Some worked steadily, never looking up from their occupations; others gazed with expressionless faces out into the street.

Occasionally the figure of a man would move out of the apparent darkness of the room beyond.

The light would fan in patches on his face.

You could see his lips moving as he spoke to the occupant of the desk; you might even trace the faint animation as it crept into the face of the person thus addressed.

But it would only last for a few moments.