culty of any interference,
notwithstanding that the old man had appealed to me, both by words and
looks--made the best feint I could of being occupied in examining some
of the goods that were disposed for sale, and paying very little
attention to a person before me.

The silence was not of long duration, for Mr Swiveller, after favouring
us with several melodious assurances that his heart was in the
Highlands, and that he wanted but his Arab steed as a preliminary to
the achievement of great feats of valour and loyalty, removed his eyes
from the ceiling and subsided into prose again.

'Fred,' said Mr Swiveller stopping short, as if the idea had suddenly
occurred to him, and speaking in the same audible whisper as before,
'is the old min friendly?'

'What does it matter?' returned his friend peevishly.

'No, but IS he?' said Dick.

'Yes, of course. What do I care whether he is or not?'

Emboldened as it seemed by this reply to enter into a more general
conversation, Mr Swiveller plainly laid himself out to captivate our
attention.

He began by remarking that soda-water, though a good thing in the
abstract, was apt to lie cold upon the stomach unless qualified with
ginger, or a small infusion of brandy, which latter article he held to
be preferable in all cases, saving for the one consideration of
expense. Nobody venturing to dispute these positions, he proceeded to
observe that the human hair was a great retainer of tobacco-smoke, and
that the young gentlemen of Westminster and Eton, after eating vast
quantities of apples to conceal any scent of cigars from their anxious
friends, were usually detected in consequence of their heads possessing
this remarkable property; when he concluded that if the Royal Society
would turn their attention to the circumstance, and endeavour to find
in the resources of science a means of preventing such untoward
revelations, they might indeed be looked upon as benefactors to
mankind. These opinions being equally incontrovertible with those he
had already pronounced, he went on to inform us that Jamaica rum,
though unquestionably an agreeable spirit of great richness and
flavour, had the drawback of remaining constantly present to the taste
next day; and nobody being venturous enough to argue this point either,
he increased in confidence and became yet more companionable and
communicative.

'It's a devil of a thing, gentlemen,' said Mr Swiveller, 'when
relations fall out and disagr