The Seamy Side, Chapters XXXIII-XXXVI [pp. 321-339]

THE SEA M Y SIDE.
was tough enough to last half a lifetime, and it
was the best carpeting for bedrooms I ever remember. Fluff adhered to it very slightly, it
held an exceedingly small quantity of dust, and
it was always in its place on the floor. As a matter of course, " tapestry" went out of fashion in
due time and season.
The advantages of small carpets in the bedroom are many. They cause the footsteps to be
noiseless, or comparatively noiseless, they prevent
the feet from becoming cold while dressing and
undressing, they make the room look pleasant,
and when used in the limited manner above sug
gested they save trouble in cleansing, by preventing dust and dirt from being trodden into the
floor.
And now, having seen to the lighting of the
bedroom, to the position of it in regard to aspect, to the ventilation, to the warmning, and to
the construction and covering of the floor, I
ought to pass on to the walls, and the curtains,
and the beds. But I must ask the reader to
wait until next article for the final installment on
the bedroom.
B. W. RICHARDSON, M. D. (Good Words).
THE SEAMY SIDE.
BY WALTER BESANT AND JAMES RICE.'
CHAPTER XXXIII.
HOW STEPHEN HEARD THE NEWS.
I HAD almost forgotten Mr. Bragge," said
Augustus, opening one of his letters the
next morning.
This was a note from.the private detective,
stating that the last clew which promised remarkably well had terminated with no useful result;
in fact, it ended with a laboring-man who was
suffering from delirium tremens. He regretted
that this research had turned out so badly, but,
he added, another clew had been discovered, the
nature of which he would for the moment keep
secret. He proposed to follow this up vigorously; he had no doubt that it would end in a complete solution of the case. Meanwhile, he inclosed an account of his expenditure up to date,
and would be obliged if Mr. Hamblin would send
himin another check for twenty pounds on account.
It was a dreadful blow for Mr. Theodore
Bragge when he received a settlement in full of
his account, with the information that the case
was now closed, and his services would be no
more required. He had long made up his mind
that there was nothing to find out, and that he
might go on, for the rest of his natural life, following up clews at a large salary with a percentage, so to speak, on his expenditure. Meat and
drink-specially drink-the case had been to
him. He will never, he owns with tears, again
find employers so generous as the firm of Anthony Hamblin & Co.
The day was Wednesday, which was young
Nick's half-holiday.
VOL. VIII.-21
He resolved to spend it with the writing master, but thought he would drop in at the
office first. In fact, after taking a turn round
Lower Thames Street, Idol Lane, Eastcheap,
Rood Lane, and a few other places dear to a
boy of imagination, where the stream of Pacto lus runs with the deepest, strongest, and yellow est current, he found himself in the square of
Great St. Simon Apostle, about half-past two in
the afternoon. He exchanged a few compliments in whispers with the junior clerks, and
then mounted the broad stairs, and began to
ramble idly about the passages. He passed with
reverence the doors of Mr. Augustus and Mr.
William Hamblin, the partners, and presently
stood before that on which was still to be read
the name of Mr. Anthony Hamblin. He shook
his head gravely at sight of this. Then his eyes
lit up, and his white eyebrows lifted, and his
pink face shone with mirth and mischief, and he
laughed in silence, shaking all over in enjoyment
of the imaginary situation.
"If they knew," he murmured; "if they only
knew!"
Then he turned the handle softly, and looked
into the room.
No one was there: the room had not been
used since the death of its owner: the familiar
furniture was there, the old-fashioned, heavy,
oaken table, without cover, which had probably
been built for the very first Anthony, remained
in its old place, with the wooden chair in which
the last Anthony had been wont to sit, and the
blotting-pad which he had used, before it. In
one corner stood a low screen of ancient workmanship, also a family heirloom. There were
portraits of successive Anthonys on the wain
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