“I am sorry, gentlemen, that I haven’t anything more. It isn’t my fault, for I’ve tried hard to get something to do to-day, and couldn’t.”
“You’re a cool customer,” said the barkeeper.
“I expect to be to-night, for I shall have to sleep out.”
“You can go,” said his captor, as he opened the door of the den; “and don’t come round here again, unless you’ve got more money with you.”
“I don’t think I shall,” said Joe.
When Joe found himself penniless, he really felt less anxious than when he had at least money enough to pay for lodging and breakfast. Having lost everything, any turn of fortune must be for the better.
“Something has got to turn up pretty quick,” thought Joe. “It’s just as well I didn’t get a job to-day. I should only have had more money to lose.”
He had not walked a hundred feet when his attention was called to the figure of a gentleman walking some rods in front of him. He saw it but indistinctly, and would not have given it a second thought had he not seen that the person, whoever he might be, was stealthily followed by a man who in general appearance resembled the rascal who had robbed him of his money. The pursuer carried in his hand a canvas bag filled with sand. This, though Joe did not know it, was a dangerous weapon in the hands of a lawless human. Brought down heavily upon the head of an unlucky traveler, it often produced instant death, without leaving any outward marks that would indicate death from violence.
Though Joe didn’t comprehend the use of the sand-bag, his own recent experience and the stealthy movement of the man behind convinced him that mischief was intended. He would have been excusable if, being but a boy and no match for an able-bodied ruffian, he had got out of the way. But Joe had more courage than falls to the share of most boys of sixteen. He felt a chivalrous desire to rescue the unsuspecting stranger from the peril that menaced him.
Joe, too, imitating the stealthy motion of the pursuer, swiftly gained upon him, overtaking him just as he had the sand-bag poised aloft, ready to be brought down upon the head of the traveler.