coats; and he had
always little legs and a little smile, and a little voice, and little
round-about ways. As long as I can remember him he was always going
little errands for people, and carrying little gossip. At this present
time when he called me "Sophonisba!" he had a little old-fashioned
lodging in that new neighbourhood of mine. I had not seen him for two or
three years, but I had heard that he still went out with a little
perspective-glass and stood on door-steps in Saint James's Street, to see
the nobility go to Court; and went in his little cloak and goloshes
outside Willis's rooms to see them go to Almack's; and caught the
frightfullest colds, and got himself trodden upon by coachmen and
linkmen, until he went home to his landlady a mass of bruises, and had to
be nursed for a month.

Jarber took off his little fur-collared cloak, and sat down opposite me,
with his little cane and hat in his hand.

"Let us have no more Sophonisbaing, if _you_ please, Jarber," I said.
"Call me Sarah. How do you do? I hope you are pretty well."

"Thank you. And you?" said Jarber.

"I am as well as an old woman can expect to be."

Jarber was beginning:

"Say, not old, Sophon--" but I looked at the candlestick, and he left
off; pretending not to have said anything.

"I am infirm, of course," I said, "and so are you. Let us both be
thankful it's no worse."

"Is it possible that you look worried?" said Jarber.

"It is very possible. I have no doubt it is the fact."

"And what has worried my Soph-, soft-hearted friend," said Jarber.

"Something not easy, I suppose, to comprehend. I am worried to death by
a House to Let, over the way."

Jarber went with his little tip-toe step to the window-curtains, peeped
out, and looked round at me.

"Yes," said I, in answer: "that house."

After peeping out again, Jarber came back to his chair with a tender air,
and asked: "How does it worry you, S-arah?"

"It is a mystery to me," said I. "Of course every house _is_ a mystery,
more or less; but, something that I don't care to mention" (for truly the
Eye was so slight a thing to mention that I was more than half ashamed of
it), "has made that House so mysterious to me, and has so fixed it in my
mind, that I have had no peace for a month. I foresee that I shall have
no peace, either, until Trottle comes to me, next Monday."

I might have mentioned before, that there is a lone-standing jealousy
between Trottle and Jarber