I have tried to put some connexion into the various things Captain Nichols told me about Strickland,and I here set them down in the best order I can.They made one anothers acquaintance during the latter part of the winter following my last meeting with Strickland in Paris.How he had passed the intervening months I do not know,but life must have been very hard,for Captain Nichols saw him first in the Asile de Nuit.There was a strike at Marseilles at the time,and Strickland,having come to the end of his resources,had apparently found it impossible to earn the small sum he needed to keep body and soul together.

　　The Asile de Nuit is a large stone building where pauper and vagabond may get a bed for a week,provided their papers are in order and they can persuade the friars in charge that they are workingmen.Captain Nichols noticed Strickland for his size and his singular appearance among the crowd that waited for the doors to open;they waited listlessly,some walking to and fro,some leaning against the wall,and others seated on the kerb with their feet in the gutt......