MY SECRET LIFE
I went home used up, and in a state of indescribable disgust with myself, entirely ceased masturbation, and in a month went again to visit my friend,—he had found out another grating.
The back of the manufactory as said was in a cul- de—sac. There were but the manufactory and stables in it. The workmen entered that side. There were gratings, and coal-vaults beneath the street similar to those beneath the linendraper’s shop. Workmen’s wives bringing their husbands’ dinners, used to stand and sometimes sit down over the gratings, but their legs when seen were rarely worth the seeing; it was usually but a sight of dingy petticoats, and dirty stock- ings. We were however content to look up at them, for they belonged to women, but soon tired of doing so.
One night (we had never been there at night be- fore), for some reason or the other which I don’t recolf lect we went down and found two women pissing down the grating, then a man and woman together, and dis- covered it to be the pissing-place of the gay women, in the main thoroughfare; and where if the nights were dark, couples used to come for a grope, a frig, or even_ for a fuck at times. The pissing often took place over a grating, we could hear, and feel, but not see.
Then we got a common dark lantern, had the top shade taken of, and a funnel, or short chimney put with a slide, so that when we pushed the slide off, the light shot up through the chimney, and throw a strong light on a circle about one foot across. With this we went down waiting till we heard some one above, then opened the light and saw what was to be seen. Some- times we waited for hours without seeing anything,
but it is astonishing what cute-loving, baudy young men
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