dvantage of conferring with this particular master was, that he was not
pig-headed on the one hand, nor unduly concessive, as he deemed some of
his fellow-tradesmen to be, on the other. He did not consider a
journeyman baker's berth a bed of roses, or his remuneration likely to
make him a millionaire; but neither did he lose sight of the fact that
certain hours must be devoted to work, and a limit somewhere placed to
wage, or the public must suffer through the employer of labour by being
forced to pay higher prices. The staff of this particular establishment
consisted of four men at the following wages: A foreman at _28s._ and a
second hand at _20s._ a week, both of whom were outsiders; while,
sleeping on the premises, and, at the time of my arrival, buried in the
arms of Morpheus, were a third hand, at _16s._, and a fourth, at _12s._
Besides these wages they had certain perquisites, such as bread, butter,
sugar, flour, sack-money, yeast-money, &c.; and the master, moreover,
took his adequate share of day-work. He was seated outside his shop,
enjoying the cool breezes, not of evening, but of midnight, when I
presented myself before his astonished gaze. His wife and children had
long since retired. The foreman and second "hand" had not arrived; the
third and fourth "hands" were, as I said, sweetly sleeping, in a chamber
on the basement, well out of range of the bakehouse, to which, like a
couple of conspirators, we descended. It was not exactly the spot one
would have selected for a permanent residence if left free to choose. It
was, perhaps, as Mr. Dickens's theatrical gentleman phrased it,
pernicious snug; but the ventilation was satisfactory. There were two
ovens, which certainly kept the place at a temperature higher than might
have been agreeable on that hot September night. Kneading troughs were
ranged round the walls, and in the centre, like an altar-tomb, was the
fatal "board" where, however, I sought in vain for the traces of
perspiration or tears. All was scrupulously clean. In common phrase, you
might have "eaten your dinner" off any portion of it.

Soon after midnight the outsiders turned in, first the second hand and
then the foreman, and, plunging into the "Black Hole," made their
toilettes du soir. Then active operations commenced forthwith. In one
compartment of the kneading-trough was the "sponge," which had been
prepared by the foreman early in the evening, and which now, having
properly settled, was mix