y own situation. My boy pulled my coat, and said, 'Come,
father;' my wife jogged my elbow, and reminded me of a lodging; but my
old reply, '_Stop a little_,' was my ninety and nine times repeated
answer. Frequently the landlord made a long neck over the table, gauging
the contents of our tardily emptied pint; and, as the watchman was
calling 'Past eleven,' finally took it away, and bade us 'bundle off.'
Now I arose, feeling at once the pride of my spirit and the poorness of
my purse, vowing never to darken his door again, should I remain in
London a hundred years.

"On reaching the street, I inquired at a half-grown boy where we might
obtain a lodging; and after causing me to inquire twice or thrice--'I no
ken, Sawney--haud awa' north,' said the brat, sarcastically imitating my
accent. I next inquired of a watchman, who said there was no place upon
his beat; but _beat_ was Gaelic to me; and I repeated my inquiry to
another, who directed me towards the hells of Saffron Hill. At a third,
I requested to be informed the way, who, after abusing me for seeking
lodgings at such an hour, said he had seen me in the town six hours
before, and bade us go to the devil. A fourth inquired if we had any
money, took us to the bar of a public-house, called for a quartern of
gin, drank our healths, asked if we could obtain a bed, which being
answered in the negative, he hurried to the door, bawling 'Half-past
eleven,' and left me to pay for the liquor. On reaching Saffron Hill, it
was in an Irish uproar: policemen, thieves, prostitutes, and Israelites
were brawling in a satanic mass of iniquity; blood and murder was the
order of the night. My child screamed, my wife clung to my arm; she
would not, she durst not, sleep in such a place. To be brief: we had to
wander in the streets till the morning; and I believe that night, aided
by a broken heart, was the forerunner of her death. It was the first
time I had been compelled to walk trembling for a night without shelter,
or to sit frozen on a threshold; and this, too, I owe to
procrastination.

"For a time we rented a miserable garret, without furniture or fixture,
at a shilling weekly, which was paid in advance. I had delayed making
application for employment till our last sixpence was spent. We had
passed a day without food; my child appeared dying; my wife said
nothing, but she gazed upon her dear boy, and shook her head with an
expression that wrung me to the soul. I rushed out almost i