Page:Pen And Pencil Sketches - Volume I.djvu/27

2 she met, “I’ve dot suss a buzzer!” and “Suss” became my nickname for many years. Of my infancy I remember nothing. My father had been bred to the law, and practised for some years as a solicitor in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury. Being the eldest son, he had, on the death of my grand- father, to relinquish the law and continue the busi- ness of coachbuilder, in premises with a considerable frontage in Langham Place, that extended as far back as Great Portland Street, and were known as Marks & Co.’s. They have been rebuilt and rebuilt since. The Langham Bazaar, St. George’s Hall, and the Queen’s Hall, just completed, in turn have occupied the site. My earliest recollections are of the dwell- ing-house connected with the business premises. This overlooked a spacious yard leading out of Great Portland Street, and consisted of two storeys built above the ground, the space beneath being •occupied by storerooms and standing-places for carriages. In the yard were sheds for cleaning and washing the latter. At the end farthest from the house was a staircase, and a movable platform and crane for conveying vehicles to the floor above, which consisted of long lofts or galleries for the housing and sale of carriages of all kinds, from the •old-fashioned landau to the more modern stanhope or cabriolet. The upper lofts at the back of the house were occupied by various shops — the body-