Pickwick Abroad: A Companion to the Pickwick Papers — page 31: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

i , — ‘wick Mr. Winkle " gpetified their astonishmer YY » expec , “ Very good b porn this)” obeired Mr. Winkle, casting an approving glance up the long table; “ puts: me in mind of adinner on a race-course, or cr ‘ket-ground.’ ? ~ “ Nothi ng to what you see in Turkey, my deat! fellow, ejaculated Crashem. “There the very — -omnibuses have table- @hotes ; and for a couple of ies you can dine, and go from one end of Constanti- nople % the other at the same time. ae tart for the merchants, eh ?” odded assent; Mr, Pick- edulous: and the spor of the table at. Mr. Crash- em’s statement, through the medink of such expressive terms as “ gammon,” “ blarney,” “gag.” de. Mr, Crashem’s lofty mind was t to be daunted by the conduct of that rtion of his audience whose weak intel- t could not com rehend the vastness of » the je rithm undertaken by the Turks, d carried into effect, by that very en- lightened people; he accordingly assured the sporting charaeters “ that they penn Ai a gentlemen,” and hinted “that if his res for the great. man with whom he had honor to travel did not withhold him he ‘should proceed to take summary venge: upon their carcasses, sors any compune- tion or mercy.” “He'll do that teatitertow,” the individuals thus menaced. hen he gets up a little earlier,” added aracters at the other d one of ~ @ second. — “Trust him,”,exclaimed a third: “he'll flare up about the same time that the Deccan prize-money is paid.” “Talking of the Deccan prize-money,” observed Mr. Crashem to his friends, while his countenan a: veiled in blushes, as the modern novelist y father made his — by that béfiness! Odd—wasn’t it?” vag! ee he was lucky enough to get paid, ” said Mr, Pickwick, eyeing his new nd somew! t suspiciously. “Oh! no—that would Fines spoilt all !” cried Mr. Crashem, emphatically. “Spoilt all—how ¢” inquired Mr. Winkle, ever ready to instruction from those who knew mor himself. “Tf it had ee aid, there would have been an end of it,” explained Mr. Crashem ; “but the expectation, my dear fellow—the ctation was the thing! My father . § ns “ 2 - eR ou Ama. a »* * at a _respectable Gpancey te from his mas- | raised all his share with the money: a * _ter. seven times over; and his most fervent pare has re been that the affair ma ver be settled.’ The delay is a good ten pmo tata year to him, thank God!” . Winkle was about to express his as- tonishment at this ; Pickwick began to fancy that the Crashem family was not the most i culate nor -particular in the world, when the condue- teur finished his cup of coffee, and rose from his chair with the satisfaction of a man who has eaten ‘a good dinner. ‘This was a sig- nal for the passengers to\make an end of g | their repast; according] r. Pickwick called for the account, and paid for himself, his friends, and domestic, and Mr. Crashem, that Jatter gentleman, with a view to pro- mote tiie option of regular and proper arrangements, and to avoid confusion, hay- ing wisely” suggested that there should be only one castle and having elected Mr. Pickwick by his single suffrage to fill that important and honorable post: And in lay-. ing these facts before our readers, it is but due to the memory of Mr. Pickwick, to de- clare that he acquitted himself in his new t | office to the entire satisfaction of him throat whose interest he had obtained it. The passengers resumed their me in the diligence, and the vehicle moved on- ward at a more rapid rate than when. it commenced its journey. _ The dinner, or the wine, had apparently unlocked the tongue of the French ort man, who had hitherto remained silent. casual observation which he made to Mr Pickwick, in very good English, enabled that imiiGital personage to F dideoty ee that M. Dumont was neither an ill-informed nor an ill-mannered man; and as the conversa- tion gradually assumed a more determined appearance of lasting some time, Mr. Pick- wick and his companions were amused and instructed by the various anecdotes and’ tales which the before Gent g gentleman told jn an easy but impressive manner. ‘The topic of discourse to which he -recurred more frequently than to any other, was the Gendarmerie or Police ; and on this subject he appeared quite at ho ““ You may marvel,” said M. Dumont, at the conclusion of an anecdote of which the notorious Vidocq was the hero—“ you may marvel at the apparent intimacy of my_ac- Bench nol with the private history of the rench nolice; but your wonder will cease EGOnnicloooe ittle anecdote, and Mr,» organization and functions of the French — SS (c@) m