"Well, here you are at last!" he cried. "I was wondering what
had become of you."

He listened to their tale with close attention.

"No, Dick has not come in," he said, "at least, I think not.
Run up to the bedrooms, Frank, and see."

Frank did as requested, and soon returned.

"No, he isn't about," he said disappointedly,

"It's mighty queer what became of him."





CHAPTER IX

A LOSS OF IMPORTANCE


Half stunned Dick lay for a long time on the newspapers and musty
straw in the disused coal bin of the tenement cellar.

"This is what I call tough luck," he muttered to himself, and
tried to force the somewhat loose gag from his mouth. But it
would not come.