I went into hundreds of Publics, but I never set eyes on her.

Then, last October, when I'd nearly come to the end of my savings, I saw her going into a Public at New Cross.

I couldn't believe it; it seemed too good to be true.

I thought I must have made a mistake; I daren't go in, for fear she should know me; and I thought she never would come out.

When she did come out, and I saw it was really 'er, I nearly fainted right away; but I follered 'er, and she went from Public to Public with two shops in between, and it was nearly ten o'clock when she took the tram, and past eleven when she got to her cottage at Catford, for she stopped at two more Publics.