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and of actual work—manual labour—he had next to none. To
change that signal, to trim those lights, and to turn this iron

handle now and then, was all he had to do under that head.
Regarding those many long and lonely hours of which I
seemed to make so much, he could only say that the
routine of his life had shaped itself into that form, and
he had gr own used to it. He had taught himself
a language down here,—if only to know it by

sight, and to have formed his own crude ideas
of its pronunciation, could be called learning
it. He had also worked at fractions and
decimals, and tried a little algebra; but
he was, and had been as a boy, a poor

hand at figures. Was it necessary for
him when on duty always to remain
in that channel of damp air, and
could he never rise into the sunshine
from between those high stone walls?
Why, that depended upon times and

circumstances. Under some conditions
there would be less upon the Line than
under others, and the same held good
as to certain hours of the day and night. In

bright weather, he did choose occasions for getting a little above these lower shadows;
but, being at all times liable to be called by his electric bell, and at such times listening
for it with redoubled anxiety, the relief was less than I would suppose. He took me into
his box, where there was a fire, a desk for an official book in which he had to make
certain entries, a telegraphic instrument with its dial, face, and needles, and the little bell
of which he had spoken. On my trusting that he would excuse the remark that he had

been well educated, and (I hoped I might say without offence) perhaps educated above
that station, he observed that instances of slight incongruity in such wise would rarely be
found wanting among large bodies of men; that he had heard it was so in workhouses,
in the police force, even in that last desperate resource, the army; and that he knew it

was so, more or less, in any great railway staff. He had been, when young (if I could
believe it, sitting in that hut,—he scarcely could), a student of natural philosophy, and
had attended lectures; but he had run wild, misused his opportunities, gone down, and
never risen again. He had no complaint to offer about that. He had made his bed, and
he lay upon it. It was far too late to make another.

All that I have here condensed he said in a quiet manner, with his grave, dark regards

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