To a certain extent Phil was his own master; that is, he was at liberty to wander where he liked, provided he did not neglect his business, and returned to the lodging-house at night with therequired sum of money. But woe to him if he were caught holding back any of the money for hisown use. In that case, he would be beaten, and sent to bed without his supper, while the padrone, according to the terms of his contract with the distant parent would withhold from the amount duethe latter ten times the sum kept by the boy. In the middle of the day he was allowed to spend threecents for bread, which was the only dinner allowed him. Of course, the boys were tempted to regalethemselves more luxuriously, but they incurred a great risk in doing so. Sometimes the padronefollowed them secretly, or employed others to do so, and so was able to detect them. Besides, theytraveled, in general, by twos and threes, and the system of espionage was encouraged by thepadrone. So mutual distrust was inspired, and the fear of being reported made the boys honest.Phil left the house of Mr. Leigh in good spirits. Though he had earned nothing before, the fiftycents he had just received made a good beginning, and inspired in him the hope of getting togetherenough to save him a beating, for one night at least.He walked down toward Sixth Avenue, and turning the corner walked down town. At length hepaused in front of a tobacconist's shop, and began to play. But he had chosen an unfortunate timeand place. The tobacconist had just discovered a deficiency in his money account, which hesuspected to be occasioned by the dishonesty of his assistant. In addition to this he had risen with aheadache, so that he was in a decidedly bad humor. Music had no charms for him at that moment, and he no sooner heard the first strains of Phil's violin than he rushed from the shop bareheaded, and dashed impetuously at the young fiddler."Get away from my shop, you little vagabond!" he cried. "If I had my way, you should all be sentout of the country."Phil was quick to take a hint. He saw the menace in the shopkeeper's eyes, and, stopping abruptly, ran farther down the street, hugging his fiddle, which he was afraid the angry tobacconist might seizeand break. This, to him, would be an irreparable misfortune and subject him to a severe punishment, though the fault would not b