mornin'?"
"We might have burned up," said Ben, who was considerably impressed by
his narrow escape.
"Only we didn't," said Jerry. "We'll have to try another hotel for the
rest of the night."
"Where shall we go?"
"We may find a hay-barge down to the pier at the foot of Franklin
Street."
"Is it far?"
"Not very."
"Let us go then."
So the boys walked along the street until they came to the pier referred
to. There was a barge loaded with hay, lying alongside the wharf. Jerry
speedily provided himself with a resting-place upon it, and Ben followed
his example. It proved to be quite as comfortable, if not more so, than
their former bed, and both boys were soon asleep. How long he slept Ben
did not know, but he was roused to consciousness by a rude shake.
"Wake up there!" said a voice.
Ben opened his eyes, and saw a laboring man bending over him.
"Is it time to get up?" he inquired, hardly conscious where he was.
"I should think it was, particularly as you haven't paid for your
lodging."
"Where's Jerry?" asked Ben, missing the boot-black.
The fact was, that Jerry, whose business required him to be astir early,
had been gone over an hour. He had not felt it necessary to wake up Ben,
knowing that the latter had nothing in particular to call him up.
"I don't know anything about Jerry. You'd better be going home, young
'un. Take my advice, and don't stay out another night."
He evidently thought that Ben was a truant from home, as his dress
would hardly class him among the homeless boys who slept out from
necessity.
Ben scrambled upon the pier, and took a cross street up towards
Broadway. He had slept off his fatigue, and the natural appetite of a
healthy boy began to assert itself. It was rather uncomfortable to
reflect that he was penniless, and had no means of buying a breakfast.
He had meant to ask Jerry's advice, as to some occupation by which he
could earn a little money, and felt disappointed that his companion had
gone away before he waked up. His appetite was the greater because he
had been limited to a single apple for supper.
Where to go he did not know. One place was as good as another. It was a
strange sensation to Ben to feel the cravings of appetite, with nothing
to satisfy it. All his life he had been accustomed to a good home, where
his wants were plentifully provided for. He had never had any anxiety
about the supply of his daily wants. In the city there were hundreds of
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