At dinner it was just the same; and after dinner too;
though wine was drunk in abundance, and various rich
meats eaten. At nine o’clock it was still
the same. There being a lamp in the carriage,
he swore they would take a pack of cards, and a bottle
of wine; and with these things under his cloak, went
down to the door.
‘Out of the way, Tom Thumb, and get to bed!’
This was the salutation he bestowed on Mr Bailey,
who, booted and wrapped up, stood at the carriage
door to help him in.
‘To bed, sir! I’m a-going, too,’
said Bailey.
He alighted quickly, and walked back into the hall,
where Montague was lighting a cigar; conducting Mr
Bailey with him, by the collar.
‘You are not a-going to take this monkey of
a boy, are you?’
‘Yes,’ said Montague.
He gave the boy a shake, and threw him roughly aside.
There was more of his familiar self in the action,
than in anything he had done that day; but he broke
out laughing immediately afterwards, and making a thrust
at the doctor with his hand, in imitation of his representation
of the medical friend, went out to the carriage again,
and took his seat. His companion followed immediately.
Mr Bailey climbed into the rumble. ’It
will be a stormy night!’ exclaimed the doctor,
as they started.
CONTINUATION OF THE ENTERPRISE OF MR JONAS AND HIS FRIEND
The doctor’s prognostication in reference to
the weather was speedily verified. Although the
weather was not a patient of his, and no third party
had required him to give an opinion on the case, the
quick fulfilment of his prophecy may be taken as an
instance of his professional tact; for, unless the
threatening aspect of the night had been perfectly
plain and unmistakable, Mr Jobling would never have
compromised his reputation by delivering any sentiments
on the subject. He used this principle in Medicine
with too much success to be unmindful of it in his
commonest transactions.
It was one of those hot, silent nights, when people
sit at windows listening for the thunder which they
know will shortly break; when they recall dismal tales
of hurricanes and earthquakes; and of lonely travellers
on open plains, and lonely ships at sea, struck by
lightning. Lightning flashed and quivered on
the black horizon even now; and hollow murmurings
were in the wind, as though it had been blowing where
the thunder rolled, and still was charged with its
exhausted echoes. But the storm, though gathering
swiftly, had not yet come up; and the prevailing stillness
was the more solemn, from the dull intelligence that
seemed to hover in the air, of noise and conflict
afar off.
It was very dark; but in the murky sky there were
masses of cloud which shone with a lurid light, like
monstrous heaps of copper that had been heated in
a furnace, and were growing cold. These had been
advancing steadily and slowly, but they were now motionless,
or nearly so. As the carriage clattered round
the corners of the streets, it passed at every one
a knot of persons who had come there—many
from their houses close at hand, without hats—to
look up at that quarter of the sky. And now a
very few large drops of rain began to fall, and thunder
rumbled in the distance.
