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Rh "See here, I want no outside interference here!" blustered the restaurant-keeper. "I am fully capable of attending to this affair myself."

"Well, I'm going to see that the boy gets a show," returned the other coolly, as he paid the amount of his check and lit a cigar taken from his pocket. "I don't think it was a fair deal to throw his stuff in the gutter."

"It wasn't," put in another customer. "He's got to make a living, just the same as all of us."

"Oh, don't talk!" cried the restaurant-keeper, waving them away with his hand. "Come, now, no more talk!" he went on to Matt. "Go, before I have you thrown out."

"I won't budge a step, excepting it is to call the police," returned Matt, more firmly than ever, now that he saw he had friends in the crowd. "I'll give you just five minutes to give me back my goods."

The restaurant-keeper began to bluster and threaten, and even sent a waiter out, ostensibly to call in a policeman. But Matt was not frightened, and in the end another waiter was sent to gather up the sample goods, wipe them off and restore them to the boy.

"Good for you, boy!" said one of the customers, as he followed Matt out upon the sidewalk.