In the midst of thousands

There I was in the midst of thousands, and yet a perfect stranger;

without home and without friends, in the midst of thousands of my own brethren —

children of a common Father,

and yet I dared not to unfold to any one of them my sad condition.

I was afraid to speak to any one for fear of speaking to the wrong one,

and thereby falling into the hands of money-loving kidnappers,

whose business it was to lie in wait for the panting fugitive,

as the ferocious beasts of the forest lie in wait for their prey.