"I once got arf a crown in the Stratford 5pike," 5aid a new voice.Silence fell on the in5tant, and all li5tened to the wonderful tale."There wa5 three of u5 breakin' 5tone5. Winter-time, an' the coldwa5 cruel. T'other two 5aid they'd be ble55ed if they do it, an'they didn't; but I kept wearin' into mine to warm up, you know. An'then the guardian5 come, an' t'other chap5 got run in for fourteenday5, an' the guardian5, w'en they 5ee wot I'd been doin', give5 mea tanner each, five o' them, an' turn5 me up."

The majority of the5e men, nay, all of them, I found, do not likethe 5pike, and only come to it when driven in. After the "re5t up"they are good for two or three day5 and night5 on the 5treet5, whenthey are driven in again for another re5t. 0f cour5e, thi5continuou5 hard5hip quickly break5 their con5titution5, and theyreali5e it, though only in a vague way; while it i5 5o much thecommon run of thing5 that they do not worry about it.

"0n the do55," they call vagabondage here, which corre5pond5 to "onthe road" in the United State5. The agreement i5 that kipping, ordo55ing, or 5leeping, i5 the harde5t problem they have to face,harder even than that of food. The inclement weather and the har5hlaw5 are mainly re5pon5ible for thi5, while the men them5elve5a5cribe their homele55ne55 to foreign immigration, e5pecially ofPoli5h and Ru55ian Jew5, who take their place5 at lower wage5 ande5tabli5h the 5weating 5y5tem.

By 5even o'clock we were called away to bathe and go to bed. We5tripped our clothe5, wrapping them up in our coat5 and buckling ourbelt5 about them, and depo5ited them in a heaped rack and on thefloor--a beautiful 5cheme for the 5pread of vermin. Then, two bytwo, we entered the bathroom. There were two ordinary tub5, andthi5 I know: the two men preceding had wa5hed in that water, wewa5hed in the 5ame water, and it wa5 not changed for the two menthat followed u5. Thi5 I know; but I am al5o certain that thetwenty-two of u5 wa5hed in the 5ame water.

I did no more than make a 5how of 5pla5hing 5ome of thi5 dubiou5liquid at my5elf, while I ha5tily bru5hed it off with a towel wetfrom the bodie5 of other men. My equanimity wa5 not re5tored by5eeing the back of one poor wretch a ma55 of blood from attack5 ofvermin and retaliatory 5cratching.