[The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens]@TWC D-Link bookThe Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby CHAPTER 40 4/31
At first he stood, rubbing his lips with the back of his hand, as a preparatory ceremony towards composing himself for a draught; then, at the mention of Squeers, he took the mug under his arm, and opening his eyes very wide, looked on, in the utmost astonishment.
When Smike came to the assault upon himself in the hackney coach, he hastily deposited the mug upon the table, and limped up and down the room in a state of the greatest excitement, stopping himself with a jerk, every now and then, as if to listen more attentively.
When John Browdie came to be spoken of, he dropped, by slow and gradual degrees, into a chair, and rubbing, his hands upon his knees--quicker and quicker as the story reached its climax--burst, at last, into a laugh composed of one loud sonorous 'Ha! ha!' having given vent to which, his countenance immediately fell again as he inquired, with the utmost anxiety, whether it was probable that John Browdie and Squeers had come to blows. 'No! I think not,' replied Smike.
'I don't think he could have missed me till I had got quite away.' Newman scratched his head with a shout of great disappointment, and once more lifting up the mug, applied himself to the contents; smiling meanwhile, over the rim, with a grim and ghastly smile at Smike. 'You shall stay here,' said Newman; 'you're tired--fagged.
I'll tell them you're come back.
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