did the same; and even Mr Tupman and the spinster aunt established

a joint-stock company of fish and flattery. Old Mr Wardle was in the

very height of his jollity; and he was so funny in his management of

the board, and the old ladies were so sharp after their winnings, that

the whole table was in a perpetual roar of merriment and laughter.

There was one old lady who always had about half a dozen cards to

pay for, at which everybody laughed, regularly every round; and when

the old lady looked cross at having to pay, they laughed louder than

ever; on which the old lady's face gradually brightened up, till at last

she laughed louder than any of them, Then, when the spinster aunt

got 'matrimony,' the young ladies laughed afresh, and the Spinster

aunt seemed disposed to be pettish; till, feeling Mr Tupman squeezing

her hand under the table, she brightened up too, and looked rather

knowing, as if matrimony in reality were not quite so far off as some

people thought for; whereupon everybody laughed again, and

especially old Mr Wardle, who enjoyed a joke as much as the

youngest. As to Mr Snodgrass, he did nothing but whisper poetical

sentiments into his partner's ear, which made one old gentleman

facetiously sly, about partnerships at cards and partnerships for life,

and caused the aforesaid old gentleman to make some remarks

thereupon, accompanied with divers winks and chuckles, which made

the company very merry and the old gentleman's wife especially so.

And Mr Winkle came out with jokes which are very well known in

town, but are not all known in the country; and as everybody laughed

at them very heartily, and said they were very capital, Mr Winkle was

in a state of great honour and glory. And the benevolent clergyman

looked pleasantly on; for the happy faces which surrounded the table

made the good old man feel happy too; and though the merriment was

rather boisterous, still it came from the heart and not from the lips;

and this is the right sort of merriment, after all.

The evening glided swiftly away, in these cheerful recreations; and

when the substantial though homely supper had been despatched,

and the little party formed a social circle round the fire, Mr Pickwick

thought he had never felt so happy in his life, and at no time so much

disposed to enjoy, and make the most of, the passing moment.

Now this,' said the hospitable host, who was sitting in great state next

the old lady's arm-chair, with her hand fast clasped in his - 'this is

just what I like - the happiest moments of my life have been passed at

this old fireside; and I am so attached to it, that I keep up a blazing

fire here every evening, until it actually grows too hot to bear it. Why,

my poor old mother, here, used to sit before this fireplace upon that

little stool when she was a girl; didn't you, mother?'

The tear which starts unbidden to the eye when the recollection of old

times and the happiness of many years ago is suddenly recalled, stole

The Pickwick Papers