Page 254 - down-and-out-in-paris-and-london

XXXVIII

fter we left the spike at Lower Binfield, Paddy and I
Aearned half a crown at weeding and sweeping in some-
bodyss garden, stayed the night at Cromley, and walked
back to London. I parted from Paddy a day or two later. B.
lent me a final two pounds, and, as I had only another eight
days to hold out, that was the end of my troubles. My tame
imbecile turned out worse than I had expected, but not bad
enough to make me wish myself back in the spike or the Au-
berge de Jehan Cottard.
Paddy set out for Portsmouth, where he had a. friend
who might conceivably find work for him, and I have never
seen him since. A short time ago I was told that he had been
run over and killed, but perhaps my informant was mixing
him up with someone else. I had news of Bozo only three
days ago. He is in Wandsworth—fourteen days for begging.
I do not suppose prison worries him very much.
My story ends here. It is a fairly trivial story, and I can
only hope that it has been interesting in the same way as
a travel diary is interesting. I can at least say, Here is the
world that awaits you if you are ever penniless. Some days
I want to explore that world more thoroughly. I should like
to know people like Mario and Paddy and Bill the mooch-
er, not from casual encounters, but intimately; I should like
to understand what really goes on in the souls of PLON-