loan of a trifling sum of money. I put a few shillings in his hand, and

as I turned away I heard the roar of laughter which followed his first

tumble on the stage. 'A few nights afterwards, a boy put a dirty scrap

of paper in my hand, on which were scrawled a few words in pencil,

intimating that the man was dangerously ill, and begging me, after the

performance, to see him at his lodgings in some street - I forget the

name of it now - at no great distance from the theatre. I promised to

comply, as soon as I could get away; and after the curtain fell, sallied

forth on my melancholy errand.

It was late, for I had been playing in the last piece; and, as it was a

benefit night, the performances had been protracted to an unusual

length. It was a dark, cold night, with a chill, damp wind, which blew

the rain heavily against the windows and house- fronts. Pools of water

had collected in the narrow and little- frequented streets, and as many

of the thinly-scattered oil-lamps had been blown out by the violence of

the wind, the walk was not only a comfortless, but most uncertain

one. I had fortunately taken the right course, however, and succeeded,

after a little difficulty, in finding the house to which I had been

directed - a coal-shed, with one Storey above it, in the back room of

which lay the object of my search.

'A wretched-looking woman, the man's wife, met me on the stairs,

and, telling me that he had just fallen into a kind of doze, led me

softly in, and placed a chair for me at the bedside. The sick man was

lying with his face turned towards the wall; and as he took no heed of

my presence, I had leisure to observe the place in which I found

myself.

He was lying on an old bedstead, which turned up during the day.

The tattered remains of a checked curtain were drawn round the bed's

head, to exclude the wind, which, however, made its way into the

comfortless room through the numerous chinks in the door, and blew

it to and fro every instant. There was a low cinder fire in a rusty,

unfixed grate; and an old three-cornered stained table, with some

medicine bottles, a broken glass, and a few other domestic articles,

was drawn out before it. A little child was sleeping on a temporary bed

which had been made for it on the floor, and the woman sat on a chair

by its side. There were a couple of shelves, with a few plates and cups

and saucers; and a pair of stage shoes and a couple of foils hung

beneath them. With the exception of little heaps of rags and bundles

which had been carelessly thrown into the corners of the room, these

were the only things in the apartment.

I had had time to note these little particulars, and to mark the heavy

breathing and feverish startings of the sick man, before he was aware

of my presence. In the restless attempts to procure some easy resting-

The Pickwick Papers