"Sure yer got money enough to pay for it?"
"I wouldn't have asked for it if I hadn't," said Johnny, emboldened by his unusual wealth.
"All right, then! Sometimes chaps come in and order their dinner, and skip off before it comes time to pay."
The greasy looking waiter went to the back of the room, and soon returned with the banquet Johnny ordered.
He set it down with a jerk.
CHAPTER XXVI.
LUCK FAVORS LYMAN.
No patron of Delmonico's probably ever contemplated his sumptuous meal with more satisfaction than shone in the little match boy's eyes, as he gazed with watering mouth at the overdone, tough-looking steak, the mashed potato, the three slices of stale bread and dab of butter, which furnished the solid material of his meal. A cup of muddy coffee completed the bill of fare. After all, appetite is the best sauce, and Johnny had appetite enough to make his meal seem palatable.
Johnny did not stand upon ceremony, but "pitched in." It is not an elegant expression, but it describes accurately the energy with which the boy disposed of his dinner. Ten minutes sufficed for its entire disappearance. There was not even a crumb left.
"That was bully!" said Johnny to himself, with a sigh of supreme satisfaction "I wish I could have such a lay out every day."