as worse than profitless. He could not speak to his fellow-workmen.
From morning to night it had rained. St. John's Arch looked more
broken-spirited than ever, drenched in sooty moisture.

During the dinner-hour he walked over to the public-house of which
Jane had spoken, and obtained from the barman as full a description
as possible of the person he hoped to encounter. Both then and on
his return home in the evening he shunned the house where his
friends dwelt.

It came round to Monday. For the first time for many months he had
allowed Sunday to pass without visiting the Hewetts. He felt that to
go there at present would only be to increase the parents'
depression by his own low spirits. Clara had left them now, however,
and if he still stayed away, his behaviour might be misinterpreted.
On returning from work, he washed, took a hurried meal, and was on
the point of going out when someone knocked at his door. He opened,
and saw an old man who was a stranger to him.





CHAPTER VII

MRS. BYASS'S LODGINGS