The sun was already low when the travelers reached the suburbs of the capital.

First came cottages, then villas, then the houses crowded closer, and the dust and noise made our hero's heart sink within him.

He would soon have lost his way but for Veitel Itzig, who seemed to have a preference for by-streets and narrow flag-stones.

At length they reached one of the main streets, where large houses, with pillared porticoes, gay shops, and a well-dressed crowd, proclaimed the triumph of wealth over poverty.

Here they stopped before a lofty house.