'Then I'll say good-night. Thank you for coming so far out of your
way.'

'I'll wait. I may as well walk back with you, if you don't mind.'

'Oh, very well. I shan't be many minutes.'

She passed on and entered the place of refreshment that was kept by
Mrs. Tubbs. Till recently it had been an ordinary eating-house or
coffee-shop; but having succeeded in obtain a license to sell strong
liquors, Mrs. Tubbs had converted the establishment into one of a
more pretentious kind. She called it 'Imperial Restaurant and
Luncheon Bar.' The front shone with vermilion paint; the interior
was aflare with many gas-jets; in the window was disposed a tempting
exhibition of 'snacks' of fish, cold roast fowls, ham-sandwiches,
and the like; whilst farther back stood a cooking-stove, whereon
frizzled and vapoured a savoury mess of sausages and onions.

Sidney turned away a few paces. The inclemency of the night made
Upper Street--the promenade of a great district on account of its
spacious pavement--less frequented than usual; but there were
still numbers of people about, some hastening homewards, some
sauntering hither and thither in the familiar way, some gathered
into gossiping groups. Kirkwood was irritated by the conversation
and laughter that fell on his ears, irritated by the distant strains
of the band, irritated above all by the fume of frying that pervaded
the air for many yards about Mrs. Tubbs's precincts. He observed
that the customers tending that way were numerous. They consisted
mainly of lads and young men who had come forth from neighbouring
places of entertainment. The locality and its characteristics had