"Hello!" he said. "You're hittin' her lively."
"Yes," said Samuel. The stranger was not much older than he, but his
clothing was dirty and he had a dissipated, leering face.
"You're new at this game, aren't you?" said he.
"What game?" asked Samuel.
The other laughed. "Where ye goin'?"
"To New York."
"Goin' to hoof it all the way?"
"No!" gasped the boy. "I'm just walking to the next station."
"Oh, I see! What's the fare?"
"Six thirty-seven, I think."
"Humph! Got the price, hey!"
"Yes--I've got the price." Samuel said this without pride.
"Well, you won't have it long if you live at that rate," commented the
stranger. "Why don't you beat your way?"
"How do you mean?" asked Samuel.
"Nobody but a duffer pays fare," said the other. "There'll be a
freight along pretty soon, and she stops at the water tank just below
here. Why don't you jump her?"
Samuel hesitated. "I wouldn't like to do that," he said.
"Come," said the other, "sit down."
And he held out a piece of his toast, which Samuel accepted for
politeness' sake. This young fellow had run away from school at the
age of thirteen; and he had traveled all over the United States,
following the seasons, and living off the country. He was on his way
now from a winter's holiday in Mexico. And as Samuel listened to the
tale of his adventures, he could not keep the thought from troubling
him, how large a part of eighty dollars was six thirty-seven.
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