 Excuse me one moment. I desire
my friend Slyme to be present at the remainder of this conference.«
    With this announcement he hurried away to the outer door of the Blue Dragon,
and almost immediately returned with a companion shorter than himself, who was
wrapped in an old blue camlet cloak with a lining of faded scarlet. His sharp
features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his
straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from
the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than
Shakspearian or Miltonic.
    »Now,« said Mr. Tigg, clapping one hand on the shoulder of his prepossessing
friend, and calling Mr. Pecksniff's attention to him with the other, »you two
are related; and relations never did agree, and never will: which is a wise
dispensation and an inevitable thing, or there would be none but family parties,
and everybody in the world would bore everybody else to death. If you were on
good terms, I should consider you a most confoundedly unnatural pair; but
standing towards each other as you do, I look upon you as a couple of devilish
deep-thoughted fellows, who may be reasoned with to any extent.«
    Here Mr. Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities seemed one and all to point
towards the sneaking quarter of the moral compass, nudged his friend stealthily
with his elbow, and whispered in his ear.
    »Chiv,« said Mr. Tigg aloud, in the high tone of one who was not to be
tampered with. »I shall come to that presently. I act upon my own
responsibility, or not at all. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a
crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr. Pecksniff as certain:« and
seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr. Pecksniff's face by no means
betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr. Tigg laid his finger on his nose
again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof: calling upon him thereby
to take notice, that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the
peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked
at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses
possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small
advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard
to his own advantage or necessities.
    »Oh, Chiv, Chiv!« added Mr. Tigg, surveying his adopted brother with an air
of profound
