I was modestly wondering whether my utmost ingenuity would have enabled

me to say anything that would have amused him half as much as this

imaginary pleasantry, when I was startled by a sudden click in the wall

on one side of the chimney, and the ghostly tumbling open of a little

wooden flap with "JOHN" upon it. The old man, following my eyes, cried

with great triumph, "My son's come home!" and we both went out to the

drawbridge.

It was worth any money to see Wemmick waving a salute to me from the

other side of the moat, when we might have shaken hands across it with

the greatest ease. The Aged was so delighted to work the drawbridge,

that I made no offer to assist him, but stood quiet until Wemmick had

come across, and had presented me to Miss Skiffins; a lady by whom he

was accompanied.

Miss Skiffins was of a wooden appearance, and was, like her escort, in

the post-office branch of the service. She might have been some two or

three years younger than Wemmick, and I judged her to stand possessed

of portable property. The cut of her dress from the waist upward, both

before and behind, made her figure very like a boy's kite; and I might

have pronounced her gown a little too decidedly orange, and her gloves a

little too intensely green. But she seemed to be a good sort of fellow,

and showed a high regard for the Aged. I was not long in discovering

that she was a frequent visitor at the Castle; for, on our going in,

and my complimenting Wemmick on his ingenious contrivance for announcing

himself to the Aged, he begged me to give my attention for a moment to

the other side of the chimney, and disappeared. Presently another click

came, and another little door tumbled open with "Miss Skiffins" on it;

then Miss Skiffins shut up and John tumbled open; then Miss Skiffins

and John both tumbled open together, and finally shut up together. On

Wemmick's return from working these mechanical appliances, I expressed

the great admiration with which I regarded them, and he said, "Well, you

know, they're both pleasant and useful to the Aged. And by George, sir,

it's a thing worth mentioning, that of all the people who come to

this gate, the secret of those pulls is only known to the Aged, Miss

Skiffins, and me!"

"And Mr. Wemmick made them," added Miss Skiffins, "with his own hands

out of his own head."

While Miss Skiffins was taking off her bonnet (she retained her green

gloves during the evening as an outward and visible sign that there was

company), Wemmick invited me to take a walk with him round the property,

and see how the island looked in wintertime. Thinking that he did this

to give me an opportunity of taking his Walworth sentiments, I seized

the opportunity as soon as we were out of the Castle.




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