fore she could get it out; and, when she had uttered it, pressed her
hand upon her side, and turned up her eyes, as if she were going to
faint away. But, knowing her to labour under a complication of internal
disorders, which rendered a few drops of spirits indispensable at
certain times to her existence, and which came on very strong when that
remedy was not at hand, Jonas merely supposed her to be the victim of
one of these attacks.

'Well!' he said, hastily, for he felt how incapable he was of confining
his wandering attention to the subject. 'You and she have arranged to
take care of him, have you?'

Mrs Gamp replied in the affirmative, and softly discharged herself of
her familiar phrase, 'Turn and turn about; one off, one on.' But
she spoke so tremulously that she felt called upon to add, 'which
fiddle-strings is weakness to expredge my nerves this night!'

Jonas stopped to listen. Then said, hurriedly:

'We shall not quarrel about terms. Let them be the same as they were
before. Keep him close, and keep him quiet. He must be restrained.
He has got it in his head to-night that my wife's dead, and has been
attacking me as if I had killed her. It's--it's common with mad people
to take the worst fancies of those they like best. Isn't it?'

Mrs Gamp assented with a short groan.

'Keep him close, then, or in one of his fits he'll be doing me a
mischief. And don't trust him at any time; for when he seems most
rational, he's wildest in his talk. But that you know already. Let me
see the other.'

'The t'other person, sir?' said Mrs Gamp.

'Aye! Go you to him and send the other. Quick! I'm busy.'

Mrs Gamp took two or three backward steps towards the door, and stopped
there.

'It is your wishes, Mr Chuzzlewit,' she said, in a sort of quavering
croak, 'to see the t'other person. Is it?'

But the ghastly change in Jonas told her that the other person was
already seen. Before she could look round towards the door, she was put
aside by old Martin's hand; and Chuffey and John Westlock entered with
him.

'Let no one leave the house,' said Martin. 'This man is my brother's
son. Ill-met, ill-trained, ill-begotten. If he moves from the spot on
which he stands, or speaks a word above his breath to any person here,
open the window, and call for help!'

'What right have you to give such directions in this house?' asked Jonas
faintly.

'The right of your wrong-doing. Come in there!'

An irrepressible exclamation bur