Part 56 (2/2)

'It only shohat Natur is, sir,' said Mr Squeers 'She's ru, sir,' remarked Snawley

'I believe you,' added Mr Squeers, with a et on without her Natur,' said Mr Squeers, solemnly, 'is , sir, to be in a state of natur!'

Pending this philosophical discourse, the bystanders had been quite stupefied with amazement, while Nicholas had looked keenly from Snawley to Squeers, and froust, doubt, and surprise At this juncture, S from his father fled to Nicholas, and iive him up, but to let him live and die beside him

'If you are this boy's father,' said Nicholas, 'look at the wreck he is, and tell me that you purpose to send hiht hiain!' cried Squeers 'Recollect, you an't worth powder and shot, but I'll be even with you one way or another'

'Stop,' interposed Ralph, as Snaas about to speak 'Let us cut this matter short, and not bandy words here with hare-brained profligates This is your son, as you can prove And you, Mr Squeers, you know this boy to be the same that ith you for so many years under the name of Smike Do you?'

'Do I!' returned Squeers 'Don't I?'

'Good,' said Ralph; 'a very feords will be sufficient here You had a son by your first wife, Mr Snawley?'

'I had,' replied that person, 'and there he stands'

'We'll show that presently,' said Ralph 'You and your ere separated, and she had the boy to live with her, when he was a year old You received a communication from her, when you had lived apart a year or two, that the boy was dead; and you believed it?'

'Of course I did!' returned Snawley 'Oh the joy of-'

'Be rational, sir, pray,' said Ralph 'This is business, and transports interfere with it This wife died a year and a half ago, or thereabouts-not more-in some obscure place, where she was housekeeper in a family Is that the case?'

'That's the case,' replied Snawley

'Having written on her death-bed a letter or confession to you, about this very boy, which, as it was not directed otherwise than in your name, only reached you, and that by a circuitous course, a few days since?'

'Just so,' said Snawley 'Correct in every particular, sir'

'And this confession,' resumed Ralph, 'is to the effect that his death was an invention of hers to wound you-was a part of a system of annoyance, in short, which you seem to have adopted towards each other-that the boy lived, but was of weak and imperfect intellect-that she sent him by a trusty hand to a cheap school in Yorkshi+re-that she had paid for his education for soradually deserted hiiveness?'

Snawley nodded his head, and wiped his eyes; the first slightly, the last violently

'The school was Mr Squeers's,' continued Ralph; 'the boy was left there in the naiven, dates tally exactly with Mr Squeers's books, Mr Squeers is lodging with you at this time; you have two other boys at his school: you coht you to me as the person who had recoht you here Is that so?'

'You talk like a good book, sir, that's got nothing in its inside but what's the truth,' replied Snawley

'This is your pocket-book,' said Ralph, producing one froe and of the boy's birth, and your wife's two letters, and every other paper that can support these statements directly or by implication, are here, are they?'

'Every one of 'e looked at here, so that these people may be convinced of your power to substantiate your claim at once in law and reason, and you may resume your control over your own son without more delay Do I understand you?'

'I couldn't have understoodthe pocket-book upon the table 'Let theinal papers, I should reco examined, or you may chance to lose some'

With these words Ralph sat down unbidden, and cohtly parted by a smile, folded his arms, and looked for the first ti taunt, darted an indignant glance at hi himself as well as he could, entered upon a close examination of the docu about theularly signed as extracts froenuine appearance of having been written and preserved for so of the second tallied with it exactly, ( been written by a person in extremity,) and there were several other corroboratory scraps of entries and memoranda which it was equally difficult to question

'Dear Nicholas,' whispered Kate, who had been looking anxiously over his shoulder, 'can this be really the case? Is this statement true?'

'I fear it is,' answered Nicholas 'What say you, John?'

John scratched his head and shook it, but said nothing at all

'You will observe,hi a ht, armed with the powers of the law, and backed by a troop of its myrmidons I should have done so, s of yourself, and your daughter'

'You have shown your regard for HER feelings well,' said Nicholas, drawing his sister towards him

'Thank you,' replied Ralph 'Your praise, sir, is commendation, indeed'

'Well,' said Squeers, 'what's to be done? Them hackney-coach horses will catch cold if we don't think ofnow, so that he blows the street door right open What's the order of the day? Is Master Snawley to co back, and clinging to Nicholas

'No Pray, no I will not go fro,' said Snawley, looking to his friends for support 'Do parents bring children into the world for this?'

'Do parents bring children into the world for THOT?' said John Browdie bluntly, pointing, as he spoke, to Squeers

'Never youhis nose derisively

'Never I mind!' said John, 'no, nor never nobodythat keeps sike men as thou afloat Noo then, where be'est thou coo it, dinnot coo the action to the word, John Browdie just jerked his elbow into the chest of Mr Squeers as advancing upon Smike; with so ered back upon Ralph Nickleby, and being unable to recover his balance, knocked that gentleman off his chair, and stumbled heavily upon hinal for soreat noise, occasioned by the prayers and entreaties of Smike, the cries and exclamations of the women, and the vehe off the lost son by violence Squeers had actually begun to haul him out, when Nicholas (who, until then, had been evidently undecided how to act) took hi him so that such teeth as he had, chattered in his head, politely escorted hie, shut it upon hioodness to follow your friend'

'I want my son,' said Snawley

'Your son,' replied Nicholas, 'chooses for himself He chooses to reive hiainst his will, to be the victin hi or a rat'

'Knock that Nickleby doith a candlestick,' cried Mr Squeers, through the keyhole, 'and bring out my hat, somebody, will you, unless he wants to steal it'

'I am very sorry, indeed,' said Mrs Nickleby, ith Mrs Browdie, had stood crying and biting her fingers in a corner, while Kate (very pale, but perfectly quiet) had kept as near her brother as she could 'I am very sorry, indeed, for all this I really don't knoould be best to do, and that's the truth Nicholas ought to be the best judge, and I hope he is Of course, it's a hard thing to have to keep other people's children, though young Mr Snawley is certainly as useful and willing as it's possible for anybody to be; but, if it could be settled in any friendly manner-if old Mr Snawley, for instance, would settle to pay so, and soement was come to, so that we undertook to have fish twice a week, and a pudding twice, or a duht be very satisfactory and pleasant for all parties'

This cohs, not exactlythe point at issue, nobody took any notice of it; and poor Mrs Nickleby accordingly proceeded to enlighten Mrs Browdie upon the advantages of such a sche, on all occasions, fro attended to when she proffered her advice