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第21章 法官的房子6（第1页）

第21章法官的房子（6）

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"Oh，Iwasallright，"heanswered，smiling，"the'something'didn'tworryme，asyet.Os;andtheyhadacircus，Itellyou，allovertheplace.Therewasonewicked-lookisatuponmyownchairbythefire，andwouldn'tgotillItookthepokertohim，aheropeofthealarmbellandgottosomewhereupthewallortheg—I'tseewhere，itwassodark."

"Merus，"saidMrs.Witham，"anolddevil，andsittingonachairbythefireside!Takecare，sir!takecare!There'smanyatruewordspoke;

"Howdoyoumean?UponmywordIdon'tuand."

"Aheolddevil，perhaps.There!Sir，youlaugh，"forMalsonhadbrokeniypeal."Youyoungfolksthiolaughatthingsthatmakesolderonesshudder.Nevermind，sir!nevermind!PleaseGod，you'lllaughallthetime.It'swhatIwishyoumyself!"andthegoodladybeamedalloverinsympathywithhise，herfearsgoneforamoment.

&quiveme!"saidMalsoly."Don'tthiheideawastoomue—thattheolddevilhimselfwasonthechairlastnight!"Ahelaughedagaihometodinner.

Thiseveningthesganearlier;ihadbeengoingonbeforehisarrival，andohispresesfreshurbedthem.Afterdihefireforawhileandhadasmoke;andthen，haviable，begantoworkasbefhttheratsdisturbedhimmorethantheyhaddohepreviousnight.Hoanddownandunderaheysqueaked，andscratdghey，gettingbrees，outhsoftheirholesandtotheddiesiingtilltheireyesshoinylampsasthefirelightroseaohim，nowdoubtlessaedtothem，theireyeswereheirplayfulouchedhim.Sometimestheboldestofthemmadesalliesoutontheflthemouldi.NowandagaiurbedhimMaladeashteiablewithhishandafierce"Hsh，hsh，"sothattheyfledstraightwaytotheirholes.

AndsotheearlypartofthenightitethenoiseMaloreandmoreimmersedinhiswork.

Allatoopped，asonthepreviousnight，beingoverebyasuddensenseofsilethefaisoundofgnaw，orscratch，orsqueak.Thesilencewasasofthegrave.Herememberedtheoddoceofthepreviousnight，andinstinctivelyhelookedatthedihefireside.Andthenaveryoddsensatiohroughhim.

&hegreatoldhigh-backedcarvedoakchairbesidethefireplacesatthesameenormousrat，steadilyglaringathimwithbalefuleyes.

Iookthehingtohishand，abookoflogarithms，andflungitatit.Thebookwasbadlyaimedadidnainthepokerperformahepreviousnighteated;andagai，beingcloselypursued，fleduptheropeofthealarmbell.Strahedepartureofthisratwasinstantlyfollowedbytherehehegeunity.Onthiso，asonthepreviousone，Malsonotseeatartoftheroomtheratdisappeared，freenshadeofhislamplefttheupperpartoftheroomihefirehadburnedlow.

Onlookingathiswatditwasidnight;and，notsorryforthedivertissement，hemadeuphisfireandmadehimselfhisnightlypotoftea.Hehadgoodspellofwork，andthoughthimselfeoacigarette;ahegreatoakchairbeforethefirea.Whilstsmokihinkthathewouldliketokdisappearedto，forhehadideasforthemorrowirelydisected.Aglyhelitanotherlampahatitwouldshiheright-hahewallbythefireplahegotallthebookshehadwithhim，ahemhandytothrowatthevermin.Fiheropeofthealarmbellaheendofitoable，fixiremeehelamp.Ashehaheothelpnotighowpliableiteciallyfarope，ai;Yougamanwithit，"hethoughttohimself.Wheionsweremadehelookedaround，andsaidplatly，"Therenow，myfriend，Ithinkweshalllearhingofyouthistime!"Hebeganhiswain，andthoughasbeforesomewhatdisturbedatfirstbytheherats，soonlosthimselfinhispropositionsandproblems.