The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 290: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE BURKER 259 upper garment that appeared to be a coachman’s greatcoat with a portion of the skirts cut off. A dirty cotton hand- kerchief was tied negligently about his neck, and his trousers, of a dingy gray, hung loose asif he wore no braces. His hands were thrust into the pockets on the outer side of the coat, and under one arm he held a short stick, which, however, might be more aptly denominated a club. From beneath the leathern front of his well-worn cap his looks were flung hastily around when he emerged from the court, as if his conscience were not altogether so clear as to place his per- sonal freedom beyond the possibility of inconvenient mo- lestation. Continuing his way, and passing rapidly through several streets, — evidently with a settled purpose in view, — he at length relaxed his pace near a house in the midst of that maze of lanes, alleys, and courts to which we have already alluded. It was a house that had a small dissenting chapel on one side, and a beer shop on the other, and it must be ob- served that next to the chapel there was a narrow alley with a low arched entrance. The house to which we are partic- ularly alluding, and which stood between the chapel and the beer shop, was a small one, for it was a poor street, but there was nothing in its exterior to detract from its air of humble respectability. A small brass plate on the front door indicated that it was occupied by a person named John Smedley, whose calling was that of gold-beater. This was further illustrated by a gilt arm, the fist clutching a hammer, which appeared over the ground-floor window. That window had green blinds, and if a passer-by peeped over them, he would look into a little parlour that was furnished neatly enough. The two windows of the first floor front had dark moreen curtains, for this floor was let to a lodger. When unoccupied, a neatly written card, conveying the intima- tion of ‘ Lodgings to let,’ would be seen in the lower win- dow, but the ticket was not there now, inasmuch as the apartments referred to had a tenant. Mr. and Mrs. Smedley had the reputation in the neigh- bourhood of being respectable people enough, although whis- pering rumour declared that the wife was somewhat attached to strong waters; but on the other hand, the husband was regular in his attendance at the dissenting chapel next door, so that the minister regarded him as one of his Gomichbooks (E(O)