as in the habit of patting with his
left hand very complacently; but although stout in his body, his legs
were mere spindles, so that, in his appearance, he reminded you of some
bird of the crane genus. Indeed, I may say, that his whole figure gave
you just such an impression as an orange might do, had it taken to
itself a couple of pieces of tobacco pipes as vehicles of locomotion.
He was dressed in a black coat and waistcoat, white cravat and high
collar to his shirt, blue cotton net pantaloons and Hessian boots, both
fitting so tight, that it appeared as if he was proud of his spindle
shanks. His hat was broad-brimmed and low, and he carried a stout black
cane with a gold top in his right hand, almost always raising the gold
top to his nose when he spoke, just as we see doctors represented at a
consultation in the caricature prints. But if his figure was strange,
his language and manners were still more so. He spoke, as some birds
fly, in jerks, intermixing his words, for he never completed a whole
sentence, with _um_--_um_--and ending it with "so on," leaving his
hearers to supply the context from the heads of his discourse. Almost
always in motion, he generally changed his position as soon as he had
finished speaking, walking to any other part of the room, with his cane
to his nose, and his head cocked on one side, with a self-sufficient
tiptoe gait. When I was ushered into his presence, he was standing with
two of the governors. "This is the lad," said one of them, "his name is
_Japhet_."

"Japhet," replied Mr Cophagus; "um, scriptural--Shem, Ham, _um_--and so
on. Boy reads?"

"Very well, and writes a _very_ good hand. He is a very good boy, Mr
Cophagus."

"Read--write--spell--good, and so on. Bring him up--rudiments--
spatula--write labels--um--M.D. one of these days--make a man of him--
and so on," said this strange personage, walking round and round me with
his cane to his nose, and scrutinising my person with his twinkling
eyes. I was dismissed after this examination and approval, and the next
day, dressed in a plain suit of clothes, was delivered by the porter at
the shop of Mr Phineas Cophagus, who was not at home when I arrived.

PART ONE, CHAPTER TWO.

LIKE ALL TYROS, I FIND THE RUDIMENTS OF LEARNING EXTREMELY DIFFICULT AND
LABORIOUS, BUT ADVANCE SO RAPIDLY THAT I CAN DO WITHOUT MY MASTER.

A tall, fresh-coloured, but hectic looking young man, stood behind the
counter, making up presc