There was a silence as Harry digested thisHow could Voldemort have made such a mistake? But even as he thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy
"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice \a133 It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't
"The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher"Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home \a133 "
"Well, then, you did what you were told, didn't you?" said Hermione kindly"You didn't disobey orders at all!"
Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever
"So what happened when you got back?" Harry asked"What did Regulus say when you told him what happened?"
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher"Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the houseAnd then \a133 it was a little while later \a133 Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell \a133 and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord \a133 "
And so they had set offHarry could visualize them quite clearly, the prada milano frightened old elf and the thin, dark Seeker who had so resembled Sirius \a133 Kreacher knew how to open the concealed entrance to the underground cavern, knew how to raise the tiny boat: this time it was his beloved Regulus who sailed with him to the island with its basin of poison \a133
"And he made you drink the poison?" said Harry, disgusted
But Kreacher shook his head and weptHermione's hands leapt to her mouth: She seemed to have understood something
"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose"And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets \a133"
Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; Harry had to concentrate hard to understand him
"And he order - Kreacher to leave - without himAnd he told Kreacher - to go home - and never to tell my Mistress - what he had done - but to destroy - the first locketAnd he drank - all the potion - and Kreacher swapped the lockets - and watched \a133 as Master Regulus \a133 was dragged beneath the water \a133 and \a133 "
"Oh, Kreacher!" wailed Hermione, who was cryingShe dropped to her knees beside the elf and tried to hug himAt once he was on his feet, cringing away from louis vuitton china her, quite obviously repulsed
"The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, what would his Mistress say?"
"I told you not to call her 'Mudblood'!" snarled Harry, but the elf was already punishing himselfHe fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor
"Stop him - stop him!" Hermione cried"Oh, don't you see now how sick it is, the way they've got to obey?"
"Kreacher - stop, stop!" shouted Harry
The elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snot, a bruise already blooming on his pallid forehead where he had struck himself, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tearsHarry had never seen anything so pitiful
"So you brought the locket home," he said relentlessly, for he was determined to know the full story"And you tried to destroy it?"
"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," moaned the elf"Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work \a133 So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open \a133 Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried againKreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his mistress was mad with grief, seamaster de ville because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave \a133"
Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent wordsTears flowed down Hermione's cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare touch him againEven Ron, who was no fan of Kreacher's, looked troubledHarry sat back on his heels and shook his head, trying to clear it
"I don't understand you, Kreacher," he said finally"Voldemort tried to kill you, Regulus died to bring Voldemort down, but you were still happy to betray Sirius to Voldemort? You were happy to go to Narcissa and Bellatrix, and pass information to Voldemort through them \a133 "
"Harry, Kreacher doesn't think like that," said Hermione, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand"He's a slave; house-elves are used to bad, even brutal treatment; what Voldemort did to Kreacher wasn't that far out of the common wayWhat do wizard wars mean to an elf like Kreacher? He's loyal to people who are kind to him, and MrsBlack must have been, and Regulus certainly was, so he served them willingly and parroted their beliefsI know what you're going to say," she went on as Harry began to chanel 2.55 bag protest, "that Regulus changed his mind \a133 but he doesn't seem to have explained that to Kreacher, does he?" And I think I know whyKreacher and Regulus's family were all safest if they kept to the old pure-blood lineRegulus was trying to protect them all
"Sirius - "
"Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it's no good looking like that, you know it's trueKreacher had been alone for such a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affectionI'm sure 'Miss Cissy' and 'Miss Bella' were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favor and told them everything they wanted to knowI've said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elvesWell, Voldemort did \a133 and so did Sirius
Harry had no retortAs he watched Kreacher sobbing on the floor, he remembered what Dumbledore had said to him, mere hours after Sirius's death: \iI do not think Sirius ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human's \a133\i
"Kreacher," said Harry after a while, "when you feel up to it, er \a133 please sit up
It was several minutes before Kreacher hiccupped himself into silenceThen he pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a small tiffany heart tag necklace ch

Harry knew that the people in the drawing room were listening for more noises from the cellar
"We're going to have to try and tackle him," he whispered to RonThey had no choice: The moment anyone entered the room and saw the absence of three prisoners, they were lost"Leave the lights on," Harry added, and as they heard someone descending the steps outside the door, they backed against the wall on either side of it
"Stand back," came Wormtail's voice"Stand away from the doorFor a split second Wormtail gazed into the apparently empty cellar, ablaze with light from the three miniature suns floating in midairThen Harry and Ron launched themselves upon himRon seized Wormtail's wand arm and forced it upwardsHarry slapped a hand to his mouth, muffling his voiceSilently they struggled: Wormtail's wand emitted sparks; his silver hand closed around Harry's throat
"What is it, Wormtail?" called Lucius Malfoy from above
"Nothing!" Ron called back, in a passable imitation louis vuitton duffle bag of Wormtail's wheezy voice"All fine!"
Harry could barely breathe
"You're going to kill me?" Harry choked, attempting to prise off the metal fingers"After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!"
The silver fingers slackenedHarry had not expected it: He wrenched himself free, astonished, keeping his hand over Wormtail's mouthHe saw the ratlike man's small watery eyes widen with fear and surprise: He seemed just as shocked as Harry at what his hand had done, at the tiny, merciful impulse it had betrayed, and he continued to struggle more powerfully, as though to undo that moment of weakness
"And we'll have that," whispered Ron, tugging Wormtail's wand from his other hand
Wandless, helpless, Pettigrew's pupils dilated in terrorHis eyes had slid from Harry's face to something elseHis own silver fingers were moving inexorably toward his own throat
"No -"
Without pausing to think, Harry tried to drag back the hand, but there was no stopping itThe silver tool that gucci black bag Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant had turned upon its disarmed and useless owner; Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, his moment of pity; he was being strangled before their eyes
"No!"
Ron had released Wormtail too, and together he and Harry tried to pull the crushing metal fingers from around Wormtail's throat, but it was no usePettigrew was turning blue
"\iRelashio!\i" said Ron, pointing the wand at the silver hand, but nothing happened; Pettigrew dropped to his knees, and at the same moment, Hermione gave a dreadful scream from overheadWormtail's eyes rolled upward in his purple face; he gave a last twitch, and was still
Harry and Ron looked at each other, then leaving Wormtail's body on the floor behind them, ran up the stairs and back into the shadowy passageway leading to the drawing roomCautiously they crept along it until they reached the drawing room door, which was ajarNow they had a clear view of Bellatrix looking down chanel j12 watches at Griphook, who was holding Gryffindor's sword in his long-fingered handsHermione was lying at Bellatrix's feetShe was barely stirring
"Well?" Bellatrix said to Griphook"Is it the true sword?"
Harry waited, holding his breath, fighting against the prickling of his scar
"Are you sure?" panted Bellatrix"Quite sure?"
"Yes," said the goblin
Relief broke across her face, all tension drained from it
"Good," she said, and with a casual flick of her wand she slashed another deep cut into the goblin's face, and he dropped with a yell at her feet"And now," she said in a voice that burst with triumph, "we call the Dark Lord!"
And she pushed back her sleeve and touched her forefinger to the Dark Mark
At once, Harry's scar felt as though it had split open againHis true surroundings vanished: He was Voldemort, and the skeletal wizard before him was laughing
toothlessly at him; he was enraged at the summons he felt - he had warned them, he had told them to summon him omega seamaster watch for nothing less than PotterIf they were mistaken
\i"Kill me, then!" demanded the old man"You will not win, you cannot win! That wand will never, ever be yours -"\i
And Voldemort's fury broke: A burst of green light filled the prison room and the frail old body was lifted from its hard bed and then fell back, lifeless, and Voldemort returned to the window, his wrath barely controllableThey would suffer his retribution if they had no good reason for calling him back
"And I think," said Bellatrix's voice, "we can dispose of the MudbloodGreyback, take her if you want her
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Ron had burst into the drawing room; Bellatrix looked around, shocked; she turned her wand to face Ron instead -
"\iExpelliarmus!\i" he roared, pointing Wormtail's wand at Bellatrix, and hers flew into the air and was caught by Harry, who had sprinted after RonLucius, Narcissa, Draco and Greyback wheeled about; Harry yelled, "\iStupefy!\i" and Lucius Malfoy collapsed onto the discount tiffany's necklace he

There she waited until night should cover her
progress to Shoreditch, and thus peacefully she returned home to lighten
the vintner's pocket of twenty pounds
The fame of the adventure spread abroad, and that the scandal should
not be repeated Moll was summoned before the Court of Arches to answer
a charge of appearing publicly in mannish apparel The august tribunal
had no terror for her, and she received her sentence to do penance in a
white sheet at Paul's Cross during morning-service on a Sunday with an
audacious contempt `They might as well have shamed a black dog as
me,' she proudly exclaimed; and why should she dread the white sheet,
when all the spectators looked with a lenient eye upon her professed
discomfiture?' For a halfpenny,' she said, `she would have travelled to
every market-town of England in the guise of a penitent,' and having
tippled off three quarts of sack she swaggered to Paul's Cross in the
maddest of humours But not all the courts on earth could lengthen her
petticoat, or contract the Dutch slop by a single fold For a while,
perhaps, she chastened her costume, yet she soon reverted to the ancient
mode, and to her dying day went habited as a man
As bear baiting was the passion of her life, so she was scrupulous in
the care and training of her dogs She gave them each a trundle-bed,
wrapping them from the cold in sheets and blankets, while their food
would not have dishonoured a gentleman's table Parrots, too, gave a
sense of colour and companionship to her house; and it was in this love of
pets, and her devotion to cleanliness, that she showed a trace of dormant
womanhood Abroad a ribald and a scold, at home she was the omega usa neatest of
housewives, and her parlour, with its mirrors and its manifold ornaments,
was the envy of the neighbours So her trade flourished, and she lived a
life of comfort, of plenty even, until the Civil War threw her out of work

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
When an unnatural conflict set the whole country at loggerheads, what
occasion was there for the honest prig? And it is not surprising that, like
all the gentlemen adventurers of the age, Moll remained most stubbornly
loyal to the King's cause She made the conduit in Fleet Street run with
wine when Charles came to London in 1638; and it was her amiable
pleasantry to give the name of Strafford to a clever, cunning bull, and to
dub the dogs that assailed him Pym, Hampden, and the rest, that right
heartily she might applaud the courage of Strafford as he threw off his
unwary assailants
So long as the quarrel lasted, she was compelled to follow a profession
more ancient than the fence's; for there is one passion which war itself
cannot extinguish When once the King had laid his head `down as upon
a bed,' when once the Protector had proclaimed his supremacy, the
industry of the road revived; and there was not a single diver or rumpad
that did not declare eternal war upon the black-hearted Regicides With a
laudable devotion to her chosen cause, Moll despatched the most
experienced of her gang to rob Lady Fairfax on her way to church; and
there is a tradition that the Roaring Girl, hearing that Fairfax himself
would pass by Hounslow, rode forth to meet him, and with her own voice
bade him stand and deliver vintage chanel jewelry One would like to believe it; yet it is scarce
credible If Fairfax had spent the balance of an ignominious career in
being plundered by a band of loyal brigands, he would not have had time
to justify the innumerable legends of pockets emptied and pistols levelled
at his head Moreover, Moll herself was laden with years, and she had
always preferred the council chamber to the battlefield But it is certain
that, with Captain Hind and Mull Sack to aid, she schemed many a clever
plot against the Roundheads, and nobly she played her part in avenging
the martyred King
Thus she declined into old age, attended, like Queen Mary, by her
maids, who would card, reel, spin, and beguile her leisure with sweet
singing Though her spirit was untamed, the burden of her years
compelled her to a tranquil life She, who formerly never missed a bull-
baiting, must now content herself with tick-tack Her fortune, moreover,
had been wrecked in the Civil War Though silver shells still jingled in

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
her pocket, time was she knew the rattle of the yellow boys But she
never lost courage, and died at last of a dropsy, in placid contentment with
her lot Assuredly she was born at a time well suited to her genius Had
she lived to-day, she might have been a `Pioneer'; she might even have
discussed some paltry problem of sex in a printed obscenity
In her own freer, wiser age, she was not man's detractor, but his rival;
and if she never knew the passion of love, she was always loyal to the
obligation of friendship By her will she left twenty pounds to cheap chanel purses celebrate
the Second Charles's restoration to his kingdom; and you contemplate her
career with the single regret that she died a brief year before the red wine,
thus generously bestowed, bubbled at the fountain
II JONATHAN WILD
WHEN Jonathan Wild and the Count La Ruse, in Fielding's narrative,
took a hand at cards, Jonathan picked his opponent's pocket, though he
knew it was empty, while the Count, from sheer force of habit, stacked the
cards, though Wild had not a farthing to lose And if in his uncultured
youth the great man stooped to prig with his own hand, he was early cured
of the weakness: so that Fielding's picture of the hero taking a bottle-screw
from the Ordinary's pocket in the very moment of death is entirely fanciful
For `this Machiavel of Thieves,' as a contemporary styled him, left others
to accomplish what his ingenuity had planned His was the high policy
of theft If he lived on terms of familiar intimacy with the mill-kens, the
bridle-culls, the buttock-and-files of London, he was none the less the
friend and minister of justice He enjoyed the freedom of Newgate and
the Old Bailey He came and went as he liked: he packed juries, he
procured bail, he manufactured evidence; and there was scarce an assize or
a sessions passed but he slew his man
The world knew him for a robber, yet could not refuse his brilliant
service At the Poultry Counter, you are told, he laid the foundations of
his future greatness, and to the Poultry Counter he was committed for
some trifling debt ere he had fully served his apprenticeship to the art and
mystery of buckle- making There he learned his craft, and at his
enlargement he was chanel logo earrings able forthwith to commence thief-catcher His plan

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
was conceived with an effrontery that was nothing less than genius On
the one side he was the factor, or rather the tyrant, of the cross-coves: on
the other he was the trusted agent of justice, the benefactor of the outraged
and the plundered Among his earliest exploits was the recovery of the
Countess of G--d--n's chair, impudently carried off when her ladyship had
but just alighted; and the courage wherewith he brought to justice the
murderers of one MrsKnap, who had been slain for some trifling booty,
established his reputation as upon a rock He at once advertised himself
in the public prints as Thief-Catcher General of Great Britain and Ireland,
and proceeded to send to the gallows every scoundrel that dared dispute
his position
His opportunities of gain were infinite Even if he did not organise
the robbery which his cunning was presently to discover, he had spies in
every hole and corner to set him on the felon's track Nor did he leave a
single enterprise to chance: `He divided the city and suburbs into wards
or divisions, and appointed the persons who were to attend each ward, and
kept them strictly to their duty' If a subordinate dared to disobey or to
shrink from murder, Jonathan hanged him at the next assize, and happily
for him he had not a single confederate whose neck he might not put in the
halter when he chose Thus he preserved the union and the fidelity of his
gang, punishing by judicial murder the smallest insubordination, the
faintest suspicion of louis vuitton backpacks rivalry

"Mother sent her love, and was glad if I could do anything for youMeg wanted me to bring some of her blancmange, she makes it very nicely, and Beth thought her cats would be comfortingI knew you'd laugh at them, but I couldn't refuse, she was so anxious to do something
It so happened that Beth's funny loan was just the thing, for in laughing over the kits, Laurie forgot his bashfulness, and grew sociable at once
"That looks too pretty to eat," he said, smiling with pleasure, as Jo uncovered the dish, and showed the blancmange, surrounded by a garland of green leaves, and the scarlet flowers of Amy's pet geranium
"It isn't anything, only they all felt kindly and wanted to show itTell the girl to put it away for your teaIt's so simple you can eat it, and being soft, it will slip down without hurting your sore throatWhat a cozy room this is!"
"It might be it it was kept nice, but the maids are lazy, and I don't know how to make them mind
"I'll right it up in two minutes, for chanel quilted bags it only needs to have the hearth brushed, so--and the things made straight on the mantelpiece, so--and the books put here, and the bottles there, and your sofa turned from the light, and the pillows plumped up a bitNow then, you're fixed
And so he was, for, as she laughed and talked, Jo had whisked things into place and given quite a different air to the roomLaurie watched her in respectful silence, and when she beckoned him to his sofa, he sat down with a sigh of satisfaction, saying gratefully
"How kind you are! Yes, that's what it wantedNow please take the big chair and let me do something to amuse my company
"No, I came to amuse youShall I read aloud?" and Jo looked affectionately toward some inviting books near by
"Thank you! I've read all those, and if you don't mind, I'd rather talk," answered LaurieI'll talk all day if you'll only set me goingBeth says I never know when to stop
"Is Beth the rosy one, who stays at home good deal and sometimes goes out with a little mens gucci watches basket?" asked Laurie with interestShe's my girl, and a regular good one she is, too
"The pretty one is Meg, and the curly-haired one is Amy, I believe?"
Laurie colored up, but answered frankly, "Why, you see I often hear you calling to one another, and when I'm alone up here, I can't help looking over at your house, you always seem to be having such good timesI beg your pardon for being so rude, but sometimes you forget to put down the curtain at the window where the flowers areAnd when the lamps are lighted, it's like looking at a picture to see the fire, and you all around the table with your motherHer face is right opposite, and it looks so sweet behind the flowers, I can't help watching itI haven't got any mother, you know And Laurie poked the fire to hide a little twitching of the lips that he could not control
The solitary, hungry look in his eyes went straight to Jo's warm heartshe had been so simply taught that there was no nonsense in her head, and at fifteen she was as gucci twirl watch innocent and frank as any childLaurie was sick and lonely, and feeling how rich she was in home and happiness, she gladly tried to share it with himHer face was very friendly and her sharp voice unusually gentle as she said
"We'll never draw that curtain any more, and I give you leave to look as much as you likeI just wish, though, instead of peeping, you'd come over and see usMother is so splendid, she'd do you heaps of good, and Beth would sing to you if I begged her to, and Amy would danceMeg and I would make you laugh over our funny stage properties, and we'd have jolly timesWouldn't your grandpa let you?"
"I think he would, if your mother asked himHe's very kind, though he does not look so, and he lets me do what I like, pretty much, only he's afraid I might be a bother to strangers," began Laurie, brightening more and more
"We are not strangers, we are neighbors, and you needn't think you'd be a botherWe want to know you, and I've been trying to do it this ever so longWe prada bags cheap haven't been here a great while, you know, but we have got acquainted with all our neighbors but you
"You see, Grandpa lives among his books, and doesn't mind much what happens outsideBrooke, my tutor, doesn't stay here, you know, and I have no one to go about with me, so I just stop at home and get on as I canYou ought to make an effort and go visiting everywhere you are asked, then you'll have plenty of friends, andpleasant places to go toNever mind being bashfulIt won't last long if you keep going
Laurie turned red again, but wasn't offended at being accused of bashfulness, for there was so much good will in Jo it was impossible not to take her blunt speeches as kindly as they were meant
"Do you like your school?" asked the boy, changing the subject, after a little pause, during which he stared at the fire and Jo looked about her, well pleased
"Don't go to school, I'm a businessman--girl, I meanI go to wait on my great-aunt, and a dear, cross old soul she is, too," gucci book bags answere

March said, in her serious yet cheery way
"I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and goodTo be admired, loved, and respectedTo have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to sendTo be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman, and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experienceIt is natural to think of it, Meg, right to hope and wait for it, and wise to prepare for it, so that when the happy time comes, you may feel ready for the duties and worthy of the joyMy dear girls, I am ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the world, marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wantingMoney is a needful and precious thing, and when well used, a noble thing, but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive forI'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace
"Poor girls don't stand any chance, Belle says, unless they put themselves forward," sighed Meg
"Then we'll be old maids," said Jo stoutlyBetter be happy old maids than unhappy wives, or dior saddle bags unmaidenly girls, running about to find husbands," said Mrs"Don't be troubled, Meg, poverty seldom daunts a sincere loverSome of the best and most honored women I know were poor girls, but so love-worthy that they were not allowed to be old maidsLeave these things to timeMake this home happy, so that you may be fit for homes of your own, if they are offered you, and contented here if they are notOne thing remember, my girlsMother is always ready to be your confidante, Father to be your friend, and both of hope and trust that our daughters, whether married or single, will be the pride and comfort of out lives
"We will, Marmee, we will!" cried both, with all their hearts, as she bade them good night
CHAPTER TEN

As spring came on, a new set of amusements became the fashion, and the lengthening days gave long afternoons for work and play of all sortsThe garden had to be put in order, and each sister had a quarter of the little plot to do what she liked withHannah used to say, "I'd know which each of them gardings belonged to, ef I see 'em in Chiny," and so she might, for the girls' tastes differed as much as their charactersMeg's had roses and heliotrope, myrtle, and a little orange tree in itJo's bed was never alike two seasons, for she was always trying experimentsThis year it was to be a chanel 2.55 bag plantation of sun flowers, the seeds of which cheerful land aspiring plant were to feed Aunt Cockle-top and her family of chicksBeth had old-fashioned fragrant flowers in her garden, sweet peas and mignonette, larkspur, pinks, pansies, and southernwood, with chickweed for the birds and catnip for the pussiesAmy had a bower in hers, rather small and earwiggy, but very pretty to look at, with honeysuckle and morning-glories hanging their colored horns and bells in graceful wreaths all over it, tall white lilies, delicate ferns, and as many brilliant, picturesque plants as would consent to blossom there
Gardening, walks, rows on the river, and flower hunts employed the fine days, and for rainy ones, they had house diversions, some old, some new, all more or less originalOne of these was the `P', for as secret societies were the fashion,it was thought proper to have one, and as all of the girls admired Dickens, they called themselves the Pickwick ClubWith a few interruptions, they had kept this up for a year, and met every Saturday evening in the big garret, on which occasions the ceremonies were as follows: Three chairs were arranged in a row before a table on which was a lamp, also four white badges, with a big `P' in different colors on each, and the weekly newspaper called, The Pickwick louis vuitton duffle bag Portfolio, to which all contributed something, while Jo, who reveled in pens and ink, was the editorAt seven o'clock, the four members ascended to the clubroom, tied their badges round their heads, and took their seats with great solemnityMeg, as the eldest, was Samuel Pickwick, Jo, being of a literary turn, Augustus Snodgrass, Beth, because she was round and rosy, Tracy Tupman, and Amy, who was always trying to do what she couldn't, was Nathaniel WinklePickwick, the president, read the paper, which was filled with original tales, poetry, local news, funny advertisements, and hints, in which they good-naturedly reminded each other of their faults and short comingsPickwick put on a pair of spectacles without any glass, rapped upon the table, hemmed, and having stared hard at MrSnodgrass, who was tilting back in his chair, till he arranged himself properly, began to read:

"THE PICKWICK PORTFOLIO"
MAY 20, 18---
POET'S CORNER


ANNIVERSARY ODE
Again we meet to celebrate
With badge and solemn rite,
Our fifty-second anniversary,
In Pickwick Hall, tonight
We all are here in perfect health,
None gone from our small band:
Again we see each well-known face,
And press each friendly hand
Our Pickwick, always at his post,
With reverence we greet,
As, spectacles on nose, replica cartier tank he reads
Our well-filled weekly sheet
Although he suffers from a cold,
We joy to hear him speak,
For words of wisdom from him fall,
In spite of croak or squeak
Old six-foot Snodgrass looms on high,
With elephantine grace,
And beams upon the company,
With brown and jovial face
Poetic fire lights up his eye,
He struggles 'gainst his lot
Behold ambition on his brow,
And on his nose, a blot
Next our peaceful Tupman comes,
So rosy, plump, and sweet,
Who chokes with laughter at the puns,
And tumbles off his seat
Prim little Winkle too is here,
With every hair in place,
A model of propriety,
Though he hates to wash his face
The year is gone, we still unite
To joke and laugh and read,
And tread the path of literature
That doth to glory lead
Long may our paper prosper well,
Our club unbroken be,
And coming years their blessings pour
On the useful, gay `PSNODGRASS
________

THE MASKED MARRIAGE
(A Tale Of Venice)
Gondola after gondola swept up to the marble steps, and left its lovely load to swell the brilliant throng that filled the stately halls of Count AdelonKnights and ladies, elves and pages, monks and flower girls, all mingled gaily in the dance
Sweet voices and rich melody filled the air, and so with mirth and music the masquerade chanel bags collection went