rb of which I have spoken. Almost
opposite the private garden of the park stands a board school, and in
front of this board school I had laid out an acre of land presented by
myself, as a playground and open space for the use of the public. In the
centre of this garden was a fountain that fell into a marble basin, and
around the fountain, but at some distance from it, stood iron seats.
To these I made my way and sat down on one of them, which was empty,
in order to enjoy the cool sound of the splashing water, about which a
large number of children were playing.

Presently, as I sat thus, I lifted my eyes and saw the figure of a man
approaching towards the other side of the fountain. He was quite fifty
yards away from me, so that his features were invisible, but there was
something about his general aspect which attracted my attention at once.
To begin with, he looked small and lonely, all by himself out there on
the wide expanse of gravel; moreover, the last rays of the setting
sun, striking full upon him, gave him a fiery and unnatural appearance
against the dense background of shadows beyond. It is a strange and
dreadful coincidence, but by some extraordinary action of the mind, so
subtle that I cannot trace the link, the apparition of this man out of
the gloom into the fierce light of the sunset reminded me of a picture
that I had once seen representing the approach to the Norwegian harbour
of the ship which brought the plague to the shores of Scandanavia. In
the picture that ship also was clothed with the fires of sunset, while
behind it lay the blackness of approaching night. Like this wanderer
that ship also came forward, slowly indeed, but without pause, as though
alive with a purpose of its own, and I remember that awaiting it upon
the quay were a number of merry children.

Shaking myself free from this ridiculous but unpleasant thought, I
continued to observe the man idly. Clearly he was one of the great army
of tramps, for his coat was wide and ragged and his hat half innocent of
rim, although there was something about his figure which suggested to
me that he had seen better days. I could even imagine that under certain
circumstances I might have come to look very much like this poor man,
now doubtless turned into a mere animal by drink. He drew on with a long
slow step, his head stretched forward, his eyes fixed upon the water,
as he walked now and again lifting a long thin hand and scraping
impatiently at h