Year: 1866

I
finished my school days-an event which
occurred tolerably early-I was packed off
to Manchester to serve an apprenticeship
in Manchester warehouse.
had plenty of work there and some
little pay, and when my father had found
me cheap lodgings in the house of an ell
derly couple, and had arranged the pay
ment with them so as to leave me small
sum for pocket money, he bade me be
good lad and attentive to business, and
left me to my fate.


Long before my apprenticeship had
concluded, l found myself permanently
installed in the Office, or counting house
as it was more grandiloquently called, and
that, no doubt, was the fittest place for
me; as years passed on, L became, by
translation, from stool to stool, packing
clerk, invoice clerk, bookkeeper, obtaining
an advance Of wages with each change Of
position, until as bookkeeper, l was mu-
nificently paid at the rate of one hundred
and fifty pounds a year, and had reached
the summit of my ambition.


During my brief visit to the library at
the old college, l picked up sort Of ac-
quaintance with one of its constant fire.
quenters, the mustiest old book-wOrm in
the lot, whom l found there when | went
in and left there when l came out, and
should have believed to live there but
that | knew no candles were admitted, and
that at night the books would be useless
to him without them. He was strange
figure, dressed in suit of rusty black,
with a neckerchief twisted round his throat
in a sort of whisp, pair of great gog-
| gle spectacles upon his nose, and with two,
three, or four folios usually ranged round
him, one for reading, the others for COM
parison or reference. l had the good for
tune once to hand him ponderous tome
which had slipped from his knees whilst
he was intent upon another placed upon
the stand before him land after that time, if
by chance he glanced up, which might hap
pen once in a month perhaps, whilst I
was in the reading room, was sure of
kindly nod at least before he glanced down
again.


Once, in difficulty, l ventured to refer
to him, and was not little astonished by
the flood of crudition poured in conse-
quence upon me. He knew everything
that had been written upon the subject
and gave me the key to my puzzle imme-
diately, together with half hundred ref
erences wherewith still further to elucidate
it. Afterwards our relationship became
almost that of master and pupil; and /
may say that we became in some sort
friends, though our only place of meeting
was the library.


The rule in our office was, that every
one employed should be there and at
work at nine o'clock in the morning; and
accordingly at twenty minutes before nine,
precisely, | passed the clock in the old
church tower on my way to it. / believe
that every clock in the back street of
Strangeways in which l lived was timed
by my movements, much in the same
way in which my watch was timed by the
church clock as l passed. From long
habit this comparison had become ne
ccssity, and the only temptation l ever had
to omit it was occasioned by the passing
the .same spot, at my precise moment Of
young lady dressed in green mantle,
whom | met morning after morning, and
whose fresh, pleasant face l got to ilook
for until faneied that missing it would
almost cast gloom upon the day. Itwas
long before l did miss it; month after
month, through the long winter, wet or
dry, hail, rain or snow, at twenty minutes
to nine | met Greenmantle, as l called her
in my own thoughts, opposite the old
church tower. Very soon | knew her as
well as any old house in the city, or out
of it, and could have described every fold
in her dress and every feature in her
sweet face, but l had no one to describe
them to at that time, and l am not going
to begin now.


l was young man of fve-and-twenty
then, but as smoohfaced as girl if fan
cied that Greenmantle looked in my di-
rection, colored to the top of my head,
| believe, and hastened onward; if she
passad without appearing to notice me, |
was miserable for the day.


Gradually l put together little history
of iher, but as it was incorrect except in
two of its more insignificant particulars, it
need not be detailed here. She had usu-
ally roll of music with her, so | knew
she was a governess somewhere, and that
was all l could make out with certainty.
l wanted to know all about her, who she
was, where she lived, what relatives she
had, and above all, wanted to know her.
had got to love her before | had ex-
changed word, or even nod with her.
Her face was the index OF all goodness,
and l felt that l must win her or die. If
l was as shy as a girl, / was every bit as
romantic, and | actually upset all the
neighbors' equanimity by starting from
my lodgings ten minutes before my ac-
customed time, and so persuading them
that every clock in the streets was ten
minutes behind time. But l missed see
ing Greenmantle. ! ran back, indeed,
Just in time to see her skirt disappear in
the distant crowd; but that did not con-
tent me, and for weeks became true
tirne-keeper again. Then l tried being
late; left my lodgings at the accustomed
hour, indeed; but l loitered upon the road,
and Greenmantle passed me almost at my
own street end. l fingered and watched,
but she went on until could distinguish
her no longer. Then l turned and ran
ran at the top of my speed to the office,
which | reached five minutes after nine,
in time to find every one, from the master
downward, specializing upon my being Sc
riously unwell, or possibly defunct. Thus
things went on till midsummer; / met
Greenmantle, without appearing to recOg-
nize her, every morning, and | spent hours
every evening in visiting places in which
1 thought it possible to meet with her;
but except at the precise spot, at twenty
minutes before nine, l never had the luck
to find her.


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