and the merciless hand of authority waving them away.
There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars,
and everything that he desires is outside; and there is
another kind where the things are behind the bars, and
the man is outside.

When he was down to his last quarter, Jurgis learned
that before the bakeshops closed at night they sold out
what was left at half price, and after that he would go
and get two loaves of stale bread for a nickel, and break
them up and stuff his pockets with them, munching a bit
from time to time. He would not spend a penny save for
this; and, after two or three days more, he even became
sparing of the bread, and would stop and peer into the ash~
barrels as he walked along the streets, and now and then
rake out a bit of something, shake it free from dust, and
count himself just so many minutes further from the
end.

So for several days he had been going about, ravenous
all the time, and growing weaker and weaker; and then
one morning he had a hideous experience, that almost
broke his heart. He was passing down a street lined with
warehouses, and a boss offered him a job, and then, after
he had started to work, turned him off because he was not
strong enough. And he stood by and saw another man
put into his place, and then picked up his coat, and walked
off, doing all that he could to keep from breaking down
and crying like a baby. He was lost! He was doomed!
There was no hope for him! But then, with a sudden
rush, his fear gave place to rage. He fell to cursing. He
would come back there after dark, and he would show
that scoundrel whether he was good for anything or not!

He was still muttering this when suddenly, at the cor~
ner, he came upon a green-grocery, with a tray full of
cabbages in front of it. Jurgis, after one swift glance
about him, stooped and seized the biggest of them, and
darted round the corner with it. There was a hue and
cry, and a score of men and boys started in chase of him;
but he came to an alley, and then to another branching

[[337]]

p336 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p337w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p338

v?