“Cousin!”
Turning, he saw a richly dressed young woman, in conversation with a gray-haired man. As he approached, the latter turned away, and upon coming up to the girl who had called him, Ben found his old friend, whom he had met in Owney Geoghegan’s. It took only a few words to explain matters. The gray-haired man who had just left her was a sea captain, with plenty of money, who had been smitten by her many charms. He had provided her with funds to redeem her clothing and jewelry; had given her two hundred dollars in cash, and was prepared to give her any additional amount. She had called to Ben as “cousin” in order not to arouse the jealousy of the sea captain. And she was now prepared to pay back Ben’s kindness with interest.
The two, therefore, started off together, and lived royally while the captain’s money lasted; then they hit upon this plan for raising more. The captain was so smitten with the girl that he was only too anxious to spend money to gratify any whim of hers. She represented to the captain that she needed money to furnish her room in better style, and the confiding old fellow readily made out his checks for the desired amount. In this way he contributed another four hundred dollars to the enjoyment of the girl and Hogan.
It will be observed that when this woman was in want Ben was quite ready to assist her; but when she struck good fortune again, and was supplied with somebody else’s money, he was equally ready to share it with her, and get all the pleasure out of the adventure possible.
Ben never saw the girl afterward, but their brief acquaintanceship was one that he will never forget.
At length, after an eventful sojourn in the metropolis, our hero determined to pay a visit to Syracuse, the scene of his early adventures. On his way to that city, he stopped off at the town of Little Falls, where occurred a very amusing incident.
As he was a stranger in the place, he sought the companionship to be found in a friendly and adjacent bar-room, and was there accosted by a fellow anxious to make a bet. The conditions of the bet were that each man should put up twenty-five dollars, and the one who first succeeded in knocking off the other’s hat, should take the money. Believing that his own skill in the boxing art would make it an easy thing to win the bet, Ben squared off with the stranger; but all the science he could bring to bear did not enable him to knock off his opponent’s head-gear. In about two minutes and a half, Ben’s hat was sent spinning to the floor, and the Little Falls representative was accordingly entitled to the stakes.
Ben immediately put up another twenty-five dollars, which the stranger also won, and repeated the process until he had relieved our hero of one hundred and seventy-five dollars. Ben subsequently discovered that this shrewd boxer wore a set of false whiskers, encircling his chin, and the close-fitting cap which covered his head was fastened to these whiskers. Of course it was impossible to knock off the cap under these circumstances.
Fully conscious that he had been done for, Ben set his wits to work to hit upon some plan by which he might get even with the Little Faller. By the next morning he was ready with a proposition. He offered to bet the fellow who had done the boxing five hundred dollars that he could throw one hundred and thirty pounds across the Erie canal, which flows through Little Falls. As a matter of fact, Ben did not have a dollar left, but he had taken the landlord of the hotel into the scheme, making the latter the stakeholder. It was agreed between them that if the fellow could be induced to make the bet, the landlord should represent that Hogan had already put up the money.
“What sort of a weight do you want to throw?” asked the successful boxer.