Two Boys and a Fortune Part 22

If it hadn't been close on to midnight he would have gone home there and then. But now Harrington was well nigh helpless, and Rex knew nothing about New York. Where was he going to sleep that night?

Harrington was in no condition to have questions put to him now.

A fixed look came over Rex's face.

"I must go now," he said, looking around for his hat and valise.

"What, you're not going off and leave Harrington, are you?" asked Atkins.

"I can't do anything more for him and I must get out of this place.

Perhaps I'll call in the morning to see how he is. Good night. I'm much obliged to you."

"Well, I suppose you are better off out of here, but aren't you going to hire a room in the hotel?"

"No, I want to get as far away from the place as possible."

Rex noticed that Stout was looking around at him. He shut the door quickly and hurried off. He breathed a great sigh of relief when he reached the open air.

He turned down a side street to collect his thoughts before deciding what to do. He wandered till he reached the middle of the block, then, finding his valise heavy, he set it down on the sidewalk to rest a minute.

It was after midnight and very quiet. Suddenly he felt something hit him in the face, and then for a minute or two all was a blank to him.

CHAPTER XIX

A MEMORABLE NIGHT

When Rex came to his senses again he found himself leaning against a brown stone stoop. His head felt very queer.

"I wonder if it can be the effect of that gla.s.s of punch I drank?" he asked himself.

Then he glanced down at the sidewalk and saw that his valise-- a handsome new one-- was missing. A terrible fear came to him.

He put his hand to the breast pocket of his coat. Yes, it was true. He had been a.s.saulted and robbed in the street.

His money, his return ticket to Philadelphia, were gone, to say nothing of his satchel and the clothes that were in it. He looked helplessly up and down the street.

All was quiet as it had been before. A man was coming toward him on the other side of the way. But that individual could have had nothing to do with robbing him.

No, the thief had made his escape long since, and it was hopeless to try to overtake him.

Rex had one thing with which to console himself. His watch-- a silver one Syd had recently given him-- had not been taken. He thrust his hands into his trousers pockets.

Yes, there was some loose change there. He took it out and anxiously counted it under a lamp. There were seventy-three cents all told.

And now the question arose, What was he to do? For one instant the expedient of returning to the hotel and throwing himself on the good will of those he had left there suggested itself to him. But only for an instant.

The recollection of the scene he had quitted came back with all its vividness. No, he would not go back there.

He deserved all that had befallen him. He had been a fool ever to take up with Harrington. The fellow had only encouraged him because it flattered his vanity to be looked up to the way Rex had looked up to the collegian.

But he had no time now for self reproaches. He must decide what he should do.

He looked at his watch. It was ten minutes to one. He did not remember to have been up so late in his life. But he did not feel sleepy. He was far too excited for that.

"If I could only get back to Philadelphia," was his thought.

He knew that the single fare was two dollars and a half. What if he bought a ticket to a place as far as his seventy-three cents would carry him? He would be that much nearer home at any rate.

But there were no trains at this time of night, What should he do with himself in the meantime? To pay for a night's lodging would only still further deplete his scanty stock of cash.

Poor Rex felt as dest.i.tute, as desolate as any waif in all that great city. He had been cared for all his life, and now that he was suddenly thrown upon his own resources, he felt helpless, like a rudderless bark on a tossing sea.

For all he was much more ready to express an opinion than Roy, he had not half the push and energy of the latter, who, although quieter, was nevertheless the more determined character of the two.

Rex walked on now rapidly till he reached the lighted avenue. He had had all the experience he wanted of lingering in the side street. He halted on the corner and looked up and down in search of an Elevated Railroad station. He thought he had better get down to where the train started, so that he might be ready to take the first one.

The idea of telegraphing home had already occurred to him, but he dismissed it at once.

"No," he said, "I've done enough harm as it is. Some one would have to come on for me, and mother would worry. They'll think now till noon to-morrow, and perhaps later, that I'm with Scott. Perhaps I can even get back before they know I haven't been there."

If he only had his wheel! He had no clear idea of just how far the two cities were apart. He only knew that it hadn't taken him very long to come over in the Chicago Limited.

He found the station of the Elevated, and after waiting a long time he boarded a train. The people scattered through the cars were nearly all asleep. Rex dropped off himself almost as soon as he sank into a seat.

He was utterly worn out.

The next thing of which he was conscious was that the train was at a standstill and that the guard was shaking him, with the words:

"Here, wake up, young man. We're at the Battery. The train doesn't go any farther."

Rex rubbed his eyes. It took him an instant or two to realize where he was.

The guard was not rough with him.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"To the Pennsylvania station," answered Rex.

"Then you've come too far. You ought to have got off at Cortlandt Street."

"Is it too far to walk back?" asked Rex, mindful of his small supply of money.

"About three stations. You can keep along the river. It'll be nearer that way."

"Thank you," returned Rex. He wasn't in a hurry. He might as well walk. But he was terribly sleepy, and when he got to the foot of the stairway, he became rather confused.

He heard the water was.h.i.+ng against the sea wall. He walked on in the direction of the sound and found himself standing at the very end of Manhattan Island looking toward the bay.

It was very quiet except for the light splash of the waves and the soft sound of escaping steam from an engine overhead. Rex was not certain in which direction he ought to go to reach the ferry. There seemed to be water on both sides of him.