Without pretending to assert that the eyes of Nathan Gomer possessed magnetic influence, it must be acknowledged that very shortly after Nathan had fixed them upon Joshua Maybee’s sealed orbs, the latter commenced a tremulous vibration, and ultimately the eyeballs appeared to be slowly rotating beneath the lids, increasing their motion until the eyelids seemed forced open, and the eyes of Josh Maybee and Nathan Gomer met.
For an instant there was perfect silence, accompanied by a fixed stare on both sides, Maybee being uncertain whether he was dreaming or awake; then Nathan grinned, whereupon Maybee uttered a roar of fright, and would have leaped out of bed, but that Nathan restrained him, bade him lie down again, and not be terrified. He called upon him to preserve his calmness, as he desired to have a long conversation with him. He also told him that he would have occasion to exercise his memory with patient perseverance, and to communicate the result of the examination to him. He added, that he might expect immediate remuneration for his revelations, equivalent to their value, as well as the prospect of a speedy liberation from the den in which he had so long been incarcerated.
Josh Maybee listened in silent amazement. He looked distrustfully and suspiciously at his mysterious visitor; and, notwithstanding the grand promises of pecuniary recompense and release from imprisonment, he did not seem disposed to entertain the proposition, or to do anything, indeed, to prolong the interview. His flesh crawled as he looked upon the singular features of the strange being before him, who nodded and grinned at him very much after the manner of the gnomes of the Golden Harz, of whom, in his younger days, he had read with awe; and he could hardly help thinking that the awful-looking little stranger was, at least, a native of a lower world, gifted with the power of appearing on earth, adopting, when he availed himself of the advantage he possessed, a form and deportment calculated to fling into hysterics of terror all whom he honoured with his presence.
It was not until Hathan Gomer perceived the alarm his appearance excited, that he more clearly explained the nature of his visit, and displayed his knowledge of the information obtained from Chewkle, then Maybee became more composed, quitted his squalid bed, and dressed himself in his greased and faded habiliments.
By the liberality of Gomer, he was provided with a breakfast the like of which he had not tasted for years; and when he had finished his repast, and emotions stole over him of a right royal and monarchical character, Nathan commenced enlisting his sympathies in favour of Wilton and his daughter, whom he remembered on his attention being drawn to them. He followed up his observations by reverting to the earlier periods of Maybee’s life, extorted from him a complete history of past events, and elicited as he proceeded all that was essential to the establishment of Wilton’s claim to the estates left by old Eglinton.
This done, Nathan Gomer, being beyond a doubt satisfied on all-points, even to the production of documents, entered into a compact with Joshua Maybee, which the latter swore to fulfil. The amber-visaged dwarf, having supplied the poor old prisoner with funds, arranged when he would again see him, and then took his departure.
He jumped into a cab on quitting the prison, and drove to a solicitor’s. The interview between him and his legal adviser was marked by much excitement on the part of Nathan Gomer and evident surprise on that of the lawyer, as well as by the rapid taking of notes. When this interview terminated, Nathan flung himself once more into a cab, and was whirled away at a smart pace for a new destination.
Mr. Chewkle during this period sat in the waiting-room at the railway station patiently for half-an-hour; he was amused by the coming and going of persons, by the diversity of bags and parcels moving to and fro, the contents of which he imagined and coveted, and the general activity and bustle prevailing in such a place. But when ten o’clock struck he began to fancy that he had mistaken the time appointed, and had arrived here an hour before his time.
He sharply examined every person who entered, expecting to see Nathan, but eleven o’clock came and passed, and Gomer had not made his appearance.
Mr. Chewkle now began to grow uneasy—he went carefully over the last night’s interview, but could not alight upon any part of it in which, to use his own language, he had “sold himself;” he, therefore, tried to content himself by assuming that Nathan Gomer had been unexpectedly detained on some important business, and he decided on allowing him the latitude of another hour.