The leper had been standing outside the hotel all night. He stood there because he had nowhere else to go. The night was warm. A soft wind blew across the leper's face but he could not feel it. He did hear the faint sound of the ocean. A fight in a sailors' tavern a few streets away.
The leper and his dog were hungry. The leper had not eaten in two days. The dog had found a rancid chicken bone in the gutter twelve hours before.
The leper was thinking that he would walk into the ocean towards the rising sun in the morning. It seemed a good plan. But what about the dog? The dog had too much sense to follow him into oblivion. Right now the dog was sitting close to the leper, leaning his thin old body against the man's legs. The dog would not understand...
In one of the best rooms of the hotel, a famous actress could not sleep. She had inhaled ether with a group of friends earlier in the evening, and now she found herself nauseated, restless and alone. Except for her maid of course.
She called the woman to her, ``I'd like some food,'' she said, ``something - delicious. See what you can find.''
The maid went down to the kitchens and created a fuss, insisting that food be prepared for her mistress. A delicate meal of fresh white bread, fruit, coffee and a dab of her favorite caviar was grudgingly prepared. The maid took the opportunity of preparing a snack for herself. Thin slices of a fine old ham and a handful of dark, sweet cherries.
She took the food to the actress, but the woman had fallen asleep as the first dawn light filtered through the soft white curtains.
The maid stood at the window and looked out at the pale new sky. She looked down at the leper and his dog. She took the food from the tray and carefully put it in a pillow case. She tied the pillow case closed with a dressing gown cord and lowered it down to the beggar's feet.