Upon approaching nearer to this particular building the street door will be found to be wide open to the public, and, if you venture still closer, a name may be seen painted in black letters upon the side of the passage wall, after the manner of the brokers in the courts off Throgmorton Street, or of the lawyers in the Temple.

It is, in fact, the office of a country solicitor--most emphatically one of Hodge's many masters--and is admirably suited for his purpose, on account of its roomy interior.
The first door within opens on the clerks' room, and should you modestly knock on the panels instead of at once turning the handle, a voice will invite you to 'Come in.' Half of the room is partitioned off for the clerks, who sit at a long high desk, with a low railing or screen in front of them.

Before the senior is a brass rail, along which he can, if he chooses, draw a red curtain.

He is too hard at work and intent upon some manuscript to so much as raise his head as you enter.

But the two younger men, eager for a change, look over the screen, and very civilly offer to attend to your business.