It may have been in consequence of Mrs. Crupp's advice, and, perhaps,for no better reason than because there was a certain similarity in thesound of the word skittles and Traddles, that it came into my head, nextday, to go and look after Traddles. The time he had mentioned was morethan out, and he lived in a little street near the Veterinary Collegeat Camden Town, which was principally tenanted, as one of our clerks wholived in that direction informed me, by gentlemen students, who boughtlive donkeys, and made experiments on those quadrupeds in their privateapartments. Having obtained from this clerk a direction to the academicgrove in question, I set out, the same afternoon, to visit my oldschoolfellow.

I found that the street was not as desirable a one as I could havewished it to be, for the sake of Traddles. The inhabitants appeared tohave a propensity to throw any little trifles they were not in want of,into the road: which not only made it rank and sloppy, but untidy too,on account of the cabbage-leaves. The refuse was not wholly vegetableeither, for I myself saw a shoe, a doubled-up saucepan, a black bonnet,and an umbrella, in various stages of decomposition, as I was lookingout for the number I wanted.

The general air of the place reminded me forcibly of the days when Ilived with Mr. and Mrs. Micawber. An indescribable character of fadedgentility that attached to the house I sought, and made it unlikeall the other houses in the street--though they were all built on onemonotonous pattern, and looked like the early copies of a blundering boywho was learning to make houses, and had not yet got out of his crampedbrick-and-mortar pothooks--reminded me still more of Mr. and Mrs.Micawber. Happening to arrive at the door as it was opened to theafternoon milkman, I was reminded of Mr. and Mrs. Micawber more forciblyyet.

'Now,' said the milkman to a very youthful servant girl. 'Has that therelittle bill of mine been heerd on?'

'Oh, master says he'll attend to it immediate,' was the reply.

'Because,' said the milkman, going on as if he had received no answer,and speaking, as I judged from his tone, rather for the edification ofsomebody within the house, than of the youthful servant--animpression which was strengthened by his manner of glaring down thepassage--'because that there little bill has been running so long, thatI begin to believe it's run away altogether, and never won't be heerdof. Now, I'm not a going to stand it, you know!' said the milkman, stillthrowing his voice into the house, and glaring down the passage.

As to his dealing in the mild article of milk, by the by, there neverwas a greater anomaly. His deportment would have been fierce in abutcher or a brandy-merchant.

The voice of the youthful servant became faint, but she seemed to me,from the action of her lips, again to murmur that it would be attendedto immediate.

'I tell you what,' said the milkman, looking hard at her for the firsttime, and taking her by the chin, 'are you fond of milk?'

'Yes, I likes it,' she replied. 'Good,' said the milkman. 'Then youwon't have none tomorrow. D'ye hear? Not a fragment of milk you won'thave tomorrow.'

I thought she seemed, upon the whole, relieved by the prospect of havingany today. The milkman, after shaking his head at her darkly, releasedher chin, and with anything rather than good-will opened his can, anddeposited the usual quantity in the family jug. This done, he went away,muttering, and uttered the cry of his trade next door, in a vindictiveshriek.

'Does Mr. Traddles live here?' I then inquired.

A mysterious voice from the end of the passage replied 'Yes.' Upon whichthe youthful servant replied 'Yes.'

'Is he at home?' said I.

Again the mysterious voice replied in the affirmative, and again theservant echoed it. Upon this, I walked in, and in pursuance of theservant's directions walked upstairs; conscious, as I passed theback parlour-door, that I was surveyed by a mysterious eye, probablybelonging to the mysterious voice.

When I got to the top of the stairs--the house was only a story highabove the ground floor--Traddles was on the landing to meet me. He wasdelighted to see me, and gave me welcome, with great heartiness, tohis little room. It was in the front of the house, and extremely neat,though sparely furnished. It was his only room, I saw; for there was asofa-bedstead in it, and his blacking-brushes and blacking were amonghis books--on the top shelf, behind a dictionary. His table was coveredwith papers, and he was hard at work in an old coat. I looked atnothing, that I know of, but I saw everything, even to the prospect ofa church upon his china inkstand, as I sat down--and this, too, was afaculty confirmed in me in the old Micawber times. Various ingeniousarrangements he had made, for the disguise of his chest of drawers,and the accommodation of his boots, his shaving-glass, and so forth,particularly impressed themselves upon me, as evidences of the sameTraddles who used to make models of elephants' dens in writing-paper toput flies in; and to comfort himself under ill usage, with the memorableworks of art I have so often mentioned.

In a corner of the room was something neatly covered up with a largewhite cloth. I could not make out what that was.

'Traddles,' said I, shaking hands with him again, after I had sat down,'I am delighted to see you.'

'I am delighted to see YOU, Copperfield,' he returned. 'I am very gladindeed to see you. It was because I was thoroughly glad to see you whenwe met in Ely Place, and was sure you were thoroughly glad to see me,that I gave you this address instead of my address at chambers.' 'Oh!You have chambers?' said I.

'Why, I have the fourth of a room and a passage, and the fourth of aclerk,' returned Traddles. 'Three others and myself unite to have aset of chambers--to look business-like--and we quarter the clerk too.Half-a-crown a week he costs me.'

His old simple character and good temper, and something of his oldunlucky fortune also, I thought, smiled at me in the smile with which hemade this explanation.

'It's not because I have the least pride, Copperfield, you understand,'said Traddles, 'that I don't usually give my address here. It's only onaccount of those who come to me, who might not like to come here. Formyself, I am fighting my way on in the world against difficulties, andit would be ridiculous if I made a pretence of doing anything else.'

'You are reading for the bar, Mr. Waterbrook informed me?' said I.

'Why, yes,' said Traddles, rubbing his hands slowly over one another. 'Iam reading for the bar. The fact is, I have just begun to keep my terms,after rather a long delay. It's some time since I was articled, but thepayment of that hundred pounds was a great pull. A great pull!' saidTraddles, with a wince, as if he had had a tooth out.

'Do you know what I can't help thinking of, Traddles, as I sit herelooking at you?' I asked him.

'No,' said he.

'That sky-blue suit you used to wear.'

'Lord, to be sure!' cried Traddles, laughing. 'Tight in the arms andlegs, you know? Dear me! Well! Those were happy times, weren't they?'

'I think our schoolmaster might have made them happier, without doingany harm to any of us, I acknowledge,' I returned.

'Perhaps he might,' said Traddles. 'But dear me, there was a good dealof fun going on. Do you remember the nights in the bedroom? When we usedto have the suppers? And when you used to tell the stories? Ha, ha,ha! And do you remember when I got caned for crying about Mr. Mell? OldCreakle! I should like to see him again, too!'

'He was a brute to you, Traddles,' said I, indignantly; for his goodhumour made me feel as if I had seen him beaten but yesterday.

'Do you think so?' returned Traddles. 'Really? Perhaps he was rather.But it's all over, a long while. Old Creakle!'

'You were brought up by an uncle, then?' said I.

'Of course I was!' said Traddles. 'The one I was always going to writeto. And always didn't, eh! Ha, ha, ha! Yes, I had an uncle then. He diedsoon after I left school.'

'Indeed!'

'Yes. He was a retired--what do you callit!--draper--cloth-merchant--and had made me his heir. But he didn'tlike me when I grew up.'

'Do you really mean that?' said I. He was so composed, that I fancied hemust have some other meaning.

'Oh dear, yes, Copperfield! I mean it,' replied Traddles. 'It was anunfortunate thing, but he didn't like me at all. He said I wasn't at allwhat he expected, and so he married his housekeeper.'

'And what did you do?' I asked.

'I didn't do anything in particular,' said Traddles. 'I lived with them,waiting to be put out in the world, until his gout unfortunately flewto his stomach--and so he died, and so she married a young man, and so Iwasn't provided for.'

'Did you get nothing, Traddles, after all?'

'Oh dear, yes!' said Traddles. 'I got fifty pounds. I had never beenbrought up to any profession, and at first I was at a loss what todo for myself. However, I began, with the assistance of the son of aprofessional man, who had been to Salem House--Yawler, with his nose onone side. Do you recollect him?'

No. He had not been there with me; all the noses were straight in myday.

'It don't matter,' said Traddles. 'I began, by means of his assistance,to copy law writings. That didn't answer very well; and then I began tostate cases for them, and make abstracts, and that sort of work. ForI am a plodding kind of fellow, Copperfield, and had learnt the way ofdoing such things pithily. Well! That put it in my head to enter myselfas a law student; and that ran away with all that was left of the fiftypounds. Yawler recommended me to one or two other offices, however--Mr.Waterbrook's for one--and I got a good many jobs. I was fortunateenough, too, to become acquainted with a person in the publishing way,who was getting up an Encyclopaedia, and he set me to work; and, indeed'(glancing at his table), 'I am at work for him at this minute. I am nota bad compiler, Copperfield,' said Traddles, preserving the same air ofcheerful confidence in all he said, 'but I have no invention at all; nota particle. I suppose there never was a young man with less originalitythan I have.'

As Traddles seemed to expect that I should assent to this as a matterof course, I nodded; and he went on, with the same sprightly patience--Ican find no better expression--as before.

'So, by little and little, and not living high, I managed to scrape upthe hundred pounds at last,' said Traddles; 'and thank Heaven that'spaid--though it was--though it certainly was,' said Traddles, wincingagain as if he had had another tooth out, 'a pull. I am living by thesort of work I have mentioned, still, and I hope, one of these days, toget connected with some newspaper: which would almost be the making ofmy fortune. Now, Copperfield, you are so exactly what you used tobe, with that agreeable face, and it's so pleasant to see you, that Isha'n't conceal anything. Therefore you must know that I am engaged.'

Engaged! Oh, Dora!

'She is a curate's daughter,' said Traddles; 'one of ten, down inDevonshire. Yes!' For he saw me glance, involuntarily, at the prospecton the inkstand. 'That's the church! You come round here to the left,out of this gate,' tracing his finger along the inkstand, 'and exactlywhere I hold this pen, there stands the house--facing, you understand,towards the church.'

The delight with which he entered into these particulars, did not fullypresent itself to me until afterwards; for my selfish thoughts weremaking a ground-plan of Mr. Spenlow's house and garden at the samemoment.

'She is such a dear girl!' said Traddles; 'a little older than me, butthe dearest girl! I told you I was going out of town? I have been downthere. I walked there, and I walked back, and I had the most delightfultime! I dare say ours is likely to be a rather long engagement, but ourmotto is "Wait and hope!" We always say that. "Wait and hope," we alwayssay. And she would wait, Copperfield, till she was sixty--any age youcan mention--for me!'

Traddles rose from his chair, and, with a triumphant smile, put his handupon the white cloth I had observed.

'However,' he said, 'it's not that we haven't made a beginning towardshousekeeping. No, no; we have begun. We must get on by degrees, but wehave begun. Here,' drawing the cloth off with great pride and care, 'aretwo pieces of furniture to commence with. This flower-pot and stand,she bought herself. You put that in a parlour window,' said Traddles,falling a little back from it to survey it with the greater admiration,'with a plant in it, and--and there you are! This little round tablewith the marble top (it's two feet ten in circumference), I bought. Youwant to lay a book down, you know, or somebody comes to see you or yourwife, and wants a place to stand a cup of tea upon, and--and there youare again!' said Traddles. 'It's an admirable piece of workmanship--firmas a rock!' I praised them both, highly, and Traddles replaced thecovering as carefully as he had removed it.

'It's not a great deal towards the furnishing,' said Traddles, 'butit's something. The table-cloths, and pillow-cases, and articles ofthat kind, are what discourage me most, Copperfield. So doesthe ironmongery--candle-boxes, and gridirons, and that sort ofnecessaries--because those things tell, and mount up. However, "wait andhope!" And I assure you she's the dearest girl!'

'I am quite certain of it,' said I.

'In the meantime,' said Traddles, coming back to his chair; 'and this isthe end of my prosing about myself, I get on as well as I can. I don'tmake much, but I don't spend much. In general, I board with the peopledownstairs, who are very agreeable people indeed. Both Mr. and Mrs.Micawber have seen a good deal of life, and are excellent company.'

'My dear Traddles!' I quickly exclaimed. 'What are you talking about?'

Traddles looked at me, as if he wondered what I was talking about.

'Mr. and Mrs. Micawber!' I repeated. 'Why, I am intimately acquaintedwith them!'

An opportune double knock at the door, which I knew well from oldexperience in Windsor Terrace, and which nobody but Mr. Micawber couldever have knocked at that door, resolved any doubt in my mind as totheir being my old friends. I begged Traddles to ask his landlordto walk up. Traddles accordingly did so, over the banister; and Mr.Micawber, not a bit changed--his tights, his stick, his shirt-collar,and his eye-glass, all the same as ever--came into the room with agenteel and youthful air.

'I beg your pardon, Mr. Traddles,' said Mr. Micawber, with the old rollin his voice, as he checked himself in humming a soft tune. 'I was notaware that there was any individual, alien to this tenement, in yoursanctum.'

Mr. Micawber slightly bowed to me, and pulled up his shirt-collar.

'How do you do, Mr. Micawber?' said I.

'Sir,' said Mr. Micawber, 'you are exceedingly obliging. I am in statuquo.'

'And Mrs. Micawber?' I pursued.

'Sir,' said Mr. Micawber, 'she is also, thank God, in statu quo.'

'And the children, Mr. Micawber?'

'Sir,' said Mr. Micawber, 'I rejoice to reply that they are, likewise,in the enjoyment of salubrity.'

All this time, Mr. Micawber had not known me in the least, though hehad stood face to face with me. But now, seeing me smile, he examined myfeatures with more attention, fell back, cried, 'Is it possible! Have Ithe pleasure of again beholding Copperfield!' and shook me by both handswith the utmost fervour.

'Good Heaven, Mr. Traddles!' said Mr. Micawber, 'to think that I shouldfind you acquainted with the friend of my youth, the companion ofearlier days! My dear!' calling over the banisters to Mrs. Micawber,while Traddles looked (with reason) not a little amazed at thisdescription of me. 'Here is a gentleman in Mr. Traddles's apartment,whom he wishes to have the pleasure of presenting to you, my love!'

Mr. Micawber immediately reappeared, and shook hands with me again.

'And how is our good friend the Doctor, Copperfield?' said Mr. Micawber,'and all the circle at Canterbury?'

'I have none but good accounts of them,' said I.

'I am most delighted to hear it,' said Mr. Micawber. 'It was atCanterbury where we last met. Within the shadow, I may figuratively say,of that religious edifice immortalized by Chaucer, which was ancientlythe resort of Pilgrims from the remotest corners of--in short,' said Mr.Micawber, 'in the immediate neighbourhood of the Cathedral.'

I replied that it was. Mr. Micawber continued talking as volubly as hecould; but not, I thought, without showing, by some marks of concern inhis countenance, that he was sensible of sounds in the next room, asof Mrs. Micawber washing her hands, and hurriedly opening and shuttingdrawers that were uneasy in their action.

'You find us, Copperfield,' said Mr. Micawber, with one eye on Traddles,'at present established, on what may be designated as a small andunassuming scale; but, you are aware that I have, in the course of mycareer, surmounted difficulties, and conquered obstacles. You are nostranger to the fact, that there have been periods of my life, when ithas been requisite that I should pause, until certain expected eventsshould turn up; when it has been necessary that I should fall back,before making what I trust I shall not be accused of presumption interming--a spring. The present is one of those momentous stages in thelife of man. You find me, fallen back, FOR a spring; and I have everyreason to believe that a vigorous leap will shortly be the result.'

I was expressing my satisfaction, when Mrs. Micawber came in; a littlemore slatternly than she used to be, or so she seemed now, to myunaccustomed eyes, but still with some preparation of herself forcompany, and with a pair of brown gloves on.

'My dear,' said Mr. Micawber, leading her towards me, 'here isa gentleman of the name of Copperfield, who wishes to renew hisacquaintance with you.'

It would have been better, as it turned out, to have led gently upto this announcement, for Mrs. Micawber, being in a delicate state ofhealth, was overcome by it, and was taken so unwell, that Mr. Micawberwas obliged, in great trepidation, to run down to the water-butt inthe backyard, and draw a basinful to lave her brow with. Shepresently revived, however, and was really pleased to see me. We hadhalf-an-hour's talk, all together; and I asked her about the twins,who, she said, were 'grown great creatures'; and after Master and MissMicawber, whom she described as 'absolute giants', but they were notproduced on that occasion.

Mr. Micawber was very anxious that I should stay to dinner. I should nothave been averse to do so, but that I imagined I detected trouble, andcalculation relative to the extent of the cold meat, in Mrs. Micawber'seye. I therefore pleaded another engagement; and observing that Mrs.Micawber's spirits were immediately lightened, I resisted all persuasionto forego it.

But I told Traddles, and Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, that before I couldthink of leaving, they must appoint a day when they would come and dinewith me. The occupations to which Traddles stood pledged, rendered itnecessary to fix a somewhat distant one; but an appointment was made forthe purpose, that suited us all, and then I took my leave.

Mr. Micawber, under pretence of showing me a nearer way than that bywhich I had come, accompanied me to the corner of the street; beinganxious (he explained to me) to say a few words to an old friend, inconfidence.

'My dear Copperfield,' said Mr. Micawber, 'I need hardly tell you thatto have beneath our roof, under existing circumstances, a mind like thatwhich gleams--if I may be allowed the expression--which gleams--in yourfriend Traddles, is an unspeakable comfort. With a washerwoman, whoexposes hard-bake for sale in her parlour-window, dwelling next door,and a Bow-street officer residing over the way, you may imagine that hissociety is a source of consolation to myself and to Mrs. Micawber. Iam at present, my dear Copperfield, engaged in the sale of corn uponcommission. It is not an avocation of a remunerative description--inother words, it does not pay--and some temporary embarrassments of apecuniary nature have been the consequence. I am, however, delighted toadd that I have now an immediate prospect of something turning up (I amnot at liberty to say in what direction), which I trust will enable meto provide, permanently, both for myself and for your friend Traddles,in whom I have an unaffected interest. You may, perhaps, be preparedto hear that Mrs. Micawber is in a state of health which renders itnot wholly improbable that an addition may be ultimately made to thosepledges of affection which--in short, to the infantine group. Mrs.Micawber's family have been so good as to express their dissatisfactionat this state of things. I have merely to observe, that I am not awarethat it is any business of theirs, and that I repel that exhibition offeeling with scorn, and with defiance!'

Mr. Micawber then shook hands with me again, and left me.