office stairway humming an air. It was next
door to being one of the Olympians, and that without sacrificing one's
romantic liberty as a free-lance.

As my earnings rose--and they did rise with agreeable rapidity after
my establishment in Howard Street--I wrote less and thought more. I
also walked more, and saw more of London, But I was still writing a
great deal; more probably than any salaried journalist in the town,
though a large proportion of my writings never saw the light of print.
When I had been living for five or six months in Howard Street, my
earnings were averaging from ten pounds to fifteen pounds each month.
For a long time I seemed able to maintain something like this average,
but not to improve upon it. It may be that my efforts slackened at
that point, and that I gave more time to reading and walking. This is
the more likely, because I know I felt no interest whatever in the
progress of the account I opened in the Post Office savings bank.

It was about this time, I fancy, though only in my twenty-fourth or
twenty-fifth year, that I began seeking advice from chemists and their
assistants, under whose guidance I tapped the fascinating but deadly
field of patent medicines. The fact was I had completely disorganised
my digestive system during two years and more of catering for myself
upon an average outlay of six or seven shillings weekly (sometimes
much less, of course), whilst living an insanely sedentary life in
which the allowance of sleep, exercise, and fresh air had been as
inadequate as my dietary. A wise physician might possibly have been
able to steer me into smooth waters now, especially if he had driven
me out of London. But the obstinate energy and conceit of youth was
still strong in my veins. I had no money to waste on doctors, I told
myself. And so I held desultory consultations across the counters of
chemist's shops, and, supremely ignorant as to causes, attacked
symptoms with trustful energy, consuming great quantities of mostly
valueless and frequently harmful nostrums.

Another step I took at this time, after quaintly earnest discussion
with Fanny, was to arrange an additional payment of eight shillings a
week to Mrs. Pelly, in return for the provision of my very simple
breakfast and a bread and cheese luncheon each day. This relieved me
of a task for which I had never had much patience, and very likely it
was also an economy. My evening meal I preferred, as a general thing,
to obta