Teddy. He liked neither of the boys, and did not care to be associated
with them. This refusal Mike and Jim resented, and determined to "pay
off" Paul if they ever got a chance. Our hero from time to time saw them
hovering about him, but took very little notice of them.

He knew that he was a match for either, though Mike exceeded him in
size, and he felt quite capable of taking care of himself.

One day Mike and Jim, whose kindred tastes led them to keep company,
met at the corner of Liberty and William streets. Mike looked unusually
dilapidated. He had had a scuffle the day before with another boy, and
his clothes, always well ventilated, got torn in several extra places.
As it was very uncertain when he would be in a financial condition to
provide himself with another suit, the prospect was rather alarming. Jim
Parker looked a shade more respectable in attire, but his face and
hands were streaked with blacking. To this, however, Jim had become so
accustomed that he would probably have felt uncomfortable with a clean
face.

"How are you off for stamps, Jim?" asked Mike.

"Dead broke," was the reply.

"So am I. I ain't had no breakfast."

"Nor I 'cept an apple. Couldn't I eat, though?"

"Suppose we borrow a quarter of Paul Hoffman."

"He wouldn't lend a feller."