The garret, built to be a depository for firewood and the like, was dim and dark: for the window of dormer
shape, was in truth a door in the roof, with a little crane over it for the hoisting up of stores from the
street: unglazed, and closing up the middle in two pieces, like any other door of French construction. To
exclude the cold, one half of this door was fast closed, and the other was opened but a very little way.
Such a scanty portion of light was admitted through these means, that it was difficult, on first coming
in, to see anything; and long habit alone could have slowly formed in any one, the ability to do any work
requiring nicety in such obscurity. Yet, work of that kind was being done in the garret; for, with his back
towards the door, and his face towards the window where the keeper of the wine-shop stood looking at
him, a white-haired man sat on a low bench, stooping forward and very busy, making shoes.