Coleman came up to his bed and watched him attentively.

“The kid’s asleep,” he soliloquized.  “He’s one of the good Sunday-school boys.  I can imagine how shocked he would be if he knew that, instead of being a traveler for H. B. Claflin, I have been living by my wits for the last half-dozen years.  He seems to be half asleep.  I think I can venture to explore a little.”

He took Luke’s trousers from the chair on which he had laid them, and thrust his fingers into the pockets, but brought forth only a penknife and a few pennies.

“He keeps his money somewhere else, it seems,” said Coleman.

Next he turned to the vest, and from the inside vest pocket drew out Luke’s modest pocketbook.

“Oh, here we have it,” thought Coleman, with a smile.  “Cunning boy; he thought nobody would think of looking in his vest pocket.  Well, let us see how much he has got.”

He opened the pocketbook, and frowned with disappointment when he discovered only a two-dollar bill.

“What does it mean?  Surely he hasn’t come to Chicago with only this paltry sum!” exclaimed Coleman.  “He must be more cunning than I thought.”

He looked in the coat pockets, the shoes, and even the socks of his young companion, but found nothing, except the silver watch, which Luke had left in one of his vest pockets.

“Confound the boy!  He’s foiled me this time!” muttered Coleman.  “Shall I take the watch?  No; it might expose me, and I could not raise much on it at the pawnbroker’s.  He must have left his money with the clerk downstairs.  He wouldn’t think of it himself, but probably he was advised to do so before he left home.  I’ll get up early, and see if I can’t get in ahead of my young friend.”

Coleman did not venture to take the two-dollar bill, as that would have induced suspicion on the part of Luke, and would have interfered with his intention of securing the much larger sum of money, which, as he concluded rightly, was in the safe in the office.

He undressed and got into bed, but not without observation.  As he was bending over Luke’s clothes, examining them, our hero’s eyes suddenly opened, and he saw what was going on.  It flashed upon him at once what kind of a companion he had fallen in with, but he had the wisdom and self-control to close his eyes again immediately.  He reflected that there was not much that Coleman could take, and if he took the watch he resolved to charge him openly with it.  To make a disturbance there and then might be dangerous, as Coleman, who was much stronger than he, might ill-treat and abuse him, without his being able to offer any effectual resistance.

CHAPTER XXVIII

COLEMAN’S LITTLE PLAN

Though Coleman went to bed late, he awoke early.  He had the power of awaking at almost any hour that he might fix.  He was still quite fatigued, but having an object in view, overcame his tendency to lie longer, and swiftly dressing himself, went downstairs.  Luke was still sleeping, and did not awaken while his companion was dressing.