I
After that last glimpse of the Clockwork man, and the conversation with
Doctor Allingham and Gregg that followed, Arthur had hurried home to
his tea. No amount of interest in the affair, however stupendous it
might appear both to himself and others, could dissuade him from his
usual Saturday night's programme. Rose Lomas, to whom he had recently
become engaged, was a hundred times more important than a clockwork
man, and whether a human being could actually exist who walked and
talked by mechanical means was a small problem in comparison with that
of changing his clothes, washing and tidying himself up in time for
his assignation. As soon as the cricketers showed signs of stirring
themselves, and so conveyed the comforting impression that they were
not dead, Arthur felt himself able to resume normal existence.
His lodgings were situated at the lower end of the town. The
accommodation consisted of a small bedroom, which he shared with a
fellow clerk, and a place at table with the other inmates of the house.
The street was very dirty, and Mrs. Flack's house alone presented some
sign of decency and respectability. It was a two-storied red brick
cottage. There was no front garden, and you entered directly into a
living room through a door, upon which a brass plate was fixed that
bore the following announcement:--