On looking at the locket the boys agreed that it was the likeness of the girl that had so narrowly escaped drowning. They admired it a long time, after which Tom carefully put it away, and they finished their supper.
The supper finished, the boys sat in the hot room until Tom’s clothing was fully dried, during which process the two were urged to drink fully a score of times, Tom being assured by several that the only way to escape a dangerous cold was to swallow a good supply of gin.
Like sensible lads they steadfastly refused, as they had never tasted spirituous liquors, and never intended to.
Finally, at a late hour, they retired to their humble room, where they were speedily asleep.
On the morrow it was agreed that they would make this place their headquarters, while they looked up something to do. They could separate and spend the day in the search, and return to their lodging-house after dark, both having fixed the location in their minds, and there being little excuse for losing their way, even in such a vast city.
Breakfast was eaten early, and the friends separated, not expecting to see each other till dusk again. Both were in high spirits, for in the clear sunshine of the winter’s morning the world looked bright and radiant to them. The hurry and rush of Broadway, the crowds constantly surging forward, each one seemingly intent on his own business, the constant roll and rumble of trade,—all so different from the more sedate city they had left behind.
All these were so new and novel to the lads, threading their way through the great metropolis, that they forgot their real business for a time, and feasted their eyes and ears for hours.
Finally, they roused themselves and went to work. The experience of the two, for a time at least, was very similar. Tom first stopped in a dry-goods house, and asked whether they could give him anything to do. A short “No” was the reply, and the proprietor instantly turned his back upon him. Then he tried a drug-store, where he was treated in the same manner. In a hat and cap store, the rotund clerk tried to chaff him, but he didn’t make much of a success of it. In answer to his question, the clerk replied that he didn’t need a boy just then, but when he did he would send his carriage around to the Metropolitan for him.
When Tom timidly introduced his errand to an old gentleman in spectacles, as he sat at his desk in a large shipping-office, the old fellow exclaimed in an awed voice,—
“Great Heavens, no! I don’t want to hire any boy.”
And so it went, hour after hour, until the future, which had looked so beautiful in the morning, gradually became overcast with clouds, and the poor lad was forced to stop and rest from sheer weariness.
He kept it up bravely till night, when he started on his return to his lodgings. He found on inquiry that he was several miles distant, his wanderings having covered more ground than he supposed. He had made over thirty applications, and in no instance had he received one grain of encouragement. In more than one case he had been insulted and ordered from the store, followed by the intimation that he was some runaway or thief.
No wonder that Tom felt discouraged and depressed in spirits as he rode homeward in the street-car. He was so wearied that he dropped down in one corner, where he soon fell asleep, not waking until he had gone fully two miles beyond the point where he should have left the vehicle. This sleep so mixed him up that it was nearly ten o’clock when he reached his hotel, as we may call it.
He was hopeful that Jim would have a better story to tell; but to his amazement, he found that his friend, despite the lateness of the hour, had not yet come back. A shiver of alarm passed over Tom, for he was certain that some dreadful evil had befallen him.
Most likely he had been waylaid and killed in some of the hundred different ways which the police reports show are adopted by the assassins of New York in disposing of their victims.
CHAPTER X.
Tom’s anxiety for his comrade drove all thought of sleep from his eyes for the time; and he sat long in the hot, smoky air of the room downstairs, in the hope that Jim would come.
It seemed to the watcher that there was an unusually large number of visitors in the house that evening. There was a great deal of drinking and carousing going on, and many of the men gathered there, he was sure, belonged to the lowest grades of society.
A half-dozen foreign nations were represented, and one had but to listen to the talk for a short while to learn that among them were many whom one might well fear to meet on a lonely road at night.
Tom might have felt some dread but for the fact that, rather strangely, these men showed little disposition to engage in any brawl, and no one seemed to notice him.
Late in the evening a couple of policemen came in and waited a while around the stove. They only spoke to the bartender, who treated them with the greatest consideration; but they scrutinized the lad with a curious look, which caused him to wonder whether they held any suspicion of wrong-doing on his part. They said nothing to him, however, and shortly after went out.
Tom’s great alarm for Jim drove nearly every other thought from his mind. Late as it was, he would have started out to search for him, could he have formed the least idea of the course to take; but, besides being a stranger in the city, he knew that a single man or a hundred might spend weeks in hunting for one in the metropolis, without the least probability of finding him.
It was near midnight when he concluded to make his way to the room, hoping that Jim would show up before morning.
The sounds of revelry below, mingled with shouts and the stamping of feet, together with the feverish condition of the lad, kept him awake another hour; but at last he fell into a light, uneasy sleep, haunted by all sorts of grotesque, awful visions.
Suddenly he awoke; in the dim light of his little room Tom saw the figure of a man standing by the bed.
“Who are you? What do you want?” whispered the terrified lad, struggling to rise to a sitting position.
“Mebbe ye doesn’t know me, but I’m Patsey McConough, and it was mesilf that saw ye shtrike out so boldly last night and save the gal that had fallen overboard, and St. Patrick himself couldn’t have done it any better than did yersilf.”
“What do you mean by coming into my room this way?” asked Tom, whose fear greatly subsided under the words of the Irishman.
“I come upstairs to wake ye, for I’m afeard ye are going to have trouble onless ye look mighty sharp.”
“What do you mean?”
Patsey carefully closed and bolted the door behind him, and sat down on the edge of the bed, speaking in a low, guarded voice.
“There’s a big crowd downstairs, and Tim’s grog is getting to their heads, and they’re riddy for any sort of a job. There are a couple of Italian cut-throats, and though I can’t understand much of their lingo, yet I cotched enough of the same to make me sartin they mean to rob ye.”
“But would they dare try it in the house here?”
“Whisht now, there isn’t anything they wouldn’t thry, if they thought there was a chance of making a ha’pence at it. They’ve murdered men afore tonight, and they would just as lief slip up here and cut your wizen as they would ate a piece of macaroni. Whisht now, and I’ll give ye the partic’lars and inshtruct ye what to do. It wouldn’t be safe for ye to git up and go out, for they’ll folly ye and garrote ye afore ye could raich a safe place. I would stay here and watch with ye, but that I’ve overstayed me time alriddy, and I’ll catch thunder whin I git back home, ’cause I can’t make the boss belave the raison why I staid. Here’s a pistol,” added the Irishman, shoving a five-shooter into the hand of the astonished lad, “and ivery barrel is loaded, and it niver misses fire, as the victims can tell ye as have been hit by the same. Do ye take this, bolt yer door, and if anybody comes poking in the room after I’m gone, just bore a hole through him, and then ax him if he ain’t ashamed of himself to steal into a private apartment in that shtyle. Take me word for it, he won’t come agin.”
“I should think not,” said Tom, who was dressing himself. “But I do
n’t like the idea of shooting a man.”
“Nor do I, but it’s loikely to be a chice between shooting him or him shooting ye, and ye are at liberty to decide.”
And with a few parting words of caution the Irishman took his departure, first pausing long enough to advise Tom to change his quarters if he was spared until the morrow, and suggesting that the wisest thing he could do was to get out of New York as speedily as he knew how.
As may well be imagined, Tom Gordon was not likely to fall asleep again that night, so, having fully dressed himself, he sat down on the edge of the bed to wait and watch.
A small transom over his door admitted enough light to discern objects with sufficient distinctness in the room, and he carefully shoved the bolt in place, feeling he was prepared for any emergency.
Even with such an exciting subject to occupy his thoughts, he could not fail to wonder and fear for his missing friend. He prayed Heaven to watch over the boy’s footsteps and to prevent his wandering into any danger, while the feeling that the poor fellow was already beyond all human help weighed down the heart of Tom like a mountain of lead.
This suspense did not continue long when the watchful lad heard some one ascending the stairs—an action which might mean nothing or a great deal.
The room occupied by the boy was along a narrow hall, perhaps fifty feet in length, the apartment being half that distance from the head of the stairs.
It seemed to Tom that there was an attempt to smother the sound made by the feet, which plainly belonged to two people, though the effort was far from being a success.
“They may be going to their own room, after all—”
The heart of the lad gave a great bound, for at that instant the footsteps paused directly in front of his own door, and he could hear the men muttering to each other in low tones.
“They’re looking for me,” was the conclusion of the boy, who grasped his pistol more rigidly, and rose to the standing posture.
“If they want me, all they’ve got to do is to take me.”
What was the amazement of the youth to see at this moment, while his eyes were fixed upon the door, the iron bolt slowly move back, without, so far as he could see, the least human agency.
This was a house, indeed, in which such characters were given every facility they could wish to ply their unholy vocation.
Immediately after the fastening went back, the latch was lifted, and the door swung noiselessly inward.
As it did so, a head, covered only with a mass of shock hair, which hung down like pieces of tarred rope, and with the lower part of the face veiled by a black, stringy beard, was thrust far enough within to show the shoulders. Directly behind appeared another face, placed on a shorter body, but none the less repellant in expression, and the two were forcing their way into the room, when they paused.
They seemed to conclude that it would be best to consider the matter further before rushing in there.
Instead of seeing a boy sound asleep in bed, waiting for them to rob him of all his earthly possessions, they found themselves confronted by a wide-awake lad, with his revolver pointed straight at their villainous heads.
“Why don’t you come in?” asked Tom, never lowering his weapon.
“Put him down!” said the foremost of the villains, in broken English, hoping to frighten the lad.
“I don’t feel like doing it just now,” was the reply, while the arm remained as fixed as a bar of iron.
Tom did not intend to shoot unless they advanced upon him; but, not being accustomed to the weapon, he was unaware that a very slight pressure was enough to discharge it. Unconsciously he exerted that slight pressure, and, while the miscreants were glaring in the door, the pistol was fired.
What was more, the bullet struck one of the Italians, who, with a howl of pain, wheeled about and hurried downstairs, followed by his terror-stricken companion.
Tom was half-frightened out of his wits, and made up his mind that the best thing he could do was to get out of the place without any further delay.
The only way to escape was to go down the stairs, the same as his assailants had done.
It was not a pleasant duty; but, remembering what the Irishman had told him, and filled with an uncontrollable aversion against staying any longer, he hurried out, pausing only long enough to catch up his small bundle of clothing.
In the smoky, hot room downstairs, the scene was nearly the same as when he left it a couple of hours before to go to bed. The two Italians were invisible, and the little affray upstairs seemed to have attracted no attention at all. The bartender was too much occupied to notice the lad, who made his way outside into the clear, frosty air, where he inhaled a few deep draughts to give him new life and courage.
He knew not which way to turn, but he was confident he could find some safe lodging-place without going far, and he moved along the street, where there were plenty of pedestrians abroad, even though the hour was so late.
He was quite near the river, and determined not to be caught in such a trap again. He walked slowly, scrutinizing as well as he could the exterior of each building in sight, where the wayfarer and traveler was invited to step within and secure food and lodging.
In this manner he passed several houses, and was on the point of turning into one which seemed to have an inviting look, when his attention was arrested by a lad who was running toward him from the rear.
He was panting and laboring along as though about exhausted.
As he reached the wondering Tom, who stopped and turned aside to let him pass, the stranger paused and said,—
“Say, sonny, just hold that watch, will you, till I come back?”
And before the boy fairly understood the question, the other shoved a gold watch and chain into his hands, then darted into an alleyway and disappeared.
He had scarcely done so when two swift footed policemen came dashing along, as if in pursuit.
“Here he is!” exclaimed one, catching hold of Tom’s arm, and dealing him a stunning blow on the head with his locust.
“That’s the little imp,” added the other, the two guardians of the law pouncing upon the lad as if he were a Hercules, who meant to turn upon and rend them.
“I haven’t done anything,” remonstrated Tom, feeling that some fearful mistake had been made.
“Shut up, you little thief!” yelled the policeman, whacking him on the head again with his club. “Ah, here is the watch on him! We’ve been looking for you, my boy, for a month, and we’ve got you at last.”
CHAPTER XI.
When Tom Gordon comprehended that the two policemen had arrested him on the charge of stealing a gold watch, he understood the trick played upon him by the lad who had handed him the timepiece and then, darted into the alley.
Instead of throwing the property away, as a thief generally does under such circumstances, the young scamp preferred to get a stranger into difficulty.
“I didn’t take the watch; that boy handed it—”
“Shet up!” broke in the burly officer.
“But let me finish what I want—”
“Shet up! Heavens and earth! have I got to kill you before you stop that clack of yours?”
The lad saw that the only way to save his crown was to keep quiet, and he did so, trusting that in some way or other the truth would become known, the guilty punished, and the innocent allowed to go free.
One policeman grasped his right and the other his left arm, and they held on like grim death as they marched off toward the station-house.
Turning the next corner, they entered a still lower part of the city, where the darkest crimes of humanity are perpetrated.
Within ten feet of where Tom was walking, he saw under the gas-lamp a poor wretch on the pavement, with two others pounding him.
“Murder! murder!” groaned the victim, with fast-failing strength, vainly struggling to free himself from his assassins.
Tom paused, expecting the policemen, or at least one of them, would rush in
and save the man.
On the contrary, they strode along as if they were unconscious of the crime going on right before their eyes.
“They’ll kill him,” said the horrified boy, “why don’t you stop—”
“Shet up!” and down came the club again.
Just then the second policeman added in a severe tone,—
“Young man, we know you; we understand the trick you are trying to play on us; you want us to let go of you and rush in there, and then you’ll skip; we’re too old birds to be caught with such chaff; we are convinced that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and so, understand, sir, we’ll hold on to you!”
But at this juncture, fortunately for the under man, a champion appeared in the person of an Irishman, who with one blow knocked the largest of the assailants so violently backward that he turned a complete reverse somersault, and then lay still several minutes to try and understand things.
The other assailant was using his boot-heel on the prostrate man at that moment, when the Hibernian gave him a couple of blows in lightning-like succession. They landed upon the face of the coward with a sensation about the same as if a well-shod mule had planted his two hind feet there.
He, too, collapsed on the instant, and for a considerable time lost all interest in worldly affairs.
It is hard work to kill a drunken man; and, despite the terrible beating the victim had suffered, he was scarcely relieved of his foes when he staggered to his feet.
“I’m obleeged to ye, young man, for assisting me, as ye did—”
“Dry up!” broke in the impatient Hibernian.
“Talk of being obleeged to me, ’cause I interfared. What did ye let them git ye down fur? That’s what I want to know. Git out wid yees!”
And the disgusted champion turned the other fellow about and expressed his opinion of him by delivering a kick, which landed him several feet away.
“That was kind in yees,” said the recipient, looking back with the droll humor of the Irish people. “They did their hammering in front, while I resave yees in the rear, and I fale as though they was about equal.”
The Edward S. Ellis Megapack Page 155