er his father's death,
she could not get him inside her door. That his father was not
there--would not be there at night, made the place dreadful to him.
This addition to the trouble of mind she already had on account of
the nature of her business, was the cause, I believe, why, after Sir
George's death, she went down the hill with accelerated speed. She
sipped more frequently from her own bottle, soon came to "tasting
with" her customers, and after that her descent was rapid. She no
longer refused drink to women, though for a time she always gave it
under protest; she winked at card-playing; she grew generally more
lax in her administration; and by degrees a mist of evil fame began
to gather about her house. Thereupon her enemy, as she considered
him, the Rev. Clement Sclater, felt himself justified in moving more
energetically for the withdrawal of her license, which, with the
support of outraged neighbours, he found no difficulty in effecting.
She therefore flitted to another parish, and opened a worse house
in a worse region of the city--on the river-bank, namely, some
little distance above the quay, not too far to be within easy range
of sailors, and the people employed about the vessels loading or
discharging cargo. It pretended to be only a lodging-house, and had
no license for the sale of strong drink, but nevertheless, one way
and another, a great deal was drunk in the house, and, as always
card-playing, and sometimes worse things were going on, getting more
vigorous ever as the daylight waned, frequent quarrels and
occasional bloodshed was the consequence. For some time, however,
nothing very serious brought the place immediately within the
conscious ken of the magistrates.

In the second winter after his father's death, Gibbie, wandering
everywhere about the city, encountered Lucky Croale in the
neighbourhood of her new abode; down there she was Mistress no
longer, but, with a familiarity scarcely removed from contempt, was
both mentioned and addressed as Lucky Croale. The repugnance which
had hitherto kept Gibbie from her having been altogether to her
place and not to herself, he at once accompanied her home, and after
that went often to the house. He was considerably surprised when
first he heard words from her mouth for using which she had formerly
been in the habit of severely reproving her guests; but he always
took things as he found them, and when ere long he had to hear such
occasionally ad