59 



hyphenated periodically by brown 

 earthen dishes which combined in 

 their big round shapes the opposing 

 emblems of cleanliness and filth. 

 The long, broad table supplied with 

 inkwells and cheap stationery and 

 the local papers, all rather untidy, 

 would be sure to occupy some por- 

 tion of the office space, and the 

 "bar," separated only by abbre- 

 viated swinging doors, would give 

 forth its individual odours and its 

 voices; also we knew that beyond 

 the office was the dining room with 

 its long tables always set with the 

 "usuals," including toothpicks, and 

 the kitchen, not by any means 

 hiding its essential part in the hotel 

 economics; while above stairs the 

 long, narrow corridor would be bro- 

 ken by doors that gave the entrance 

 to cell-like rooms, each small, square 

 and stuffy, lighted by one window 

 and furnished with ingrain carpet, 

 a pine bedroom set, and the noises 

 of one's neighbours. 



We arrived and dashed through the 

 torrent. How depressing it all was 

 in its sordid usefulness! no extreme 

 for good or ill that might lift it to 



