The Old Curiosity Shop

by Dickens, Charles

  The silence was not of long duration, for Mr Swiveller, after

  favouring us with several melodious assurances that his heart was in

  the Highlands, and that he wanted but his Arab steed as a

  preliminary to the achievement of great feats of valour and loyalty,

  removed his eyes from the ceiling and subsided into prose again.

  'Fred,' said Mr Swiveller stopping short, as if the idea had suddenly

  occurred to him, and speaking in the same audible whisper as before,

  'is the old min friendly?'

  'What does it matter?' returned his friend peevishly.

  'No, but IS he?' said Dick.

  'Yes, of course. What do I care whether he is or not?'

  Emboldened as it seemed by this reply to enter into a more general

  conversation, Mr Swiveller plainly laid himself out to captivate our

  attention.

  He began by remarking that soda-water, though a good thing in the

  abstract, was apt to lie cold upon the stomach unless qualified with

  ginger, or a small infusion of brandy, which latter article he held to

  be preferable in all cases, saving for the one consideration of

  expense. Nobody venturing to dispute these positions, he proceeded

  to observe that the human hair was a great retainer of tobacco-smoke, and

  that the young

  gentlemen of Westminster and Eton, after

  eating vast quantities of apples to conceal any scent of cigars from

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  their anxious friends, were usually detected in consequence of their

  heads possessing this remarkable property; when he concluded that if

  the Royal Society would turn their attention to the circumstance, and

  endeavour to find in the resources of science a means of preventing

  such untoward revelations, they might indeed be looked upon as

  benefactors to mankind. These opinions being equally

  incontrovertible with those he had already pronounced, he went on to

  inform us that Jamaica rum, though unquestionably an agreeable

  spirit of great richness and flavour, had the drawback of remaining

  constantly present to the taste next day; and nobody being venturous

  enough to argue this point either, he increased in confidence and

  became yet more companionable and communicative.

  'It's a devil of a thing, gentlemen,' said Mr Swiveller, 'when

  relations fall out and disagree. If the wing of friendship should never

  moult a feather, the wing of relationship should never be clipped, but

  be always expanded and serene. Why should a grandson and

  grandfather peg away at each other with mutual wiolence when all

  might be bliss and concord. Why not jine hands and forgit it?'

  'Hold your tongue,' said his friend.

  'Sir,' replied Mr Swiveller, 'don't you interrupt the chair.

  Gentlemen, how does the case stand, upon the present occasion?

  Here is a jolly old grandfather--I say it with the utmost respect--and

  here is a wild, young grandson. The jolly old grandfather says to the

  wild young grandson, 'I have brought you up and educated you,

  Fred; I have put you in the way of getting on in life; you have bolted

  a little out of course, as young fellows often do; and you shall never

  have another chance, nor the ghost of half a one.' The wild young

  grandson makes answer to this and says, 'You're as rich as rich can

  be; you have been at no uncommon expense on my account, you're

  saving up piles of money for my little sister that lives with you in a

  secret, stealthy, hugger-muggering kind of way and with no manner

  of enjoyment--why can't you stand a trifle for your grown-up

  relation?' The jolly old grandfather unto this, retorts, not only that

  he declines to fork out with that cheerful readiness which is always

  so agreeable and pleasant in a gentleman of his time of life, but that

  he will bow up, and call names, and make reflections whenever they

  meet. Then the plain question is, an't it a pity that this state of things

  should continue, and how much better would it be for the gentleman

  to hand over a reasonable amount of tin, and make it all right and

  comfortable?'

  Having delivered this oration with a great many waves and flourishes

  of the hand, Mr Swiveller abruptly thrust the head of his cane into

  his mouth as if to prevent himself from impairing the effect of his

  speech by adding one other word.

  'Why do you hunt and persecute me, God help me!' said the old man

  turning to his grandson. 'Why do you bring your prolifigate

  companions here? How often am I to tell you that my life is one of

  care and self-denial, and that I am poor?'

  'How often am I to tell you,' returned the other, looking coldly at

  him, 'that I know better?'

  'You have chosen your own path,' said the old man. 'Follow it.

  Leave Nell and me to toil and work.'

  'Nell will be a woman soon,' returned the other, 'and, bred in your

  faith, she'll forget her brother unless he shows himself sometimes.'

  'Take care,' said the old man with sparkling eyes, 'that she does not

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  forget you when you would have her memory keenest. Take care that

  the day don't come when you walk barefoot in the streets, and she

  rides by in a gay carriage of her own.'

  'You mean when she has your money?' retorted the other. 'How like

  a poor man he talks!'

  'And yet,' said the old man dropping his voice and speaking like one

  who thinks aloud, 'how poor we are, and what a life it is! The cause

  is a young child's guiltless of all harm or wrong, but nothing goes

  well with it! Hope and patience, hope and patience!'

  These words were uttered in too low a tone to reach the ears of the

  young men. Mr Swiveller appeared to think the they implied some

  mental struggle consequent upon the powerful effect of his address,

  for he poked his friend with his cane and whispered his conviction

  that he had administered 'a clincher,' and that he expected a

  commission on the profits. Discovering his mistake after a while, he

  appeared to grow rather sleeply and discontented, and had more than

  once suggested the proprieity of an immediate departure, when the

  door opened, and the child herself appeared.

  CHAPTER 3

  The child was closely followed by an elderly man of remarkably

  hard features and forbidding aspect, and so low in stature as to be

  quite a dwarf, though his head and face were large enough for the

  body of a giant. His black eyes were restless, sly, and cunning; his

  mouth and chin, bristly with the stubble of a coarse hard beard; and

  his complexion was one of that kind which never looks clean or

  wholesome. But what added most to the grotesque expression of his

  face was a ghastly smile, which, appearing to be the mere result of

  habit and to have no connection with any mirthful or complacent

  feeling, constantly revealed the few discoloured fangs that were yet

  scattered in his mouth, and gave him the aspect of a panting dog. His

  dress consisted of a large high-crowned hat, a worn dark suit, a pair

  of capacious shoes, and a dirty white neckerchief sufficiently limp<
br />
  and crumpled to disclose the greater portion of his wiry throat. Such

  hair as he had was of a grizzled black, cut short and straight upon his

  temples, and hanging in a frowzy fringe about his ears. His hands,

  which were of a rough, coarse grain, were very dirty; his fingernails

  were crooked, long, and yellow.

  There was ample time to note these particulars, for besides that they

  were sufficiently obvious without very close observation, some

  moments elapsed before any one broke silence. The child advanced

  timidly towards her brother and put her hand in his, the dwarf (if we

  may call him so) glanced keenly at all present, and the curiosity-dealer,

  who plainly had not

  expected his uncouth visitor, seemed

  disconcerted and embarrassed.

  'Ah!' said the dwarf, who with his hand stretched out above his eyes

  had been surveying the young man attentively, 'that should be your

  grandson, neighbour!'

  'Say rather that he should not be,' replied the old man. 'But he is.'

  'And that?' said the dwarf, pointing to Dick Swiveller.

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  'Some friend of his, as welcome here as he,' said the old man.

  'And that?' inquired the dwarf, wheeling round and pointing straight

  at me.

  'A gentleman who was so good as to bring Nell home the other night

  when she lost her way, coming from your house.'

  The little man turned to the child as if to chide her or express his

  wonder, but as she was talking to the young man, held his peace, and

  bent his head to listen.

  'Well, Nelly,' said the young fellow aloud. 'Do they teach you to

  hate me, eh?'

  'No, no. For shame. Oh, no!' cried the child.

  'To love me, perhaps?' pursued her brother with a sneer.

  'To do neither,' she returned. 'They never speak to me about you.

  Indeed they never do.'

  'I dare be bound for that,' he said, darting a bitter look at the

  grandfather. 'I dare be bound for that Nell. Oh! I believe you there!'

  'But I love you dearly, Fred,' said the child.

  'No doubt!'

  'I do indeed, and always will,' the child repeated with great emotion,

  'but oh! If you would leave off vexing him and making him unhappy,

  then I could love you more.'

  'I see!' said the young man, as he stooped carelessly over the child,

  and having kissed her, pushed her from him: 'There--get you away

  now you have said your lesson. You needn't whimper. We part good

  friends enough, if that's the matter.'

  He remained silent, following her with his eyes, until she had gained

  her little room and closed the door; and then turning to the dwarf,

  said abruptly,

  'Harkee, Mr--'

  'Meaning me?' returned the dwarf. 'Quilp is my name. You might

  remember. It's not a long one--Daniel Quilp.'

  'Harkee, Mr Quilp, then,' pursued the other, 'You have some

  influence with my grandfather there.'

  'Some,' said Mr Quilp emphatically.

  'And are in a few of his mysteries and secrets.'

  'A few,' replied Quilp, with equal dryness.

  'Then let me tell him once for all, through you, that I will come into

  and go out of this place as often as I like, so long as he keeps Nell

  here; and that if he wants to be quit of me, he must first be quit of

  her. What have I done to be made a bugbear of, and to be shunned

  and dreaded as if I brought the plague? He'll tell you that I have no

  natural affection; and that I care no more for Nell, for her own sake,

  than I do for him. Let him say so. I care for the whim, then, of

  coming to and fro and reminding her of my existence. I WILL see

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  her when I please. That's my point. I came here to-day to maintain

  it, and I'll come here again fifty times with the same object and

  always with the same success. I said I would stop till I had gained it.

  I have done so, and now my visit's ended. Come Dick.'

  'Stop!' cried Mr Swiveller, as his companion turned toward the

  door. 'Sir!'

  'Sir, I am your humble servant,' said Mr Quilp, to whom the

  monosyllable was addressed.

  'Before I leave the gay and festive scene, and halls of dazzling light,

  sir,' said Mr Swiveller, 'I will with your permission, attempt a slight

  remark. I came here, sir, this day, under the impression that the old

  min was friendly.'

  'Proceed, sir,' said Daniel Quilp; for the orator had made a sudden

  stop.

  'Inspired by this idea and the sentiments it awakened, sir, and feeling

  as a mutual friend that badgering, baiting, and bullying, was not the

  sort of thing calculated to expand the souls and promote the social

  harmony of the contending parties, I took upon myself to suggest a

  course which is THE course to be adopted to the present occasion.

  Will you allow me to whisper half a syllable, sir?'

  Without waiting for the permission he sought, Mr Swiveller stepped

  up to the dwarf, and leaning on his shoulder and stooping down to

  get at his ear, said in a voice which was perfectly audible to all

  present,

  'The watch-word to the old min is--fork.'

  'Is what?' demanded Quilp.

  'Is fork, sir, fork,' replied Mr Swiveller slapping his picket. 'You

  are awake, sir?'

  The dwarf nodded. Mr Swiveller drew back and nodded likewise,

  then drew a little further back and nodded again, and so on. By these

  means he in time reached the door, where he gave a great cough to

  attract the dwarf's attention and gain an opportunity of expressing in

  dumb show, the closest confidence and most inviolable secrecy.

  Having performed the serious pantomime that was necessary for the

  due conveyance of these idea, he cast himself upon his friend's track,

  and vanished.

  'Humph!' said the dwarf with a sour look and a shrug of his

  shoulders, 'so much for dear relations. Thank God I acknowledge

  none! Nor need you either,' he added, turning to the old man, 'if you

  were not as weak as a reed, and nearly as senseless.'

  'What would you have me do?' he retorted in a kind of helpless

  desperation. 'It is easy to talk and sneer. What would you have me do?'

  'What would I do if I was in your case?' said the dwarf.

  'Something violent, no doubt.'

  'You're right there,' returned the little man, highly gratified by the

  compliment, for such he evidently considered it; and grinning like a

  devil as he rubbed his dirty hands together. 'Ask Mrs Quilp, pretty

  Mrs Quilp, obedient, timid, loving Mrs Quilp. But that reminds me--I have

  left her all alone,

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  and she will be anxious and know not a

  moment's peace till I return. I know she's always in that condition

  when I'm away, thought she doesn't dare to say so, unless I lead her

  on and tell her she may speak freely and I won't be angry with her.

  Oh! well-trained Mrs Quilp.

  The creature appeared quite horrible with his monstrous head and

  little body, as he rubbed his hands slowly roun
d, and round, and

  round again--with something fantastic even in his manner of

  performing this slight action--and, dropping his shaggy brows and

  cocking his chin in the air, glanced upward with a stealthy look of

  exultation that an imp might have copied and appropriated to

  himself.

  'Here,' he said, putting his hand into his breast and sidling up to the

  old man as he spoke; 'I brought it myself for fear of accidents, as,

  being in gold, it was something large and heavy for Nell to carry in

  her bag. She need be accustomed to such loads betimes thought,

  neighbor, for she will carry weight when you are dead.'

  'Heaven send she may! I hope so,' said the old man with something

  like a groan.'

  'Hope so!' echoed the dwarf, approaching close to his ear;

  'neighbour, I would I knew in what good investment all these supplies

  are sunk. But you are a deep man, and keep your secret close.'

  'My secret!' said the other with a haggard look. 'Yes,

  you're right--I--I--keep it close--very close.'

  He said no more, but taking the money turned away with a slow,

  uncertain step, and pressed his hand upon his head like a weary and

  dejected man. the dwarf watched him sharply, while he passed into

  the little sitting-room and locked it in an iron safe above the

  chimney-piece; and after musing for a short space, prepared to take

  his leave, observing that unless he made good haste, Mrs Quilp

  would certainly be in fits on his return.

  'And so, neighbour,' he added, 'I'll turn my face homewards,

  leaving my love for Nelly and hoping she may never lose her way

  again, though her doing so HAS procured me an honour I didn't

  expect.' With that he bowed and leered at me, and with a keen

  glance around which seemed to comprehend every object within his

  range of vision, however, small or trivial, went his way.

  I had several times essayed to go myself, but the old man had always

  opposed it and entreated me to remain. As he renewed his entreaties

  on our being left along, and adverted with many thanks to the former

  occasion of our being together, I willingly yielded to his persuasions,

  and sat down, pretending to examine some curious miniatures and a

  few old medals which he placed before me. It needed no great

  pressing to induce me to stay, for if my curiosity has been excited on

  the occasion of my first visit, it certainly was not diminished now.