The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 295: what you’re looking at

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

264 REYNOLDS’ WORKS “Right enough, Barney,’’ exclaimed Smedley. ‘“ He’s a queer file, that old fellow up-stairs — ”’ ‘‘ Old indeed!”’ said Mrs. Webber, who was herself sixty, and therefore she spoke with some degree of indignation; ‘he is not more than fifty, and I am sure I call that quite young.”’ ‘‘ Nonsense, mother,’ interposed Bab Smedley, with her usual sharpness. ‘‘ Don’t waste time about such silly trifles;’’ then lowering her voice to a mysterious whisper, she said to the Burker, ‘‘ We mean to do it.” ‘‘ And right enow, too,” he answered; “ if so be you’ve made sure it’s worth while.” “Trust us for that,’ responded Bab. ‘‘My mother, though she is so silly in some respects, is precious sharp in others, and she has wormed herself into the lodger’s good graces — ‘“ What's his name ipaial ’’ inquired Barney. ‘‘ Smith,” responded Bab; ‘“ but of course we knew very well, the moment he came to the house, that it wasn’t his right name. He looked so wild and frightened, and seemed glad to be able to hide himself anywhere, and when I had showed him the lodgings, told him what the price was, and asked for a reference, he said he couldn’t give any, but he would pay his rent in advance. And then I asked him his name, and he seemed to hesitate for a minute whether he should call himself Brown, Jones, Thompson, or Smith.” ‘‘ And he has never once been out since: he came here,” observed Smedley, taking up the tale; ‘‘ never once crossed the threshold of the front door.”’ 9) ‘* And he has been all of a nervous fidget the whole time,” said Mrs. Webber. ‘‘ Ah! and how he has altered too. I shouldn’t have thought that a matter of a little more than two months could have made such a change in a human being. But that’s why you, Jack,” she added, turning to her son-in-law, “‘ call him old. His face is as thin and as pale as a ghost’s; he wasn’t very fat when he first came, but he has so shrunk away that his clothes hang on him just as - if they were never made for him at all.” ‘But has he got the ready?’”’ demanded Bake’ “* for that’s the principal thing we have got to look at.” ‘“'We know he has got some money,” responded Bab, ‘and I will tell you how we found it out. It was only the Gomicdbooks (E(0)