“This street will take you to Oxford Street. ’Ave you got a penny?”
“No,” said Tommy; “I have lost it.”
“Oh, you blackguard—”
Tommy did not stop to hear any figurative language, but found his way to Oxford Street as quickly as possible, and took with him to the hotel so deep a sense of humiliation that he did not relate the misadventure and loss to his companions.
In the evening of the boys’ “own” day, George Howe and Leander Towle arrived unexpectedly at the hotel.
“We have come,” said George, “to bid you good-by.”
“Why good-by?” asked Master Lewis.
“We have been abroad a fortnight,” said George; “have seen the capitals of Scotland, England, and France; have rode through the heart of England and the most interesting part of Normandy, and, as our money is more than half gone, we must return. The steamer leaves to-morrow.”
“How much will the whole trip cost you?” asked Wyllys.
“It will cost us each $56.00 for the ocean passage both ways, and our travelling expenses and board for the two weeks have averaged to each $2.00 per day, or $28.00. The trip will cost me, well—when I have made some purchases—say $95.00, though I have not yet spent as much as this.”