"Don't worry. We'll have you out of here in a few minutes."
True to his word I was soon a free man and on my way with the journalist to the office of the Houston _Post_. After the interview, I left for my hotel, where, after the luxury of a refreshing bath, on a soft, snowy bed, I lay down to rest but not to sleep for while my body rested, my thoughts were back in that wicked cell with those of my countrymen who saw no future and to whom life held no meaning. Not until the dawn of another glorious Texas day, a symbol of the light glowing in the great hearts of the good people of Houston and of Texas, did I fall asleep.
The next morning the Houston _Post_ carried a startling story on the arrest of the victims of the "Star of Hope Mission," supplemented by the interview I had given, portraying Houston's care for its homeless unemployed. The startling exposures made by the Houston press on existing conditions were followed by my talk before the Conference of State Charities then in session, and brought forth a volume of articles in the various local papers, teeming with apologies for the inexcusable conduct of the "Star of Hope Mission" and the police system of that city.
"_If mankind showed half as much love to each other as when one dies or goes away, what a different world this would be._"--AUERBACH.
I carried away in memory from San Antonio two pictures,--one of a beautiful, quaint old city, rich in historical lore; a city of winter sunshine, palms and flowers which make it truly "a stranger's haven"; a picture of welcome and a spirit of kindness even to the homeless unemployed of which I caught glimpses during my brief sojourn in that city, though covered by thoughtlessness for their care of them.
The other picture is of the fifty destitute, homeless men I came in contact with during the few days I spent in San Antonio. I found all but two anxious and looking for work. These two, like many a rich man's son I know, impressed me that they would die before they would work. They seemed to have lost all self-respect and had no compunction in begging a meal or a bed. One was a drinker and the other had a mad passion for reading anything and everything, yet even from these I frequently heard the expression, "I wish I had a job."