so rapidly in tom s eyes for he saw that she was poor and that this good had sprung up in her from among the sordid of her life that she might have been a very in a minute more if miss had not entered with her mend mr thomas pinch said charity performing the ceremony of introduction with evident pride mr where s my sister gone miss mrs answered she had appointed to be home ah said charity looking at tom oh dear me she s greatly altered since she s been � since she s been married mrs observed my dear said miss in a low voice i verily believe you have said that fifty thousand times in my hearing what a prose you are this was succeeded by some trifling love passages which appeared to with if not to be wholly carried on by miss at any rate mr was much slower in his than is customary with young lovers and exhibited a of spirits which was quite oppressive he did not improve at all when tom and he were in the streets but sighed so that it was dreadful to hear him as a means of cheering him up tom told him that he wished him joy joy cried ha ha wliat an extraordinary young man thought tom the has not set his seal upon you you care what becomes of you said tom admitted that it was a subject in which he certainly felt some interest i don t said mr the elements may have me when they please i m ready tom inferred from these and other expressions of the same nature that he was jealous therefore he allowed him to life and adventures op take his own course which was such a gloomy one that he felt a load removed from his mind when they parted company at the gate of inn it was now a couple of hours past john s and he was walking up and down the room quite anxious for tom s safety the table was spread the wine was carefully and the dinner smelt delicious why tom old boy where on earth have you been your box is here get your boots off instantly and sit down sorry to say i can t stay john replied tom pinch who was breathless with the haste he had made in running up the stairs can t stay if you go on with your dinner said tom i tell you my reason the while i mustn t eat myself or i shall have no appetite for the there are no here my good fellow no but there are at said tom john was perfectly confounded by this reply and vowed he would not touch a morsel until tom had explained himself fully so tom sat down and told him all to which he listened with the greatest interest he knew tom too well and respected his delicacy too much to ask him why he had taken these measures without communicating with him first he quite in the of tom s immediately returning to his sister as he knew so little of the place in which he had left her and good proposed to ride back with him in a cab in which he might convey his box tom s proposition that he should sup with them that night he rejected but made an appointment with him for the morrow and now tom he said as they rode along i have a question to ask you to which i expect a manly and straightforward answer do you want any money i am pretty sure you do i don t indeed said tom i believe you are deceiving me no with many thanks to you i am quite in earnest tom replied my sister has some money and so have i if i had nothing else john i have a five pound note which that good creature mrs of the handed up to me outside the coach in a letter begging me to borrow it and then drove off as hard aa she could go and a blessing on every in her handsome face say i cried john though why you should give her the preference oyer me i don t know never mind i bide my time tom and i hope you ll continue to bide it returned tom gaily for i owe you more already in a hundred other ways than i can ever hope to pay they parted at the door of tom s new residence john sitting in the cab and catching a glimpse of a blooming little busy creature darting out to kiss tom and to help him with his box would not have had the least objection to change places with him well she was a cheerful little thing and had a quaint bright about her that was infinitely pleasant surely she was the best for ever invented the potatoes seemed to take a pleasure in sending up their grateful steam before her the upon the pint of porter to attract her notice but it was all in vain she saw nothing but tom tom was the first and last thing in the world as she sat opposite to tom at supper one of tom s pet tunes upon the table cloth and smiling in his face he had never been so happy in his life and adventures of chapter xiii service in walking from the city with ms sentimental friend tom had looked into the face and brushed against the sleeve of mr man of mystery to the disinterested loan and life company mr naturally passed away from tom s remembrance as he passed out of his view for he didn t know him and had never heard his name a there are a vast number of people in the huge metropolis of england who rise up every morning not knowing where their heads will rest 