I
was only cured at last by a remedy that I don't know whether you ever
happened to hear of, Mr Pluck. You have a gallon of water as hot as
you can possibly bear it, with a pound of salt, and sixpen'orth of the
finest bran, and sit with your head in it for twenty minutes every night
just before going to bed; at least, I don't mean your head--your feet.
It's a most extraordinary cure--a most extraordinary cure. I used it
for the first time, I recollect, the day after Christmas Day, and by the
middle of April following the cold was gone. It seems quite a miracle
when you come to think of it, for I had it ever since the beginning of
September.'
'What an afflicting calamity!' said Mr Pyke.
'Perfectly horrid!' exclaimed Mr Pluck.
'But it's worth the pain of hearing, only to know that Mrs Nickleby
recovered it, isn't it, Pluck?' cried Mr Pyke.
'That is the circumstance which gives it such a thrilling interest,'
replied Mr Pluck.
'But come,' said Pyke, as if suddenly recollecting himself; 'we must
not forget our mission in the pleasure of this interview. We come on a
mission, Mrs Nickleby.'
'On a mission,' exclaimed that good lady, to whose mind a definite
proposal of marriage for Kate at once presented itself in lively
colours.
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