,
some one would say, "_At meal-time come thou hither and eat of the
bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar;_" and would command the young
men and say to them, "_Let her glean even among the sheaves, and
reproach her not. And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose
for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not._"
Poor lass! poor lass! Even that cadaverous-jawed, Tennants'-stalk of a
woman thinks it would be better for her to die.'

He walked quickly, his lips firm. It was a miserable morning; the
noisy thoroughfares full of mist and wet and mud; drifts of sleet
swooping round corners; the air raw and cold. The river was scarcely
visible when he crossed London Bridge; the steamers and ships were like
ghosts in the fog. He made his way as quickly as he could through the
crowded streets, until he reached Tower Hill; then he passed up into
the Minories; there he paused in front of one or two shops, in the
windows of which were the most miscellaneous objects--old clothes,
waterproof leggings, tin cans, and what not. At last he entered one of
these places, and after a great deal of haggling and argument, he
exchanged his coat of gray home-spun for a much shabbier looking dingy
blue over-coat, that appeared the kind of thing a pilot would wear. To
this was added a woollen comforter; there was no money in the
transaction. Douglas wrapped the comforter round his neck there and
then, and put on the coat; when he stepped out again into the mud and
snow and murky atmosphere, his appearance was much more reconcilable
with the neighbourhood.

Still walking quickly, he went down to the London and St. Katherine
Docks, passing under the shadow of the gaunt walls; and then along that
dismal thoroughfare, Nightingale Lane, that looks like a passage
between two great prisons; until at last, with moderate pace, and with
a certain anxious, nervous look, as if he did not wish himself to be
seen, he arrived at the entrance to a space at the corner of the London
Dock, which was enclosed with some rusted iron railings, and partially
roofed over.

In this shed, shivering in the cold, and occasionally moving so as to
avoid the whirling of the sleet, stood a number of most miserable
looking wretches, men and lads. John Douglas knew very well who these
were, and what they were there for. Here, so far as he had learned,
was the only place in London where a starving creature could get work,
without a charac