? ? ? ? 'The friendliness of this gentleman,' said Mr. Micawber to my aunt, 'if you will allow me, ma'am, to cull a figure of speech from the vocabulary of our coarser national sports - floors me. To a man who is struggling with a complicated burden of perplexity and disquiet, such a reception is trying, I assure you.'
? ? ? ? 'My friend Mr. Dick,' replied my aunt proudly, 'is not a common man.'
? ? ? ? 'That I am convinced of,' said Mr. Micawber. 'My dear sir!' for Mr. Dick was shaking hands with him again; 'I am deeply sensible of your cordiality!'
? ? ? ? 'How do you find yourself?' said Mr. Dick, with an anxious look.
? ? ? ? 'Indifferent, my dear sir,' returned Mr. Micawber, sighing.
? ? ? ? 'You must keep up your spirits,' said Mr. Dick, 'and make yourself as comfortable as possible.'
? ? ? ? Mr. Micawber was quite overcome by these friendly words, and by finding Mr. Dick's hand again within his own. 'It has been my lot,' he observed, 'to meet, in the diversified panorama of human existence, with an occasional oasis, but never with one so green, so gushing, as the present!'
? ? ? ? At another time I should have been amused by this; but I felt that we were all constrained and uneasy, and I watched Mr.
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