Not resting satisfied with the endeavours he had made to recover his

lost charge, Mr Meagles addressed a letter of remonstrance, breathing

nothing but goodwill, not only to her, but to Miss Wade too.

No answer coming to these epistles, or to another written to the stubborn girl

by the hand of her late young mistress, which might have melted her

if anything could (all three letters were returned weeks afterwards as

having been refused at the house-door), he deputed Mrs Meagles to make

the experiment of a personal interview.

That worthy lady being unable to obtain one, and being

steadfastly denied admission, Mr Meagles besought

Arthur to essay once more what he could do.

All that came of his compliance was, his discovery

that the empty house was left in charge

of the old woman, that Miss Wade was gone, that the waifs and strays of

furniture were gone, and that the old woman would accept any number of

half-crowns and thank the donor kindly, but had no information whatever

to exchange for those coins, beyond constantly offering for perusal a

memorandum relative to fixtures, which the house-agent's young man had

left in the hall.

Unwilling, even under this discomfiture, to resign the ingrate and leave

her hopeless, in case of her better dispositions obtaining the mastery

over the darker side of her character, Mr Meagles, for six successive

days, published a discreetly covert advertisement in the morning papers,

to the effect that if a certain young person who had lately left

home without reflection, would at any time apply to his address at

Twickenham, everything would be as it had been before, and no reproaches

need be apprehended.

The unexpected consequences of this notification

suggested to the dismayed Mr Meagles for the first time that some

hundreds of young persons must be leaving their homes without reflection

every day; for shoals of wrong young people came down to Twickenham,

who, not finding themselves received with enthusiasm, generally demanded

compensation by way of damages, in addition to coach-hire there and

back. Nor were these the only uninvited clients whom the advertisement

produced.

The swarm of begging-letter writers, who would seem to be

always watching eagerly for any hook, however small, to hang a letter

upon, wrote to say that having seen the advertisement, they were induced

to apply with confidence for various sums, ranging from ten shillings to

fifty pounds: not because they knew anything about the young person,

but because they felt that to part with those donations would greatly

relieve the advertiser's mind. Several projectors, likewise, availed

themselves of the same opportunity to correspond with Mr Meagles; as,

for example, to apprise him that their attention having been called to

the advertisement by a friend, they begged to state that if they should

ever hear anything of the young person, they would not fail to make it

known to him immediately, and that in the meantime if he would oblige

them with the funds necessary for bringing to perfection a certain

entirely novel description of Pump, the happiest results would ensue to

mankind.

Mr Meagles and his family, under these combined discouragements, had

begun reluctantly to give up Tattycoram as irrecoverable, when the new

and active firm of Doyce and Clennam, in their private capacities,

went down on a Saturday to stay at the cottage until Monday. The senior

partner took the coach, and the junior partner took his walking-stick.

A tranquil summer sunset shone upon him as he approached the end of

his walk, and passed through the meadows by the river side. He had

that sense of peace, and of being lightened of a weight of care, which

country quiet awakens in the breasts of dwellers in towns. Everything

within his view was lovely and placid. The rich foliage of the trees,

the luxuriant grass diversified with wild flowers, the little green

islands in the river, the beds of rushes, the water-lilies floating on

the surface of the stream, the distant voices in boats borne musically

towards him on the ripple of the water and the evening air, were all

expressive of rest. In the occasional leap of a fish, or dip of an oar,

or twittering of a bird not yet at roost, or distant barking of a dog,

or lowing of a cow--in all such sounds, there was the prevailing breath

of rest, which seemed to encompass him in every scent that sweetened

the fragrant air.




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