. »And even then, dear
boy,« said he, pulling a greasy little clasped black Testament out of his
pocket, »well have him on his oath.«
    To state that my terrible patron carried this little black book about the
world solely to swear people on in cases of emergency, would be to state what I
never quite established - but this I can say, that I never knew him put it to
any other use. The book itself had the appearance of having been stolen from
some court of justice, and perhaps his knowledge of its antecedents, combined
with his own experience in that wise, gave him a reliance on its powers as a
sort of legal spell or charm. On this first occasion of his producing it, I
recalled how he had made me swear fidelity in the churchyard long ago, and how
he had described himself last night as always swearing to his resolutions in his
solitude.
    As he was at present dressed in a seafaring slop suit, in which he looked as
if he had some parrots and cigars to dispose of, I next discussed with him what
dress he should wear. He cherished an extraordinary belief in the virtues of
shorts as a disguise, and had in his own mind sketched a dress for himself that
would have made him something between a dean and a dentist. It was with
considerable difficulty that I won him over to the assumption of a dress more
like a prosperous farmer's; and we arranged that he should cut his hair close,
and wear a little powder. Lastly, as he had not yet been seen by the laundress
or her niece, he was to keep himself out of their view until his change of dress
was made.
    It would seem a simple matter to decide on these precautions; but in my
dazed, not to say distracted, state, it took so long, that I did not get out to
further them until two or three in the afternoon. He was to remain shut up in
the chambers while I was gone, and was on no account to open the door.
    There being to my knowledge a respectable lodging-house in Essex-street, the
back of which looked into the Temple, and was almost within hail of my windows,
I first of all repaired to that house, and was so fortunate as to secure the
second floor for my uncle, Mr. Provis. I then went from shop to shop, making
such purchases as were necessary to the change in his appearance. This business
transacted, I turned my face, on my own account, to Little Britain. Mr. Jaggers