In the smoky fog which was falling, the gas lamps were being lighted up; and the long avenues, which had grown bleak and indistinct, suddenly showed themselves plainly again, sparkling to their full length and piercing through the night, even to the vague darkness of the horizon.

A great gust swept by; the widened spaces were lighted up with girdles of little flames, shining under the far-stretching moonless sky.

It was the hour when, from one end of the Boulevard to the other, the dram-shops and the dancing-halls flamed gayly as the first glasses were merrily drunk and the first dance began.
It was the great fortnightly pay-day, and the pavement was crowded with jostling revelers on the spree.

There was a breath of merrymaking in the air--deuced fine revelry, but not objectionable so far.

Fellows were filling themselves in the eating-houses; through the lighted windows you could see people feeding, with their mouths full and laughing without taking the trouble to swallow first.