'Those are two very remarkable facts, which never occurred to me

before,' said Mr Pickwick. 'The very first place we stop at, I'll make a

note of them.'

By this time they had reached the turnpike at Mile End; a profound

silence prevailed until they had got two or three miles farther on,

when Mr Weller, senior, turning suddenly to Mr Pickwick, said -

Wery queer life is a pike-keeper's, sir.'

A what?' said Mr Pickwick.

A pike-keeper.'

What do you mean by a pike-keeper?' inquired Mr Peter Magnus.

The old 'un means a turnpike-keeper, gen'l'm'n,' observed Mr Samuel

Weller, in explanation.

Oh,' said Mr Pickwick, 'I see. Yes; very curious life. Very

uncomfortable.'

'They're all on 'em men as has met vith some disappointment in life,'

said Mr Weller, senior.

Ay, ay,' said Mr Pickwick.

Yes. Consequence of vich, they retires from the world, and shuts

themselves up in pikes; partly with the view of being solitary, and

partly to rewenge themselves on mankind by takin' tolls.'

'Dear me,' said Mr Pickwick, 'I never knew that before.'

Fact, Sir,' said Mr Weller; 'if they was gen'l'm'n, you'd call 'em

misanthropes, but as it is, they only takes to pike-keepin'.'

With such conversation, possessing the inestimable charm of blending

amusement with instruction, did Mr Weller beguile the tediousness of

the journey, during the greater part of the day. Topics of conversation

were never wanting, for even when any pause occurred in Mr Weller's

loquacity, it was abundantly supplied by the desire evinced by Mr

Magnus to make himself acquainted with the whole of the personal

history of his fellow- travellers, and his loudly-expressed anxiety at

every stage, respecting the safety and well-being of the two bags, the

leather hat-box, and the brown-paper parcel.

In the main street of Ipswich, on the left-hand side of the way, a short

distance after you have passed through the open space fronting the

The Pickwick Papers