"That, ladies and gentlemen," said Mrs. Jarley, "is Jasper Packlemerton,
of terrible memory, who courted and married fourteen wives, and
destroyed them all, by tickling the soles of their feet when they were
sleeping in the consciousness of innocence and virtue. On being brought
to the scaffold and asked if he was sorry for what he had done, he
replied yes, he was sorry for having let 'em off so easy, and hoped all
Christian husbands would pardon him the offense. Let this be a warning
to all young ladies to be particular in the character of the gentlemen
of their choice. Observe that his fingers are curled as if in the act of
tickling, and that his face is represented with a wink, as he appeared
when committing his barbarous murders."

When Nell knew all about Mr. Packlemerton, and could say it without
faltering, Mrs. Jarley passed on to the fat man, and then to the thin
man, the tall man, the short man, the old lady who died of dancing at a
hundred and thirty-two, the wild boy of the woods, the woman who
poisoned fourteen families with pickled walnuts, and other historical
characters and interesting but misguided individuals. And so well did
Nell profit by her instructions, and so apt was she to remember them,
that by the time they had been shut up together for a couple of hours,
she was in full possession of the history of the whole establishment,
and perfectly able to tell the stories of the wax-work to visitors.

For some time her life and the life of the poor vacant old man passed
quietly and happily. They traveled from place to place with Mrs. Jarley;
Nell spoke her piece, with the wand in her hand, before the waxen
images; and her grandfather in a dull way dusted the images when he was
told to do so.

But heavier sorrow was yet to come. One night, a holiday night for them,
Neil and her grandfather went out to walk. A terrible thunderstorm
coming on, they were forced to take refuge in a small public house; and
here they saw some shabbily dressed and wicked looking men were playing
cards. The old man watched them with increasing interest and excitement,
until his whole appearance underwent a complete change. His face was
flushed and eager, his teeth set. With a hand that trembled violently he
seized Nell's little purse, and in spite of her pleadings joined in the
game, gambling with such a savage thirst for gain that the distressed
and frightened child could almost better have borne to see him dead. It
was lo