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 on the right?" said Mr. Whitcomb, with his jovial air.

"No; only a crack in the plaster and a cobweb. And that weird splotch to the left, which, at this distance, might stand for 'Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis,' is the damp striking through the wall."

When at last they had crept down these noisome stairways into the street, they found that the sleet had yielded to a light, murky rain. The solicitor summoned imperiously a passing hansom, and sent a thrill through the heart of his starving companion by naming for the cabman's guidance one of the most luxurious restaurants in the world.