his own exclusive account;) and had brought with him, for the
edification of Titmouse, a copy of that day's _Sunday Flash_, which
contained a long account of a bloody fight between Birmingham Bigbones
and London Littlego, for L500 a-side, (sixty rounds had been fought,
both men killed, and their seconds had bolted to Boulogne.) Poor Snap,
however, though he had come with the best intentions, and the most
anxious wish to evince profound respect for the future master of ten
thousand a-year, was quite taken by storm by the very first glimpse he
got of Titmouse, and could not for a long while recover himself. He had
come to ask Titmouse to dine with him at a tavern in the Strand, where
there was to be capital singing in the evening; and also to accompany
him, on the ensuing morning, to the Old Bailey, to hear "a most
interesting trial" for bigamy, in which Snap was concerned for the
prisoner--a miscreant, who had been married to five living women!! Snap
conceived (and very justly) that it would give Titmouse a striking idea
of his (Snap's) importance, to see him so much, and apparently so
familiarly concerned with well-known counsel. In his own terse and
quaint way, he was explaining to Titmouse the various remedies he had
against the Bond Street impostor, both by indictment and action on the
case, nay, (getting a little, however, beyond his depth,) he assured the
eager Titmouse, that a bill of discovery would lie in equity, to
ascertain what the Tetaragmenon Abracadabra was composed of, with a view
to his preferring an indictment against its owner, when his learned
display was interrupted by a double knock, and--oh, mercy on us!--enter
Mr. Gammon. Whether he or Snap felt more disconcerted, I cannot say; but
Snap _looked_ the most confused and sneaking. Each told the other a lie,
in as easy, good-natured a way as he could assume, concerning the object
of his visit to Titmouse. Thus they were going on, when--another
knock--and, "Is this Mr. Titmouse's?" inquired a voice, which brought a
little color into the face of both Gammon and Snap; for it was
absolutely old Quirk, who bustled breathless into the room, on his first
visit, and seemed completely confounded by the sight of both his
partners. What with this, and the amazing appearance presented by
Titmouse, Mr. Quirk was so overwhelmed that he scarce spoke a syllable.
Each of the three partners felt (in his own way) exquisite
embarrassment. Huckaback, some time afterwards, ma
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