That, for the time, ended our hero's war experience. He had not figured conspicuously in any of the famous battles, but he had had a pretty lively time of it, and it occurred to him that New York was not, all things considered, the safest place for him to remain in longer. Like a good many other enterprising gentlemen in those days, Canada seemed to him the most inviting spot on the globe; and to Canada accordingly Ben made his way. Of his experiences in the Dominion, which, though brief, were certainly racy, another chapter will treat. CHAPTER V. Ben in Canada--He goes West again--Adventures in Cincinnati, Nashville, and Louisville--How he Sold the Colored Troops--Sets out for the Oil Regions. On his way to the Canadian border, Ben met with an interesting little adventure. He was accosted on the boat which took him to Albany by a gentlemanly appearing fellow, who showed him "a peculiar kind of a tobacco-box" which he had just invented. He showed how it worked--how very simple it was to open it--and to prove its simpleness, offered to bet Ben twenty-five dollars that he couldn't open it in a given time. It is almost needless to explain that this was the skin game which has since become familiar to everybody. It was fresher in those days, however, and as Ben had never seen the "racket," he bet with the stranger. Of course he lost his money. But instead of getting mad about it, he resolved to get even by bleeding somebody else. He offered the man ten dollars more for the box, and having been shown how it operated, he put it in his pocket for future use. On the train from Albany, Ben ran across a verdant merchant with plenty of money, took out the box, and in about ten minutes' time had relieved him of a hundred dollars in cash. Then the merchant suggested that he would like to get his money back in some way, and proposed to act as "capper" while they fleeced somebody else. Hogan agreed to share with him, and before very long the first victim brought up a second one to be fleeced. From this individual the peculiar little tobacco-box won a hundred and fifty dollars. The capper pretended to sympathize with the loser, and Ben, meantime, strolled into the smoking-car, with all the money in his pocket. At the first station it became absolutely necessary for him to get off the train; and somehow he forgot all about dividing the hundred and fifty dollars with the capper. Resuming his journey on the next train, our hero reached Kingston, Canada West, in good spirits. Almost upon the day of his arrival he stood on the street paring his finger-nails, when a mutton-chop whiskered Canadian, who was standing near by, drawled out with a very strong English accent: "Ah--you Yankees are always picking your--ah--nails, and looking about for a chance--ah--to swindle somebody out of his--ah--money!"