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<.
[_Crosses._
DAME.
You sha'n't go to bed! you must make some fresh excuse;--you're famous at
them to me;--you have got into the nobble and must get out of it as well
as you can; I shall go and consult my friend, Dame Wrigrim; and Alice,
should the pedlar woman come, desire her not to leave any more of her
rubbish here.
_As_ DAME _retires, she meets_ DERRIC(69) _to whom she curtseys._
DERRIC.
Good evening, Dame.
DAME.
Your honour's servant. [_Exit_ DAME.
RIP.
[_Aside._] La! what a stew I'm in. Alice take yourself off, 'tis full
time. Wish I was off too, mit all my heart and soul.
ALICE.
[_Aside._] Dear, dear! what will become of my poor Knickerbocker.
[_Exit._
DERRIC.
Well, honest Rip, how wags the world with you?
RIP.
Bad enough, sir, for though [labouring](70) from morn to night, I can
make no advance in de world, though my industry is proverbial, and dat's
a fact.
DERRIC.
Why, where the bottle is concerned, few, I believe, can boast so much
industry.
RIP.
Dat is a fact; but I suppose you have called concerning de rent.
[_Aside._] How my heart [goes and comes!](71) [_Aloud._] Now if your
honour will be so [good](72) enough to--
DERRIC.
To write the receipt: certainly.
RIP.
Nine, nine! [_Aside._] I'm stewed alive mit [perspiration.](73)
DERRIC.
We'll talk of the rent at a future period! There is another affair on
which I wish to consult you.
RIP.
Take a chair, your honour.--[_Aside, rubbing his hands together._]--It's
all right, by de hookey.--[_Aloud._]--Take a glass mit me.
[_They take chairs._
DERRIC.
You know my only son, [whose life you preserved?](74)
RIP.
Yes; and a [wild](75) harum-scarum [dog](76) he is. [_Drinks._
DERRIC.
He [is now stationed in New York, studying the law, and](77) has become
a staid, sober, prudent youth; and [now](78), 'tis my wish that he
should settle in this, his native place, and [that he](79) marry some
honest girl, who is altogether unacquainted with the frivolities of
cities; and I have been thinking that in a few years your daughter will
be grown up, and would make a suitable match for him. True, there will
be some disparity in thei]]>
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