The Globe-republican., 1890-07-16
THE VICTIM
OF HIS
CLOTHES.
By Howard Fielding and Frederick Z. Eurtou.
CHAPTER VIII.-CoNTINCED.
Dprrr nN rryc urAn
lCoPYRIGHT. 1901

CHAPTER VIII.-CoNTINUED.
PRICE ON HIS HEAD.
Then he stopped abruptly and walked
slowly up tho avenue for short dis
sance. His heart was beating violently
with excitement and the exertion of his
run, and he knew that he must get
somewhere ont of sight at once. just
ahead of him he saw that the street-car
tracks entered a tunnel, the sidewalks
and carriage-way rising over a hill above
it. Believing that here lay his oppor-
tunity he entered the tunnel and
walked through it's half mile Of length
without molestation save from cars
that passed him occasionally. The
drivers and conductors looked at him
sharply, and that made him wish that
he had staid above ground. 1t also i'm
pressed him with the necessity of dis
guising himself.
At the end of the tunnel he found
himself in front of the Grand Central
Depot. If he could only take train
and go somewhere! lnstinctively his
hand went to his pocket and then he
remembered. The thought of passing
again through an experience of hunger
with its possibilities of police courts
and ferry-boat concerts so distressed
him that he had half mind to return
to Jenkins and confess himself
lunatic. Then probably he would be
put in a straight jacket and be confined
in a loathsome cell for tho rest of his
days. Horrible!
md rl1,h ho h~
been in the habit of carrying a fifty
dollar bill in little pocket unobtrusive-
ly made at the waistband of his trousers.
Most of us would have thought of that
before, but Mr.. Drane had passed his
boyhood in the lap Of luxury, and in his
manhood had not escaped from her lead
ing-strings until the beginning Of these
unhappy episodes. SO that the where
withal was naturally the last element
to enter into his consideration of practi
cal problems. In this case he felt GER
tain that his enemy, the tramp. must
have overlooked that pocket. He thrust
trembling finger into it. Glorious!
He felt the soft but firm texture of a
bank note, and he knew that he was
saved. He marched proudly into the
depot and inquired about trains for
Boston. That was still further away
from home, but he had friends thcre
who would identify him and see him out
of his trouble. A train would leave in
the course of an hour. Good. How
much? Five dollars. Very reasonable.
One ticket, please.
While the strip Of paste-board was be-
ing stamped Mr.. Drane drew forth the
hidden bill and unfolded it. Then his
heart went down to hold sad COM
munion with his heels.
81 beg your pardon he faltered, ad-
dressing the ticket-seller, ''but l don't
think I'll go to Boston this evening""
The bill was two.
The tramp had been commercially
thorough in his search through Mr.
Drane's clothes, and. having found use
for the fifty dollars. had recognized the
utility of an emergency fund and had
limited his reserve to two dollars.
Mr.. Drane went out again into the
unfeeling air of New York and wondered
why it was that he had never been able
before to see any thing in the philoso-
that some consolation can not be found
in a situation when q man has as much
as two dollars in his possession. Law
renee found it. He didn't want to GO to
Boston, anyway, for there was Bessie,
the good, the beautiful, the ssul-satisfy-
ing Bessie. She was in New York, and
at the thought the atmosphere took on
q sudden freshness as il it might have
blown across a garden Of roses. Per
haps her little feet had pressed the very
stone on which he stood! Lawrence
patted the stone gently with his foot
and felt comforted. He would run the
risk of courts and retreats for the priv
ilege of finding her.
Meantime how far would two dollars
carry him? He must have a bed and
breakfast and shave. The bed cost
him half his pile at q neighboring ho-
tel. For prudential reasons he regis
tered under an assumed name, and for
once in this history no calamity is to be
recorded as the outcome of the decep-
tion. In the morning q barber took
eff Mr.. Drane's moustache for fifteen
cents, and q modest meal reduced his
capital to half dollar. Then he bought
. newspaper and sat down in . hotel
corridor to read and reflect. The news
paper was uncommonly interesting.
Couspiouously displayed on tho 0rst