would run away from me, or knock me down,
if he had really known of how much importance
a shilling was to me.

An hour after sunset I went to Percy
Street, and went up the dark stairs to my
rooms. The bedroom, which I first entered,
struck me as cold and damp, but in the grate
of the sitting-room burned a cheerful fire,
which lighted the whole apartment. It may
appear strange that in my straitened
circumstances I should have indulged myself
with two rooms. I can only say that these
two rooms together were smaller and cheaper
than any one room which I had seen. The
bedroom, whch communicated with the landing
on the top of the stairs, was just large enough
to hold a bed and a small wash-hand stand.
The sitting-room was of the size of a moderate
dining-table. There was a view from the
window of a block-tin manufactory, where a
bell was rung at the end of every hour.
There was an incessant noise of the steam-
engine and the hammers. When Londoners
advertise rooms of this kind, they put in an
assurance that "the situation is cheerful."

I was visited, on my arrival, by a little
servant, who looked as if she had been made
on purpose to fit the room, she was so small
and thin. She brought a candle, and looked
at me with almost as much interest as I did
at her. She said, " Miss Brown had told her
to ask whether I wanted anything for supper."
I was about to say, no; but I recollected
Mr. Pebble's advice about appearances, and
told her I would go out for my tea.

I went out and took a walk up Oxford
Street, partly with the intention of buying
writing materials; partly in order to accustom
myself to the London streets. London
street life has an astonishing influence on the
minds of new-comers. The strong glare of
light in the principal thoroughfares, and the
comparative darkness in the streets where
there are no shops, joined to the incessant
rattling of wheels, and the crowds of people
going and coming give a foreigner a dizziness
in the head. I had seen, in Wellclose
Square, how violently London operated on
the lower classes of my countrymen; they
seemed almost as drunk with the town as
with the liquor they had taken. On me it
acted in a different manner. I saw every
thing confusedly, and my ears were almost
stunned with the noise. I walked as in a
dream. I was curious to see, and yet I could
not mark anything. I must have passed
half-a-dozen stationers' shops; yet I had
almost reached the end of Oxford Street
before I found one. When I entered it, I
talked confusedly, and my manner was so
trembling, that the shop-people stared at me
with surprise. I had great difficulty in finding
my way back, and was extremely fatigued
when I lay down on the little flock bed.
That night, I had no dreams.

The first week which I passed in my lodging,
in Percy Street, was a sorry one. On
the first morning I was embarrassed by
Miss Brown, the landlady, coming up and
asking whether I wished my room " done " at
once, or whether she should wait till I had
gone out to my business? I stared at the
word business, for it reminded me that I had
none. It is true there was a hope that I
should soon be employed; but there was
something in that very hope which sickened me.
I had duly informed Mr. Vitriol of my exact
address, and written my name in large letters
for the information of the little Hackney
servant; for I was very nervous about my
letter being lost. The postman's knock made
my heart beat; and I was once almost
choked with emotion, when, immediately
after that knock, the girl came up-stairs. I
listened with trembling eagerness to the
sound of her steps. There was no letter for
me. Since there was none, the idea of that
letter had become fixed in my mind. I
thought of it during the day—I dreamed of it
in the night. In the meanwhile I spent my
time equally between writing and walking.
Economy was my grand object; but
ignorance of the town made saving difficult. My
proceedings in the first days struck me
sometimes as being penny wise and shilling foolish;
but at last I hit upon a plan of spending
sixpence a-day for my eating. Sausage rolls are
very fat, and, consequently, satisfying. I
bought one for my breakfast, one for dinner,
and a third, which I ate at night, to make me
go to sleep. I never bought all three at a
time, but went out for each, in order to have
something to do. Now and then, being madly
fond of smoking, I stinted myself of one roll,
and bought a cigar instead. Still following
Mr. Pebble's advice about appearances, I
usually took my walks between three and six
in the afternoon, to impress the people in the
house with the idea I had gone out to dinner.
Nevertheless, I saw my few shillings fast
vanishing; and one anxious day passed after
another without a letter from Mr. Vitriol.
I had meanwhile written an essay about the
state of Prussia, which I took to Mr. Pebble,
and asked him to procure its insertion
in some journal. He put it by, saying he
was very busy just then, but hoped, in a
fortnight or three weeks' time he should find
leisure to look it over, which he must do
before he could recommend it. I ventured to
hint that its immediate disposal was of great
importance to me, and that the looking over
it would scarcely take him half an hour. He
contemplated me with great astonishment,
and grew very restless and pettish in his
manner. In going away, I thought of the
German nursery tale of people who sowed the
wheat when the child was hungry, and, by
the time the harvest came, the child was dead.
The next day I received a letter from Mr.
Vitriol. I could hardly read it for trembling.
There were no letters of recommendation in
it. I was merely informed that Mr. Vitriol
had put off writing because he had returned