He
intended to take counsel with his sister when she came to see him; but
aunt Charlotte was herself very ill with an attack of rheumatism, and
could not get up to old Oliver's house.
CHAPTER XVII.
A VERY DARK SHADOW.
The Christmas week passed by, and the new year came in, cold and bleak,
but Tony was well secured against the weather, and liked the frosty air,
which made it pleasant to run as fast as he could from place to place as
he delivered his parcels. When boxing day came, which was half-holiday
for him, he returned to the house at mid-day, carrying with him three
mince-pies, which he had felt himself rich enough to buy in honour of the
holiday. He had for a long time been reckoning upon shutting up shop for
the whole afternoon, and upon going out for a long stroll through the
streets with old Oliver and Dolly; and now that the hour was positively
come he felt very light-hearted and full of spirits, defying the wind
which wrestled with him at every turn. Dolly must be wrapped up well, he
said to himself, and old Oliver must put on his drab great coat, with
mother o' pearl buttons, which he had brought up from the country forty
years ago, and which was still good for keeping out the cold.
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