The man answered,
"Certainly," and sent a fellow with Archie to show him his bed. It was
in a long, narrow room, which was poorly lighted with a few gas-jets
here and there, and which was filled with about thirty beds, all
narrow, and all dirty. One of these was pointed out to Archie, and
then the man left him. The poor lad felt more homesick than ever, and
had it not been that he had a glorious to-morrow to look forward to,
he would have been very miserable indeed. As it was, he undressed and
got between the chilly sheets, when he remembered that he hadn't
looked after his little roll of bills for a long time, and that some
of them might be missing. He crawled out of bed again, and felt inside
the lining of his coat for the purse. He had sewed it there for
safe-keeping until he reached the city, for he had some little change
in his pocket, which he knew would last him for several days.
The poor boy's hand felt nothing but a cut in the lining, where the
roll of bills had been, and all at once he realised that the money
must have been stolen from him. And he at once thought of the night in
the ruins, when he fell asleep among the tramps, and there was no
doubt in his mind but that they had taken his money from him. This was
a terrible blow. Here he was, with just a few cents in his pocket, and
no one to whom he could appeal for aid. It was the worst predicament
Archie had ever been in, and he hardly knew what to do.
Pages:
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59