? ? ? ? I had not walked out far enough to be quite clear of the town, upon the Ramsgate road, where there was a good path, when I was hailed, through the dust, by somebody behind me. The shambling figure, and the scanty great-coat, were not to be mistaken. I stopped, and Uriah Heep came up.
? ? ? ? 'Well?' said I.
? ? ? ? 'How fast you walk!' said he. 'My legs are pretty long, but you've given 'em quite a job.'
? ? ? ? 'Where are you going?' said I.
? ? ? ? 'I am going with you, Master Copperfield, if you'll allow me the pleasure of a walk with an old acquaintance.' Saying this, with a jerk of his body, which might have been either propitiatory or derisive, he fell into step beside me.
? ? ? ? 'Uriah!' said I, as civilly as I could, after a silence.
? ? ? ? 'Master Copperfield!' said Uriah.
? ? ? ? 'To tell you the truth (at which you will not be offended), I came Out to walk alone, because I have had so much company.'
? ? ? ? He looked at me sideways, and said with his hardest grin, 'You mean mother.'
? ? ? ? 'Why yes, I do,' said I.
? ? ? ? 'Ah! But you know we're so very umble,' he returned. 'And having such a knowledge of our own umbleness, we must really take care that we're not pushed to the wall by them as isn't umble.
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