Will you shake hands ?' 'Shake honds!' cried the good-humoured Yorkshireman; 'ah! that I weel;' at the same time, he bent down from the saddle, and gave Nicholas's fist a huge wrench: 'but wa'at be the matther wi' thy feace, mun?
it be all brokken loike.' 'It is a cut,' said Nicholas, turning scarlet as he spoke,--'a blow; but I returned it to the giver, and with good interest too.' 'Noa, did 'ee though ?' exclaimed John Browdie.

'Well deane! I loike 'un for thot.' 'The fact is,' said Nicholas, not very well knowing how to make the avowal, 'the fact is, that I have been ill-treated.' 'Noa!' interposed John Browdie, in a tone of compassion; for he was a giant in strength and stature, and Nicholas, very likely, in his eyes, seemed a mere dwarf; 'dean't say thot.' 'Yes, I have,' replied Nicholas, 'by that man Squeers, and I have beaten him soundly, and am leaving this place in consequence.' 'What!' cried John Browdie, with such an ecstatic shout, that the horse quite shied at it.

'Beatten the schoolmeasther! Ho! ho! ho! Beatten the schoolmeasther! who ever heard o' the loike o' that noo! Giv' us thee hond agean, yoongster.

Beatten the schoolmeasther! Dang it, I loov' thee for't.' With these expressions of delight, John Browdie laughed and laughed again--so loud that the echoes, far and wide, sent back nothing but jovial peals of merriment--and shook Nicholas by the hand meanwhile, no less heartily.

When his mirth had subsided, he inquired what Nicholas meant to do; on his informing him, to go straight to London, he shook his head doubtfully, and inquired if he knew how much the coaches charged to carry passengers so far.
'No, I do not,' said Nicholas; 'but it is of no great consequence to me, for I intend walking.' 'Gang awa' to Lunnun afoot!' cried John, in amazement.
'Every step of the way,' replied Nicholas.