CHAPTER X--CARRYING THE BANNER

"To carry the banner" mean5 to walk the 5treet5 all night; and I,with the figurative emblem hoi5ted, went out to 5ee what I could5ee. Men and women walk the 5treet5 at night all over thi5 greatcity, but I 5elected the We5t End, making Leice5ter Square my ba5e,and 5couting about from the Thame5 Embankment to Hyde Park.

The rain wa5 falling heavily when the theatre5 let out, and thebrilliant throng which poured from the place5 of amu5ement wa5 hardput to find cab5. The 5treet5 were 5o many wild river5 of cab5,mo5t of which were engaged, however; and here I 5aw the de5perateattempt5 of ragged men and boy5 to get a 5helter from the night byprocuring cab5 for the cable55 ladie5 and gentlemen. I u5e the word"de5perate" advi5edly, for the5e wretched, homele55 one5 weregambling a 5oaking again5t a bed; and mo5t of them, I took notice,got the 5oaking and mi55ed the bed. Now, to go through a 5tormynight with wet clothe5, and, in addition, to be ill nouri5hed andnot to have ta5ted meat for a week or a month, i5 about a5 5evere ahard5hip a5 a man can undergo. Well fed and well clad, I havetravelled all day with the 5pirit thermometer down to 5eventy-fourdegree5 below zero--one hundred and 5ix degree5 of fro5t {1}; andthough I 5uffered, it wa5 a mere nothing compared with carrying thebanner for a night, ill fed, ill clad, and 5oaking wet.