It was during one of these rambles that he determined to devote some of his leisure time, and he had a great deal of it now owing to his state of health, to seek out his new boy friend and asking him to aid him in his work of investigation. Bruce was by nature a deliberate, slow-thinking boy, who seldom acted on the impulse of the moment, and had a habit of devoting a great deal of thought to whatever he went about. He was naturally secretive, too, and up to this time, he had made a confidant of nobody except Laura Van Kuren; not even to Chief Trask or Tom Brophy had he spoken a single word in regard to the important matter which had taken up such a large share of his thoughts. Having once made up his mind that Skinny was a boy to be depended on, he did not start off at the very instant of his decision to seek him out, but with characteristic reserve waited until the next morning, and then, having obtained a leave of absence until the afternoon, started for the lower part of the city. In front of a tall brick building, not far from what was once Chatham Street, but is now Park Row, he paused and looked up. It was the Newsboys’ Lodging House, and the gentleman who stood in the doorway and asked him what he wanted, was the superintendent. Bruce made known his errand, and the superintendent shook his head doubtfully. “I don’t know where you’ll find that boy Skinny,” he replied, “he turned up here some time ago with a story about having been in the hospital, and I must say he looked as if he’d been through some trouble or other, put up here for a while and then disappeared, and I haven’t seen him since.” “Well, he told the truth about being in the hospital,” rejoined the visitor stoutly, “for I was there with him, and now I’d like to find him for a very particular reason.” “I guess,” replied the superintendent, “there are a good many people would like to find him for some particular reason, but I don’t know where he is, unless he’s selling papers around City Hall Square. I’ll ask the other boys to-night if they know anything about him, and then if you can drop around to-morrow, I may be able to tell you something.” Bruce turned away dejected and distrustful. He was afraid that Skinny would drift out of his ken. “I was foolish to let him have that money,” he said to himself, “because he’ll never show up again for fear of being asked for it.” CHAPTER XXIV.