Pickwick Abroad: A Companion to the Pickwick Papers — page 85: what you’re looking at

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PICKWICK. ABROAD. eatched the chap by the scruff o’ the neck, | another chap catches hold of him, a cryin’ wery loud in his ear, ‘ You thundrin’ thief! this here’s your conspiracy, is it? to bilk a poor feller like me, as has gota vife and thirteen small children, out o’ his fare. Blessed if I didn’t suspect you vos a riglar do ven | tvigged your precious face at fust.’,— This vos the hackney-coachman; and so sudden vos his attack upon the unfortnit r. Sorely, that the t’other gen’leman made Is escape, and vos never seen arterwards no yon.” y R “ Very extraordinary,” said Mr. Pick- wick, when his yalet had brought this in- teresting tale to a conclusion. “ But, do you know, that I am very uneasy about fupman? Iam afraid he has again fallen into the hands of unprincipled charac- ters.” es 1 Mr. Weller appeared to reflect for a mo- ment : then, suddenly relapsing into smiles, he exclaimed, “ There’s von man, sir, as ’ud do your affair, an’ discover vere Mr. Tup- man is, even if he vosnt in this vorld at all.” “ Who is he, Sam? inquired Mr. Pick- wick, hastily. | Are * Johnny-Darmy, sir,” was the abrupt answer. , ue? oe Mr. Pickwick instantly seated himself at his writing-desk, and penned a_ brief note to M. Dumont, which Mr. Weller in due time conveyed to the twopenny post. But the arrival of this gentleman was anxiously and vainly waited for on that and the three following days. On the fourth he, however, made his appearance, and accounted for the delay by informing his friends that he had been absent from Paris on particular business connected with his yocation. Mr. Pickwick then stated the dilemma in which he was placed with re- gard 0 his friend Mr. Tracy Tupman, and was not a little rejoiced when the good-na- tured Gendarme assured him that in less than three hours the place of Mr. Tupman’s destination should be,duly discovered. Thrice did the long hand of Mr. Pick- wick’s watch perform its revolution round the dial—thrice did the adjacent clocks pro- i the lapse of another hour—and thrice id the great man console himself with the reflection that he would soon be close upon the traces of his absconded friend. At length, true to his promise, M. Dumont re- turned, and presenied himself to Mr. Pick- _ wick with a smile of satisfaction upon his countenance. “ am 75 ‘Well, my good fellow, what news 2?” demanded Mr. Pickwick, When) “T have succeeded,” replied M. Dumont, throwing himself upon a chair, and his hat upon the table. i “And where is he?” cried Mr. Pickwick, almost breathless with agitation and curi- osity. iy ' “ His passport is signed for Saint Omers,” said Dumont. “I have been to the Pre- Jfeeture de Police to ascertain the fact.” — Mr. Pickwick rang the bell violently, and Mr. Weller immediately answered the. summons. “Sam,” said Mr. Pickwick, “tell Mr Cailliez to get me a post-chaise and four immediately. I must be at Saint Omer’s to-morrow evening by this time.” “ Know how far you're a-goin’?” inquired | Mr. Weller, looking as much inclined to move off in the required haste as the mon- ument to take a walk across the Thames. “No,” replied Mr. Pickwick. ‘ But were it as far as Jerusalem, I must be there in four-and-twenty hours at the out side,” added the great man with that pe- culiar felicity of idea which so eminently distinguished him. | “Must, eh ?” observed Mr. Weller, very quietly. “ Who’s goin’ too?” “You, Sam,” replied Mr, Pickwick: “Mr. Winkle will stay behind at Paris.” “ Vell, that’s a blessin’,” cried Mr. Wel- ler. ‘* But, how far air we off, as the gen- ‘leman in the fire-balloon said to his-self ?” “About a hundred and fifty miles,” elu- cidated M. Dumont. n “An’ vot’s the use o’ goin’ about the country, and makin’ vild beastesses on our- selves?” remonstrated Mr. Weller, placing his arms a-kimbo, and confronting his mas- ter with as much respect as might be ex- ected from a Cherokee Indian, were he birongiit to give evidence at the bar of the House of Commons. ‘“ You're past the age for galliwantin’, you air, sir, as the gen- ‘leman said to Mathusalem.” “You mean Methusaleh, Sam,” sug- gested Mr. Pickwick. “Vell, sir, prhaps I do,” cried Mr. Wel- ler, dogmatically: ‘there ain’t no sayin’ that I don’t, vich vos the obserwation made by the young chap to his tailor, as told him he owed a bili, but, jokin’ apart— ain’t this a rum start o’ your’n all o’ sud- den, sir ?” Mr. Pickwick declared that whether it were rum or not, he certainly intended a (C@) JOO ‘ a > 4 ay % i ry - Fs . b ole ‘ sv A iu ie ay .S im