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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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945 ‘--A chair?’ said Arthur Gride. ‘No,’ replied Newman. ‘Thankee.’ Arthur opened the letter with trembling hands, and devoured its contents with the utmost greediness; chuckling rapturously over it, and reading it several times, before he could take it from before his eyes. So many times did he peruse and re-peruse it, that Newman considered it expedient to remind him of his presence. ‘Answer,’ said Newman. ‘Bearer waits.’ ‘True,’ replied old Arthur. ‘Yes--yes; I almost forgot, I do declare.’ ‘I thought you were forgetting,’ said Newman. ‘Quite right to remind me, Mr Noggs. Oh, very right indeed,’ said Arthur. ‘Yes. I’ll write a line. I’m--I’m--rather flurried, Mr Noggs. The news is--’ ‘Bad?’ interrupted Newman. ‘No, Mr Noggs, thank you; good, good. The very best of news. Sit down. I’ll get the pen and ink, and write a line in answer. I’ll not detain you long. I know you’re a treasure to your master, Mr Noggs. He speaks of you in such terms, sometimes, that, oh dear! you’d be astonished. I may say that I do too, and always did. I always say the same of you.’ ‘That’s “Curse Mr Noggs with all my heart!” then, if you do,’ thought Newman, as Gride hurried out. The letter had fallen on the ground. Looking carefully about him for an instant, Newman, impelled by curiosity to know the result of the design he had overheard from his office closet, caught it up and rapidly read as follows: ‘Gride. |
