Page:The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.djvu/237

179 THE PICKWICK CLUB. 1 7!>

CHAPTER XVIII.

BRIEFLY ILLUSTRATIVE OF TWO POINTS; FIRST, THE POWER OF

HYSTERICS, AND, SECONDLY, THE FORCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES.

For two days after the dejeu7ie at Mrs. Hunter's, the Pickwickians remained at Eatanswill, anxiously awaiting- the arrival of some intelli- gence from their revered leader. Mr. Tiipman and Mr. Snodgrass, were once again left to their own means of amusement ; for Mr. Winkle, in compliance with a most pressing invitation, continued to reside at Mr. Pott's house, and to devote his time to the companionship of his amiable lady. Nor was the occasional society of Mr. Pott himself, wanting to complete their felicity. Deeply immersed in the intensity of his specu- iations for the public weal, and the destruction of the Independent, it was not the habit of that great man to descend from his mental pinnacle to the humble level of ordinary minds. On this occasion, however, and as if expressly in compliment to any follower of Mr. Pickwick's, he unbent, relaxed, stepped down from his pedestal, and walked upon the ground : benignly adapting his remarks to the comprehension of the herd, and seeming in outward form, if not in spirit, to be one of them.

Such having been the demeanour of this celebrated public character towards Mr. Winkle, it will be readily imagined that considerable sur- prise was depicted on the countenance of the latter gentleman, when, as he was sitting alone in the breakfast-room, the door was hastily thrown open, and as hastily closed, on the entrance of Mr. Pott, who, stalking majestically towards him, and thrusting aside his proffered hand, ground his teeth, as if to put a sharper edge on what he was about to utter, and exclaimed, in a saw-like voice,—

" Serpent ! "

" Sir ! " exclaimed Mr. Winkle, starting trom his chair.

denly depressing it ; "I said. Serpent, Sir — make the most of it."
 * ' Serpent, Sir," repeated Mr. Pott, raising his voice, and then sud-

Now when you have parted with a man, at two o'clock in the morn- ing, on terms of the utmost good fellowship, and he meets you again, at half-past nine, and greets you as a serpent, it is not unreasonable to conclude that something of an unpleasant nature has occurred mean- while. So Mr. Winkle thought. He returned Mr. Pott's gaze of stone, and in compliance with that gentleman's request, proceeded to make the most he could of the " serpent." The most, however, was just nothing at all ; so, after a profound silence of some minutes' duration, he said, —

" Serpent, Sir ! Serpent, Mr. Pott ! What can you mean, Sir ?— this is pleasantry."

" Pleasantry, Sir !" exclaimed Pott, with a motion of the hand, indi- cative of a strong desire to hurl the Britannia metal tea-pot at the head

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