Chapter XXIII

Early in the fall Jurgis set out for Chicago again. All
the joy went out of tramping as soon as a man could not
keep warm in the hay; and, like many thousands of others, he
deluded himself with the hope that by coming early he could
avoid the rush. He brought fifteen dollars with him,
hidden away in one of his shoes, a sum which had been saved
from the saloon-keepers, not so much by his conscience,
as by the fear which filled him at the thought of being
out of work in the city in the winter-time.

He traveled upon the railroad with several other men,
hiding in freight-cars at night, and liable to be thrown off
at any time, regardless of the speed of the train. When
he reached the city he left the rest, for he had money and
they did not, and he meant to save himself in this fight.
He would bring to it all the skill that practice had
brought him, and he would stand, whoever fell. On
fair nights he would sleep in the park or on a truck or an
empty barrel or box, and when it was rainy or cold he
would stow himself upon a shelf in a ten-cent lodging-
house, or pay three cents for the privileges of a "squatter"
in a tenement hallway. He would eat at free lunches, five
cents a meal, and never a cent more -- so he might keep
alive for two months and more, and in that time he would
surely find a job. He would have to bid farewell to his
summer cleanliness, of course, for he would come out of
the first night's lodging with his clothes alive with vermin.
There was no place in the city where he could wash even
his face, unless he went down to the lake-front -- and
there it would soon be all ice.

[[265]]

p264 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p265w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p266

v?