him, and kept pushing back the crowd,
saying, "Stand away a little, please; can't you see the comrade is worn
out?"

So Jurgis stood watching, while five or ten minutes passed. Now and then
the man would look up, and address a word or two to those who were
near him; and, at last, on one of these occasions, his glance rested
on Jurgis. There seemed to be a slight hint of inquiry about it, and a
sudden impulse seized the other. He stepped forward.

"I wanted to thank you, sir!" he began, in breathless haste. "I could
not go away without telling you how much--how glad I am I heard you.
I--I didn't know anything about it all--"

The big man with the spectacles, who had moved away, came back at this
moment. "The comrade is too tired to talk to any one--" he began; but
the other held up his hand.

"Wait," he said. "He has something to say to me." And then he looked
into Jurgis's face. "You want to know more about Socialism?" he asked.

Jurgis started. "I--I--" he stammered. "Is it Socialism? I didn't know.
I want to know about what you spoke of--I want to help. I have been
through all that."

"Where do you live?" asked the other.

"I have no home," said Jurgis, "I am out of work."

"You are a foreigner, are you not?"

"Lithuanian, sir."

The man thought for a moment, and then turned to his friend. "Who is
there, Walters?" he asked. "There is Ostrinski--but he is a Pole--"

"Ostrinski speaks Lithuanian," said the other. "All right, then; would
you mind seeing if he has gone yet?"

The other started away, and the speaker looked at Jurgis again. He had
deep, black eyes, and a face full of gentleness and pain. "You must
excuse me, comrade," he said. "I am just tired out--I have spoken every
day for the last month. I will introduce you to some one who will be
able to help you as well as I could--"

The messenger had had to go no further than the door, he came back,
followed by a man whom he introduced to Jurgis as "Comrade Ostrinski."
Comrade Ostrinski was a little man, scarcely up to Jurgis's shoulder,
wizened and wrinkled, very ugly, and slightly lame. He had on a
long-tailed black coat, worn green at the seams and the buttonholes; his
eyes must have been weak, for he wore green spectacles that gave him
a grotesque appearance. But his handclasp was hearty, and he spoke in
Lithuanian, which warmed Jurgis to him.

"You want to know about Socialism?" he said. "Surely. Let us go out and
take a stroll, where we can