the dwarf, getting up with a
short groan, 'was it?'

'Yes, I am the man,' replied Dick. 'That lady had begun when I came,
but she knocked too soft, so I relieved her.' As he said this, he
pointed towards Mrs Quilp, who stood trembling at a little distance.

'Humph!' muttered the dwarf, darting an angry look at his wife, 'I
thought it was your fault! And you, sir--don't you know there has been
somebody ill here, that you knock as if you'd beat the door down?'

'Damme!' answered Dick, 'that's why I did it. I thought there was
somebody dead here.'

'You came for some purpose, I suppose,' said Quilp. 'What is it you
want?'

'I want to know how the old gentleman is,' rejoined Mr Swiveller, 'and
to hear from Nell herself, with whom I should like to have a little
talk. I'm a friend of the family, sir--at least I'm the friend of one
of the family, and that's the same thing.'

'You'd better walk in then,' said the dwarf. 'Go on, sir, go on. Now,
Mrs Quilp--after you, ma'am.'

Mrs Quilp hesitated, but Mr Quilp insisted. And it was not a contest
of politeness, or by any means a matter of form, for she knew very well
that her husband wished to enter the house in this order, that he might
have a favourable opportunity of inflicting a few pinches on her arms,
which were seldom free from impressions of his fingers in black and
blue colours. Mr Swiveller, who was not in the secret, was a little
surprised to hear a suppressed scream, and, looking round, to see Mrs
Quilp following him with a sudden jerk; but he did not remark on these
appearances, and soon forgot them.

'Now, Mrs Quilp,' said the dwarf when they had entered the shop, 'go
you up stairs, if you please, to Nelly's room, and tell her that she's
wanted.'

'You seem to make yourself at home here,' said Dick, who was
unacquainted with Mr Quilp's authority.

'I AM at home, young gentleman,' returned the dwarf.

Dick was pondering what these words might mean, and still more what the
presence of Mr Brass might mean, when Mrs Quilp came hurrying down
stairs, declaring that the rooms above were empty.

'Empty, you fool!' said the dwarf.

'I give you my word, Quilp,' answered his trembling wife, 'that I have
been into every room and there's not a soul in any of them.'

'And that,' said Mr Brass, clapping his hands once, with an emphasis,
'explains the mystery of the key!'

Quilp looked frowningly at him, and frowningly at his wife, and
frowningly at Rich