第21章法官的房子（6）
"Oh，Iwasallright，"heanswered，smiling，"the'something'didn'tworryme，asyet。Os;andtheyhadacircus，Itellyou，allovertheplace。Therewasonewicked-lookisatuponmyownchairbythefire，andwouldn'tgotillItookthepokertohim，aheropeofthealarmbellandgottosomewhereupthewallortheg—I'tseewhere，itwassodark。"
"Merus，"saidMrs。Witham，"anolddevil，andsittingonachairbythefireside!Takecare，sir!takecare!There'smanyatruewordspoke;
"Howdoyoumean?UponmywordIdon'tuand。"
"Aheolddevil，perhaps。There!Sir，youlaugh，"forMalsonhadbrokeniypeal。"Youyoungfolksthiolaughatthingsthatmakesolderonesshudder。Nevermind，sir!nevermind!PleaseGod，you'lllaughallthetime。It'swhatIwishyoumyself!"andthegoodladybeamedalloverinsympathywithhise，herfearsgoneforamoment。
&quiveme!"saidMalsoly。"Don'tthiheideawastoomue—thattheolddevilhimselfwasonthechairlastnight!"Ahelaughedagaihometodinner。
Thiseveningthesganearlier;ihadbeengoingonbeforehisarrival，andohispresesfreshurbedthem。Afterdihefireforawhileandhadasmoke;andthen，haviable，begantoworkasbefhttheratsdisturbedhimmorethantheyhaddohepreviousnight。Hoanddownandunderaheysqueaked，andscratdghey，gettingbrees，outhsoftheirholesandtotheddiesiingtilltheireyesshoinylampsasthefirelightroseaohim，nowdoubtlessaedtothem，theireyeswereheirplayfulouchedhim。Sometimestheboldestofthemmadesalliesoutontheflthemouldi。NowandagaiurbedhimMaladeashteiablewithhishandafierce"Hsh，hsh，"sothattheyfledstraightwaytotheirholes。
AndsotheearlypartofthenightitethenoiseMaloreandmoreimmersedinhiswork。
Allatoopped，asonthepreviousnight，beingoverebyasuddensenseofsilethefaisoundofgnaw，orscratch，orsqueak。Thesilencewasasofthegrave。Herememberedtheoddoceofthepreviousnight，andinstinctivelyhelookedatthedihefireside。Andthenaveryoddsensatiohroughhim。
&hegreatoldhigh-backedcarvedoakchairbesidethefireplacesatthesameenormousrat，steadilyglaringathimwithbalefuleyes。
Iookthehingtohishand，abookoflogarithms，andflungitatit。Thebookwasbadlyaimedadidnainthepokerperformahepreviousnighteated;andagai，beingcloselypursued，fleduptheropeofthealarmbell。Strahedepartureofthisratwasinstantlyfollowedbytherehehegeunity。Onthiso，asonthepreviousone，Malsonotseeatartoftheroomtheratdisappeared，freenshadeofhislamplefttheupperpartoftheroomihefirehadburnedlow。
Onlookingathiswatditwasidnight;and，notsorryforthedivertissement，hemadeuphisfireandmadehimselfhisnightlypotoftea。Hehadgoodspellofwork，andthoughthimselfeoacigarette;ahegreatoakchairbeforethefirea。Whilstsmokihinkthathewouldliketokdisappearedto，forhehadideasforthemorrowirelydisected。Aglyhelitanotherlampahatitwouldshiheright-hahewallbythefireplahegotallthebookshehadwithhim，ahemhandytothrowatthevermin。Fiheropeofthealarmbellaheendofitoable，fixiremeehelamp。Ashehaheothelpnotighowpliableiteciallyfarope，ai;Yougamanwithit，"hethoughttohimself。Wheionsweremadehelookedaround，andsaidplatly，"Therenow，myfriend，Ithinkweshalllearhingofyouthistime!"Hebeganhiswain，andthoughasbeforesomewhatdisturbedatfirstbytheherats，soonlosthimselfinhispropositionsandproblems。