Our young adventurer did not at first realize the loss which he had sustained. It was at least five minutes before he thought of his bundle at all. At length, chancing to look at the seat beside him, he missed it. "Where can it be, I wonder?" he thought, perplexed. He looked under the bench, thinking that perhaps it had rolled off. But it need not be said that it was not to be seen. Ben was rather disturbed. It was all he had brought from home, and constituted his entire earthly possessions. "It must have rolled off, and been picked up by somebody," he thought; but the explanation was not calculated to bring any satisfaction. "I did not think I should fall asleep." It occurred to him that some of the boys near by might have seen it. So he went up to a group of boot-blacks near by, one of whom was Jim, who had actually been concerned in the robbery. The other boys knew nothing of the affair. "I say, boys," said Ben, "have you seen anything of my bundle?" "What bundle, Johnny?" said Jim, who was now smoking his second cigar. "I had a small bundle tied up in a newspaper," said Ben. "I put it under my head, and then fell asleep. Now I can't find it." "Do you think we stole it?" said Jim, defiantly. "Of course I don't," said Ben; "but I thought it might have slipped out, and you might have seen somebody pick it up." "Haven't seen it, Johnny," said one of the other boys; "most likely it's stole." "Do you think so?" asked Ben, anxiously. "In course, you might expect it would be." "I didn't mean to go to sleep." "What was there in it?" "There was two shirts." "You've got a shirt on, aint you?" "Yes," said Ben. "That's all right, then. What does a feller want of a thousand shirts?" "There's some difference between two shirts and a thousand," said Ben. "What's the odds? I haven't got but one shirt. That's all I want. When it is wore out I'll buy a new one." "What do you do when it gets dirty?" asked Ben, in some curiosity. "Oh, I wash it once in two or three weeks," was the reply. This was not exactly in accordance with Ben's ideas of neatness; but he saw that no satisfaction was likely to be obtained in this quarter, so he walked away rather depressed. It certainly hadn't been a lucky day,--this first day in the city. He had been rejected in half-a-dozen stores in his applications for employment, had spent nearly all his money, and been robbed of all his clothing except what he wore. Again Ben began to feel an appetite. He had eaten his dinner late, but it had consisted of a plate of meat only. His funds being now reduced to two cents, he was obliged to content himself with an apple, which did something towards appeasing his appetite.