"I shall hunt up some cheap hotel."
Mr. Sumner was about to say something to the effect that Hal could accompany him to his house and sleep in one of the rooms over the barn, but he changed his mind.
"Let the boy hoe his own row. It will do him good," he thought to himself.
Horace Sumner was a self-made man, and he knew that self reliance is one of the best traits a boy can cultivate.
"I am going over to the Third Avenue elevated now," he said. "Remember, I expect to see you at ten sharp."
"I will be on hand, sir," returned Hal.
"Then good-night."
"Good-night, Mr. Sumner, and much obliged."
Hal watched the gentleman cross City Hall Park, and then started up Broadway.
The brilliant holiday display in the show windows charmed him, and he spent fully two hours in looking at all that was to be seen.