his letter.

The two friends passed the day in roaming about the city looking for
work, but nobody needed them. When the afternoon began drawing to a
close they were almost tired out, and George talked of going to some
station-house to spend the night--a project to which Bob could not bear
to listen. The idea of having a policeman's key turned upon him was
dreadful; the bare thought of it was enough to make him gasp for breath.
As he walked along the streets he was continually searching his pockets
in the faint hope of finding the missing money tucked away in some
unexplored corner, and finally he discovered fifty cents in currency in
the watch-pocket of his trousers. His heart bounded at the sight of it.
It was enough to provide him with supper and a night's lodging, but was
not enough to pay for the same comforts for George.

When Bob found this stray piece of currency he was not long in making up
his mind how to act. He resolved to slip away from George, and
accomplished his purpose by gradually slackening his pace and allowing
the young pilot to get some distance in advance of him, and then he
turned down a cross-street and took to his heels. He made his way to a
cheap lodging-house, ate a hearty supper and went to bed, wondering how
George was getting on and where he would pass the night. The latter, as
we know, fared much better than Bob did, and the latter made a great
mistake in deserting him. His companion had not been gone more than a
half an hour before George encountered Mr. Gilbert, the friend to whom
he had written that morning, and who had come to Galveston on business.
The two looked everywhere for Bob, but were finally obliged to abandon
the search. The missing boy had disappeared as completely as though the
earth had opened and swallowed him up.

The first question that forced itself upon the mind of Bob Owens when he
awoke the next morning was, "What shall I do next?" A careful
examination of all his pockets showed him that there were no more
fifty-cent pieces in them, and he was obliged to confess to himself that
the future looked exceedingly dark. He walked the streets in a very
disconsolate frame of mind, and had almost decided that he would step
into the nearest grocery-store and ask the proprietor if he would not
give him a job of sawing wood to pay for something to eat, when he
happened to pass a recruiting-office. A sign posted up in front of the
door conveyed to the public the information th