down at an uncovered wooden table opposite two work-girls and a
mechanic. A slatternly girl waited on him.

"How much is a plate of peas?" he asked.

"Three halfpence, sir," said the girl.

"Bring me a plate of peas," he said, "and a bottle of ginger beer."

He spoke roughly in order to belie his air of gentility for his entry
had been followed by a pause of talk. His face was heated. To appear
natural he pushed his cap back on his head and planted his elbows on the
table. The mechanic and the two work-girls examined him point by point
before resuming their conversation in a subdued voice. The girl brought
him a plate of grocer's hot peas, seasoned with pepper and vinegar, a
fork and his ginger beer. He ate his food greedily and found it so good
that he made a note of the shop mentally. When he had eaten all the peas
he sipped his ginger beer and sat for some time thinking of Corley's
adventure. In his imagination he beheld the pair of lovers walking along
some dark road; he heard Corley's voice in deep energetic gallantries
and saw again the leer of the young woman's mouth. This vision made
him feel keenly his own poverty of purse and spirit. He was tired
of knocking about, of pulling the devil by the tail, of shifts and
intrigues. He would be thirty-one in November. Would he never get a good
job? Would he never have a home of his own? He thought how pleasant it
would be to have a warm fire to sit by and a good dinner to sit down to.
He had walked the streets long enough with friends and with girls. He
knew what those friends were worth: he knew the girls too. Experience
had embittered his heart against the world. But all hope had not left
him. He felt better after having eaten than he had felt before, less
weary of his life, less vanquished in spirit. He might yet be able to
settle down in some snug corner and live happily if he could only come
across some good simple-minded girl with a little of the ready.

He paid twopence halfpenny to the slatternly girl and went out of the
shop to begin his wandering again. He went into Capel Street and walked
along towards the City Hall. Then he turned into Dame Street. At the
corner of George's Street he met two friends of his and stopped to
converse with them. He was glad that he could rest from all his walking.
His friends asked him had he seen Corley and what was the latest. He
replied that he had spent the day with Corley. His friends talked
very little. They looked vaca