The Old Curiosity Shop

Two days after Quilp’s meeting with the Brasses at the Wilderness, Dick returns to work. Mr. Chuckster calls at the office to visit Dick, as they are members of the same gentlemen’s club, the Glorious Apollers. Chuckster wants to discuss the single gentleman, but Kit’s arrival with a letter for the gentleman interrupts their conversation.

Sally and Sampson return to the office, and Sampson insists on a private conversation with Kit. He gives Kit some coins and strongly implies the money is meant to buy Kit’s silence about the single gentleman.

Kit regularly brings messages to the single gentleman from Mr. Garland. Whenever Mr. Garland himself visits, Kit waits outside with the horse. Sampson uses this time to earn Kit’s trust. On more than one occasion, Sampson offers Kit more coins, which Kit accepts.

One afternoon, while the Brasses are out, Dick encounters the servant girl. She came upstairs to spy at the keyhole out of curiosity. Dick offers to teach her how to play cribbage; he soon learns she has never tasted beer and that she hardly gets to eat, so he sends out for some food and beer to enjoy together. The girl reveals that she does not know her own name, having only been called “little devil” by Sally, or how old she is.