CHAPTER VIII.
THE CLOCK GOING WRONG—MEN OF THE FANCY—THE RAT-PIT MAN—A CHILD ON THE BARREL—TICKET OF LEAVE MAN—A ROUGH—A DRUNKARD'S HOME—A FALL AND RISE.
The Book in the Bars:
ITS SPIRITUAL POWER.
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Rom. x. 17.
THE following advertisement, which appeared in several of the daily newspapers, induced the Missionary to pay a farewell visit to the landlord and bar-servants:—
"Gin Palace for sale, in a good working and gin-drinking neighbourhood; doing £240 a week over the bar: elegant and substantial fittings. Terms moderate. Immediate possession," etc.
With this farewell purpose, the Christian visitor entered the "bottle department" early upon the following Sunday evening, but found the place so filled with customers that neither the landlord nor bar-men had a moment to spare. He therefore simply shook hands with them, and arranged to call in during the quiet hours of the following afternoon, and then commenced evangelizing work among the people.
Three high partitions divided the bar into four compartments; and, as is usual, there were separate doors to each, so that the crowds of customers could not see each other, though the noise of their converse and disputes produced a war of words, and rendered quiet conversation difficult. One would have thought that the private or "bottle department" would have been the easiest to visit, as its name seemed to invite the respectable order of drinkers. To some extent this was the case, but a jury of bar-men would certainly agree in the opinion that this sly part of the house, into which so many well-dressed persons slip for their drams, is the most lucrative and usually the most crowded. Only a few weeks before, the visitor was standing with a young man in a similar compartment, when seven women, wives of working men, entered, and called for a quart of gin with ale glasses. They were laughing heartily at what they considered a happy thought of one of their companions,—the clubbing together for the purpose of ordering so large a quantity of spirits: they were much disconcerted at the withering rebuke they met with.