The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-05-23

Eyes: l am quite well no@'. But on!
Lily, I am so hungry"
ut was a good thing that remem-
bered to put some bread in my pocket
Let us eat our dinner"
They did so, and were strengthened
b. the bread.
"And now, Katharine, we may move
on. 1 don't quite know where we are
going. But we had better 60, I think"
They went outside and turned west
| ward. Fortunately it was g fine after
| noon and warm. After the bread they
| felt strong again and able to walk.
They found themselves, after wan
dering for half an hour, in st. James
Park. 1t was then 5 o'clock.
Katharine" said Lily, do you see
those seats? There is a whole row OF
| them outside the ratings. They are to
be our bed tonight. To-morrow-no.
we must not think of to-morrow-do
you think we might break in upon u
| shilling? Oh, how tedious it is! LOOK
at the heaps of people who are doing
nothing; 1 wonder if they are as poor
and as miserable as ourselves"
st. James Park this afternoon was
thronged with people. They lay about
the grass; they sat upon the free
benches; they leaned over the ratings;
they stood upon the bridge; they threw
| crumbs to the ducks; they looked as IT
they never did any work, and did not
want to do any work, and never had
any work offered them. They might
have been as poor as the two girls, but
they were certainly not miserable at
all. 1t may be laid down as a broad
| principle that nobody is ever miserable
who has solved the problem Of living
without doing any work. At 8 O'CLOCK
the evening was beginning to fall.
Then Lily drew Katherine. who was
now simply quiescent, out of the park.
"We will spend threepence," she
said. We will buy more bread. be-
cause that goes farthest. With three
penny worth of bread we shall have a
supper that will carry us on until the
morning. Why, Katherine. we shall
actually, with care, make our shilling
last till Monday morning. That is
splendid. After that I suppose we
shall fulfill the purpose for which we
were born, and be starved to death.
Come, dear( don't give in; hold up
your face; try to look as if you liked
H."
When the lights were lighted in the
street and the shops there began for
a few minutes a new interest, but 1t
lasted a very little while.
Lilly" said Katharine, Il can not
walk any more. Take me to some
place where I can sit down"
"Well then, we must so back to st.
James Park. 1t is the only place that
I know Of where we can sit down"
At this moment a great piece of luck
befell them. They met, walking up
Waterloo place, no other than Dittmer
Book. That young gentleman had been
turning his Saturday afternoon to USE
full account by observing how trade
was conducted in the West End.
"Oh!!' cried Katherine. 1--WE are
saved, Lily! Dittmer, you will heip
us!'
She explained the situation in a few
words. But the young Germans face
dropped. Alas! he had but eightpence
in the world; he had lent three shll-
lings and sixpence to a friend-one OF
the three who shared his room-and he
could not possibly be paid before Mon
day. What was he to do? How could
he help them? Eightpence is a ridicu-
lousy small sum. Would they go with
him to his lodgings, where he would
persuade the other men to give up
their beds and bestow themselves
somewhere-on the landings, for ex-
ample?
mo" said Katherine, 1--WE cannot DO
that, Dittmer. 1 am afraid we must
spend the night here, in the open air.
and perhaps tomorrow you will come
| for US. and find some way Of helping
us. Oh! it will not be so very a
here; the night is not cold, and u
| Jackets are thick! I am not afraid
now that we have found you"
Dittmer hesitated. He had nothing
to pawn-no watch or chain-he a no
| other clothes than those he wore; his
friends and fellow clerks were as poor
as himself; at that moment he had no
more than that eightpence with which
he had proposed to tide over the Sum
| day. With only forty pounds a year,
you see, a young man is liable to days
| of tightness; he takes them as a neces-
sary part of a situation which is only
temporary. Therefore he laughs. and
| goes hungry with a cheerful heart. II
| an old man has to go hungry he grows
melancholy, because the situation is
permanent, so to speak. But that a
time Of tightness should have hap
pened at such a juncture was indeed
unfortunate. The eightpence was al
together at their service. But yet
TO be continued.)