i did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace british tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. he wore rather baggy grey shepherd’s check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as an ornament. a frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him.