“There!” said Mr. Boffin, gloating over them. “There they are, like the four-and-twenty fiddlers⁠—all of a row. Get on your spectacles, Wegg; I know where to find the best of ’em, and we’ll have a taste at once of what we have got before us. What’s your friend’s name?”

Mr. Wegg presented his friend as Mr. Venus.

“Eh?” cried Mr. Boffin, catching at the name. “Of Clerkenwell?”

“Of Clerkenwell, sir,” said Mr. Venus.