it for me though? Ho, I'll find somebody. I wonder who'll
sleep in this bed of mine after this? Jim won't, 'cause Jim sleeps with
his brother. I reckon it's fun to have a brother. Maybe there'll be some
fellow here that I can come and see now and then. Well, come Tode, you
and I must go, we must, there's business to be done."

So the boy rose up, put away his money carefully, slung his bundle over
his shoulder, took a last, long, loving look at the familiar
surroundings, coughed once or twice, choked a little, rubbed his eyes
with the sleeve of his jacket, and went out from his only home. On the
stairs he encountered Jim.

"Jim," said he, "I'm going now; if you only _wouldn't_, you know."

"Wouldn't what?"

"Give your neighbor drink."

"Pooh!" said Jim, "_You're_ a goose; better come back and be decent."

"Good-by," was Tode's answer, as he vanished around the corner. He went
directly to the spot opposite the depot, which he had selected the night
before, and descended at once to the cellar.

"Want to rent that stone out down there, between your building and the
alley?" he questioned of the ill-looking man, who seemed to be in
attendance.

"Um, well, no, I reckon not; guess you'd have a time of getting it
away."

"Don't want to get it away; it's just in the right spot for me."

"What, for the land's sake, do you mean to do?"

"I mean to set up business right out there on that stone."

This idea caused a general laugh among the loungers in the cellar; but
Tode stood gravely awaiting a decision.

"What wares might you be going to keep, youngster?" at last queried one
of the red-nosed customers.

"Cakes and coffee."

"Oh, ho!" exclaimed the proprietor, eyeing him keenly. "And whisky, too,
I wouldn't be afraid to bet."

"Not a bit of it; you keep enough of that stuff for you and me, too."

"And where might you be going to make your coffee?"

"I ain't going to make it until I get a place to put it," was Tode's
brief reply.

"Do you want to rent that stone, or not, that's the question? and the
quicker you tell me, the quicker I'll know."

"Well, how much will you pay for it?"

"Just as little as I can get it for." This caused another laugh from the
listeners.

"You're a cute one," complimented the owner. "Well, now, seeing it's
you, you can have it on trial for two dollars a week, I reckon."

"I reckon it will be after this when I do," said Tode, turning on his
heel.

"Hold up. What's the matt