Ralph sat alone, in the solitary room where he was accustomed to takehis meals, and to sit of nights when no profitable occupation calledhim abroad. Before him was an untasted breakfast, and near to where hisfingers beat restlessly upon the table, lay his watch. It was long pastthe time at which, for many years, he had put it in his pocket and gonewith measured steps downstairs to the business of the day, but he tookas little heed of its monotonous warning, as of the meat and drinkbefore him, and remained with his head resting on one hand, and his eyesfixed moodily on the ground.

This departure from his regular and constant habit, in one so regularand unvarying in all that appertained to the daily pursuit of riches,would almost of itself have told that the usurer was not well. That helaboured under some mental or bodily indisposition, and that it was oneof no slight kind so to affect a man like him, was sufficiently shown byhis haggard face, jaded air, and hollow languid eyes: which he raisedat last with a start and a hasty glance around him, as one who suddenlyawakes from sleep, and cannot immediately recognise the place in whichhe finds himself.

'What is this,' he said, 'that hangs over me, and I cannot shake off? Ihave never pampered myself, and should not be ill. I have never moped,and pined, and yielded to fancies; but what CAN a man do without rest?'

He pressed his hand upon his forehead.

'Night after night comes and goes, and I have no rest. If I sleep, whatrest is that which is disturbed by constant dreams of the same detestedfaces crowding round me--of the same detested people, in every varietyof action, mingling with all I say and do, and always to my defeat?Waking, what rest have I, constantly haunted by this heavy shadow of--Iknow not what--which is its worst character? I must have rest. Onenight's unbroken rest, and I should be a man again.'

Pushing the table from him while he spoke, as though he loathed thesight of food, he encountered the watch: the hands of which were almostupon noon.

'This is strange!' he said; 'noon, and Noggs not here! What drunkenbrawl keeps him away? I would give something now--something in moneyeven after that dreadful loss--if he had stabbed a man in a tavernscuffle, or broken into a house, or picked a pocket, or done anythingthat would send him abroad with an iron ring upon his leg, and rid me ofhim. Better still, if I could throw temptation in his way, and lure himon to rob me. He should be welcome to what he took, so I brought the lawupon him; for he is a traitor, I swear! How, or when, or where, I don'tknow, though I suspect.'

After waiting for another half-hour, he dispatched the woman who kepthis house to Newman's lodging, to inquire if he were ill, and why he hadnot come or sent. She brought back answer that he had not been home allnight, and that no one could tell her anything about him.

'But there is a gentleman, sir,' she said, 'below, who was standing atthe door when I came in, and he says--'

'What says he?' demanded Ralph, turning angrily upon her. 'I told you Iwould see nobody.'

'He says,' replied the woman, abashed by his harshness, 'that he comeson very particular business which admits of no excuse; and I thoughtperhaps it might be about--'

'About what, in the devil's name?' said Ralph. 'You spy and speculate onpeople's business with me, do you?'

'Dear, no, sir! I saw you were anxious, and thought it might be about MrNoggs; that's all.'

'Saw I was anxious!' muttered Ralph; 'they all watch me, now. Where isthis person? You did not say I was not down yet, I hope?'

The woman replied that he was in the little office, and that she hadsaid her master was engaged, but she would take the message.

'Well,' said Ralph, 'I'll see him. Go you to your kitchen, and keepthere. Do you mind me?'

Glad to be released, the woman quickly disappeared. Collecting himself,and assuming as much of his accustomed manner as his utmost resolutioncould summon, Ralph descended the stairs. After pausing for a fewmoments, with his hand upon the lock, he entered Newman's room, andconfronted Mr Charles Cheeryble.

Of all men alive, this was one of the last he would have wished to meetat any time; but, now that he recognised in him only the patronand protector of Nicholas, he would rather have seen a spectre. Onebeneficial effect, however, the encounter had upon him. It instantlyroused all his dormant energies; rekindled in his breast the passionsthat, for many years, had found an improving home there; called up allhis wrath, hatred, and malice; restored the sneer to his lip, and thescowl to his brow; and made him again, in all outward appearance, thesame Ralph Nickleby whom so many had bitter cause to remember.

'Humph!' said Ralph, pausing at the door. 'This is an unexpected favour,sir.'

'And an unwelcome one,' said brother Charles; 'an unwelcome one, Iknow.'

'Men say you are truth itself, sir,' replied Ralph. 'You speak truthnow, at all events, and I'll not contradict you. The favour is, atleast, as unwelcome as it is unexpected. I can scarcely say more.'

'Plainly, sir--' began brother Charles.

'Plainly, sir,' interrupted Ralph, 'I wish this conference to be a shortone, and to end where it begins. I guess the subject upon which you areabout to speak, and I'll not hear you. You like plainness, I believe;there it is. Here is the door as you see. Our way lies in very differentdirections. Take yours, I beg of you, and leave me to pursue mine inquiet.'

'In quiet!' repeated brother Charles mildly, and looking at him withmore of pity than reproach. 'To pursue HIS way in quiet!'

'You will scarcely remain in my house, I presume, sir, against my will,'said Ralph; 'or you can scarcely hope to make an impression upon aman who closes his ears to all that you can say, and is firmly andresolutely determined not to hear you.'

'Mr Nickleby, sir,' returned brother Charles: no less mildly thanbefore, but firmly too: 'I come here against my will, sorely andgrievously against my will. I have never been in this house before; and,to speak my mind, sir, I don't feel at home or easy in it, and have nowish ever to be here again. You do not guess the subject on which I cometo speak to you; you do not indeed. I am sure of that, or your mannerwould be a very different one.'

Ralph glanced keenly at him, but the clear eye and open countenance ofthe honest old merchant underwent no change of expression, and met hislook without reserve.

'Shall I go on?' said Mr Cheeryble.

'Oh, by all means, if you please,' returned Ralph drily. 'Here are wallsto speak to, sir, a desk, and two stools: most attentive auditors, andcertain not to interrupt you. Go on, I beg; make my house yours, andperhaps by the time I return from my walk, you will have finished whatyou have to say, and will yield me up possession again.'

So saying, he buttoned his coat, and turning into the passage, took downhis hat. The old gentleman followed, and was about to speak, when Ralphwaved him off impatiently, and said:

'Not a word. I tell you, sir, not a word. Virtuous as you are, you arenot an angel yet, to appear in men's houses whether they will or no, andpour your speech into unwilling ears. Preach to the walls I tell you;not to me!'

'I am no angel, Heaven knows,' returned brother Charles, shaking hishead, 'but an erring and imperfect man; nevertheless, there isone quality which all men have, in common with the angels, blessedopportunities of exercising, if they will; mercy. It is an errand ofmercy that brings me here. Pray let me discharge it.'

'I show no mercy,' retorted Ralph with a triumphant smile, 'and Iask none. Seek no mercy from me, sir, in behalf of the fellow who hasimposed upon your childish credulity, but let him expect the worst thatI can do.'

'HE ask mercy at your hands!' exclaimed the old merchant warmly; 'ask itat his, sir; ask it at his. If you will not hear me now, when you may,hear me when you must, or anticipate what I would say, and take measuresto prevent our ever meeting again. Your nephew is a noble lad, sir, anhonest, noble lad. What you are, Mr Nickleby, I will not say; but whatyou have done, I know. Now, sir, when you go about the business in whichyou have been recently engaged, and find it difficult of pursuing, cometo me and my brother Ned, and Tim Linkinwater, sir, and we'll explainit for you--and come soon, or it may be too late, and you may have itexplained with a little more roughness, and a little less delicacy--andnever forget, sir, that I came here this morning, in mercy to you, andam still ready to talk to you in the same spirit.'

With these words, uttered with great emphasis and emotion, brotherCharles put on his broad-brimmed hat, and, passing Ralph Nicklebywithout any other remark, trotted nimbly into the street. Ralph lookedafter him, but neither moved nor spoke for some time: when he broke whatalmost seemed the silence of stupefaction, by a scornful laugh.

'This,' he said, 'from its wildness, should be another of those dreamsthat have so broken my rest of late. In mercy to me! Pho! The oldsimpleton has gone mad.'

Although he expressed himself in this derisive and contemptuous manner,it was plain that, the more Ralph pondered, the more ill at ease hebecame, and the more he laboured under some vague anxiety and alarm,which increased as the time passed on and no tidings of Newman Noggsarrived. After waiting until late in the afternoon, tortured by variousapprehensions and misgivings, and the recollection of the warning whichhis nephew had given him when they last met: the further confirmation ofwhich now presented itself in one shape of probability, now in another,and haunted him perpetually: he left home, and, scarcely knowing why,save that he was in a suspicious and agitated mood, betook himself toSnawley's house. His wife presented herself; and, of her, Ralph inquiredwhether her husband was at home.

'No,' she said sharply, 'he is not indeed, and I don't think he will beat home for a very long time; that's more.'

'Do you know who I am?' asked Ralph.

'Oh yes, I know you very well; too well, perhaps, and perhaps he doestoo, and sorry am I that I should have to say it.'

'Tell him that I saw him through the window-blind above, as I crossedthe road just now, and that I would speak to him on business,' saidRalph. 'Do you hear?'

'I hear,' rejoined Mrs Snawley, taking no further notice of the request.

'I knew this woman was a hypocrite, in the way of psalms and Scripturephrases,' said Ralph, passing quietly by, 'but I never knew she drankbefore.'

'Stop! You don't come in here,' said Mr Snawley's better-half,interposing her person, which was a robust one, in the doorway. 'Youhave said more than enough to him on business, before now. I always toldhim what dealing with you and working out your schemes would come to.It was either you or the schoolmaster--one of you, or the two betweenyou--that got the forged letter done; remember that! That wasn't hisdoing, so don't lay it at his door.'

'Hold your tongue, you Jezebel,' said Ralph, looking fearfully round.

'Ah, I know when to hold my tongue, and when to speak, Mr Nickleby,'retorted the dame. 'Take care that other people know when to holdtheirs.'

'You jade,' said Ralph, 'if your husband has been idiot enough to trustyou with his secrets, keep them; keep them, she-devil that you are!'

'Not so much his secrets as other people's secrets, perhaps,' retortedthe woman; 'not so much his secrets as yours. None of your black looksat me! You'll want 'em all, perhaps, for another time. You had betterkeep 'em.'

'Will you,' said Ralph, suppressing his passion as well as he could,and clutching her tightly by the wrist; 'will you go to your husband andtell him that I know he is at home, and that I must see him? Andwill you tell me what it is that you and he mean by this new style ofbehaviour?'

'No,' replied the woman, violently disengaging herself, 'I'll doneither.'

'You set me at defiance, do you?' said Ralph.

'Yes,' was the answer. I do.'

For an instant Ralph had his hand raised, as though he were about tostrike her; but, checking himself, and nodding his head and muttering asthough to assure her he would not forget this, walked away.

Thence, he went straight to the inn which Mr Squeers frequented, andinquired when he had been there last; in the vague hope that, successfulor unsuccessful, he might, by this time, have returned from his missionand be able to assure him that all was safe. But Mr Squeers had not beenthere for ten days, and all that the people could tell about him was,that he had left his luggage and his bill.

Disturbed by a thousand fears and surmises, and bent upon ascertainingwhether Squeers had any suspicion of Snawley, or was, in any way, aparty to this altered behaviour, Ralph determined to hazard theextreme step of inquiring for him at the Lambeth lodging, and having aninterview with him even there. Bent upon this purpose, and in that moodin which delay is insupportable, he repaired at once to the place; andbeing, by description, perfectly acquainted with the situation of hisroom, crept upstairs and knocked gently at the door.

Not one, nor two, nor three, nor yet a dozen knocks, served to convinceRalph, against his wish, that there was nobody inside. He reasoned thathe might be asleep; and, listening, almost persuaded himself that hecould hear him breathe. Even when he was satisfied that he could not bethere, he sat patiently on a broken stair and waited; arguing, that hehad gone out upon some slight errand, and must soon return.

Many feet came up the creaking stairs; and the step of some seemed tohis listening ear so like that of the man for whom he waited, that Ralphoften stood up to be ready to address him when he reached the top; but,one by one, each person turned off into some room short of the placewhere he was stationed: and at every such disappointment he felt quitechilled and lonely.

At length he felt it was hopeless to remain, and going downstairs again,inquired of one of the lodgers if he knew anything of Mr Squeers'smovements--mentioning that worthy by an assumed name which had beenagreed upon between them. By this lodger he was referred to another, andby him to someone else, from whom he learnt, that, late on the previousnight, he had gone out hastily with two men, who had shortly afterwardsreturned for the old woman who lived on the same floor; and that,although the circumstance had attracted the attention of the informant,he had not spoken to them at the time, nor made any inquiry afterwards.

This possessed him with the idea that, perhaps, Peg Sliderskew had beenapprehended for the robbery, and that Mr Squeers, being with her at thetime, had been apprehended also, on suspicion of being a confederate. Ifthis were so, the fact must be known to Gride; and to Gride's house hedirected his steps; now thoroughly alarmed, and fearful that there wereindeed plots afoot, tending to his discomfiture and ruin.

Arrived at the usurer's house, he found the windows close shut, thedingy blinds drawn down; all was silent, melancholy, and deserted. Butthis was its usual aspect. He knocked--gently at first--then loud andvigorously. Nobody came. He wrote a few words in pencil on a card, andhaving thrust it under the door was going away, when a noise above, asthough a window-sash were stealthily raised, caught his ear, and lookingup he could just discern the face of Gride himself, cautiously peeringover the house parapet from the window of the garret. Seeing who wasbelow, he drew it in again; not so quickly, however, but that Ralph lethim know he was observed, and called to him to come down.

The call being repeated, Gride looked out again, so cautiously that nopart of the old man's body was visible. The sharp features and whitehair appearing alone, above the parapet, looked like a severed headgarnishing the wall.

'Hush!' he cried. 'Go away, go away!'

'Come down,' said Ralph, beckoning him.

'Go a--way!' squeaked Gride, shaking his head in a sort of ecstasy ofimpatience. 'Don't speak to me, don't knock, don't call attention to thehouse, but go away.'

'I'll knock, I swear, till I have your neighbours up in arms,' saidRalph, 'if you don't tell me what you mean by lurking there, you whiningcur.'

'I can't hear what you say--don't talk to me--it isn't safe--go away--goaway!' returned Gride.

'Come down, I say. Will you come down?' said Ralph fiercely.

'No--o--o--oo,' snarled Gride. He drew in his head; and Ralph, leftstanding in the street, could hear the sash closed, as gently andcarefully as it had been opened.

'How is this,' said he, 'that they all fall from me, and shun me likethe plague, these men who have licked the dust from my feet? IS myday past, and is this indeed the coming on of night? I'll know what itmeans! I will, at any cost. I am firmer and more myself, just now, thanI have been these many days.'

Turning from the door, which, in the first transport of his rage, he hadmeditated battering upon until Gride's very fears should impel himto open it, he turned his face towards the city, and working his waysteadily through the crowd which was pouring from it (it was by thistime between five and six o'clock in the afternoon) went straight to thehouse of business of the brothers Cheeryble, and putting his head intothe glass case, found Tim Linkinwater alone.

'My name's Nickleby,' said Ralph.

'I know it,' replied Tim, surveying him through his spectacles.

'Which of your firm was it who called on me this morning?' demandedRalph.

'Mr Charles.'

'Then, tell Mr Charles I want to see him.'

'You shall see,' said Tim, getting off his stool with great agility,'you shall see, not only Mr Charles, but Mr Ned likewise.'

Tim stopped, looked steadily and severely at Ralph, nodded his headonce, in a curt manner which seemed to say there was a little morebehind, and vanished. After a short interval, he returned, and, usheringRalph into the presence of the two brothers, remained in the roomhimself.

'I want to speak to you, who spoke to me this morning,' said Ralph,pointing out with his finger the man whom he addressed.

'I have no secrets from my brother Ned, or from Tim Linkinwater,'observed brother Charles quietly.

'I have,' said Ralph.

'Mr Nickleby, sir,' said brother Ned, 'the matter upon which my brotherCharles called upon you this morning is one which is already perfectlywell known to us three, and to others besides, and must unhappilysoon become known to a great many more. He waited upon you, sir, thismorning, alone, as a matter of delicacy and consideration. We feel, now,that further delicacy and consideration would be misplaced; and, if weconfer together, it must be as we are or not at all.'

'Well, gentlemen,' said Ralph with a curl of the lip, 'talking inriddles would seem to be the peculiar forte of you two, and I supposeyour clerk, like a prudent man, has studied the art also with a view toyour good graces. Talk in company, gentlemen, in God's name. I'll humouryou.'

'Humour!' cried Tim Linkinwater, suddenly growing very red in the face.'He'll humour us! He'll humour Cheeryble Brothers! Do you hear that? Doyou hear him? DO you hear him say he'll humour Cheeryble Brothers?'

'Tim,' said Charles and Ned together, 'pray, Tim, pray now, don't.'

Tim, taking the hint, stifled his indignation as well as he could,and suffered it to escape through his spectacles, with the additionalsafety-valve of a short hysterical laugh now and then, which seemed torelieve him mightily.

'As nobody bids me to a seat,' said Ralph, looking round, 'I'll takeone, for I am fatigued with walking. And now, if you please, gentlemen,I wish to know--I demand to know; I have the right--what you have tosay to me, which justifies such a tone as you have assumed, and thatunderhand interference in my affairs which, I have reason to suppose,you have been practising. I tell you plainly, gentlemen, that little asI care for the opinion of the world (as the slang goes), I don't chooseto submit quietly to slander and malice. Whether you suffer yourselvesto be imposed upon too easily, or wilfully make yourselves parties toit, the result to me is the same. In either case, you can't expect froma plain man like myself much consideration or forbearance.'

So coolly and deliberately was this said, that nine men out of ten,ignorant of the circumstances, would have supposed Ralph to be reallyan injured man. There he sat, with folded arms; paler than usual,certainly, and sufficiently ill-favoured, but quite collected--far moreso than the brothers or the exasperated Tim--and ready to face out theworst.

'Very well, sir,' said brother Charles. 'Very well. Brother Ned, willyou ring the bell?'

'Charles, my dear fellow! stop one instant,' returned the other. 'Itwill be better for Mr Nickleby and for our object that he should remainsilent, if he can, till we have said what we have to say. I wish him tounderstand that.'

'Quite right, quite right,' said brother Charles.

Ralph smiled, but made no reply. The bell was rung; the room-dooropened; a man came in, with a halting walk; and, looking round, Ralph'seyes met those of Newman Noggs. From that moment, his heart began tofail him.

'This is a good beginning,' he said bitterly. 'Oh! this is a goodbeginning. You are candid, honest, open-hearted, fair-dealing men! Ialways knew the real worth of such characters as yours! To tamper with afellow like this, who would sell his soul (if he had one) for drink, andwhose every word is a lie. What men are safe if this is done? Oh, it's agood beginning!'

'I WILL speak,' cried Newman, standing on tiptoe to look overTim's head, who had interposed to prevent him. 'Hallo, you sir--oldNickleby!--what do you mean when you talk of "a fellow like this"? Whomade me "a fellow like this"? If I would sell my soul for drink, whywasn't I a thief, swindler, housebreaker, area sneak, robber of penceout of the trays of blind men's dogs, rather than your drudge andpackhorse? If my every word was a lie, why wasn't I a pet and favouriteof yours? Lie! When did I ever cringe and fawn to you. Tell me that!I served you faithfully. I did more work, because I was poor, and tookmore hard words from you because I despised you and them, than anyman you could have got from the parish workhouse. I did. I served youbecause I was proud; because I was a lonely man with you, and there wereno other drudges to see my degradation; and because nobody knew, betterthan you, that I was a ruined man: that I hadn't always been what Iam: and that I might have been better off, if I hadn't been a fool andfallen into the hands of you and others who were knaves. Do you denythat?'

'Gently,' reasoned Tim; 'you said you wouldn't.'

'I said I wouldn't!' cried Newman, thrusting him aside, and moving hishand as Tim moved, so as to keep him at arm's length; 'don't tell me!Here, you Nickleby! Don't pretend not to mind me; it won't do; I knowbetter. You were talking of tampering, just now. Who tampered withYorkshire schoolmasters, and, while they sent the drudge out, that heshouldn't overhear, forgot that such great caution might render himsuspicious, and that he might watch his master out at nights, and mightset other eyes to watch the schoolmaster? Who tampered with a selfishfather, urging him to sell his daughter to old Arthur Gride, andtampered with Gride too, and did so in the little office, WITH A CLOSETIN THE ROOM?'

Ralph had put a great command upon himself; but he could not havesuppressed a slight start, if he had been certain to be beheaded for itnext moment.

'Aha!' cried Newman, 'you mind me now, do you? What first set this fagto be jealous of his master's actions, and to feel that, if he hadn'tcrossed him when he might, he would have been as bad as he, or worse?That master's cruel treatment of his own flesh and blood, and viledesigns upon a young girl who interested even his broken-down, drunken,miserable hack, and made him linger in his service, in the hope of doingher some good (as, thank God, he had done others once or twice before),when he would, otherwise, have relieved his feelings by pummelling hismaster soundly, and then going to the Devil. He would--mark that; andmark this--that I'm here now, because these gentlemen thought it best.When I sought them out (as I did; there was no tampering with me),I told them I wanted help to find you out, to trace you down, to gothrough with what I had begun, to help the right; and that when I haddone it, I'd burst into your room and tell you all, face to face, manto man, and like a man. Now I've said my say, and let anybody else saytheirs, and fire away!'

With this concluding sentiment, Newman Noggs, who had been perpetuallysitting down and getting up again all through his speech, which he haddelivered in a series of jerks; and who was, from the violent exerciseand the excitement combined, in a state of most intense and fiery heat;became, without passing through any intermediate stage, stiff, upright,and motionless, and so remained, staring at Ralph Nickleby with all hismight and main.

Ralph looked at him for an instant, and for an instant only; then, wavedhis hand, and beating the ground with his foot, said in a choking voice:

'Go on, gentlemen, go on! I'm patient, you see. There's law to be had,there's law. I shall call you to an account for this. Take care what yousay; I shall make you prove it.'

'The proof is ready,' returned brother Charles, 'quite ready to ourhands. The man Snawley, last night, made a confession.'

'Who may "the man Snawley" be,' returned Ralph, 'and what may his"confession" have to do with my affairs?'

To this inquiry, put with a dogged inflexibility of manner, the oldgentleman returned no answer, but went on to say, that to show him howmuch they were in earnest, it would be necessary to tell him, not onlywhat accusations were made against him, but what proof of them theyhad, and how that proof had been acquired. This laying open of the wholequestion brought up brother Ned, Tim Linkinwater, and Newman Noggs, allthree at once; who, after a vast deal of talking together, and a sceneof great confusion, laid before Ralph, in distinct terms, the followingstatement.

That, Newman, having been solemnly assured by one not then produciblethat Smike was not the son of Snawley, and this person having offered tomake oath to that effect, if necessary, they had by this communicationbeen first led to doubt the claim set up, which they would otherwisehave seen no reason to dispute, supported as it was by evidence whichthey had no power of disproving. That, once suspecting the existence ofa conspiracy, they had no difficulty in tracing back its origin to themalice of Ralph, and the vindictiveness and avarice of Squeers. That,suspicion and proof being two very different things, they had beenadvised by a lawyer, eminent for his sagacity and acuteness in suchpractice, to resist the proceedings taken on the other side for therecovery of the youth as slowly and artfully as possible, and meanwhileto beset Snawley (with whom it was clear the main falsehood must rest);to lead him, if possible, into contradictory and conflicting statements;to harass him by all available means; and so to practise on his fears,and regard for his own safety, as to induce him to divulge the wholescheme, and to give up his employer and whomsoever else he couldimplicate. That, all this had been skilfully done; but that Snawley,who was well practised in the arts of low cunning and intrigue,had successfully baffled all their attempts, until an unexpectedcircumstance had brought him, last night, upon his knees.

It thus arose. When Newman Noggs reported that Squeers was again intown, and that an interview of such secrecy had taken place between himand Ralph that he had been sent out of the house, plainly lest he shouldoverhear a word, a watch was set upon the schoolmaster, in the hopethat something might be discovered which would throw some light uponthe suspected plot. It being found, however, that he held no furthercommunication with Ralph, nor any with Snawley, and lived quite alone,they were completely at fault; the watch was withdrawn, and they wouldhave observed his motions no longer, if it had not happened that,one night, Newman stumbled unobserved on him and Ralph in the streettogether. Following them, he discovered, to his surprise, that theyrepaired to various low lodging-houses, and taverns kept by brokengamblers, to more than one of whom Ralph was known, and that they werein pursuit--so he found by inquiries when they had left--of anold woman, whose description exactly tallied with that of deaf MrsSliderskew. Affairs now appearing to assume a more serious complexion,the watch was renewed with increased vigilance; an officer was procured,who took up his abode in the same tavern with Squeers: and by him andFrank Cheeryble the footsteps of the unconscious schoolmaster weredogged, until he was safely housed in the lodging at Lambeth. Mr Squeershaving shifted his lodging, the officer shifted his, and lying concealedin the same street, and, indeed, in the opposite house, soon found thatMr Squeers and Mrs Sliderskew were in constant communication.

In this state of things, Arthur Gride was appealed to. The robbery,partly owing to the inquisitiveness of the neighbours, and partly tohis own grief and rage, had, long ago, become known; but he positivelyrefused to give his sanction or yield any assistance to the old woman'scapture, and was seized with such a panic at the idea of being calledupon to give evidence against her, that he shut himself up close in hishouse, and refused to hold communication with anybody. Upon this, thepursuers took counsel together, and, coming so near the truth as toarrive at the conclusion that Gride and Ralph, with Squeers for theirinstrument, were negotiating for the recovery of some of the stolenpapers which would not bear the light, and might possibly explain thehints relative to Madeline which Newman had overheard, resolved that MrsSliderskew should be taken into custody before she had parted withthem: and Squeers too, if anything suspicious could be attached tohim. Accordingly, a search-warrant being procured, and all prepared, MrSqueers's window was watched, until his light was put out, and the timearrived when, as had been previously ascertained, he usually visitedMrs Sliderskew. This done, Frank Cheeryble and Newman stole upstairs tolisten to their discourse, and to give the signal to the officer at themost favourable time. At what an opportune moment they arrived, howthey listened, and what they heard, is already known to the reader. MrSqueers, still half stunned, was hurried off with a stolen deed in hispossession, and Mrs Sliderskew was apprehended likewise. The informationbeing promptly carried to Snawley that Squeers was in custody--he wasnot told for what--that worthy, first extorting a promise that he shouldbe kept harmless, declared the whole tale concerning Smike to be afiction and forgery, and implicated Ralph Nickleby to the fullestextent. As to Mr Squeers, he had, that morning, undergone a privateexamination before a magistrate; and, being unable to accountsatisfactorily for his possession of the deed or his companionship withMrs Sliderskew, had been, with her, remanded for a week.

All these discoveries were now related to Ralph, circumstantially, andin detail. Whatever impression they secretly produced, he suffered nosign of emotion to escape him, but sat perfectly still, not raising hisfrowning eyes from the ground, and covering his mouth with his hand.When the narrative was concluded; he raised his head hastily, as ifabout to speak, but on brother Charles resuming, fell into his oldattitude again.

'I told you this morning,' said the old gentleman, laying his hand uponhis brother's shoulder, 'that I came to you in mercy. How far you may beimplicated in this last transaction, or how far the person who is nowin custody may criminate you, you best know. But, justice must take itscourse against the parties implicated in the plot against this poor,unoffending, injured lad. It is not in my power, or in the power of mybrother Ned, to save you from the consequences. The utmost we can do is,to warn you in time, and to give you an opportunity of escaping them. Wewould not have an old man like you disgraced and punished by your nearrelation; nor would we have him forget, like you, all ties of bloodand nature. We entreat you--brother Ned, you join me, I know, in thisentreaty, and so, Tim Linkinwater, do you, although you pretend to be anobstinate dog, sir, and sit there frowning as if you didn't--we entreatyou to retire from London, to take shelter in some place where you willbe safe from the consequences of these wicked designs, and where you mayhave time, sir, to atone for them, and to become a better man.'

'And do you think,' returned Ralph, rising, 'and do you think, you willso easily crush ME? Do you think that a hundred well-arranged plans, ora hundred suborned witnesses, or a hundred false curs at my heels, or ahundred canting speeches full of oily words, will move me? I thank youfor disclosing your schemes, which I am now prepared for. You have notthe man to deal with that you think; try me! and remember that Ispit upon your fair words and false dealings, and dare you--provokeyou--taunt you--to do to me the very worst you can!'

Thus they parted, for that time; but the worst had not come yet.