Then there was another pause, during which Ratsey replaced the soldiers neatly in the box with his little grimy fingers, and wrapped the parcel again in the paper it had come in.
"What yer doin'?" asked Swipes.
"I dun'no' what youse two is agoin' to do," replied Ratsey, "but I'se goin' to take de bundles what I found, an' lug 'em up to A-hunnerd-and-t'irty-fourt' Street."
"Say," broke in Tag, "youse is on de square ter-night, Finnigan! But, by ginger, Swipes, de kid's right! Dese ain't ourn. I say we takes de hull swag up town—hey?"
"Perhaps dey'll give us a quarter apiece fer bringin' it back," cried Swipes. "Let's wrap up de stuff;" and they all set to work tying up the bundles they had undone. They made a sorry job of it, and the knots that held the gifts together were bewildering. As they worked they discussed the probable reward they would receive from the owner of the goods, and each boy announced what he would spend his money for, if he got any.
With the good resolutions to return the lost property came back the pangs of hunger that had originally led the trio into their adventure. Ratsey, as the smallest of the company, was deputed to go and beg something of the "dago," and in this mission he was successful, for he returned presently with a plate heaped with bread, cold potatoes, and assorted morsels of meat.
"But de dago says we must git out," announced Ratsey, with his mouth full of victuals. "He says we's been here a hour."
Indeed time had fled in the stall that had for a few moments been transformed into a very fairyland for those three boys; and it is probable that the Italian had forgotten their presence, so quiet had they been the while, or they would have been dislodged long before. It required but a few minutes to dispose of the booty Ratsey had brought in, and then the boys gathered up their sorry-looking packages, and, having presented their host with a set of evening papers, departed. The journey to 134th Street was a long one to look forward to, and as they trudged eastward toward Ninth Avenue, they debated as to how it should best be made. The simplest method seemed to be to steal rides on trucks as often as possible, and this scheme they adopted. In this manner they finally reached their destination, after an hour and a half of zigzagging from one side of town to the other on various wagons, the trip being enlivened by whip-slashes and hard words from more than one driver whose hospitality they had courted. So it was well on toward half past nine when they dropped from the step of an ice-cart and made their way through 134th Street toward No. 144.
This proved to be a large double house with the windows all lighted up and decorated with holly wreaths. The boys hesitated for some moments about ascending the broad brownstone steps, but finally rallied to the emergency, and Ratsey, for having suggested the return of the packages, was pressed into acting as the spokesman of the party.
The bell sounded with a loud twang in the basement, and a few moments later a maid, in spotless cap and apron, opened the heavy door. Her surprise at seeing the three urchins shivering in the cold on the snowy stoop was in no degree assumed, and she half closed the door again before Ratsey had found his voice.