n glad to receive attention from him, and showed by her manner that she
expected it. But Tom could not forget that snub a couple of years before,
when he was selling papers on a Broadway car. He liked Sam and his father
and mother, but couldn't forgive Nellie for hurting his feelings. So,
when the brother turned her over to him, Tom with exquisite courtesy
raised his hat, bade her good-day, and strolled to another part of the
boat. She understood the meaning of the repulse, as he meant she should,
and she felt it.

And who should he run against on the wharf in the city but his old friend
Patsey McConough, who had done him such a good turn when he first arrived
in the metropolis. The genial Irishman had driven down with a carriage to
meet his employer, who was on the steamer, so he had but little
opportunity to talk with Tom, whom he did not recognize until the youth
made himself known. But they shook hands warmly, and each was pleased to
find the other doing so well. They parted with the best wishes, hoping
soon to see each other again.

Tom, like a sensible youth, made the most of his vacation. He spent
several days among his friends at Briggsville, who heartily welcomed him
among them, even though saddened by the fact that the orphan who went away
with him could never return to them again. Then he gave a few days to the
seashore, where none enjoyed the bathing, the boating, and frolicking more
than he. All too soon the two weeks drew to an end, and he again boarded
the steamer which stopped at the landing opposite Bellemore, on its way to
more important towns and cities up the Hudson.

Strolling over the boat to see whether there were any acquaintances among
his fellow-travelers, he found none, and, having nothing better to do, sat
down on a camp-stool on the forward deck to view the picturesque scenery,
which, however, had become so familiar that he fell to studying human
nature as it appeared immediately around him.

That which interested him the most was a dudish young man, dressed in the
extreme of fashion, carrying a heavy cane, and wearing eyeglasses. He had
high cheek bones, fishy gray eyes, fine teeth, and a simpering smile. Tom
judged he was a couple of years older than himself, and became interested
in him because of his amusing efforts to charm the ladies around him. The
vulgar expression would be that he was trying to "mash" them. The word is
not a good one, but it will help my reader to understand the m