Chapter 36: VIII

VIII Philosophical They went back into the booth, Sleary shutting the door to keep intruders out. Bitzer, still holding the paralysed culprit by the collar, stood in the ring, blinking at his old patron through the darkness of the twilight. “Bitzer,” said Mr. Gradgrind, broken down, and miserably submissive to him, “have you a heart?” “The circulation, sir,” returned Bitzer, smiling at the oddity of the question, “couldn’t be carried on without one. No man, sir, acquainted with the …