Pickwick Abroad: or, The Tour in France — page 61: what you’re looking at

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

32 \Pichich Apron. there ave—mind, I don’t mean to say there are many—but there are some who affect not to believe in our existence at all!” ‘““How wery perwokin’, ain’t it ?” said Mr. Weller, in deep sympathy with the unhappy ghost. ‘‘ Bat vy doesn’t you and your friends, their honours the ghoastesses, make yourselves less scarce, and more wisible to the public ?” ‘* All that’s of no use,’ exclaimed the old man ; “ for if we doappear to some one in the dead of night, it is immediately set down to a dis- ordered imagination or a bad digestion. I myself appeared four times last year to the Lord Mayor; and the papers attributed it merely to an excess which the civic monarch had committed in eating too much of the green fat of turtle. So you see, it is of no use!” added Mr. Dibble with a profound sigh. , ‘‘'Wery bad state o’ things, this,” observed Mr. Weller, while the ghost dipped his hand into the snuff-barrel ; ‘‘ wery !” ‘*So it is, my dear Samuel,” echoed the ghost.—“ But it is getting late now—and the night-air does not agree with me very well—and I must get up early to wash out my shirt—so good night, my dear fellow, and thank you kindly for your agreeable company !”’ With these words the ghost stretched himself upon the floor of the cabin, and soon snored aloud. Mr. Weller imitated his example, and laying himself flat on his back upon the hard planks, he also was soon wrapped in the arms of slumber. But what was his astonishment, when, awaking at anearly hour on the following morning, he found him- self stretched in the middle of the Yzolon, his back aching most vio- lently, and bearing ample testimony to the discomfort of the couch on which he had reposed. The very natural and probable conclusion to which Mr. Weller. came, when he mentally reviewed the adventures of the night, waz that he had dreamt avery singular and remarkable dream. At the same time he recollected a certain wild legion, touching and con- cerning the North-Foreland Light, which the captain of the steam-ves- sel had narrated to him the day before; he also recalled to his mind that, as he traversed the Grande Place in the train that attended his illustrious master, he had seen a conjuror, in a harlequin’s attire, | performing certain strange and wild antics to the great amusement of a small crowd of three grown-up people and two small boys; and as his head was subsequently full of gendarmes, and solitary ships, and a host of strange ideas, it was no longer astonishing if his fertile imagina- tion should have worked the whole up into a connected and con- tinuous series of adventures. He was nevertheless deterrained to keep the tale to himself—a resolution to which he faithfully adhered till he confided it to us in secret a short time back, CORNICLIOOKS (E(0)