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Elisha Cuthbert Photos Books: Martin Eden The Pickwick Papers The Sea Wolf |
young and well.
Ah! said the old lady, after a short pause: its all very fine, I
dare say; but I cant hear him.
Grandmas rather put out now, said Miss Isabella Wardle, in
a low tone; but shell talk to you presently.
Mr. Pickwick nodded his readiness to humour the infirmities
of age, and entered into a general conversation with the other
members of the circle.
Delightful situation this, said Mr. Pickwick.
Delightful! echoed Messrs. Snodgrass, Tupman, and Winkle.
Well, I think it is, said Mr. Wardle.
There aint a better spot o ground in all Kent, sir, said the
hard-headed man with the pippin--face; there aint indeed, sir--
Im sure there aint, Sir. The hard-headed man looked triumphantly
round, as if he had been very much contradicted by somebody,
but had got the better of him at last.
There aint a better spot o ground in all Kent, said the
hard-headed man again, after a pause.
Cept Mullinss Meadows, observed the fat man solemnly.
Mullinss Meadows! ejaculated the other, with profound contempt.
Ah, Mullinss Meadows, repeated the fat man.
Reglar good land that, interposed another fat man.
And so it is, sure-ly, said a third fat man.
Everybody knows that, said the corpulent host.
The hard-headed man looked dubiously round, but finding
himself in a minority, assumed a compassionate air and said no more.
What are they talking about? inquired the old lady of one of
her granddaughters, in a very audible voice; for, like many deaf
people, she never seemed to calculate on the possibility of other
persons hearing what she said herself.
About the land, grandma.
What about the land?--Nothing the matter, is there?
No, no. Mr. Miller was saying our land was better than
Mullinss Meadows.
How should he know anything about it?inquired the old lady
indignantly. Millers a conceited coxcomb, and you may tell him
I said so. Saying which, the old lady, quite unconscious that she
had spoken above a whisper, drew herself up, and looked
carving-knives at the hard-headed delinquent.
Come, come, said the bustling host, with a natural anxiety to
change the conversation, what say you to a rubber, Mr. Pickwick?
I should like it of all things, replied that gentleman; but pray
dont make up one on my account.
Oh, I assure you, mothers very fond of a rubber, said Mr.
Wardle; aint you, mother?
The old lady, who was much less deaf on this subject than on
any other, replied in the affirmative.
Joe, Joe! said the gentleman; Joe--damn that--oh, here he
is; put out the card--tables.
The lethargic youth contrived without any additional rousing
to set out two card-tables; the one for Pope Joan, and the other
for whist. The whist-players were Mr. Pickwick and the old lady,
Mr. Miller and the fat gentleman. The round game comprised the
rest of the company.
The rubber was conducted with all that gravity of deportment
and sedateness of demeanour which befit the pursuit entitled
whist--a solemn observance, to which, as it appears to us, the
title of game has been very irreverently and ignominiously
applied. The round-game table, on the other hand, was so
boisterously merry as materially to interrupt the contemplations
of Mr. Miller, who, not being quite so much absorbed as he
ought to have been, contrived to commit various high crimes and
misdemeanours, which excited the wrath of the fat gentleman to
a very great extent, and called forth the good-humour of the old
lady in a proportionate degree.
There! said the criminal Miller triumphantly, as he took up
the odd trick at the conclusion of a hand; that could not have
been played better, I flatter myself; impossible to have made
another trick!
Miller ought to have trumped the diamond, oughtnt he, Sir?
said the old lady.
Mr. Pickwick nodded assent.
Ought I, though? said the unfortunate, with a doubtful appeal
to his partner.
You ought, Sir, said the fat gentleman, in an awful voice.
Very sorry, said the crestfallen Miller.
Much use that, growled the fat gentleman.
Two by honours--makes us eight, said Mr. Pickwick.
Another hand. Can you one? inquired the old lady.
I can, replied Mr. Pickwick. Double, single, and the rub.
Never was such luck, said Mr. Miller.
Never was such cards, said the fat gentleman.
A solemn silence; Mr. Pickwick humorous, the old lady serious,
the fat gentleman captious, and Mr. Miller timorous.
Another double, said the old lady, triumphantly making a
memorandum of the circumstance, by placing one sixpence and a
battered halfpenny under the candlestick.
A double, sir, said Mr. Pickwick.
Quite aware of the fact, Sir, replied the fat gentleman sharply.
Another game, with a similar result, was The Pickwick Papers page 32 The Pickwick Papers page 34 |