“I beg your pardon, Mr. Pickwick,” said Mr. Peter Magnus, “but I am naturally rather curious; what may you have come down here for?”

“On a far less pleasant errand, Sir,” replied Mr. Pickwick, the colour mounting to his face at the recollection. “I have come down here, Sir, to expose the treachery and falsehood of an individual, upon whose truth and honour I placed implicit reliance.”