He regretted having promised Sadie she should visit the dime museum on the Bowery; but it did not seem as if he could well withdraw the invitation, once it had been given.
“It’ll take all the money I’ve got,” he said to himself, “for of course Tom an’ Bob will have to go; but it’s no use cryin’ over spilled milk, an’ I’m goin’ to finish up in the right kind of style, even if I don’t carry anything home to father an’ mother.”
Just then Bob awakened, and, as if able to read what was troubling Josiah, asked:—
“How much did you have to pay out last night to get home?”
“I don’t exactly know. What’s the matter?”
“We want to give it back to you, of course.”
“You won’t do anything of the kind. I guess I can afford to stand that much; an’ I oughter paid a good deal more, after takin’ Sadie, an’ makin’ such a crowd when she wasn’t one of your friends.”
“But we’re goin’ to give it back all the same. That was our time, an’ we allow to pay the bills.”
Josiah protested he would not permit them to refund a single penny of the money; but Bob insisted, and Tom, who awakened very soon after the conversation began, joined his brother merchant so emphatically in the argument, that Master Shindle could not refuse.
“Here’s what it costs for two to come up from Coney Island,” Bob finally said, as he dropped the amount into Josiah’s hand, “and you’ve got to take it.”