The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 23: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

- vw. i ge > im 4 FT eon eee we Oe SE LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF LONDON LIFE. particles around it; and we feel that, even in the midst of a teeming poptlation, we stand alone, isolated” frem “out ‘fellow-creatures;' and yet drifting | along the same tide, in which wé might be wrecked and “overwhelmed without our fite “exciting the | Sigh test’ Interest, or: rte” ‘abeetice eliciting the least Paents as did Thornton feel this, as, guided by the | @fficient direetiofis’ he “had” received; he pursued bis progress towards the city, carelessly jostled on his way | by thé apparently iitérminable stream of passengers pn ‘owed onward from the busy scene of commeree. i= hii Very" thifig ‘was novel; and his admiration and" wondét werd being’ continually’ excited by the éndless Variety Of objécts ‘his’ ¢ye encountered along | fhe litie oF trafic that he'passed. “Even the display of _ €he shop-windéws had preseti’ed such an irresistible temptatioi froni tiie to ‘tiiie,”involving delays ‘so oe ‘bo frequént, that,though hé had left his | ‘early in the mornifig, the day had far advanced | before he A reached ‘thé place to which his'footsteps had Been ‘directed. ‘It was, therefore, not Without’ ‘some degree of ‘apprehension’ that the office might be Closed and his journey rendered fruitless that he ‘iow quickened his pace; and having ascertained by inquiry the exact locality of the merchant’s count- Oe ee * —— | ing ‘house, Henry Thornton turned down one of those | alleys that form a‘connécting link between Cornhill | and Lombard Street, and sedulously proceeded to | examine the namés conspicuously labelled on the dvors | | ardtmd);’in search of the one that- corresponded with | | the superseription’on bis letter. _ -‘Nothihg-eould be more gloomry than the appearance | | prégented® by the tity conrt m whieh Thornton now | found" himself The houses that encircled it on every side but one; where a narrow outlet communicated . with the noisy thoroughfate beyond, shot up in lofty | sombre stories, with huge’ windows, so encrusted with | dust, that there was no need of Liind or curtain to con- (= hoorbere that took place inthe apartments to _ which they gave light. These buildings were all of | them divided into offices, and with that economy of | room sd characteristic ofa region where every itich of | space has its’correspohding value, even’ the landings ‘were generally abridged of their fair proportions, that a Harrow’'téhenient’ might be occupied by a small f : j SoekUeokei, wifosé business being more limited might | require 16s foot’ for its°management. On one of | tliesé"Housés, after much’ patient’ investigation of the | Patious : ‘appellations that,’ inscribed on the doorway, | indicated the possessors of the different rooms above, | Thornton at last siic@eeded ir. mecting with the name , of "find be accordingly at’ once proceeded | | tp thé’ broad wodden'staircase’ to the floor ‘mentioned | Fully prepared as he had been by previous obser- vation to abandon his old bélief that the mighty mag- 1 Natesof commercial enterprise had establishments | comthetisurate with thé magnitude of their mercantile’ | undertakings, the dingy wails and cheerless aspect of | the’ place, as: he’ ascended the successive flights of stairs, fairly took him by surprise. The apartments, 80 far’as he'could see’by a door being open here and there along the passage, where the inmates were pre- @ to. depart, were destitute of furniture, except that of the most ordinary official description, and there ‘was no bustle to infuse that animation into the scene which he had expected to behold. Knocking at the outer door of one of these chambers, which bore upon it a repetition of the name below, Thornton was con- _ ey ee in mr ———. eo? ee Oe sidering the best manner in which he could present himself whilst he awaited a response to his sammona, There ‘was, however, no reply; and when he again repeated his single rap it was with a louder tone, that sounded’ with a hollow ‘reverberation through the entire structure, All still continuing silent, he con- cluded that, the pericd of business being over, the oftice had been closed for the day » and he was aecord- ijugly making up bis mind to be earlier on the next n.orning, when the door of thenext room opened, and a thin; sallow, elderly man, with his hat and gloves on, issued’ therefromy and carefully locking up the apartment he fad quitted, looked with an inquisitive flance’at the stranger before him, and having ascer- tained that the brown paper parcel he carried under his arta was duly secured, commenced slowly descend- ing the stairs. °He had’ scarcely reachéd the landing- place,"when, ‘apparently entertaining ‘the idea that the applicant fér'ddmission might be labouring under some mistake as to the position of the office, he retraced his steps, and addressed Thornton in the most deferen- tial manner he could assume, “ Pray; sir, are you waiting to see any person in particular ?”’ inquired ‘the spare ‘individual, lifting up his spectacles as he spoke, to obtain a clearer view of the features opposite his own. Thornton briefly explained that he was desirous of an interview with Mr:'Morton, and that he presumed the ‘merchant had leff his place of business for the day. fromthe appeal he had made remaining un- gnswered. “Ah. sir,” returned the other, in a tone of lamen- tation, * poor Mr, Morton has gone to render ap his necounis elsewhere. We received this morning the meiaticholy intelligence of ‘his death, Some severe loses he hed lately im his railway speculations,’ and the bankruptcy of a firm that stood deeply indebted to ‘him, all preyed upom his mind, and hastened the short illness he had to a fatal termination.” “This is indeed a calamity I little expected,” said Thornton, as he mused upon the effect it would have on his future prospects; “1 bave travelled some dis- tance from the country on purpose to present a lette a a from a friend of his, which would have ensured me, I | have reason to believe, an engagement i in Mr, Morton’ 3 | office.”’ “Humph! poor young man!” soliloquised rather than exclaimed the thin individual; “come from the country—long way—reacli Londoi—search of employ- | ment—sad disappointment—go back ayain—] under- | stand ;” and amidst these broken sentences'thespéaker - rubbed his ‘ands nervously together, and in tempo. rary forgetfulness of His parcel, suffered it to fall upon : the floory whereupon the'string snapped, and revealed 5 in? thie inscription as having that gentleman forts | the contents; which consisted of a strange"jumble of pens, blank papet; and some broken” sandwiches, evidently the fragments of the mortiing luncliy’ ' “Allow me,” éfied Thornton, sniiling atthe incon- gruons collection, asthe promptly restored the packet to its owher; “Thave'the advantage of being some- what younger than yourself.” The old’ clerk; embarrassed at the dncovery, ventured ‘upon some” stem meritig explatiation of the necessity that existed for leaving no ‘temptation to thé rats and mice that infested these old buildings, and poured forth reiterated thanks at the same time to Thornton, whose’ courtesy had manifestly’ made a most favourable impression on his mind, “And pray; if you do not think me too bold, my young friend, may I inquire whether, being thus dis- appointed, you have any prospect of obtaining other « GCOMMCO@QOKS ———<=_