18 SLOPS. 



rately along, when, about twenty or thirty 

 yards from my own door, splash came a 

 whole basin of water, something like break- 

 fast slops, in my face, running down my 

 neck, completely saturating my cravat, and 

 otherwise moistening and discolouring my 

 shirt and waistcoat. Remonstrance was 

 vain, and only elicited an apology from 

 the Hebe, who, with a slattern's gait and 

 uncombed locks, had been the authoress of 

 my discomfiture. She alleged, as an excuse, 

 that having no back premises, people were 

 compelled, like the inhabitants of the sweet- 

 savoured Northern capital, to throw every- 

 thing into the street. 



Returning to my lodgings to change and 

 re-adjust my dress, I issued forth again, not 

 much prepossessed in favour of a place where 

 I had just received so unpleasant a mark of 

 distinction, when I saw a posse of people 

 some men, some boys, and a few women 

 congregated round a figure of a grotesque 

 and extraordinary appearance, who stood 



