He shook his head. “Not much g-g-good,” says he. “He don’t know who Uncle Hieronymous works for, and he d-d-don’t know where he is. P-promised to tell him we were here if he saw him.”
“Well,” says I, “Jiggins & Co. are tucked in their little beds and won’t be out till seven o’clock to-morrow. Have you got any good arguments why _we_ shouldn’t find a place to sleep?”
“Let’s t-try that little hotel back yonder. The one with the b-b-balcony in front.”
“All right,” says I. “Have we got money enough?”
“I’ve g-got five dollars and thirty-two c-c-cents,” says he.
That looked like it would be enough, so we went back to the little hotel and stirred up the man, who was fast asleep behind his counter. He made us pay a dollar in advance, because he said we didn’t have any baggage. He grinned then and said he didn’t calc’late we looked over-trustworthy. Said we looked to him like we were dangerous characters and ought to be watched, and made a great clatter about locking up his little safe. There are a lot of men who think it’s awful funny to make fun of boys that way. I’ve known men who never got a joke on a grown man that were always picking onto kids. But this fellow picked on the wrong kid. Mark stood it awhile, getting more and more provoked every second. At last he lays down the dollar and says:
“There, mister, now you g-g-got somethin’ to put in your safe. Bet this d-d-dollar’ll s’prise it most to death.”
Well, sir, that’s the way that hotel looked, like dollars were pretty scarce there, and what Mark said hit the man right under the belt. At first he was mad, but pretty soon he grinned, sheepish-like, and says:
“You got me there, sonny. You got me there. Business hain’t what it used to be when the river was floatin’ down its millions of feet of timber. Them days is gone with ’em. There’s new things to-day, boys, but us old-timers hain’t able somehow to learn new ways. Our luck went with the timber. Don’t blame you for hittin’ back, sonny. I was perty fresh with you, and I beg your pardon.” He stuck out his hand, and we both shook it, and were sorry for him. He looked like a nice man, and we hoped his hard luck wouldn’t last.
He showed us up-stairs and came into the room with us.