r what I told you, dearie. Every woman should learn to
manage men. Some say you should study their weak points, but that was
never my way. They all like to think their word is law, and you can do
anything you please if you pretend you are afraid to do anything
without asking their permission. And always humour them in one thing.
Now, Aaron insists on punctuality. His meals must be ready on the
stroke, and once he is fed, I can do as I please. Now, do be ruled by
me, dearie, and come home."

But Ada had turned unmanageable, and called for more drink. Mrs
Herring could have slapped her. Her practised eye told her that Ada
would soon be too helpless to move, and she thought, with a cringing
fear, of Aaron the Jew, and her board and lodging that depended on his
stomach.

Outside it had begun to rain, and Joe Grant, a loafer by trade and a
lug-biter by circumstance, shifted from one foot to another, and stared
dismally at the narrow slit between the swinging doors of the "Angel",
where he knew there was warmth, and light, and comfort--everything that
he desired. The rain, fine as needle-points, fell without noise,
imperceptibly covering his clothes and beard with moisture. The
pavements and street darkened as if a shadow had been thrown over them,
and then shone in irregular streaks and patches of light, reflected
from the jets of light that suddenly appeared in the shop windows. Joe
looked at the clock through the windows of the bar. It was twenty to
six. The rain had brought the night before its time, and Joe wondered
what had become of Mrs Jones and her pal. He had had the luck to see
her going in at the side door, and she was always good for a tray bit
when she came out. Failing her, he must depend on the stream of
workmen, homeward bound, who always stopped at the Angel for a pint on
their way home.

Suddenly the huge white globes in front of the hotel spluttered and
flashed, piercing the darkness and the rain with their powerful rays.
The bar, as suddenly illumined, brilliant with mirrors and glass,
invited the weary passenger in to share its comforts. Joe fingered the
solitary coin in his pocket--threepence. It was more than the price of
a beer to him; it was the price of admission to the warm, comfortable
bar every night, for the landlord was the friend of every man with the
price of a drink in his pocket, and once inside, he could manage to
drink at other people's expense till closing time. He k