"And so he is!" cried the old man, "so he is; I have felt that from the first, I have always known it, I've seen it, I never felt it half so strongly as I feel it now. Quilp, I have dreamed, three nights, of winning the same large sum. I never could dream that dream before, though I have often tried. Do not desert me, now I have this chance! I have no resource but you,—give me some help, let me try this one last hope."
The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
"Nay, Quilp, good Quilp!" gasped the old man, extending his hands in entreaty; "let me try just this once more. I tell you it is not for me—it is for her! Oh, I cannot die and leave her in poverty!"
"I couldn't do it, really," said Quilp, with unusual politeness. And grinning and making a low bow he passed out of the door.
The dwarf was, for once, as good as his word. He not only refused to lend any more money, but he at once began to make plans for closing the shop. The old man was so broken-hearted that he fell ill of a raging fever, and for days was delirious. Little Nell, his only nurse, gradually learned the truth about her grandfather's evening pursuit—the gaming-table—and it added all the more to her sorrow.
At last when he was well enough to go about again, the impatient dwarf would not be put off any longer in regard to the sale. An early day was fixed for it, and the old dealer no longer offered any objections. Instead, he sat quietly, dully in his chair, looking at a tiny patch of green through his window.
To one who had been tossing on a restless bed so long, even these few green leaves and this tranquil light, although it languished among chimneys and house-tops, were pleasant things. They suggested quiet places afar off, and rest and peace.
The child thought, more than once, that he was moved and had forborne to speak. But now he shed tears—tears that it lightened her aching heart to see—and making as though he would fall upon his knees, he besought her to forgive him.
"Forgive you—what?" said Nell, interposing to prevent his purpose. "Oh, grandfather, what should I forgive?"
"All that is past, all that has come upon you, Nell," returned the old man.