"That is what the hackman wanted to charge me."
"But it was too much."
"It was too much for him; it is not too much for you, if I am willing to give it to you."
"You are very kind, sir," said Dan, almost doubting the reality of his good fortune.
"It will prove that I spoke truly when I said I didn't care for the amount of money, only for the imposition. I am really very glad to give it to you. Good-by, my boy."
He offered his hand. Dan shook it heartily, and, wishing him a pleasant voyage, descended the gangplank.
"That is almost as much as Mike robbed me of," he said to himself. "How lucky I came over to Jersey City! Now, if I could only get back part of the money Mike robbed me of, I should be the better off for his mean trick."
Dan did not immediately return to New York. He had been so fortunate that he decided to spend the rest of the afternoon as he liked.
He walked on for ten minutes, Mike being temporarily out of his mind, when his attention was suddenly drawn to him. Just in front of him he saw Mike himself swaggering along, with a ten-cent cigar in his mouth, and both hands thrust deep in his trousers pockets. He was strolling along in fancied security, not dreaming of the near presence of the boy whom he had so meanly robbed.
Dan's eyes sparkled when he recognized his enemy, and hastening his pace, he put his hand on Mike's shoulder.