nd his spirit, and his
knowledge of life into the bargain, reclined his head upon the table,
and howled dismally.

Very much satisfied with this sudden bringing down of the youth's
valour, and this effectual lowering of his tone, Mr. Pickwick rang the
bell, and was shown, at his own request, into a private room furnished
with a carpet, table, chairs, sideboard and sofa, and ornamented with
a looking-glass, and various old prints. Here he had the advantage of
hearing Mrs. Namby's performance on a square piano overhead, while the
breakfast was getting ready; when it came, Mr. Perker came too.

'Aha, my dear sir,' said the little man, 'nailed at last, eh? Come,
come, I'm not sorry for it either, because now you'll see the absurdity
of this conduct. I've noted down the amount of the taxed costs and
damages for which the ca-sa was issued, and we had better settle at once
and lose no time. Namby is come home by this time, I dare say. What say
you, my dear sir? Shall I draw a cheque, or will you?' The little
man rubbed his hands with affected cheerfulness as he said this, but
glancing at Mr. Pickwick's countenance, could not forbear at the same
time casting a desponding look towards Sam Weller.

'Perker,' said Mr. Pickwick, 'let me hear no more of this, I beg. I see
no advantage in staying here, so I Shall go to prison to-night.'

'You can't go to Whitecross Street, my dear Sir,' said Perker.
'Impossible! There are sixty beds in a ward; and the bolt's on, sixteen
hours out of the four-and-twenty.'

'I would rather go to some other place of confinement if I can,' said
Mr. Pickwick. 'If not, I must make the best I can of that.'

'You can go to the Fleet, my dear Sir, if you're determined to go
somewhere,' said Perker.

'That'll do,' said Mr. Pickwick. 'I'll go there directly I have finished
my breakfast.'

'Stop, stop, my dear Sir; not the least occasion for being in such a
violent hurry to get into a place that most other men are as eager to
get out of,' said the good-natured little attorney. 'We must have a
habeas-corpus. There'll be no judge at chambers till four o'clock this
afternoon. You must wait till then.'

'Very good,' said Mr. Pickwick, with unmoved patience. 'Then we will
have a chop here, at two. See about it, Sam, and tell them to be
punctual.'

Mr. Pickwick remaining firm, despite all the remonstrances and arguments
of Perker, the chops appeared and disappeared in due course; he was then
put into anot