
+his legs al-ready!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Here the breathless little mother, who had been shrieking these short
+sentences into the old man&rsquo;s ear, until her pretty face was crimsoned,
+held up the Baby before him as a stubborn and triumphant fact; while
+Tilly Slowboy, with a melodious cry of &lsquo;Ketcher, Ketcher&rsquo;
+- which sounded like some unknown words, adapted to a popular Sneeze
+- performed some cow-like gambols round that all unconscious Innocent.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Hark!&nbsp; He&rsquo;s called for, sure enough,&rsquo; said John.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;There&rsquo;s somebody at the door.&nbsp; Open it, Tilly.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Before she could reach it, however, it was opened from without; being
+a primitive sort of door, with a latch, that any one could lift if he
+chose - and a good many people did choose, for all kinds of neighbours
+liked to have a cheerful word or two with the Carrier, though he was
+no great talker himself.&nbsp; Being opened, it gave admission to a
+little, meagre, thoughtful, dingy-faced man, who seemed to have made
+himself a great-coat from the sack-cloth covering of some old box; for,
+when he turned to shut the door, and keep the weather out, he disclosed
+upon the back of that garment, the inscription G &amp; T in large black
+capitals.&nbsp; Also the word GLASS in bold characters.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Good evening, John!&rsquo; said the little man.&nbsp; &lsquo;Good
+evening, Mum.&nbsp; Good evening, Tilly.&nbsp; Good evening, Unbeknown!&nbsp;
+How&rsquo;s Baby, Mum?&nbsp; Boxer&rsquo;s pretty well I hope?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;All thriving, Caleb,&rsquo; replied Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;I am sure
+you need only look at the dear child, for one, to know that.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And I&rsquo;m sure I need only look at you for another,&rsquo;
+said Caleb.<br>
+<br>
+He didn&rsquo;t look at her though; he had a wandering and thoughtful
+eye which seemed to be always projecting itself into some other time
+and place, no matter what he said; a description which will equally
+apply to his voice.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Or at John for another,&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;Or at
+Tilly, as far as that goes.&nbsp; Or certainly at Boxer.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Busy just now, Caleb?&rsquo; asked the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, pretty well, John,&rsquo; he returned, with the distraught
+air of a man who was casting about for the Philosopher&rsquo;s stone,
+at least.&nbsp; &lsquo;Pretty much so.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s rather a
+run on Noah&rsquo;s Arks at present.&nbsp; I could have wished to improve
+upon the Family, but I don&rsquo;t see how it&rsquo;s to be done at
+the price.&nbsp; It would be a satisfaction to one&rsquo;s mind, to
+make it clearer which was Shems and Hams, and which was Wives.&nbsp;
+Flies an&rsquo;t on that scale neither, as compared with elephants you
+know!&nbsp; Ah! well!&nbsp; Have you got anything in the parcel line
+for me, John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier put his hand into a pocket of the coat he had taken off;
+and brought out, carefully preserved in moss and paper, a tiny flower-pot.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There it is!&rsquo; he said, adjusting it with great care.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Not so much as a leaf damaged.&nbsp; Full of buds!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Caleb&rsquo;s dull eye brightened, as he took it, and thanked him.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Dear, Caleb,&rsquo; said the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;Very dear
+at this season.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Never mind that.&nbsp; It would be cheap to me, whatever it cost,&rsquo;
+returned the little man.&nbsp; &lsquo;Anything else, John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;A small box,&rsquo; replied the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;Here you
+are!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;For Caleb Plummer,&rdquo;&rsquo; said the little man,
+spelling out the direction.&nbsp; &lsquo;&ldquo;With Cash.&rdquo;&nbsp;
+With Cash, John?&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s for me.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;With Care,&rsquo; returned the Carrier, looking over his shoulder.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Where do you make out cash?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh!&nbsp; To be sure!&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s
+all right.&nbsp; With care!&nbsp; Yes, yes; that&rsquo;s mine.&nbsp;
+It might have been with cash, indeed, if my dear Boy in the Golden South
+Americas had lived, John.&nbsp; You loved him like a son; didn&rsquo;t
+you?&nbsp; You needn&rsquo;t say you did.&nbsp; <i>I</i> know, of course.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Caleb Plummer.&nbsp; With care.&rdquo;&nbsp; Yes, yes, it&rsquo;s
+all right.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s a box of dolls&rsquo; eyes for my daughter&rsquo;s
+work.&nbsp; I wish it was her own sight in a box, John.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I wish it was, or could be!&rsquo; cried the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Thank&rsquo;ee,&rsquo; said the little man.&nbsp; &lsquo;You
+speak very hearty.&nbsp; To think that she should never see the Dolls
+- and them a-staring at her, so bold, all day long!&nbsp; That&rsquo;s
+where it cuts.&nbsp; What&rsquo;s the damage, John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;ll damage you,&rsquo; said John, &lsquo;if you inquire.&nbsp;
+Dot!&nbsp; Very near?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Well! it&rsquo;s like you to say so,&rsquo; observed the little
+man.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s your kind way.&nbsp; Let me see.&nbsp;
+I think that&rsquo;s all.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I think not,&rsquo; said the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;Try again.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Something for our Governor, eh?&rsquo; said Caleb, after pondering
+a little while.&nbsp; &lsquo;To be sure.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s what I came
+for; but my head&rsquo;s so running on them Arks and things!&nbsp; He
+hasn&rsquo;t been here, has he?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Not he,&rsquo; returned the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;He&rsquo;s
+too busy, courting.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He&rsquo;s coming round though,&rsquo; said Caleb; &lsquo;for
+he told me to keep on the near side of the road going home, and it was
+ten to one he&rsquo;d take me up.&nbsp; I had better go, by the bye.
+- You couldn&rsquo;t have the goodness to let me pinch Boxer&rsquo;s
+tail, Mum, for half a moment, could you?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, Caleb! what a question!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh never mind, Mum,&rsquo; said the little man.&nbsp; &lsquo;He
+mightn&rsquo;t like it perhaps.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s a small order just
+come in, for barking dogs; and I should wish to go as close to Natur&rsquo;
+as I could, for sixpence.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s all.&nbsp; Never mind,
+Mum.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+It happened opportunely, that Boxer, without receiving the proposed
+stimulus, began to bark with great zeal.&nbsp; But, as this implied
+the approach of some new visitor, Caleb, postponing his study from the
+life to a more convenient season, shouldered the round box, and took
+a hurried leave.&nbsp; He might have spared himself the trouble, for
+he met the visitor upon the threshold.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh!&nbsp; You are here, are you?&nbsp; Wait a bit.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ll
+take you home.&nbsp; John Peerybingle, my service to you.&nbsp; More
+of my service to your pretty wife.&nbsp; Handsomer every day!&nbsp;
+Better too, if possible!&nbsp; And younger,&rsquo; mused the speaker,
+in a low voice; &lsquo;that&rsquo;s the Devil of it!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I should be astonished at your paying compliments, Mr. Tackleton,&rsquo;
+said Dot, not with the best grace in the world; &lsquo;but for your
+condition.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You know all about it then?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I have got myself to believe it, somehow,&rsquo; said Dot.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;After a hard struggle, I suppose?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Very.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Tackleton the Toy-merchant, pretty generally known as Gruff and Tackleton
+- for that was the firm, though Gruff had been bought out long ago;
+only leaving his name, and as some said his nature, according to its
+Dictionary meaning, in the business - Tackleton the Toy-merchant, was
+a man whose vocation had been quite misunderstood by his Parents and
+Guardians.&nbsp; If they had made him a Money Lender, or a sharp Attorney,
+or a Sheriff&rsquo;s Officer, or a Broker, he might have sown his discontented
+oats in his youth, and, after having had the full run of himself in
+ill-natured transactions, might have turned out amiable, at last, for
+the sake of a little freshness and novelty.&nbsp; But, cramped and chafing
+in the peaceable pursuit of toy-making, he was a domestic Ogre, who
+had been living on children all his life, and was their implacable enemy.&nbsp;
+He despised all toys; wouldn&rsquo;t have bought one for the world;
+delighted, in his malice, to insinuate grim expressions into the faces
+of brown-paper farmers who drove pigs to market, bellmen who advertised
+lost lawyers&rsquo; consciences, movable old ladies who darned stockings
+or carved pies; and other like samples of his stock in trade.&nbsp;
+In appalling masks; hideous, hairy, red-eyed Jacks in Boxes; Vampire
+Kites; demoniacal Tumblers who wouldn&rsquo;t lie down, and were perpetually
+flying forward, to stare infants out of countenance; his soul perfectly
+revelled.&nbsp; They were his only relief, and safety-valve.&nbsp; He
+was great in such inventions.&nbsp; Anything suggestive of a Pony-nightmare
+was delicious to him.&nbsp; He had even lost money (and he took to that
+toy very kindly) by getting up Goblin slides for magic-lanterns, whereon
+the Powers of Darkness were depicted as a sort of supernatural shell-fish,
+with human faces.&nbsp; In intensifying the portraiture of Giants, he
+had sunk quite a little capital; and, though no painter himself, he
+could indicate, for the instruction of his artists, with a piece of
+chalk, a certain furtive leer for the countenances of those monsters,
+which was safe to destroy the peace of mind of any young gentleman between
+the ages of six and eleven, for the whole Christmas or Midsummer Vacation.<br>
+<br>
+What he was in toys, he was (as most men are) in other things.&nbsp;
+You may easily suppose, therefore, that within the great green cape,
+which reached down to the calves of his legs, there was buttoned up
+to the chin an uncommonly pleasant fellow; and that he was about as
+choice a spirit, and as agreeable a companion, as ever stood in a pair
+of bull-headed-looking boots with mahogany-coloured tops.<br>
+<br>
+Still, Tackleton, the toy-merchant, was going to be married.&nbsp; In
+spite of all this, he was going to be married.&nbsp; And to a young
+wife too, a beautiful young wife.<br>
+<br>
+He didn&rsquo;t look much like a bridegroom, as he stood in the Carrier&rsquo;s
+kitchen, with a twist in his dry face, and a screw in his body, and
+his hat jerked over the bridge of his nose, and his hands tucked down
+into the bottoms of his pockets, and his whole sarcastic ill-conditioned
+self peering out of one little corner of one little eye, like the concentrated
+essence of any number of ravens.&nbsp; But, a Bridegroom he designed
+to be.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;In three days&rsquo; time.&nbsp; Next Thursday.&nbsp; The last
+day of the first month in the year.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s my wedding-day,&rsquo;
+said Tackleton.<br>
+<br>
+Did I mention that he had always one eye wide open, and one eye nearly
+shut; and that the one eye nearly shut, was always the expressive eye?&nbsp;
+I don&rsquo;t think I did.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;That&rsquo;s my wedding-day!&rsquo; said Tackleton, rattling
+his money.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, it&rsquo;s our wedding-day too,&rsquo; exclaimed the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ha ha!&rsquo; laughed Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Odd!&nbsp; You&rsquo;re
+just such another couple.&nbsp; Just!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The indignation of Dot at this presumptuous assertion is not to be described.&nbsp;
+What next?&nbsp; His imagination would compass the possibility of just
+such another Baby, perhaps.&nbsp; The man was mad.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I say!&nbsp; A word with you,&rsquo; murmured Tackleton, nudging
+the Carrier with his elbow, and taking him a little apart.&nbsp; &lsquo;You&rsquo;ll
+come to the wedding?&nbsp; We&rsquo;re in the same boat, you know.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;How in the same boat?&rsquo; inquired the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;A little disparity, you know,&rsquo; said Tackleton, with another
+nudge.&nbsp; &lsquo;Come and spend an evening with us, beforehand.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why?&rsquo; demanded John, astonished at this pressing hospitality.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why?&rsquo; returned the other.&nbsp; &lsquo;That&rsquo;s a new
+way of receiving an invitation.&nbsp; Why, for pleasure - sociability,
+you know, and all that!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I thought you were never sociable,&rsquo; said John, in his plain
+way.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Tchah!&nbsp; It&rsquo;s of no use to be anything but free with
+you, I see,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Why, then, the truth
+is you have a - what tea-drinking people call a sort of a comfortable
+appearance together, you and your wife.&nbsp; We know better, you know,
+but - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No, we don&rsquo;t know better,&rsquo; interposed John.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;What are you talking about?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Well!&nbsp; We <i>don&rsquo;t</i> know better, then,&rsquo; said
+Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;We&rsquo;ll agree that we don&rsquo;t.&nbsp;
+As you like; what does it matter?&nbsp; I was going to say, as you have
+that sort of appearance, your company will produce a favourable effect
+on Mrs. Tackleton that will be.&nbsp; And, though I don&rsquo;t think
+your good lady&rsquo;s very friendly to me, in this matter, still she
+can&rsquo;t help herself from falling into my views, for there&rsquo;s
+a compactness and cosiness of appearance about her that always tells,
+even in an indifferent case.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll say you&rsquo;ll come?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;We have arranged to keep our Wedding-Day (as far as that goes)
+at home,&rsquo; said John.&nbsp; &lsquo;We have made the promise to
+ourselves these six months.&nbsp; We think, you see, that home - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bah! what&rsquo;s home?&rsquo; cried Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Four
+walls and a ceiling! (why don&rsquo;t you kill that Cricket?&nbsp; <i>I</i>
+would!&nbsp; I always do.&nbsp; I hate their noise.)&nbsp; There are
+four walls and a ceiling at my house.&nbsp; Come to me!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You kill your Crickets, eh?&rsquo; said John.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Scrunch &rsquo;em, sir,&rsquo; returned the other, setting his
+heel heavily on the floor.&nbsp; &lsquo;You&rsquo;ll say you&rsquo;ll
+come? it&rsquo;s as much your interest as mine, you know, that the women
+should persuade each other that they&rsquo;re quiet and contented, and
+couldn&rsquo;t be better off.&nbsp; I know their way.&nbsp; Whatever
+one woman says, another woman is determined to clinch, always.&nbsp;
+There&rsquo;s that spirit of emulation among &rsquo;em, sir, that if
+your wife says to my wife, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the happiest woman in the
+world, and mine&rsquo;s the best husband in the world, and I dote on
+him,&rdquo; my wife will say the same to yours, or more, and half believe
+it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Do you mean to say she don&rsquo;t, then?&rsquo; asked the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Don&rsquo;t!&rsquo; cried Tackleton, with a short, sharp laugh.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Don&rsquo;t what?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier had some faint idea of adding, &lsquo;dote upon you.&rsquo;&nbsp;
+But, happening to meet the half-closed eye, as it twinkled upon him
+over the turned-up collar of the cape, which was within an ace of poking
+it out, he felt it such an unlikely part and parcel of anything to be
+doted on, that he substituted, &lsquo;that she don&rsquo;t believe it?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ah you dog!&nbsp; You&rsquo;re joking,&rsquo; said Tackleton.<br>
+<br>
+But the Carrier, though slow to understand the full drift of his meaning,
+eyed him in such a serious manner, that he was obliged to be a little
+more explanatory.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I have the humour,&rsquo; said Tackleton: holding up the fingers
+of his left hand, and tapping the forefinger, to imply &lsquo;there
+I am, Tackleton to wit:&rsquo; &lsquo;I have the humour, sir, to marry
+a young wife, and a pretty wife:&rsquo; here he rapped his little finger,
+to express the Bride; not sparingly, but sharply; with a sense of power.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m able to gratify that humour and I do.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s
+my whim.&nbsp; But - now look there!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He pointed to where Dot was sitting, thoughtfully, before the fire;
+leaning her dimpled chin upon her hand, and watching the bright blaze.&nbsp;
+The Carrier looked at her, and then at him, and then at her, and then
+at him again.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;She honours and obeys, no doubt, you know,&rsquo; said Tackleton;
+&lsquo;and that, as I am not a man of sentiment, is quite enough for
+<i>me</i>.&nbsp; But do you think there&rsquo;s anything more in it?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I think,&rsquo; observed the Carrier, &lsquo;that I should chuck
+any man out of window, who said there wasn&rsquo;t.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Exactly so,&rsquo; returned the other with an unusual alacrity
+of assent.&nbsp; &lsquo;To be sure!&nbsp; Doubtless you would.&nbsp;
+Of course.&nbsp; I&rsquo;m certain of it.&nbsp; Good night.&nbsp; Pleasant
+dreams!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier was puzzled, and made uncomfortable and uncertain, in spite
+of himself.&nbsp; He couldn&rsquo;t help showing it, in his manner.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Good night, my dear friend!&rsquo; said Tackleton, compassionately.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m off.&nbsp; We&rsquo;re exactly alike, in reality, I
+see.&nbsp; You won&rsquo;t give us to-morrow evening?&nbsp; Well!&nbsp;
+Next day you go out visiting, I know.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ll meet you there,
+and bring my wife that is to be.&nbsp; It&rsquo;ll do her good.&nbsp;
+You&rsquo;re agreeable?&nbsp; Thank&rsquo;ee.&nbsp; What&rsquo;s that!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+It was a loud cry from the Carrier&rsquo;s wife: a loud, sharp, sudden
+cry, that made the room ring, like a glass vessel.&nbsp; She had risen
+from her seat, and stood like one transfixed by terror and surprise.&nbsp;
+The Stranger had advanced towards the fire to warm himself, and stood
+within a short stride of her chair.&nbsp; But quite still.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Dot!&rsquo; cried the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;Mary!&nbsp; Darling!&nbsp;
+What&rsquo;s the matter?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+They were all about her in a moment.&nbsp; Caleb, who had been dozing
+on the cake-box, in the first imperfect recovery of his suspended presence
+of mind, seized Miss Slowboy by the hair of her head, but immediately
+apologised.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Mary!&rsquo; exclaimed the Carrier, supporting her in his arms.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Are you ill!&nbsp; What is it?&nbsp; Tell me, dear!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She only answered by beating her hands together, and falling into a
+wild fit of laughter.&nbsp; Then, sinking from his grasp upon the ground,
+she covered her face with her apron, and wept bitterly.&nbsp; And then
+she laughed again, and then she cried again, and then she said how cold
+it was, and suffered him to lead her to the fire, where she sat down
+as before.&nbsp; The old man standing, as before, quite still.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m better, John,&rsquo; she said.&nbsp; &lsquo;I&rsquo;m
+quite well now - I -&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;John!&rsquo;&nbsp; But John was on the other side of her.&nbsp;
+Why turn her face towards the strange old gentleman, as if addressing
+him!&nbsp; Was her brain wandering?<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Only a fancy, John dear - a kind of shock - a something coming
+suddenly before my eyes - I don&rsquo;t know what it was.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s
+quite gone, quite gone.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s gone,&rsquo; muttered Tackleton, turning
+the expressive eye all round the room.&nbsp; &lsquo;I wonder where it&rsquo;s
+gone, and what it was.&nbsp; Humph!&nbsp; Caleb, come here!&nbsp; Who&rsquo;s
+that with the grey hair?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I don&rsquo;t know, sir,&rsquo; returned Caleb in a whisper.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Never see him before, in all my life.&nbsp; A beautiful figure
+for a nut-cracker; quite a new model.&nbsp; With a screw-jaw opening
+down into his waistcoat, he&rsquo;d be lovely.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Not ugly enough,&rsquo; said Tackleton.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Or for a firebox, either,&rsquo; observed Caleb, in deep contemplation,
+&lsquo;what a model!&nbsp; Unscrew his head to put the matches in; turn
+him heels up&rsquo;ards for the light; and what a firebox for a gentleman&rsquo;s
+mantel-shelf, just as he stands!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Not half ugly enough,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Nothing
+in him at all!&nbsp; Come!&nbsp; Bring that box!&nbsp; All right now,
+I hope?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Quite gone!&rsquo; said the little woman, waving him hurriedly
+away.&nbsp; &lsquo;Good night!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Good night,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Good night, John
+Peerybingle!&nbsp; Take care how you carry that box, Caleb.&nbsp; Let
+it fall, and I&rsquo;ll murder you!&nbsp; Dark as pitch, and weather
+worse than ever, eh?&nbsp; Good night!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+So, with another sharp look round the room, he went out at the door;
+followed by Caleb with the wedding-cake on his head.<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier had been so much astounded by his little wife, and so busily
+engaged in soothing and tending her, that he had scarcely been conscious
+of the Stranger&rsquo;s presence, until now, when he again stood there,
+their only guest.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He don&rsquo;t belong to them, you see,&rsquo; said John.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I must give him a hint to go.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I beg your pardon, friend,&rsquo; said the old gentleman, advancing
+to him; &lsquo;the more so, as I fear your wife has not been well; but
+the Attendant whom my infirmity,&rsquo; he touched his ears and shook
+his head, &lsquo;renders almost indispensable, not having arrived, I
+fear there must be some mistake.&nbsp; The bad night which made the
+shelter of your comfortable cart (may I never have a worse!) so acceptable,
+is still as bad as ever.&nbsp; Would you, in your kindness, suffer me
+to rent a bed here?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes, yes,&rsquo; cried Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;Yes!&nbsp; Certainly!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh!&rsquo; said the Carrier, surprised by the rapidity of this
+consent.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Well!&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t object; but, still I&rsquo;m not quite
+sure that - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Hush!&rsquo; she interrupted.&nbsp; &lsquo;Dear John!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, he&rsquo;s stone deaf,&rsquo; urged John.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I know he is, but - Yes, sir, certainly.&nbsp; Yes! certainly!&nbsp;
+I&rsquo;ll make him up a bed, directly, John.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+As she hurried off to do it, the flutter of her spirits, and the agitation
+of her manner, were so strange that the Carrier stood looking after
+her, quite confounded.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Did its mothers make it up a Beds then!&rsquo; cried Miss Slowboy
+to the Baby; &lsquo;and did its hair grow brown and curly, when its
+caps was lifted off, and frighten it, a precious Pets, a-sitting by
+the fires!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+With that unaccountable attraction of the mind to trifles, which is
+often incidental to a state of doubt and confusion, the Carrier as he
+walked slowly to and fro, found himself mentally repeating even these
+absurd words, many times.&nbsp; So many times that he got them by heart,
+and was still conning them over and over, like a lesson, when Tilly,
+after administering as much friction to the little bald head with her
+hand as she thought wholesome (according to the practice of nurses),
+had once more tied the Baby&rsquo;s cap on.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And frighten it, a precious Pets, a-sitting by the fires.&nbsp;
+What frightened Dot, I wonder!&rsquo; mused the Carrier, pacing to and
+fro.<br>
+<br>
+He scouted, from his heart, the insinuations of the Toy-merchant, and
+yet they filled him with a vague, indefinite uneasiness.&nbsp; For,
+Tackleton was quick and sly; and he had that painful sense, himself,
+of being of slow perception, that a broken hint was always worrying
+to him.&nbsp; He certainly had no intention in his mind of linking anything
+that Tackleton had said, with the unusual conduct of his wife, but the
+two subjects of reflection came into his mind together, and he could
+not keep them asunder.<br>
+<br>
+The bed was soon made ready; and the visitor, declining all refreshment
+but a cup of tea, retired.&nbsp; Then, Dot - quite well again, she said,
+quite well again - arranged the great chair in the chimney-corner for
+her husband; filled his pipe and gave it him; and took her usual little
+stool beside him on the hearth.<br>
+<br>
+She always <i>would</i> sit on that little stool.&nbsp; I think she
+must have had a kind of notion that it was a coaxing, wheedling little
+stool.<br>
+<br>
+She was, out and out, the very best filler of a pipe, I should say,
+in the four quarters of the globe.&nbsp; To see her put that chubby
+little finger in the bowl, and then blow down the pipe to clear the
+tube, and, when she had done so, affect to think that there was really
+something in the tube, and blow a dozen times, and hold it to her eye
+like a telescope, with a most provoking twist in her capital little
+face, as she looked down it, was quite a brilliant thing.&nbsp; As to
+the tobacco, she was perfect mistress of the subject; and her lighting
+of the pipe, with a wisp of paper, when the Carrier had it in his mouth
+- going so very near his nose, and yet not scorching it - was Art, high
+Art.<br>
+<br>
+And the Cricket and the kettle, turning up again, acknowledged it!&nbsp;
+The bright fire, blazing up again, acknowledged it!&nbsp; The little
+Mower on the clock, in his unheeded work, acknowledged it!&nbsp; The
+Carrier, in his smoothing forehead and expanding face, acknowledged
+it, the readiest of all.<br>
+<br>
+And as he soberly and thoughtfully puffed at his old pipe, and as the
+Dutch clock ticked, and as the red fire gleamed, and as the Cricket
+chirped; that Genius of his Hearth and Home (for such the Cricket was)
+came out, in fairy shape, into the room, and summoned many forms of
+Home about him.&nbsp; Dots of all ages, and all sizes, filled the chamber.&nbsp;
+Dots who were merry children, running on before him gathering flowers,
+in the fields; coy Dots, half shrinking from, half yielding to, the
+pleading of his own rough image; newly-married Dots, alighting at the
+door, and taking wondering possession of the household keys; motherly
+little Dots, attended by fictitious Slowboys, bearing babies to be christened;
+matronly Dots, still young and blooming, watching Dots of daughters,
+as they danced at rustic balls; fat Dots, encircled and beset by troops
+of rosy grandchildren; withered Dots, who leaned on sticks, and tottered
+as they crept along.&nbsp; Old Carriers too, appeared, with blind old
+Boxers lying at their feet; and newer carts with younger drivers (&lsquo;Peerybingle
+Brothers&rsquo; on the tilt); and sick old Carriers, tended by the gentlest
+hands; and graves of dead and gone old Carriers, green in the churchyard.&nbsp;
+And as the Cricket showed him all these things - he saw them plainly,
+though his eyes were fixed upon the fire - the Carrier&rsquo;s heart
+grew light and happy, and he thanked his Household Gods with all his
+might, and cared no more for Gruff and Tackleton than you do.<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+But, what was that young figure of a man, which the same Fairy Cricket
+set so near Her stool, and which remained there, singly and alone?&nbsp;
+Why did it linger still, so near her, with its arm upon the chimney-piece,
+ever repeating &lsquo;Married! and not to me!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+O Dot!&nbsp; O failing Dot!&nbsp; There is no place for it in all your
+husband&rsquo;s visions; why has its shadow fallen on his hearth!<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER II - Chirp The Second<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+Caleb Plummer and his Blind Daughter lived all alone by themselves,
+as the Story-books say - and my blessing, with yours to back it I hope,
+on the Story-books, for saying anything in this workaday world! - Caleb
+Plummer and his Blind Daughter lived all alone by themselves, in a little
+cracked nutshell of a wooden house, which was, in truth, no better than
+a pimple on the prominent red-brick nose of Gruff and Tackleton.&nbsp;
+The premises of Gruff and Tackleton were the great feature of the street;
+but you might have knocked down Caleb Plummer&rsquo;s dwelling with
+a hammer or two, and carried off the pieces in a cart.<br>
+<br>
+If any one had done the dwelling-house of Caleb Plummer the honour to
+miss it after such an inroad, it would have been, no doubt, to commend
+its demolition as a vast improvement.&nbsp; It stuck to the premises
+of Gruff and Tackleton, like a barnacle to a ship&rsquo;s keel, or a
+snail to a door, or a little bunch of toadstools to the stem of a tree.<br>
+<br>
+But, it was the germ from which the full-grown trunk of Gruff and Tackleton
+had sprung; and, under its crazy roof, the Gruff before last, had, in
+a small way, made toys for a generation of old boys and girls, who had
+played with them, and found them out, and broken them, and gone to sleep.<br>
+<br>
+I have said that Caleb and his poor Blind Daughter lived here.&nbsp;
+I should have said that Caleb lived here, and his poor Blind Daughter
+somewhere else - in an enchanted home of Caleb&rsquo;s furnishing, where
+scarcity and shabbiness were not, and trouble never entered.&nbsp; Caleb
+was no sorcerer, but in the only magic art that still remains to us,
+the magic of devoted, deathless love, Nature had been the mistress of
+his study; and from her teaching, all the wonder came.<br>
+<br>
+The Blind Girl never knew that ceilings were discoloured, walls blotched
+and bare of plaster here and there, high crevices unstopped and widening
+every day, beams mouldering and tending downward.&nbsp; The Blind Girl
+never knew that iron was rusting, wood rotting, paper peeling off; the
+size, and shape, and true proportion of the dwelling, withering away.&nbsp;
+The Blind Girl never knew that ugly shapes of delf and earthenware were
+on the board; that sorrow and faintheartedness were in the house; that
+Caleb&rsquo;s scanty hairs were turning greyer and more grey, before
+her sightless face.&nbsp; The Blind Girl never knew they had a master,
+cold, exacting, and uninterested - never knew that Tackleton was Tackleton
+in short; but lived in the belief of an eccentric humourist who loved
+to have his jest with them, and who, while he was the Guardian Angel
+of their lives, disdained to hear one word of thankfulness.<br>
+<br>
+And all was Caleb&rsquo;s doing; all the doing of her simple father!&nbsp;
+But he too had a Cricket on his Hearth; and listening sadly to its music
+when the motherless Blind Child was very young, that Spirit had inspired
+him with the thought that even her great deprivation might be almost
+changed into a blessing, and the girl made happy by these little means.&nbsp;
+For all the Cricket tribe are potent Spirits, even though the people
+who hold converse with them do not know it (which is frequently the
+case); and there are not in the unseen world, voices more gentle and
+more true, that may be so implicitly relied on, or that are so certain
+to give none but tenderest counsel, as the Voices in which the Spirits
+of the Fireside and the Hearth address themselves to human kind.<br>
+<br>
+Caleb and his daughter were at work together in their usual working-room,
+which served them for their ordinary living-room as well; and a strange
+place it was.&nbsp; There were houses in it, finished and unfinished,
+for Dolls of all stations in life.&nbsp; Suburban tenements for Dolls
+of moderate means; kitchens and single apartments for Dolls of the lower
+classes; capital town residences for Dolls of high estate.&nbsp; Some
+of these establishments were already furnished according to estimate,
+with a view to the convenience of Dolls of limited income; others could
+be fitted on the most expensive scale, at a moment&rsquo;s notice, from
+whole shelves of chairs and tables, sofas, bedsteads, and upholstery.&nbsp;
+The nobility and gentry, and public in general, for whose accommodation
+these tenements were designed, lay, here and there, in baskets, staring
+straight up at the ceiling; but, in denoting their degrees in society,
+and confining them to their respective stations (which experience shows
+to be lamentably difficult in real life), the makers of these Dolls
+had far improved on Nature, who is often froward and perverse; for,
+they, not resting on such arbitrary marks as satin, cotton-print, and
+bits of rag, had superadded striking personal differences which allowed
+of no mistake.&nbsp; Thus, the Doll-lady of distinction had wax limbs
+of perfect symmetry; but only she and her compeers.&nbsp; The next grade
+in the social scale being made of leather, and the next of coarse linen
+stuff.&nbsp; As to the common-people, they had just so many matches
+out of tinder-boxes, for their arms and legs, and there they were -
+established in their sphere at once, beyond the possibility of getting
+out of it.<br>
+<br>
+There were various other samples of his handicraft, besides Dolls, in
+Caleb Plummer&rsquo;s room.&nbsp; There were Noah&rsquo;s Arks, in which
+the Birds and Beasts were an uncommonly tight fit, I assure you; though
+they could be crammed in, anyhow, at the roof, and rattled and shaken
+into the smallest compass.&nbsp; By a bold poetical licence, most of
+these Noah&rsquo;s Arks had knockers on the doors; inconsistent appendages,
+perhaps, as suggestive of morning callers and a Postman, yet a pleasant
+finish to the outside of the building.&nbsp; There were scores of melancholy
+little carts, which, when the wheels went round, performed most doleful
+music.&nbsp; Many small fiddles, drums, and other instruments of torture;
+no end of cannon, shields, swords, spears, and guns.&nbsp; There were
+little tumblers in red breeches, incessantly swarming up high obstacles
+of red-tape, and coming down, head first, on the other side; and there
+were innumerable old gentlemen of respectable, not to say venerable,
+appearance, insanely flying over horizontal pegs, inserted, for the
+purpose, in their own street doors.&nbsp; There were beasts of all sorts;
+horses, in particular, of every breed, from the spotted barrel on four
+pegs, with a small tippet for a mane, to the thoroughbred rocker on
+his highest mettle.&nbsp; As it would have been hard to count the dozens
+upon dozens of grotesque figures that were ever ready to commit all
+sorts of absurdities on the turning of a handle, so it would have been
+no easy task to mention any human folly, vice, or weakness, that had
+not its type, immediate or remote, in Caleb Plummer&rsquo;s room.&nbsp;
+And not in an exaggerated form, for very little handles will move men
+and women to as strange performances, as any Toy was ever made to undertake.<br>
+<br>
+In the midst of all these objects, Caleb and his daughter sat at work.&nbsp;
+The Blind Girl busy as a Doll&rsquo;s dressmaker; Caleb painting and
+glazing the four-pair front of a desirable family mansion.<br>
+<br>
+The care imprinted in the lines of Caleb&rsquo;s face, and his absorbed
+and dreamy manner, which would have sat well on some alchemist or abstruse
+student, were at first sight an odd contrast to his occupation, and
+the trivialities about him.&nbsp; But, trivial things, invented and
+pursued for bread, become very serious matters of fact; and, apart from
+this consideration, I am not at all prepared to say, myself, that if
+Caleb had been a Lord Chamberlain, or a Member of Parliament, or a lawyer,
+or even a great speculator, he would have dealt in toys one whit less
+whimsical, while I have a very great doubt whether they would have been
+as harmless.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;So you were out in the rain last night, father, in your beautiful
+new great-coat,&rsquo; said Caleb&rsquo;s daughter.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;In my beautiful new great-coat,&rsquo; answered Caleb, glancing
+towards a clothes-line in the room, on which the sack-cloth garment
+previously described, was carefully hung up to dry.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;How glad I am you bought it, father!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And of such a tailor, too,&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;Quite
+a fashionable tailor.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s too good for me.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Blind Girl rested from her work, and laughed with delight.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Too good, father!&nbsp; What can be too good for you?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m half-ashamed to wear it though,&rsquo; said Caleb,
+watching the effect of what he said, upon her brightening face; &lsquo;upon
+my word!&nbsp; When I hear the boys and people say behind me, &ldquo;Hal-loa!&nbsp;
+Here&rsquo;s a swell!&rdquo;&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t know which way to look.&nbsp;
+And when the beggar wouldn&rsquo;t go away last night; and when I said
+I was a very common man, said &ldquo;No, your Honour!&nbsp; Bless your
+Honour, don&rsquo;t say that!&rdquo;&nbsp; I was quite ashamed.&nbsp;
+I really felt as if I hadn&rsquo;t a right to wear it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Happy Blind Girl!&nbsp; How merry she was, in her exultation!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I see you, father,&rsquo; she said, clasping her hands, &lsquo;as
+plainly, as if I had the eyes I never want when you are with me.&nbsp;
+A blue coat - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bright blue,&rsquo; said Caleb.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes, yes!&nbsp; Bright blue!&rsquo; exclaimed the girl, turning
+up her radiant face; &lsquo;the colour I can just remember in the blessed
+sky!&nbsp; You told me it was blue before!&nbsp; A bright blue coat
+- &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Made loose to the figure,&rsquo; suggested Caleb.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Made loose to the figure!&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl, laughing
+heartily; &lsquo;and in it, you, dear father, with your merry eye, your
+smiling face, your free step, and your dark hair - looking so young
+and handsome!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Halloa!&nbsp; Halloa!&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;I shall
+be vain, presently!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I think you are, already,&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl, pointing
+at him, in her glee.&nbsp; &lsquo;I know you, father!&nbsp; Ha, ha,
+ha!&nbsp; I&rsquo;ve found you out, you see!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+How different the picture in her mind, from Caleb, as he sat observing
+her!&nbsp; She had spoken of his free step.&nbsp; She was right in that.&nbsp;
+For years and years, he had never once crossed that threshold at his
+own slow pace, but with a footfall counterfeited for her ear; and never
+had he, when his heart was heaviest, forgotten the light tread that
+was to render hers so cheerful and courageous!<br>
+<br>
+Heaven knows!&nbsp; But I think Caleb&rsquo;s vague bewilderment of
+manner may have half originated in his having confused himself about
+himself and everything around him, for the love of his Blind Daughter.&nbsp;
+How could the little man be otherwise than bewildered, after labouring
+for so many years to destroy his own identity, and that of all the objects
+that had any bearing on it!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There we are,&rsquo; said Caleb, falling back a pace or two to
+form the better judgment of his work; &lsquo;as near the real thing
+as sixpenn&rsquo;orth of halfpence is to sixpence.&nbsp; What a pity
+that the whole front of the house opens at once!&nbsp; If there was
+only a staircase in it, now, and regular doors to the rooms to go in
+at!&nbsp; But that&rsquo;s the worst of my calling, I&rsquo;m always
+deluding myself, and swindling myself.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You are speaking quite softly.&nbsp; You are not tired, father?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Tired!&rsquo; echoed Caleb, with a great burst of animation,
+&lsquo;what should tire me, Bertha?&nbsp; <i>I</i> was never tired.&nbsp;
+What does it mean?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+To give the greater force to his words, he checked himself in an involuntary
+imitation of two half-length stretching and yawning figures on the mantel-shelf,
+who were represented as in one eternal state of weariness from the waist
+upwards; and hummed a fragment of a song.&nbsp; It was a Bacchanalian
+song, something about a Sparkling Bowl.&nbsp; He sang it with an assumption
+of a Devil-may-care voice, that made his face a thousand times more
+meagre and more thoughtful than ever.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;What!&nbsp; You&rsquo;re singing, are you?&rsquo; said Tackleton,
+putting his head in at the door.&nbsp; &lsquo;Go it!&nbsp; <i>I</i>
+can&rsquo;t sing.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Nobody would have suspected him of it.&nbsp; He hadn&rsquo;t what is
+generally termed a singing face, by any means.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I can&rsquo;t afford to sing,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;I&rsquo;m
+glad <i>you can</i>.&nbsp; I hope you can afford to work too.&nbsp;
+Hardly time for both, I should think?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;If you could only see him, Bertha, how he&rsquo;s winking at
+me!&rsquo; whispered Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;Such a man to joke! you&rsquo;d
+think, if you didn&rsquo;t know him, he was in earnest - wouldn&rsquo;t
+you now?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Blind Girl smiled and nodded.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The bird that can sing and won&rsquo;t sing, must be made to
+sing, they say,&rsquo; grumbled Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;What about the
+owl that can&rsquo;t sing, and oughtn&rsquo;t to sing, and will sing;
+is there anything that <i>he</i> should be made to do?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The extent to which he&rsquo;s winking at this moment!&rsquo;
+whispered Caleb to his daughter.&nbsp; &lsquo;O, my gracious!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Always merry and light-hearted with us!&rsquo; cried the smiling
+Bertha.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;O, you&rsquo;re there, are you?&rsquo; answered Tackleton.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Poor Idiot!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He really did believe she was an Idiot; and he founded the belief, I
+can&rsquo;t say whether consciously or not, upon her being fond of him.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Well! and being there, - how are you?&rsquo; said Tackleton,
+in his grudging way.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh! well; quite well.&nbsp; And as happy as even you can wish
+me to be.&nbsp; As happy as you would make the whole world, if you could!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Poor Idiot!&rsquo; muttered Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;No gleam
+of reason.&nbsp; Not a gleam!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Blind Girl took his hand and kissed it; held it for a moment in
+her own two hands; and laid her cheek against it tenderly, before releasing
+it.&nbsp; There was such unspeakable affection and such fervent gratitude
+in the act, that Tackleton himself was moved to say, in a milder growl
+than usual:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;What&rsquo;s the matter now?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I stood it close beside my pillow when I went to sleep last night,
+and remembered it in my dreams.&nbsp; And when the day broke, and the
+glorious red sun - the <i>red</i> sun, father?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Red in the mornings and the evenings, Bertha,&rsquo; said poor
+Caleb, with a woeful glance at his employer.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;When it rose, and the bright light I almost fear to strike myself
+against in walking, came into the room, I turned the little tree towards
+it, and blessed Heaven for making things so precious, and blessed you
+for sending them to cheer me!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bedlam broke loose!&rsquo; said Tackleton under his breath.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;We shall arrive at the strait-waistcoat and mufflers soon.&nbsp;
+We&rsquo;re getting on!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Caleb, with his hands hooked loosely in each other, stared vacantly
+before him while his daughter spoke, as if he really were uncertain
+(I believe he was) whether Tackleton had done anything to deserve her
+thanks, or not.&nbsp; If he could have been a perfectly free agent,
+at that moment, required, on pain of death, to kick the Toy-merchant,
+or fall at his feet, according to his merits, I believe it would have
+been an even chance which course he would have taken.&nbsp; Yet, Caleb
+knew that with his own hands he had brought the little rose-tree home
+for her, so carefully, and that with his own lips he had forged the
+innocent deception which should help to keep her from suspecting how
+much, how very much, he every day, denied himself, that she might be
+the happier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bertha!&rsquo; said Tackleton, assuming, for the nonce, a little
+cordiality.&nbsp; &lsquo;Come here.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh!&nbsp; I can come straight to you!&nbsp; You needn&rsquo;t
+guide me!&rsquo; she rejoined.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Shall I tell you a secret, Bertha?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;If you will!&rsquo; she answered, eagerly.<br>
+<br>
+How bright the darkened face!&nbsp; How adorned with light, the listening
+head!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;This is the day on which little what&rsquo;s-her-name, the spoilt
+child, Peerybingle&rsquo;s wife, pays her regular visit to you - makes
+her fantastic Pic-Nic here; an&rsquo;t it?&rsquo; said Tackleton, with
+a strong expression of distaste for the whole concern.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; replied Bertha.&nbsp; &lsquo;This is the day.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I thought so,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;I should like
+to join the party.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Do you hear that, father!&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl in an ecstasy.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes, yes, I hear it,&rsquo; murmured Caleb, with the fixed look
+of a sleep-walker; &lsquo;but I don&rsquo;t believe it.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s
+one of my lies, I&rsquo;ve no doubt.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You see I - I want to bring the Peerybingles a little more into
+company with May Fielding,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;I am
+going to be married to May.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Married!&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl, starting from him.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;She&rsquo;s such a con-founded Idiot,&rsquo; muttered Tackleton,
+&lsquo;that I was afraid she&rsquo;d never comprehend me.&nbsp; Ah,
+Bertha!&nbsp; Married!&nbsp; Church, parson, clerk, beadle, glass-coach,
+bells, breakfast, bride-cake, favours, marrow-bones, cleavers, and all
+the rest of the tomfoolery.&nbsp; A wedding, you know; a wedding.&nbsp;
+Don&rsquo;t you know what a wedding is?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I know,&rsquo; replied the Blind Girl, in a gentle tone.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I understand!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Do you?&rsquo; muttered Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s more
+than I expected.&nbsp; Well!&nbsp; On that account I want to join the
+party, and to bring May and her mother.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ll send in a little
+something or other, before the afternoon.&nbsp; A cold leg of mutton,
+or some comfortable trifle of that sort.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll expect me?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; she answered.<br>
+<br>
+She had drooped her head, and turned away; and so stood, with her hands
+crossed, musing.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I don&rsquo;t think you will,&rsquo; muttered Tackleton, looking
+at her; &lsquo;for you seem to have forgotten all about it, already.&nbsp;
+Caleb!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I may venture to say I&rsquo;m here, I suppose,&rsquo; thought
+Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;Sir!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Take care she don&rsquo;t forget what I&rsquo;ve been saying
+to her.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;<i>She</i> never forgets,&rsquo; returned Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s
+one of the few things she an&rsquo;t clever in.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Every man thinks his own geese swans,&rsquo; observed the Toy-merchant,
+with a shrug.&nbsp; &lsquo;Poor devil!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Having delivered himself of which remark, with infinite contempt, old
+Gruff and Tackleton withdrew.<br>
+<br>
+Bertha remained where he had left her, lost in meditation.&nbsp; The
+gaiety had vanished from her downcast face, and it was very sad.&nbsp;
+Three or four times she shook her head, as if bewailing some remembrance
+or some loss; but her sorrowful reflections found no vent in words.<br>
+<br>
+It was not until Caleb had been occupied, some time, in yoking a team
+of horses to a waggon by the summary process of nailing the harness
+to the vital parts of their bodies, that she drew near to his working-stool,
+and sitting down beside him, said:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Father, I am lonely in the dark.&nbsp; I want my eyes, my patient,
+willing eyes.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Here they are,&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;Always ready.&nbsp;
+They are more yours than mine, Bertha, any hour in the four-and-twenty.&nbsp;
+What shall your eyes do for you, dear?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Look round the room, father.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;All right,&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;No sooner said than
+done, Bertha.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Tell me about it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It&rsquo;s much the same as usual,&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;Homely,
+but very snug.&nbsp; The gay colours on the walls; the bright flowers
+on the plates and dishes; the shining wood, where there are beams or
+panels; the general cheerfulness and neatness of the building; make
+it very pretty.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Cheerful and neat it was wherever Bertha&rsquo;s hands could busy themselves.&nbsp;
+But nowhere else, were cheerfulness and neatness possible, in the old
+crazy shed which Caleb&rsquo;s fancy so transformed.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You have your working dress on, and are not so gallant as when
+you wear the handsome coat?&rsquo; said Bertha, touching him.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Not quite so gallant,&rsquo; answered Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;Pretty
+brisk though.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Father,&rsquo; said the Blind Girl, drawing close to his side,
+and stealing one arm round his neck, &lsquo;tell me something about
+May.&nbsp; She is very fair?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;She is indeed,&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; And she was indeed.&nbsp;
+It was quite a rare thing to Caleb, not to have to draw on his invention.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Her hair is dark,&rsquo; said Bertha, pensively, &lsquo;darker
+than mine.&nbsp; Her voice is sweet and musical, I know.&nbsp; I have
+often loved to hear it.&nbsp; Her shape - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There&rsquo;s not a Doll&rsquo;s in all the room to equal it,&rsquo;
+said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;And her eyes! - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He stopped; for Bertha had drawn closer round his neck, and from the
+arm that clung about him, came a warning pressure which he understood
+too well.<br>
+<br>
+He coughed a moment, hammered for a moment, and then fell back upon
+the song about the sparkling bowl; his infallible resource in all such
+difficulties.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Our friend, father, our benefactor.&nbsp; I am never tired, you
+know, of hearing about him. - Now, was I ever?&rsquo; she said, hastily.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Of course not,&rsquo; answered Caleb, &lsquo;and with reason.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ah!&nbsp; With how much reason!&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl.&nbsp;
+With such fervency, that Caleb, though his motives were so pure, could
+not endure to meet her face; but dropped his eyes, as if she could have
+read in them his innocent deceit.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Then, tell me again about him, dear father,&rsquo; said Bertha.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Many times again!&nbsp; His face is benevolent, kind, and tender.&nbsp;
+Honest and true, I am sure it is.&nbsp; The manly heart that tries to
+cloak all favours with a show of roughness and unwillingness, beats
+in its every look and glance.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And makes it noble!&rsquo; added Caleb, in his quiet desperation.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And makes it noble!&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl.&nbsp; &lsquo;He
+is older than May, father.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ye-es,&rsquo; said Caleb, reluctantly.&nbsp; &lsquo;He&rsquo;s
+a little older than May.&nbsp; But that don&rsquo;t signify.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh father, yes!&nbsp; To be his patient companion in infirmity
+and age; to be his gentle nurse in sickness, and his constant friend
+in suffering and sorrow; to know no weariness in working for his sake;
+to watch him, tend him, sit beside his bed and talk to him awake, and
+pray for him asleep; what privileges these would be!&nbsp; What opportunities
+for proving all her truth and devotion to him!&nbsp; Would she do all
+this, dear father?<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No doubt of it,&rsquo; said Caleb.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I love her, father; I can love her from my soul!&rsquo; exclaimed
+the Blind Girl.&nbsp; And saying so, she laid her poor blind face on
+Caleb&rsquo;s shoulder, and so wept and wept, that he was almost sorry
+to have brought that tearful happiness upon her.<br>
+<br>
+In the mean time, there had been a pretty sharp commotion at John Peerybingle&rsquo;s,
+for little Mrs. Peerybingle naturally couldn&rsquo;t think of going
+anywhere without the Baby; and to get the Baby under weigh took time.&nbsp;
+Not that there was much of the Baby, speaking of it as a thing of weight
+and measure, but there was a vast deal to do about and about it, and
+it all had to be done by easy stages.&nbsp; For instance, when the Baby
+was got, by hook and by crook, to a certain point of dressing, and you
+might have rationally supposed that another touch or two would finish
+him off, and turn him out a tip-top Baby challenging the world, he was
+unexpectedly extinguished in a flannel cap, and hustled off to bed;
+where he simmered (so to speak) between two blankets for the best part
+of an hour.&nbsp; From this state of inaction he was then recalled,
+shining very much and roaring violently, to partake of - well?&nbsp;
+I would rather say, if you&rsquo;ll permit me to speak generally - of
+a slight repast.&nbsp; After which, he went to sleep again.&nbsp; Mrs.
+Peerybingle took advantage of this interval, to make herself as smart
+in a small way as ever you saw anybody in all your life; and, during
+the same short truce, Miss Slowboy insinuated herself into a spencer
+of a fashion so surprising and ingenious, that it had no connection
+with herself, or anything else in the universe, but was a shrunken,
+dog&rsquo;s-eared, independent fact, pursuing its lonely course without
+the least regard to anybody.&nbsp; By this time, the Baby, being all
+alive again, was invested, by the united efforts of Mrs. Peerybingle
+and Miss Slowboy, with a cream-coloured mantle for its body, and a sort
+of nankeen raised-pie for its head; and so in course of time they all
+three got down to the door, where the old horse had already taken more
+than the full value of his day&rsquo;s toll out of the Turnpike Trust,
+by tearing up the road with his impatient autographs; and whence Boxer
+might be dimly seen in the remote perspective, standing looking back,
+and tempting him to come on without orders.<br>
+<br>
+As to a chair, or anything of that kind for helping Mrs. Peerybingle
+into the cart, you know very little of John, if you think <i>that</i>
+was necessary.&nbsp; Before you could have seen him lift her from the
+ground, there she was in her place, fresh and rosy, saying, &lsquo;John!&nbsp;
+How <i>can</i> you!&nbsp; Think of Tilly!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+If I might be allowed to mention a young lady&rsquo;s legs, on any terms,
+I would observe of Miss Slowboy&rsquo;s that there was a fatality about
+them which rendered them singularly liable to be grazed; and that she
+never effected the smallest ascent or descent, without recording the
+circumstance upon them with a notch, as Robinson Crusoe marked the days
+upon his wooden calendar.&nbsp; But as this might be considered ungenteel,
+I&rsquo;ll think of it.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;John?&nbsp; You&rsquo;ve got the Basket with the Veal and Ham-Pie
+and things, and the bottles of Beer?&rsquo; said Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;If
+you haven&rsquo;t, you must turn round again, this very minute.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You&rsquo;re a nice little article,&rsquo; returned the Carrier,
+&lsquo;to be talking about turning round, after keeping me a full quarter
+of an hour behind my time.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I am sorry for it, John,&rsquo; said Dot in a great bustle, &lsquo;but
+I really could not think of going to Bertha&rsquo;s - I would not do
+it, John, on any account - without the Veal and Ham-Pie and things,
+and the bottles of Beer.&nbsp; Way!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+This monosyllable was addressed to the horse, who didn&rsquo;t mind
+it at all.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh <i>do</i> way, John!&rsquo; said Mrs. Peerybingle.&nbsp; &lsquo;Please!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It&rsquo;ll be time enough to do that,&rsquo; returned John,
+&lsquo;when I begin to leave things behind me.&nbsp; The basket&rsquo;s
+here, safe enough.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;What a hard-hearted monster you must be, John, not to have said
+so, at once, and save me such a turn!&nbsp; I declared I wouldn&rsquo;t
+go to Bertha&rsquo;s without the Veal and Ham-Pie and things, and the
+bottles of Beer, for any money.&nbsp; Regularly once a fortnight ever
+since we have been married, John, have we made our little Pic-Nic there.&nbsp;
+If anything was to go wrong with it, I should almost think we were never
+to be lucky again.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It was a kind thought in the first instance,&rsquo; said the
+Carrier: &lsquo;and I honour you for it, little woman.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;My dear John,&rsquo; replied Dot, turning very red, &lsquo;don&rsquo;t
+talk about honouring <i>me</i>.&nbsp; Good Gracious!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;By the bye - &rsquo; observed the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;That
+old gentleman - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Again so visibly, and instantly embarrassed!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He&rsquo;s an odd fish,&rsquo; said the Carrier, looking straight
+along the road before them.&nbsp; &lsquo;I can&rsquo;t make him out.&nbsp;
+I don&rsquo;t believe there&rsquo;s any harm in him.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;None at all.&nbsp; I&rsquo;m - I&rsquo;m sure there&rsquo;s none
+at all.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; said the Carrier, with his eyes attracted to her
+face by the great earnestness of her manner.&nbsp; &lsquo;I am glad
+you feel so certain of it, because it&rsquo;s a confirmation to me.&nbsp;
+It&rsquo;s curious that he should have taken it into his head to ask
+leave to go on lodging with us; an&rsquo;t it?&nbsp; Things come about
+so strangely.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;So very strangely,&rsquo; she rejoined in a low voice, scarcely
+audible.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;However, he&rsquo;s a good-natured old gentleman,&rsquo; said
+John, &lsquo;and pays as a gentleman, and I think his word is to be
+relied upon, like a gentleman&rsquo;s.&nbsp; I had quite a long talk
+with him this morning: he can hear me better already, he says, as he
+gets more used to my voice.&nbsp; He told me a great deal about himself,
+and I told him a great deal about myself, and a rare lot of questions
+he asked me.&nbsp; I gave him information about my having two beats,
+you know, in my business; one day to the right from our house and back
+again; another day to the left from our house and back again (for he&rsquo;s
+a stranger and don&rsquo;t know the names of places about here); and
+he seemed quite pleased.&nbsp; &ldquo;Why, then I shall be returning
+home to-night your way,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;when I thought you&rsquo;d
+be coming in an exactly opposite direction.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s capital!&nbsp;
+I may trouble you for another lift perhaps, but I&rsquo;ll engage not
+to fall so sound asleep again.&rdquo;&nbsp; He <i>was</i> sound asleep,
+sure-ly! - Dot! what are you thinking of?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Thinking of, John?&nbsp; I - I was listening to you.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;O!&nbsp; That&rsquo;s all right!&rsquo; said the honest Carrier.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I was afraid, from the look of your face, that I had gone rambling
+on so long, as to set you thinking about something else.&nbsp; I was
+very near it, I&rsquo;ll be bound.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Dot making no reply, they jogged on, for some little time, in silence.&nbsp;
+But, it was not easy to remain silent very long in John Peerybingle&rsquo;s
+cart, for everybody on the road had something to say.&nbsp; Though it
+might only be &lsquo;How are you!&rsquo; and indeed it was very often
+nothing else, still, to give that back again in the right spirit of
+cordiality, required, not merely a nod and a smile, but as wholesome
+an action of the lungs withal, as a long-winded Parliamentary speech.&nbsp;
+Sometimes, passengers on foot, or horseback, plodded on a little way
+beside the cart, for the express purpose of having a chat; and then
+there was a great deal to be said, on both sides.<br>
+<br>
+Then, Boxer gave occasion to more good-natured recognitions of, and
+by, the Carrier, than half-a-dozen Christians could have done!&nbsp;
+Everybody knew him, all along the road - especially the fowls and pigs,
+who when they saw him approaching, with his body all on one side, and
+his ears pricked up inquisitively, and that knob of a tail making the
+most of itself in the air, immediately withdrew into remote back settlements,
+without waiting for the honour of a nearer acquaintance.&nbsp; He had
+business everywhere; going down all the turnings, looking into all the
+wells, bolting in and out of all the cottages, dashing into the midst
+of all the Dame-Schools, fluttering all the pigeons, magnifying the
+tails of all the cats, and trotting into the public-houses like a regular
+customer.&nbsp; Wherever he went, somebody or other might have been
+heard to cry, &lsquo;Halloa!&nbsp; Here&rsquo;s Boxer!&rsquo; and out
+came that somebody forthwith, accompanied by at least two or three other
+somebodies, to give John Peerybingle and his pretty wife, Good Day.<br>
+<br>
+The packages and parcels for the errand cart, were numerous; and there
+were many stoppages to take them in and give them out, which were not
+by any means the worst parts of the journey.&nbsp; Some people were
+so full of expectation about their parcels, and other people were so
+full of wonder about their parcels, and other people were so full of
+inexhaustible directions about their parcels, and John had such a lively
+interest in all the parcels, that it was as good as a play.&nbsp; Likewise,
+there were articles to carry, which required to be considered and discussed,
+and in reference to the adjustment and disposition of which, councils
+had to be holden by the Carrier and the senders: at which Boxer usually
+assisted, in short fits of the closest attention, and long fits of tearing
+round and round the assembled sages and barking himself hoarse.&nbsp;
+Of all these little incidents, Dot was the amused and open-eyed spectatress
+from her chair in the cart; and as she sat there, looking on - a charming
+little portrait framed to admiration by the tilt - there was no lack
+of nudgings and glancings and whisperings and envyings among the younger
+men.&nbsp; And this delighted John the Carrier, beyond measure; for
+he was proud to have his little wife admired, knowing that she didn&rsquo;t
+mind it - that, if anything, she rather liked it perhaps.<br>
+<br>
+The trip was a little foggy, to be sure, in the January weather; and
+was raw and cold.&nbsp; But who cared for such trifles?&nbsp; Not Dot,
+decidedly.&nbsp; Not Tilly Slowboy, for she deemed sitting in a cart,
+on any terms, to be the highest point of human joys; the crowning circumstance
+of earthly hopes.&nbsp; Not the Baby, I&rsquo;ll be sworn; for it&rsquo;s
+not in Baby nature to be warmer or more sound asleep, though its capacity
+is great in both respects, than that blessed young Peerybingle was,
+all the way.<br>
+<br>
+You couldn&rsquo;t see very far in the fog, of course; but you could
+see a great deal!&nbsp; It&rsquo;s astonishing how much you may see,
+in a thicker fog than that, if you will only take the trouble to look
+for it.&nbsp; Why, even to sit watching for the Fairy-rings in the fields,
+and for the patches of hoar-frost still lingering in the shade, near
+hedges and by trees, was a pleasant occupation: to make no mention of
+the unexpected shapes in which the trees themselves came starting out
+of the mist, and glided into it again.&nbsp; The hedges were tangled
+and bare, and waved a multitude of blighted garlands in the wind; but
+there was no discouragement in this.&nbsp; It was agreeable to contemplate;
+for it made the fireside warmer in possession, and the summer greener
+in expectancy.&nbsp; The river looked chilly; but it was in motion,
+and moving at a good pace - which was a great point.&nbsp; The canal
+was rather slow and torpid; that must be admitted.&nbsp; Never mind.&nbsp;
+It would freeze the sooner when the frost set fairly in, and then there
+would be skating, and sliding; and the heavy old barges, frozen up somewhere
+near a wharf, would smoke their rusty iron chimney pipes all day, and
+have a lazy time of it.<br>
+<br>
+In one place, there was a great mound of weeds or stubble burning; and
+they watched the fire, so white in the daytime, flaring through the
+fog, with only here and there a dash of red in it, until, in consequence,
+as she observed, of the smoke &lsquo;getting up her nose,&rsquo; Miss
+Slowboy choked - she could do anything of that sort, on the smallest
+provocation - and woke the Baby, who wouldn&rsquo;t go to sleep again.&nbsp;
+But, Boxer, who was in advance some quarter of a mile or so, had already
+passed the outposts of the town, and gained the corner of the street
+where Caleb and his daughter lived; and long before they had reached
+the door, he and the Blind Girl were on the pavement waiting to receive
+them.<br>
+<br>
+Boxer, by the way, made certain delicate distinctions of his own, in
+his communication with Bertha, which persuade me fully that he knew
+her to be blind.&nbsp; He never sought to attract her attention by looking
+at her, as he often did with other people, but touched her invariably.&nbsp;
+What experience he could ever have had of blind people or blind dogs,
+I don&rsquo;t know.&nbsp; He had never lived with a blind master; nor
+had Mr. Boxer the elder, nor Mrs. Boxer, nor any of his respectable
+family on either side, ever been visited with blindness, that I am aware
+of.&nbsp; He may have found it out for himself, perhaps, but he had
+got hold of it somehow; and therefore he had hold of Bertha too, by
+the skirt, and kept hold, until Mrs. Peerybingle and the Baby, and Miss
+Slowboy, and the basket, were all got safely within doors.<br>
+<br>
+May Fielding was already come; and so was her mother - a little querulous
+chip of an old lady with a peevish face, who, in right of having preserved
+a waist like a bedpost, was supposed to be a most transcendent figure;
+and who, in consequence of having once been better off, or of labouring
+under an impression that she might have been, if something had happened
+which never did happen, and seemed to have never been particularly likely
+to come to pass - but it&rsquo;s all the same - was very genteel and
+patronising indeed.&nbsp; Gruff and Tackleton was also there, doing
+the agreeable, with the evident sensation of being as perfectly at home,
+and as unquestionably in his own element, as a fresh young salmon on
+the top of the Great Pyramid.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;May!&nbsp; My dear old friend!&rsquo; cried Dot, running up to
+meet her.&nbsp; &lsquo;What a happiness to see you.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Her old friend was, to the full, as hearty and as glad as she; and it
+really was, if you&rsquo;ll believe me, quite a pleasant sight to see
+them embrace.&nbsp; Tackleton was a man of taste beyond all question.&nbsp;
+May was very pretty.<br>
+<br>
+You know sometimes, when you are used to a pretty face, how, when it
+comes into contact and comparison with another pretty face, it seems
+for the moment to be homely and faded, and hardly to deserve the high
+opinion you have had of it.&nbsp; Now, this was not at all the case,
+either with Dot or May; for May&rsquo;s face set off Dot&rsquo;s, and
+Dot&rsquo;s face set off May&rsquo;s, so naturally and agreeably, that,
+as John Peerybingle was very near saying when he came into the room,
+they ought to have been born sisters - which was the only improvement
+you could have suggested.<br>
+<br>
+Tackleton had brought his leg of mutton, and, wonderful to relate, a
+tart besides - but we don&rsquo;t mind a little dissipation when our
+brides are in the case. we don&rsquo;t get married every day - and in
+addition to these dainties, there were the Veal and Ham-Pie, and &lsquo;things,&rsquo;
+as Mrs. Peerybingle called them; which were chiefly nuts and oranges,
+and cakes, and such small deer.&nbsp; When the repast was set forth
+on the board, flanked by Caleb&rsquo;s contribution, which was a great
+wooden bowl of smoking potatoes (he was prohibited, by solemn compact,
+from producing any other viands), Tackleton led his intended mother-in-law
+to the post of honour.&nbsp; For the better gracing of this place at
+the high festival, the majestic old soul had adorned herself with a
+cap, calculated to inspire the thoughtless with sentiments of awe.&nbsp;
+She also wore her gloves.&nbsp; But let us be genteel, or die!<br>
+<br>
+Caleb sat next his daughter; Dot and her old schoolfellow were side
+by side; the good Carrier took care of the bottom of the table.&nbsp;
+Miss Slowboy was isolated, for the time being, from every article of
+furniture but the chair she sat on, that she might have nothing else
+to knock the Baby&rsquo;s head against.<br>
+<br>
+As Tilly stared about her at the dolls and toys, they stared at her
+and at the company.&nbsp; The venerable old gentlemen at the street
+doors (who were all in full action) showed especial interest in the
+party, pausing occasionally before leaping, as if they were listening
+to the conversation, and then plunging wildly over and over, a great
+many times, without halting for breath - as in a frantic state of delight
+with the whole proceedings.<br>
+<br>
+Certainly, if these old gentlemen were inclined to have a fiendish joy
+in the contemplation of Tackleton&rsquo;s discomfiture, they had good
+reason to be satisfied.&nbsp; Tackleton couldn&rsquo;t get on at all;
+and the more cheerful his intended bride became in Dot&rsquo;s society,
+the less he liked it, though he had brought them together for that purpose.&nbsp;
+For he was a regular dog in the manger, was Tackleton; and when they
+laughed and he couldn&rsquo;t, he took it into his head, immediately,
+that they must be laughing at him.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ah, May!&rsquo; said Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;Dear dear, what changes!&nbsp;
+To talk of those merry school-days makes one young again.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, you an&rsquo;t particularly old, at any time; are you?&rsquo;
+said Tackleton.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Look at my sober plodding husband there,&rsquo; returned Dot.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;He adds twenty years to my age at least.&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t you,
+John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Forty,&rsquo; John replied.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;How many <i>you</i>&rsquo;ll add to May&rsquo;s, I am sure I
+don&rsquo;t know,&rsquo; said Dot, laughing.&nbsp; &lsquo;But she can&rsquo;t
+be much less than a hundred years of age on her next birthday.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ha ha!&rsquo; laughed Tackleton.&nbsp; Hollow as a drum, that
+laugh though.&nbsp; And he looked as if he could have twisted Dot&rsquo;s
+neck, comfortably.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Dear dear!&rsquo; said Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;Only to remember how
+we used to talk, at school, about the husbands we would choose.&nbsp;
+I don&rsquo;t know how young, and how handsome, and how gay, and how
+lively, mine was not to be!&nbsp; And as to May&rsquo;s! - Ah dear!&nbsp;
+I don&rsquo;t know whether to laugh or cry, when I think what silly
+girls we were.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+May seemed to know which to do; for the colour flushed into her face,
+and tears stood in her eyes.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Even the very persons themselves - real live young men - were
+fixed on sometimes,&rsquo; said Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;We little thought
+how things would come about.&nbsp; I never fixed on John I&rsquo;m sure;
+I never so much as thought of him.&nbsp; And if I had told you, you
+were ever to be married to Mr. Tackleton, why you&rsquo;d have slapped
+me.&nbsp; Wouldn&rsquo;t you, May?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Though May didn&rsquo;t say yes, she certainly didn&rsquo;t say no,
+or express no, by any means.<br>
+<br>
+Tackleton laughed - quite shouted, he laughed so loud.&nbsp; John Peerybingle
+laughed too, in his ordinary good-natured and contented manner; but
+his was a mere whisper of a laugh, to Tackleton&rsquo;s.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You couldn&rsquo;t help yourselves, for all that.&nbsp; You couldn&rsquo;t
+resist us, you see,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Here we are!&nbsp;
+Here we are!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Where are your gay young bridegrooms now!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Some of them are dead,&rsquo; said Dot; &lsquo;and some of them
+forgotten.&nbsp; Some of them, if they could stand among us at this
+moment, would not believe we were the same creatures; would not believe
+that what they saw and heard was real, and we <i>could</i> forget them
+so.&nbsp; No! they would not believe one word of it!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, Dot!&rsquo; exclaimed the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;Little woman!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She had spoken with such earnestness and fire, that she stood in need
+of some recalling to herself, without doubt.&nbsp; Her husband&rsquo;s
+check was very gentle, for he merely interfered, as he supposed, to
+shield old Tackleton; but it proved effectual, for she stopped, and
+said no more.&nbsp; There was an uncommon agitation, even in her silence,
+which the wary Tackleton, who had brought his half-shut eye to bear
+upon her, noted closely, and remembered to some purpose too.<br>
+<br>
+May uttered no word, good or bad, but sat quite still, with her eyes
+cast down, and made no sign of interest in what had passed.&nbsp; The
+good lady her mother now interposed, observing, in the first instance,
+that girls were girls, and byegones byegones, and that so long as young
+people were young and thoughtless, they would probably conduct themselves
+like young and thoughtless persons: with two or three other positions
+of a no less sound and incontrovertible character.&nbsp; She then remarked,
+in a devout spirit, that she thanked Heaven she had always found in
+her daughter May, a dutiful and obedient child; for which she took no
+credit to herself, though she had every reason to believe it was entirely
+owing to herself.&nbsp; With regard to Mr. Tackleton she said, That
+he was in a moral point of view an undeniable individual, and That he
+was in an eligible point of view a son-in-law to be desired, no one
+in their senses could doubt.&nbsp; (She was very emphatic here.)&nbsp;
+With regard to the family into which he was so soon about, after some
+solicitation, to be admitted, she believed Mr. Tackleton knew that,
+although reduced in purse, it had some pretensions to gentility; and
+if certain circumstances, not wholly unconnected, she would go so far
+as to say, with the Indigo Trade, but to which she would not more particularly
+refer, had happened differently, it might perhaps have been in possession
+of wealth.&nbsp; She then remarked that she would not allude to the
+past, and would not mention that her daughter had for some time rejected
+the suit of Mr. Tackleton; and that she would not say a great many other
+things which she did say, at great length.&nbsp; Finally, she delivered
+it as the general result of her observation and experience, that those
+marriages in which there was least of what was romantically and sillily
+called love, were always the happiest; and that she anticipated the
+greatest possible amount of bliss - not rapturous bliss; but the solid,
+steady-going article - from the approaching nuptials.&nbsp; She concluded
+by informing the company that to-morrow was the day she had lived for,
+expressly; and that when it was over, she would desire nothing better
+than to be packed up and disposed of, in any genteel place of burial.<br>
+<br>
+As these remarks were quite unanswerable - which is the happy property
+of all remarks that are sufficiently wide of the purpose - they changed
+the current of the conversation, and diverted the general attention
+to the Veal and Ham-Pie, the cold mutton, the potatoes, and the tart.&nbsp;
+In order that the bottled beer might not be slighted, John Peerybingle
+proposed To-morrow: the Wedding-Day; and called upon them to drink a
+bumper to it, before he proceeded on his journey.<br>
+<br>
+For you ought to know that he only rested there, and gave the old horse
+a bait.&nbsp; He had to go some four of five miles farther on; and when
+he returned in the evening, he called for Dot, and took another rest
+on his way home.&nbsp; This was the order of the day on all the Pic-Nic
+occasions, had been, ever since their institution.<br>
+<br>
+There were two persons present, besides the bride and bridegroom elect,
+who did but indifferent honour to the toast.&nbsp; One of these was
+Dot, too flushed and discomposed to adapt herself to any small occurrence
+of the moment; the other, Bertha, who rose up hurriedly, before the
+rest, and left the table.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Good bye!&rsquo; said stout John Peerybingle, pulling on his
+dreadnought coat.&nbsp; &lsquo;I shall be back at the old time.&nbsp;
+Good bye all!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Good bye, John,&rsquo; returned Caleb.<br>
+<br>
+He seemed to say it by rote, and to wave his hand in the same unconscious
+manner; for he stood observing Bertha with an anxious wondering face,
+that never altered its expression.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Good bye, young shaver!&rsquo; said the jolly Carrier, bending
+down to kiss the child; which Tilly Slowboy, now intent upon her knife
+and fork, had deposited asleep (and strange to say, without damage)
+in a little cot of Bertha&rsquo;s furnishing; &lsquo;good bye!&nbsp;
+Time will come, I suppose, when <i>you&rsquo;ll</i> turn out into the
+cold, my little friend, and leave your old father to enjoy his pipe
+and his rheumatics in the chimney-corner; eh?&nbsp; Where&rsquo;s Dot?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m here, John!&rsquo; she said, starting.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Come, come!&rsquo; returned the Carrier, clapping his sounding
+hands.&nbsp; &lsquo;Where&rsquo;s the pipe?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I quite forgot the pipe, John.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Forgot the pipe!&nbsp; Was such a wonder ever heard of!&nbsp; She!&nbsp;
+Forgot the pipe!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;ll - I&rsquo;ll fill it directly.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s soon
+done.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+But it was not so soon done, either.&nbsp; It lay in the usual place
+- the Carrier&rsquo;s dreadnought pocket - with the little pouch, her
+own work, from which she was used to fill it, but her hand shook so,
+that she entangled it (and yet her hand was small enough to have come
+out easily, I am sure), and bungled terribly.&nbsp; The filling of the
+pipe and lighting it, those little offices in which I have commended
+her discretion, were vilely done, from first to last.&nbsp; During the
+whole process, Tackleton stood looking on maliciously with the half-closed
+eye; which, whenever it met hers - or caught it, for it can hardly be
+said to have ever met another eye: rather being a kind of trap to snatch
+it up - augmented her confusion in a most remarkable degree.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, what a clumsy Dot you are, this afternoon!&rsquo; said John.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I could have done it better myself, I verify believe!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+With these good-natured words, he strode away, and presently was heard,
+in company with Boxer, and the old horse, and the cart, making lively
+music down the road.&nbsp; What time the dreamy Caleb still stood, watching
+his blind daughter, with the same expression on his face.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bertha!&rsquo; said Caleb, softly.&nbsp; &lsquo;What has happened?&nbsp;
+How changed you are, my darling, in a few hours - since this morning.&nbsp;
+<i>You</i> silent and dull all day!&nbsp; What is it?&nbsp; Tell me!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh father, father!&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl, bursting into
+tears.&nbsp; &lsquo;Oh my hard, hard fate!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Caleb drew his hand across his eyes before he answered her.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;But think how cheerful and how happy you have been, Bertha!&nbsp;
+How good, and how much loved, by many people.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;That strikes me to the heart, dear father!&nbsp; Always so mindful
+of me!&nbsp; Always so kind to me!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Caleb was very much perplexed to understand her.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;To be - to be blind, Bertha, my poor dear,&rsquo; he faltered,
+&lsquo;is a great affliction; but - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I have never felt it!&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl.&nbsp; &lsquo;I
+have never felt it, in its fulness.&nbsp; Never!&nbsp; I have sometimes
+wished that I could see you, or could see him - only once, dear father,
+only for one little minute - that I might know what it is I treasure
+up,&rsquo; she laid her hands upon her breast, &lsquo;and hold here!&nbsp;
+That I might be sure and have it right!&nbsp; And sometimes (but then
+I was a child) I have wept in my prayers at night, to think that when
+your images ascended from my heart to Heaven, they might not be the
+true resemblance of yourselves.&nbsp; But I have never had these feelings
+long.&nbsp; They have passed away and left me tranquil and contented.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And they will again,&rsquo; said Caleb.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;But, father!&nbsp; Oh my good, gentle father, bear with me, if
+I am wicked!&rsquo; said the Blind Girl.&nbsp; &lsquo;This is not the
+sorrow that so weighs me down!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Her father could not choose but let his moist eyes overflow; she was
+so earnest and pathetic, but he did not understand her, yet.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bring her to me,&rsquo; said Bertha.&nbsp; &lsquo;I cannot hold
+it closed and shut within myself.&nbsp; Bring her to me, father!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She knew he hesitated, and said, &lsquo;May.&nbsp; Bring May!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+May heard the mention of her name, and coming quietly towards her, touched
+her on the arm.&nbsp; The Blind Girl turned immediately, and held her
+by both hands.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Look into my face, Dear heart, Sweet heart!&rsquo; said Bertha.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Read it with your beautiful eyes, and tell me if the truth is
+written on it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Dear Bertha, Yes!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Blind Girl still, upturning the blank sightless face, down which
+the tears were coursing fast, addressed her in these words:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There is not, in my soul, a wish or thought that is not for your
+good, bright May!&nbsp; There is not, in my soul, a grateful recollection
+stronger than the deep remembrance which is stored there, of the many
+many times when, in the full pride of sight and beauty, you have had
+consideration for Blind Bertha, even when we two were children, or when
+Bertha was as much a child as ever blindness can be!&nbsp; Every blessing
+on your head!&nbsp; Light upon your happy course!&nbsp; Not the less,
+my dear May;&rsquo; and she drew towards her, in a closer grasp; &lsquo;not
+the less, my bird, because, to-day, the knowledge that you are to be
+His wife has wrung my heart almost to breaking!&nbsp; Father, May, Mary!
+oh forgive me that it is so, for the sake of all he has done to relieve
+the weariness of my dark life: and for the sake of the belief you have
+in me, when I call Heaven to witness that I could not wish him married
+to a wife more worthy of his goodness!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+While speaking, she had released May Fielding&rsquo;s hands, and clasped
+her garments in an attitude of mingled supplication and love.&nbsp;
+Sinking lower and lower down, as she proceeded in her strange confession,
+she dropped at last at the feet of her friend, and hid her blind face
+in the folds of her dress.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Great Power!&rsquo; exclaimed her father, smitten at one blow
+with the truth, &lsquo;have I deceived her from the cradle, but to break
+her heart at last!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+It was well for all of them that Dot, that beaming, useful, busy little
+Dot - for such she was, whatever faults she had, and however you may
+learn to hate her, in good time - it was well for all of them, I say,
+that she was there: or where this would have ended, it were hard to
+tell.&nbsp; But Dot, recovering her self-possession, interposed, before
+May could reply, or Caleb say another word.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Come, come, dear Bertha! come away with me!&nbsp; Give her your
+arm, May.&nbsp; So!&nbsp; How composed she is, you see, already; and
+how good it is of her to mind us,&rsquo; said the cheery little woman,
+kissing her upon the forehead.&nbsp; &lsquo;Come away, dear Bertha.&nbsp;
+Come! and here&rsquo;s her good father will come with her; won&rsquo;t
+you, Caleb?&nbsp; To - be - sure!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Well, well! she was a noble little Dot in such things, and it must have
+been an obdurate nature that could have withstood her influence.&nbsp;
+When she had got poor Caleb and his Bertha away, that they might comfort
+and console each other, as she knew they only could, she presently came
+bouncing back, - the saying is, as fresh as any daisy; I say fresher
+- to mount guard over that bridling little piece of consequence in the
+cap and gloves, and prevent the dear old creature from making discoveries.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;So bring me the precious Baby, Tilly,&rsquo; said she, drawing
+a chair to the fire; &lsquo;and while I have it in my lap, here&rsquo;s
+Mrs. Fielding, Tilly, will tell me all about the management of Babies,
+and put me right in twenty points where I&rsquo;m as wrong as can be.&nbsp;
+Won&rsquo;t you, Mrs. Fielding?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Not even the Welsh Giant, who, according to the popular expression,
+was so &lsquo;slow&rsquo; as to perform a fatal surgical operation upon
+himself, in emulation of a juggling-trick achieved by his arch-enemy
+at breakfast-time; not even he fell half so readily into the snare prepared
+for him, as the old lady did into this artful pitfall.&nbsp; The fact
+of Tackleton having walked out; and furthermore, of two or three people
+having been talking together at a distance, for two minutes, leaving
+her to her own resources; was quite enough to have put her on her dignity,
+and the bewailment of that mysterious convulsion in the Indigo trade,
+for four-and-twenty hours.&nbsp; But this becoming deference to her
+experience, on the part of the young mother, was so irresistible, that
+after a short affectation of humility, she began to enlighten her with
+the best grace in the world; and sitting bolt upright before the wicked
+Dot, she did, in half an hour, deliver more infallible domestic recipes
+and precepts, than would (if acted on) have utterly destroyed and done
+up that Young Peerybingle, though he had been an Infant Samson.<br>
+<br>
+To change the theme, Dot did a little needlework - she carried the contents
+of a whole workbox in her pocket; however she contrived it, I don&rsquo;t
+know - then did a little nursing; then a little more needlework; then
+had a little whispering chat with May, while the old lady dozed; and
+so in little bits of bustle, which was quite her manner always, found
+it a very short afternoon.&nbsp; Then, as it grew dark, and as it was
+a solemn part of this Institution of the Pic-Nic that she should perform
+all Bertha&rsquo;s household tasks, she trimmed the fire, and swept
+the hearth, and set the tea-board out, and drew the curtain, and lighted
+a candle.&nbsp; Then she played an air or two on a rude kind of harp,
+which Caleb had contrived for Bertha, and played them very well; for
+Nature had made her delicate little ear as choice a one for music as
+it would have been for jewels, if she had had any to wear.&nbsp; By
+this time it was the established hour for having tea; and Tackleton
+came back again, to share the meal, and spend the evening.<br>
+<br>
+Caleb and Bertha had returned some time before, and Caleb had sat down
+to his afternoon&rsquo;s work.&nbsp; But he couldn&rsquo;t settle to
+it, poor fellow, being anxious and remorseful for his daughter.&nbsp;
+It was touching to see him sitting idle on his working-stool, regarding
+her so wistfully, and always saying in his face, &lsquo;Have I deceived
+her from her cradle, but to break her heart!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+When it was night, and tea was done, and Dot had nothing more to do
+in washing up the cups and saucers; in a word - for I must come to it,
+and there is no use in putting it off - when the time drew nigh for
+expecting the Carrier&rsquo;s return in every sound of distant wheels,
+her manner changed again, her colour came and went, and she was very
+restless.&nbsp; Not as good wives are, when listening for their husbands.&nbsp;
+No, no, no.&nbsp; It was another sort of restlessness from that.<br>
+<br>
+Wheels heard.&nbsp; A horse&rsquo;s feet.&nbsp; The barking of a dog.&nbsp;
+The gradual approach of all the sounds.&nbsp; The scratching paw of
+Boxer at the door!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Whose step is that!&rsquo; cried Bertha, starting up.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Whose step?&rsquo; returned the Carrier, standing in the portal,
+with his brown face ruddy as a winter berry from the keen night air.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Why, mine.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The other step,&rsquo; said Bertha.&nbsp; &lsquo;The man&rsquo;s
+tread behind you!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;She is not to be deceived,&rsquo; observed the Carrier, laughing.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Come along, sir.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll be welcome, never fear!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He spoke in a loud tone; and as he spoke, the deaf old gentleman entered.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He&rsquo;s not so much a stranger, that you haven&rsquo;t seen
+him once, Caleb,&rsquo; said the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;You&rsquo;ll
+give him house-room till we go?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh surely, John, and take it as an honour.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He&rsquo;s the best company on earth, to talk secrets in,&rsquo;
+said John.&nbsp; &lsquo;I have reasonable good lungs, but he tries &rsquo;em,
+I can tell you.&nbsp; Sit down, sir.&nbsp; All friends here, and glad
+to see you!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+When he had imparted this assurance, in a voice that amply corroborated
+what he had said about his lungs, he added in his natural tone, &lsquo;A
+chair in the chimney-corner, and leave to sit quite silent and look
+pleasantly about him, is all he cares for.&nbsp; He&rsquo;s easily pleased.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Bertha had been listening intently.&nbsp; She called Caleb to her side,
+when he had set the chair, and asked him, in a low voice, to describe
+their visitor.&nbsp; When he had done so (truly now; with scrupulous
+fidelity), she moved, for the first time since he had come in, and sighed,
+and seemed to have no further interest concerning him.<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier was in high spirits, good fellow that he was, and fonder
+of his little wife than ever.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;A clumsy Dot she was, this afternoon!&rsquo; he said, encircling
+her with his rough arm, as she stood, removed from the rest; &lsquo;and
+yet I like her somehow.&nbsp; See yonder, Dot!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He pointed to the old man.&nbsp; She looked down.&nbsp; I think she
+trembled.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He&rsquo;s - ha ha ha! - he&rsquo;s full of admiration for you!&rsquo;
+said the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;Talked of nothing else, the whole way
+here.&nbsp; Why, he&rsquo;s a brave old boy.&nbsp; I like him for it!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I wish he had had a better subject, John,&rsquo; she said, with
+an uneasy glance about the room.&nbsp; At Tackleton especially.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;A better subject!&rsquo; cried the jovial John.&nbsp; &lsquo;There&rsquo;s
+no such thing.&nbsp; Come, off with the great-coat, off with the thick
+shawl, off with the heavy wrappers! and a cosy half-hour by the fire!&nbsp;
+My humble service, Mistress.&nbsp; A game at cribbage, you and I?&nbsp;
+That&rsquo;s hearty.&nbsp; The cards and board, Dot.&nbsp; And a glass
+of beer here, if there&rsquo;s any left, small wife!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+His challenge was addressed to the old lady, who accepting it with gracious
+readiness, they were soon engaged upon the game.&nbsp; At first, the
+Carrier looked about him sometimes, with a smile, or now and then called
+Dot to peep over his shoulder at his hand, and advise him on some knotty
+point.&nbsp; But his adversary being a rigid disciplinarian, and subject
+to an occasional weakness in respect of pegging more than she was entitled
+to, required such vigilance on his part, as left him neither eyes nor
+ears to spare.&nbsp; Thus, his whole attention gradually became absorbed
+upon the cards; and he thought of nothing else, until a hand upon his
+shoulder restored him to a consciousness of Tackleton.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I am sorry to disturb you - but a word, directly.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m going to deal,&rsquo; returned the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s
+a crisis.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It is,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Come here, man!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+There was that in his pale face which made the other rise immediately,
+and ask him, in a hurry, what the matter was.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Hush!&nbsp; John Peerybingle,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;I
+am sorry for this.&nbsp; I am indeed.&nbsp; I have been afraid of it.&nbsp;
+I have suspected it from the first.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;What is it?&rsquo; asked the Carrier, with a frightened aspect.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Hush!&nbsp; I&rsquo;ll show you, if you&rsquo;ll come with me.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier accompanied him, without another word.&nbsp; They went across
+a yard, where the stars were shining, and by a little side-door, into
+Tackleton&rsquo;s own counting-house, where there was a glass window,
+commanding the ware-room, which was closed for the night.&nbsp; There
+was no light in the counting-house itself, but there were lamps in the
+long narrow ware-room; and consequently the window was bright.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;A moment!&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Can you bear to
+look through that window, do you think?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why not?&rsquo; returned the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;A moment more,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t
+commit any violence.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s of no use.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s dangerous
+too.&nbsp; You&rsquo;re a strong-made man; and you might do murder before
+you know it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier looked him in the face, and recoiled a step as if he had
+been struck.&nbsp; In one stride he was at the window, and he saw -<br>
+<br>
+Oh Shadow on the Hearth!&nbsp; Oh truthful Cricket!&nbsp; Oh perfidious
+Wife!<br>
+<br>
+He saw her, with the old man - old no longer, but erect and gallant
+- bearing in his hand the false white hair that had won his way into
+their desolate and miserable home.&nbsp; He saw her listening to him,
+as he bent his head to whisper in her ear; and suffering him to clasp
+her round the waist, as they moved slowly down the dim wooden gallery
+towards the door by which they had entered it.&nbsp; He saw them stop,
+and saw her turn - to have the face, the face he loved so, so presented
+to his view! - and saw her, with her own hands, adjust the lie upon
+his head, laughing, as she did it, at his unsuspicious nature!<br>
+<br>
+He clenched his strong right hand at first, as if it would have beaten
+down a lion.&nbsp; But opening it immediately again, he spread it out
+before the eyes of Tackleton (for he was tender of her, even then),
+and so, as they passed out, fell down upon a desk, and was as weak as
+any infant.<br>
+<br>
+He was wrapped up to the chin, and busy with his horse and parcels,
+when she came into the room, prepared for going home.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Now, John, dear!&nbsp; Good night, May!&nbsp; Good night, Bertha!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Could she kiss them?&nbsp; Could she be blithe and cheerful in her parting?&nbsp;
+Could she venture to reveal her face to them without a blush?&nbsp;
+Yes.&nbsp; Tackleton observed her closely, and she did all this.<br>
+<br>
+Tilly was hushing the Baby, and she crossed and re-crossed Tackleton,
+a dozen times, repeating drowsily:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Did the knowledge that it was to be its wifes, then, wring its
+hearts almost to breaking; and did its fathers deceive it from its cradles
+but to break its hearts at last!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Now, Tilly, give me the Baby!&nbsp; Good night, Mr. Tackleton.&nbsp;
+Where&rsquo;s John, for goodness&rsquo; sake?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He&rsquo;s going to walk beside the horse&rsquo;s head,&rsquo;
+said Tackleton; who helped her to her seat.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;My dear John.&nbsp; Walk?&nbsp; To-night?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The muffled figure of her husband made a hasty sign in the affirmative;
+and the false stranger and the little nurse being in their places, the
+old horse moved off.&nbsp; Boxer, the unconscious Boxer, running on
+before, running back, running round and round the cart, and barking
+as triumphantly and merrily as ever.<br>
+<br>
+When Tackleton had gone off likewise, escorting May and her mother home,
+poor Caleb sat down by the fire beside his daughter; anxious and remorseful
+at the core; and still saying in his wistful contemplation of her, &lsquo;Have
+I deceived her from her cradle, but to break her heart at last!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The toys that had been set in motion for the Baby, had all stopped,
+and run down, long ago.&nbsp; In the faint light and silence, the imperturbably
+calm dolls, the agitated rocking-horses with distended eyes and nostrils,
+the old gentlemen at the street-doors, standing half doubled up upon
+their failing knees and ankles, the wry-faced nut-crackers, the very
+Beasts upon their way into the Ark, in twos, like a Boarding School
+out walking, might have been imagined to be stricken motionless with
+fantastic wonder, at Dot being false, or Tackleton beloved, under any
+combination of circumstances.<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+CHAPTER III - Chirp the Third<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+The Dutch clock in the corner struck Ten, when the Carrier sat down
+by his fireside.&nbsp; So troubled and grief-worn, that he seemed to
+scare the Cuckoo, who, having cut his ten melodious announcements as
+short as possible, plunged back into the Moorish Palace again, and clapped
+his little door behind him, as if the unwonted spectacle were too much
+for his feelings.<br>
+<br>
+If the little Haymaker had been armed with the sharpest of scythes,
+and had cut at every stroke into the Carrier&rsquo;s heart, he never
+could have gashed and wounded it, as Dot had done.<br>
+<br>
+It was a heart so full of love for her; so bound up and held together
+by innumerable threads of winning remembrance, spun from the daily working
+of her many qualities of endearment; it was a heart in which she had
+enshrined herself so gently and so closely; a heart so single and so
+earnest in its Truth, so strong in right, so weak in wrong; that it
+could cherish neither passion nor revenge at first, and had only room
+to hold the broken image of its Idol.<br>
+<br>
+But, slowly, slowly, as the Carrier sat brooding on his hearth, now
+cold and dark, other and fiercer thoughts began to rise within him,
+as an angry wind comes rising in the night.&nbsp; The Stranger was beneath
+his outraged roof.&nbsp; Three steps would take him to his chamber-door.&nbsp;
+One blow would beat it in.&nbsp; &lsquo;You might do murder before you
+know it,&rsquo; Tackleton had said.&nbsp; How could it be murder, if
+he gave the villain time to grapple with him hand to hand!&nbsp; He
+was the younger man.<br>
+<br>
+It was an ill-timed thought, bad for the dark mood of his mind.&nbsp;
+It was an angry thought, goading him to some avenging act, that should
+change the cheerful house into a haunted place which lonely travellers
+would dread to pass by night; and where the timid would see shadows
+struggling in the ruined windows when the moon was dim, and hear wild
+noises in the stormy weather.<br>
+<br>
+He was the younger man!&nbsp; Yes, yes; some lover who had won the heart
+that <i>he</i> had never touched.&nbsp; Some lover of her early choice,
+of whom she had thought and dreamed, for whom she had pined and pined,
+when he had fancied her so happy by his side.&nbsp; O agony to think
+of it!<br>
+<br>
+She had been above-stairs with the Baby, getting it to bed.&nbsp; As
+he sat brooding on the hearth, she came close beside him, without his
+knowledge - in the turning of the rack of his great misery, he lost
+all other sounds - and put her little stool at his feet.&nbsp; He only
+knew it, when he felt her hand upon his own, and saw her looking up
+into his face.<br>
+<br>
+With wonder?&nbsp; No.&nbsp; It was his first impression, and he was
+fain to look at her again, to set it right.&nbsp; No, not with wonder.&nbsp;
+With an eager and inquiring look; but not with wonder.&nbsp; At first
+it was alarmed and serious; then, it changed into a strange, wild, dreadful
+smile of recognition of his thoughts; then, there was nothing but her
+clasped hands on her brow, and her bent head, and falling hair.<br>
+<br>
+Though the power of Omnipotence had been his to wield at that moment,
+he had too much of its diviner property of Mercy in his breast, to have
+turned one feather&rsquo;s weight of it against her.&nbsp; But he could
+not bear to see her crouching down upon the little seat where he had
+often looked on her, with love and pride, so innocent and gay; and,
+when she rose and left him, sobbing as she went, he felt it a relief
+to have the vacant place beside him rather than her so long-cherished
+presence.&nbsp; This in itself was anguish keener than all, reminding
+him how desolate he was become, and how the great bond of his life was
+rent asunder.<br>
+<br>
+The more he felt this, and the more he knew he could have better borne
+to see her lying prematurely dead before him with their little child
+upon her breast, the higher and the stronger rose his wrath against
+his enemy.&nbsp; He looked about him for a weapon.<br>
+<br>
+There was a gun, hanging on the wall.&nbsp; He took it down, and moved
+a pace or two towards the door of the perfidious Stranger&rsquo;s room.&nbsp;
+He knew the gun was loaded.&nbsp; Some shadowy idea that it was just
+to shoot this man like a wild beast, seized him, and dilated in his
+mind until it grew into a monstrous demon in complete possession of
+him, casting out all milder thoughts and setting up its undivided empire.<br>
+<br>
+That phrase is wrong.&nbsp; Not casting out his milder thoughts, but
+artfully transforming them.&nbsp; Changing them into scourges to drive
+him on.&nbsp; Turning water into blood, love into hate, gentleness into
+blind ferocity.&nbsp; Her image, sorrowing, humbled, but still pleading
+to his tenderness and mercy with resistless power, never left his mind;
+but, staying there, it urged him to the door; raised the weapon to his
+shoulder; fitted and nerved his finger to the trigger; and cried &lsquo;Kill
+him!&nbsp; In his bed!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He reversed the gun to beat the stock up the door; he already held it
+lifted in the air; some indistinct design was in his thoughts of calling
+out to him to fly, for God&rsquo;s sake, by the window -<br>
+<br>
+When, suddenly, the struggling fire illumined the whole chimney with
+a glow of light; and the Cricket on the Hearth began to Chirp!<br>
+<br>
+No sound he could have heard, no human voice, not even hers, could so
+have moved and softened him.&nbsp; The artless words in which she had
+told him of her love for this same Cricket, were once more freshly spoken;
+her trembling, earnest manner at the moment, was again before him; her
+pleasant voice - O what a voice it was, for making household music at
+the fireside of an honest man! - thrilled through and through his better
+nature, and awoke it into life and action.<br>
+<br>
+He recoiled from the door, like a man walking in his sleep, awakened
+from a frightful dream; and put the gun aside.&nbsp; Clasping his hands
+before his face, he then sat down again beside the fire, and found relief
+in tears.<br>
+<br>
+The Cricket on the Hearth came out into the room, and stood in Fairy
+shape before him.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;I love it,&rdquo;&rsquo; said the Fairy Voice, repeating
+what he well remembered, &lsquo;&ldquo;for the many times I have heard
+it, and the many thoughts its harmless music has given me.&rdquo;&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;She said so!&rsquo; cried the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;True!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;This has been a happy home, John; and I love the Cricket
+for its sake!&rdquo;&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It has been, Heaven knows,&rsquo; returned the Carrier.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;She made it happy, always, - until now.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;So gracefully sweet-tempered; so domestic, joyful, busy, and
+light-hearted!&rsquo; said the Voice.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Otherwise I never could have loved her as I did,&rsquo; returned
+the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+The Voice, correcting him, said &lsquo;do.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier repeated &lsquo;as I did.&rsquo;&nbsp; But not firmly.&nbsp;
+His faltering tongue resisted his control, and would speak in its own
+way, for itself and him.<br>
+<br>
+The Figure, in an attitude of invocation, raised its hand and said:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Upon your own hearth - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The hearth she has blighted,&rsquo; interposed the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The hearth she has - how often! - blessed and brightened,&rsquo;
+said the Cricket; &lsquo;the hearth which, but for her, were only a
+few stones and bricks and rusty bars, but which has been, through her,
+the Altar of your Home; on which you have nightly sacrificed some petty
+passion, selfishness, or care, and offered up the homage of a tranquil
+mind, a trusting nature, and an overflowing heart; so that the smoke
+from this poor chimney has gone upward with a better fragrance than
+the richest incense that is burnt before the richest shrines in all
+the gaudy temples of this world! - Upon your own hearth; in its quiet
+sanctuary; surrounded by its gentle influences and associations; hear
+her!&nbsp; Hear me!&nbsp; Hear everything that speaks the language of
+your hearth and home!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And pleads for her?&rsquo; inquired the Carrier.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;All things that speak the language of your hearth and home, must
+plead for her!&rsquo; returned the Cricket.&nbsp; &lsquo;For they speak
+the truth.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+And while the Carrier, with his head upon his hands, continued to sit
+meditating in his chair, the Presence stood beside him, suggesting his
+reflections by its power, and presenting them before him, as in a glass
+or picture.&nbsp; It was not a solitary Presence.&nbsp; From the hearthstone,
+from the chimney, from the clock, the pipe, the kettle, and the cradle;
+from the floor, the walls, the ceiling, and the stairs; from the cart
+without, and the cupboard within, and the household implements; from
+every thing and every place with which she had ever been familiar, and
+with which she had ever entwined one recollection of herself in her
+unhappy husband&rsquo;s mind; Fairies came trooping forth.&nbsp; Not
+to stand beside him as the Cricket did, but to busy and bestir themselves.&nbsp;
+To do all honour to her image.&nbsp; To pull him by the skirts, and
+point to it when it appeared.&nbsp; To cluster round it, and embrace
+it, and strew flowers for it to tread on.&nbsp; To try to crown its
+fair head with their tiny hands.&nbsp; To show that they were fond of
+it and loved it; and that there was not one ugly, wicked or accusatory
+creature to claim knowledge of it - none but their playful and approving
+selves.<br>
+<br>
+His thoughts were constant to her image.&nbsp; It was always there.<br>
+<br>
+She sat plying her needle, before the fire, and singing to herself.&nbsp;
+Such a blithe, thriving, steady little Dot!&nbsp; The fairy figures
+turned upon him all at once, by one consent, with one prodigious concentrated
+stare, and seemed to say, &lsquo;Is this the light wife you are mourning
+for!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+There were sounds of gaiety outside, musical instruments, and noisy
+tongues, and laughter.&nbsp; A crowd of young merry-makers came pouring
+in, among whom were May Fielding and a score of pretty girls.&nbsp;
+Dot was the fairest of them all; as young as any of them too.&nbsp;
+They came to summon her to join their party.&nbsp; It was a dance.&nbsp;
+If ever little foot were made for dancing, hers was, surely.&nbsp; But
+she laughed, and shook her head, and pointed to her cookery on the fire,
+and her table ready spread: with an exulting defiance that rendered
+her more charming than she was before.&nbsp; And so she merrily dismissed
+them, nodding to her would-be partners, one by one, as they passed,
+but with a comical indifference, enough to make them go and drown themselves
+immediately if they were her admirers - and they must have been so,
+more or less; they couldn&rsquo;t help it.&nbsp; And yet indifference
+was not her character.&nbsp; O no!&nbsp; For presently, there came a
+certain Carrier to the door; and bless her what a welcome she bestowed
+upon him!<br>
+<br>
+Again the staring figures turned upon him all at once, and seemed to
+say, &lsquo;Is this the wife who has forsaken you!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+A shadow fell upon the mirror or the picture: call it what you will.&nbsp;
+A great shadow of the Stranger, as he first stood underneath their roof;
+covering its surface, and blotting out all other objects.&nbsp; But
+the nimble Fairies worked like bees to clear it off again.&nbsp; And
+Dot again was there.&nbsp; Still bright and beautiful.<br>
+<br>
+Rocking her little Baby in its cradle, singing to it softly, and resting
+her head upon a shoulder which had its counterpart in the musing figure
+by which the Fairy Cricket stood.<br>
+<br>
+The night - I mean the real night: not going by Fairy clocks - was wearing
+now; and in this stage of the Carrier&rsquo;s thoughts, the moon burst
+out, and shone brightly in the sky.&nbsp; Perhaps some calm and quiet
+light had risen also, in his mind; and he could think more soberly of
+what had happened.<br>
+<br>
+Although the shadow of the Stranger fell at intervals upon the glass
+- always distinct, and big, and thoroughly defined - it never fell so
+darkly as at first.&nbsp; Whenever it appeared, the Fairies uttered
+a general cry of consternation, and plied their little arms and legs,
+with inconceivable activity, to rub it out.&nbsp; And whenever they
+got at Dot again, and showed her to him once more, bright and beautiful,
+they cheered in the most inspiring manner.<br>
+<br>
+They never showed her, otherwise than beautiful and bright, for they
+were Household Spirits to whom falsehood is annihilation; and being
+so, what Dot was there for them, but the one active, beaming, pleasant
+little creature who had been the light and sun of the Carrier&rsquo;s
+Home!<br>
+<br>
+The Fairies were prodigiously excited when they showed her, with the
+Baby, gossiping among a knot of sage old matrons, and affecting to be
+wondrous old and matronly herself, and leaning in a staid, demure old
+way upon her husband&rsquo;s arm, attempting - she! such a bud of a
+little woman - to convey the idea of having abjured the vanities of
+the world in general, and of being the sort of person to whom it was
+no novelty at all to be a mother; yet in the same breath, they showed
+her, laughing at the Carrier for being awkward, and pulling up his shirt-collar
+to make him smart, and mincing merrily about that very room to teach
+him how to dance!<br>
+<br>
+They turned, and stared immensely at him when they showed her with the
+Blind Girl; for, though she carried cheerfulness and animation with
+her wheresoever she went, she bore those influences into Caleb Plummer&rsquo;s
+home, heaped up and running over.&nbsp; The Blind Girl&rsquo;s love
+for her, and trust in her, and gratitude to her; her own good busy way
+of setting Bertha&rsquo;s thanks aside; her dexterous little arts for
+filling up each moment of the visit in doing something useful to the
+house, and really working hard while feigning to make holiday; her bountiful
+provision of those standing delicacies, the Veal and Ham-Pie and the
+bottles of Beer; her radiant little face arriving at the door, and taking
+leave; the wonderful expression in her whole self, from her neat foot
+to the crown of her head, of being a part of the establishment - a something
+necessary to it, which it couldn&rsquo;t be without; all this the Fairies
+revelled in, and loved her for.&nbsp; And once again they looked upon
+him all at once, appealingly, and seemed to say, while some among them
+nestled in her dress and fondled her, &lsquo;Is this the wife who has
+betrayed your confidence!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+More than once, or twice, or thrice, in the long thoughtful night, they
+showed her to him sitting on her favourite seat, with her bent head,
+her hands clasped on her brow, her falling hair.&nbsp; As he had seen
+her last.&nbsp; And when they found her thus, they neither turned nor
+looked upon him, but gathered close round her, and comforted and kissed
+her, and pressed on one another to show sympathy and kindness to her,
+and forgot him altogether.<br>
+<br>
+Thus the night passed.&nbsp; The moon went down; the stars grew pale;
+the cold day broke; the sun rose.&nbsp; The Carrier still sat, musing,
+in the chimney corner.&nbsp; He had sat there, with his head upon his
+hands, all night.&nbsp; All night the faithful Cricket had been Chirp,
+Chirp, Chirping on the Hearth.&nbsp; All night he had listened to its
+voice.&nbsp; All night the household Fairies had been busy with him.&nbsp;
+All night she had been amiable and blameless in the glass, except when
+that one shadow fell upon it.<br>
+<br>
+He rose up when it was broad day, and washed and dressed himself.&nbsp;
+He couldn&rsquo;t go about his customary cheerful avocations - he wanted
+spirit for them - but it mattered the less, that it was Tackleton&rsquo;s
+wedding-day, and he had arranged to make his rounds by proxy.&nbsp;
+He thought to have gone merrily to church with Dot.&nbsp; But such plans
+were at an end.&nbsp; It was their own wedding-day too.&nbsp; Ah! how
+little he had looked for such a close to such a year!<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier had expected that Tackleton would pay him an early visit;
+and he was right.&nbsp; He had not walked to and fro before his own
+door, many minutes, when he saw the Toy-merchant coming in his chaise
+along the road.&nbsp; As the chaise drew nearer, he perceived that Tackleton
+was dressed out sprucely for his marriage, and that he had decorated
+his horse&rsquo;s head with flowers and favours.<br>
+<br>
+The horse looked much more like a bridegroom than Tackleton, whose half-closed
+eye was more disagreeably expressive than ever.&nbsp; But the Carrier
+took little heed of this.&nbsp; His thoughts had other occupation.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;John Peerybingle!&rsquo; said Tackleton, with an air of condolence.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;My good fellow, how do you find yourself this morning?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I have had but a poor night, Master Tackleton,&rsquo; returned
+the Carrier, shaking his head: &lsquo;for I have been a good deal disturbed
+in my mind.&nbsp; But it&rsquo;s over now!&nbsp; Can you spare me half
+an hour or so, for some private talk?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I came on purpose,&rsquo; returned Tackleton, alighting.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;Never mind the horse.&nbsp; He&rsquo;ll stand quiet enough, with
+the reins over this post, if you&rsquo;ll give him a mouthful of hay.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier having brought it from his stable, and set it before him,
+they turned into the house.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You are not married before noon,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;I think?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No,&rsquo; answered Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Plenty of time.&nbsp;
+Plenty of time.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+When they entered the kitchen, Tilly Slowboy was rapping at the Stranger&rsquo;s
+door; which was only removed from it by a few steps.&nbsp; One of her
+very red eyes (for Tilly had been crying all night long, because her
+mistress cried) was at the keyhole; and she was knocking very loud;
+and seemed frightened.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;If you please I can&rsquo;t make nobody hear,&rsquo; said Tilly,
+looking round.&nbsp; &lsquo;I hope nobody an&rsquo;t gone and been and
+died if you please!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+This philanthropic wish, Miss Slowboy emphasised with various new raps
+and kicks at the door; which led to no result whatever.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Shall I go?&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s curious.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier, who had turned his face from the door, signed to him to
+go if he would.<br>
+<br>
+So Tackleton went to Tilly Slowboy&rsquo;s relief; and he too kicked
+and knocked; and he too failed to get the least reply.&nbsp; But he
+thought of trying the handle of the door; and as it opened easily, he
+peeped in, looked in, went in, and soon came running out again.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;John Peerybingle,&rsquo; said Tackleton, in his ear.&nbsp; &lsquo;I
+hope there has been nothing - nothing rash in the night?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier turned upon him quickly.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Because he&rsquo;s gone!&rsquo; said Tackleton; &lsquo;and the
+window&rsquo;s open.&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t see any marks - to be sure
+it&rsquo;s almost on a level with the garden: but I was afraid there
+might have been some - some scuffle.&nbsp; Eh?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He nearly shut up the expressive eye altogether; he looked at him so
+hard.&nbsp; And he gave his eye, and his face, and his whole person,
+a sharp twist.&nbsp; As if he would have screwed the truth out of him.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Make yourself easy,&rsquo; said the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;He
+went into that room last night, without harm in word or deed from me,
+and no one has entered it since.&nbsp; He is away of his own free will.&nbsp;
+I&rsquo;d go out gladly at that door, and beg my bread from house to
+house, for life, if I could so change the past that he had never come.&nbsp;
+But he has come and gone.&nbsp; And I have done with him!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh! - Well, I think he has got off pretty easy,&rsquo; said Tackleton,
+taking a chair.<br>
+<br>
+The sneer was lost upon the Carrier, who sat down too, and shaded his
+face with his hand, for some little time, before proceeding.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You showed me last night,&rsquo; he said at length, &lsquo;my
+wife; my wife that I love; secretly - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And tenderly,&rsquo; insinuated Tackleton.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Conniving at that man&rsquo;s disguise, and giving him opportunities
+of meeting her alone.&nbsp; I think there&rsquo;s no sight I wouldn&rsquo;t
+have rather seen than that.&nbsp; I think there&rsquo;s no man in the
+world I wouldn&rsquo;t have rather had to show it me.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I confess to having had my suspicions always,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;And that has made me objectionable here, I know.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;But as you did show it me,&rsquo; pursued the Carrier, not minding
+him; &lsquo;and as you saw her, my wife, my wife that I love&rsquo;
+- his voice, and eye, and hand, grew steadier and firmer as he repeated
+these words: evidently in pursuance of a steadfast purpose - &lsquo;as
+you saw her at this disadvantage, it is right and just that you should
+also see with my eyes, and look into my breast, and know what my mind
+is, upon the subject.&nbsp; For it&rsquo;s settled,&rsquo; said the
+Carrier, regarding him attentively.&nbsp; &lsquo;And nothing can shake
+it now.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Tackleton muttered a few general words of assent, about its being necessary
+to vindicate something or other; but he was overawed by the manner of
+his companion.&nbsp; Plain and unpolished as it was, it had a something
+dignified and noble in it, which nothing but the soul of generous honour
+dwelling in the man could have imparted.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I am a plain, rough man,&rsquo; pursued the Carrier, &lsquo;with
+very little to recommend me.&nbsp; I am not a clever man, as you very
+well know.&nbsp; I am not a young man.&nbsp; I loved my little Dot,
+because I had seen her grow up, from a child, in her father&rsquo;s
+house; because I knew how precious she was; because she had been my
+life, for years and years.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s many men I can&rsquo;t
+compare with, who never could have loved my little Dot like me, I think!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He paused, and softly beat the ground a short time with his foot, before
+resuming.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I often thought that though I wasn&rsquo;t good enough for her,
+I should make her a kind husband, and perhaps know her value better
+than another; and in this way I reconciled it to myself, and came to
+think it might be possible that we should be married.&nbsp; And in the
+end it came about, and we were married.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Hah!&rsquo; said Tackleton, with a significant shake of the head.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I had studied myself; I had had experience of myself; I knew
+how much I loved her, and how happy I should be,&rsquo; pursued the
+Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;But I had not - I feel it now - sufficiently considered
+her.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;To be sure,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Giddiness, frivolity,
+fickleness, love of admiration!&nbsp; Not considered!&nbsp; All left
+out of sight!&nbsp; Hah!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You had best not interrupt me,&rsquo; said the Carrier, with
+some sternness, &lsquo;till you understand me; and you&rsquo;re wide
+of doing so.&nbsp; If, yesterday, I&rsquo;d have struck that man down
+at a blow, who dared to breathe a word against her, to-day I&rsquo;d
+set my foot upon his face, if he was my brother!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Toy-merchant gazed at him in astonishment.&nbsp; He went on in a
+softer tone:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Did I consider,&rsquo; said the Carrier, &lsquo;that I took her
+- at her age, and with her beauty - from her young companions, and the
+many scenes of which she was the ornament; in which she was the brightest
+little star that ever shone, to shut her up from day to day in my dull
+house, and keep my tedious company?&nbsp; Did I consider how little
+suited I was to her sprightly humour, and how wearisome a plodding man
+like me must be, to one of her quick spirit?&nbsp; Did I consider that
+it was no merit in me, or claim in me, that I loved her, when everybody
+must, who knew her?&nbsp; Never.&nbsp; I took advantage of her hopeful
+nature and her cheerful disposition; and I married her.&nbsp; I wish
+I never had!&nbsp; For her sake; not for mine!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Toy-merchant gazed at him, without winking.&nbsp; Even the half-shut
+eye was open now.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Heaven bless her!&rsquo; said the Carrier, &lsquo;for the cheerful
+constancy with which she tried to keep the knowledge of this from me!&nbsp;
+And Heaven help me, that, in my slow mind, I have not found it out before!&nbsp;
+Poor child!&nbsp; Poor Dot!&nbsp; <i>I</i> not to find it out, who have
+seen her eyes fill with tears, when such a marriage as our own was spoken
+of!&nbsp; I, who have seen the secret trembling on her lips a hundred
+times, and never suspected it till last night!&nbsp; Poor girl!&nbsp;
+That I could ever hope she would be fond of me!&nbsp; That I could ever
+believe she was!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;She made a show of it,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;She
+made such a show of it, that to tell you the truth it was the origin
+of my misgivings.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+And here he asserted the superiority of May Fielding, who certainly
+made no sort of show of being fond of <i>him.<br>
+<br>
+</i>&lsquo;She has tried,&rsquo; said the poor Carrier, with greater
+emotion than he had exhibited yet; &lsquo;I only now begin to know how
+hard she has tried, to be my dutiful and zealous wife.&nbsp; How good
+she has been; how much she has done; how brave and strong a heart she
+has; let the happiness I have known under this roof bear witness!&nbsp;
+It will be some help and comfort to me, when I am here alone.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Here alone?&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Oh!&nbsp; Then
+you do mean to take some notice of this?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I mean,&rsquo; returned the Carrier, &lsquo;to do her the greatest
+kindness, and make her the best reparation, in my power.&nbsp; I can
+release her from the daily pain of an unequal marriage, and the struggle
+to conceal it.&nbsp; She shall be as free as I can render her.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Make <i>her</i> reparation!&rsquo; exclaimed Tackleton, twisting
+and turning his great ears with his hands.&nbsp; &lsquo;There must be
+something wrong here.&nbsp; You didn&rsquo;t say that, of course.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier set his grip upon the collar of the Toy-merchant, and shook
+him like a reed.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Listen to me!&rsquo; he said.&nbsp; &lsquo;And take care that
+you hear me right.&nbsp; Listen to me.&nbsp; Do I speak plainly?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Very plainly indeed,&rsquo; answered Tackleton.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;As if I meant it?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Very much as if you meant it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I sat upon that hearth, last night, all night,&rsquo; exclaimed
+the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;On the spot where she has often sat beside
+me, with her sweet face looking into mine.&nbsp; I called up her whole
+life, day by day.&nbsp; I had her dear self, in its every passage, in
+review before me.&nbsp; And upon my soul she is innocent, if there is
+One to judge the innocent and guilty!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Staunch Cricket on the Hearth!&nbsp; Loyal household Fairies!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Passion and distrust have left me!&rsquo; said the Carrier; &lsquo;and
+nothing but my grief remains.&nbsp; In an unhappy moment some old lover,
+better suited to her tastes and years than I; forsaken, perhaps, for
+me, against her will; returned.&nbsp; In an unhappy moment, taken by
+surprise, and wanting time to think of what she did, she made herself
+a party to his treachery, by concealing it.&nbsp; Last night she saw
+him, in the interview we witnessed.&nbsp; It was wrong.&nbsp; But otherwise
+than this she is innocent if there is truth on earth!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;If that is your opinion&rsquo; - Tackleton began.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;So, let her go!&rsquo; pursued the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;Go,
+with my blessing for the many happy hours she has given me, and my forgiveness
+for any pang she has caused me.&nbsp; Let her go, and have the peace
+of mind I wish her!&nbsp; She&rsquo;ll never hate me.&nbsp; She&rsquo;ll
+learn to like me better, when I&rsquo;m not a drag upon her, and she
+wears the chain I have riveted, more lightly.&nbsp; This is the day
+on which I took her, with so little thought for her enjoyment, from
+her home.&nbsp; To-day she shall return to it, and I will trouble her
+no more.&nbsp; Her father and mother will be here to-day - we had made
+a little plan for keeping it together - and they shall take her home.&nbsp;
+I can trust her, there, or anywhere.&nbsp; She leaves me without blame,
+and she will live so I am sure.&nbsp; If I should die - I may perhaps
+while she is still young; I have lost some courage in a few hours -
+she&rsquo;ll find that I remembered her, and loved her to the last!&nbsp;
+This is the end of what you showed me.&nbsp; Now, it&rsquo;s over!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;O no, John, not over.&nbsp; Do not say it&rsquo;s over yet!&nbsp;
+Not quite yet.&nbsp; I have heard your noble words.&nbsp; I could not
+steal away, pretending to be ignorant of what has affected me with such
+deep gratitude.&nbsp; Do not say it&rsquo;s over, &lsquo;till the clock
+has struck again!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She had entered shortly after Tackleton, and had remained there.&nbsp;
+She never looked at Tackleton, but fixed her eyes upon her husband.&nbsp;
+But she kept away from him, setting as wide a space as possible between
+them; and though she spoke with most impassioned earnestness, she went
+no nearer to him even then.&nbsp; How different in this from her old
+self!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No hand can make the clock which will strike again for me the
+hours that are gone,&rsquo; replied the Carrier, with a faint smile.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;But let it be so, if you will, my dear.&nbsp; It will strike
+soon.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s of little matter what we say.&nbsp; I&rsquo;d
+try to please you in a harder case than that.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Well!&rsquo; muttered Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;I must be off,
+for when the clock strikes again, it&rsquo;ll be necessary for me to
+be upon my way to church.&nbsp; Good morning, John Peerybingle.&nbsp;
+I&rsquo;m sorry to be deprived of the pleasure of your company.&nbsp;
+Sorry for the loss, and the occasion of it too!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I have spoken plainly?&rsquo; said the Carrier, accompanying
+him to the door.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh quite!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And you&rsquo;ll remember what I have said?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, if you compel me to make the observation,&rsquo; said Tackleton,
+previously taking the precaution of getting into his chaise; &lsquo;I
+must say that it was so very unexpected, that I&rsquo;m far from being
+likely to forget it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The better for us both,&rsquo; returned the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;Good
+bye.&nbsp; I give you joy!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I wish I could give it to <i>you</i>,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;As I can&rsquo;t; thank&rsquo;ee.&nbsp; Between ourselves, (as
+I told you before, eh?) I don&rsquo;t much think I shall have the less
+joy in my married life, because May hasn&rsquo;t been too officious
+about me, and too demonstrative.&nbsp; Good bye!&nbsp; Take care of
+yourself.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier stood looking after him until he was smaller in the distance
+than his horse&rsquo;s flowers and favours near at hand; and then, with
+a deep sigh, went strolling like a restless, broken man, among some
+neighbouring elms; unwilling to return until the clock was on the eve
+of striking.<br>
+<br>
+His little wife, being left alone, sobbed piteously; but often dried
+her eyes and checked herself, to say how good he was, how excellent
+he was! and once or twice she laughed; so heartily, triumphantly, and
+incoherently (still crying all the time), that Tilly was quite horrified.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ow if you please don&rsquo;t!&rsquo; said Tilly.&nbsp; &lsquo;It&rsquo;s
+enough to dead and bury the Baby, so it is if you please.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Will you bring him sometimes, to see his father, Tilly,&rsquo;
+inquired her mistress, drying her eyes; &lsquo;when I can&rsquo;t live
+here, and have gone to my old home?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ow if you please don&rsquo;t!&rsquo; cried Tilly, throwing back
+her head, and bursting out into a howl - she looked at the moment uncommonly
+like Boxer.&nbsp; &lsquo;Ow if you please don&rsquo;t!&nbsp; Ow, what
+has everybody gone and been and done with everybody, making everybody
+else so wretched!&nbsp; Ow-w-w-w!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The soft-hearted Slowboy trailed off at this juncture, into such a deplorable
+howl, the more tremendous from its long suppression, that she must infallibly
+have awakened the Baby, and frightened him into something serious (probably
+convulsions), if her eyes had not encountered Caleb Plummer, leading
+in his daughter.&nbsp; This spectacle restoring her to a sense of the
+proprieties, she stood for some few moments silent, with her mouth wide
+open; and then, posting off to the bed on which the Baby lay asleep,
+danced in a weird, Saint Vitus manner on the floor, and at the same
+time rummaged with her face and head among the bedclothes, apparently
+deriving much relief from those extraordinary operations.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Mary!&rsquo; said Bertha.&nbsp; &lsquo;Not at the marriage!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I told her you would not be there, mum,&rsquo; whispered Caleb.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I heard as much last night.&nbsp; But bless you,&rsquo; said
+the little man, taking her tenderly by both hands, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t
+care for what they say.&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t believe them.&nbsp; There
+an&rsquo;t much of me, but that little should be torn to pieces sooner
+than I&rsquo;d trust a word against you!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He put his arms about her and hugged her, as a child might have hugged
+one of his own dolls.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bertha couldn&rsquo;t stay at home this morning,&rsquo; said
+Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;She was afraid, I know, to hear the bells ring,
+and couldn&rsquo;t trust herself to be so near them on their wedding-day.&nbsp;
+So we started in good time, and came here.&nbsp; I have been thinking
+of what I have done,&rsquo; said Caleb, after a moment&rsquo;s pause;
+&lsquo;I have been blaming myself till I hardly knew what to do or where
+to turn, for the distress of mind I have caused her; and I&rsquo;ve
+come to the conclusion that I&rsquo;d better, if you&rsquo;ll stay with
+me, mum, the while, tell her the truth.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll stay with
+me the while?&rsquo; he inquired, trembling from head to foot.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I don&rsquo;t know what effect it may have upon her; I don&rsquo;t
+know what she&rsquo;ll think of me; I don&rsquo;t know that she&rsquo;ll
+ever care for her poor father afterwards.&nbsp; But it&rsquo;s best
+for her that she should be undeceived, and I must bear the consequences
+as I deserve!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo; Mary,&rsquo; said Bertha, &lsquo;where is your hand!&nbsp; Ah!&nbsp;
+Here it is here it is!&rsquo; pressing it to her lips, with a smile,
+and drawing it through her arm.&nbsp; &lsquo;I heard them speaking softly
+among themselves, last night, of some blame against you.&nbsp; They
+were wrong.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier&rsquo;s Wife was silent.&nbsp; Caleb answered for her.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;They were wrong,&rsquo; he said.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I knew it!&rsquo; cried Bertha, proudly.&nbsp; &lsquo;I told
+them so.&nbsp; I scorned to hear a word!&nbsp; Blame <i>her</i> with
+justice!&rsquo; she pressed the hand between her own, and the soft cheek
+against her face.&nbsp; &lsquo;No!&nbsp; I am not so blind as that.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Her father went on one side of her, while Dot remained upon the other:
+holding her hand.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I know you all,&rsquo; said Bertha, &lsquo;better than you think.&nbsp;
+But none so well as her.&nbsp; Not even you, father.&nbsp; There is
+nothing half so real and so true about me, as she is.&nbsp; If I could
+be restored to sight this instant, and not a word were spoken, I could
+choose her from a crowd!&nbsp; My sister!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Bertha, my dear!&rsquo; said Caleb, &lsquo;I have something on
+my mind I want to tell you, while we three are alone.&nbsp; Hear me
+kindly!&nbsp; I have a confession to make to you, my darling.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;A confession, father?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I have wandered from the truth and lost myself, my child,&rsquo;
+said Caleb, with a pitiable expression in his bewildered face.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I have wandered from the truth, intending to be kind to you;
+and have been cruel.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She turned her wonder-stricken face towards him, and repeated &lsquo;Cruel!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He accuses himself too strongly, Bertha,&rsquo; said Dot.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;You&rsquo;ll say so, presently.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll be the first
+to tell him so.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He cruel to me!&rsquo; cried Bertha, with a smile of incredulity.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Not meaning it, my child,&rsquo; said Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;But
+I have been; though I never suspected it, till yesterday.&nbsp; My dear
+blind daughter, hear me and forgive me!&nbsp; The world you live in,
+heart of mine, doesn&rsquo;t exist as I have represented it.&nbsp; The
+eyes you have trusted in, have been false to you.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She turned her wonder-stricken face towards him still; but drew back,
+and clung closer to her friend.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Your road in life was rough, my poor one,&rsquo; said Caleb,
+&lsquo;and I meant to smooth it for you.&nbsp; I have altered objects,
+changed the characters of people, invented many things that never have
+been, to make you happier.&nbsp; I have had concealments from you, put
+deceptions on you, God forgive me! and surrounded you with fancies.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;But living people are not fancies!&rsquo; she said hurriedly,
+and turning very pale, and still retiring from him.&nbsp; &lsquo;You
+can&rsquo;t change them.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I have done so, Bertha,&rsquo; pleaded Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;There
+is one person that you know, my dove - &rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh father! why do you say, I know?&rsquo; she answered, in a
+term of keen reproach.&nbsp; &lsquo;What and whom do <i>I</i> know!&nbsp;
+I who have no leader!&nbsp; I so miserably blind.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+In the anguish of her heart, she stretched out her hands, as if she
+were groping her way; then spread them, in a manner most forlorn and
+sad, upon her face.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The marriage that takes place to-day,&rsquo; said Caleb, &lsquo;is
+with a stern, sordid, grinding man.&nbsp; A hard master to you and me,
+my dear, for many years.&nbsp; Ugly in his looks, and in his nature.&nbsp;
+Cold and callous always.&nbsp; Unlike what I have painted him to you
+in everything, my child.&nbsp; In everything.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh why,&rsquo; cried the Blind Girl, tortured, as it seemed,
+almost beyond endurance, &lsquo;why did you ever do this!&nbsp; Why
+did you ever fill my heart so full, and then come in like Death, and
+tear away the objects of my love!&nbsp; O Heaven, how blind I am!&nbsp;
+How helpless and alone!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Her afflicted father hung his head, and offered no reply but in his
+penitence and sorrow.<br>
+<br>
+She had been but a short time in this passion of regret, when the Cricket
+on the Hearth, unheard by all but her, began to chirp.&nbsp; Not merrily,
+but in a low, faint, sorrowing way.&nbsp; It was so mournful that her
+tears began to flow; and when the Presence which had been beside the
+Carrier all night, appeared behind her, pointing to her father, they
+fell down like rain.<br>
+<br>
+She heard the Cricket-voice more plainly soon, and was conscious, through
+her blindness, of the Presence hovering about her father.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Mary,&rsquo; said the Blind Girl, &lsquo;tell me what my home
+is.&nbsp; What it truly is.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It is a poor place, Bertha; very poor and bare indeed.&nbsp;
+The house will scarcely keep out wind and rain another winter.&nbsp;
+It is as roughly shielded from the weather, Bertha,&rsquo; Dot continued
+in a low, clear voice, &lsquo;as your poor father in his sack-cloth
+coat.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Blind Girl, greatly agitated, rose, and led the Carrier&rsquo;s
+little wife aside.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Those presents that I took such care of; that came almost at
+my wish, and were so dearly welcome to me,&rsquo; she said, trembling;
+&lsquo;where did they come from?&nbsp; Did you send them?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Who then?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Dot saw she knew, already, and was silent.&nbsp; The Blind Girl spread
+her hands before her face again.&nbsp; But in quite another manner now.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Dear Mary, a moment.&nbsp; One moment?&nbsp; More this way.&nbsp;
+Speak softly to me.&nbsp; You are true, I know.&nbsp; You&rsquo;d not
+deceive me now; would you?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No, Bertha, indeed!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No, I am sure you would not.&nbsp; You have too much pity for
+me.&nbsp; Mary, look across the room to where we were just now - to
+where my father is - my father, so compassionate and loving to me -
+and tell me what you see.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I see,&rsquo; said Dot, who understood her well, &lsquo;an old
+man sitting in a chair, and leaning sorrowfully on the back, with his
+face resting on his hand.&nbsp; As if his child should comfort him,
+Bertha.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes, yes.&nbsp; She will.&nbsp; Go on.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He is an old man, worn with care and work.&nbsp; He is a spare,
+dejected, thoughtful, grey-haired man.&nbsp; I see him now, despondent
+and bowed down, and striving against nothing.&nbsp; But, Bertha, I have
+seen him many times before, and striving hard in many ways for one great
+sacred object.&nbsp; And I honour his grey head, and bless him!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Blind Girl broke away from her; and throwing herself upon her knees
+before him, took the grey head to her breast.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It is my sight restored.&nbsp; It is my sight!&rsquo; she cried.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I have been blind, and now my eyes are open.&nbsp; I never knew
+him!&nbsp; To think I might have died, and never truly seen the father
+who has been so loving to me!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+There were no words for Caleb&rsquo;s emotion.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There is not a gallant figure on this earth,&rsquo; exclaimed
+the Blind Girl, holding him in her embrace, &lsquo;that I would love
+so dearly, and would cherish so devotedly, as this!&nbsp; The greyer,
+and more worn, the dearer, father!&nbsp; Never let them say I am blind
+again.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s not a furrow in his face, there&rsquo;s not
+a hair upon his head, that shall be forgotten in my prayers and thanks
+to Heaven!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Caleb managed to articulate &lsquo;My Bertha!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And in my blindness, I believed him,&rsquo; said the girl, caressing
+him with tears of exquisite affection, &lsquo;to be so different!&nbsp;
+And having him beside me, day by day, so mindful of me - always, never
+dreamed of this!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;The fresh smart father in the blue coat, Bertha,&rsquo; said
+poor Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;He&rsquo;s gone!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Nothing is gone,&rsquo; she answered.&nbsp; &lsquo;Dearest father,
+no!&nbsp; Everything is here - in you.&nbsp; The father that I loved
+so well; the father that I never loved enough, and never knew; the benefactor
+whom I first began to reverence and love, because he had such sympathy
+for me; All are here in you.&nbsp; Nothing is dead to me.&nbsp; The
+soul of all that was most dear to me is here - here, with the worn face,
+and the grey head.&nbsp; And I am NOT blind, father, any longer!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Dot&rsquo;s whole attention had been concentrated, during this discourse,
+upon the father and daughter; but looking, now, towards the little Haymaker
+in the Moorish meadow, she saw that the clock was within a few minutes
+of striking, and fell, immediately, into a nervous and excited state.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Father,&rsquo; said Bertha, hesitating.&nbsp; &lsquo;Mary.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes, my dear,&rsquo; returned Caleb.&nbsp; &lsquo;Here she is.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There is no change in <i>her</i>.&nbsp; You never told me anything
+of <i>her</i> that was not true?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I should have done it, my dear, I am afraid,&rsquo; returned
+Caleb, &lsquo;if I could have made her better than she was.&nbsp; But
+I must have changed her for the worse, if I had changed her at all.&nbsp;
+Nothing could improve her, Bertha.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Confident as the Blind Girl had been when she asked the question, her
+delight and pride in the reply and her renewed embrace of Dot, were
+charming to behold.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;More changes than you think for, may happen though, my dear,&rsquo;
+said Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;Changes for the better, I mean; changes for great
+joy to some of us.&nbsp; You mustn&rsquo;t let them startle you too
+much, if any such should ever happen, and affect you?&nbsp; Are those
+wheels upon the road?&nbsp; You&rsquo;ve a quick ear, Bertha.&nbsp;
+Are they wheels?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes.&nbsp; Coming very fast.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I - I - I know you have a quick ear,&rsquo; said Dot, placing
+her hand upon her heart, and evidently talking on, as fast as she could
+to hide its palpitating state, &lsquo;because I have noticed it often,
+and because you were so quick to find out that strange step last night.&nbsp;
+Though why you should have said, as I very well recollect you did say,
+Bertha, &ldquo;Whose step is that!&rdquo; and why you should have taken
+any greater observation of it than of any other step, I don&rsquo;t
+know.&nbsp; Though as I said just now, there are great changes in the
+world: great changes: and we can&rsquo;t do better than prepare ourselves
+to be surprised at hardly anything.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Caleb wondered what this meant; perceiving that she spoke to him, no
+less than to his daughter.&nbsp; He saw her, with astonishment, so fluttered
+and distressed that she could scarcely breathe; and holding to a chair,
+to save herself from falling.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;They are wheels indeed!&rsquo; she panted.&nbsp; &lsquo;Coming
+nearer!&nbsp; Nearer!&nbsp; Very close!&nbsp; And now you hear them
+stopping at the garden-gate!&nbsp; And now you hear a step outside the
+door - the same step, Bertha, is it not! - and now!&rsquo; -<br>
+<br>
+She uttered a wild cry of uncontrollable delight; and running up to
+Caleb put her hands upon his eyes, as a young man rushed into the room,
+and flinging away his hat into the air, came sweeping down upon them.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Is it over?&rsquo; cried Dot.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Happily over?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Yes!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Do you recollect the voice, dear Caleb?&nbsp; Did you ever hear
+the like of it before?&rsquo; cried Dot.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;If my boy in the Golden South Americas was alive&rsquo; - said
+Caleb, trembling.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;He is alive!&rsquo; shrieked Dot, removing her hands from his
+eyes, and clapping them in ecstasy; &lsquo;look at him!&nbsp; See where
+he stands before you, healthy and strong!&nbsp; Your own dear son!&nbsp;
+Your own dear living, loving brother, Bertha<br>
+<br>
+All honour to the little creature for her transports!&nbsp; All honour
+to her tears and laughter, when the three were locked in one another&rsquo;s
+arms!&nbsp; All honour to the heartiness with which she met the sunburnt
+sailor-fellow, with his dark streaming hair, half-way, and never turned
+her rosy little mouth aside, but suffered him to kiss it, freely, and
+to press her to his bounding heart!<br>
+<br>
+And honour to the Cuckoo too - why not! - for bursting out of the trap-door
+in the Moorish Palace like a house-breaker, and hiccoughing twelve times
+on the assembled company, as if he had got drunk for joy!<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier, entering, started back.&nbsp; And well he might, to find
+himself in such good company.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Look, John!&rsquo; said Caleb, exultingly, &lsquo;look here!&nbsp;
+My own boy from the Golden South Americas!&nbsp; My own son!&nbsp; Him
+that you fitted out, and sent away yourself!&nbsp; Him that you were
+always such a friend to!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier advanced to seize him by the hand; but, recoiling, as some
+feature in his face awakened a remembrance of the Deaf Man in the Cart,
+said:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Edward!&nbsp; Was it you?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Now tell him all!&rsquo; cried Dot.&nbsp; &lsquo;Tell him all,
+Edward; and don&rsquo;t spare me, for nothing shall make me spare myself
+in his eyes, ever again.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I was the man,&rsquo; said Edward.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And could you steal, disguised, into the house of your old friend?&rsquo;
+rejoined the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;There was a frank boy once - how
+many years is it, Caleb, since we heard that he was dead, and had it
+proved, we thought? - who never would have done that.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;There was a generous friend of mine, once; more a father to me
+than a friend;&rsquo; said Edward, &lsquo;who never would have judged
+me, or any other man, unheard.&nbsp; You were he.&nbsp; So I am certain
+you will hear me now.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The Carrier, with a troubled glance at Dot, who still kept far away
+from him, replied, &lsquo;Well! that&rsquo;s but fair.&nbsp; I will.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You must know that when I left here, a boy,&rsquo; said Edward,
+&lsquo;I was in love, and my love was returned.&nbsp; She was a very
+young girl, who perhaps (you may tell me) didn&rsquo;t know her own
+mind.&nbsp; But I knew mine, and I had a passion for her.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;You had!&rsquo; exclaimed the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;You!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Indeed I had,&rsquo; returned the other.&nbsp; &lsquo;And she
+returned it.&nbsp; I have ever since believed she did, and now I am
+sure she did.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Heaven help me!&rsquo; said the Carrier.&nbsp; &lsquo;This is
+worse than all.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Constant to her,&rsquo; said Edward, &lsquo;and returning, full
+of hope, after many hardships and perils, to redeem my part of our old
+contract, I heard, twenty miles away, that she was false to me; that
+she had forgotten me; and had bestowed herself upon another and a richer
+man.&nbsp; I had no mind to reproach her; but I wished to see her, and
+to prove beyond dispute that this was true.&nbsp; I hoped she might
+have been forced into it, against her own desire and recollection.&nbsp;
+It would be small comfort, but it would be some, I thought, and on I
+came.&nbsp; That I might have the truth, the real truth; observing freely
+for myself, and judging for myself, without obstruction on the one hand,
+or presenting my own influence (if I had any) before her, on the other;
+I dressed myself unlike myself - you know how; and waited on the road
+- you know where.&nbsp; You had no suspicion of me; neither had - had
+she,&rsquo; pointing to Dot, &lsquo;until I whispered in her ear at
+that fireside, and she so nearly betrayed me.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;But when she knew that Edward was alive, and had come back,&rsquo;
+sobbed Dot, now speaking for herself, as she had burned to do, all through
+this narrative; &lsquo;and when she knew his purpose, she advised him
+by all means to keep his secret close; for his old friend John Peerybingle
+was much too open in his nature, and too clumsy in all artifice - being
+a clumsy man in general,&rsquo; said Dot, half laughing and half crying
+- &lsquo;to keep it for him.&nbsp; And when she - that&rsquo;s me, John,&rsquo;
+sobbed the little woman - &lsquo;told him all, and how his sweetheart
+had believed him to be dead; and how she had at last been over-persuaded
+by her mother into a marriage which the silly, dear old thing called
+advantageous; and when she - that&rsquo;s me again, John - told him
+they were not yet married (though close upon it), and that it would
+be nothing but a sacrifice if it went on, for there was no love on her
+side; and when he went nearly mad with joy to hear it; then she - that&rsquo;s
+me again - said she would go between them, as she had often done before
+in old times, John, and would sound his sweetheart and be sure that
+what she - me again, John - said and thought was right.&nbsp; And it
+was right, John!&nbsp; And they were brought together, John!&nbsp; And
+they were married, John, an hour ago!&nbsp; And here&rsquo;s the Bride!&nbsp;
+And Gruff and Tackleton may die a bachelor!&nbsp; And I&rsquo;m a happy
+little woman, May, God bless you!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She was an irresistible little woman, if that be anything to the purpose;
+and never so completely irresistible as in her present transports.&nbsp;
+There never were congratulations so endearing and delicious, as those
+she lavished on herself and on the Bride.<br>
+<br>
+Amid the tumult of emotions in his breast, the honest Carrier had stood,
+confounded.&nbsp; Flying, now, towards her, Dot stretched out her hand
+to stop him, and retreated as before.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No, John, no!&nbsp; Hear all!&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t love me any more,
+John, till you&rsquo;ve heard every word I have to say.&nbsp; It was
+wrong to have a secret from you, John.&nbsp; I&rsquo;m very sorry.&nbsp;
+I didn&rsquo;t think it any harm, till I came and sat down by you on
+the little stool last night.&nbsp; But when I knew by what was written
+in your face, that you had seen me walking in the gallery with Edward,
+and when I knew what you thought, I felt how giddy and how wrong it
+was.&nbsp; But oh, dear John, how could you, could you, think so!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Little woman, how she sobbed again!&nbsp; John Peerybingle would have
+caught her in his arms.&nbsp; But no; she wouldn&rsquo;t let him.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Don&rsquo;t love me yet, please, John!&nbsp; Not for a long time
+yet!&nbsp; When I was sad about this intended marriage, dear, it was
+because I remembered May and Edward such young lovers; and knew that
+her heart was far away from Tackleton.&nbsp; You believe that, now.&nbsp;
+Don&rsquo;t you, John?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+John was going to make another rush at this appeal; but she stopped
+him again.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No; keep there, please, John!&nbsp; When I laugh at you, as I
+sometimes do, John, and call you clumsy and a dear old goose, and names
+of that sort, it&rsquo;s because I love you, John, so well, and take
+such pleasure in your ways, and wouldn&rsquo;t see you altered in the
+least respect to have you made a King to-morrow.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Hooroar!&rsquo; said Caleb with unusual vigour.&nbsp; &lsquo;My
+opinion!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;And when I speak of people being middle-aged, and steady, John,
+and pretend that we are a humdrum couple, going on in a jog-trot sort
+of way, it&rsquo;s only because I&rsquo;m such a silly little thing,
+John, that I like, sometimes, to act a kind of Play with Baby, and all
+that: and make believe.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+She saw that he was coming; and stopped him again.&nbsp; But she was
+very nearly too late.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;No, don&rsquo;t love me for another minute or two, if you please,
+John!&nbsp; What I want most to tell you, I have kept to the last.&nbsp;
+My dear, good, generous John, when we were talking the other night about
+the Cricket, I had it on my lips to say, that at first I did not love
+you quite so dearly as I do now; that when I first came home here, I
+was half afraid I mightn&rsquo;t learn to love you every bit as well
+as I hoped and prayed I might - being so very young, John!&nbsp; But,
+dear John, every day and hour I loved you more and more.&nbsp; And if
+I could have loved you better than I do, the noble words I heard you
+say this morning, would have made me.&nbsp; But I can&rsquo;t.&nbsp;
+All the affection that I had (it was a great deal, John) I gave you,
+as you well deserve, long, long ago, and I have no more left to give.&nbsp;
+Now, my dear husband, take me to your heart again!&nbsp; That&rsquo;s
+my home, John; and never, never think of sending me to any other!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+You never will derive so much delight from seeing a glorious little
+woman in the arms of a third party, as you would have felt if you had
+seen Dot run into the Carrier&rsquo;s embrace.&nbsp; It was the most
+complete, unmitigated, soul-fraught little piece of earnestness that
+ever you beheld in all your days.<br>
+<br>
+You maybe sure the Carrier was in a state of perfect rapture; and you
+may be sure Dot was likewise; and you may be sure they all were, inclusive
+of Miss Slowboy, who wept copiously for joy, and wishing to include
+her young charge in the general interchange of congratulations, handed
+round the Baby to everybody in succession, as if it were something to
+drink.<br>
+<br>
+But, now, the sound of wheels was heard again outside the door; and
+somebody exclaimed that Gruff and Tackleton was coming back.&nbsp; Speedily
+that worthy gentleman appeared, looking warm and flustered.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Why, what the Devil&rsquo;s this, John Peerybingle!&rsquo; said
+Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;There&rsquo;s some mistake.&nbsp; I appointed
+Mrs. Tackleton to meet me at the church, and I&rsquo;ll swear I passed
+her on the road, on her way here.&nbsp; Oh! here she is!&nbsp; I beg
+your pardon, sir; I haven&rsquo;t the pleasure of knowing you; but if
+you can do me the favour to spare this young lady, she has rather a
+particular engagement this morning.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;But I can&rsquo;t spare her,&rsquo; returned Edward.&nbsp; &lsquo;I
+couldn&rsquo;t think of it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;What do you mean, you vagabond?&rsquo; said Tackleton.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I mean, that as I can make allowance for your being vexed,&rsquo;
+returned the other, with a smile, &lsquo;I am as deaf to harsh discourse
+this morning, as I was to all discourse last night.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+The look that Tackleton bestowed upon him, and the start he gave!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;I am sorry, sir,&rsquo; said Edward, holding out May&rsquo;s
+left hand, and especially the third finger; &lsquo;that the young lady
+can&rsquo;t accompany you to church; but as she has been there once,
+this morning, perhaps you&rsquo;ll excuse her.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+Tackleton looked hard at the third finger, and took a little piece of
+silver-paper, apparently containing a ring, from his waistcoat-pocket.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Miss Slowboy,&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Will you have
+the kindness to throw that in the fire?&nbsp; Thank&rsquo;ee.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;It was a previous engagement, quite an old engagement, that prevented
+my wife from keeping her appointment with you, I assure you,&rsquo;
+said Edward.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Mr. Tackleton will do me the justice to acknowledge that I revealed
+it to him faithfully; and that I told him, many times, I never could
+forget it,&rsquo; said May, blushing.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Oh certainly!&rsquo; said Tackleton.&nbsp; &lsquo;Oh to be sure.&nbsp;
+Oh it&rsquo;s all right.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s quite correct.&nbsp; Mrs.
+Edward Plummer, I infer?&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;That&rsquo;s the name,&rsquo; returned the bridegroom.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Ah, I shouldn&rsquo;t have known you, sir,&rsquo; said Tackleton,
+scrutinising his face narrowly, and making a low bow.&nbsp; &lsquo;I
+give you joy, sir!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Thank&rsquo;ee.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Mrs. Peerybingle,&rsquo; said Tackleton, turning suddenly to
+where she stood with her husband; &lsquo;I am sorry.&nbsp; You haven&rsquo;t
+done me a very great kindness, but, upon my life I am sorry.&nbsp; You
+are better than I thought you.&nbsp; John Peerybingle, I am sorry.&nbsp;
+You understand me; that&rsquo;s enough.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s quite correct,
+ladies and gentlemen all, and perfectly satisfactory.&nbsp; Good morning!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+With these words he carried it off, and carried himself off too: merely
+stopping at the door, to take the flowers and favours from his horse&rsquo;s
+head, and to kick that animal once, in the ribs, as a means of informing
+him that there was a screw loose in his arrangements.<br>
+<br>
+Of course it became a serious duty now, to make such a day of it, as
+should mark these events for a high Feast and Festival in the Peerybingle
+Calendar for evermore.&nbsp; Accordingly, Dot went to work to produce
+such an entertainment, as should reflect undying honour on the house
+and on every one concerned; and in a very short space of time, she was
+up to her dimpled elbows in flour, and whitening the Carrier&rsquo;s
+coat, every time he came near her, by stopping him to give him a kiss.&nbsp;
+That good fellow washed the greens, and peeled the turnips, and broke
+the plates, and upset iron pots full of cold water on the fire, and
+made himself useful in all sorts of ways: while a couple of professional
+assistants, hastily called in from somewhere in the neighbourhood, as
+on a point of life or death, ran against each other in all the doorways
+and round all the corners, and everybody tumbled over Tilly Slowboy
+and the Baby, everywhere.&nbsp; Tilly never came out in such force before.&nbsp;
+Her ubiquity was the theme of general admiration.&nbsp; She was a stumbling-block
+in the passage at five-and-twenty minutes past two; a man-trap in the
+kitchen at half-past two precisely; and a pitfall in the garret at five-and-twenty
+minutes to three.&nbsp; The Baby&rsquo;s head was, as it were, a test
+and touchstone for every description of matter, - animal, vegetable,
+and mineral.&nbsp; Nothing was in use that day that didn&rsquo;t come,
+at some time or other, into close acquaintance with it.<br>
+<br>
+Then, there was a great Expedition set on foot to go and find out Mrs.
+Fielding; and to be dismally penitent to that excellent gentlewoman;
+and to bring her back, by force, if needful, to be happy and forgiving.&nbsp;
+And when the Expedition first discovered her, she would listen to no
+terms at all, but said, an unspeakable number of times, that ever she
+should have lived to see the day! and couldn&rsquo;t be got to say anything
+else, except, &lsquo;Now carry me to the grave:&rsquo; which seemed
+absurd, on account of her not being dead, or anything at all like it.&nbsp;
+After a time, she lapsed into a state of dreadful calmness, and observed,
+that when that unfortunate train of circumstances had occurred in the
+Indigo Trade, she had foreseen that she would be exposed, during her
+whole life, to every species of insult and contumely; and that she was
+glad to find it was the case; and begged they wouldn&rsquo;t trouble
+themselves about her, - for what was she? oh, dear! a nobody! - but
+would forget that such a being lived, and would take their course in
+life without her.&nbsp; From this bitterly sarcastic mood, she passed
+into an angry one, in which she gave vent to the remarkable expression
+that the worm would turn if trodden on; and, after that, she yielded
+to a soft regret, and said, if they had only given her their confidence,
+what might she not have had it in her power to suggest!&nbsp; Taking
+advantage of this crisis in her feelings, the Expedition embraced her;
+and she very soon had her gloves on, and was on her way to John Peerybingle&rsquo;s
+in a state of unimpeachable gentility; with a paper parcel at her side
+containing a cap of state, almost as tall, and quite as stiff, as a
+mitre.<br>
+<br>
+Then, there were Dot&rsquo;s father and mother to come, in another little
+chaise; and they were behind their time; and fears were entertained;
+and there was much looking out for them down the road; and Mrs. Fielding
+always would look in the wrong and morally impossible direction; and
+being apprised thereof, hoped she might take the liberty of looking
+where she pleased.&nbsp; At last they came: a chubby little couple,
+jogging along in a snug and comfortable little way that quite belonged
+to the Dot family; and Dot and her mother, side by side, were wonderful
+to see.&nbsp; They were so like each other.<br>
+<br>
+Then, Dot&rsquo;s mother had to renew her acquaintance with May&rsquo;s
+mother; and May&rsquo;s mother always stood on her gentility; and Dot&rsquo;s
+mother never stood on anything but her active little feet.&nbsp; And
+old Dot - so to call Dot&rsquo;s father, I forgot it wasn&rsquo;t his
+right name, but never mind - took liberties, and shook hands at first
+sight, and seemed to think a cap but so much starch and muslin, and
+didn&rsquo;t defer himself at all to the Indigo Trade, but said there
+was no help for it now; and, in Mrs. Fielding&rsquo;s summing up, was
+a good-natured kind of man - but coarse, my dear.<br>
+<br>
+I wouldn&rsquo;t have missed Dot, doing the honours in her wedding-gown,
+my benison on her bright face! for any money.&nbsp; No! nor the good
+Carrier, so jovial and so ruddy, at the bottom of the table.&nbsp; Nor
+the brown, fresh sailor-fellow, and his handsome wife.&nbsp; Nor any
+one among them.&nbsp; To have missed the dinner would have been to miss
+as jolly and as stout a meal as man need eat; and to have missed the
+overflowing cups in which they drank The Wedding-Day, would have been
+the greatest miss of all.<br>
+<br>
+After dinner, Caleb sang the song about the Sparkling Bowl.&nbsp; As
+I&rsquo;m a living man, hoping to keep so, for a year or two, he sang
+it through.<br>
+<br>
+And, by-the-by, a most unlooked-for incident occurred, just as he finished
+the last verse.<br>
+<br>
+There was a tap at the door; and a man came staggering in, without saying
+with your leave, or by your leave, with something heavy on his head.&nbsp;
+Setting this down in the middle of the table, symmetrically in the centre
+of the nuts and apples, he said:<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Mr. Tackleton&rsquo;s compliments, and as he hasn&rsquo;t got
+no use for the cake himself, p&rsquo;raps you&rsquo;ll eat it.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+And with those words, he walked off.<br>
+<br>
+There was some surprise among the company, as you may imagine.&nbsp;
+Mrs. Fielding, being a lady of infinite discernment, suggested that
+the cake was poisoned, and related a narrative of a cake, which, within
+her knowledge, had turned a seminary for young ladies, blue.&nbsp; But
+she was overruled by acclamation; and the cake was cut by May, with
+much ceremony and rejoicing.<br>
+<br>
+I don&rsquo;t think any one had tasted it, when there came another tap
+at the door, and the same man appeared again, having under his arm a
+vast brown-paper parcel.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Mr. Tackleton&rsquo;s compliments, and he&rsquo;s sent a few
+toys for the Babby.&nbsp; They ain&rsquo;t ugly.&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+After the delivery of which expressions, he retired again.<br>
+<br>
+The whole party would have experienced great difficulty in finding words
+for their astonishment, even if they had had ample time to seek them.&nbsp;
+But they had none at all; for the messenger had scarcely shut the door
+behind him, when there came another tap, and Tackleton himself walked
+in.<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;Mrs. Peerybingle!&rsquo; said the Toy-merchant, hat in hand.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m sorry.&nbsp; I&rsquo;m more sorry than I was this morning.&nbsp;
+I have had time to think of it.&nbsp; John Peerybingle!&nbsp; I&rsquo;m
+sour by disposition; but I can&rsquo;t help being sweetened, more or
+less, by coming face to face with such a man as you.&nbsp; Caleb!&nbsp;
+This unconscious little nurse gave me a broken hint last night, of which
+I have found the thread.&nbsp; I blush to think how easily I might have
+bound you and your daughter to me, and what a miserable idiot I was,
+when I took her for one!&nbsp; Friends, one and all, my house is very
+lonely to-night.&nbsp; I have not so much as a Cricket on my Hearth.&nbsp;
+I have scared them all away.&nbsp; Be gracious to me; let me join this
+happy party!&rsquo;<br>
+<br>
+He was at home in five minutes.&nbsp; You never saw such a fellow.&nbsp;
+What <i>had</i> he been doing with himself all his life, never to have
+known, before, his great capacity of being jovial!&nbsp; Or what had
+the Fairies been doing with him, to have effected such a change!<br>
+<br>
+&lsquo;John! you won&rsquo;t send me home this evening; will you?&rsquo;
+whispered Dot.<br>
+<br>
+He had been very near it though!<br>
+<br>
+There wanted but one living creature to make the party complete; and,
+in the twinkling of an eye, there he was, very thirsty with hard running,
+and engaged in hopeless endeavours to squeeze his head into a narrow
+pitcher.&nbsp; He had gone with the cart to its journey&rsquo;s end,
+very much disgusted with the absence of his master, and stupendously
+rebellious to the Deputy.&nbsp; After lingering about the stable for
+some little time, vainly attempting to incite the old horse to the mutinous
+act of returning on his own account, he had walked into the tap-room
+and laid himself down before the fire.&nbsp; But suddenly yielding to
+the conviction that the Deputy was a humbug, and must be abandoned,
+he had got up again, turned tail, and come home.<br>
+<br>
+There was a dance in the evening.&nbsp; With which general mention of
+that recreation, I should have left it alone, if I had not some reason
+to suppose that it was quite an original dance, and one of a most uncommon
+figure.&nbsp; It was formed in an odd way; in this way.<br>
+<br>
+Edward, that sailor-fellow - a good free dashing sort of a fellow he
+was - had been telling them various marvels concerning parrots, and
+mines, and Mexicans, and gold dust, when all at once he took it in his
+head to jump up from his seat and propose a dance; for Bertha&rsquo;s
+harp was there, and she had such a hand upon it as you seldom hear.&nbsp;
+Dot (sly little piece of affectation when she chose) said her dancing
+days were over; <i>I</i> think because the Carrier was smoking his pipe,
+and she liked sitting by him, best.&nbsp; Mrs. Fielding had no choice,
+of course, but to say <i>her</i> dancing days were over, after that;
+and everybody said the same, except May; May was ready.<br>
+<br>
+So, May and Edward got up, amid great applause, to dance alone; and
+Bertha plays her liveliest tune.<br>
+<br>
+Well! if you&rsquo;ll believe me, they have not been dancing five minutes,
+when suddenly the Carrier flings his pipe away, takes Dot round the
+waist, dashes out into the room, and starts off with her, toe and heel,
+quite wonderfully.&nbsp; Tackleton no sooner sees this, than he skims
+across to Mrs. Fielding, takes her round the waist, and follows suit.&nbsp;
+Old Dot no sooner sees this, than up he is, all alive, whisks off Mrs.
+Dot in the middle of the dance, and is the foremost there.&nbsp; Caleb
+no sooner sees this, than he clutches Tilly Slowboy by both hands and
+goes off at score; Miss Slowboy, firm in the belief that diving hotly
+in among the other couples, and effecting any number of concussions
+with them, is your only principle of footing it.<br>
+<br>
+Hark! how the Cricket joins the music with its Chirp, Chirp, Chirp;
+and how the kettle hums!<br>
+<br>
+* * * * *<br>
+<br>
+But what is this!&nbsp; Even as I listen to them, blithely, and turn
+towards Dot, for one last glimpse of a little figure very pleasant to
+me, she and the rest have vanished into air, and I am left alone.&nbsp;
+A Cricket sings upon the Hearth; a broken child&rsquo;s-toy lies upon
+the ground; and nothing else remains.<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH ***<br>
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