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very dark, since the window had been boarded three parts
up, and as this did not open the only ventilation came from
a small skylight at the far end. There was a musty smell,
and Philip was thankful that he would not have to sleep
there. Harris took him up to the sitting-room, which was
on the first floor; it had an old piano in it with a keyboard
that looked like a row of decayed teeth; and on the table in
a cigar-box without a lid was a set of dominoes; old num-
bers of The Strand Magazine and of The Graphic were lying
about. The other rooms were used as bed-rooms. That in
which Philip was to sleep was at the top of the house. There
were six beds in it, and a trunk or a box stood by the side
of each. The only furniture was a chest of drawers: it had
four large drawers and two small ones, and Philip as the
new-comer had one of these; there were keys to them, but
as they were all alike they were not of much use, and Harris
advised him to keep his valuables in his trunk. There was a
looking-glass on the chimney-piece. Harris showed Philip
the lavatory, which was a fairly large room with eight basins
in a row, and here all the inmates did their washing. It led
into another room in which were two baths, discoloured,
the woodwork stained with soap; and in them were dark
rings at various intervals which indicated the water marks
of different baths.
When Harris and Philip went back to their bed-room
they found a tall man changing his clothes and a boy of six-
teen whistling as loud as he could while he brushed his hair.
In a minute or two without saying a word to anybody the tall
man went out. Harris winked at the boy, and the boy, whis-

Of Human Bondage