“It’s getting to be a habit with me,” he said grimly, as he hurried along.
What happened back in the lodging house he did not know and he cared less. That his flight would seem a confession of guilt he was sure; but what did it matter?
It was cold and dark and cheerless in the streets. He was a night wanderer, with no place to go, and, as far as he knew, not a friend in the big city.
“I guess I’ll have to walk the streets all night,” poor Ned thought. “I haven’t much money left.” He felt in the pocket of his overcoat, and counted the change. There was less than a dollar.
“Have to take fifteen cent beds after this,” he remarked to himself. “As for eating I guess I’ll have to cut that out altogether.”
He walked through several thoroughfares. Not a soul did he meet save once as he passed a policeman the officer stared at him suspiciously. But Ned still had his good clothes with him, and his overcoat though crumpled from being used as a bed-spread, made him look decent enough to pass muster in the neighborhood where he was.
“I think I’ll find another lodging house and get a bed,” he said to himself. “I must get a little rest if I am to look for work to-morrow.”
He had no difficulty in finding a place, for there were many such nearby. He got a fifteen cent bed, in a room where scores of other men and youths were sleeping. His entrance excited no comment, and, in fact, few were awake to notice his arrival.
Ned was so tired he fell asleep with most of his clothes on. He had little fear of being robbed for he had little left to take. He got a frugal breakfast the next morning and started out to search for work.
But New York seemed to be overflowing with men and boys on the same errand. Every place where Ned applied, either from seeing a sign “Boy Wanted,” or by getting the address from a newspaper he bought, had been taken or else he would not fill the bill. All day long he tramped, spending a few cents for some buns and coffee at a lunch stand. At night, tired and discouraged, he went back to the lodging house where he had last stayed, and again got a fifteen cent bed.