Part 45 (1/2)

'But hear this first-hear this first, brother Ned,' said the oldtwo chairs, one on each side of Nicholas: 'I'll tell it you entleman is ht that he should tell us his story over and over again as if he was a beggar, or as if we doubted hi his head gravely 'Very right, , if I make a mistake,' said Nicholas's friend 'But whether I do or not, you'll be verythe time ere two friendless lads, and earned our first shi+lling in this great city'

The twins pressed each other's hands in silence; and in his own homely manner, brother Charles related the particulars he had heard fro one, and when it was over, a secret conference of almost equal duration took place between brother Ned and Tiement to Nicholas to say, that before he had been closeted with the two brothers ten minutes, he could only wave his hand at every fresh expression of kindness and syth brother Ned and Tiether, when Tim instantly walked up to Nicholas and whispered in his ear in a very brief sentence (for Tim was ordinarily a man of feords), that he had taken down the address in the Strand, and would call upon hi done which, Ti what ot to say

'Tim,' said brother Charles, 'you understand that we have an intention of taking this young gentle-house?'

Brother Ned remarked that Tim are of that intention, and quite approved of it; and Ti nodded, and said he did, drew himself up and looked particularly fat, and very important After which, there was a profound silence

'I', you know,' said Ti very resolute 'I' into the country either A pretty thing at this time of day, certainly Pho!'

'damn your obstinacy, Ti at hier, and with a countenance radiant with attachment to the old clerk 'damn your obstinacy, Tim Linkinwater, what do youa calculation in the air with his pen, and drawing an iinary line before he cast it up, 'forty-four year, next May, since I first kept the books of Cheeryble, Brothers I've opened the safe everyall that tione over the house every night at half-past ten (except on Foreign Post nights, and then twenty minutes before twelve) to see the doors fastened, and the fires out I've never slept out of the back-attic one single night There's the sanonette box in the middle of the , and the saht with ain, and I'll maintain it-there an't such a square as this in the world I KNOW there an't,' said Ti sternly about him 'Not one For business or pleasure, in su like it There's not such a spring in England as the puland as the view out ofbefore I shaved, and I ought to know so about it I have slept in that roo his voice a little, 'for four-and-forty year; and if it wasn't inconvenient, and didn't interfere with business, I should request leave to die there'

'da?' roared the twins by one i their old noses violently

'That's what I've got to say, Mr Edwin and Mr Charles,' said Tiain 'This isn't the first ti me; but, if you please, we'll make it the last, and drop the subject for evermore'

With these words, Tilass case, with the air of a hly resolved not to be put down

The brothers interchanged looks, and coughed so

'Hewith, brother Ned,' said the other, warard his old scruples; they can't be tolerated, or borne He must be made a partner, brother Ned; and if he won't submit to it peaceably, we ht,' replied brother Ned, nodding his head as a ht, my dear brother If he won't listen to reason, we ainst his will, and show him that we are determined to exert our authority We must quarrel with him, brother Charles'

'We must We certainly must have a quarrel with Tim Linkinwater,' said the other 'But in thefriend; and the poor lady and her daughter will be anxious for his return So let us say goodbye for the present, and-there, there-take care of that box, my dear sir-and-no, no, not a word now; but be careful of the crossings and-'

And with any disjointed and unconnected words which would prevent Nicholas fro forth his thanks, the brothers hurried hi very unsuccessfully-they were poor hands at deception!-to be wholly unconscious of the feelings that completely mastered hi into the street until he had recovered solided out of the dark doorway corner in which he had been colilass case, evidently undecided whether they should follow up their late attack without delay, or for the present postpone laying further siege to the inflexible Tiht and wonder which the circumstances just detailed awakened at Miss La Creevy's, and all the things that were done, said, thought, expected, hoped, and prophesied in consequence, is beside the present course and purpose of these adventures It is sufficient to state, in brief, that Mr Timothy Linkinwater arrived, punctual to his appointment; that, oddity as he was, and jealous, as he was bound to be, of the proper exercise of his ely and warmly in favour of Nicholas; and that, next day, he was appointed to the vacant stool in the counting-house of Cheeryble, Brothers, with a present salary of one hundred and twenty pounds a year

'And I think, my dear brother,' said Nicholas's first friend, 'that if ere to let the under the usual rent, now? Eh, brother Ned?'

'For nothing at all,' said brother Ned 'We are rich, and should be ashamed to touch the rent under such circu at all,at all'

'Perhaps it would be better to say soested the other, ality, you know, and reht say fifteen pound, or twenty pound, and if it was punctually paid, ht secretly advance a sht secretly advance another s well-as we shall; there's no fear, no fear-we can change the loans into gifts Carefully, brother Ned, and by degrees, and without pressing upon theave his hand upon it, and not only said it should be done, but had it done too; and, in one short week, Nicholas took possession of the stool, and Mrs Nickleby and Kate took possession of the house, and all was hope, bustle, and light-heartedness

There surely never was such a week of discoveries and surprises as the first week of that cottage Every night when Nicholas carapevine, and another day it was a boiler, and another day it was the key of the front-parlour closet at the bottoh a hundred items Then, this room was embellished with a ant by a -blind, and such improvements were made, as no one would have supposed possible Then there was Miss La Creevy, who had come out in the omnibus to stop a day or two and help, and as perpetually losing a very se ha about with her sleeves tucked up at the wrists, and falling off pairs of steps and hurting herself very much-and Mrs Nickleby, who talked incessantly, and did so now and then, but not often-and Kate, who busied herself noiselessly everywhere, and was pleased with everything-and Sarden a perfect wonder to look upon-and Nicholas, who helped and encouraged them every one-all the peace and cheerfulness of hoal pleasure, and such delight to every hour of ive!

In short, the poor Nicklebys were social and happy; while the rich Nickleby was alone and miserable

CHAPTER 36

Private and confidential; relating to Faitation, and how Mrs Kenas as well as could be expected It rowing dark in the narrow streets near Golden Square, when Mr Kenwigs sent out for a pair of the cheapest white kid gloves-those at fourteen-pence-and selecting the strongest, which happened to be the right-hand one, walked downstairs with an air of pomp and much excitement, and proceeded to muffle the knob of the street-door knocker therein Having executed this task with great nicety, Mr Kenwigs pulled the door to, after him, and just stepped across the road to try the effect fro could possibly look better in its way, Mr Kenwigs then stepped back again, and calling through the keyhole to Morleena to open the door, vanished into the house, and was seen no longer

Now, considered as an abstract circumstance, there was no s should take the trouble ofthis particular knocker, than there would have been for his entlereater convenience of the nuers, the street-door always stood wide open, and the knocker was never used at all The first floor, the second floor, and the third floor, had each a bell of its own As to the attics, no one ever called on them; if anybody wanted the parlours, they were close at hand, and all he had to do was to walk straight into them; while the kitchen had a separate entrance down the area steps As a question ofof the knocker was thoroughly incomprehensible

But knockers may be muffled for other purposes than those of mere utilitarianism, as, in the present instance, was clearly shown There are certain polite forms and ceremonies which must be observed in civilised life, or enteel lady was ever yet confined-indeed, no genteel confine sys was a lady of sos was confined And, therefore, Mr Kenwigs tied up the silent knocker on the prelove

'I' his shi+rt-collar, and walking slowly upstairs, 'whether, as it's a boy, I won't have it in the papers'

Pondering upon the advisability of this step, and the sensation it was likely to create in the neighbourhood, Mr Kenwigs betook hi-roo were airing on a horse before the fire, and Mr Lu the baby-that is, the old baby-not the new one

'It's a fine boy, Mr Kenwigs,' said Mr Lumbey, the doctor

'You consider his

'It's the finest boy I ever saw in all my life,' said the doctor 'I never saw such a baby'

It is a pleasant thing to reflect upon, and furnishes a coeneration of the human species, that every baby born into the world is a finer one than the last

'I ne-ver saw such a baby,' said Mr Lumbey, the doctor

'Morleena was a fine baby,' res; as if this were rather an attack, by implication, upon the family

'They were all fine babies,' said Mr Luhtful look Whether he was considering under what head he could best charge the nursing in the bill, was best known to hi this short conversation, Miss Morleena, as the eldest of the fa her indisposition, had been hustling and slapping the three younger Miss Kenwigses, without interht tears into the eyes of Mr Kenwigs, and caused hi and behaviour, that child was a woman

'She will be a treasure to the s, half aside; 'I think she'll marry above her station, Mr Lumbey'

'I shouldn't wonder at all,' replied the doctor