Ragged Dick, Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks. Alger Horatio Jr.

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ didn't know it," said Dick.

      "Don't tell me. Be off, or I'll have you arrested."

      CHAPTER III

      DICK MAKES A PROPOSITION

      Though Dick was somewhat startled at discovering that the bill he had offered was counterfeit, he stood his ground bravely.

      "Clear out of this shop, you young vagabond," repeated the clerk.

      "Then give me back my bill."

      "That you may pass it again? No, sir, I shall do no such thing."

      "It doesn't belong to me," said Dick. "A gentleman that owes me for a shine gave it to me to change."

      "A likely story," said the clerk; but he seemed a little uneasy.

      "I'll go and call him," said Dick.

      He went out, and found his late customer standing on the Astor House steps.

      "Well, youngster, have you brought back my change? You were a precious long time about it. I began to think you had cleared out with the money."

      "That aint my style," said Dick, proudly.

      "Then where's the change?"

      "I haven't got it."

      "Where's the bill then?"

      "I haven't got that either."

      "You young rascal!"

      "Hold on a minute, mister," said Dick, "and I'll tell you all about it. The man what took the bill said it wasn't good, and kept it."

      "The bill was perfectly good. So he kept it, did he? I'll go with you to the store, and see whether he won't give it back to me."

      Dick led the way, and the gentleman followed him into the store. At the reappearance of Dick in such company, the clerk flushed a little, and looked nervous. He fancied that he could browbeat a ragged boot-black, but with a gentleman he saw that it would be a different matter. He did not seem to notice the newcomers, but began to replace some goods on the shelves.

      "Now," said the young man, "point out the clerk that has my money."

      "That's him," said Dick, pointing out the clerk.

      The gentleman walked up to the counter.

      "I will trouble you," he said a little haughtily, "for a bill which that boy offered you, and which you still hold in your possession."

      "It was a bad bill," said the clerk, his cheek flushing, and his manner nervous.

      "It was no such thing. I require you to produce it, and let the matter be decided."

      The clerk fumbled in his vest-pocket, and drew out a bad-looking bill.

      "This is a bad bill, but it is not the one I gave the boy."

      "It is the one he gave me."

      The young man looked doubtful.

      "Boy," he said to Dick, "is this the bill you gave to be changed?"

      "No, it isn't."

      "You lie, you young rascal!" exclaimed the clerk, who began to find himself in a tight place, and could not see the way out.

      This scene naturally attracted the attention of all in the store, and the proprietor walked up from the lower end, where he had been busy.

      "What's all this, Mr. Hatch?" he demanded.

      "That boy," said the clerk, "came in and asked change for a bad bill. I kept the bill, and told him to clear out. Now he wants it again to pass on somebody else."

      "Show the bill."

      The merchant looked at it. "Yes, that's a bad bill," he said. "There is no doubt about that."

      "But it is not the one the boy offered," said Dick's patron.

      "It is one of the same denomination, but on a different bank."

      "Do you remember what bank it was on?"

      "It was on the Merchants' Bank of Boston."

      "Are you sure of it?"

      "I am."

      "Perhaps the boy kept it and offered the other."

      "You may search me if you want to," said Dick, indignantly.

      "He doesn't look as if he was likely to have any extra bills. I suspect that your clerk pocketed the good bill, and has substituted the counterfeit note. It is a nice little scheme of his for making money."

      "I haven't seen any bill on the Merchants' Bank," said the clerk, doggedly.

      "You had better feel in your pockets."

      "This matter must be investigated," said the merchant, firmly. "If you have the bill, produce it."

      "I haven't got it," said the clerk; but he looked guilty notwithstanding.

      "I demand that he be searched," said Dick's patron.

      "I tell you I haven't got it."

      "Shall I send for a police officer, Mr. Hatch, or will you allow yourself to be searched quietly?" said the merchant.

      Alarmed at the threat implied in these words, the clerk put his hand into his vest-pocket, and drew out a two-dollar bill on the Merchants' Bank.

      "Is this your note?" asked the shopkeeper, showing it to the young man.

      "It is."

      "I must have made a mistake," faltered the clerk.

      "I shall not give you a chance to make such another mistake in my employ," said the merchant sternly. "You may go up to the desk and ask for what wages are due you. I shall have no further occasion for your services."

      "Now, youngster," said Dick's patron, as they went out of the store, after he had finally got the bill changed. "I must pay you something extra for your trouble. Here's fifty cents."

      "Thank you, sir," said Dick. "You're very kind. Don't you want some more bills changed?"

      "Not to-day," said he with a smile. "It's too expensive."

      "I'm in luck," thought our hero complacently. "I guess I'll go to Barnum's to-night, and see the bearded lady, the eight-foot giant, the two-foot dwarf, and the other curiosities, too numerous to mention."

      Dick shouldered his box and walked up as far as the Astor House. He took his station on the sidewalk, and began to look about him.

      Just behind him were two persons,—one, a gentleman of fifty; the other, a boy of thirteen or fourteen. They were speaking together, and Dick had no difficulty in hearing what was said.

      "I am sorry, Frank, that I can't go about, and show you some of the sights of New York, but I shall be СКАЧАТЬ