The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

314 TOBIAS SMOLLETT
with his people to give their assistance.—Thither my uncle being
carried, was undressed and put to bed, wrapped in warm blankets;
but having been moved too soon, he fainted away, and once more
lay without sense or motion, notwithstanding all the efforts of
Clinker and the landlord, who bathed his temples with Hungary
water, and held a smelling-bottle to his nose. As I had heard of the
efficacy of salt in such cases, I ordered all that was in the house to
be laid under his head and body; and whether this application had
the desired effect, or nature of herself prevailed, he, in less than
a quarter of an hour, began to breathe regularly, and soon retrieved
his recollection, to the unspeakable joy of all the by-standers. As
for Clinker, his brain seemed to be affected.—He laughed, and
wept, and danced about in such a distracted manner, that the land-
lord very judiciously conveyed him out of the room. My uncle, see-
ing me dropping wet, comprehended the whole of what had
happened, and asked if all the company was safe?—Being answered
in the affirmative, he insisted upon my putting on dry clothes; and,
having swallowed a little warm wine, desired he might be left to
his repose. Before I went to shift myself, I inquired about the rest
of the family—I found Mrs. Tabitha, still delirious from her
fright, discharging very copiously the water she had swallowed.
She was supported by the captain, distilling drops from his un-
curled periwig, so lank and so dank, that he looked like father
Thames without his sedges, embracing Isis, while she cascaded in
his urn. Mrs. Jenkins was present also, in a loose bed-gown, with-
out either cap or handkerchief; but she seemed to be as little
compos mentis as her mistress, and acted so many cross purposes in
the course of her attendance, that, between the two, Lismahago
had occasion for all his philosophy. As for Liddy, I thought the
poor girl would have actually lost her senses. The good-woman of
the house had shifted her linen, and put her into bed; but she was
seized with the idea that her uncle had perished, and in this per-
suasion made a dismal out-cry; nor did she pay the least regard to
what I said, when I solemnly assured her he was safe. Mr. Bramble
hearing the noise, and being informed of her apprehension, desired
she might be brought into his chamber; and she no sooner received
this intimation, than she ran thither half naked, with the wildest
expression of eagerness in her countenance—Seeing the ’squire
sitting up in the bed, she sprung forwards, and, throwing her arms
about his neck, exclaimed in a most pathetic tone, ‘Are you—Are