He paused at the curb to look up and down the street, and then he saw, at the far end of the square, a funeral approaching him on his side of the street. The hearse was drawn by two black horses that had black plumes on their heads, and he had the impression that the line of black mourning cars behind it would be a long one. Hubert liked to follow the custom of paying respect to the dead by walking a few steps along with the funeral, even if it meant turning around and walking back a few steps. He had plenty of time to cross over to the park before the funeral drew alongside him, but he didn’t mind the delay. He wanted to see the funeral pass, and as soon as he had the chance he would look in the paper and guess which funeral it had been. The funeral was still a good distance away, and he began to stroll idly toward it. He was measuring the distance between himself and the hearse, trying to guess the point where they would be abreast, and at the same time he saw, without looking, the figure of a woman who stood motionless in the gutter with her back to the street. She was there begging. He could tell that without looking at her. All his life he had denied beggars. He detested and despised them. He passed her by. The coffin was covered with rich wreaths of flowers, banked with flowers like an Easter altar. It was a coffin that spoke, even now, of the rewards of wealth and of the beauty and satisfaction of ceremony and order. Hubert turned to walk with it, and as he turned he admired it. He took one two three four steps, and five and six. Six steps were enough, and he had taken his eyes from the coffin and was about to glance discreetly into the first car of mourners when he found that his gesture of respect had brought him nearly face to face with the begging woman, and that she was looking at him and had pulled her hand out from under her shawl to take whatever he would give her. Her shawl was wrapped tightly around her shoulders and around the child she had, whose head was just visible against her shoulder, and it was the hand that supported the lower part of the child’s back that was now extended to him, not in demand but expectantly, while she still kept her elbow close against the child, holding it safe. She thought he had passed her by and then changed his mind and turned back to her.