ned him such poignant regret as his
treatment of Titmouse on the occasion in question; that he had
undoubtedly followed unwittingly (he was ashamed to own) the example of
Titmouse, and drank far more than his usual quantity of wine; besides
which he had undoubtedly noticed, as had Mrs. T., the state of things
between Mr. Titmouse and his daughter--talking of whom, by the way, he
could assure Mr. Gammon that both Mrs. and Miss T. had been ill ever
since that unfortunate evening, and had never ceased to condemn
his--Tag-rag's--monstrous conduct on that occasion. As for Miss T., she
was growing thinner and thinner every day, and he thought he must send
her to the country for a short time: in fact--poor girl!--she was
plainly pining away!

To all this Mr. Gammon listened with a calm, delightful, sympathizing
look, which quite transported Tag-rag, and satisfied him that Mr. Gammon
implicitly believed every word that was being said to him. But when he
proceeded to assure Tag-rag that this visit of his had been undertaken
at the earnest instance of Mr. Titmouse himself, (who, by the way, had
removed to lodgings which would do for the present, so as they were only
near to their office, for the purpose of frequent communication on
matters of business between him and their firm,) who had urged Mr.
Gammon to tender the olive branch, in the devout hope that it might be
accepted--Tag-rag's excitement knew scarce any bounds; and he could
almost have started into the shop, and given orders to his shopmen to
shut up shop half an hour earlier for the rest of the week! Mr. Gammon
wrote down Titmouse's direction, and handing it to Mr. Tag-rag, assured
him that a call from him would be gratefully received by Mr. Titmouse.
"There's no accounting for these things, Mr. Tag-rag--is there?" said
Mr. Gammon, with an arch smile, as he prepared to depart--Tag-rag
squeezing his hands with painful energy as Gammon bade him adieu,
declaring that "he should not be himself for the rest of the day" and
bowing the aforesaid Mr. Gammon down the shop with as profound an
obsequiousness as if he had been the Lord High Chancellor, or even the
Lord Mayor. As soon as Gammon had got fairly into the street, and to a
safe distance, he burst into little gentle paroxysms of laughter, every
now and then, which lasted him till he had regained his office in
Saffron Hill.

The motive so boldly and skilfully suggested by Gammon to Tag-rag, as
that impelling Titmouse to