Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. I, 1889.djvu/85

 refreshment that was kept by Mrs. Tubbs. Till recently it had been an ordinary eating-house or coffee-shop; but, having succeeded in obtaining a license to sell strong liquors, Mrs. Tubbs had converted the establishment into one of a more pretentious kind. She called it "Imperial Restaurant and Luncheon Bar." The front shone with vermilion paint; the interior was aflare with many gas-jets; in the window was disposed a tempting exhibition of "snacks" of fish, cold roast fowls, ham-sandwiches, and the like; whilst farther back stood a cooking-stove whereon frizzled and vapoured a savoury mess of sausages and onions.

Sidney turned away a few paces. The inclemency of the night made Upper Street—the promenade of a great district on account of its spacious pavement—less frequented than usual, but there were still numbers of people about, some hastening homewards, some sauntering hither and thither in the familiar way, some gathered into gossipping groups. Kirkwood was irritated by the