Cigars.
All this sounds an unmitigated grouse! But I have to get it over, showing you the perfectly revolting time I had. Sunlight and sweet air have since streamed into my days. But how can I forget the stuffiness of Mr. Winter's room?
"Can't we keep that window shut?" was my chief's motto.
The one extremely grimy window gave on to Whitehall, and to open even a crack of it let in all the noise of the traffic.
"Can't we have that window kept SHUT?"
The last word rang out like the crack of a whip almost before I got in, on this particular morning.
I shut the window and got to work, suddenly wondering, "Shall I go on like this until I'm eighty?" My job for that beastly morning was to check long columns of figures on blue paper, with a form-number at the top, from duplicate lists.
Thrilling!
My eyes swam and my head throbbed as I muttered to myself over the table: "Nine thousand three hundred and sixty-five pounds nineteen shillings and a penny. Nine thousand three hundred and sixty-five pounds nineteen and a penny. (Tick off.) Two thousand four hundred and ten pounds eleven shillings," and so on. The lists almost invariably tallied, but one dared not risk an error. "Nine thousand three hundred and——!"
What a life! I saw it now as it was. That letter had opened my eyes. Oh, to get away from it all!