"I suppose they play all sorts of tricks on you—to keep you out of folks' houses," went on the newsboy thoughtfully.
"Sometimes they do. Some folks won't be bothered with a book agent."
"And yet you've got to live," laughed Nelson.
"Yes, all of us have got to live. But lots of folks, especially those with money, won't reason that way. They'll set a dog on you, or do worse, just to get rid of you. Why, once I had a man in Paterson accuse me of stealing."
"How was that?"
"It was the first week I went out selling books. I was down on my luck and didn't have any clothes worth mentioning."
"Like myself, for instance," interrupted the newsboy, with a laugh.
"If anything my clothes were worse. Well, I was traveling around Paterson when I struck a clothing shop on a side street. I went in and found the proprietor busy with a customer, and while I waited for him I picked up a cheap suit of clothes to examine it. All of a sudden the proprietor's clerk came rushing out of a back room and caught me by the arm.
"'You vos goin' to steal dot coat!' he roared.
"'No, I wasn't,' I said. 'I was just looking at it.'