this game thought in a brown study for the last two or three weeks i never saw my father take so much notice of him as he has in that time what you re hunting are you eh but was as little conscious of the thought as of the bodily advance of mr s clenched fist hovered fondly about his ear when he had at to his heart s content took the candle from the table and walking into the glass office produced a bunch of keys from his pocket with one of these he opened a secret drawer in the desk peeping stealthily out as he did so to be certain that the two old men were still before the fire all as right as ever said the lid of the desk open with his forehead and a paper here s the will thirty pound a year jar your old boy and all the rest to his only son you needn t trouble to be too affectionate you won t get anything by it what s that it was startling certainly a face on the other side of the glass looking curiously in and not at him but at the pa per in his hand for the eyes were attentively cast down upon the writing and were raised when he cried out then they met his own and were as the eyes of mr suffering the lid of the desk to fall with a loud noise but not forgetting even then to lock it pale and breathless gazed upon this phantom it moved opened the door and walked in what s the matter cried falling back who is it where do you come from what do you want matter cried the voice of mr as in the flesh smiled upon him the matter mr what are you and peering about here for said angrily what do you mean by coming up to town in this way and taking one unawares it s precious odd a man can t read the � the newspaper � in his own office without being startled out of his wits by people coming in without notice why didn t you knock at the door so i did mr answered but no one heard me i was curious he added in his gentle way as he laid his hand upon the young man s shoulder to find out what part of the newspaper interested you so much but the glass was too dim and dirty glanced iq haste at the well it wasn t dean so he spoke the truth was it poetry now said mr the forefinger of his right hand with an air of cheerful or was it politics or was it the price of stocks the main chance mr the main chance i suspect you ain t far from the truth answered recovering himself and the candle but how the deuce do you come to be in london again it s enough to make a man stare to see a fellow looking at him all of a sudden who he thought was sixty or seventy mile away so it is said mr no doubt of it my dear mr for while the human is constituted as it is � oh bother the human mind interrupted with impatience what have you come up for a little matter of business said mr which has arisen quite unexpectedly oh cried is that all weu here s father in the next room father here s he gets more every day he lives i do believe muttered shaking his honour parent don t i tell you s here stupid head the combined effects of the shaking and this loving remonstrance soon awoke the old man who gave mr a welcome which was iq part to his being glad to see that gentleman and in part to his delight in the recollection of having called him a and of as mr had not yet taken tea indeed he had but an hour before arrived in london the remains of the late with a of bacon were served up for his entertainment and as mr had a business appointment in the next street he stepped out to keep it promising to return before mr could finish his and now my good sir said mr to now that we are alone pray tell me what i can do for you i say alone because i believe that our dear mend mr is speaking a � shall i say a asked with his sweetest smile and his head very much on one side he neither hears us replied nor sees us why then said mr i will be bold to say with the utmost sympathy for his and the greatest admiration of those excellent qualities which do equal honour to his head and to his heart that he is what is termed a you were going to observe my dear sir � i� i was not going to make any observation that i know of replied the old man i was said mr mildly oh you were what was it that i never said mr previously rising to see that the door was shut and arranging his chair when he came back so that it could not be opened in the least without his immediately becoming aware of the circumstance that i never in my life was so astonished as by the receipt of your letter yesterday that you should do me the honour to wish to take with me on any matter amazed me but that you should desire to do so to the even of mr showed an amount of confidence in one to whom you had done a verbal injury � merely a verbal injury you were anxious to repair � which which moved which overcame me he was always a speaker but he delivered this short address veiy been at some pains to compose it outside the 