noon
Junior hesitated , but Mickey excused himself and without having been told what to do , he accomplished half a day 's work for Mrs. Harding , then began some of Peter 's jobs and afterward turned his attention to hearing Peaches ' lesson and setting her new copy . When Junior paid his fare Monday morning , Mickey , judging by the change he exhibited , realized that both his mother and father had given him , to start on , a dollar to spend . Mickey would have preferred that he be penniless . He decided as they ran cityward that the first thing was to part Junior from his money , so he told him he would be compelled to work in the forenoon , and for a while in the afternoon , and left him to his own devices on the street , with a meeting-place agreed on at noon . When Mickey reached the spot he found Junior with a pocket full of candy , eating early peaches , and instead of hunting work , he had attended three picture shows . Mickey could have figured to within ten cents of what was left of one of Junior 's dollars ; but as the cure did not really begin until the money disappeared , the quicker it went the better . As he ate his sandwich and drank his milk , he watched Junior making a dinner of meat , potatoes , pie and ice-cream , and made a mental estimate of the remains of the other dollar .