ope. He found London, if anything, worse than his
native town. Wherever he went he was confronted with the legend: 'No
hands wanted'. He walked the streets day after day; pawned or sold all
his clothes save those he stood in, and stayed in London for six
months, sometimes starving and only occasionally obtaining a few days
or weeks work.

At the end of that time he was forced to give in. The privations he
had endured, the strain on his mind and the foul atmosphere of the city
combined to defeat him. Symptoms of the disease that had killed his
father began to manifest themselves, and yielding to the repeated
entreaties of his wife he returned to his native town, the shadow of
his former self.

That was six months ago, and since then he had worked for Rushton & Co.
Occasionally when they had no work in hand, he was 'stood off' until
something came in.

Ever since his return from London, Owen had been gradually abandoning
himself to hopelessness. Every day he felt that the disease he
suffered from was obtaining a stronger grip on him. The doctor told
him to 'take plenty of nourishing food', and prescribed costly
medicines which Owen had not the money to buy.

Then there was his wife. Naturally delicate, she needed many things
that he was unable to procure for her. And the boy--what hope was
there for him? Often as Owen moodily thought of their circumstances
and prospects he told himself that it would be far better if they could
all three die now, together.

He was tired of suffering himself, tired of impotently watching the
sufferings of his wife, and appalled at the thought of what was in
store for the child.

Of this nature were his reflections as he walked homewards on the
evening of the day when old Linden was dismissed. There was no reason
to believe or hope that the existing state of things would be altered
for a long time to come.

Thousands of people like himself dragged out a wretched existence on
the very verge of starvation, and for the greater number of people life
was one long struggle against poverty. Yet practically none of these
people knew or even troubled themselves to inquire why they were in
that condition; and for anyone else to try to explain to them was a
ridiculous waste of time, for they did not want to know.

The remedy was so simple, the evil so great and so glaringly evident
that the only possible explanation of its continued existence was that
the majority of his fellow w