g before they parted, and while Dickey was still their
guest, Ben was very mysterious in his actions. He avoided Paul so much
that one would have said he suspected the treasurer of having
embezzled some of the funds of the concern.

But if any one knowing him had suspected that such was the case, that
supposition would have been rejected as soon as a full view had been
had of his face. He appeared to be in the most perfect good-humor, but
considerably excited. Before he left the house he had succeeded in
whispering these same words to Mopsey, Dickey, and Johnny, without
having been overheard by Paul:

"Meet me at Nelly's stand 'bout 'leven o'clock, an' don't let Polly
know anything about it."

The only one of that party who had not been in the best of spirits
during the Sabbath, when Mrs. Green had exacted a due observance of
the day by her boarders, was Paul, and he had been very sad. It was
the second Sunday that had passed since he had been so unfortunately
separated from his parents, and his distress of mind seemed to have
increased, instead of being soothed, by time; in fact, as the days
passed on, and he still found himself very far from accomplishing his
purpose, he began to despair of ever succeeding.

As successful as they had been with their theatrical enterprise, the
proceeds were not as large as he had expected; and when he figured out
the amount which was each one's share, he realized that it would be
very long before he could get from that source money enough to buy his
ticket home.

A few days previous to the giving of the entertainment, he had asked
at one of the numerous ticket-offices on Broadway how much they would
sell him a ticket for, and had been told that he could go for half
fare, which would be fourteen dollars--a sum of money which seemed
almost a fortune to him. During that day Ben had talked with him about
his chances of getting home, what he would do when he got there, and
many questions about his relatives, all of which Paul had answered
readily, although it added to his distress to speak of such matters.

When Monday came, and the boys started out to attend to their business
duties, Paul noticed that there was an evident anxiety on the part of
all his companions to avoid him. This pained him more than he would
have been willing to admit, and it was with a heavy heart that he went
about his work, wondering what he had done to cause any change in
their feelings towards him.

As all