Acquaints the reader with the cause and origin of the
interruption described in the last chapter, and with some other matters
necessary to be known
NEWMAN NOGGS scrambled in violent haste upstairs with the streaming beverage,
which he had so unceremoniously snatched from the table of Mr Kenwigs, and
indeed from the very grasp of the water-rate collector, who was eyeing the
contents of the tumbler, at the moment of its unexpected abstraction, with
lively marks of pleasure visible in his countenance. He bore his prize straight
to his own back-garret, where, footsore and nearly shoeless, wet, dirty, jaded,
and disfigured with every mark of fatiguing travel, sat Nicholas and Smike, at
once the cause and partner of his toil: both perfectly worn out by their
unwonted and protracted exertion.
Newman's first act was to compel Nicholas, with gentle force, to swallow half
of the punch at a breath, nearly boiling as it was; and his next, to pour the
remainder down the throat of Smike, who, never having tasted anything stronger
than aperient medicine in his whole life, exhibited various odd manifestations
of surprise and delight, during the passage of the liquor down his throat, and
turned up his eyes most emphatically when it was all gone.
`You are wet through,' said Newman, passing his hand hastily over the coat
which Nicholas had thrown off; `and I--I--haven't even a change,' he added, with
a wistful glance at the shabby clothes he wore himself.
`I have dry clothes, or at least such as will serve my turn well, in my
bundle,' replied Nicholas. `If you look so distressed to see me, you will add to
the pain I feel already, at being compelled, for one night, to cast myself upon
your slender means for aid and shelter.'
Newman did not look the less distressed to hear Nicholas talking in this
strain; but, upon his young friend grasping him heartily by the hand, and
assuring him that nothing but implicit confidence in the sincerity of his
professions, and kindness of feeling towards himself, would have induced him, on
any consideration, even to have made him acquainted with his arrival in London,
Mr Noggs brightened up again, and went about making such arrangements as were in
his power for the comfort of his visitors, with extreme alacrity.
These were simple enough; poor Newman's means halting at a very considerable
distance short of his inclinations; but, slight as they were, they were not made
without much bustling and running about. As Nicholas had husbanded his scanty
stock of money, so well that it was not yet quite expended, a supper of bread
and cheese, with some cold beef from the cook's shop, was soon placed upon the
table; and these viands being flanked by a bottle of spirits and a pot of
porter, there was no ground for apprehension on the score of hunger or thirst,
at all events. Such preparations as Newman had it in his power to make, for the
accommodation of his guests during the night, occupied no very great time in
completing; and as he had insisted, as an express preliminary, that Nicholas
should change his clothes, and that Smike should invest himself in his solitary
coat (which no entreaties would dissuade him from stripping off for the
purpose), the travellers partook of their frugal fare, with more satisfaction
than one of them at least had derived from many a better meal.
They then drew near the fire, which Newman Noggs had made up as well as he
could, after the inroads of Crowl upon the fuel; and Nicholas, who had hitherto
been restrained by the extreme anxiety of his friend that he should refresh
himself after his journey, now pressed him with earnest questions concerning his
mother and sister.
`Well,' replied Newman, with his accustomed taciturnity; `both well.'
`They are living in the City still?' inquired Nicholas.
`They are,' said Newman.
`And my sister,'--added Nicholas. `Is she still engaged in the business which
she wrote to tell me she thought she should like so much?'
Newman opened his eyes rather wider than usual, but merely replied by a gasp,
which, according to the action of the head that accompanied it, was interpreted
by his friends as meaning yes or no. In the present instance, the pantomime
consisted of a nod, and not a shake; so Nicholas took the answer as a favourable
one.
`Now listen to me,' said Nicholas, laying his hand on Newman's shoulder.
`Before I would make an effort to see them, I deemed it expedient to come to
you, lest, by gratifying my own selfish desire, I should inflict an injury upon
them which I can never repair. What has my uncle heard from Yorkshire?'
Newman opened and shut his mouth, several times, as though he were trying his
utmost to speak, but could make nothing of it, and finally fixed his eyes on
Nicholas with a grim and ghastly stare.
`What has he heard?' urged Nicholas, colouring. `You see that I am prepared
to hear the very worst that malice can have suggested. Why should you conceal it
from me? I must know it sooner or later; and what purpose can be gained by
trifling with the matter for a few minutes, when half the time would put me in
possession of all that has occurred? Tell me at once, pray.'
`Tomorrow morning,' said Newman; `hear it tomorrow.'
`What purpose would that answer?' urged Nicholas.
`You would sleep the better,' replied Newman.
`I should sleep the worse,' answered Nicholas, impatiently. `Sleep! Exhausted
as I am, and standing in no common need of rest, I cannot hope to close my eyes
all night, unless you tell me everything.'
`And if I should tell you everything,' said Newman, hesitating.
`Why, then you may rouse my indignation or wound my pride,' rejoined
Nicholas; `but you will not break my rest; for if the scene were acted over
again, I could take no other part than I have taken; and whatever consequences
may accrue to myself from it, I shall never regret doing as I have done--never,
if I starve or beg in consequence. What is a little poverty or suffering, to the
disgrace of the basest and most inhuman cowardice! I tell you, if I had stood
by, tamely and passively, I should have hated myself, and merited the contempt
of every man in existence. The black-hearted scoundrel!'
With this gentle allusion to the absent Mr Squeers, Nicholas repressed his
rising wrath, and relating to Newman exactly what had passed at Dotheboys Hall,
entreated him to speak out without more pressing. Thus adjured, Mr Noggs took,
from an old trunk, a sheet of paper, which appeared to have been scrawled over
in great haste; and after sundry extraordinary demonstrations of reluctance,
delivered himself in the following terms.
`My dear young man, you mustn't give way to--this sort of thing will never
do, you know--as to getting on in the world, if you take everybody's part that's
ill-treated--Damn it, I am proud to hear of it; and would have done it myself!'
Newman accompanied this very unusual outbreak with a violent blow upon the
table, as if, in the heat of the moment, he had mistaken it for the chest or
ribs of Mr Wackford Squeers. Having, by this open declaration of his feelings,
quite precluded himself from offering Nicholas any cautious worldly advice
(which had been his first intention), Mr Noggs went straight to the point.
`The day before yesterday,' said Newman, `your uncle received this letter. I
took a hasty copy of it, while he was out. Shall I read it?'
`If you please,' replied Nicholas. Newman Noggs accordingly read as follows:
`Dotheboys Hall,
Thursday morning.
SIR, My pa requests me to write to you, the doctors considering it doubtful
whether he will ever recuvver the use of his legs which prevents his holding a
pen.
We are in a state of mind beyond everything, and my pa is one mask of brooses
both blue and green likewise two forms are steepled in his Goar. We were
kimpelled to have him carried down into the kitchen where he now lays. You will
judge from this that he has been brought very low.
When your nevew that you recommended for a teacher had done this to my pa and
jumped upon his body with his feet and also langwedge which I will not pollewt
my pen with describing, he assaulted my ma with dreadful violence, dashed her to
the earth, and drove her back comb several inches into her head. A very little
more and it must have entered her skull. We have a medical certifiket that if it
had, the tortershell would have affected the brain.
Me and my brother were then the victims of his feury since which we have
suffered very much which leads us to the arrowing belief that we have received
some injury in our insides, especially as no marks of violence are visible
externally. I am screaming out loud all the time I write and so is my brother
which takes off my attention rather and I hope will excuse mistakes.
The monster having sasiated his thirst for blood ran away, taking with him a
boy of desperate caracter that he had excited to rebellyon, and a garnet ring
belonging to my ma, and not having been apprehended by the constables is
supposed to have been took up by some stage-coach. My pa begs that if he comes
to you the ring may be returned, and that you will let the thief and assassin
go, as if we prosecuted him he would only be transported, and if he is let go he
is sure to be hung before long which will save us trouble and be much more
satisfactory. Hoping to hear from you when convenient
I remain
Yours and cetrer
FANNY SQUEERS.
P.S. I pity his ignorance and despise him.'
A profound silence succeeded to the reading of this choice epistle, during
which Newman Noggs, as he folded it up, gazed with a kind of grotesque pity at
the boy of desperate character therein referred to; who, having no more distinct
perception of the matter in hand, than that he had been the unfortunate cause of
heaping trouble and falsehood upon Nicholas, sat mute and dispirited, with a
most woebegone and heart-stricken look.
`Mr Noggs,' said Nicholas, after a few moments' reflection, `I must go out at
once.'
`Go out!' cried Newman.
`Yes,' said Nicholas, `to Golden Square. Nobody who knows me would believe
this story of the ring; but it may suit the purpose, or gratify the hatred of Mr
Ralph Nickleby to feign to attach credence to it. It is due--not to him, but to
myself--that I should state the truth; and moreover, I have a word or two to
exchange with him, which will not keep cool.'
`They must,' said Newman.
`They must not, indeed,' rejoined Nicholas firmly, as he prepared to leave
the house.
`Hear me speak,' said Newman, planting himself before his impetuous young
friend. `He is not there. He is away from town. He will not be back for three
days; and I know that letter will not be answered before he returns.'
`Are you sure of this?' asked Nicholas, chafing violently, and pacing the
narrow room with rapid strides.
`Quite,' rejoined Newman. `He had hardly read it when he was called away. Its
contents are known to nobody but himself and us.'
`Are you certain?' demanded Nicholas, precipitately; `not even to my mother
or sister? If I thought that they--I will go there--I must see them. Which is
the way? Where is it?'
`Now, be advised by me,' said Newman, speaking for the moment, in his
earnestness, like any other man--`make no effort to see even them, till he comes
home. I know the man. Do not seem to have been tampering with anybody. When he
returns, go straight to him, and speak as boldly as you like. Guessing at the
real truth, he knows it as well as you or I. Trust him for that.'
`You mean well to me, and should know him better than I can,' replied
Nicholas, after some consideration. `Well; let it be so.'
Newman, who had stood during the foregoing conversation with his back planted
against the door, ready to oppose any egress from the apartment by force, if
necessary, resumed his seat with much satisfaction; and as the water in the
kettle was by this time boiling, made a glassful of spirits and water for
Nicholas, and a cracked mug-full for the joint accommodation of himself and
Smike, of which the two partook in great harmony, while Nicholas, leaning his
head upon his hand, remained buried in melancholy meditation.
Meanwhile, the company belowstairs, after listening attentively and not
hearing any noise which would justify them in interfering for the gratification
of their curiosity, returned to the chamber of the Kenwigses, and employed
themselves in hazarding a great variety of conjectures relative to the cause of
Mr Noggs' sudden disappearance and detention.
`Lor, I'll tell you what,' said Mrs Kenwigs. `Suppose it should be an express
sent up to say that his property has all come back again!'
`Dear me,' said Mr Kenwigs; `it's not impossible. Perhaps, in that case, we'd
better send up and ask if he won't take a little more punch.'
`Kenwigs!' said Mr Lillyvick, in a loud voice, `I'm surprised at you.'
`What's the matter, sir?' asked Mr Kenwigs, with becoming submission to the
collector of water-rates.
`Making such a remark as that, sir,' replied Mr Lillyvick, angrily. `He has
had punch already, has he not, sir? I consider the way in which that punch was
cut off, if I may use the expression, highly disrespectful to this company;
scandalous, perfectly scandalous. It may be the custom to allow such things in
this house, but it's not the kind of behaviour that I've been used to see
displayed, and so I don't mind telling you, Kenwigs. A gentleman has a glass of
punch before him to which he is just about to set his lips, when another
gentleman comes and collars that glass of punch, without a "with your leave", or
"by your leave", and carries that glass of punch away. This may be good
manners--I dare say it is--but I don't understand it, that's all; and what's
more, I don't care if I never do. It's my way to speak my mind, Kenwigs, and
that is my mind; and if you don't like it, it's past my regular time for going
to bed, and I can find my way home without making it later.'
Here was an untoward event! The collector had sat swelling and fuming in
offended dignity for some minutes, and had now fairly burst out. The great
man--the rich relation--the unmarried uncle--who had it in his power to make
Morleena an heiress, and the very baby a legatee--was offended. Gracious Powers,
where was this to end!
`I am very sorry, sir,' said Mr Kenwigs, humbly.
`Don't tell me you're sorry,' retorted Mr Lillyvick, with much sharpness.
`You should have prevented it, then.'
The company were quite paralysed by this domestic crash. The back-parlour sat
with her mouth wide open, staring vacantly at the collector, in a stupor of
dismay; the other guests were scarcely less overpowered by the great man's
irritation. Mr Kenwigs, not being skilful in such matters, only fanned the flame
in attempting to extinguish it.
`I didn't think of it, I am sure, sir,' said that gentleman. `I didn't
suppose that such a little thing as a glass of punch would have put you out of
temper.'
`Out of temper! What the devil do you mean by that piece of impertinence, Mr
Kenwigs?' said the collector. `Morleena, child--give me my hat.'
`Oh, you're not going, Mr Lillyvick, sir,' interposed Miss Petowker, with her
most bewitching smile.
But still Mr Lillyvick, regardless of the siren, cried obdurately, `Morleena,
my hat!' upon the fourth repetition of which demand, Mrs Kenwigs sunk back in
her chair, with a cry that might have softened a water-butt, not to say a
water-collector; while the four little girls (privately instructed to that
effect) clasped their uncle's drab shorts in their arms, and prayed him, in
imperfect English, to remain.
`Why should I stop here, my dears?' said Mr Lillyvick; `I'm not wanted here.'
`Oh, do not speak so cruelly, uncle,' sobbed Mrs Kenwigs, `unless you wish to
kill me.'
`I shouldn't wonder if some people were to say I did,' replied Mr Lillyvick,
glancing angrily at Kenwigs. `Out of temper!'
`Oh! I cannot bear to see him look so, at my husband,' cried Mrs Kenwigs.
`It's so dreadful in families. Oh!'
`Mr Lillyvick,' said Kenwigs, `I hope, for the sake of your niece, that you
won't object to be reconciled.'
The collector's features relaxed, as the company added their entreaties to
those of his nephew-in-law. He gave up his hat, and held out his hand.
`There, Kenwigs,' said Mr Lillyvick; `and let me tell you, at the same time,
to show you how much out of temper I was, that if I had gone away without
another word, it would have made no difference respecting that pound or two
which I shall leave among your children when I die.'
`Morleena Kenwigs,' cried her mother, in a torrent of affection. `Go down
upon your knees to your dear uncle, and beg him to love you all his life
through, for he's more a angel than a man, and I've always said so.'
Miss Morleena approaching to do homage, in compliance with this injunction,
was summarily caught up and kissed by Mr Lillyvick; and thereupon Mrs Kenwigs
darted forward and kissed the collector, and an irrepressible murmur of applause
broke from the company who had witnessed his magnanimity.
The worthy gentleman then became once more the life and soul of the society;
being again reinstated in his old post of lion, from which high station the
temporary distraction of their thoughts had for a moment dispossessed him.
Quadruped lions are said to be savage, only when they are hungry; biped lions
are rarely sulky longer than when their appetite for distinction remains
unappeased. Mr Lillyvick stood higher than ever; for he had shown his power;
hinted at his property and testamentary intentions; gained great credit for
disinterestedness and virtue; and, in addition to all, was finally accommodated
with a much larger tumbler of punch than that which Newman Noggs had so
feloniously made off with.
`I say! I beg everybody's pardon for intruding again,' said Crowl, looking in
at this happy juncture; `but what a queer business this is, isn't it? Noggs has
lived in this house, now going on for five years, and nobody has ever been to
see him before, within the memory of the oldest inhabitant.'
`It's a strange time of night to be called away, sir, certainly,' said the
collector; `and the behaviour of Mr Noggs himself, is, to say the least of it,
mysterious.'
`Well, so it is,' rejoined Growl; `and I'll tell you what's more--I think
these two geniuses, whoever they are, have run away from somewhere.'
`What makes you think that, sir?' demanded the collector, who seemed, by a
tacit understanding, to have been chosen and elected mouthpiece to the company.
`You have no reason to suppose that they have run away from anywhere without
paying the rates and taxes due, I hope?'
Mr Crowl, with a look of some contempt, was about to enter a general protest
against the payment of rates or taxes, under any circumstances, when he was
checked by a timely whisper from Kenwigs, and several frowns and winks from Mrs
K., which providentially stopped him.
`Why the fact is,' said Crowl, who had been listening at Newman's door with
all his might and main; `the fact is, that they have been talking so loud, that
they quite disturbed me in my room, and so I couldn't help catching a word here,
and a word there; and all I heard, certainly seemed to refer to their having
bolted from some place or other. I don't wish to alarm Mrs Kenwigs; but I hope
they haven't come from any gaol or hospital, and brought away a fever or some
unpleasantness of that sort, which might be catching for the children.'
Mrs Kenwigs was so overpowered by this supposition, that it needed all the
tender attentions of Miss Petowker, of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, to restore
her to anything like a state of calmness; not to mention the assiduity of Mr
Kenwigs, who held a fat smelling-bottle to his lady's nose, until it became
matter of some doubt whether the tears which coursed down her face were the
result of feelings or sal volatile.
The ladies, having expressed their sympathy, singly and separately, fell,
according to custom, into a little chorus of soothing expressions, among which,
such condolences as `Poor dear!'--`I should feel just the same, if I was
her'--`To be sure, it's a very trying thing'--and `Nobody but a mother knows
what a mother's feelings is,' were among the most prominent, and most frequently
repeated. In short, the opinion of the company was so clearly manifested, that
Mr Kenwigs was on the point of repairing to Mr Noggs's room, to demand an
explanation, and had indeed swallowed a preparatory glass of punch, with great
inflexibility and steadiness of purpose, when the attention of all present was
diverted by a new and terrible surprise.
This was nothing less than the sudden pouring forth of a rapid succession of
the shrillest and most piercing screams, from an upper story; and to all
appearance from the very two-pair back, in which the infant Kenwigs was at that
moment enshrined. They were no sooner audible, than Mrs Kenwigs, opining that a
strange cat had come in, and sucked the baby's breath while the girl was asleep,
made for the door, wringing her hands, and shrieking dismally; to the great
consternation and confusion of the company.
`Mr Kenwigs, see what it is; make haste!' cried the sister, laying violent
hands upon Mrs Kenwigs, and holding her back by force. `Oh don't twist about so,
dear, or I can never hold you.'
`My baby, my blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed baby!' screamed Mrs Kenwigs,
making every blessed louder than the last. `My own darling, sweet, innocent
Lillyvick--Oh let me go to him. Let me go-o-o-o!'
Pending the utterance of these frantic cries, and the wails and lamentations
of the four little girls, Mr Kenwigs rushed upstairs to the room whence the
sounds proceeded; at the door of which, he encountered Nicholas, with the child
in his arms, who darted out with such violence, that the anxious father was
thrown down six stairs, and alighted on the nearest landing-place, before he had
found time to open his mouth to ask what was the matter.
`Don't be alarmed,' cried Nicholas, running down; `here it is; it's all out,
it's all over; pray compose yourselves; there's no harm done;' and with these,
and a thousand other assurances, he delivered the baby (whom, in his hurry, he
had carried upside down), to Mrs Kenwigs, and ran back to assist Mr Kenwigs, who
was rubbing his head very hard, and looking much bewildered by his tumble.
Reassured by this cheering intelligence, the company in some degree recovered
from their fears, which had been productive of some most singular instances of a
total want of presence of mind; thus, the bachelor friend had, for a long time,
supported in his arms Mrs Kenwigs's sister, instead of Mrs Kenwigs; and the
worthy Mr Lillyvick had been actually seen, in the perturbation of his spirits,
to kiss Miss Petowker several times, behind the room-door, as calmly as if
nothing distressing were going forward.
`It is a mere nothing,' said Nicholas, returning to Mrs Kenwigs; `the little
girl, who was watching the child, being tired I suppose, fell asleep, and set
her hair on fire.'
`Oh you malicious little wretch!' cried Mrs Kenwigs, impressively shaking her
forefinger at the small unfortunate, who might be thirteen years old, and was
looking on with a singed head and a frightened face.
`I heard her cries,' continued Nicholas, `and ran down, in time to prevent
her setting fire to anything else. You may depend upon it that the child is not
hurt; for I took it off the bed myself, and brought it here to convince you.'
This brief explanation over, the infant, who, as he was christened after the
collector! rejoiced in the names of Lillyvick Kenwigs, was partially suffocated
under the caresses of the audience, and squeezed to his mother's bosom, until he
roared again. The attention of the company was then directed, by a natural
transition, to the little girl who had had the audacity to burn her hair off,
and who, after receiving sundry small slaps and pushes from the more energetic
of the ladies, was mercifully sent home: the ninepence, with which she was to
have been rewarded, being escheated to the Kenwigs family.
`And whatever we are to say to you, sir,' exclaimed Mrs Kenwigs, addressing
young Lillyvick's deliverer, `I am sure I don't know.'
`You need say nothing at all,' replied Nicholas. `I have done nothing to
found any very strong claim upon your eloquence, I am sure.'
`He might have been burnt to death, if it hadn't been for you, sir,' simpered
Miss Petowker.
`Not very likely, I think,' replied Nicholas; `for there was abundance of
assistance here, which must have reached him before he had been in any danger.'
`You will let us drink your health, anyvays, sir!' said Mr Kenwigs motioning
towards the table.
`--In my absence, by all means,' rejoined Nicholas, with a smile. `I have had
a very fatiguing journey, and should be most indifferent company--a far greater
check upon your merriment, than a promoter of it, even if I kept awake, which I
think very doubtful. If you will allow me, I'll return to my friend, Mr Noggs,
who went upstairs again, when he found nothing serious had occurred.
Good-night.'
Excusing himself, in these terms, from joining in the festivities, Nicholas
took a most winning farewell of Mrs Kenwigs and the other ladies, and retired,
after making a very extraordinary impression upon the company.
`What a delightful young man!' cried Mrs Kenwigs.
`Uncommon gentlemanly, really,' said Mr Kenwigs. `Don't you think so, Mr
Lillyvick?'
`Yes,' said the collector, with a dubious shrug of his shoulders, `He is
gentlemanly, very gentlemanly--in appearance.'
`I hope you don't see anything against him, uncle?' inquired Mrs Kenwigs.
`No, my dear,' replied the collector, `no. I trust he may not turn
out--well--no matter--my love to you, my dear, and long life to the baby!'
`Your namesake,' said Mrs Kenwigs, with a sweet smile.
`And I hope a worthy namesake,' observed Mr Kenwigs, willing to propitiate
the collector. `I hope a baby as will never disgrace his godfather, and as may
be considered, in arter years, of a piece with the Lillyvicks whose name he
bears. I do say--and Mrs Kenwigs is of the same sentiment, and feels it as
strong as I do--that I consider his being called Lillyvick one of the greatest
blessings and honours of my existence.'
`The greatest blessing, Kenwigs,' murmured his lady.
`The greatest blessing,' said Mr Kenwigs, correcting himself. `A blessing
that I hope, one of these days, I may be able to deserve.'
This was a politic stroke of the Kenwigses, because it made Mr Lillyvick the
great head and fountain of the baby's importance. The good gentleman felt the
delicacy and dexterity of the touch, and at once proposed the health of the
gentleman, name unknown, who had signalised himself, that night, by his coolness
and alacrity.
`Who, I don't mind saying,' observed Mr Lillyvick, as a great concession, `is
a good-looking young man enough, with manners that I hope his character may be
equal to.'
`He has a very nice face and style, really,' said Mrs Kenwigs.
`He certainly has,' added Miss Petowker. `There's something in his appearance
quite--dear, dear, what's that word again?'
`What word?' inquired Mr Lillyvick.
`Why--dear me, how stupid I am,' replied Miss Petowker, hesitating. `What do
you call it, when Lords break off door-knockers and beat policemen, and play at
coaches with other people's money, and all that sort of thing?'
`Aristocratic?' suggested the collector.
`Ah! aristocratic,' replied Miss Petowker; `something very aristocratic about
him, isn't there?'
The gentleman held their peace, and smiled at each other, as who should say,
`Well! there's no accounting for tastes;' but the ladies resolved unanimously
that Nicholas had an aristocratic air; and nobody caring to dispute the
position, it was established triumphantly.
The punch being, by this time, drunk out, and the little Kenwigses (who had
for some time previously held their little eyes open with their little
forefingers) becoming fractious, and requesting rather urgently to be put to
bed, the collector made a move by pulling out his watch, and acquainting the
company that it was nigh two o'clock; whereat some of the guests were surprised
and others shocked, and hats and bonnets being groped for under the tables, and
in course of time found, their owners went away, after a vast deal of shaking of
hands, and many remarks how they had never spent such a delightful evening, and
how they marvelled to find it so late, expecting to have heard that it was
half-past ten at the very latest, and how they wished that Mr and Mrs Kenwigs
had a wedding-day once a week, and how they wondered by what hidden agency Mrs
Kenwigs could possibly have managed so well; and a great deal more of the same
kind. To all of which flattering expressions, Mr and Mrs Kenwigs replied, by
thanking every lady and gentleman, seriatim, for the favour of their company,
and hoping they might have enjoyed themselves only half as well as they said
they had.
As to Nicholas, quite unconscious of the impression he had produced, he had
long since fallen asleep, leaving Mr Newman Noggs and Smike to empty the spirit
bottle between them; and this office they performed with such extreme good-will,
that Newman was equally at a loss to determine whether he himself was quite
sober, and whether he had ever seen any gentleman so heavily, drowsily, and
completely intoxicated as his new acquaintance.
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