of the Poor Law Board, made the work twice as severe as
it was in other houses than their own. Before every casual pauper was
placed the regulation quantity of stone--it was the hardest I tackled on
my pilgrimage--and beyond the morning's stint was set a screen through
which every atom of the stone had to be passed before the job was
finished and the wanderer was allowed out upon his way again. It was no
business of mine to be refractory, and I hammered away with such zeal
as I could command; but it took me six hours to get through the tale
of work. When I had earned my own discharge I left a handful of
unfortunates behind me who had theirs yet to finish. They were
all unaccustomed and inexperienced, or they would not have been at
Gloucester. Whether that charming western city keeps up its reputation
until now I do not know; but the guardians found their system succeed
so well that they have probably adhered to it I had forgotten to mention
one fact which is common to all workhouses. The casual tramp breakfasts
when he has done his work, but not before.

Discerning private critics of my novels have noticed how much capital I
have made of this odd adventure. In 'A Life's Atonement' Frank Fairholt
goes on tramp, seeking to efface himself amidst the offscourings of
the poor after an accidental deed of homicide, In 'Joseph's Coat' Young
George goes on tramp, slinking from casual ward to casual ward until he
meets Ethel Donne at Wreath-dale. In 'Val Strange' Hiram Search on tramp
opens the story; and it was by way of spike and skipper that John Jones,
of Seven Dials, brought fortune to his sweetheart in 'Skeleton Keys,'
I fully admit the impeachment, and, indeed, I am not indisposed to brag
about it. Perhaps few writers of fiction have gone as close to nature
for their facts.

I met more queer people and found more queer adventures on that tramp
than I have ever been able to find a literary use for. One amazing
vagabond with a moustache announced himself to me, when I had found a
way into his confidence, as a professional deserter. He had enlisted in
every militia regiment in the country and in half the regiments of the
line. When he had secured the first instalment of his bounty he made a
bolt of it, and, by way of securing safety, took immediate refuge in the
next military depot. I understood that he had pledged himself to serve
her Majesty for a period of something like a thousand years. Wherever I
had the chance to test