Chapter 16

⁠​​​‌​​​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌⁠It was so late that Ludgate Circus was deserted except for a ramshackle cab with a drunken driver pouring forth a hoarse story of a mean fare to a sleepy policeman leaning against a lamp post. The sight of two gentlemen on foot when all 'buses had stopped running for the night raised fleeting hopes in the cabman's pessimistic breast, and changed the flow of his narrative into a strident appeal for