 do you say to getting on the roof of the house through the trap-door,
and dropping down the chimney?« suggested Dick.
    »That would be an excellent plan,« said Brass, »if anybody would be« - and
here he looked very hard at Mr. Swiveller - »would be kind, and friendly, and
generous enough, to undertake it. I dare say it would not be anything like as
disagreeable as one supposes.«
    Dick had made the suggestion, thinking that the duty might possibly fall
within Miss Sally's department. As he said nothing further, and declined taking
the hint, Mr. Brass was fain to propose that they should go up stairs together,
and make a last effort to awaken the sleeper by some less violent means, which,
if they failed on this last trial, must positively be succeeded by stronger
measures. Mr. Swiveller, assenting, armed himself with his stool and the large
ruler, and repaired with his employer to the scene of action, where Miss Brass
was already ringing a hand-bell with all her might, and yet without producing
the smallest effect upon their mysterious lodger.
    »They are his boots, Mr. Richard!« said Brass.
    »Very obstinate-looking articles they are too,« quoth Richard Swiveller. And
truly, they were as sturdy and bluff a pair of boots as one would wish to see;
as firmly planted on the ground as if their owner's legs and feet had been in
them; and seeming, with their broad soles and blunt toes, to hold possession of
their place by main force.
    »I can't see anything but the curtain of the bed,« said Brass, applying his
eye to the keyhole of the door. »Is he a strong man, Mr. Richard?«
    »Very,« answered Dick.
    »It would be an extremely unpleasant circumstance if he was to bounce out
suddenly,« said Brass. »Keep the stairs clear. I should be more than a match for
him, of course, but I'm the master of the house, and the laws of hospitality
must be respected. - Hallo there! Hallo, hallo!«
    While Mr. Brass, with his eye curiously twisted into the keyhole, uttered
these sounds as a means of attracting the lodger's attention, and while Miss
Brass plied the hand-bell, Mr. Swiveller put his stool close against the wall by
the side of the door, and mounting on the top and standing bolt upright, so that
if the lodger did make a
