aper. Then I struck this shed, an' I says to myself, says I,
'That's jest my size'; but I knew it wouldn't do to try to bite it out
of the carpenter's ear 'less I had a pretty good story to put up. I
waited four whole days till it turned 'round so cold that the hair on
your head would freeze, an' long towards the middle of the afternoon it
began to snow. Then I said to myself that the time had come when I'd got
to make the trade. I crawled into the carpenter's shop an' give him a
pretty straight story. Told him how bad business was--Well, he could see
for himself nobody would want boots shined in that weather. He said if I
promised him I wouldn't freeze to death, 'cause he didn't want any dead
bootblacks on his hands, I could come in for a spell. An' don't you
think I wasn't fixed! All the shavings I wanted for a bed right there on
the floor, an' if the boss of the Astor House had got down on his knees
beggin' me to come to his hotel to stop, I'd said 'no,' 'cause I
couldn't be bothered with the airs they put on down that way. How long
can I stay here? I ain't troublin' my head 'bout that. I don't let the
man what owns the place see me any oftener than I can help, an' so
long's I keep out of sight there ain't much chance of my bein' fired."

Seth's home in which he took so much pride was by no means as
uncomfortable as one might suppose. With ample material in the shape of
short lengths of boards, he had constructed a tiny apartment in one end
with so great care that only such wind as was necessary for perfect
ventilation found its way in to him, while his bed of shavings was more
rest-inviting and probably more cleanly than was the well-worn mattress
on which he had slept at Mrs. Wardwell's home.

Once having taken possession of this abode, Seth set about making an
honest penny out of his new possessions by allowing Jip Collins to
become his roommate upon the payment of fifteen cents each week, and for
several months these two lived in apparent harmony, although Seth
afterward said that "Jip tired him" by finding so much fault with the
Fire Department.

Then came the time when the lodger insisted upon the use of candles at
night, and in smoking cigarettes inside the apartment, both of which
luxuries or pleasures had been expressly forbidden by Mr. Baxter when he
gave the bootblack permission to occupy the premises.

Jip had not departed in a friendly manner. He believed he had good cause
for grievance against Seth,