The waiter returned with the order and Manuel threw himself ravenously upon one of the slices.

“Good Lord!” exclaimed Vidal, gazing at him from time to time. “What a vagabond’s face you have!”

“Why?”

“How do I know? Because you have.”

“What’s a fellow going to do about it? He looks like what he is.”

“But have you been working? Have you learned a trade?”

“Yes. I’ve been a servant, a baker, a ragpicker, a typesetter, and now a tramp. And of all these things, I can’t say which is the worst.”

“You must have gone hungry many a time, eh?”

“Uf!... Plenty.... If only they were the last times!”