[The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens]@TWC D-Link bookThe Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby CHAPTER 4 3/17
The blank side of his face was much wrinkled and puckered up, which gave him a very sinister appearance, especially when he smiled, at which times his expression bordered closely on the villainous.
His hair was very flat and shiny, save at the ends, where it was brushed stiffly up from a low protruding forehead, which assorted well with his harsh voice and coarse manner.
He was about two or three and fifty, and a trifle below the middle size; he wore a white neckerchief with long ends, and a suit of scholastic black; but his coat sleeves being a great deal too long, and his trousers a great deal too short, he appeared ill at ease in his clothes, and as if he were in a perpetual state of astonishment at finding himself so respectable. Mr Squeers was standing in a box by one of the coffee-room fire-places, fitted with one such table as is usually seen in coffee-rooms, and two of extraordinary shapes and dimensions made to suit the angles of the partition.
In a corner of the seat, was a very small deal trunk, tied round with a scanty piece of cord; and on the trunk was perched--his lace-up half-boots and corduroy trousers dangling in the air--a diminutive boy, with his shoulders drawn up to his ears, and his hands planted on his knees, who glanced timidly at the schoolmaster, from time to time, with evident dread and apprehension. 'Half-past three,' muttered Mr Squeers, turning from the window, and looking sulkily at the coffee-room clock.
'There will be nobody here today.' Much vexed by this reflection, Mr Squeers looked at the little boy to see whether he was doing anything he could beat him for.
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