"BOYS WANTED."
I went over the address in my own mind to make sure, and also repeated
the directions given me by Mr Revitts, so as to make no mistake in
going into the City. Then I thought over again Mr Rowle's remarks
about his brother, his name, Jabez, his age, and his being exactly like
himself. That would, I thought, make it easy for me to recognise him;
and in this spirit I walked on through the busy streets, feeling a good
deal confused at being pushed and hustled about so much, while twice I
was nearly run over in crossing the roads.
At last, after asking, by Mr Revitts' advice, my way of different
policemen when I was at fault, I found myself soon after two in Short
Street, Fetter Lane, facing a pile of buildings from the base of which
came the hiss and pant of steam, with the whirr, clang, and roar of
machinery; while on the doorpost was a bright zinc plate with the legend
"Ruddle and Lister, General Printers;" and above that, written on a card
in a large legible hand, and tacked against the woodwork, the words
"Boys Wanted."
This announcement seemed to take away my breath, and I hesitated for a
few minutes before I dared approach the place; but I went up at last,
and then, seeing a severe-looking man in a glass box reading a
newspaper, I shrank back and walked on a little way, forgetting all
about Mr Jabez Rowle in my anxiety to try and obtain a situation by
whose means I could earn my living.
At last, in a fit of desperation, I went up to the glass case, and the
man reading the newspaper let it fall upon his knees and opened a little
window.
"Now then, what is it?" he said in a gruff voice.
"If you please, sir, there's a notice about boys wanted--"
"Down that passage, upstairs, first floor," said the man gruffly, and
banged down the window.
I was a little taken aback, but I pushed a swing-door, and went with a
beating heart along the passage, on one side of which were rooms fitted
up something like Mr Blakeford's office, and on the other side a great
open floor stacked with reams of paper, and with laths all over the
ceiling, upon which boys with curious pieces of wood, something like
long wooden crutches, were hanging up sheets of paper to dry, while at
broad tables by the windows I could see women busily folding more sheets
of paper, as if making books.
It was but a casual glance I had as I passed on, and then went by a room
with the door half open and the floor carpeted inside. There was a
pleasant, musical voice speaking, and then there was a burst of
laughter, all of which seemed out of keeping in that dingy place, full
of the throb of machinery, and the odour of oil and steam.
At the end of the passage was the staircase, and going up, I was nearly
knocked over by a tall, fat-headed boy, who blundered roughly against
me, and then turned round to cry indignantly--
"Now, stoopid, where are yer a-coming to?"
"Can you tell me, please, where I am to ask about boys being wanted?" I
said mildly.
"Oh, find out! There ain't no boys wanted here."
"Not wanted here!" I faltered, with my hopes terribly dashed, for I had
been building castles high in the air.
"No; be off!" he said roughly, when a new character appeared on the
scene in the shape of a business-looking man in a white apron, carrying
down an iron frame, and having one hand at liberty, he made use of it to
give the big lad a cuff on the ear.
"You make haste and fetch up those galleys, Jem Smith;" and the boy went
on down three stairs at a time. "What do you want, my man?" he
continued, turning to me.
"I saw there were boys wanted, sir, and I was going upstairs."
"When that young scoundrel told you a lie. There, go on, and in at that
swing-door; the overseer's office is at the end."
I thanked him, and went on, pausing before a door blackened by dirty
hands, and listened for a moment before going in.
The hum of machinery sounded distant here, and all within seemed very
still, save a faint clicking noise, till suddenly I heard a loud
clap-clapping, as if a flat piece of wood were being banged down and
then struck with a mallet; and directly after came a hammering, as if
some one was driving a wooden peg.
There were footsteps below, and I dared not hesitate longer; so, pushing
the door, it yielded, and I found myself in a great room, where some
forty men in aprons and shirt-sleeves were busy at what at the first
glance seemed to be desks full of little compartments, from which they
were picking something as they stood, but I was too much confused to
notice more than that they took not the slightest notice of me, as I
stopped short, wondering where the overseer's room would be.
At one corner I could see an old man at a desk, with a boy standing
beside him, both of them shut up in a glass case, as if they were
curiosities; in another corner there was a second glass case, in which a
fierce-looking man with a shiny bald head and glittering spectacles was
gesticulating angrily to one of the men in white aprons, and pointing to
a long, narrow slip of paper.