For example. Leaning against the wall, close beside the seat Mr. Pickwick had taken, was an office-lad of fourteen, with a tenor voice; near him, a common-law clerk with a bass one.
A clerk hurried in with a bundle of papers, and stared about him.
“Sniggle and Blink,” cried the tenor.
“Porkin and Snob,” growled the bass.
“Stumpy and Deacon,” said the new comer.
Nobody answered; the next man who came in, was hailed by the whole three; and he in his turn shouted for another firm; and then somebody else roared in a loud voice for another; and so forth.
All this time, the man in the spectacles was hard at work, swearing the clerks: the oath being invariably administered without any effort at the punctuation, and usually in the following terms:
“Take the book in your right hand this is your name and hand-writing you swear that the contents of this your affidavit are true so help you God a shilling you must get change I haven’t got it.”
“Well, Sam,” said Mr. Pickwick, “I suppose they are getting the habeas corpus ready.”
“Yes,” said Sam, “and I vish they’d bring out the have-his-carcase. It’s wery unpleasant keepin’ us vaitin’ here. I’d ha’ got half a dozen have-his-carcases ready, pack’d up and all, by this time.”