This was more than he intended to pay usually, but on this first day in the city he did not care to go back to the boarding house.

 

After lunch he made his way to the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge, and got into one of the cars. He enjoyed the prospect visible from the windows, and felt that this alone would pay him for visiting New York.

 

Just before they reached the other end there was a cry of alarm from a stout German woman who sat on the other side of the car.

 

"I've been robbed!" she exclaimed. "My purse is gone!"

 

Of course this attracted general attention.

 

"Was there much in the purse, madam?" asked a kind-looking, elderly man.

 

"Yes, there was six dollars--it was a great deal to me."

 

"Are you sure you had it when you entered the car?"

 

"Yes; I took it out of my pocket when I paid for a ticket."

 

"I think your pocket must have been picked."

 

Sitting next to the woman was a man who seemed absorbed in reading a morning newspaper; even the woman's complaint did not appear to excite his attention.

 

This led Andy to move his head to get a nearer view of him. He started in surprise. It was the adventurer, whom he had already met twice that morning. He had little doubt that he was the thief.

 

It was perhaps somewhat rash to hazard a charge without proof, but he felt indignant and could not resist the impulse.

 

"I think that man has your purse," he said, pointing to the individual behind the newspaper.

 

"This is an outrage!" exclaimed the latter, with assumed anger. "I am a Boston merchant."

 

He was respectably dressed, and the charge did not seem very plausible.

 

"My boy, you should be careful how you make such charges," said his next neighbor, reprovingly.

 

But Andy was not abashed.

 

"I know something of that man," he said, quietly. "I have met him twice this morning."

 

"Has he robbed you?"

 

"No; but he asked me to give him a quarter to take him to his sick sister in Yonkers. This was at the Grand Central Depot; an hour or two later I met him on Broadway, and he wanted money to take him to Newark."

 

"The boy is entirely mistaken," said the adventurer.

 

At the same instant, under cover of the newspaper, he adroitly let the stolen purse drop to the floor at his feet.

 

By this time the cars had reached the Brooklyn end of the bridge.

 

"Why, there is your purse," exclaimed the adventurer, with a sudden glance downward. "You must have dropped it."

 

"Oh, thank you, sir!" said the poor woman, overjoyed.

 

"I hope you won't suspect a gentleman again," said the thief, in lofty indignation.

 

"No, I won't, sir. I was sure you didn't take it."

 

Andy, who had seen the trick, smiled, but he was satisfied with the recovery of the purse.

 

The passengers looked puzzled. They had not made up their minds as to the guilt or innocence of the man charge with the theft.

 

"You see, young man," said Andy's neighbor, in a tone of reproof, "you were mistaken."

 

Andy smiled again.

 

"I saw him drop the purse on the floor," he answered, quietly.

 

"Bless my soul! Are you sure?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

The passengers left the car, Andy and the thief among them.

 

Andy lost track of his acquaintance till, as they reached Fulton Street, he heard some one hissing in his ear:

 

"Boy, you are too fresh! I'll get even with you yet!"

 

Then the thief, passing him rapidly, got into a Myrtle Avenue car, and this was the last he saw of him for that day.

 

Andy walked about the streets of Brooklyn for a while and returned by Fulton Ferry. Then he went back to his boarding place, arriving there between three and four o'clock.

 

As he went up to his room he noticed that the door of the large room opposite was open. A young man, of about thirty, was sitting in a rocking-chair, reading.

 

He was of medium height and sallow complexion. He wore his hair long, and had a high, narrow forehead.

 

"I suppose that is the man who has fits," thought Andy.

 

The young man had noticed Andy's entrance into his own room, and, rising from the rocking-chair, crossed the hall and knocked lightly at the door.

 

"............