“Pooh, pooh, my dear Sir,” said the little man, untying the bundle, and glancing eagerly at Mr. Pickwick out of the corners of his eyes. “It must be mentioned. I have come here on purpose. Now, are you ready to hear what I have to say, my dear Sir? No hurry; if you are not, I can wait. I have this morning’s paper here. Your time shall be mine. There!” Hereupon, the little man threw one leg over the other, and made a show of beginning to read with great composure and application.

“Well, well,” said Mr. Pickwick, with a sigh, but softening into a smile at the same time. “Say what you have to say; it’s the old story, I suppose?”

“With a difference, my dear Sir; with a difference,” rejoined Perker, deliberately folding up the paper and putting it into his pocket again. “ Mrs. Bardell, the plaintiff in the action, is within these walls, Sir.”