‘Well, there’s nothing for it then!’ said Gurdweill’s neighbour, smiling at him like an old friend. ‘The main thing is to mend the holes.

‘I see you’re new to the game,’ he remarked, seeing Gurdweill struggling with his blankets. ‘This is the way to do it: one you spread out like a sheet, one you fold up and put under your head, and the third you cover yourself with. And you should hide your clothes and shoes too. The best place is under your head. That’s what I do.’ He lowered his voice confidentially: ‘There are all kinds of people here, and it pays to be careful.’

Gurdweill made up his bed in accordance with his neighbour’s instructions, took off his coat, and placed it at the head of the bed, where he asked the latter to keep an eye on it while he himself went to have a look around. The room led through an open doorway into another, and the second into a third — all equally large and full of beds. The men stood about talking in little groups, or sat alone on their beds, some sewing, others reading torn pages of newspapers, and a few taking off their rags and lying down to sleep. It was not cold. There was even a kind of market going on. Little deals were offered. One man ran from bed to bed and room to room announcing in a whisper: ‘Trousers to change! I’ve got trousers to change!’ Another advertised: ‘Cigarettes!’ And a third: ‘Shoes polished here!’ Someone wanted to sell a penknife, another suspenders, a waistcoat, and so on and so forth, while many offered sleeping-cards for two, three, and even four nights. All this was advertised in hurried whispers. The time was short: inspection was at eight, and by then everyone had to be in bed.

Gurdweill went out into the passage to smoke. The passage was packed, the barter in full swing. People sat on the stairs, polishing patched, broken shoes; things were bartered, bought, and sold. Someone asked Gurdweill if he wanted to sell his jacket; he would give him two schillings for it and throw in his own jacket as well, which was also worth a couple of schillings. Then he asked him to change shoes with him. There were so many people besieging the lavatories that he had to wait a quarter of an hour for his turn.

Then he went back to his dormitory. His neighbour was still busy sewing.

‘Didn’t I tell you? Someone was circling like a vulture around your bed. But for me there would have been an empty hole where your coat is now … So be careful!’

Gurdweill thanked him and sat down on his bed. His neighbour soon finished his job and put the trousers down beside him.

‘Now you return the favour and keep an eye on my trousers. I’m going out for a minute.’