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The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
102
XVII.
I
was
taking
a
meal
once
at
a
London
restaurant--not
one
of
the
great
eating-places
to
which
men
most
resort,
but
a
small
establishment
on
the
same
model
in
a
quiet
neighbourhood--when
there
entered,
and
sat
down
at
the
next
table,
a
young
man
of
the
working
class,
whose
dress
betokened
holiday.
A
glance
told
me
that
he
felt
anything
but
at
ease;
his
mind
misgave
him
as
he
looked
about
the
long
room
and
at
the
table
before
him;
and
when
a
waiter
came
to
offer
him
the
card,
he
stared
blankly
in
sheepish
confusion.
Some
strange
windfall,
no
doubt,
had
emboldened
him
to
enter
for
the
first
time
such
a
place
as
this,
and
now
that
he
was
here,
he
heartily
wished
himself
out
in
the
street
again.
However,
aided
by
the
waiter's
suggestions,
he
gave
an
order
for
a
beef-steak
and
vegetables.
When
the
dish
was
served,
the
poor
fellow
simply
could
not
make
a
start
upon
it;
he
was
embarrassed
by
the
display
of
knives
and
forks,
by
the
arrangement
of
the
dishes,
by
the
sauce
bottles
and
the
cruet-stand,
above
all,
no
doubt,
by
the
assembly
of
people
not
of
his
class,
and
the
unwonted
experience
of
being
waited
upon
by
a
man
with
a
long
shirt-front.
He
grew
red;
he
made
the
clumsiest
and
most
futile
efforts
to
transport
the
meat
to
his
plate;
food
was
there
before
him,
but,
like
a
very
Tantalus,
he
was
forbidden
to
enjoy
it.
Observing
with
all
discretion,
I
at
length
saw
him
pull
out
his
pocket
handkerchief,
spread
it
on
the
table,
and,
with
a
sudden
effort,
fork
the
meat
off
the
dish
into
this
receptacle.
The
waiter,
aware
by
this
time
of
the
customer's
difficulty,
came
up
and
spoke
a
word
to
him.
Abashed
into
anger,
the
young
man
roughly
asked
what
he
had
to
pay.
It
ended
in
the
waiter's
bringing
a
newspaper,
wherein
he
helped
to
wrap
up
meat
and
vegetables.
Money
was
flung
down,
and
the
victim
of
a
mistaken
ambition
hurriedly
departed,
to
satisfy
his
hunger
amid
less
unfamiliar
surroundings.
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