"Yes, sir; I collected twenty-five dollars, but came near losing it on the way home."
"How was that? I hope you were not careless."
"No, except in taking a stranger as a passenger. When we got to that piece of woods a mile back, he asked me for all the money I had."
"A highwayman, and so near Pentonville!" ejaculated Simon Crawford. "What was he like?"
"A regular tramp."
"Yet you say you have the money. How did you manage to keep it from him?"
Ben detailed the stratagem of which he made use.
"You did well," said the storekeeper approvingly. "I must give you a dollar for the one you sacrificed."
"But sir, it was bad money. I couldn't have passed it."
"That does not matter. You are entitled to some reward for the courage and quick wit you displayed. Here is a dollar, and—let me see, there is an entertainment at the Town Hall this evening, isn't there?"