by Alfred Elwes
CHAPTER XII.
A SUCCESSFUL REPORTER--THE EDITOR DECIDES TO SEND HIM AS CORRESPONDENT TO THE PHILIPPINES--LEAVING NEW YORK--IN CHICAGO.
AT three o'clock in the afternoon Archie was seated in Mr. Van Bunting'soffice, together with Mr. Jennings and several of the chief membersof the editorial staffs of both editions of the paper. The editors hadspread out before them, on the large table, several maps, and most ofthem were busily engaged in making notes on little paper pads. All thetime, however, an excited conversation was being carried on, for someeditors wanted Archie to proceed to the Philippines one way, and somethought 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 besent to the Philippines as a war correspondent, and that he was goingto start very shortly. He had called on Mr. Van Bunting early in theafternoon, and had then learned for the first time what the new plan wasto be. When the managing editor asked him how he would like to go to thePhilippines, Archie could scarcely reply, so delighted was he with thebrilliant prospect before him. He managed to stammer out a few words,though, in spite of his surprise. "I always thought war correspondentswere selected from the most experienced men in journalism," he said,but Mr. Van Bunting only laughed. "That's what we have already done, myboy," he said, "and so far none of our distinguished correspondents havesent us a thing worth printing that we didn't already know. You see theycan't send any more to us in the way of news than we can get from theWar Department in Washington, and most of these men are too old fogy tosend 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, andwrite us something which will be different from what we have had beforefrom the Philippines. We are sending you, because you have had noexperience 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 asyou have done here in New York, we shall be more than satisfied withyour work. I am sorry that I won't have time to give you very completeinstructions, but perhaps it will be as well. And now some of the menare waiting outside to come in and talk this matter over, so we'll havethem in now."
And Archie found himself in the midst of an editorial conference, duringwhich many things were discussed. The meeting lasted more than twohours, and finally it was decided that Archie should travel from NewYork to San Francisco, and go from there to Manila on the army transportwhich was to sail on the twenty-fifth of the month. This meant that hewould have to leave the city in two days' time, and Archie announcedhimself 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 hiscorrespondence, and how he should proceed in the event of finding itnecessary to send despatches by cable. And at the end of the conferencehe felt that he knew all that he would need to know, so that he couldstart off without fear of not being able to fulfil his mission. As faras Archie could understand it, his chief instructions as to duty were tothe effect that he must have as many experiences as possible of asmany different kinds, and that he must write about them in a perfectlynatural 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.
Mr. Van Bunting gave him a letter of credit for six hundred dollars,which amount, he said, would probably be sufficient to pay his expenseswhile he was in the Philippines, and he also gave him a cheque for threehundred dollars, which was intended to pay the expense of getting toManila. "Of course," said Mr. Van Bunting, "you can spend as much or aslittle of this as you please, and if you need more, and we find thatthe venture is paying us, why, we will send it on demand." Archie was soovercome with the knowledge that he possessed nine hundred dollars, thathe could hardly thank the editor enough, and he made up his mind that hewould spend as little as possible of the sum, and bring back part of itto Mr. Van Bunting upon his return. He couldn't imagine how it would bepossible for him to spend so much money, and he felt that, after some ofhis experiences since he left home, he ought to be able to economise inmany ways where other reporters wouldn't know how to save at all.
When the two days were up Archie had made all his preparation, and wasready to leave New York for Manila. He had sent a long letter hometo his mother, telling her of his great good fortune, and enclosing acheque 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, andfelt very proud as he mailed the letter. He told her, too, that if atany 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 wassomething 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 yourwhereabouts, for we can hear of you through our other correspondents, ifnot from your own despatches." So Archie felt that his mother shouldn'tworry, since he was such a fortunate boy in so many ways.
The night before leaving he took a long farewell walk up Broadway.Everything was bright with light, and there was, as usual, a great crowdof pleasure-seekers on the sidewalks. It was all as fascinating as everto Archie, and he felt sorry that he was to leave it so soon. New Yorkhad begun to grow on him, as it grows on any one living there forany length of time, who is in a position to appreciate the city'sattractions. He felt that he would almost rather be on Broadway than inthe Philippines, but of course he forgot this feeling when he rememberedthe confidence which Mr. Van Bunting had reposed in him by sending himupon such an important mission. So, after he had passed all the brighttheatres and restaurants, he turned down a quiet side street andreturned to his lodging, so that he might have a good night's restbefore starting on his long journey.
At seven in the morning he was up again, and at nine o'clock he wasbidding farewell to his many friends in the editorial rooms of theEvening Enterprise. Every one congratulated him upon his great good luckin getting such a chance to distinguish himself, and when they had donetelling him that he had a great future before him, Archie felt happierthan ever before in all his life.
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 thejourney. "You may be sure we are all much interested in you, Archie," hesaid, as the train was leaving, "and we shall look forward anxiously toyour safe return." These words made Archie very glad, for it cheered himto know that at least one of the editors liked him for himself as wellas for what he could do.
The Southwestern Limited seemed to fairly fly along the banks of thebeautiful Hudson, and everything was so delightful that Archie couldscarcely believe that only a week or two before he had been walkingalong country roads, anxious to reach New York, that he might become anoffice boy. Every thing in this train was as perfect as modern ingenuitycould make it, and there was no lack of interesting things to beexamined, when Archie tired of the landscape. Then, when the train hadbeen two hours out of New York, he discovered that the famous presidentof this great railway system was aboard, and, mustering up his courage,he determined to introduce himself. He had long been anxious to see thisfamous after-dinner orator and statesman, and here was a chance whichmight not come soon again. So he went back to the drawing-room, andfound the great man to be quite as pleasant as he was interesting,and Archie was asked to seat himself and tell something about hisexperiences since leaving home. Everything he said was listened to withgreat interest, and this distinguished wit seemed to find many of theadventures very funny indeed. "You have certainly had some wonderfulexperiences," he said, when Archie had finished, "and I can appreciateyour anxiety to leave school. I had that desire myself when I was a boyof about fifteen, but my father succeeded in making me change my opinionon the subject, and without much argument, unless you can call anox-team and a stony pasture an argument. I had been asking to stayat home from school for a long time. I said that I was too old to besitting there with a lot of girls and some
younger boys, and that Iwanted to work. Finally, my father said that I could stay at home if Icared to, and that he would let me work on the farm for a time. I wasoverjoyed, of course, at the prospect of staying out of school.
"The next morning I was awakened at four o'clock, and had to swallow mybreakfast in a hurry, because I was late, my father said. Then he tookme out to the barn and ordered me to hitch up the ox-team, and when thiswas done he took me out to a pasture lot and told me to pick up all theboulders there. Well, I picked up boulders all day long, and by eveningmy back and arms were so sore I could hardly move them. I was too tiredto eat supper, and was soon asleep in bed. When my father awoke me atfour the next morning, I told him to let me alone and that I was goingback to school. After that I was content to stay in school, and saidnothing more about leaving until I had finished the course and was readyto go to college."
And Archie thought it very queer that such a famous man should have hadsuch experiences when a boy. He remained in the drawing-room for morethan an hour, and when he left he felt perfectly sure that he had beentalking with the most charming man in the world.
The train sped on and on, and when daylight came the next morning theywere passing through Northern Ohio. Early in the afternoon they reacheda great smoky metropolis, spread out for miles over the plains. Archieknew that this must be Chicago, and he decided, as this was Saturday,and the steamer wouldn't leave San Francisco until the next Friday, thathe would have time to remain here over Sunday. So he left the train atthe station in Pacific Avenue, and, Finding a hotel near the station, hestarted out to see something of the city famous for its dirt and for theWorld's Fair, two widely different things.