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diff --git a/old/aboyr10h.htm b/old/aboyr10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..061ea38 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/aboyr10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5440 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Adventures of a Boy Reporter</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {margin:10%; text-align:justify} +blockquote {font-size:14pt} +P {font-size:14pt} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of a Boy +Reporter by Harry Steele Morrison</h1> + +<pre> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Adventures of a Boy Reporter + +Author: Harry Steele Morrison + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4990] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 7, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ADVENTURES OF A BOY REPORTER *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + +</pre> + +<h1>The Adventures of a Boy Reporter</h1> + +<h2>by Harry Steele Morrison, 1900</h2> + +<h4>THE WORLD SYNDICATE PUBLISHING CO.</h4> + +<h4>CLEVELAND, O. NEW YORK, N.Y.</h4> + +<h4>Printed in the United States of America</h4> + +<hr> +<center> +<table summary="boy" cellpadding="2" width="40%"> +<tr> +<td> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> + +<h5>LIVING IN THE COUNTRY— LIFE AT SCHOOL— THE HUT CLUB +IS FORMED— THE COMING OF THE CIRCUS</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> + +<h5>ARCHIE LONGS FOR A CHANGE IN SURROUNDINGS— A TRIP TO NEW +YORK WITH UNCLE HENRY</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> + +<h5>ARCHIE DETERMINES TO GO TO THE CITY TO WORK— LEAVING +HOME AT NIGHT</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> + +<h5>WORKING ON A FARM TO EARN SOME MONEY— CRUEL +TREATMENT</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> + +<h5>THE NIGHT AMONG THE RUINS— THE CAMP-FIRE OF THE +TRAMPS</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4> + +<h5>STEALING A RIDE— KICKED OUT BY THE BRAKEMAN</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> + +<h5>ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK— A NIGHT IN A LODGING-HOUSE</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> + +<h5>LOOKING FOR WORK— WASHING DISHES IN A BOWERY +RESTAURANT</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4> + +<h5>IN THE STREET AGAIN— THE POLICE STATION— VISITS THE +NEWSPAPER OFFICE, AND IS KINDLY RECEIVED BY THE EDITOR</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER X.</h4> + +<h5>LIVING IN COMFORT AGAIN— FEATURED AS "THE BOY +REPORTER"</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XI.</h4> + +<h5>A DAY AND A NIGHT IN CONEY ISLAND— RAIDING A GAMBLING +DEN</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XII.</h4> + +<h5>A SUCCESSFUL REPORTER— THE EDITOR DECIDES TO SEND HIM AS +CORRESPONDENT TO THE PHILIPPINES— LEAVING NEW YORK— IN +CHICAGO</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XIII.</h4> + +<h5>SAN FRANCISCO— THE TRANSPORT GONE— WORKING HIS WAY +TO HONOLULU BY PEELING VEGETABLES ON A PACIFIC LINER— THE +CAPITAL OF HAWAII</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XIV.</h4> + +<h5>THE VOYAGE ON THE TRANSPORT— A STORM AT SEA— +ARRIVAL IN MANILA</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XV.</h4> + +<h5>ARCHIE STARTS OUT ON AN EXPLORING TOUR, AND HAS SOME STRANGE +ADVENTURES AMONG THE NATIVES— SEIZED BY THE REBELS</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XVI.</h4> + +<h5>A PLEASANT CAPTOR— BRAVE BILL HICKSON ALLOWS ARCHIE TO +ESCAPE— FIRST GLIMPSE OF AGUINALDO</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XVII.</h4> + +<h5>ARRIVAL OF THE AMERICAN TROOPS— ARCHIE THE HERO OF THE +REGIMENT</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XVIII.</h4> + +<h5>THE MARCH AFTER THE REBELS— THE FIRST BATTLE— +ARCHIE WOUNDED</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XIX.</h4> + +<h5>RETURN TO MANILA— IN THE HOSPITAL— CONGRATULATED BY +ALL— WRITING TO THE PAPER OF HIS EXPERIENCES</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XX.</h4> + +<h5>AROUND THE ISLAND ON A WAR-SHIP— BOMBARDING A FILIPINO +TOWN</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XXI.</h4> + +<h5>CONTINUING THE CRUISE— ANOTHER VILLAGE CAPTURED— +THE ADMIRAL ARCHIE'S FRIEND— A GREAT BATTLE AND AN +UNEXPECTED VICTORY— LONGING TO BE HOME AGAIN</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XXII.</h4> + +<h5>RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS— A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR, WITH +PERMISSION TO RETURN TO NEW YORK— BILL HICKSON GOES, +TOO</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XXIII.</h4> + +<h5>HONG KONG— A HAPPY TIME IN TOKIO— HONOLULU +AGAIN— ARRIVAL IN SAN FRANCISCO, AND A GREAT RECEPTION BY +THE PRESS— ARCHIE AND BILL ARRIVE IN NEW YORK, AND ARE THE +HEROES OF THE HOUR</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XXIV.</h4> + +<h5>DOING "SPECIAL" WORK UPON THE EVENING PAPER— INTERVIEWS +WITH FAMOUS MEN— CALLS UPON OLD FRIENDS</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XXV.</h4> + +<h5>PRIVATE SECRETARY TO A MILLIONAIRE— STUDYING AT EVENING +SCHOOL— LIVING AMID ELEGANT SURROUNDINGS</h5> + +<h4>CHAPTER XXVI.</h4> + +<h5>DECIDES TO VISIT HOME— A GREAT RECEPTION IN THE +TOWN— A PUBLIC CHARACTER NOW— DINNER TO THE HUT +CLUB— DEMONSTRATION AT THE TOWN HALL— A TELEGRAM FROM +HIS EMPLOYER LEAVING FOR EUROPE</h5> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> + +<hr> +<h3>THE ADVENTURES OF A BOY REPORTER.</h3> + +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>LIVING IN THE COUNTRY— LIFE AT SCHOOL— THE HUT CLUB +IS FORMED— THE COMING OF THE CIRCUS.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>"Y<small>ES</small>," said Mrs. Dunn to her neighbour, Mrs. +Sullivan, "we are expecting great things of Archie, and yet we +sometimes hardly know what to think of the boy. He has the most +remarkable ideas of things, and there seems to be absolutely no +limit to his ambition. He has long since determined that he will +some day be President, and he expects to enter politics the day +he is twenty-one."</p> + +<p>"Is that so, indeed," said Mrs. Sullivan. "Well, we can never +tell what is going to come of our boys. As I says to Dannie +to-day, says I, 'Dannie, you must do your best to be somebody and +make something of yourself, for you and Jack bees all that I has +to depend upon now.' But Dannie pays no attention to my +entreaties, and somehow it seems to me that since Mr. Sullivan +died the boys are gettin' worse and worse. It's beyond me to +control them, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Oh, take heart, Mrs. Sullivan," said Mrs. Dunn, "our boys +will all turn out well in the end, and all we can do is to bring +them up in the best way we know, and trust to them to take care +of themselves after they leave home. Now Dannie is certainly an +industrious lad. I hear him pounding nails all day long in the +back yard, and he made a good job of shingling the woodshed the +other day. He seems made to be a carpenter."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so myself," said the Widow Sullivan. "The whole +lot of them is out by the railroad now, building a hut. They've +organised a 'Hut Club' to-day, and never a lick of work have I +had out of them boys since mornin'. They've always got something +going on, and when I want a bit of water from the well, or a +little wood from the shed, they're never around."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but boys will be boys, Mrs. Sullivan, and we'd better +keep them contented at home as long as we can. They'll be leaving +us soon enough. It seems that no boys are content to stay in town +any longer; they're all anxious to be off to the city."</p> + +<p>"That's true, that's true, Mrs. Dunn," said Mrs. Sullivan. "I +must be going now. I'm much obliged for the rain-water, and +whenever you want a bit of milk call over the fence, and I'll +bring it to you with pleasure. It's a good neighbour you are, +Mrs. Dunn."</p> + +<p>And Mrs. Sullivan went slowly around the house and out at the +front gate, while good Mrs. Dunn returned to her ironing, a few +clothes having to be ready for Sunday.</p> + +<p>While these mothers were discussing their boys, the youngsters +themselves were busy behind the barn, building a hut down near +the railway track. There were six of them altogether, the three +extra ones, besides Archie Dunn and the Sullivan boys, having +come from across the railway to play for the day. Two hours +before they had solemnly organised themselves into the "Hut +Club," each boy walking three times around the block blindfolded, +and swearing upon his return to be true to all the rules and +regulations of the organisation, which had been written with +chalk on the side of the barn. The regulations were numerous, but +the most important one was that no East Side boys were to be +allowed within the club-room when it was built, and that the +club's policy should be one of warfare against the East Siders on +every occasion when they met. This fight against the East Side +was, indeed, responsible for the organisation of the club. It was +felt necessary to have some head to their forces, and some means +of holding together. So the club was organised, and now the next +thing on the programme was the erection of a hut to serve as a +club-house. Archie Dunn, who had been elected president, +volunteered to get three boards and a hammer if the other boys +would each get two boards and some nails. This proposition was +agreed to, and when the boys returned from their foraging +expeditions it was found that there were more than enough boards +to build the hut, so the work began at once. Holes were dug in +the ground, and some posts planted as supports for the structure, +and then the boards were hastily nailed together from post to +post. In three hours the hut was practically completed, and it +remained only to lay a floor until they could hold their first +meeting in the new club-house. The floor itself was down by noon, +and the club then served a memorable dinner to mark the +completion of the structure.</p> + +<p>A hole was dug in the ground outside the door, and a furnace +made. A skillet was brought from Archie's house, together with +some dishes and a coffee-pot, and Dan Sullivan brought some more +dishes, and six eggs from his nests under the barn. The boys were +obliged to make several trips to and from the houses, but finally +nearly everything was ready, and the eggs were carefully cooked +by Archie, who was really a good housekeeper, from long +experience in the kitchen with his mother. Some potatoes were +fried in the grease remaining in the skillet after the eggs were +cooked, and then the feast began. The eggs may have been rather +black with grease, and the potatoes were certainly not done, but +the boys all pronounced it the finest meal of their lives, +notwithstanding the bitter coffee, and the dirty bread, which had +been allowed to fall into the gutter beside the railway track. +They were eating in their own house, and they had cooked in the +open air, "just like tramps," Harry Rafe said, and it was little +wonder that they enjoyed the novel experience.</p> + +<p>The only trouble came when the meal was finished. No one +wanted to wash the dishes, and, finally, it was decided to return +them to their respective kitchens just as they were, and to let +them be washed with the rest of the dinner dishes at home. And +this decision came near putting an end to Hut Club dinners, for +both Mrs. Dunn and the Widow Sullivan were determined not to wash +any more dirty dishes from the hut.</p> + +<p>When the meal was over, the boys lounged about the hut, and +Dan Sullivan brought a lot of things from his sister's playhouse +with which to furnish it more suitably. Archie Dunn brought a lot +of hay from the loft in his mother's barn, and when a piece of +old carpet was spread upon it it made an acceptable couch. A +piece of old carpet was laid in front of the hut, too, where the +boys could sit and watch the trains switching back and forth on +the railway, and the tramps who were heating coffee in cans over +by the cattle-pen.</p> + +<p>Finally, some cattle arrived in the pen to be loaded into cars +for the city, and the boys had just decided to go and watch the +men loading them, when an engine came up the side-track with the +most beautiful car they had ever seen, behind it. The car was +painted in all colours of the rainbow, and in giant letters was +printed the magic name of "The World's Greatest Show."</p> + +<p>The boys lost no time in getting down from the cattle-pen +fence, and the car had barely stopped when they were aboard. +"Hooray," shouted Charlie Huffman, "we'll all get jobs of passin' +bills." And it was with this end in view that they sought the +advertising manager in the car, who promised to give them all +jobs when the circus came in two weeks. The boys deluged him with +questions of every sort. "Will there be any elephants?" "Is there +goin' to be a parade?" and "Will there be any trapeze +performances?" The poor man was finally obliged to lock the door +to keep them out, and the boys stood about the car until nearly +six o'clock, admiring the paintings, and speculating as to +whether they would be able to work their way into the circus or +not, when it finally came. Their speculations were interrupted by +the appearance on the scene of the Widow Sullivan with a +good-sized maple switch, which she used to good effect in getting +the two Sullivans and Archie Dunn home for supper. For Mrs. Dunn +had given Mrs. Sullivan instructions before she started, so that +when Archie complained that he had been whipped by "that woman +next door," he received no sympathy whatever.</p> + +<p>And when he went to bed at nine o'clock, he could hardly sleep +for thinking of the wonderful things which had happened this day. +The coming circus and the great Hut Club kept him awake until far +after ten, so that he got up too late for Sunday school the next +morning, and was punished accordingly.</p> + +<p>The next week was a hard one at school, and the boys had but +little time to devote to the club. But after four o'clock in the +afternoon they sometimes got together and did various things +which improved their club-house. Some very fair chairs were +constructed from empty soap boxes, and various contrivances were +put together to guard against the intrusion of any East Siders or +tramps while they were away at school. There was no padlock used, +and any one coming up to the hut would imagine it a simple thing +to enter— until he tried. But the boys had fixed a secret +cord which, when pulled, shifted the bar inside, and every boy +was sworn not to betray the existence of the cord.</p> + +<p>The day set for the circus came nearer and nearer, and the +boys began to be anxious for fear the schools would not close, so +that they could attend. But the superintendent finally announced +that they would; so early on the eventful day the entire club was +on the grounds, waiting to get some work to do. Archie Dunn got +the first job, being selected to carry water for the elephant +because he was stronger than any of the others. But the rest were +given something to do, and when the day was over they had all +seen the circus, and went to bed happy, to dream of the great +trip to be taken by the Hut Club on the next Saturday.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>ARCHIE LONGS FOR A CHANGE IN SURROUNDINGS— A TRIP TO NEW +YORK WITH UNCLE HENRY.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>T<small>HE</small> Hut Club went out on a picnic the next +Saturday, and had a jolly time. They camped upon an island in the +middle of a shallow stream, and while there made coffee and +cooked their dinner, having brought most of the necessary +apparatus from the Hut. They fished a little, and hunted for +turtles in the water, and altogether had a good time, if nothing +exciting did occur. It was after nine o'clock at night when they +reached town again, footsore and weary, and Archie Dunn had +hardly entered the house before he was on the dining-room lounge, +half-asleep. His mother seemed to be out, and as he lay there he +wondered how long it would be before she came back. Archie truly +loved his mother, but of late he had often thought that he would +like to leave home and go to the famous city, where he felt sure +he could get something to do. But he disliked the idea of leaving +his mother.</p> + +<p>"I'm getting to be a big boy, now," he often said to himself, +"and it's time that I began to look out for myself. I'm nearly +seventeen, and I think I ought to be earning some money. This +thing of belonging to Hut Clubs and spending my time in going to +picnics and to circuses ought to stop. It's all right for boys, +but I'm getting to be a man, now."</p> + +<p>All these thoughts were flying through his mind when his +mother came in. "Oh, Archie," she exclaimed, "I've been so +worried about you. I've just been over to Mrs. Sullivan's to see +if Dannie had come home, and whether he had seen you. Wherever +have you been?"</p> + +<p>"We didn't think it would take so long to walk home," said +Archie, jumping up from the sofa, "but we were awfully tired, and +we didn't come very fast. I'm so sorry you were worried.</p> + +<p>"And I'm as hungry as a bear, mother. Can't you find me +something to eat?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear," said Mrs. Dunn, softly, "and when you've finished +your supper I have something for you. I won't give it to you now +for fear you won't be able to eat, but as soon as you have +finished your meal, you shall have it."</p> + +<p>So Archie was obliged to eat his baked beans and brown bread +and drink his milk without knowing what was in store for him, and +he hurried as fast as he could, so that he could learn. When he +had finished he went into the sitting-room, and found his mother +sitting with a letter spread open upon her lap. "Uncle Henry has +written me asking if you cannot go with him to New York on +Monday, for a couple of days. He is obliged to go down there on +business, and says he will be glad to take you along and show you +something of the wonderful city, for he knows you won't be any +trouble to him. Now I hardly know what to say, Archie. If I can +feel that you are behaving yourself properly, and are doing your +best to be as little trouble as possible, I am willing that you +shall go."</p> + +<p><i>"Oh,</i> mother," cried Archie, "I'll promise anything. +Only let me go this once, and I'll promise to stay at home all +the rest of the summer."</p> + +<p>"All right, then," said Mrs. Dunn. "You shall go on the first +train Monday morning, and Uncle Henry will join you at Heddens +Corner. Run along to bed now."</p> + +<p>Archie went up-stairs almost dumb with delight Was it really +true that he was to see the great city at last? He had heard some +of the boys at school telling what their fathers saw there, but +he had never even hoped that he would see it for himself so soon. +Of course he had determined to see it all some day, but that was +to be far in the future. The lad could hardly sleep for the joy +of it all, and when he did finally lose consciousness, it was +only to dream of streets of gold, and great buildings reaching to +the skies.</p> + +<p>Sunday passed slowly by. At Sunday school, Archie told the +boys that be was going to New York on the morrow, and from that +moment he was the hero of the class. The boys looked at him with +wondering admiration, and seemed scarcely able to realise that +one of their number was to go so far from home. The city was in +reality little more than a hundred miles, but to their boyish +minds this distance seemed wonderfully great.</p> + +<p>Early on Monday morning Archie was at the depot waiting for +the train. His mother was there to see him off, and there were +tears in her eyes at the thought of parting with her only child, +if only for a day or two. And Archie was radiant with delight at +the glorious prospect ahead of him. He walked nervously up and +down the platform, and wished frequently that it were not so +early in the morning, so that some of the boys might be there to +see him off. Finally, the great hissing locomotive drew up, with +its long train of coaches, and Archie was soon aboard, hurrying +off to Heddens Corner and the city. In a few minutes Uncle Henry +was with him, a tall, fine-looking man, with an air of business. +Uncle Henry kept the general store at the Corner, and was an +important person in the neighbourhood. He was of some importance +in the city, too, for his name was known in politics, and his +custom was always desired at the wholesale stores. So Archie was +going to see the city under good auspices, if his uncle would +only have time to take him about with him.</p> + +<p>After a couple of hours, during which Archie kept his face +glued to the window-pane, watching the flying landscape, the +great train pulled through a long, dark tunnel, and finally +entered an immense shed, covered with glass where it came to a +final stop. Crowds left the coaches, and passed out of the +station, where they were swallowed up in the great rush of +traffic. Some drove away in cabs and carriages. Some entered the +street-cars, and some went up a stairway and entered what seemed +to Archie a railway train in the air.</p> + +<p>Uncle Henry told Archie to follow him carefully, and they, +too, were soon flying away from the neighbourhood of the +terminal, past hotels, stores, and dwellings, until they finally +left the trolley-car, and passed through a cross street into a +long, quiet thoroughfare which looked old enough to have been +there for a hundred years. The houses were built far back from +the street, with pillars in front, and into one of these quaint +old dwellings went Archie and his uncle.</p> + +<p>"I always stop down-town," explained Uncle Henry, "because I +am near to the great wholesale establishments. It is central to +the retail stores, too, and to many of the places of +interest."</p> + +<p>When they were settled in their room, Uncle Henry explained +that he would have to be away most of this first day, but that +to-morrow he would take Archie out and show him the sights. So +Archie expected to remain indoors all day; but when his uncle had +left the house he decided that he couldn't possibly remain in +this close room when so many wonderful things were taking place +outside. So he decided to walk up and down the street, anyhow, +and when he went out he felt like a prisoner just escaped from a +cell. But the noise was terrible, and there were a great many +wagons and trucks passing through the street. The greatest crowd +seemed to be on that cross street about two blocks away, so +Archie decided to go there, and see if there was anything new on +that street.</p> + +<p>He saw many wonderful things. There were cars running along +without any apparent motive power, there were thousands and +thousands of people in the streets, and the stores looked so +handsome and interesting that he simply couldn't resist going +into one or two of them, just to see what they were like. And +when he had finished with one or two he could think of no reason +why he shouldn't go on up the street, where he was sure he would +find a great many more interesting things to see. So on and on he +went, until at last he was tired and hungry, and then, for the +first time, he was a little frightened, because he thought of all +he had read about people losing their way in the city, and not +being able to find their relatives again. But he was a brave boy, +so he determined to make an effort to find his way back without +appealing to a policeman. And after a time he was successful, and +entered the queer old house in the ancient street at just three +o'clock in the afternoon. His uncle was there waiting for him, +and was nearly beside himself with apprehension.</p> + +<p>"I was about to send out a general alarm for you, at the +police station," he said. "How did you happen to go away?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I was so very tired of staying in the house," said +Archie, "and I felt sure that I could find my way back without +getting lost at all. And to-morrow I'm sure I can get along all +right, Uncle Henry, so you needn't bother with me at all, unless +you want to."</p> + +<p>And it so happened that Mr. Kirk was very busy the next day, +and would have found it quite impossible to show Archie about. So +it was fortunate that he was able to go everywhere alone, or he +would have had to return home without seeing anything at all of +the city.</p> + +<p>As it was, he went here, there, and everywhere, and saw a +great deal of the city, the people, and the way in which they +lived. The entire place had a strange fascination for him, and +all the time he was thinking how glad he would be to live where +he could see all this rush of business, this varied life, every +<i>day.</i> And he fully determined to return some day and get +something to do, so that he might work himself up, and come to +own one of the handsome houses on the avenues, or drive one of +the elegant carriages on the boulevard. And he observed every boy +who passed him, and talked with several of them, trying to find +out whether positions were easy to secure, and whether they paid +much when they were secured.</p> + +<p>So when they took the four o'clock train for home, and arrived +at Archie's house in time for supper, he told more about the city +boys and their work than about the tall buildings, the Brooklyn +Bridge, or the Central Park. He talked so much, in fact, about +the delights of the city boy, and the money he earned, that after +he had gone to bed Mrs. Dunn took her brother aside and talked +with him concerning Archie's future. And between them they +definitely decided that Archie must not go to the city to +work.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>ARCHIE DETERMINES TO GO TO THE CITY TO WORK— LEAVING +HOME AT NIGHT.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>RCHIE</small> D<small>UNN</small> was not more +ambitious than many other boys of his age, but he possessed one +quality which is not developed in every boy, determination. Once +Archie decided upon doing a thing, once he had made up his mind +that it was truly a good thing to do, nothing could keep him from +putting his plans into action, and making an effort, at least, to +accomplish his ends. Most boys of seventeen have not decided what +they want to become when they are men, and, until his visit to +the city, Archie was equally at sea concerning his future. He +knew, of course, that he wanted to be rich and famous, but when +he tried to think up some suitable profession which would bring +him these possessions, he was never able to decide.</p> + +<p>The two days in the city with Uncle Henry had opened to his +boyish mind a new world, and when he returned to the humble home +surrounded by gardens, he felt that he would never be satisfied +to live and work in this small town. There was now no question in +his mind but what the city was the place for any one who wished +to become either rich or famous. It would certainly be impossible +for him to make a name for himself in this village, while in the +city he would have every opportunity for improving himself, and +advancing himself in every way. He wondered, indeed, that he had +never thought of going to New York before, and was disgusted with +himself when he thought of the time he had wasted here at +home.</p> + +<p>But there was no use in thinking of the past. The thing to do +now was to get to the city as quickly as possible, for to Archie +every day seemed precious, and each delay kept him further from +the consummation of his hopes. It never occurred to the boy that +his mother might have objections to his leaving home. She had +always been very ambitious for his future, and he supposed that +she would be delighted at the idea of having her boy in the great +city, where he would have innumerable chances for improving +himself. So when they sat on the front porch, one evening, and he +told her of his plan, he was surprised to hear his mother +pleading with him to remain at home. "Archie," she said, "I am +almost sure you will come to some bad end in the city. You really +must not go, for my sake, if for no other reason."</p> + +<p>"But, mother, I can't remain here in town always. I must go +out into the world some time to earn a living and make a place +for myself, and I think the sooner I go the better, don't +you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Archie, but you're so young, and you've had no +experience. You have no idea of the things there are in great +cities to drag young men down. I don't think I could stand it to +have you so far away from home and in such danger."</p> + +<p>"Well, mother," said Archie, "there isn't much use in arguing +about it. I have reached a point where I don't think I can be any +longer satisfied at home. I have been here seventeen years, and I +think I can remain here that much longer without improving +myself. In the city I am sure I can make rapid progress, and in a +year or two you can come there and live with me."</p> + +<p>Archie got up from the porch and went down the street, while +poor Mrs. Dunn ran over next door to see her neighbour, Mrs. +Sullivan. When she had entered the disorderly kitchen, and seated +herself on one of the home-made chairs, the anxious mother burst +into tears. "I don't know what to think of Archie, Mrs. +Sullivan," she said. "He is determined, now, to go to New York, +and I know that if he goes I will never be able to see him again. +I am nigh distracted with worrying over it. I have talked with +him, but he seems determined, and I know I can never hold out +against his entreaties and arguments."</p> + +<p>"Sure, now, Mrs. Dunn," said the Widow Sullivan, "don't yez be +a worryin' about 'im at all. That Archie is a smart boy, he is, +and if he goes to New York he'll come out all right, never fear, +I only wish my Dannie had as much get-up about him as your +boy."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, Archie is very ambitious for his age," said Mrs. +Dunn, "but I sometimes wish he were less so. I know I could keep +him at home longer if he wasn't so anxious to be at work. I don't +believe I can let him go, Mrs. Sullivan, not yet. I want him to +stay in school another year, and then I'll think about it."</p> + +<p>"Well, ye're wise, Mrs. Dunn, ye're a wise woman," said the +Widow Sullivan. "Since yer husband died ye've been a good mother +to the lad, and have brought 'im up well. And now, how is yer +chickens, Mrs. Dunn? Have ye got that cochin hen a 'settin'' +yit?"</p> + +<p>And the two women began to discuss their various fowls, and +the conversation was so interesting that Mrs. Dunn remained late, +and found Archie in bed when she went home. "Ah, well, poor boy, +I'll have to tell him of my decision in the morning. He'll be +terribly disappointed, and I hate to do it I'm afraid it's +selfishness that makes me want to keep him with me. I almost wish +he would take things into his own hands, and start for the city +himself. I would be rid then of the responsibility of sending +him, and the question would be settled for me. Boys sometimes +know best how to settle their own difficulties, anyhow."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dunn kneaded the bread before retiring, for to-morrow was +Saturday, and, therefore, baking-day, and then she went into her +little room off the kitchen, and prayed earnestly for her boy +before sleeping. She prayed that she might be helped in advising +him, and that he might always do what was best for himself and +for his mother.</p> + +<p>The next day was Saturday, and in the morning the Hut Club +met, as usual, and prepared to have an open-air dinner for this +day. The furnace, which had been knocked down during the week by +the East Siders, was rebuilt, and the skillet and other utensils +were brought from the nearest kitchens. Archie went to the +grocery around the corner and bought five cents' worth of cakes, +and then the six boys sat down in a circle and prepared to devour +their home-made feast. But before they began Archie stood up. "I +want to say that this will probably be my farewell dinner with +the club," he said, in a low tone, "and I hope that you will +appoint another president in my place."</p> + +<p>The boys were horror-struck, but Archie refused to explain +where and when he was going. Finally, they refused to appoint +another president, all agreeing that Archie should hold that +office for ever, wherever he was. And the meal was eaten in +silence, for the announcement had thrown a sort of chill over the +proceedings. When they had finished, Archie silently shook hands +with each of the boys, who were dumb with amazement, gathered up +his skillet and coffee-pot, and went home through the gate to the +chicken-lot.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what he's goin' to do," they all said, as in one +breath, and as there was seldom much fun in the club when Archie +was absent, they all went home in a few minutes, or down-town to +watch the farmers, who were in town to do their weekly +buying.</p> + +<p>When Archie reached home he went up-stairs to his little room, +and began to lay out a few things which he wanted to take with +him, for he had determined to start for New York this very night. +Then he tied the things up in a small bundle, and sat down to +write a note to his mother. When he had finished it, he pinned it +up at the head of his cot, and this is what it said:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"M<small>Y</small> D<small>ARLING</small> +M<small>OTHER</small>:— Please don't worry about me, I'm +bound to come through all right, and if anything happens to me, I +promise that I will write to you immediately and let you know. I +have the ten dollars which I have saved, and if I don't get work +at once I will write to you for some more. Now, I am not doing +this thing for the sake of adventure, but because I am sure it is +the best thing for me, and I don't want you to worry at all. I +shall write to you often and let you know just what I'm doing, so +don't worry, but be a brave mother. I'm not going off this way as +a sneak, but because I want to avoid a 'scene.'</p> + +<p class="center" align="center">"Your loving</p> + +<p align="Right" class="right">"A<small>RCHIE."</small></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>And at three o'clock the next morning Archie Dunn got out of +bed, shouldered his bundle, and started off for the great city, +which seemed to be drawing him like a magnet.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>WORKING ON A FARM TO EARN SOME MONEY— CRUEL +TREATMENT.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>W<small>HEN</small> daylight came, Archie was far out of the +town walking quickly along the southern road. He figured that he +had walked nearly six miles in the two hours since he had let +himself out of the back door at home, and, as he looked ahead, he +planned that he would walk at least thirty miles every day. Of +course, he had never done much walking before, or he would have +known better than to have expected to accomplish so much in +twelve hours, but he felt fresh and full of strength this +morning, and nothing seemed too hard to accomplish. As yet he had +not regretted his departure from home. The excitement of it all, +and the adventurous side of his exploit, had kept him interested, +and made him feel that he was a real hero. But he was not so +foolish as to imagine that there would not be times when he would +regret having set out for New York. He was too old and too +sensible for his age to allow his ambition to run away with him +entirely, and he fully expected to meet with many great +discouragements. "But I'm sure of one thing," he said to himself, +as he walked along, "I never will return home until I have +something to show for the trip. I won't have the club boys and +the neighbours saying that Archie Dunn had to come home +discouraged. If I return without accomplishing anything, I will +be held up to the whole town as a boy who made a fool of himself +by not taking his friends' advice, and I never will be made an +example of if I can help it." And Archie walked faster as he +thought of the possibility of failure.</p> + +<p>When seven o'clock came he was passing through the +county-seat, but though there were many interesting things to +look at in the town, Archie determined not to stop. He was afraid +he might meet some one he knew, who would be sure to ask him +where he was going with his bundle, and what he was doing out so +early. And anyhow he was very hungry, and decided to get out of +the town and to the farmhouses as soon as possible. "I can work +for my meal at a farmhouse," he said to himself, "but in the town +they'll take me for a regular tramp."</p> + +<p>So poor Archie walked quickly through the town, still keeping +to the southern road, and saying to himself, as he passed every +milestone, "So much nearer New York." About a mile out in the +country he came to a large farmhouse, and he determined to enter +and ask for a meal. He had hard work to muster up enough courage +to go in and ask for anything, but finally he knocked timidly at +the kitchen door, and was frightened by a large dog which came +barking around the corner. It seemed to him that the animal would +surely bite, but a large fat woman opened the door just in time +to let him in. "Hurry in, boy," she said, "fer there's no tellin' +what Tige might do ef he once gets a hold of ye." So Archie +stepped into the large kitchen, with its rafters overhead, and +its dining-table in the corner. "Sit down, boy," said the woman. +"I reckon you's thet new lad thet's come ter work over at +Mullins's, ain't ye?"</p> + +<p>"No'm," said Archie, "I don't work anywhere. I'm on my way to +New York, where I expect to find a position, and I thought +perhaps you'd allow me to do a little work here this morning to +earn my breakfast."</p> + +<p>Good Mrs. Lane, for that was the woman's name, was horrified +to think that any one was alive and without breakfast at eight +o'clock in the morning. "Goodness me!" said she. "Why, you must +be half-famished fer want of food, ain't ye?" And she bustled +about the kitchen, putting the kettle on to boil, and stirring up +the fire. "You'll have some nice ham and eggs, my boy, and then I +have somethin' in mind fer you. I reckon yer ain't in no hurry +ter get ter the city, be ye? Well, even if ye do be in a hurry, I +reckon you'll be glad of the chance to earn four dollars. I ain't +goin' to ask ye no questions about how ye come to be walkin' to +New York, because I never wuz no hand ter meddle in other folkses +affairs, but ye look to be a likely lad, and a strong un, and ez +my sister's husband, what lives two miles down the pike, needs a +boy to drive a plough fer a week, I b'lieve ye'll suit 'im +first-rate. So ez soon ez ye have finished yer vittles, I'll walk +down there with ye, and we'll see the old man."</p> + +<p>Archie hardly knew whether to be delighted with the prospect +or not. Of course four dollars would be nice to have, but he was +anxious to get to the city as soon as possible, and every day +counted. But perhaps it would be wrong, he thought, to throw away +such a good chance to earn some money, and he had decided to +accept any offer the farmer made him, long before he finished his +breakfast. When he got up from the straight-backed chair, he felt +that he had never eaten a better meal in his life, and when Mrs. +Lane started off down the road, he gladly followed her. A week on +such a farm as this would be no unpleasant experience. Such food +was not to be had every day, he knew, and he of course would have +precious little that was good to eat when he reached the +city.</p> + +<p>They soon covered the two miles, Mrs. Lane getting along very +fast for such a large woman, and at last they stood before Hiram +Tinch, who owned the farm. Archie was made to describe his +intentions, and was thoroughly examined by Mr. Tinch. He told the +farmer that he knew nothing about farm work, but Mr. Tinch said +he would soon teach him, and it was settled that Archie was to +remain on the farm a week. Mrs. Lane went inside the house to see +her sister, who looked sick with too much work, and the farmer +told Archie that he might as well start in, as there was no +object in waiting. So the boy donned a pair of "blue jean" +trousers, and was taken into a field, where a one-horse plough +was standing. Archie knew how to hitch a horse, so he went to the +stable and secured his steed, and then harnessed him to the +plough. The farmer didn't see fit to give him any instructions +about ploughing, and the poor boy hardly knew what to do, but +rather than ask he started off, and tried to guide the animal in +the right direction, as far as he knew it. Of course the horse +went wrong, and the plough refused to stay in the earth, and +altogether the attempt was a miserable failure. The farmer leaned +against the fence, picking his teeth with a pin, but when he saw +the horse going crooked, and the plough bounding along over the +earth, his face grew livid with anger. For a minute he seemed +unable to speak, but strode toward Archie with a fierce look in +his eyes. Then he found his tongue, and opened such a tirade of +vile words that the poor boy shrank from him in terror. He was in +mortal fear lest the man should lay hands on him and commit some +crime, so intense was his rage, but Hiram Tinch seemed to know +how far to go, and after five minutes of cursing and swearing he +took the plough in his own hands, and guided it through the +earth. "Now take it," he growled at Archie, when he had gone a +furrow's length, "and see ef ye can do better this time. +Remember, not a bite of dinner do ye get until this field is +ploughed."</p> + +<p>Poor Archie was weak from fright, but there was nothing to do +but to obey. He looked at the vast field before him, and made up +his mind that he would get nothing to eat until night, anyhow, +for it was already nearly noon. He felt very much like bursting +into tears, but he was too proud to give way to his feelings. But +he couldn't help wishing that he were at home, playing with the +members of the Hut Club. "Those boys are much better off than I +am," he said, over and over, "though they have made no effort to +improve themselves." After a time, however, his ambition +returned, and as he looked ahead into the future, and remembered +the wonderful things he was going to accomplish, he felt more +like working.</p> + +<p>He finished the field at five o'clock in the afternoon, and +was almost fainting from hunger and from the hard work. The +ploughing was fairly well done, but Hiram Tinch could see no +merit in the work. He swore at Archie again, and gave him a +supper of mush and milk. Mrs. Tinch sat by, and Archie could see +that she did not approve of his treatment. The poor woman seemed +afraid to speak, almost, but it was plain that she had a good +heart. So when Archie heard a noise in his garret room that +night, he was not surprised to see Mrs. Tinch at the window, +placing some doughnuts and sandwiches there for him to eat.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>THE NIGHT AMONG THE RUINS— THE CAMP-FIRE OF THE +TRAMPS.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>I<small>T</small> seemed to Archie that he had just fallen +asleep when old Hiram Tinch was shaking him awake. "Git up out o' +here now, ye lazy beggar, and git to the field and finish that +there ploughin'," he growled, and the frightened lad awakened +from a horrible nightmare, only to find a worse experience +awaiting him in the light of day. He hastily drew on his +trousers, and didn't wait to don either shoes or stockings, for +if he was to spend the day ploughing in a field, he knew he would +be more comfortable in his bare feet. When he reached the +kitchen, he found that Farmer Tinch had already eaten his +breakfast, though it was not daylight. Archie was glad that he +was out of the way, and good Mrs. Tinch was glad of it, too, for +she was able to give the boy a good breakfast, and some good +advice with it. "Don't you pay no attention to what my man says, +laddie. He's a powerful man to swear and carry on, but I don't +think he'll have the meanness to strike you. Ef he does, ye must +come to me, and I'll see thet he doesn't do it no more."</p> + +<p>Archie was grateful for this spirit of friendliness, but in +his heart he thought that cruel words were often more painful +than lashes, and he heartily wished that his week was over.</p> + +<p>All this day he spent on the farm, without once going into the +road. Farmer Tinch had warned him that if he saw him making for +the road at any time, he could go and never come back, and he +would forfeit what money he had already earned. So Archie +ploughed the field from daylight till dark, with a half hour at +noon for a hurried dinner. He was glad when darkness came, and +after another supper of mush and milk he was thankful to have a +corn-husk bed to sleep on, and was soon in a stupor which was so +sound as to be almost like death.</p> + +<p>Again the next morning he was awakened at daylight, and he was +made to work even harder than on the second day. He had by this +time become somewhat used to the labour, however, and stood it +better. He was more successful in his work, too, and Farmer Tinch +had less opportunity for cursing him. But at night he seemed more +tired, even, than before, and he longed for his home again. He +thought of the cosy bed he would now be enjoying if he had only +taken his mother's advice, and he felt almost like getting up in +the night and stealing away on the road to the north. But, always +a sensible lad, Archie realised that this discouragement could +not last, and he lost himself in sleep, looking forward three +days, when his week should be up, and he would be on his way to +the city, with four dollars more to add to his slender store.</p> + +<p>The three days passed slowly, but at length the Saturday night +came, and he prepared to be off. But good Mrs. Tinch entreated +him to remain with them over Sunday, and, as Archie wasn't sure +that it would be quite right for him to travel on Sunday, he +decided to do so. So the next day he brushed his only suit of +clothes, and drove with his late employer to church, where Farmer +Tinch sat in a front seat and passed the bread and wine at +communion. Archie's heart rose to his throat as he saw this +paragon so devout in church. He felt like rising in his seat and +denouncing him before all the people as a tyrant and a +hard-hearted wretch. But he kept quiet, though he found it +impossible to partake of the communion under such +circumstances.</p> + +<p>The Tinches had brought their dinner with them, and at noon +they all sat on one of the grassy mounds in the churchyard, to +take some refreshment before the afternoon service began. When +they had finished, Archie wandered off, and came to a crowd of +boys who were romping behind the church. When they saw him +approach, they all stopped their noise, and looked at him +wonderingly. Evidently they were not used to seeing strange boys. +The silence was soon broken, however, by one of the boys calling +out, "Why, fellers, thet's the chap what's been workin' fer Hiram +Tinch." This announcement was enough to make Archie an even +greater object of interest than before, for the boys seemed to +think that any person who could work for Farmer Tinch, and come +out of the ordeal none the worse for wear, must be something +wonderful. Archie was soon on good terms with them all, however, +and told them of his plan of going to New York. The boys were all +attention, and soon he was the hero of the occasion. When the +bell rung for the afternoon service he was still telling them of +the things he was going to do, and none of them wanted to go into +the church. Archie persuaded them to enter, however, but he was +not surprised to meet them all along the road when he left +Tinch's early Monday morning.</p> + +<p>It was almost time to go to bed when they reached the +farmhouse that night, so Archie went at once to his attic, being +anxious to start fresh on his journey the next day. He was now +determined to push on as rapidly as possible, hoping to reach the +city within three or four days. He was somewhat afraid that he +wouldn't be able to do this, but he was going to try, anyhow.</p> + +<p>At daylight Monday morning he was on the way, and when the +various boys he met the day before said good-bye to him and +wished him good luck, he felt that his stay at Tinch's had not +been without benefits of some sort. He had made some boy friends, +and he was four dollars richer, Archie was sensible enough, too, +to realise that his experience would be a valuable one to him in +the future. He knew now what hard work was, at any rate.</p> + +<p>The morning walk was delightful. The September weather was +perfect, and all along the road were fruit-trees laden with every +sort of good thing to eat a boy could wish for. And as the trees +were on the public thoroughfare, Archie did net hesitate to help +himself freely as he went along, so that he didn't require any +meal at noon.</p> + +<p>As night drew near, however, he began to wonder what he would +do for a bed, and the question became more important with every +hour. He had come to no towns since morning, and knew that he +couldn't expect to reach one of any size until the next day, +anyhow. There were farmhouses, of course, but after his +experience of the past week the lad felt that he would rather +remain outdoors all night than risk being thrown in with another +Hiram Tinch. He didn't know enough of farmers to know that few of +them resemble Mr. Tinch in nature, and he did what he thought was +best in keeping away from farmhouses after this.</p> + +<p>It was five o'clock in the evening, and Archie was beginning +to feel very tired and hungry, when he came to the ruins of an +old colonial mansion, which lay far back from the road, +surrounded by trees, and almost hid with shrubbery. "How +interesting," he thought to himself. "It looks just like the +pictures of old ruins we see in geographies. I think I must go up +and see what they look like at close range." And, fired with a +spirit of adventure, and making believe that he was an explorer +in an ancient country, the boy made his way through the trees and +shrubbery. The ruins looked more and more interesting as he +advanced. This had evidently been a magnificent estate at one +time. There were massive pillars which had once supported a +stately portico at the front of the house, and above all there +rose a massive chimney, which seemed to be exceedingly well +preserved. As Archie came nearer, he was surprised to notice a +thin column of smoke rising from the top of the chimney, and for +a moment he stood still with fright. What could this mean? Who +could be building a fire in the midst of these ruins. It was +almost like what one reads about in books, he thought.</p> + +<p>For some time he could not decide what to do, whether he had +better keep on, or whether the wisest policy would be to get back +to the road as quickly as possible. Finally, his curiosity and +thirst for adventure persuaded him to go on, and he continued to +push his way through the shrubbery until he stood before the +ruins. He then climbed a flight of steps, and stood in what had +once been the main entrance to this massive palace. Before him he +saw a scene which was almost weird in its unusualness. A fire of +pine-knots was blazing in the ruins of the great fireplace, and +seated in a semicircle around the fire were several men of +picturesque appearance, whose faces looked up angrily when they +were disturbed.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>STEALING A RIDE— KICKED OUT BY THE BRAKEMAN.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>RCHIE</small> was dumbfounded. Never before had he +been among such a motley crowd, and his first impulse was to turn +and run. But on second thought he decided that it would be best +to put on a bold face and walk up to the men. This he did, and +when he reached the fire the men jumped up and asked him who he +was. In a few words he told them his simple story, and they all +laughed and sat down again about the fire, making a place for +him. "You're one of us, then, laddie," said the leader of the +gang. "We're all soldiers of fortune, all dependent upon the +generous public for our livelihood. But we're not goin' to the +city. There's nothin' there for us, and our advice to you is for +you to steer clear of the place, too. Them police takes ye and +throws ye into jail as quick as a wink, and there's no chance of +gettin' anythink to eat at basement doors, neither. They're all +on to us, there, laddie, and ye'd better stick to the +country."</p> + +<p>This bit of advice was endorsed by the entire company, and it +was in vain that Archie tried to make them understand that he was +no ordinary tramp, walking about the country in search of an easy +time. He tried to tell them that he was going to the city to +work, not to beg; but the leader, a big, dirty fellow, weighing +two hundred pounds or over, said, "Never mind, laddie, we knows +you've run away from home to get away from the folks, and we +appreciates yer position. If yer a mind to stand by us, we'll +stand by you, and see thet ye comes to no harm."</p> + +<p>On thinking things over, Archie decided that it was perhaps +the wisest thing for him to appear to sympathise with the tramps, +and make himself agreeable while with them. He had undoubtedly +run into a gang of the worst sort of vagabonds, and there was no +way of getting away from there without arousing their suspicions. +So he partook of their slender meal, and joined in the general +laughter when the leader, "Fattie Foy," made some crude attempt +at punning. The meal was one to be remembered. The coffee had +been heated in an empty tomato can over the fire, and from its +taste was evidently a combination of various collections made +from the farmhouses round about. Besides the coffee there was a +various collection of sandwiches and bread and butter, and two +pieces of cake. One man had succeeded in striking a good house, +and came back laden with pickles and crackers and cheese, which +were probably the remains of some picnic basket. Another fellow +had brought some pieces of cold bacon, and these were warmed on +sticks over the fire until they looked really appetising. From +some barn had come a half-dozen fresh eggs, and these were +quickly boiled in a can of hot water, and made a very fair +showing on the slab of granite which served as a table.</p> + +<p>When everything was ready the provisions were equally divided +among the crowd, and every one shared alike. It made no +difference how much more one man collected than another, it was +always shared with the entire crowd. Poor Archie found it almost +impossible to eat, but the men insisted that he take something, +so he did manage to swallow a few sips of coffee and eat a slice +of bread and butter. But as he looked about him at the dirty +hands and faces, and the filthy garments of the tramps, he +determined not to eat again while with them.</p> + +<p>When the meal was over the two tin cans were washed at a +spring of water, and as it was now quite dark, they all sat close +to the fire, in order to see. Some one produced a pack of dirty +cards, and they began a game of some kind. Archie was asked to +join, but he told them he didn't know anything about +card-playing. The poor lad was beginning to wish he had never +left home, and felt more miserable than at any other period of +the journey. He walked over to a corner of the ruins where the +light from the fire did not penetrate, and, once there, he sat +down and sobbed bitterly for a time. When he had finished crying +it seemed impossible for him to sleep. The scene about the fire +fascinated him. The men were seated in every sort of picturesque +attitude, and as the flickering light fell upon their dark faces +it wasn't hard for the poor lad to imagine that he had fallen +among a crowd of brigands. He watched them as they played until +he could see no longer, and then he fell into a sound sleep.</p> + +<p>When Archie woke it was still dark, but the moon was shining +brightly overhead, making everything as light as day. He rubbed +his eyes and sat up, and it was some time before he could realise +where he was. Then, as he saw the tramps lying about the ground, +he remembered his adventures of the night before, and, horrified +that he had allowed himself to sleep, he hastily jumped up, and +determined to get away from the ruins as quickly as possible. The +tramps were all sleeping soundly, and the only noises to be heard +were the sound of their breathing and the blood-curdling hoot of +some owl perched on the pillars of the old portico. The boy +picked his way carefully between the bodies of the sleeping men, +and in a minute stood once more on the grand flight of steps +outside. He was trembling for fear some tramp would awake and +prevent his going, and when a bat brushed him in its flight he +almost screamed with terror. Far out beyond the trees and the +shrubby he could see the road glistening in the moonlight, and he +made his way as rapidly as possible out of the grounds, and was +once more on his way to the city.</p> + +<p>It was lonesome work, walking along a country road at night, +and Archie remembered with longing his cosy bed at home. The +feeling of homesickness kept growing within him, despite his +efforts to down it, and when at last the glorious autumn sun rose +over the eastern horizon he was miserable with longing for mother +and for home. But he was too proud to even think of turning back. +He must reach the city at all hazards, homesick or not.</p> + +<p>Archie did not think of breakfast this morning. His experience +of the night before seemed to have taken away his appetite +entirely, and his only thought was to walk as fast as possible, +so that he could reach the city soon. About nine o'clock he +entered the outskirts of a busy town, and while there he observed +that the railroad going to the city passed through the place. All +at once a new idea occurred to him. He had so often heard men and +boys tell of how they had stolen a ride from one town to another. +Why shouldn't he be able to get a ride on a freight train to the +city. Would it be wrong? Archie thought not, since so many men +did it. And anyhow it didn't seem a wicked thing to cheat the +railroad. He had heard people say that the company ought to be +cheated whenever possible, since it cheated so many others. So, +from being so tired and so anxious to reach New York, Archie +decided to try and steal a ride. He entered the yards, where a +train was being made up for the south, and there he saw a +cattle-car with an open door. He immediately jumped inside and +shut the door, squeezing himself into the farthest corner, hoping +that he wouldn't be discovered. He soon found that he wasn't +alone, for a couple of tramps were in the opposite corner, and +they whispered to him not to make any noise. "The brakie," they +said, "will soon be 'round, and if he finds ye he'll put us all +in jail."</p> + +<p>Poor Archie grew pale at the thought of being put in jail, and +huddled himself closer in the corner. After a time the train +started, and the tramps, he noticed, climbed up into some sort of +compartment under the roof of the car, where they wouldn't be +observed, leaving Archie alone down-stairs. Things went smoothly +for a time. The train went flying along, and Archie counted every +mile which brought him nearer to the city. Finally the train +pulled up at a crossing, and a brakeman came along and threw open +the door of the car. He was not long in discovering the cowering +figure in the corner, and his wrath was dreadful to look upon. +"So, ye cussed vagabond," he growled, "ye thought ye'd steal a +ride, did ye? Get out o' this now. Quick, out with ye." Archie +could have fainted, and, as it was, he almost fell out of the +car, propelled by the brakeman's boot. For awhile he stood dazed +beside the track, and finally moved on. "I'll keep a 'stiff upper +lip,'" he said, "whatever happens." But this was by far the most +discouraging adventure yet.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK— A NIGHT IN A LODGING-HOUSE.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>O<small>N</small> and on for the rest of the day walked +Archie. His feet were sore, he was weak from hunger, and he was +made miserable with being homesick. People who met him on the +road turned around to look at the slender lad with the pale face +and the weary step, but he kept walking on, stopping for nothing, +and noticing no one. At noon he picked some apples in an orchard, +and these appeased his hunger. When evening drew near, however, +he felt that he could go without food no longer, so he didn't +hesitate to stop at a house and ask for food. "I know mother +would give a boy food if one should come to our door," he said to +himself, "so I do not think it wrong for me to ask for food +here." He was fortunate enough to strike a pleasant housewife, +who took him in and made him sit down at the kitchen table, which +she covered with good things to eat. There was cold roast beef, +some fried potatoes and a glass of good fresh milk. And then she +gave him some apple pie, so that when he had finished Archie felt +better than for many a day. While he ate he told the good woman +why he was going to New York, and her sympathy was enlisted at +once. "Why, you poor lad," she exclaimed, "just to think of your +being in the city all alone. And what will your mother +think?"</p> + +<p>Archie couldn't imagine what his mother did think. He had +remembered her every minute during the last few days, and was +anxious to write her, so he decided to ask the woman for some +paper and a pencil. These were gladly given him, and he sat down +and told his mother that he was almost to New York and that he +had been having a splendid time. He was careful not to say +anything about his experience with Farmer Tinch, or the night he +spent with the tramps. He knew these things would only make her +unhappy, and it was just as well that she should think everything +was smooth sailing for him. His letter was filled with his +enthusiasm and his hope for the morrow, so that when good Mrs. +Dunn received it she was overjoyed, and hurried over to show it +to the Widow Sullivan, who enjoyed it thoroughly and said "I told +you so." Poor Mrs. Dunn had been having a very miserable time of +it. She was hardly surprised that morning when she awoke and +found Archie gone, but she was naturally much worried for fear +some accident would happen to him before he reached New York. +Once there, she felt that she needn't worry much about him, for, +strange to say, Mrs. Dunn had a firm belief in the ability of +city policemen to take care of every one, and she knew that +Archie would not be allowed to suffer for want of food and a +place to sleep. And when she received this letter, saying that +Archie was nearly to New York, and had even been so successful as +to earn some money, she felt more comfortable than for some time, +Of course she supposed that he would be home before long. She was +positive that he wouldn't be able to get any work in the city, +and knew that as soon as his money gave out he would return. +"It's all for the best," she said to Mrs. Sullivan. "The habit of +running away from home was born in the boy. His father left home +when he was no older than Archie, and no harm ever came to him. +So I'm not going to worry, Mrs. Sullivan." And then Mrs. Dunn +would go back to her home, and at sight of Archie's old hat or +some of his football paraphernalia, would burst into tears.</p> + +<p>The good woman who gave Archie his supper refused to let him +start out again on the road that night. She told him that he must +remain with them, for they had an extra bed up over the kitchen +which was never needed, and that he might just as well sleep +there as not. So for the first time in nearly a week Archie slept +comfortably, and, as he heard the familiar sounds in the kitchen +below him in the morning, it was hard for him to make up his mind +that he was not at home, and that it was not his mother who was +grinding the coffee in the kitchen below. He heard the ham frying +in the skillet, and the rattle of the dishes as his hostess set +the table, and then he dressed himself and hastened downstairs, +feeling ready for a good day's walking.</p> + +<p>When he had eaten his breakfast he started out again. The +woman told him that it was only about fifteen miles to New York, +and that after he had walked about six of them he could take a +trolley-car and ride the remainder of the distance for five +cents. So he thanked her for her kindness, and promised to let +her know how he succeeded in the city, for the woman was much +interested in his future. He felt almost sorry to leave the +home-like place, but the prospect of reaching the city this very +day was enough to make him anxious to be off. He covered the six +miles to the trolley-car before eleven o'clock in the morning, +and then in an hour and a quarter more the trolley landed him in +lower New York.</p> + +<p>His sensations as he was whirled along the smooth pavements, +past beautiful buildings and handsome residences, may be better +imagined than described. After looking forward to this day for so +long, he was almost overcome at the realisation of his hopes, and +took the utmost delight in everything about him. When the car +stopped at the terminus of the line, he got out and walked up the +busiest street in the neighbourhood. He hardly knew what to do +first, but continued walking until he came to the New York end of +the great Brooklyn Bridge. Then he couldn't resist the desire to +walk across the bridge, and he started out upon the journey. Up +the steps he walked, and soon he had climbed as far as the middle +of the magnificent structure. There he stood for some time, +looking out over Governor's Island, nestled like a green egg in a +nest of red buildings, and past Staten Island to the open sea +beyond It was all grander, more beautiful than anything he had +ever seen before, and he felt glad that he had come. Then in +another direction he saw the never-ending succession of +buildings, some tall, some low ones, but all inhabited with +swarms of people. "There are three million people in this great +city," he said to himself, "and over them in New Jersey, in those +cities I see, there are a million more, and I am one of four +million." The thought was too much for the boy, and he continued +his walk across the bridge. Once across, he came back again, for +Brooklyn was a strange place to him. In New York City he felt +more at home, for he had at least spent two days within its +limits.</p> + +<p>Once back in the busy streets, he decided to look about for a +cheap place to stay for the night. It was the middle of the +afternoon now, and he felt that he ought to make some +preparation. He knew better than to apply at the police station +for lodging, for he knew they would probably turn him over to the +famous Gerry Society, which would send him back home before a day +had passed, and then where would his ambitions be?</p> + +<p>He remembered the place where he had stayed with Uncle Henry, +but he knew that this would be too high-priced for his +pocketbook, so he started up the Bowery, where he expected to +find some very cheap places. He didn't like the looks of the +people he met in the street, but his experiences on the way to +New York had taught him not to be too particular about a little +dirt. So when he came to a rickety building with a sign up, +"Beds, ten and fifteen cents," he immediately went up the dark, +filthy stairway, and found himself in a large room at the top +which served as the "hotel" office. There were rows of chairs in +front of the windows and along the walls, and in the chairs were +the queerest-looking lot of men he had ever seen. He didn't pay +any attention to them, though, but went up to the seedy +individual behind the desk, and asked him if he could get a bed +for the night. "Sure, Mike," the man replied, and Archie signed +his name in a dirty book with torn pages. He paid the man ten +cents, and asked if he could leave his bundle while he went +outside. "Sure, Mike," was again his answer, and the man took his +little bundle of necessities and threw them on the floor behind +the counter. When Archie had gone out, a fat man with a baby face +came up and whispered to the clerk. "Anything in the bloke?" he +inquired. "Nit," said the clerk, "don't yer see his baggage? Does +it look like there's anything in it?" And the mysterious +conversation closed, to be continued later in the evening.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>LOOKING FOR WORK— WASHING DISHES IN A BOWERY +RESTAURANT.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>FTER</small> a couple of hours spent in going about +the streets, Archie went into a place where he bought some coffee +and rolls for his supper. He paid only five cents for three sweet +rolls and a large cup of coffee which was not at all bad to +taste, and he returned to the lodging-house on the Bowery feeling +better than he had expected to feel when he started out from the +homestead where he spent the previous night, If he could get a +good meal for five or ten cents, and could sleep for ten cents +more, he would have enough to keep him going for some time.</p> + +<p>The Bowery at night presented a wonderful appearance to +Archie's mind. The brilliantly lighted shops, the cheap theatres +with their bands of musicians on the sidewalk in front of the +entrance, were all attractive to his boyish eyes, but he was wise +enough to pass them all by, and to make his way as quickly as +possible to the cheap lodging-house. The street was jammed with +persons of every description. He was surprised particularly at +the number of Chinamen he met, for he didn't know that a block or +two away was the centre of the Chinese population of New York, +where the Celestials have their theatre, their hotels, their +great stores, and their joss-house. There were many Italians in +the street, too, and Polish Jews, to say nothing of Frenchmen and +Germans. Then there was the typical Bowery "tough," who swaggered +up and down, looking for trouble, which he usually finds before +an evening passes. Archie was not afraid in this cosmopolitan +crowd. No one seemed to notice him, and, anyhow, there were a +great many policemen about, who seemed to keep a sharp lookout +all the time. And as Archie shared his mother's faith in the city +policeman, he felt no fear.</p> + +<p>In the lodging-house everything looked very much as before. +The chairs were still occupied with filthy-looking men, who +smoked and spat and talked in undertones among themselves. The +boy paid no attention to any of them, but, walking up to the +seedy individual behind the counter, asked him if he could go to +bed now. The man answered, "Certainly," and sent a fellow with +Archie to show him his bed. It was in a long, narrow room, which +was poorly lighted with a few gas-jets here and there, and which +was filled with about thirty beds, all narrow, and all dirty. One +of these was pointed out to Archie, and then the man left him. +The poor lad felt more homesick than ever, and had it not been +that he had a glorious to-morrow to look forward to, he would +have been very miserable indeed. As it was, he undressed and got +between the chilly sheets, when he remembered that he hadn't +looked after his little roll of bills for a long time, and that +some of them might be missing. He crawled out of bed again, and +felt inside the lining of his coat for the purse. He had sewed it +there for safe-keeping until he reached the city, for he had some +little change in his pocket, which he knew would last him for +several days.</p> + +<p>The poor boy's hand felt nothing but a cut in the lining, +where the roll of bills had been, and all at once he realised +that the money must have been stolen from him. And he at once +thought of the night in the ruins, when he fell asleep among the +tramps, and there was no doubt in his mind but that they had +taken his money from him. This was a terrible blow. Here he was, +with just a few cents in his pocket, and no one to whom he could +appeal for aid. It was the worst predicament Archie had ever been +in, and he hardly knew what to do. He sat on the side of his +dirty little bed for awhile, and then he snuggled under the +covers and was soon asleep again. For a boy who has been walking +all day seldom stays awake from worry.</p> + +<p>But when he awoke in the morning, it was to realise the fact +that he must get some money this very day or go to the police +station. The few cents he had remaining were only enough to buy +some coffee and bread for breakfast, and the poor lad didn't know +where his next meal would come from. As he went out, the clerk in +the filthy office of the lodging-house told him that he needn't +come back any more.</p> + +<p>"Why did you tell him that?" asked the fat man with a sly +face.</p> + +<p>"Because I went through his clothes last night when he was +asleep, and he had only six cents in his pocket. We don't want no +starvin' brats around here, to bring the Gerry Society down upon +us."</p> + +<p>It was well that Archie didn't know his pockets had been +searched while he was asleep, or his faith in human nature would +have been more shaken than ever before. He had not suspected that +the men in this lodging-house might be dishonest.</p> + +<p>"They are poor," he said to himself when he saw them first, +"but they may be good men for all that."</p> + +<p>After a slender meal, Archie found a library where he looked +over the advertising columns of the morning papers, trying to +find some position open which he thought he might fill. There +were several advertisements calling for office boys, and all +these he made note of, and then as he looked down the page he +noticed that a boy was wanted in a restaurant to wash dishes. He +decided that if he didn't succeed in getting a place as office +boy, he might get the restaurant place. He knew that in a +restaurant he would be likely at least to get enough to eat.</p> + +<p>For two hours he called at addresses of men who wanted office +boys, but at every place he was turned away. "We have already +hired one," some of them said, and others told him that they +never took any boys in the office who were living away from home. +Some asked him for recommendations, and when he had none, they +looked at him and told him "good morning." It was all terribly +discouraging, and with every minute Archie was wishing more and +more that he were back home again. Somehow the city seemed +different now from what it had been when Uncle Henry was with +him. Everything was less bright, and the things he had been +delighted with before were less interesting now.</p> + +<p>Finally, he entered a large, handsome suite of rooms, in one +of the great sky-scrapers, and was shown into a very elegant +private office. There he found an old gentleman seated in a great +easy chair, looking over papers, and keeping one eye upon a +buzzing instrument at his side which seemed to be spitting out +long strips of paper, like a magician in a side-show. The man +looked up as he entered, and cleared his throat. "Ahem," he said, +"you look as if you were from the country. I wonder, now, if you +have came to the city to seek your fortune."</p> + +<p>Archie was embarrassed. "Yes, sir, I suppose you might put it +that way," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued the old gentleman, "my advice to you is to +go back where you came from as quickly as you can. Not one boy in +a thousand will gain either fame or fortune in New York, and you +stand a wonderful chance of sinking lower every year. And even if +you do succeed, you will miss many beautiful things in your life +which may come to you in the country. You can have a pleasant +home there, and live an easy, natural life, while here it will be +years before you can expect to accomplish much, and you will +spend your life in a nervous strain. Think well, young man, +before choosing the great city as your sphere of usefulness."</p> + +<p>"I've made up my mind, sir," said Archie. "I have quite +decided to remain in the city."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the old gentleman, "I hope you may never +regret it. But we have already hired an office boy. Good +morning."</p> + +<p>Archie walked out, more discouraged than ever. Perhaps, after +all, a country life was not to be so much despised. This man +ought to know what he was talking about. But once outside, in the +Broadway crowd, Archie forgot everything about the country, and +was lost in the delight of being one of four million.</p> + +<p>He now decided to accept the place in the restaurant, if it +were not taken, and, fortunately for him, it was not. So he +rolled up his sleeves, and began to wash dishes as if he had done +nothing else in all his life before.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>IN THE STREET AGAIN— THE POLICE STATION— VISITS THE +NEWSPAPER OFFICE, AND IS KINDLY RECEIVED BY THE EDITOR.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>LL</small> day long Archie washed dishes, and before +night came he decided that he had never before had such +discouraging work. The restaurant was a popular one, and there +were very many dishes to be washed, to say nothing of the pots +and pans which were always dirty. Archie no sooner finished one +sink full of dishes than another large pile was waiting to be put +through the same operation, and there was no time at all for +looking about him. There was hardly time for eating, even, and at +noon he was only able to snatch a few mouthfuls. The work was not +interesting, and it was a new sort of labour to Archie, so that +altogether he did not get on as well as he might have wished. The +cook was constantly nagging him, and telling him to hurry up, and +the poor lad tried his best to please him. But somehow everything +went wrong, and he was hardly surprised when the proprietor came +in at six o'clock with a new man for the place. "Come around in +the morning," he said to Archie, "and I'll pay your day's +wages."</p> + +<p>So the boy was in the street once more, with no money, and no +place to sleep. He wasn't hungry, that was one thing, for he had +been allowed to eat a good meal before leaving the restaurant. +But where was he to sleep, and what was he to do on the morrow, +when he would surely be hungry? His experience at looking for +work had not been encouraging, and he began to have serious +doubts as to whether he would ever get a place. Certainly he +would starve if he waited around New York long without anything +to do.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark at seven o'clock, and Archie walked over to +the brilliantly lighted street which ran north and south through +the city. He had never failed to find something interesting to +look at there, and he felt now that he would like to see the +bright side of city life, even if he couldn't enjoy it himself. +So all the evening he walked up and down the street, watching the +well-dressed crowds hurrying into the theatres and the other +almost innumerable places of amusement. He stared in open-mouthed +amazement at some of the costumes of the women he saw alighting +from carriages. Never before had he seen anything half so +beautiful, and if any one had told him that there were such +dresses he would have told them he didn't believe it. Some of +them, he thought, must cost hundreds of dollars, and the jewels +worn with them many hundreds more. How interesting, how new, it +all was to him! Once he thought of the little home in the +village, and at first wished that his mother might be there to +enjoy the sights with him. "But I wouldn't want her to see me," +he thought, "not while I am so miserable, and feeling so +discouraged." For Archie was beginning to wonder if he hadn't +made a mistake in leaving home, whether he had not been +overconfident and hot-headed. But he decided to try it a few days +more, that is, if he could manage to live for that length of time +in the city.</p> + +<p>At twelve o'clock he was walking up and down the street, which +was still bright with millions of lights, though the crowds had +gone home from the theatres, and the restaurants were beginning +to be less popular. He was still wondering how he was going to +find a place to sleep, when he was accosted by a policeman, and +taken into a doorway. "I've been watching you," said the officer, +"and I want to know why you are walking up and down the street at +this time of night."</p> + +<p>Archie could have cried from fright, but he remembered that he +was under suspicion, so decided to tell the policeman his whole +story, and perhaps he could help him out in some way. So he +described his experiences during the day, and was surprised at +the interest shown by the officer in the recital. When he had +finished he was told that he would be taken to the police +station. "You needn't be afraid, my lad," said the policeman. +"I'll see that the Gerry Society doesn't get you and send you +home, that is, if you think you want to try it here a few days +longer. You can sleep at the station to-night, and the next +morning you can try it again." So to the station they went, and +Archie was, naturally, a little frightened when he saw, for the +first time, the cells, and the terribly severe appearance of all +his surroundings. But he was given a good bed in which to sleep, +and he passed a delightful night, dreaming of the wonderful +adventures which befell him in the city.</p> + +<p>He was not awakened until eight o'clock, and then he found the +good policeman waiting to take him out to breakfast, He expressed +surprise that he should be so kind to him.</p> + +<p>"I always thought that officers were cross and unpleasant," he +said, "but you're not that kind, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Well," laughed the officer, "we have to be cross very often, +though we're sometimes sorry to be so. But I've taken a fancy to +you, my lad. I like to see a boy who does things. When a boy of +seventeen is willing to come to New York alone, and make his own +way, without friends or influence of any kind, it shows a proper +spirit, and he ought to succeed. I know you'll get along if you +only persevere. I'd advise you to keep on trying."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm going to, now," said Archie. "I was very homesick and +discouraged last night, but since I've met you I seem to have +received a new impetus, and I'm ready to make a new +beginning."</p> + +<p>So Archie and the policeman parted friends.</p> + +<p>"Come around to the station to-night if you want a bed, and +you shall be cared for," said the officer, as he turned around +the corner into the busy street, where he was lost in the +crowd.</p> + +<p>Archie walked down the street, hardly knowing what to do +first. He didn't feel like answering any more advertisements in +the newspapers, and he decided to go into a few stores and ask +for work. He was about to do this when he saw before him the +magnificent building of the New York <i>Enterprise.</i> It was a +truly beautiful structure, rising fifteen stories above the +ground, and surmounted with an artistic tower, which could be +seen from almost any part of the city. The home of the city's +greatest daily, it looked as if it were always welcoming +strangers to the metropolis, and Archie felt an irresistible +impulse to enter. Everything connected with a newspaper had for +him the greatest fascination, and he knew he would enjoy seeing +through this wonderful building, which was almost wholly occupied +by the departments of the <i>Enterprise.</i> So he entered the +door, and passed from one floor to another, finally arriving at +the highest floor of all, where were located the editorial rooms +of the <i>Evening Enterprise.</i> All at once a new plan entered +Archie's fertile brain. Why shouldn't he be able to get something +to do on a newspaper? It had always been his greatest ambition to +become a reporter, and here, although he didn't think the editor +would take him in that capacity, he thought he might get some +sort of work. in which he could work himself up.</p> + +<p>There upon the door were the magic words: "Editor of the +<i>Evening enterprise.</i> No Admittance." Archie opened the door +and entered. He knew it would be useless to send in his name. It +was best to see the editor at once, and without ceremony. He was +seated before a large desk, which was littered with papers of +every description, and he was a very pleasant person in +appearance. Archie stood hesitating near the door, and remained +there a minute or two before the editor looked up.</p> + +<p>"Well, my boy, what is it?"</p> + +<p>Archie took courage.</p> + +<p>"I— I want to be a reporter, sir, and I thought it would +do no harm to ask you for such a position, anyhow."</p> + +<p>The distinguished journalist wheeled about in his chair.</p> + +<p>"What!" he exclaimed, "you want to be a reporter. Why, my dear +boy, how old are you?"</p> + +<p>"I'll be eighteen my next birthday," said Archie, "and, sir, +I've had some experiences in the last two weeks, which make me +feel as if I were about five years older than I really am. I've +been through some very trying experiences, sir."</p> + +<p>The editor was interested at once. "Tell me what your +experiences have been," he said, and Archie began, and told him +his whole story; how he had left home to win fame and fortune, +and how he had worked on the farm for a week with Farmer Tinch; +how he had been robbed the night he stayed with the tramps in the +ancient ruins, and how he had finally reached the city. Then he +told him of the night in the lodging-house, of his dish-washing +experience in the restaurant, and how he had been taken from the +street by a policeman the night before, and allowed to sleep in +the station-house. When he had finished the editor had a broad +grin upon his face.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "this is certainly rich stuff. +There's a good story in it, I'll be bound."</p> + +<p>Then, speaking to Archie, he said:</p> + +<p>"Just wait here a minute, my boy, and I'll see if we can't put +some money in your way."</p> + +<p>He pressed a button at the side of his desk, and when a boy +appeared, he told him to bring "Mr. Jones, please, or one of the +other reporters. And tell Jones to bring an artist with him."</p> + +<p>The reporter and the artist soon stood before the editor, who +told them, with great glee, that he had a leading feature for the +next evening edition of the <i>Enterprise.</i> "Just talk to this +boy, Jones, and see if you can't make two good columns on the +front page and two for the inside from his story. I think it's +great, myself. And you Cash," he said, turning to the artist, +"you make a good sketch of the boy."</p> + +<p>Archie could hardly believe his eyes and ears. Just to think +that he was being interviewed, and that his picture was to be in +the paper. It seemed almost too good to be true.</p> + +<p>When the reporter had finished with him, he was taken +down-stairs to the cashier's office and given thirty dollars in +bills. "This will pay you for the interview," said the editor, +"and give you enough to fix up with. Now, to-morrow, you come in +again, and I think I can give you steady employment."</p> + +<p>Oh, how happy Archie was! He went out into the street, and +seemed to fairly walk on air. Then he heard the newsboys crying, +"Extra paper, read about the <i>Enterprise's</i> Boy Reporter." +And when Archie saw the paper, there on the front page was his +picture, together with the story of his "startling +adventures."</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>LIVING IN COMFORT AGAIN— FEATURED AS "THE BOY +REPORTER."</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>RCHIE</small> often speaks of the day when he visited +the newspaper office for the first time as the happiest day in +all his life. The change from despair and homesickness to the joy +of being appreciated by some one was so rapid that it made his +head fairly swim with the exhilaration of success. With thirty +dollars in his pocket, and the knowledge that he would have +steady employment of the kind he desired on the morrow, he walked +up the Bowery feeling like a prince. He entered the lodging-house +where he had left his bundle of clothing, and so surprised the +clerk by his new appearance that he was invited to remain there +for another night. The shrewd man guessed that some good fortune +must have befallen Archie, or he wouldn't be so happy. But the +one night of misery which he had spent in the squalid hotel was +enough for Archie, and he walked hastily up-town with his bundle, +keeping a sharp lookout for a pleasant place where he might get a +room. In his previous wanderings he had seen several nice houses +with rooms to rent, but now that he wanted a room he found it +difficult to find any of these neighbourhoods. He was anxious to +get settled as quickly as possible, for he wanted to get +everything done to-day, so that to-morrow he could have time to +do anything required of him by the editor of the +<i>Enterprise.</i> He must get a new suit of clothes, be must get +his hair cut, and last, but not least, he must write home to +mother and tell her of his great good fortune.</p> + +<p>Finally, in his wanderings, Archie came to a beautiful square +which was surrounded on every side by business houses and +tenements. But the square itself and the houses on it were very +quaint and very handsome, so that it seemed to be a very oasis in +the desert. The green trees, just a little tinged with the brown +and gold of autumn, reminded Archie of the front yard at home, +and he decided to get a room in one of the houses here if he +could possibly do so.</p> + +<p>It so happened that there was a hall bedroom empty in one of +the best-looking places, and Archie at once engaged it. The price +was more reasonable than he had hoped for, even, and this made +him happy, for as yet he had no idea how much his earnings would +be, and he was anxious to be able to save something to send home, +if he possibly could. The room was nicely furnished, and looked +out upon the fountain, with the green trees, so that it was +highly satisfactory in every respect. It didn't take Archie long +to undo his bundle, and it was a pitiful display that greeted him +when it was opened. The little comb and brush, a piece of soap, a +Testament given him last Christmas by the teacher at Sunday +school, a suit of underwear, and a couple of handkerchiefs. The +whole lot of things hardly filled a corner in one of the bureau +drawers, and Archie realised that he must buy a great many things +within a week or two.</p> + +<p>But before going out to do any shopping, he sat down and wrote +a long letter home, describing his success of the morning, and +telling his mother of the editor's promise to give him regular +employment. He enclosed a copy of the paper with his picture and +the story of his adventures, and it made him very happy to think +of his mother's feelings when she read it all. Then, when he had +finished, he went out to a post-office, and bought a money-order +for ten dollars, which he also enclosed. "I know I can spare it," +he said to himself, "and it will gratify her so much." Then, when +the letter with its contents was safely mailed, he bought himself +a new suit of clothing, and renovated himself in many ways, so +that when he returned to his room in the square it was nearly +dark, and he looked a different boy entirely.</p> + +<p>Before going to bed, he determined to see his policeman +friend, and tell him of his good fortune. "He is probably +expecting me to sleep in the station," Archie thought, "and it +will be a great surprise to him." But when he met the good man, +he found that he had already heard of his success.</p> + +<p>"I bought the <i>Enterprise,</i> and could hardly believe my +eyes," said he, "but I always thought you would find some one to +appreciate your pluck. I'm mighty glad for you, my lad, and you +must always let me know how you are getting along." This Archie +promised to do, and returned to his lodging to sleep.</p> + +<p>The next morning he was on hand at the <i>Enterprise</i> +office before the editor himself was down. The place was quite as +fascinating as it had been on the preceding day, and he found +something new to look at every minute. The reporters at their +desks, several of whom introduced themselves and congratulated +Archie on his perseverance, were a source of great interest to +him, and the copy-boys, running here and there with special copy +for the first edition, gave an air of hustling activity to the +place that was very attractive to this new reporter.</p> + +<p>When the editor came he had already thought of something for +Archie to do. "Now you've been introduced to the public," he +said, "and we want to feature you for a few days. Every one will +be interested in knowing what you are doing, and what is going to +become of you. You must write us an article for the paper to-day, +telling about your experiences since yesterday, about getting a +new suit, and about hunting for a room. And you can tell about +your policeman friend, too."</p> + +<p>This was surprising. Archie couldn't imagine why any one +should be interested in knowing about his daily life, but he sat +down and succeeded in writing a very interesting two columns +about it. He was much surprised that he should be able to write +so easily and so well. Of course he knew that composition and +rhetoric had been his two strongest studies at school, but he had +never realised before that he had any great talent for writing. +When he had finished this article, the editor looked it over, and +said, "That's great. You're all right, my boy. We'll make a great +journalist of you yet," and of course this made Archie very +happy. "Wait until this story is set up," said Mr. Jennings, the +editor, "and I'll see what you can do in the way of correcting +proofs."</p> + +<p>When the proofs came, in a very short time, he hardly knew +what to do with them. But in reading them he discovered several +mistakes, which he lost no time in correcting, and Mr. Jennings +said that he had done very well indeed. "Now you can spend the +day in doing what you please. I would suggest that you go about +New York and have as many strange experiences as possible, so +that to-morrow you can write them up for us. And it will pay you, +by the way, to go out to Coney Island, which is a different place +from any you have seen before. You are sure to see some unusual +things, and in the morning you can bring me in two columns about +it."</p> + +<p>Before leaving, Archie was asked if he needed any money. "You +mustn't hesitate to ask for it, because you can have it as well +to-day as on Saturday." But as he had left several dollars of the +thirty he had received the day before, Archie didn't draw any +more, and he thought it most remarkable that the editor should +have so much money to pay out.</p> + +<p>He had no difficulty in getting a trolley-car to Coney Island, +and, after an hour's riding through Brooklyn streets, he found +himself in the most unique and most delightful place imaginable, +It was a queer-looking town, with great wheels in the air, high +towers, with elevators and innumerable merry-go-rounds, and other +sources of amusement. The noise was something terrific. +Hand-organs, street-pianos, and German bands were all playing at +the same time, while people hurried about from one place to +another, enjoying the hundreds of games and riding the various +scenic railways and carrousels. Archie stood mute with delight at +it all, but before five minutes had passed he had shot the +chutes, and had ridden over a steeplechase which took him through +dark caverns, where dragons glared at him and where electrical +sparks were constantly flying through the air. It was all so new, +so different from anything he had seen before, that he was simply +lost in admiration. He was standing near a theatre, when a short, +dark man touched him on the arm, and said, "Come this way, young +man, and I'll teach you the best game of all."</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>A DAY AND A NIGHT IN CONEY ISLAND— RAIDING A GAMBLING +DEN.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>RCHIE</small> was at first too much surprised to +answer the man at all, but in a few moments he remembered that he +was now a reporter, and that it was his duty to see all that he +could, and have all the new experiences possible. So he decided +to follow the man, and find out what "the best thing of all" in +Coney Island was like. He was taken through several narrow +alleyways, and finally he found himself in front of a tumble-down +structure, built out directly over the water. It was very modest +in appearance, and everything seemed quiet about the place. The +shades were carefully drawn, and the dark man had to knock three +times before the door was opened and they were permitted to +enter. Inside, Archie found himself in a handsomely furnished +apartment which differed greatly in appearance from the exterior +of the building. There was a rich velvet carpet, mahogany +furniture, and a great many small tables standing about the room. +The place was filled with men, mostly well-dressed, who were +playing various games. Some were dealing cards, others were +twirling wheels with numbers on them, and some were playing games +with chips. It didn't take Archie long to realise that he had +been steered into a gambling den of the worst kind, and he was +immediately on the alert for future developments. He watched +every movement of his new friend, and noticed that he found it +necessary to speak to several of those present in a low +undertone. This didn't worry Archie, because he knew that he was +in no danger except of losing money, and he felt that he could +afford to lose some money, since he was sure to earn more by +writing about the experience for the newspaper.</p> + +<p>So he carefully observed all that was going on, making mental +notes of the peculiarities of the place and the people. When at +last the dark man came up and inquired if he wouldn't like a +chance to earn some money easily, he very readily answered yes, +and the man was overjoyed to find so willing a victim. Then, of +course, Archie was introduced to the mysteries of the famous +roulette wheel, of which he had read so much. Archie was +interested in everything, and didn't mind losing four dollars in +learning so much that was new. He succeeded in getting away when +he had lost this sum, though the man assured him that he couldn't +help winning back all he had lost, and much more, too, if he +would but remain awhile longer. Archie was firm, however, and +passed out into the narrow alleyways again, feeling that he had +learned a great deal through a very small expenditure of money. +He gradually found his way back into the crowded Surf Avenue, +where there were hundreds of things, evidently, which he had not +yet seen. The crowds, too, seemed greater even than before, and +there seemed to be thousands of people arriving every hour from +New York and Brooklyn, over the various street-car and railway +lines, and by the excursion boats landing at the great iron pier. +The noise was still deafening, and every one seemed to be having +a splendid time in every way. "Surely," said Archie to himself, +"no one can feel blue or despondent in such a place as this, +where every one is full of fun, and apparently determined to have +a good time while here." And he felt that he would like to remain +longer, but he knew he should go back again to the city, so that +he might see the editor, and tell him something about what he had +seen and done.</p> + +<p>So again he rode over the great Brooklyn bridge, and stopped +on the other side at the handsome building of the +<i>Enterprise.</i> It made Archie very happy to feel that he was +now a reporter on such a great paper, and he found it hard to +realise that so much good fortune had come to him in such a short +time. He met reporters in the various hallways, and all of them +spoke to him pleasantly, so that he began to feel that he had +never been thrown with such pleasant men before.</p> + +<p>He had no difficulty in seeing the editor this time, and found +him a ready listener to the story of his Coney Island +experiences. He insisted on Archie's describing all the men he +had seen in the gambling den, and then asked him if he could +identify them, if necessary, and also if he would be able to find +the place again. Archie gave good descriptions of most of the +men, and said that he could take any one to the place at any +time. The editor lost himself in thought for a few minutes, and +at the end of that time he rang for a copy-boy. "Ring for a +messenger boy," he said, "and when he arrives come for a note +which I want him to take to Mr. Pultzer's house." Archie stared +with amazement at Mr. Jennings, and waited for further +information. He wondered what was going to be done. He knew that +Mr. Pultzer owned the newspaper, and he knew that it must be +something important that Mr. Jennings wanted to write him about. +He wasn't long left in the dark, and he felt very proud that Mr. +Jennings should have confidence enough in him to tell him about +his plans. "I think you have discovered something which will +prove very important to the paper and the public," he said to +Archie. "We have suspected for a long time that gambling dens +have been flourishing in Coney Island, but up to now we have not +been able to locate any of them. Now that you have found one, we +hope to arouse public opinion to the danger there is in such +places, and we hope to inspire a reform movement which will be +strong enough to wipe them out entirely. I will hear from Mr. +Pultzer in a short time, and then I want you to go down to the +Island with some plain-clothes detectives and two other +reporters. And I don't mind telling you now that there will be a +good sum in it for you if you succeed in arresting any of the +leaders of this gang. You can be excused for an hour now, if +there's anything you want to do."</p> + +<p>Full of enthusiasm over the coming adventure and his part in +it, Archie hurried out to a quick-lunch counter and bought +himself a light meal, for he feared that he would have to remain +at Coney Island through the evening. Then, when he had finished, +he returned to the newspaper office, where he spent some time in +getting acquainted with some of the reporters who were working on +the <i>Morning Enterprise.</i> He found them all very pleasant to +meet, and he learned a great many helpful things from their +conversation. The older men were able to give him many pointers +concerning things that he should, and should not, do. While he +was in the office of the <i>Morning Enterprise</i> Mr. Jennings +came in, and, taking him along into the private room of the +managing editor, introduced him to Mr. Van Bunting, who was the +editorial head of the morning edition. Then Mr. Jennings told of +the new scheme, and Mr. Van Bunting entered into it so thoroughly +that before an hour three detectives, two reporters, and Archie +were on their way to the Island.</p> + +<p>Once arrived in the resort, which was as noisy and bright as +in the afternoon, they all made a bee-line for the gambling den, +headed by Archie, who surprised the others with his certainty and +confidence as to which was the right direction. In a very few +minutes they all stood in front of the dilapidated structure +built out over tide-water, and Archie heard one of the detectives +say that the place looked "mighty suspicious like." He gave three +knocks just as the dark man had done in the afternoon, and in a +few minutes the door was cautiously opened and a head made its +appearance. The detectives lost no time in pushing their way in, +amid great confusion and cries of fear, and it seemed only a few +seconds until all the inmates were huddled in a corner, covered +with pistols, and wailing in fear, when they weren't cursing +through anger. Then they were all arrested and taken to the +police station, where they were all refused bail, and placed in +cells overnight. Then the reporters returned to the office of the +<i>Enterprise,</i> where Archie was told by Mr. Van Bunting to +write the story of his experience for the morning paper. This was +his first work for the morning edition, and he took great pains +to make his descriptions as complete as possible, and the details +as accurate as he knew how to make them. And his hard work was +rewarded by words of praise from the managing editor when he +turned the copy in for editing.</p> + +<p>Tired from his hard day's work, Archie then went up-town to +the quiet square in which he had his home, and he was glad to get +to bed. He had been nervous and excited all day, and found it +difficult to sleep, but finally the tired eyelids lay quietly +over the tired eyes, and Archie was dreaming of the cool and +pleasant arbour of grapes at home, and of how the Hut Club was +holding a special meeting there to devise ways and means of +welcoming home their distinguished fellow member, Mr. Archie +Dunn, who had achieved such great success in the city.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding his tired feeling, Archie was up early the +next morning, and out at the corner to buy an <i>Enterprise.</i> +He hastily turned the pages, trying to find the story of his +Coney Island adventures, but he looked in vain. It wasn't visible +anywhere. He was about to think that it had not been thought +worth while printing when he noticed on the front page, in large +letters, "The Boy Reporter's Great Discovery," and then followed +the complete account, just as he had written it. This was the +best thing yet. Just to think that his story had been considered +important enough to print upon the front page! He could hardly +believe it. Surely he had made great strides, and Archie began to +realise that it is not experience that is most needed in +journalism, but something to write about. "I have simply been +fortunate in finding some interesting things," he said, to +himself, and then, after a light breakfast in a quaint Italian +restaurant around the corner, he hurried down-town to the office +of the newspaper.</p> + +<p>Archie was beginning to feel, by now, that he had worked for a +long time upon the paper, and as he had become acquainted with +almost every one connected with it, this wasn't a strange feeling +for him to have. And it was evident, too, that the editors +intended to keep him busy for some time to come, and Archie +realised that he was in newspaper work to stay, for a time, at +least. And he was overjoyed at the prospect, for he found the +whole business as fascinating and as interesting as he had +expected it would be.</p> + +<p>Mr. Jennings, of the evening edition, was at the office when +Archie arrived, and sent for him to come in. "Here is fifty +dollars," he said, "for your work of yesterday, and you will have +more coming to you if these men are convicted. I want to +congratulate you on what you have done so far. Come in this +afternoon, and I think Mr. Van Bunting will have a new plan for +you."</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>A SUCCESSFUL REPORTER— THE EDITOR DECIDES TO SEND HIM AS +CORRESPONDENT TO THE PHILIPPINES— LEAVING NEW YORK— IN +CHICAGO.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>T</small> three o'clock in the afternoon Archie was +seated in Mr. Van Bunting's office, together with Mr. Jennings +and several of the chief members of the editorial staffs of both +editions of the paper. The editors had spread out before them, on +the large table, several maps, and most of them were busily +engaged in making notes on little paper pads. All the time, +however, an excited conversation was being carried on, for some +editors wanted Archie to proceed to the Philippines one way, and +some thought that the better plan would be for him to go by some +other route. But the important fact with Archie was that he was +really going to be sent to the Philippines as a war +correspondent, and that he was going to start very shortly. He +had called on Mr. Van Bunting early in the afternoon, and had +then learned for the first time what the new plan was to be. When +the managing editor asked him how he would like to go to the +Philippines, Archie could scarcely reply, so delighted was he +with the brilliant prospect before him. He managed to stammer out +a few words, though, in spite of his surprise. "I always thought +war correspondents were selected from the most experienced men in +journalism," he said, but Mr. Van Bunting only laughed. "That's +what we have already done, my boy," he said, "and so far none of +our distinguished correspondents have sent us a thing worth +printing that we didn't already know. You see they can't send any +more to us in the way of news than we can get from the War +Department in Washington, and most of these men are too old fogy +to send us anything out of the ordinary line of war +correspondence. Now, what we want is for you to go over there and +have some adventures, and write us something which will be +different from what we have had before from the Philippines. We +are sending you, because you have had no experience at such work, +and will be sure to send us something unusual, and that is what +we want. If you can only do as well in the tropics as you have +done here in New York, we shall be more than satisfied with your +work. I am sorry that I won't have time to give you very complete +instructions, but perhaps it will be as well. And now some of the +men are waiting outside to come in and talk this matter over, so +we'll have them in now."</p> + +<p>And Archie found himself in the midst of an editorial +conference, during which many things were discussed. The meeting +lasted more than two hours, and finally it was decided that +Archie should travel from New York to San Francisco, and go from +there to Manila on the army transport which was to sail on the +twenty-fifth of the month. This meant that he would have to leave +the city in two days' time, and Archie announced himself as quite +willing to do this, as he had few preparations to make. The +editors gave him many instructions about how he was to address +his correspondence, and how he should proceed in the event of +finding it necessary to send despatches by cable. And at the end +of the conference he felt that he knew all that he would need to +know, so that he could start off without fear of not being able +to fulfil his mission. As far as Archie could understand it, his +chief instructions as to duty were to the effect that he must +have as many experiences as possible of as many different kinds, +and that he must write about them in a perfectly natural way, +just as if he were writing a letter to the folks at home. And he +thought, of course, that this would be very easy to do.</p> + +<p>Mr. Van Bunting gave him a letter of credit for six hundred +dollars, which amount, he said, would probably be sufficient to +pay his expenses while he was in the Philippines, and he also +gave him a cheque for three hundred dollars, which was intended +to pay the expense of getting to Manila. "Of course," said Mr. +Van Bunting, "you can spend as much or as little of this as you +please, and if you need more, and we find that the venture is +paying us, why, we will send it on demand." Archie was so +overcome with the knowledge that he possessed nine hundred +dollars, that he could hardly thank the editor enough, and he +made up his mind that he would spend as little as possible of the +sum, and bring back part of it to Mr. Van Bunting upon his +return. He couldn't imagine how it would be possible for him to +spend so much money, and he felt that, after some of his +experiences since he left home, he ought to be able to economise +in many ways where other reporters wouldn't know how to save at +all.</p> + +<p>When the two days were up Archie had made all his preparation, +and was ready to leave New York for Manila. He had sent a long +letter home to his mother, telling her of his great good fortune, +and enclosing a cheque for a hundred dollars, which she was to +spend while he was gone. He told her that he would send her more +money from time to time, and felt very proud as he mailed the +letter. He told her, too, that if at any time she didn't hear +from him on time, she could write to Mr. Van Bunting, and he +would let her know of his whereabouts. This was something which +Mr. Van Bunting had very thoughtfully advised him to do. "Your +mother is sure to worry if the mails are overdue," he had said, +"and if she writes to me, I will always be able to tell her of +your whereabouts, for we can hear of you through our other +correspondents, if not from your own despatches." So Archie felt +that his mother shouldn't worry, since he was such a fortunate +boy in so many ways.</p> + +<p>The night before leaving he took a long farewell walk up +Broadway. Everything was bright with light, and there was, as +usual, a great crowd of pleasure-seekers on the sidewalks. It was +all as fascinating as ever to Archie, and he felt sorry that he +was to leave it so soon. New York had begun to grow on him, as it +grows on any one living there for any length of time, who is in a +position to appreciate the city's attractions. He felt that he +would almost rather be on Broadway than in the Philippines, but +of course he forgot this feeling when he remembered the +confidence which Mr. Van Bunting had reposed in him by sending +him upon such an important mission. So, after he had passed all +the bright theatres and restaurants, he turned down a quiet side +street and returned to his lodging, so that he might have a good +night's rest before starting on his long journey.</p> + +<p>At seven in the morning he was up again, and at nine o'clock +he was bidding farewell to his many friends in the editorial +rooms of the <i>Evening Enterprise.</i> Every one congratulated +him upon his great good luck in getting such a chance to +distinguish himself, and when they had done telling him that he +had a great future before him, Archie felt happier than ever +before in all his life.</p> + +<p>The train left the Grand Central Station at one o'clock, and +Mr. Jennings went with him to the station to see him well started +upon the journey. "You may be sure we are all much interested in +you, Archie," he said, as the train was leaving, "and we shall +look forward anxiously to your safe return." These words made +Archie very glad, for it cheered him to know that at least one of +the editors liked him for himself as well as for what he could +do.</p> + +<p>The Southwestern Limited seemed to fairly fly along the banks +of the beautiful Hudson, and everything was so delightful that +Archie could scarcely believe that only a week or two before he +had been walking along country roads, anxious to reach New York, +that he might become an office boy. Every thing in this train was +as perfect as modern ingenuity could make it, and there was no +lack of interesting things to be examined, when Archie tired of +the landscape. Then, when the train had been two hours out of New +York, he discovered that the famous president of this great +railway system was aboard, and, mustering up his courage, he +determined to introduce himself. He had long been anxious to see +this famous after-dinner orator and statesman, and here was a +chance which might not come soon again. So he went back to the +drawing-room, and found the great man to be quite as pleasant as +he was interesting, and Archie was asked to seat himself and tell +something about his experiences since leaving home. Everything he +said was listened to with great interest, and this distinguished +wit seemed to find many of the adventures very funny indeed. "You +have certainly had some wonderful experiences," he said, when +Archie had finished, "and I can appreciate your anxiety to leave +school. I had that desire myself when I was a boy of about +fifteen, but my father succeeded in making me change my opinion +on the subject, and without much argument, unless you can call an +ox-team and a stony pasture an argument. I had been asking to +stay at home from school for a long time. I said that I was too +old to be sitting there with a lot of girls and some younger +boys, and that I wanted to work. Finally, my father said that I +could stay at home if I cared to, and that he would let me work +on the farm for a time. I was overjoyed, of course, at the +prospect of staying out of school.</p> + +<p>"The next morning I was awakened at four o'clock, and had to +swallow my breakfast in a hurry, because I was late, my father +said. Then he took me out to the barn and ordered me to hitch up +the ox-team, and when this was done he took me out to a pasture +lot and told me to pick up all the boulders there. Well, I picked +up boulders all day long, and by evening my back and arms were so +sore I could hardly move them. I was too tired to eat supper, and +was soon asleep in bed. When my father awoke me at four the next +morning, I told him to let me alone and that I was going back to +school. After that I was content to stay in school, and said +nothing more about leaving until I had finished the course and +was ready to go to college."</p> + +<p>And Archie thought it very queer that such a famous man should +have had such experiences when a boy. He remained in the +drawing-room for more than an hour, and when he left he felt +perfectly sure that he had been talking with the most charming +man in the world.</p> + +<p>The train sped on and on, and when daylight came the next +morning they were passing through Northern Ohio. Early in the +afternoon they reached a great smoky metropolis, spread out for +miles over the plains. Archie knew that this must be Chicago, and +he decided, as this was Saturday, and the steamer wouldn't leave +San Francisco until the next Friday, that he would have time to +remain here over Sunday. So he left the train at the station in +Pacific Avenue, and, Finding a hotel near the station, he started +out to see something of the city famous for its dirt and for the +World's Fair, two widely different things.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIII.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>SAN FRANCISCO— THE TRANSPORT GONE— WORKING HIS WAY +TO HONOLULU BY PEELING VEGETABLES ON A PACIFIC LINER— THE +CAPITAL OF HAWAII.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>RCHIE</small> found Chicago to be so widely different +from New York that everything he saw was new and interesting to +him. In the afternoon he managed to see something of the +congested business section of the city, the tall office +buildings, the great stores, and the famous Board of Trade. It +was all very fine, he thought, but still it wasn't nearly so +fascinating to him as New York had been on the first day he +visited it. "Chicago seems so very much like some great town," he +explained to the hotel clerk in the evening. "I feel as if I were +not in a great city at all, because there are not the evidences +of a large and wealthy population that we have everywhere in New +York." Archie spoke of New York as if he had lived there always, +and found much to criticise in Chicago. But toward evening he +went up to Lincoln Park and the beautiful North Shore, and he +felt that there was nothing more beautiful in New York than this +magnificent park, and this handsome Lake Shore Drive, with its +great houses whose lawns reached down almost to the lake itself. +On the South Side of the city, too, he found some handsome +streets and residences, but there was always that feeling of +being in some rapidly growing town. It wasn't hard for Archie to +realise that there were older houses in his native town than +could be found anywhere in the great city of Chicago.</p> + +<p>The greatest difference between Chicago and New York was to be +noticed in the evening. Instead of the brilliantly lighted +thoroughfares of upper Broadway and Twenty-third and +Thirty-fourth Streets, he found but one street in Chicago which +was at all illuminated, and the illuminations there were chiefly +signs in front of dime museums. The streets, too, were not so +crowded, and Archie almost longed that he could be back on +Broadway, if only for a little while.</p> + +<p>On Sunday he found Chicago to be a more noisy city than he had +ever been in before on that day, and he found that the people +made good use of their one weekly holiday. All places of +amusement were open, and everything was running in "full +blast."</p> + +<p>The parks seemed to be very popular, indeed, and there were +numerous water excursions upon Lake Michigan, to Milwaukee, St. +Joe, and various other neighbouring cities. The street-cars were +crowded all day long, many of them taking people to a Sunday game +of baseball at the Athletic Park. All of this was very +interesting and very new to Archie, but it didn't make him +anxious to remain in Chicago any longer than Monday morning, so +on that day he took the limited train for the Pacific Coast, for +he had determined not to stop off again until he reached +Denver.</p> + +<p>Days of weary travel over a level, uninteresting stretch of +ground followed the departure of the train from Chicago, and had +not Archie found some interesting persons to talk with he would +have been very weary long before reaching Denver. As it was, he +managed to pass the time very pleasantly until the train entered +Colorado, and after that he found much that was new to look at +until he reached Denver. Here he remained for half a day, just +long enough to see something of the city and a little of the +neighbouring country. Then, taking a train for San Francisco, he +reached that city on Thursday afternoon, and immediately began to +make arrangements for sailing. He found, to his great +disappointment, that the army transport had sailed the previous +day, contrary to the expectations of the editors, and of the War +Department itself, until the arrival of important despatches from +Manila, which made it necessary to start the transport at once +with supplies of ammunition. Archie hardly knew what to do. He +had not anticipated anything like this, and could scarcely think +of any plan for a time, but, finally, he proved himself equal to +the emergency. He went to the naval agent and asked him when the +transport would be due at Honolulu, and then he ascertained that +a passenger steamer sailing for that port on Saturday would reach +the destination three days sooner than the transport, so that by +taking the liner he would have three extra days in Honolulu, and +would be able to reach Manila on schedule time, after all. He at +once decided that this was the thing for him to do, and as soon +as he thought of taking the steamer it occurred to him that he +might possibly be able to work his way to Honolulu, instead of +paying the regular passenger fare, which he knew was high. So he +went down to the great docks, and, after interviewing the second +steward, he approached the chief steward himself, and asked if +there wasn't something that he could do aboard the ship to earn +his passage. The chief steward was thoughtful for a time, and +finally said, "Well, yes, I believe there is. We haven't any one +to peel vegetables yet, and if you think you care to do that work +I guess we can fix you up all right." Archie didn't wait to +consider whether peeling vegetables was hard work or not. He was +too glad to have a position of any kind aboard ship to be +particular about what his work was like, so he told the steward +that he was willing to take the place. "Well, be on hand at about +eight in the morning, and we'll see that you get to +Honolulu."</p> + +<p>Archie was overjoyed at his good management. "I am going to +save about a hundred dollars," he said to himself, "and I will +have this money to send home to mother." The rest of the +afternoon and the evening he spent in going about San Francisco, +and he found it to be more like New York than any city he had yet +seen. There was the same cosmopolitan crowd on the main +thoroughfares, and the same foreign districts here and there +throughout the city. He found a great deal to interest him, +especially at the Presidio, where everything connected with the +army monopolised his attention. He made friends with many of the +soldiers who were waiting to be sent to the Philippines, and +hoped, on leaving, that he would meet some of them there, but he +hardly expected that he would meet some of them in such a strange +manner as it was his fate to do in Luzon.</p> + +<p>After a good night's rest he was on hand early at the great +steamer, where there was such a scene of bustle and confusion as +he had never seen before, not even in New York. There was a +throng of men with trucks who were loading the late freight, and +there was a constant din of noisy voices, which, combined with +the shrieks of escaping steam, made it impossible to carry on a +conversation. Archie hurried aboard to find the steward, who +immediately took him into the galley and introduced him to the +cook, a large, fat Frenchman, with small, blue eyes set far back +in his head. He seemed to be a pleasant man, and Archie thought +that he would like him very much.</p> + +<p>"Well, does ze youngster vant to vork, eh! Eef he do, I say +you pare zis potate for dinee as quick you can." And the fellow +pointed to a great bag of potatoes and a paring-knife. "Now you +sit zere in da corner," continued the cook, "and keep out uf my +vay." Archie found a stool and sat down, and, having brought an +apron with him, he put it on and began work. The cook watched him +closely, so that Archie soon learned to pare the potatoes very +nicely, and of course he was able to get along faster and faster +as he became more and more experienced. He managed, through great +effort, to get the bag finished in time for dinner, or luncheon, +as it was called on the bill of fare, and then he soon had to +begin on other vegetables, which were to be served at the more +complete evening meal. There were more potatoes, and some turnips +and apples as well, to be prepared, and it kept the boy busy all +the afternoon, cleaning as hard as he could, and never seeming to +get done. The cook urged him always to hurry, and seemed +determined to have everything ready on time. And Archie began to +realise that he was working under a rather severe master.</p> + +<p>He was again successful in getting the vegetables finished in +time for the evening meal, and then he had an idea that he might +be allowed to rest for awhile, but he soon realised his mistake. +He was advised to begin work on the potatoes for breakfast if he +didn't want to get up at two o'clock in the morning and pare +them, so once more he took up the knife and began to clean and +scrape. It was ten o'clock before he had finished, and he found +himself too tired to spend any time on the after-deck with the +crew, but went at once down into the small, stuffy room where he +was to sleep with some of the stewards. His back ached from +bending over, and his hands were all sore from being scraped.</p> + +<p>Things were not very pleasant in this bedroom, but poor Archie +was glad enough to be able to lie down on the hard straw tick and +go to sleep. He slept soundly until he was awakened at four +o'clock in the morning by the second cook, who ordered him +up-stairs to work. There was no time to wash, and no place where +he could wash, so the boy was obliged to go up just as he was, +much as he disliked doing so. And once up-stairs there were +various chores which were waiting for him in the galley, so that +he was kept running until breakfast was served. And then it was +time to begin paring vegetables again. This turned out to be the +invariable daily programme, and Archie became rather discouraged. +Had it not been for the thought that by doing this he was saving +money to send home, he would have been miserable indeed, but this +idea kept him hopeful. He was seasick, too, for a time, and was +obliged to keep cleaning vegetables in the galley during the +whole period of his suffering. The days when he was ill in this +way were the most disagreeable ones of the voyage, and Archie +often described afterward his feelings as he sat peeling potatoes +with a bucket standing beside him. Each night he slept like a +log, and each morning he was obliged to get up at four o'clock +and start work again. It was the same thing day after day, +tiresome and monotonous, so that Archie wasn't sorry when the +beautiful island hove in sight, and they anchored in the +picturesque bay of Honolulu.</p> + +<p>Once at Honolulu, Archie's term of service on board the liner +was over, and he was glad, indeed, to get ashore, where he +learned that the transport had not yet arrived, but was expected +in two or three days' time. These two or three days Archie +determined to spend in sightseeing, and he spent his time to +excellent advantage in visiting every quarter of Honolulu and +seeing every side of life in the Hawaiian capital. He found it a +delightful place. There was much that was interesting to see, the +people were pleasant to meet, and the climate was perfect. He was +almost sorry when he learned that the transport had anchored in +the bay!</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>THE VOYAGE ON THE TRANSPORT— A STORM AT SEA— +ARRIVAL IN MANILA.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>T<small>HE</small> transport did not remain long at Honolulu, +and before leaving Archie had several things which he wanted to +do. In the first place, he felt that he ought to write the story +of his experiences so far, and send it to Mr. Van Bunting; so he +did sit down and describe in detail his experiences at cleaning +vegetables on board the Pacific liner. He wasn't sure whether +this was anything that Mr. Van Bunting would care to print, but +he decided to send it on, anyhow. He would have been surprised +had he observed the enthusiasm with which this letter was read in +the <i>Enterprise</i> office a month later. He would have been no +longer in any doubt as to whether it was anything worth printing +had he read the <i>Enterprise</i> of the following day, when the +letter appeared on the second page as one of the chief features +of the paper.</p> + +<p>Before leaving, too, Archie sent a long, cheerful letter home, +saying nothing of his being seasick on board the liner, or of his +having had to work so hard. He devoted his letter to telling of +the many interesting things he had seen, and of his bright +prospects for becoming a successful newspaper man. He wrote a +shorter letter to Jack Sullivan, which was intended to be read to +all the members of the Hut Club, for Archie felt that it was no +more than right that they should know something of his success. +He found it very hard to realise, away off here in Honolulu, that +he had ever been a member of the club, and that he had ever lived +in tents behind the barn. He felt very manly now, and his boyhood +seemed far away behind him, so far away that he now felt like a +man of twenty-five rather than like a boy of eighteen. He was +beginning to realise that age is not always governed by years +alone, but that experience does much to make one old.</p> + +<p>As soon as the transport had anchored in the bay, Archie went +aboard to present his credentials to the commanding officer. He +found the general very pleasant to meet, and a very appreciative +listener as he told of his scheme for overtaking the transport. +The officer was surprised, of course, that such a young fellow +should be going to the islands as correspondent, but the things +he said were very encouraging to Archie, "I tell you what," the +general remarked, at one time during the conversation, "I believe +that a young fellow like Dunn, here, can find out a great many +more interesting things than an older man could ever discover. +You see the youngster has ambition and energy on his side, and +ambition and energy are two mighty powerful things when they're +combined. I'd hate to buck up against 'em myself." The other +officers agreed with the general in this remark, and Archie began +to feel that, after all, he might not have such a hard time +finding interesting things to write about as he had expected.</p> + +<p>The transport remained in port but one day, and in thirty +hours after her arrival Archie found himself sailing again over +the blue Pacific. The weather, for a few days, was almost +perfect. A cloudless sky overhead, a warm breeze from the west, +and a smooth sea made things very pleasant aboard ship, and +Archie began to realise that there are times when it is +delightful to be at sea. The vessel was very much overcrowded +with troops, and the sleeping quarters were but little more +pleasant than aboard the liner. Archie shared a stateroom with +three sergeants, and they managed to have a lively time during +the voyage. They played games, told stories, and slept in the +afternoons, but all this, of course, grew rather tiresome after a +time, and the voyage was becoming monotonous, when there came a +severe storm which kept things moving for three days.</p> + +<p>None of the navigating officers had expected a gale, so that +when it came every one was taken wholly by surprise, and it came +so suddenly that there was no time at all for preparation. The +sky became quickly dark one afternoon about three o'clock, and +soon the whole horizon was a mass of great black clouds, which +every moment seemed to come lower and lower until they directly +overhung the ship. There was great excitement aboard the ship. +Officers hurried here and there shouting orders to their men, and +the cavalrymen rushed about in a frenzy of haste, trying to +devise means to save their horses, most of which were stabled +upon the deck. Archie looked on in breathless interest, and was +surprised to find that he wasn't at all frightened. He even found +himself making mental notes of the scene, so that he could send +the story of it all to Mr. Van Bunting when he reached +Manila.</p> + +<p>There was but little time for rushing about, and it was soon +evident that the horses would many of them be lost, because there +seemed to be absolutely no way of saving them if the waves were +high enough to break over the bulwarks. The storm soon broke in +great fury, beginning with a fierce wind which swept the waves +before it. There was but little rain, and the waves rose higher +and higher with every minute, until the heavy ship began to roll +and pitch in a frightful way, so that the soldiers began to +think, some of them, that she would certainly sink. Finally the +waves were so high they dashed themselves over the decks, and no +one was allowed above the gangways. The cries of the poor horses, +as they felt themselves being washed overboard, were frightful to +hear, and many a trooper cried himself as he thought of his horse +foundering in the raging sea without. Before many minutes all was +as dark as night, though the watch pointed to but four o'clock, +and all lights were burning below deck. It was impossible to keep +a light above, for no lantern could burn in such a storm.</p> + +<p>The waves began gradually to subside at ten o'clock at night, +and a slow steady rain came, which soon calmed the sea to a great +extent. As soon as it was safe to go above deck, it was found +that more than a hundred horses had been lost overboard, and that +one mast had been carried away. Down below nearly every man was +in his bunk, for there was scarcely a person who was not seasick, +and most of them wouldn't have cared if the ship had gone down +with all aboard, such was their feeling of despondency. Archie +was as sick as any of the others, but was able to make notes of +occurrences just the same. And when he grew better the next day, +he wrote an excellent account of the storm to send to the +<i>Enterprise</i> on his arrival in Manila.</p> + +<p>After this rough weather experience, every man aboard was +anxious to reach port, and when, after many more days, the Bay of +Cavité was reached, a great cheer went up from a thousand +throats, for everyone was overjoyed at the sight of land.</p> + +<p>The transport came to anchor off the forts which had once been +Spain's, and it was announced that no one would be allowed to +land for two days, until advices could be had from Manila and the +interior of the island. This was very trying for Archie, being +obliged to sit on deck for two whole days, looking at a shore +which seemed very inviting, in spite of the general dilapidated +appearance of the various buildings and docks. Everything looked +different from anything he had seen before, and the boy felt that +he could hardly wait to be allowed to explore some of those +streets which were so narrow, and those houses which were built +in such a peculiar fashion.</p> + +<p>Finally, the permission came for the troops to land, and +Archie received the permission of the general to remain with them +as long as he wanted to do so. And as he had no other plans, the +young correspondent decided that it would be a good plan for him +to stay right with one of these regiments, for the time being at +any rate. He knew that they would be likely to be sent to the +front immediately, and the front seemed the place for him to +be.</p> + +<p>And then he was already acquainted with many of the men, and +with the colonel, and he realised that this would be an advantage +to him in his work. So he made his plans to keep with them.</p> + +<p>First they went to Manila, where they remained for a week. The +quaint old city was a veritable fairy-land of wonders to Archie, +who had never before been in a city so ancient, and here there +were so many unusual things to be seen. There seemed to be +absolutely no end to the winding streets, delightful old houses, +and interesting churches, and the boy spent many days in +exploring every corner of the island capital. The colonel warned +him several times that he must look out for robbers and other +suspicious characters, but Archie laughed at his fears. But the +colonel was right, as he found later on.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XV.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>ARCHIE STARTS OUT ON AN EXPLORING TOUR AND HAS SOME STRANGE +ADVENTURES AMONG THE NATIVES— SEIZED BY THE REBELS.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>T<small>HE</small> days passed very quickly in Manila. the +regiment was quartered in an old palace which had once been used +as a residence by the Spanish governors of the islands, and +Archie remained in the palace with them. There was very little to +do while they were there. Each morning there were anxious +inquiries for news from the front, but there was always the same +discouraging reply that no trace had yet been found of the +fleeing Aguinaldo. The men were gradually becoming disheartened +at the long wait, and there were frequent statements by the +officers that Aguinaldo would soon be caught if they were sent +out after him. The dissatisfaction with the general in command +grew stronger every day, and at last things reached a point where +there was very little loyalty and patriotism displayed among the +troops.</p> + +<p>The drilling was continued, however, by order of the colonel, +and every morning the troops marched out to a public square near +the palace, and went through the same old manoeuvres which they +had practised for months past. And it was harder for them to +drill each week. At first they were willing enough to work, for +there was then some prospect of their being able to use their +knowledge in a fight, but now it was beginning to seem that they +would simply remain in this old palace for a few months longer, +and then go back again to San Francisco. With this opinion in +their hearts, it is not to be wondered at that most of the men +became slouchy and careless in their manners and dress, or that +even the officers themselves became disgusted at the long wait +for marching orders.</p> + +<p>Things had been going on in this way for a long time, when +Archie made up his mind that it was time he was hustling about +and finding something to write about which would be interesting +to readers of the <i>Enterprise.</i> He had sent two articles +describing his life with the soldiers in the old palace, but he +knew that he ought to find something more exciting, and more like +his first articles. So, after much thought, he decided that a +good plan would be for him to take a little trip into the +interior of the island, to see whether he could find any traces +of the insurgents. The colonel had held all along for a month, +now, that the Filipinos were probably all about Manila, and still +he couldn't get the permission of the general in command to go +out and investigate the matter. The colonel figured that it would +be an easy thing for the insurgents to come as near to the city +as they cared to now, for Lawton and Wheeler were far away in the +interior after Aguinaldo, and the troops in Manila were quietly +drilling, and eating, and sleeping, with no thought of doing +anything else. This line of argument seemed very reasonable to +Archie, and he volunteered to go out and see if he could make any +discoveries. The colonel assured him that he would be in no +danger, even if he were caught by the rebels, for they would +never suspect a boy of Archie's age and size of being a spy. So +the lad felt no fear at all, and made what few preparations there +were to be made before starting. He secured a knapsack from the +commissary officer, and in this he placed what few belongings he +wanted to take with him, together with his note-books and some +provisions for the trip. Then he secured a small pistol, which he +carried in his hip pocket, and he was disappointed because the +colonel would not allow him to carry a rifle. And when he had +everything ready he said good-bye to his friends in the regiment, +and departed from the palace amid a multitude of cheers. At the +last moment the colonel tried to dissuade him from starting, for +fear he might meet with some accident, but Archie was determined +to make the attempt.</p> + +<p>It was his plan not to go farther than fifty miles in the +interior, for he thought that if he found no traces of the rebels +in that distance there would be little use in going farther into +the forest, for, it would be almost impossible to find them +there. So he set out gaily upon his trip of exploration, and +Archie couldn't remember when he had been so happy before, save +on that day when he first visited the office of the +<i>Enterprise.</i> This adventure was exciting enough to please +the wildest boy in America, and Archie could imagine how envious +the other boys would be if they could but know the trip he was +having. It had an official air to it, too, for had not the +colonel been most anxious, in the beginning, that he should go, +and did he not say that he would reward him handsomely if he were +successful in locating any of the insurgents, or in proving that +he had been right when he said they were near Manila? It was all +as perfect an adventure as Archie could have imagined. He could +not have planned a better one if he had been able to select any +trip he could think of.</p> + +<p>He planned that it would take him at least three days to walk +fifty miles, and perhaps longer, for the roads were not very good +in some places. He knew that he would find many villages and +towns along the way, too, for the island was thinly settled in +this neighbourhood. So if he were obliged to rest, he would never +be at a loss for a place to get a bed. Archie couldn't help +thinking, as he walked along the road outside Manila, this first +morning, that he might find a body of the insurgents in +possession of one of these towns. They were very bold, he had +heard, and they probably knew that there were no American troops +anywhere in the neighbourhood, outside the city of Manila itself. +And, knowing this, he knew they wouldn't hesitate to camp at the +very gates of the city, for they were marvellously successful in +getting away into the interior whenever an American force made +its appearance.</p> + +<p>As he thought of this possibility, Archie couldn't help being +a little fearful of what might happen to him should he fall into +the hands of the insurgents, and he began to wonder if he had not +been a little foolhardy, after all, in starting off on such a +wild-goose chase. "But I will have something new to send Mr. Van +Bunting about the interior towns," he said to himself, "and if I +am captured, why, I will have a great deal to write about when I +am released." This thought made the lad happy again, and he +trudged along the road with as much vim and energy as he had +displayed during those weary days when he was walking to New York +to make his fortune. And it was a much more interesting country +in which to walk than the New York State counties had been. The +vegetation was rich and luxuriant everywhere, palm-trees, vines, +and flowers growing in profusion all along the road. In every +dooryard, in front of every hut, there grew what seemed to Archie +a veritable fairy bower of the most richly coloured flowers in +existence. And they were growing, apparently, without +cultivation. He had seen nothing like them before, even in +California, and he longed to pluck some of them to send home, if +they had only been wax instead of nature's blossoms. As it was, +he kept his arms filled with them for awhile, but after a time he +grew tired carrying them, and was obliged to drop them by the +roadside.</p> + +<p>The country looked as if it might have been very prosperous at +one time. There were plantations laid out in excellent fashion, +and the soil seemed rich and fertile. But instead of growing +crops, and storehouses filled with spices and coffee, there was +desolation everywhere, and it was easy to see that the Spaniards +had determined to leave but little behind them for the Yankees. +Every other farmhouse and wayside hut was deserted, their +occupants having gone, apparently, to join Aguinaldo, and the +whole country, outside the towns, seemed to be wholly deserted +and left to grow up in weeds and tangled vines.</p> + +<p>The sun was warm, the sky was a perfect blue, and it seemed a +delightful day in every way. But it made Archie sad to walk +through a district which had been made so desolate, and he hadn't +walked many hours before he wished that he might soon reach a +town, where he could find some life, and where he could remain +overnight. For by the middle of the afternoon he was tired +walking, and made up his mind that fifteen miles was enough for +any one to do in one day. But he was obliged to keep on walking +for two hours longer before he reached a village, and the great +sun was just sinking behind the blue hills in the distance when +he entered the one main village street, which was long and +narrow, winding in and out among the cabins and huts, as if it +had been laid out after the houses were built, for the +convenience of the people. It was a poor excuse for a public +thoroughfare. There had probably been a pavement of some sort at +one time, but now the street was a mass of rubbish of every sort, +straw, dust, old bricks, and bits of stone being thrown together +in every rut, so that it was exceedingly difficult to walk along +with any comfort.</p> + +<p>There was no life visible in the settlement. Almost every hut +had its shades drawn at the windows, and there was absolutely no +one to be seen in the street. As he passed down the road, Archie +could catch occasional glimpses of black eyes staring at him +through a lattice, or he could hear some muttered word as he +walked close to a window. From these signs he knew that he was +observed, and he felt very much embarrassed as he continued his +walk down this deserted lane, for he felt instinctively now that +hundreds of eyes were watching his every movement.</p> + +<p>Finally, he came to the public square, and he sat down here to +look about him. From general appearances, he judged this to be a +town of some two thousand inhabitants, for there was a very +respectable administration building, and a good-sized church. +There were but two streets of any consequence, the one by which +he had entered the town, and another running at right angles in +the opposite direction. In this latter street, as he stood in the +square, he noticed a three-story structure with a sign outside, +and he decided to go there and make inquiries as to where he +might be able to secure a lodging for the night. It looked as if +it might be an inn of some sort, or at least a store, so he +walked rapidly up to the entrance and knocked twice upon the +door. This place, in spite of its sign, looked more deserted and +shut-up than any other building he had yet seen in the town, and +he wondered whether he would receive any answer to his knocks. It +was indeed a long time before he heard a sound within, but at +last there was some muttering inside, the door flew open, and +Archie found himself in the arms of three Filipinos, who threw +him upon the floor and bound him, hands and feet. It was all so +sudden that he had no time to cry out, and before he could say +anything at all he was thrown into a dark room, and the door shut +behind him.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVI.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>A PLEASANT CAPTOR— BRAVE BILL HICKSON ALLOWS ARCHIE TO +ESCAPE— FIRST GLIMPSE OF AGUINALDO.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>F<small>OR</small> a long time Archie lay still upon the +floor, being unable to move a muscle from the shock of his +encounter with the men, and because he was tightly bound with +ropes. And then he at last went off to sleep, feeling frightened +because he was in the hands of strange men, and a little +satisfied, too, because he was the victim of some adventure which +might turn out in a very interesting way.</p> + +<p>When he awoke, it was morning, and the light came into the +room through two small square windows, set high up in the wall. +Archie looked about the room with great curiosity, but found +little there to interest him. There was nothing to be seen but an +old bed without spring or mattress, and a rickety chair with but +three legs, which stood in one corner. The walls, he was +surprised to observe, were handsomely decorated with tapestries, +and Archie at once made up his mind that this had at one time +been a private dwelling-house, and had probably been owned by +some rich Spaniard who kept a store on the ground floor, and +lived in these rooms. The insurgents had probably driven the +family out of the country and had taken possession of the house, +which they had stripped of everything useful, leaving the +tapestries and works of art behind them.</p> + +<p>These suppositions were cut short by the entrance of a man who +appeared to be a half-breed, and who immediately began to speak +to Archie in broken English. The fellow had a pleasant face, and +presented a fairly good appearance, and Archie wondered how he +could have come to this place. "I suppose you have been +wondering," said the man, "why you have been thrown into this +room, and it won't take me long to explain things. You see this +town belongs to us just now, and we don't propose to have any +Yankee spies around here to tell Otis of our whereabouts. There +ain't no troops in this town now, but there's likely to be any +minute, and we patriots was sent here to take possession of +things and arrange quarters for our army. Let me tell you that +the Filipino army will be in this town to-day, and if you don't +look sharp you'll be the first prisoner to be shot. Aguinaldo +isn't a man to deal easily with spies, and if he thought you was +out here for that purpose he'd have you riddled with bullets in a +minute." The man came up to Archie and began to undo the ropes. +"I reckon I can trust you free for awhile, for there's no use in +your trying to get away, with the Filipino army all around the +town. Sit down there now, and I'll see that you get some +breakfast. You can tell, perhaps, that I ain't no Filipino, nor +never was one. I'm from Arizona, U. S. A., and I'm fightin' with +these rebels for what there is in it just now. I'm mighty curious +to find out how you come to be out in these diggin's, +youngster."</p> + +<p>Archie was willing enough to tell all about himself. He liked +this man, in spite of his being with the rebels, and he felt that +he would be able to make friends with him if he were careful to +do so. And the best plan seemed to be for him to tell all about +himself, how he happened to go to New York, and how he had been +sent out here as a boy correspondent for the <i>Enterprise.</i> +The man from Arizona listened to the recital with open mouth and +eyes, and he frequently laughed outright at some of the +experiences Archie described. When the narrative was finished, he +seized Archie's hand, and said, "My name's Bill Hickson, and you +can count on me after this fer a friend, youngster. I'll swan if +I ever heard tell of sich nerve in my life. I'll see that you get +out of this scrape all right, but you must be careful to keep up +appearances of being under guard. I'm a big-bug in this Filipino +shack, but I wouldn't dare to let you out openly. So you jist +kind of lay around and look despondent, and depend on me to make +things as easy for you as I can. You kin come down-stairs now, if +you like, and I'll present you to my friends. There don't none of +'em speak no English but me, and all I can do is to interduce +you, and tell 'em that you ain't no spy, and that you are very +sorry you ever ran up agin this here town. And I guess I'll be +expressin' your sentiments exactly, won't I?" Archie nodded, but +in his heart he felt that he wasn't sorry he had run up against +the town. This Bill Hickson, in himself, was a character worth +going miles to meet, and if what he said was true, Archie stood a +good chance of seeing the notorious Aguinaldo, with his army of +Filipinos, before the day was over.</p> + +<p>When he reached the lower floor, he found several men lounging +about in another poorly furnished room, and they were all similar +in appearance to the men he had seen at the door the night +before. They looked at him in an indifferent way, and didn't seem +surprised that he should be walking about without restraint. Bill +Hickson stepped up to some of them, and, after a few words in +some language Archie didn't understand, motioned for the boy to +step up. He was told to shake hands with "all the gents," and +after he had done so he was offered a cigar, and Archie began to +realise that it was a very good thing that he had a friend at the +Filipino court. He thought, too, that if these men were samples, +Aguinaldo had a very poor lot of retainers, and later on he +perceived the real cause for the failure of the rebels to do +anything more than keep up a constant retreat. It was plain to +see that the followers of the rebel leader were "in it for what +it was worth." They had no difficulty, any of them, in getting +enough to eat, and often they had opportunities to enjoy +themselves in great fashion by taking possession of some Filipino +village and ejecting the inmates of some particularly fine house, +with a well-stocked wine-cellar.</p> + +<p>In looking out of the window Archie perceived that the town +looked very different this morning than when he saw it the +evening before. Instead of drawn blinds and shuttered windows, +there was everywhere an evident attempt at decoration in honour +of the coming army. The streets were crowded with a throng in +holiday garb, and some of the soldiers of the rebel army had +already arrived, as they could be easily distinguished by their +ragged dress and ridiculous airs, walking up and down the street. +It was all such a scene as Archie had never seen before, and +would have made a great success as the scenario for a comic +opera. But as a welcome to an army, supposedly victorious, it was +a dismal failure, and Archie wondered what General Aguinaldo +would think when he entered the town and saw such shoddy +patriotism everywhere. He hadn't long to wait, however, before +seeing the famous rebel and the effect upon him of the +celebration in his honour. It was about ten o'clock in the +morning when he rode into the public square, followed by about +two hundred ragged Filipinos, armed with all sorts of guns and +pistols. Archie saw the arrival from the roof of the building +which was his mock prison, and he could scarcely refrain from +laughing outright when he saw the boasted Filipino "army." It was +the poorest excuse for a body of troops that he could +imagine.</p> + +<p>Aguinaldo rode a fine bay horse, as did several of his +followers, but by far the majority of the regiment, if such it +could be called, was afoot, and most of them were barefooted, +too. The rebel leader looked very much like most of his pictures, +with the exception that he had an older look, and some gray hairs +about the temples. He was attired in a gaudy uniform of some +sort, with epaulets and a Spanish general's hat, and he carried +himself with great dignity of manner. Dismounting from his horse, +he entered the administration building, where he held a +conference with the town officials, and probably made them pay +over whatever money was in the treasury "for the cause." He +remained within for two hours or more, and all this time Archie +stood upon the roof and watched the remarkable scene in the +streets below. The troops had scattered, and were engaged in +robbing the housewives of whatever they had in their houses to +eat. And the women seemed willing to provide them with whatever +they could afford, and there was much enthusiasm evident +everywhere. But the celebration was very quiet, in spite of the +friendly reception, There were no bands of music, no cheering, +and no singing of battle-hymns. The whole affair reminded Archie +of some camp of a section of the famous Coxey army, when he had +seen it long ago. The soldiers were no better dressed than +tramps, and there was but little more discipline among them.</p> + +<p>And the celebration and occupation of the town came to a +sudden end. While Archie stood upon the roof at noontime, he saw +a runner enter the administration building in great haste, and in +a minute Aguinaldo came hurrying down the steps. Then there was a +great commotion in the streets, and the two hundred followers of +the chief were seen assembled in the square, and before they were +all there the general was riding out of the town toward the +interior of the island. There was no noise, and the inhabitants +stood about apparently speechless, and wondering what had +happened. Their reception had come to an untimely end, and their +hero had left them unceremoniously. Soon the last of the +straggling troops were out of the town, and just as Archie was +beginning to think of going down from the roof Bill Hickson stuck +his head up and gave him some astonishing news. "Stay where +you're at, young feller, till these fool Filipinos gits away from +here. You saw how they skedaddled, didn't ye? Well, Uncle Sam is +comin' after 'em with shot-guns, and old Aggy heard the news just +in time. He is bound for the jungle, about forty miles southeast, +and he won't reach it until to-morrow night, anyhow, and if the +officers are quick they may be able to catch him. Now you stay +here, lad, and give 'em the news when they git here. They'll +thank you for it, and you may be the means of gittin' this fool +of an Aguinaldo captured. If you does, why, your future's all +right. And ye can tell the colonel, or whoever's in command, that +Bill Hickson is still with 'em, and that he's doin' his best fer +Uncle Sam, and tell 'em that Aggy has got about three thousand +troops altogether, but only about a thousand with him. Now, +good-bye, lad, and I hope I'll see ye again."</p> + +<p>And Archie saw brave Bill Hickson get down from the roof. He +brushed some tears from his eyes as he realised that here was a +brave soldier doing good work for his country. A moment later he +saw him running across the square with four of the Filipinos, and +waving his hat to the "youngster" as he went. He followed him +with his eyes as long as he could, and then he sat down and made +a solemn vow that Bill Hickson should be named among the heroes +of the war.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVII.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>ARRIVAL OF THE AMERICAN TROOPS— ARCHIE THE HERO OF THE +REGIMENT.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>RCHIE</small> descended from the roof, and found +everything below in a state of wild disorder. The fleeing rebels +had taken with them all they had time to get together, but in +their haste they had left behind many of their most useful +belongings. In a cupboard of the dining-room Archie found a +supply of food and wines sufficient to feed several people for a +week, so he supposed that it had been the intention of the +occupants of the house to remain for some days. The news that the +Americans were coming upset all their plans, however, and now, as +often before, they were obliged to flee before them, leaving +behind most of their creature comforts in the way of food and +furniture.</p> + +<p>"What a life they must be leading," thought Archie to himself, +"going from one place to another, constantly endeavouring to hide +from the Americans. Now in some town, now in the wilderness, and +again venturing as near as possible to the boundaries of Manila." +And he could scarcely help admiring their courage, or +recklessness, rather, in camping so near the head of the American +government, where they might expect to be caught in a trap at any +moment. But Archie realised, too, that such an army can get away +in a very short time, and he began to have serious doubts as to +whether the Americans would ever be able to capture Aguinaldo and +his men. For knowing the islands perfectly, and being able to get +from one point to another in the easiest and quickest way, the +rebels have a great deal in their favour.</p> + +<p>Selecting some canned beef and some native bread and cheese, +Archie managed to make a very good meal for himself, though he +ate hurriedly for fear some of the rebels might return. As soon +as he had finished he returned to his position on the roof, for +there he knew that he would be safe in case the building was +entered by the townspeople. From his high perch he looked down +into the streets, and was surprised to find them as quiet and as +much deserted as they had been the night before. The news of the +coming of the Americans had been effective in quieting the +enthusiasm of the morning, and all the townsfolk had again +entered their homes and put the shutters up before their windows. +One would have taken the place for a deserted village, judging +from appearances. But Archie knew that within the shuttered +windows and barred doors there were hundreds of people waiting +anxiously for the arrival of the American troops, and making +ready to come out, when required to do so, and again declare +their allegiance to the stars and stripes. The cowardly wretches +were diplomatic enough to be always on the side of the +victorious. When the rebels occupied the town they were loyal to +them, and when the Americans came, as they often did, they came +out into the square and cheered loudly for Uncle Sam. But of +course the Americans knew very well that their sympathies were +with the rebels, and the rebels knew it, too, or they would never +have dared to venture so near Manila.</p> + +<p>About five in the afternoon, there was a sound of many men +marching along the road, and in a little while Archie was able to +see the Americans coming down the street. It was a sight to cheer +his heart after all his experiences of the last day and night. +The column was marching at double-quick, and the handsome colonel +rode a great gray horse at the head of the regiment. Archie saw +that they would reach the square in two or three minutes, and, +throwing discretion to the winds, he descended from the roof, +almost fell down the stairways in his haste, and was soon running +toward the administration building. He mounted the great steps +leading up to the portico, just as the colonel rode into the +square, and the expression of surprise on the faces of all the +men was funny to see. In a minute every hat was off, and the +regiment was giving "three cheers for the boy reporter," while +the colonel, rapidly dismounting, hurried up to speak with +Archie.</p> + +<p>"Why, how did you come here?" he demanded. "Haven't the rebels +been here, and how did you escape them? Which way did they go, +and was Aguinaldo with them? For pity's sake, say something."</p> + +<p>Archie wasn't long explaining things, and his news was so +explicit and so valuable that the colonel grasped his hand and +said, almost with tears in his eyes, "God bless you, lad. You may +have aided us to catch the gang, and anyhow you've proved your +bravery."</p> + +<p>By this time the regiment was standing at ease, and all the +men were watching Archie and the colonel with great interest. +Knowing that they were all curious to learn how the lad happened +to have escaped the rebels, the good colonel made a short speech +in which he explained everything. He dwelt particularly upon the +bravery of Bill Hickson, and held him up as a model for all the +men to follow. "And now three cheers for Bill Hickson and our boy +reporter again," he cried, when he had finished, and they were +given with a will by all the men.</p> + +<p>The regimental officers held a short consultation, and it was +decided, on the strength of the news brought by Archie, to push +on after the rebels as fast as was possible. But it was now +sunset, and there was no use trying to go farther to-night, so it +was agreed that the best plan would be to give the men a good +rest overnight, as they had made the entire march from Manila +since five o'clock in the morning. "They will do all the better +to-morrow for the rest," said the colonel. Archie was valuable in +being able to guide the officers to the building where he had +been confined, assuring them that they would find everything +needful there in the way of food, and a place to sleep. Some of +the soldiers were quartered in various houses of the town, for +the people had soon turned out into the street again, and had +expressed their friendship for their "masters," as they called +them. Archie could hardly refrain from laughing as he saw some of +those who in the morning had bowed down to Aguinaldo vowing +everlasting allegiance to our flag, and he assured the colonel +that he couldn't be too careful while in the town to guard +against surprises. "No one knows the beasts better than I do," +was the answer. "I know they can't be trusted."</p> + +<p>Archie was invited to remain in the building with the +officers, and while they prepared and ate a lunch he busied +himself in writing a description of his last two days' +experiences. He knew that a messenger would soon start for +Manila, and that a boat would leave that city on the next day for +Hong Kong, so be wanted to get his narrative written in order to +send it to Mr. Van Bunting at once. He felt that he had some very +interesting things to write about, for it wasn't every +correspondent who had seen Aguinaldo, and had been captured by +the rebel army. He knew that most of them were content to remain +in Manila, and send only what they could get from the general in +command, and that this description of the rebels would be +something new, at any rate. So he wrote it very carefully, and +succeeded in getting it ready in time to send, so that it would +be in the office of the <i>Enterprise</i> in less than a month. +As he sat at the table writing, Archie thought of the great +changes which can take place in one's surroundings in a few +weeks. It seemed ages to him since the day when he left home for +the first time, and the experiences he had on his way to New York +seemed now to belong to the far-away period of his boyhood. He +was beginning to feel very old now, because he had been through +so much of late, and he could hardly realise that he was still +eighteen.</p> + +<p>He wrote a short note to his mother at home, telling her not +to worry, and assuring her that he was in good health and in no +danger whatever of being captured by the rebels, for Archie felt +quite safe after his experience with the insurgent leaders. He +knew that no one of their prisoners was ever likely to come to a +very bad end. They were far too slipshod in their methods of +holding prisoners. He was sorry not to be able to send a longer +letter home, but he knew that this note was much better than +sending nothing at all, and that it would make his mother very +happy to hear from him at all.</p> + +<p>The officers, when Archie returned to the dining-room, if such +it could be called, were engaged in making a very good meal from +the provisions in the cupboard, and they thanked Archie warmly +for leading them to such a good place. "By Jove," said one of the +captains, "we sha'n't want to return to Manila at all, when we +can get such grub as this is outside." But the colonel assured +them all that they needn't expect to find such accommodations +everywhere in the interior of the country. "No doubt we'll all be +living on plantains in a day or two, if we don't catch that fox +of an Aguinaldo. And I'm willin' to bet now that we won't find +him. That feller's too slick for us. He's proved it many a time +before."</p> + +<p>"And to think that he was here only this morning! The nerve of +him, to come within twenty-five miles of Manila!" said +another.</p> + +<p>"I'll be mighty well satisfied if we can catch a few of his +ragged men," continued the colonel. "That will be something to +have accomplished, anyhow, and more than some other regiments +have done, when they were sent after him. He's the cutest feller +I've heard of in a long while. If it wasn't for Bill Hickson we'd +never hear tell of him, even. He could enter Manila, I believe, +and go out again without us ever knowin' it at all."</p> + +<p>Archie was now called on to tell something of the rebel +leader's appearance, and how he had acted while in the town.</p> + +<p>"I didn't see very much of him," said Archie, "because he +spent most of the morning with the big-bugs of the town, over in +the administration building. But when he rode into town on his +horse he looked mighty dignified, though he fell some in my +estimation when I saw him standing up. He looked rather dumpy +then. He carried himself with a lot of dignity, a little more +than was becoming, I thought, and he received the cheers of the +people as a matter of course, and hardly took the trouble to +acknowledge them, even by a bow. The officers of the town treated +him with great deference, and I guess there's no doubt but what +the Filipinos look upon him as their leader."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's no doubt of that," said the colonel. "We've +learned that long ago. They stand up for him whenever he needs +them, and they give him all they've got to help carry on the +war."</p> + +<p>The meal finished, the officers smoked awhile, and then went +to bed, for they were to be up at four in the morning.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>THE MARCH AFTER THE REBELS— THE FIRST BATTLE— +ARCHIE WOUNDED.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>RCHIE</small> was awakened at four the next morning by +the sound of the bugle, and, hastily dressing, he hurried +down-stairs to learn the plans of the officers. He found that +they were going to start on the march as soon as the men had +drunk their morning coffee, and Archie immediately made +preparations to go with them. The colonel looked on in amazement. +"Why are you packing your knapsack!" he asked. "You surely don't +think you're going with us? You never in the world can stand this +hard march in the hot sun."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I think I can," said Archie. "You see I have walked +a great deal in these last two months, and I don't think I will +have any difficulty in keeping up with the troops. And I do so +want to see some fighting, and to learn whether you capture +Aguinaldo. You don't object to my going, now, do you?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the colonel. "If you think you can stand the +marching, and are so anxious to come, why, I suppose you can do +so. But you mustn't blame me if anything should happen to +you."</p> + +<p>Archie was ready enough to promise this, for he had no idea +that he would meet with an accident of any kind, and so he +continued to pack his things in the knapsack. The rebels had +emptied everything in a corner, and had evidently intended taking +the knapsack with them when they went; but they left so hurriedly +they couldn't possibly think of everything, and so had left it +behind, much to Archie's relief, for he would have been unable to +secure another one anywhere outside Manila. In a very short time +the regiment gathered in the streets immediately about the +square, and soon the men were marching out of the town, much to +the gratification of the residents, who watched them from their +roofs and windows. Archie fell in at the head of the column, and +found no difficulty in keeping up with the soldiers near him, +though they were marching at a rapid rate.</p> + +<p>The town limits were soon passed, and they swung into the +white country road, which presented the same scene of desolation +which had been everywhere visible to Archie on his way from +Manila. The farm-houses were nearly all deserted, and there was +but little attempt at cultivating the soil, which would have been +productive enough had it not been overgrown with tangled vines +and weeds. And as they went farther into the country the +wilderness increased, until at last the road itself was filled +with growing vines, and the men had difficulty in walking. Every +little while some trooper would fall headlong, tripped by some +vine, and the others would laughingly help him up before passing +on. These little incidents did much to enliven the march, which +became monotonous after the first six or seven hours, and Archie +appreciated the mishaps very much until he took a few tumbles +himself. He was usually, much to the amusement of the officers, +marching at the very head of the regiment, and "setting the +pace," he said, so that he was more likely to trip than any of +the others. He was always the first to discover a snake in the +road, too, and kept a great stick with which to kill them. He +seemed to have no fear of them, but walked up to lay them out, +and on one occasion the colonel warned him just in time or he +would certainly have been bitten by a snake whose bite is certain +death. This experience made him more careful, but he still kept +his place at the head of the regiment, and came to be called the +mascot by the men.</p> + +<p>At noon the regiment halted at a grassy spot, where there were +trees, and made their dinners from their knapsacks. The officers +warned them to go carefully, or they would find themselves +without provisions before returning to Manila, for they had been +so sure of catching the rebels at the town behind that they had +neglected to bring along many supplies. Now, of course, they +didn't know how long it would take them to find them,— two +days at least, and probably longer.</p> + +<p>Archie had stocked his knapsack with some food from the old +headquarters in the town, so that he felt safe for a few days, at +any rate. He ate carefully, however, and was careful not to waste +anything, for he realised that he might be called upon to aid +some of the soldiers before long,</p> + +<p>Dinner over, the regiment marched on again, for the officers +now began to think that they had made a mistake in not pursuing +the fleeing rebels the night before. They met several Spaniards, +who told them that Aguinaldo had marched all night long without +stopping, so that he was now at least thirty-six hours ahead of +them, and some of the men began to be discouraged, saying that it +was no use following him up with such a small force. "Other +regiments have tried to find him in this way, and none of them +have succeeded," said one of the privates to Archie. "They keep +us marching for three or four days, and finally they decide to +return to Manila, without having found any trace of the rascal +beyond hearing that he had passed this way or that."</p> + +<p>The officers couldn't depend upon what the natives told them +of Aguinaldo's movements, for, almost without exception, they +were in his favour, and always lied to the Americans to try to +throw them off the track. It was due to this that they proceeded +very cautiously, and still, notwithstanding their extreme care, +they found themselves, when night came on this first day, in a +small village where no one had seen anything of the rebel army. +There was no denying the fact that they were off the trail, and +the colonel stormed about in a terrible way when he learned of +their mistake. There was no use going back in the dark to hunt +for a trail they had mistaken in the daylight, so the regiment +remained in the village overnight. They were a lot of very +discouraged men, and the officers were enraged at the mistake, +for which there was no one but themselves to blame.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning they retraced their way, and started off +in an opposite direction to the one taken yesterday. It seemed +that this must certainly be the path taken by the rebels, but the +regiment marched until nearly noon without seeing any signs of +them. Then, when they had halted for dinner, the colonel decided +to let the men rest while two companies were sent ahead to +reconnoitre, and report as to whether there were any signs of men +having passed this way. He was beginning to think that the whole +affair would be a wild-goose chase, and he decided that, if these +companies found nothing, the whole regiment would return to +Manila forthwith, probably to be the laughing-stock of the army +there.</p> + +<p>The remaining companies had nothing to do now but lay about on +the soft grass, and rest. They were encamped in a stretch of +grassy loam in the midst of what appeared to be a dense forest, +and all about were evidences of the great fertility of the soil. +The vegetation was so dense that one could scarcely see through +it, and the glade was cool and pleasant, though overhead the sun +was shining as warm as ever. It was a lovely oasis in a +wilderness of undergrowth, and the men enjoyed it to the +utmost.</p> + +<p>About three in the afternoon the sound of firing was heard in +the distance. First there was one shot, then another, and several +more at rapid intervals. Archie was one of the first to jump to +his feet, but in a second every man was at attention, with his +musket in his hands. The colonel listened closely for two +minutes, and then the firing began once more, and this time it +seemed nearer. He hesitated no longer, but gave the order to +march ahead. "They've evidently found the cowards at last," he +muttered to Archie. "You stay here, where you will be out of +danger." But Archie was determined to do nothing of the kind. He +felt his pistol safe in his hip pocket, and when the companies +swung out of the forest and into the road he was marching in his +old place at the head of the column. Again the colonel ordered +him to remain behind, but Archie insisted that he would not, +"Then go to the rear," cried the colonel, angry for the moment. +"I will not have you shot down by a rebel sharpshooter the very +first one." And Archie knew that he would have to obey.</p> + +<p>The column went ahead at double-quick, and finally broke into +a steady run. Every minute the noise of rifle-shots sounded +nearer, and it seemed probable that the two companies were +retreating before the insurgents. The men were wild to reach the +scene of the firing, and the officers had all they could do to +keep them in line. All the time they were running hardly a sound +was heard save the noise of their boots upon the soft earth, and +they all knew that they could probably take the insurgents by +surprise.</p> + +<p>Archie's heart was beating very hard as they drew nearer and +nearer to the scene. He felt that he was about to see his first +fighting, and he determined not to miss any part of it. So he +gradually ran ahead until finally he was almost at the head of +the column again.</p> + +<p>The troops made so little noise that the two companies, +retreating slowly, were upon them without knowing it. But when +they discovered that their comrades had come to their aid they +set up such a cheering as Archie had never heard before, and +immediately faced about and went ahead again. The rebels were +about a quarter of a mile behind, marching rapidly forward, and +firing as they came. Some of them were running among the trees at +the roadside, firing incessantly, and hitting some poor soldier +almost every time they fired. They were the famous sharpshooters, +of whom the soldiers in Manila had heard so much.</p> + +<p>When the rebels observed that the Americans had received +reinforcements, they halted suddenly, and before they could turn +about the Yankees were almost upon them, firing volleys into them +as they came. Many of the insurgents fell in the roadway, and the +others fled wildly in every direction. Most of them entered the +dense forest, where the Americans captured nearly a hundred of +them after the others had surrendered, and some were such good +runners that they escaped down the roadway. The whole rebel army +presented a scene of wild confusion. Some of the men knelt and +begged for mercy, and some cried out in a horrible way as they +saw the dreaded Yankees advancing. But it was all over very soon. +The prisoners were placed in line, and marched back along the +road, and the dead, of which there were about fifty, were soon +buried. Aguinaldo had escaped in the forest, and no one suggested +that he should be followed. All the officers knew that such a +course would be useless, and most of them were very well +satisfied with what had already been accomplished. The prisoners +numbered more than six hundred, and the dead a hundred more, +while there were about seventy-five wounded. So if what Bill +Hickson said were true, not more than two hundred insurgents +could have escaped.</p> + +<p>Among the seriously wounded was a man whom Archie recognised +immediately as one of his captors of two days previous, and while +he was looking over the bodies for the other men, he came +suddenly to brave Bill Hickson, lying face downward in the road. +He almost screamed with fear that he might be dead, and when one +of the men hurried up to him he told him who the man was. The +colonel was soon on hand, and it was found that the brave spy was +not seriously wounded, and would recover soon under proper +treatment.</p> + +<p>When the insurgent wounded were cared for, it was discovered +that the two companies sent out to reconnoitre had also suffered +losses, and when they marched back along the line of their +retreat no less than five dead and about twenty wounded were +found. This sad news threw a gloom over the entire regiment, and +when they started back to Manila they marched in quiet, and +without rejoicing over their victory, which had proved so +costly.</p> + +<p>Poor Archie, when they started to march, found, to his great +disgust, that he was so weak he couldn't walk far, and he thought +this must be due to the fright he had received. He was very angry +with himself, until the surgeon examined him and announced that +he had a bullet in his arm. And then Archie confessed that he had +felt a stinging sensation at one time during the firing, but had +thought nothing of it. Now his disgust was turned to great +delight, for the idea of being wounded in battle was glorious to +his mind. "I'll bet I wounded more than one insurgent," he told +the surgeon, "for I discharged every barrel of my revolver." The +wound was not at all serious, but he was told to be quiet for a +few days. He was given one of the rebel horses to ride back to +Manila, and he felt like a real hero in many ways.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIX.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>RETURN TO MANILA— IN THE HOSPITAL— CONGRATULATED BY +ALL— WRITING TO THE PAPER OF HIS EXPERIENCES.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>I<small>T</small> took the regiment much longer to march back +to Manila than it had taken it to follow the rebels, for the +wounded of both sides had to be carried, and the arrangements for +carrying them were very imperfect. Fortunately, most of them were +able to ride horses, and the officers were successful in securing +wagons enough to carry most of the others, but there were about a +dozen who could neither ride horses or lie in wagons, but had to +be carried on stretchers all the time. Of course this was slow +work, and the officers were glad enough when they reached the +town with the three-story building. Here they found things very +much as they had left them, two days before, save that the +inhabitants were more abject than ever to them, now that they had +captured most of the rebel force.</p> + +<p>It wasn't an easy matter to find quarters for so many men, and +some of the Filipinos were obliged to camp in the public square +overnight, while the wounded and ill were given beds in the +various houses of the town. The inhabitants were required to +furnish food, too, for the Americans were entirely out of almost +everything. They still had some hardtack, but of meat and coffee +there was none. The people of the town pretended to be very glad +to serve their "masters," but every one knew that the natives +would be only too glad of a chance to cut the throat of every +Yankee soldier.</p> + +<p>The officers again occupied the old building which they had +used during their former stay, and Archie was invited to share it +with them, for they expected to rest in this town over the next +day, before proceeding to Manila. The men's uniforms and +equipment generally needed cleaning and repairing, and the +colonel was anxious for them all to appear as well as possible +when they returned victorious to the island capital. So the next +day was spent in cleaning and washing, and by evening most of the +soldiers looked as if they had never left Manila. Then came a +surprise for every one, for into the town marched a regiment of +militia from Manila, sent out to see whether the first regiment +needed reinforcements. They set up a great cheer when they +learned that most of the rebel force had been captured, and the +night was spent in a celebration of the great event. A band was +scraped up in the town, the great hall of the administration +building was thrown open, and there was dancing and music until +an early hour in the morning. All the belles of the town turned +out to welcome the soldiers, hypocrites that they were, and they +danced with their enemies as readily as they would waltz with +their own dear Filipinos. Every one seemed to have a good time, +and the soldiers went to bed just in time to get three hours' +sleep before starting for Manila in the morning.</p> + +<p>It was a great sight to see the two regiments, with the +prisoners, march out of the town at five the next morning. They +made a fine appearance in their well-brushed uniforms and bright +equipment. The townsfolk watched them out of sight, and then most +likely cursed them for a lot of vagabonds, but the soldiers +didn't mind their curses. They were all very happy at the +prospect of getting back to Manila again, and no one was more +glad than Archie. He had somewhat recovered from his wound now, +and rode in his old place at the head of the column, where he was +the centre of interest to every one. The men congratulated him on +having proved such an excellent mascot, and he laughed and talked +with them until he was tired.</p> + +<p>The outskirts of the city were reached about five in the +afternoon, and as they marched through the streets to +headquarters a band of music preceded them, playing popular and +patriotic airs. The sidewalks were crowded with people, and +Archie felt happier than for a long time, because every one was +curious to know who that boy could be riding at the head of the +troops, alongside the colonel. He was known to most of the other +troops in Manila, and received many a cheer from them as they saw +his arm in a sling, and when they finally reached the general's +headquarters, he was honoured with a handshake and the +congratulations of the commander himself. This was the climax to +a very happy day, and Archie went to bed in his little old bunk +feeling that he was a very lucky boy for having been wounded in +battle.</p> + +<p>Of course the next few days were very busy ones for all the +men, and for Archie, too. He was obliged to tell, over and over, +the story of his experiences, and how he had managed to escape +from the rebels when they had him. This story always made the men +roar with laughter, and increased their already strong contempt +for the Filipino army. He told, too, about brave Bill Hickson, +and that gentleman's cot was always the centre of an admiring +throng of visitors, who shook his hand and told him how proud +they were of what he had accomplished. And all the poor hero +could do was to smile feebly, for he was still too ill to talk +much.</p> + +<p>Archie felt that he had almost volumes to write about his +experiences in battle, and he did send a very long account of +this encounter to Mr. Van Bunting. It was written in his boyish +way, but one of the officers who read it said that it was the +best thing of its kind he had ever read, so he wasn't at all +backward about mailing it. All the other newspaper correspondents +in Manila were wishing they had gone with the regiment and +witnessed the battle, but they had stayed in Manila, thinking +that this would be like the other expeditions of the kind, a mere +wild-goose chase, which wouldn't amount to anything at all. They +were all very anxious to get the details of the affair from +Archie, but he was shrewd enough not to tell them anything of +value. And the other correspondent of the <i>Enterprise</i> in +Manila insisted that Archie should send a cable message +describing the affair, as well as a written account, and this he +finally consented to do. The correspondent added a long account +of Archie's personal bravery, how he had been wounded, and how he +had ridden back to Manila at the head of the column. Archie would +have been very much embarrassed had he known this, for he was +still modest, but the first thing he knew of it was from a letter +he received a few weeks later from Mr. Van Bunting, +congratulating him on what he had accomplished, and telling him +that he had long since more than earned his six hundred dollars. +But for weeks he was ignorant that any one in New York knew of +his being wounded.</p> + +<p>The days now began to pass as before in the camp at Manila. +The wound in Archie's arm was healing slowly, but he was hardly +able to use that member for a month or six weeks. Bill Hickson +did not fare so well. He lay for weeks on his cot in the hospital +building, and was hardly strong enough, for awhile, to talk. He +was improving slowly, but the doctors said it might be two months +before he was able to walk about and take his former active part +in the campaign against the insurgents. This enforced quiet was +very trying to the brave man, and Archie spent many hours reading +to him, and telling of various things he had learned at school +and elsewhere. This constant companionship served to strengthen +their already close friendship, and it was soon known among all +the troops that Bill Hickson and the boy reporter were +inseparable. And every one who knew the story of their +experiences looked upon them as the two chief heroes of the war +so far, because as yet there had been few feats of bravery in the +desultory campaigning against the rebels. General Funston had +swum the river, of course, but many held that not even that feat +compared with the bravery of Bill Hickson in serving as a spy +under Aguinaldo's very nose. The more people heard about his +experiences, the more remarkable they thought him to be, until at +last he was by far the most popular man in the army at +Manila.</p> + +<p>Archie sent many interesting letters to Mr. Van Bunting, +telling of the adventures of the brave spy, and one day he +received a cablegram telling him to send at least one of these +letters by every steamer, for people had become interested in +hearing about him. So for some time Archie wrote about Bill +Hickson rather than about himself, and was glad of the +opportunity to do so. He knew that if a letter were published +every week or two in the <i>Enterprise</i> Bill Hickson would +soon be famous, and this was something he was very anxious to +accomplish. He felt that no fame could be too great for such a +man, and no praise too strong.</p> + +<p>The commanding general decided, about this time, to begin a +more active campaign against the insurgents. It was now the month +of December, and with the beginning of the new year he wanted to +inaugurate a series of attacks against them in every part of the +islands. He was beginning to feel the criticisms of the papers at +home, and of the newspaper men at Manila, and he felt that +something must be done immediately to retrieve his lost +reputation for active fighting. Every one, as soon as this +announcement was made, wondered what plan would be pursued to +worry the rebels into submission, for it was now generally agreed +that the Americans would hardly be able to capture the whole +rebel army. It was too evident that they were familiar with +numerous hiding-places in the islands. The only thing to do +seemed to be to prevent their getting supplies, and to drive them +from one point to another, hoping that they would become +discouraged in the end and submit to the inevitable.</p> + +<p>So far the campaigning had consisted chiefly of such +expeditions as that accompanied by Archie, and most of these had +returned to Manila without having even seen a rebel soldier. It +was not surprising, then, that the general was becoming +discouraged, and that he was anxious to try a new policy.</p> + +<p>No one knew what the new plan would be until one day several +cruisers and gunboats made their appearance in the harbour. There +had been no war-ships at Manila for several weeks, and every one +was surprised that so many should arrive at once. There were +rumours of a German onslaught, and also gossip saying that Japan +had decided to interfere, but all these were set at naught when +the general announced that the war-ships were to be sent around +the islands to bombard the rebel villages, and to drive the rebel +troops to the interior of the islands, where it would be hard for +them to receive supplies.</p> + +<p>This news made Archie very happy, and a plan at once occurred +to him. Why shouldn't he and Bill Hickson be allowed aboard a +cruiser? It would be the best thing possible for their health, +and he set about getting the necessary permit from the +admiral.</p> + +<p>Bill Hickson was able to be about now, and he was overjoyed +when Archie said he thought they could arrange to go. "I'd like +nothing better than a voyage in the good salt air. I believe it +will do me more good than a month in the hospital," he said. +Archie secured a very strong letter from the general, and one day +he stepped aboard the flag-ship in the harbour. He had no +difficulty in seeing the admiral, and found him to be a very +pleasant man to talk with. He read the letter carefully, and then +shook Archie cordially by the hand. "Yes," he said, "I've heard +of you, and of your friend, too. Every one in Hong Kong knows how +you two together bearded old Aguinaldo in his den, and robbed him +of most of his troops. It did me good to read about it in the New +York papers, too, and to know that you are both getting your just +measure of credit for the achievement."</p> + +<p>Archie blushed, and assured the admiral that he didn't do very +much, that it was all owing to Bill Hickson's bravery. "Oh, yes, +I know," laughed the admiral, "you lay it to him, and he will +most likely give you the credit. I've seen your kind before. But +I like you all the better for your modesty, lad. Of course you +and your friend can have a berth aboard ship, and aboard the +flag-ship, too, where I can see you both very often. You can come +aboard whenever you wish, and stay as long as you like."</p> + +<p>Archie could hardly thank the good officer for his kindness, +and hurried back to Manila. He found Bill Hickson waiting for him +at the wharf, and they rejoiced together over the good news.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XX.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>AROUND THE ISLAND ON A WAR-SHIP— BOMBARDING A FILIPINO +TOWN.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>I<small>T</small> was early one morning that Bill Hickson and +Archie went aboard the flag-ship, but all hands were on duty +there, and the gallant cruiser was raising anchor preparatory to +sailing off on her errand of pacification by means of shell and +shot, The two newcomers were assigned a pleasant stateroom where +they would not be far from the cabin of the admiral himself, and +where they could step out of their door upon the quarter-deck, +and get all the fresh air they needed. It was a very comfortable +place, with two soft bunks, and every convenience usually found +aboard the fastest ocean liner. When the fellows saw it first, +they could hardly believe it could all be for them, but the +officer assured them that it had been given them by the admiral's +own orders. So there was nothing for them to do but accept the +kindness, and to settle themselves down to having just as +pleasant a time as possible during the coming weeks at sea.</p> + +<p>It was generally understood that the cruiser was to make a +complete tour around the island of Luzon, investigating every +suspicious port, and shelling towns when such action proved +necessary to convince the rebels of Uncle Sam's superiority. The +voyage was expected to occupy nearly a month, for there was no +reason for them to hurry, and the admiral said he would like to +take things easy.</p> + +<p>Neither Hickson nor Archie had ever before been aboard a +war-ship, and they both found much to interest them during the +first few days at sea. Every movement of the crew, every action +of the ship, was of great moment to them, and they found no lack +of entertainment in examining the great guns and the equipment of +the vessel in the way of firearms and ammunition. Archie became +much interested, too, in the science of navigation, and spent +much time with the captain on the bridge, or with the pilot in +the lookout, learning as much as possible about how the movement +of the vessel is controlled. Before long he had mastered the +rudiments of the art, and the captain told him that he might some +day make an excellent navigator if he continued to take as much +interest in the charts as he did now. And Archie told him that he +was determined to master as much as possible of the business +during the voyage. Before he returned to Manila he knew more +about it all than even the captain would believe he knew, and the +knowledge was very valuable to him in days to come.</p> + +<p>The two visitors aboard took their meals at the officers' +table, and they kept the whole party interested for many days, +with their stories of the war in Luzon and of their very unusual +adventures both at home and in the Philippines. For it turned out +that Bill Hickson had visited almost every part of the United +States, and had lived in all sorts of places. He had been a +cowboy in Texas, and a miner in the Klondike, and he had also +been a policeman in Chicago. He knew more stories to tell than +any other man at the table could think of, and he told them in a +way that was wholly charming.</p> + +<p>Archie found that every one was very much interested in +hearing about his leaving home, and how he had happened to become +a reporter on the New York <i>Enterprise.</i> No one seemed to +tire of listening to his stories of his adventures in the great +American city, and many of the officers told him that they would +give a good deal to have had his experiences in life.</p> + +<p>And so it wasn't long until the two chums were friendly with +all on board, and after awhile things went along as though Archie +and Bill had never lived elsewhere than aboard ship. There was +nothing exciting for nearly a week. The cruiser steamed slowly +along the shore, sometimes stopping entirely, while the officers +levelled their glasses upon the beach, to see whether there were +any signs of the rebels being there. Sometimes, if things looked +suspicious, parties were sent ashore to reconnoitre, but they +seldom returned with news that would encourage the admiral to +investigate further. The days passed quietly, and the two +convalescents enjoyed themselves well enough. They were both much +improved already by the trip, and felt almost as well as ever. +They each had a steamer chair, and hour after hour they sat upon +the deck and watched the ever-changing panorama of the tropical +shore. Now the beach would descend slowly to the sea, and there +would be numerous palm-trees and luxuriant vegetation growing +close within view, but again there would be steep clips, which +looked menacing to a ship in the dark. But it was all beautiful, +cliffs or sandy beach, and Archie thought he had seldom passed +such a wholly delightful week.</p> + +<p>But, of course, it all became monotonous in time, and every +one, even the officers, longed for a change. The reconnoitring +parties were sent out more frequently now, and every one hoped +each time that they would return with news of the rebels, but +they were always disappointed. The admiral now determined to +steam ahead more rapidly, so that they might get around the +western end of the island. It was evident that there were no +insurgents along this shore, and as there were no villages of any +consequence, either, he was anxious to reach the southern shore, +where it was known the rebels had recently been gathering. The +towns, too, were very numerous here on account of the excellent +fishing, and it was hoped that some good work might be +accomplished for Uncle Sam before another week passed.</p> + +<p>Subsequent events soon proved the wisdom of the admiral's +plan. The cruiser, it seemed, had no sooner rounded the western +point than signs were visible of rebel activity ashore. It was +one Tuesday morning that a village was sighted, built around a +narrow inlet of the sea. When the binoculars were levelled upon +this harmless-appearing settlement, it was soon perceived by the +admiral that there were soldiers in the streets with the rebel +uniform, and that the insurgent flag was flying from the +administration building in the village square. All this was just +what had been expected, and there was great rejoicing aboard the +cruiser. Every man, without exception, almost, was anxious to be +one of a party to be sent ashore to attack the rebels, but the +admiral hesitated before sending any one at all. "It is +impossible to tell from here," he said, "how numerous the rebels +are, and it is quite possible that they may have a large force of +men in the village. If the appearance of the streets is any sign, +there must be quite a force of them in the place." But every one +laughed at the very idea of there being a rebel company of any +consequence in the place, and the admiral was finally prevailed +upon to send a boat ashore, armed with thirty men.</p> + +<p>"Remember," he said, "if you come to grief, that I advised +against this venture. Don't be too bold, or risk too much, for +though I can shell the place, that won't help you any, once you +are captives."</p> + +<p>But every one was anxious to be one of the party in the boat, +and the officers had a hard time making selections. "You can go, +Archie, because you're a correspondent," said the captain, "and +you can go, Mr. Hickson, because you're a brave man," and then he +continued to pick out men until the required number was secured. +Of course there were many disappointed ones left aboard the +cruiser, but the captain assured them that they might have their +chance yet.</p> + +<p>The boat was soon off, and it was noticed that there was great +excitement ashore as soon as the departure was observed. All the +inhabitants, it seemed, were gathered upon the beach, anxiously +awaiting developments. They seemed to be absolutely ignorant of +what the presence of a war-ship in their harbour meant, and were +apparently not at all anxious as to the outcome of this visit. +One of the men told Archie that they had probably never seen a +war-ship before, and that they wouldn't know a cannon at all. +"But we'll let them know the meaning of our presence," declared +the sailor, "if they shoot at us." The boat drew every minute +nearer the shore, and it was soon perceived that there were many +soldiers among the crowd on the beach. Every one thought it +remarkable that they should be so quiet, but not one of the +natives made a move until the boat was within two hundred feet of +the shore. Then one of the rebel soldiers suddenly raised his +rifle and fired at the boat. The lieutenant in command stood up +in the boat and gave the order to return the fire, and a perfect +volley of shot was poured into the crowd, which immediately +scattered in every direction. The rebel soldiers, however, seemed +determined to stand their ground, and they were so numerous, and +kept up such a steady fire, that it was deemed best to return to +the cruiser, which was signalling for this action on their part. +So the boat was turned about as quickly as possible, and the +sailors pulled for the cruiser, amid the derisive yells of the +Filipinos, who had gathered again upon the beach. The rebel +soldiers continued their firing, but were such poor marksmen that +but three of their shots took effect. One sailor was shot in the +arm, another in the side, and still another was shot in the leg +as he stood up to take aim at the rebels. None of these wounds, +it was afterward discovered, were at all serious, though they +were enough to arouse the anger of the entire crew.</p> + +<p>When the boat reached the cruiser again, preparations were at +once begun for bombarding the town. The natives still stood upon +the shore, and it could be seen that they were immensely proud of +their present victory. It was amusing, then, to see the change in +their behaviour when the great six-inch gun of the cruiser +belched forth a cloud of fire and smoke, and a burning shell +landed in the village street, apparently just in front of the +administration building, which was soon afire. The poor natives +fled in every direction, and the rebel soldiers followed their +noble example, and took to their heels, too. Another shell +followed the first, and soon several buildings were burning in +the village. The admiral watched developments carefully, and +finally he decided that they would be glad to surrender the +village if another boat was sent ashore.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, the same boat started out again, with three new +men in place of those who were wounded, and for sake of effect +the cruiser steamed farther in toward shore. This time there were +no crowds upon the beach, and the thirty men marched to the +burning buildings, where the natives fell before them, begging +for mercy. The soldiers were nowhere to be seen, so the crew took +possession of the town and slept there, in company with thirty +more sailors, that night.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXI.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>CONTINUING THE CRUISE— ANOTHER VILLAGE CAPTURED— +THE ADMIRAL ARCHIE'S FRIEND— A GREAT BATTLE AND AN +UNEXPECTED VICTORY— LONGING TO BE HOME AGAIN.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>I<small>T</small> may go without saying that the sixty men +from the cruiser had a very interesting time before the night was +over. The entire village was in a constant uproar; the poor +natives, horrified by what they had witnessed during the +afternoon, ran hither and thither, some even leaving the place +entirely and starting for the interior with their goods and +families. The rebel soldiers had evidently gone for good, and a +small party sent out to look for traces of them returned without +learning anything of their whereabouts. The bombardment of the +village had certainly had great effect.</p> + +<p>It was only a tiny place, with possibly not more than a +thousand inhabitants, but there were evidences that it had been +formerly a flourishing town. There were fine residences in some +of the streets, which were now quite deserted, and there were +some very respectable business houses in the village square. All +these had once been occupied by Spanish traders, who had been +driven away when the rebels came, and if the insurgents had never +come the town might now have been a booming place. But the rebels +were lazy, as usual, and did no work, so that now the fine +residences were vacant, and the business blocks stood empty.</p> + +<p>Some of the sailors looked about for a casino, where they +might be able to find entertainment of some kind for the evening, +but every place of amusement was closed, and the streets were +deserted. Since the occurrences of the afternoon all the people +had locked themselves into their houses, to await the departure +of the Americans. But, even though the casino was closed, the +Yankees managed to have a good time. They sang and danced and +played the banjo until an early hour in the morning, when they +finally went to sleep, leaving only two for a night watch, for +there was no danger that the insurgents would return, after their +engagement, in which they had lost six men.</p> + +<p>When morning came, some officers landed from the cruiser, and +all the villagers were summoned to the public square and made to +swear allegiance to the American flag.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon the cruiser steamed away again on her errand +of forcible pacification, and more days of quiet watchfulness +followed, as the vessel steamed along near the shore. There were +many small villages along this coast, but all of them seemed +peaceful and free of insurgents. The captain even said that some +of the people in them probably didn't know that there had ever +been a war between Spain and the United States. Archie, who had +enjoyed his experiences during the occupation of the last +village, now began to be impatient again at the long quiet. The +day when the cruiser bombarded the administration building would +be a memorable one to him, and the succeeding events were just +such as he had been longing to see for months. And then to think +that he had taken part in the occupation of the village. It was +all very wonderful, but very real, too, and for several days he +took much pains in writing an article for the paper describing +the events leading up to and including the capture of the +village. And in the narration Bill Hickson was an important +character. He had again proved himself a hero of the first water +by insisting that the boat proceed when the first attempt was +made to land, and by being the first man ashore when a landing +was finally effected. He was a leader in everything that was +done. He marched at the head of the squad when they marched +through the streets of the village, calling all the people to +assemble in the public square, and be stood beside the officers +with his rifle handy when the ceremony of swearing allegiance was +gone through with. When it was all over he was called to the +admiral's cabin aboard the cruiser and congratulated for being so +brave and so ever-ready to lead in any dangerous undertaking; but +Bill Hickson simply blushed and said he hadn't done "anything +worth mentionin'." The men aboard thought differently, however, +and he was even a greater hero after this adventure than he had +been before.</p> + +<p>Archie, too, received the congratulations of the admiral. "You +have been a brave boy," he said, "and deserve much credit for +showing so little fear in the face of danger. I hope you will be +rewarded upon your return to New York for your bravery while with +us here." Archie, too, blushed, and said that he had no doubt +that Mr. Van Bunting would treat him fairly when he reached New +York again.</p> + +<p>And Archie was now beginning to wish that the time for his +return would soon arrive. It was the month of February, and he +had been away from America an age, it seemed to him. He felt that +he had seen most of what there was to be seen in the Philippines, +and when this naval tour was over with, the active campaigning +would no doubt cease until the rainy season was over. So for many +reasons the boy wished he might be able to start home soon, and +as the days passed he became more and more anxious to receive +word from the <i>Enterprise</i> that he might return. He had sent +many interesting articles to the paper, and would be able to +write many more just as interesting upon his return, so he felt +that the editors wouldn't object to his early return.</p> + +<p>For an entire week the cruiser found no signs of the rebels, +but at last there came a day when they were steaming slowly along +near the shore, and saw, back among the trees, some specks of +white resembling tents in shape. Immediately the whole vessel was +excited, and there was much gossip and wonder as to what the +tents could be doing there. The admiral at last decided to send +two boats ashore to investigate, and gave strict orders that the +men should be cautious and not allow themselves to be ambushed or +caught in a trap of any kind. Of course Archie and Bill Hickson +were among the crew of the first boat, and each was as fully +armed as any of the sailors.</p> + +<p>The two boats pulled quietly for the shore, keeping close +together, and they were beached at the same time. The natives, or +whoever occupied the tents, had evidently not yet discovered +them, and the men halted upon landing to decide what they had +better do. The tents could be plainly seen through the trees, and +there was smoke rising from a fire somewhere in the +neighbourhood, but there were no noises which could be heard so +far away. It was decided to march up to the tents and find out +who occupied them, and the column kept close together as they +advanced, for things were so quiet it was feared the rebels, if +such they were, might be in ambush.</p> + +<p>The men got within a hundred feet of the camp, when they heard +several terrible yells in succession, and several natives ran out +from behind one of the tents, screaming at the top of their +voices, and not pausing to look around at all. The officer in +command of the company of men was much disturbed by this +demonstration, and, without pausing a moment, gave the order to +fire. Five of the natives fell immediately, but the other six +kept running, and soon disappeared among the trees on the other +side of the clearing. The men stood still awaiting developments, +but though they waited several minutes nothing more was heard, +and it was decided that the camp must be deserted. So they +marched up to the tents, and then the officer almost fainted, for +inside the first one he entered was standing an American flag, +and scattered about were the accoutrements and camp equipment +belonging to an American force in the field. There was now no +doubt but what the tents belonged to an American regiment, and +that the fleeing natives were either servants or prisoners, more +likely the former. The men were all much excited at this +discovery, and the officer ordered the natives to be looked after +at once. It was found, however, that all but one were dead, and +he expired within an hour, so that the men felt that they had +killed five innocent men, a thought which made some of them weep, +hardened though they were.</p> + +<p>It was now decided to await the return of the regiment, which +was out, the officer thought, on a practice march, and could not +possibly be gone much longer. So the men lounged about on the +grass for more than an hour. Then, about three in the afternoon, +a rifle-shot was heard in the near distance, and instantly every +man was on his feet, rifle in hand. "They must have found the +rebels," said the officer; "so be ready, men, to help them out, +should they be retreating to the camp." This supposition turned +out to be correct, for a few minutes later some members of the +regiment came running into camp and announced that a large body +of insurgents was after them. Later the remainder of the regiment +followed, and the joy of the colonel when he found these +unexpected reinforcements was very great. "There must be more +than fifteen hundred rebels," he said, "and they will all be on +us here in less than an hour, for their sharpshooters have been +following us up for a long time. I was beginning to think that we +would be unable to fight them, for they seem to be well equipped, +but with the cruiser to kelp us we can whip them at once. The +thing to do will be to let them come on without suspecting that +we have received any help, and then, when the fight is getting a +little warm, or they are about to charge us, let the cruiser fire +a few shells into the air, and it will all be over. Most of them +are country troops, and have never seen a cruiser, so they will +be too much frightened to speak when they hear the thunder of the +guns, and see the shells explode in the air. And then they have a +village about three miles back from the coast, and if you can +send a few shells into that village it will simply ruin the +insurgents.</p> + +<p>"I had no idea of meeting these rebels," the colonel then +explained. "I took the men out for a little practice marching, +but before we had gone far we encountered these sharpshooters, +and later discovered that they had all these men about a mile and +a half away. Then we decided to return to camp as quickly as +possible, to get more ammunition, and we felt, too, that we would +stand a better chance of resisting them here among the trees. But +now we will soon finish them up, if you will just send a man out +to tell the admiral of our plans." Archie immediately volunteered +to carry the information, and as he could be spared better than +one of the soldiers or sailors, he was permitted to undertake the +mission. So he started out, and was on board the cruiser in a +very short time. The admiral was dumbfounded to learn that +American troops were encamped on the shore, and in imminent +danger of being defeated, and he at once set about giving orders +with great vigour. "We will show them how they can attack a small +regiment of Americans with their ridiculous army," he declared, +and at once gave orders for the vessel to move inshore. "But +wait," he cried, a minute later, "I see by my chart that there is +a deep stream about a mile up the coast, and if I am not mistaken +we can enter this stream and perhaps get very near the advancing +rebels. We may even be able to destroy them before they have a +chance at our soldiers," and the old admiral almost danced in the +enthusiasm of this idea. So the cruiser steamed rapidly up the +coast, and was soon at the mouth of the stream, which seemed to +be the estuary of some great river. Then she steamed up-stream, +and, sure enough, the admiral soon discovered the rebels marching +rapidly along the road, about half a mile away. They had +evidently not perceived the cruiser, on account of the high reeds +growing along the banks, and the admiral gave orders to begin +firing.</p> + +<p>The first shell rose high in the air and exploded with a +deafening thunder, and when the smoke cleared away it was seen +that the insurgents were almost paralysed with fright, and had +just discovered the cruiser in the river. But this first shell +had not hurt any one, and another was immediately ignited. This +one exploded over the very heads of the troops, and many of them +must have been killed. Those who were not either killed or +wounded turned about and began to run, and their leaders were +powerless to make them stand their ground. One shell followed +another from the cruiser, and hundreds must have been killed +outright among the insurgents. Finally they were all running, and +it was soon perceived that the Americans had advanced, and were +now pursuing them with great energy. So the cruiser could fire no +more shells, and the admiral ordered her about and back to the +anchorage onshore.</p> + +<p>It would take many pages to describe in detail the events of +the remainder of that afternoon, as Archie witnessed them from +the deck of the cruiser, and learned of them later from Bill +Hickson. The insurgents were nearly all killed or taken +prisoners, and it was found that they numbered nearly two +thousand. So it was a great achievement to have vanquished them +all. The affair turned out to have been the greatest victory of +the war, so far.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXII.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS— A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR, WITH +PERMISSION TO RETURN TO NEW YORK— BILL HICKSON GOES, +TOO.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>RCHIE</small> left the cruiser when she was once more +at anchor, and, going ashore to the American camp, he found +things in a very lively condition at the close of the afternoon's +battle. Every man was very jubilant over the retreat which had +been turned into a great victory, and Archie was congratulated on +having been the lucky man to carry the news of the coming of the +rebels to the admiral. The officers were all in the best of +humour, except the colonel, who felt somewhat sad on account of +the death of his five faithful servants, as the men first shot +turned out to have been.</p> + +<p>"There were never any better men than they," said the colonel, +"and I would almost as soon my own men had been shot." But he +bore the ship's company no malice for their mistake, which he +said was a very natural one.</p> + +<p>After the capture of so many rebels, and the killing of so +many others, it was felt that the rebel army in this part of the +island was pretty well disbanded, and that it would soon +disappear altogether. It had been known, from the very beginning +of hostilities, that there was a large force of insurgents +somewhere in this neighbourhood, but not until to-day had the +colonel seen anything of them. But it was impossible, all the +officers said, that there could be any more troops about, for +these two thousand represented a very considerable portion of the +entire rebel army. And now that these were done away with, the +colonel said there was no need of his remaining any longer in +this place, and that he would like to get back to Manila as +quickly as possible. Hearing this, the admiral said he thought +room could be made for all the men aboard the cruiser, and that +they could all return at once if they so desired. This generous +offer was at once accepted by the colonel, and the next day the +work of embarkation began. By night every man was aboard, and a +place of some kind had been found where he could sleep, but of +course, every portion of the vessel was much overcrowded. This +only made things all the more lively, however, and Archie, as +well as all the others, thought he had never enjoyed any trip so +much as these three days spent in getting back again to Manila. +There was always fun of some sort going on. If some one wasn't +dancing, there was sure to be singing. And then there were +several ingenious games which were invented for the occasion, so +that time never passed slowly. Indeed, there were many who were +sorry when the capital was finally reached, but Archie was not +among these, for he expected some mail to be awaiting him from +the editor of the <i>Enterprise.</i> And he hoped that in this +mail he would find permission to return to New York.</p> + +<p>All officials were very much surprised when the cruiser +anchored off Cavité, but the admiral explained that he +thought it no use to spend more time in touring the island, even +though the month which it was supposed to take him had not yet +expired. He said that he felt sure there were no more insurgent +villages along the coast, because it was perfectly evident, from +all signs, that the rebels were all in one division. And this +division, of course, had been vanquished four days +previously.</p> + +<p>When the report of the engagement went the rounds there was +much enthusiasm, for it was felt that at last some progress was +being made against the insurgents. The admiral was a popular hero +at once, and Archie, with Bill Hickson, was again the centre of +admiration and interest in the old palace, where they both +returned.</p> + +<p>Archie was surprised to find no mail awaiting him, but he was +not discouraged, and wrote two long articles to send to the +<i>Enterprise.</i> One described the great engagement, and the +other was descriptive of the daily life aboard ship upon the +return to Manila. These articles, with the others he had written +during the latter part of the cruise, were sent off at once, and +Archie felt confident that they would be read with great interest +by Mr. Van Bunting. And now the days passed very pleasantly in +Manila. He had a great deal to tell his comrades in the old +regiment, for none of them had been out of Manila since he left, +and were very anxious indeed to hear about the events of the +round-the-island tour. And Archie was very willing to tell them +all he could, for he had been much interested in the entire +voyage, and never tired of talking about it.</p> + +<p>Still, while things were very pleasant, and he was having a +good time in many ways, Archie was very anxious to see New York +again and to get back to America. And then, what was even more +important with him, was the knowledge that he would certainly be +allowed to visit his mother upon his return. Therefore he was a +very happy boy when he one day received two letters from the +<i>Enterprise</i> office, one from Mr. Van Bunting, and one from +Mr. Jennings. They were both very encouraging and very friendly. +Mr. Van Bunting wrote to tell Archie how delighted they all had +been with his success in finding interesting things to write +about, and he enclosed a check for three hundred dollars, which +he thought "would come in handy now." The letter from Mr. +Jennings was of later date, and stated that he had prevailed upon +Mr. Van Bunting to allow Archie to return to New York, to work +upon the <i>Evening Enterprise.</i> It was a very delightful +letter, Archie thought. "We believe," wrote Mr. Jennings, "that +we can use you here to very good advantage, and we will be glad +to have you return as soon as possible. I enclose two hundred +dollars to pay your expenses home again."</p> + +<p>So now it was all settled that Archie was to leave Manila for +New York, and, now that it was sure he was going, he felt +somewhat reluctant to leave the soldiers with whom he had become +friendly, and to get away from all this life of adventure which +had been so interesting and so delightful in many ways. It was +hard, too, to leave the dear old palace in Manila, through which +he had wandered so often, and every room of which had for him +some story of a Spanish prince or a great governor-general, +wealthy and wise. There would be none of all this at home or in +New York, but then there would be something better; there would +be mother, and the old grape arbour, and the Hut Club.</p> + +<p>On investigation, Archie found that the quickest way to get +home would be to travel by way of Hong Kong and Yokohama, taking +the steamer from there to San Francisco. It would take him more +than a month to make the trip, and, as it was now the second week +in March, he could hardly expect to reach New York before the +first of May. He at once cabled Mr. Jennings that he would leave +at once for Hong Kong, and received an answer telling him to do +so by all means, and to continue to write letters describing his +trip. Archie knew that these letters would probably not reach New +York any sooner than he would, but he did write them, anyhow, and +he did see some of them appear in the paper after his +arrival.</p> + +<p>Archie was overjoyed to learn one day that Bill Hickson had +received permission from the commanding general to return to the +United States, and he at once hunted up the bashful hero, and +insisted that he leave at once, and make the trip with him. This +was finally agreed to, and when it was settled that the two old +chums were to travel homeward together the whole camp in Manila +was interested in the news. They were both very popular, and +almost every night before their departure there was a pleasure +party of some kind arranged for them. One night they would give a +regular "stag," as they called them, and then again they would +arrange a sort of musicale, at which there would be clog-dancing, +banjo music, and various games to increase the fun.</p> + +<p>The four days passed very quickly indeed, and at last the day +for sailing arrived. There was a great throng at the pier to see +them off, and there was no end of good wishes and stories of the +good times now gone by. When the steamer finally moved out into +the open, there were three cheers each for Archie and "brave Bill +Hickson," in which every man appeared to join with all his heart +and voice. And there were tears in Archie's eyes at having to +part from such true friends. It was hard to tell, too, when he +would ever see any of them again. He realised that hereafter his +path and theirs would probably lie in different directions. He +was going to New York to work as a reporter, and they, if they +were not killed in battle, would be scattered in all parts of the +great United States, at the mustering out of the troops. It was +all very sad, and even Bill Hickson seemed to feel the solemnity +of the occasion, for he had nothing to say for many hours after +the vessel had started on its journey.</p> + +<p>Archie, too, felt homesick at having to leave, and they went +to bed very early, apparently feeling that the best thing under +such circumstances was to be asleep. And when morning came they +both felt somewhat better, for Archie arose filled with hope for +the future, and more anxious than ever to reach home. Bill +Hickson, too, was not loath to return to the United States, even +though he had no relatives waiting there to welcome him. The poor +fellow had been through a great deal while in the Philippines, +and his constitution was almost wrecked by the constant strain to +which he was subjected. He had never fully recovered from his +accident of several weeks before, and he felt that he needed a +rest from the constant excitement and worry of life in the army. +He was tired, too, of being a spy. He had never relished the +work, but he had realised how necessary it was for the Americans +to have some one to follow up Aguinaldo and let the general know +of his movements. "They'll be a long time catching him now," he +said, time and again, to Archie. "He's a much shrewder man than +they think, and he knows his Philippine Islands like a book. He +can go from one place to another without the Americans ever +knowing where he disappeared to, and without some one to follow +him they will never be able to learn anything of his +movements."</p> + +<p>Bill had received nearly two hundred dollars in back pay, so +he felt quite rich, and Archie told him that if he should happen +to run out, and need more money, he would be very glad to furnish +it to him, For Archie was now determined to take Bill Hickson to +New York, and introduce him to Mr. Van Bunting, feeling sure that +the wise editor would thank him for bringing to his attention a +man at once so interesting and so worthy as this hero of the war +had proved himself to be. But for the present Bill would discuss +nothing of the kind. He was thoroughly content to sit beside +Archie on the warm steamer deck, and watch the ever varied +surface of the Indian Ocean.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>HONG KONG— A HAPPY TIME IN TOKIO— HONOLULU +AGAIN— ARRIVAL IN SAN FRANCISCO, AND A GREAT RECEPTION BY +THE PRESS— ARCHIE AND BILL ARRIVE IN NEW YORK, AND ARE THE +HEROES OF THE HOUR.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>A<small>FTER</small> a short and pleasant voyage they reached +Hong Kong, and Archie found this city to be much more interesting +than he had expected to find it. It was charming, he thought, to +run across a place which combined the conveniences of England and +America with the picturesque oddities of China and Japan, and he +enjoyed himself to the utmost during the two days they spent +there. Bill Hickson enjoyed the place, too, and they would both +have liked to remain longer had it been possible for them to do +so, but they were anxious to see something of Japan before +sailing for San Francisco, and their steamer was due to leave +Yokohama in eleven days.</p> + +<p>But they did enjoy Hong Kong to the utmost while they were +there. They called first, of course, upon the American consul, +whom they found to be an exceedingly pleasant man. They learned, +to their great surprise, that he had read of Archie Dunn, and of +Bill Hickson, too, in the <i>Enterprise,</i> and Archie began to +think that his paper had a much wider circulation than even the +editors claimed for it. He thought it very remarkable, at first, +that a man living in Hong Kong should have read about his +Philippine experiences in a New York paper, but of course, after +he thought of it awhile, it didn't seem such a very remarkable +thing, after all. And after this, when they heard of people +having read of them, they weren't so much surprised, having come +to realise the tremendous circulation of this paper.</p> + +<p>The consul did all in his power to make their stay in Hong +Kong pleasant. He was anxious to have a formal dinner for them, +but Bill Hickson said that he would much prefer not having to +dress up, and Archie was willing for Bill's sake to forego the +honour. So they spent their two days in going about the city, +visiting the quaint Chinese shops, and seeing everything of +particular interest. They found many wonderful things to look at, +and Archie said that he couldn't imagine any more delightful +place; but Bill told him to wait until they reached Japan, for +he'd find that much more charming than Hong Kong. "I've been +there before," said Bill, "and I know what I'm talkin' about, and +I say there ain't no such place on earth as Japan for interestin' +things to look at, and pleasant things to do." And when, a few +days later, Archie was initiated into some of the mysteries of +Japanese life by his experienced friend, he was willing to admit +the truth of all he had heard concerning the land of the +chrysanthemum. He found everything quite beyond his expectations. +The people themselves were more quaint in their dress and manners +than he had expected to find them, and the houses and the pagodas +were much more picturesque than he had imagined they would be. +And the whole atmosphere of the country seemed filled with +romance and history, and it wasn't at all hard to believe that +the Japanese have longer family trees than any other nation on +earth.</p> + +<p>They spent a few days travelling through the provincial +districts of the little kingdom, and then they reached Tokio, +where Bill was anxious to spend several days. "I know some folks +here who can take us around and show us everything that's worth +seeing," he said, "and we can spend our time to better advantage +here than anywhere else I know of." And sure enough, Bill did +know some people in the capital city, some pleasant English +people, who had met the open-hearted Westerner when he was in the +city years before, and who had at once appreciated the true +nobility of his character. They were very kind to Archie,— +so kind that the lad thought he had never before met such +pleasant people. And they were thoroughly interested in all his +adventures, from the time he left home late in the preceding +summer until now. He had to tell them all about his New York +adventures, and also about their experiences together in the +Philippines, and his new friends showed the greatest interest in +all he had to say, and seemed to find it all vastly entertaining. +They were anxious, Archie thought, to make him have a very good +time in Tokio, to make up for some of his hard experiences, and +if this were indeed their object, they succeeded admirably in +accomplishing it. Every day was filled with surprises, and every +night Archie thought he had enjoyed himself more this day than +the day before. They travelled about the city so persistently, on +foot and in the quaint jinrikishas, that he felt that he knew +almost every part of Tokio, and he witnessed every side of native +existence, as well as the life in the foreign quarter. It was all +charmingly new and interesting, and, as in Hong Kong, they were +both sorry when the day for their sailing came around. And always +since Archie has declared that no one can be more kindly +hospitable than the English.</p> + +<p>The voyage from Yokohama to San Francisco was slow and +monotonous, Archie thought, for he was now very impatient to +reach the United States, and he had also grown very tired of +travel by water. There were some very pleasant passengers, but +Archie couldn't see that he had a much better time than when he +was peeling potatoes corning over. That was interesting enough, +anyhow. The only break in the monotony was the day they were +enabled to spend in Honolulu, and on that day Archie went again +to some of the places he had seen during his first visit to the +attractive city. And he called again upon some of the friends of +his first visit, and found that most of them had read of his +great success as a war correspondent, and of his many exciting +experiences in the Philippines. They were all profuse in +congratulating him upon what he had accomplished, and every one +seemed to think he had been very successful indeed.</p> + +<p>While they were in Honolulu a vessel arrived, bound for Japan, +and Archie was delighted to find it was the same vessel upon +which he had worked his passage from San Francisco on his way to +Manila. He went aboard and met some of the friends he had made +there, and found that they all knew now who it was they had +carried as chore-boy in the galley. They all seemed glad to hear +of his success, and to know that he was coming home as a +first-class passenger. The cook treated him with much deference, +and started to apologise for his treatment of Archie on the way +over; but the boy stopped him, and told him that no apology was +necessary. "I think I may have been an unwilling worker," he +said, "because of course I didn't like the work at all, and it +was hard for me to take an interest in peeling potatoes when I +was looking forward to accomplishing such great things in the +Philippines."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said the cook, "you was a fine worker. Sure, I ain't had +so good a boy since." And Archie laughed to see the change in +opinion which is sometimes brought about by a change in +circumstances.</p> + +<p>Archie enjoyed the city quite as much as before, but he was +glad, nevertheless, when the steamer continued her voyage east. +And then he began to count the days until they should arrive in +San Francisco, and of course these last days seemed the longest +ones of the voyage. But they gradually passed away, and as they +steamed ahead, coming nearer every hour to that dear land called +"home," both Archie and Bill began to wonder how they would like +it all, after their adventurous life in the Philippines. Bill, in +particular, was doubtful whether he would again be able to settle +down to a quiet existence in some small place, and Archie assured +him that he must live in New York, where he would be sure to find +things lively enough to suit him.</p> + +<p>At last came the eventful day when the great steamer threaded +her way through the beautiful Golden Gate, and discharged her +passengers at the pier. As Archie and Bill had but little +baggage, they were almost the first ones to leave the vessel, and +were hurrying away to find a hotel where they could remain +overnight when Archie felt some one touch him on the shoulder, +and, turning about and seeing no one he knew, was about to go on, +when a man introduced himself as being the San Francisco +correspondent of the <i>Enterprise.</i> "And these gentlemen +here," said he, "are reporters from the newspapers here. They +would be glad to have you say a few words about your experiences +during the last few months." Archie was quite dumbfounded. It had +never occurred to him that he was a person so important as to be +interviewed, but he was willing and glad to accommodate the +reporters, and told them to accompany him to his hotel. Once +there, he answered all their questions, and didn't find it hard +at all to give them his opinion of the situation in the +Philippines, and what he thought should be done by the government +to stop the rebellion. "The President will soon put an end to +it," he said, "if he can only have the support of Congress. But +as long as there are members of Congress fighting his policy, the +insurgents are going to continue their insane efforts to +establish an independent government." And some of the reporters +smiled to hear so young a fellow talking about the policy in the +Philippines. They felt that he was well-informed, however, and +put down every word he said.</p> + +<p>The interviews over, Archie and Bill went early to bed. The +<i>Enterprise</i> correspondent had telegraphed the news of their +arrival to New York, and had received word from Mr. Van Bunting +to send them on to New York at once. So, early in the morning, +the two started for the East, and the train seemed to travel +quite as slowly as the steamer. "It does seem good to be in our +own country again," they said a hundred times during the days +that followed, and when they reached the Empire State and began +their journey down the Hudson River, Archie could hardly restrain +his enthusiasm at being again in his native commonwealth.</p> + +<p>There was quite a delegation at the Grand Central Station to +meet them. Mr. Jennings was there in person, and he explained +that Mr. Van Bunting was waiting anxiously at the office to see +him. Then there were reporters from the various other city +papers, who wanted interviews, but Archie was told to say +whatever he had to say in the columns of the <i>Enterprise,</i> +so he had to deny the reporters for the first time. Bill Hickson +was introduced at once, and became the lion of the hour. Every +one had read of him, and was glad to shake his hand, and poor +Bill was quite bewildered by so much attention. They didn't +linger long at the station, however, but hurried down to the +<i>Enterprise</i> office, where Mr. Van Bunting was awaiting +them. He grasped Archie's hand in his as they entered, and cried, +"Well done, my boy, well done." And Archie felt as if he had +grown three feet that instant.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXIV.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>DOING "SPECIAL" WORK UPON THE EVENING PAPER— INTERVIEWS +WITH FAMOUS MEN— CALLS UPON OLD FRIENDS.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>T<small>HERE</small> was so much to tell Mr. Jennings and Mr. +Van Bunting, that Archie didn't get away from the +<i>Enterprise</i> office until seven o'clock in the evening. And +what a lot they did say to each other during the afternoon! +Archie told of all his experiences, and found them all anxious to +hear about them. He learned, to his joy, that everything he had +sent had been printed, and that the articles had made a great hit +with the public. "We would have liked to keep you there longer, +but we knew you must be worn out, and then we want you to stay +right here, now, and see if you cannot get us some good +interviews and articles of various kinds for the <i>Evening +Enterprise.</i> The paper has been losing ground somewhat, of +late, and we need some new life for its pages. Of course the +morning paper profited greatly by your articles, but the evening +edition seemed very weak in comparison, and we think it only fair +to Mr. Jennings to let him have you on his staff for awhile now. +So if you are willing, you can start in to-morrow as a member of +the staff. We will see that you are well paid for what you write, +or we will put you on salary, whichever you like. You can think +it over, and in the morning you can tell us which plan you like +best."</p> + +<p>Archie wanted to ask for a few days' absence to return home, +but he felt, somehow, that he ought not to ask it just now. So he +contented himself with writing a long letter to his mother, in +which he enclosed a very large check, money which he had not used +on his return to New York. He told her that he would be home just +as soon as he could get off for any length of time, and he knew +that she would now be looking forward to the visit every day. She +had written him about the enthusiasm displayed by every one over +his achievements, and how proud she was of what he had +accomplished. "I think I am the proudest mother in the country," +she wrote one day, and this sentence made Archie very happy, of +course, and more anxious than ever to return home. He received a +letter, too, from Jack Sullivan, telling him how much the boys +all thought of his success, and how every member of the Hut Club +had longed time and again to be with him. "It all reads just like +some book," Jack wrote, "and we are dying to have you come home +and tell us all about it." Then his mother sent him clippings +from the town papers, eulogising his efforts, and calling him the +"coming man of the State." All this was very pleasant and very +encouraging, and Archie couldn't help having a kindly feeling for +the townsfolk who thought so much of him.</p> + +<p>New York was as delightful as ever. It was now the last of +April, and the trees were all green with fresh leaves, and the +numerous little parks scattered over the city were looking their +very best. The asphalt pavements looked clean and elegant when +Archie thought of some other streets he had seen, and the tall +office buildings lifted their ornate domes and cupolas into a sky +of clear blue. "Surely," he thought to himself, "this is the most +charming city in all the world." Fifth Avenue, with its crowds of +fashionable folk, and its throng of vehicles, was a delight of +which he never tired, and when he went into the Bowery, just to +see how things were looking now, he found it quite as interesting +and as dirty as in the fall.</p> + +<p>But the first place he visited was the dear little square away +down-town, where he had lived during those few happy days spent +in New York. It, too, looked the same, only the flowers and grass +were fresher now, and the fountain seemed to flow more joyously, +now that spring was here. The house where he had lodged was as +clean as ever, and Archie at once decided to engage a room here, +where he could have his New York home. So he called upon the +motherly landlady, and was glad to learn that the room he had +first was still vacant, and that he could take possession at +once.</p> + +<p>As before, when he came to this house, Archie was almost out +of clothing, so he went out and fitted himself with everything he +needed. And this time he felt able to buy the best to be had, for +he thought he had now earned the privilege to dress well if he +liked. And then, when he had everything he needed to wear, he +went out and bought many pretty things for his room, for he felt +that he would like to have it just as cosy and home-like as +possible. He wasn't able to do much at it this first night, but +in the succeeding days he furnished the place in a charming way, +so that the landlady said it was the "handsomest room in the +house, sir." The dear old lady could hardly understand this great +change in her lodger's circumstances. She worried about it very +often, and discussed the question with many of the neighbours. +"He come here last fall looking mighty poor-like, but, lawsy me, +he's as fine now as any man on the avenue." And she never did +understand it until one day she learned that her lodger was the +"very young man who had been to the war in the Philippines, and +writ about his battles in the <i>Enterprise."</i></p> + +<p>There was no ceremony when Archie began work on the evening +paper. Mr. Jennings told him that he thought they understood each +other pretty well, and that he could use his own discretion, very +often, about getting articles. "You can be as independent as you +like, Archie," he said, "and use your own ideas as much as you +like." This pleased the boy very much indeed. He was beginning to +feel now that he had really won his spurs, and that he was a +full-fledged journalist. It seemed scarcely possible that it had +taken him little more than six months to make this great advance +in circumstances, and yet he could see himself a few months +previous, sleeping in the station-house. Now his days of poverty +were surely over, and he would have a clear path ahead of him to +accomplish his great ambition to be a successful author and +writer of books. For the present, it was good experience for him +to be working upon the <i>Enterprise,</i> and he felt that he +ought to be very much contented, since there were men old enough +to be his father who were not earning as much money.</p> + +<p>He liked the work upon the evening paper very much. He didn't +have to get down early in the morning, and at three o'clock in +the afternoon he was always through. He was very glad indeed that +there was no night work, for he now spent his evenings in +studying shorthand, which he thought might be helpful to him in +many ways. He didn't have much routine work to do upon the paper +in the beginning, but he told Mr. Jennings that he would like to +get as much experience as possible, so the good editor gave him a +lot of regular reporting to do, as well as the special work which +was daily featured in the paper. This special work consisted of +interviews with various successful men. Archie had always felt a +great admiration for men who had "done something," and as New +York was simply filled with wealthy and successful men, who had +started as poor boys, he found a wide field for work. He found it +very interesting to meet these men of affairs, and have them tell +him of their early struggles, how they had begun on the farm or +in the factory, and had worked themselves up through industry and +perseverance to the high places they now occupied. He found it +very easy to get access to most of them, for they had all read of +his experiences in the <i>Enterprise,</i> and Archie found that +his fame as the "Boy Reporter" was quite general and widespread. +Some of the great men were quite as much determined to interview +him as he was anxious to interview them, so that he usually got +along very well by telling them first of his own experiences, and +then asking them about their own boyhood days. It was work that +never became monotonous, for each day he saw a man quite +different in most respects from the man he had interviewed the +day before, and of course every one had something different to +say.</p> + +<p>These interviews proved very successful when published in the +<i>Evening Enterprise,</i> and Mr. Jennings had him continue them +during all the weeks Archie was connected with the paper. And of +course he did other things, too, work which took him into every +part of the great city, looking up this event, or investigating +this reported disappearance or murder. Archie was quite +successful in this line, too, and, as he was being paid by the +column, his weekly income was something larger than he had ever +dared to hope for in all his life. He was now enabled to study +his stenography at the best school, and to indulge himself in +many things which had been denied him before. He could, for +instance, attend the performances of grand opera, and hear the +great musical artists of the world. He was able, too, to read the +best literature, and he gradually learned to appreciate all the +many good things in life. He was very glad to find himself +broadening in such a way, for he realised that he would not +always want to be a "Boy Reporter," and that he had better be +developing his mind in every possible way.</p> + +<p>He had not been back long in New York before he met all his +old friends. One of the first upon whom he called was the good +policeman who had been so very kind to him when he had no place +to sleep. The large-hearted man was as enthusiastic over his +success as if he had been his own son, and Archie felt that here +was one true friend upon whom he could always depend. The +policeman never tired of telling about that first night when he +found Archie walking up and down Broadway, and he always spoke of +him to the other officers as "that boy of mine." So the boy, who +was now a full-fledged reporter, spent as much time with this +friend as possible, and many a time he sat at the station-house +telling them all of his adventures in the Orient.</p> + +<p>Another friend whom he met was the great railway president +with whom he had travelled to Chicago on his way to San +Francisco. Archie had liked this man from the very first, and he +felt that in him he would always find a friend, because he had +shown such interest in his first undertaking. And when he called +upon him in his elegant office, he received a very cordial +greeting.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," said the great man of affairs, "I have never +forgotten our trip West together, and I have followed you with +much interest through the columns of the <i>Enterprise.</i> And I +am glad that you are back again in New York, for I hope to see a +great deal of you. You must come up to my house some evening and +tell us all about yourself."</p> + +<p>Archie was naturally much surprised to receive an invitation +of this kind, but he resolved to accept it, nevertheless.</p> + +<p>Bill Hickson was now employed in the Brooklyn navy yard. He +had been featured for several days in the <i>Enterprise,</i> and +had enjoyed the excitement of New York for awhile, but he decided +he would like to be at work. So one day Archie learned that he +was working at the navy yard.</p> + +<p>"I've got to be with Uncle Sam," was all the reason Bill would +give for his action.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXV.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>PRIVATE SECRETARY TO A MILLIONAIRE— STUDYING AT EVENING +SCHOOL— LIVING AMID ELEGANT SURROUNDINGS.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>I<small>T</small> was now September. Archie had been in New +York the whole summer through, attending carefully to his work on +the <i>Evening Enterprise,</i> and continuing his study of +stenography. He had taken occasional trips to Long Branch and +Asbury Park on Saturday afternoons, but every other day he spent +in working up ideas for the paper, and each evening he devoted to +the shorthand school. By this time, though, he felt that he knew +all that was necessary of shorthand, and found himself more free +to go about in the evenings. He visited his friends more +frequently, and sometimes spent whole evenings in studying works +on English literature, for he was ambitious to know more of the +great work he had decided to make his own. This study was not +really work to him, for his interest in everything connected with +literature was so great that he found a pleasure in reading even +the most classical books on the subject, and of course so much +reading of this sort did a great deal to educate his mind along +this line of work.</p> + +<p>One evening in the early fall, Archie decided to accept the +invitation of Mr. Depaw, the railway president, to call. So he +carefully dressed himself in the best he had, and walked up Fifth +Avenue and into the side street where the great man had his home. +He rang the bell and presented his card, and waited in the +drawing-room for an answer. The footman was gone but a moment, +and returning, announced that the family would be down directly. +Archie was very much pleased that he was to meet the entire +family, and looked about him with great interest at the elegant +furnishings of the room in which he sat. He couldn't help +thinking how lovely it must be to have so many books, so many +pictures, and so many works of art of every kind. The boy thought +then that he would like to be a wealthy man, just to be able to +gratify his desires for beautiful things.</p> + +<p>He had to wait only a short time before the genial Mr. Depaw +entered the room, accompanied by several members of the family. +Archie was greeted very warmly, and introduced to every one, and +then they immediately began an animated conversation, in which +Archie soon found himself taking an active part, much to his +surprise. He felt that he had never before realised what a great +gift it is to be able to talk entertainingly, and this evening +was a revelation to him in the ways of good society. He found +that every one was much interested in the story of his +adventures, and he talked more about them than for a long time +past. He was now beginning to feel that his Philippine +experiences were an old story, but he learned that they were +quite as entertaining as ever to these people. But they did not +talk entirely about Archie. They realised that this would be +embarrassing to him, and they were careful to guide the +conversation into a discussion of music and literature, and +whatever else they imagined him to like. And so it was that the +evening passed very quickly, and it was time to leave before he +knew it. Then he was asked to be sure to call again, and Mr. +Depaw, as he accompanied him to the door, requested him to call +at his office on the following Wednesday, if possible. Archie +promised, and walked home down the avenue, wondering what it +could be that Mr. Depaw wanted to talk to him about. He didn't +worry long about it, however, but went home and to bed as quickly +as possible, for he had formed a habit of rising at six o'clock +in the morning to study.</p> + +<p>The days passed quickly until Wednesday, and the afternoon of +that day found Archie in the waiting-room of Mr. Depaw's office. +He had not long to sit there after sending in his card, for the +busy man received him as soon as he could get rid of his present +visitor. He shook Archie warmly by the hand as he entered, and +then, pulling two chairs together, they sat down. "I have been +thinking for some time," said Mr. Depaw, "that I need a sort of +private secretary. Of course I have men here at the office who +take dictation from me, and who fulfil the duties of a secretary +to a certain extent, but I want a young man who can attend +somewhat to my personal affairs; I want one whom I can trust, and +one who is likely to grow as he works along, so that eventually +he may be able to fill any place I may have open for him." Then +he stopped a moment, and Archie felt his heart beating very fast +beneath his coat. He waited almost breathlessly to hear what Mr. +Depaw would say next.</p> + +<p>"Ever since I met you first," he at last went on, "I have +somehow thought that you are the kind of a young fellow I would +like. You are ambitious, you are persevering, and you are willing +to learn. You say, too, that you know shorthand, and I know that +you are a good penman. You have seen quite a little of the world, +I am sure, and I think you can prove yourself equal to almost any +occasion. The only question is whether you will care to give up +reporting for a position of this kind. I can assure you that I +will pay you as much as you are earning now, and I shall be glad +to offer you a home at my house, because I shall want you at my +right hand all the time. Do you think you will care to take the +place?"</p> + +<p>Archie could hardly speak, it was all so wonderful, but +finally he recovered himself sufficiently to explain his +hesitancy in accepting the position. "I would like just one day," +he said, "to consult with my friends on the newspaper. You see +Mr. Jennings and Mr. Van Bunting have been very good to me, and I +shouldn't care to leave them now if they object very +strongly."</p> + +<p>"That's quite right, quite right," said Mr. Depaw. "I can +appreciate your feelings, and you can tell the editor that you +will have some time for writing, and that you will contribute +occasional articles to his paper." Archie was now delighted. "Oh, +thank you," he cried. "I am sure I can come now."</p> + +<p>"Well, come in at this time to-morrow," said Mr. Depaw, "and +let me know what you have decided to do."</p> + +<p>Archie hurried at once to Mr. Jennings's office to tell him +the good news. He wondered how his friend would take it, but all +his fears were soon put at rest. "Archie," said Mr. Jennings, +"this is the best opportunity you can ever have to improve +yourself in every way. Mr. Depaw is a man highly respected all +over the country, and a man who is known to be extraordinary in +many ways. Association with such a man will do more for you than +four years in college, and you will make a mistake if you do not +accept his offer. Of course we shall all be sorry to lose you +here, but, as Mr. Depaw says, you will have some time for +writing, and we hope you will always continue to do some work for +us."</p> + +<p>Archie could almost have thrown his arms about Mr. Jennings's +neck to hug him for his splendid feeling, and when, a little +later, Mr. Van Bunting said practically the same thing, he felt +that he had never known two such men. He assured them both that +he would never forget them, but would try and spend as much time +as possible in the <i>Enterprise</i> office.</p> + +<p>The next day he called again on Mr. Depaw, and told him of his +decision to accept the place, and the good man seemed overjoyed. +"I will see that you never forget it, Archie," he said. It was +arranged for him to begin work the very next day. "You can +transfer your things to my house as soon as you like, for your +room is waiting for you, and I will begin to-morrow to teach you +how to do things."</p> + +<p>And now Archie found it hard to leave the dear little room in +the quaint old square, which was looking now just as when he saw +it first. The leaves in the trees were turning brown and gold, +and Archie realised that he had been away from home more than a +year. "Oh, I must go back soon," he said to himself, "or I shall +simply die of homesickness."</p> + +<p>In a couple of days he was installed as a member of the Depaw +household, and he soon felt at home there. Every one was very +kind to him, he was given a handsome room, and everything seemed +almost perfect. One of the best things about it all was that he +had access to the fine library, and he longed for the long winter +evenings when he could devour the many interesting books he saw +there. He was soon initiated into his work, and it was much +easier than he had expected. Mr. Depaw, of course, started him +very gradually, so that he learned as he went along. Every +morning at eight o'clock he was in the library with Mr. Depaw, +taking dictation, and receiving instructions for the day. They +remained together here until ten o'clock, when Mr. Depaw either +walked or drove to his office. Archie always accompanied him, and +took charge of some of the mail there, attending to it during the +morning. Then at noon he returned to the house, where he spent +the afternoon in writing the letters which had been dictated in +the morning, and in doing various things for Mr. Depaw. The +evenings he always had to himself, and he had no difficulty in +finding enough to do at home without going out. He almost +invariably passed the evenings in reading, but occasionally he +was asked to accompany the family to some musical event at the +opera house, for they had soon learned of his love for music.</p> + +<p>In work and study the winter passed quickly and happily for +Archie, who now felt quite at ease amid his elegant surroundings. +His only wish was that he might go home, and as spring approached +Mr. Depaw promised him that he should have a short vacation. The +suggestion of Mr. Depaw that Archie's mother come to New York for +a week was heartily accepted by Archie, but when he wrote home +Mrs. Dunn replied that she would rather wait for Archie at home. +She had never visited New York, and felt that she wouldn't like +it.</p> + +<p>Bill Hickson came over very often from the navy yard, and was +always a welcome visitor at Mr. Depaw's office. He didn't seem to +care for his work in Brooklyn, however, and Archie finally +requested a place for him about the elegant new station which the +road had just constructed in the city. Mr. Depaw very readily +gave him an excellent position, one which he could keep always if +he so desired. And Bill was highly pleased with his new work, so +much so that he surprised them all one day in the spring by +leading into the once a young lady whom he introduced as his +wife. Of course Archie was very much pleased at this new +development, for he had often thought that his friend must be +very lonely, living in a boarding-house.</p> + +<p>The days were all busy ones for Archie now. He had learned the +work so thoroughly that he was given more than ever to do, and he +still continued to write, too, for the <i>Enterprise.</i> He +worked too hard, however, and in April he looked so thin that Mr. +Depaw sent him home for a week's rest.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXVI.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<h5>DECIDES TO VISIT HOME— A GREAT RECEPTION IN THE +TOWN— A PUBLIC CHARACTER NOW— DINNER TO THE HUT +CLUB— DEMONSTRATION AT THE TOWN HALL— A TELEGRAM FROM +HIS EMPLOYER LEAVING FOR EUROPE.</h5> +</blockquote> + +<p>I<small>T</small> was a beautiful April day. There had been a +light shower in the morning, and now everything looked as fresh +and green as possible all along the railway. Archie lay back in +his comfortable Wagner seat, admiring the beauties of spring, and +thinking, too, of the days he spent in walking along this very +road. It seemed hard to believe that he was now secretary to the +president of this railroad, and that he was returning home, after +a year and a half, a very successful young man. He had much to +think of in the hours it would take him to reach the little town. +He tried to remember everything about the place, and his mother +as he saw her last, and it wasn't at all difficult for him to do +so. But, oh, how he hoped that things had not changed! He almost +dreaded going home for fear he would find things different.</p> + +<p>He had changed, that much was sure. He knew that he had grown +to look much older than his years, and he knew that he was not +looking particularly strong. He used to be so sturdy, and he had +such a splendid colour in his cheeks. Mother would be sorry to +see him now, but of course he would be sure to improve very much +during the week he was to remain among old friends.</p> + +<p>He was very anxious to see his boy friends, the members of the +Hut Club, and the boys and girls who were in his class at school. +He had telegraphed his mother that he was coming, so she would +probably tell the boys about it. He was sure they would be +there.</p> + +<p>Now the stations looked more familiar. This one just passed +was near the Tinch farm, and Archie remembered the days he spent +working for old Hiram, and how he had suffered. He wondered if +the farmer had ever seen any copies of the <i>Enterprise.</i> It +would be very interesting to him to know that his chore-boy was +now a secretary to a millionaire. This next station he remembered +very well indeed, because he used to come here every fall to +visit the county fair, where he marvelled at the wonderful things +he saw in the side-shows.</p> + +<p>And now the train was entering the limits of his own town. +Here was the old elevator, and the machine shop near the railway +track. And, oh, there was his own home, looking green and +pleasant as the train sped by. It almost brought tears to +Archie's eyes to think that he was so soon to see his mother. Now +they had reached the station, and he stood upon the car platform +ready to alight. My, what a crowd there was! and why did they +cheer as he made his appearance? All at once it dawned upon him +that all these people were here to meet him, and to bid him +welcome home. He could hardly speak as he found himself in his +mother's arms, and then he began to shake the hands of the big +crowd. They were all old friends, and then there was the mayor, +and the superintendent of schools, and quite a delegation of +leading citizens. How nice it was of them to welcome him in this +way!</p> + +<p>After awhile the handshaking was over, and the mayor was able +to get a few minutes with Archie. "We are all very proud of what +you have accomplished," he said, "and we want to give you a +public reception to-morrow night in the town hall, if you don't +object." Archie stared blankly at the mayor, and it was several +moments before he realised the meaning of the words. Then he was +almost overcome. It was almost too good to be true, it seemed, +but he warmly thanked the mayor, and told him how he appreciated +the honour which they had done him. He said that he would be glad +to attend the reception.</p> + +<p>The crowd was scattering now, and Archie, wild to reach home, +took his mother to a carriage, in which they drove rapidly out to +the little house among the trees and arbours. The old town looked +beautiful in every way. The great maple and oak trees along the +road were green with new leaves, and every dooryard was bright +with snowballs and yellow roses. "This is the very best time of +the year," he said to his mother, "and I am the very happiest boy +in all the world."</p> + +<p>"And I am the happiest mother," was the answer. Then they sat +in silence until they reached the old home. They entered by the +kitchen door, and, once inside, and seated in the old cane +rocking-chair, Archie bowed his head in tears of joy at being +home with mother once again.</p> + +<p>The hours which followed were sweet with joy. Mrs. Dunn busied +herself in preparing the supper, and Archie hung around the +kitchen, telling some of the many things he had planned to tell. +Mrs. Dunn was smiling, and Archie thought her the sweetest mother +any boy could have. She was changed somewhat, but she looked very +young to-day.</p> + +<p>Supper over, Archie went over the fence to see the Sullivan +boys, and he found them looking much the same. He was truly glad +to see them, and they, of course, were glad to see him, too, +though at first they were just a little bashful, remembering, no +doubt, all the things which had happened to Archie since they saw +him last. The boys were soon telling all about the Hut Club, +though, and Archie learned to his joy that it was still a +flourishing organisation. "We spoke of you every time we were +together," said Jack, "and we always wished you were back again." +Archie was delighted to hear that he had been missed, and all at +once an idea came to him which he put into execution three days +later. He determined to give an elegant dinner to this club of +boys, and the very next day he sent to New York for a caterer to +arrange it. He wanted it to be something finer than any of the +boys had ever seen, and it certainly turned out to be so. The +caterer did his best, and when, three days later, the Hut Club +sat down together for the first time in more than eighteen +months, they partook of a dinner which would have done credit to +Mr. Depaw's table. It was a memorable night for them all, and +every boy enjoyed himself.</p> + +<p>Archie enjoyed this Hut Club dinner more than anything else +while he was at home, though of course the great event of his +stay was the public reception at the Town Hall on the second +evening after his arrival. This was a truly grand affair. The +town authorities hired a brass band, which played inside the hall +and out, and there was such a crowd in attendance that many were +turned away from the doors. It was a night that Archie will never +be able to forget. He sat on the platform, in company with the +mayor and other town officials, and he listened to several +speeches congratulating him on what he had accomplished since +leaving the town. Then he had to get up and tell them all of his +experiences, from the time he left until now. He told it in a +simple manner, but from the close attention he received it was +evident his audience was deeply interested. When he had finished, +there were calls for "three cheers for Archie Dunn," and they +were given with a will. Then Archie, rising from his seat, called +for "three cheers for the President of the United States," and +they, too, were given, for Archie had told them all his feelings +on the subject of the President's policy in the war. After this +there were three cheers for Mr. Depaw, whom one man said would be +the next United States Senator from the State. The meeting closed +with some cheers for the New York <i>Enterprise,</i> and then +followed a long siege of handshaking for Archie, who stood beside +his mother on the floor in front of the platform. It was a happy +night for them both, and Mrs. Dunn said afterward that she could +never wish for anything more the rest of her life.</p> + +<p>The fourth day of his visit was a Sunday, and, to Archie's +joy, brave Bill Hickson and his wife came up from the city to +spend the day. What a jolly time they had, all day long! They +went to church in the morning, where they saw all the people, it +seemed, whom they hadn't seen before, and in the afternoon there +were many callers at the little house. The evening was spent +quietly by the happy four, talking of old times and plans for the +future. The town authorities were anxious to give Bill Hickson a +reception while he was in town, but the bashful hero declined the +honour, and returned with his wife to New York by the midnight +train.</p> + +<p>During the two succeeding days Archie talked a great deal with +his mother, and finally gained her consent to come to New York to +live in a year's time. Mrs. Dunn had never really understood that +Archie had so good a position, but now that she realised what a +splendid beginning he had made, she was very willing to come and +keep house for him. This question settled, everything seemed +wholly delightful in the cosy home, and Archie settled down to +enjoy the two remaining days of his visit in quiet rest. He had +already much improved during his stay, and was sure of going back +to the city feeling much better than for a long time past, and +this made Mrs. Dunn very happy.</p> + +<p>But Archie didn't stay his week out at home. On the fifth +night he attended a reception in his honour at one of the +neighbours' houses, and he was just in the midst of a description +of Tokio when a messenger boy entered with a telegram for him. He +opened it at once, and read it aloud to the company:</p> + +<p>"Dear Archie," it said, "return as soon as possible. I sail +for Europe on Saturday's steamer to remain six months, and wish +you to accompany me." It was signed by Mr. Depaw, and there was +great applause from the crowd when he finished reading it. But +Archie's face was a study. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to go +to Europe or not, but of course there was no question about what +he should do. He at once telegraphed a reply, saying that he +would reach the city to-morrow at noon, leaving home on the early +morning train.</p> + +<p>Of course the reception soon broke up, and Archie walked +quietly home with his mother, who was saddened at the prospect of +losing him so soon again. She soon brightened, however, and began +to plan things for him to do abroad, and soon she entered into +the preparation for his departure with all her heart. But Archie +was not so soon made glad, and he didn't rest until he made his +mother promise to accompany him to the city on the morrow to +spend the two days previous to his departure in helping him get +ready. Mrs. Dunn wasn't anxious to make the trip, but for +Archie's sake she consented.</p> + +<p>And early the next morning they left for the city, where the +time passed rapidly until the hour of the steamer's sailing. At +the pier they said good-bye. Archie could hardly speak, but Mrs. +Dunn was brave. "Archie," she said, "God has been with you so far +and he will keep you yet. And remember that a boy with honest +ambition will always get along. You are sure to have friends +about you always, for you have proved that you possess energy, +perseverance and a good heart." She said good-bye without a tear, +but as the steamer left the pier Archie saw, on looking back, a +sweet mother seated on a coil of rope, with her handkerchief to +her eyes.</p> + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + +<pre> +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ADVENTURES OF A BOY REPORTER *** + +This file should be named aboyr10.txt or aboyr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, aboyr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, aboyr10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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