by Alfred Elwes
CHAPTER II.
ARCHIE LONGS FOR A CHANGE IN SURROUNDINGS--A TRIP TO NEW YORK WITH UNCLE HENRY.
THE Hut Club went out on a picnic the next Saturday, and had a jollytime. They camped upon an island in the middle of a shallow stream, andwhile there made coffee and cooked their dinner, having brought most ofthe necessary apparatus from the Hut. They fished a little, and huntedfor turtles in the water, and altogether had a good time, if nothingexciting did occur. It was after nine o'clock at night when they reachedtown again, footsore and weary, and Archie Dunn had hardly entered thehouse before he was on the dining-room lounge, half-asleep. His motherseemed to be out, and as he lay there he wondered how long it would bebefore she came back. Archie truly loved his mother, but of late hehad often thought that he would like to leave home and go to the famouscity, where he felt sure he could get something to do. But he dislikedthe idea of leaving his mother.
"I'm getting to be a big boy, now," he often said to himself, "and it'stime that I began to look out for myself. I'm nearly seventeen, and Ithink I ought to be earning some money. This thing of belonging to HutClubs and spending my time in going to picnics and to circuses ought tostop. It's all right for boys, but I'm getting to be a man, now."
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 justbeen over to Mrs. Sullivan's to see if Dannie had come home, and whetherhe had seen you. Wherever have you been?"
"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 comevery fast. I'm so sorry you were worried.
"And I'm as hungry as a bear, mother. Can't you find me something toeat?"
"Yes, dear," said Mrs. Dunn, softly, "and when you've finished yoursupper I have something for you. I won't give it to you now for fear youwon't be able to eat, but as soon as you have finished your meal, youshall have it."
So Archie was obliged to eat his baked beans and brown bread and drinkhis milk without knowing what was in store for him, and he hurried asfast as he could, so that he could learn. When he had finished he wentinto the sitting-room, and found his mother sitting with a letter spreadopen upon her lap. "Uncle Henry has written me asking if you cannot gowith him to New York on Monday, for a couple of days. He is obliged togo down there on business, and says he will be glad to take you alongand show you something of the wonderful city, for he knows you won't beany trouble to him. Now I hardly know what to say, Archie. If I can feelthat you are behaving yourself properly, and are doing your best to beas little trouble as possible, I am willing that you shall go."
"Oh, mother," cried Archie, "I'll promise anything. Only let me go thisonce, and I'll promise to stay at home all the rest of the summer."
"All right, then," said Mrs. Dunn. "You shall go on the first trainMonday morning, and Uncle Henry will join you at Heddens Corner. Runalong to bed now."
Archie went up-stairs almost dumb with delight Was it really true thathe was to see the great city at last? He had heard some of the boys atschool telling what their fathers saw there, but he had never even hopedthat he would see it for himself so soon. Of course he had determined tosee it all some day, but that was to be far in the future. The ladcould hardly sleep for the joy of it all, and when he did finallylose consciousness, it was only to dream of streets of gold, and greatbuildings reaching to the skies.
Sunday passed slowly by. At Sunday school, Archie told the boys thathe was going to New York on the morrow, and from that moment he was thehero of the class. The boys looked at him with wondering admiration, andseemed scarcely able to realise that one of their number was to go sofar from home. The city was in reality little more than a hundred miles,but to their boyish minds this distance seemed wonderfully great.
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 eyesat 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 ofhim. He walked nervously up and down the platform, and wished frequentlythat it were not so early in the morning, so that some of the boys mightbe there to see him off. Finally, the great hissing locomotive drew up,with its long train of coaches, and Archie was soon aboard, hurrying offto Heddens Corner and the city. In a few minutes Uncle Henry was withhim, a tall, fine-looking man, with an air of business. Uncle Henrykept the general store at the Corner, and was an important person in theneighbourhood. He was of some importance in the city, too, for hisname was known in politics, and his custom was always desired atthe wholesale stores. So Archie was going to see the city under goodauspices, if his uncle would only have time to take him about with him.
After a couple of hours, during which Archie kept his face glued tothe window-pane, watching the flying landscape, the great train pulledthrough a long, dark tunnel, and finally entered an immense shed,covered with glass where it came to a final stop. Crowds left thecoaches, and passed out of the station, where they were swallowed up inthe great rush of traffic. Some drove away in cabs and carriages. Someentered the street-cars, and some went up a stairway and entered whatseemed to Archie a railway train in the air.
Uncle Henry told Archie to follow him carefully, and they, too, weresoon flying away from the neighbourhood of the terminal, past hotels,stores, and dwellings, until they finally left the trolley-car, andpassed through a cross street into a long, quiet thoroughfare whichlooked old enough to have been there for a hundred years. The houseswere built far back from the street, with pillars in front, and into oneof these quaint old dwellings went Archie and his uncle.
"I always stop down-town," explained Uncle Henry, "because I am near tothe great wholesale establishments. It is central to the retail stores,too, and to many of the places of interest."
When they were settled in their room, Uncle Henry explained that hewould have to be away most of this first day, but that to-morrow hewould take Archie out and show him the sights. So Archie expected toremain indoors all day; but when his uncle had left the house hedecided that he couldn't possibly remain in this close room when so manywonderful things were taking place outside. So he decided to walk up anddown the street, anyhow, and when he went out he felt like a prisonerjust escaped from a cell. But the noise was terrible, and there were agreat many wagons and trucks passing through the street. The greatestcrowd seemed to be on that cross street about two blocks away, so Archiedecided to go there, and see if there was anything new on that street.
He saw many wonderful things. There were cars running along without anyapparent motive power, there were thousands and thousands of people inthe streets, and the stores looked so handsome and interesting that hesimply couldn't resist going into one or two of them, just to see whatthey were like. And when he had finished with one or two he could thinkof no reason why he shouldn't go on up the street, where he was sure hewould find a great many more interesting things to see. So on and onhe went, until at last he was tired and hungry, and then, for the firsttime, he was a little frightened, because he thought of all he had readabout people losing their way in the city, and not being able to findtheir relatives again. But he was a brave boy, so he determined to makean effort to find his way back without appealing to a policeman. Andafter a time he was successful, and entered the queer old house in theancient street at just three o'clock in the afternoon. His uncle wasthere waiting for him, and was nearly beside himself with apprehension.
"I was about to send out a general alarm for you, at the policestation," he said. "How did you happen to go away?"
"Oh, I was so very tired of staying in the house," said Archie, "and Ifelt 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 youneedn't bother with me at all, unless you want to."
And it so happened that Mr. Kirk was very busy the next day, and wouldhave found it quite impossible to show Archie about. So it
was fortunatethat he was able to go everywhere alone, or he would have had to returnhome without seeing anything at all of the city.
As it was, he went here, there, and everywhere, and saw a great deal ofthe city, the people, and the way in which they lived. The entire placehad a strange fascination for him, and all the time he was thinking howglad he would be to live where he could see all this rush of business,this varied life, every day. And he fully determined to return some dayand get something to do, so that he might work himself up, and cometo own one of the handsome houses on the avenues, or drive one of theelegant carriages on the boulevard. And he observed every boy whopassed him, and talked with several of them, trying to find out whetherpositions were easy to secure, and whether they paid much when they weresecured.
So when they took the four o'clock train for home, and arrived atArchie's house in time for supper, he told more about the city boys andtheir work than about the tall buildings, the Brooklyn Bridge, or theCentral Park. He talked so much, in fact, about the delights of the cityboy, and the money he earned, that after he had gone to bed Mrs. Dunntook her brother aside and talked with him concerning Archie's future.And between them they definitely decided that Archie must not go to thecity to work.