by Alfred Elwes
CHAPTER X.
LIVING IN COMFORT AGAIN--FEATURED AS "THE BOY REPORTER."
ARCHIE often speaks of the day when he visited the newspaper officefor the first time as the happiest day in all his life. The change fromdespair and homesickness to the joy of being appreciated by some onewas so rapid that it made his head fairly swim with the exhilaration ofsuccess. With thirty dollars in his pocket, and the knowledge that hewould have steady employment of the kind he desired on the morrow, hewalked up the Bowery feeling like a prince. He entered the lodging-housewhere he had left his bundle of clothing, and so surprised the clerkby his new appearance that he was invited to remain there for anothernight. The shrewd man guessed that some good fortune must have befallenArchie, or he wouldn't be so happy. But the one night of misery whichhe had spent in the squalid hotel was enough for Archie, and he walkedhastily up-town with his bundle, keeping a sharp lookout for a pleasantplace where he might get a room. In his previous wanderings he had seenseveral nice houses with rooms to rent, but now that he wanted a room hefound it difficult to find any of these neighbourhoods. He was anxiousto get settled as quickly as possible, for he wanted to get everythingdone to-day, so that to-morrow he could have time to do anythingrequired of him by the editor of the Enterprise. He must get a new suitof clothes, he must get his hair cut, and last, but not least, he mustwrite home to mother and tell her of his great good fortune.
Finally, in his wanderings, Archie came to a beautiful square whichwas surrounded on every side by business houses and tenements. But thesquare 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 Archieof the front yard at home, and he decided to get a room in one of thehouses here if he could possibly do so.
It so happened that there was a hall bedroom empty in one of thebest-looking places, and Archie at once engaged it. The price was morereasonable than he had hoped for, even, and this made him happy, for asyet he had no idea how much his earnings would be, and he was anxious tobe able to save something to send home, if he possibly could. The roomwas nicely furnished, and looked out upon the fountain, with the greentrees, so that it was highly satisfactory in every respect. It didn'ttake Archie long to undo his bundle, and it was a pitiful display thatgreeted him when it was opened. The little comb and brush, a piece ofsoap, a Testament given him last Christmas by the teacher at Sundayschool, a suit of underwear, and a couple of handkerchiefs. The wholelot of things hardly filled a corner in one of the bureau drawers, andArchie realised that he must buy a great many things within a week ortwo.
But before going out to do any shopping, he sat down and wrote a longletter home, describing his success of the morning, and telling hismother of the editor's promise to give him regular employment. Heenclosed a copy of the paper with his picture and the story of hisadventures, and it made him very happy to think of his mother's feelingswhen she read it all. Then, when he had finished, he went out to apost-office, and bought a money-order for ten dollars, which he alsoenclosed. "I know I can spare it," he said to himself, "and it willgratify her so much." Then, when the letter with its contents was safelymailed, he bought himself a new suit of clothing, and renovated himselfin many ways, so that when he returned to his room in the square it wasnearly dark, and he looked a different boy entirely.
Before going to bed, he determined to see his policeman friend, and tellhim of his good fortune. "He is probably expecting me to sleep in thestation," 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 hissuccess.
"I bought the Enterprise, 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 howyou are getting along." This Archie promised to do, and returned to hislodging to sleep.
The next morning he was on hand at the Enterprise office before theeditor himself was down. The place was quite as fascinating as it hadbeen on the preceding day, and he found something new to look atevery minute. The reporters at their desks, several of whom introducedthemselves and congratulated Archie on his perseverance, were a sourceof great interest to him, and the copy-boys, running here and there withspecial copy for the first edition, gave an air of hustling activity tothe place that was very attractive to this new reporter.
When the editor came he had already thought of something for Archie todo. "Now you've been introduced to the public," he said, "and we want tofeature you for a few days. Every one will be interested in knowing whatyou are doing, and what is going to become of you. You must write usan article for the paper to-day, telling about your experiences sinceyesterday, about getting a new suit, and about hunting for a room. Andyou can tell about your policeman friend, too."
This was surprising. Archie couldn't imagine why any one shouldbe interested in knowing about his daily life, but he sat down andsucceeded in writing a very interesting two columns about it. He wasmuch surprised that he should be able to write so easily and so well. Ofcourse he knew that composition and rhetoric had been his two strongeststudies at school, but he had never realised before that he had anygreat talent for writing. When he had finished this article, the editorlooked it over, and said, "That's great. You're all right, my boy. We'llmake a great journalist of you yet," and of course this made Archie veryhappy. "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."
When the proofs came, in a very short time, he hardly knew what to dowith them. But in reading them he discovered several mistakes, which helost no time in correcting, and Mr. Jennings said that he had done verywell 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 strangeexperiences 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 adifferent place from any you have seen before. You are sure to see someunusual things, and in the morning you can bring me in two columns aboutit."
Before leaving, Archie was asked if he needed any money. "You mustn'thesitate to ask for it, because you can have it as well to-day as onSaturday." But as he had left several dollars of the thirty he hadreceived the day before, Archie didn't draw any more, and he thought itmost remarkable that the editor should have so much money to pay out.
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 themost unique and most delightful place imaginable, It was a queer-lookingtown, with great wheels in the air, high towers, with elevators andinnumerable merry-go-rounds, and other sources of amusement. The noisewas something terrific. Hand-organs, street-pianos, and German bandswere all playing at the same time, while people hurried about from oneplace to another, enjoying the hundreds of games and riding the variousscenic railways and carrousels. Archie stood mute with delight at itall, but before five minutes had passed he had shot the chutes, and hadridden over a steeplechase which took him through dark caverns, wheredragons glared at him and where electrical sparks were constantly flyingthrough the air. It was all so new, so different from anything he hadseen before, that he was simply lost in admiration. He was standingnear 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."