Stranica 92 [92]
60
light. "Dont go to hm, I called out of
the window, ‘he’s an assassin — a man¬
trap! So he is. If he is not " Here
the irascible old gentleman gave a great
knock on the ground with his stick, which
was always understood by his friends to im¬
ply the customary offer whenever it was not
expressed in words. Then, still keeping his
stick in his hand, he sat down, and, open¬
ing a double eye-glass which he wore
attached to a broad black riband, took a
view of Oliver, who, seeing that he was
the object of inspection, coloured, and
bowed again.
c "That "s the boy, is it?” said Mr. Grim¬
wig at length. :
c That is the boy,” replied Mr. Brown¬
low, nodding good-humouredly to Oliver.
“ How are you, boy ?" said Mr. Grim¬
eA great deal better, thank you, sir,”
replied Oliver.
Mr. Brownlow, seeming to apprehend
that his cay, 0 friend was about to say
something disagreeable, asked Oliver to
step down stairs, and tell Mrs. Bedwin
they were ready for tea, which, as he did
not half like the visitor’s manner, he was
very happy to do.
“He is a nice-looking boy, is he not ?”
inquired Mr. Brownlow.
6 I don’t know,” replied Grimwig pet¬
ba
* Don’t know ?"
** No, I don’t know. I never see any
difference in boys. I only know two
sorts of boys —mealy boys, and beef-faced
boys.
* And which is Oliver?”
* Mealy. I know a friend who’s got a
beef-faced boy ; a fine boy they call him,
with a round head, and red cheeks, and
laring eyes; a horrid boy, with a body and
imbs that appear to be swelling out of the
seams of his blue clothes—with the voice
of a pilot, and the appetite of a wolf. I
know him, the wretch!”
“Come,” said Mr. Brownlow, “these
are not the characteristics of young Oliver
Twist ; so he seedn’t excite your wrath.”
c They are not,” replied Grimwig. “He
may have worse.”
ere Mr. Brownlow coughed impa¬
tiently, which appeared to afford Mr.
Grimwig the most exquisite delight.
“ He may have worse, I say,” repeated
Mr. Grimwig. “Where does he come
from? Whois het What is he? He
has had a fever—wuat of that? Fevers
are not peculiar to good people, are they ?
Bad people have fevers sometimes, haven’t
they, eh? I knew a man that was hung
in Jamaica for murdering his master; he
had had a fever six times; he wasn’t re¬
commended to mercy on. that account.
Pooh! nonsense !”
Now, the fact was, that, in the inmost
recesses of his own heart, Mr. Grimwig
was strongly disposed to admit that Oli¬
vers appearance and manner were unu¬
sually prepossessing, but he had a strong
appetite for contradiction, sharpened on
this occasion by the finding of the orange
peel; and inwardly determining that no
was well looking or not, he had resolved
from the first to oppose his friend. When
Mr. Brownlow admitted that on no one
point of inquiry could he yet return any
satisfactory answer, and that he had post¬
poned any investigation into Oliver’s pre¬
vious history until he thought the boy was
strong enough to bear it, Mr. Grimwi
chuckled maliciously, and demanded, wi
a sneer, whether the housekeeper was in
the habit of counting the plate at night ;
because, if she didn’t find a table-spoon
or two missing some sunshiny morning,
why, he would be content to-——, et
cetera.
All this Mr. Brownlow, although him¬
self somewhat of an impetuous gentleman,
knowing his friend’s peculiarities, bore
with great good humour; and as Mr.
Grimwig, at tea, was graciously pleased
to express his entire approval of the muf¬
fins, matters went on very smoothly, and
Oliver, who made one of the party, began
to feel more at his ease than he had yet
done in the fierce old gentleman's pres¬
ence.
“And when are you going to hear a
full, true, and particular account of the
life and adventures of Oliver Twist?”
asked Grimwig of Mr. Brownlow, at the
conclusion of the meal: looking sideways
at Oliver as he resumed the subject.
“To-morrow morning,” replied Mr.
Brownlow. “I would rather he was alone
with me at the time. Come up to me to¬
morrow morning at ten o’clock, my dear.”
c Yes, sir,” replied Oliver. He answer¬
ed with some hesitation, because he was
confused by Mr. Grimwig’s looking 60
hard at him.
“T’ll tell you what,” whispered that
gentleman to Mr. Brownlow; “he won't
come up to you to-morrow morning. I
saw him hesitate. He is deceiving you,
my dear friend.”
“T’ll swear he is not,” replied Mr.
Brownlow, warmly. )
“If he is not,” said Mr. Grimwig, "1711
——” and down went the stick.