It was filled for him with observations and mental comments concerning the actual guests of the hotel, who passed in and out, and those more prosperous pedestrians whose good fortune showed in their clothes and spirits as they passed along Broadway, outside.

It was nearly the first time since he had arrived in the city that his leisure afforded him ample opportunity to contemplate this spectacle.

Now, being, perforce, idle himself, he wondered at the activity of others.

How gay were the youths he saw, how pretty the women.

Such fine clothes they all wore.