winkle has an exciting adventure with mr.
dowler, and with the aid of mr. pickwick
and sam weller discovers
the whereabouts of miss
arabella allen
at bath, a resort very popular with people of fashion, the pickwickians decided to spend the next two months, and started by coach at once, accompanied by sam weller. on the coach they fell in with a fierce-looking, abrupt gentleman named dowler, with a bald, glossy forehead and large black whiskers, who introduced them to the society of bath, particularly to mr. angelo cyrus[pg 243] bantam, master of ceremonies at the famous assembly-room, where the fashionable balls were held. mr. bantam carried a gold eye-glass, a gold snuff-box, gold rings on his finger, a gold watch in his waistcoat pocket, a gold chain and an ebony cane with a gold head. his linen was the whitest, his wig the blackest, and his teeth were so fine that it was hard to tell the real ones from the false ones.
mr. bantam made the pickwickians welcome and in three days' time they were settled in a fine house, where mr. and mrs. dowler also lodged. mr. pickwick passed his days in drinking the spring-water for which bath was famous, and in walking; his evenings he spent at the assembly balls, at the theater or in making entries in his journal.
one evening mrs. dowler was carried off to a party in her sedan-chair, leaving her husband to sit up for her. the pickwickians had long since gone to bed, and mr. dowler fell fast asleep while he waited. it was a very windy night and the sedan-carriers, who brought the lady home, knocked in vain at the door. mr. dowler did not wake, though they knocked like an insane postman.
at length winkle in his own room was roused by the racket. he donned slippers and dressing-gown, hurried down stairs half asleep and opened the door. at the glare of the torches he jumped to the conclusion that the house was on fire and rushed outside, when the door blew shut behind him.[pg 244]
seeing a lady's face at the window of the sedan-chair, he turned and knocked at the door frantically, but with no response. he was undressed and the wind blew his dressing-gown in a most unpleasant manner. "there are people coming down the street now. there are ladies with 'em; cover me up with something! stand before me!" roared winkle, but the chairmen only laughed. the ladies were nearer and in desperation he bolted into the sedan-chair where mrs. dowler was.
now mr. dowler, a moment before, had bounced off the bed, and now threw open the window just in time to see this. he thought his wife was running away with another man, and seizing a supper knife, the indignant husband tore into the street, shouting furiously.
winkle, hearing his horrible threats, did not wait. he leaped out of the sedan-chair and took to his heels, hotly pursued by dowler. he dodged his pursuer at length, rushed back, slammed the door in dowler's face, gained his bedroom, barricaded his door with furniture and packed his belongings. at the first streak of dawn, he slipped out and took coach for bristol.
mr. pickwick was greatly vexed over winkle's unheroic flight. sam weller soon discovered where he had gone, and mr. pickwick sent him after the fugitive, bidding him find winkle and either compel him to return or keep him in sight until mr. pickwick himself could follow.[pg 245]
winkle, meanwhile, walking about the bristol streets, chanced to stop at a doctor's office to make some inquiries, and in a young medical gentleman in green spectacles recognized, to his huge surprise, bob sawyer, the bosom friend of ben allen, both of whom he had met on christmas day at dingley dell. bob, in delight, dragged winkle into the back room where sat ben allen, amusing himself by boring holes in the chimney piece with a red-hot poker.
the precious couple had, in fact, set up shop together, and were using every trick they knew to make people think them great doctors with a tremendous practice. they insisted on winkle's staying to supper, and it was lucky he did so, for he heard news of arabella, the pretty girl who had worn the little boots with fur around the top at dingley dell, and with whom he had fallen in love. he learned that arabella had scorned the sprightly bob sawyer, and that her brother, in anger, had taken her away from mr. wardle's and put her in the house of an old aunt—a dull, close place not far from bristol. before he bade them good night, winkle had determined to find her.
he met with a shock, on returning to his inn, to come suddenly upon dowler sitting in the coffee-room. winkle drew back, very pale, and was greatly surprised to see the bloodthirsty dowler do likewise as, growing even paler than winkle, he began an apology for his action of the evening[pg 246] before. as a matter of fact, dowler had run away from bath, too, at dawn, in fear of winkle, and thought now the latter had pursued him. winkle, suspecting this, put on a look of great fierceness but accepted the apology, and the pair shook hands.
winkle's plan for finding arabella allen met now with a set-back. sam weller arrived at midnight and insisted that winkle be waked at once. once in his room, sam told him mr. pickwick's instructions and declared he would not leave his sight till winkle came back with him to bath. this was awkward, but luckily, mr. pickwick himself, to whom sam wrote, arrived next day and released his follower.
mr. pickwick approved of winkle's determination to find the pretty arabella, and so the next morning sam weller was sent on a voyage of discovery among the servants of the town. for many hours sam searched in vain without a clue.
in the afternoon he sat in a lane running between rows of gardens in one of the suburbs, when a gate opened and a maid-servant came out to shake some carpets. sam gallantly rose to help her, when she uttered a half-suppressed scream. it was mary, the good-looking housemaid whom sam had kissed at the house of nupkins, the mayor of ipswich, on the day of the arrest of the pickwickians and the exposure of jingle. she had left her place there for this new situation.[pg 247]
when sam had finished his gallant speeches and mary her blushing, he told her of winkle's search. what was his surprise when she told him that arabella was living the very next door. she let sam come into the garden, and presently when arabella came out to walk, he scrambled on to the wall and pleaded winkle's cause.
"ve thought ve should ha' been obliged to straitveskit him last night," he declared. "he's been a-ravin' all day; and he says if he can't see you afore to-morrow night's over, he vishes he may be somethin'-unpleasanted if he don't drownd hisself."
arabella, in great distress at this prospect, promised she would be in the garden next evening, and sam returned with the news to mr. pickwick and winkle.
the next evening all three set out for the spot. mary let them into the garden and, while winkle climbed the wall to throw himself at arabella's feet, mr. pickwick kept guard at the gate with a dark lantern. so far he threw its beam that a scientific gentleman who lived a few houses away, seeing the light from his window, took it for some new and wonderful freak of electricity and came out to investigate.
before he arrived, however, winkle had scrambled back over the wall and arabella had run into the house. seeing the scientific gentleman's head poked out of a garden-gate as they passed, sam[pg 248] gave it a gentle tap with his fist and then, hoisting mr. pickwick on his back, and followed by winkle, he ran off at full speed, leaving the scientific gentleman to go back to his room and write a long article about the wonderful light and to tell how he had received a shock of electricity which left him stunned for a quarter of an hour afterward.
the pickwickians' stay at bath came to an end soon after this adventure, and their leader, with sam weller, returned to london.
