Charles Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 65
CHAPTER 65 Conclusion When her term of mourning had expired, Madeline gave her hand and fortune to Nicholas; and, on the same day and at the same time, Kate became Mrs Frank Cheeryble. It was expected that Tim Linkinwater and Miss La Creevy would have made a third couple on the occasion, but they declined,
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 64
CHAPTER 64 An old Acquaintance is recognised under melancholy Circumstances, and Dotheboys Hall breaks up for ever Nicholas was one of those whose joy is incomplete unless it is shared by the friends of adverse and less fortunate days. Surrounded by every fascination of love and hope, his warm heart yearned towards plain John Browdie.
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 63
CHAPTER 63 The Brothers Cheeryble make various Declarations for themselves and others. Tim Linkinwater makes a Declaration for himself Some weeks had passed, and the first shock of these events had subsided. Madeline had been removed; Frank had been absent; and Nicholas and Kate had begun to try in good earnest to stifle their own
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 62
CHAPTER 62 Ralph makes one last Appointment—and keeps it Creeping from the house, and slinking off like a thief; groping with his hands, when first he got into the street, as if he were a blind man; and looking often over his shoulder while he hurried away, as though he were followed in imagination or
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 61
CHAPTER 61 Wherein Nicholas and his Sister forfeit the good Opinion of all worldly and prudent People On the next morning after Brooker’s disclosure had been made, Nicholas returned home. The meeting between him and those whom he had left there was not without strong emotion on both sides; for they had been informed by
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 60
CHAPTER 60 The Dangers thicken, and the Worst is Told Instead of going home, Ralph threw himself into the first street cabriolet he could find, and, directing the driver towards the police-office of the district in which Mr. Squeers’s misfortunes had occurred, alighted at a short distance from it, and, discharging the man, went the
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 59
CHAPTER 59 The Plots begin to fail, and Doubts and Dangers to disturb the Plotter Ralph sat alone, in the solitary room where he was accustomed to take his meals, and to sit of nights when no profitable occupation called him abroad. Before him was an untasted breakfast, and near to where his fingers beat
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 58
CHAPTER 58 In which one Scene of this History is closed Dividing the distance into two days’ journey, in order that his charge might sustain the less exhaustion and fatigue from travelling so far, Nicholas, at the end of the second day from their leaving home, found himself within a very few miles of the
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 57
CHAPTER 57 How Ralph Nickleby’s Auxiliary went about his Work, and how he prospered with it It was a dark, wet, gloomy night in autumn, when in an upper room of a mean house situated in an obscure street, or rather court, near Lambeth, there sat, all alone, a one-eyed man grotesquely habited, either for
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 56
CHAPTER 56 Ralph Nickleby, baffled by his Nephew in his late Design, hatches a Scheme of Retaliation which Accident suggests to him, and takes into his Counsels a tried Auxiliary The course which these adventures shape out for themselves, and imperatively call upon the historian to observe, now demands that they should revert to the
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 55
CHAPTER 55 Of Family Matters, Cares, Hopes, Disappointments, and Sorrows Although Mrs. Nickleby had been made acquainted by her son and daughter with every circumstance of Madeline Bray’s history which was known to them; although the responsible situation in which Nicholas stood had been carefully explained to her, and she had been prepared, even for
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 54
CHAPTER 54 The Crisis of the Project and its Result There are not many men who lie abed too late, or oversleep themselves, on their wedding morning. A legend there is of somebody remarkable for absence of mind, who opened his eyes upon the day which was to give him a young wife, and forgetting
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 53
CHAPTER 53 Containing the further Progress of the Plot contrived by Mr. Ralph Nickleby and Mr. Arthur Gride With that settled resolution, and steadiness of purpose to which extreme circumstances so often give birth, acting upon far less excitable and more sluggish temperaments than that which was the lot of Madeline Bray’s admirer, Nicholas started,
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 52
CHAPTER 52 Nicholas despairs of rescuing Madeline Bray, but plucks up his Spirits again, and determines to attempt it. Domestic Intelligence of the Kenwigses and Lillyvicks Finding that Newman was determined to arrest his progress at any hazard, and apprehensive that some well-intentioned passenger, attracted by the cry of ‘Stop thief,’ might lay violent hands
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 51
CHAPTER 51 The Project of Mr. Ralph Nickleby and his Friend approaching a successful Issue, becomes unexpectedly known to another Party, not admitted into their Confidence In an old house, dismal dark and dusty, which seemed to have withered, like himself, and to have grown yellow and shrivelled in hoarding him from the light of
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 50
CHAPTER 50 Involves a serious Catastrophe The little race-course at Hampton was in the full tide and height of its gaiety; the day as dazzling as day could be; the sun high in the cloudless sky, and shining in its fullest splendour. Every gaudy colour that fluttered in the air from carriage seat and garish
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 49
CHAPTER 49 Chronicles the further Proceedings of the Nickleby Family, and the Sequel of the Adventure of the Gentleman in the Small-clothes While Nicholas, absorbed in the one engrossing subject of interest which had recently opened upon him, occupied his leisure hours with thoughts of Madeline Bray, and in execution of the commissions which the
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 48
CHAPTER 48 Being for the Benefit of Mr. Vincent Crummles, and positively his last Appearance on this Stage It was with a very sad and heavy heart, oppressed by many painful ideas, that Nicholas retraced his steps eastward and betook himself to the counting-house of Cheeryble Brothers. Whatever the idle hopes he had suffered himself
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 47
CHAPTER 47 Mr. Ralph Nickleby has some confidential Intercourse with another old Friend. They concert between them a Project, which promises well for both ‘There go the three-quarters past!’ muttered Newman Noggs, listening to the chimes of some neighbouring church ‘and my dinner time’s two. He does it on purpose. He makes a point of
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 46
CHAPTER 46 Throws some Light upon Nicholas’s Love; but whether for Good or Evil the Reader must determine After an anxious consideration of the painful and embarrassing position in which he was placed, Nicholas decided that he ought to lose no time in frankly stating it to the kind brothers. Availing himself of the first
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 45
CHAPTER 45 Containing Matter of a surprising Kind ‘As we gang awa’ fra’ Lunnun tomorrow neeght, and as I dinnot know that I was e’er so happy in a’ my days, Misther Nickleby, Ding! but I will tak’ anoother glass to our next merry meeting!’ So said John Browdie, rubbing his hands with great joyousness, and looking
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 44
CHAPTER 44 Mr. Ralph Nickleby cuts an old Acquaintance. It would also appear from the Contents hereof, that a Joke, even between Husband and Wife, may be sometimes carried too far There are some men who, living with the one object of enriching themselves, no matter by what means, and being perfectly conscious of the
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 43
CHAPTER 43 Officiates as a kind of Gentleman Usher, in bringing various People together The storm had long given place to a calm the most profound, and the evening was pretty far advanced—indeed supper was over, and the process of digestion proceeding as favourably as, under the influence of complete tranquillity, cheerful conversation, and a
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 42
CHAPTER 42 Illustrative of the convivial Sentiment, that the best of Friends must sometimes part The pavement of Snow Hill had been baking and frying all day in the heat, and the twain Saracens’ heads guarding the entrance to the hostelry of whose name and sign they are the duplicate presentments, looked—or seemed, in the
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 41
CHAPTER 41 Containing some Romantic Passages between Mrs. Nickleby and the Gentleman in the Small-clothes next Door Ever since her last momentous conversation with her son, Mrs. Nickleby had begun to display unusual care in the adornment of her person, gradually superadding to those staid and matronly habiliments, which had, up to that time, formed
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 40
CHAPTER 40 In which Nicholas falls in Love. He employs a Mediator, whose Proceedings are crowned with unexpected Success, excepting in one solitary Particular Once more out of the clutches of his old persecutor, it needed no fresh stimulation to call forth the utmost energy and exertion that Smike was capable of summoning to his
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 39
CHAPTER 39 In which another old Friend encounters Smike, very opportunely and to some Purpose The night, fraught with so much bitterness to one poor soul, had given place to a bright and cloudless summer morning, when a north-country mail-coach traversed, with cheerful noise, the yet silent streets of Islington, and, giving brisk note of
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 38
CHAPTER 38 Comprises certain Particulars arising out of a Visit of Condolence, which may prove important hereafter. Smike unexpectedly encounters a very old Friend, who invites him to his House, and will take no Denial Quite unconscious of the demonstrations of their amorous neighbour, or their effects upon the susceptible bosom of her mama, Kate
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 37
CHAPTER 37 Nicholas finds further Favour in the Eyes of the brothers Cheeryble and Mr Timothy Linkinwater. The brothers give a Banquet on a great Annual Occasion. Nicholas, on returning Home from it, receives a mysterious and important Disclosure from the Lips of Mrs. Nickleby The square in which the counting-house of the brothers Cheeryble
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 36
CHAPTER 36 Private and confidential; relating to Family Matters. Showing how Mr Kenwigs underwent violent Agitation, and how Mrs. Kenwigs was as well as could be expected It might have been seven o’clock in the evening, and it was growing dark in the narrow streets near Golden Square, when Mr. Kenwigs sent out for a
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 35
CHAPTER 35 Smike becomes known to Mrs. Nickleby and Kate. Nicholas also meets with new Acquaintances. Brighter Days seem to dawn upon the Family Having established his mother and sister in the apartments of the kind-hearted miniature painter, and ascertained that Sir Mulberry Hawk was in no danger of losing his life, Nicholas turned his
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 34
CHAPTER 34 Wherein Mr. Ralph Nickleby is visited by Persons with whom the Reader has been already made acquainted ‘What a demnition long time you have kept me ringing at this confounded old cracked tea-kettle of a bell, every tinkle of which is enough to throw a strong man into blue convulsions, upon my life
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 33
CHAPTER 33 In which Mr. Ralph Nickleby is relieved, by a very expeditious Process, from all Commerce with his Relations Smike and Newman Noggs, who in his impatience had returned home long before the time agreed upon, sat before the fire, listening anxiously to every footstep on the stairs, and the slightest sound that stirred
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 32
CHAPTER 32 Relating chiefly to some remarkable Conversation, and some remarkable Proceedings to which it gives rise ‘London at last!’ cried Nicholas, throwing back his greatcoat and rousing Smike from a long nap. ‘It seemed to me as though we should never reach it.’ ‘And yet you came along at a tidy pace too,’ observed
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31 Of Ralph Nickleby and Newman Noggs, and some wise Precautions, the success or failure of which will appear in the Sequel In blissful unconsciousness that his nephew was hastening at the utmost speed of four good horses towards his sphere of action, and that every passing minute diminished the distance between them, Ralph
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30 Festivities are held in honour of Nicholas, who suddenly withdraws himself from the Society of Mr. Vincent Crummles and his Theatrical Companions Mr. Vincent Crummles was no sooner acquainted with the public announcement which Nicholas had made relative to the probability of his shortly ceasing to be a member of the company, than
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29 Of the Proceedings of Nicholas, and certain Internal Divisions in the Company of Mr. Vincent Crummles The unexpected success and favour with which his experiment at Portsmouth had been received, induced Mr. Crummles to prolong his stay in that town for a fortnight beyond the period he had originally assigned for the duration
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28 Miss Nickleby, rendered desperate by the Persecution of Sir Mulberry Hawk, and the Complicated Difficulties and Distresses which surround her, appeals, as a last resource, to her Uncle for Protection The ensuing morning brought reflection with it, as morning usually does; but widely different was the train of thought it awakened in the
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 27
CHAPTER 27 Mrs. Nickleby becomes acquainted with Messrs Pyke and Pluck, whose Affection and Interest are beyond all Bounds Mrs. Nickleby had not felt so proud and important for many a day, as when, on reaching home, she gave herself wholly up to the pleasant visions which had accompanied her on her way thither. Lady
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26 Is fraught with some Danger to Miss Nickleby’s Peace of Mind The place was a handsome suite of private apartments in Regent Street; the time was three o’clock in the afternoon to the dull and plodding, and the first hour of morning to the gay and spirited; the persons were Lord Frederick Verisopht,
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25 Concerning a young Lady from London, who joins the Company, and an elderly Admirer who follows in her Train; with an affecting Ceremony consequent on their Arrival The new piece being a decided hit, was announced for every evening of performance until further notice, and the evenings when the theatre was closed, were
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24 Of the Great Bespeak for Miss Snevellicci, and the first Appearance of Nicholas upon any Stage Nicholas was up betimes in the morning; but he had scarcely begun to dress, notwithstanding, when he heard footsteps ascending the stairs, and was presently saluted by the voices of Mr. Folair the pantomimist, and Mr Lenville,
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23 Treats of the Company of Mr. Vincent Crummles, and of his Affairs, Domestic and Theatrical As Mr. Crummles had a strange four-legged animal in the inn stables, which he called a pony, and a vehicle of unknown design, on which he bestowed the appellation of a four-wheeled phaeton, Nicholas proceeded on his journey
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22 Nicholas, accompanied by Smike, sallies forth to seek his Fortune. He encounters Mr. Vincent Crummles; and who he was, is herein made manifest The whole capital which Nicholas found himself entitled to, either in possession, reversion, remainder, or expectancy, after paying his rent and settling with the broker from whom he had hired
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21 Madam Mantalini finds herself in a Situation of some Difficulty, and Miss Nickleby finds herself in no Situation at all The agitation she had undergone, rendered Kate Nickleby unable to resume her duties at the dressmaker’s for three days, at the expiration of which interval she betook herself at the accustomed hour, and
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20 Wherein Nicholas at length encounters his Uncle, to whom he expresses his Sentiments with much Candour. His Resolution. Little Miss La Creevy trotted briskly through divers streets at the west end of the town, early on Monday morning—the day after the dinner—charged with the important commission of acquainting Madame Mantalini that Miss Nickleby
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19 Descriptive of a Dinner at Mr. Ralph Nickleby’s, and of the Manner in which the Company entertained themselves, before Dinner, at Dinner, and after Dinner. The bile and rancour of the worthy Miss Knag undergoing no diminution during the remainder of the week, but rather augmenting with every successive hour; and the honest
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18 Miss Knag, after doting on Kate Nickleby for three whole Days, makes up her Mind to hate her for evermore. The Causes which led Miss Knag to form this Resolution There are many lives of much pain, hardship, and suffering, which, having no stirring interest for any but those who lead them, are
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17 Follows the Fortunes of Miss Nickleby It was with a heavy heart, and many sad forebodings which no effort could banish, that Kate Nickleby, on the morning appointed for the commencement of her engagement with Madame Mantalini, left the city when its clocks yet wanted a quarter of an hour of eight, and
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16 Nicholas seeks to employ himself in a New Capacity, and being unsuccessful, accepts an engagement as Tutor in a Private Family The first care of Nicholas, next morning, was, to look after some room in which, until better times dawned upon him, he could contrive to exist, without trenching upon the hospitality of
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15 Acquaints the Reader with the Cause and Origin of the Interruption described in the last Chapter, and with some other Matters necessary to be known Newman Noggs scrambled in violent haste upstairs with the steaming beverage, which he had so unceremoniously snatched from the table of Mr Kenwigs, and indeed from the very
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14 Having the Misfortune to treat of none but Common People, is necessarily of a Mean and Vulgar Character In that quarter of London in which Golden Square is situated, there is a bygone, faded, tumble-down street, with two irregular rows of tall meagre houses, which seem to have stared each other out of
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13 Nicholas varies the Monotony of Dothebys Hall by a most vigorous and remarkable proceeding, which leads to Consequences of some Importance The cold, feeble dawn of a January morning was stealing in at the windows of the common sleeping-room, when Nicholas, raising himself on his arm, looked among the prostrate forms which on
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12 Whereby the Reader will be enabled to trace the further course of Miss Fanny Squeer’s Love, and to ascertain whether it ran smooth or otherwise. It was a fortunate circumstance for Miss Fanny Squeers, that when her worthy papa returned home on the night of the small tea-party, he was what the initiated
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11 Newman Noggs inducts Mrs. and Miss Nickleby into their New Dwelling in the City Miss Nickleby’s reflections, as she wended her way homewards, were of that desponding nature which the occurrences of the morning had been sufficiently calculated to awaken. Her uncle’s was not a manner likely to dispel any doubts or apprehensions
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10 How Mr. Ralph Nickleby provided for his Niece and Sister-in-Law On the second morning after the departure of Nicholas for Yorkshire, Kate Nickleby sat in a very faded chair raised upon a very dusty throne in Miss La Creevy’s room, giving that lady a sitting for the portrait upon which she was engaged;
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9 Of Miss Squeers, Mrs. Squeers, Master Squeers, and Mr. Squeers; and of various Matters and Persons connected no less with the Squeerses than Nicholas Nickleby When Mr. Squeers left the schoolroom for the night, he betook himself, as has been before remarked, to his own fireside, which was situated—not in the room in
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8 Of the Internal Economy of Dotheboys Hall A ride of two hundred and odd miles in severe weather, is one of the best softeners of a hard bed that ingenuity can devise. Perhaps it is even a sweetener of dreams, for those which hovered over the rough couch of Nicholas, and whispered their
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7 Mr. and Mrs. Squeers at Home Mr. Squeers, being safely landed, left Nicholas and the boys standing with the luggage in the road, to amuse themselves by looking at the coach as it changed horses, while he ran into the tavern and went through the leg-stretching process at the bar. After some minutes,
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6 In which the Occurrence of the Accident mentioned in the last Chapter, affords an Opportunity to a couple of Gentlemen to tell Stories against each other ‘Wo ho!’ cried the guard, on his legs in a minute, and running to the leaders’ heads. ‘Is there ony genelmen there as can len’ a hond
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5 Nicholas starts for Yorkshire. Of his Leave-taking and his Fellow-Travellers, and what befell them on the Road If tears dropped into a trunk were charms to preserve its owner from sorrow and misfortune, Nicholas Nickleby would have commenced his expedition under most happy auspices. There was so much to be done, and so
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4 Nicholas and his Uncle (to secure the Fortune without loss of time) wait upon Mr. Wackford Squeers, the Yorkshire Schoolmaster Snow Hill! What kind of place can the quiet townspeople who see the words emblazoned, in all the legibility of gilt letters and dark shading, on the north-country coaches, take Snow Hill to
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3 Mr. Ralph Nickleby receives Sad Tidings of his Brother, but bears up nobly against the Intelligence communicated to him. The Reader is informed how he liked Nicholas, who is herein introduced, and how kindly he proposed to make his Fortune at once. Having rendered his zealous assistance towards dispatching the lunch, with all
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2 Of Mr. Ralph Nickleby, and his Establishments, and his Undertakings, and of a great Joint Stock Company of vast national Importance Mr. Ralph Nickleby was not, strictly speaking, what you would call a merchant, neither was he a banker, nor an attorney, nor a special pleader, nor a notary. He was certainly not
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Nicholas Nickleby: Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1 Introduces all the Rest There once lived, in a sequestered part of the county of Devonshire, one Mr. Godfrey Nickleby: a worthy gentleman, who, taking it into his head rather late in life that he must get married, and not being young enough or rich enough to aspire to the hand of a
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Nicholas Nickleby: PREFACE
AUTHOR’S PREFACE This story was begun, within a few months after the publication of the completed “Pickwick Papers.” There were, then, a good many cheap Yorkshire schools in existence. There are very few now. Of the monstrous neglect of education in England, and the disregard of it by the State as a means of forming
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Nicholas Nickleby: Cover
THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OFNICHOLAS NICKLEBY, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes,Uprisings, Downfallings and Complete Career of the Nickelby Family by Charles Dickens