Samuel the Seeker | Page 9

you never told me before," protested Samuel with great earnestness.
"Get out!" said the man. "There are so many of you--how the devil can I tell?"
There were so many! And suddenly Samuel realized that he had passed a good many poor-looking men upon the streets. And were they all hunting jobs and not finding them? Perhaps some were even begging and getting nothing by that.
He went on with a blank terror in his soul. He gazed at the people he passed on the street; some of them had kindly faces--surely they would have helped him had they known. But there was no way for him to let them know--no way but to be a beggar!
He came to the suburbs and asked at the houses. But no one wanted anything done. It was noon and people were at luncheon--he caught odors as doors were opened. He went back into the city, because he could not stand it. He was feeling weaker, and he was afraid with a ghastly fear. Pretty soon he might not be able to work!
It was a new idea to Samuel, that a man might starve in the midst of civilization. He could hardly believe it, and grew half-delirious as he thought about it. What would happen at the end? Would they let him lie down and die in the street? Or was there some place where starving men went to die?
So the day passed, and he found nothing. Several people advised him to get out of town--this was no place to look for work, they said. Apparently something was the matter with the place, but they did not stop to tell him what.
This was the first large town Samuel had ever seen, and under other circumstances he would have gazed at it with wonder. He passed great buildings of brick and stone, and trolley cars, and a fire-engine house, and many other strange sights. He came to a great high fence, inclosing many acres of buildings, dingy and black with smoke; there were tall chimneys, and rows of sheds, and railroad tracks running in. He passed other factories, huge brick buildings with innumerable windows; and many blocks of working-men's houses, small and dirty frame structures, with pale-faced children in the doorways. The roads and sidewalks here were all of black cinders, and it was hot even in May.
And then he came to a steel bridge and crossed a river and the road broadened out, and he climbed a hill and found himself walking upon a macadamized avenue lined with trees, and with beautiful residences overlooking the ridge. Rich people lived here, evidently; and Samuel stared, marveling at the splendor. He came to a great estate with a stone gateway and iron railings ten feet high, and an avenue of stately elm trees; there were bright green lawns with peacocks and lyre birds strutting about, and a great colonial mansion with white pillars in the distance. "Fairview," read the name upon the gates.
And then again Samuel remembered his appetite. Surely amid all this luxury there would be some chance for him! He started up the path!
He had got about halfway to the house when a man who was tending the flowers caught sight of him and came toward him. "What are you doing here?" he called, before he had come halfway.
"I'm looking for some work," began Samuel.
"Do you want to get your head punched?" shouted the man. "What do you mean by coming in here?"
"Why, what's the matter?" asked the boy perplexed.
"Get out, you loafer!" cried the other.
And Samuel turned and went quickly. A loafer!
So for the first time it occurred to him to look at his clothes, which were muddy from his tumble in the ditch. And no doubt his face and hands were dirty also, and his hair unkempt, and his aspect unprepossessing enough for an applicant for labor. At any rate it was clear that this was not the part of the town to seek it in; so he went back across the bridge.
Twilight had fallen and the stores were shutting up. Soon everything would be closed; and that night he felt that he would perish. And so at last desperation seized him.
He bolted into the first lighted place he saw.
It was a saloon--empty, save for a man in white behind the bar.
"I'm no beggar!" shouted Samuel.
"Hey?" said the man.
"I say I'm no beggar! I'll come back and pay you. I'm starving. I must have something to eat."
"Gee whiz!" said the man.
"I was never in a saloon in my life before," added Samuel, as he realized the character of the place. "But please--please give me something to eat."
"Hully gee, young feller!" exclaimed the bar-keeper. "You do it great. You ought to be an actor. Step up and feed your face."
"What?" stammered Samuel, perplexed.
"EAT!" said the other,