might have been
in a case, for anything of the real texture (either of his skin or apparel) that
the eye could discern; he stalked haughtily into the parlour, and throwing
himself into a chair, and endeavouring to thrust his hands into the pockets of
his small-clothes, which were turned inside out and displayed upon his legs,
like tassels, surveyed the household with a gloomy dignity.
    »Simon,« said the locksmith gravely, »how comes it that you return home at
this time of night, and in this condition? Give me an assurance that you have
not been among the rioters, and I am satisfied.«
    »Sir,« replied Mr. Tappertit, with a contemptuous look, »I wonder at your
assurance in making such demands.«
    »You have been drinking,« said the locksmith.
    »As a general principle, and in the most offensive sense of the words, sir,«
returned his journeyman with great self-possession, »I consider you a liar. In
that last observation you have unintentionally - unintentionally, sir, - struck
upon the truth.«
    »Martha,« said the locksmith, turning to his wife, and shaking his head
sorrowfully, while a smile at the absurd figure before him still played upon his
open face, »I trust it may turn out that this poor lad is not the victim of the
knaves and fools we have so often had words about, and who have done so much
harm to-day. If he has been at Warwick-street or Duke-street to-night -«
    »He has been at neither, sir,« cried Mr. Tappertit in a loud voice, which he
suddenly dropped into a whisper as he repeated, with eyes fixed upon the
locksmith, »he has been at neither.«
    »I am glad of it, with all my heart,« said the locksmith in a serious tone;
»for if he had been, and it could be proved against him, Martha, your Great
Association would have been to him the cart that draws men to the gallows and
leaves them hanging in the air. It would, as sure as we're alive!«
    Mrs. Varden was too much scared by Simon's altered manner and appearance,
and by the accounts of the rioters which had reached her ears that night, to
offer any retort, or to have recourse to her usual matrimonial policy. Miss
Miggs wrung her hands, and wept.
    »He was not at Duke-street, or at Warwick-street, G. Varden,