beyond the hearing of Mr Pickwick; and after a short conversation

conducted in whispers, walked softly down a little dark passage, and

disappeared into the legal luminary's sanctum, whence he shortly

returned on tiptoe, and informed Mr Perker and Mr Pickwick that the

Serjeant had been prevailed upon, in violation of all established rules

and customs, to admit them at once.

Mr Serjeant Snubbins was a lantern-faced, sallow-complexioned man,

of about five-and-forty, or - as the novels say - he might be fifty. He

had that dull-looking, boiled eye which is often to be seen in the heads

of people who have applied themselves during many years to a weary

and laborious course of study; and which would have been sufficient,

without the additional eyeglass which dangled from a broad black

riband round his neck, to warn a stranger that he was very near-

sighted. His hair was thin and weak, which was partly attributable to

his having never devoted much time to its arrangement, and partly to

his having worn for five-and-twenty years the forensic wig which hung

on a block beside him. The marks of hairpowder on his coat-collar,

and the ill-washed and worse tied white neckerchief round his throat,

showed that he had not found leisure since he left the court to make

any alteration in his dress; while the slovenly style of the remainder of

his costume warranted the inference that his personal appearance

would not have been very much improved if he had. Books of practice,

heaps of papers, and opened letters, were scattered over the table,

without any attempt at order or arrangement; the furniture of the

room was old and rickety; the doors of the book-case were rotting in

their hinges; the dust flew out from the carpet in little clouds at every

step; the blinds were yellow with age and dirt; the state of everything

in the room showed, with a clearness not to be mistaken, that Mr

Serjeant Snubbin was far too much occupied with his professional

pursuits to take any great heed or regard of his personal comforts.

The Serjeant was writing when his clients entered; he bowed

abstractedly when Mr Pickwick was introduced by his solicitor; and

then, motioning them to a seat, put his pen carefully in the inkstand,

nursed his left leg, and waited to be spoken to.

'Mr Pickwick is the defendant in Bardell and Pickwick, Serjeant

Snubbin,' said Perker.

I am retained in that, am I?' said the Serjeant.

You are, Sir,' replied Perker.

The Serjeant nodded his head, and waited for something else.

'Mr Pickwick was anxious to call upon you, Serjeant Snubbin,' said

Perker, 'to state to you, before you entered upon the case, that he

The Pickwick Papers