“What business?” he asked curtly.

“I will explain it—­to him—­in a moment,” Douglas answered.  “If he is busy, one of the staff will do.  I am in no hurry.  I can wait.”

The boy closed the trapdoor and withdrew.  In a few minutes a young man, smartly dressed, with sparse moustache and a pince-nez, came out of a door opposite to Douglas.

“Want to see me?” he inquired tersely.  “I’m an assistant editor.”

Douglas held out the fragment of paper.

“I’ve just read that,” he said.  “Picked it up on a seat.”

The man glanced at it and nodded.

“Well?”

“It’s badly done,” Douglas said, bluntly.  “The man’s only sat down on the outside of the thing and sketched.  It isn’t real.  It couldn’t be.  No one can write of starvation who merely sees it written in the faces of other people.  No one can write of the homeless who is playing at vagabondage.”

The assistant editor looked his visitor up and down, and nodded quietly.

“Well?”

“If this sort of thing is likely to interest your readers,” Douglas said, “give me pen and paper and I will write of the thing as it is.  I am homeless, and I am starving.  The loneliness that your man writes of so prettily, I will set down in black and white.  Man, I am starving now, and I will write it down so that every one who reads shall understand.  I have slept under arches and on seats, I have lain dreaming with the rain beating in my face, and I have seen strange things down in the underneath life where hell is.  Give me a chance and I will set down these things for you, as no one has ever set them down before.”

Douglas gave a little lurch, swayed, and recovered himself with an effort.  The sub-editor looked at him with interest.

“Do you drink?” he asked quietly.

“No,” Douglas answered.  “I’m faint for want of food, that’s all.  Give me pen and ink, and if you can use what I write, pay me for it.  You don’t stand to lose anything, and I’m—­I’m—­”

The sub-editor took a small piece of gold from his pocket and interrupted him.

“That’s all right,” he said.  “We’ll see what you can do anyway.  But you must have something to eat first.  Let me give you this on account; now go straight away and get a feed and a glass of wine.  I’ll have a room ready for you when you get back.”

Douglas drew a little breath.  His fingers closed upon the piece of gold.  There was a glare in his eyes which was almost wolfish.  He had dared to let his thoughts rest for a moment upon food.  He, who was fighting the last grim fight against starvation.  He spoke in a whisper, for his voice was almost gone.

“How do you know that I shall come back?”

“I am content to risk it,” the sub-editor answered, smiling.  “Come back in an hour’s time and ask for Mr. Rawlinson.”

Douglas staggered out, speechless.  There was a sob sticking in his throat and a mist of tears before his eyes.