Excerpt from A Drama in Sunshine: A Novel He laughed softly and melodiously. The parson withdrew his gaze. The room was in disorder, presenting to the Observer a panorama of poverty, disease, and dirt. Without, it rained heavily, the great drops of water falling with sullen and rhythmic plashes upon the wooden shingles. Within, the gas from a broken jet flared and flickered, to the eye of the parson ominously. It will soon be extinguished, said the man in bed, interpreting aright the thoughts of his visitor. For two weary months I've been living with the lights turned down. I'm waiting hopefully for them to be turned out. The parson, at a loss for a seasonable word, held his peace. A gleam from a dark corner challenged his attention. Against the crude plaster of the wall leaned a malacca cane - a sprightly, fashionable, silver-mounted cane, grotesquely out of keeping with its sordid environment. Yes, sighed the Sick man; that is my cane. It supported me during many years. It is, in fact, one of my Oldest and most valued friends. But you see it stands jauntily enough awaiting the hand of another. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.