"The religious gentleman, please, sir?" "Exactly; the religious gentleman. Well, _attend_. The two Jews and the religious gentleman together make _three_; and those three gentlemen are _robbers_." "_What_, sir?" "_Robbers_--robbers! Don't you know what '_robbers_' means? They are all three _robbers_. Now, I don't think they'll want to fiddle with my money till I'm dead." "Oh, Lord, sir!" "'Oh, Lord!' of course. That will do. They won't touch my money till I'm dead, if they trust you; but they _will_ want my desk--at least Larkin will. I shan't be able to look after things, for my head is very bad, and I shall be too drowsy--soon knocked up; so give 'em the desk, if they ask for it, and these keys from under the pillow; and if they ask you if there are any other papers, say _no_; and don't you tell them one word about the letters you've put between the beds here. If you betray me--you're a religious woman--yes--and believe in God--may God d--n you; and He will, for you'll be accessory to the villany of those three miscreants. And now I've done what in me lies; and that is all--my last testament." And Mr. Dingwell lay down wearily. Sarah Rumble knew that he was very ill; she had attended people in fever, and seen them die. Mr. Dingwell was already perceptibly worse. As she was coming up with some whey, a knock came to the door, and opening it she saw Mr. Levi, with a very surly countenance, and his dark eyes blazing fiercely on her. "How'sh Dingwell now?" he demanded, before he had time to enter, and shut the door; "_worse_, is he?" "Well, he's duller, sir." "In his bed? Shut the door." "Yes, sir, please. Didn't get up this morning. He expected you two hours ago, sir." Levi nodded. "What doctor did you fetch?" he asked. "No doctor, please, sir. I thought you and _him_ would choose." Levi made no answer; so she could not tell by his surly face, which underwent no change, whether he approved or not. He looked at his watch. "Larkin wasn't here to-day?" "Mr. Larkin? No, sir, please." "Show me Dingwell's room, till I have a look at him," said the Jew, gloomily. So he followed her up-stairs, and entered the darkened room without waiting for any invitation, and went to the window, and pulled open a bit of the shutter. "What's it for?" grumbled Dingwell indistinctly from his bed. "So you've bin and done it, you have," said the Jew, walking up with his hands in his pockets, and eyeing him from a distance as he might a glandered horse. Dingwell was in no condition to retort on this swarthy little man, who eyed him with a mixture of disgust and malignity. "How long has he been thish way?" said the Jew, glowering on Sarah Rumble. "Only to-day in bed, please, sir; but he has bin lookin' awful bad this two or three days, sir." "Do you back it for _fever_?" "I think it's _fever_, sir." "I s'pose you'd twig fever fasht enough? Seen lotsh of fever in your time?" "Yes, sir, please."