account of the shelves for clean linen just over my head. The air was
hot and suffocating and the smell of damp towels and used linen was
sickening. At each lurch of the car over the none-too-smooth track
I was bumped and bruised against the narrow walls of my narrow
compartment. I became acutely conscious of the fact that I had not
eaten for hours. Then nausea took possession of me, and at one time
I had grave doubts about reaching my destination alive. If I had the
trip to make again, I should prefer to walk.




V


The next morning I got out of the car at Jacksonville with a stiff
and aching body. I determined to ask no more porters, not even my
benefactor, about stopping-places; so I found myself on the street not
knowing where to go. I walked along listlessly until I met a colored
man who had the appearance of a preacher. I asked him if he could
direct me to a respectable boarding-house for colored people. He said
that if I walked along with him in the direction he was going, he
would show me such a place: I turned and walked at his side. He proved
to be a minister, and asked me a great many direct questions about
myself. I answered as many as I saw fit to answer; the others I evaded
or ignored. At length we stopped in front of a frame house, and my
guide informed me that it was the place. A woman was standing in the
doorway, and he called to her saying that he had brought her a new
boarder. I thanked him for his trouble, and after he had urged upon,
me to attend his church while I was in the city, he went on his way.