upon unequal terms. There would be no considera~
tion for him because of his weakness -- it was no one's
business to help him in such distress, to make the fight
the least bit easier for him. Even if he took to begging,
he would be at a disadvantage, for reasons which he was
to discover in good time.

In the beginning he could not think of anything except
getting out of the awful cold. He went into one of the
saloons he had been wont to frequent and bought a drink,
and then stood by the fire shivering and waiting to be
ordered out. According to an unwritten law, the buying
a drink included the privilege of loafing for just so
long; then one had to buy another drink or move on.
That Jurgis was an old customer entitled him to a some~
what longer stop; but then he had been away two weeks,
and was evidently "on the bum." He might plead and
tell his "hard-luck story," but that would not help him
much; a saloon-keeper who was to be moved by such
means would soon have his place jammed to the doors with
"hoboes" on a day like this.

So Jurgis went out into another place, and paid another
nickel. He was so hungry this time that he could not
resist the hot beef-stew, an indulgence which cut short his
stay by a considerable time. When he was again told to
move on, he made his way to a "tough" place in the
"Levee" district, where now and then he had gone with a
certain rat-eyed Bohemian working-man of his acquaint~
ance, seeking a woman. It was Jurgis's vain hope that
here the proprietor would let him remain as a "sitter."
In low-class places, in the dead of winter, saloon-keepers
would often allow one or two forlorn-looking bums who
came in covered with snow or soaked with rain to sit by
the fire and look miserable to attract custom. A working-
man would come in, feeling cheerful after his day's work
was over, and it would trouble him to have to take his
glass with such a sight under his nose; and so he would
call out: "Hello, Bub, what's the matter? You look as
if you'd been up against it!" And then the other would
begin to pour out some tale of misery, and the man would

[[271]]

p270 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p271w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p272

v?