He saw himself again at his workshop at the railway, delivering a blow at his foreman, driven from Lille, driven from everywhere. On Saturday he had arrived at Marchinnes, where they said that work was to be had at the Forges, and there was nothing, neither at the Forges nor at Sonneville's. He had been obliged to pass the Sunday hidden beneath the wood of a cartwright's yard, from which the watchman had just turned him out at two o'clock in the morning.
Tout en l'examinant, il songeait a lui, a son existence de vagabond, depuis huit jours qu'il cherchait une place; il se revoyait dans son atelier du chemin de fer, giflant son chef, chassé de Lille, chassé de partout; le samedi, il était arrivé a Marchiennes, ou l'on disait qu'il y avait du travail, aux Forges; et rien, ni aux Forges, ni chez Sonneville, il avait du passer le dimanche caché sous les bois d'un chantier de charronnage, dont le surveillant venait de l'expulser, a deux heures de la nuit.