You might
have bowled me over with a straw," said Mr. Higgs.
"Had he done anything very bad?" I asked.
"Not he, Mr. Dodsley!" cried the lady--it was so she
had conceived my name. "He never did anythink to call
really wrong in his poor life. The 'ole affair was a
disgrace. It was all rank favouritising."
"Mrs. 'Iggs! Mrs. 'Iggs!" cried the butler warningly.
"Well, what do I care?" retorted the lady, shaking her
ringlets. "You know it was, yourself, Mr. 'Iggs, and
so did every member of the staff."
While I was getting these facts and opinions, I by no
means neglected the child. She was not attractive; but
fortunately she had reached the corrupt age of seven,
when half-a-crown appears about as large as a saucer,
and is fully as rare as the dodo. For a shilling down,
sixpence in her money-box, and an American gold dollar
which I happened to find in my pocket, I bought the
creature soul and body. She declared her intention to
accompany me to the ends of the earth; and had to be
chidden by her sire for drawing comparisons between
myself and her uncle William, highly damaging to the
latter.
Pages:
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524