"No," said the old gentleman; "the warehousing, the warehousing.

First, over yonder;" he appeared to mean up the chimney, but I

believe he intended to refer me to Liverpool; "and then in the City

of London here. However, having an infirmity - for I am hard of

hearing, sir--"

I expressed in pantomime the greatest astonishment.

" - Yes, hard of hearing; having that infirmity coming upon me, my

son he went into the Law, and he took charge of me, and he by

little and little made out this elegant and beautiful property. But

returning to what you said, you know," pursued the old man, again

laughing heartily, "what I say is, No to be sure; you're right."

I was modestly wondering whether my utmost ingenuity would have

enabled me to say anything that would have amused him half as much

as this imaginary pleasantry, when I was startled by a sudden click

in the wall on one side of the chimney, and the ghostly tumbling

open of a little wooden flap with "JOHN" upon it. The old man,

following my eyes, cried with great triumph, "My son's come home!"

and we both went out to the drawbridge.

It was worth any money to see Wemmick waving a salute to me from

the other side of the moat, when we might have shaken hands across

it with the greatest ease. The Aged was so delighted to work the

drawbridge, that I made no offer to assist him, but stood quiet

until Wemmick had come across, and had presented me to Miss

Skiffins: a lady by whom he was accompanied.

Miss Skiffins was of a wooden appearance, and was, like her escort,

in the post-office branch of the service. She might have been some

two or three years younger than Wemmick, and I judged her to stand

possessed of portable property. The cut of her dress from the waist

upward, both before and behind, made her figure very like a boy's

kite; and I might have pronounced her gown a little too decidedly

orange, and her gloves a little too intensely green. But she seemed

to be a good sort of fellow, and showed a high regard for the Aged.

I was not long in discovering that she was a frequent visitor at

the Castle; for, on our going in, and my complimenting Wemmick on

his ingenious contrivance for announcing himself to the Aged, he

begged me to give my attention for a moment to the other side of

the chimney, and disappeared. Presently another click came, and

another little door tumbled open with "Miss Skiffins" on it; then

Miss Skiffins shut up and John tumbled open; then Miss Skiffins and

John both tumbled open together, and finally shut up together. On

Wemmick's return from working these mechanical appliances, I

expressed the great admiration with which I regarded them, and he

said, "Well, you know, they're both pleasant and useful to the

Aged. And by George, sir, it's a thing worth mentioning, that of

all the people who come to this gate, the secret of those pulls is

only known to the Aged, Miss Skiffins, and me!"

"And Mr. Wemmick made them," added Miss Skiffins, "with his own

hands out of his own head."

While Miss Skiffins was taking off her bonnet (she retained her

green gloves during the evening as an outward and visible sign that

there was company), Wemmick invited me to take a walk with him

round the property, and see how the island looked in wintertime.

Thinking that he did this to give me an opportunity of taking his

Walworth sentiments, I seized the opportunity as soon as we were

out of the Castle.

Having thought of the matter with care, I approached my subject as

if I had never hinted at it before. I informed Wemmick that I was

anxious in behalf of Herbert Pocket, and I told him how we had

first met, and how we had fought. I glanced at Herbert's home, and

at his character, and at his having no means but such as he was

dependent on his father for: those, uncertain and unpunctual.

I alluded to the advantages I had derived in my first rawness and

ignorance from his society, and I confessed that I feared I had but

ill repaid them, and that he might have done better without me and

my expectations.