"Good-by," said Ben, following the boy thoughtfully with his eyes till he had disappeared round a turn in the road.
"Well," thought Tony, "I've set up for myself now in earnest. Rudolph can't pursue me, and there is no one else to interfere with me. I must see what fortune waits me in the great world."
With a light heart, and a pocket still lighter, Tony walked on for several miles. Then he stopped at a country grocery store, and bought five cents worth of crackers. These he ate with a good appetite, slaking his thirst at a wayside spring.
He was lying carelessly on the green sward, when a tin peddler's cart drove slowly along the road.
"Hallo, there!" said the peddler.
"Hallo!" said Tony.
"Are you travelin'?"
"Yes."
"Do you want a lift?"