e the old man's hand; but he
had not seen how the hand clasped and clutched the stick within its
grasp. As he came smiling on, and got within his reach, old Martin,
burning with indignation, rose up and struck him to the ground.

"Drag him away! Take him out of my reach!" said Martin. And Mr. Tapley
actually did drag him away, and struck him upon the floor with his back
against the opposite wall.

"Hear me, rascal!" said Mr. Chuzzlewit. "I have summoned you here to
witness your own work. Come hither, my dear Martin! Why did we ever
part? How could we ever part? How could you fly from me to him? The
fault was mine no less than yours. Mark has told me so, and I have known
it long. Mary, my love, come here."

She trembled, and was very pale; but he sat her in his own chair, and
stood beside it holding her hand, Martin standing by him.

"The curse of our house," said the old man, looking kindly down upon
her, "has been the love of self--has ever been the love of self." He
drew one hand through Martin's arm, and standing so, between them,
proceeded, "What's this? Her hand is trembling strangely. See if you can
hold it."

Hold it! If he clasped it half as tightly as he did her waist--well,
well!

But it was good in him that even then, in high fortune and happiness, he
had still a hand left to stretch out to Tom Pinch.

* * * * *

Nicholas Nickleby

Writing in 1848, Charles Dickens declared that when "Nicholas
Nickleby" was begun in 1838 "there were then a good many-cheap
Yorkshire schools in existence. There are very few now." In
the preface to the completed book the author mentioned that
more than one Yorkshire schoolmaster laid claim to be the
original of Squeers, and he had reason to believe "one worthy
has actually consulted authorities learned in the law as to
his having good grounds on which to rest an action for libel."
But Squeers, as Dickens insisted, was the representative of a
class, and not an individual. The Brothers Cheeryble were "no
creations of the author's brain" Dickens also wrote; and in
consequence of this statement "hundreds upon hundreds of
letters from all sorts of people" poured in upon him to be
forwarded "to the originals of the Brothers Cheeryble." They
were the Brothers Grant, cotton-spinners, near Manchester.
"Nicholas Nickleby" was completed in October, 1839.

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