“That’s all right, Jake,” exclaimed Phil, wetting his lips. “Divide it up with the other boys—a little spending money while you’re in the city.”
Jake hesitated and looked at Frank.
“It’s all right, Jake,” exclaimed Frank, “you’d better keep it.”
The boys had not often visited the great western city and they decided at once to make a full day of it. With notice to Jake that they would return to the car for luncheon—having previously agreed that they would not join their elders at the hotel—they were soon on their way to the heart of the city. With nearly two hundred dollars in their pockets, and all a boy’s longing for dozens of little odds and ends that they had never felt rich enough to buy, they began the day with a shopping tour that left no time for automobile riding.
“Besides,” suggested Phil, “an automobile would cost ten dollars—and ten dollars is ten dollars.”
They got in a few glimpses of the great skyscrapers, but their time in the main was spent in examining shop windows. For a long time they studied over the purchase of a light weight, high power sporting rifle, with telescope sight, pistol grip, revolving magazine, .256 bore and a range of eight hundred yards. But the cost was $75 (with cartridges at $7 a hundred). They finally bought a 7-3/4 pound, five-shot autoloading, repeating rifle for $25. This was for Phil. Frank had $25 of his own. With $15 of this he bought an automatic, smokeless revolver, thirty-two caliber, holding eight cartridges.
As this made quite an inroad in his own private funds he subsequently permitted Phil to expend Mr. Mackworth’s money for things even of his own selection although, to ease his conscience, he insisted everything so purchased belonged to his chum. The list of their purchases included:
Counting the $1.00 for a cab used in carrying these articles to the car, forty cents for two sundaes apiece and the $20 tip to Jake, Nelse and Robert, the boys found that their $200 advance money had already shrunk to $86.