Prev | Current Page 296 | Next

Fletcher, J. S. (Joseph Smith), 1863-1935

"The Middle of Things"

He pointed to a policeman
slowly patrolling the side walk. "Ask him," he said. "He'll know."
The policeman, duly questioned, seemed surprised at first; then
recollection evidently awoke in him.
"Mirrypoor Street?" he said. "Oh, yes! Second to your left, third to the
right--nice sort o' street for a car like yours to go into, too!"
Viner overheard this and put his head out of the window.
"Why?" he demanded.
The policeman, quick to recognize a superior person, touched his helmet
and stepped off the curb toward his questioner.
"Pretty low quarter down there, sir," he said, with a significant glance
in the direction concerned. "If you've business that way, I should advise
you to look after yourself--some queer places down those streets, sir."
"Thanks," responded Viner with a grim smile. "Go on, driver, as quick as
you can, and stop at the corner of the street."
The car swung out of Whitechapel Road into a long, dismal street, the
shabbiness of which increased the further the main thoroughfare was left
behind; and Viner, looking right and left, saw that the small streets
running off that which he was traversing were still more dismal, still
more shabby.


Pages:
284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308