THE DIARY OF A NOBODY.
I said: "Lupin, please moderate your expressions in the presence of your mother."
Lupin said: "I'm very sorry, but there is no other expression one can apply to him. However, I'm determined not to enter his place again."
I said: "You know, Lupin, he has forbidden you the house."
Lupin replied: "Well, we won't split straws—it's all the same. Daisy is a trump, and will wait for me ten years, if necessary."
January 5.—I can scarcely write the news. Mr. Perkupp told me my salary would be raised £100! I stood gaping for a moment unable to realise it. I annually get £10 rise, and I thought it might be £15 or even £20; but £100 surpasses all belief. Carrie and I both rejoiced over our good fortune. Lupin came home in the evening in the utmost good spirits. I sent Sarah quietly round to the grocer's for a bottle of champagne, the same as we had before, "Jackson Fréres." It was opened at supper, and I said to Lupin: "This is to celebrate some good news I have received to-day." Lupin replied: "Hooray, Guv.! And I have some good news, also; a double event, eh?" I said: "My boy, as a result of twenty-one years' industry and strict attention to the interests of my superiors in
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