“I know! His grandmother’s broken a leg and all his children have scarlet fever! Gee, you oughtn’t to be trusted around this burg with any money in your pocket. The man’s a professional beggar, you idiot!” Toby looked both shocked and incredulous. “I don’t think so, Arn,” he protested. “If you’d heard him――” “I’ve heard lots of them,” returned the other impatiently. “You stay with me after this and keep your hand out of your pocket. If you’re going to give money to all the beggars that ask for it, you won’t have a cent when you get into a store!” “I just couldn’t help giving him a little,” said Toby. “Did you notice that he didn’t have any overcoat? Why, his hands were blue with the cold, Arn!” “Yes, and his nose was red with it――or something else. Toby, you’re an awful green little yap, that’s what you are!” “What’s a yap?” asked Toby untroubledly. “It’s what you are,” laughed Arnold. “Come on in here and see what we can do. This is as reasonable as any place, I guess.” They pushed through a revolving door and found themselves in a big department store that was just about twice as crowded as the sidewalk had been. Arnold found a magnificent gentleman in a long black frock coat and asked his way to the cutlery department. While they were receiving directions some one tugged at Toby’s coat, or seemed to, and he looked around. A man with a stubbly red mustache muttered an apology and pushed past, and Toby smiled forgivingly and followed Arnold through the throng. He had decided a week ago to pay as much as five dollars for a shaving set for his father, but that was before his discovery that just before Christmas was a bad time for collections! Now his limit was three dollars and he doubted that that amount would buy anything nice enough. But when the salesman began to place the goods before them on the counter Toby took heart. It was simply wonderful what you could get for a dollar and ninety-eight cents in this place! In the end he decided on a set costing two dollars and seventy-five cents――there was none for exactly three dollars――and put his hand into an overcoat pocket to get his purse out. The hand returned empty. The other hand went into the other pocket and fared no better and a look of surprise bordering on alarm overspread the boy’s countenance. “What’s the matter?” asked Arnold. “I can’t find――my purse,” gasped Toby, both hands probing diligently. “You wouldn’t have it there, would you?” asked Arnold anxiously. “Try your trousers, why don’t you?” “I――I’m pretty sure I dropped it into my overcoat pocket after I gave that man the quarter.” Toby searched his other pockets, however, to make certain, but without success. “It’s gone!” he announced in utter dismay, staring blankly at his friend. “Some one pinched it,” said Arnold, with conviction. “What the dickens did you ever put it in an outside pocket for? Didn’t you know that there were pickpockets in the world?”