Joe told the story.
“The mean skunk!” ejaculated Watson—for this Joe found to be the miner’s name. “It’s mean enough to rob a man, but to cheat a poor boy out of all he has is a good deal meaner. And yet you gave him supper?”
“Yes. The man was hungry; I pitied him.”
“You’re a better Christian than I am. I’d have let him go hungry.”
Both Joe and the miner were weary and they soon retired, but not to uninterrupted slumber. About midnight they were disturbed, as the next chapter will show.
CHAPTER XX
HOGAN MEETS A CONGENIAL SPIRIT
When Hogan left Joe’s presence he was far from feeling as grateful as he ought for the kindness with which our hero had treated him. Instead of feeling thankful for the bountiful supper, he was angry because Joe had not permitted him to remain through the night. Had he obtained this favor, he would have resented the refusal to take him into partnership. There are some men who are always soliciting favors, and demanding them as a right, and Hogan was one of them.
Out in the street he paused a minute, undecided where to go. He had no money, as he had truly said, or he would have been tempted to go to a gambling-house, and risk it on a chance of making more.
“Curse that boy!” he muttered, as he sauntered along in the direction of Telegraph Hill. “Who’d have thought a green country clodhopper would have gone up as he has, while an experienced man of the world like me is out at the elbows and without a cent!”
The more Hogan thought of this, the more indignant he became.