"I haven't got any visitin' cards with me," answered the tramp dryly.

"Nor I; but I told you my name."

"All right; I'll tell you mine. You can call me Jack Frost."

"I gave you my real name," said Ben significantly.

"I've almost forgotten what my real name is," said the tramp. "If you
don't like Jack Frost, you can call me George Washington."

Ben laughed.

"I don't think that name would suit, he said. George Washington never
told a lie."

"What d'ye mean by that?" demanded the tramp, his brow darkening.

"I was joking," answered Ben, who did not care to get into difficulty
with such a man.

"I'm going to joke a little myself," growled the tramp, as, looking
quickly about him, he observed that they were riding over a lonely
section of the road lined with woods. "Have you got any money about
you?"

Ben, taken by surprise, would have been glad to answer "No," but he
was a boy of truth, and could not say so truly, though he might have
felt justified in doing so under the circumstances.