Brooding over these things, Willie, having at length torn himself away, hastened on his pilgrimage to London Bridge.
Chapter Ten.
Difficulties and Dissipations.
In a very small office, situate in a very large warehouse, in that great storehouse of the world’s wealth, Tooley Street, sat a clerk named Edward Hooper.
Among his familiar friends Edward was better known by the name of Ned.
He was seated on the top of a tall three-legged stool, which, to judge from the uneasy and restless motions of its occupant, must have been a peculiarly uncomfortable seat indeed.
There was a clock on the wall just opposite to Ned’s desk, which that young gentleman was in the habit of consulting frequently—very frequently—and comparing with his watch, as if he doubted its veracity. This was very unreasonable, for he always found that the two timepieces told the truth; at least, that they agreed with each other. Nevertheless, in his own private heart, Ned Hooper thought that clock—and sometimes called it—“the slowest piece of ancient furniture he had ever seen.”
During one of Ned’s comparisons of the two timepieces the door opened, and Mr Auberly entered, with a dark cloud, figuratively speaking, on his brow.