He waited until
I passed in, locked the door behind us, felt his way to a window, the
glow of some lights in the tenements opposite giving the only light in
the room, and raised the sash. Then down a fire-escape, across a wooden
bridge, which was evidently used to connect the two buildings; through
an open door, and up another stairs. At the end of this last corridor my
companion pushed open a door.
"'Here's the "Doc,"' I heard him say.
"I looked into a room about as big as this we sit in. It was filled with
men, most of them on the floor with their backs to the wall. There was a
cot in one corner, and a pine table on which stood a cheap kerosene
lamp, and one or two chairs. The only other furniture were a
flour-barrel and a dry-goods box. On top of the barrel was a tin
coffeepot, a china cup, and half a loaf of bread. Against the
window--there was but one--was tacked a ragged calico quilt, shutting
out air and light. Flat on the floor, where the light of the lamp fell
on his face, lay a man dressed only in his trousers and undershirt.
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