Seth gazed in surprise at his friend; but the latter's face was expressionless, and the guest of the evening began to fear some disaster had overtaken the plans of his roommates.
"Seen Sam Barney to-day?" the "probationary fireman" asked after a brief time of silence.
"I struck him mighty heavy yesterday, an' he's been layin' low ever since. I made up my mind that he should see the printed stuff about you in the papers, an' hung 'round till he flashed up. Then I acted as if he an' me was the best friends in the world, an' asked if he knowed what kind of a racket you'd been on. That was enough to make him read the paper I had, an' you can bet he was sick when he got through. Teddy Bowser hit him up ag'in 'bout an hour afterward, an from that time till pretty nigh dark we kept him chafin' under the collar. Then he lit out, an' we haven't seen him since."
"How's Jip gettin' along?"
"First-class; tendin' right out on business, an' goin' to pull through into a decent kind of a feller. Say, you know Dan made up his mind to own a store on Third Avenoo?"
"Yes, an' I hope he won't back down."
"Well, I guess not! He can't, 'cause I've gone into partners with him, an' there won't be any funny business. We're goin' to take Jip for a clerk."
"But you haven't got the store yet."
"It ain't such a dreadful long ways off. We've got most twelve dollars towards it, an' I know of a man what'll sell out a bang-up good place for a hundred an' fifty. I'm allowin' we'll get that much before spring."
"What makes him sell it so cheap?"