Pickwick Abroad: A Companion to the Pickwick Papers — page 212: what you’re looking at

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. my 196 PICK WICK ABROAD. . said ven he cut his leg off to hinder it from | Pickwick. “ Thavery first thing to-morrow mortifyin’.” rea morning we will start, and leave this horri- “What do you mean, Sam?” cried the agonised Mr. Tupman. “Am I poisoned, or am I not? If so, bring me pen and ink, and let me make my will.” At this dolorous speech, Mr. Winkle was not only moved to tears, but also out of his chair, and on to Mr. Tupman’s neck, where ne fell, and swore that his old friend should not die unavenged. — ad | “Wot’s all this gammonin’ about?” cried Sam, replacing Mr. Winkle in his seat. “There—you keep your cheer, and don’t make yourself uneasy. It ain’t 80 wery me arter all; ony rayther nasty—that's all. “Explain yourself, Sam,” said Mr. Pick- wick, peremptorily ; for he now recovered his breath and his authority simultaneously. “Vell, then, here goes,” exclaimed Mr. Weller. “Jist now I takes a peep into the kitchen, and wot should I seé but a wer pretty young gal as had burnt her finger vith that ere i-dentical dish as you kicked up a row about jist now. The poor young ble hotel, without breakfasting here.” “Tt’s on’y a triflin’ accident, sir,” returned Sam, as he slowly retreated from the room, “an’ von vich is wery easily mended, as the gen’leman said who broke the Policeman’s head.” can nee J Mr. Pickwick and his friends did not, how- ever, seem tc entertain the same o pinion, ‘The two little accidents just related, cast a damp upon their spirits, and not even the use of ardent ones could put them intc a good humor. They therefore ‘soon retired to their respective couches, with the under- standing that they were to rise and pursue their journey at avery early hour. | _ Mr. Winkle had. not been quite three- quarters of an hour in bed, and certainly not more than twenty minutes asleep, when he was suddenly awoke by a heavy sub- stance which fell with amazing violence upon his body. _The impression that first flashed across his mind, was that the chim- ney had fallen in, and he roared out, “ Fire!” with all his might: but the heavy weight, creatur cried very bad, and didn’t know | beneath which he lay, suddenly moved of wot to do vith her finger. So I scrapes a | its own accord, and he was therefore con- little tatur and claps it on the sore place for her, and it give her wery great ease in vinced that it was not an assemblage of bricks and mortar ; he accordingly changed a minit, ’cos taturs is wery good for scalds, | his note, and sang out, “ Thieves |” sir, taturs is. I repeated the application, as chaps says ven they sends petitions to the Ministers an’ gets no answers; an’ ina few moments the place was nearly: vell. “But, mind, I didn’t tell her, sir, to go an’ make you a dish o’ mashed taturs vith the wery scrapin’s as come off her fingers, | Wot’s good in von place ain’t in another, as the doctor said to his patient ven he drank all the brandy vith vich he ought to ha’ | bathed his leg.” thy _ “And are you sure that that potato is the same which—” began Mr. Pickwick. “The same as—” said Mr. Snodgrass, unable to achieve the sentence which his greater leader had begun. “The same as wos on the sore finger,” cried Sam. “Sure! eh—to be sure, I am sure! Didn’t I see it vith my own eyes?” “Then why didn’t you tell us of it before ?” asked Mr. Pickwick. “’Cos there’s another dinner-party in the _. But his room was in a secluded part of the house, and no one answered his excla- mations. He therefore began to use super- human endeavors to rid himself of the oppreasive weight that lay upon him, and nearly crushed him to atoms; but all his efforts were unavailing. The mass yave one loud grunt, turned round again, and then set up such a sonorous snore, that Mr. Winkle felt convinced his unpleasant com- panion was really a living being. | _ Covered with perspiration, the unhapp Mr. Winkle made a desperate thrust wit his two fists at the sides of the mighty mass which had overwhelmed him, and by dint of the most strenuous and unwearied efforts, succeeded in extricating himself from his unpleasant position. ‘I'he moment he had’ hurled the corpulent person from off his own, he rushed out of the room, and com- menced. a hideous bawling in the passage, commingling the words, “ Fire!” “Thieves!” ’ouse,” answered Sam, “an’ I thought that | “Robbers!” “Murderers and “Help!” in the taturs was for them, till I see some conie out on the plate vich had contained Mr 'Tupman’s hashed rabbit.” * You may retire now Sam,” said Mr. a species of original melody which was anything but grateful to the ears of those whom it at length reached. | Mr. Pickwick started from his dreams, & ts . \S L0)(@YO) = a (CO) (CO)i