e ruins of his
last good trousers and his last presentable coat; and above all, when
his eye by any chance alighted on the Tyrolese hat or the degrading
ulster, his heart would overflow with bitterness, and it was only by a
serious call on his philosophy that he maintained the dignity of his
demeanour.

SOMERSET'S ADVENTURE

THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION

Mr. Paul Somerset was a young gentleman of a lively and fiery
imagination, with very small capacity for action. He was one who lived
exclusively in dreams and in the future: the creature of his own
theories, and an actor in his own romances. From the cigar divan he
proceeded to parade the streets, still heated with the fire of his
eloquence, and scouting upon every side for the offer of some fortunate
adventure. In the continual stream of passers-by, on the sealed fronts
of houses, on the posters that covered the hoardings, and in every
lineament and throb of the great city, he saw a mysterious and hopeful
hieroglyph. But although the elements of adventure were streaming by him
as thick as drops of water in the Thames, it was in vain that, now with
a beseeching, now with something of a braggadocio air, he courted and
provoked the notice of the passengers; in vain that, putting fortune to
the touch, he even thrust himself into the way and came into direct
collision with those of the more promising demeanour. Persons brimful of
secrets, persons pining for affection, persons perishing for lack of
help or counsel, he was sure he could perceive on every side; but by
some contrariety of fortune, each passed upon his way without remarking
the young gentleman, and went farther (surely to fare worse!) in quest
of the confidant, the friend, or the adviser. To thousands he must have
turned an appealing countenance, and yet not one regarded him.

A light dinner, eaten to the accompaniment of his impetuous aspirations,
broke in upon the series of his attempts on fortune; and when he
returned to the task, the lamps were already lighted, and the nocturnal
crowd was dense upon the pavement. Before a certain restaurant, whose
name will readily occur to any student of our Babylon, people were
already packed so closely that passage had grown difficult; and
Somerset, standing in the kennel, watched, with a hope that was
beginning to grow somewhat weary, the faces and the manners of the
crowd. Suddenly he was startled by a gentle touch upon the shoulder, and
facing about, he was awa