"Ah, well, good-bye, good-bye; that's all I want to know."

Mr. Jollyboy rose, and hurrying through the village, tapped at the
cottage door, and was soon closeted with Mrs. Dorothy Grumbit. In the
course of half an hour, Mr. Jollyboy drew from Mrs. Grumbit as much about
her private affairs as he could, without appearing rude. But he found the
old lady very close and sensitive on that point. Not so, however, when he
got her upon the subject of her nephew. She had enough, and more than
enough, to say about him. It is true she began by remarking, sadly, that
he was a very bad boy; but, as she continued to talk about him, she
somehow or other gave her visitor the impression that he was a very
_good_ boy! They had a wonderfully long and confidential talk about
Martin, during which Mr. Jollyboy struck Mrs. Grumbit nearly dumb with
horror by stating positively what he would do for the boy,--he would send
him to sea! Then, seeing that he had hit the wrongest possible nail on
the head, he said that he would make the lad a clerk in his office, where
he would be sure to rise to a place of trust; whereat Mrs. Grumbit
danced, if we may so speak, into herself for joy.

"And now, ma'am, about these stockings. I want two thousand pairs as soon
as I can get them!"

"Sir?" said Mrs. Grumbit.

"Of course, not for my own use, ma'am; nor for the use of my family, for
I have no family; and if I had, that would be an unnecessarily large
supply. The fact is, Mrs. Grumbit, I am a merchant, and I send very large
supplies of home-made articles to foreign lands, and two thousand pairs
of socks are a mere driblet. Of course I do not expect you to make them