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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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130 Mrs Squeers looked vastly gracious on receiving this reply; and nodding to Squeers, as much as to say that she was glad to find the young man knew his station, assisted Nicholas to a slice of meat with her own fair hands. ‘Ale, Squeery?’ inquired the lady, winking and frowning to give him to understand that the question propounded, was, whether Nicholas should have ale, and not whether he (Squeers) would take any. ‘Certainly,’ said Squeers, re-telegraphing in the same manner. ‘A glassful.’ So Nicholas had a glassful, and being occupied with his own reflections, drank it, in happy innocence of all the foregone proceedings. ‘Uncommon juicy steak that,’ said Squeers, as he laid down his knife and fork, after plying it, in silence, for some time. ‘It’s prime meat,’ rejoined his lady. ‘I bought a good large piece of it myself on purpose for--’ ‘For what!’ exclaimed Squeers hastily. ‘Not for the--’ ‘No, no; not for them,’ rejoined Mrs Squeers; ‘on purpose for you against you came home. Lor! you didn’t think I could have made such a mistake as that.’ ‘Upon my word, my dear, I didn’t know what you were going to say,’ said Squeers, who had turned pale. ‘You needn’t make yourself uncomfortable,’ remarked his wife, laughing heartily. ‘To think that I should be such a noddy! Well!’ This part of the conversation was rather unintelligible; but popular rumour in the neighbourhood asserted that Mr Squeers, being amiably opposed to cruelty to animals, not unfrequently purchased for by consumption the bodies of horned cattle who |
