第157章

Thiswasconfirmedwithcriesof’Certainly，’and’Hear!’

’ButItellyou，goodpeople——Casby!Thismoundofmeekness，thislumpoflove，thisbottle-greensmiler，thisisyourdriver!’saidPancks。’Ifyouwanttoseethemanwhowouldflayyoualive——hereheis!Don’tlookforhiminme，atthirtyshillingsaweek，butlookforhiminCasby，atIdon’tknowhowmuchayear!’

’Good!’criedseveralvoices。’HearMrPancks!’

’HearMrPancks？’criedthatgentleman(afterrepeatingthepopularperformance)。’Yes，Ishouldthinkso!It’salmosttimetohearMrPancks。MrPanckshascomedownintotheYardto-nightonpurposethatyoushouldhearhim。PancksisonlytheWorks；buthere’stheWinder!’

TheaudiencewouldhavegoneovertoMrPancks，asoneman，woman，andchild，butforthelong，grey，silkenlocks，andthebroad-

brimmedhat。

’Here’stheStop，’saidPancks，’thatsetsthetunetobeground。

Andthereisbutonetune，anditsnameisGrind，Grind，Grind!

Here’stheProprietor，andhere’shisGrubber。Why，goodpeople，whenhecomessmoothlyspinningthroughtheYardto-night，likeaslow-goingbenevolentHumming-Top，andwhenyoucomeabouthimwithyourcomplaintsoftheGrubber，youdon’tknowwhatacheattheProprietoris!Whatdoyouthinkofhisshowinghimselfto-night，thatImayhavealltheblameonMonday？Whatdoyouthinkofhishavinghadmeoverthecoalsthisveryevening，becauseIdon’tsqueezeyouenough？Whatdoyouthinkofmybeing，atthepresentmoment，underspecialorderstosqueezeyoudryonMonday？’

Thereplywasgiveninamurmurof’Shame!’and’Shabby!’

’Shabby？’snortedPancks。’Yes，Ishouldthinkso!ThelotthatyourCasbybelongsto，istheshabbiestofallthelots。SettingtheirGrubberson，atawretchedpittance，todowhatthey’reashamedandafraidtodoandpretendnottodo，butwhattheywillhavedone，orgiveamannorest!ImposingonyoutogivetheirGrubbersnothingbutblame，andtogivethemnothingbutcredit!

Why，theworst-lookingcheatinallthistownwhogetsthevalueofeighteenpenceunderfalsepretences，an’thalfsuchacheatasthissign-postofTheCasby’sHeadhere!’

Criesof’That’strue!’and’Nomorehean’t!’

’Andseewhatyougetofthesefellows，besides，’saidPancks’’SeewhatmoreyougetofthesepreciousHumming-Tops，revolvingamongyouwithsuchsmoothnessthatyou’venoideaofthepatternpaintedon’em，orthelittlewindowin’em。Iwishtocallyourattentiontomyselfforamoment。Ian’tanagreeablestyleofchap，Iknowthatverywell。’

Theauditoryweredividedonthispoint；itsmoreuncompromisingmemberscrying，’No，youarenot，’anditspolitermaterials，’Yes，youare。’

’Iam，ingeneral，’saidMrPancks，’adry，uncomfortable，drearyPlodderandGrubber。That’syourhumbleservant。There’shisfull-lengthportrait，paintedbyhimselfandpresentedtoyou，warrantedalikeness!Butwhat’samantobe，withsuchamanasthisforhisProprietor？Whatcanbeexpectedofhim？Didanybodyeverfindboiledmuttonandcaper-saucegrowinginacocoa-nut？’

NoneoftheBleedingHeartseverhad，itwasclearfromthealacrityoftheirresponse。

’Well，’saidMrPancks，’andneitherwillyoufindinGrubberslikemyself，underProprietorslikethis，pleasantqualities。I’vebeenaGrubberfromaboy。Whathasmylifebeen？Fagandgrind，fagandgrind，turnthewheel，turnthewheel!Ihaven’tbeenagreeabletomyself，andIhaven’tbeenlikelytobeagreeabletoanybodyelse。IfIwasashillingaweeklessusefulintenyears’

time，thisimpostorwouldgivemeashillingaweekless；ifasusefulamancouldbegotatsixpencecheaper，hewouldbetakeninmyplaceatsixpencecheaper。Bargainandsale，blessyou!Fixedprinciples!It’samightyfinesign-post，isTheCasby’sHead，’

saidMrPancks，surveyingitwithanythingratherthanadmiration；

’buttherealnameoftheHouseistheSham’sArms。Itsmottois，KeeptheGrubberalwaysatit。Isanygentlemanpresent，’saidMrPancks，breakingoffandlookinground，’acquaintedwiththeEnglishGrammar？’

BleedingHeartYardwasshyofclaimingthatacquaintance。

’It’snomatter，’saidMrPancks，’ImerelywishtoremarkthatthetaskthisProprietorhassetme，hasbeennevertoleaveoffconjugatingtheImperativeMoodPresentTenseoftheverbTokeepalwaysatit。Keepthoualwaysatit。Lethimkeepalwaysatit。

Keepweordowekeepalwaysatit。Keepyeordoyeoryoukeepalwaysatit。Letthemkeepalwaysatit。HereisyourbenevolentPatriarchofaCasby，andthereishisgoldenrule。Heisuncommonlyimprovingtolookat，andIamnotatallso。Heisassweetashoney，andIamasdullasditch-water。Heprovidesthepitch，andIhandleit，anditstickstome。Now，’saidMrPancks，closinguponhislateProprietoragain，fromwhomhehadwithdrawnalittleforthebetterdisplayofhimtotheYard；’asIamnotaccustomedtospeakinpublic，andasIhavemadearatherlengthyspeech，allcircumstancesconsidered，Ishallbringmyobservationstoaclosebyrequestingyoutogetoutofthis。’

TheLastofthePatriarchshadbeensoseizedbyassault，andrequiredsomuchroomtocatchanideain，ansomuchmoreroomtoturnitin，thathehadnotawordtoofferinreply。HeappearedtobemeditatingsomePatriarchalwayoutofhisdelicateposition，whenMrPancks，oncemoresuddenlyapplyingthetriggertohishat，shotitoffagainwithhisformerdexterity。Ontheprecedingoccasion，oneortwooftheBleedingHeartYardershadobsequiouslypickeditupandhandedittoitsowner；butMrPanckshadnowsofarimpressedhisaudience，thatthePatriarchhadtoturnandstoopforithimself。

Quickaslightning，MrPancks，who，forsomemoments，hadhadhisrighthandinhiscoatpocket，whippedoutapairofshears，swoopeduponthePatriarchbehind，andsnippedoffshortthesacredlocksthatfloweduponhisshoulders。Inaparoxysmofanimosityandrapidity，MrPancksthencaughtthebroad-brimmedhatoutoftheastoundedPatriarc