sudden violence on the instant. The unforgettable odour of ethyllic
chloride caught at my nerves, and I politely rose.

"Pardon me, I must go. It will be daylight in half an hour," I said, for
I saw that merry Miss Tilley had been ready to supplement Blackey's
device by a second trick.

"I'll come with you a little way. You're dotty a bit."

I reached the fresh air and quietly said, "No, you mustn't. The men are
going to factory up by the Fawcett-road, and every second man we meet
will know us."

Miss Tilley muttered something, but she preserved her smile and only
said, "I tell my husband as you took care of us."

As I stole through the heavy fog I thought, "Now, what business had I
there? If my mother had seen that wretched servant girl brushing my hair
the old lady would have died--I, the child of many prayers, the hope of
a house, and stumping home on a foggy morning after sitting among the
scum of earth all night. I mean to be a philosopher, but what a beastly,
silly school to cultivate political philosophy in! What do I know more
than I knew before?--that one vulgar girl maintains three vulgar
criminals, and that all the four will come whining to the workhouse when
the game is played out and they can rob no one else. They are creatures
whose vices and idleness and general villany are engendered amid drink.
They are the foul fungi that fatten on the walls of the public-house;
that is all. And I have given them more drink only to see them plan a
robbery. Seventy thousand of them in London? Yes. But supposing a few
thousands of _us_, instead of being indifferent, instead of 'exploring'