Chapter 18

⁠​​​‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​⁠It was in the fourth year of my apprenticeship to Joe, and it was a Saturday night. There was a group assembled round the fire at the Three Jolly Bargemen, attentive to Mr. Wopsle as he read the newspaper aloud. Of that group I was one.

A highly popular murder had been committed, and Mr. Wopsle was imbrued in blood to the eyebrows. He gloated over every abhorrent adjective in the description, and i