more one man collected than another, it was always shared with the
entire crowd. Poor Archie found it almost impossible to eat, but the
men insisted that he take something, so he did manage to swallow a few
sips of coffee and eat a slice of bread and butter. But as he looked
about him at the dirty hands and faces, and the filthy garments of the
tramps, he determined not to eat again while with them.

When the meal was over the two tin cans were washed at a spring of
water, and as it was now quite dark, they all sat close to the fire,
in order to see. Some one produced a pack of dirty cards, and they
began a game of some kind. Archie was asked to join, but he told them
he didn't know anything about card-playing. The poor lad was beginning
to wish he had never left home, and felt more miserable than at any
other period of the journey. He walked over to a corner of the ruins
where the light from the fire did not penetrate, and, once there, he
sat down and sobbed bitterly for a time. When he had finished crying
it seemed impossible for him to sleep. The scene about the fire
fascinated him. The men were seated in every sort of picturesque
attitude, and as the flickering light fell upon their dark faces it
wasn't hard for the poor lad to imagine that he had fallen among a
crowd of brigands. He watched them as they played until he could see
no longer, and then he fell into a sound sleep.

When Archie woke it was still dark, but the moon was shining brightly
overhead, making everything as light as day. He rubbed his eyes and
sat up, and it was some time before he could realise where he was.
Then, as he saw the tramps lying about the ground, he remembered his
adventures of the night before, and, horrified that he had allowed
himself to sleep, he hastily jumped up, and determined to get away
from the ruins as quickly as possible. The tramps were all sleeping