in'. I'll
go fer him!"

Then another thought came to the luckless lad. He knew he could not
hope to force Mike into giving up the money even if he had stolen it.
Nor would an appeal to a policeman do any good. In the first place, a
bluecoat would not pay much attention to the complaint of a newsboy, as
the lads were always fighting more or less among themselves. And,
again, Jimmy had no proof against Mike.

"Hold on a minute!" exclaimed our hero in his process of thinking out
matters. "I had a cent wid a big hole in it. Dat was me lucky pocket
piece, and dat's gone, too. Now if I could find out if Mike's got dat,
I'd know if he picked me pocket. I wish I was a detective. I'd find
out. He's a mean feller, t' take every cent I had. Now what am I
goin' t' do fer a place t' sleep? I guess it's de docks or a box fer
mine t'-night," he added with a sigh. "Dere ain't no tick at de bunk
house, an' dere ain't no use askin' fer it. I've got t' do de best I
kin."

It was not the first time Jimmy had been in such a fix. In fact, it
was more frequently this way than any other. In the summer time, which
is when this story opens, he often slept out in the open air from
choice, and because it saved him the money he would have to spend on a
bed. But to-night it was quite cool from the effects of a
thundershower that day, and Jimmy thought a place in the lodging-house
would be very acceptable.

He would not have cared so much, but he had set his mind on getting a
ten-cent bed out of the money he had so unexpectedly received that day,
and now it was a keen disappointment to him.

Jimmy frequently made quite a little sum by selling papers,
particularly when there was a big accident, but he never thought of
saving anything against hard luck or the proverbial "rainy day." He
spent his money almost as fast as he earned it, and on several
occasions, when in the evening he would have enough to get a bed, he
would go to some show, buy cigarettes or play pool until he had nothing
left, and would be forced to sleep wherever he could find a place.

He was in exactly this situation now, but through no fault of his own.
Still the effect was the same.

"It's up t' me t' look fer a bed now, I s'pose," he went on. "If I saw
some of de fellers dey might lend me enough t' git a bed--but what's de
use? I ain't goin' t' ask 'em an' git de frozen face. Besides, I'll
need somethin' t' stake me t' papes in de mornin', an' I can't