hing, in the midst of which he was still heard to declare, with the
constancy of a martyr, that it was 'beautiful indeed!' While he was
yet in unspeakable agonies, the dwarf renewed their conversation.

'The lodger,' said Quilp, '--what about him?' 'He is still, sir,'
returned Brass, with intervals of coughing, 'stopping with the Garland
family. He has only been home once, Sir, since the day of the
examination of that culprit. He informed Mr Richard, sir, that he
couldn't bear the house after what had taken place; that he was
wretched in it; and that he looked upon himself as being in a certain
kind of way the cause of the occurrence.--A very excellent lodger Sir.
I hope we may not lose him.'

'Yah!' cried the dwarf. 'Never thinking of anybody but yourself--why
don't you retrench then--scrape up, hoard, economise, eh?'

'Why, sir,' replied Brass, 'upon my word I think Sarah's as good an
economiser as any going. I do indeed, Mr Quilp.'

'Moisten your clay, wet the other eye, drink, man!' cried the dwarf.
'You took a clerk to oblige me.'

'Delighted, sir, I am sure, at any time,' replied Sampson. 'Yes, Sir,
I did.'

'Then now you may discharge him,' said Quilp. 'There's a means of
retrenchment for you at once.'

'Discharge Mr Richard, sir?' cried Brass.

'Have you more than one clerk, you parrot, that you ask the question?
Yes.'

'Upon my word, Sir,' said Brass, 'I wasn't prepared for this-'

'How could you be?' sneered the dwarf, 'when I wasn't? How often am I
to tell you that I brought him to you that I might always have my eye
on him and know where he was--and that I had a plot, a scheme, a little
quiet piece of enjoyment afoot, of which the very cream and essence
was, that this old man and grandchild (who have sunk underground I
think) should be, while he and his precious friend believed them rich,
in reality as poor as frozen rats?'

'I quite understood that, sir,' rejoined Brass. 'Thoroughly.'

'Well, Sir,' retorted Quilp, 'and do you understand now, that they're
not poor--that they can't be, if they have such men as your lodger
searching for them, and scouring the country far and wide?'

'Of course I do, Sir,' said Sampson.

'Of course you do,' retorted the dwarf, viciously snapping at his
words. 'Of course do you understand then, that it's no matter what
comes of this fellow? of course do you understand that for any other
purpose he's no man for me, nor for you?'

'I have frequently sa