Page:The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.djvu/323

255 THE PICKWICK CLUB. 255

CHAPTER XXV.

MOWING, AMONG A VARIETY OF PLEASANT MATTERS, HOW MA- JESTIC AND IMPARTIAL MR. NUPRINS WAS ; AND HOW MR. WELLER RETURNED MR. JOB TROTTER's SHUTTLECOCK, AS HEA- VILY AS IT CAME. WITH ANOTHER MATTER, WHICH WILL BE FOUND IN ITS PLACE.

Violent was Mr. Weller's indignation as he was borne along-; numerous were the allusions to the personal appearance and demeanour of Mr. Grummer and his companion ; and valorous were the defiances to any six of the gentlemen present, in which he vented his dissatis- faction. Mr. Snodgrass and Mr. Winkle listened with gloomy respect to the torrent of eloquence which their leader poured forth, from the sedan chair, and the rapid course of which, not all Mr. Tupinan's earnest entreaties to have the lid of the vehicle closed, were able to check for an instant. But Mr. Weller's anger quickly gave way to curiosity, when the procession turned down the identical court-yard in which he had met with the runaway Job Trotter : and curiosity was exchanged for a feeling of the most gleeful astonishment, when the all- important Mr. Grummer, commanding the sedan -bearers to halt, advanced with dignified and portentous steps, to the very green gate from which Job Trotter had emerged, and gave a mighty pull at the bell-handle which hung at the side thereof. The ring was answered by a very smart and pretty-faced servant-girl, who, after holding up her hands in astonishment at the rebellious appearance of the prisoners, and the impassioned language of Mr. Pickwick, summoned Mr. Muzzle. Mr. Muzzle opened one-half of the carriage gate, to admit the sedan, the captured ones, and the specials ; and immediately slammed it in the faces of the mob, who, indignant at being excluded, and anxious to see what followed, relieved their feelings by kicking at the gate and ringing the bell, for an hour or two afterwards. In this amusement they all took part by turns, except three or four fortunate individuals, who having discovered a grating in the gate which commanded a view of nothing, were staring through it, with the same indefatigable perseve- rance with which people will flatten their noses against the front widows of a chemist's shop, when a dninken man, who has been run over by a dog-cart in the street, is undergoing a surgical inspection in the back -parlour.

At the foot of a flight of steps, leading to the house door, which were guarded on either side by an American aloe in a green tub, the sedan- chair stopped ; and Mr. Pickwick and his friends were conducted into the hall, from whence, having been previously announced by Muzzle, and ordered in by Mr. Nupkins, they were ushered into the worshipful presence of that public-spirited oflBcer.

The scene was an impressive one, well calculated to strike terror to