say, "Come have a glass, and maybe that'll brace you up."
And so they would drink together, and if the tramp was
sufficiently wretched-looking, or good enough at the "gab,"
they might have two; and if they were to discover that
they were from the same country, or had lived in the same
city or worked at the same trade, they might sit down at
a table and spend an hour or two in talk -- and before
they got through the saloon-keeper would have taken in
a dollar. All of this might seem diabolical, but the saloon-
keeper was in no wise to blame for it. He was in the same
plight as the manufacturer who has to adulterate and
misrepresent his product. If he does not, someone else
will; and the saloon-keeper, unless he is also an alderman,
is apt to be in debt to the big brewers, and on the verge
of being sold out.

The market for "sitters" was glutted that afternoon,
however, and there was no place for Jurgis. In all he
had to spend six nickels in keeping a shelter over him
that frightful day, and then it was just dark, and the
station-houses would not open until midnight! At the
last place, however, there was a bartender who knew him
and liked him, and let him doze at one of the tables until
the boss came back; and also, as he was going out, the
man gave him a tip, -- on the next block there was a
religious revival of some sort, with preaching and singing,
and hundreds of hoboes would go there for the shelter
and warmth.

Jurgis went straightway, and saw a sign hung out,
saying that the door would open at seven-thirty; then he
walked, or half ran, a block, and hid awhile in a doorway
and then ran again, and so on until the hour. At the end
he was all but frozen, and fought his way in with the rest
of the throng (at the risk of having his arm broken again),
and got close to the big stove.

By eight o'clock the place was so crowded that the
speakers ought to have been flattered; the aisles were
filled halfway up, and at the door men were packed
tight enough to walk upon. There were three elderly
gentlemen in black up on the platform, and a young lady

[[272]]

p271 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p272w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p273

v?