"Come, I see you have. Give it to me right off or it'll be worse for
you."

Now it happened that Ben had not less than twenty-five dollars about
him. He had carried some groceries to a remote part of the town, and
collected two bills on the way. All this money he had in a wallet in
the pocket on the other side from the tramp. But the money was not
his; it belonged to his employer, and he was not disposed to give it
up without a struggle; though he knew that in point of strength he was
not an equal match for the man beside him.

"You will get no money from me," he answered in a firm tone, though be
felt far from comfortable.

"I won't, hey!" growled the tramp. "D'ye think I'm goin' to let a boy
like you get the best of me?"

He clutched Ben by the arm, and seemed in a fair way to overcome
opposition by superior strength, when a fortunate idea struck Ben. In
his vest pocket was a silver dollar, which had been taken at the
store, but proving to be counterfeit, had been given to Ben by Mr.
Crawford as a curiosity.

This Ben extracted from his pocket, and flung out by the roadside.

"If you want it, you'll have to get out and get it," he said.

The tramp saw the coin glistening upon the ground, and had no
suspicion of its not being genuine. It was not much--only a