Part 5 (1/2)

'If we put sosters in the middle,' said the new-co to sleep; eh?'

'If you'll have the goodness, sir,' replied Squeers, 'that'll be the very thing Mr Nickleby, take three of theest Snawley can sit betweento the stranger, 'books as two'

'I have not the least objection I aentleman; 'I have a brother ouldn't object to book his six children as two at any butcher's or baker's in the kingdom, I dare say Far from it'

'Six children, sir?' exclaier

'Mr Nickleby,' said Squeers, in great haste, 'catch hold of that basket Let ive you a card, sir, of an establishhtened, liberal, and uineas a year each-twenty guineas, sir-or I'd take all the boys together upon a average right through, and say a hundred pound a year for the lot'

'Oh!' said the gentle at the card, 'you are the Mr Squeers mentioned here, I presuue; 'Mr Wackford Squeers isashamed of it These are some of my boys, sir; that's one of ood scholar, s by halves at our shop Allht of; and they get paternal treatentle at Nicholas with a half-smile, and a es indeed'

'Youhis hands into his great-coat pockets 'The iven and required I wouldn't take a reference with any boy, that wasn't responsible for the payment of five pound five a quarter, no, not if you went down on your knees, and askeddown your face, to do it'

'Highly considerate,' said the passenger

'It's reat aim and end to be considerate, sir,' rejoined Squeers 'Snawley, junior, if you don't leave off chattering your teeth, and shaking with the cold, I'll war in about half a uard as he claht behind there, dick?' cried the coachoes!' And off she did go-if coaches be feuard's horn, and the calregated at the Peacock, but more especially of the helpers, who stood, with the cloths over their ared adruff encouard (as a stout old Yorkshi+reman) had blown himself quite out of breath, he put the horn into a little tunnel of a basket fastened to the coach-side for the purpose, and giving himself a plentiful shower of blows on the chest and shoulders, observed it was uncommon cold; after which, he deht through, and if not, where he WAS going Satisfactory replies being made to these queries, he surmised that the roads were pretty heavy arter that fall last night, and took the liberty of asking whether any of the that nobody did, he reentleman as went down to Grantha was bad for the eyes; but for his part he had never found it so, and what he said was, that everybody should speak as they found nobody atte to controvert this position, he took a s on a pair of horn spectacles (the writing being crabbed) read the direction half-a-dozen tined the parcel to its old place, put up his spectacles again, and stared at everybody in turn After this, he took another blow at the horn by way of refresh now exhausted his usual topics of conversation, folded his ar into a solemn silence, looked carelessly at the familiar objects which met his eye on every side as the coach rolled on; the only things he see horses and droves of cattle, which he scrutinised with a critical air as they were passed upon the road

The weather was intensely and bitterly cold; a great deal of snow fell from tiot down at als as he said-and as he always came back from such excursions with a very red nose, and composed himself to sleep directly, there is reason to suppose that he derived great benefit fro been stiorated by sundry small cups of a curious cordial carried by Mr Squeers, which tasted very like toast-and-water put into a brandy bottle by mistake, went to sleep, woke, shi+vered, and cried, as their feelings pros to talk about, that between conversing together, and cheering up the boys, the time passed with them as rapidly as it could, under such adverse circumstances

So the day wore on At Eton Slocoood coach dinner, of which the box, the four front outsides, the one inside, Nicholas, the good-tempered man, and Mr Squeers, partook; while the five little boys were put to thaw by the fire, and regaled with sandwiches A stage or two further on, the la up, at a roadside inn, of a very fastidious lady with an infinite variety of cloaks and small parcels, who loudly lamented, for the behoof of the outsides, the non-arrival of her own carriage which was to have taken her on, and reen chariot he saw co with his face the other way, that officer undertook, with many fervent asseverations, to do Lastly, the fastidious lady, finding there was a solitary gentlehted which she carried in reticule, and being after much trouble shut in, the horses were put into a brisk canter and the coach was once ether, and dish they were There was no sound to be heard but the howling of the wind; for the noise of the wheels, and the tread of the horses' feet, were rendered inaudible by the thick coating of snohich covered the ground, and was fast increasing every moment The streets of Stah the town; and its old churches rose, frowning and dark, froround Twenty ers, wisely availing theland, turned in, for the night, at the George at Grantham The remainder wrapped the the light and warainst the luggage, and prepared, withblast which swept across the open country

They were little e out of Grantham, or about halfway between it and Newark, when Nicholas, who had been asleep for a short time, was suddenly roused by a violent jerk which nearly threw hi the rail, he found that the coach had sunk greatly on one side, though it was still dragged forward by the horses; and while-confused by their plunging and the loud screams of the lady inside-he hesitated, for an instant, whether to jump off or not, the vehicle turned easily over, and relieved hi him into the road

CHAPTER 6

In which the Occurrence of the Accident mentioned in the last Chapter, affords an Opportunity to a couple of Gentleuard, on his legs in a enel ye! Wo ho!'

'What's thesleepily up

'Mattherthe wall-eyed bay, he's gane lory I think, carse t'coorch is over Here, can't ye len' a hond? Dom it, I'd ha' dean it if all ering to his feet, 'I'm ready I'ht,' cried the guard, 'while ar coot treaces Hang on tiv'e 'e whoam fast eneaf!'

In truth, the animals were no sooner released than they trotted back, with much deliberation, to the stable they had just left, which was distant not a uard, disengaging one of the coach-lamps

'I dare say I can,' replied Nicholas

'Then just blo' away into that 'un as lies on the grund, fit to wakken the deead, will'ee,' said theinside cumin', cumin' Dean't make that noise, wooman'

As the man spoke, he proceeded to wrench open the upper the horn, awoke the echoes far and ith one of the most extraordinary performances on that instrument ever heard bysuch of their fall, but in suleamed in the distance, and people were already astir

In fact, a ers ell collected together; and a careful investigation being instituted, it appeared that the lady inside had broken her laentleman his head; that the two front outsides had escaped with black eyes; the box with a bloody nose; the coachman with a contusion on the temple; Mr Squeers with a porters without any injury at all-thanks to the softness of the snow-drift in which they had been overturned These facts were no sooner thoroughly ascertained, than the lady gave several indications of fainting, but being forewarned that if she did, she entleman's shoulders to the nearest public-house, she prudently thought better of it, and walked back with the rest

They found on reaching it, that it was a lonely place with no very great accommodation in the way of apart all comprised in one public rooe faggot and a plentiful supply of coals being heaped upon the fire, the appearance of things was not long in ; and, by the time they had washed off all effaceable ht, which was a e for the cold and darkness out of doors

'Well, Mr Nickleby,' said Squeers, insinuating hiht to catch hold of them horses I should have done it lad you did it You did it very well; very well'

'So well,' said the entle tone adopted by Squeers, 'that if they had not been firmly checked when they were, you would most probably have had no brains left to teach with'

This remark called up a discourse relative to the promptitude Nicholas had displayed, and he was overwhellad to have escaped, of course,' observed Squeers: 'every er; but if any one of es had been hurt-if I had been prevented fro any one of these little boys to his parents whole and sound as I received his? Why the wheel a-top of my head would have been far preferable to it'

'Are they all brothers, sir?' inquired the lady who had carried the 'Davy' or safety-lamp

'In one sense they are, reatcoat pocket for cards 'They are all under the same parental and affectionate treatment Mrs Squeers and myself are a mother and father to every one of 'em Mr Nickleby, hand the lady theht know of solad to avail the himself to this effect, Mr Squeers, who lost no opportunity of advertising gratuitously, placed his hands upon his knees, and looked at the pupils with as nity as he could possibly affect, while Nicholas, blushi+ng with shame, handed round the cards as directed

'I hope you suffer no inconvenience froentleh he were charitably desirous to change the subject

'No bodily inconvenience,' replied the lady

'No mental inconvenience, I hope?'

'The subject is a very painful one toeentleman, not to refer to it'

'Dearmerrier still, 'I merely intended to inquire-'

'I hope no inquiries will be made,' said the lady, 'or I shall be coentlemen Landlord, pray direct a boy to keep watch outside the door-and if a green chariot passes in the direction of Grantham, to stop it instantly'

The people of the house were evidently overcoed the boy to rereen chariot, that it would have a coachold-laced hat on the box, and a foots, behind, the attentions of the good woht the infection, and groonderfully deferential, iood society in that neighbourhood, to which the lady replied yes, there was: in a manner which sufficiently implied that she uard has gone on horseback to Granthaentle round the fire, for soone a couple of hours at the very least, I propose a bowl of hot punch What say you, sir?'

This question was addressed to the broken-headed inside, as aHe was not past the rey; it seemed to have been prematurely turned by care or sorrow He readily acceded to the proposal, and appeared to be prepossessed by the frank good-nature of the individual froe took upon himself the office of tapster when the punch was ready, and after dispensing it all round, led the conversation to the antiquities of York, hich both he and the grey-haired gentleed, he turned with a s