第39章

Mr Squeers then proceeded to open a miscellaneous collection of letters;some enclosing money, which Mrs Squeers `took care of;' and others referring to small articles of apparel, as caps and so forth, all of which the same lady stated to be too large, or too small, and calculated for nobody but young Squeers, who would appear indeed to have had most accommodating limbs, since everything that came into the school fitted him to a nicety. His head, in particular, must have been singularly elastic, for hats and caps of all dimensions were alike to him.

This business dispatched, a few slovenly lessons were performed, and Squeers retired to his fireside, leaving Nicholas to take care of the boys in the schoolroom, which was very cold, and where a meal of bread and cheese was served out shortly after dark.

There was a small stove at that corner of the room which was nearest to the master's desk, and by it Nicholas sat down, so depressed and selfdegraded by the consciousness of his position, that if death could have come upon him at that time, he would have been almost happy to meet it. The cruelty of which he had been an unwilling witness, the coarse and ruffianly behaviour of Squeers even in his best moods, the filthy place, the sights and sounds about him, all contributed to this state of feeling; but when he recollected that, being there as an assistant, he actually seemed--no matter what unhappy train of circumstances had brought him to that pass--to be the aider and abettor of a system which filled him with honest disgust and indignation, he loathed himself, and felt, for the moment, as though the mere consciousness of his present situation must, through all time to come, prevent his raising his head again.

But, for the present, his resolve was taken, and the resolution he had formed on the preceding night remained undisturbed. He had written to his mother and sister, announcing the safe conclusion of his journey, and saying as little about Dotheboys Hall, and saying that little as cheerfully, as he possibly could. He hoped that by remaining where he was, he might do some good, even there; at all events, others depended too much on his uncle's favour, to admit of his awakening his wrath just then.

One reflection disturbed him far more than any selfish considerations arising out of his own position. This was the probable destination of his sister Kate. His uncle had deceived him, and might he not consign her to some miserable place where her youth and beauty would prove a far greater curse than ugliness and decrepitude? To a caged man, bound hand and foot, this was a terrible idea--but no, he thought, his mother was by; there was the portrait-painter, too--simple enough, but still living in the world, and of it. He was willing to believe that Ralph Nickleby had conceived a personal dislike to himself. Having pretty good reason, by this time, to reciprocate it, he had no great difficulty in arriving at this conclusion, and tried to persuade himself that the feeling extended no farther than between them.

As he was absorbed in these meditations, he all at once encountered the upturned face of Smike, who was on his knees before the stove, picking a few stray cinders from the hearth and planting them on the fire. He had paused to steal a look at Nicholas, and when he saw that he was observed, shrunk back, as if expecting a blow.

`You need not fear me,' said Nicholas kindly. `Are you cold?'

`N-n-o.'

`You are shivering.'

`I am not cold,' replied Smike quickly. `I am used to it.'

There was such an obvious fear of giving offence in his manner, and he was such a timid, broken-spirited creature, that Nicholas could not help exclaiming, `Poor fellow!'

If he had struck the drudge, he would have slunk away without a word.

But, now, he burst into tears.

`Oh dear, oh dear!' he cried, covering his face with his cracked and horny hands. `My heart will break. It will, it will.'

`Hush!' said Nicholas, laying his hand upon his shoulder. `Be a man;you are nearly one by years, God help you.'

`By years!' cried Smike. `Oh dear, dear, how many of them! How many of them since I was a little child, younger than any that are here now!

Where are they all!'

`Whom do you speak of?' inquired Nicholas, wishing to rouse the poor half-witted creature to reason. `Tell me.'

`My friends,' he replied, `myself--my--oh! what sufferings mine have been!'

`There is always hope,' said Nicholas; he knew not what to say.

`No,' rejoined the other, `no; none for me. Do you remember the boy that died here?'

`I was not here, you know,' said Nicholas gently; `but what of him?'

`Why,' replied the youth, drawing closer to his questioner's side, `Iwas with him at night, and when it was all silent he cried no more for friends he wished to come and sit with him, but began to see faces round his bed that came from home; he said they smiled, and talked to him; and he died at last lifting his head to kiss them. Do you hear?'

`Yes, yes,' rejoined Nicholas.

`What faces will smile on me when I die!' cried his companion, shivering.

`Who will talk to me in those long nights! They cannot come from home;they would frighten me, if they did, for I don't know what it is, and shouldn't know them. Pain and fear, pain and fear for me, alive or dead. No hope, no hope!'

The bell rang to bed: and the boy, subsiding at the sound into his usual listless state, crept away as if anxious to avoid notice. It was with a heavy heart that Nicholas soon afterwards--no, not retired; there was no retirement there--followed--to his dirty and crowded dormitory.