ked, had his back thumped, stamped about, frightened his wife, and
at last recovered in a state of the last exhaustion and with the water
streaming from his eyes, but still faintly ejaculating, 'A godfeyther--a
godfeyther, Tilly!' in a tone bespeaking an exquisite relish of the
sally, which no suffering could diminish.

'You remember the night of our first tea-drinking?' said Nicholas.

'Shall I e'er forget it, mun?' replied John Browdie.

'He was a desperate fellow that night though, was he not, Mrs Browdie?'
said Nicholas. 'Quite a monster!'

'If you had only heard him as we were going home, Mr Nickleby, you'd
have said so indeed,' returned the bride. 'I never was so frightened in
all my life.'

'Coom, coom,' said John, with a broad grin; 'thou know'st betther than
thot, Tilly.'

'So I was,' replied Mrs Browdie. 'I almost made up my mind never to
speak to you again.'

'A'most!' said John, with a broader grin than the last. 'A'most made up
her mind! And she wur coaxin', and coaxin', and wheedlin', and wheedlin'
a' the blessed wa'. "Wa'at didst thou let yon chap mak' oop tiv'ee for?"
says I. "I deedn't, John," says she, a squeedgin my arm. "You deedn't?"
says I. "Noa," says she, a squeedgin of me agean.'

'Lor, John!' interposed his pretty wife, colouring very much. 'How can
you talk such nonsense? As if I should have dreamt of such a thing!'

'I dinnot know whether thou'd ever dreamt of it, though I think that's
loike eneaf, mind,' retorted John; 'but thou didst it. "Ye're a feeckle,
changeable weathercock, lass," says I. "Not feeckle, John," says she.
"Yes," says I, "feeckle, dom'd feeckle. Dinnot tell me thou bean't,
efther yon chap at schoolmeasther's," says I. "Him!" says she, quite
screeching. "Ah! him!" says I. "Why, John," says she--and she coom a
deal closer and squeedged a deal harder than she'd deane afore--"dost
thou think it's nat'ral noo, that having such a proper mun as thou
to keep company wi', I'd ever tak' opp wi' such a leetle scanty
whipper-snapper as yon?" she says. Ha! ha! ha! She said whipper-snapper!
"Ecod!" I says, "efther thot, neame the day, and let's have it ower!"
Ha! ha! ha!'

Nicholas laughed very heartily at this story, both on account of its
telling against himself, and his being desirous to spare the blushes of
Mrs Browdie, whose protestations were drowned in peals of laughter from
her husband. His good-nature soon put her at her ease; and although she
still denied the charg