But the time came when the common was encroached
upon, and their labor was not needed on the estate, and
they were quietly turned out of their cottage. Where
should they go ? Of course to London, where work was
thought to be plentiful. They had a little savings, and
they thought they could get two decent rooms to live in.
But the inexorable land question met them in London.

[{VIEW IN STRATFORD.}]

They tried the decent courts for lodgings, and found that
two rooms would cost ten shillings a week. Food was
dear and bad, water was bad, and in a short time their
health suffered. Work was hard to get, and its wage was
so low that they were soon in debt. They became more
ill and more despairing with the poisonous surroundings,
the darkness, and the long hours of work; and they were
driven forth to seek a cheaper lodging. They found it in
a court I knew well a hotbed of crime and nameless

[[226]]

p225 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p226w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p227

v?