man up to the booth, in a truck, fast asleep, by way of experiment,

but it was no go - they wouldn't poll him; so they brought him back,

and put him to bed again.' 'Strange practices, these,' said Mr

Pickwick; half speaking to himself and half addressing Sam.

Not half so strange as a miraculous circumstance as happened to my

own father, at an election time, in this wery place, Sir,' replied Sam.

What was that?' inquired Mr Pickwick.

Why, he drove a coach down here once,' said Sam; ''lection time came

on, and he was engaged by vun party to bring down woters from

London. Night afore he was going to drive up, committee on t' other

side sends for him quietly, and away he goes vith the messenger, who

shows him in; - large room - lots of gen'l'm'n - heaps of papers, pens

and ink, and all that 'ere. ‘Ah, Mr Weller,’ says the gen'l'm'n in the

chair, ‘glad to see you, sir; how are you?’ - ’Wery well, thank 'ee, Sir,’

says my father; ‘I hope you're pretty middlin,’ says he. - ’Pretty well,

thank'ee, Sir,’ says the gen'l'm'n; ‘sit down, Mr Weller - pray sit down,

sir.’ So my father sits down, and he and the gen'l'm'n looks wery hard

at each other. ‘You don't remember me?’ said the gen'l'm'n. - ’Can't

say I do,’ says my father. - ’Oh, I know you,’ says the gen'l'm'n:

‘

know'd you when you was a boy,’ says he. - ’Well, I don't remember

you,’ says my father. - ‘That's wery odd,’ says the gen'l'm'n.’ - ’Wery,’

says my father. - ’You must have a bad mem'ry, Mr Weller,’ says the

gen'l'm'n. - ’Well, it is a wery bad 'un,’ says my father. - ’I thought so,’

says the gen'l'm'n. So then they pours him out a glass of wine, and

gammons him about his driving, and gets him into a reg'lar good

humour, and at last shoves a twenty-pound note into his hand. ‘It's a

wery bad road between this and London,’ says the gen'l'm'n. - ’Here

and there it is a heavy road,’ says my father. - ’ 'Specially near the

canal, I think,’ says the gen'l'm'n. - ’Nasty bit that 'ere,’ says my

father. - ‘Well, Mr Weller,’ says the gen'l'm'n, ‘you're a wery good

whip, and can do what you like with your horses, we know. We're all

wery fond o' you, Mr Weller, so in case you should have an accident

when you're bringing these here woters down, and should tip 'em over

into the canal vithout hurtin' of 'em, this is for yourself,’ says he. -

’

Gen'l'm'n, you're wery kind,’ says my father, ‘and I'll drink your

health in another glass of wine,’ says he; vich he did, and then

buttons up the money, and bows himself out. You wouldn't believe,

sir,' continued Sam, with a look of inexpressible impudence at his

master, 'that on the wery day as he came down with them woters, his

coach WAS upset on that 'ere wery spot, and ev'ry man on 'em was

turned into the canal.'

'And got out again?' inquired Mr Pickwick hastily.

The Pickwick Papers