Page:The Rejuvenation Of Miss Semaphore.pdf/156

 "But I must," urged Prudence nervously.

"Well, if you must, take the fourth to the right, and then the second to the left, and the first to the right again. That's Barker's Rents. You walks straight past the Model Dwellings, which models they are, and you'll find Plummer's Cottages."

Prudence, having laboriously counted her streets, followed his directions. The second turn to the left brought her into a dingy by-*way, and the first to the right again into a slum. Barker's Rents towered up to the sky, and at the door of the Model Dwellings a group of slatternly women were discussing personal topics with much freedom, and a running accompaniment of "sez he," "sez I," and "sez she."

No. 42 was an inconspicuous cottage, with a battered green door, reached by a single step. Prudence knocked at it with the handle of her umbrella without any response. She repeated the summons, but in vain, and, having shaken the door, which resisted her efforts to open it, she endeavoured to peep through the dingy window. Her proceedings excited considerable interest amongst the ladies standing at the Model Dwellings, as indeed amongst all the residents