"Hey?" said the man.
"I'm nearly starved, sir. I've had nothing to eat for I don't know how
long."
"Oh!" exclaimed the other. "So that's it. Get out!"
"You don't understand," began Samuel, perplexed.
"Get out!" cried the man. "That don't go in here. No beggars allowed!"
Beggars! The word struck Samuel like a whip-lash.
"I'm no beggar!" he cried wildly. "I--" And then he stopped. He had
been going to say, "I will pay for it."
He went out burning with shame, and on the spot he took his
resolution--come what might, he would never beg. He would not put a
morsel of food into his mouth until he had earned it.
Across from the depot was a public square, and a broad street with
trolley tracks. Samuel walked down the street; and then, feeling weak
and seeing a dark doorway, he went in and crouched in a corner. For a
while he dozed; and then it was daylight. People were passing.
He got more water at a fountain and felt better. He went down one of
the poorer streets where a man was opening a shop. There was food in
the window--fruit and bread--and the sight made him ravenous. But he
asked for work and the man shook his head.
Samuel went on. Shops were opened here and there; and everywhere he
asked for a job--for any little thing to do--and always it was No. Now
and then he caught a whiff of some one's breakfast--bacon frying, and
coffee or hot bread in a bake shop.
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