Jurgis was ready to leave the hospital at the end of two
weeks. This did not mean that his arm was strong and
that he was able to go back to work, but simply that he
could get along without further attention, and that his
place was needed for someone worse off than he. That
he was utterly helpless, and had no means of keeping him~
self alive in the meantime, was something which did not
concern the hospital authorities, nor any one else in the
city.

As it chanced, he had been hurt on a Monday, and had
just paid for his last week's board and his room rent, and
spent nearly all the balance of his Saturday's pay. He
had less than seventy-five cents in his pockets, and a
dollar and a half due him for the day's work he had done
before he was hurt. He might possibly have sued the
company, and got some damages for his injuries, but he
did not know this, and it was not the company's business
to tell him. He went and got his pay and his tools, which
he left in a pawnshop for fifty cents. Then he went to
his landlady, who had rented his place and had no other
for him; and then to his boarding-house keeper, who
looked him over and questioned him. As he must cer~
tainly be helpless for a couple of months, and had boarded
there only six weeks, she decided very quickly that it
would not be worth the risk to keep him on trust.

So Jurgis went out into the streets, in a most dreadful
plight. It was bitterly cold, and a heavy snow was fall~
ing, beating into his face. He had no overcoat, and no
place to go, and two dollars and sixty-five cents in his
pocket, with the certainty that he could not earn another
cent for months. The snow meant no chance to him now;
he must walk along and see others shoveling, vigorous
and active -- and he with his left arm bound to his side!
He could not hope to tide himself over by odd jobs of
loading trucks; he could not even sell newspapers or carry
satchels, because he was now at the mercy of any rival.
Words could not paint the terror that came over him
as he realized all this. He was like a wounded animal in
the forest; he was forced to compete with his enemies

[[270]]

p269 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p270w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p271

v?