dressed, and did not appear to be
a suspicious character. Strange to say, the squalor, the misery, the
poverty did not impress him: it was the size, the wondrousness, and the
vast avenues of life, which the city suggested, that appealed to his
mind.

Early in the morning he found himself at the Central Station again,
where, having obtained his bag, he made his way towards Victoria
Station and caught the early train for Brunford.

By the time he had reached Haslingden the grey light of morning
revealed the dreary scenes through which he passed. He wished he had
stayed in Manchester. The district through which he passed seemed
nothing but a procession of dreary houses, built apparently without
thought of order or architecture. He saw stunted men and pale-faced
girls with shawls over their heads as if on their way to their work.
He heard the clatter of their iron-ringed clogs on the hard
paving-stones. Here was a new life indeed, but there was no romance.
It was all sordid, grimy. Still he must go on, and presently, when the
porter shouted the word, "Brunford," he got out of the train feeling
that his new life had really commenced.

CHAPTER III

PAUL IS SENT TO PRISON

The next few years of Paul Stepaside's life must be described somewhat
briefly, although they were not without importance. They were the
formative period of the young man's history and naturally shaped his
whole future. Habits of thought were formed, and the tendencies of his
boyhood were hardened and fashioned by the circumstances which
surrounded him. Consequently, the passing from youth to manhood, with
all its shaping, moulding forces, is doubtless the most vital in the
life of any man. Nevertheless there is not much to say about them, as
only a few outstanding events happened to him. The development of his
character went on, but that development was silent and almost unnoticed
by those with whom he came into contact. Still, there were certain
things of which cognisance must be taken, because not only did they
affect his future but they formed a part of the chain of events which
led to the tragic issues which presently evolved.

His first few days in Brunford were not happy ones. The life of a busy
manufacturing town was utterly different from that of St. Mabyn. The
long rows of ugly houses, the black, slimy streets, the smoke-begrimed
atmosphere, the roar of machinery, and the life of the operatives, all
made him feel that h