the pickwickians find themselves in the

grasp of the law. the final exposure

of jingle, and a christmas

merrymaking

mr. pickwick was still indoors next morning, when sam, strolling through the town, met, coming[pg 234] from a certain garden-gate, the wily job trotter. job tried at first to disguise himself by making a horrible face, but sam was not to be deceived, and finding this trick vain, the other burst into tears of joy to see him.

job told sam that his master, jingle, had bribed the mistress of the boarding-school to deny to mr. pickwick that she knew him, and had then cruelly deserted the beautiful young lady for a richer one. but this time sam was too wise to believe anything job said.

meanwhile, in the inn, mr. pickwick was giving mr. peter magnus some good advice as to the best method of proposing. the latter finally plucked up his courage, saw the lady, proposed to her, and was accepted. in his gratitude, he insisted on taking mr. pickwick to be introduced to her.

the instant he saw her, however, mr. pickwick uttered an exclamation, and the lady, with a slight scream, hid her face in her hands. she was none other than the owner of the room into which mr. pickwick had intruded the night before.

mr. peter magnus, in astonishment, demanded where and when they had seen each other before. this the lady declared she would not reveal for the world, and mr. pickwick likewise refusing, the other flew into a jealous rage, which ended in his rushing from the room swearing he would challenge mr. pickwick to mortal combat. tupman, winkle and snodgrass being announced at that moment,[pg 235] mr. pickwick joined them, and the middle-aged lady was left alone in a state of terrible alarm.

the longer she thought the more terrified she became at the idea of possible bloodshed and harm to her lover. at length, overcome by dread, and knowing no other way to stop the duel, she hastened to the house of the mayor of the town, a pompous magistrate named nupkins, and begged him to stop the duel. not wishing to make trouble for mr. peter magnus, she declared that the two rioters who threatened to disturb the peace of the town were named pickwick and tupman; these two, nupkins, thinking them cutthroats from london, at once sent men to arrest.

mr. pickwick was just telling his followers the story of his mishap of the night before, when a half-dozen officers burst into the room. boiling with indignation, mr. pickwick had to submit, and the officers put him and tupman into an old sedan-chair and carried them off, followed by winkle and snodgrass and by all the town loafers.

sam weller met the procession and tried to rescue them, but was knocked down and taken prisoner also. so they were all brought to nupkins's house.

the mayor refused to hear a word mr. pickwick said and was about to send them all to jail as desperate characters when sam weller called his master aside and whispered to him that the house they were in was the very one from which[pg 236] he had seen job trotter come, and from this fact he guessed that jingle himself had wormed himself into the good graces of the mayor. at this mr. pickwick asked to have a private talk with nupkins.

this was grudgingly granted and in a few moments mr. pickwick had learned that jingle, calling himself "captain fitz-marshall," had imposed so well on the pompous mayor that the latter's wife and daughter had introduced him everywhere and he himself had boasted to everybody of his acquaintance.

it was nupkins's turn to feel humble when mr. pickwick told him jingle's real character. he was terribly afraid the story would get out and that the town would laugh at him, so he became all at once tremendously polite, declared their arrest had been all a mistake and begged the pickwickians to make themselves at home. sam weller was sent down to the kitchen to get his dinner, where he met a pretty housemaid named mary, with whom he proceeded to fall very much in love for the first time in his life.

jingle and job walked into the trap a little later, not expecting the kind of reception they were to find there. but even before the combined scorn of nupkins, mrs. nupkins, miss nupkins and the pickwickians, jingle showed a brazen front. he knew pride would prevent the mayor from exposing him, and when finally shown the door, he left[pg 237] with a mocking jeer, followed by the chuckling job.

in spite of his own troubles mr. pickwick left ipswich comforted by the defeat of jingle. as for sam, he kissed the pretty housemaid behind the door and they parted with mutual regrets.

to atone for these difficult adventures, the pickwickians prepared for a long visit to dingley dell, where they spent an old-fashioned merry christmas; where they found the fat boy even fatter and mr. wardle even jollier; where tupman was not saddened by the sight of his lost love, the spinster aunt, who had been sent to live with another relative; where snodgrass came more than ever to admire emily, the pretty daughter; where winkle fell head over ears in love with a black-eyed young lady visitor named arabella allen, who wore a nice little pair of boots with fur around the top; where they went skating and mr. pickwick broke through, and had to be carried home and put to bed; where they hung mistletoe and told stories, and altogether enjoyed themselves in a hundred ways.

ben allen, arabella's brother, reached dingley dell on christmas day—a thick-set, mildewy young man, with short black hair, a long white face and spectacles. he was a medical student, and brought with him his chum, bob sawyer, a slovenly, smart, swaggering young gentleman, who smelled strongly of tobacco smoke and looked[pg 238] like a dissipated robinson crusoe. ben intended that his chum should marry his sister arabella, and bob sawyer paid her so much attention that winkle began to hate him on the spot.

the christmas merrymaking was all too soon over, and as mrs. bardell's lawsuit against mr. pickwick was shortly to be tried, the pickwickians returned regretfully to the city.