But I could not get either of these, nor anything else to eat.
I must have walked the streets till after midnight. At last I became
so exhausted that I could walk no longer. I was tired, I was hungry, I
was everything but discouraged. Just about the time when I reached
extreme physical exhaustion, I came upon a portion of a street where
the board sidewalk was considerably elevated. I waited for a few
minutes, till I was sure that no passersby could see me, and then crept
under the sidewalk and lay for the night upon the ground, with my
satchel of clothing for a pillow. Nearly all night I could hear the
tramp of feet above my head. The next morning I found myself somewhat
refreshed, but I was extremely hungry, because it had been a long time
since I had had sufficient food. As soon as it became light enough for
me to see my surroundings I noticed that I was near a large ship, and
that this ship seemed to be unloading a cargo of pig iron. I went at
once to the vessel and asked the captain to permit me to help unload
the vessel in order to get money for food. The captain, a white man,
who seemed to be kind-hearted, consented. I worked long enough to earn
money for my breakfast, and it seems to me, as I remember it now, to
have been about the best breakfast that I have ever eaten.
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