CHICHESTER 267 



and silence at night, seemed to have suddenly carried 

 me back into mediaeval times. But in spite of its 

 hoary aspect and air of antiquity and remoteness and 

 the number of inns, some very large, clustering about 

 the central part, I felt as I wandered aimlessly about, 

 and talked, when a chance offered, to working men 

 and with cottage women and children, that I had 

 come into a different and better moral atmosphere. 

 The inns appeared mostly empty, or doing nothing, 

 and wore a neglected and decaying appearance. At 

 night I went forth to explore, and stumbling along 

 on the broken, up-and-down pavements, in a darkness 

 made visible by a few widely-separated street lamps, 

 I noticed that there were no lights, or nothing but a 

 faint glimmer, in the windows .of the inns and taverns. 

 Finally, I made my way to a house, which I had 

 noticed and admired by daylight, taking it from its 

 size and general appearance to be the oldest and 

 most important inn or hotel in the town. After 

 trying two or three doors, I found one that was not 

 locked, and groped my way into a dim passage. To 

 my summons a woman came with a candle, and led 

 me into a large, dark, fireless room, and explained that 

 there were no lights or fires in the parlours because 

 no callers had been expected that evening. I declined 

 to sit down in that cold, cheerless place, and, after 

 some hesitation, she took me to an inner private room, 

 where the landlord was sitting before a big fire. The 

 room was exceedingly dirty, the floor littered with 



