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

[[86]]

p085 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p086w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p087

v?