THE STEAM EXCURSION. 365 



every member of the committee should wear a piece of blue sarsnet 

 ribbon round his left arm. It appeared from the statement of Mr. 

 Percy Noakes that the boat belonged to the General Steam Naviga- 

 tion Company, and was then lying off the Custom-house ; and as he 

 proposed that the dinner and wines should be provided by an emi- 

 nent city purveyor, it was arranged that Mr. Percy Noakes should 

 be on-board by seven o'clock to superintend the arrangements, and 

 that the remaining members of the committee, together with the 

 company generally, should be expected to join her by nine o'clock. 

 More bran dy-and- water was dispatched ; several speeches were made 

 by the different law students present ; thanks were voted to the chair- 

 man, and the meeting separated. 



The weather had been beautiful up to this period, and beautiful it 

 continued to be. Sunday passed over, and Mr. Percy Noakes be- 

 came unusually fidgetty rushing constantly to and from the Steam 

 Packet Wharf, to the astonishment of the clerks, and the great 

 emolument of the Holborn cab-men. Tuesday arrived, and the 

 anxiety of Mr. Percy Noakes knew no bounds : he was every instant 

 running to the window to look out for clouds ; and Mr. Hardy as- 

 tonished the whole square by practising a new comic song for the oc- 

 casion in the chairman's chambers. 



Uneasy were the slumbers of Mr. Percy Noakes that night: he 

 tossed and tumbled about, and had confused dreams of steamers 

 starting off, and gigantic clocks with the hands pointing to a quarter 

 past nine, and the ugly face of Mr. Alexander Briggs looking over 

 the boat's side, and grinning as if in derision of his fruitless attempts 

 to move. He made a violent effort to get onboard, and awoke. The 

 bright sun was shining cheerfully into the bed-room; and Mr. 

 Percy Noakes started up for his watch, in the dreadful expectation of 

 finding his worst dreams realized. It was just five o'clock: he cal- 

 culated the time he should be a good half-hour dressing himself; 

 and as it was a lovely morning, and the tide would be then running 

 down, he would walk leisurely to Strand Lane, and have a boat to 

 the Custom House. 



He dressed himself, took a hasty apology for a breakfast, and sal- 

 lied forth. The streets looked as lonely and deserted as if they had 

 been crowded over-night for the last time. Here and there an early 

 apprentice, with quenched-looking, sleepy eyes, was taking down the 

 shutters of a shop ; and a policeman or milk-woman might occa- 

 sionally be seen pacing slowly along ; the servants had not yet be- 

 gun to clean the doors, or light the fires, and London looked the 

 picture of desolation. At the corner of a bye-street, near Temple 

 Bar, was stationed a " street breakfast." The coffee was boiling over 

 a charcoal fire, and large slices of bread and butter were piled one 

 upon the other, like deals in a timber-yard. The company were 

 seated on a form, which, with a view both to security and comfort, 

 was placed against a neighbouring wall. Two young men, whose 

 uproarious mirth and disordered dress bespoke the conviviality of 

 the preceding evening, were treating three " ladies" and an Irish 

 labourer. A little sweep was standing at a short distance, casting a 

 longing eye at the tempting delicacies ; and a policeman was watch- 



M.M. No. 106. 3 B 



