“Page a hundred and nine, Mr. Boffin. Chapter eight. Contents of chapter, ‘His birth and estate. His garments and outward appearance. Miss Dancer and her feminine graces. The Miser’s Mansion. The finding of a treasure. The Story of the Mutton Pies. A Miser’s Idea of Death. Bob, the Miser’s cur. Griffiths and his Master. How to turn a penny. A substitute for a Fire. The Advantages of keeping a Snuffbox. The Miser dies without a Shirt. The Treasures of a Dunghill⁠—”

“Eh? What’s that?” demanded Mr. Boffin.

“ ‘The Treasures,’ sir,” repeated Silas, reading very distinctly, “ ‘of a Dunghill.’ Mr. Venus, sir, would you obleege with the snuffers?” This, to secure attention to his adding with his lips only, “Mounds!”