We have hundreds more books for your enjoyment. Read them all!
|
|
George was relieved I say, but he was also more astonished than ever.
What kind of haunts were these for the cultured gentleman who spent
his evenings at the Clermont? It was easy enough in these days of
extravagant sympathies, to understand such a man addressing the
uneasy spirits of lower New York - he had been called an enthusiast,
and an enthusiast is very often a social agitator - but to trace him
afterwards to a place like this was certainly a surprise. A tenement
- such a tenement as this - meant home - home for himself or for
those he counted his friends, and such a supposition seemed
inconceivable to my poor husband, with the memory of the gorgeous
parlour of the Clermont in his mind. Indeed, he hinted something
of the kind to his affable but strangely reticent companion, but
all the answer he got was a peculiar smile whose humorous twist he
could barely discern in the semi-darkness of the open doorway into
which they had just plunged.
"An adventure! certainly an adventure!" flashed through poor
George's mind, as he peered, in great curiosity down the long hall
before him, into a dismal rear, opening into a still more dismal
court. It was truly a novel experience for a business man whose
philanthropy was carried on entirely by proxy - that is, by his
wife. Should he be expected to penetrate into those dark,
ill-smelling recesses, or would he be led up the long flights of
naked stairs, so feebly illuminated that they gave the impression
of extending indefinitely into dimmer and dimmer heights of decay
and desolation?
Sweetwater seemed to decide for the rear, for leaving George, he
stepped down the hall into the court beyond, where George could see
him casting inquiring glances up at the walls above him. Another
tenement, similar to the one whose rear end he was contemplating,
towered behind but he paid no attention to that. He was satisfied
with the look he had given and came quickly back, joining George
at the foot of the staircase, up which he silently led the way.
It was a rude, none-too-well-cared-for building, but it seemed
respectable enough and very quiet, considering the mass of people
it accommodated. There were marks of poverty everywhere, but no
squalor. One flight - two flights - three - and then George's
guide stopped, and, looking back at him, made a gesture. It
appeared to be one of caution, but when the two came together at
the top of the staircase, Sweetwater spoke quite naturally as he
pointed out a door in their rear:
|