I shut my eyes, wondering if I could sleep there.

When I opened them I saw two figures standing at the corner. They seemed to be talking and I felt that they were watching me. Soon one came slowly towards me and I saw that he was a policeman. As he came nearer and nearer I tried to arrange my thoughts.

“Well, what’s wrong’” he asked suspiciously, not knowing what to make of me.

I took a deep breath and began to talk very quickly:

“Can you tell me where I can get a bed for tenpence’ I’m travelling up to London from Devonshire and I’ve lost a ten-shilling note.”

He looked at me again and said. “Where’s your family?”

“They’re in London; I’m travelling alone.”

He moved his weight from one foot to another, looked over his shoulder and then said slowly, as if he were not quite sure of himself:

“I don’t know where you could get a bed for tenpence, but you could come back to the station with me if you like.”

For a moment I thought that he meant to lock me up, then I realized that he was being kind, so I walked with him through the dark streets. As we walked he talked to me, saying that in the morning he would get in touch with my family. I knew that I must stop that. Suddenly the name Day flew into my mind; I knew that they lived somewhere in Salisbury. I said hurriedly that in the morning I would go to see a friend called Mr. Day who would lend me some money.

In the warm police station the Sergeant was sitting on a high stool with his jacket off. His braces gleamed and his shirt was made rosy by the fire.

The policeman explained about me and then looked for the name Day in the Telephone Book. I helped, and we found what I thought was the right address.

Then I was led into a wide stone passage and down some broad steps to the cells. The policeman opened the door of one and, turning on the light, said, “You’ll be all right in here, I won’t lock you in.”

When he had left I looked round me. There were smooth walls painted dark green half-way up, the door had no lock or handle inside. In one corner was a water-closet with scrubbed oak seat and brass screws. The shock of seeing it exposed there made me want to laugh. I saw that there was no chain to pull; I supposed that the policeman worked it from outside. High up on one wall was a small square window with thick iron bars. A thrill of excitement went through me; then I looked down at the low bed and saw the broad arrows on the blankets. They were dark blankets sewn with red binding wool, and each one was marked in the corner.

I sat down on the bed to look at the broad arrows closely; I had only read about them in books. The straw mattress crackled dustily as I sat down, and I started, not expecting any noise.

I did not undress but lay down as I was, pulling the blankets over me. The bed was very hard and the straw felt sharp through the canvas, but I was almost happy. I enjoyed sleeping in a prison cell.

I woke up in the very early morning to hear loud shouts and heavy banging on the wall. Someone in the next cell was shouting, “Bloody well let me out, you bastards. Bloody well let me out!”

He was kicking his door violently and screaming like a madman. I began to wish that I had been locked in; I could not do it myself. I heard someone walking heavily down the passage in stockinged feet, and then the policeman telling the man to be quiet. There was more abuse, very violent and obscene, then there was singing that began and tailed off into nothing, until at last the drunk man was too tired to make any more noise.

I was awake when the grey light came into my cell from the high window. I lay thinking for a little while, wondering what would happen to me today; then I got up and tried to straighten my clothes. My shoes felt hard and stiff as I put them on, and my eyes were puffy and swollen.

I wanted to leave the police station before I was asked any more questions.

I folded the blankets and gave one last look at the lavatory pan, which I had not liked to use as there was no plug.