seeing that he had hit the wrongest possible nail on
the head, he said that he would make the lad a clerk in his office, where
he would be sure to rise to a place of trust; whereat Mrs. Grumbit
danced, if we may so speak, into herself for joy.

"And now, ma'am, about these stockings. I want two thousand pairs as soon
as I can get them!"

"Sir?" said Mrs. Grumbit.

"Of course, not for my own use, ma'am; nor for the use of my family, for
I have no family; and if I had, that would be an unnecessarily large
supply. The fact is, Mrs. Grumbit, I am a merchant, and I send very large
supplies of home-made articles to foreign lands, and two thousand pairs
of socks are a mere driblet. Of course I do not expect you to make them
all for me, but I wish you to make as many pairs as you can."

"I shall be very happy--" began Mrs. Grumbit.

"But, Mrs. Grumbit, there is a peculiar formation which I require in my
socks that will give you extra trouble, I fear; but I must have it,
whatever the additional expense may be. What is your charge for the pair
you are now making?"

"Three shillings," said Mrs. Grumbit.

"Ah! very good. Now, take up the wires if you please, ma'am, and do what
I tell you. Now, drop that stitch,--good; and take up this one,--capital;
and pull this one across that way,--so; and that one across this
way,--exactly. Now, what is the result?"

The result was a complicated knot; and Mrs. Grumbit, after staring a few
seconds at the old gentleman in surprise, said so, and begged to know
what use it was of.

"Oh, never mind, never mind. We merchants have strange fancies, and
foreigners have curious tastes now and then. Please to make all my
socks with a hitch like that in them all round, just above the ankle.
It will form an ornamental ring. I'm sorry to put you to the trouble,
but of course I pay extra for fancy-work. Will six shillings a pair do
for these?"

"My dear sir," said Mrs. Grumbit, "it is no additional--"

"Well, well, never mind," said Mr. Jollyboy. "Two thousand pairs,
remember, as soon as possible,--close knitted, plain stitch, rather
coarse worsted; and don't forget the hitch, Mrs. Grumbit, don't forget
the hitch."

Ah! reader, there are many Mrs. Grumbits in this world, requiring
_hitches_ to be made in their stockings!

At this moment the door burst open. Mrs. Dorothy Grumbit uttered a
piercing scream, Mr. Jollyboy dropped his spectacles and sat down on
his hat, and Martin Rattler stood bef