Product Code Database
Excerpt: ... he would see this person at his elbow. Looking behind, at the close of the colloquy with the landlord, he again saw the strange youth, or man. The being was nearly six feet high, and powerfully built, like a strong man of twenty-five. His face was childish even to the degree of silliness. The mouth opened like a flytrap; the eyes were small and intensely guileless. Only a few wrinkles, and a few hairs, which grew wide apart on his cheeks and chin, indicated his manhood. But the oddest feature was the falling away of his forehead, at an angle which a dirty greased cap, pulled over his brow, could not conceal. Well, sir, what do you want? said Tiffles. If you please, sir, said the singular being, in a cracked voice, yure the pannyrarmer, a''n''t ye? Not exactly, my lad, but I own it. And who are you? My name''s Stoop, if you please, sir. Mr. Boolpin broke out with a laugh, which made the building reverberate. It''s the village idiot, said he. He goes by the name of Stoop, which is short for Stupid. Ha! ha! Come, now, clear out, Stupid, and don''t be bothering the gentleman. The boy-man began to whimper, when Tiffles, recollecting an allusion to a semi-idiot in one of the postmaster''s letters, said: Stay, my lad; I believe I owe you something. For pastin'' up two hundred posters, fifty cents; and distributin'' five hundred bills, twenty-five cents. Totale, seventy-five cents. The idiot did not hold out his hand for the pay, and Tiffles conceived an instant esteem for him. An idea came to Tiffles. This idiot, as he was called, had shown intelligence in reckoning. He might have a deal of good sense under that dull exterior. Tiffles had observed, in his travels, that the idiot which Providence assigns to every town and village, is not always the biggest fool in it. This idiot might have sufficient intellect to turn the crank of the panorama, and render muscular aid in other respects. At any rate, he was able-bodied enough. My lad, said...
References
|
|
