Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-08-28
Reappearance of Mr.. pickwick.

brisk, bustling, active little man
for he is, as it were, chubby all over,
without being stout or unwieldy-l
but yesterday his alscrlty was so
very uncommon that 1T quite took |
me by surprise. For could fail to |
observe when he came up to me,
that his gray eyes were twinkling in |
a most extraordinary manner, that
his little red nose was in an unusual
glow, that every line in his round,
bright face was twisted and curved
into an expression of pleased sur
prise, and that his whole counte-
nance was radiant with glee. was
still more surprised to see my house
keeper, who usually preserves very
staid air, and stands somewhat upon
her dignity, peeping round the hedge
at the bottom of the walk, and ex-|
changing mods and smiles with the
barber, who twice or thrice looked
over his shoulder for that purpose. /
could conceive no announcement to
which these appearances could be
the prelude, unless it were that they
had married each other that morn
ing.
I was, consequently, little disap-
pointed when it only came out that
there was gentleman in the house
| who wishes to speak with me.
land who is it ?" said 1.
The barber, with his face screwed
up still tighter than before, replied
| that the gentleman would not send
| his name, but wished to see me. /
| pondered for moment, wondering,
who this visitor might be, and / re-
marked that he embraced the OPP
portunity of eXchanging another nod
xx-l In hn 90,
fingered in the distance.
| "Weli =" said 1,"bid the gentleman
come here"
| This seemed to be the comsumma-
ton of the BARRIERS hopes, for he
turned sharp round, and actually
ran away.
Now, my sight IS not very good at
a distance, and therefore when the
gentleman first appeared inthe walk
] was not quite clear whether he
was stranger to me or otherwise.
He was an elderly gentleman, but
came tripping along in the pleasant
est manner conceivable, avoiding
| the garden-roller and the borders
of the beds with inimitable deXteri-
| ty, picking his way among the flow
er-pots, and smiling with unspeak-
able good-humor. Before he was
halfway up the walk he began to
salute me then / thought l knew
| him but when he came towards me
with his hat in his hand, the sun
shining on his bald head, his bland
face, his bright spectacles, his fawn-
colored tights, and his black CATERS
then, my heart warmed towards
him, and L felt quite certain that it
was Mr.. Pickwick.
"My dear sir, said that gentle
man as / rose to receive him, "pray
be seated. Pray sit down, do not
stand on my account. L must insist
upon it, really" With these words
Mr.. Pickwick gently pressed me
hand in his, shook it again and
again with warmth of manner per-
fectly irresistible. l endeavored to
express in my welcome something
of that heartiness and pleasure which
the sight of him awakened, and
made him sit down beside me. All
this time he kept alternately releas-
ing my hand and grasping it again,
and surveying me through his spec
tacles with such a beaming counte-
nance as L never beheld.
"You knew me directly ~ said Mr..
Pick wick. "What a pleasure it is to
think that you knew me directly ~
| remarked that / had read his
adventures very often, and his fea-
lures were quite familiar to me from
the published portraits. AS / thought
it good opportunity of adverting
to the circumstance, [ condOled with
him upon the various libels on his
character which had found their way
into print. Mr.. Pickwick shook Ms
:. pI
indignant, but smiling again direct
ly, added that no doubt | was ac-
quainted with Cervantes' introduce
ton to the second part of Don Quix-
ote, and that it fully expressed his
sentiments on the subject.
but now" said Mr.. Pickwick,
"don'tyou wonder how L found you
out ,"
81 should never wonder, and with
your good leave, never know said
/, smiling in my turn. at is
enough for me that you give me
this qualification. i have not the
least desire that you should tell me
by what means | have obtained it,"
1Ou are very kind" returned
Mr.. Pickwick, shaking me by the
hand again you are so exactly
what L expected ! But for what
par aituIaI pm poSt 10 you lninh Il
have sought you, my dear sir? Now,
what do you think have come for?"
Mr.. PickVlck put this question as
though he were persuaded that it
was morally impossible that / could
by any means divine the deep pur-
pose of his visit, and that 1t must
be hidden from all human ken.
Therefore, although [ was reioiced
To think that | had anticipated his
drift, L feigned to be quite ignorant
OF 1t, and after a brief consideration
shook my head despairingly-
"What should you say" said Mr..
Pickwick, laying the fore-finger of
his left hand upon my coat-sleeve,
and looked at me with his head
side what should you say if /
confessed that after reading your ac-
count of yourself and your little So
ciety, l had come here, a humble
candidate for one of those empty
chairs >"
Il should say" returned, "that
which could still further endear that
little society to me, and that would
be the associsting with it my old
friend-for you must let me call you
sony old friend, Mr.. Pickwick.n
AS l made him this answer every
feature of Mr.. Pickwick s face fused
itselfinto one all-pervading express
sion of delight, After shaking me
heartily by bothhands at once, he pat
ted me gently on the back, and then
i well understood why-colored
up to the eyes, and hoI ID with great
nS ha haI