"
"I don't want the dirty rag," said Mike, contemptuously.
Finally a compromise was effected, Jerry offering to help Mike on
the next occasion, and leave the spoils in his hands.
I have to chronicle another adventure of Jerry's, in which he was
less fortunate than he had been in the present case. He was a
genuine vagabond, and lived by his wits, being too lazy to devote
himself to any regular street employment, as boot blacking or
selling newspapers. Occasionally he did a little work at each of
these, but regular, persistent industry was out of his line. He
was a drone by inclination, and a decided enemy to work. On the
subject of honesty his principles were far from strict. If he
could appropriate what did not belong to him he was ready to do
so without scruple. This propensity had several times brought
him into trouble, and he had more than once been sent to reside
temporarily on Blackwell's Island, from which he had returned by
no means improved.
Mike was not quite so much of a vagabond as his companion. He
could work at times, though he did not like it, and once pursued
the vocation of a bootblack for several months with fair success.
But Jerry's companionship was doing him no good, and it seemed
likely that eventually he would become quite as shiftless as
Jerry himself.
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