Part 71 (1/2)

'I a his head, 'but an erring and imperfect man; nevertheless, there is one quality which all els, blessed opportunities of exercising, if they will; s e it'

'I show no mercy,' retorted Ralph with a triumphant smile, 'and I ask none Seek no mercy from me, sir, in behalf of the felloho has imposed upon your childish credulity, but let him expect the worst that I can do'

'HE ask mercy at your hands!' exclaimed the old merchant warmly; 'ask it at his, sir; ask it at his If you will not hear me nohen you may, hear me when you must, or anticipate what I would say, and take ain Your nephew is a noble lad, sir, an honest, noble lad What you are, Mr Nickleby, I will not say; but what you have done, I kno, sir, when you go about the business in which you have been recently engaged, and find it difficult of pursuing, come to me and my brother Ned, and Tim Linkinwater, sir, and we'll explain it for you-and come soon, or it may be too late, and you hness, and a little less delicacy-and never forget, sir, that I ca, in mercy to you, and am still ready to talk to you in the sareat emphasis and emotion, brother Charles put on his broad-bri Ralph Nickleby without any other remark, trotted nimbly into the street Ralph looked after him, but neither moved nor spoke for some time: when he broke what alh

'This,' he said, 'from its wildness, should be another of those dreams that have so broken one h he expressed himself in this derisive and contemptuous manner, it was plain that, the more Ralph pondered, the more ill at ease he becaue anxiety and alars of New until late in the afternoon, tortured by various apprehensions andwhich his nephew had given him when they last met: the further confirmation of which now presented itself in one shape of probability, now in another, and haunted hi why, save that he was in a suspicious and agitated mood, betook himself to Snawley's house His wife presented herself; and, of her, Ralph inquired whether her husband was at home

'No,' she said sharply, 'he is not indeed, and I don't think he will be at ho time; that's more'

'Do you knoho I am?' asked Ralph

'Oh yes, I know you very well; too well, perhaps, and perhaps he does too, and sorry am I that I should have to say it'

'Tell hih the -blind above, as I crossed the road just now, and that I would speak to him on business,' said Ralph 'Do you hear?'

'I hear,' rejoined Mrs Snawley, taking no further notice of the request

'I knew this woman was a hypocrite, in the way of psal quietly by, 'but I never knew she drank before'

'Stop! You don't co her person, which was a robust one, in the doorway 'You have said h to hi with you and working out your schemes would come to It was either you or the schooled letter done; re, so don't lay it at his door'

'Hold your tongue, you Jezebel,' said Ralph, looking fearfully round

'Ah, I knohen to hold ue, and when to speak, Mr Nickleby,' retorted the dame 'Take care that other people knohen to hold theirs'

'You jade,' said Ralph, 'if your husband has been idiot enough to trust you with his secrets, keep them; keep them, she-devil that you are!'

'Not so much his secrets as other people's secrets, perhaps,' retorted the woman; 'not so much his secrets as yours None of your black looks at me! You'll want 'em all, perhaps, for another time You had better keep 'e his passion as well as he could, and clutching her tightly by the wrist; 'will you go to your husband and tell him that I know he is at home, and that I must see him? And will you tell me what it is that you and he mean by this new style of behaviour?'

'No,' replied the wo herself, 'I'll do neither'

'You set me at defiance, do you?' said Ralph

'Yes,' was the answer I do'

For an instant Ralph had his hand raised, as though he were about to strike her; but, checking hih to assure her he would not forget this, walked away

Thence, he went straight to the inn which Mr Squeers frequented, and inquired when he had been there last; in the vague hope that, successful or unsuccessful, he ht, by this time, have returned from his mission and be able to assure him that all was safe But Mr Squeers had not been there for ten days, and all that the people could tell about hie and his bill

Disturbed by a thousand fears and sur whether Squeers had any suspicion of Snawley, or was, in any way, a party to this altered behaviour, Ralph deter for hi an intervieith him even there Bent upon this purpose, and in that mood in which delay is insupportable, he repaired at once to the place; and being, by description, perfectly acquainted with the situation of his rooently at the door

Not one, nor two, nor three, nor yet a dozen knocks, served to convince Ralph, against his wish, that there was nobody inside He reasoned that he , almost persuaded himself that he could hear him breathe Even when he was satisfied that he could not be there, he sat patiently on a broken stair and waited; arguing, that he had gone out upon soht errand, andstairs; and the step of so ear so like that of the man for whom he waited, that Ralph often stood up to be ready to address him when he reached the top; but, one by one, each person turned off into some room short of the place where he was stationed: and at every such disappointth he felt it was hopeless to reers if he knew anything of Mr Squeers'sthat worthy by an assuer he was referred to another, and by him to someone else, froone out hastily with two men, who had shortly afterwards returned for the old woh the circumstance had attracted the attention of the informant, he had not spoken to them at the time, nor made any inquiry afterwards

This possessed hi Sliderskew had been apprehended for the robbery, and that Mr Squeers, being with her at the ti a confederate If this were so, the fact must be known to Gride; and to Gride's house he directed his steps; now thoroughly alar to his discomfiture and ruin

Arrived at the usurer's house, he found the s close shut, the dingy blinds dran; all was silent, melancholy, and deserted But this was its usual aspect He knocked-gently at first-then loud and vigorously nobody ca thrust it under the door was going ahen a noise above, as though a -sash were stealthily raised, caught his ear, and looking up he could just discern the face of Gride hi over the house parapet fro as below, he drew it in again; not so quickly, however, but that Ralph let him knoas observed, and called to hi repeated, Gride looked out again, so cautiously that no part of the old man's body was visible The sharp features and white hair appearing alone, above the parapet, looked like a severed head garnishi+ng the wall

'Hush!+' he cried 'Go away, go away!'

'Co hi his head in a sort of ecstasy of impatience 'Don't speak to o away'

'I'll knock, I swear, till I have your neighbours up in arms,' said Ralph, 'if you don't tellcur'

'I can't hear what you say-don't talk to o away!' returned Gride

'Come down, I say Will you come down?' said Ralph fiercely

'No-o-o-oo,' snarled Gride He drew in his head; and Ralph, left standing in the street, could hear the sash closed, as gently and carefully as it had been opened

'How is this,' said he, 'that they all fall froue, these men who have licked the dust fro on of night? I'll knohat it means! I will, at any cost I am firmer and more myself, just now, than I have been thesefroe, he hadupon until Gride's very fears should impel hi his way steadily through the crohich was pouring from it (it was by this tiht to the house of business of the brothers Cheeryble, and putting his head into the glass case, found Tim Linkinwater alone

'My name's Nickleby,' said Ralph

'I know it,' replied Tih his spectacles

'Which of your fir?' demanded Ralph

'Mr Charles'

'Then, tell Mr Charles I want to see hi off his stool with great agility, 'you shall see, not only Mr Charles, but Mr Ned likewise'