Of course I had to explain to them that I was merely an investigator, a social student, seeking to find out how the other half lived.And at once they shut up like clams.I was not of their kind;my speech had changed, the tones of my voice were different, in short, I was a superior, and they were superbly class conscious.
'What will you have?' I asked, as the waiter came for the order.
'Two slices an' a cup of tea,' meekly said the Carter.
'Two slices an' a cup of tea,' meekly said the Carpenter.
Stop a moment, and consider the situation.Here were two men, invited by me into the coffee-house.They had seen my gold piece, and they could understand that I was no pauper.One had eaten a ha penny roll that day, the other had eaten nothing.And they called for 'two slices an' a cup of tea!' Each man had given a tu'penny order.'Two slices,' by the way, means two slices of bread and butter.
This was the same degraded humility that had characterized their attitude toward the poorhouse porter.But I wouldn't have it.Step by step I increased their orders,- eggs, rashers of bacon, more eggs, more bacon, more tea, more slices, and so forth,- they denying wistfully all the while that they cared for anything more, and devouring it ravenously as fast as it arrived.
'First cup o' tea I've 'ad in a fortnight,' said the Carter.
'Wonderful tea, that,' said the Carpenter.
They each drank two pints of it, and I assure you that it was slops.