CHAPTER VI
Samuel went to a bake shop and bought a loaf of bread and sat on the bench of the public square and devoured itbit by bit. It was the cheapest thing he could think of, and quantity was what counted just then.
Next he had to find a room to spend the night. He knew nothing about hotels and lodging-houses—he walked through the workingmen’s quarter of the town, scanning the cottages hesitatingly. At last in the doorway of one he noticed a woman standing, an elderly woman, very thin and weary looking, but clean, and with a kindly face. So he stopped.
“Please,” said he, “could you tell me any place where I could hire a room?”
The woman looked at him. “For how long?” she asked.
“I’m not quite sure,” he said. “I want it for one night, and then if I get a job, I may want it longer.”
