Out rolled the gold piece, a fortune in their hungry eyes; and away we stampeded for the nearest coffee-house.
Of course I had to explain to them that I was merely an investigator, a social student, seeking to find out how the other half lived. And at once they shut up like clams. I was not of their kind; my speech had changed, the tones of my voice were different, in short, I was a superior, and they were superbly class conscious.
"What will you have?" I asked, as the waiter came for the order.
"Two slices an' a cup of tea," meekly said the Carter.
"Two slices an' a cup of tea," meekly said the Carpenter.
Stop a moment, and consider the situation. Here were two men, invited by me into the coffee-house. They had seen my gold piece, and they could understand that I was no pauper. One had eaten a ha'penny roll that day, the other had eaten nothing. And they called for "two slices an' a cup of tea!" Each man had given a tu'penny order. 'Two slices,' by the way, means two slices of bread and butter.
This was the same degraded humility that had characterized their attitude toward the poorhouse porter. But I wouldn't have it. Step by step I
