"All his articles are numbered, and he makes you pay a dollar, and
then shakes some dice, and whatever the figgers come to, is the
number of the article you draw. Most of 'em aint worth sixpence."

A hat and cap store being close at hand, Dick and Frank went in. For
seventy-five cents, which Frank insisted on paying, Dick succeeded
in getting quite a neat-looking cap, which corresponded much better
with his appearance than the one he had on. The last, not being
considered worth keeping, Dick dropped on the sidewalk, from which,
on looking back, he saw it picked up by a brother boot-black who
appeared to consider it better than his own.

They retraced their steps and went up Chambers Street to Broadway.
At the corner of Broadway and Chambers Street is a large white
marble warehouse, which attracted Frank's attention.

"What building is that?" he asked, with interest.

"That belongs to my friend A. T. Stewart," said Dick. "It's the
biggest store on Broadway.* If I ever retire from boot-blackin', and
go into mercantile pursuits, I may buy him out, or build another
store that'll take the shine off this one."

* Mr. Stewart's Tenth Street store was not open at the time
Dick spoke.


"Were you ever in the store?" asked Frank.