red him an invitation to the
dinner that followed the match. There Jingle made good use of his time
in eating and drinking, and at midnight was heard leading with great
effect the chorus:

"We won't go home till morning."

Meanwhile, the romantic Tupman at Dingley Dell had been free to woo the
middle-aged spinster. This he did with such success that when evening
came, he and she sat together in a vine-covered arbor in the garden like
a pair of carefully folded kid gloves--bound up in each other. He had
just printed a kiss on her lips when both looked up to see the fat boy,
perfectly motionless, staring into the arbor.

"Supper's ready," said the fat boy, and his look was so blank that they
both concluded he must have been asleep and had seen nothing.

It was long past midnight when a tremendous noise told that the absent
ones had returned. All rushed to the kitchen, where Jingle's voice was
heard crying: "Cricket dinner--glorious party--capital songs--very
good--wine ma'am--wine!" Mr. Pickwick, Snodgrass and Winkle went to bed,
but the talkative Jingle remained with the ladies and before they
retired had made Tupman almost mad with jealousy by his attentions to
the spinster aunt, who showed herself greatly pleased with his
politeness.

Now the fat boy, for once in his life, had not been asleep when he had
announced supper that evening. He had seen Tupman's love-making, and
took the first occasion to tell the deaf old lady, as she sat in the
garden arbor next morning. He was obliged to shout it in her ear, and
thus the whole story was overheard by Jingle, who happened to be near.

The deceitful Jingle saw in this a chance to benefit himself. The
spinster, he thought, had money; what could he better do than turn her
against Tupman, and marry her himself? With this plan he went to Tupman,
recited what the fat boy had told, and advised him, for a time, in order
to throw off the suspicions of the old lady and of Mr. Wardle, to pay
special attention to one of the younger daughters and to pretend to care
nothing for the spinster. He told Tupman that the latter herself had
made this plan and wished him to carry it out for her sake. Tupman,
thinking it the wish of his lady-love, did this with such success that
the old lady concluded the fat boy must have been dreaming.

The spinster, however, thought Tupman false, and Jingle used the next
few days to make such violent love to her that the silly creature
believed him,