plished. Ralph slept on unconscious, and
did not awaken when Jackson Walters opened the door and glided out.

The thief was soon below. The clerk dozed away in the office, and in his
stocking feet the man had no difficulty in passing out of the building
without being noticed.

Once on the pavement he slipped on his shoes.

"Not much of a haul, but a good deal better than nothing," he chuckled to
himself, and disappeared down the street which led toward the ferries.

CHAPTER XXIX.

PENNILESS.

It was daylight when Ralph awakened from what had been an unusually sound
sleep. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, wondering for the moment where he
was. Then the recollection of what had occurred flashed over his mind. He
looked beside him, and saw that Jackson Walters had gone.

"He must have dressed and left me to sleep it out," he thought. "I wonder
what time--hallo! what does that mean?"

Ralph had espied his clothing in a heap on the floor, most of the pockets
inside out. With a strange fear he leaped from the bed and made a hasty
examination. It was only too true--he had been robbed.

"That fellow was nothing but a sharper!" he ejaculated to himself. "What a
fool I was to be taken in by his smooth tongue! He took me for a greeny
from the country, and he was right."

Ralph did not know enough to ring for the proprietor of the hotel and
acquaint him with the facts in the case. He scrambled into his clothing as
best he could, and washed and brushed up all in a minute.

When he reached the office he found a new man at the desk.

"I have been robbed," he said.

"Robbed!" cried the clerk. "By whom?"

"A man who occupied the same room that I did," replied the boy.

He told what he knew, to which the clerk listened with interest. But the
hotel clerk saw that Ralph was green, so he took no responsibility upon his
own shoulders. He said he would notify the police, but it was likely
nothing would be heard of Jackson Walters.

The matter was talked over for half an hour, and then Ralph left the place
to see if he could trace up the thief. He walked around until noon, without
any success.

"This is the worst yet," he muttered to himself, as he at last came to a
halt down near one of the ferries. "Here I am in the city without a cent in
my pocket. What in the world shall I do?"

Had Ralph been in New York he would have made an effort to hunt up Horace
Kelsey, the gentleman he had assisted while he was acting as b