Afterwards I drove in a cab down a canon of rushing street between high
warehouses, and peeped up astonished at the blackened greys of Saint
Paul's. The traffic of Cheapside--it was mostly in horse omnibuses in
those days--seemed stupendous, its roar was stupendous; I wondered where
the money came from to employ so many cabs, what industry could support
the endless jostling stream of silk-hatted, frock-coated, hurrying men.
Down a turning I found the Temperance Hotel Mr. Mantell had recommended
to me. The porter in a green uniform who took over my portmanteau,
seemed, I thought, to despise me a good deal.
V
Matriculation kept me for four full days and then came an afternoon
to spare, and I sought out Tottenham Court Road through a perplexing
network of various and crowded streets. But this London was vast! it was
endless! it seemed the whole world had changed into packed frontages and
hoardings and street spaces. I got there at last and made inquiries,
and I found my uncle behind the counter of the pharmacy he managed, an
establishment that did not impress me as doing a particularly high-class
trade.
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