It only remains to say with reference to my attitude in the experiment itself, that I entered upon it with no theories to establish and no conscious preconceptions to maintain. As sincerely as I could, I wished my mind to be _tabula rasa_ to new facts, and sensitive to the impressions of actual experience. PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, October 27, 1897. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE THE ADJUSTMENT, 1 CHAPTER II A DAY-LABORER AT WEST POINT, 33 CHAPTER III A HOTEL PORTER, 78 CHAPTER IV A HIRED MAN AT AN ASYLUM, 108 CHAPTER V A FARM HAND, 144 CHAPTER VI IN A LOGGING CAMP, 179 CHAPTER VII IN A LOGGING CAMP (_Concluded_), 225 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WE BREATHE THE HOT AIR, HEAVY WITH THE SMELL OF FRESH SOIL, AND THE SWEAT DRIPS FROM OUR FACES UPON THE DAMP CLAY, _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE I EASILY PASSED UNNOTICED IN THE CROWD, 24 A WEIRD PROCESSION, THIS FRAGMENT OF A COMPANY IN THE RANKS OF LABOR, 48 I HELD MY PEACE, AND RESPECTFULLY TOUCHED MY CAP, INWARDLY CALLING HER THE BEAUTY THAT SHE WAS, 94 THE MEN WERE RISING FROM THEIR SEATS, AND THE AIR WAS FULL OF WELCOME, 216 THE WORKERS CHAPTER I THE ADJUSTMENT HIGHLAND FALLS, N. Y., Monday, July 27, 1891. The boss at the work on the old Academic building in West Point gave me a job this morning, and ordered me to come to work to-morrow at seven o'clock. A gang of laborers is fast removing the old building, which is to give place to a new one. From one of the workmen I learned that the men live in Highland Falls, a mile down the river, and so I came here in search of a boarding-house. There was some difficulty in finding quarters, for the place is crowded with workingmen attracted here by the new buildings at the Post and work on the railway. Mrs. Flaherty has taken me in as a boarder. That is not her name, but it sufficiently indicates her. She came to the door with the odor of soap-suds and boiling cabbage strong upon her, and told me at first that she guessed that she couldn't take me. She relented when I explained that I had work at the Post; and, having admitted me as a member of her household, she gave play to her natural hospitality. When I was shown to a little carpetless room under the roof, with two double beds in it, I spoke of needing water, and she showed me where I could get a plentiful supply. I said that I should like to write, and she at once invited me from the torrid heat of the attic to a place at her dining-room table. Here then, in the temporary security of a boarding-house, and as an assigned member of the industrial army, I can review the first week of enlisted service.