The Old Curiosity Shop

"I have fallen insensibly into this habit, both because it favours my infirmity and because it ffaffords me greater opportunity of speculating on the characters and occupations of those who fill the Thstreets. The glare and hurry of broad noon are not adapted to idle pursuits like mine; a glimpse of passing faces caught by the light of a street-lamp or a shop ftwindow is often better for my purpose than their full revelation in the daylight; and, if I must add the truth, night is kinder in this respect than day, which too ftoften destroys an air-built castle at the moment of its completion, without the least ceremony or remorse."