"That ain't so bad to start on," he told himself, complacently. "A fellow who can't begin business on that capital, ain't much of a fellow. I wonder now if ever I'll take a peak at this little room of mine again; 'tain't a bad room; I'll have one of my own just like it one of these days. I'll have a square patch of carpet just that size, red and green and yellow, like that, and I'll have a patchwork quilt like this one; who'll make it for me though? Ho, I'll find somebody. I wonder who'll sleep in this bed of mine after this? Jim won't, 'cause Jim sleeps with his brother. I reckon it's fun to have a brother. Maybe there'll be some fellow here that I can come and see now and then. Well, come Tode, you and I must go, we must, there's business to be done." So the boy rose up, put away his money carefully, slung his bundle over his shoulder, took a last, long, loving look at the familiar surroundings, coughed once or twice, choked a little, rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, and went out from his only home. On the stairs he encountered Jim. "Jim," said he, "I'm going now; if you only _wouldn't_, you know." "Wouldn't what?" "Give your neighbor drink." "Pooh!" said Jim, "_You're_ a goose; better come back and be decent." "Good-by," was Tode's answer, as he vanished around the corner. He went directly to the spot opposite the depot, which he had selected the night before, and descended at once to the cellar. "Want to rent that stone out down there, between your building and the alley?" he questioned of the ill-looking man, who seemed to be in attendance. "Um, well, no, I reckon not; guess you'd have a time of getting it away." "Don't want to get it away; it's just in the right spot for me." "What, for the land's sake, do you mean to do?" "I mean to set up business right out there on that stone." This idea caused a general laugh among the loungers in the cellar; but Tode stood gravely awaiting a decision. "What wares might you be going to keep, youngster?" at last queried one of the red-nosed customers. "Cakes and coffee." "Oh, ho!" exclaimed the proprietor, eyeing him keenly. "And whisky, too, I wouldn't be afraid to bet." "Not a bit of it; you keep enough of that stuff for you and me, too." "And where might you be going to make your coffee?" "I ain't going to make it until I get a place to put it," was Tode's brief reply. "Do you want to rent that stone, or not, that's the question? and the quicker you tell me, the quicker I'll know." "Well, how much will you pay for it?" "Just as little as I can get it for." This caused another laugh from the listeners. "You're a cute one," complimented the owner. "Well, now, seeing it's you, you can have it on trial for two dollars a week, I reckon." "I reckon it will be after this when I do," said Tode, turning on his heel. "Hold up. What's the matter? Don't the terms suit? Why that's _very_ reasonable!"