to the mazes
of the mighty city, of which I had heard much, but of which, of my own
knowledge, I knew nothing.

I had, however, no great cause for anxiety in the present instance; I
easily found my way to the place which I was in quest of--one of the many
new squares on the northern side of the metropolis, and which was
scarcely ten minutes' walk from the street in which I had taken up my
abode. Arriving before the door of a tolerably large house which bore a
certain number, I stood still for a moment in a kind of trepidation,
looking anxiously at the door; I then slowly passed on till I came to the
end of the square, where I stood still and pondered for awhile. Suddenly,
however, like one who has formed a resolution, I clenched my right hand,
flinging my hat somewhat on one side, and, turning back with haste to the
door before which I had stopped, I sprang up the steps, and gave a loud
rap, ringing at the same time the bell of the area. After the lapse of a
minute the door was opened by a maid-servant of no very cleanly or
prepossessing appearance, of whom I demanded, in a tone of some
_hauteur_, whether the master of the house was at home. Glancing for a
moment at the white paper bundle beneath my arm, the handmaid made no
reply in words, but, with a kind of toss of her head, flung the door
open, standing on one side as if to let me enter. I did enter; and the
handmaid, having opened another door on the right hand, went in, and said
something which I could not hear; after a considerable pause, however, I
heard the voice of a man say, "Let him come in"; whereupon the handmaid,
coming out, motioned me to enter, and, on my obeying, instantly closed
the door behind me.

CHAPTER XXX.

There were two individuals in the room in which I now found myself; it
was a small study, surrounded with bookcases, the window looking out upon
the square. Of these individuals he who appeared to be the principal
stood with his back to the fireplace. He was a tall, stout man, about
sixty, dressed in a loose morning gown. The expression of his
countenance would have been bluff but for a certain sinister glance, and
his complexion might have been called rubicund but for a considerable
tinge of bilious yellow. He eyed me askance as I entered. The other, a
pale, shrivelled-looking person, sat at a table apparently engaged with
an account-book; he took no manner of notice of me, never once lifting
his eyes from the page before