r saw my mother again, as she died soon
afterwards; and as my brood of brothers and sisters vanished down the
diverse gutters of London, I found myself with Paragot for all my
family; and now that I have arrived at an age when a man can look back
dispassionately on his past, it is my pride that I can lay my hand on my
heart and avow him to be the best family that boy ever had.

CHAPTER II

THE Lotus Club was the oddest society I have met. The premises
consisted of one long dingy room with two dingy windows: the
furniture of a long table covered with dirty American cloth, a
multitude of wooden chairs, an old sofa, two dilapidated dinner-waggons,
and a frame against the wall from which, by means of clips, churchwarden
pipes depended stem downwards; and by each clip was a label bearing a
name. On the table stood an enormous jar of tobacco. A number of
ill-washed glasses decorated the dinner-waggons. There was not a curtain,
not a blind, not a picture. The further end of the room away from the
door contained a huge fireplace, and on the wooden mantelpiece ticked
a three-and-sixpenny clock.

During the daytime it was an abode of abominable desolation. No one came
near it until nine o'clock in the evening, when one or two members
straggled in, took down their long pipes and called for whisky or beer,
the only alcoholic beverages the club provided. These were kept in great
barrels in the scullery, presided over by Mrs. Housekeeper until it was
time to prepare the supper, when Cherubino and I helped ourselves. At
eleven the cloth was laid. From then till half past members came in
considerable numbers. At half past supper was served. A steaming dish of
tripe furnished the head of the table in front of Paragot, and a cut of
cold beef the foot.

There were generally from fifteen to thirty present; men of all classes:
Journalists, actors, lawyers, out-at-elbows nondescripts. I have seen
one of Her Majesty's Judges and a prizefighter exchanging views across
the table. A few attended regularly; but the majority seemed to be
always new-comers. They supped, talked, smoked, and drank whisky until
two or three o'clock in the morning and appeared to enjoy themselves
prodigiously. I noticed that on departing they wrung Paragot fervently
by the hand and thanked him for their delightful evening. I remembered
his telling me that they came to hear him talk. He did talk: sometimes
so compellingly that I would stand stock-still rapt