right was not at Home, and that was all there was
to it. But I lingered, discussing whether or not
it was all there was to it, till Mrs. Johnny Upright
was attracted to the door, where she scolded the
crirl for not having closed it before turning her
attention to me.

No, Mr. Johnny Upright was not at home, and
further, he saw nobody on Sunday. It is too bad,
said I. Was I looking for work? No, quite to
the contrary; in fact, I had come to see Johnny
Upright on business which might be profitable to
him.

A change came over the face of things at once.
The gentleman in question was at church, but would
be home in an hour or thereabouts, when no doubt
he could be seen.

Would I kindly step in ? no, the lady did not
ask me, though I fished for an invitation by stating
that I would go down to the corner and wait in a
public house. And down to the corner I went,
but, it being church time, the pub was closed.
A miserable drizzle was falling, and, in lieu of
better, I took a seat on a neighborly doorstep and
waited.

And here to the doorstep came the slavey,
very frowzy and very perplexed, to tell me that
the missus would let me come back and wait in
the kitchen.

[[18]]

p017 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p018w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p019

v?