not accustomed to politeness; she seemed half
confused, and immediately began to describe
the route I was to take. There was evidently
some better feeling in her, which made her
feel flattered at being mistaken for what she
was not, but perhaps had been. She
accompanied me almost to the end of the lane. In
the course of my progress through this
neighbourhood, I remarked that all the inhabitants
looked squalid. The very air seemed full of
pestilential matter; I felt cold shudders, and
my breath came short. I thought of the " città
dolente" of Dante. Wellclose Square appeared
very quiet; no human being met my eye,
when I first entered it; no face appeared at
the windows. It was indeed the quiet of a
churchyard.

My knock at the door of Mr. Wernstuk's
house, to which I had been directed, was
speedily answered by a rakish-looking young
man, in shirt-sleeves, with a scarlet Calpac
on his head. Evidently astonished at the
appearance of a guest whose deportment
differed from what he was accustomed to see
in this place, he seemed unable to comprehend
my request for accommodation. It was not
until I showed him the card which the
landlord had given me, that he opened the door
and led me into the parlour. The room was
dirty, cold, and damp. A low fire burned in
a desolate-looking grate; the hearth was full
of cinders, and the leavings of a late and
disorderly breakfast stood upon the table. Music,
wearing apparel, and sundry stone-bottles,
strewed the floor. A powerful, square-built
fellow, in a Flushing jacket with brass
buttons, forced an unmelodious twang from
the three remaining strings of an old guitar.

There was no one else in the room; but on
the violent shouts of the man in the Calpac, a
negligently-dressed woman ascended from
some place below. Her features were
haggard, and bore an expression of habitual ill-
humour; such as bad health, fatigue, and
hopelessness stamp on the face. The sharp
cough which accompanied the first words she
spoke, told her history at once. She was
fast sinking under the attacks of consumption.

Surveying me with an air in which kindness
struggled with vexation, she said, after a
few explanatory remarks from my introducer,
"Did my husband indeed send you here,
mein Herr? " And when I said, " Yes;" she
continued, " I think Wernstuk is mad. He
brags about his house, and his hotel, and his
accommodation; whereas you may now see
with your own eyes whether a place like this
is fit for such as you. Wernstuk is mad!"

"Not so mad as you think, my good
woman," said I. " At least not in the present
case. What his accommodation is, I know
not; but his prices suit me excellently.
Therefore, let the door be shut, and stir the
fire, for it is very cold."

"Ja, ja, mein Herr! " said the man in
the Flushing coat with a broad Westphalian
accent; and he betook himself eagerly to obey
my commands, while his companion—whom
the landlady called Tillmans—placed a chair
close to the fender, and asked me to sit down
on it. " Since you insist on remaining here,"
added he, "we will at least do all we can to
make you comfortable."

But I asked to be forthwith shown to a
room where I might wash and dress. The
man in the Flushing coat looked astonished,
and the pale features of the landlady bore an
expression of blank dismay. She hesitated
for some moments, and then explained to me,
that there was no room in the house but this,
in which a fire was kept, and that to wash
and undress in any other room would give
me my death of cold. We were interrupted
by a violent knocking at the street-door,
which being opened, admitted the landlord,
the pale woman, and half-a-dozen men, who
were evidently the worse for liquor, and who
would have been the better for some water
and soap. Their entrance was the signal
for a scene of confusion, which lasted until
the appearance of the landlord; who, with a
huge dish full of hot potatoes, gave the signal
for dinner.

A dozen eager hands were at once in
motion to assist him. The table, which still
bore the traces of the last meals, was covered
with a coarse cloth; Louis, the waiter,
emptied a basket of tin spoons, knives, and
iron forks, on the table; and while the man in
the Flushing jacket, armed with a large knife,
prepared to act as carver, by stripping
himself of his upper garment and tucking up the
sleeves of his shirt, the company arranged
themselves round the table, and made an
unceremonious attack on the provisions, which
consisted of cold beef, boiled mutton, sausages,
and the hot potatoes. The appetite with
which the company eat was truly edifying, and
the pauses of the meal were duly filled with
laughter, disputing, and swearing. Each guest
seemed eager to impress all others with his
great proficiency in London life.

Coffee was brought in after dinner, and
the men, scarcely any of whom had as yet
found employment in their respective trades,
produced large pipes, and fell with great
vehemence to smoking and disputing; while
the landlady and the pale woman, with the
embroidered skullcap, sat down in a further
corner of the room.

Presently, a man in rusty black entered
with a boisterous air, which was evidently
assumed for the purpose of conciliating the
good-will of the landlord, who at once
welcomed the new-comer. " You are just in the
nick of time, Mr. Speellman," said he. " There
is foreign money in the house."

"Great demand for sovereigns, eh ? " said
Mr. Speellman. "Well and good. I have
brought gold and silver, and give as much
for a dollar, or florin, as any man in the trade."

"Gentlemen and ladies! " cried the
landlord. " You hear what Mr. Speellman says.
He is ready to change whatever coins you