Part 71 (2/2)

Tim stopped, looked steadily and severely at Ralph, nodded his head once, in a curt manner which seemed to say there was a little more behind, and vanished After a short interval, he returned, and, ushering Ralph into the presence of the two brothers, remained in the room himself

'I want to speak to you, who spoke to er the man whom he addressed

'I have no secrets from my brother Ned, or from Tim Linkinwater,' observed brother Charles quietly

'I have,' said Ralph

'Mr Nickleby, sir,' said brother Ned, 'the matter upon whichis one which is already perfectly well known to us three, and to others besides, and reat , alone, as a matter of delicacy and consideration We feel, now, that further delicacy and consideration would be ether, it entle in riddles would seem to be the peculiar forte of you two, and I suppose your clerk, like a prudent races Talk in coentlemen, in God's name I'll hurowing very red in the face 'He'll humour us! He'll humour Cheeryble Brothers! Do you hear that? Do you hear him? DO you hear him say he'll humour Cheeryble Brothers?'

'Tiether, 'pray, Ti the hint, stifled his indignation as well as he could, and suffered it to escape through his spectacles, with the additional safety-valve of a short hysterical laugh now and then, which seehtily

'As nobody bidsround, 'I'll take one, for I aentleht-what you have to say to me, which justifies such a tone as you have assumed, and that underhand interference in my affairs which, I have reason to suppose, you have been practising I tell you plainly, gentlemen, that little as I care for the opinion of the world (as the slang goes), I don't choose to submit quietly to slander and malice Whether you suffer yourselves to be imposed upon too easily, or wilfully make yourselves parties to it, the result to me is the same In either case, you can't expect from a plain man like myself much consideration or forbearance'

So coolly and deliberately was this said, that nine norant of the circumstances, would have supposed Ralph to be really an injured man There he sat, with folded arms; paler than usual, certainly, and sufficiently ill-favoured, but quite collected-far more so than the brothers or the exasperated Tim-and ready to face out the worst

'Very well, sir,' said brother Charles 'Very well Brother Ned, will you ring the bell?'

'Charles, my dear fellow! stop one instant,' returned the other 'It will be better for Mr Nickleby and for our object that he should remain silent, if he can, till we have said e have to say I wish hiht,' said brother Charles

Ralph s; the roo walk; and, looking round, Ralph's eyes an to fail hi,' he said bitterly 'Oh! this is a good beginning You are candid, honest, open-hearted, fair-dealing men! I always knew the real worth of such characters as yours! To tamper with a fellow like this, ould sell his soul (if he had one) for drink, and whose every word is a lie What !'

'I WILL speak,' cried New on tiptoe to look over Tim's head, who had interposed to prevent him 'Hallo, you sir-old Nickleby!-what do you mean when you talk of ”a fellow like this”? Who made me ”a fellow like this”? If I would sell my soul for drink, asn't I a thief, swindler, housebreaker, area sneak, robber of pence out of the trays of blind e and packhorse? If my every as a lie, asn't I a pet and favourite of yours? Lie! When did I ever cringe and fawn to you Tell me that! I served you faithfully I did more work, because I was poor, and took more hard words from you because I despised you and theot from the parish workhouse I did I served you because I was proud; because I was a lonely radation; and because nobody knew, better than you, that I was a ruined ht have been better off, if I hadn't been a fool and fallen into the hands of you and others ere knaves Do you deny that?'

'Gently,' reasoned Tim; 'you said you wouldn't'

'I said I wouldn't!' cried New his hand as Tith; 'don't tell me! Here, you Nickleby! Don't pretend not toof ta, just now Who tampered with Yorkshi+re schoole out, that he shouldn't overhear, forgot that such great caution ht watch his ht set other eyes to watch the school hihter to old Arthur Gride, and tampered with Gride too, and did so in the little office, WITH A CLOSET IN THE ROOM?'

Ralph had put a great coht start, if he had been certain to be beheaded for it next moment

'Aha!' cried New to be jealous of his master's actions, and to feel that, if he hadn't crossed hiht, he would have been as bad as he, or worse? That master's cruel treat girl who interested even his broken-down, drunken, er in his service, in the hope of doing her soood (as, thank God, he had done others once or twice before), when he would, otherwise, have relieved his feelings by pu to the Devil He would-entleht the with me), I told theo through hat I had begun, to help the right; and that when I had done it, I'd burst into your room and tell you all, face to face, man to man, and like a man Now I've said my say, and let anybody else say theirs, and fire away!'

With this concluding senti down and getting up again all through his speech, which he had delivered in a series of jerks; and as, from the violent exercise and the excitement combined, in a state of h any interht, andat Ralph Nickleby with all his ht and main

Ralph looked at him for an instant, and for an instant only; then, waved his hand, and beating the ground with his foot, said in a choking voice: 'Go on, gentleo on! I'm patient, you see There's law to be had, there's law I shall call you to an account for this Take care what you say; I shall make you prove it'

'The proof is ready,' returned brother Charles, 'quite ready to our hands The ht, made a confession'

'Who may ”the man Snawley” be,' returned Ralph, 'and what may his ”confession” have to do with ed inflexibility of entleman returned no answer, but went on to say, that to show him how much they were in earnest, it would be necessary to tell hiainst him, but what proof of the open of the whole question brought up brother Ned, Tis, all three at once; who, after a vast deal of talking together, and a scene of great confusion, laid before Ralph, in distinct ter been solemnly assured by one not then producible that S offered to make oath to that effect, if necessary, they had by this communication been first led to doubt the claim set up, which they would otherwise have seen no reason to dispute, supported as it was by evidence which they had no power of disproving That, once suspecting the existence of a conspiracy, they had no difficulty in tracing back its origin to the malice of Ralph, and the vindictiveness and avarice of Squeers That, suspicion and proof being two very different things, they had been advised by a lawyer, eacity and acuteness in such practice, to resist the proceedings taken on the other side for the recovery of the youth as slowly and artfully as possible, and meanwhile to beset Snawley (hom it was clear the main falsehood must rest); to lead hi statements; to harass him by all available ard for his own safety, as to induce hiive up his employer and whomsoever else he could implicate That, all this had been skilfully done; but that Snawley, ell practised in the arts of low cunning and intrigue, had successfully baffled all their atteht hiht, upon his knees

It thus arose When Newain in town, and that an interview of such secrecy had taken place between him and Ralph that he had been sent out of the house, plainly lest he should overhear a word, a watch was set upon the schoolht be discovered which would throw so found, however, that he held no further communication with Ralph, nor any with Snawley, and lived quite alone, they were completely at fault; the watch ithdrawn, and they would have observed his ht, Newether Following them, he discovered, to his surprise, that they repaired to various low lodging-houses, and taverns kept by broken gamblers, to more than one of whom Ralph was known, and that they were in pursuit-so he found by inquiries when they had left-of an old woman, whose description exactly tallied with that of deaf Mrs Sliderskew Affairs now appearing to assume a more serious coilance; an officer was procured, who took up his abode in the same tavern with Squeers: and by him and Frank Cheeryble the footsteps of the unconscious school at La, the officer shi+fted his, and lying concealed in the same street, and, indeed, in the opposite house, soon found that Mr Squeers and Mrs Sliderskeere in constant cos, Arthur Gride was appealed to The robbery, partly owing to the inquisitiveness of the neighbours, and partly to his own grief and rage, had, long ago, becoive his sanction or yield any assistance to the old woman's capture, and was seized with such a panic at the idea of being called upon to give evidence against her, that he shut himself up close in his house, and refused to hold communication with anybody Upon this, the pursuers took counsel together, and, co so near the truth as to arrive at the conclusion that Gride and Ralph, with Squeers for their instru for the recovery of soht, and ht possibly explain the hints relative to Madeline which Newman had overheard, resolved that Mrs Sliderskew should be taken into custody before she had parted with the suspicious could be attached to hi procured, and all prepared, Mr Squeers's as watched, until his light was put out, and the time arrived when, as had been previously ascertained, he usually visited Mrs Sliderskew This done, Frank Cheeryble and Newive the signal to the officer at the most favourable time At what an opportune moment they arrived, how they listened, and what they heard, is already known to the reader Mr Squeers, still half stunned, was hurried off with a stolen deed in his possession, and Mrs Sliderskeas apprehended likewise The infor promptly carried to Snawley that Squeers was in custody-he was not told for what-that worthy, first extorting a promise that he should be kept har Sery, and implicated Ralph Nickleby to the fullest extent As to Mr Squeers, he had, that istrate; and, being unable to account satisfactorily for his possession of the deed or his companionshi+p with Mrs Sliderskew, had been, with her, remanded for a week

All these discoveries were now related to Ralph, circumstantially, and in detail Whatever in of e his frowning eyes fro his mouth with his hand When the narrative was concluded; he raised his head hastily, as if about to speak, but on brother Charles resuain

'I told you thishis hand upon his brother's shoulder, 'that I came to you in mercy How far you may be implicated in this last transaction, or how far the person who is now in custody may criminate you, you best know But, justice ainst the parties i, injured lad It is not in my power, or in the power of my brother Ned, to save you from the consequences The utive you an opportunity of escaping theraced and punished by your near relation; nor would we have hiet, like you, all ties of blood and nature We entreat you-brother Ned, you join me, I know, in this entreaty, and so, Tih you pretend to be an obstinate dog, sir, and sit there frowning as if you didn't-we entreat you to retire from London, to take shelter in some place where you will be safe frons, and where you may have time, sir, to atone for them, and to become a better , 'and do you think, you will so easily crush ME? Do you think that a hundred well-arranged plans, or a hundred suborned witnesses, or a hundred false curs atspeeches full of oily words, willyour schemes, which I am now prepared for You have not the man to deal with that you think; try me! and res, and dare you-provoke you-taunt you-to do to me the very worst you can!'

Thus they parted, for that time; but the worst had not coers thicken, and the Worst is told

Instead of going home, Ralph threw himself into the first street cabriolet he could find, and, directing the driver towards the police-office of the district in which Mr Squeers's hted at a short distance fro thefor the object of his solicitude, he learnt that he had timed his visit well; for Mr Squeers was, in fact, at thatfor a hackney coach he had ordered, and in which he purposed proceeding to his week's retire speech with the prisoner, he was ushered into a kind of waiting-room in which, by reason of his scholastic profession and superior respectability, Mr Squeers had been per and blackened candle, he could barely discern the schoollass stood on a table before hi smell of brandy and water, forewarned the visitor that Mr Squeers had been seeking, in creature coetfulness of his unpleasant situation

It was not a very easy ic and heavy were his slus, he at length sat upright; and, displaying a very yellow face, a very red nose, and a very bristly beard: the joint effect of which was considerably heightened by a dirty white handkerchief, spotted with blood, drawn over the crown of his head and tied under his chin: stared ruefully at Ralph in silence, until his feelings found a vent in this pithy sentence: 'I say, young fellow, you've been and done it now; you have!'

'What's the matter with your head?' asked Ralph

'Why, yourman, has been and broke it,' rejoined Squeers sulkily; 'that's what's the matter with it You've come at last, have you?'

'Why have you not sent to me?' said Ralph 'How could I come till I knehat had befallen you?'

'My fa: 'e when all the sensibilities is a-co Norval of private life, and the pride and ornae-here's a shock for my family! The coat-of-arone down into the ocean wave!'

'You have been drinking,' said Ralph, 'and have not yet slept yourself sober'

'I haven't been drinking YOUR health,to do with that'

Ralph suppressed the indignation which the schoolain why he had not sent to hi to you?' returned Squeers 'To be known to be in with you wouldn't do ood, and they won't take bail till they know so more of the case, so here am I hard and fast: and there are you, loose and comfortable'

'And so ood-humour 'They can't hurt you, man'

'Why, I suppose they can't do ood company of that there ca-daverous old Slider,' replied Squeers viciously, 'who I as dead and buried, and resurrected and dissected, and hung upon wires in a anato to do with her This is what hi, in so many words: ”Prisoner! As you have been found in company with this woman; as you were detected in possession of this docu others, and can give no satisfactory account of yourself; I shall remand you for a week, in order that inquiries ot And meanwhile I can't take any bail for your appearance” Well then, what I say now is, that I CAN give a satisfactory account of myself; I can hand in the card of my establishment and say, ”I am the Wackford Squeers as is therein nauaranteed, by unimpeachable references, to be a out-and-outer inin this business is no fault of n in it, sir I was not aware that anything rong I was merely employed by a friend, my friend Mr Ralph Nickleby, of Golden Square Send for him, sir, and ask him what he has to say; he's the man; not me!”'

'What docu, for the moment, the point just raised