"Joe, how are you, Joe?"

"Pip, how AIR you, Pip?"

With his good honest face all glowing and shining, and his hat put

down on the floor between us, he caught both my hands and worked

them straight up and down, as if I had been the lastpatented Pump.

"I am glad to see you, Joe. Give me your hat."

But Joe, taking it up carefully with both hands, like a bird's-nest

with eggs in it, wouldn't hear of parting with that piece of

property, and persisted in standing talking over it in a most

uncomfortable way.

"Which you have that growed," said Joe, "and that swelled, and that

gentle-folked;" Joe considered a little before he discovered this

word; "as to be sure you are a honour to your king and country."

"And you, Joe, look wonderfully well."

"Thank God," said Joe, "I'm ekerval to most. And your sister, she's

no worse than she were. And Biddy, she's ever right and ready. And

all friends is no backerder, if not no forarder. 'Ceptin Wopsle;

he's had a drop."

All this time (still with both hands taking great care of the

bird's-nest), Joe was rolling his eyes round and round the room,

and round and round the flowered pattern of my dressing-gown.

"Had a drop, Joe?"

"Why yes," said Joe, lowering his voice, "he's left the Church, and

went into the playacting. Which the playacting have likeways

brought him to London along with me. And his wish were," said Joe,

getting the bird's-nest under his left arm for the moment and

groping in it for an egg with his right; "if no offence, as I would

'and you that."

I took what Joe gave me, and found it to be the crumpled playbill

of a small metropolitan theatre, announcing the first appearance,

in that very week, of "the celebrated Provincial Amateur of Roscian

renown, whose unique performance in the highest tragic walk of our

National Bard has lately occasioned so great a sensation in local

dramatic circles."

"Were you at his performance, Joe?" I inquired.

"I were," said Joe, with emphasis and solemnity.

"Was there a great sensation?"

"Why," said Joe, "yes, there certainly were a peck of orange-peel.

Partickler, when he see the ghost. Though I put it to yourself,

sir, whether it were calc'lated to keep a man up to his work with a

good hart, to be continiwally cutting in betwixt him and the Ghost

with "Amen!" A man may have had a misfortun' and been in the

Church," said Joe, lowering his voice to an argumentative and

feeling tone, "but that is no reason why you should put him out at

such a time. Which I meantersay, if the ghost of a man's own father

cannot be allowed to claim his attention, what can, Sir? Still

more, when his mourning "at is unfortunately made so small as that

the weight of the black feathers brings it off, try to keep it on

how you may."

A ghost-seeing effect in Joe's own countenance informed me that

Herbert had entered the room. So, I presented Joe to Herbert, who

held out his hand; but Joe backed from it, and held on by the

bird's-nest.

"Your servant, Sir," said Joe, "which I hope as you and Pip" - here

his eye fell on the Avenger, who was putting some toast on table,

and so plainly denoted an intention to make that young gentleman

one of the family, that I frowned it down and confused him more -

"I meantersay, you two gentlemen - which I hope as you get your

elths in this close spot? For the present may be a werry good inn,

according to London opinions," said Joe, confidentially, "and I

believe its character do stand i; but I wouldn't keep a pig in it

myself - not in the case that I wished him to fatten wholesome and

to eat with a meller flavour on him."

Having borne this flattering testimony to the merits of our

dwelling-place, and having incidentally shown this tendency to call

me "sir," Joe, being invited to sit down to table, looked all round

the room for a suitable spot on which to deposit his hat - as if it

were only on some very few rare substances in nature that it could

find a resting place - and ultimately stood it on an extreme corner

of the chimney-piece, from which it ever afterwards fell off at

intervals.