A RETURN TO NATURE 91 



scale Olympus. Where was he who could lead the 

 storming-party ? 



Between a pack of cabs and a pack of 'buses there was 

 a quiet space of fifty yards in length; for a little while it 

 seemed that the waves were refusing their task. There 

 was not one black coat, not one horse, not one brightly 

 loaded 'bus : no haste. It was a procession. 



In front marched a tall son of man, with white 

 black-bearded face, long black hair, more like plumage 

 than hair in its abundance and form, and he wore no hat. 

 He walked straight as a soldier, but with long, slow steps, 

 and his head hung so that his bare breast supported it, for 

 he had no coat and his shirt was half open. He had knee- 

 breeches, bare dark legs, and shoes on his feet. His hands 

 were behind his back, as if he were handcuffed. Two 

 men walked beside him in other men's black clothes and 

 black hats worn grey — two unnoticeable human beings, 

 snub-nosed, with small, rough beards, dull eyes, shuffling 

 gait. Two others followed them close, each carrying 

 one of the poles of a small white banner inscribed with 

 the words : " The Unemployed." These also were un- 

 noticeable, thin, grey, bent, but young, their clothes, their 

 faces, their hair, their hats almost the same dry colour as 

 the road. It was impossible to say what their features were, 

 because their heads hung down and their hats were drawn 

 well on to their heads, and their eyes were unseen. They 

 could not keep step, nor walk side by side, and their 

 banner was always shaky and always awry. Next, in no 

 order, came three others of the same kind, shambling like 

 the rest, of middle height, moderately ill-dressed, moder- 

 ately thin, their hands in their pockets. In one of these 



