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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/21846-8.txt b/21846-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da47586 --- /dev/null +++ b/21846-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7818 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Crowded Out o' Crofield, by William O. Stoddard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Crowded Out o' Crofield + or, The Boy who made his Way + +Author: William O. Stoddard + +Release Date: June 16, 2007 [EBook #21846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: _The Sorrel Mare was tugging hard at the Rein_.] + + + + + + +CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD + +OR + +THE BOY WHO MADE HIS WAY + + +BY + +WILLIAM O. STODDARD + + + +_SIXTH EDITION_ + + + +NEW YORK + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + +1897 + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1890, + +BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. + + + + +PREFACE. + +Only a few of the kindly reviewers of the earlier editions of Crowded +Out o' Crofield have suggested that it has at all exaggerated the +possible career of its boy and girl actors. If any others have +silently agreed with them, it may be worth while to say that the +pictures of places and the doings of older and younger people are +pretty accurately historical. The story and the writing of it were +suggested in a conversation with an energetic American boy who was +crowded out of his own village into a career which led to something +much more surprising than a profitable junior partnership. + +W. O. S. + +NEW YORK, 1893. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER + + I.--THE BLACKSMITH'S BOY + II.--THE FISH WERE THERE + III.--I AM ONLY A GIRL + IV.--CAPTAIN MARY + V.--JACK OGDEN'S RIDE + VI.--OUT INTO THE WORLD + VII.--MARY AND THE _EAGLE_ + VIII.--CAUGHT FOR A BURGLAR + IX.--NEARER THE CITY + X.--THE STATE-HOUSE AND THE STEAMBOAT + XI.--DOWN THE HUDSON + XII.--IN A NEW WORLD + XIII.--A WONDERFUL SUNDAY + XIV.--FRIENDS AND ENEMIES + XV.--NO BOY WANTED + XVI.--JACK'S FAMINE + XVII.--JACK-AT-ALL-TRADES + XVIII.--THE DRUMMER BOY + XIX.--COMPLETE SUCCESS + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +The Sorrel Mare was tugging hard at the Rein . . . _Frontispiece_ + +The Runaway + +Along the Water's Edge + +Fighting the Fire + +"Run for Home" + +He listened in silence + +"There won't be any _Eagle_ this week" + +Just out + +"I'm the Editor, sir" + +"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in" + +"Your map's all wrong," said Jack + +The hotel clerk looked at Jack + +His traveler friend was sound asleep + +On Broadway, at last! + +"How would he get in?" + +Coffee and clams + +Jack is homesick + +"I've lost my pocket-book" + +"Ten cents left" + +Jack dines with Mr. Keifelheimer + +Buying a new hat + +Jack speaks to the General + +The return home + + + + +CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BLACKSMITH'S BOY. + +"I'm going to the city!" + +He stood in the wide door of the blacksmith-shop, with his hands in his +pockets, looking down the street, toward the rickety old bridge over +the Cocahutchie. He was a sandy-haired, freckled-faced boy, and if he +was really only about fifteen, he was tall for his age. Across the top +of the door, over his head, stretched a cracked and faded sign, with a +horseshoe painted on one end and a hammer on the other, and the name +"John Ogden," almost faded out, between them. + +The blacksmith-shop was a great, rusty, grimy clutter of work-benches, +vises, tools, iron in bars and rods, and all sorts of old iron scraps +and things that looked as if they needed making over. + +The forge was in the middle, on one side, and near it was hitched a +horse, pawing the ground with a hoof that bore a new shoe. On the +anvil was a brilliant, yellow-red loop of iron, that was not quite yet +a new shoe, and it was sending out bright sparks as a hammer fell upon +it--"thud, thud, thud," and a clatter. Over the anvil leaned a tall, +muscular, dark-haired, grimy man. His face wore a disturbed and +anxious look, and it was covered with charcoal dust. There was +altogether too much charcoal along the high bridge of his Roman nose +and over his jutting eyebrows. + +The boy in the door also had some charcoal on his cheeks and forehead, +but none upon his nose. His nose was not precisely like the +blacksmith's. It was high and Roman half-way down, but just there was +a little dent, and the rest of the nose was straight. His complexion, +excepting the freckles and charcoal, was chiefly sunburn, down to the +neckband of his blue checked shirt. He was a tough, wiry-looking boy, +and there was a kind of smiling, self-confident expression in his +blue-gray eyes and around his firm mouth. + +"I'm going to the city!" he said, again, in a low but positive voice. +"I'll get there, somehow." + +Just then a short, thick-set man came hurrying past him into the shop. +He was probably the whitest man going into that or any other shop, and +he spoke out at once, very fast, but with a voice that sounded as if it +came through a bag of meal. + +"Ogden," said he, "got him shod? If you have, I'll take him. What do +you say about that trade?" + +"I don't want any more room than there is here," said the blacksmith, +"and I don't care to move my shop." + +"There's nigh onto two acres, mebbe more, all along the creek from +below the mill to Deacon Hawkins's line, below the bridge," wheezed the +mealy, floury, dusty man, rapidly. "I'll get two hundred for it some +day, ground or no ground. Best place for a shop." + +"This lot suits me," said the smith, hammering away. "'Twouldn't pay +me to move--not in these times." + +The miller had more to say, while he unhitched his horse, but he led +him out without getting any more favorable reply about the trade. + +"Come and blow, Jack," said the smith, and the boy in the door turned +promptly to take the handle of the bellows. + +The little heap of charcoal and coke in the forge brightened and sent +up fiery tongues, as the great leathern lungs wheezed and sighed, and +Jack himself began to puff. + +"I've got to have a bigger man than you are, for a blower and striker," +said the smith. "He's coming Monday morning. It's time you were doing +something, Jack." + +"Why, father," said Jack, as he ceased pulling on the bellows, and the +shoe came out of the fire, "I've been doing something ever since I was +twelve. Been working here since May, and lots o' times before that. +Learned the trade, too." + +"You can make a nail, but you can't make a shoe," said his father, as +he sizzed the bit of bent iron in the water-tub and then threw it on +the ground. "Seven. That's all the shoes I'll make this morning, and +there are seven of you at home. Your mother can't spare Molly, but +you'll have to do something. It is Saturday, and you can go fishing, +after dinner, if you'd like to. There's nothin' to ketch 'round here, +either. Worst times there ever were in Crofield." + +There was gloom as well as charcoal on the face of the blacksmith, but +Jack's expression was only respectfully serious as he walked away, +without speaking, and again stood in the door for a moment. + +"I could catch something in the city. I know I could," he said, to +himself. "How on earth shall I get there?" + +The bridge, at the lower end of the sloping side-street on which the +shop stood, was long and high. It was made to fit the road and was a +number of sizes too large for the stream of water rippling under it. +The side-street climbed about twenty rods the other way into what was +evidently the Main Street of Crofield. There was a tavern on one +corner, and across the street from that there was a drug store and in +it was the post-office. On the two opposite corners were shops, and +all along Main Street were all sorts of business establishments, +sandwiched in among the dwellings. + +It was not yet noon, but Crofield had a sleepy look, as if all its work +for the whole week were done. Even the horses of the farmers' teams, +hitched in front of the stores, looked sleepy. Jack Ogden took his +longest look, this time, at a neat, white-painted frame-house across +the way. + +"Seems to me there isn't nearly so much room in it as there used to +be," he said to himself. "It's just packed and crowded. I'm going!" + +He turned and walked on up toward Main Street, as if that were the best +thing he could do till dinner time. Not many minutes later, a girl +plainly but neatly dressed came slowly along in front of the village +green, away up Main Street. She was tall and slender, and her hair and +eyes were as dark as those of John Ogden, the blacksmith. Her nose was +like his, too, except that it was finer and not so high, and she wore +very much the same anxious, discontented look upon her face. She was +walking slowly, because she saw, coming toward her, a portly lady, with +hair so flaxy that no gray would show in it. She was elegantly +dressed. She stopped and smiled and looked very condescending. + +"Good-morning, Mary Ogden," she said. + +"Good-morning, Miss Glidden," said Mary, the anxious look in her eyes +changing to a gleam that made them seem very wide awake. + +"It's a fine morning, Mary Ogden, but so very warm. Is your mother +well?" + +"Very well, thank you," said Mary. + +"And is your aunt well--and your father, and all the children? I'm so +glad they are well. Elder Holloway's to be here to-morrow. Hope +you'll all come. I shall be there myself. You've had my class a +number of times. Much obliged to you. I'll be there to-morrow. You +must hear the Elder. He's to inspect the Sunday-school." + +"Your class, Miss Glidden?" began Mary; and her face suggested that +somebody was blowing upon a kind of fire inside her cheeks, and that +they would be very red in a minute. + +"Yes; don't fail to be there to-morrow, Mary. The choir'll be full, of +course. I shall be there myself." + +"I hope you will, Miss Glidden--" + +The portly lady saw something up the street at that moment. + +"Oh my! What is it? Dear me! It's coming! Run! We'll all be +killed! Oh my!" + +She had turned quite around, while she was speaking, and was once more +looking up the street; but the dark-haired girl had neither flinched +nor wavered. She had only sent a curious, inquiring glance in the +direction of the shouts and the rattle and the cloud of dust that were +coming swiftly toward them. + +"A runaway team," she said, quietly. "Nobody's in the wagon." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Miss Glidden; but Mary began to move away, looking +not at her but at the runaway, and she did not hear the rest. "Mary +Ogden's too uppish.--Somebody'll be killed, I know they will!--She's +got to be taken down.--There they come!--Dressed too well for a +blacksmith's daughter. Doesn't know her place.--Oh dear! I'm so +frightened!" + +Perhaps she had been wise in getting behind the nearest tree. It was a +young maple, two inches through, lately set out, but it might have +stopped a pair of very small horses. Those in the road were +large--almost too large to run well. They were well-matched grays, and +they came thundering along in a way that was really fine to behold; +heads down, necks arched, nostrils wide, reins flying, the wagon behind +them banging and swerving--no wonder everybody stood still and, except +Mary Ogden, shouted, "Stop 'em!" One young fellow, across the street, +stood still only until the runaways were all but close by him. Then he +darted out into the street, not ahead of them but behind them. No man +on earth could have stopped those horses by standing in front of them. +They could have charged through a regiment. Their heavy, furious +gallop was fast, too, and the boy who was now following them, must have +been as light of foot as a young deer. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Go it, Jack! Catch 'em! Bully for you!" arose from +a score of people along the sidewalk, as he bounded forward. + +"It's Jack! Oh dear me! But it's just like him! There! He's in!" +exclaimed Mary Ogden, her dark eyes dancing proudly. + +"Why, it's that good-for-nothing brother of Mary Ogden. He's the +blacksmith's boy. I'm afraid he will be hurt," remarked Miss Glidden, +kindly and benevolently; but all the rest shouted "Hurrah!" again. + +Fierce was the strain upon the young runner, for a moment, and then his +hands were on the back-board of the bouncing wagon. A tug, a spring, a +swerve of the wagon, and Jack Ogden was in it, and in a second more the +loosely flying reins were in his hands. + +The strong arms of his father, were they twice as strong, could not at +once have pulled in those horses, and one man on the sidewalk seemed to +be entirely correct when he said, "He's a plucky little fellow, but he +can't do a thing, now he's there." + +[Illustration: _The Runaway_.] + +His sister was trembling all over, but she was repeating: "He did it +splendidly! He can do anything!" + +Jack, in the wagon, was thinking only: "I know 'em. They're old +Hammond's team. They'll try to go home to the mill. They'll smash +everything, if I don't look out!" + +It is something, even to a greatly frightened horse, to feel a hand on +the rein. The team intended to turn out of Main Street, at the corner, +and they made the turn, but they did not crash the wagon to pieces +against the corner post, because of the desperate guiding that was done +by Jack. The wagon swung around without upsetting. It tilted +fearfully, and the nigh wheel was in the air for a moment, until Jack's +weight helped bring it down again. There was a short, sharp scream +across the street, when the wagon swung and the wheel went up. + +Down the slope toward the bridge thundered the galloping team, and the +blacksmith ran out of his shop to see it pass. + +"Turn them into the creek, Jack!" he shouted, but there was no time for +any answer. + +"They'd smash through the bridge," thought Jack. "I know what I'm +about." + +There were wheel-marks down from the street, at the left of the bridge, +where many a team had descended to drink the water of the Cocahutchie, +but it required all Jack's strength on one rein to make his runaways +take that direction. They had thought of going toward the mill, but +they knew the watering-place. + +Not many rods below the bridge stood a clump of half a dozen gigantic +trees, remnants of the old forest which had been replaced by the +streets of Crofield and the farms around it. Jack's pull on the left +rein was obeyed only too well, and it looked, for some seconds, as if +the plunging beasts were about to wind up their maddened dash by a +wreck among those gnarled trunks and projecting roots. Jack drew his +breath hard, and there was almost a chill at his young heart, but he +held hard and said nothing. + +Forward--one plunge more--hard on the right rein-- + +"That was close!" he said. "If we didn't go right between the big +maple and the cherry! Now I've got 'em!" + +Splash, crash, rattle! Spattering and plunging, but cooling fast, the +gray team galloped along the shallow bed of the Cocahutchie. + +"I wish the old swimming-hole was deeper," said Jack, "but the water's +very low. Whoa, boys! Whoa, there! Almost up to the hub--over the +hub! Whoa, now!" + +And the gray team ceased its plunging and stood still in water three +feet deep. + +"I mustn't let 'em drink too much," said Jack; "but a little won't hurt +'em." + +The horses were trembling all over, but one after the other they put +their noses into the water, and then raised their heads to prick their +ears back and forth and look round. + +"Don't bring 'em ashore till they're quiet, Jack," called out the deep, +ringing voice of his father from the bank. + +There he stood, and other men were coming on the run. The tall +blacksmith's black eyes were flashing with pride over the daring feat +his son had performed. + +"I daren't tell him, though," he said to himself. "He's set up enough +a'ready. He thinks he can do 'most anything." + +"Jack," wheezed a mealy voice at his side, "that's my team--" + +"I know it," said Jack. "They 're all right now. Pretty close shave +through the trees, that was!" + +"I owe ye fifty dollars for a-savin' them and the wagin," said the +miller. "It's wuth it, and I'll pay it; but I've got to owe it to ye, +jest now. Times are awful hard in Crofield. If I'd ha' lost them +hosses and that wagin--" + +He stopped short, as if he could not exactly say how disastrous it +would have been for him. + +There was a running fire of praise and of questions poured at Jack, by +the gathering knot of people on the shore, and it was several minutes +before his father spoke again. + +"They're cool now," he said. "Turn 'em, Jack, and walk 'em out by the +bridge, and up to the mill. Then come home to dinner." + +Jack pretended not to see quite a different kind of group gathered +under the clump of tall trees. Not a voice had come to him from that +group of lookers-on, and yet the fact that they were there made him +tingle all over. + +Two large, freckle-faced, sandy-haired women were hugging each other, +and wiping their eyes; and a very small girl was tugging at their +dresses and crying, while a pair of girls of from twelve to fourteen, +close by them, seemed very much inclined to dance. Two small boys, who +at first belonged to the party, had quickly rolled up their trousers +and waded out as far as they could into the Cocahutchie. Just in front +of the group, under the trees, stood Mary Ogden, straight as an arrow, +her dark eyes flashing and her cheeks glowing while she looked silently +at the boy on the wagon in the stream, until she saw him wheel the +grays. Even then she did not say anything, but turned and walked away. +It was as if she had so much to say that she felt she could not say it. + +"Aunt Melinda! Mother!" said one of the girls, "Jack isn't hurt a +mite. They'd all ha' been drowned, though, if there was water enough." + +"Hush, Bessie," said one of the large women, and the other at once +echoed, "Hush, Bessie." + +They were very nearly alike, these women, and they both had long +straight noses, such as Jack's would have been, if half-way down it had +not been Roman, like his father's. + +"Mary Ann," said the first woman, "we mustn't say too much to him about +it. He can only just be held in, now." + +"Hush, Melinda," said Jack's mother. "I thought I'd seen the last of +him when the gray critters came a-powderin' down the road past the +house"--and then she wiped her eyes again, and so did Aunt Melinda, and +they both stooped down at the same moment, saying, "Jack's safe, +Sally," and picked up the small girl, who was crying, and kissed her. + +The gray team was surrendered to its owner as soon as it reached the +road at the foot of the bridge, and again Jack was loudly praised by +the miller. The rest of the Ogden family seemed to be disposed to keep +away, but the tall blacksmith himself was there. + +"Jack," said he, as they turned away homeward, "you can go fishing this +afternoon, just as I said. I was thinking of your doing something else +afterward, but you've done about enough for one day." + +He had more to say, concerning what would have happened to the miller's +horses, and the number of pieces the wagon would have been knocked +into, but for the manner in which the whole team had been saved. + +When they reached the house the front door was open, but nobody was to +be seen. Bob and Jim, the two small boys, had not yet returned from +seeing the gray span taken to the mill, and the women and girls had +gone through to the kitchen. + +"Jack," said his father, as they went in, "old Hammond'll owe you that +fifty dollars long enough. He never really pays anything." + +"Course he doesn't--not if he can help it," said Jack. "I worked for +him three months, and you know we had to take it out in feed. I +learned the mill trade, though, and that was something." + +Just then he was suddenly embarrassed. Mrs. Ogden had gone through the +house and out at the back door, and Aunt Melinda had followed her, and +so had the girls. Molly had suddenly gone up-stairs to her own room. +Aunt Melinda had taken everything off the kitchen stove and put +everything back again, and here now was Mrs. Ogden back again, hugging +her son. + +"Jack," she said, "don't you ever, ever, do such a thing again. You +might ha' been knocked into slivers!" + +Molly had gone up the back stairs only to come down the front way, and +she was now a little behind them. + +"Mother!" she exclaimed, as if her pent-up admiration for her brother +was exploding, "you ought to have seen him jump in, and you ought to +have seen that wagon go around the corner!" + +"Jack," broke in the half-choked voice of Aunt Melinda from the kitchen +doorway, "come and eat something. I felt as if I knew you were killed, +sure. If you haven't earned your dinner, nobody has." + +"Why, I know how to drive," said Jack. "I wasn't afraid of 'em after I +got hold of the reins." + +He seemed even in a hurry to get through his dinner, and some minutes +later he was out in the garden, digging for bait. The rest of the +family remained at the table longer than usual, especially Bob and Jim; +but, for some reason known to herself, Mary did not say a word about +her meeting with Miss Glidden. Perhaps the miller's gray team had run +away with all her interest in that, but she did not even tell how +carefully Miss Glidden had inquired after the family. + +"There goes Jack," she said at last, and they all turned to look. + +He did not say anything as he passed the kitchen door, but he had his +long cane fishing-pole over his shoulder. It had a line wound around +it, ready for use. He went out of the gate and down the road toward +the bridge, and gave only a glance across at the shop. + +"I didn't get many worms," he said to himself, at the bridge, "but I +can dig some more if the fish bite. Sometimes they do, and sometimes +they don't." + +Over the bridge he went, and up a wagon track on the opposite bank, but +he paused for one moment, in the very middle of the bridge, to look up +stream. + +"There's just enough water to run the mill," he said. "There isn't any +coming over the dam. The pond's even full, though, and it may be a +good day for fish. I wish I was in the city!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE FISH WERE THERE. + +Saturday afternoon was before Jack Ogden, when he came out at the +water's edge, near the dam, across from the mill. That was there, big +and red and rusty-looking; and the dam was there; and above them was +the mill-pond, spreading out over a number of acres, and ornamented +with stumps, old logs, pond-lilies, and weeds. It was a fairly good +pond, the best that Cocahutchie Creek could do for Crofield, but Jack's +face fell a little as he looked at it. + +"There are more fellows than fish here," he said to himself, with an +air of disgust. + +There was a boy at the end of the dam near him, and a boy in the middle +of it, and two boys at the flume, near the mill. There were three +punts out on the water, and one of them had in it a man and two boys, +while the second boat held but one man, and the third contained four. +A big stump near the north shore supported a boy, and the old snag +jutting out from the south shore held a boy and a man. + +There they all were, sitting perfectly still, until, one after another, +each rod and line came up to have its hook and bait examined, to see +whether or not there had really been a bite. + +"I'm fairly crowded out," remarked Jack. "Those fellows have all the +good places. I'll have to go somewhere else; where'll I go?" + +He studied that problem for a full minute, while every fisherman there +turned to look at him, and then turned back to watch his line. + +"I guess I'll try down stream," said Jack. "Nobody ever caught +anything down there, and nobody ever goes there, but I s'pose I might +as well try it, just for once." + +He turned away along the track over which he had come. He did not +pause at the road and bridge, but went on down the further bank of the +Cocahutchie. It was a pretty stream of water, and it spread out wide +and shallow, and rippled merrily among stones and bowlders and clumps +of willow and alder for nearly half a mile. Gradually, then, it grew +narrower, quieter, deeper, and wore a sleepy look which made it seem +more in keeping with quiet old Crofield. + +"The hay's about ready to cut," said Jack, as he plodded along the +path, near the water's edge, through a thriving meadow of clover and +timothy. "There's always plenty of work in haying time. Hullo! What +grasshoppers! Jingo!" + +As he made the last exclamation, he clapped his hand upon his trousers +pocket. + +"If I didn't forget to go in and get my sinker! Never did such a thing +before in all my life. What's the use of trying to fish without a +sinker?" + +The luck seemed to be going directly against him. Even the +Cocahutchie, at his left, had dwindled to a mere crack between bushes +and high grass, as if to show that it had no room to let for fish to +live in--that is, for fish accustomed to having plenty of room, such as +they could find when living in a mill-pond, lined around the edges with +boys and fish-poles. + +"That's a whopper!" suddenly exclaimed Jack, with a quick snatch at +something that alighted upon his left arm. "I've caught him! +Grasshoppers are the best kind of bait, too. I'll try him on, sinker +or no sinker. Hope there are some fish, down here." + +The line he unwound from his rod was somewhat coarse, but it was +strong, and so was his hook, as if the fishing around Crofield called +for stout tackle as well as for a large number of sportsmen. The big, +long-limbed, green-coated jumper was placed in position on the hook, +and then, with several more grumbling regrets over the absence of any +sinker, Jack searched along the bank for a place whence he could throw +his bait into the water. + +"This'll do," he said, at last, and the breeze helped him to swing out +his line until the grasshopper at the end of it dropped lightly and +naturally into a dark little eddy, almost across that narrow ribbon of +the Cocahutchie. + +Splash--tug--splash again-- + +"Jingo! What's that? I declare--if he isn't pulling! He'll break the +line--no, he won't. See that pole bend! Steady--here he comes. +Hurrah!" + +Out he came, indeed, for the rude, strong tackle held, even against the +game struggling of that vigorous trout. There he lay now, on the +grass, with Jack Ogden bending over him in a fever of exultation and +amazement. + +"I never could have caught him with a worm and a sinker," he said, +aloud. "This is the way to catch 'em. Isn't he a big fellow! I'll +try some more grasshoppers." + +There was not likely to be another two-pound brook-trout very near the +hole out of which that one had been pulled. There would not have been +any at all, perhaps, but for the prevailing superstition that there +were no fish there. Everybody knew that there were bullheads, suckers, +perch, and "pumpkin-seeds" in the mill-pond, and eels, with now and +then a pickerel, but the trout were a profound secret. It was easy to +catch another big grasshopper, but the young sportsman knew very well +that he knew nothing at all of that kind of fishing. He had made his +first cast perfectly, because it was about the only way in which it +could have been made, and now he was so very nervous and excited and +cautious that he did very well again, aided as before by the breeze. +Not in the same place, but at a little distance down, and close to +where Jack captured his second bait, there was a crook in the +Cocahutchie, with a steep, overhanging, bushy bank. Into the glassy +shadow under that bank the sinkerless line carried and dropped its +little green prisoner, and there was a hungry fellow in there, waiting +for foolish grasshoppers in the meadow to spring too far and come down +upon the water instead of upon the grass. As the grasshopper alighted +on the water, there was a rush, a plunge, a strong hard pull, and then +Jack Ogden said to himself: + +"I've heard how they do it. They wait and tire 'em out. I won't be in +too much of a hurry. He'll get away if I am." + +That is probably what the fish would have done, for he was a fish with +what army men call "tactics." He was able to pull very hard, and he +was also wise enough to rush in under the bank and to sulkily stay +there. + +"Feels as if I'd hooked a snag," said Jack. "May be I've lost the fish +and he's hitched me into a 'cod-lamper' eel of some kind. Steady--no, +I mustn't pull harder than the fish." + +He was breathless, but not with any exertion that he was making. His +hat fell off upon the grass, as he leaned forward through the alder +bushes, and his sandy hair was tangled for a moment in some stubby +twigs. He loosened his head, still holding firmly his bent and +straining rod. One step farther, a slip of his left foot, an +unsuccessful grasp at a bush, and then Jack went over and down into a +pool deeper than he had thought the Cocahutchie afforded so near +Crofield. + +There was a very fine splash, as the grasshopper fly-fisherman went +under, and there was a coughing and spluttering a moment afterward, +when his eager, excited, anxious face came up again. He could swim +extremely well, and he was not thinking of his ducking--only of his +game. + +"I hope I haven't lost him!" he exclaimed, as he tried to pull upon the +line. + +It did not tug at all, just then, for the fish on the hook had been +rudely startled out from under the bank and was on his way up the +Cocahutchie, with the hook in his mouth. + +"There' he is! I've got him yet! Glad I can swim--" cried Jack; and +it did seem as if he and this fish were very well matched, except that +Jack had to give one of his hands to the rod while his captive could +use every fin. + +Down stream floated Jack, passing the rod back through his hands until +he could grasp the line, and all the while the fish was darting madly +about to get away. + +"There, I've touched bottom. Now for him! Here he comes. I'll draw +him ashore easy--that's it! Hurrah! biggest fish ever was caught in +the Cocahutchie!" + +That might or might not be so, but Jack Ogden had a three-pound trout, +flopping angrily upon the grass at his feet. + +"I know how to do it now," he almost shouted. "I can catch 'em! I +won't let anybody else know how it's done, either." + +He had learned something, no doubt, but he had not learned how to make +a large fish out of a small one. All the rest of that afternoon he +caught grasshoppers and cast them daintily into what seemed to be good +places, but he did not have another occasion to tumble in. When at +last he was tired out and decided to go home, he had a dozen more of +trout, not one of them weighing over six ounces, with a pair of very +good yellow perch, one very large perch, a sucker, and three bullheads, +that bit when his bait happened to sink to the bottom without any lead +to help it. Take it all in all, it was a great string of fish to be +caught on a Saturday afternoon, when all that the Crofield sportsmen +around the mill-pond could show was six bullheads, a dozen small perch, +a lot of "pumpkin-seeds" not much larger than dollars, five small eels, +and a very vicious snapping-turtle. + +Jack stood for a moment looking down at the results of his experiment +in fly-fishing. He felt, really, as if he could not more than half +believe it. + +"Fishing doesn't pay," he said. "It doesn't pay cash, any way. There +isn't anything around Crofield that does pay. Well, it must be time +for me to go home." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +I AM ONLY A GIRL. + +Jack was dry enough, but anybody could see that he had had a ducking, +when he marched down the main street. He was carrying his prizes in +two strings, one in each hand, and he was looking and feeling taller +than he ever felt before. It was just the right hour to meet people, +and he had to answer curious questions from some women, and from twice +as many men, and from three times as many boys, all the way from above +the green, where he came out into the street, down to the front of the +Washington Hotel. + +"Yes; I caught 'em all in the Cocahutchie." + +He had had to say that any number of times, and he had also explained, +apparently without trying to conceal anything: + +"I had to swim for 'em. Caught 'em all under water. Those big +speckled fellows are trout. They pulled me clean under. All that kind +of fish live under water." And he told half a dozen inquiring boys: +"I've found the best fish-hole you ever saw. Deep water all 'round it. +I'm going there again." And then every one asked: "Take me with you, +Jack?" + +He had to come to a halt at the tavern, for every man in the arm-chairs +on the piazza brought his feet down from the railing. + +"Hold on! I want to look at those fish!" shouted old Livermore, the +landlord. "Where'd you catch 'em?" + +"Down the Cocahutchie," said Jack once more. "I caught 'em under +water." + +"Those are just what I'm looking for," replied Livermore, rubbing his +sides, while nearly a dozen men crowded around to admire, and to guess +at the weights. + +"Traout's a-sellin' at a dollar a paound, over to Mertonville," +squealed old Deacon Hawkins; "and traout o' that size is wuth more'n +small traout. Don't ye let old Livermore cheat ye, Jack." + +"I won't cheat him, Deacon," said the big landlord. "I don't want any +thing but the trout. There's a Sunday crowd coming over from +Mertonville, to-morrer, to hear Elder Holloway. I'll give ye two +dollars, Jack." + +"That's enough for one fish," said Jack. "Don't you want the big one? +I had to dive for him. He'll weigh more'n three pounds." + +"No, he won't!" said the landlord, becoming more and more eager. "Say +three dollars for the lot." + +"I daon't know but what I want some o' them traout myself," began +Deacon Hawkins, peering more closely at the largest prize. "It's hard +times,--and a dollar a paound. I've got some folks comin' and Elder +Holloway's to be at my haouse. I don't know but I oughter--" + +"I'll take 'em, Jack," interrupted the landlord, testily. "I spoke +first. Three pounds, and two is five pounds, and--" + +"I'll give another dollar for the small traout," exclaimed Deacon +Hawkins. "He can't have 'em all." + +The landlord might have hesitated even then, but the excitement was +catching, and Squire Jones was actually, but slowly, taking out his +pocket-book. + +"Five! There's your five, Jack. The big fish are mine. Take your +money. Fetch 'em in," broke out old Livermore. + +"There's my dollar,--and there's my traout,--" squealed the deacon. + +"I was just a-goin' to saay--" at that moment growled the deep, heavy +bass voice of Squire Jones. + +"Too late," said the landlord. "He's taken my money. Come in, Jack. +Come in and get yours, Deacon," and Jack walked on into the Washington +House with six dollars in his hand, just as a boy he knew stuck his +head under Squire Jones's arm and shouted: + +"Jack!--Jack! Why didn't yer put 'em up at auction?" + +It took but a minute to get rid of the very fine fish he had sold, and +then the uncommonly successful angler made his way out of the +Washington Hotel through the side door. + +"I don't intend to answer any more questions," he said to himself; "and +all that crowd is out there yet." + +There was another reason that he did not give, for his perch, good as +they were, and the wide-mouthed sucker, and the great, clumsy +bullheads, looked mean and common, now that their elegant companions +were gone. He felt almost ashamed of them until just as he reached the +back yard of his own home. + +A tall, grimy man, with his head under the pump, was vigorously +scrubbing charcoal and iron dust from his face and hands and hair. +"Jack," he shouted, "where'd you get that string o' fish? Best I've +seen round here for ever so long." + +Another voice came from the kitchen door, and in half a second it +seemed to belong to a chorus of voices. + +"Why, Jack Ogden! What a string of fish!" + +"I caught 'em 'way down the Cocahutchie, Mother," said Jack. "I caught +'em all under water. Had to go right in after some of 'em." + +"I should say you did," growled his father, almost jocosely, and then +he and Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda and the children crowded around to +examine the fish, on the pump platform. + +"Jack must do something better'n that," said his father, rubbing his +face hard with the kitchen towel; "but he's had the best kind o' luck +this time." + +"He caught a team of runaway horses this morning, too," said Mary, +looking proudly at the fish. "I wish I could do something worth +talking about, but I'm only a girl." + +Jack's clothes had not suffered much from their ducking, mainly because +the checked shirt and linen trousers, of which his suit consisted, had +been frequently soaked before. His straw hat was dry, for it had been +lying on the grass when he went into the water, and so were his shoes +and stockings, which had been under the bed in his bedroom, waiting for +Sunday. + +It was not until the family was gathered at the table that Jack came +out with the whole tremendous story of his afternoon's sport, and of +its cash results. + +"Now I've learned all about fly-fishing," he said, with confidence, "I +can catch fish anywhere. I sha'n't have to go to fish out of that old +mill-pond again." + +"Six dollars!" exclaimed his mother, from behind the tea-pot. "What +awful extravagance there is in this wicked world! But what'll you do +with six dollars?" + +"It's high time he began to earn something," said the tall blacksmith, +gloomily. "It's hard times in Crofield. There's almost nothing for +him to do here." + +"That's why I'm going somewhere else," said Jack, with a sudden burst +of energy, and showing a very red face. "Now I've got some money to +pay my way, I'm going to New York." + +"No, you're not," said his father, and then there was a silence for a +moment. + +"What on earth could you do in New York?" said his mother, staring at +him as if he had said something dreadful. She was not a small woman, +but she had an air of trying to be larger, and her face quickly began +to recover its ordinary smile of self-confident hope, so much like that +of Jack. She added, before anybody else could speak: "There are +thousands and thousands of folks there already. Well--I suppose you +could get along there, if they can." + +"It's too full," said her husband. "It's fuller'n Crofield. He +couldn't do anything in a city. Besides, it isn't any use; he couldn't +get there, or anywhere near there, on six dollars." + +"If he only could go somewhere, and do something, and be somebody," +said Mary, staring hard at her plate. + +She had echoed Jack's thought, perfectly. "That's you, Molly," he +said, "and I'm going to do it, too." + +"You're going to work a-haying, all next week, I guess," said his +father, "if there's anybody wants ye. All the money you earn you can +give to your mother. You ain't going a-fishing again, right away. +Nobody ever caught the same fish twice." + +Slowly, glumly, but promptly, Jack handed over his two greenbacks to +his mother, but he only remarked: + +"If I work for anybody 'round here, they'll want me to take my pay in +hay. They won't pay cash." + +"Hay's just as good," said his father; and then he changed the subject +and told his wife how the miller had again urged him to trade for the +strip of land along the creek, above and below the bridge. "It comes +right up to the line of my lot," he said, "and to Hawkins's fence. The +whole of it isn't worth as much as mine is, but I don't see what he +wants to trade for." + +She agreed with him, and so did Aunt Melinda; but Jack and Mary +finished their suppers and went out to the front door. She stood still +for a moment, with her hands clasped behind her, looking across the +street, as if she were reading the sign on the shop. The discontented, +despondent expression on her face made her more and more like a very +young and pretty copy of her father. + +"I don't care, Molly," said Jack. "If they take away every cent I get, +I'm going to the city, some time." + +"I'd go, too, if I were a boy," she said. "I've got to stay at home +and wash dishes and sweep. You can go right out and make your fortune. +I've read of lots of boys that went away from home and worked their way +up. Some of 'em got to be Presidents." + +"Some girls amount to something, too," said Jack. "You've been through +the Academy. I had to stop, when I was twelve, and go to work in a +store. Been in every store in Crofield. They didn't pay me a cent in +cash, but I learned the grocery business, and the dry-goods business, +and all about crockery. That was something. I could keep a store. +Some of the stores in New York 'd hold all the stores in Crofield." + +"Some of 'em are owned and run by women, too," said Mary; "but there's +no use of my thinking of any such thing." + +Before he could tell her what he thought about it, her mother called +her in, and then he, too, stood still and seemed to study the sign over +the door of the blacksmith-shop. + +"I'll do it!" he exclaimed at last, shaking his fist at the sign. "It +isn't the end of July yet, and I'm going to get to the city before +Christmas; you see 'f I don't." + +After Mary Ogden left him and went in, Jack walked down to the bridge. +It seemed as if the Cocahutchie had a special attraction for him, now +that he knew what might be in it. + +There were three boys leaning over the rail on the lower side of the +bridge, and four on the upper side, and all were fishing. Jack did not +know, and they did not tell him, that all their hooks were baited with +"flies" of one kind or another instead of worms. Two had grasshoppers, +and one had a big bumblebee, and they were after such trout as Jack +Ogden had caught and been paid so much money for. One told another +that Jack had five dollars apiece for those fish, and that even the +bullheads were so heavy it tired him to carry them home. + +Jack did not go upon the bridge. He strolled down along the water's +edge. + +[Illustration: _Along the Water's Edge_.] + +"It's all sand and gravel," he said; "but I'd hate to leave it." + +It was curious, but not until that very moment had he been at all aware +of any real affection for Crofield. He was only dimly aware of it +then, and he forgot it all to answer a hail from two men under the +clump of giant trees which had so nearly wrecked the miller's wagon. + +The men had been looking up at the trees, and Jack heard part of what +they said about them, as he came near. They had called him to talk +about his trout-fishing, but they had aroused his curiosity upon +another subject. + +"Mr. Bannerman," he said, as soon as he had an opportunity between +"fish" questions, "did you say you'd give a hundred dollars for those +trees, just as they stand? What are they good for?" + +"Jack," exclaimed the sharp-looking man he spoke to, "don't you tell +anybody I said that. You won't, will you? Come, now, didn't I treat +you well while you were in my shop?" + +"Yes, you did," said Jack, "but you kept me there only four months. +What are those trees good for? You don't use anything but pine." + +"Why, Jack," said Bannerman, "it isn't for carpenter work. Three of +'em are curly maples, and that one there's the straightest-grained, +biggest, cleanest old cherry! They're for j'iner-work, Jack. But you +said you wouldn't tell?" + +"I won't tell," said Jack. "Old Hammond owns 'em. I stayed in your +shop just long enough to learn the carpenter's trade. I didn't learn +j'iner-work. Don't you want me again?" + +"Not just now, Jack; but Sam and I've got a bargain coming with +Hammond, and he owes us some, now, and you mustn't put in and spile the +trade for us. I'll do ye a good turn, some day. Don't you tell." + +Jack promised again and the carpenters walked away, leaving him looking +up at the trees and thinking how it would seem to see them topple over +and come crashing down into the Cocahutchie, to be made up into chairs +and tables. Just as long as he could remember anything he had seen the +old trees standing guard there, summer and winter, leafy or bare, and +they were like old friends to him. + +"I'll go home," he said, at last. "There hasn't been a house built in +Crofield for years and years. It isn't any kind of place for +carpentering, or for anything else that I know how to do." + +Then he took a long, silent, thoughtful look up stream, and another +down stream, and instead of the gravel and bushes and grass, in one +direction, and the rickety bridge and the slippery dam and the dingy +old red mill, in the other direction, he seemed to see a vision of +great buildings and streets and crowds of busy men, while the swishing +ripple of the Cocahutchie changed into the rush and roar of the great +city he was setting his heart upon. He gave it up for that evening, +and went home and went to bed, but even then it seemed to him as if he +were about to let go of something and take hold of something else. + +"I've done that often enough," he said to himself. "I'll have to leave +the blacksmith's trade now, but I'm kind o' glad I learned it. I'm +glad I didn't have my shoes on when I went into the water, though. +Soaking isn't good for that kind of shoes. Don't I know? I've worked +in every shoe-shop in Crofield, some. Didn't get any pay, except in +shoes; but then I learned the trade, and that's something. I never had +an opportunity to stay long in any one place, but I could stay in the +city." + +Then another kind of dreaming set in, and the next thing he knew it was +Sunday morning, with a promise of a sunny, sultry, sleepy kind of day. + +It was not easy for the Ogden family to shut out all talk about +fishing, while they were eating Jack's fish for breakfast, but they +avoided the subject until Jack went to dress. Jack was quite another +boy by the time he was ready for church. He was skillful with the +shoe-brush, and from his shoes upward he was a surprise. + +"You do look well," said Mary, as he and she were on their way to +church. "But how you did look when you came home last night!" + +There was little opportunity for conversation, for the walk before the +Ogden family from their gate to the church-door was not long. + +The little processions toward the village green did not divide fairly +after reaching there that morning. The larger part of each aimed +itself at the middle of the green, although the building there was no +larger than either of the two that stood at its right and left. + +"Everybody's coming to hear Elder Holloway," said Jack. "They say it +takes a fellow a good while to learn how to preach." + +Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda led their part of the procession, and Jack +and his father followed them in. There were ten Ogdens, and the family +pew held six. Just as they were going in, some one asked Mary to go +into the choir. Little Sally nestled in her mother's lap; Bob and Jim +were small and thin and only counted for one; Bessie and Sue went in, +and so did their father, and then Jack remarked: + +"I'm crowded out, father. I'll find a place, somewhere." + +"There isn't any," said the blacksmith. "Every place is full." + +He shook his head until the points of his Sunday collar scratched him, +but off went Jack, and that was the last that was seen of him until +they were all at home again. + +Mary Ogden had her reasons for not expecting to sing in the choir that +day, but she went when sent for. The gallery was what Jack called a +"coop," and would hold just eighteen persons, squeezed in. Usually it +was only half full, but on a great day, what was called the "old choir" +was sure to turn out. There were no girls nor boys in the "old choir." +There had been three seats yet to fill when Mary was sent for, but Miss +Glidden and Miss Roberts and her elder sister from Mertonville came in +just then. So, when Mary reached the gallery, Miss Glidden leaned +over, smiled, and said very benevolently: + +"You will not be needed to-day, Mary Ogden. The choir is filled." + +The organ began to play at that moment, somewhat as if it had lost its +temper. Mr. Simmons, the choir-leader (whenever he could get there), +flushed and seemed about to say something. He was the one who had sent +for Mary, and it was said that he had been heard to say that it would +be good to have "some music, outside of the organ." Before he could +speak, however, Mary was downstairs again. Seats were offered her in +several of the back pews, and she took one under the gallery. She +might as well have had a sounding-board behind her, arranged so as to +send her voice right at the pulpit. Perhaps her temper was a little +aroused, and she did not know how very full her voice was when she +began the first hymn. All were singing, and they could hear the organ +and the choir, but through, over, and above them all sounded the clear, +ringing notes of Mary Ogden's soprano. Elder Holloway, sitting in the +pulpit, put up a hand to one ear, as half-deaf men do, and sat up +straight, looking as if he was hearing some good news. He said +afterward that it helped him preach; but then Mary did not know it. +When all the services were over, she slipped out into the vestibule to +wait for the rest. She stood there when Miss Glidden came downstairs. +The portly lady was trying her best to smile and look sweet. + +"Splendid sermon, Mary Ogden," said she. "I hope you'll profit by it. +I sha'n't ask you to take my class this afternoon. Elder Holloway's +going to inspect the school. I'll be glad to have you present, though, +as one of my best scholars." + +Mary went home as quickly as she could, and the first remark she made +was to Aunt Melinda. + +"_Her_ class!" she said. "Why she hasn't been there in six weeks. She +had only four in it when she left, and there's a dozen now." + +The Ogden procession homeward had been longer than when it went to +church. Jack understood the matter the moment he came into the +dining-room, for both extra leaves had been put into the +extension-table. + +"There's company," he said aloud. "You couldn't stretch that table any +farther, unless you stretched the room." + +"Jack," said his mother, "you must come afterward. You can help Mary +wait on the table." + +Jack was as hungry as a young pickerel, but there was no help for it, +and he tried to reply cheerfully: + +"I'm getting used to being crowded out. I can stand it." + +"Where'd you sit in church?" asked his mother. + +"Out on the stoop," said Jack, "but I didn't go till after I'd sat in +five pews inside." + +"Sorry you missed the sermon," said his mother. "It was about +Jerusalem." + +"I heard him," said Jack; "you could hear him halfway across the green. +It kept me thinking about the city, all the while. I'm going, somehow." + +Just then the talk was interrupted by the others, who came in from the +parlor. + +"I declare, Ogden," said the editor, "we shall quite fill your table. +I'm glad I came, though. I'll print a full report of it all in the +Mertonville _Eagle_." + +"That's Murdoch, the editor," said Jack to himself. "That's his paper. +Ours was a _Standard_,--but it's bu'sted." + +"There's no room for a newspaper in Crofield," said the blacksmith. +"They tried one, and it lasted six months, and my son worked on it all +the time it ran." + +Mr. Murdoch turned and looked inquisitively at Jack through a huge pair +of tortoise-shell-rimmed glasses. + +"That's so," said Jack; "I learned to set type and helped edit the +paper. Molly and I did all the clipping and most of the writing, one +week." + +"Did you?" said the editor emphatically. "Then you did well. I +remember there was one strong number." + +"Molly," said Jack, as soon as they were out in the kitchen, "there's +five besides our family. They won't leave a thing for us." + +"There's hardly enough for them, even," said Mary. "What'll we do?" + +"We can cook!" said Jack, with energy. "We'll cook while they're +eating. You know how, and so do I." + +"You can wait on table as well as I can," said Mary. + +There was something cronyish and also self-helpful, in the way Jack and +Molly boiled eggs and toasted bread and fried bacon and made coffee, +and took swift turns at eating and at waiting on the table. + +The editor of the _Eagle_ heard the whole of the trout item, and about +the runaway, and told Jack to send him the next big trout he caught. + +There was another item of news that was soon to be ready for Mr. +Murdoch. Jack was conscious of a restless, excited state of mind, and +Mary said things that made him worse. + +"You want to get somewhere else as badly as I do," he remarked, just as +they came back from taking in the pies to the dinner-table. + +"I feel, sometimes, as if I could fly!" exclaimed Mary. Jack walked +out through the hall to the front door, and stood there thinking, with +a hard-boiled egg in one hand and a piece of toast in the other. + +The street he looked into was silent and deserted, from the bridge to +the hotel corner. He looked down to the creek, for a moment, and then +he looked the other way. + +"I believe Molly could do 'most anything I could do," he said to +himself; "unless it was catching a runaway team. She couldn't ha' +caught that wagon. Hullo, what's that? Jingo! The hotel cook must +have made a regular bonfire to fry my trout!" + +He wheeled as he spoke, and dashed back through the house, shouting: + +"Father, the Washington Hotel's on fire!--over the kitchen!" + +"Ladder, Jack. Rope. Bucket," cried the tall blacksmith, coolly +rising from the table, and following. As for the rest, beginning with +the editor of the _Eagle_, it was almost as if they had been told that +they were themselves on fire. Even Aunt Melinda exclaimed: "He ought +to have told us more about it! Where is it? How'd it ever catch? Oh, +dear me! It's the oldest part of the hotel. It's as dry as a bone, +and it'll burn like tinder!" + +Everybody else was saying something as all jumped and ran, but Jack and +his father were silent. Ladder, rope, water-pails, were caught up, as +if they were going to work in the shop, but the moment they were in the +street again it seemed as if John Ogden's lungs must be as deep as the +bellows of his forge. + +"Fire! Fire! Fire!" His full, resonant voice sent out the sudden +warning. + +[Illustration: _Fighting the Fire_.] + +"Fire! Fire! Fire!" shouted Jack, and every child of the Ogden +family, except Mary, echoed with such voice as belonged to each. + +Through the wide gate of the hotel barn-yard dashed the blacksmith and +his son, with their ladder, at the moment when Mrs. Livermore came out +at the kitchen door, wiping a plate. All the other inmates of the +hotel were gathered around the long table in the dining-hall, and they +were too busy with pie and different kinds of pudding, to notice +anything outdoors. + +"Where is the fire, Mr. Ogden?" she said, in a fatigued tone. + +"The fire's on your roof, close to the chimney," said the blacksmith. +"May be we can put it out, if we're quick about it. Call everybody to +hand up water." + +Up went a pair of hands, and out came a great scream. Another shrill +scream and another, followed in quick succession, and the plate she had +held, fell and was shivered into fragments on the stone door-step. + +"Foi-re! Foi-re! Foi-re-re-re!" yelled the hotel cook. "The house is +a-bur-rnin'! Wa-ter! Waw-aw-ter!" + +The doors to passage-ways of the hotel were open, and in a second more +her cry was taken up by voices that sent the substance of it ringing +through the dining-hall. + +Plates fell from the hands of waiters, coffee-cups were upset, chairs +were overturned, all manner of voices caught up the alarm. + +It would have been a very serious matter but for the promptness of Jack +Ogden and his very cool father. The ladder was planted and climbed, +there was a quick dash along the low but high-ridged roof of the +kitchen addition of the hotel,--the rope was put around Jack's waist, +and then he was able safely to use both hands in pouring water from the +pails around the foot of the chimney. Other feet came fast to the foot +of the ladder. More went tramping into the rooms under the roof. The +pumps in the kitchen and in the barn-yard were worked with frantic +energy; pail after pail was carried upstairs and up the ladder; water +was thrown in all directions; nothing was left undone that could be +done, and a great many things were done that seemed hardly possible. + +"Hot work, Jack," said his father. "It's a-gaining on us. Glad they'd +all about got through dinner,--though Livermore tells me he's insured." + +"I can stand it," said Jack. "They have steam fire-engines in the +city, though. Oh, but wouldn't I like to see one at work, once. I'd +like to be a fireman!" + +"That's about what you are, just now," said his father, and then he +turned toward the ladder and shouted: + +"Hurry up that water! Quick, now! Bring an axe! I want to smash the +roof in. Bear it, Jack. We've got to beat this fire." + +The main building of the Washington Hotel was long, rather than high, +with an open veranda along Main Street. The third story was mainly +steep roof and dormer-windows, and the kitchen addition had only a +story and a half. It was an easy building to get into or out of. Very +quickly, after the cry of "Fire!" was heard, the only people in it, +upstairs, were such of the guests as had the pluck to go and pack their +trunks. The lower floor was very well crowded, and it was almost a +relief to the men actually at work as firemen that so many other men +kept well back because they were in their "Sunday-go-to-meeting" +clothes. + +Everybody was inclined to praise Jack Ogden and his father, who were +making so brave a fight on the roof within only a few feet of the smoke +and blaze. It was heroic to look a burning house straight in the face +and conquer it. During fully half an hour there seemed to be doubt +about the victory, but the pails of water came up rapidly, a line of +men and boys along the roof conveyed them to the hands of Jack, and the +fire had a damp time of it, with no wind to help. The blacksmith had +chopped a hole in the roof, and Tom and Sam Bannerman, the carpenters, +were already calculating what they would charge old Livermore to put +the addition in order again. + +"There, Jack," said his father, at last, "we can quit, now. The fire's +under. Somebody else can take a turn. It's the hottest kind of work. +Come along. We've done our share, and a little more, too." + +Jack had just swallowed a puff of smoke, but as soon as he could stop +coughing, he said: + +"I've had enough. I'm coming." + +Other people seemed to agree with them; but there would have been less +said about it if little Joe Hawkins had not called out: + +"Three cheers for the Ogdens!" + +The cheers were given as the two volunteer firemen came down the +ladder, but there were no speeches made in reply. Jack hurried back +home at once, but his father had to stop and talk with the Bannermans +and old Hammond, the miller. + +"Jack," said his mother, looking at him, proudly, from head to foot, +"you're always doing something or other. We were looking at you, all +the while." + +"He hasn't hurt his Sunday clothes a bit," said Aunt Melinda, but there +was quite a crowd around the gate, and she did not hug him. + +He was a little damp, his face was smoky, his shirt-collar was wilted, +and his shoes would require a little work, but otherwise he was none +the worse. + +Jack went into the house, saying that he must brush his clothes; but, +really it was because he wished to get away. He did not care to talk +to anybody. + +"I never felt so, in all my life, as I did when sitting on that roof, +fighting that fire," he said aloud, as he went upstairs; and he did not +know, even then, how excited he had been, silent and cool as he had +seemed. In that short time, he had dreamed of more cities than he was +ever likely to see, and of doing more great things than he could ever +possibly do, and when he came down the ladder he felt older than when +he went up. He had no idea that much the same thoughts had come to +Mary, nor did he know how fully she believed that he could do anything, +and that she was as capable as he. + +"Father's splendid, too," she said, "but then he never had any chance, +here, and Mother didn't either. Jack ought to have a chance." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CAPTAIN MARY. + +Mr. Murdoch had stood on the main street corner; taking notes for the +_Eagle_, but now he came back to say the fire was out and it was nearly +time for Sunday-school. + +It seemed strange to have Sunday-school just after a fire, but the +Ogden family and its visitors at once made ready. + +It was a quarterly meeting, with general exercises and singing, and a +review of the quarter's lessons. The church was full by the hour for +opening, and the school had a very prosperous look. Elder Holloway and +Mr. Murdoch and two other important men sat in the pulpit, and Joab +Spokes, the superintendent, stood in front of them to conduct the +exercises. The elder seemed to be glancing benevolently around the +room, through his spectacles, but there were some things there which +could be seen without glasses, and he must have seen those also. + +Miss Glidden looked particularly well and very stately, as she sat in +the pew in front of her class (if it were hers), with Mary Ogden. Her +first words, on coming in to take command, had been: + +"Mary, dear, don't go. I really wish you to stay. You may be of +assistance." + +Mary flushed a little, but she said nothing in reply. She remained, +and she certainly did assist, for the girls looked at her almost all +the while, and Miss Glidden had no trouble whatever, and nothing to do +but to look pleased and beaming and dignified. The elder, it was +noticed, seemed to feel special interest in the part taken in the +exercises by the class with two teachers, one for show and one for +work. He even seemed to see something comical in the situation, and +there was positive admiration in a remark he made to Mr. Murdoch: + +"She's a true teacher. There's really only one teacher to that class. +She must have been born with a knack for it!" + +Elder Holloway, with all his years and experience, had not understood +the case of Miss Glidden's class more perfectly than had one young +observer at the other end of the church. Jack Ogden could not see so +well as those great men in the pulpit, but then he could hear much and +surmise the rest. + +"All those girls will stand by Molly!" he said to himself. "I hope it +won't be long before school's dismissed," he added. + +He had reasons for this hope. He was a little late through lingering +to take a curious look at what was left of the fire. The street had a +littered look. The barns and stables were wide open, and deserted, for +the horses had been led to places of safety. There seemed to be an +impression that the hotel was half destroyed; but the damage had not +been very great. + +A faint, thin film of blue was eddying along the ridgepole of the +kitchen addition. Jack noticed it, but did not know what it meant. A +more practiced observer would have known that, hidden from sight, +buried in the punk of the dry-rotted timber, was a vicious spark of +fire, stealthily eating its way through the punk of the resinous pine. + +Jack paid little attention to the tiny smoke-wreath, but he was +compelled to pay some attention to the weather. It had been hot from +sunrise until noon, and the air had grown heavier since. + +"I know what that haze means," said Jack to himself, as he looked +toward the Cocahutchie. "There's a thunderstorm coming by and by, and +nobody knows just when. I'll be on the lookout for it." + +For this reason he was glad that he was compelled to find a seat not +far from the door of the church. Twice he went out to look at the sky, +and the second time he saw banks of lead-colored clouds forming on the +northwestern horizon. Returning he said to several of the boys near +the vestibule: + +"You've just time to get home, if you don't want a ducking." + +Each boy passed along the warning; and when the school stood up to sing +the last hymn, even the girls and the older people knew of the coming +storm. There was a brief silence before the first note of the organ, +and through that silence nearly everybody could catch the shrill squeak +in which little Joe Hawkins tried to speak very low and secretly. + +"Deakin Cobb, we want to git aout! We've just time to git home if we +don't want a duckin'." + +The hymn started raggedly and in a wrong pitch; and just then the great +room grew suddenly darker, and there was a low rumble of thunder. + +"Mary Ogden!" exclaimed Miss Glidden, "what are you doing? They can't +go yet!" + +Mary was singing as loudly and correctly as usual, but she was out in +the aisle, and the girls of that class were promptly obeying the motion +of hand and head with which she summoned them to walk out of the church. + +Elder Holloway may have been only keeping time when he nodded his head, +but he was looking at Miss Glidden's class. + +So was Miss Glidden, in a bewildered way, as if she, like little +Bo-peep, were losing her sheep. Mary was following a strong and sudden +impulse. Nevertheless, by the time that class was out of its pews the +next caught the idea, and believed it a prudent thing to do. They +followed in good order, singing as they went. + +"The girls out first,--then the boys," said Elder Holloway, between two +stanzas. "One class at a time. No hurry." + +Darker grew the air. Jack, out in front of the church, was watching +the blackest cloud he had ever seen, as it came sweeping across the sky. + +The people walked out calmly enough, but all stopped singing at the +door and ran their best. + +"Run, Molly! Run for home!" shouted Jack, seeing Mary coming. "It's +going to be an awful storm." + +[Illustration: _"Run for Home."_] + +Inside the church there was much hesitation, for a moment; but Miss +Glidden followed her class without delay, and all the rest followed as +fast as they could, and were out in half the usual time. Joe Hawkins +heard Jack's words to Molly. + +"Run, boys," he echoed. "Cut for home! There's a fearful storm +coming!" + +He was right. Great drops were already falling now and then, and there +was promise of a torrent to follow. + +"I don't want to spoil these clothes," said Jack, uneasily. "I need +these to wear in the city. The storm isn't here yet, though. I'll +wait a minute." He was holding his hat on and looking up at the +steeple when he said that. It was a very old, wooden steeple, tall, +slender, and somewhat rheumatic, and he knew there must be more wind up +so high than there was nearer the ground. "It's swinging!" he said +suddenly. "I can see it bend! Glad they're all getting out. There +come Elder Holloway and Mr. Murdoch. See the elder run! I hope he +won't try to get to Hawkins's. He'd better run for our house." + +That was precisely the counsel given the good man by the editor, and +the elder said: + +"I'd like to go there. I'd like to see that clever girl again. Come, +Murdoch; no time to lose!" + +The blast was now coming lower, and the gloom was deepening. + +Flash--rattle--boom--crash! came a glitter of lightning and a great +peal of thunder. + +"Here it is!" cried Jack. "If it isn't a dry blast!" + +It was something like the first hot breath of a hurricane. To and fro +swung the tottering old steeple for a moment, and then there was +another crash--a loud, grinding, splintering, roaring crash--as the +spire reeled heavily down, lengthwise, through the shattered roof of +the meeting-house! Except for Mary Ogden's cleverness, the ruins might +have fallen upon the crowded Sunday-school. Jack turned and ran for +home. He was a good runner, but he only just escaped the deluge +following that thunderbolt. + +Jack turned upon reaching the house, and as he looked back he uttered a +loud exclamation, and out from the house rushed all the people who were +gathered there. + +"Jingo!" Jack shouted. "The old hotel's gone, sure, this time!" + +The burrowing spark had smoldered slowly along, until it felt the first +fanning of the rising gale. In another minute it flared as if under a +blowpipe, and soon a fierce sheet of flame came bursting through the +roof. + +Down poured the rain; but the hottest of that blaze was roofed over, +and the fire had its own way with the empty addition. + +"We couldn't help if we should try," exclaimed Mr. Ogden. + +"I'll put on my old clothes, any way," said Jack. "Nobody knows what's +coming." + +"I will, too," said his father. + +Jack paused a moment, and said, from the foot of the stairs: + +"The steeple's down,--right through the meeting-house. It has smashed +the whole church!" + +The sight of the fire had made him withhold that news for a minute; but +now, for another minute, the fire was almost forgotten. + +Elder Holloway began to say something in praise of Mary Ogden about her +leading out the class, but she darted away. + +"Let me get by, Jack," she said. "Let me pass, please. They all would +have been killed if they had waited! But I was thinking only of my +class and the rain." + +She ran up-stairs and Jack followed. Then the elder made a number of +improving remarks about discipline and presence of mind, and the +natural fitness of some people for doing the right thing in an +emergency. He might have said more, but all were drawn to the windows +to watch the strife between the fire and the rain. + +The fierce wind drove the smoke through the building, compelling the +landlord and his wife to escape as best they could, and, for the time +being, the victory seemed to be with the fire. + +"Seems to me," said the blacksmith, somberly, "as if Crofield was going +to pieces. This is the worst storm we ever had. The meeting-house is +gone, and the hotel's going!" + +Mary, at her window, was looking out in silence, but her face was +bright rather than gloomy. Even if she was "only a girl," she had +found an opportunity for once, and she had not proved unequal to it. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JACK OGDEN'S RIDE. + +Jack needed only a few minutes to put on the suit he had worn when +fishing. + +"There, now," he said; "if there's going to be a big flood in the creek +I'm going down to see it, rain or no rain. There's no telling how high +it'll rise if this pour keeps on long enough. It rattles on the roof +like buckshot!" + +"That's the end of the old tavern," said Jack to Mary, as he stood in +the front room looking out. + +He was barefooted, and had come so silently that she was startled. + +"Jack!" she exclaimed, turning around, "they might have all been killed +when the steeple came down. I heard what Joe Hawkins said, and I led +out the class." + +"Good for Joe!" said Jack. "We need a new meeting-house, any way. I +heard the elder say so. Less steeple, next time, and more church!" + +"I'd like to see a real big church," said Mary,--"a city church." + +"You'd like to go to the city as much as I would," said Jack. + +"Yes, I would," she replied emphatically. "Just you get there and I'll +come afterward, if I can. I've been studying twice as hard since I +left the academy, but I don't know why." + +"I know it," said Jack; "but I've had no time for books." + +"Jack! Molly!" the voice of Aunt Melinda came up the stairway. "Are +you ever coming down-stairs?" + +"What will the elder say to my coming down barefoot?" said Jack; "but I +don't want shoes if I'm going out into the mud." + +"He won't care at such a time as this," said Mary. "Let's go." + +It was not yet supper-time, but it was almost dark enough to light the +lamps. Jack felt better satisfied about his appearance when he found +how dark and shadowy the parlor was; and he felt still better when he +saw his father dressed as if he were going over to work at the forge, +all but the leather apron. + +The elder did not seem disturbed. He and Mr. Murdoch were talking +about all sorts of great disasters, and Mary did not know just when she +was drawn into the talk, or how she came to acknowledge having read +about so many different things all over the world. + +"Jack," whispered his mother, at last, "you'll have to go to the barn +and gather eggs, or we sha'n't have enough for supper." + +"I'll bring the eggs if I don't get drowned before I get back," said +Jack; and he found a basket and an umbrella and set out. + +He took advantage of a little lull in the rain, and ran to the +barn-yard gate. + +"Hullo!" he exclaimed. "Now I'll have to wade. Why it's nearly a foot +deep! There'll be the biggest kind of a freshet in the Cocahutchie. +Isn't this jolly?" + +The rain pattered on the roof as if it had been the head of a drum. If +the house was gloomy, the old barn was darker and gloomier. Jack +turned over a half-bushel measure and sat down on it. + +"I want to think," he said. "I want to get out of this. Seems to me I +never felt it so before. I'd as lief live in this barn as stay in +Crofield." + +He suddenly sprang up and shook off his blues, exclaiming: "I'll go and +see the freshet, anyhow!" + +He carried the eggs into the house. + +All the time he had been gone, Elder Holloway had been asking Mary very +particularly about the Crofield Academy. + +"I don't wonder she says what she does about the trustees," remarked +Aunt Melinda. "She took the primary room twice, for 'most a month each +time, when the teacher was sick, and all the thanks she had was that +they didn't like it when they found it out." + +The gutter in front of the house had now become a small torrent. + +"All the other gutters are just like that," said Jack. "So are the +brooks all over the country, and it all runs into the Cocahutchie!" + +"Father," said Jack, after supper, "I'm going down to the creek." + +"I wish you would," said his father. "Come back and tell us how it's +looking." + +"Could a freshet here do any damage?" asked Mr. Murdoch. + +"There's a big dam up at Four Corners," said the blacksmith. "If +anything should happen there, we'd have trouble here, and you'd have it +in Mertonville, too." + +Jack heard that as he was going out of the door. He carried an +umbrella; but the first thing he noticed was that the force of the rain +seemed to have slackened as soon as he was out of doors. It was now +more like mist or a warm sleet, as if Crofield were drifting through a +cloud. + +"The Washington House needs all the rain it can get," said Jack, as he +went along; "but half the roof is caved in. I'm glad Livermore's +insured." + +When Jack reached the creek he felt his heart fairly jump with +excitement. The Cocahutchie was no longer a thin ribbon rippling along +in a wide stretch of sand and gravel. It was a turbid, swollen, +roaring flood, already filling all the space under its bridge; and the +clump of old trees was in the water instead of on dry land. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Jack. "As high as that already, and the worst is to +come!" + +He could not see the dam at first, but the gusts of wind were making +openings in the mist, and he soon caught glimpses of a great sheet of +foaming brown water. + +"I'll go and take a look at the dam," he said; and he ran to the mill. + +"It's just level with the dam," he said, after one swift glance. "I +never thought of that. I must go and tell old Hammond what's coming." + +The miller's house was not far away, and he and his family were at +supper when there came a bang at the door. Then it opened and Mrs. +Hammond exclaimed: + +"Why, John Ogden!" + +"I'm out o' breath," said Jack excitedly. "You tell him that the +water's 'most up to the lower floor of the mill. If he's got anything +there that'd be hurt by getting wet--" + +"Goodness, yes!" shouted the miller, getting up from the table, "enough +to ruin me. There are sacks of flour, meal, grain,--all sorts of +stuff. It must all go up to the second floor. I'll call all the +hands." + +"But," said his wife, "it's Sunday!" + +"Can't help it!" he exclaimed; "the Cocahutchie's coming right up into +the mill. Jack, tell every man you see that I want him!" + +Off went Jack homeward, but he spoke to half a dozen men on the way. +He did not run, but he went quickly enough; and when he reached the +house there was something waiting for him. + +It was a horse with a blanket strapped on instead of a saddle; and by +it stood his father, and near him stood his mother and Aunt Melinda and +Mary, bareheaded, for it was not raining, now. + +"Mount, Jack," said the blacksmith quietly. "I've seen the creek. +It's only four and a half miles to the Four Corners. Ride fast. See +how that dam looks and come back and tell me. Mr. Murdoch will have +his buggy ready to start when you get back. See how many logs there +are in the saw-mill boom." + +"Oh, Jack!" exclaimed Mary, in a low suppressed voice. "I wish that I +were you! It's a great day for you!" + +He had sprung to the saddle while his father was speaking, and he felt +it was out of his power to utter a word in reply. He did not need to +speak to the horse, for the moment Mr. Ogden released the bit there was +a quick bound forward. + +"This horse is ready to go," said Jack to himself, as he felt that +motion. "I've seen her before. I wonder what's made her so excited?" + +There was no need for wonder. The trim, light-limbed sorrel mare he +was riding had been kept in the hotel stables until that day. She had +been taken out to a neighboring stable, at the morning alarm of fire, +and when the blacksmith went to borrow her he found her laboring under +a strong impression that things in Crofield were going wrong. She was +therefore inclined to go fast, and all that Jack had to do was to hold +her in. The blacksmith's son was at home in the saddle. It was not +yet dark, and he knew the road to the Four Corners. It was a muddy +road, and there was a little stream of water along each side of it. +Spattered and splashed from head to foot were rider and horse, but the +miles vanished rapidly and the Four Corners was reached. + +A smaller village than Crofield, further up among the hills, it had a +higher dam, a three times larger pond, a bigger grist-mill, and a large +saw-mill. That was because there were forests of timbers among the yet +higher hills beyond, and Mr. Ogden had been thinking seriously about +the logs from those forests. + +"I know what father means," said Jack aloud, as he galloped into the +village. + +There were hardly any people stirring about its one long street; but +there was a reason for that and Jack found out what it was when he +pulled up near the mill. + +"Everybody has come to watch the dam," he exclaimed. "No use asking +about the logs, though; there they are." + +The crowd was evidently excited, and the air was filled with shouts and +answers. + +"The boom got unhitched and swung round 'cross the dam," said one eager +speaker; "and there's all the logs, now,--hundreds on 'em,--just +a-pilin' up and a-heapin' up on the dam; and when that breaks, the +dam'll go, mill and all, bridge and all, and the valley below'll be +flooded!" + +The moon was up, and the clouds which had hidden it were breaking away +as Jack looked at the threatening spectacle before him. + +The sorrel mare was tugging hard at the rein and pawing the mud under +her feet, while Jack listened to the talk. + +"Stand it? No!" he heard a man say. "That dam wasn't built to stand +any such crowdin' as that. Hark!" + +A groaning, straining, cracking sound came from the barrier behind +which the foaming flood was widening and deepening the pond. + +"There it goes! It's breaking!" + +Jack wheeled the sorrel, as a dull, thunderous report was answered by a +great cry from the crowd; and then he dashed away down the homeward +road. + +"I must get to Crofield before the water does," he said. "Glad the +creek's so crooked; it has twice as far to travel as I have." + +Not quite, considering how a flood will sweep over a bend instead of +following it. Still, Jack and the sorrel had the start, and nearly all +the way it was a downhill road. + +The Crofield people gathered fast, after the sky cleared, for a rumor +went around that there was something wrong with the dam, and that a man +had gone to the Four Comers to warn the people there. + +All the men that could crowd into the mill had helped Mr. Hammond get +his grain up into the second story, but the water was a hand-breadth +deep on the lower floor by the time it was done. + +There came a moment when all was silent except the roar of the water, +and through that silence the thud of hoofs was heard coming down from +Main Street. Then a shrill, excited voice shouted: + +"All of you get off that bridge! The Four Corners dam's gone. The +boom's broken, and the logs are coming!" + +There was a tumult of questioning, as men gathered around the sorrel, +and there was a swift clearing of people from the bridge. + +"Why, it's shaking now!" said the blacksmith to Mr. Murdoch. "It'll go +down with the first log that strikes it. You drive your best home to +Mertonville and warn them. You may be just in time." + +Away went the editor, carrying with him an extraordinary treasure of +news for the next number of his journal. Jack dismounted, and her +owner took the sorrel to her stable; she was very muddy but none the +worse for the service she had rendered. + +The crowd stood waiting for what was sure to come. Miller Hammond was +anxiously watching his threatened and already damaged property. Jack +came and stood beside him. + +"Mr. Hammond," he said, "all the gravel that you were going to sell to +father is lying under water." + +"More than two acres of it," said the miller. "The water'll run off, +though. I'll tell you what I'll do, Jack. I'll sell it for two +hundred dollars, considering the flood." + +"If father'll take it, will you count in the fifty you said you owed +me?" inquired Jack. + +The miller made a wry face for a moment, but then responded, smiling: + +"Well! After what you've done to-night, too: saved all there was on +the first floor,--yes, I will. Tell him I'll do it." + +They all turned suddenly toward the dam. A high ridge of water was +sweeping down across the pond. It carried a crest of foam, logs, +planks, and rubbish, shining white in the moonlight, and it rolled on +toward the mill and the dam as if it had an errand. + +Crash--roar--crash--and a plunging sound,--and it seemed as if the +Crofield dam had vanished. But it had not. Only a section of its top +work, in the middle, had been knocked away by the rushing stroke of +those logs. + +A frightened shout went up from the spectators, and it had hardly died +away before there followed another splintering crash. + +"The bridge!" shouted Jack. + +The frail supports of the bridge, brittle with age and weather, already +straining hard against the furious water, needed only the battering of +the first heavy logs from the boom, and down they went. + +"Gone!" exclaimed Mr. Ogden. "The hotel's gone, and the meeting-house, +and the dam, and the bridge. There won't be anything left of Crofield, +at this rate." + +"I'm going to get out of it," said Jack. + +"I'll never refuse you again," replied his father, with energy. "You +may get out any way you can, and take your chances anywhere you please. +I won't stand in your way." + +The roar of the surging Cocahutchie was the only sound heard for a full +minute, and then the miller spoke. + +"The mill's safe," he said, with a very long breath of relief; "the +breaking of that hole in the dam let the water and logs through, and +the pond isn't rising. Hurrah!" + +There was a very faint and scattering cheer, and Jack Ogden did not +join in it. He had turned suddenly and walked away homeward, along the +narrow strip of land that remained between the wide, swollen +Cocahutchie and the fence. + +At the end of the fence, where he came into his own street, away above +where the head of the bridge had been, there was a large gathering. +That around the mill had been nearly all of men and boys. Here were +women and girls, and the smaller boys, whose mothers and aunts held +them and kept them from going nearer the water. Jack found it of no +use to say, "Oh, mother, I'm too muddy!" She didn't care how muddy he +was, and Aunt Melinda cared even less, apparently. Bessie and Sue had +evidently been crying; but Mary had not; and it was her hand on Jack's +arm that led him away, up the street, toward their gate. + +"Oh, Jack!" she exclaimed, "I'm so proud! Did you ride fast? I'm glad +I can ride! I could have done it, too. It was splendid!" + +"Molly," said Jack, "I don't mind telling you. The sorrel mare +galloped all the way, going and coming, up hill and down; and Molly, I +kept wishing and thinking every jump she gave,--wishing I was galloping +to New York, instead of to the Four Corners! + +"Molly," he added quickly, "father gives it up and says I may go!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +OUT INTO THE WORLD. + +Monday morning came, bright and sunshiny; and it hardly reached +Crofield before the people began to get up and look about them. + +Jack went down to the river and did not get back very soon. His mind +was full of something besides the flood, and he did not linger long at +the mill. + +But he looked long and hard at all the pieces of land below the mill, +down to Deacon Hawkins's line. He knew where that was, although the +fence was gone. + +"The freshet didn't wash away a foot of it," he said. "I'll tell +father what Mr. Hammond said about selling it." + +A pair of well-dressed men drove down from Main Street in a buggy and +halted near him. + +"Brady," said one of these men, "the engineer is right. We can't +change the railroad line. We can say to the Crofield people that if +they'll give us the right of way through the village we'll build them a +new bridge. They'll do it. Right here's the spot for the station." + +"Exactly," said the other man, "and the less we say about it the +better. Keep mum." + +"That's just what I'll do, too," said Jack to himself, as they drove +away. "I don't know what they mean, but it'll come out some day." + +Jack went home at once, and found the family at breakfast. After +breakfast his father went to the shop, and Jack followed him to speak +about the land purchase. + +When Jack explained the miller's offer, Mr. Ogden went with him to see +Mr. Hammond. After a short interview, Mr. Ogden and Jack secured the +land in settlement of the amount already promised Jack, and of an old +debt owed by the miller to the blacksmith, and also in consideration of +their consenting to a previous sale of the trees for cash to the +Bannermans, who had made their offer that morning. Mr. Hammond seemed +very glad to make the sale upon these terms, as he was in need of ready +money. + +When Jack returned to his father's shop, he remembered the men he had +seen at the river, and he told his father what they had said. + +"Station?--right of way?" exclaimed Mr. Ogden. "That's the new +railroad through Mertonville. They'll use up that land, and we won't +get a cent. Well, it didn't cost anything. I'd about given up +collecting that bill." + +Later that day, Jack came in to dinner with a smile on his face. It +was the old smile, too; a smile of good-humored self-confidence, which +flickered over his lips from side to side, and twisted them, and shut +his mouth tight. Just as he was about to speak, his father took a +long, neatly folded paper out of his coat pocket and laid it on the +table. + +"Look at that, Jack," he said; "and show it to your mother." + +"Warranty deed!" exclaimed Jack, reading the print on the outside. +"Father! you didn't turn it over to me, did you? Mother, it's to John +Ogden, Jr.!" + +"Oh, John--" she began and stopped. + +"Why, my dear," laughed the blacksmith, cheerfully, "it's his gravel, +not mine. I'll hold it for him, for a while, but it is Jack's whenever +I chose to record that deed." + +"I'm afraid I couldn't farm it there," said Jack; and then the smile on +his face flickered fast. "But I knew Father wanted that land." + +"It isn't worth much, but it's a beginning," said Mary. "I'd like to +own something or other, or to go somewhere." + +"Well, Molly," answered Jack, smiling, "you can go to Mertonville. +Livermore says there's a team here, horses and open carriage. It came +over on Friday. The driver has cleared out, and somebody must take +them home, and he wants me to drive over. Can't I take Molly, Mother?" + +"You'd have to walk back," said his father, "but that's nothing much. +It's less than nine miles--" + +"Father," said Jack, "you said, last night, I needn't come back to +Crofield, right away. And Mertonville's nine miles nearer the city--" + +"And a good many times nine miles yet to go," exclaimed the blacksmith; +but then he added, smiling: "Go ahead, Jack. I do believe that if any +boy can get there, you can." + +"I'll do it somehow," said Jack, with a determined nod. + +"Of course you will," said Mary. + +Jack felt as if circumstances were changing pretty fast, so far as he +was concerned; and so did Mary, for she had about given up all hope of +seeing her friends in Mertonville. + +"We'll get you ready, right away," said Aunt Melinda. "You can give +Jack your traveling bag,--he won't mind the key's being lost,--and I'll +let you take my trunk, and we'll fit you out so you can enjoy it." + +"Jack," said his father, "tell Livermore you can go, and then I want to +see you at the shop." + +Jack was so glad he could hardly speak; for he felt it was the first +step. But a part of his feeling was that he had never before loved +Crofield and all the people in it, especially his own family, so much +as at that minute. + +He went over to the ruined hotel, where he found the landlord at work +saving all sorts of things and seeming to feel reasonably cheerful over +his misfortunes. + +"Jack," he said, as soon as he was told that Jack was ready to go, "you +and Molly will have company. Miss Glidden sent to know how she could +best get over to Mertonville, and I said she could go with you. +There's a visitor, too, who must go back with her. + +"I'll take 'em," said Jack. + +Upon going to the shop he found his father shoeing a horse. The +blacksmith beckoned his son to the further end of the shop. He heard +about Miss Glidden, and listened in silence to several hopeful things +Jack had to say about what he meant to do sooner or later. + +[Illustration: _He listened in silence_.] + +"Well," he said, at last, "I was right not to let you go before, and +I've doubts about it now, but something must be done. I'm making less +and less, and not much of it's cash, and it costs more to live, and +they're all growing up. I don't want you to make me any promises. +They are broken too easily. You needn't form good resolutions. They +won't hold water. There's one thing I want you to do, though. Your +mother and I have brought you up as straight as a string, and you know +what's right and what's wrong." + +"That's true," said Jack. + +"Well, then, don't you promise nor form any resolutions, but if you're +tempted to do wrong, or to be a fool in any kind of way, just don't do +it that's all." + +"I won't, Father," said Jack earnestly. + +"There," said his father, "I feel better satisfied than I should feel +if you'd promised a hundred things. It's a great deal better not to do +anything that you know to be wrong or foolish." + +"I think so," said Jack, "and I won't." + +"Go home now and get ready," said his father; "and I'll see you off." + +"This is very sudden, Jack,", said his mother, with much feeling, when +he made his appearance. + +"Why, Mother," said Jack, "Molly'll be back soon, and the city isn't so +far away after all." + +Jack felt as if he had only about enough head left to change his +clothes and drive the team. + +"It's just as Mother says," he thought; "I've been wishing and hoping +for it, but it's come very suddenly." + +His black traveling-bag was quickly ready. He had closed it and was +walking to the door when his mother came in. + +"Jack," she said, "you'll send me a postal card every day or two?" + +"Of course I will," said he bravely. + +"And I know you'll be back in a few weeks, at most," she went on; "but +I feel as sad as if you were really going away from home. Why, you're +almost a child! You can't really be going away!" + +That was where the talk stopped for a while, except some last words +that Jack could never forget. Then she dried her eyes, and he dried +his, and they went down-stairs together. It was hard to say good-by to +all the family, and he was glad his father was not there. He got away +from them as soon as he could, and went over to the stables after his +team. It was a bay team, with a fine harness, and the open carriage +was almost new. + +"Stylish!" said Jack. "I'll take Molly on the front seat with me,--no, +the trunk,--and Miss Glidden's trunk,--well, I'll get 'em all in +somehow!" + +When he drove up in front of the house his father was there to put the +baggage in and to help Mary into the carriage and to shake hands with +Jack. + +The blacksmith's grimy face looked less gloomy for a moment. + +"Jack," he said, "good-by. May be you'll really get to the city after +all." + +"I think I shall," said Jack, with an effort to speak calmly. + +"Well," said the blacksmith, slowly, "I hope you will, somehow; but +don't you forget that there's another city." + +Jack knew what he meant. They shook hands, and in another moment the +bays were trotting briskly on their way to Miss Glidden's. Her house +was one of the finest in Crofield, with lawn and shrubbery. Mary Ogden +had never been inside of it, but she had heard that it was beautifully +furnished. There was Miss Glidden and her friend on the piazza, and +out at the sidewalk, by the gate, was a pile of baggage, at the sight +of which Jack exclaimed: + +"Trunks! They're young houses! How'll I get 'em all in? I can strap +and rope one on the back of the carriage, but then--!" + +Miss Glidden frowned at first, when the carriage pulled up, but she +came out to the gate, smiling, and so did the other lady. + +"Why, Mary Ogden, my dear," she said, "Mrs. Potter and I did not know +you were going with us. It's quite a surprise." + +"So it is to Jack and me," replied Mary quietly. "We were very glad to +have you come, though, if we can find room for your trunks." + +"I can manage 'em," said Jack. "Miss Glidden, you and Mrs. Potter get +in, and Pat and I'll pack the trunks on somehow." + +Pat was the man who had brought out the luggage, and he was waiting to +help. He was needed. It was a very full carriage when he and Jack +finished their work. There was room made for the passengers by putting +Mary's small trunk down in front, so that Jack's feet sprawled over it +from the nook where he sat. + +"I can manage the team," Jack said to himself. "They won't run away +with this load." + +Mary sat behind him, the other two on the back seat, and all the rest +of the carriage was trunks; not to speak of what Jack called a "young +house," moored behind. + +It all helped Jack to recover his usual composure, nevertheless, and he +drove out of Crofield, on the Mertonville road, confidently. + +"We shall discern traces of the devastation occasioned by the recent +inundation, as we progress," remarked Mrs. Potter. + +Jack replied: "Oh, no! The creek takes a great swoop, below Crofield, +and the road's a short cut. There'll be some mud, though." + +He was right and wrong. There was mud that forced the heavily laden +carriage to travel slowly, here and there, but there was nothing seen +of the Cocahutchie for several miles. + +"Hullo!" exclaimed Jack suddenly. "It looks like a kind of lake. It +doesn't come up over the road, though. I wonder what dam has given out +now!" + +There was the road, safe enough, but all the country to the right of it +seemed to have been turned into water. On rolled the carriage, the +horses now and then allowing signs of fear and distrust, and the two +older passengers expressing ten times as much. + +"Now, Molly," said Jack, at last, "there's a bridge across the creek, a +little ahead of this. I'd forgotten about that. Hope it's there yet." + +"Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Miss Glidden. + +"Don't prognosticate disaster," said Mrs. Potter earnestly; and it +occurred to Jack that he had heard more long words during that drive +than any one boy could hope to remember. + +"Hurrah!" he shouted, a few minutes later. "Link's bridge is there! +There's water on both sides of the road, though." + +It was an old bridge, like that at Crofield, and it was narrow, and it +trembled and shook while the snorting bays pranced and shied their +frightened way across it. They went down the slope on the other side +with a dash that would have been a bolt if Jack had not been ready for +them. Jack was holding them with a hard pull upon the reins, but he +was also looking up the Cocahutchie. + +"I see what's the matter," he said. "The logs got stuck in a narrow +place, and made a dam of their own, and set the water back over the +flat. The freshet hasn't reached Mertonville yet. Jingo!" + +Bang, crack, crash!--came a sharp sound behind him. + +"The bridge is down!" he shouted. "We were only just in time. Some of +the logs have been carried down, and one of them knocked it endwise." + +That was precisely the truth of the matter; and away went the bays, as +if they meant to race with the freshet to see which would first arrive +in Mertonville. + +"I'm on my way to the city, any how," thought Jack, with deep +satisfaction. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MARY AND THE _EAGLE_. + +The bay team traveled well, but it was late in the afternoon when Jack +drove into the town. Having been in Mertonville before, Jack knew +where to take Miss Glidden and Mrs. Potter. + +Mertonville was a thriving place, calling itself a town, and ambitious +of some day becoming a city. + +Not long after entering the village, Miss Glidden touched Jack's arm. + +"Stop, please!" exclaimed Miss Glidden. "There are our friends. The +very people we're going to see. Mrs. Edwards and the Judge, and all!" + +The party on foot had also halted, and were waiting to greet the +visitors. After welcomes had been exchanged, Mrs. Edwards, a tall, +dignified lady, with gray hair, turned to Mary and offered her hand. + +"I'm delighted to see you, Miss Ogden," she exclaimed, "and your +brother John. I've heard so much about you both, from Elder Holloway +and the Murdochs. They are expecting you." + +"We're going to the Murdochs'," said Mary, a little embarrassed by the +warmth of the greeting. + +"You will come to see me before you go home?" said Mrs. Edwards. "I +don't wonder Miss Glidden is so fond of you and so proud of you. Make +her come, Miss Glidden." + +"I should be very happy," said Miss Glidden benevolently, "but Mary has +so many friends." + +"Oh, she'll come," said the Judge himself, very heartily. "If she +doesn't, I'll come after her." + +"Shall I drive to your house now, Judge Edwards?" Jack said at last. + +The party separated, and Jack started the bay team again. + +The house of Judge Edwards was only a short distance farther, and that +of Mrs. Potter was just beyond. + +"Mary Ogden," said Miss Glidden in parting, "you must surely accept +Mrs. Edwards's invitation. She is the kindest of women." + +"Yes, Miss Glidden," said Mary, demurely. + +Jack broke in: "Of course you will. You'll have a real good time, too." + +"And you'll come and see me?" said Mrs. Potter, and Mary promised. +Then Jack and the Judge's coachman lowered to the sidewalk Miss +Glidden's enormous trunk. + +As Mrs. Potter alighted, a few minutes later, she declared to Mary: + +"I'm confident, my dear, that you will experience enthusiastic +hospitality." + +"What shall I do?" asked Mary, as they drove away. "Miss Glidden +didn't mean what she said. She is not fond of me." + +"The Judge meant it," said Jack. "They liked you. None of them +pressed me to come visiting, I noticed. I'll leave you at Murdoch's +and take the team to the stable, and then go to the office of the +_Eagle_ and see the editor." + +But when they reached the Murdochs', good Mrs. Murdoch came to the +door. She kissed Mary, and then said: + +"I'm so glad to see you! So glad you've come! Poor Mr. Murdoch--" + +"Jack's going to the office to see him," said Mary. + +"He needn't go there," said the editor's wife; "Mr. Murdoch is ill at +home. The storm and the excitement and the exposure have broken him +down. Come right in, dear. Come back, Jack, as soon as you have taken +care of the horses." + +"It's a pity," said Jack as he drove away. "The _Eagle_ will have a +hard time of it without any editor." + +He was still considering that matter when he reached the livery-stable, +but he was abruptly aroused from his thoughts by the owner of the team, +who cried excitedly: + +"Hurrah! Here's my team! I say, young man, how did you cross Link's +bridge? A man on horseback just came here and told us it was down. I +was afraid I'd lost my team for a week." + +"Well, here they are," said Jack, smiling. "They're both good +swimmers, and as for the carriage, it floated like a boat." + +"Oh, it did?" laughed the stable-keeper, as he examined his property. +"Livermore sent you with them, I suppose. I was losing five dollars a +day by not having those horses here. What's your name? Do you live in +Crofield?" + +"Jack Ogden." + +"Oh! you're the blacksmith's son. Old Murdoch told me about you. My +name's Prodger. I know your father, and I've known him twenty years. +How did you get over the creek--tell me about it?" + +Jack told him, and Mr. Prodger drew a long breath at the end of the +story. + +"You didn't know the risk you were running," he said; "but you did +first-rate, and if I needed another driver I'd be glad to hire you. +What did Livermore say I was to pay you?" + +"He didn't say," said Jack. "I wasn't thinking about being paid." + +"So much the better. I think the more of you, my boy. But it was +plucky to drive that team over Link's bridge just before it went down. +I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll pay you what they'll earn me +to-night--it will be about three dollars--and we'll call it square. +How will that do?" + +"It's more than I've earned," said Jack, gratefully. + +"I'm satisfied, if you are," said Mr. Prodger as Jack jumped down. +"Come and see me again if you're to be in town. You're fond of horses +and have a knack with them." + +"Three dollars!" said Jack, after the money had been paid him, and he +was on his way back to the Murdochs'. "Mother let me have the six +dollars they gave me for the fish. And this makes nine dollars. Why, +it will take me the rest of the way to the city--but I wouldn't have a +cent when I got there." + +When he reached the editor's house, Jack noticed that the house was on +the same square with the block of wooden buildings containing the +_Eagle_ office, and that the editor could go to his work through his +own garden, if he chose, instead of around by the street. He was again +welcomed by Mrs. Murdoch, and then led at once into Mr. Murdoch's room, +where the editor was in bed, groaning and complaining in a way that +indicated much distress. + +"I'm very sorry you're sick, Mr. Murdoch," said Jack. + +"Thank you, Jack. It's just my luck. It's the very worst time for me +to be on the sick-list. Nobody to get out the _Eagle_. Lost my +'devil' to-day, too!" + +"Lost your 'devil'?" exclaimed Jack. + +"Yes," said Mr. Murdoch in despair. "No 'devil'! No editor! Nobody +but a wooden foreman and a pair of lead-headed type-stickers. The man +that does the mailing has more than he can do, too. There won't be any +_Eagle_ this week, and perhaps none next week. Plenty of 'copy' nearly +ready, too. It's too bad!" + +[Illustration: _"There won't be any Eagle this week."_] + +"You needn't feel so discouraged," said Jack, deeply touched by the +distress of the groaning editor. "Molly and I know what to do. She +can manage the copy, just as she did for the _Standard_ once. So can +I. We'll go right to work." + +"Oh, yes, I'd forgotten," said Mr. Murdoch. "You've worked a while at +printing. I'm willing you should see what you can do. I'd like to +speak to Mary. I'm sorry to say that you'll have to sleep in the +office, Jack, for we've only one spare room in this nutshell of a +house." + +"I don't mind that," said Jack. + +"I hope I'll be out in a day or so," added the editor. "But, Jack, the +press is run by a pony steam-engine, and that foreman couldn't run it +to save his life," he added hopelessly. + +"Why, it's nothing to do," exclaimed Jack. "I've helped run an engine +for a steam thrashing-machine. Don't you be worried about the engine." + +Mr. Murdoch was able to be up a little while in the evening, and Mary +came in to see him. From what he said to her, it seemed as if there +was really very little to do in editing the remainder of the next +number of the _Eagle_. + +"I'm so glad you're here," said Mrs. Murdoch, when Mary came out to +supper. "I never read a newspaper myself, and I don't know the first +thing about putting one together. It's too bad that you should be +bothered with it though." + +"Why, Mrs. Murdoch," exclaimed Mary, laughing, "I shall be delighted. +I'd rather do it than not." + +The truth was that it was not easy for either Mary or her brother to be +very sorry that Mr. Murdoch was not able to work. They did not feel +anxious about him, for his wife had told them it was not a serious +attack, and they enjoyed the prospect of editing the newspaper. + +After supper Jack and Mary went through the garden to the _Eagle_ +office. The pony-engine was in a sort of woodshed, the press was in +the "kitchen," as Mary called it, and the front room of the little old +dwelling-house was the business office. The editor's office and the +type-setting room were up-stairs. + +Jack took a look at the engine. + +"Any one could run that," he said. "I know just how to set it going. +Come on, Molly. This is going to be great fun." + +The editor's room was only large enough for a table and a chair and a +few heaps of exchange newspapers. The table was littered and piled +with scraps of writing and printing. + +"See!" exclaimed Jack, picking up a sheet of paper. "The last thing +Mr. Murdoch did was to finish an account of his visit to Crofield, and +the flood. We'll put that in first thing to-morrow. It's easy to edit +a newspaper. Where are the scissors?" + +"We needn't bother to write new editorials," said Mary. "Here are all +these papers full of them." + +"Of course," said Jack. "But we must pick out good ones." + +Their tastes differed somewhat, and Mary condemned a number of articles +that seemed to Jack excellent. However, she selected a story and some +poems and a bright letter from Europe, and Jack found an account of an +exciting horse-race, a horrible railway accident, a base-ball match, a +fight with Indians, an explosion of dynamite, and several long strips +of jokes and conundrums. + +"These are splendid editorials!" said Mary, looking up from her +reading. "We can cut them down to fit the _Eagle_, and nobody will +suspect that Mr. Murdoch has been away." + +"Oh, they'll do," said Jack. "They're all lively. Mr. Murdoch is sure +to be satisfied. I don't think he can write better editorials himself." + +The young editors were much excited over their work, and soon became so +absorbed in their duties that it was ten o'clock before they knew it. + +"Now, Molly," said Jack, "we'll go to the house and tell him it's all +right. We'll set the _Eagle_ a-going in the morning. I knew we could +edit it." + +Mary had very little to say; her fingers ached from plying the +scissors, her eyes burned from reading so much and so fast, and her +head was in a whirl. + +At the house they met Mrs. Murdoch. + +"Oh, my dear children!" exclaimed she to Mary, "Mr. Murdoch is +delirious. The doctor's been here, and says he won't be able to think +of work--not for days and days. Can you,--_can_ you run the _Eagle_? +You won't let it stop." + +"No, indeed!" said Mary. "There's plenty of 'copy' ready, and Jack can +run the engine." + +"I'm so glad," said Mrs. Murdoch. "I'd never dare to clip anything. I +might make serious mistakes. He's so careful not to attack anything +nor to offend anybody. All sorts of people take the _Eagle_, and Mr. +Murdoch says he has to steer clear of almost everything." + +"We won't write anything," said Jack; "we'll just select the best there +is and put it right in. Those city editors on the big papers know what +to write." + +The editor's wife was convinced; and, after Mary had gone to her room, +Jack returned to a room prepared for him in the _Eagle_ office. + +"I sha'n't wear my Sunday clothes to-morrow," said Jack; "I'll put on a +hickory shirt and old trousers; then I'll be ready to work." + +The last thing he remembered saying to himself was: + +"Well, I'm nine miles nearer to New York." + + +Morning came, and Jack was busy before breakfast, but he went to the +house early. + +"I must be there when the 'hands' come," he said to Mrs. Murdoch. +"Molly ought to be in the office, too--" + +"I've told Mr. Murdoch," she said, "but he has a severe headache. He +can't bear to talk." + +"He needn't talk if he doesn't feel able," replied Jack. "The _Eagle_ +will come out all right!" + +Mary could hardly wait to finish her cup of coffee, but she tried hard +to appear calm. She was ready as soon as Jack, but she did not have +quite so much confidence in her ability to do whatever might be +necessary. + +There was to be some press-work done that forenoon, and the pony-engine +had steam up when the foreman and the two type-setters reached the +office. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Black," said Jack, as he came into the engine-room. +"It's all right. I'm Jack Ogden, a friend of Mr. Murdoch's. The new +editor's upstairs. There's some copy ready. Mr. Murdoch will not be +at the office for a week." + +"Bless me!" said Mr. Black. "I reckoned that we'd have to strike work. +What we need most is a 'devil'--" + +"I can be 'devil,'" said Jack. "I used to run the _Standard_." + +"Boys," said the foreman, without the change of a muscle in his +pasty-looking face, "Murdoch's hired a proxy. I'll go up for copy." + +He stumped upstairs to what he called the "sanctum." The door stood +open. Mr. Black's eyes blinked rapidly when he saw Mary at the +editor's table; but he did not utter a word. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Black," said Mary, holding out Mr. Murdoch's +manuscript and a number of printed clippings. She rapidly told him +what they were, and how each of them was to be printed. Mr. Black +heard her to the end, and then he said: + +"Good-morning, ma'am. Is your name Murdoch, ma'am?" + +"No, sir. Miss Ogden," said Mary. "But no one need be told that Mr. +Murdoch is not here. I do not care to see anybody, unless it's +necessary." + +"Yes, ma'am," said Mr. Black. "We'll go right along, ma'am. We're +glad the _Eagle_ is to come out on time, ma'am." + +He was very respectful, as if the idea of having a young girl as editor +awed him; and he backed out of the office, with both hands full of +copy, to stump down-stairs and tell his two journeymen: + +"It's all right, boys. Bless me! I never saw the like before." + +He explained the state of affairs, and each in turn soon managed to +make an errand up-stairs, and then to come down again almost as awed as +Mr. Black had been. + +"She's a driver," said the foreman. "She was made for a boss. She has +it in her eye." + +Even Jack, when he was sent up after copy, was a little astonished. + +"That's the way father looks," he thought, "whenever he begins to lose +his temper. The men mind him then, too; but he has to be waked up +first. I know how she feels. She's bound the _Eagle_ shall come out +on time!" + +Even Jack did not appreciate how responsibility was waking up Mary +Ogden, or how much older she felt than when she left Crofield; but he +had an idea that she was taller, and that her eyes had become darker. + +Mr. Bones, the man of all work in the front office below, was of the +opinion that she was very tall, and that her eyes were very black, and +that he did not care to go up-stairs again; for he had blundered into +the sanctum, supposing that Mr. Murdoch was there, and remarking as he +came: + +"Sa-ay, that there underdone gawk that helps edit the _Inquirer_, he +was jist in, lookin' for--yes, ma'am! Beg pardon, ma'am! I'm only +Bones--" + +"What did the gentleman want, Mr. Bones?" asked Mary, with much +dignity. "Mr. Murdoch is at home. He is ill. Is it anything I can +attend to?" + +"Oh, no, ma'am; nothing, ma'am. He's a blower. We don't mind him, +ma'am. I'll go down right away, ma'am. I'll see Mr. Black, ma'am. +Thank you, ma'am." + +He withdrew with many bows; and while down-stairs he saw Jack, and he +not only saw, but felt, that something very new and queer had happened +to the Mertonville _Eagle_. + +Both Mary and Jack were aware that there was a rival newspaper, but it +had not occurred to them that they were at all interested in the +_Inquirer_, or in its editors, beyond the fact that both papers were +published on Thursdays, and that the _Eagle_ was the larger. + +The printers worked fast that day, as if something spurred them on, and +Mr. Black was almost bright when he reported to Mary how much they had +done during the day. + +"The new boy's the best 'devil' we ever had, ma'am," said he. "Please +say to Mr. Murdoch we'd better keep him." + +"Thank you, Mr. Black," said she. "I hope Mr. Murdoch will soon be +well." + +He stumped away, and it seemed to her as if her dignity barely lasted +until she and Jack found themselves in Mr. Murdoch's garden, on their +way home. It broke completely down as they were going between the +sweet-corn and the tomatoes, and there they both stopped and laughed +heartily. + +"But, Molly," Jack exclaimed, when he recovered his breath, "we'll have +to print the liveliest kind of an _Eagle_, or the _Inquirer_ will get +ahead of us. I'm going out, after supper, all over town, to pick up +news. If I can only find some boys I know here, they could tell me a +lot of good items. The boys know more of what's going on than anybody." + +"I'd like to go with you," said Mary. "Stir around and find out all +you can." + +"I know what to do," said Jack, with energy, and if he had really +undertaken to do all he proceeded to tell her, it would have kept him +out all night. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CAUGHT FOR A BURGLAR. + +Supper was ready when Jack and Mary went into the house, and Mrs. +Murdoch was eager that they should eat at once. She seemed very +placidly to take it for granted that things were going properly in the +_Eagle_ office. Her husband had been ill before, and the paper had +somehow lived along, and she was not the kind of woman to fret about it. + +"He's been worrying," she said to Mary, "principally about town news. +He's afraid the _Inquirer_ 'll get ahead of you. It might be good to +see him." + +"I'll see him," said Mary. + +"Mary! Mary!" came faintly in reply to her kindly greeting. "Local +items, Mary. Society Notes--the flood--logs--bridges--dams--fires. +Brief Mention. Town Improvement Society--the Sociable--anything!" + +"Jack will be out after news as soon as he eats his supper," said Mary. +"He'll find all there is to find. The printers did a splendid day's +work." + +"The doctor says not to tell me about anything," said the sick man, +despondently. "You'll fill the paper somehow. Do the best you can, +till I get well." + +She did not linger, for Mrs. Murdoch was already pulling her sleeve. +The three were soon seated at the table, and hardly was a cup of tea +poured before Mrs. Murdoch remarked: + +"Mary," she said, "Miss Glidden called here to-day, with Mrs. Judge +Edwards, in her carriage. They were sorry to find you out. So did +Mrs. Mason, and so did Mrs. Lansing, and Mrs. Potter. They wanted you +to go riding, and there's a lawn-tennis party coming. I told them all +that Mr. Murdoch was sick, and you were editing the _Eagle_, and Jack +was, too. Miss Glidden's very fond of you, you know. So is Mrs. +Potter. Her husband wishes he knew what to send Jack for saving his +wife from being drowned." + +This was delivered steadily but not rapidly, and Mary needed only to +say she would have been glad to see them all. + +"I didn't save anybody," said Jack. "If the logs had hit the bridge +while we were on it, nothing could have saved us." + +Mary was particularly glad that none of her new friends were coming in +to spend the evening, for she felt she had done enough for one day. +Mrs. Murdoch, however, told her of a "Union Church Sociable," to be +held at the house of Mrs. Edwards, the next Thursday evening, and said +she had promised to bring Miss Ogden. Of course Mary said she would +go, but Jack declined. + +After supper, Jack was eager to set out upon his hunt after news-items. + +"I mustn't let a soul know what I'm doing," he said to Mary. "We'll +see whether I can't find out as much as the _Inquirer's_ man can." + +He hurried away from the house, but soon ceased to walk fast and began +to peer sharply about. + +"There's a new building going up," he said, as he turned a corner; +"I'll find out about it." + +So he did, but it was only "by the way"; he really had a plan, and the +next step took him to Mr. Prodger's livery-stable. + +"Well, Ogden," said Prodger, when he came in. "That bay team has +earned eight dollars and fifty cents to-day. I'm glad you brought them +over. How long are you going to be in town?" + +"I can't tell," said Jack. "I'm staying at Murdoch's." + +"The editor's? He's a good fellow, but the _Eagle_ is slow. All dry +fodder. No vinegar. No pickles. He needs waking up. Tell him about +Link's bridge!" + +That was a good beginning, and Jack soon knew just how high the water +had risen in the creek at Mertonville; how high it had ever risen +before; how many logs had been saved; how near Sam Hutchins and three +other men came to being carried over the dam; and what people talked +about doing to prevent another flood, and other matters of interest. +Then he went among the stable-men, who had been driving all day, and +they gave him a number of items. Jack relied mainly upon his memory, +but he soon gathered such a budget of facts that he had to go to the +public reading-room and work a while with pencil and paper, for fear of +forgetting his treasures. + +Out he went again, and it was curious how he managed to slip in among +knots of idlers, and set them to talking, and make them tell all they +knew. + +"I'm getting the news," he said to himself; "only there isn't much +worth the time." After a few moments he exclaimed, "This is the +darkest, meanest part of all Mertonville!" + +It was the oldest part of the village, near the canal and the railway +station, and many of the houses were dilapidated. Jack was thinking +that Mary might write something about improving such a neglected, +squalid quarter, when he heard a shriek from the door of a house near +by. + +"Robbers!--thieves!--fire!--murder!--rob-bers!--villains!" + +It was the voice of a woman, and had a crack in it that made it sound +as if two voices were trying to choke each other. + +"Robbers!" shouted Jack springing forward, just as two very short men +dashed through the gate and disappeared in the darkness. + +If they were robbers they were likely to get away, for they ran well. + +Jack Ogden did not run very far. He heard other footsteps. There were +people coming from the opposite direction, but he paid no attention to +them, until just as he was passing the gate. + +Then he felt a hand on his left shoulder, and another hand on his right +shoulder, and suddenly he found himself lying flat on his back upon the +sidewalk. + +"Hold him, boys!" + +"We've got him!" + +"Hold him down!" + +"Tie him! We needn't gag him. Tie him tight! We've got him!" + +There were no less than four men, and two held his legs, while the +other two pinioned his arms, all the while threatening him with +terrible things if he resisted. + +It was in vain to struggle, and every time he tried to speak they +silenced him. Besides, he was too much astonished to talk easily, and +all the while an unceasing torrent of abuse was poured upon him, over +the gate, by the voice that had given the alarm. + +"We've got him, Mrs. McNamara! He can't get away this time. The young +villain!" + +"They were goin' to brek into me house, indade," said Mrs. McNamara. +"The murdherin' vagabones!" + +"What'll we do with him now, boys?" asked one of his captors. "I don't +know where to take him--do you, Deacon Abrams?" + +"What's your name, you young thief?" sternly demanded another. + +Jack had begun to think. One of his first thoughts was that a gang of +desperate robbers had seized him. The next idea was, that he never met +four more stupid-looking men in Mertonville, nor anywhere else. He +resolved that he would not tell his name, to have it printed in the +_Inquirer_, and so made no answer. + +"That's the way of thim," said Mrs. McNamara. "He's game, and he won't +pache. The joodge'll have to mak him spake. Ye'd betther lock him up, +and kape him till day." + +"That's it, Deacon Abrams." + +"That's just it," said the man spoken to. "We can lock him up in the +back room of my house, while we go and find the constable." + +Away they went, guarding their prisoner on the way as if they were +afraid of him. + +They soon came to the dwelling of Deacon Abrams. + +It was hard for Jack Ogden, but he bore it like a young Mohawk Indian. +It would have been harder if it had not been so late, and if more of +the household had been there to see him. As it was, doors opened, +candles flared, old voices and young voices asked questions, a baby +cried, and then Jack heard a very sharp voice. + +"Sakes alive, Deacon! You can't have that ruffian here! We shall all +be murdered!" + +"Only till I go and find the constable, Jerusha," said the deacon, +pleadingly. "We'll lock him in the back room, and Barney and +Pettigrew'll stand guard at the gate, with clubs, while Smith and I are +gone." + +There was another protest, and two more children began to cry, but Jack +was led on into his prison-cell. + +It was a comfortable room, containing a bed and a chair. There was +real ingenuity in the way they secured Jack Ogden. They backed a chair +against a bedpost and made him sit down, and then they tied the chair, +and the wicked young robber in it, to the post. + +"There!" said Deacon Abrams. "He can't get away now!" and in a moment +more Jack heard the key turn in the lock, and he was left in the dark, +alone and bound,--a prisoner under a charge of burglary. + +"I never thought of this thing happening to me," he said to himself, +gritting his teeth and squirming on his chair. "It's pretty hard. May +be I can get away, though. They thought they pulled the ropes tight, +but then--" + +The hempen fetters really hurt him a little, but it was partly because +of the chair. + +"May be I can kick it out from under me," he said to himself, "and +loosen the ropes." + +Out it came, after a tug, and then Jack could stand up. + +"I might climb on the bed, now the ropes are loose," he said, "and lift +the loops over the post. Then I could crawl out of 'em." + +He was excited, and worked quickly. In a moment he was standing in the +middle of the room, with only his hands tied behind him. + +"I can cut that cord," he thought, "if I can find a nail in the wall." + +He easily found several, and one of them had a rough edge on the head +of it, and after a few minutes of hard sawing, the cord was severed. + +"It's easy to saw twine," said he. "Now for the next thing." + +He went to the window and looked out into the darkness. + +"I'm over the roof of the kitchen," he said, "and that tree's close to +it." + +Up went the window--slowly, carefully, noiselessly--and out crept Jack +upon that roof. It was steep, but he stole along the ridge. Now he +could reach the tree. + +"It's an apple-tree," he said. "I can reach that longest branch, and +swing off, and go down it hand over hand." + +At an ordinary time, few boys would have thought it could be done, and +Jack had to gather all his courage to make the attempt; but he slid +down and reached for that small, frail limb, from his perilous perch in +the gutter of the roof. + +"Now!" said Jack to himself. + +Off he went with a quick grasp, and then another lower along the +branch, before it had time to break, but his third grip was on a larger +limb, below, and he believed he was safe. + +"I must be quick!" he said. "Somebody is striking a light in that +room!" + +Hand over hand for a moment, and then he was astride of a limb. Soon +he was going down the trunk; and then the window (which he had closed +behind him) went up, and he heard Deacon Abrams exclaiming: + +"He couldn't have got out this way, could he? Stop thief! Stop thief!" + +"Let 'em chase!" muttered Jack, as his feet reached the ground. "This +is the liveliest kind of news-item!" + +Jack vaulted over the nearest fence, ran across a garden, climbed over +another fence, ran through a lot, and came out into a street on the +other side of the square. + +"I've got a good start, now," he thought, "but I'll keep right on. +They don't expect me at Murdoch's to-night. If I can only get to the +_Eagle_ office! Nobody'll hunt for me there!" + +He heard the sound of feet, at that moment, around the next corner. +Open went the nearest gate, and in went Jack, and before long he was +scaling more fences. + +"It's just like playing 'Hare-and-Hounds,'" remarked Jack, as he once +more came out into a street. "Now for the _Eagle_, and it won't do to +run. I'm safe." + +He heard some running and shouting after that, however, and he did not +really feel secure until he was on his bed, with the doors below locked +and barred. + +"Now they can hunt all night!" he said to himself, laughing. "I've +made plenty of news for Mary." + +So she thought next morning; and the last "news-item" brought out the +color in her cheeks and the brightness in her eyes. + +"I'll write it out," she said, "just as if you were the real robber, +and we'll print it!" + +"Of course," said Jack; "but I'd better keep shady for a day or so. I +wish I was on my way to New York!" + +"Seems to me as if you were," said Mary. "They won't come here after +you. The paper's nearly full, now, and it'll be out to-morrow!" + +Mr. Murdoch would have been gratified to see how Mary and Jack worked +that day. Even Mr. Black and the type-setters worked with energy, and +so did Mr. Bones, and there was no longer any doubt that the _Eagle_ +would be printed on time. Mr. Murdoch felt better the moment he was +told by Mary, at tea-time, that she had found editing no trouble at +all. He was glad, he said, that all had been so quiet, and that nobody +had called at the editor's office, and that people did not know he was +sick. As to that, however, Mr. Bones had not told Mary how much he and +Mr. Black had done to protect her from intrusion. They had been like a +pair of watch-dogs, and it was hardly possible for any outsider to pass +them. As for Jack, he was not seen outside of the _Eagle_ all that day. + +"If any of Deacon Abram's posse should come in," he remarked to Mary, +"they wouldn't know me with all the ink that's on my face." + +"Mother would have to look twice," laughed Mary. "Don't I wish I knew +what people will think of the paper!" + +She did not find out at once, even on Thursday. Jack had the engine +going on time, and as fast as papers were printed, the distribution of +them followed. It was a very creditable _Eagle_, but Mary blushed when +she read in print the account Mr. Murdoch had written of the doings in +Crofield. + +"They'll think Jack's a hero," she said, "and what will they think of +me?--and what will Miss Glidden say? But then he has complimented her." + +Jack, too, was much pleased to read the vivid accounts she had written +of the capture and escape of the daring young burglar who had broken +into the house of Mrs. McNamara, and of the falling of Link's bridge. +Neither of them, however, had an idea of how some articles in the paper +would affect other people. Before noon, there was such a rush for +_Eagles_, at the front office, that Mr. Black got out another ream of +paper to print a second edition, and Mr. Bones had almost to fight to +keep the excited crowd from going up-stairs to see for themselves +whether the editor was there. Before night, poor Mrs. Murdoch went to +the door thirty times to say to eager inquirers that Mr. Murdoch was in +bed, and that Dr. Follet had forbidden him to see anybody, or to talk +one word, or to get himself excited. + +"What's the matter with the people?" she said wearily. "Can it be +possible that anything's the matter with the _Eagle_? Mary Ogden said +she'd taken the very best editorials from the city papers." + +The _Inquirer_ was nowhere that Thursday, and the excitement over the +_Eagle_ increased all the afternoon. + +[Illustration: _Just out_.] + +"It's all right, Mrs. Murdoch," said Jack, at supper. "Bones says he +has sold more than two hundred extra copies." + +"I'm glad of that," she said, "and I'll tell Mr. Murdoch; but he +mustn't read it." + +When she did so, he smiled faintly and with an effort feebly responded: + +"Thank Mary for me. I suppose they wanted to read about the flood." + +Mr. Bones had not seen fit to report to Mary that a baker's dozen of +old subscribers had ordered their paper stopped; nor that one angry man +with a big club in his hand had inquired for the editor; nor that +Deacon Abrams, and the Town Constable, and three other men, and a +lawyer had called to see the editor about the robbery at Mrs. +McNamara's; nor that the same worthy woman, with her arms akimbo and +her bonnet falling back, had fiercely demanded of him: + +"Fwhat for did yez print all that about me howlin'? Wudn't ony woman +spake, was she bein' robbed and murdhered?" + +Bones had pacified Mrs. McNamara only by sitting still and hearing her +out, and he would not for anything have mentioned it to Miss Ogden. +She therefore had only good news to tell at the house, and Mrs. +Murdoch's replies related chiefly to the Union Church Sociable at Judge +Edwards's. + +"Mr. Murdoch is quiet," she said, "and he may sleep all the time we're +gone." + +"I'll be on hand to look out for him," said Jack, "I'm not going +anywhere." + +That reassured them as to leaving home, and Mrs. Murdoch and Mary +departed without anxiety; but they had hardly entered the Edwards's +house before they found that many other people were very much less +placid. + +The first person to come forward, after Mrs. Edwards had welcomed them, +was Miss Glidden. + +"Oh, Mary Ogden!" she exclaimed, very sweetly and benevolently. "My +dear! Why did you say so much about me in the _Eagle_?" + +"That was Mr. Murdoch's work," said Mary. "I had nothing to do with +it." + +"And that robbery and escape was really shocking." + +"Exactly!" They heard a sharp, decided voice near them, and it came +from a thin little man in a white cravat. "You are right, Elder +Holloway! When a leading journal like the _Eagle_ finds it needful to +denounce so sternly the state of the public streets in Mertonville, it +is time for the people to act. We ministers must hold a council right +away." + +Mary remembered a political editorial she had taken from a New York +paper, and had cut down to fit the _Eagle_; but its effect was +something unexpected. + +A deeper voice on her left spoke next. + +"There was serious talk among the hotel-men and innkeepers of mobbing +the _Eagle_ office to-day!" + +"That," thought Mary, "must be the high-license editorial from that +Philadelphia weekly." + +"We must _act_, Judge Edwards!" exclaimed another voice. "Nobody knows +Murdoch's politics, but his denunciation of the prevailing corruption +is terrible. There's a storm rising. The Republican Committee has +called a special meeting to consider the matter, and we Democrats must +do the same. The _Eagle_ is right about it, too; but it was a daring +step for him to take." + +"That's the editorial from the Chicago daily," thought Mary; "the last +part was from that Boston paper! Oh, dear me! What have I done?" + +She had to ask herself that question a dozen times that evening, and +she wished Jack had been there to hear what was said. + +The sociable went gayly on, nevertheless, and all the while Jack sat in +Mrs. Murdoch's dining-room, his face fairly glowing red with the +interest he took in something spread out upon the table before him. It +was a large map of New York city that he had found in the _Eagle_ +office and brought to the house. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +NEARER THE CITY. + +Mary Ogden would have withdrawn into some quiet corner, at the +sociable, if it had not been for Elder Holloway and Miss Glidden, who +seemed determined to prevent her from being overlooked. All those who +had called upon Mrs. Murdoch knew that Mary had had something to do +with that extraordinary number of the _Eagle_, and they told others, +but Mrs. Murdoch escaped all discussion about the _Eagle_ by saying she +had not read it, and referring every one to Miss Ogden. + +Mary was glad when the evening was over. After hearing the comments of +the public, there was something about their way of editing the paper +that seemed almost dishonest. + +Jack was still up when she came home. + +"I've used my time better than if I'd gone to the party," he said. +"I've studied the map of New York. I'd know just how to go around, if +I was there. I am going to study it all the time I'm here." + +Mr. Murdoch was better. He had had a comfortable night, and felt able +to think of business again. + +"Now, my dear," he said to his wife, "I'm ready to take a look at the +_Eagle_. I am glad it was a good number." + +"They talked about it all last evening at the sociable," she answered, +as she handed him a copy. + +He was even cheerful, when he began; and he studied the paper as Jack +had studied the map. It was a long time before he said a word. + +"My account of the flood is really capital," he said, at last, "and all +that about Crofield matters. The report of things in Mertonville is +good; that about the logs, the dam, the burglary--a very extraordinary +occurrence, by the way--it's a blessing they didn't kill Mrs. McNamara. +The story is good; funny-column good. But--oh, gracious! Oh, Mary +Ogden! Oh my stars! What's this?" + +He had begun on the editorials, and he groaned and rolled about while +he was reading them. + +"They'll mob the _Eagle_!" he said at last. "I must get up! Oh, but +this is dreadful! She's pitched into everything there is! I must get +up at once!" + +Those editorials were a strong tonic, or else Mr. Murdoch's illness was +over. He dressed himself, and walked out into the kitchen. His wife +had not heard him say he would get up, but she seemed almost to have +expected it. + +"It's the way you always do," she said. "I'm never much scared about +you. You'll never die till your time comes. I think Mary is over at +the office." + +"I'm going there, now," he said, excitedly. "If this work goes on, I +shall have the whole town about my ears." + +He was right. Mary had been at her table promptly that morning to make +a beginning on the next number; Jack was down in the engine-room; Mr. +Black was busy, and Mr. Bones was out, when a party of very red-faced +men filed in, went through the front office, and climbed the stairs. + +"We'll show him!" said one. + +"It'll be a lesson he won't forget!" remarked another, fiercely. + +"He'll take it back, or there will be broken bones!" added another; and +these spoke for the rest. They had sticks, and they tramped heavily as +they marched to the "sanctum." The foremost opened the door, without +knocking, and his voice was deep, threatening, and husky as he began: + +"Now, Mr. Editor--" + +"I'm the editor, sir. What do you wish of me?" + +[Illustration: _"I'm the Editor, sir."_] + +Mary Ogden stood before him, looking him straight in the face without a +quiver. + +He was a big man; but, oddly enough, it occurred to him that Mary +seemed larger than he was. + +"Bob!" exclaimed a harsh whisper behind him, "howld yer tongue! it's +only a gir-rl! Don't ye say a har-rd word to the loikes o' her!" + +Other whispers and growls came from the hall, but the big man stood +like a stone post for several seconds. + +"You're the editor?" he gasped. "Is old Murdoch dead,--or has he run +away?" + +"He's at home, and ill," said Mary. "What is your errand?" + +"I keep a decent hotel, sir,--ma'am--madam--I do,--we all do,--it's the +_Eagle_, you know,--and there's no kind of disorder,--and there was +never any complaint in Mertonville--" + +"Howld on, Bob!" exclaimed the prompter behind him. "You're no good at +all; coom along, b'ys. Be civil,--Mike Flaherty will never have it +said he brought a shillalah to argy wid a colleen. I'm aff!" + +Away he went, stick and all, and the other five followed promptly, +leaving Mary Ogden standing still in amazement. She was trying to +collect her thoughts when Mr. Black marched in from the other room, +followed by the two typesetters; and Mr. Bones tumbled up-stairs, out +of breath. + +Mary had hardly any explanation to make about what Mr. Bones +frantically described as "the riot," and she was inclined to laugh at +it. Just then Mr. Murdoch himself came to the door. + +Jack stopped the engine, exclaiming, "Mr. Murdoch! you here?" + +"What is it? What is it?" he exclaimed. "I saw them go out. Did they +break anything?" + +"Miss Ogden scared 'em off in no time," said Mr. Black. + +Mary resigned the editorial chair to Mr. Murdoch. Bones brought in two +office chairs; Mr. Black appeared with a very high stool that usually +stood before one of his typecases; Mary preferred one of the office +chairs, and there she sat a long time, replying to Mr. Murdoch's +questions and remarks. She had plenty to tell, after all she had heard +at the sociable, and Mr. Murdoch groaned at times, but still he thanked +her for her efforts. Meanwhile Mr. Black went to the engine-room with +an errand for Jack that sent him over to the other side of the village. +Jack looked in the little cracked mirror in the front room as he went +out. + +"Ink enough; they'll never know me," said Jack. "I'm safe enough. +Besides, Mrs. McNamara wasn't robbed at all. She was yelling because +she thought robbers were coming." + +He loitered along on his way back, with his eyes open and his ears +ready to catch any bit of stray news, and paused a moment to peer into +a small shoe-shop. + +It was only a momentary glance, but a hammer ceased tapping upon a +lapstone, and a tall man straightened up suddenly and very straight, as +he untied his leather apron. + +"That's the fellow!" he exclaimed under his breath, but Jack heard him. + +"He knew me! He knew me! I can't stay in Mertonville!" thought Jack. +"There'll be trouble now." + +He started at a run, but it was so early that he attracted little +attention. + +His return to the _Eagle_ office was so quick that Mr. Black opened his +eyes in surprise. + +"I've got to see Mr. Murdoch," Jack said hurriedly, and up-stairs he +darted, to break right in upon the conference between the editors. + +Jack told his story, and Mr. Murdoch felt it was only another blow +added to the many already fallen upon him and his _Eagle_. "Perhaps +you will be better satisfied to leave town," said Mr. Murdoch, uneasily. + +"I've enough money to take me to the city, and I'll go. I'm off for +New York!" said Jack, eagerly. + +"New York?" exclaimed Mr. Murdoch. "That's the thing! Go to the house +and get ready. I'll buy you a ticket to Albany, and you can go down on +the night boat. They're taking passengers for half a dollar. You +mustn't be caught! No doubt they are hunting for you now." + +Mr. Murdoch was right. At that very moment the cobbler was in the +grocery kept by Deacon Abrams, shouting, "We've got him again, Deacon! +He's in town. He works in a paint shop--had paint on his face. Or +else he's a blacksmith, or he works in coal, or something black--or +dusty. We can run him down now." + +While they went for the two others who knew Jack's face, he was putting +on his Sunday clothes and packing up. When he came down, there was no +ink upon his face, his collar was clean, his hair was brushed, and he +was a complete surprise to Mr. Black and the rest. + +"I can get a new boy," said Mr. Murdoch, as if he were beginning to +recover his spirits; "and I can run the engine myself now I'm well. I +can say in the next _Eagle_ that you are gone to the city, and that +will help me out of my troubles." + +Neither Jack nor Mary quite understood what he meant, and, in fact, +they were not thinking about him just then. Mr. Murdoch had said that +there was only time to catch the express-train, and they were saying +good-by. Mary was crying for the moment, and Jack was telling her what +to write to his mother and father and those at home in Crofield. + +"It's so sudden, Jack!" said Mary. "But I'm glad you're going. I wish +I could go, too." + +"I wish you could," said Jack, heartily; "but I'll write. I'll tell +you everything. Good-by, Mr. Murdoch's waiting. Good-by!" + +The _Eagle_ editor was indeed waiting, and he was very uneasy. "What a +calamity it would be," he thought, "to have my own 'devil' arrested for +burglary. The _Inquirer_ would enjoy that! It isn't Jack's fault, but +I can't bear everything!" + +Meanwhile Mary sat at the table and pretended to look among the papers +for a new story, but really she was trying to keep from crying over +Jack's departure. Mr. Murdoch and Jack had gone to the station. + +There was cunning in the plans of the pursuers of Mrs. McNamara's +burglar this time. Three of them, each aided by several eager +volunteers, dashed around Mertonville, searching every shop in which +any sort of face-blacking might be used, and Deacon Abrams himself went +to the station with a justice of the peace, a notary-public, a +constable, and the man that kept the village pound. + +"He won't get by _me_," said the deacon wisely, as Mr. Murdoch and a +neatly dressed young gentleman passed him, arm in arm. + +"Good morning, Mr. Murdoch. The _Eagle's_ improving. You did me +justice. We're after that same villain now. We'll get him this time, +too." + +"Deacon," said the editor, gripping Jack's arm hard, "I'll mention your +courage and public spirit again. Tie him tighter next time." + +"We will," said the deacon; "and I've got some new subscribers for you, +and a column advertisement." + +Mr. Murdoch hurried to the ticket-window, and Jack patiently looked +away from Deacon Abrams all the while. + +"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in. Keep your satchel with you. +I'm going back to the office." + +[Illustration: _"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in."_] + +"Good-by," said Jack, pocketing his ticket and entering the car. + +He took a seat by the open window, just as the train started. + +"Jack's gone, Mary," exclaimed Mr. Murdoch, under his breath, as he +re-entered the _Eagle_ office. "Have those men been here again?" + +"No," said Mary. "But the chairmen of the two central committees have +both been here. Elder Holloway said they would. They will call again." + +"What did you say?" the editor asked. + +"Why," replied Mary, "I told them you were just getting well." + +"So I am," said Mr. Murdoch. "There's a great demand for that number +of the _Eagle_. Forty-six old subscribers have stopped their papers, +but a hundred and twenty-seven new ones have come in. I can't guess +where this will end. Are you going to the house?" + +"I think I'd better," said Mary. "If there's anything more I can do--" + +"No, no, no! Don't spoil your visit," said he, hastily. "You've had +work enough. Now you must be free to rest a little, and meet your +friends." + +He would not say he was afraid to have her in the _Eagle_ office, to +stir up storms for him. But Mary made no objection--she was very +willing to give up the work. + +Mr. Murdoch came home in a more hopeful state of mind, but soon went to +his room and lay down. + +"My dear," he said to his wife, "the paper's going right along; but I'm +too much exhausted to see anybody. Tell 'em all I'm not well." + +Mary was uneasy about Jack, but she need not have worried. The moment +the train was in motion, he forgot even Deacon Abrams and Mrs. McNamara +in the grand thought that he was actually on his way to the city. + +"This train's an express train," he said to himself. "Doesn't she go! +I said I'd get there some day, and now I'm really going! Hurrah for +New York! It's good I learned something about the streets--I'll know +what to do when I get there." + +He had nine dollars in his pocket for capital, but he knew more or less +of several businesses and trades. + +In the seat in front of him were two gentlemen, who must have been +railway men, he thought, from what they said, and it occurred to Jack +that he would like to learn how to build a railway. + +The train stopped at last, after a long journey, and a well-dressed man +got in, came straight to Jack's seat, took the hitherto empty half of +it, and began to talk with the men in front as if he had come on board +for the purpose. At first Jack paid little attention, but soon they +began to mention places he knew. + +"So far, so good," remarked the man at his side; "but we're going to +have trouble in getting the right of way through Crofield. We'll have +to pay a big price for that hotel if we can't use the street." + +"I think not," said Jack, with a smile. "There isn't much hotel left +in Crofield, now. It was burned down last Sunday." + +"What?" exclaimed one of the gentlemen in front. "Are you from +Crofield?" + +"I live there," said Jack. "Your engineer was there about the time of +the fire. The old bridge is down. I heard him say that your line +would cross just below it." + +The three gentlemen were all attention, and the one who had not before +spoken said: + +"I know. Through the old Hammond property." + +"It used to belong to Mr. Hammond," replied Jack, "but it belongs to my +father now." + +"Can you give me a list of the other owners of property?" asked the +railway man with some interest. + +"I can tell you who owns every acre around Crofield, boundary lines and +all," answered Jack. "I was born there. You don't know about the +people, though. They'll do almost anything to have the road there. My +father will help all he can. He says the place is dead now." + +"What's his name?" asked the first speaker, with a notebook and a +pencil in his hand. + +"His is John Ogden. Mine's Jack Ogden. My father knows every man in +the county," replied Jack. + +"Ogden," said the gentleman in the forward seat, next the window. "My +name's Magruder; we three are directors in the new road. I'm a +director in this road. Are you to stay in Albany?" + +"I go by the night boat to New York," said Jack, almost proudly. + +"Can you stay over a day? We'll entertain you at the Delavan House if +you'll give us some information." + +"Certainly; I'll be glad to," said Jack; and so when the train stopped +at Albany, Jack was talking familiarly enough with the three railway +directors. + + +Mary Ogden had a very clear idea that Mr. Murdoch preferred to make up +the next paper without any help from her, and even Mrs. Murdoch was +almost glad to know that her young friend was to spend the next week +with Mrs. Edwards. + +One peculiar occurrence of that day had not been reported at the +_Eagle_ office, and it had consequences. The Committee of Six, who had +visited the sanctum so threateningly, went away beaten, but recounted +their experience. They did so in the office of the Mertonville Hotel, +and Mike Flaherty had more than a little to say about "that gurril," +and about "the black eyes of her," and the plucky way in which she had +faced them. + +One little old gentleman whose eyes were still bright, in spite of his +gray hair, stood in the door and listened, with his hand behind his ear. + +"Gentlemen," exclaimed this little old man, turning to the men behind +him. "Did you hear 'em? I guess I know what we ought to do. Come on +into Crozier's with me--all of you. We must give her a testimonial for +her pluck." + +"Crozier's?" asked a portly, well-dressed man. "Nothing there but +dry-goods." + +"Come, Jeroliman. You're a banker and you're needed. I dare you to +come!" said the little old man, jokingly, leading the way. + +Seven of them reached the dress-goods counter of the largest store in +Mertonville, and here the little old gentleman bought black silk for a +dress. + +"You brought your friends, I see, General Smith," said the merchant, +laughing. "One of your jokes, eh?" + +"No joke at all, Crozier; a testimonial of esteem,"--and three +gentlemen helped one another to tell the story. + +"I'll make a good reduction, for my share," exclaimed the merchant, as +he added up the figures of the bill. "Will that do, General?" + +"I'll join in," promptly interposed Mr. Jeroliman, the banker, +laughing. "I won't take a dare from General Smith. Come, boys." + +They were old enough boys, but they all "chipped in," and General +Smith's dare did not cost him much, after all. + +Mary Ogden had the map of New York out upon the table that evening, and +was examining it, when there came a ring at the door-bell. + +"It's a boy from Crozier's with a package," said Mrs. Murdoch; "and +Mary, it's for you!" + +"For me?" said Mary, in blank astonishment. + +It was indeed addressed to her, and contained a short note: + + +"The girl who was not afraid of six angry men is requested to accept +this silk dress, with the compliments of her admiring friends, + +"SEVEN OLD MEN OF MERTONVILLE." + + +"Oh, but, Mrs. Murdoch," said Mary, in confusion, "I don't know what to +say or do. It's very kind of them!--but ought I to take it?" + +This testimonial pleased Mr. Murdoch even more than it pleased Mary. +He insisted Mary should keep it, and she at last consented. + +But not even the new dress made Mary forget to wonder how Jack was +faring. + + +The lightning express made short work of the trip to Albany, and Jack +was glad of it, for he had not had any dinner. His new acquaintances +invited him to accompany them to the Delavan House. + +As they left the station, Mr. Magruder took from his pocket a small +pamphlet. + +"Humph!" he said. "Guide-book to the New York City and Hudson River. +I had forgotten that I had it. Don't you want it, Ogden? It'll be +something to read on the boat." + +"Won't you keep it?" asked Jack, hesitating. + +"Oh, no," said Mr. Magruder. "I was going to throw it away." + +So Jack put the book into his pocket. It was a short walk to the +Delavan House, but it was through more bustle and business, considering +how quiet everybody was, Jack thought, than he ever saw before. He +went with the rest to the hotel office, and heard Mr. Magruder give +directions about Jack's room and bill. + +"He's going to pay for me for one day," Jack said to himself, "and +until the evening boat goes to-morrow." + +"Ogden," said Mr. Magruder, "I can't ask you to dine with us. It's a +private party--have your dinner, and then wait for me here." + +"All right," said Jack, and then he stood still and tried to think what +to do. + +"I must go to my room, now, and leave my satchel there," he said to +himself. "I don't want anybody to know I never was in a big hotel +before." + +He managed to get to his room without making a single blunder, but the +moment he closed the door he felt awed and put down. + +"It's the finest room I was ever in in all my life!" he exclaimed. +"They must have made a mistake. Perhaps I'll have a bedroom like this +in my own house some day." + +Jack made himself look as neat as if he had come out of a bandbox, +before he went down-stairs. + +The dining-room was easily found, and he was shown to a seat at one of +the tables, and a bill of fare was handed him; but that was only one +more puzzle. + +"I don't know what some of these are," he said to himself. "I'll try +things I couldn't get in Crofield. I'll begin on those clams with +little necks." + +So the waiter set before him a plate of six raw clams. + +That was a good beginning; for every one of them seemed to speak to him +of the salt ocean. + +After that he went farther down the bill of fare and selected such +dishes as, he said, "nobody ever saw in Crofield." + +It was a grand dinner, and Jack was almost afraid he had been too long +over it. + +He went out to the office and looked around, and asked the clerk if Mr. +Magruder had been inquiring for him. + +"Not yet, Mr. Ogden," said the clerk. "He is not yet through dinner. +Did you find your room all right?" + +"All right," said Jack. "I'll sit down and wait for Mr. Magruder." + +It was an hour before the railway gentlemen returned. There were twice +as many of them now, however, and Mr. Magruder remarked: + +"Come, Ogden, we won't detain you long. After that you can do what you +like. Thank you very much, too." + +Jack followed them into a private sitting-room, which seemed to him so +richly furnished that he really wished it had been plainer; but he +found the men very straightforward about their business. + +They all sat down around the table in the middle of the room. + +"We'll finish Ogden first, and let him go," said Mr. Magruder, +laughing. "Ogden, here's a map of Crofield and all the country from +there to Mertonville. I want to ask some questions." + +He knew what to ask, too; but Jack's first remark was not an answer. + +"Your map's all wrong," said he. "There isn't sand and gravel in that +hill across the Cocahutchie, beyond the bridge." + +[Illustration: _"Your map's all wrong," said Jack._] + +"What is there, then?" asked a gentleman, who seemed to be one of the +civil engineers, pettishly. "I say it's earth and gravel, mainly." + +"Clear granite," said Jack. "Go down stream a little and you'll see." + +"All right," exclaimed Mr. Magruder; "it will be costly cutting it, but +we shall want the stone. Go ahead now. You're just the man we needed." + +Jack thought so before they got through, for he had to tell all there +was to tell about the country, away down to Link's bridge. + +"Look here," said one of them, quizzically. "Ogden, have you lived all +your life in every house in Crofield and in Mertonville and everywhere? +You know even the melon-patches and hen-roosts!" + +"Well, I know some of 'em," said Jack, coloring and trying to join in +the general laugh. "I wouldn't talk so much, but Mr. Magruder asked me +to stay over and tell what you didn't know." + +Then the laughter broke out again, and it was not at Jack's expense. + +They had learned all they expected from him, however, and Mr. Magruder +thanked him very heartily. + +"I hope you'll have a good time to-morrow," he said. "Look at the +city. I'll see that you have a ticket ready for the boat." + +"I didn't expect--" began Jack. + +"Nonsense, Ogden," said Mr. Magruder. "We owe you a great deal, my +boy. I wouldn't have missed knowing about that granite ledge. It's +worth something to us. The ticket will be handed you by the clerk. +Good-evening, Jack Ogden. I hope I'll see you again, some day." + +"I hope so," said Jack. "Good-evening, sir. Good-evening, gentlemen." + +Out he walked, and as the door closed behind him the engineer remarked: + +"He ought to be a railway contractor. Brightest young fellow I've seen +in a long time." + +Jack felt strange. The old, grown-up feeling seemed to have been +questioned out of him, by those keen, peremptory, clear-headed business +men, and he appeared to himself to be a very small, green, poor, +uneducated boy, who hardly knew where he was going next, or what he was +going to do when he got there. "I don't know about that either," he +said to himself, when he reached the office. "I know I'm going to bed, +next, and I believe that I'll go to sleep when I get there!" + +Weary, very weary, and almost blue, in spite of everything, was Jack +Ogden that night, when he crept into bed. + +"'Tisn't like that old cot in the _Eagle_ office," he thought. "I'm +glad it isn't to be paid for out of my nine dollars." + +Jack was tired all over, and in a few minutes he was sound asleep. + +He had gone to bed quite early, and he awoke with the first sunshine +that came pouring into his room. + +"It isn't time to get up," he said. "It'll be ever so long before +breakfast, but I can't stay here in bed." + +As he put on his coat something swung against his side, and he said: + +"There! I'd forgotten that pamphlet. I'll see what's in it." + +The excitement of getting to the Delavan House, and the dinner and the +talk afterward, had driven the pamphlet out of his mind until then, but +he opened it eagerly. + +"Good!" he said, as he turned the leaves. "Maps and pictures, all the +way down. Everything about the Hudson. Pictures of all the places +worth seeing in New York. Tells all about them. Where to go when you +get there. Just what I wanted!" + +Down he sat, and he came near forgetting his breakfast, so intensely +was he absorbed by that guide-book. He shut it up, at last, however, +remarking: "I'll have breakfast, and then I'll go out and see Albany. +It's all I've got to do till the boat leaves this evening. First city +I ever saw." He ate with all the more satisfaction because he knew +that he was not eating up any part of his nine dollars, and it did not +seem like so much money as it would have seemed in Crofield. He was in +no haste, for he had no idea where to go, and did not mean to tell +anybody how ignorant he was. He walked out of the Delavan House, and +strolled away to the right. Even the poorer buildings were far better +than anything in Crofield or Mertonville, and he soon had a bit of a +surprise. He reached a corner where a very broad street opened, at the +right, and went up a steep hill. It was not a very long street, and it +ended at the crest of the hill, where there were some trees, and above +them towered what seemed to be a magnificent palace of a building. + +"I'll go and see that," said Jack. "I'll know what it is when I see +the sign,--or I'll ask somebody." + +His interest in that piece of architecture grew as he walked on up the +hill; and he was a little warm and out of breath when he reached the +street corner, at the top. Upon the corner, with his hands folded +behind him and his hat pushed back on his head, stood a well-dressed +man, somewhat above middle height, heavily built and portly, who seemed +to be gazing at the same object. + +"Mister," said Jack, "will you please tell me what that building is?" + +"Certainly," replied the gentleman, turning to him with a bow and a +smile. "That's the New York State Miracle; one of the wonders of the +world." + +"The State Miracle?" said Jack. + +"What's your name?" asked the gentleman, with another bow and smile. + +"Ogden--Jack Ogden." + +"Yes, Jack Ogden; thank you. My name's 'Guvner.' That's a miracle. +It can never be finished. There's magic in it. Do you know what that +is?" + +"That's one of the things I don't know, Mr. Guvner," said Jack. + +"I don't know what it is either," smiled Mr. Guvner. "When they built +it they put in twenty tons of pure, solid gold, my lad. Didn't you +ever hear of it? Where do you live when you're at home?" + +"My home's in Crofield," said Jack, not aware of a group of gentlemen +and ladies who were standing still, a few yards away, looking at them. +"I'm on my way to New York, but I wanted to see Albany." + +Mr. Guvner put a large hand on his shoulder, and smiled in his face. + +"Jack, my son," he said, "go up and look all over the State Miracle. +Many other States have other similar miracles. Don't stay in it too +long, though." + +"Is it unhealthy?" asked Jack, with a smile. + +The portly gentleman was smiling also. + +"No, no; not unhealthy, my boy; but they persuade some men to stay +there a long time, and they're never the same men again. Come out as +soon as you've had a good view of it." + +"I'll take a look at it any way," said Jack, turning away. "Thank you, +Mr. Guvner. I'll see the Miracle." + +He had gone but a few paces, and the others were stepping forward, when +he was called by Mr. Guvner. + +"Jack, come back a moment!" + +"What is it, Mr. Guvner?" asked Jack. + +"I'm almost sorry you're going to the city. It's as bad as the Capitol +itself. You'll never be the same man again. Don't get to be the wrong +kind of man." + +"I'll remember, Mr. Guvner," said Jack, and he walked away again; but +as he did so he heard a lady laughing, and a solemn-faced gentlemen +saying: + +"Good morning, Gov-er-nor. A very fine morning?" + +"I declare!" exclaimed Jack, with almost a shiver. "I've been talking +with the Governor of the State himself, and I'm going to see the +Capitol. I couldn't have done that in Crofield. And I'll be in New +York City to-morrow!" + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE STATE-HOUSE AND THE STEAMBOAT. + +Mary Ogden had three dresses, one quite pretty, but none were of silk. +Aunt Melinda was always telling Mary what she ought not to wear at her +age, and with hair and eyes as dark as hers. Mary felt very proud, +therefore, when she saw on the table in her room the parcel containing +the black silk and trimmings. + +"It must have been expensive," she said, and she unfolded it as if +afraid it would break. + +"What will mother say?" she thought. "And Aunt Melinda! I'm too young +for it--I know I am!" + +The whole Murdoch family arose early, and the editor, after looking at +the black silk, said that he felt pretty well. + +"So you ought," said his wife. "You had more new subscribers yesterday +than you ever had before in your life in any one day." + +"That makes me think," said Mr. Murdoch. "I owe Mary Ogden five +dollars--there it is--for getting out that number of the _Eagle_." + +"Oh, no!" exclaimed Mary. "I did that, and Jack did it, only because--" + +He put the bank-note into her hand. + +"I'd rather you'd take it," he said. "You'll never be a good editor +till you learn to work on a business basis." + +As he insisted, she put the bill into her pocket-book, thanking him +gratefully. + +"I had two dollars when I came," she thought, "and I haven't spent a +cent; but I may need something. Besides, I'll have to pay for making +up my new dress." + +But she was wrong. Mrs. Murdoch went out to see a neighbor after +breakfast, and before noon it was certain that if seven old men of +Mertonville had paid for the silk, at least seven elderly women could +be found who were very willing to make it up. + +About that time Jack was walking up to the door of the Senate Chamber, +in the Capitol, at Albany, after having astonished himself by long +walks and gazings through the halls and side passages. + +"It's true enough," he said to himself. "The Governor's right. No +fellow could go through this and come out just as he came in." + +He understood about the "twenty tons of pure gold" in the building, but +nevertheless he could not keep from looking all around after signs of +it. + +"There's plenty of gilding," he said, "but it's very thin. It's all +finished, too. I don't see what more they could do, now the roof's on +and it's all painted. He must have been joking when he said that." + +Jack roamed all over the Capitol, for the Legislature was not in +session, and the building was open to sight-seers. There were many of +them, and from visitors, workmen, and some boys whom he met, Jack +managed to find out many interesting things. + +The Assembly Chamber seemed to him a truly wonderful room, and upon the +floor were several groups of people admiring it. + +He saw one visitor seat himself in the Speaker's chair. "There's room +in that chair for two or three small men," said Jack; "I'll try it by +and by." + +So he did. + +"The Speaker was a boy once, too, and so was the Governor," he said to +himself aloud. + +"Yes, my boy," said a lady, who was near enough to hear him; "so they +were. So were all the presidents, and some went barefoot and lived in +log-cabins." + +"Well, I've often gone barefoot," said Jack, laughing. + +"Many boys go barefoot, but they can't all become governors," she said, +pleasantly. + +She looked at Jack for a moment, and then said with a smile, "You look +like a bright young man, though. Do you suppose you could ever be +Governor?" + +"Perhaps I could," he said. "It can't be harder to learn than any +other business." + +The lady laughed, and her friends laughed, and Jack arose from the +Speaker's chair and walked away. + +He had seen enough of that vast State House. It wearied him, there was +so much of it, and it was so fine. + +"To build this house cost twenty tons of gold!" he said, as he went out +through the lofty doorway. "I wish I had some of it. I've kept my +nine dollars yet, anyway. The Governor's right. I don't know what he +meant, but I'll never be just the same fellow again." + +It was so. But it was not merely seeing the Capitol that had changed +him. He was changing from a boy who had never seen anything outside of +Crofield and Mertonville, into a boy who was walking right out into the +world to learn what is in it. + +"I'll go to the hotel and write to father and mother," he said; "and I +have something to tell them." + +It was the first real letter he had ever written, and it seemed a great +thing to do--ten times more important than writing a composition, and +almost equal to editing the _Eagle_. + +"I'll just put in everything," he thought, "just as it came along, and +they'll know what I've been doing." + +It took a long time to write the letter, but it was done at last, and +when he put down his pen he exclaimed: + +"Hard work always makes me hungry! I wonder if it isn't dinner-time? +They said it was always dinner-time here after twelve o'clock. I'll go +see." It was long after twelve when he went down to the office to +stamp and mail his letter. + +"Mr. Ogden," said the clerk, giving Jack an envelope, "here's a note +from Mr. Magruder. He left--" + +"Ogden," said a deep, full voice just behind him, "didn't you stay +there too long? I am told you sat in the Speaker's chair." + +Jack wheeled about, blushing crimson. The Governor was not standing +still, but was walking steadily through the office, surrounded by a +group of dignified men. It was necessary to walk with them in order to +reply to the question, and Jack did so. + +"I sat there half a minute," he answered. "I hope it didn't hurt me." + +"I'm glad you got out so soon, Jack," replied the Governor approvingly. + +"But I heard also that you think of learning the Governor business," +went on the great man. "Now, don't you do it. It is not large pay, +and you'd be out of work most of the time. Be a blacksmith, or a +carpenter, or a tailor, or a printer." + +"Well, Governor," said Jack, "I was brought up a blacksmith; and I've +worked at carpentering, and printing too; and I've edited a newspaper; +but--" + +There he was cut short by the laughter from those dignified men. + +"Good-bye, Jack," said the Governor, shaking hands with him. "I hope +you'll have a good time in the city. You'll be sent back to the +Capitol some day, perhaps." + +Jack returned to the clerk's counter to mail his letter, and found that +gentleman looking at him as if he wondered what sort of a boy he might +be. + +[Illustration: _The hotel clerk looked at Jack_.] + +"That young fellow knows all the politicians," said the clerk to one of +the hotel proprietors. "He can't be so countrified as he looks." + +After dinner, Jack returned to his room for a long look at the +guide-book. He went through it rapidly to the last leaf, and then +threw it down, remarking: + +"I never was so tired! I'll take a walk around and see Albany a little +more; and I'll not be sorry when the boat goes. I'd like to see Mary +and the rest for an hour or two. I think they'd like to see me coming +in, too." + +Jack sauntered on through street after street, getting a clearer idea +of what a city was. + +He walked so far that he had some difficulty in returning to the hotel, +but finally he found it without asking directions. + +Soon after, Jack brought down his satchel, said good-bye to the very +polite clerk, and walked out. + +He had learned the way to the steamboat-wharf; and he had already taken +one brief look at the river and the railway bridge. + +"There's the 'Columbia,'" he said, aloud, as he turned a street corner +and came in sight of her. "What a boat! Why, if her nose was at the +Main Street corner, by the Washington Hotel, her rudder would be +half-way across the Cocahutchie!" + +He walked the wharf, staring at her from end to end, before he went on +board. He had put Mr. Magruder's note into his pocket without reading +it. + +"I won't open it here," he had said then. "There's nothing in it but a +ticket." + +He found, however, that he must show the ticket at the gangway, and so +he opened the envelope. + +"Three tickets?" he said. "And two are in one piece. This one is for +a stateroom. That's the bunk I'm to sleep in. Hulloo! Supper ticket! +I have supper on board the steamer, do I? Well, I'm not sorry. I'll +have to hurry, too. It's about time for her to start." + +Jack went on board, and soon was hunting for his stateroom, almost +bewildered by the rushing crowd in the great saloon. + +He had his key, and knew the number, but it seemed that there were +about a thousand of the little doors. + +"One hundred and seventy-six is mine," he said; "and I'm going to put +away my satchel and go on deck and see the river. Here it is at last. +Why, it's a kind of little bedroom! It's as good as a floating hotel. +Now I'm all right." + +Suddenly he was aware, with a great thrill of pleasure, that the +Columbia was in motion. He left his satchel in a corner, locked the +door of the stateroom behind him, and set out to find his way to the +deck. He went down-stairs and up-stairs, ran against people, and was +run against by them; and it occurred to him that all the passengers +were hunting for something they could not find. + +"Looking for staterooms, I guess," he remarked aloud; but he himself +should not have been staring behind him, for at that moment he felt the +whack of a collision, and a pair of heavy arms grasped him. + +"What you looks vor yourself, poy? You knocks my breath out! You find +somebody you looks vor--eh?" + +The tremendous man who held him was not tall, but very heavy, and had a +broad face and long black beard and shaggy gray eyebrows. + +"Beg pardon!" exclaimed Jack, with a glance at a lady holding one of +the man's long arms, and at two other ladies following them. + +"You vas got your stateroom?" asked his round-faced captor +good-humoredly. + +"Oh, yes!" said Jack. "I've got one." + +"You haf luck. Dell you vot, poy, it ees a beeg schvindle. Dey say +'passage feefty cent,' und you comes aboard, und you find it is choost +so. Dot's von passage. Den it ees von dollar more to go in to supper, +und von dollar to eat some tings, und von dollar to come out of supper, +und some more dollars to go to sleep, und maybe dey sharges you more +dollars to vake up in de morning. Dot is not all. Dey haf no more +shtateroom left, und ve all got to zeet up all night. Eh? How you +like dot, poy?" + +Jack replied as politely as he knew how: + +"Oh, you will find a stateroom. They can't be full." + +"Dey _ees_ full. Dey ees more as full. Dere vill be no room to sleep +on de floor, und ve haf to shtand oop all night. How you likes dot, +eh?" + +The ladies looked genuinely distressed, and said a number of things to +each other in some tongue that Jack did not understand. He had been +proud enough of his stateroom up to that moment, but he felt his heart +melting. Besides, he had intended to sit up a long while to see the +river. + +"I can fix it," he suddenly exclaimed. "Let the ladies take my +stateroom. It's big enough." + +"Poy!" said the German solemnly, "dot is vot you run into my arms for. +My name is Guilderaufenberg. Dis lady ees Mrs. Guilderaufenberg. Dis +ees Mees Hildebrand. She's Mees Poogmistchgski, and she is a Bolish +lady vis my wife." + +Jack caught all the names but the last, but he was not half sure about +that. He bowed to each. + +"Come with me; I'll show you the room," he said. "Then I'm going out +on deck." + +"Ve comes," said the wide German; and the three ladies all tried to +express their thanks at the same time, as Jack led the way. Jack was +proud of his success in actually finding his own door again. + +"I puts um all een," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg; "den I valks mit you on +deck. Dose vommens belifs you vas a fine poy. So you vas, ven I dells +de troof." + +They all talked a great deal, and Jack managed to reduce the Polish +lady's name to Miss "Podgoomski," but he felt uneasily that he had left +out a part of it. Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and the others were loaded up +with more parcels and baggage than Jack had ever seen three women carry. + +"Dey dakes care of dot shtateroom," said his friend. "Ve goes on deck. +I bitty anypoddy vot dries to get dot shtateroom avay from Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg and Mees Hildebrand and Mees Pod----ski;" but again +Jack had failed to hear that Polish lady's name. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DOWN THE HUDSON. + +Jack already felt well acquainted with Mr. Guilderaufenberg. + +The broad and bearded German knew all about steamboats, and found his +way out upon the forward deck without any difficulty. Jack had lost +his way entirely in his first hunting for that spot, and he was glad to +find himself under the awning and gazing down the river. + +"Ve only shtays here a leetle vile," said his friend. "Den ve goes and +takes de ladies down to eat some supper. Vas you hongry?" + +Jack was not really hungry for anything but the Hudson, but he said he +would gladly join the supper-party. + +"I never saw the Hudson before," he said. "I'd rather sit up than not." + +"I seet up all de vay to New York and not care," said his friend. "I +seet up a great deal. My vife, dot ees Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, she keep +a beeg boarding-house in Vashington. Dot ees de ceety to lif in! Vas +you ever in Vashington? No?" + +"Never was anywhere," said Jack. "Never was in New York--" + +"Yon nefer vas dere? Den you petter goes mit me und Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg. Dot ees goot. So! You nefer vas in Vashington. +You nefer vas in New York. So! Den you nefer vas in Lonton? I vas +dere. You lose youself in Lonton so easy. I lose myself twice vile I +vas dere." + +"You weren't lost long, I know," said Jack, laughing at the droll shake +of the German's head. + +"No, I vas find. I vas shoost going to advertise myself ven I finds a +street I remember. Den I gets to my hotel. You nefer vas dere? Und +you nefer vas in Vashington. You come some day. Dot ees de ceety, mit +de Capitol und de great men! Und you vas nefer in Paris, nor in +Berlin, nor in Vienna, nor in Amsterdam? No? I haf all of dem seen, +und dose oder cities. I dravel, but dere ees doo much boleece, so I +comes to dis country, vere dere ees few boleece." + +Jack was startled for a moment. The bland, good-humored face of his +German acquaintance had suddenly changed. His white teeth showed +through his mushtaches, and his beard seemed to wave and curl as he +spoke of the police. For one moment Jack thought of Deacon Abram and +Mrs. McNamara, of the dark room and the ropes and the window. + +"He may not have done anything," he said to himself, aloud, "any more +than I did; and they were after me." + +"Dot ees not so!" Mr. Guilderaufenberg growled. "I dell dem de troof +too mosh. Den I vas a volf, a vild peest, dot mus' be hoonted, und dey +hoonted me; put I got avay. I vas in St. Beetersburg, vonce, vile dey +hoont somevere else. Den I vas in Constantinople, mit de Turks--" + +Jack's brain was in a whirl. He had read about all of those cities, +and here was a man who had really been in them. It was even more +wonderful than talking with the Governor or looking at the Hudson. + +But in a moment his new friend's face assumed a quieter expression. + +"Come along," he said. "De ladies ees ready by dees time. Ve goes. +Den I dells you some dings you nefer hear." + +He seemed to know all about the Columbia, for he led Jack straight to +the stateroom door, through all the crowds of passengers. + +"I might not have found it in less than an hour," said Jack to himself. +"They're waiting for us. I can't talk with them much." + +But he found out that Mrs. Guilderaufenberg spoke English with but +little accent, Miss Hildebrand only knocked over a letter here and +there, and the Polish lady's fluent English astonished him so much that +he complimented her upon it. + +"Dot ees so," remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "She talks dem all so +vell dey say she vas born dere. Dell you vat, my poy, ven you talks +Bolish or Russian, den you vas exercise your tongue so you shpeaks all +de oder lankwitches easy." + +The ladies were in good humor, and disposed to laugh at anything, +especially after they reached the supper-room; and Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg at once took a strong interest in Jack because he had +never been anywhere. + +For convenience, perhaps, the ladies frequently spoke to one another in +German, but Jack, without understanding a word of it, listened +earnestly to what they were saying. + +They often, however, talked in English, and to him, and he learned that +they had been making a summer-vacation trip through Canada, and were +now on their way home. It was evident that Mr. Guilderaufenberg was a +man who did not lack money, and that none of the others were poor. +Besides hearing them, Jack was busy in looking around the long, +glittering supper-room of the Columbia, noticing how many different +kinds of people there were in it. They seemed to be of all nations, +ages, colors, and kinds, and Jack would not have missed the sight for +anything. + +"I'm beginning to see the world," he said to himself, and then he had +to reply to Mrs. Guilderaufenberg for about the twentieth time: + +"Oh, not at all. You're welcome to the stateroom. I'd rather sit up +and look at the river than go to bed." + +"Den, Mr. Ogden," she said, "you comes to Vashington, and you comes to +my house. I can den repay your kindness. You vill see senators, +congressmen, generals, fine men--great men, in Vashington." + +After supper the party found seats under the awning forward, and for a +while Jack's eyes were so busy with the beauties of the Hudson that his +ears heard little. + +The moonlight was very bright and clear, and showed the shores plainly. +Jack found his memory of the guidebook was excellent. The villages and +towns along the shores were so many collections of twinkling, changing +glimmers, and between them lay long reaches of moonshine and shadow. + +"I'd like to write home about it," thought Jack, "but I couldn't begin +to tell 'em how it looks." + +Jack was not sorry when the three ladies said good-night. He had never +before been so long upon his careful good behavior in one evening, and +it made him feel constrained, till he almost wished he was back in +Crofield. + +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg," he said as soon as they were alone, "this is +the first big river I ever saw." + +"So?" said the German. "Den I beats you. I see goot many rifers, ven +I drafels. Dell you vat, poy; verefer dere vas big rifers, anyvere, +dere vas mosh fighting. Some leetle rifer do choost as vell, +sometimes, but de beeg rifers vas alvays battlefields." + +"Not the Hudson?" said Jack inquiringly. + +"You ees American poy," said the German; "you should know de heestory +of your country. Up to Vest Point, de Hudson vas full of fights. All +along shore, too. I vas on de Mississippi, and it is fights all de vay +down to his mout'. So mit some oder American rifers, but de vorst of +all is the Potomac, by Vashington. Eet ees not so fine as de Hudson, +but eet is battle-grounds all along shore. I vas on de Danube, and eet +ees vorse for fights dan de Potomac. I see so many oder rifers, all +ofer, eferyvere, but de fighting rifer of de vorld is de Rhine. It is +so fine as de Hudson, and eet ees even better looking by day.--Ve gets +into de Caatskeel Mountains now. Look at dem by dis moonlight, and you +ees like on de Rhine. You see de Rhine some day, and ven you comes to +Vashington you see de Potomac." + +On, on, steamed the Columbia, with what almost seemed a slow motion, it +was so ponderous, dignified, and stately, while the moonlit heights and +hollows rolled by on either hand. On, at the same time, went Mr. +Guilderaufenberg with his stories of rivers and cities and countries +that he had seen, and of battles fought along rivers and across them. +Then, suddenly, the gruff voice grew deep and savage, like the growl of +an angry bear, and he exclaimed: + +"I haf seen some men, too, of de kind I run avay from--" + +"Policemen?" said Jack. + +"Yah; dat is de name I gif dem," growled the angry German. "De Tsar of +Russia, I vas see him, and he vas noding but a chief of boleece. De +old Kaiser of Germany, he vas a goot man, but he vas too mosh chief of +boleece. So vas de Emperor of Austria; I vas see him. So vas de +Sultan of Turkey, but he vas more a humpug dan anyting else. Dere ees +leetle boleece in Turkey. I see de Emperor Napoleon before he toomble +down. He vas noding but a boleeceman. I vas so vild glad ven he comes +down. De leetle kings, I care not so mosh for. You comes to +Vashington, and I show you some leetle kings--" and Mr. +Guilderaufenberg grew good-humored and began to laugh. + +"What kind of kings?" asked Jack. + +"Leetle congressman dot is choost come de first time, und leetle beeg +man choost put into office. Dey got ofer it bretty soon, und de fun is +gone." + +There was a long silence after that. The broad German sat in an +arm-chair, and pretty soon he slipped forward a little with his knees +very near the network below the rail of the Columbia. Then Jack heard +a snore, and knew that his traveler friend was sound asleep. + +[Illustration: _His traveler friend was sound asleep_.] + +"I wish I had a chair to sleep on, instead of this campstool," thought +Jack. "I'll have a look all around the boat and come back." + +It took a long while to see the boat, and the first thing he discovered +was that a great many people had failed to secure staterooms or berths. +They sat in chairs, and they lounged on sofas, and they were curled up +on the floor; for the Columbia had received a flood of tourists who +were going home, and a large part of the passengers of another boat +that had been detained on account of an accident at Albany; so the +steamer was decidedly overcrowded. + +"There are more people aboard," thought Jack, "than would make two such +villages as Crofield, unless you should count in the farms and farmers. +I'm glad I came, if it's only to know what a steamboat is. I haven't +spent a cent of my nine dollars yet, either." + +Here and there he wandered, until he came out at the stern, and had a +look at the foaming wake of the boat, and at the river and the heights +behind, and at the grand spectacle of another great steamboat, full of +lights, on her way up the river. He had seen any number of smaller +boats, and of white-sailed sloops and schooners, and now, along the +eastern bank, he heard and saw the whizzing rush of several railway +trains. + +"I'd rather be here," he thought. "The people there can't see half so +much as I can." + +Not one of them, moreover, had been traveling all over the world with +Mr. Guilderaufenberg, and hearing and about kings and their "police." + +Getting back to his old place was easier, now that he began to +understand the plan of the Columbia; but, when Jack returned, his +camp-stool was gone, and he had to sit down on the bare deck or to +stand up. He did both, by turns, and he was beginning to feel very +weary of sight-seeing, and to wish that he were sound asleep, or that +to-morrow had come. + +"It's a warm night," he said to himself, "and it isn't so very dark, +even now the moon has gone down. Why--it's getting lighter! Is it +morning? Can we be so near the city as that?" + +There was a growing rose-tint upon a few clouds in the western sky, as +the sun began to look at them from below the range of heights, +eastward, but the sun had not yet risen. + +Jack was all but breathless. He walked as far forward as he could go, +and forgot all about being sleepy or tired. + +"There," he said, after a little, "those must be the Palisades." + +Out came his guide-book, and he tried to fit names to the places along +shore. + +"More sailing-vessels," he said, "and there goes another train. We +must be almost there." + +He was right, and he was all one tingle of excitement as the Columbia +swept steadily on down the widening river. + +There came a pressure of a hand upon his shoulder. + +"Goot-morning, my poy. De city ees coming. How you feels?" + +"First-rate," said Jack. "It won't be long, now, will it?" + +"You wait a leetle. I sleep some. It vas a goot varm night. De +varmest night I efer had vas in Egypt, and de coldest vas in Moscow. +De shtove it went out, and ve vas cold, I dell you, dill dot shtove vas +kindle up again! Dere vas dwenty-two peoples in dot room, and dot safe +us. Ye keep von another varm. Dot ees de trouble mit Russia. De +finest vedder in all the vorlt is een America,--and dere ees more +vedder of all kinds." + +On, on, and now Jack's blood tingled more sharply, to his very fingers +and toes, for they swept beyond Spuyten Duyvil Creek, which his friend +pointed out, and the city began to make its appearance. + +"It's on both sides," said Jack. "No, that's New Jersey"--and he read +the names on that side from his guidebook. + +Masts, wharves, buildings, and beyond them spires, and--and Jack grew +dizzy trying to think of that endless wilderness of streets and houses. +He heard what Mr. Guilderaufenberg said about the islands in the +harbor, the forts, the ferries, and yet he did not hear it plainly, +because it was too much to take in all at once. + +"Now I brings de ladies," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, "an' ve eats +breakfast, ven ve all gets to de Hotel Dantzic. Come!" + +Jack took one long, sweeping look at the city, so grand and so +beautiful under the newly risen sun, and followed. + + +At that same hour a dark-haired girl sat by an open window in the +village of Mertonville. She had arisen and dressed herself, early as +it was, and she held in her hand a postal-card, which had arrived for +her from Albany the night before. + +"By this time," she said, "Jack is in the city. Oh, how I wish I were +with him!" + +She was silent after that, but she had hardly said it before one of two +small boys, who had been pounding one another with pillows in a very +small bedroom in Crofield, suddenly threw his pillow at the other, and +exclaimed: + +"I s'pose Jack's there by this time, Jimmy!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +IN A NEW WORLD. + +Jack Ogden stood like a boy in a dream, as the "Columbia" swept +gracefully into her dock and was made fast. Her swing about was helped +by the outgoing tide, that foamed and swirled around the projecting +piers. + +A hurrying crowd of people was thronging out of the "Columbia," but +Jack's German friend did not join them. + +"De ceety vill not roon avay," he said, calmly. "You comes mit me." + +They went to the cabin for the ladies, and Jack noticed how much +baggage the rest were carrying. He took a satchel from Miss +Hildebrand, and then the Polish lady, with a grateful smile, allowed +him to take another. + +"Dose crowds ees gone," remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "Ve haf our +chances now." + +Afterward, Jack had a confused memory of walking over a wide gang-plank +that led into a babel. Miss Hildebrand held him by his left arm while +the two other ladies went with Mr. Guilderaufenberg. They came out +into a street, between two files of men who shook their whips, shouted, +and pointed at a line of carriages. Miss Hildebrand told Jack that +they could reach their hotel sooner by the elevated railway. + +"He look pale," she thought, considerately. "He did not sleep all +night. He never before travel on a steamboat!" + +Jack meanwhile had a new sensation. + +"This is the city!" he was saying to himself. "I'm really here. There +are no crowds, because it's Sunday,--but then!" + +After walking a few minutes they came to a corner, where Mr. +Guilderaufenberg turned and said to Jack: + +"Dees ees Proadvay. Dere ees no oder street in de vorlt dat ees so +long. Look dees vay und den look dat vay! So! Eh? Dot ees Proadvay. +Dere ees no oder city in de vorlt vere a beeg street keep Soonday!" + +It was indeed a wonderful street to the boy from Crofield, and he felt +the wonder of it; and he felt the wonder of the Sunday quiet and of the +closed places of business. + +[Illustration: _On Broadway, at last!_] + +"There's a policeman," he remarked to Mr. Guilderaufenberg. + +"So!" said the German, smiling; "but he ees a beople's boleeceman. Eef +he vas a king's boleeceman, I vas not here. I roon avay, or I vas lock +up. Jack, ven you haf dodge some king's boleecemen, like me, you vish +you vas American, choost like me now, und vas safe!" + +"I believe I should," said Jack, politely; but his head was not still +for an instant. His eyes and his thoughts were busily at work. He had +expected to see tall and splendid buildings, and had even dreamed of +them. How he had longed and hoped and planned to get to this very +place! He had seen pictures of the city, but the reality was +nevertheless a delightful surprise. + +Miss Hildebrand pointed out Trinity Church, and afterward St. Paul's. + +"Maybe I'll go to one of those big churches, to-day," said Jack. + +"Oh, no," said Miss Hildebrand. "You find plenty churches up-town. +Not come back so far." + +"I shall know where these are, any way," Jack replied. + +After a short walk they came to City Hall Square. + +"There!" Jack exclaimed. "I know this place! It's just like the +pictures in my guide-book. There's the Post-office, the City +Hall,--everything!" + +"Come," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, beginning to cross the street. "Ve +must go ofer und take de elevated railvay." + +"Come along, Meester Jack Ogden," added Mrs. Guilderaufenberg. + +"There are enough people here now," said Jack, as they walked +along--"Sunday or no Sunday!" + +"Of course," said Miss Hildebrand, pointing with a hand that lifted a +small satchel. "That's the elevated railway station over there, across +both streets. There, too, is where you go to the suspension bridge to +Brooklyn, over the East River. You see, when we go by. You see +to-morrow. Not much, now. I am so hungry!" + +"I want to see everything," said Jack; "but I'm hungry, too. Why, +we're going upstairs!" + +In a minute more Jack was sitting by an open window of an elevated +railway car. This was another entirely new experience, and Jack found +it hard to rid himself of the notion that possibly the whole +long-legged railway might tumble down or the train suddenly shoot off +from the track and drop into the street. + +"Dees ees bretty moch American," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, as Jack +stared out at the third-story windows of the buildings. "You nefer vas +here before? So! Den you nefer feels again choost like now. You ees +fery moch a poy. I dell you, dere is not soch railvays in Europe; I +vonce feel like you now. Dot vas ven I first come here. It vas not +Soonday; it vas a day for de flags. I dell you vat it ees: ven dot +American feels goot, he hang out hees flag. Shtars und shtripes--I +like dot flag! I look at some boleece, und den I like dot flag again, +for dey vas not hoont, hoont, hoont, for poor Fritz von +Guilderaufenberg, for dot he talk too moch!" + +"It's pretty quiet all along. All the stores seem to be closed," said +Jack, looking down at the street below. + +"Eet ees so shtill!" remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "I drafel de vorlt +ofer und I find not dees Soonday. In Europe, it vas not dere to keep. +I dell you, ven dere ees no more Soonday, den dere ees no more America! +So! Choost you remember dot, my poy, from a man dot vas hoonted all +ofer Europe!" + +Jack was quite ready to believe Mr. Guilderaufenberg. He had been used +to even greater quiet, in Crofield, for after all there seemed to be a +great deal going on. + +The train they were in made frequent stops, and it did not seem long to +Jack before Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and the other ladies got up and began +to gather their parcels and satchels. Jack was ready when his friends +led the way to the door. + +"I'll be glad to get off," he thought. "I am afraid Aunt Melinda would +say I was traveling on Sunday." + +The conductor threw open the car door and shouted, and Mr. +Guilderaufenberg hurried forward exclaiming: "Come! Dees ees our +station!" + +Jack had taken even more than his share of the luggage; and now his arm +was once more grasped by Miss Hildebrand. + +"I'll take good care of her," he said to himself, as she pushed along +out of the cars. "All I need to do is to follow the rest." + +He did not understand what she said to the others in German, but it +was: "I'll bring Mr. Ogden. He will know how to look out for himself, +very soon." + +She meant to see him safely to the Hotel Dantzic, that morning; and the +next thing Jack knew he was going down a long flight of stairs, to the +sidewalk, while Miss Hildebrand was explaining that part of the city +they were in. Even while she was talking, and while he was looking in +all directions, she wheeled him suddenly to the left, and they came to +a halt. + +"Hotel Dantzic," read Jack aloud, from the sign. "It's a tall +building; but it's very thin." + +The ladies went into the waiting-room, while Jack followed Mr. +Guilderaufenberg into the office. The German was welcomed by the +proprietor as if he were an old acquaintance. + +A moment afterward, Mr. Guilderaufenberg turned away from the desk and +said to Jack: + +"My poy, I haf a room for you. Eet ees high oop, but eet ees goot; und +you bays only feefty cent a day. You bay for von veek, now. You puys +vot you eats vere you blease in de ceety." + +The three dollars and a half paid for the first week made the first +break in Jack's capital of nine dollars. + +"Any way," he thought, when he paid it, "I have found a place to sleep +in. Money'll go fast in the city, and I must look out. I'll put my +baggage in my room and then come down to breakfast." + +"You breakfast mit us dees time," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, kindly. +"Den you not see us more, maybe, till you comes to Vashington." + +Jack got his key and the number of his room and was making his way to +the foot of a stairway when a very polite man said to him: + +"This way, sir. This way to the elevator. Seventh floor, sir." + +Jack had heard and read of elevators, but it was startling to ride in +one for the first time. It was all but full when he got in, and after +it started, his first thought was: + +"How it's loaded! What if the rope should break!" + +It stopped to let a man out, and started and stopped again and again, +but it seemed only a few long, breathless moments before the man in +charge of it said; "Seventh, sir!" + +The moment Jack was in his room he exclaimed: + +"Isn't this grand, though? It's only about twice as big as that +stateroom on the steamboat. I can feel at home here." + +It was a pleasant little room, and Jack began at once to make ready for +breakfast. + +He was brushing his hair when he went to the window, and as he looked +out he actually dropped the brush in his surprise. + +"Where's my guide-book?" he said. "I know where I am, though. That +must be the East River. Away off there is Long Island. Looks as if it +was all city. Maybe that is Brooklyn,--I don't know. Isn't this a +high house? I can look down on all the other roofs. Jingo!" + +He hurried through his toilet, meanwhile taking swift glances out of +the window. When he went out to the elevator, he said to himself: + +"I'll go down by the stairs some day, just to see how it seems. A +storm would whistle like anything, round the top of this building!" + +When he got down, Mr. Guilderaufenberg was waiting for him, and the +party of ladies went in to breakfast, in a restaurant which occupied +nearly all of the lower floor of the hotel. + +"I understand," said Jack, good-humoredly, in reply to an explanation +from Miss Hildebrand. "You pay for just what you order, and no more, +and they charge high for everything but bread. I'm beginning to learn +something of city ways." + +During all that morning, anybody who knew Jack Ogden would have had to +look at him twice, he had been so quiet and sedate; but the old, +self-confident look gradually returned during breakfast. + +"Ve see you again at supper," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, as they arose. +"Den ve goes to Vashington. You valks out und looks about. You easy +finds your vay back. Goot-bye till den." + +Jack shook hands with his friends, and walked out into the street. + +"Well, here I am!" he thought. "This is the city. I'm all alone in +it, too, and I must find my own way. I can do it, though. I'm glad +it's Sunday, so that I needn't go straight to work." + + +At that moment, the nine o'clock bells were ringing in two wooden +steeples in the village of Crofield; but the bell of the third steeple +was silent, down among the splinters of what had been the pulpit of its +own meeting-house. The village was very still, but there was something +peculiar in the quiet in the Ogden homestead. Even the children went +about as if they missed something or were listening for somebody they +expected. + +There were nine o'clock bells, also, in Mertonville, and there was a +ring at the door-bell of the house of Mr. Murdoch, the editor. + +"Why, Elder Holloway!" exclaimed Mrs. Murdoch, when she opened the +door. "Please to walk in." + +"Thank you, Mrs. Murdoch, but I can't," he said, speaking as if +hurried, "Please tell Miss Ogden there's a class of sixteen girls in +our Sunday school, and the teacher's gone; and I've taken the liberty +of promising for her that she'll take charge of it." + +"I'll call her," said Mrs. Murdoch. + +"No, no," replied the elder. "Just tell her it's a nice class, and +that the girls expect her to come, and we'll be ever go much obliged to +her. Good-morning!"--and he was gone. + +"Oh, Mrs. Murdoch!" exclaimed Mary, when the elder's message was given. +"I can't! I don't know them! I suppose I ought; but I'd have said no, +if I had seen him." + +The elder had thought of that, perhaps, and had provided against any +refusal by retreating. As he went away he said to himself: + +"She can do it, I know; if she does, it'll help me carry out my plan." + +He looked, just then, as if it were a very good plan, but he did not +reveal it. + +Mary Ogden persuaded Mrs. Murdoch to take her to another church that +morning, so that she need not meet any of her new class. + +"I hope Jack will go to church in the city," she said; and her mother +said the same thing to Aunt Melinda over in Crofield. + +Jack could not have given any reason why his feet turned westward, but +he went slowly along for several blocks, while he stared at the rows of +buildings, at the sidewalks, at the pavements, and at everything else, +great and small. He was actually leaving the world in which he had +been brought up--the Crofield world--and taking a first stroll around +in a world of quite another sort. He met some people on the streets, +but not many. + +"They're all getting ready for church," he thought, and his next +thought was expressed aloud. + +"Whew! what street's this, I wonder?" + +He had passed row after row of fine buildings, but suddenly he had +turned into a wide avenue which seemed a street of palaces. Forward he +went, faster and faster, staring eagerly at one after another of those +elegant mansions of stone, of marble, or of brick. + +"See here, Johnny," he suddenly heard in a sharp voice close to him, +"what number do you want?" + +"Hallo," said Jack, halting and turning. "What street's this?" + +He was looking up into the good-natured face of a tall man in a neat +blue uniform. + +"What are you looking for?" began the policeman again. But, without +waiting for Jack's answer, he went on, "Oh, I see! You're a greeny +lookin' at Fifth Avenue. Mind where you're going, or you'll run into +somebody!" + +"Is this Fifth Avenue?" Jack asked. "I wish I knew who owned these +houses." + +"You do, do you?" laughed the man in blue. "Well, I can tell you some +of them. That house belongs to--" and the policeman went on giving +name after name, and pointing out the finest houses. + +Some of the names were familiar to Jack. He had read about these men +in newspapers, and it was pleasant to see where they lived. + +"See that house?" asked the policeman, pointing at one of the finest +residences. "Well, the man that owns it came to New York as poor as +you, maybe poorer. Not quite so green, of course! But you'll soon get +over that. See that big house yonder, on the corner? Well, the cash +for that was gathered by a chap who began as a deck-hand. Most of the +big guns came up from nearly nothing. Now you walk along and look out; +but mind you don't run over anybody." + +"Much obliged," said Jack, and as he walked on, he kept his eyes open, +but his thoughts were busy with what the policeman had told him. + +That was the very idea he had while he was in Crofield. That was what +had made him long to break away from the village and find his way to +the city. His imagination had busied itself with stories of poor +boys,--as poor and green as he, scores of them,--born and brought up in +country homes, who, refusing to stay at home and be nobodies, had +become successful men. All the great buildings he saw seemed to tell +the same story. Still he did say to himself once: + +"Some of their fathers must have been rich enough to give them a good +start. Some were born rich, too. I don't care for that, though. I +don't know as I want so big a house. I am going to get along somehow. +My chances are as good as some of these fellows had." + +Just then he came to a halt, for right ahead of him were open grounds, +and beyond were grass and trees. To the right and left were buildings. + +"I know what this is!" exclaimed Jack. "It must be Central Park. Some +day I'm going there, all over it. But I'll turn around now, and find a +place to go to church. I've passed a dozen churches on the way." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A WONDERFUL SUNDAY. + +When Jack turned away from the entrance to Central Park, he found much +of the Sunday quiet gone. It was nearly half-past ten o'clock; the +sidewalks were covered with people, and the street resounded with the +rattle of carriage-wheels. + +There was some uneasiness in the mind of the boy from Crofield. The +policeman had impressed upon Jack the idea that he was not at home in +the city, and that he did not seem at home there. He did not know one +church from another, and part of his uneasiness was about how city +people managed their churches. Perhaps they sold tickets, he thought; +or perhaps you paid at the door; or possibly it didn't cost anything, +as in Crofield. + +[Illustration: _"How would he get in?"_] + +"I'll ask," he decided, as he paused in front of what seemed to him a +very imposing church. He stood still, for a moment, as the steady +procession passed him, part of it going by, but much of it turning into +the church. + +"Mister--," he said bashfully to four well-dressed men in quick +succession; but not one of them paused to answer him. Two did not so +much as look at him, and the glances given him by the other two made +his cheeks burn--he hardly knew why. + +"There's a man I'll try," thought Jack. "I'm getting mad!" The man of +whom Jack spoke came up the street. He seemed an unlikely subject. He +was so straight he almost leaned backward; he was rather slender than +thin; and was uncommonly well dressed. In fact, Jack said to himself: +"He looks as if he had bought the meeting-house, and was not pleased +with his bargain." + +Proud, even haughty, as was the manner of the stranger, Jack stepped +boldly forward and again said: + +"Mister?" + +"Well, my boy, what is it?" + +The response came with a halt and almost a bow. + +"If a fellow wished to go to this church, how would he get in?" asked +Jack. + +"Do you live in the city?" There was a frown of stern inquiry on the +broad forehead; but the head was bending farther forward. + +"No," said Jack, "I live in Crofield." + +"Where's that?" + +"Away up on the Cocahutchie River. I came here early this morning." + +"What's your name?" + +"John Ogden." + +"Come with me, John Ogden. You may have a seat in my pew. Come." + +Into the church and up the middle aisle Jack followed his leader, with +a sense of awe almost stifling him; then, too, he felt drowned in the +thunderous flood of music from the organ. He saw the man stop, open a +pew-door, step back, smile and bow, and then wait until the boy from +Crofield had passed in and taken his seat. + +"He's a gentleman," thought Jack, hardly aware that he himself had +bowed low as he went in, and that a smile of grim approval had followed +him. + +In the pew behind them sat another man, as haughty looking, but just +now wearing the same kind of smile as he leaned forward and asked in an +audible whisper: + +"General, who's your friend?" + +"Mr. John Ogden, of Crofield, away up on the Cookyhutchie River. I +netted him at the door," was the reply, in the same tone. + +"Good catch?" asked the other. + +"Just as good as I was, Judge, forty years ago. I'll tell you how that +was some day." + +"Decidedly raw material, I should say." + +"Well, so was I. I was no more knowing than he is. I remember what it +is to be far away from home." + +The hoarse, subdued whispers ceased; the two gentle men looked grim and +severe again. Then there was a grand burst of music from the organ, +the vast congregation stood up, and Jack rose with them. + +He felt solemn enough, there was no doubt of that; but what he said to +himself unconsciously took this shape: + +"Jingo! If this isn't the greatest going to church _I_ ever did! Hear +that voice! The organ too--what music! Don't I wish Molly was here! +I wish all the family were here." + +The service went on and Jack listened attentively, in spite of a strong +tendency in his eyes to wander among the pillars to the galleries, up +into the lofty vault above him, or around among the pews full of +people. He knew it was a good sermon and that the music was good, +singing and all--especially when the congregation joined in "Old +Hundred" and another old hymn that he knew. Still he had an increasing +sense of being a very small fellow in a very large place. When he +raised his head, after the benediction, he saw the owner of the pew +turn toward him, bow low, and hold out his hand. Jack shook hands, of +course. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Ogden," said the gentleman gravely, with almost a +frown on his face, but very politely, and then he turned and walked out +of the pew. Jack also bowed as he shook hands, and said, +"Good-morning. Thank you, sir. I hope you enjoyed the sermon." + +"General," said the gentleman in the pew behind them, "pretty good for +raw material. Keep an eye on him." + +"No, I won't," said the general. "I've spoiled four or five in that +very way." + +"Well, I believe you're right," said the judge, after a moment. "It's +best for that kind of boy to fight his own battles. I had to." + +"So did I," said the general, "and I was well pounded for a while." + +Jack did not hear all of the conversation, but he had a clear idea that +they were talking about him; and as he walked slowly out of the church, +packed in among the crowd in the aisle, he had a very rosy face indeed. + +Jack had in mind a thought that had often come to him in the church at +Crofield, near the end of the sermon:--he was conscious that it was +dinner-time. + +Of course he thought, with a little homesickness, of the home +dinner-table. + +"I wish I could sit right down with them," he thought, "and tell them +what Sunday is in the city. Then my dinner wouldn't cost me a cent +there, either. No matter, I'm here, and now I can begin to make more +money right away. I have five dollars and fifty cents left anyway." + +Then he thought of the bill of fare at the Hotel Dantzic, and many of +the prices on it, and remembered Mr. Guilderaufenberg's instructions +about going to some cheaper place for his meals. + +"I didn't tell him that I had only nine dollars," he said to himself, +"but I'll follow his advice. He's a traveler." + +Jack had been too proud to explain how little money he had, but his +German friend had really done well by him in making him take the little +room at the top of the Hotel Dantzic. He had said to his wife: + +"Dot poy! Vell, I see him again some day. He got a place to shleep, +anyhow, vile he looks around und see de ceety. No oder poy I efer +meets know at de same time so moch and so leetle." + +With every step from the church door Jack felt hungrier, but he did not +turn his steps toward the Hotel Dantzic. He walked on down to the +lower part of the city, on the lookout for hotels and restaurants. It +was not long before he came to a hotel, and then he passed another and +another; and he passed a number of places where the signs told him of +dinners to be had within, but all looked too fine. + +"They're for rich people," he said, shaking his head, "like the people +in that church. What stacks of money they must have? That organ maybe +cost more than all the meeting-houses in Crofield!" + +After going a little farther Jack exclaimed; + +"I don't care! I've just got to eat!" + +He was getting farther and farther from the Hotel Dantzic, and suddenly +his eyes were caught by a very taking sign, at the top of some neat +steps leading down into a basement: + +"DINNER. ROAST BEEF. TWENTY-FIVE CENTS." + +"That'll do." said Jack eagerly. "I can stand that. Roost beef alone +is forty cents at the Dantzic." + +Down he went and found himself in a wide comfortable room, containing +two long dining tables, and a number of small oblong tables, and some +round tables, all as neat as wax. It was a very pleasant place, and a +great many other hungry people were there already. + +Jack sat down at one of the small tables, and a waiter came to him at +once. + +"Dinner sir? Yessir. Roast beef, sir? Yessir. Vegetables? +Potatoes? Lima-beans? Sweet corn?" + +"Yes, please," said Jack. "Beef, potatoes, beans, and corn?" and the +waiter was gone. + +It seemed to be a long time before the beef and vegetables came, but +they were not long in disappearing after they were on the table. + +The waiter had other people to serve, but he was an attentive fellow. + +"Pie sir?" he said, naming five kinds without a pause. + +"Custard-pie," said Jack. + +"Coffee, sir? Yessir," and he darted away again. + +"This beats the Hotel Dantzic all to pieces," remarked Jack, as he went +on with his pie and coffee; but the waiter was scribbling something +upon a slip of paper, and when it was done he put it down by Jack's +plate. + +"Jingo!" said Jack in a horrified tone, a moment later. "What's this? +'Roast beef, 25; potatoes, 10; Lima-beans, 10; corn, 10; bread, 5; +coffee, 10; pie, 10: $0.80.' Eighty cents! Jingo! How like smoke it +does cost to live in New York! This can't be one of the cheap places +Mr. Guilderaufenberg meant." + +Jack felt much chagrined, but he finished his pie and coffee bravely. +"It's a sell," he said, "--but then it _was_ a good dinner!" + +He went to the cashier with an effort to act as if it was an old story +to him. He gave the cashier a dollar, received his change, and turned +away, as the man behind the counter remarked to a friend at his elbow: + +"I knew it. He had the cash. His face was all right." + +"Clothes will fool anybody," said the other man. + +Jack heard it, and he looked at the men sitting at the tables. + +"They're all wearing Sunday clothes," he thought, "but some are no +better than mine. But there's a difference. I've noticed it all +along." + +So had others, for Jack had not seen one in that restaurant who had on +at all such a suit of clothes as had been made for him by the Crofield +tailor. + +"Four dollars and seventy cents left," said Jack thoughtfully, as he +went up into the street; and then he turned to go down-town without any +reason for choosing that direction. + +An hour later, Mr. Gilderaufenberg and his wife and their friends were +standing near the front door of the Hotel Dantzic, talking with the +proprietor. Around them lay their baggage, and in front of the door +was a carriage. Evidently they were going away earlier than they had +intended. + +"Dot poy!" exclaimed the broad and bearded German. "He find us not +here ven he come. You pe goot to dot poy, Mr. Keifelheimer." + +"So!" said the hotel proprietor, and at once three other voices chimed +in with good-bye messages to Jack Ogden. Mr. Keifelheimer responded: + +"I see to him. He will come to Vashington to see you. So!" + +Then they entered the carriage, and away they went. + + +After walking for a few blocks, Jack found that he did not know exactly +where he was. But suddenly he exclaimed: + +"Why, if there isn't City Hall Square! I've come all the way down +Broadway." + +He had stared at building after building for a time without thinking +much about them, and then he had begun to read the signs. + +"I'll come down this way again to-morrow," he said. "It's good there +are so many places to work in. I wish I knew exactly what I would like +to do, and which of them it is best to go to. I know! I can do as I +did in Crofield. I can try one for a while, and then, if I don't like +it, I can try another. It is lucky that I know how to do 'most +anything." + +The confident smile had come back. He had entirely recovered from the +shock of his eighty-cent expenditure. He had not met many people, all +the way down, and the stores were shut; but for that very reason he had +bad more time to study the signs. + +"Very nearly every kind of business is done on Broadway," he said, +"except groceries and hardware,--but they sell more clothing than +anything else. I'll look round everywhere before I settle down; but I +must look out not to spend too much money till I begin to make some." + +"It's not far now," he said, a little while after, "to the lower end of +the city and to the Battery. I'll take a look at the Battery before I +go back to the Hotel Dantzic." + +Taller and more majestic grew the buildings as he went on, but he was +not now so dazed and confused as he had been in the morning. + +"Here is Trinity Church, again," he said. "I remember about that. And +that's Wall Street. I'll see that as I come back; but now I'll go +right along and see the Battery. Of course there isn't any battery +there, but Mr. Guilderaufenberg said that from it I could see the fort +on Governor's Island." + +Jack did not see much of the Battery, for he followed the left-hand +sidewalk at the Bowling Green, where Broadway turns into Whitehall +Street. He had so long been staring at great buildings whose very +height made him dizzy, that he was glad to see beside them some which +looked small and old. + +"I'll find my way without asking," he remarked to himself. "I'm pretty +near the end now. There are some gates, and one of them is open. I'll +walk right in behind that carriage. That must be the gate to the +Battery." + +The place he was really looking for was at some distance to the right, +and the carriage he was following so confidently, had a very different +destination. + +The wide gateway was guarded by watchful men, not to mention two +policemen, and they would have caught and stopped any boy who had +knowingly tried to do what Jack did so innocently. Their backs must +have been turned, for the carriage passed in, and so did Jack, without +any one's trying to stop him. He was as bold as a lion about it, +because he did not know any better. A number of people were at the +same time crowding through a narrower gateway at one side, and they may +have distracted the attention of the gatemen. + +"I'd just as lief go in at the wagon-gate," said Jack, and he did not +notice that each one stopped and paid something before going through. +Jack went on behind the carriage. The carriage crossed what seemed to +Jack a kind of bridge housed over. Nobody but a boy straight from +Crofield could have gone so far as that without suspecting something; +but the carriage stopped behind a line of other vehicles, and Jack +walked unconcernedly past them. + +"Jingo!" he suddenly exclaimed. "What's this? I do believe the end of +this street is moving!" + +He bounded forward, much startled by a thing so strange and +unaccountable, and in a moment more he was looking out upon a great +expanse of water, dotted here and there with canal-boats, ships, and +steamers. + +"Mister," he asked excitedly of a little man leaning against a post, +"what's this?" + +"Have ye missed your way and got onto the wrong ferry-boat?" replied +the little man gleefully. "I did it once myself. All right, my boy. +You've got to go to Staten Island this time. Take it coolly." + +"Ferry-boat?" said Jack. "Staten Island? I thought it was the end of +the street, going into the Battery!" + +"Oh, you're a greenhorn!" laughed the little man "Well, it won't hurt +ye; only there's no boat back from the island, on Sunday, till after +supper. I'll tell ye all about it. Where'd you come from?" + +"From Crofield," said Jack, "and I got here only this morning." + +The little man eyed him half-suspiciously for a moment, and then led +him to the rail of the boat. + +"Look back there," he said. "Yonder's the Battery. You ought to have +kept on. It's too much for me how you ever got aboard of this 'ere +boat without knowing it!" And he went on with a long string of +explanations, of which Jack understood about half, with the help of +what he recalled from his guide-book. All the while, however, they +were having a sail across the beautiful bay, and little by little Jack +made up his mind not to care. + +"I've made a mistake and slipped right out of the city," he said to +himself, "about as soon as I got in! But maybe I can slip back again +this evening." + +"About the greenest bumpkin I've seen for an age," thought the little +man, as he stood and looked at Jack. "It'll take all sorts of blunders +to teach him. He is younger than he looks, too. Anyway, this sail +won't hurt him a bit." + +That was precisely Jack's conclusion long before the swift voyage ended +and he walked off the ferry-boat upon the solid ground of Staten Island. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FRIENDS AND ENEMIES. + +When Jack Ogden left the Staten Island ferry-boat, he felt somewhat as +if he had made an unexpected voyage to China, and perhaps might never +return to his own country. It was late in the afternoon, and he had +been told by the little man that the ferry-boat would wait an hour and +a half before the return voyage. + +"I won't lose sight of her," said Jack, thoughtfully. "No running +around for me this time!" + +He did not move about at all. He sat upon an old box, in front of a +closed grocery store, near the ferry-house, deciding to watch and wait +until the boat started. + +"Dullest time I ever had!" he thought; "and it will cost me six cents +to get back. You have to pay something everywhere you go. I wish that +boat was ready to go now." + +It was not ready, and it seemed as if it never would be; meanwhile the +Crofield boy sat there on the box and studied the ferry-boat business. +He had learned something of it from his guide-book, but he understood +it all before the gates opened. + +He had not learned much concerning any part of Staten Island, beyond +what he already knew from the map; but shortly after he had paid his +fare, he began to learn something about the bay and the lower end of +New York. + +"I'm glad to be on board again," he said, as he walked through the long +cabin to the open deck forward. In a few minutes more he drew a long +breath and exclaimed: + +"She's starting! I know I'm on the right boat, too. But I'm hungry +and I wish I had something to eat." + +There was nothing to be had on board the boat, but, although hungry, +Jack could see enough to keep him from thinking about it. + +"It's all city; and all wharves and houses and steeples,--every way you +look," he said. "I'm glad to have seen it from the outside, after all." + +Jack stared, but did not say a word to anybody until the ferry-boat ran +into its dock. + +"If I only had a piece of pie and a cup of coffee!" Jack was thinking, +as he walked along by the wharves, ashore. Then he caught sight of the +smallest restaurant he had ever seen. It was a hand-cart with an +awning over it, standing on a corner. A placard hanging from the +awning read: + +"Clams, one cent apiece; coffee, five cents a cup." + +"That's plain enough!" exclaimed Jack. "She can't put on a cent more +for anything." + +A stout, black-eyed woman stood behind a kind of table, at the end of +the cart; and on the table there were bottles of vinegar and +pepper-sauce, some crackers, and a big tin coffee-heater. + +[Illustration: _Coffee and clams._] + +"Clams?" she repeated. "Half-dozen, on the shell? Coffee? All right." + +"That's all I want, thank you," said Jack, and she at once filled a cup +from the coffee-urn and began to open shellfish for him. + +"These are the smallest clams I ever saw," thought Jack; "but they're +good." + +They seemed better and better as he went on eating; and the woman +willingly supplied them. He drank his coffee and ate crackers freely, +and he was just thinking that it was time for him to stop when the +black-eyed woman remarked, with an air of pride, + +"Nice and fresh, ain't they? You seem to like them,--thirteen's a +dozen; seventeen cents." + +"Have I swallowed a dozen already?" said Jack, looking at the pile of +shells. "Yes, ma'am, they're tiptop!" + +After paying for his supper, there were only some coppers left, besides +four one-dollar bills, in his pocket-book. + +"Which way's the Battery, ma'am?" Jack asked, as she began to open +clams for another customer. + +"Back there a way. Keep straight on till you see it," she answered; +adding kindly, "It's like a little park; I didn't know you were from +the country." + +"Pretty good supper, after all," he said. "Cheap, too; but my money's +leaking away! Well, it isn't dark yet. I must see all I can before I +go to the hotel." + +He followed the woman's directions, and he was glad he had done so. He +had studied his guide-book faithfully as to all that end of New York, +and in spite of his recent blunder did not now need to ask anybody +which was the starting place of the elevated railways and which was +Castle Garden, where the immigrants were landed. There were little +groups of these foreigners scattered over the great open space before +him. + +"They've come from all over the world," he said, looking at group after +group. "Some of those men will have a harder time than I have had +trying to get started in New York." + +It occurred to him, nevertheless, that he was a long way from Crofield, +and that he was not yet at all at home in the city. + +"I know some things that they don't know, anyway--if I _am_ green!" he +was thinking. "I'll cut across and take a nearer look at Castle +Garden--" + +"Stop there! Stop, you fellow in the light hat! Hold on!" Jack heard +some one cry out, as he started to cross the turfed inclosures. + +"What do you want of me?" Jack asked, as he turned around. + +"Don't you see the sign there, 'Keep off the grass'? Look! You're on +the grass now! Come off! Anyway, I'll fine you fifty cents!" + +Jack looked as the man pointed, and saw a little board on a short post; +and there was the sign, in plain letters; and here before him was a +tall, thin, sharp-eyed, lantern-jawed young man, looking him fiercely +in the face and holding out his hand. + +"Fifty cents! Quick, now,--or go with me to the police station." + +Jack was a little bewildered for a moment. He felt like a cat in a +very strange garret. His first thought of the police made him remember +part of what Mr. Guilderaufenberg had told him about keeping away from +them; but he remembered only the wrong part, and his hand went +unwillingly into his pocket. + +"Right off, now! No skulking!" exclaimed the sharp eyed man. + +"I haven't fifty cents in change," said Jack, dolefully, taking a +dollar bill from his pocket-book. + +"Hand me that, then. I'll go and get it changed;" and the man reached +out a claw-like hand and took the bill from Jack's fingers, without +waiting for his consent. "I'll be right back. You stand right there +where you are till I come--" + +"Hold on!" shouted Jack. "I didn't say you could. Give me back that +bill!" + +"You wait. I'll bring your change as soon as I can get it," called the +sharp-eyed man, as he darted away; but Jack's hesitation was over in +about ten seconds. + +"I'll follow him, anyhow!" he exclaimed; and he did so at a run. + +"Halt!"--it was a man in a neat gray uniform and gilt buttons who spoke +this time; and Jack halted just as the fleeing man vanished into a +crowd on one of the broad walks. + +"He's got my dollar!" + +"Tell me what it is, quick!" said the policeman, with a sudden +expression of interest. + +Jack almost spluttered as he related how the fellow had collected the +fine; but the man in gray only shook his head. + +"I thought I saw him putting up something," he said. "It's well he +didn't get your pocket-book, too! He won't show himself here again +to-night. He's safe by this time." + +"Do you know him?" asked Jack, greatly excited; but more than a little +in dread of the helmet-hat, buttons, and club. + +"Know him? 'Jimmy the Sneak?' Of course I do. He's only about two +weeks out of Sing Sing. It won't be long before he's back there again. +When did you come to town? What's your name? Where'd you come from? +Where are you staying? Do you know anybody in town?" + +He had a pencil and a little blank-book, and he rapidly wrote out +Jack's answers. + +"You'll get your eyes open pretty fast, at this rate," he said. +"That's all I want of you, now. If I lay a hand on Jimmy, I'll know +where to find you. You'd better go home. If any other thief asks you +for fifty cents, you call for the nearest policeman. That's what we're +here for." + +"A whole dollar gone, and nothing to show for it!" groaned Jack, as he +walked away. "Only three dollars and a few cents left! I'll walk all +the way up to the Hotel Dantzic, instead of paying five cents for a car +ride. I'll have to save money now." + +He felt more kindly toward all the policemen he met, and he was glad +there were so many of them. + +"The police at Central Park," he remarked to himself, "and that fellow +at the Battery, were all in gray, and the street police wear blue; but +they're a good-looking set of men. I hope they will nab Jimmy the +Sneak and get back my dollar for me." + +The farther he went, however, the clearer became his conviction that +dollars paid to thieves seldom come back; and that an evening walk of +more than three miles over the stone sidewalks of New York is a long +stroll for a very tired and somewhat homesick country boy. He cared +less and less, all the way, how strangely and how splendidly the +gas-lights and the electric lights lit up the tall buildings. + +"One light's white," he said, "and the other's yellowish, and that's +about all there is of it. Well, I'm not quite so green, for I know +more than I did this morning!" + +It was late for him when he reached the hotel, but it seemed to be +early enough for everybody else. Many people were coming and going, +and among them all he did not see a face that he knew or cared for. +The tired-out, homesick feeling grew upon him, and he walked very +dolefully to the elevator. Up it went in a minute, and when he reached +his room he threw his hat upon the table, and sat down to think over +the long and eventful day. + +[Illustration: _Jack is homesick._] + +"This is the toughest day's work I ever did! I'd like to see the folks +in Crofield and tell 'em about it, though," he said. + +He went to bed, intending to consider his plans for Monday, but he made +one mistake. He happened to close his eyes. + +The next thing he knew, there was a ray of warm sunshine striking his +face from the open window, for he had slept soundly, and it was nearly +seven o'clock on Monday morning. + +Jack looked around his room, and then sprang out of bed. + +"Hurrah for New York!" he said, cheerfully. "I know what to do now. +I'm glad I'm here! I'll write a letter home, first thing, and then +I'll pitch in and go to work!" + +He felt better. All the hopes he had cherished so long began to stir +within him. He brushed his clothes thoroughly, and put on his best +necktie; and then he walked out of that room with hardly a doubt that +all the business in the great city was ready and waiting for him to +come and take part in it. He went down the elevator, after a glance at +the stairway and a shake of his head. + +"Stairs are too slow," he thought. "I'll try them some time when I am +not so busy." + +As he stepped out upon the lower floor he met Mr. Keifelheimer, the +proprietor. + +"You come in to preakfast mit me," he said. "I promise Mr. +Guilderaufenberg and de ladies, too, I keep an eye on you. Some +letters in de box for you. You get dem ven you come out. Come mit me." + +Jack was very glad to hear of his friends, what had become of them, and +what they had said about him, and of course he was quite ready for +breakfast. Mr. Keifelheimer talked, while they were eating, in the +most friendly and protecting way. Jack felt that he could speak +freely; and so he told the whole story of his adventures on +Sunday,--Staten Island, Jimmy the Sneak, and all. Mr. Keifelheimer +listened with deep interest, making appreciative remarks every now and +then; but he seemed to be most deeply touched by the account of the +eighty-cent dinner. + +"Dot vas too much!" he said, at last. "It vas a schvindle! Dose +Broadvay restaurants rob a man efery time. Now, I only charge you +feefty-five cents for all dis beautiful breakfast; and you haf had de +finest beefsteak and two cups of splendid coffee. So, you make money +ven you eat mit me!" + +Jack could but admit that the Hotel Dantzic price was lower than the +other; but he paid it with an uneasy feeling that while he must have +misunderstood Mr. Keifelheimer's invitation it was impossible to say so. + +"Get dose letter," said the kindly and thoughtful proprietor. "Den you +write in de office. It is better dan go avay up to your room." + +Jack thanked him and went for his mail, full of wonder as to how any +letters could have come to him. + +"A whole handful!" he said, in yet greater wonder, when the clerk +handed them out. "Who could have known I was here? +Nine,--ten,--eleven,--twelve. A dozen!" + +One after another Jack found the envelops full of nicely printed cards +and circulars, telling him how and where to find different kinds of +goods. + +"That makes eight," he said; "and every one a sell. But,--jingo!" + +It was a blue envelope, and when he opened it his fingers came upon a +dollar bill. + +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg's a trump!" he exclaimed; and he added, +gratefully, "I'd only about two dollars and a half left. He's only +written three lines." + +They were kindly words, however, ending with: + + +I have not tell the ladies; but you should be pay for the stateroom. + +I hope you have a good time. + +F. VON GUILDERAUFENBERG. + + +The next envelope was white and square; and when it came open Jack +found another dollar bill. + +"She's a real good woman!" he said, when he read his name and these +words: + + +I say nothing to anybody; but you should have pay for your stateroom. +You was so kind. In haste, + +GERTRUDE VON GUILDERAUFENBERG. + + +"I'll go and see them some day," said Jack. + +He had opened the eleventh envelope, which was square and pink, and out +came another dollar bill. Jack read his own name again, followed by: + + +We go this minute. I have not told them. You should have pay for your +stateroom. Thanks. You was so kind. + +MARIE HILDEBRAND. + + +"Now, if she isn't one of the most thoughtful women in the world!" said +Jack; "and what's this?" + +Square, gray, with an ornamental seal, was the twelfth envelope, and +out of it came a fourth dollar bill, and this note: + + +For the stateroom. I have told not the others. With thanks of + +DOLISKA POD----SKI. + + +It was a fine, small, pointed, and wandering handwriting, and Jack in +vain strove to make out the letters in the middle of the Polish lady's +name. + +"I don't care!" he said. "She's kind, too. So are all the rest of +them; and Mr. Guilderaufenberg's one of the best fellows I ever met. +Now I've got over six dollars, and I can make some more right away." + +He pocketed his money, and felt more confident than ever; and he walked +out of the Hotel Dantzic just as his father, at home in Crofield, was +reading to Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda and the children the letter he +had written in Albany, on Saturday. + +They all had their comments to make, but at the end of it the tall +blacksmith said to his wife: + +"There's one thing certain, Mary. I won't let go of any of that land +till after they've run the railway through it." + +"Land?" said Aunt Melinda. "Why, it's nothing but gravel. They can't +do anything with it." + +"It joins mine," said Mr. Ogden; "and I own more than an acre behind +the shop. We'll see whether the railroad will make any difference. +Well, the boy's reached the city long before this!" + +There was silence for a moment after that, and then Mr. Ogden went over +to the shop. He was not very cheerful, for he began to feel that Jack +was really gone from home. + +In Mertonville, Mary Ogden was helping Mrs. Murdoch in her housework, +and seemed to be disposed to look out of the window, rather than to +talk. + +"Now, Mary," said the editor's wife, "you needn't look so peaked, and +feel so blue about the way you got along with that class of girls--" + +"Girls?" said Mary. "Why, Mrs. Murdoch! Only half of them were +younger than I; they said there would be only sixteen, and there were +twenty-one. Some of the scholars were twice as old as I am, and one +had gray hair and wore spectacles!" + +"I don't care," said Mrs. Murdoch, "the Elder said you did well. Now, +dear, dress yourself, and be ready for Mrs. Edwards; she's coming after +you, and I hope you'll enjoy your visit. Come in and see me as often +as you can and tell me the news." + +Mary finished the dishes and went upstairs, saying, "And they want me +to take that class again next Sunday!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +NO BOY WANTED. + +After leaving the Hotel Dantzic, with his unexpected supply of money, +Jack walked smilingly down toward the business part of the city. For a +while he only studied signs and looked into great show-windows; and he +became more and more confident as he thought how many different ways +there were for a really smart boy to make a fortune in New York. He +decided to try one way at just about nine o'clock. + +"The city's a busy place!" thought Jack, as he walked along. "Some +difference between the way they rush along on Monday and the way they +loitered all day Sunday!" + +He even walked faster because the stream of men carried him along. It +made him think of the Cocahutchie. + +"I'll try one of these big clothing places," he said, about nine +o'clock. "I'll see what wages they're giving. I know something about +tailoring." + +He paused in front of a wide and showy-looking store on Broadway. He +drew a long breath and went in. The moment he entered he was +confronted by a very fat, smiling gentleman, who bowed and asked: + +"What can we do for you, sir?" + +"I'd like to know if you want a boy," said Jack, "and what wages you're +giving. I know--" + +"After a place? Oh, yes. That's the man you ought to see," said the +jocose floor-walker, pointing to a spruce salesman behind a counter, +and winking at him from behind Jack. + +The business of the day had hardly begun, and the idle salesman saw the +wink. Jack walked up to him and repeated his inquiry. + +"Want a place, eh? Where are you from? Been long in the business?" + +Jack told him about Crofield, and about the "merchant tailors" there, +and gave a number of particulars before the very dignified and +sober-faced salesman's love of fun was satisfied; and then the salesman +said: + +"I can't say. You'd better talk with that man yonder." + +There was another wink, and Jack went to "that man," to answer another +string of questions, some of which related to his family, and the +Sunday-school he attended; and then he was sent on to another man, and +another, and to as many more, until at last he heard a gruff voice +behind him asking, "What does that fellow want? Send him to me!" + +Jack turned toward the voice, and saw a glass "coop," as he called it, +all glass panes up to above his head, excepting one wide, semicircular +opening in the middle. The clerk to whom Jack was talking at that +moment suddenly became very sober. + +"Head of the house!" he exclaimed to himself. "Whew! I didn't know +he'd come;" Then he said to Jack: "The head partner is at the +cashier's desk. Speak to him." + +Jack stepped forward, his cheeks burning with the sudden perception +that he had been ridiculed. He saw a sharp-eyed lady counting money, +just inside the little window, but she moved away, and Jack was +confronted by a very stern, white-whiskered gentleman. + +"What do you want?" the man asked. + +"I'd like to know if you'll hire another boy, and what you're paying?" +said Jack, bravely. + +"No; I don't want any boy," replied the man in the coop, savagely. +"You get right out." + +"Tell you what you _do_ want," said Jack, for his temper was rising +fast, "you'd better get a politer set of clerks!" + +"I will, if there is any more of this nonsense," said the head of the +house, sharply. "Now, that's enough. No more impertinence." + +Jack was all but choking with mortification, and he wheeled and marched +out of the store. + +"I wasn't afraid of him," he thought, "and I ought to have spoken to +him first thing. I might have known better than to have asked those +fellows. I sha'n't be green enough to do that again. I'll ask the +head man next time." + +That was what he tried to do in six clothing-stores, one after another; +but in each case he made a failure. In two of them, they said the +managing partner was out; and then, when he tried to find out whether +they wanted a boy, the man he asked became angry and showed him the +door. In three more, he was at first treated politely, and then +informed that they already had hundreds of applications. To enter the +sixth store was an effort, but he went in. + +"One of the firm? Yes, sir," said the floor-walker. "There he is." + +Only a few feet from him stood a man so like the one whose face had +glowered at him through that cashier's window in the first store that +Jack hesitated a moment, but the clerk spoke out: + +"Wishes to speak to you, Mr. Hubbard." + +"This way, my boy. What is it?" + +Jack was surprised by the full, mellow, benevolent voice that came from +under the white moustaches. + +"Do you want to hire a boy, sir?" he inquired. + +"I do not, my son. Where are you from?" asked Mr. Hubbard, with a +kindlier expression than before. + +Jack told him, and answered two or three other questions. + +"From up in the country, eh?" he said. "Have you money enough to get +home again?" + +"I could get home," stammered Jack, "but there isn't any chance for a +boy up in Crofield." + +"Ten chances there for every one there is in the city, my boy," said +Mr. Hubbard. "One hundred boys here for every place that's vacant. +You go home. Dig potatoes. Make hay. Drive cows. Feed pigs. Do +_anything_ honest, but get out of New York. It's one great +pauper-house, now, with men and boys who can't find anything to do." + +"Thank you, sir," said Jack, with a tightening around his heart. "But +I'll find something. You see if I don't--" + +"Take my advice, and go home!" replied Mr. Hubbard, kindly. +"Good-morning." + +"Good-morning," said Jack, and while going out of that store he had the +vividest recollections of all the country around Crofield. + +"I'll keep on trying, anyway," he said. "There's a place for me +somewhere. I'll try some other trade. I'll do _anything_." + +So he did, until one man said to him: + +"Everybody is at luncheon just now. Begin again by and by; but I'm +afraid you'll find there are no stores needing boys." + +"I need some dinner myself," thought Jack. "I feel faint. Mister," he +added aloud, "I must buy some luncheon, too. Where's a good place?" + +He was directed to a restaurant, and he seated himself at a table and +ordered roast beef in a sort of desperation. + +"I don't care what it costs!" he said. "I've got some money yet." + +Beef, potatoes, bread and butter, all of the best, came, and were eaten +with excellent appetite. + +Jack was half afraid of the consequences when the waiter put a bright +red check down beside his plate. + +"Thirty cents?" exclaimed he joyfully, picking it up. "Why, that's the +cheapest dinner I've had in New York." + +"All right, sir. Come again, sir," said the waiter, smiling; and then +Jack sat still for a moment. + +"Six dollars, and, more too," he said to himself; "and my room's paid +for besides. I can go right on looking up a place, for days and days, +if I'm careful about my money. I mustn't be discouraged." + +He certainly felt more courageous, now that he had eaten dinner, and he +at once resumed his hunt for a place; but there was very little left of +his smile. He went into store after store with almost the same result +in each, until one good-humored gentleman remarked to him: + +"My boy, why don't you go to a Mercantile Agency?" + +"What's that?" asked Jack, and the man explained what it was. + +"I'll go to one right away," Jack said hopefully. + +"That's the address of a safe place," said the gentleman writing a few +words. "Look out for sharpers, though. Plenty of such people in that +business. I wish you good luck." + +Before long Jack Ogden stood before the desk of the "Mercantile Agency" +to which he had been directed, answering questions and registering his +name. He had paid a fee of one dollar, and had made the office-clerk +laugh by his confidence. + +"You seem to think you can take hold of nearly anything," he said. +"Well, your chance is as good as anybody's. Some men prefer boys from +the country, even if they can't give references." + +"When do you think you can get me a place?" asked Jack. + +"Can't tell. We've only between four hundred and five hundred on the +books now; and sometimes we get two or three dozen fixed in a day." + +"Five hundred!" exclaimed Jack, with a clouding face. "Why, it may be +a month before my turn comes!" + +"A month?" said the clerk. "Well, I hope not much longer, but it may +be. I wouldn't like to promise you anything so soon as that." + +Jack went out of that place with yet another idea concerning "business +in the city," but he again began to make inquiries for himself. It was +the weariest kind of work, and at last he was heartily sick of it. + +"I've done enough for one day," he said to himself. "I've been into I +don't know how many stores. I know more about it than I did this +morning." + +There was no doubt of that. Jack had been getting wiser all the while; +and he did not even look so rural as when he set out. He was really +beginning to get into city ways, and he was thinking hard and fast. + +The first thing he did, after reaching the Hotel Dantzic, was to go up +to his room. He felt as if he would like to talk with his sister Mary, +and so he sat down and wrote her a long letter. + +He told her about his trip, all through, and about his German friends, +and his Sunday; but it was anything but easy to write about Monday's +experiences. He did it after a fashion, but he wrote much more +cheerfully than he felt. + +Then he went down to the supper-room for some tea. It seemed to him +that he had ordered almost nothing, but it cost him twenty-five cents. + +It would have done him good if he could have known how Mary's thoughts +were at that same hour turning to him. + +At home, Jack's father and Mr. Magruder were talking about Jack's land, +arranging about the right of way and what it was worth, while he sat in +his little room in the Hotel Dantzic, thinking over his long, weary day +of snubs, blunders, insults and disappointments. + +"Hunting for a place in the city is just the meanest kind of work," he +said at last. "Well, I'll go to bed, and try it again to-morrow." + +That was what he did; but Tuesday's work was "meaner" than Monday's. +There did not seem to be even so much as a variation. It was all one +dull, monotonous, miserable hunt for something he could not find. It +was just so on Wednesday, and all the while, as he said, "Money will +just melt away; and somehow you can't help it." + +When he counted up, on Wednesday evening, however, he still had four +dollars and one cent; and he had found a place where they sold bread +and milk, or bread and coffee, for ten cents. + +"I can get along on that," he said; "and it's only thirty-cents a day, +if I eat three times. I wish I'd known about it when I first came +here. I'm learning something new all the time." + +Thursday morning came, and with it a long, gossipy letter from Mary, +and an envelope from Crofield, containing a letter from his mother and +a message from his father written by her, saying how he had talked a +little--only a little--with Mr. Magruder. There was a postscript from +Aunt Melinda, and a separate sheet written by his younger sisters, with +scrawly postscripts from the little boys to tell Jack how the workmen +had dug down and found the old church bell, and that there was a crack +in it, and the clapper was broken off. + +Jack felt queer over those letters. + +"I won't answer them right away," he said. "Not till I get into some +business. I'll go farther down town today, and try there." + + +At ten o'clock that morning, a solemn party of seven men met in the +back room of the Mertonville Bank. + +"Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees, please come to order. I suppose +we all agree? We need a teacher of experience. The academy's not +doing well. The lady principal can't do everything. She must have a +good assistant." + +"Who's your candidate, Squire Crowninshield?" asked Judge Edwards. +"I'm trustee as Judge of the County Court. I've had thirty-one +applications for my vote." + +"I've had more than that," said the Squire good humoredly. "I won't +name my choice till after the first ballot. I want to know who are the +other candidates first." + +"So do I," said Judge Edwards. "I won't name mine at once, either. +Who is yours, Elder Holloway?" + +"We'd better have a nominating ballot," remarked the Elder, handing a +folded slip of paper to Mr. Murdoch, the editor of the _Eagle_. "Who +is yours, Mr. Jeroliman?" + +"I haven't any candidate," replied the bank-president, with a worried +look. "I won't name any, but I'll put a ballot in." + +"Try that, then," said General Smith, who was standing instead of +sitting down at the long table. "Just a suggestion." + +Every trustee had something to say as to how he had been besieged by +applicants, until the seventh, who remarked: + +"I've just returned from Europe, gentlemen. I'll vote for the +candidate having the most votes on this ballot. I don't care who wins." + +"I agree to that," quickly responded General Smith, handing him a +folded paper. "Put it in, Dr. Dillingham. It's better that none of us +should do any log-rolling or try to influence others. I'll adopt your +idea." + +"I won't then," said Squire Crowninshield, pleasantly but very +positively. "Murdoch, what's the name of that young woman who edited +the _Eagle_ for a week?" + +"Miss Mary Ogden," said the editor, with a slight smile. + +"A clever girl," said the Squire, as he wrote on a paper, folded it, +and threw it into a hat in the middle of the table. He had not heard +Judge Edwards's whispered exclamation: + +"That reminds me! I promised my wife that I'd mention Mary for the +place; but then there wasn't the ghost of a chance!" + +In went all the papers, and the hat was turned over. + +"Now, gentlemen," said General Smith, "before the ballots are opened +and counted, I wish to ask: Is this vote to be considered regular and +formal? Shall we stand by the result?" + +"Certainly, certainly," said the trustees in chorus. + +"Count the ballots!" said the Elder. + +The hat was lifted and the count began. + +"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven--for Mary Ogden," said Elder +Holloway calmly. + +"I declare!" said General Smith. "Unanimous? Why, gentlemen, we were +agreed! There really was no difference of opinion whatever." + +"I'm glad she is such a favorite," said Judge Edwards; "but we can't +raise the salary on that account. It'll have to remain at forty +dollars a month." + +"I'm glad she's got it!" said Mr. Murdoch. "And a unanimous vote is a +high testimonial!" + +And so Mary was elected. + +Each of them had other business to attend to, and it was not until +Judge Edwards went home, at noon, that the news was known to Mary, for +the Judge carried the pleasant tidings to Mary Ogden at the +dinner-table. + +"Oh, Judge Edwards!" exclaimed Mary, turning pale. "I? At my age--to +be assistant principal of the academy?" + +"There's only the Primary Department to teach," said the Judge +encouragingly. "Not half so hard as that big, overgrown Sunday-school +class. Only it never had a good teacher yet, and you'll have hard work +to get it into order." + +"What will they say in Crofield!" said Mary uneasily. "They'll say I'm +not fit for it." + +"I'm sure Miss Glidden will not," said Mrs. Edwards, proudly. "I'm +glad it was unanimous. It shows what they all thought of you." + +Perhaps it did; but perhaps it was as well for Mary Ogden's temper that +she could not hear all that was said when the other trustees went home +to announce their action. + +It was a great hour for Mary, but her brother Jack was at that same +time beginning to think that New York City was united against him,--a +million and a half to one. + +He had been fairly turned out of the last store he had entered. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +JACK'S FAMINE. + +At Crofield, the morning mail brought a letter from Mary, telling of +her election. + +There was not so very much comment, but Mrs. Ogden cried a little, and +said: + +"I feel as if we were beginning to lose the children." + +"I must go to work," said the tall blacksmith after a time; "but I +don't feel like it. So Mary's to teach, is she? She seems very young. +I wish I knew about Jack." + +Meanwhile, poor Jack was half hopelessly inquiring, of man after man, +whether or not another boy was wanted in his store. It was only one +long, flat, monotony of "No, sir," and at last he once more turned his +weary footsteps up-town, and hardly had he done so before he waked up a +little and stood still, and looked around him. + +"Hullo!" he exclaimed, "I never was here before. This must be Chatham +Square and the Bowery. I've read about them in the guide-book. I can +go home this way. It's not much like Broadway." + +So he thought, as he went along. And it did not at all resemble +Broadway. It seemed to swarm with people; they appeared to be +attending to their own business, and they were all behaving very well, +so far as Jack could see. + +"Never saw such a jam," said Jack, as he pushed into a small throng on +a street corner, trying to get through; but at the word "jam" something +came down upon the top of his hat and forced it forward over his eyes. + +Up went both of his hands, instinctively, and at that moment each arm +was at once caught and held up for a second or two. It was all done in +a flash. Jack knew that some boisterous fellow had jammed his hat over +his eyes, and that others had hustled him a little; but he had not been +hurt, and he did not feel like quarreling, just then. He pushed along +through the throng, and was getting out to where the crowd was thinner, +when he suddenly felt a chill and a weak feeling at his heart. He had +thrust his hand into his pocket. + +"My pocket-book!" he said, faintly. "It's gone! Where could I have +lost it? I haven't taken it out anywhere. And there was more than +three dollars in it I'd saved to pay for my room!" + +He leaned heavily against a lamp-post for a moment, and all the bright +ideas he had ever had about the city became very dim and far away. He +put up one hand before his eyes, and at that moment his arm was firmly +grasped. + +"Here, boy! What's the matter?" + +He looked up, and saw a blue uniform and a hand with a club in it, but +he could not say a word in reply. + +"You seem all right. Are you sick?" + +"I've lost my pocket-book," said Jack. "Every cent I had except some +change." + +[Illustration: _"I've lost my pocket-book."_] + +"That's bad," and the keen-eyed officer understood the matter at a +glance, for he added: + +"You were caught in a crowd, and had your pocket picked? I can't do +anything for you, my boy. It's gone, and that's all there is of it. +Never push into crowds if you've any money about you. You'd better go +home now." + +"Only sixty-five cents left," Jack said, as he walked away, "for this +evening, and Saturday, and Sunday, and for all next week, till I get +something to do and am paid for doing it!" + +He had eaten ten cents' worth of bread and milk at noon; but he was a +strong and healthy boy and he was again hungry. Counting his change +made him hungrier, and he thought longingly of the brilliant +supper-room at the Hotel Dantzic. + +"That won't do," he thought. "I must keep away from Keifelheimer and +his restaurant. There, now, that's something like." + +It was a small stand, close by a dark-looking cellar way. Half was +covered with apples, candy, peanuts, bananas, oranges, and cocoa-nuts. +The other half was a pay-counter, a newspaper stand, and an +eating-house. Jack's interest centered on a basket, marked, "Ham +Sanwiges Five Cents." + +"I can afford a sandwich," he said, "and I've got to eat something!" + +At the moment when he leaned over and picked up a sandwich, a small old +woman, behind the counter, reached out her hand toward him; and another +small old woman stretched her hand out to a boy who was testing the +oranges; and a third small old woman sang out very shrilly: + +"Here's your sanwiges! Ham sanwiges! Only five cents! Benannies! +Oranges! Sanwiges!" + +Jack put five cents into the woman's hand, and he was surprised to find +how much good bread and boiled ham he had bought. + +"It's all the supper I'll have," he said, as he walked away. "I could +eat a loaf of bread and a whole ham, it seems to me!" + +All the way to the Hotel Dantzic he studied over the loss of his +pocket-book. + +"The policeman was right," he said to himself, at last. "I didn't know +when they took it, but it must have been when my hat was jammed down." + +When Jack met Mr. Keifelheimer in the hotel office, he asked him what +he thought about it. An expression of strong indignation, if not of +horror, crossed the face of the hotel proprietor. + +"Dey get you pocket-book?" he exclaimed. "You vas rob choost de same +vay I vas; but mine vas a votch und shain. It vas two year ago, und I +nefer get him back. Your friend, Mr. Guilderaufenberg, he vas rob dot +vay, vonce, but den he vas ashleep in a railvay car und not know ven it +vas done!" + +Jack was glad of so much sympathy, but just then business called Mr. +Keifelheimer away. + +"I won't go upstairs," thought Jack. "I'll sit in the reading-room." + +No letters were awaiting him, but there were plenty of newspapers, and +nearly a score of men were reading or talking. Jack did not really +care to read, nor to talk, nor even to listen; but two gentlemen near +him were discussing a subject that reminded him of the farms around +Crofield. + +"Yes," he heard one of them say, "we must buy every potato we can +secure. At the rate they're spoiling now, the price will be doubled +before December." + +"Curious, how little the market knows about it yet," said the other, +and they continued discussing letters and reports about potatoes, from +place after place, and State after State, and all the while Jack +listened, glad to be reminded of Crofield. + +"It was just so with our potatoes at home," he said to himself. "Some +farmers didn't get back what they planted." + +This talk helped him to forget his pocket-book for a while; then, after +trying to read the newspapers, he went to bed. + +A very tired boy can always sleep. Jack Ogden awoke, on Saturday +morning, with a clear idea that sleep was all he had had for +supper,--excepting one ham sandwich. + +"It's not enough," he said, as he dressed himself. "I must make some +money. Oh, my pocket-book! And I shall have to pay for my room, +Monday." + +He slipped out of the Hotel Dantzic very quietly, and he had a fine +sunshiny walk of two and a half miles to the down-town restaurant where +he ate his ten cents' worth of bread and milk. + +"It's enough for a while," he said, "but it doesn't last. If I was at +home, now, I'd have more bread and another bowl of milk. I'll come +here again, at noon, if I don't find a place somewhere." + +Blue, blue, blue, was that Saturday for poor Jack Ogden! All the +forenoon he stood up manfully to hear the "No, we don't want a boy," +and he met that same answer, expressed in almost identical words, +everywhere. + +When he came out from his luncheon of bread and milk, he began to find +that many places closed at twelve or one o'clock; that even more were +to close at three, and that on Saturday all men were either tired and +cross or in a hurry. Jack's courage failed him until he could hardly +look a man in the face and ask him a question. One whole week had gone +since Jack reached the city, and it seemed about a year. Here he was, +without any way of making money, and almost without a hope of finding +any way. + +"I'll go to the hotel," he said, at about four o'clock. "I'll go up +the Bowery way. It won't pay anybody to pick my pocket this time!" + +He had a reason for going up the Bowery. It was no shorter than the +other way. The real explanation was in his pocket. + +"Forty cents left!" he said. "I'll eat one sandwich for supper, and +I'll buy three more to eat in my room to-morrow." + +He reached the stand kept by the three small old women, and found each +in turn calling out, "Here you are! Sanwiges!--" and all the rest of +their list of commodities. + +"Four," said Jack. "Put up three of 'em in a paper, please. I'll eat +one." + +It was good. In fact, it was too good, and Jack wished it was ten +times as large; but the last morsel of it vanished speedily and after +looking with longing eyes at the others, he shut his teeth firmly. + +"I won't eat another!" he said to himself. "I'll starve it out till +Monday, anyway!" + +It took all the courage Jack had to carry those three sandwiches to the +Hotel Dantzic and to put them away, untouched, in his traveling-bag. +After a while he went down to the reading-room and read; but he went to +bed thinking of the excellent meals he had eaten at the Albany hotel on +his way to New York. + + +Mary Ogden's second Sunday in Mertonville was a peculiar trial to her, +for several young ladies who expected to be in the Academy next term, +came and added themselves to that remarkable Sunday-school class. So +did some friends of the younger Academy girls; and the class had to be +divided, to the disappointment of those excluded. + +"Mary Ogden didn't need to improve," said Elder Holloway to the +Superintendent, "but she is doing better than ever!" + +How Jack did long to see Mary, or some of the family in Crofield, and +Crofield itself! As soon as he was dressed he opened the bag and took +out one of his sandwiches and looked at it. + +"Why, they're smaller than I thought they were!" he said ruefully; "but +I can't expect too much for five cents! I've just twenty cents left. +That sandwich tastes good if it is small!" + +So soon was it all gone that Jack found his breakfast very +unsatisfactory. + +"I don't feel like going to church," he said, "but I might as well. I +can't sit cooped up here all day. I'll go into the first church I come +to, as soon as it's time." + +He did not care where he went when he left the hotel, and perhaps it +did not really make much difference, considering how he felt; but he +found a church and went in. A young man showed him to a seat under the +gallery. Not until the minister in the pulpit came forward to give out +a hymn, did Jack notice anything peculiar, but the first sonorous, +rolling cadences of that hymn startled the boy from Crofield. + +"Whew!" he said to himself. "It's Dutch or something. I can't +understand a word of it! I'll stay, though, now I'm here." + +German hymns, and German prayers, and a tolerably long sermon in +German, left Jack Ogden free to think of all sorts of things, and his +spirits went down, down, down, as he recalled all the famines of which +he had heard or read and all the delicacies invented to tempt the +appetite. He sat very still, however, until the last hymn was sung, +and then he walked slowly back to the Hotel Dantzic. + +"I don't care to see Mr. Keifelheimer," he thought. "He'll ask me to +come and eat at a big Sunday dinner,--and to pay for it. I'll dodge +him." + +He watched at the front door of the hotel for fully three minutes, +until he was sure that the hall was empty. Then he slipped into the +reading-room and through that into the rear passageway leading to the +elevator; but he did not feel safe until on his way to his room. + +"One sandwich for dinner," he groaned, as he opened his bag. "I never +knew what real hunger was till I came to the city! Maybe it won't last +long, though. I'm not the first fellow who's had a hard time before he +made a start." + +Jack thought that both the bread and the ham were cut too thin, and +that the sandwich did not last long enough. + +"I'll keep my last twenty cents, though," thought Jack, and he tried to +be satisfied. + +Before that afternoon was over, the guide-book had been again read +through, and a long home letter was written. + +"I'll mail it," he said, "as soon as I get some money for stamps. I +haven't said a word to them about famine. It must be time to eat that +third sandwich; and then I'll go out and take a walk." + +The sandwich was somewhat dry, but every crumb of it seemed to be +valuable. After eating it, Jack once more walked over and looked at +the fine houses on Fifth Avenue; but now it seemed to the hungry lad an +utter absurdity to think of ever owning one of them. He stared and +wondered and walked, however, and returned to the hotel tired out. + + +On Monday morning, the Ogden family were at breakfast, when a neat +looking farm-wagon stopped before the door. The driver sprang to the +ground, carefully helped out a young woman, and then lifted down a +trunk. Just as the trunk came down upon the ground there was a loud +cry in the open doorway. + +"Mother! Molly's come home!" and out sprang little Bob. + +"Mercy on us!" Mrs. Ogden exclaimed, and the whole family were on their +feet. + +Mary met her father as she was coming in. Then, picking up little +Sally and kissing her, she said: + +"There was a way for me to come over, this morning. I've brought my +books home, to study till term begins. Oh, mother, I'm so glad to get +back!" + +The blacksmith went out to thank the farmer who had brought her; but +the rest went into the house to get Mary some breakfast and to look at +her and to hear her story. + +Mrs. Ogden said several times: + +"I do wish Jack was here, too!" + +That very moment her son was leaving the Hotel Dantzic behind him, with +two and a half miles to walk before getting his breakfast--a bowl of +bread and milk. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +JACK-AT-ALL-TRADES. + +Jack Ogden, that Monday morning, had an idea that New York was a very +long city. + +He had eaten nothing since Saturday noon, excepting the sandwiches, and +he felt that he should not be good for much until after he had had +breakfast. His mind was full of unpleasant memories of the stores and +offices he had entered during his last week's hunt, and he did not +relish renewing it. + +"I must go ahead though," he thought. "Something must be done, or I'll +starve." + +Every moment Jack felt better, and he arose from the table a little +more like himself. + +"Ten cents left," he said, as he went out into the street. "That'll +buy me one more bowl of bread and milk. What shall I do then?" + +[Illustration: _"Ten cents left."_] + +It was a serious question, and demanded attention. It was still very +early for the city, but stores were beginning to open, and groups of +men were hurrying along the sidewalks on their way to business. Jack +went on, thinking and thinking, and a fit of depression was upon him +when he entered a street turning out from Broadway. He had not tried +this street before. It was not wide, and it was beginning to look +busy. At the end of two blocks, Jack uttered an exclamation: + +"That's queer!" he said. "They all sell coffee, tea, groceries, and +that sort of thing. Big stores, too. I'll try here." + +His heart sank a little, as he paused in front of a very bustling +establishment, bearing every appearance of prosperity. Some men were +bringing out tea-chests and bags of coffee to pile around the doorway, +as if to ask passers-by to walk in and buy some. The show-windows were +already filled with samples of sugar, coffee, and a dozen other kinds +of goods. Just beyond one window Jack could see the first of a row of +three huge coffee-grinders painted red, and back of the other window +was more machinery. + +"I'll go in, anyway," he said, setting his teeth. "Only ten cents +left!" + +That small coin, because it was all alone in his pocket, drove him into +the door. Two thirds down the broad store there stood a black-eyed, +wiry, busy-looking man, giving various directions to the clerks and +other men. Jack thought, "He's the 'boss.' He looks as if he'd say +no, right away." + +Although Jack's heart was beating fast, he walked boldly up to this man: + +"Mister," he said, "do you want to hire another boy?" + +"You are the hundred and eleventh boy who has asked that same question +within a week. No," responded the black-eyed man, sharply but good +naturedly. + +"Gifford," came at that moment from a very cheerful voice over Jack's +left shoulder, "I've cleaned out that lot of potatoes. Sold two +thousand barrels on my way down, at a dollar and a half a barrel." + +Jack remembered that some uncommonly heavy footsteps had followed him +when he came in, and found that he had to look upward to see the face +of the speaker, who was unusually tall. The man leaned forward, too, +so that Jack's face was almost under his. + +Mr. Gifford's answer had disappointed Jack and irritated him. + +"You did well!" said Mr. Gifford. + +Before he had time to think Jack said: + +"A dollar and a half? Well, if you knew anything about potatoes, you +wouldn't have let them go for a dollar and a half a barrel!" + +"What do you know about potatoes?" growled the tall man, leaning an +inch lower, and frowning at Jack's interruption. + +"More than you or Mr. Gifford seems to," said Jack desperately. "The +crop's going to be short. I know how it is up _our_ way." + +"Tell us what you know!" said the tall man sharply; and Mr. Gifford +drew nearer with an expression of keen interest upon his face. + +"They're all poor," said Jack, and then he remembered and repeated, +better than he could have done if he had made ready beforehand, all he +had heard the two men say in the Hotel Dantzic reading-room, and all he +had heard in Crofield and Mertonville. He had heard the two men call +each other by name, and he ended with: + +"Didn't you sell your lot to Murphy & Scales? They're buying +everywhere." + +"That's just what I did," said the tall man. "I wish I hadn't; I'll go +right out and buy!" and away he went. + +"Buy some on my account," said Mr. Gifford, as the other man left the +store. "See here, my boy, I don't want to hire anybody. But you seem +to know about potatoes. Probably you're just from a farm. What else +do you know? What can you do?" + +"A good many things," said Jack, and to his own astonishment he spoke +out clearly and confidently. + +"Oh, you can?" laughed Mr. Gifford. "Well, I don't need you, but I +need an engineer. I wish you knew enough to run a small steam-engine." + +"Why, I can run a steam-engine," said Jack. "That's nothing. May I +see it?" + +Mr. Gifford pointed at some machinery behind the counter, near where he +stood, and at the apparatus in the show-window. + +"It's a little one that runs the coffee-mills and the printing-press," +he said. "You can't do anything with it until a machinist mends +it--it's all out of order, I'm told." + +"Perhaps I can," said Jack. "A boy who's learned the blacksmith's +trade ought to be able to put it to rights." + +Without another word, Jack went to work. + +"Nothing wrong here, Mr. Gifford," he said in a minute. "Where are the +screw-driver, and the monkey-wrench, and an oil-can?" + +"Well, well!" exclaimed Mr. Gifford, as he sent a man for the tools. +"Do you think you can do it?" + +Jack said nothing aloud, but he told himself: + +"Why, it's a smaller size but like the one in the _Eagle_ office. They +get out of order easily, but then it's easy to regulate them." + +"You do know something," said Mr. Gifford, laughing, a few minutes +later, when Jack said to him: + +"She'll do now." + +"She won't do very well," added Mr. Gifford, shaking his head. "That +engine never was exactly the thing. It lacks power." + +"It may be the pulley-belt's too loose," said Jack, after studying the +mechanism for a moment. + +"I'll send for a man to fix it, then." + +"No, you needn't," said Jack. "I can tighten it so she'll run all the +machinery you have. May I have an awl?" + +"Of course," said Mr. Gifford. "Put it to rights. There's plenty of +coffee waiting to be ground." + +Jack went to work at the loose belt. + +"He's a bright fellow," said Mr. Gifford to his head-clerk. "If we +wanted another boy--but we don't." + +"Too many now," was the short, decisive reply. + +It was not long before the machinery began to move. + +"Good!" said Mr. Gifford. "I almost wish I had something more for you +to do, but I really haven't. If you could run that good-for-nothing +old printing-press--" + +"Printing-press?" exclaimed Jack. + +"Over in the other window," said Mr. Gifford. "We thought of printing +all our own circulars, cards, and paper bags. But it's a failure, +unless we should hire a regular printer. We shall have to, I suppose. +If you were a printer, now." + +"I've worked at a press," said Jack. "I'm something of a printer. I'm +sure I can do that work. It's like a press I used to run when I worked +in that business." + +Jack at once went to the show-window. + +"An 'Alligator' press," he said, "like the one in the _Standard_ +office. It ought to be oiled, though. It needs adjusting, too. No +wonder it would not work. I can make it go." + +The business of the store was beginning. Steam was up in the engine, +and the coffee-mills were grinding merrily. Mr. Gifford and all his +clerks were busied with other matters, and Jack was left to tinker away +at the Alligator press. "She's ready to run. I'll start her," he said +at last. + +He took an impression of the form of type that was in the press and +read it. + +"I see," he said. "They print that on their paper bags for an +advertisement. I'll show it to Mr. Gifford. There are plenty of blank +ones lying around here, all ready to print." + +He walked up to the desk and handed in the proof, asking: + +"Is that all right?" + +"No," said Mr. Gifford. "We let our stock of bags run down because the +name of the firm was changed. I want to add several things. I'll send +for somebody to have the proof corrections made." + +"You needn't," said Jack. "Tell me what you want. Any boy who's ever +worked in a newspaper office can do a little thing like that." + +"How do you come to know so much about machinery?" asked Mr. Gifford, +trying not to laugh. + +"Oh," said Jack, "I was brought up a blacksmith, but I've worked at +other trades, and it was easy enough to adjust those things." + +"That's what you've been up to is it?" said Mr. Gifford. "I saw you +hammering and filing, and I wondered what you'd accomplished. I want +the new paper bags to be,"--and he told Jack what changes were +required, and added: + +"Then, of course, I shall need some circulars--three kinds--and some +cards." + +"That press will run over a thousand an hour when it's geared right. +You'll see," said Jack, positively. + +"Well, here's a true Jack-at-all-trades!" exclaimed Mr. Gifford, +opening his eyes. "I begin to wish we had a place for you!" + +It was nearly noon before Jack had another sample of printing ready to +show. There was a good supply of type, to be sure, but he was not much +of a printer, and type-setting did not come easily to him. He worked +almost desperately, however, and meanwhile his brains were as busy as +the coffee-mills. He succeeded finally, and it was time, for a +salesman was just reporting: + +"Mr. Gifford, we're out of paper bags." + +"We must have some right away," said Mr. Gifford. "I wish that +youngster really knew how to print them. He's tinkering at it over +there." + +"Is that right?" asked Jack only a second later, holding out a printed +bag. + +"Why, yes, that's the thing. Go ahead," said the surprised +coffee-dealer. "I thought you'd failed this time." + +"I'll run off a lot," said Jack, "and then I'll go out and get +something to eat." + +"No, you won't," said Mr. Gifford promptly. "No going out, during +business hours, in _this_ house. I'll have a luncheon brought to you. +I'll try you to-day, anyhow." + +Back went Jack without another word, but he thought silently, "That +saves me ten cents." + +The Alligator press was started, and Jack fed it with the blank paper +bags the salesmen needed, and he began to feel happy. He was even +happier when his luncheon was brought; for the firm of Gifford & +Company saw that their employees fared well. + +"I declare!" said Jack to himself, "it's the first full meal I've had +since last week Wednesday! I was starved." + +On went the press, and the young pressman sat doggedly at his task; but +he was all the while watching things in the store and hearing whatever +there was to hear. + +"I know their prices pretty well," he thought. "Most of the things are +marked--ever so much lower than Crofield prices, too." + +He had piles of printed bags of different sizes ready for use, now +lying around him. + +"Time to get at some of those circulars," he was saying, as he arose +from his seat at the press and stepped out behind the counter. + +"Five pounds of coffee," said a lady, before the counter, in a tone of +vexation. "I've waited long enough. Mocha and Java, mixed." + +"Thirty-five cents," said Jack. + +"Quick, then," said she, and he darted away to fill her order. + +"Three and a half pounds of powdered sugar," said another lady, as he +passed her. + +"Yes, ma'am," said Jack. + +"How much is this soap?" asked a stout old woman, and Jack remembered +that price too. + +He was not at all aware that anybody was watching him; but he was just +telling another customer about tea and baking-soda when he felt a hand +upon his shoulder. + +"See here," demanded Mr. Gifford, "what are you doing behind the +counter?" + +"I was afraid they'd get tired of waiting and go somewhere else," said +Jack. "I know something about waiting on customers. Yes, ma'am, +that's a fine tea. Forty-eight cents. Half pound? Yes ma'am. In a +jiffy, Mr. Gifford;--there are bags enough for to-day." + +"I think you may stay," said the head of the house. "I didn't need +another boy; but I begin to think I do need a blacksmith, a carpenter, +a printer, and a good sharp salesman." As he was turning away he +added, "It's surprising how quickly he has picked up our prices." + +Jack's fingers were trembling nervously, but his face brightened as he +did up that package. + +Mr. Gifford waited while the Crofield boy answered yet another customer +and sold some coffee, and told Jack to go right on. + +"Come to the desk," he then said. "I don't even know your name. Come." + +Very hot and yet a little shaky was Jack as he followed; but Mr. +Gifford was not a verbose man. + +"Mr. Jones," he said to the head clerk, "please take down his +name;--what is it?" + +"John Ogden, sir," and after other questions and answers, Mr. Gifford +said: + +"Find a cheaper boarding-place. You can get good board for five +dollars a week. Your pay is only ten dollars a week to begin, and you +must live on that. We'll see that you earn it, too. You can begin +printing circulars and cards." + +Jack went, and Mr. Gifford added: + +"Why, Mr. Jones, he's saved sending for three different workmen since +he came in. He'll make a good salesman, too. He's a boy--but he isn't +only a boy. I'll keep him." + +Jack went to the press as if in a dream. + +"A place!" he said to himself. "Well, yes. I've got a place. Good +wages, too; but I suppose they won't pay until Saturday night. How am +I to keep going until then? I have to pay my bill at the Hotel +Dantzic, too--now I've begun on a new week. I'll go without my supper, +and buy a sandwich in the morning, and then--I'll get along somehow." + +He worked all that afternoon with an uneasy feeling that he was being +watched. The paper bags were finished, a fair supply of them; and then +the type for the circular needed only a few changes, and he began on +that. Each new job made him remember things he had learned in the +_Standard_ office, or had gathered from Mr. Black, the wooden foreman +of the _Eagle_. It was just as well, however, that things needed only +fixing up and not setting anew, for that might have been a little +beyond him. As it was, he overcame all difficulties, besides leaving +the press three times to act as salesman. + +Gifford & Co. kept open to accommodate customers who purchased goods on +their way home; and it was after nearly all other business houses, +excepting such as theirs, were closed, that the very tall man leaned in +at the door and then came striding down the store to the desk. + +"Gifford," he said, "that clerk of yours was right. There's almost a +panic in potatoes. I've got five thousand barrels for you, and five +thousand for myself, at a dollar and sixty, and the price just jumped. +They will bring two dollars. If they do, we'll make two thousand +apiece." + +"I'm glad you did so well," said Mr. Gifford dryly, "but don't say much +to him about it. Let him alone--" + +"Well, yes;--but I want to do something for him. Give him this ten +dollar bill from me." + +"Very well," said Mr. Gifford, "you owe the profit to him. I'll take +care of my side of the matter. Ogden, come here a moment!" + +Jack stopped the press and came to the desk. The money was handed to +him. + +"It's just a bit of luck," said the tall man; "but your information was +valuable to me." + +"Thank you," said Jack, after he had in vain refused the money. + +"You've done enough," said Mr. Gifford; "this will do for your first +day. Eight o'clock in the morning, remember. Good-night!" + +"I'm glad I belong here," Jack said to himself. "If I'd had my pick of +the city I would have chosen this very store. Ten dollars! I can pay +Mr. Keifelheimer now, and I sha'n't have to starve to death." + +Jack felt so prosperous that he walked only to the nearest station of +the elevated railway, and cheerfully paid five cents for a ride up-town. + +When the Hotel Dantzic was reached, it seemed a much more cheerful and +home-like building than it had appeared when he left it in the morning; +and Jack had now no notion of dodging Mr. Keifelheimer. There he stood +on the doorstep, looking stern and dignified. He was almost too polite +when Jack said: + +"Good-evening, Mr. Keifelheimer." + +"Goot-efening," he replied, with a bow. "I hope you gets along vell +mit your beezness?" + +"Pretty well," said Jack cheerfully. + +"Vere vas you feexed?" asked Mr. Keifelheimer, doubtfully. + +Jack held out one of the business cards of Gifford & Company, and +replied: + +"That's where I am. I guess I'll pay for my room here till the end of +this week, and then I'll find a place farther down town." + +"I vas so sorry dey peek your pocket," said Mr. Keifelheimer, looking +at the card. "Tell you vat, Mr. Ogden, you take supper mit me. It +cost you not'ing. I haf to talk some mit you." + +[Illustration: _Jack dines with Mr. Keifelheimer_.] + +"All right," said Jack. "I'll pay up at the desk, and then I'll get +ready for dinner." + +When he came down Mr. Keifelheimer was waiting for him, very smiling, +but not nearly so polite and dignified. Hardly were they seated at the +supper-table, before the proprietor coughed twice affectedly, and then +remarked: + +"You not leaf de Hotel Dantzic, Mr. Ogden. I use up pounds and boxes +of tea und sugar und coffee, und all dose sometings dey sell at Gifford +und Company's. You get me de best prices mit dem, und you safe me a +great heap of money. I get schwindled, schwindled, all de times! You +vas keep your room, und you pays for vat you eats. De room is a goot +room, but it shall cost you not vun cent. So? If I find you safe me +money, I go on mit you." + +"I'll do my best," said Jack. "Let me know what you're paying now." + +"Ve go all ofer de leest after ve eat someting," said Mr. Keifelheimer. +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg say goot deal about you. So did de ladies. I +vas sorry dot dey peek your pocket." + +Probably he had now forgotten just what he had thought of saying to +Jack in case the boy had not been able to pay for his room, and had +been out of employment; but Jack was enjoying a fine illustration of +that wise proverb which says: "Nothing succeeds like success." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE DRUMMER BOY. + +The Ogden family had said very little, outside of their own house, +about the news of Mary's success in Mertonville, but on that Monday +morning Miss Glidden received no less than four letters, and each of +them congratulated her over the election of her dear young friend, and +commented on how glad she must be. "Well," she said to herself, "of +course I'm glad. And I did all I could for her. She owes it all to +me. I'll go and see her." + +Mary Ogden had so much talking to do and so many questions to answer, +at the breakfast table, that her cup of coffee was cold before she +could drink it, and then she and her mother and her aunt went into the +parlor to continue their talk. + +John Ogden himself waited there a long time before going over to the +shop. His helper had the forge ready, and the tall blacksmith at once +put a rod of iron into the fire and began to blow the bellows. The rod +was at white heat and was out on the anvil in no time, and the hammer +began to ring upon it to flatten it out when John heard somebody speak +to him: + +"Mr. Ogden, what are you making? I've been watching you--and I can't +imagine!" + +"Well, Deacon Hawkins," said the blacksmith, "you'll have to tell. The +fact is I was thinking--well--my daughter has just come home." + +"I'm glad to hear it and to hear of her success," answered the Deacon. +"Miss Glidden told us. If you're not busy, I wish you'd put a shoe on +my mare's off hind foot." + +The blacksmith then went to work in earnest: and meanwhile Mary, at the +house, was receiving the congratulations of her friends. "Why, Mary +Ogden, my dear! Are you here?" exclaimed Miss Glidden. "I'm so glad! +I'm sure I did all I could for you." "My dear Mary!" exclaimed +another. And Mary shook hands heartily with both her callers, and +expressed her gratitude to Miss Glidden. + +It was a day of triumph for Mary, and it must have been for Miss +Glidden, for she seemed to be continually persuading herself that much +of the credit of Mary's advancement was hers. The neighbors came and +went, and more than one of Mary's old school-fellows said to her: "I'm +glad you are so fortunate. I wish _I_ could find something to do." +When the visitors were gone and Mary tried to help with the housework, +her mother said positively, "Now, Molly, don't touch a thing; you go +upstairs to your books, and don't think of anything else; I'm afraid +you won't have half time enough, even then." + +Her aunt gave the same advice, and Mary was grateful, being unusually +eager to begin her studies; and even little Sally was compelled to keep +out of Mary's room. + +During the latter part of that Monday afternoon John Ogden had an +important conference with Mr. Magruder, the railway director; and the +blacksmith came home, at night, in a thoughtful state of mind. + + +His son Jack, at about the same time sat in his room, at the Hotel +Dantzic, in the far-away city he had struggled so hard to reach; and +he, too, was in a thoughtful mood. + +"I'll write and tell the family at home, and Mary," he said after a +while. "I wonder whether every fellow who makes a start in New York +has to almost starve at the beginning!" + +He was tired enough to sleep well when bed-time came; but, +nevertheless, he was downstairs Tuesday morning long before Mr. +Keifelheimer's hour for appearing. Hotel-men who have to sit up late +often rise late also. + +"For this once," said Jack, "I'll have a prime Dantzic Hotel breakfast. +After this week, my room won't cost me anything, and I can begin to lay +up money. I won't ride down town, though; except in the very worst +kind of winter weather." + +It delighted him to walk down that morning, and to know just where he +was going and what work he had before him. + +"I'm sure," he thought, "that I know every building, big and little, +all the way along. I've been ordered out of most of these stores. But +I've found the place that I was looking for, at last." + +The porters of Gifford & Company had the store open when Jack got +there, and Mr. Gifford was just coming in. + +"Ogden," he said, in his usual peremptory way, "put that press-work on +the paper-bags right through, to-day." + +"One moment, please, Mr. Gifford," said Jack. + +"I've hardly a moment to spare," answered Mr. Gifford. "What is it?" + +"A customer," said Jack; "the Hotel Dantzic. I can find more of the +same kind, perhaps." + +"Tell me," was the answer, with a look of greater interest, but also a +look of incredulity. + +Jack told him, shortly, the substance of his talk with Mr. +Keifelheimer, and Mr. Gifford listened attentively. + +"His steward and buyers have been robbing him, have they?" he remarked. +"Well, he's right about it. No doubt we can save him from ten to +twenty per cent. It's a good idea. I'll go up and see him, by and by. +Now hurry with your printing!" + +Jack turned to the waiting "Alligator," and Mr. Gifford went on to his +desk. + +"Jones," he said, to his head clerk, "Ogden has drummed us a good hotel +customer," and then he told Mr. Jones about it. + +"Mr. Gifford," said Mr. Jones, shrewdly, "can we afford to keep a sharp +salesman and drummer behind that little printing-press?" + +"Of course not," said Mr. Gifford. "Not after a week or so. But we +must wait and see how he wears. He's very young, and a stranger." + +"Young fellows soon grow," said Mr. Jones. "He'll grow. He'll pick up +everything that comes along. I believe you'll find him a valuable +salesman." + +"Very likely," said Mr. Gifford, "but I sha'n't tell him so. He has +plenty of confidence as it is." + +"It's not impudence," said Mr. Jones. "If he hadn't been +pushing--well, he wouldn't have found this place with us. It's energy." + +"Yes," said Mr. Gifford; "if it was impudence we should waste no time +with him. If there is anything I despise out and out, it's what is +often called cheek." + +Next, he hated laziness, or anything resembling it, and Jack sat behind +the Alligator that day, working hard himself and taking note of how Mr. +Gifford kept his employees busy. + +"No wonder he didn't need another boy," he thought. "He gets all the +work possible out of every one he employs. That's why he's so +successful." + +It was a long, dull, hot day. The luncheon came at noon; and the +customers came all the time, but Jack was forbidden to meddle with them +until his printing was done. + +"Mr. Gifford's eyes are everywhere," said he, "but I hope he hasn't +seen anything out of the way in me. There are bags enough to last a +month--yes, two months. I'll begin on the circulars and cards +to-morrow. I'm glad it's six o'clock." + +Mr. Gifford was standing near the door, giving orders to the porters, +and as the Alligator stopped, Jack said to him: "I think I will go +visiting among the other hotels, this evening." + +"Very well," said Mr. Gifford quietly. "I saw Mr. Keifelheimer to-day, +and made arrangements with him. If you're going out to the hotels in +our interest, buy another hat, put on a stand-up collar with a new +necktie; the rest of your clothing is well enough. Don't try to look +dandyish, though." + +"Of course not," said Jack, smiling; "but I was thinking about making +some improvements in my suit." + +He made several purchases on his way up town, and put each article on +as he bought it. The last "improvement" was a neat straw hat, from a +lot that were selling cheaply, and he looked into a long looking glass +to see what the effect was. + +[Illustration: _Jack buys a new hat_.] + +"There!" he exclaimed. "There's very little of the 'green' left. It's +not altogether the hat and the collar, either. Nor the necktie. Maybe +some of it was starved out!" + +He was a different looking boy, at all events, and the cashier at the +desk of the Hotel Dantzic looked twice at him when he came in, and Mr. +Keifelheimer remarked: + +"Dot vas a smart boy! His boss vas here, und I haf safe money. Mr. +Guilderaufenberg vas right about dot boy." + +Jack was eager to begin his "drumming," but he ate a hearty supper +before he went out. + +"I must learn something about hotels," he remarked thoughtfully. "I'll +take a look at some of them." + +The Hotel Dantzic was not small, but it was small compared to some of +the larger hotels that Jack was now to investigate. He walked into the +first one he found, and he looked about it, and then he walked out, and +went into another and looked that over, and then he thought he would +try another. He strolled around through the halls, and offices, and +reading-rooms, and all the public places; but the more he saw, the more +he wondered what good it would do him to study them. + +It was about eight o'clock in the evening when he stood in front of the +office of the great Equatorial Hotel, feeling very keenly that he was +still only a country boy, with very little knowledge of the men and +things he saw around him. + +A broad, heavy hand came down upon his shoulder, and a voice he had +heard before asked, heartily: + +"John Ogden? You here? Didn't I tell you not to stay too long in the +city?" + +"Yes, you did, Governor," said Jack, turning quickly. "But I had to +stay here. I've gone into the wholesale and retail grocery business." + +Jack already knew that the Governor could laugh merrily, and that any +other men who might happen to be standing by were more than likely to +join with him in his mirth, but the color came at once to his cheeks +when the Governor began to smile. + +"In the grocery business?" laughed the Governor. "Do you supply the +Equatorial?" + +"No, not yet; but I'd like to," said Jack. "I think our house could +give them what they need." + +"Let me have your card then," said one of the gentlemen who had joined +in the Governor's merriment; "for the Governor has no time to spare--" + +Jack handed him the card of Gifford & Company. + +"Take it, Boulder, take it," said the Governor. "Mr. Ogden and I are +old acquaintances." + +"He's a protégé of yours, eh?" said Boulder. "Well, I mean business. +Write your own name there, Mr. Ogden. I'll send our buyer down there, +to-morrow, and we'll see what can be done. Shall we go in, Governor?" + +Jack understood, at once, that Mr. Boulder was one of the proprietors +of the Equatorial Hotel. + +"I'm called for, Jack," said the Governor. "You will be in the city +awhile, will you not? Well, don't stay here too long. I came here +once, when I was about your age. I staid a year, and then I went away. +A year in the city will be of great benefit to you, I hope. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye, Governor," said Jack, seriously. "We'll do the right thing +by Mr. Boulder;" and there was another laugh as Jack shook hands with +the Governor, and then with the very dignified manager of the +Equatorial Hotel. + +"That will do, for one evening," thought Jack, as the distinguished +party of gentlemen walked away. "I'd better go right home and go to +bed. The Governor's a brick anyhow!" + +Back he went to the Hotel Dantzic, and he was soon asleep. + +The Alligator press in Gifford & Company's was opening and shutting its +black jaws regularly over the sheets of paper it was turning into +circulars, about the middle of Wednesday forenoon, when a dapper +gentleman with a rather prominent scarf-pin walked briskly into the +store and up to the desk. + +"Mr. Gifford?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir." + +"I'm Mr. Barnes," said the dapper man. "General buyer for the +Equatorial Hotel. Your Mr. Ogden was up with us, last night, to see +some of his friends, and I've come down to look at your price-list, and +so forth." + +"Oh!" quietly remarked Mr. Gifford, "our Mr. Ogden. Oh, quite right! +I think we can satisfy you. We'll do our best, certainly. Mr. Jones, +please confer with Mr. Barnes--I'll be back in a minute." + +Up toward the door walked Mr. Gifford, but not too fast. He stood +still when he arrived at the Alligator press. + +"Ogden," he said, "you can leave that work. I've another printing hand +coming." + +Jack's heart beat quickly, for a moment. What,--could he be discharged +so suddenly? He was dismayed. But Mr. Gifford went on: + +"Wash your hands, Ogden, and stand behind the counter there. I'll see +you again, by and by. The buyer is here from the Equatorial." + +"I promised them you'd give them all they wanted, and as good prices as +could be had anywhere," said Jack, with a great sense of relief, and +recovering his courage. + +"We will," said Mr. Gifford, as he turned away, and he did not think he +must explain to Jack that it would not do for Mr. Barnes to find +Gifford & Company's salesman, "Mr. Ogden," running an Alligator press. + +Mr. Barnes was in the store for some time, but Jack was not called up +to talk with him. Mr. Gifford was the right man for that part of the +affair, and in the course of his conversation with Mr. Barnes he +learned further particulars concerning the intimacy between "your Mr. +Ogden" and the Governor, with the addition that "Mr. Boulder thinks +well of Mr. Ogden too." + +Jack waited upon customers as they came, and he did well, for "a new +hand." But he felt very ignorant of both articles and prices, and the +first thing he said, when Mr. Gifford again came near him, was: + +"Mr. Gifford, I ought to know more than I do about the stock and +prices." + +"Of course you ought," said Mr. Gifford. "I don't care to have you try +any more 'drumming' till you do. You must stay a few months behind the +counter and learn all you can. You must dress neatly, too. I wonder +you've looked as well as you have. We'll make your salary fifteen +dollars a week. You'll need more money as a salesman." + +Jack flushed with pleasure, but a customer was at hand, and the +interruption prevented him from making an answer. + +"Jones," remarked Mr. Gifford to his head clerk, "Ogden is going to +become a fine salesman!" + +"I thought so," said Jones. + +They both were confirmed in this opinion, about three weeks later. +Jack was two hours behind time, one morning; but when he did come, he +brought with him Mr. Guilderaufenberg of Washington, with reference to +a whole winter's supplies for a "peeg poarding-house," and two United +States Army contractors. Jack had convinced these gentlemen that they +were paying too much for several articles that could be found on the +list of Gifford & Company in better quality and at cheaper rates. + +"Meester Giffort," said the German gentleman, "I haf drafel de vorlt +over, und I haf nefer met a better boy dan dot Jack Ogden. He knows +not mooch yet, alretty, but den he ees a very goot boy." + +"We like him," said Mr. Gifford, smiling. + +"So do I, und so does Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, und Miss Hildebrand, und +Miss Podgr-ms-chski," said the German. "Some day you lets him visit us +in Vashington? So?" + +"I don't know. Perhaps I will," said Mr. Gifford; but he afterward +remarked grimly to Mr. Jones: "If I should, and he should meet the +President, Ogden would never let him go until he bought some of our tea +and coffee!" + +That day was a notable one in both Crofield and Mertonville. Jack's +first long letter, telling that he was in the grocery business, had +been almost a damper to the Ogden family. They had kept alive a small +hope that he would come back soon, until Aunt Melinda opened an +envelope that morning and held up samples of paper bags, cards, and +circulars of Gifford & Company, while Mrs. Ogden read the letter that +came with them. Bob and Jim claimed the bags next, while Susie and +Bessie read the circulars, and the tall blacksmith himself straightened +up as if he had suddenly grown prouder. + +"Mary!" he exclaimed. "Jack always said he'd get to the city. And +he's there--and earning his living!" + +"Yes, but--Father," she said, with a small shake in her voice, "I--wish +he was back again. There'd be almost room for him to work in Crofield, +now." + +"Maybe so, maybe so," he replied. "There'll be crowds of people coming +in when they begin work on the new rail way and the bridge. I signed +the deeds yesterday for all the land they're buying of Jack and me. I +won't tell him about it quite yet, though. I don't wish to unsettle +his mind. Let him stay where he is." + +"This will be a trying day for Mary," said Aunt Melinda, thoughtfully. +"The Academy will open at nine o'clock. Just think of what that child +has to go through! There'll be a crowd there, too,--oh, dear me!" + + +Mary Ogden sat upon the stage, by previous orders from the Academy +principals, awaiting the opening exercises; but the principals +themselves had not yet arrived. She looked rather pale, and she was +intently watching the nickel-plated gong on the table and the hands of +the clock which hung upon the opposite wall. + +"Perhaps the principals are here," Mary thought as the clock hands +crept along. "But they said to strike the bell at nine, precisely, and +if they're not here I must do it!" + +At the second of time, up stood Mary and the gong sounded sharply. + +That was for "Silence!" and it was very silent, all over the hall, and +all the scholars looked at Mary and waited. + +"Clang," went the gong again, and every boy and girl arose, as if they +had been trained to it. + +Poor Mary was thinking, "I hope nobody sees how scared I am!" but the +Academy term was well opened, and Dr. Dillingham was speaking, when the +Reverend Lysander Pettigrew and Mrs. Henderson, the tardy principals, +came hurrying in to explain that an accident had delayed them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +COMPLETE SUCCESS. + +Two years passed. There was a great change in the outward aspect of +Crofield. The new bridge over the Cocahutchie was of iron, resting on +stone piers, and the village street crossed it. The railroad bridge +was just below, but was covered in with a shed, so that the trains +might not frighten horses. The mill was still in its place, but the +dam was two feet higher and the pond was wider. Between the mill and +the bridge was a large building of brick and stone that looked like a +factory. Between the street and the railway, the space was filled by +the station-house and freight depot, which extended to Main Street; and +there were more railway buildings on the other side of the Cocahutchie. +Just below the railroad and along the bank of the creek, the ground was +covered by wooden buildings, and there was a strong smell of leather +and tan-bark. Of course, the old Washington Hotel was gone; but across +the street, on the corner to the left, there was a great brick +building, four stories high, with "Washington Hotel" painted across the +front of it. The stores in that building were just finished. Looking +up Main Street, or looking down, it did not seem the same village. The +new church in the middle of the green was built of stone; and both of +the other churches were rapidly being demolished, as if new ones also +were to take their places. + +It was plain, at a glance, that if this improvement was general, the +village must be extending its bounds rapidly, for there never had been +too much room in it, for even the old buildings with which Jack had +been familiar. + +Jack Ogden had not been in Crofield while all this work was going on. +His first week with Gifford & Company seemed the most exciting week +that he had ever known, and the second was no less busy and +interesting. He did not go to the German church the second Sunday, but +later he did somehow drift into another place of worship where the +sermon was preached in Welsh. + +"Well!" said Jack, when he came out, at the close of the service, "I +think I'll go back to the church I went to first. I don't look so +green now as I did then, but I'm sure the General will remember me." + +He carried out this determination the next Sunday. The sexton gave him +a seat, and he took it, remarking to himself: + +"A fellow feels more at home in a place where he's been before. +There's the General! I wish I was in his pew. I'll speak to him when +he comes out." + +The great man appeared, in due season, and as he passed down the aisle +he came to a boy who was just leaving a pew. With a smile on his face, +the boy held out his hand and bowed. + +"Good-morning," said the General, shaking hands promptly and bowing +graciously in return. Then he added, "I hope you'll come here every +Sunday." + +[Illustration: _Jack speaks to the General_.] + +That was all, but Jack received at least a bow, every Sunday, for four +weeks. On the Monday after the fourth Sunday, the door of Gifford & +Company's store was shadowed by the entrance of a very proud-looking +man who stalked straight on to the desk, where he was greeted cordially +by Mr. Gifford, for he seemed to be an old friend. + +"You have a boy here named John Ogden?" asked the General. + +"Yes, General," said Mr. Gifford. "A fine young fellow." + +"Is he doing well?" asked the General. + +"We've no fault to find with him," was the answer. "Do you care to see +him? He's out on business, just now." + +"No, I don't care to see him," said the General. "Tell him, please, +that I called. I feel interested in his progress, that's all. +Good-morning, Mr. Gifford." + +The head of the firm bowed the general out, and came back to say to Mr. +Jones: "That youngster beats me! He can pick up a millionaire, or a +governor, as easily as he can measure a pound of coffee." + +"Some might think him rather bold," said Jones, "but I don't. He is +absorbed in his work, and he puts it through. He's the kind of boy we +want, no doubt of that." + +"See what he's up to, this morning!" said Mr. Gifford. "It's all +right. He asked leave, and I told him he might go." + +Jack had missed seeing the General because he did not know enough of +the grocery business. He had said to Mr. Gifford: + +"I think, Mr. Gifford, I ought to know more about this business from +its very beginnings. If you'll let me, I'd like to see where we get +supplies." + +That meant a toilsome round among the great sugar refineries, on the +Long Island side of the East River; and then another among the tea and +coffee merchants and brokers, away down town, looking at samples of all +sorts and finding out how cargoes were unloaded from ships and were +bought and sold among the dealers. He brought to the store, that +afternoon, before six o'clock, about forty samples of all kinds of +grocery goods, all labeled with prices and places, and he was going on +to talk about them when Mr. Gifford stopped him. + +"There, Ogden," he said. "I know all about these myself,--but where +did you find that coffee? I want some. And this tea?--It is two cents +lower than I'm paying. Jones, he's found just the tea you and I were +talking of--" and so he went on carefully examining the other samples, +and out of them all there were seven different articles that Gifford & +Company bought largely next day. + +"Jones," said Mr. Gifford, when he came back from buying them, "they +had our card in each place, and told me, 'Your Mr. Ogden was in here +yesterday. We took him for a boy at first.'--I'm beginning to think +there are some things that only that kind of boy can do. I'll just let +him go ahead in his own way." + + +Mary had told Jack all about her daily experiences in her letters to +him, and he said to himself more than once: + +"Dudley Edwards must be a tip-top fellow. It's good of him to drive +Mary over to Crofield and back every Saturday. And they have had such +good sleighing all winter. I wish I could try some of it." + +There was no going to Crofield for him. When Thanksgiving Day came, he +could not afford it, and before the Christmas holidays Mr. Gifford told +him: + +"We can't spare you at Christmas, Ogden. It's the busiest time for us +in the whole year." + +Mr. Gifford was an exacting master, and he kept Jack at it all through +the following spring and summer. Mary had a good rest during the hot +weather, but Jack did not. One thing that seemed strange to her was +that so many of the Crofield ladies called to see her, and that Miss +Glidden was more and more inclined to suggest that Mary's election had +been mainly due to her own influence in Mertonville. + +On the other hand, it seemed to Jack that summer, as if everybody he +knew was out of the city. Business kept pressing him harder and +harder, and all the plans he made to get a leave of absence for that +second year's Thanksgiving Day failed to work successfully. + +The Christmas holidays came again, but throughout the week, Gifford & +Company's store kept open until eight o'clock, every evening, with Jack +Ogden behind the counter. He got so tired that he hardly cared about +it when they raised his salary to twenty-five dollars a week, just +after Mr. Gifford saw him come down town with another coffee and tea +dealer, whose store was in the same street. + +"We mustn't let him leave us, Jones," Mr. Gifford had said to his head +clerk. "I am going to send him to Washington next week." + +Not many days later, Mrs. Guilderaufenberg in her home at Washington +was told by her maid servant that, "There's a strange b'y below, ma'am, +who sez he's a-wantin' to spake wid yez." + +Down went the landlady into the parlor, and then up went her hands. + +"Oh, Mr. Jack_og_den! How glad I am to see you! You haf come! I gif +you the best stateroom in my house." + +"I believe I'm here," said Jack, shaking hands heartily. "How is Mr. +Guilderaufenberg and how is Miss--" + +"Oh, Miss Hildebrand," she said, "she will be so glad, and so will Mrs. +Smith. She avay with her husband. He is a Congressman from far vest. +You will call to see her." + +"Mrs. Smith?" exclaimed Jack, but in another second he understood it, +and asked after his old friend with the unpronounceable name as well as +after Miss Hildebrand. + +"She has a name, now, that I can speak! I'm glad Smith isn't a Polish +name," he said to himself. + +"Oh, Mr. Jack_og_den!" exclaimed Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, a moment later. +"How haf you learned to speak German? She will be so astonish!" + +That was one use he had made of his evenings, and he had improved by +speaking to all the Germans he had met down town; and his German was a +great delight to Mr. Guilderaufenberg, and to Miss Hildebrand, and to +Mrs. Smith (formerly Miss Pod----ski) when he called to see them. + +"So!" said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, "you takes my advice and you comes. +Dis ees de ceety! Ve shows you eet all ofer. All de beeg buildings +and all de beeg men. You shtay mit Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and me till +you sees all Vashington." + +Jack did so, but he had business errands also, and he somehow managed +to accomplish his commissions so that Mr. Gifford was quite satisfied +when he returned to New York. + +"I haven't sold so many goods," said Jack, "but then I've seen the city +of Washington, and I've shaken hands with the President and with +Senators and Congressmen. Mr. Gifford, how soon can I make a visit to +Crofield?" + +"We'll arrange that as soon as warm weather comes," said his employer. +"Make it your summer vacation." + +Jack had to be satisfied. He knew that more was going on in the old +village than had been told him in any of his letters from home. His +father was a man who dreaded to write letters, and Mary and the rest of +them were either too busy, or else did not know just what news would be +most interesting to Jack. + +"I'm going to see Crofield!" said he, a hundred times, after the days +began to grow longer. "I want to see the trees and the grass and I +want to see corn growing and wheat harvesting. I'd even like to be +stung by a bumblebee!" + +He became so eager about it, at last, that he went home by rail all the +way, in a night train, and he arrived at Crofield, over the new +railroad, just as the sun was rising, one bright June morning. + +"Goodness!" he exclaimed, as he walked out of the station. "It's not +the same village! I won't go over to the house and wake the family +until I've looked around." + +From where he stood, he gazed at the new hotel, and took a long look up +and down Main Street. Then he walked eagerly down toward the bridge. + +"Hullo!" he said in amazement. "Our house isn't there! Why, what is +the meaning of this? I knew that the shop had been moved up to the +back lot. They're building houses along the road across the +Cocahutchie! Why haven't they written and told me of all this?" + +He saw the bridge, the factory, the tannery, and many other buildings, +but he did not see the familiar old blacksmith shop on the back lot. + +"I don't know where we live nor where to find my home!" he said, almost +dejectedly. "They know I'm coming, though, and they must have meant to +surprise me. Mary's at home, too, for her vacation." + +He walked up Main Street, leaving his baggage at the station. +New--new--new,--all the buildings for several blocks, and then he came +to houses that were just as they used to be. One pretty white house +stood back among some trees, on a corner, and, as Jack walked nearer, a +tall man in the door of it stepped quickly out to the gate. He seemed +to be trying to say something, but all he did, for a moment, was to +beckon with his hand. + +[Illustration: _Jack returns home_.] + +"Father!" shouted Jack, as he sprang forward. + +"Jack, my son, how are you?" + +"Is this our house?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, this is our house. They're all getting up early, too, because +you're coming. There are some things I want to talk about, though, +before they know you're actually here. Walk along with me a little +way." + +On, back, down Main Street, walked Jack with his father, until they +came to what was now labeled Bridge Street. When Jack lived in +Crofield the road had no name. + +"See that store on the corner?" asked Mr. Ogden. "It's a fine-looking +store, isn't it?" + +"Very," said Jack. + +"Well, now," said his father, "I'm going to run that store, and I do +wish you were to be in it with me." + +"There will be none too much room in it for Bob and Jim," said Jack. +"They're growing up, you know!" + +"You listen to me," continued the tall blacksmith, trying to be calm. +"The railway company paid me quite a snug sum of money for what they +needed of your land and mine. Mr. Magruder did it for you. I bought +with the money thirty acres of land, just across the Cocahutchie, to +the left of the bridge. Half of it was yours to begin with, and now +I've traded you the other half. Don't speak. Listen to me. Most of +it was rocky, but the railway company opened a quarry on it, getting +out their stone, and it's paying handsomely. Livermore has built that +hotel block. I put in the stone and our old house lot, and I own the +corner store, except that Livermore can use the upper stories for his +hotel. The factory company traded me ten shares of their stock for +part of your land on which they built. I traded that stock for ten +acres of rocky land along the road, across the Cocahutchie, up by the +mill. That makes forty acres there." + +"Father!" exclaimed Jack. "All it cost me was catching a runaway team, +and your bill against the miller! Crofield is better than the grocery +business in New York!" + +"Listen!" said his father, smiling. "The tannery company traded me a +lot of their stock for the rest of my back lot and for the rest of your +gravel, and they tore down the blacksmith shop, and I traded their +stock and some other things for the house where we live. I made your +part good to you, with the land across the creek, and that's where the +new village of Crofield is to be." + +"I didn't see a cent of money in any of those trades, but I've a +thousand dollars laid up, and I'm only working in the railroad shop +now, but I'm going into the hardware business. I wish you'd come back +and come in with me. There's the store--rent free. We can sell plenty +of tools, now that Crofield is booming!" + +"I've saved up seven hundred and fifty dollars," said Jack, "from my +salary and commissions. I'll put that in. Gifford & Company'll send +you things cheap. But, Father,--I belong in the city. I've seen +hundreds of boys there who didn't belong there, but I do. Let's go +back to the house. Bob and Jim--" + +"Well, maybe you're right," said his father, slowly. "Come, let us go +home. Your mother has hardly been able to wait to see you." + +When they came in sight of the house, the stoop and the front gate were +thronged with home-folk, but Jack could not see clearly for a moment. +The sunshine, or something else, got into his eyes. Then there were +pairs of arms, large and small, embracing him, and,--well, it was a +happy time, and Mary was there and his mother, and the family were all +together once more. + +"How you have grown!" said his aunt. "_How_ you have grown!" + +"I do wish you'd come home to stay!" exclaimed his mother. + +"Perhaps he will," said his father, and Mary had hardly said a word +till then, but now it seemed to burst out in spite of her. + +"Oh Jack!" she said. "If I could go back with you, when you go! I +could live with a sister of Mrs. Edwards. She's invited me to live +with her for a whole year. And I could finish my education, and be +really fit to teach. I've saved some money." + +"Mary!" answered Jack, "I can pay all the other expenses. Do come!" + +"Yes, you'd better go, Jack," said his father, thoughtfully. "I am +sure that you are a city boy." + +That was a great vacation, but no trout were now to be caught in the +Cocahutchie. The new store on the corner was to be opened in the +autumn, and Jack insisted upon having it painted a bright red about the +windows. There were visits to Mertonville, and there were endless +talks about what Jack's land was going to be worth, some day. But the +days flew by, and soon his time was up and he had to go back to the +city. He and Mary went together, and they went down the Hudson River +in the steamer "Columbia." + +Mr. Dudley Edwards, of Mertonville, went at the same time to attend to +some law business, he said, in New York. + +Jack told Mr. Gifford all about the Crofield town-lots, and his +employer answered: + +"That is the thing for you, Ogden; you'll have some capital, when you +come of age, and then we can take you in as a junior partner. You +belong in the city. I couldn't take you in any sooner, you know. We +don't want a boy." + +"That's just what you told me," said Jack roguishly, "the first time I +came into this store; but you took me then. Well, I shall always do my +best." + + + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Crowded Out o' Crofield, by William O. 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Stoddard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Crowded Out o' Crofield + or, The Boy who made his Way + +Author: William O. Stoddard + +Release Date: June 16, 2007 [EBook #21846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="The Sorrel Mare was tugging hard at the Rein." BORDER="2" WIDTH="608" HEIGHT="481"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 608px"> +<I>The Sorrel Mare was tugging hard at the Rein</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD +</H1> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OR +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE BOY WHO MADE HIS WAY +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +WILLIAM O. STODDARD +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +<I>SIXTH EDITION</I> +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK +<BR> +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY +<BR> +1897 +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT, 1890, +<BR> +BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PREFACE. +</H3> + +<P> +Only a few of the kindly reviewers of the earlier editions of Crowded +Out o' Crofield have suggested that it has at all exaggerated the +possible career of its boy and girl actors. If any others have +silently agreed with them, it may be worth while to say that the +pictures of places and the doings of older and younger people are +pretty accurately historical. The story and the writing of it were +suggested in a conversation with an energetic American boy who was +crowded out of his own village into a career which led to something +much more surprising than a profitable junior partnership. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +W. O. S. +<BR> +NEW YORK, 1893. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE BLACKSMITH'S BOY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE FISH WERE THERE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">I AM ONLY A GIRL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">CAPTAIN MARY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">JACK OGDEN'S RIDE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">OUT INTO THE WORLD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">MARY AND THE <I>EAGLE</I></A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">CAUGHT FOR A BURGLAR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">NEARER THE CITY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE STATE-HOUSE AND THE STEAMBOAT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">DOWN THE HUDSON</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">IN A NEW WORLD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">A WONDERFUL SUNDAY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">FRIENDS AND ENEMIES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">NO BOY WANTED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">JACK'S FAMINE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">JACK-AT-ALL-TRADES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">THE DRUMMER BOY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">COMPLETE SUCCESS</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +The Sorrel Mare was tugging hard at the Rein . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-014"> +The Runaway +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-037"> +Along the Water's Edge +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-046"> +Fighting the Fire +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-055"> +"Run for Home" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-075"> +He listened in silence +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-087"> +"There won't be any <I>Eagle</I> this week" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-106"> +Just out +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-114"> +"I'm the Editor, sir" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-119"> +"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-129"> +"Your map's all wrong," said Jack +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-140"> +The hotel clerk looked at Jack +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-151"> +His traveler friend was sound asleep +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-158"> +On Broadway, at last! +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-171"> +"How would he get in?" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-185"> +Coffee and clams +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-190"> +Jack is homesick +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-210"> +"I've lost my pocket-book" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-220"> +"Ten cents left" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-232"> +Jack dines with Mr. Keifelheimer +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-240"> +Buying a new hat +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-250"> +Jack speaks to the General +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-257"> +The return home +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD. +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BLACKSMITH'S BOY. +</H3> + +<P> +"I'm going to the city!" +</P> + +<P> +He stood in the wide door of the blacksmith-shop, with his hands in his +pockets, looking down the street, toward the rickety old bridge over +the Cocahutchie. He was a sandy-haired, freckled-faced boy, and if he +was really only about fifteen, he was tall for his age. Across the top +of the door, over his head, stretched a cracked and faded sign, with a +horseshoe painted on one end and a hammer on the other, and the name +"John Ogden," almost faded out, between them. +</P> + +<P> +The blacksmith-shop was a great, rusty, grimy clutter of work-benches, +vises, tools, iron in bars and rods, and all sorts of old iron scraps +and things that looked as if they needed making over. +</P> + +<P> +The forge was in the middle, on one side, and near it was hitched a +horse, pawing the ground with a hoof that bore a new shoe. On the +anvil was a brilliant, yellow-red loop of iron, that was not quite yet +a new shoe, and it was sending out bright sparks as a hammer fell upon +it—"thud, thud, thud," and a clatter. Over the anvil leaned a tall, +muscular, dark-haired, grimy man. His face wore a disturbed and +anxious look, and it was covered with charcoal dust. There was +altogether too much charcoal along the high bridge of his Roman nose +and over his jutting eyebrows. +</P> + +<P> +The boy in the door also had some charcoal on his cheeks and forehead, +but none upon his nose. His nose was not precisely like the +blacksmith's. It was high and Roman half-way down, but just there was +a little dent, and the rest of the nose was straight. His complexion, +excepting the freckles and charcoal, was chiefly sunburn, down to the +neckband of his blue checked shirt. He was a tough, wiry-looking boy, +and there was a kind of smiling, self-confident expression in his +blue-gray eyes and around his firm mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to the city!" he said, again, in a low but positive voice. +"I'll get there, somehow." +</P> + +<P> +Just then a short, thick-set man came hurrying past him into the shop. +He was probably the whitest man going into that or any other shop, and +he spoke out at once, very fast, but with a voice that sounded as if it +came through a bag of meal. +</P> + +<P> +"Ogden," said he, "got him shod? If you have, I'll take him. What do +you say about that trade?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want any more room than there is here," said the blacksmith, +"and I don't care to move my shop." +</P> + +<P> +"There's nigh onto two acres, mebbe more, all along the creek from +below the mill to Deacon Hawkins's line, below the bridge," wheezed the +mealy, floury, dusty man, rapidly. "I'll get two hundred for it some +day, ground or no ground. Best place for a shop." +</P> + +<P> +"This lot suits me," said the smith, hammering away. "'Twouldn't pay +me to move—not in these times." +</P> + +<P> +The miller had more to say, while he unhitched his horse, but he led +him out without getting any more favorable reply about the trade. +</P> + +<P> +"Come and blow, Jack," said the smith, and the boy in the door turned +promptly to take the handle of the bellows. +</P> + +<P> +The little heap of charcoal and coke in the forge brightened and sent +up fiery tongues, as the great leathern lungs wheezed and sighed, and +Jack himself began to puff. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got to have a bigger man than you are, for a blower and striker," +said the smith. "He's coming Monday morning. It's time you were doing +something, Jack." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, father," said Jack, as he ceased pulling on the bellows, and the +shoe came out of the fire, "I've been doing something ever since I was +twelve. Been working here since May, and lots o' times before that. +Learned the trade, too." +</P> + +<P> +"You can make a nail, but you can't make a shoe," said his father, as +he sizzed the bit of bent iron in the water-tub and then threw it on +the ground. "Seven. That's all the shoes I'll make this morning, and +there are seven of you at home. Your mother can't spare Molly, but +you'll have to do something. It is Saturday, and you can go fishing, +after dinner, if you'd like to. There's nothin' to ketch 'round here, +either. Worst times there ever were in Crofield." +</P> + +<P> +There was gloom as well as charcoal on the face of the blacksmith, but +Jack's expression was only respectfully serious as he walked away, +without speaking, and again stood in the door for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I could catch something in the city. I know I could," he said, to +himself. "How on earth shall I get there?" +</P> + +<P> +The bridge, at the lower end of the sloping side-street on which the +shop stood, was long and high. It was made to fit the road and was a +number of sizes too large for the stream of water rippling under it. +The side-street climbed about twenty rods the other way into what was +evidently the Main Street of Crofield. There was a tavern on one +corner, and across the street from that there was a drug store and in +it was the post-office. On the two opposite corners were shops, and +all along Main Street were all sorts of business establishments, +sandwiched in among the dwellings. +</P> + +<P> +It was not yet noon, but Crofield had a sleepy look, as if all its work +for the whole week were done. Even the horses of the farmers' teams, +hitched in front of the stores, looked sleepy. Jack Ogden took his +longest look, this time, at a neat, white-painted frame-house across +the way. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me there isn't nearly so much room in it as there used to +be," he said to himself. "It's just packed and crowded. I'm going!" +</P> + +<P> +He turned and walked on up toward Main Street, as if that were the best +thing he could do till dinner time. Not many minutes later, a girl +plainly but neatly dressed came slowly along in front of the village +green, away up Main Street. She was tall and slender, and her hair and +eyes were as dark as those of John Ogden, the blacksmith. Her nose was +like his, too, except that it was finer and not so high, and she wore +very much the same anxious, discontented look upon her face. She was +walking slowly, because she saw, coming toward her, a portly lady, with +hair so flaxy that no gray would show in it. She was elegantly +dressed. She stopped and smiled and looked very condescending. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning, Mary Ogden," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning, Miss Glidden," said Mary, the anxious look in her eyes +changing to a gleam that made them seem very wide awake. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a fine morning, Mary Ogden, but so very warm. Is your mother +well?" +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, thank you," said Mary. +</P> + +<P> +"And is your aunt well—and your father, and all the children? I'm so +glad they are well. Elder Holloway's to be here to-morrow. Hope +you'll all come. I shall be there myself. You've had my class a +number of times. Much obliged to you. I'll be there to-morrow. You +must hear the Elder. He's to inspect the Sunday-school." +</P> + +<P> +"Your class, Miss Glidden?" began Mary; and her face suggested that +somebody was blowing upon a kind of fire inside her cheeks, and that +they would be very red in a minute. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; don't fail to be there to-morrow, Mary. The choir'll be full, of +course. I shall be there myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you will, Miss Glidden—" +</P> + +<P> +The portly lady saw something up the street at that moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh my! What is it? Dear me! It's coming! Run! We'll all be +killed! Oh my!" +</P> + +<P> +She had turned quite around, while she was speaking, and was once more +looking up the street; but the dark-haired girl had neither flinched +nor wavered. She had only sent a curious, inquiring glance in the +direction of the shouts and the rattle and the cloud of dust that were +coming swiftly toward them. +</P> + +<P> +"A runaway team," she said, quietly. "Nobody's in the wagon." +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me!" exclaimed Miss Glidden; but Mary began to move away, looking +not at her but at the runaway, and she did not hear the rest. "Mary +Ogden's too uppish.—Somebody'll be killed, I know they will!—She's +got to be taken down.—There they come!—Dressed too well for a +blacksmith's daughter. Doesn't know her place.—Oh dear! I'm so +frightened!" +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps she had been wise in getting behind the nearest tree. It was a +young maple, two inches through, lately set out, but it might have +stopped a pair of very small horses. Those in the road were +large—almost too large to run well. They were well-matched grays, and +they came thundering along in a way that was really fine to behold; +heads down, necks arched, nostrils wide, reins flying, the wagon behind +them banging and swerving—no wonder everybody stood still and, except +Mary Ogden, shouted, "Stop 'em!" One young fellow, across the street, +stood still only until the runaways were all but close by him. Then he +darted out into the street, not ahead of them but behind them. No man +on earth could have stopped those horses by standing in front of them. +They could have charged through a regiment. Their heavy, furious +gallop was fast, too, and the boy who was now following them, must have +been as light of foot as a young deer. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Go it, Jack! Catch 'em! Bully for you!" arose from +a score of people along the sidewalk, as he bounded forward. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Jack! Oh dear me! But it's just like him! There! He's in!" +exclaimed Mary Ogden, her dark eyes dancing proudly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's that good-for-nothing brother of Mary Ogden. He's the +blacksmith's boy. I'm afraid he will be hurt," remarked Miss Glidden, +kindly and benevolently; but all the rest shouted "Hurrah!" again. +</P> + +<P> +Fierce was the strain upon the young runner, for a moment, and then his +hands were on the back-board of the bouncing wagon. A tug, a spring, a +swerve of the wagon, and Jack Ogden was in it, and in a second more the +loosely flying reins were in his hands. +</P> + +<P> +The strong arms of his father, were they twice as strong, could not at +once have pulled in those horses, and one man on the sidewalk seemed to +be entirely correct when he said, "He's a plucky little fellow, but he +can't do a thing, now he's there." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-014"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-014.jpg" ALT="The Runaway." BORDER="2" WIDTH="605" HEIGHT="439"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 605px"> +<I>The Runaway</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +His sister was trembling all over, but she was repeating: "He did it +splendidly! He can do anything!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack, in the wagon, was thinking only: "I know 'em. They're old +Hammond's team. They'll try to go home to the mill. They'll smash +everything, if I don't look out!" +</P> + +<P> +It is something, even to a greatly frightened horse, to feel a hand on +the rein. The team intended to turn out of Main Street, at the corner, +and they made the turn, but they did not crash the wagon to pieces +against the corner post, because of the desperate guiding that was done +by Jack. The wagon swung around without upsetting. It tilted +fearfully, and the nigh wheel was in the air for a moment, until Jack's +weight helped bring it down again. There was a short, sharp scream +across the street, when the wagon swung and the wheel went up. +</P> + +<P> +Down the slope toward the bridge thundered the galloping team, and the +blacksmith ran out of his shop to see it pass. +</P> + +<P> +"Turn them into the creek, Jack!" he shouted, but there was no time for +any answer. +</P> + +<P> +"They'd smash through the bridge," thought Jack. "I know what I'm +about." +</P> + +<P> +There were wheel-marks down from the street, at the left of the bridge, +where many a team had descended to drink the water of the Cocahutchie, +but it required all Jack's strength on one rein to make his runaways +take that direction. They had thought of going toward the mill, but +they knew the watering-place. +</P> + +<P> +Not many rods below the bridge stood a clump of half a dozen gigantic +trees, remnants of the old forest which had been replaced by the +streets of Crofield and the farms around it. Jack's pull on the left +rein was obeyed only too well, and it looked, for some seconds, as if +the plunging beasts were about to wind up their maddened dash by a +wreck among those gnarled trunks and projecting roots. Jack drew his +breath hard, and there was almost a chill at his young heart, but he +held hard and said nothing. +</P> + +<P> +Forward—one plunge more—hard on the right rein— +</P> + +<P> +"That was close!" he said. "If we didn't go right between the big +maple and the cherry! Now I've got 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +Splash, crash, rattle! Spattering and plunging, but cooling fast, the +gray team galloped along the shallow bed of the Cocahutchie. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish the old swimming-hole was deeper," said Jack, "but the water's +very low. Whoa, boys! Whoa, there! Almost up to the hub—over the +hub! Whoa, now!" +</P> + +<P> +And the gray team ceased its plunging and stood still in water three +feet deep. +</P> + +<P> +"I mustn't let 'em drink too much," said Jack; "but a little won't hurt +'em." +</P> + +<P> +The horses were trembling all over, but one after the other they put +their noses into the water, and then raised their heads to prick their +ears back and forth and look round. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't bring 'em ashore till they're quiet, Jack," called out the deep, +ringing voice of his father from the bank. +</P> + +<P> +There he stood, and other men were coming on the run. The tall +blacksmith's black eyes were flashing with pride over the daring feat +his son had performed. +</P> + +<P> +"I daren't tell him, though," he said to himself. "He's set up enough +a'ready. He thinks he can do 'most anything." +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," wheezed a mealy voice at his side, "that's my team—" +</P> + +<P> +"I know it," said Jack. "They 're all right now. Pretty close shave +through the trees, that was!" +</P> + +<P> +"I owe ye fifty dollars for a-savin' them and the wagin," said the +miller. "It's wuth it, and I'll pay it; but I've got to owe it to ye, +jest now. Times are awful hard in Crofield. If I'd ha' lost them +hosses and that wagin—" +</P> + +<P> +He stopped short, as if he could not exactly say how disastrous it +would have been for him. +</P> + +<P> +There was a running fire of praise and of questions poured at Jack, by +the gathering knot of people on the shore, and it was several minutes +before his father spoke again. +</P> + +<P> +"They're cool now," he said. "Turn 'em, Jack, and walk 'em out by the +bridge, and up to the mill. Then come home to dinner." +</P> + +<P> +Jack pretended not to see quite a different kind of group gathered +under the clump of tall trees. Not a voice had come to him from that +group of lookers-on, and yet the fact that they were there made him +tingle all over. +</P> + +<P> +Two large, freckle-faced, sandy-haired women were hugging each other, +and wiping their eyes; and a very small girl was tugging at their +dresses and crying, while a pair of girls of from twelve to fourteen, +close by them, seemed very much inclined to dance. Two small boys, who +at first belonged to the party, had quickly rolled up their trousers +and waded out as far as they could into the Cocahutchie. Just in front +of the group, under the trees, stood Mary Ogden, straight as an arrow, +her dark eyes flashing and her cheeks glowing while she looked silently +at the boy on the wagon in the stream, until she saw him wheel the +grays. Even then she did not say anything, but turned and walked away. +It was as if she had so much to say that she felt she could not say it. +</P> + +<P> +"Aunt Melinda! Mother!" said one of the girls, "Jack isn't hurt a +mite. They'd all ha' been drowned, though, if there was water enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Hush, Bessie," said one of the large women, and the other at once +echoed, "Hush, Bessie." +</P> + +<P> +They were very nearly alike, these women, and they both had long +straight noses, such as Jack's would have been, if half-way down it had +not been Roman, like his father's. +</P> + +<P> +"Mary Ann," said the first woman, "we mustn't say too much to him about +it. He can only just be held in, now." +</P> + +<P> +"Hush, Melinda," said Jack's mother. "I thought I'd seen the last of +him when the gray critters came a-powderin' down the road past the +house"—and then she wiped her eyes again, and so did Aunt Melinda, and +they both stooped down at the same moment, saying, "Jack's safe, +Sally," and picked up the small girl, who was crying, and kissed her. +</P> + +<P> +The gray team was surrendered to its owner as soon as it reached the +road at the foot of the bridge, and again Jack was loudly praised by +the miller. The rest of the Ogden family seemed to be disposed to keep +away, but the tall blacksmith himself was there. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," said he, as they turned away homeward, "you can go fishing this +afternoon, just as I said. I was thinking of your doing something else +afterward, but you've done about enough for one day." +</P> + +<P> +He had more to say, concerning what would have happened to the miller's +horses, and the number of pieces the wagon would have been knocked +into, but for the manner in which the whole team had been saved. +</P> + +<P> +When they reached the house the front door was open, but nobody was to +be seen. Bob and Jim, the two small boys, had not yet returned from +seeing the gray span taken to the mill, and the women and girls had +gone through to the kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," said his father, as they went in, "old Hammond'll owe you that +fifty dollars long enough. He never really pays anything." +</P> + +<P> +"Course he doesn't—not if he can help it," said Jack. "I worked for +him three months, and you know we had to take it out in feed. I +learned the mill trade, though, and that was something." +</P> + +<P> +Just then he was suddenly embarrassed. Mrs. Ogden had gone through the +house and out at the back door, and Aunt Melinda had followed her, and +so had the girls. Molly had suddenly gone up-stairs to her own room. +Aunt Melinda had taken everything off the kitchen stove and put +everything back again, and here now was Mrs. Ogden back again, hugging +her son. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," she said, "don't you ever, ever, do such a thing again. You +might ha' been knocked into slivers!" +</P> + +<P> +Molly had gone up the back stairs only to come down the front way, and +she was now a little behind them. +</P> + +<P> +"Mother!" she exclaimed, as if her pent-up admiration for her brother +was exploding, "you ought to have seen him jump in, and you ought to +have seen that wagon go around the corner!" +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," broke in the half-choked voice of Aunt Melinda from the kitchen +doorway, "come and eat something. I felt as if I knew you were killed, +sure. If you haven't earned your dinner, nobody has." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I know how to drive," said Jack. "I wasn't afraid of 'em after I +got hold of the reins." +</P> + +<P> +He seemed even in a hurry to get through his dinner, and some minutes +later he was out in the garden, digging for bait. The rest of the +family remained at the table longer than usual, especially Bob and Jim; +but, for some reason known to herself, Mary did not say a word about +her meeting with Miss Glidden. Perhaps the miller's gray team had run +away with all her interest in that, but she did not even tell how +carefully Miss Glidden had inquired after the family. +</P> + +<P> +"There goes Jack," she said at last, and they all turned to look. +</P> + +<P> +He did not say anything as he passed the kitchen door, but he had his +long cane fishing-pole over his shoulder. It had a line wound around +it, ready for use. He went out of the gate and down the road toward +the bridge, and gave only a glance across at the shop. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't get many worms," he said to himself, at the bridge, "but I +can dig some more if the fish bite. Sometimes they do, and sometimes +they don't." +</P> + +<P> +Over the bridge he went, and up a wagon track on the opposite bank, but +he paused for one moment, in the very middle of the bridge, to look up +stream. +</P> + +<P> +"There's just enough water to run the mill," he said. "There isn't any +coming over the dam. The pond's even full, though, and it may be a +good day for fish. I wish I was in the city!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FISH WERE THERE. +</H3> + +<P> +Saturday afternoon was before Jack Ogden, when he came out at the +water's edge, near the dam, across from the mill. That was there, big +and red and rusty-looking; and the dam was there; and above them was +the mill-pond, spreading out over a number of acres, and ornamented +with stumps, old logs, pond-lilies, and weeds. It was a fairly good +pond, the best that Cocahutchie Creek could do for Crofield, but Jack's +face fell a little as he looked at it. +</P> + +<P> +"There are more fellows than fish here," he said to himself, with an +air of disgust. +</P> + +<P> +There was a boy at the end of the dam near him, and a boy in the middle +of it, and two boys at the flume, near the mill. There were three +punts out on the water, and one of them had in it a man and two boys, +while the second boat held but one man, and the third contained four. +A big stump near the north shore supported a boy, and the old snag +jutting out from the south shore held a boy and a man. +</P> + +<P> +There they all were, sitting perfectly still, until, one after another, +each rod and line came up to have its hook and bait examined, to see +whether or not there had really been a bite. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm fairly crowded out," remarked Jack. "Those fellows have all the +good places. I'll have to go somewhere else; where'll I go?" +</P> + +<P> +He studied that problem for a full minute, while every fisherman there +turned to look at him, and then turned back to watch his line. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I'll try down stream," said Jack. "Nobody ever caught +anything down there, and nobody ever goes there, but I s'pose I might +as well try it, just for once." +</P> + +<P> +He turned away along the track over which he had come. He did not +pause at the road and bridge, but went on down the further bank of the +Cocahutchie. It was a pretty stream of water, and it spread out wide +and shallow, and rippled merrily among stones and bowlders and clumps +of willow and alder for nearly half a mile. Gradually, then, it grew +narrower, quieter, deeper, and wore a sleepy look which made it seem +more in keeping with quiet old Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +"The hay's about ready to cut," said Jack, as he plodded along the +path, near the water's edge, through a thriving meadow of clover and +timothy. "There's always plenty of work in haying time. Hullo! What +grasshoppers! Jingo!" +</P> + +<P> +As he made the last exclamation, he clapped his hand upon his trousers +pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"If I didn't forget to go in and get my sinker! Never did such a thing +before in all my life. What's the use of trying to fish without a +sinker?" +</P> + +<P> +The luck seemed to be going directly against him. Even the +Cocahutchie, at his left, had dwindled to a mere crack between bushes +and high grass, as if to show that it had no room to let for fish to +live in—that is, for fish accustomed to having plenty of room, such as +they could find when living in a mill-pond, lined around the edges with +boys and fish-poles. +</P> + +<P> +"That's a whopper!" suddenly exclaimed Jack, with a quick snatch at +something that alighted upon his left arm. "I've caught him! +Grasshoppers are the best kind of bait, too. I'll try him on, sinker +or no sinker. Hope there are some fish, down here." +</P> + +<P> +The line he unwound from his rod was somewhat coarse, but it was +strong, and so was his hook, as if the fishing around Crofield called +for stout tackle as well as for a large number of sportsmen. The big, +long-limbed, green-coated jumper was placed in position on the hook, +and then, with several more grumbling regrets over the absence of any +sinker, Jack searched along the bank for a place whence he could throw +his bait into the water. +</P> + +<P> +"This'll do," he said, at last, and the breeze helped him to swing out +his line until the grasshopper at the end of it dropped lightly and +naturally into a dark little eddy, almost across that narrow ribbon of +the Cocahutchie. +</P> + +<P> +Splash—tug—splash again— +</P> + +<P> +"Jingo! What's that? I declare—if he isn't pulling! He'll break the +line—no, he won't. See that pole bend! Steady—here he comes. +Hurrah!" +</P> + +<P> +Out he came, indeed, for the rude, strong tackle held, even against the +game struggling of that vigorous trout. There he lay now, on the +grass, with Jack Ogden bending over him in a fever of exultation and +amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"I never could have caught him with a worm and a sinker," he said, +aloud. "This is the way to catch 'em. Isn't he a big fellow! I'll +try some more grasshoppers." +</P> + +<P> +There was not likely to be another two-pound brook-trout very near the +hole out of which that one had been pulled. There would not have been +any at all, perhaps, but for the prevailing superstition that there +were no fish there. Everybody knew that there were bullheads, suckers, +perch, and "pumpkin-seeds" in the mill-pond, and eels, with now and +then a pickerel, but the trout were a profound secret. It was easy to +catch another big grasshopper, but the young sportsman knew very well +that he knew nothing at all of that kind of fishing. He had made his +first cast perfectly, because it was about the only way in which it +could have been made, and now he was so very nervous and excited and +cautious that he did very well again, aided as before by the breeze. +Not in the same place, but at a little distance down, and close to +where Jack captured his second bait, there was a crook in the +Cocahutchie, with a steep, overhanging, bushy bank. Into the glassy +shadow under that bank the sinkerless line carried and dropped its +little green prisoner, and there was a hungry fellow in there, waiting +for foolish grasshoppers in the meadow to spring too far and come down +upon the water instead of upon the grass. As the grasshopper alighted +on the water, there was a rush, a plunge, a strong hard pull, and then +Jack Ogden said to himself: +</P> + +<P> +"I've heard how they do it. They wait and tire 'em out. I won't be in +too much of a hurry. He'll get away if I am." +</P> + +<P> +That is probably what the fish would have done, for he was a fish with +what army men call "tactics." He was able to pull very hard, and he +was also wise enough to rush in under the bank and to sulkily stay +there. +</P> + +<P> +"Feels as if I'd hooked a snag," said Jack. "May be I've lost the fish +and he's hitched me into a 'cod-lamper' eel of some kind. Steady—no, +I mustn't pull harder than the fish." +</P> + +<P> +He was breathless, but not with any exertion that he was making. His +hat fell off upon the grass, as he leaned forward through the alder +bushes, and his sandy hair was tangled for a moment in some stubby +twigs. He loosened his head, still holding firmly his bent and +straining rod. One step farther, a slip of his left foot, an +unsuccessful grasp at a bush, and then Jack went over and down into a +pool deeper than he had thought the Cocahutchie afforded so near +Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +There was a very fine splash, as the grasshopper fly-fisherman went +under, and there was a coughing and spluttering a moment afterward, +when his eager, excited, anxious face came up again. He could swim +extremely well, and he was not thinking of his ducking—only of his +game. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope I haven't lost him!" he exclaimed, as he tried to pull upon the +line. +</P> + +<P> +It did not tug at all, just then, for the fish on the hook had been +rudely startled out from under the bank and was on his way up the +Cocahutchie, with the hook in his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"There' he is! I've got him yet! Glad I can swim—" cried Jack; and +it did seem as if he and this fish were very well matched, except that +Jack had to give one of his hands to the rod while his captive could +use every fin. +</P> + +<P> +Down stream floated Jack, passing the rod back through his hands until +he could grasp the line, and all the while the fish was darting madly +about to get away. +</P> + +<P> +"There, I've touched bottom. Now for him! Here he comes. I'll draw +him ashore easy—that's it! Hurrah! biggest fish ever was caught in +the Cocahutchie!" +</P> + +<P> +That might or might not be so, but Jack Ogden had a three-pound trout, +flopping angrily upon the grass at his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"I know how to do it now," he almost shouted. "I can catch 'em! I +won't let anybody else know how it's done, either." +</P> + +<P> +He had learned something, no doubt, but he had not learned how to make +a large fish out of a small one. All the rest of that afternoon he +caught grasshoppers and cast them daintily into what seemed to be good +places, but he did not have another occasion to tumble in. When at +last he was tired out and decided to go home, he had a dozen more of +trout, not one of them weighing over six ounces, with a pair of very +good yellow perch, one very large perch, a sucker, and three bullheads, +that bit when his bait happened to sink to the bottom without any lead +to help it. Take it all in all, it was a great string of fish to be +caught on a Saturday afternoon, when all that the Crofield sportsmen +around the mill-pond could show was six bullheads, a dozen small perch, +a lot of "pumpkin-seeds" not much larger than dollars, five small eels, +and a very vicious snapping-turtle. +</P> + +<P> +Jack stood for a moment looking down at the results of his experiment +in fly-fishing. He felt, really, as if he could not more than half +believe it. +</P> + +<P> +"Fishing doesn't pay," he said. "It doesn't pay cash, any way. There +isn't anything around Crofield that does pay. Well, it must be time +for me to go home." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I AM ONLY A GIRL. +</H3> + +<P> +Jack was dry enough, but anybody could see that he had had a ducking, +when he marched down the main street. He was carrying his prizes in +two strings, one in each hand, and he was looking and feeling taller +than he ever felt before. It was just the right hour to meet people, +and he had to answer curious questions from some women, and from twice +as many men, and from three times as many boys, all the way from above +the green, where he came out into the street, down to the front of the +Washington Hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I caught 'em all in the Cocahutchie." +</P> + +<P> +He had had to say that any number of times, and he had also explained, +apparently without trying to conceal anything: +</P> + +<P> +"I had to swim for 'em. Caught 'em all under water. Those big +speckled fellows are trout. They pulled me clean under. All that kind +of fish live under water." And he told half a dozen inquiring boys: +"I've found the best fish-hole you ever saw. Deep water all 'round it. +I'm going there again." And then every one asked: "Take me with you, +Jack?" +</P> + +<P> +He had to come to a halt at the tavern, for every man in the arm-chairs +on the piazza brought his feet down from the railing. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on! I want to look at those fish!" shouted old Livermore, the +landlord. "Where'd you catch 'em?" +</P> + +<P> +"Down the Cocahutchie," said Jack once more. "I caught 'em under +water." +</P> + +<P> +"Those are just what I'm looking for," replied Livermore, rubbing his +sides, while nearly a dozen men crowded around to admire, and to guess +at the weights. +</P> + +<P> +"Traout's a-sellin' at a dollar a paound, over to Mertonville," +squealed old Deacon Hawkins; "and traout o' that size is wuth more'n +small traout. Don't ye let old Livermore cheat ye, Jack." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't cheat him, Deacon," said the big landlord. "I don't want any +thing but the trout. There's a Sunday crowd coming over from +Mertonville, to-morrer, to hear Elder Holloway. I'll give ye two +dollars, Jack." +</P> + +<P> +"That's enough for one fish," said Jack. "Don't you want the big one? +I had to dive for him. He'll weigh more'n three pounds." +</P> + +<P> +"No, he won't!" said the landlord, becoming more and more eager. "Say +three dollars for the lot." +</P> + +<P> +"I daon't know but what I want some o' them traout myself," began +Deacon Hawkins, peering more closely at the largest prize. "It's hard +times,—and a dollar a paound. I've got some folks comin' and Elder +Holloway's to be at my haouse. I don't know but I oughter—" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll take 'em, Jack," interrupted the landlord, testily. "I spoke +first. Three pounds, and two is five pounds, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll give another dollar for the small traout," exclaimed Deacon +Hawkins. "He can't have 'em all." +</P> + +<P> +The landlord might have hesitated even then, but the excitement was +catching, and Squire Jones was actually, but slowly, taking out his +pocket-book. +</P> + +<P> +"Five! There's your five, Jack. The big fish are mine. Take your +money. Fetch 'em in," broke out old Livermore. +</P> + +<P> +"There's my dollar,—and there's my traout,—" squealed the deacon. +</P> + +<P> +"I was just a-goin' to saay—" at that moment growled the deep, heavy +bass voice of Squire Jones. +</P> + +<P> +"Too late," said the landlord. "He's taken my money. Come in, Jack. +Come in and get yours, Deacon," and Jack walked on into the Washington +House with six dollars in his hand, just as a boy he knew stuck his +head under Squire Jones's arm and shouted: +</P> + +<P> +"Jack!—Jack! Why didn't yer put 'em up at auction?" +</P> + +<P> +It took but a minute to get rid of the very fine fish he had sold, and +then the uncommonly successful angler made his way out of the +Washington Hotel through the side door. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't intend to answer any more questions," he said to himself; "and +all that crowd is out there yet." +</P> + +<P> +There was another reason that he did not give, for his perch, good as +they were, and the wide-mouthed sucker, and the great, clumsy +bullheads, looked mean and common, now that their elegant companions +were gone. He felt almost ashamed of them until just as he reached the +back yard of his own home. +</P> + +<P> +A tall, grimy man, with his head under the pump, was vigorously +scrubbing charcoal and iron dust from his face and hands and hair. +"Jack," he shouted, "where'd you get that string o' fish? Best I've +seen round here for ever so long." +</P> + +<P> +Another voice came from the kitchen door, and in half a second it +seemed to belong to a chorus of voices. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Jack Ogden! What a string of fish!" +</P> + +<P> +"I caught 'em 'way down the Cocahutchie, Mother," said Jack. "I caught +'em all under water. Had to go right in after some of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"I should say you did," growled his father, almost jocosely, and then +he and Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda and the children crowded around to +examine the fish, on the pump platform. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack must do something better'n that," said his father, rubbing his +face hard with the kitchen towel; "but he's had the best kind o' luck +this time." +</P> + +<P> +"He caught a team of runaway horses this morning, too," said Mary, +looking proudly at the fish. "I wish I could do something worth +talking about, but I'm only a girl." +</P> + +<P> +Jack's clothes had not suffered much from their ducking, mainly because +the checked shirt and linen trousers, of which his suit consisted, had +been frequently soaked before. His straw hat was dry, for it had been +lying on the grass when he went into the water, and so were his shoes +and stockings, which had been under the bed in his bedroom, waiting for +Sunday. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until the family was gathered at the table that Jack came +out with the whole tremendous story of his afternoon's sport, and of +its cash results. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I've learned all about fly-fishing," he said, with confidence, "I +can catch fish anywhere. I sha'n't have to go to fish out of that old +mill-pond again." +</P> + +<P> +"Six dollars!" exclaimed his mother, from behind the tea-pot. "What +awful extravagance there is in this wicked world! But what'll you do +with six dollars?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's high time he began to earn something," said the tall blacksmith, +gloomily. "It's hard times in Crofield. There's almost nothing for +him to do here." +</P> + +<P> +"That's why I'm going somewhere else," said Jack, with a sudden burst +of energy, and showing a very red face. "Now I've got some money to +pay my way, I'm going to New York." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you're not," said his father, and then there was a silence for a +moment. +</P> + +<P> +"What on earth could you do in New York?" said his mother, staring at +him as if he had said something dreadful. She was not a small woman, +but she had an air of trying to be larger, and her face quickly began +to recover its ordinary smile of self-confident hope, so much like that +of Jack. She added, before anybody else could speak: "There are +thousands and thousands of folks there already. Well—I suppose you +could get along there, if they can." +</P> + +<P> +"It's too full," said her husband. "It's fuller'n Crofield. He +couldn't do anything in a city. Besides, it isn't any use; he couldn't +get there, or anywhere near there, on six dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"If he only could go somewhere, and do something, and be somebody," +said Mary, staring hard at her plate. +</P> + +<P> +She had echoed Jack's thought, perfectly. "That's you, Molly," he +said, "and I'm going to do it, too." +</P> + +<P> +"You're going to work a-haying, all next week, I guess," said his +father, "if there's anybody wants ye. All the money you earn you can +give to your mother. You ain't going a-fishing again, right away. +Nobody ever caught the same fish twice." +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, glumly, but promptly, Jack handed over his two greenbacks to +his mother, but he only remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"If I work for anybody 'round here, they'll want me to take my pay in +hay. They won't pay cash." +</P> + +<P> +"Hay's just as good," said his father; and then he changed the subject +and told his wife how the miller had again urged him to trade for the +strip of land along the creek, above and below the bridge. "It comes +right up to the line of my lot," he said, "and to Hawkins's fence. The +whole of it isn't worth as much as mine is, but I don't see what he +wants to trade for." +</P> + +<P> +She agreed with him, and so did Aunt Melinda; but Jack and Mary +finished their suppers and went out to the front door. She stood still +for a moment, with her hands clasped behind her, looking across the +street, as if she were reading the sign on the shop. The discontented, +despondent expression on her face made her more and more like a very +young and pretty copy of her father. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care, Molly," said Jack. "If they take away every cent I get, +I'm going to the city, some time." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd go, too, if I were a boy," she said. "I've got to stay at home +and wash dishes and sweep. You can go right out and make your fortune. +I've read of lots of boys that went away from home and worked their way +up. Some of 'em got to be Presidents." +</P> + +<P> +"Some girls amount to something, too," said Jack. "You've been through +the Academy. I had to stop, when I was twelve, and go to work in a +store. Been in every store in Crofield. They didn't pay me a cent in +cash, but I learned the grocery business, and the dry-goods business, +and all about crockery. That was something. I could keep a store. +Some of the stores in New York 'd hold all the stores in Crofield." +</P> + +<P> +"Some of 'em are owned and run by women, too," said Mary; "but there's +no use of my thinking of any such thing." +</P> + +<P> +Before he could tell her what he thought about it, her mother called +her in, and then he, too, stood still and seemed to study the sign over +the door of the blacksmith-shop. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do it!" he exclaimed at last, shaking his fist at the sign. "It +isn't the end of July yet, and I'm going to get to the city before +Christmas; you see 'f I don't." +</P> + +<P> +After Mary Ogden left him and went in, Jack walked down to the bridge. +It seemed as if the Cocahutchie had a special attraction for him, now +that he knew what might be in it. +</P> + +<P> +There were three boys leaning over the rail on the lower side of the +bridge, and four on the upper side, and all were fishing. Jack did not +know, and they did not tell him, that all their hooks were baited with +"flies" of one kind or another instead of worms. Two had grasshoppers, +and one had a big bumblebee, and they were after such trout as Jack +Ogden had caught and been paid so much money for. One told another +that Jack had five dollars apiece for those fish, and that even the +bullheads were so heavy it tired him to carry them home. +</P> + +<P> +Jack did not go upon the bridge. He strolled down along the water's +edge. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-037"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-037.jpg" ALT="Along the Water's Edge." BORDER="2" WIDTH="386" HEIGHT="449"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 386px"> +<I>Along the Water's Edge</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"It's all sand and gravel," he said; "but I'd hate to leave it." +</P> + +<P> +It was curious, but not until that very moment had he been at all aware +of any real affection for Crofield. He was only dimly aware of it +then, and he forgot it all to answer a hail from two men under the +clump of giant trees which had so nearly wrecked the miller's wagon. +</P> + +<P> +The men had been looking up at the trees, and Jack heard part of what +they said about them, as he came near. They had called him to talk +about his trout-fishing, but they had aroused his curiosity upon +another subject. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Bannerman," he said, as soon as he had an opportunity between +"fish" questions, "did you say you'd give a hundred dollars for those +trees, just as they stand? What are they good for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," exclaimed the sharp-looking man he spoke to, "don't you tell +anybody I said that. You won't, will you? Come, now, didn't I treat +you well while you were in my shop?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you did," said Jack, "but you kept me there only four months. +What are those trees good for? You don't use anything but pine." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Jack," said Bannerman, "it isn't for carpenter work. Three of +'em are curly maples, and that one there's the straightest-grained, +biggest, cleanest old cherry! They're for j'iner-work, Jack. But you +said you wouldn't tell?" +</P> + +<P> +"I won't tell," said Jack. "Old Hammond owns 'em. I stayed in your +shop just long enough to learn the carpenter's trade. I didn't learn +j'iner-work. Don't you want me again?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not just now, Jack; but Sam and I've got a bargain coming with +Hammond, and he owes us some, now, and you mustn't put in and spile the +trade for us. I'll do ye a good turn, some day. Don't you tell." +</P> + +<P> +Jack promised again and the carpenters walked away, leaving him looking +up at the trees and thinking how it would seem to see them topple over +and come crashing down into the Cocahutchie, to be made up into chairs +and tables. Just as long as he could remember anything he had seen the +old trees standing guard there, summer and winter, leafy or bare, and +they were like old friends to him. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go home," he said, at last. "There hasn't been a house built in +Crofield for years and years. It isn't any kind of place for +carpentering, or for anything else that I know how to do." +</P> + +<P> +Then he took a long, silent, thoughtful look up stream, and another +down stream, and instead of the gravel and bushes and grass, in one +direction, and the rickety bridge and the slippery dam and the dingy +old red mill, in the other direction, he seemed to see a vision of +great buildings and streets and crowds of busy men, while the swishing +ripple of the Cocahutchie changed into the rush and roar of the great +city he was setting his heart upon. He gave it up for that evening, +and went home and went to bed, but even then it seemed to him as if he +were about to let go of something and take hold of something else. +</P> + +<P> +"I've done that often enough," he said to himself. "I'll have to leave +the blacksmith's trade now, but I'm kind o' glad I learned it. I'm +glad I didn't have my shoes on when I went into the water, though. +Soaking isn't good for that kind of shoes. Don't I know? I've worked +in every shoe-shop in Crofield, some. Didn't get any pay, except in +shoes; but then I learned the trade, and that's something. I never had +an opportunity to stay long in any one place, but I could stay in the +city." +</P> + +<P> +Then another kind of dreaming set in, and the next thing he knew it was +Sunday morning, with a promise of a sunny, sultry, sleepy kind of day. +</P> + +<P> +It was not easy for the Ogden family to shut out all talk about +fishing, while they were eating Jack's fish for breakfast, but they +avoided the subject until Jack went to dress. Jack was quite another +boy by the time he was ready for church. He was skillful with the +shoe-brush, and from his shoes upward he was a surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"You do look well," said Mary, as he and she were on their way to +church. "But how you did look when you came home last night!" +</P> + +<P> +There was little opportunity for conversation, for the walk before the +Ogden family from their gate to the church-door was not long. +</P> + +<P> +The little processions toward the village green did not divide fairly +after reaching there that morning. The larger part of each aimed +itself at the middle of the green, although the building there was no +larger than either of the two that stood at its right and left. +</P> + +<P> +"Everybody's coming to hear Elder Holloway," said Jack. "They say it +takes a fellow a good while to learn how to preach." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda led their part of the procession, and Jack +and his father followed them in. There were ten Ogdens, and the family +pew held six. Just as they were going in, some one asked Mary to go +into the choir. Little Sally nestled in her mother's lap; Bob and Jim +were small and thin and only counted for one; Bessie and Sue went in, +and so did their father, and then Jack remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"I'm crowded out, father. I'll find a place, somewhere." +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't any," said the blacksmith. "Every place is full." +</P> + +<P> +He shook his head until the points of his Sunday collar scratched him, +but off went Jack, and that was the last that was seen of him until +they were all at home again. +</P> + +<P> +Mary Ogden had her reasons for not expecting to sing in the choir that +day, but she went when sent for. The gallery was what Jack called a +"coop," and would hold just eighteen persons, squeezed in. Usually it +was only half full, but on a great day, what was called the "old choir" +was sure to turn out. There were no girls nor boys in the "old choir." +There had been three seats yet to fill when Mary was sent for, but Miss +Glidden and Miss Roberts and her elder sister from Mertonville came in +just then. So, when Mary reached the gallery, Miss Glidden leaned +over, smiled, and said very benevolently: +</P> + +<P> +"You will not be needed to-day, Mary Ogden. The choir is filled." +</P> + +<P> +The organ began to play at that moment, somewhat as if it had lost its +temper. Mr. Simmons, the choir-leader (whenever he could get there), +flushed and seemed about to say something. He was the one who had sent +for Mary, and it was said that he had been heard to say that it would +be good to have "some music, outside of the organ." Before he could +speak, however, Mary was downstairs again. Seats were offered her in +several of the back pews, and she took one under the gallery. She +might as well have had a sounding-board behind her, arranged so as to +send her voice right at the pulpit. Perhaps her temper was a little +aroused, and she did not know how very full her voice was when she +began the first hymn. All were singing, and they could hear the organ +and the choir, but through, over, and above them all sounded the clear, +ringing notes of Mary Ogden's soprano. Elder Holloway, sitting in the +pulpit, put up a hand to one ear, as half-deaf men do, and sat up +straight, looking as if he was hearing some good news. He said +afterward that it helped him preach; but then Mary did not know it. +When all the services were over, she slipped out into the vestibule to +wait for the rest. She stood there when Miss Glidden came downstairs. +The portly lady was trying her best to smile and look sweet. +</P> + +<P> +"Splendid sermon, Mary Ogden," said she. "I hope you'll profit by it. +I sha'n't ask you to take my class this afternoon. Elder Holloway's +going to inspect the school. I'll be glad to have you present, though, +as one of my best scholars." +</P> + +<P> +Mary went home as quickly as she could, and the first remark she made +was to Aunt Melinda. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Her</I> class!" she said. "Why she hasn't been there in six weeks. She +had only four in it when she left, and there's a dozen now." +</P> + +<P> +The Ogden procession homeward had been longer than when it went to +church. Jack understood the matter the moment he came into the +dining-room, for both extra leaves had been put into the +extension-table. +</P> + +<P> +"There's company," he said aloud. "You couldn't stretch that table any +farther, unless you stretched the room." +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," said his mother, "you must come afterward. You can help Mary +wait on the table." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was as hungry as a young pickerel, but there was no help for it, +and he tried to reply cheerfully: +</P> + +<P> +"I'm getting used to being crowded out. I can stand it." +</P> + +<P> +"Where'd you sit in church?" asked his mother. +</P> + +<P> +"Out on the stoop," said Jack, "but I didn't go till after I'd sat in +five pews inside." +</P> + +<P> +"Sorry you missed the sermon," said his mother. "It was about +Jerusalem." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard him," said Jack; "you could hear him halfway across the green. +It kept me thinking about the city, all the while. I'm going, somehow." +</P> + +<P> +Just then the talk was interrupted by the others, who came in from the +parlor. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare, Ogden," said the editor, "we shall quite fill your table. +I'm glad I came, though. I'll print a full report of it all in the +Mertonville <I>Eagle</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"That's Murdoch, the editor," said Jack to himself. "That's his paper. +Ours was a <I>Standard</I>,—but it's bu'sted." +</P> + +<P> +"There's no room for a newspaper in Crofield," said the blacksmith. +"They tried one, and it lasted six months, and my son worked on it all +the time it ran." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdoch turned and looked inquisitively at Jack through a huge pair +of tortoise-shell-rimmed glasses. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," said Jack; "I learned to set type and helped edit the +paper. Molly and I did all the clipping and most of the writing, one +week." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you?" said the editor emphatically. "Then you did well. I +remember there was one strong number." +</P> + +<P> +"Molly," said Jack, as soon as they were out in the kitchen, "there's +five besides our family. They won't leave a thing for us." +</P> + +<P> +"There's hardly enough for them, even," said Mary. "What'll we do?" +</P> + +<P> +"We can cook!" said Jack, with energy. "We'll cook while they're +eating. You know how, and so do I." +</P> + +<P> +"You can wait on table as well as I can," said Mary. +</P> + +<P> +There was something cronyish and also self-helpful, in the way Jack and +Molly boiled eggs and toasted bread and fried bacon and made coffee, +and took swift turns at eating and at waiting on the table. +</P> + +<P> +The editor of the <I>Eagle</I> heard the whole of the trout item, and about +the runaway, and told Jack to send him the next big trout he caught. +</P> + +<P> +There was another item of news that was soon to be ready for Mr. +Murdoch. Jack was conscious of a restless, excited state of mind, and +Mary said things that made him worse. +</P> + +<P> +"You want to get somewhere else as badly as I do," he remarked, just as +they came back from taking in the pies to the dinner-table. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel, sometimes, as if I could fly!" exclaimed Mary. Jack walked +out through the hall to the front door, and stood there thinking, with +a hard-boiled egg in one hand and a piece of toast in the other. +</P> + +<P> +The street he looked into was silent and deserted, from the bridge to +the hotel corner. He looked down to the creek, for a moment, and then +he looked the other way. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe Molly could do 'most anything I could do," he said to +himself; "unless it was catching a runaway team. She couldn't ha' +caught that wagon. Hullo, what's that? Jingo! The hotel cook must +have made a regular bonfire to fry my trout!" +</P> + +<P> +He wheeled as he spoke, and dashed back through the house, shouting: +</P> + +<P> +"Father, the Washington Hotel's on fire!—over the kitchen!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ladder, Jack. Rope. Bucket," cried the tall blacksmith, coolly +rising from the table, and following. As for the rest, beginning with +the editor of the <I>Eagle</I>, it was almost as if they had been told that +they were themselves on fire. Even Aunt Melinda exclaimed: "He ought +to have told us more about it! Where is it? How'd it ever catch? Oh, +dear me! It's the oldest part of the hotel. It's as dry as a bone, +and it'll burn like tinder!" +</P> + +<P> +Everybody else was saying something as all jumped and ran, but Jack and +his father were silent. Ladder, rope, water-pails, were caught up, as +if they were going to work in the shop, but the moment they were in the +street again it seemed as if John Ogden's lungs must be as deep as the +bellows of his forge. +</P> + +<P> +"Fire! Fire! Fire!" His full, resonant voice sent out the sudden +warning. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-046"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-046.jpg" ALT="Fighting the Fire." BORDER="2" WIDTH="417" HEIGHT="489"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 417px"> +<I>Fighting the Fire</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Fire! Fire! Fire!" shouted Jack, and every child of the Ogden +family, except Mary, echoed with such voice as belonged to each. +</P> + +<P> +Through the wide gate of the hotel barn-yard dashed the blacksmith and +his son, with their ladder, at the moment when Mrs. Livermore came out +at the kitchen door, wiping a plate. All the other inmates of the +hotel were gathered around the long table in the dining-hall, and they +were too busy with pie and different kinds of pudding, to notice +anything outdoors. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the fire, Mr. Ogden?" she said, in a fatigued tone. +</P> + +<P> +"The fire's on your roof, close to the chimney," said the blacksmith. +"May be we can put it out, if we're quick about it. Call everybody to +hand up water." +</P> + +<P> +Up went a pair of hands, and out came a great scream. Another shrill +scream and another, followed in quick succession, and the plate she had +held, fell and was shivered into fragments on the stone door-step. +</P> + +<P> +"Foi-re! Foi-re! Foi-re-re-re!" yelled the hotel cook. "The house is +a-bur-rnin'! Wa-ter! Waw-aw-ter!" +</P> + +<P> +The doors to passage-ways of the hotel were open, and in a second more +her cry was taken up by voices that sent the substance of it ringing +through the dining-hall. +</P> + +<P> +Plates fell from the hands of waiters, coffee-cups were upset, chairs +were overturned, all manner of voices caught up the alarm. +</P> + +<P> +It would have been a very serious matter but for the promptness of Jack +Ogden and his very cool father. The ladder was planted and climbed, +there was a quick dash along the low but high-ridged roof of the +kitchen addition of the hotel,—the rope was put around Jack's waist, +and then he was able safely to use both hands in pouring water from the +pails around the foot of the chimney. Other feet came fast to the foot +of the ladder. More went tramping into the rooms under the roof. The +pumps in the kitchen and in the barn-yard were worked with frantic +energy; pail after pail was carried upstairs and up the ladder; water +was thrown in all directions; nothing was left undone that could be +done, and a great many things were done that seemed hardly possible. +</P> + +<P> +"Hot work, Jack," said his father. "It's a-gaining on us. Glad they'd +all about got through dinner,—though Livermore tells me he's insured." +</P> + +<P> +"I can stand it," said Jack. "They have steam fire-engines in the +city, though. Oh, but wouldn't I like to see one at work, once. I'd +like to be a fireman!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's about what you are, just now," said his father, and then he +turned toward the ladder and shouted: +</P> + +<P> +"Hurry up that water! Quick, now! Bring an axe! I want to smash the +roof in. Bear it, Jack. We've got to beat this fire." +</P> + +<P> +The main building of the Washington Hotel was long, rather than high, +with an open veranda along Main Street. The third story was mainly +steep roof and dormer-windows, and the kitchen addition had only a +story and a half. It was an easy building to get into or out of. Very +quickly, after the cry of "Fire!" was heard, the only people in it, +upstairs, were such of the guests as had the pluck to go and pack their +trunks. The lower floor was very well crowded, and it was almost a +relief to the men actually at work as firemen that so many other men +kept well back because they were in their "Sunday-go-to-meeting" +clothes. +</P> + +<P> +Everybody was inclined to praise Jack Ogden and his father, who were +making so brave a fight on the roof within only a few feet of the smoke +and blaze. It was heroic to look a burning house straight in the face +and conquer it. During fully half an hour there seemed to be doubt +about the victory, but the pails of water came up rapidly, a line of +men and boys along the roof conveyed them to the hands of Jack, and the +fire had a damp time of it, with no wind to help. The blacksmith had +chopped a hole in the roof, and Tom and Sam Bannerman, the carpenters, +were already calculating what they would charge old Livermore to put +the addition in order again. +</P> + +<P> +"There, Jack," said his father, at last, "we can quit, now. The fire's +under. Somebody else can take a turn. It's the hottest kind of work. +Come along. We've done our share, and a little more, too." +</P> + +<P> +Jack had just swallowed a puff of smoke, but as soon as he could stop +coughing, he said: +</P> + +<P> +"I've had enough. I'm coming." +</P> + +<P> +Other people seemed to agree with them; but there would have been less +said about it if little Joe Hawkins had not called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Three cheers for the Ogdens!" +</P> + +<P> +The cheers were given as the two volunteer firemen came down the +ladder, but there were no speeches made in reply. Jack hurried back +home at once, but his father had to stop and talk with the Bannermans +and old Hammond, the miller. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," said his mother, looking at him, proudly, from head to foot, +"you're always doing something or other. We were looking at you, all +the while." +</P> + +<P> +"He hasn't hurt his Sunday clothes a bit," said Aunt Melinda, but there +was quite a crowd around the gate, and she did not hug him. +</P> + +<P> +He was a little damp, his face was smoky, his shirt-collar was wilted, +and his shoes would require a little work, but otherwise he was none +the worse. +</P> + +<P> +Jack went into the house, saying that he must brush his clothes; but, +really it was because he wished to get away. He did not care to talk +to anybody. +</P> + +<P> +"I never felt so, in all my life, as I did when sitting on that roof, +fighting that fire," he said aloud, as he went upstairs; and he did not +know, even then, how excited he had been, silent and cool as he had +seemed. In that short time, he had dreamed of more cities than he was +ever likely to see, and of doing more great things than he could ever +possibly do, and when he came down the ladder he felt older than when +he went up. He had no idea that much the same thoughts had come to +Mary, nor did he know how fully she believed that he could do anything, +and that she was as capable as he. +</P> + +<P> +"Father's splendid, too," she said, "but then he never had any chance, +here, and Mother didn't either. Jack ought to have a chance." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CAPTAIN MARY. +</H3> + +<P> +Mr. Murdoch had stood on the main street corner; taking notes for the +<I>Eagle</I>, but now he came back to say the fire was out and it was nearly +time for Sunday-school. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed strange to have Sunday-school just after a fire, but the +Ogden family and its visitors at once made ready. +</P> + +<P> +It was a quarterly meeting, with general exercises and singing, and a +review of the quarter's lessons. The church was full by the hour for +opening, and the school had a very prosperous look. Elder Holloway and +Mr. Murdoch and two other important men sat in the pulpit, and Joab +Spokes, the superintendent, stood in front of them to conduct the +exercises. The elder seemed to be glancing benevolently around the +room, through his spectacles, but there were some things there which +could be seen without glasses, and he must have seen those also. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Glidden looked particularly well and very stately, as she sat in +the pew in front of her class (if it were hers), with Mary Ogden. Her +first words, on coming in to take command, had been: +</P> + +<P> +"Mary, dear, don't go. I really wish you to stay. You may be of +assistance." +</P> + +<P> +Mary flushed a little, but she said nothing in reply. She remained, +and she certainly did assist, for the girls looked at her almost all +the while, and Miss Glidden had no trouble whatever, and nothing to do +but to look pleased and beaming and dignified. The elder, it was +noticed, seemed to feel special interest in the part taken in the +exercises by the class with two teachers, one for show and one for +work. He even seemed to see something comical in the situation, and +there was positive admiration in a remark he made to Mr. Murdoch: +</P> + +<P> +"She's a true teacher. There's really only one teacher to that class. +She must have been born with a knack for it!" +</P> + +<P> +Elder Holloway, with all his years and experience, had not understood +the case of Miss Glidden's class more perfectly than had one young +observer at the other end of the church. Jack Ogden could not see so +well as those great men in the pulpit, but then he could hear much and +surmise the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"All those girls will stand by Molly!" he said to himself. "I hope it +won't be long before school's dismissed," he added. +</P> + +<P> +He had reasons for this hope. He was a little late through lingering +to take a curious look at what was left of the fire. The street had a +littered look. The barns and stables were wide open, and deserted, for +the horses had been led to places of safety. There seemed to be an +impression that the hotel was half destroyed; but the damage had not +been very great. +</P> + +<P> +A faint, thin film of blue was eddying along the ridgepole of the +kitchen addition. Jack noticed it, but did not know what it meant. A +more practiced observer would have known that, hidden from sight, +buried in the punk of the dry-rotted timber, was a vicious spark of +fire, stealthily eating its way through the punk of the resinous pine. +</P> + +<P> +Jack paid little attention to the tiny smoke-wreath, but he was +compelled to pay some attention to the weather. It had been hot from +sunrise until noon, and the air had grown heavier since. +</P> + +<P> +"I know what that haze means," said Jack to himself, as he looked +toward the Cocahutchie. "There's a thunderstorm coming by and by, and +nobody knows just when. I'll be on the lookout for it." +</P> + +<P> +For this reason he was glad that he was compelled to find a seat not +far from the door of the church. Twice he went out to look at the sky, +and the second time he saw banks of lead-colored clouds forming on the +northwestern horizon. Returning he said to several of the boys near +the vestibule: +</P> + +<P> +"You've just time to get home, if you don't want a ducking." +</P> + +<P> +Each boy passed along the warning; and when the school stood up to sing +the last hymn, even the girls and the older people knew of the coming +storm. There was a brief silence before the first note of the organ, +and through that silence nearly everybody could catch the shrill squeak +in which little Joe Hawkins tried to speak very low and secretly. +</P> + +<P> +"Deakin Cobb, we want to git aout! We've just time to git home if we +don't want a duckin'." +</P> + +<P> +The hymn started raggedly and in a wrong pitch; and just then the great +room grew suddenly darker, and there was a low rumble of thunder. +</P> + +<P> +"Mary Ogden!" exclaimed Miss Glidden, "what are you doing? They can't +go yet!" +</P> + +<P> +Mary was singing as loudly and correctly as usual, but she was out in +the aisle, and the girls of that class were promptly obeying the motion +of hand and head with which she summoned them to walk out of the church. +</P> + +<P> +Elder Holloway may have been only keeping time when he nodded his head, +but he was looking at Miss Glidden's class. +</P> + +<P> +So was Miss Glidden, in a bewildered way, as if she, like little +Bo-peep, were losing her sheep. Mary was following a strong and sudden +impulse. Nevertheless, by the time that class was out of its pews the +next caught the idea, and believed it a prudent thing to do. They +followed in good order, singing as they went. +</P> + +<P> +"The girls out first,—then the boys," said Elder Holloway, between two +stanzas. "One class at a time. No hurry." +</P> + +<P> +Darker grew the air. Jack, out in front of the church, was watching +the blackest cloud he had ever seen, as it came sweeping across the sky. +</P> + +<P> +The people walked out calmly enough, but all stopped singing at the +door and ran their best. +</P> + +<P> +"Run, Molly! Run for home!" shouted Jack, seeing Mary coming. "It's +going to be an awful storm." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-055"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-055.jpg" ALT=""Run for Home."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="624" HEIGHT="459"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 624px"> +<I>"Run for Home."</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Inside the church there was much hesitation, for a moment; but Miss +Glidden followed her class without delay, and all the rest followed as +fast as they could, and were out in half the usual time. Joe Hawkins +heard Jack's words to Molly. +</P> + +<P> +"Run, boys," he echoed. "Cut for home! There's a fearful storm +coming!" +</P> + +<P> +He was right. Great drops were already falling now and then, and there +was promise of a torrent to follow. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want to spoil these clothes," said Jack, uneasily. "I need +these to wear in the city. The storm isn't here yet, though. I'll +wait a minute." He was holding his hat on and looking up at the +steeple when he said that. It was a very old, wooden steeple, tall, +slender, and somewhat rheumatic, and he knew there must be more wind up +so high than there was nearer the ground. "It's swinging!" he said +suddenly. "I can see it bend! Glad they're all getting out. There +come Elder Holloway and Mr. Murdoch. See the elder run! I hope he +won't try to get to Hawkins's. He'd better run for our house." +</P> + +<P> +That was precisely the counsel given the good man by the editor, and +the elder said: +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to go there. I'd like to see that clever girl again. Come, +Murdoch; no time to lose!" +</P> + +<P> +The blast was now coming lower, and the gloom was deepening. +</P> + +<P> +Flash—rattle—boom—crash! came a glitter of lightning and a great +peal of thunder. +</P> + +<P> +"Here it is!" cried Jack. "If it isn't a dry blast!" +</P> + +<P> +It was something like the first hot breath of a hurricane. To and fro +swung the tottering old steeple for a moment, and then there was +another crash—a loud, grinding, splintering, roaring crash—as the +spire reeled heavily down, lengthwise, through the shattered roof of +the meeting-house! Except for Mary Ogden's cleverness, the ruins might +have fallen upon the crowded Sunday-school. Jack turned and ran for +home. He was a good runner, but he only just escaped the deluge +following that thunderbolt. +</P> + +<P> +Jack turned upon reaching the house, and as he looked back he uttered a +loud exclamation, and out from the house rushed all the people who were +gathered there. +</P> + +<P> +"Jingo!" Jack shouted. "The old hotel's gone, sure, this time!" +</P> + +<P> +The burrowing spark had smoldered slowly along, until it felt the first +fanning of the rising gale. In another minute it flared as if under a +blowpipe, and soon a fierce sheet of flame came bursting through the +roof. +</P> + +<P> +Down poured the rain; but the hottest of that blaze was roofed over, +and the fire had its own way with the empty addition. +</P> + +<P> +"We couldn't help if we should try," exclaimed Mr. Ogden. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll put on my old clothes, any way," said Jack. "Nobody knows what's +coming." +</P> + +<P> +"I will, too," said his father. +</P> + +<P> +Jack paused a moment, and said, from the foot of the stairs: +</P> + +<P> +"The steeple's down,—right through the meeting-house. It has smashed +the whole church!" +</P> + +<P> +The sight of the fire had made him withhold that news for a minute; but +now, for another minute, the fire was almost forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +Elder Holloway began to say something in praise of Mary Ogden about her +leading out the class, but she darted away. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me get by, Jack," she said. "Let me pass, please. They all would +have been killed if they had waited! But I was thinking only of my +class and the rain." +</P> + +<P> +She ran up-stairs and Jack followed. Then the elder made a number of +improving remarks about discipline and presence of mind, and the +natural fitness of some people for doing the right thing in an +emergency. He might have said more, but all were drawn to the windows +to watch the strife between the fire and the rain. +</P> + +<P> +The fierce wind drove the smoke through the building, compelling the +landlord and his wife to escape as best they could, and, for the time +being, the victory seemed to be with the fire. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me," said the blacksmith, somberly, "as if Crofield was going +to pieces. This is the worst storm we ever had. The meeting-house is +gone, and the hotel's going!" +</P> + +<P> +Mary, at her window, was looking out in silence, but her face was +bright rather than gloomy. Even if she was "only a girl," she had +found an opportunity for once, and she had not proved unequal to it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JACK OGDEN'S RIDE. +</H3> + +<P> +Jack needed only a few minutes to put on the suit he had worn when +fishing. +</P> + +<P> +"There, now," he said; "if there's going to be a big flood in the creek +I'm going down to see it, rain or no rain. There's no telling how high +it'll rise if this pour keeps on long enough. It rattles on the roof +like buckshot!" +</P> + +<P> +"That's the end of the old tavern," said Jack to Mary, as he stood in +the front room looking out. +</P> + +<P> +He was barefooted, and had come so silently that she was startled. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack!" she exclaimed, turning around, "they might have all been killed +when the steeple came down. I heard what Joe Hawkins said, and I led +out the class." +</P> + +<P> +"Good for Joe!" said Jack. "We need a new meeting-house, any way. I +heard the elder say so. Less steeple, next time, and more church!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to see a real big church," said Mary,—"a city church." +</P> + +<P> +"You'd like to go to the city as much as I would," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I would," she replied emphatically. "Just you get there and I'll +come afterward, if I can. I've been studying twice as hard since I +left the academy, but I don't know why." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it," said Jack; "but I've had no time for books." +</P> + +<P> +"Jack! Molly!" the voice of Aunt Melinda came up the stairway. "Are +you ever coming down-stairs?" +</P> + +<P> +"What will the elder say to my coming down barefoot?" said Jack; "but I +don't want shoes if I'm going out into the mud." +</P> + +<P> +"He won't care at such a time as this," said Mary. "Let's go." +</P> + +<P> +It was not yet supper-time, but it was almost dark enough to light the +lamps. Jack felt better satisfied about his appearance when he found +how dark and shadowy the parlor was; and he felt still better when he +saw his father dressed as if he were going over to work at the forge, +all but the leather apron. +</P> + +<P> +The elder did not seem disturbed. He and Mr. Murdoch were talking +about all sorts of great disasters, and Mary did not know just when she +was drawn into the talk, or how she came to acknowledge having read +about so many different things all over the world. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," whispered his mother, at last, "you'll have to go to the barn +and gather eggs, or we sha'n't have enough for supper." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bring the eggs if I don't get drowned before I get back," said +Jack; and he found a basket and an umbrella and set out. +</P> + +<P> +He took advantage of a little lull in the rain, and ran to the +barn-yard gate. +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo!" he exclaimed. "Now I'll have to wade. Why it's nearly a foot +deep! There'll be the biggest kind of a freshet in the Cocahutchie. +Isn't this jolly?" +</P> + +<P> +The rain pattered on the roof as if it had been the head of a drum. If +the house was gloomy, the old barn was darker and gloomier. Jack +turned over a half-bushel measure and sat down on it. +</P> + +<P> +"I want to think," he said. "I want to get out of this. Seems to me I +never felt it so before. I'd as lief live in this barn as stay in +Crofield." +</P> + +<P> +He suddenly sprang up and shook off his blues, exclaiming: "I'll go and +see the freshet, anyhow!" +</P> + +<P> +He carried the eggs into the house. +</P> + +<P> +All the time he had been gone, Elder Holloway had been asking Mary very +particularly about the Crofield Academy. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't wonder she says what she does about the trustees," remarked +Aunt Melinda. "She took the primary room twice, for 'most a month each +time, when the teacher was sick, and all the thanks she had was that +they didn't like it when they found it out." +</P> + +<P> +The gutter in front of the house had now become a small torrent. +</P> + +<P> +"All the other gutters are just like that," said Jack. "So are the +brooks all over the country, and it all runs into the Cocahutchie!" +</P> + +<P> +"Father," said Jack, after supper, "I'm going down to the creek." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you would," said his father. "Come back and tell us how it's +looking." +</P> + +<P> +"Could a freshet here do any damage?" asked Mr. Murdoch. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a big dam up at Four Corners," said the blacksmith. "If +anything should happen there, we'd have trouble here, and you'd have it +in Mertonville, too." +</P> + +<P> +Jack heard that as he was going out of the door. He carried an +umbrella; but the first thing he noticed was that the force of the rain +seemed to have slackened as soon as he was out of doors. It was now +more like mist or a warm sleet, as if Crofield were drifting through a +cloud. +</P> + +<P> +"The Washington House needs all the rain it can get," said Jack, as he +went along; "but half the roof is caved in. I'm glad Livermore's +insured." +</P> + +<P> +When Jack reached the creek he felt his heart fairly jump with +excitement. The Cocahutchie was no longer a thin ribbon rippling along +in a wide stretch of sand and gravel. It was a turbid, swollen, +roaring flood, already filling all the space under its bridge; and the +clump of old trees was in the water instead of on dry land. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah!" shouted Jack. "As high as that already, and the worst is to +come!" +</P> + +<P> +He could not see the dam at first, but the gusts of wind were making +openings in the mist, and he soon caught glimpses of a great sheet of +foaming brown water. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go and take a look at the dam," he said; and he ran to the mill. +</P> + +<P> +"It's just level with the dam," he said, after one swift glance. "I +never thought of that. I must go and tell old Hammond what's coming." +</P> + +<P> +The miller's house was not far away, and he and his family were at +supper when there came a bang at the door. Then it opened and Mrs. +Hammond exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Why, John Ogden!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm out o' breath," said Jack excitedly. "You tell him that the +water's 'most up to the lower floor of the mill. If he's got anything +there that'd be hurt by getting wet—" +</P> + +<P> +"Goodness, yes!" shouted the miller, getting up from the table, "enough +to ruin me. There are sacks of flour, meal, grain,—all sorts of +stuff. It must all go up to the second floor. I'll call all the +hands." +</P> + +<P> +"But," said his wife, "it's Sunday!" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't help it!" he exclaimed; "the Cocahutchie's coming right up into +the mill. Jack, tell every man you see that I want him!" +</P> + +<P> +Off went Jack homeward, but he spoke to half a dozen men on the way. +He did not run, but he went quickly enough; and when he reached the +house there was something waiting for him. +</P> + +<P> +It was a horse with a blanket strapped on instead of a saddle; and by +it stood his father, and near him stood his mother and Aunt Melinda and +Mary, bareheaded, for it was not raining, now. +</P> + +<P> +"Mount, Jack," said the blacksmith quietly. "I've seen the creek. +It's only four and a half miles to the Four Corners. Ride fast. See +how that dam looks and come back and tell me. Mr. Murdoch will have +his buggy ready to start when you get back. See how many logs there +are in the saw-mill boom." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Jack!" exclaimed Mary, in a low suppressed voice. "I wish that I +were you! It's a great day for you!" +</P> + +<P> +He had sprung to the saddle while his father was speaking, and he felt +it was out of his power to utter a word in reply. He did not need to +speak to the horse, for the moment Mr. Ogden released the bit there was +a quick bound forward. +</P> + +<P> +"This horse is ready to go," said Jack to himself, as he felt that +motion. "I've seen her before. I wonder what's made her so excited?" +</P> + +<P> +There was no need for wonder. The trim, light-limbed sorrel mare he +was riding had been kept in the hotel stables until that day. She had +been taken out to a neighboring stable, at the morning alarm of fire, +and when the blacksmith went to borrow her he found her laboring under +a strong impression that things in Crofield were going wrong. She was +therefore inclined to go fast, and all that Jack had to do was to hold +her in. The blacksmith's son was at home in the saddle. It was not +yet dark, and he knew the road to the Four Corners. It was a muddy +road, and there was a little stream of water along each side of it. +Spattered and splashed from head to foot were rider and horse, but the +miles vanished rapidly and the Four Corners was reached. +</P> + +<P> +A smaller village than Crofield, further up among the hills, it had a +higher dam, a three times larger pond, a bigger grist-mill, and a large +saw-mill. That was because there were forests of timbers among the yet +higher hills beyond, and Mr. Ogden had been thinking seriously about +the logs from those forests. +</P> + +<P> +"I know what father means," said Jack aloud, as he galloped into the +village. +</P> + +<P> +There were hardly any people stirring about its one long street; but +there was a reason for that and Jack found out what it was when he +pulled up near the mill. +</P> + +<P> +"Everybody has come to watch the dam," he exclaimed. "No use asking +about the logs, though; there they are." +</P> + +<P> +The crowd was evidently excited, and the air was filled with shouts and +answers. +</P> + +<P> +"The boom got unhitched and swung round 'cross the dam," said one eager +speaker; "and there's all the logs, now,—hundreds on 'em,—just +a-pilin' up and a-heapin' up on the dam; and when that breaks, the +dam'll go, mill and all, bridge and all, and the valley below'll be +flooded!" +</P> + +<P> +The moon was up, and the clouds which had hidden it were breaking away +as Jack looked at the threatening spectacle before him. +</P> + +<P> +The sorrel mare was tugging hard at the rein and pawing the mud under +her feet, while Jack listened to the talk. +</P> + +<P> +"Stand it? No!" he heard a man say. "That dam wasn't built to stand +any such crowdin' as that. Hark!" +</P> + +<P> +A groaning, straining, cracking sound came from the barrier behind +which the foaming flood was widening and deepening the pond. +</P> + +<P> +"There it goes! It's breaking!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack wheeled the sorrel, as a dull, thunderous report was answered by a +great cry from the crowd; and then he dashed away down the homeward +road. +</P> + +<P> +"I must get to Crofield before the water does," he said. "Glad the +creek's so crooked; it has twice as far to travel as I have." +</P> + +<P> +Not quite, considering how a flood will sweep over a bend instead of +following it. Still, Jack and the sorrel had the start, and nearly all +the way it was a downhill road. +</P> + +<P> +The Crofield people gathered fast, after the sky cleared, for a rumor +went around that there was something wrong with the dam, and that a man +had gone to the Four Comers to warn the people there. +</P> + +<P> +All the men that could crowd into the mill had helped Mr. Hammond get +his grain up into the second story, but the water was a hand-breadth +deep on the lower floor by the time it was done. +</P> + +<P> +There came a moment when all was silent except the roar of the water, +and through that silence the thud of hoofs was heard coming down from +Main Street. Then a shrill, excited voice shouted: +</P> + +<P> +"All of you get off that bridge! The Four Corners dam's gone. The +boom's broken, and the logs are coming!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a tumult of questioning, as men gathered around the sorrel, +and there was a swift clearing of people from the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's shaking now!" said the blacksmith to Mr. Murdoch. "It'll go +down with the first log that strikes it. You drive your best home to +Mertonville and warn them. You may be just in time." +</P> + +<P> +Away went the editor, carrying with him an extraordinary treasure of +news for the next number of his journal. Jack dismounted, and her +owner took the sorrel to her stable; she was very muddy but none the +worse for the service she had rendered. +</P> + +<P> +The crowd stood waiting for what was sure to come. Miller Hammond was +anxiously watching his threatened and already damaged property. Jack +came and stood beside him. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Hammond," he said, "all the gravel that you were going to sell to +father is lying under water." +</P> + +<P> +"More than two acres of it," said the miller. "The water'll run off, +though. I'll tell you what I'll do, Jack. I'll sell it for two +hundred dollars, considering the flood." +</P> + +<P> +"If father'll take it, will you count in the fifty you said you owed +me?" inquired Jack. +</P> + +<P> +The miller made a wry face for a moment, but then responded, smiling: +</P> + +<P> +"Well! After what you've done to-night, too: saved all there was on +the first floor,—yes, I will. Tell him I'll do it." +</P> + +<P> +They all turned suddenly toward the dam. A high ridge of water was +sweeping down across the pond. It carried a crest of foam, logs, +planks, and rubbish, shining white in the moonlight, and it rolled on +toward the mill and the dam as if it had an errand. +</P> + +<P> +Crash—roar—crash—and a plunging sound,—and it seemed as if the +Crofield dam had vanished. But it had not. Only a section of its top +work, in the middle, had been knocked away by the rushing stroke of +those logs. +</P> + +<P> +A frightened shout went up from the spectators, and it had hardly died +away before there followed another splintering crash. +</P> + +<P> +"The bridge!" shouted Jack. +</P> + +<P> +The frail supports of the bridge, brittle with age and weather, already +straining hard against the furious water, needed only the battering of +the first heavy logs from the boom, and down they went. +</P> + +<P> +"Gone!" exclaimed Mr. Ogden. "The hotel's gone, and the meeting-house, +and the dam, and the bridge. There won't be anything left of Crofield, +at this rate." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to get out of it," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll never refuse you again," replied his father, with energy. "You +may get out any way you can, and take your chances anywhere you please. +I won't stand in your way." +</P> + +<P> +The roar of the surging Cocahutchie was the only sound heard for a full +minute, and then the miller spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"The mill's safe," he said, with a very long breath of relief; "the +breaking of that hole in the dam let the water and logs through, and +the pond isn't rising. Hurrah!" +</P> + +<P> +There was a very faint and scattering cheer, and Jack Ogden did not +join in it. He had turned suddenly and walked away homeward, along the +narrow strip of land that remained between the wide, swollen +Cocahutchie and the fence. +</P> + +<P> +At the end of the fence, where he came into his own street, away above +where the head of the bridge had been, there was a large gathering. +That around the mill had been nearly all of men and boys. Here were +women and girls, and the smaller boys, whose mothers and aunts held +them and kept them from going nearer the water. Jack found it of no +use to say, "Oh, mother, I'm too muddy!" She didn't care how muddy he +was, and Aunt Melinda cared even less, apparently. Bessie and Sue had +evidently been crying; but Mary had not; and it was her hand on Jack's +arm that led him away, up the street, toward their gate. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Jack!" she exclaimed, "I'm so proud! Did you ride fast? I'm glad +I can ride! I could have done it, too. It was splendid!" +</P> + +<P> +"Molly," said Jack, "I don't mind telling you. The sorrel mare +galloped all the way, going and coming, up hill and down; and Molly, I +kept wishing and thinking every jump she gave,—wishing I was galloping +to New York, instead of to the Four Corners! +</P> + +<P> +"Molly," he added quickly, "father gives it up and says I may go!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OUT INTO THE WORLD. +</H3> + +<P> +Monday morning came, bright and sunshiny; and it hardly reached +Crofield before the people began to get up and look about them. +</P> + +<P> +Jack went down to the river and did not get back very soon. His mind +was full of something besides the flood, and he did not linger long at +the mill. +</P> + +<P> +But he looked long and hard at all the pieces of land below the mill, +down to Deacon Hawkins's line. He knew where that was, although the +fence was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"The freshet didn't wash away a foot of it," he said. "I'll tell +father what Mr. Hammond said about selling it." +</P> + +<P> +A pair of well-dressed men drove down from Main Street in a buggy and +halted near him. +</P> + +<P> +"Brady," said one of these men, "the engineer is right. We can't +change the railroad line. We can say to the Crofield people that if +they'll give us the right of way through the village we'll build them a +new bridge. They'll do it. Right here's the spot for the station." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly," said the other man, "and the less we say about it the +better. Keep mum." +</P> + +<P> +"That's just what I'll do, too," said Jack to himself, as they drove +away. "I don't know what they mean, but it'll come out some day." +</P> + +<P> +Jack went home at once, and found the family at breakfast. After +breakfast his father went to the shop, and Jack followed him to speak +about the land purchase. +</P> + +<P> +When Jack explained the miller's offer, Mr. Ogden went with him to see +Mr. Hammond. After a short interview, Mr. Ogden and Jack secured the +land in settlement of the amount already promised Jack, and of an old +debt owed by the miller to the blacksmith, and also in consideration of +their consenting to a previous sale of the trees for cash to the +Bannermans, who had made their offer that morning. Mr. Hammond seemed +very glad to make the sale upon these terms, as he was in need of ready +money. +</P> + +<P> +When Jack returned to his father's shop, he remembered the men he had +seen at the river, and he told his father what they had said. +</P> + +<P> +"Station?—right of way?" exclaimed Mr. Ogden. "That's the new +railroad through Mertonville. They'll use up that land, and we won't +get a cent. Well, it didn't cost anything. I'd about given up +collecting that bill." +</P> + +<P> +Later that day, Jack came in to dinner with a smile on his face. It +was the old smile, too; a smile of good-humored self-confidence, which +flickered over his lips from side to side, and twisted them, and shut +his mouth tight. Just as he was about to speak, his father took a +long, neatly folded paper out of his coat pocket and laid it on the +table. +</P> + +<P> +"Look at that, Jack," he said; "and show it to your mother." +</P> + +<P> +"Warranty deed!" exclaimed Jack, reading the print on the outside. +"Father! you didn't turn it over to me, did you? Mother, it's to John +Ogden, Jr.!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, John—" she began and stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, my dear," laughed the blacksmith, cheerfully, "it's his gravel, +not mine. I'll hold it for him, for a while, but it is Jack's whenever +I chose to record that deed." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid I couldn't farm it there," said Jack; and then the smile on +his face flickered fast. "But I knew Father wanted that land." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't worth much, but it's a beginning," said Mary. "I'd like to +own something or other, or to go somewhere." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Molly," answered Jack, smiling, "you can go to Mertonville. +Livermore says there's a team here, horses and open carriage. It came +over on Friday. The driver has cleared out, and somebody must take +them home, and he wants me to drive over. Can't I take Molly, Mother?" +</P> + +<P> +"You'd have to walk back," said his father, "but that's nothing much. +It's less than nine miles—" +</P> + +<P> +"Father," said Jack, "you said, last night, I needn't come back to +Crofield, right away. And Mertonville's nine miles nearer the city—" +</P> + +<P> +"And a good many times nine miles yet to go," exclaimed the blacksmith; +but then he added, smiling: "Go ahead, Jack. I do believe that if any +boy can get there, you can." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do it somehow," said Jack, with a determined nod. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you will," said Mary. +</P> + +<P> +Jack felt as if circumstances were changing pretty fast, so far as he +was concerned; and so did Mary, for she had about given up all hope of +seeing her friends in Mertonville. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll get you ready, right away," said Aunt Melinda. "You can give +Jack your traveling bag,—he won't mind the key's being lost,—and I'll +let you take my trunk, and we'll fit you out so you can enjoy it." +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," said his father, "tell Livermore you can go, and then I want to +see you at the shop." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was so glad he could hardly speak; for he felt it was the first +step. But a part of his feeling was that he had never before loved +Crofield and all the people in it, especially his own family, so much +as at that minute. +</P> + +<P> +He went over to the ruined hotel, where he found the landlord at work +saving all sorts of things and seeming to feel reasonably cheerful over +his misfortunes. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," he said, as soon as he was told that Jack was ready to go, "you +and Molly will have company. Miss Glidden sent to know how she could +best get over to Mertonville, and I said she could go with you. +There's a visitor, too, who must go back with her. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll take 'em," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +Upon going to the shop he found his father shoeing a horse. The +blacksmith beckoned his son to the further end of the shop. He heard +about Miss Glidden, and listened in silence to several hopeful things +Jack had to say about what he meant to do sooner or later. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-075"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-075.jpg" ALT="He listened in silence." BORDER="2" WIDTH="469" HEIGHT="513"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 469px"> +<I>He listened in silence</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Well," he said, at last, "I was right not to let you go before, and +I've doubts about it now, but something must be done. I'm making less +and less, and not much of it's cash, and it costs more to live, and +they're all growing up. I don't want you to make me any promises. +They are broken too easily. You needn't form good resolutions. They +won't hold water. There's one thing I want you to do, though. Your +mother and I have brought you up as straight as a string, and you know +what's right and what's wrong." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, don't you promise nor form any resolutions, but if you're +tempted to do wrong, or to be a fool in any kind of way, just don't do +it that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't, Father," said Jack earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"There," said his father, "I feel better satisfied than I should feel +if you'd promised a hundred things. It's a great deal better not to do +anything that you know to be wrong or foolish." +</P> + +<P> +"I think so," said Jack, "and I won't." +</P> + +<P> +"Go home now and get ready," said his father; "and I'll see you off." +</P> + +<P> +"This is very sudden, Jack,", said his mother, with much feeling, when +he made his appearance. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Mother," said Jack, "Molly'll be back soon, and the city isn't so +far away after all." +</P> + +<P> +Jack felt as if he had only about enough head left to change his +clothes and drive the team. +</P> + +<P> +"It's just as Mother says," he thought; "I've been wishing and hoping +for it, but it's come very suddenly." +</P> + +<P> +His black traveling-bag was quickly ready. He had closed it and was +walking to the door when his mother came in. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," she said, "you'll send me a postal card every day or two?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I will," said he bravely. +</P> + +<P> +"And I know you'll be back in a few weeks, at most," she went on; "but +I feel as sad as if you were really going away from home. Why, you're +almost a child! You can't really be going away!" +</P> + +<P> +That was where the talk stopped for a while, except some last words +that Jack could never forget. Then she dried her eyes, and he dried +his, and they went down-stairs together. It was hard to say good-by to +all the family, and he was glad his father was not there. He got away +from them as soon as he could, and went over to the stables after his +team. It was a bay team, with a fine harness, and the open carriage +was almost new. +</P> + +<P> +"Stylish!" said Jack. "I'll take Molly on the front seat with me,—no, +the trunk,—and Miss Glidden's trunk,—well, I'll get 'em all in +somehow!" +</P> + +<P> +When he drove up in front of the house his father was there to put the +baggage in and to help Mary into the carriage and to shake hands with +Jack. +</P> + +<P> +The blacksmith's grimy face looked less gloomy for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack," he said, "good-by. May be you'll really get to the city after +all." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I shall," said Jack, with an effort to speak calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the blacksmith, slowly, "I hope you will, somehow; but +don't you forget that there's another city." +</P> + +<P> +Jack knew what he meant. They shook hands, and in another moment the +bays were trotting briskly on their way to Miss Glidden's. Her house +was one of the finest in Crofield, with lawn and shrubbery. Mary Ogden +had never been inside of it, but she had heard that it was beautifully +furnished. There was Miss Glidden and her friend on the piazza, and +out at the sidewalk, by the gate, was a pile of baggage, at the sight +of which Jack exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Trunks! They're young houses! How'll I get 'em all in? I can strap +and rope one on the back of the carriage, but then—!" +</P> + +<P> +Miss Glidden frowned at first, when the carriage pulled up, but she +came out to the gate, smiling, and so did the other lady. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Mary Ogden, my dear," she said, "Mrs. Potter and I did not know +you were going with us. It's quite a surprise." +</P> + +<P> +"So it is to Jack and me," replied Mary quietly. "We were very glad to +have you come, though, if we can find room for your trunks." +</P> + +<P> +"I can manage 'em," said Jack. "Miss Glidden, you and Mrs. Potter get +in, and Pat and I'll pack the trunks on somehow." +</P> + +<P> +Pat was the man who had brought out the luggage, and he was waiting to +help. He was needed. It was a very full carriage when he and Jack +finished their work. There was room made for the passengers by putting +Mary's small trunk down in front, so that Jack's feet sprawled over it +from the nook where he sat. +</P> + +<P> +"I can manage the team," Jack said to himself. "They won't run away +with this load." +</P> + +<P> +Mary sat behind him, the other two on the back seat, and all the rest +of the carriage was trunks; not to speak of what Jack called a "young +house," moored behind. +</P> + +<P> +It all helped Jack to recover his usual composure, nevertheless, and he +drove out of Crofield, on the Mertonville road, confidently. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall discern traces of the devastation occasioned by the recent +inundation, as we progress," remarked Mrs. Potter. +</P> + +<P> +Jack replied: "Oh, no! The creek takes a great swoop, below Crofield, +and the road's a short cut. There'll be some mud, though." +</P> + +<P> +He was right and wrong. There was mud that forced the heavily laden +carriage to travel slowly, here and there, but there was nothing seen +of the Cocahutchie for several miles. +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo!" exclaimed Jack suddenly. "It looks like a kind of lake. It +doesn't come up over the road, though. I wonder what dam has given out +now!" +</P> + +<P> +There was the road, safe enough, but all the country to the right of it +seemed to have been turned into water. On rolled the carriage, the +horses now and then allowing signs of fear and distrust, and the two +older passengers expressing ten times as much. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Molly," said Jack, at last, "there's a bridge across the creek, a +little ahead of this. I'd forgotten about that. Hope it's there yet." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Miss Glidden. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't prognosticate disaster," said Mrs. Potter earnestly; and it +occurred to Jack that he had heard more long words during that drive +than any one boy could hope to remember. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah!" he shouted, a few minutes later. "Link's bridge is there! +There's water on both sides of the road, though." +</P> + +<P> +It was an old bridge, like that at Crofield, and it was narrow, and it +trembled and shook while the snorting bays pranced and shied their +frightened way across it. They went down the slope on the other side +with a dash that would have been a bolt if Jack had not been ready for +them. Jack was holding them with a hard pull upon the reins, but he +was also looking up the Cocahutchie. +</P> + +<P> +"I see what's the matter," he said. "The logs got stuck in a narrow +place, and made a dam of their own, and set the water back over the +flat. The freshet hasn't reached Mertonville yet. Jingo!" +</P> + +<P> +Bang, crack, crash!—came a sharp sound behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"The bridge is down!" he shouted. "We were only just in time. Some of +the logs have been carried down, and one of them knocked it endwise." +</P> + +<P> +That was precisely the truth of the matter; and away went the bays, as +if they meant to race with the freshet to see which would first arrive +in Mertonville. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm on my way to the city, any how," thought Jack, with deep +satisfaction. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MARY AND THE <I>EAGLE</I>. +</H3> + +<P> +The bay team traveled well, but it was late in the afternoon when Jack +drove into the town. Having been in Mertonville before, Jack knew +where to take Miss Glidden and Mrs. Potter. +</P> + +<P> +Mertonville was a thriving place, calling itself a town, and ambitious +of some day becoming a city. +</P> + +<P> +Not long after entering the village, Miss Glidden touched Jack's arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop, please!" exclaimed Miss Glidden. "There are our friends. The +very people we're going to see. Mrs. Edwards and the Judge, and all!" +</P> + +<P> +The party on foot had also halted, and were waiting to greet the +visitors. After welcomes had been exchanged, Mrs. Edwards, a tall, +dignified lady, with gray hair, turned to Mary and offered her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm delighted to see you, Miss Ogden," she exclaimed, "and your +brother John. I've heard so much about you both, from Elder Holloway +and the Murdochs. They are expecting you." +</P> + +<P> +"We're going to the Murdochs'," said Mary, a little embarrassed by the +warmth of the greeting. +</P> + +<P> +"You will come to see me before you go home?" said Mrs. Edwards. "I +don't wonder Miss Glidden is so fond of you and so proud of you. Make +her come, Miss Glidden." +</P> + +<P> +"I should be very happy," said Miss Glidden benevolently, "but Mary has +so many friends." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, she'll come," said the Judge himself, very heartily. "If she +doesn't, I'll come after her." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I drive to your house now, Judge Edwards?" Jack said at last. +</P> + +<P> +The party separated, and Jack started the bay team again. +</P> + +<P> +The house of Judge Edwards was only a short distance farther, and that +of Mrs. Potter was just beyond. +</P> + +<P> +"Mary Ogden," said Miss Glidden in parting, "you must surely accept +Mrs. Edwards's invitation. She is the kindest of women." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Miss Glidden," said Mary, demurely. +</P> + +<P> +Jack broke in: "Of course you will. You'll have a real good time, too." +</P> + +<P> +"And you'll come and see me?" said Mrs. Potter, and Mary promised. +Then Jack and the Judge's coachman lowered to the sidewalk Miss +Glidden's enormous trunk. +</P> + +<P> +As Mrs. Potter alighted, a few minutes later, she declared to Mary: +</P> + +<P> +"I'm confident, my dear, that you will experience enthusiastic +hospitality." +</P> + +<P> +"What shall I do?" asked Mary, as they drove away. "Miss Glidden +didn't mean what she said. She is not fond of me." +</P> + +<P> +"The Judge meant it," said Jack. "They liked you. None of them +pressed me to come visiting, I noticed. I'll leave you at Murdoch's +and take the team to the stable, and then go to the office of the +<I>Eagle</I> and see the editor." +</P> + +<P> +But when they reached the Murdochs', good Mrs. Murdoch came to the +door. She kissed Mary, and then said: +</P> + +<P> +"I'm so glad to see you! So glad you've come! Poor Mr. Murdoch—" +</P> + +<P> +"Jack's going to the office to see him," said Mary. +</P> + +<P> +"He needn't go there," said the editor's wife; "Mr. Murdoch is ill at +home. The storm and the excitement and the exposure have broken him +down. Come right in, dear. Come back, Jack, as soon as you have taken +care of the horses." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a pity," said Jack as he drove away. "The <I>Eagle</I> will have a +hard time of it without any editor." +</P> + +<P> +He was still considering that matter when he reached the livery-stable, +but he was abruptly aroused from his thoughts by the owner of the team, +who cried excitedly: +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah! Here's my team! I say, young man, how did you cross Link's +bridge? A man on horseback just came here and told us it was down. I +was afraid I'd lost my team for a week." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, here they are," said Jack, smiling. "They're both good +swimmers, and as for the carriage, it floated like a boat." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it did?" laughed the stable-keeper, as he examined his property. +"Livermore sent you with them, I suppose. I was losing five dollars a +day by not having those horses here. What's your name? Do you live in +Crofield?" +</P> + +<P> +"Jack Ogden." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! you're the blacksmith's son. Old Murdoch told me about you. My +name's Prodger. I know your father, and I've known him twenty years. +How did you get over the creek—tell me about it?" +</P> + +<P> +Jack told him, and Mr. Prodger drew a long breath at the end of the +story. +</P> + +<P> +"You didn't know the risk you were running," he said; "but you did +first-rate, and if I needed another driver I'd be glad to hire you. +What did Livermore say I was to pay you?" +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't say," said Jack. "I wasn't thinking about being paid." +</P> + +<P> +"So much the better. I think the more of you, my boy. But it was +plucky to drive that team over Link's bridge just before it went down. +I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll pay you what they'll earn me +to-night—it will be about three dollars—and we'll call it square. +How will that do?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's more than I've earned," said Jack, gratefully. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm satisfied, if you are," said Mr. Prodger as Jack jumped down. +"Come and see me again if you're to be in town. You're fond of horses +and have a knack with them." +</P> + +<P> +"Three dollars!" said Jack, after the money had been paid him, and he +was on his way back to the Murdochs'. "Mother let me have the six +dollars they gave me for the fish. And this makes nine dollars. Why, +it will take me the rest of the way to the city—but I wouldn't have a +cent when I got there." +</P> + +<P> +When he reached the editor's house, Jack noticed that the house was on +the same square with the block of wooden buildings containing the +<I>Eagle</I> office, and that the editor could go to his work through his +own garden, if he chose, instead of around by the street. He was again +welcomed by Mrs. Murdoch, and then led at once into Mr. Murdoch's room, +where the editor was in bed, groaning and complaining in a way that +indicated much distress. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm very sorry you're sick, Mr. Murdoch," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, Jack. It's just my luck. It's the very worst time for me +to be on the sick-list. Nobody to get out the <I>Eagle</I>. Lost my +'devil' to-day, too!" +</P> + +<P> +"Lost your 'devil'?" exclaimed Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Mr. Murdoch in despair. "No 'devil'! No editor! Nobody +but a wooden foreman and a pair of lead-headed type-stickers. The man +that does the mailing has more than he can do, too. There won't be any +<I>Eagle</I> this week, and perhaps none next week. Plenty of 'copy' nearly +ready, too. It's too bad!" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-087"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-087.jpg" ALT=""There won't be any Eagle this week."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="437" HEIGHT="510"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 437px"> +<I>"There won't be any Eagle this week."</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"You needn't feel so discouraged," said Jack, deeply touched by the +distress of the groaning editor. "Molly and I know what to do. She +can manage the copy, just as she did for the <I>Standard</I> once. So can +I. We'll go right to work." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I'd forgotten," said Mr. Murdoch. "You've worked a while at +printing. I'm willing you should see what you can do. I'd like to +speak to Mary. I'm sorry to say that you'll have to sleep in the +office, Jack, for we've only one spare room in this nutshell of a +house." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't mind that," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope I'll be out in a day or so," added the editor. "But, Jack, the +press is run by a pony steam-engine, and that foreman couldn't run it +to save his life," he added hopelessly. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's nothing to do," exclaimed Jack. "I've helped run an engine +for a steam thrashing-machine. Don't you be worried about the engine." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdoch was able to be up a little while in the evening, and Mary +came in to see him. From what he said to her, it seemed as if there +was really very little to do in editing the remainder of the next +number of the <I>Eagle</I>. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm so glad you're here," said Mrs. Murdoch, when Mary came out to +supper. "I never read a newspaper myself, and I don't know the first +thing about putting one together. It's too bad that you should be +bothered with it though." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Mrs. Murdoch," exclaimed Mary, laughing, "I shall be delighted. +I'd rather do it than not." +</P> + +<P> +The truth was that it was not easy for either Mary or her brother to be +very sorry that Mr. Murdoch was not able to work. They did not feel +anxious about him, for his wife had told them it was not a serious +attack, and they enjoyed the prospect of editing the newspaper. +</P> + +<P> +After supper Jack and Mary went through the garden to the <I>Eagle</I> +office. The pony-engine was in a sort of woodshed, the press was in +the "kitchen," as Mary called it, and the front room of the little old +dwelling-house was the business office. The editor's office and the +type-setting room were up-stairs. +</P> + +<P> +Jack took a look at the engine. +</P> + +<P> +"Any one could run that," he said. "I know just how to set it going. +Come on, Molly. This is going to be great fun." +</P> + +<P> +The editor's room was only large enough for a table and a chair and a +few heaps of exchange newspapers. The table was littered and piled +with scraps of writing and printing. +</P> + +<P> +"See!" exclaimed Jack, picking up a sheet of paper. "The last thing +Mr. Murdoch did was to finish an account of his visit to Crofield, and +the flood. We'll put that in first thing to-morrow. It's easy to edit +a newspaper. Where are the scissors?" +</P> + +<P> +"We needn't bother to write new editorials," said Mary. "Here are all +these papers full of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," said Jack. "But we must pick out good ones." +</P> + +<P> +Their tastes differed somewhat, and Mary condemned a number of articles +that seemed to Jack excellent. However, she selected a story and some +poems and a bright letter from Europe, and Jack found an account of an +exciting horse-race, a horrible railway accident, a base-ball match, a +fight with Indians, an explosion of dynamite, and several long strips +of jokes and conundrums. +</P> + +<P> +"These are splendid editorials!" said Mary, looking up from her +reading. "We can cut them down to fit the <I>Eagle</I>, and nobody will +suspect that Mr. Murdoch has been away." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they'll do," said Jack. "They're all lively. Mr. Murdoch is sure +to be satisfied. I don't think he can write better editorials himself." +</P> + +<P> +The young editors were much excited over their work, and soon became so +absorbed in their duties that it was ten o'clock before they knew it. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Molly," said Jack, "we'll go to the house and tell him it's all +right. We'll set the <I>Eagle</I> a-going in the morning. I knew we could +edit it." +</P> + +<P> +Mary had very little to say; her fingers ached from plying the +scissors, her eyes burned from reading so much and so fast, and her +head was in a whirl. +</P> + +<P> +At the house they met Mrs. Murdoch. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my dear children!" exclaimed she to Mary, "Mr. Murdoch is +delirious. The doctor's been here, and says he won't be able to think +of work—not for days and days. Can you,—<I>can</I> you run the <I>Eagle</I>? +You won't let it stop." +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed!" said Mary. "There's plenty of 'copy' ready, and Jack can +run the engine." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm so glad," said Mrs. Murdoch. "I'd never dare to clip anything. I +might make serious mistakes. He's so careful not to attack anything +nor to offend anybody. All sorts of people take the <I>Eagle</I>, and Mr. +Murdoch says he has to steer clear of almost everything." +</P> + +<P> +"We won't write anything," said Jack; "we'll just select the best there +is and put it right in. Those city editors on the big papers know what +to write." +</P> + +<P> +The editor's wife was convinced; and, after Mary had gone to her room, +Jack returned to a room prepared for him in the <I>Eagle</I> office. +</P> + +<P> +"I sha'n't wear my Sunday clothes to-morrow," said Jack; "I'll put on a +hickory shirt and old trousers; then I'll be ready to work." +</P> + +<P> +The last thing he remembered saying to himself was: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm nine miles nearer to New York." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Morning came, and Jack was busy before breakfast, but he went to the +house early. +</P> + +<P> +"I must be there when the 'hands' come," he said to Mrs. Murdoch. +"Molly ought to be in the office, too—" +</P> + +<P> +"I've told Mr. Murdoch," she said, "but he has a severe headache. He +can't bear to talk." +</P> + +<P> +"He needn't talk if he doesn't feel able," replied Jack. "The <I>Eagle</I> +will come out all right!" +</P> + +<P> +Mary could hardly wait to finish her cup of coffee, but she tried hard +to appear calm. She was ready as soon as Jack, but she did not have +quite so much confidence in her ability to do whatever might be +necessary. +</P> + +<P> +There was to be some press-work done that forenoon, and the pony-engine +had steam up when the foreman and the two type-setters reached the +office. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning, Mr. Black," said Jack, as he came into the engine-room. +"It's all right. I'm Jack Ogden, a friend of Mr. Murdoch's. The new +editor's upstairs. There's some copy ready. Mr. Murdoch will not be +at the office for a week." +</P> + +<P> +"Bless me!" said Mr. Black. "I reckoned that we'd have to strike work. +What we need most is a 'devil'—" +</P> + +<P> +"I can be 'devil,'" said Jack. "I used to run the <I>Standard</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"Boys," said the foreman, without the change of a muscle in his +pasty-looking face, "Murdoch's hired a proxy. I'll go up for copy." +</P> + +<P> +He stumped upstairs to what he called the "sanctum." The door stood +open. Mr. Black's eyes blinked rapidly when he saw Mary at the +editor's table; but he did not utter a word. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning, Mr. Black," said Mary, holding out Mr. Murdoch's +manuscript and a number of printed clippings. She rapidly told him +what they were, and how each of them was to be printed. Mr. Black +heard her to the end, and then he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning, ma'am. Is your name Murdoch, ma'am?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir. Miss Ogden," said Mary. "But no one need be told that Mr. +Murdoch is not here. I do not care to see anybody, unless it's +necessary." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, ma'am," said Mr. Black. "We'll go right along, ma'am. We're +glad the <I>Eagle</I> is to come out on time, ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +He was very respectful, as if the idea of having a young girl as editor +awed him; and he backed out of the office, with both hands full of +copy, to stump down-stairs and tell his two journeymen: +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right, boys. Bless me! I never saw the like before." +</P> + +<P> +He explained the state of affairs, and each in turn soon managed to +make an errand up-stairs, and then to come down again almost as awed as +Mr. Black had been. +</P> + +<P> +"She's a driver," said the foreman. "She was made for a boss. She has +it in her eye." +</P> + +<P> +Even Jack, when he was sent up after copy, was a little astonished. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way father looks," he thought, "whenever he begins to lose +his temper. The men mind him then, too; but he has to be waked up +first. I know how she feels. She's bound the <I>Eagle</I> shall come out +on time!" +</P> + +<P> +Even Jack did not appreciate how responsibility was waking up Mary +Ogden, or how much older she felt than when she left Crofield; but he +had an idea that she was taller, and that her eyes had become darker. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Bones, the man of all work in the front office below, was of the +opinion that she was very tall, and that her eyes were very black, and +that he did not care to go up-stairs again; for he had blundered into +the sanctum, supposing that Mr. Murdoch was there, and remarking as he +came: +</P> + +<P> +"Sa-ay, that there underdone gawk that helps edit the <I>Inquirer</I>, he +was jist in, lookin' for—yes, ma'am! Beg pardon, ma'am! I'm only +Bones—" +</P> + +<P> +"What did the gentleman want, Mr. Bones?" asked Mary, with much +dignity. "Mr. Murdoch is at home. He is ill. Is it anything I can +attend to?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, ma'am; nothing, ma'am. He's a blower. We don't mind him, +ma'am. I'll go down right away, ma'am. I'll see Mr. Black, ma'am. +Thank you, ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +He withdrew with many bows; and while down-stairs he saw Jack, and he +not only saw, but felt, that something very new and queer had happened +to the Mertonville <I>Eagle</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Both Mary and Jack were aware that there was a rival newspaper, but it +had not occurred to them that they were at all interested in the +<I>Inquirer</I>, or in its editors, beyond the fact that both papers were +published on Thursdays, and that the <I>Eagle</I> was the larger. +</P> + +<P> +The printers worked fast that day, as if something spurred them on, and +Mr. Black was almost bright when he reported to Mary how much they had +done during the day. +</P> + +<P> +"The new boy's the best 'devil' we ever had, ma'am," said he. "Please +say to Mr. Murdoch we'd better keep him." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, Mr. Black," said she. "I hope Mr. Murdoch will soon be +well." +</P> + +<P> +He stumped away, and it seemed to her as if her dignity barely lasted +until she and Jack found themselves in Mr. Murdoch's garden, on their +way home. It broke completely down as they were going between the +sweet-corn and the tomatoes, and there they both stopped and laughed +heartily. +</P> + +<P> +"But, Molly," Jack exclaimed, when he recovered his breath, "we'll have +to print the liveliest kind of an <I>Eagle</I>, or the <I>Inquirer</I> will get +ahead of us. I'm going out, after supper, all over town, to pick up +news. If I can only find some boys I know here, they could tell me a +lot of good items. The boys know more of what's going on than anybody." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to go with you," said Mary. "Stir around and find out all +you can." +</P> + +<P> +"I know what to do," said Jack, with energy, and if he had really +undertaken to do all he proceeded to tell her, it would have kept him +out all night. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CAUGHT FOR A BURGLAR. +</H3> + +<P> +Supper was ready when Jack and Mary went into the house, and Mrs. +Murdoch was eager that they should eat at once. She seemed very +placidly to take it for granted that things were going properly in the +<I>Eagle</I> office. Her husband had been ill before, and the paper had +somehow lived along, and she was not the kind of woman to fret about it. +</P> + +<P> +"He's been worrying," she said to Mary, "principally about town news. +He's afraid the <I>Inquirer</I> 'll get ahead of you. It might be good to +see him." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll see him," said Mary. +</P> + +<P> +"Mary! Mary!" came faintly in reply to her kindly greeting. "Local +items, Mary. Society Notes—the flood—logs—bridges—dams—fires. +Brief Mention. Town Improvement Society—the Sociable—anything!" +</P> + +<P> +"Jack will be out after news as soon as he eats his supper," said Mary. +"He'll find all there is to find. The printers did a splendid day's +work." +</P> + +<P> +"The doctor says not to tell me about anything," said the sick man, +despondently. "You'll fill the paper somehow. Do the best you can, +till I get well." +</P> + +<P> +She did not linger, for Mrs. Murdoch was already pulling her sleeve. +The three were soon seated at the table, and hardly was a cup of tea +poured before Mrs. Murdoch remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"Mary," she said, "Miss Glidden called here to-day, with Mrs. Judge +Edwards, in her carriage. They were sorry to find you out. So did +Mrs. Mason, and so did Mrs. Lansing, and Mrs. Potter. They wanted you +to go riding, and there's a lawn-tennis party coming. I told them all +that Mr. Murdoch was sick, and you were editing the <I>Eagle</I>, and Jack +was, too. Miss Glidden's very fond of you, you know. So is Mrs. +Potter. Her husband wishes he knew what to send Jack for saving his +wife from being drowned." +</P> + +<P> +This was delivered steadily but not rapidly, and Mary needed only to +say she would have been glad to see them all. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't save anybody," said Jack. "If the logs had hit the bridge +while we were on it, nothing could have saved us." +</P> + +<P> +Mary was particularly glad that none of her new friends were coming in +to spend the evening, for she felt she had done enough for one day. +Mrs. Murdoch, however, told her of a "Union Church Sociable," to be +held at the house of Mrs. Edwards, the next Thursday evening, and said +she had promised to bring Miss Ogden. Of course Mary said she would +go, but Jack declined. +</P> + +<P> +After supper, Jack was eager to set out upon his hunt after news-items. +</P> + +<P> +"I mustn't let a soul know what I'm doing," he said to Mary. "We'll +see whether I can't find out as much as the <I>Inquirer's</I> man can." +</P> + +<P> +He hurried away from the house, but soon ceased to walk fast and began +to peer sharply about. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a new building going up," he said, as he turned a corner; +"I'll find out about it." +</P> + +<P> +So he did, but it was only "by the way"; he really had a plan, and the +next step took him to Mr. Prodger's livery-stable. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Ogden," said Prodger, when he came in. "That bay team has +earned eight dollars and fifty cents to-day. I'm glad you brought them +over. How long are you going to be in town?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't tell," said Jack. "I'm staying at Murdoch's." +</P> + +<P> +"The editor's? He's a good fellow, but the <I>Eagle</I> is slow. All dry +fodder. No vinegar. No pickles. He needs waking up. Tell him about +Link's bridge!" +</P> + +<P> +That was a good beginning, and Jack soon knew just how high the water +had risen in the creek at Mertonville; how high it had ever risen +before; how many logs had been saved; how near Sam Hutchins and three +other men came to being carried over the dam; and what people talked +about doing to prevent another flood, and other matters of interest. +Then he went among the stable-men, who had been driving all day, and +they gave him a number of items. Jack relied mainly upon his memory, +but he soon gathered such a budget of facts that he had to go to the +public reading-room and work a while with pencil and paper, for fear of +forgetting his treasures. +</P> + +<P> +Out he went again, and it was curious how he managed to slip in among +knots of idlers, and set them to talking, and make them tell all they +knew. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm getting the news," he said to himself; "only there isn't much +worth the time." After a few moments he exclaimed, "This is the +darkest, meanest part of all Mertonville!" +</P> + +<P> +It was the oldest part of the village, near the canal and the railway +station, and many of the houses were dilapidated. Jack was thinking +that Mary might write something about improving such a neglected, +squalid quarter, when he heard a shriek from the door of a house near +by. +</P> + +<P> +"Robbers!—thieves!—fire!—murder!—rob-bers!—villains!" +</P> + +<P> +It was the voice of a woman, and had a crack in it that made it sound +as if two voices were trying to choke each other. +</P> + +<P> +"Robbers!" shouted Jack springing forward, just as two very short men +dashed through the gate and disappeared in the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +If they were robbers they were likely to get away, for they ran well. +</P> + +<P> +Jack Ogden did not run very far. He heard other footsteps. There were +people coming from the opposite direction, but he paid no attention to +them, until just as he was passing the gate. +</P> + +<P> +Then he felt a hand on his left shoulder, and another hand on his right +shoulder, and suddenly he found himself lying flat on his back upon the +sidewalk. +</P> + +<P> +"Hold him, boys!" +</P> + +<P> +"We've got him!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold him down!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tie him! We needn't gag him. Tie him tight! We've got him!" +</P> + +<P> +There were no less than four men, and two held his legs, while the +other two pinioned his arms, all the while threatening him with +terrible things if he resisted. +</P> + +<P> +It was in vain to struggle, and every time he tried to speak they +silenced him. Besides, he was too much astonished to talk easily, and +all the while an unceasing torrent of abuse was poured upon him, over +the gate, by the voice that had given the alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"We've got him, Mrs. McNamara! He can't get away this time. The young +villain!" +</P> + +<P> +"They were goin' to brek into me house, indade," said Mrs. McNamara. +"The murdherin' vagabones!" +</P> + +<P> +"What'll we do with him now, boys?" asked one of his captors. "I don't +know where to take him—do you, Deacon Abrams?" +</P> + +<P> +"What's your name, you young thief?" sternly demanded another. +</P> + +<P> +Jack had begun to think. One of his first thoughts was that a gang of +desperate robbers had seized him. The next idea was, that he never met +four more stupid-looking men in Mertonville, nor anywhere else. He +resolved that he would not tell his name, to have it printed in the +<I>Inquirer</I>, and so made no answer. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way of thim," said Mrs. McNamara. "He's game, and he won't +pache. The joodge'll have to mak him spake. Ye'd betther lock him up, +and kape him till day." +</P> + +<P> +"That's it, Deacon Abrams." +</P> + +<P> +"That's just it," said the man spoken to. "We can lock him up in the +back room of my house, while we go and find the constable." +</P> + +<P> +Away they went, guarding their prisoner on the way as if they were +afraid of him. +</P> + +<P> +They soon came to the dwelling of Deacon Abrams. +</P> + +<P> +It was hard for Jack Ogden, but he bore it like a young Mohawk Indian. +It would have been harder if it had not been so late, and if more of +the household had been there to see him. As it was, doors opened, +candles flared, old voices and young voices asked questions, a baby +cried, and then Jack heard a very sharp voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Sakes alive, Deacon! You can't have that ruffian here! We shall all +be murdered!" +</P> + +<P> +"Only till I go and find the constable, Jerusha," said the deacon, +pleadingly. "We'll lock him in the back room, and Barney and +Pettigrew'll stand guard at the gate, with clubs, while Smith and I are +gone." +</P> + +<P> +There was another protest, and two more children began to cry, but Jack +was led on into his prison-cell. +</P> + +<P> +It was a comfortable room, containing a bed and a chair. There was +real ingenuity in the way they secured Jack Ogden. They backed a chair +against a bedpost and made him sit down, and then they tied the chair, +and the wicked young robber in it, to the post. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" said Deacon Abrams. "He can't get away now!" and in a moment +more Jack heard the key turn in the lock, and he was left in the dark, +alone and bound,—a prisoner under a charge of burglary. +</P> + +<P> +"I never thought of this thing happening to me," he said to himself, +gritting his teeth and squirming on his chair. "It's pretty hard. May +be I can get away, though. They thought they pulled the ropes tight, +but then—" +</P> + +<P> +The hempen fetters really hurt him a little, but it was partly because +of the chair. +</P> + +<P> +"May be I can kick it out from under me," he said to himself, "and +loosen the ropes." +</P> + +<P> +Out it came, after a tug, and then Jack could stand up. +</P> + +<P> +"I might climb on the bed, now the ropes are loose," he said, "and lift +the loops over the post. Then I could crawl out of 'em." +</P> + +<P> +He was excited, and worked quickly. In a moment he was standing in the +middle of the room, with only his hands tied behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"I can cut that cord," he thought, "if I can find a nail in the wall." +</P> + +<P> +He easily found several, and one of them had a rough edge on the head +of it, and after a few minutes of hard sawing, the cord was severed. +</P> + +<P> +"It's easy to saw twine," said he. "Now for the next thing." +</P> + +<P> +He went to the window and looked out into the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm over the roof of the kitchen," he said, "and that tree's close to +it." +</P> + +<P> +Up went the window—slowly, carefully, noiselessly—and out crept Jack +upon that roof. It was steep, but he stole along the ridge. Now he +could reach the tree. +</P> + +<P> +"It's an apple-tree," he said. "I can reach that longest branch, and +swing off, and go down it hand over hand." +</P> + +<P> +At an ordinary time, few boys would have thought it could be done, and +Jack had to gather all his courage to make the attempt; but he slid +down and reached for that small, frail limb, from his perilous perch in +the gutter of the roof. +</P> + +<P> +"Now!" said Jack to himself. +</P> + +<P> +Off he went with a quick grasp, and then another lower along the +branch, before it had time to break, but his third grip was on a larger +limb, below, and he believed he was safe. +</P> + +<P> +"I must be quick!" he said. "Somebody is striking a light in that +room!" +</P> + +<P> +Hand over hand for a moment, and then he was astride of a limb. Soon +he was going down the trunk; and then the window (which he had closed +behind him) went up, and he heard Deacon Abrams exclaiming: +</P> + +<P> +"He couldn't have got out this way, could he? Stop thief! Stop thief!" +</P> + +<P> +"Let 'em chase!" muttered Jack, as his feet reached the ground. "This +is the liveliest kind of news-item!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack vaulted over the nearest fence, ran across a garden, climbed over +another fence, ran through a lot, and came out into a street on the +other side of the square. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got a good start, now," he thought, "but I'll keep right on. +They don't expect me at Murdoch's to-night. If I can only get to the +<I>Eagle</I> office! Nobody'll hunt for me there!" +</P> + +<P> +He heard the sound of feet, at that moment, around the next corner. +Open went the nearest gate, and in went Jack, and before long he was +scaling more fences. +</P> + +<P> +"It's just like playing 'Hare-and-Hounds,'" remarked Jack, as he once +more came out into a street. "Now for the <I>Eagle</I>, and it won't do to +run. I'm safe." +</P> + +<P> +He heard some running and shouting after that, however, and he did not +really feel secure until he was on his bed, with the doors below locked +and barred. +</P> + +<P> +"Now they can hunt all night!" he said to himself, laughing. "I've +made plenty of news for Mary." +</P> + +<P> +So she thought next morning; and the last "news-item" brought out the +color in her cheeks and the brightness in her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll write it out," she said, "just as if you were the real robber, +and we'll print it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," said Jack; "but I'd better keep shady for a day or so. I +wish I was on my way to New York!" +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me as if you were," said Mary. "They won't come here after +you. The paper's nearly full, now, and it'll be out to-morrow!" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdoch would have been gratified to see how Mary and Jack worked +that day. Even Mr. Black and the type-setters worked with energy, and +so did Mr. Bones, and there was no longer any doubt that the <I>Eagle</I> +would be printed on time. Mr. Murdoch felt better the moment he was +told by Mary, at tea-time, that she had found editing no trouble at +all. He was glad, he said, that all had been so quiet, and that nobody +had called at the editor's office, and that people did not know he was +sick. As to that, however, Mr. Bones had not told Mary how much he and +Mr. Black had done to protect her from intrusion. They had been like a +pair of watch-dogs, and it was hardly possible for any outsider to pass +them. As for Jack, he was not seen outside of the <I>Eagle</I> all that day. +</P> + +<P> +"If any of Deacon Abram's posse should come in," he remarked to Mary, +"they wouldn't know me with all the ink that's on my face." +</P> + +<P> +"Mother would have to look twice," laughed Mary. "Don't I wish I knew +what people will think of the paper!" +</P> + +<P> +She did not find out at once, even on Thursday. Jack had the engine +going on time, and as fast as papers were printed, the distribution of +them followed. It was a very creditable <I>Eagle</I>, but Mary blushed when +she read in print the account Mr. Murdoch had written of the doings in +Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll think Jack's a hero," she said, "and what will they think of +me?—and what will Miss Glidden say? But then he has complimented her." +</P> + +<P> +Jack, too, was much pleased to read the vivid accounts she had written +of the capture and escape of the daring young burglar who had broken +into the house of Mrs. McNamara, and of the falling of Link's bridge. +Neither of them, however, had an idea of how some articles in the paper +would affect other people. Before noon, there was such a rush for +<I>Eagles</I>, at the front office, that Mr. Black got out another ream of +paper to print a second edition, and Mr. Bones had almost to fight to +keep the excited crowd from going up-stairs to see for themselves +whether the editor was there. Before night, poor Mrs. Murdoch went to +the door thirty times to say to eager inquirers that Mr. Murdoch was in +bed, and that Dr. Follet had forbidden him to see anybody, or to talk +one word, or to get himself excited. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with the people?" she said wearily. "Can it be +possible that anything's the matter with the <I>Eagle</I>? Mary Ogden said +she'd taken the very best editorials from the city papers." +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Inquirer</I> was nowhere that Thursday, and the excitement over the +<I>Eagle</I> increased all the afternoon. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-106"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-106.jpg" ALT="Just out." BORDER="2" WIDTH="458" HEIGHT="464"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 458px"> +<I>Just out</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"It's all right, Mrs. Murdoch," said Jack, at supper. "Bones says he +has sold more than two hundred extra copies." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad of that," she said, "and I'll tell Mr. Murdoch; but he +mustn't read it." +</P> + +<P> +When she did so, he smiled faintly and with an effort feebly responded: +</P> + +<P> +"Thank Mary for me. I suppose they wanted to read about the flood." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Bones had not seen fit to report to Mary that a baker's dozen of +old subscribers had ordered their paper stopped; nor that one angry man +with a big club in his hand had inquired for the editor; nor that +Deacon Abrams, and the Town Constable, and three other men, and a +lawyer had called to see the editor about the robbery at Mrs. +McNamara's; nor that the same worthy woman, with her arms akimbo and +her bonnet falling back, had fiercely demanded of him: +</P> + +<P> +"Fwhat for did yez print all that about me howlin'? Wudn't ony woman +spake, was she bein' robbed and murdhered?" +</P> + +<P> +Bones had pacified Mrs. McNamara only by sitting still and hearing her +out, and he would not for anything have mentioned it to Miss Ogden. +She therefore had only good news to tell at the house, and Mrs. +Murdoch's replies related chiefly to the Union Church Sociable at Judge +Edwards's. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Murdoch is quiet," she said, "and he may sleep all the time we're +gone." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be on hand to look out for him," said Jack, "I'm not going +anywhere." +</P> + +<P> +That reassured them as to leaving home, and Mrs. Murdoch and Mary +departed without anxiety; but they had hardly entered the Edwards's +house before they found that many other people were very much less +placid. +</P> + +<P> +The first person to come forward, after Mrs. Edwards had welcomed them, +was Miss Glidden. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mary Ogden!" she exclaimed, very sweetly and benevolently. "My +dear! Why did you say so much about me in the <I>Eagle</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +"That was Mr. Murdoch's work," said Mary. "I had nothing to do with +it." +</P> + +<P> +"And that robbery and escape was really shocking." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly!" They heard a sharp, decided voice near them, and it came +from a thin little man in a white cravat. "You are right, Elder +Holloway! When a leading journal like the <I>Eagle</I> finds it needful to +denounce so sternly the state of the public streets in Mertonville, it +is time for the people to act. We ministers must hold a council right +away." +</P> + +<P> +Mary remembered a political editorial she had taken from a New York +paper, and had cut down to fit the <I>Eagle</I>; but its effect was +something unexpected. +</P> + +<P> +A deeper voice on her left spoke next. +</P> + +<P> +"There was serious talk among the hotel-men and innkeepers of mobbing +the <I>Eagle</I> office to-day!" +</P> + +<P> +"That," thought Mary, "must be the high-license editorial from that +Philadelphia weekly." +</P> + +<P> +"We must <I>act</I>, Judge Edwards!" exclaimed another voice. "Nobody knows +Murdoch's politics, but his denunciation of the prevailing corruption +is terrible. There's a storm rising. The Republican Committee has +called a special meeting to consider the matter, and we Democrats must +do the same. The <I>Eagle</I> is right about it, too; but it was a daring +step for him to take." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the editorial from the Chicago daily," thought Mary; "the last +part was from that Boston paper! Oh, dear me! What have I done?" +</P> + +<P> +She had to ask herself that question a dozen times that evening, and +she wished Jack had been there to hear what was said. +</P> + +<P> +The sociable went gayly on, nevertheless, and all the while Jack sat in +Mrs. Murdoch's dining-room, his face fairly glowing red with the +interest he took in something spread out upon the table before him. It +was a large map of New York city that he had found in the <I>Eagle</I> +office and brought to the house. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NEARER THE CITY. +</H3> + +<P> +Mary Ogden would have withdrawn into some quiet corner, at the +sociable, if it had not been for Elder Holloway and Miss Glidden, who +seemed determined to prevent her from being overlooked. All those who +had called upon Mrs. Murdoch knew that Mary had had something to do +with that extraordinary number of the <I>Eagle</I>, and they told others, +but Mrs. Murdoch escaped all discussion about the <I>Eagle</I> by saying she +had not read it, and referring every one to Miss Ogden. +</P> + +<P> +Mary was glad when the evening was over. After hearing the comments of +the public, there was something about their way of editing the paper +that seemed almost dishonest. +</P> + +<P> +Jack was still up when she came home. +</P> + +<P> +"I've used my time better than if I'd gone to the party," he said. +"I've studied the map of New York. I'd know just how to go around, if +I was there. I am going to study it all the time I'm here." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdoch was better. He had had a comfortable night, and felt able +to think of business again. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, my dear," he said to his wife, "I'm ready to take a look at the +<I>Eagle</I>. I am glad it was a good number." +</P> + +<P> +"They talked about it all last evening at the sociable," she answered, +as she handed him a copy. +</P> + +<P> +He was even cheerful, when he began; and he studied the paper as Jack +had studied the map. It was a long time before he said a word. +</P> + +<P> +"My account of the flood is really capital," he said, at last, "and all +that about Crofield matters. The report of things in Mertonville is +good; that about the logs, the dam, the burglary—a very extraordinary +occurrence, by the way—it's a blessing they didn't kill Mrs. McNamara. +The story is good; funny-column good. But—oh, gracious! Oh, Mary +Ogden! Oh my stars! What's this?" +</P> + +<P> +He had begun on the editorials, and he groaned and rolled about while +he was reading them. +</P> + +<P> +"They'll mob the <I>Eagle</I>!" he said at last. "I must get up! Oh, but +this is dreadful! She's pitched into everything there is! I must get +up at once!" +</P> + +<P> +Those editorials were a strong tonic, or else Mr. Murdoch's illness was +over. He dressed himself, and walked out into the kitchen. His wife +had not heard him say he would get up, but she seemed almost to have +expected it. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the way you always do," she said. "I'm never much scared about +you. You'll never die till your time comes. I think Mary is over at +the office." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going there, now," he said, excitedly. "If this work goes on, I +shall have the whole town about my ears." +</P> + +<P> +He was right. Mary had been at her table promptly that morning to make +a beginning on the next number; Jack was down in the engine-room; Mr. +Black was busy, and Mr. Bones was out, when a party of very red-faced +men filed in, went through the front office, and climbed the stairs. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll show him!" said one. +</P> + +<P> +"It'll be a lesson he won't forget!" remarked another, fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +"He'll take it back, or there will be broken bones!" added another; and +these spoke for the rest. They had sticks, and they tramped heavily as +they marched to the "sanctum." The foremost opened the door, without +knocking, and his voice was deep, threatening, and husky as he began: +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Mr. Editor—" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm the editor, sir. What do you wish of me?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-114"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-114.jpg" ALT=""I'm the Editor, sir."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="423" HEIGHT="486"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 423px"> +<I>"I'm the Editor, sir."</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Mary Ogden stood before him, looking him straight in the face without a +quiver. +</P> + +<P> +He was a big man; but, oddly enough, it occurred to him that Mary +seemed larger than he was. +</P> + +<P> +"Bob!" exclaimed a harsh whisper behind him, "howld yer tongue! it's +only a gir-rl! Don't ye say a har-rd word to the loikes o' her!" +</P> + +<P> +Other whispers and growls came from the hall, but the big man stood +like a stone post for several seconds. +</P> + +<P> +"You're the editor?" he gasped. "Is old Murdoch dead,—or has he run +away?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's at home, and ill," said Mary. "What is your errand?" +</P> + +<P> +"I keep a decent hotel, sir,—ma'am—madam—I do,—we all do,—it's the +<I>Eagle</I>, you know,—and there's no kind of disorder,—and there was +never any complaint in Mertonville—" +</P> + +<P> +"Howld on, Bob!" exclaimed the prompter behind him. "You're no good at +all; coom along, b'ys. Be civil,—Mike Flaherty will never have it +said he brought a shillalah to argy wid a colleen. I'm aff!" +</P> + +<P> +Away he went, stick and all, and the other five followed promptly, +leaving Mary Ogden standing still in amazement. She was trying to +collect her thoughts when Mr. Black marched in from the other room, +followed by the two typesetters; and Mr. Bones tumbled up-stairs, out +of breath. +</P> + +<P> +Mary had hardly any explanation to make about what Mr. Bones +frantically described as "the riot," and she was inclined to laugh at +it. Just then Mr. Murdoch himself came to the door. +</P> + +<P> +Jack stopped the engine, exclaiming, "Mr. Murdoch! you here?" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it? What is it?" he exclaimed. "I saw them go out. Did they +break anything?" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Ogden scared 'em off in no time," said Mr. Black. +</P> + +<P> +Mary resigned the editorial chair to Mr. Murdoch. Bones brought in two +office chairs; Mr. Black appeared with a very high stool that usually +stood before one of his typecases; Mary preferred one of the office +chairs, and there she sat a long time, replying to Mr. Murdoch's +questions and remarks. She had plenty to tell, after all she had heard +at the sociable, and Mr. Murdoch groaned at times, but still he thanked +her for her efforts. Meanwhile Mr. Black went to the engine-room with +an errand for Jack that sent him over to the other side of the village. +Jack looked in the little cracked mirror in the front room as he went +out. +</P> + +<P> +"Ink enough; they'll never know me," said Jack. "I'm safe enough. +Besides, Mrs. McNamara wasn't robbed at all. She was yelling because +she thought robbers were coming." +</P> + +<P> +He loitered along on his way back, with his eyes open and his ears +ready to catch any bit of stray news, and paused a moment to peer into +a small shoe-shop. +</P> + +<P> +It was only a momentary glance, but a hammer ceased tapping upon a +lapstone, and a tall man straightened up suddenly and very straight, as +he untied his leather apron. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the fellow!" he exclaimed under his breath, but Jack heard him. +</P> + +<P> +"He knew me! He knew me! I can't stay in Mertonville!" thought Jack. +"There'll be trouble now." +</P> + +<P> +He started at a run, but it was so early that he attracted little +attention. +</P> + +<P> +His return to the <I>Eagle</I> office was so quick that Mr. Black opened his +eyes in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got to see Mr. Murdoch," Jack said hurriedly, and up-stairs he +darted, to break right in upon the conference between the editors. +</P> + +<P> +Jack told his story, and Mr. Murdoch felt it was only another blow +added to the many already fallen upon him and his <I>Eagle</I>. "Perhaps +you will be better satisfied to leave town," said Mr. Murdoch, uneasily. +</P> + +<P> +"I've enough money to take me to the city, and I'll go. I'm off for +New York!" said Jack, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"New York?" exclaimed Mr. Murdoch. "That's the thing! Go to the house +and get ready. I'll buy you a ticket to Albany, and you can go down on +the night boat. They're taking passengers for half a dollar. You +mustn't be caught! No doubt they are hunting for you now." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdoch was right. At that very moment the cobbler was in the +grocery kept by Deacon Abrams, shouting, "We've got him again, Deacon! +He's in town. He works in a paint shop—had paint on his face. Or +else he's a blacksmith, or he works in coal, or something black—or +dusty. We can run him down now." +</P> + +<P> +While they went for the two others who knew Jack's face, he was putting +on his Sunday clothes and packing up. When he came down, there was no +ink upon his face, his collar was clean, his hair was brushed, and he +was a complete surprise to Mr. Black and the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"I can get a new boy," said Mr. Murdoch, as if he were beginning to +recover his spirits; "and I can run the engine myself now I'm well. I +can say in the next <I>Eagle</I> that you are gone to the city, and that +will help me out of my troubles." +</P> + +<P> +Neither Jack nor Mary quite understood what he meant, and, in fact, +they were not thinking about him just then. Mr. Murdoch had said that +there was only time to catch the express-train, and they were saying +good-by. Mary was crying for the moment, and Jack was telling her what +to write to his mother and father and those at home in Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +"It's so sudden, Jack!" said Mary. "But I'm glad you're going. I wish +I could go, too." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you could," said Jack, heartily; "but I'll write. I'll tell +you everything. Good-by, Mr. Murdoch's waiting. Good-by!" +</P> + +<P> +The <I>Eagle</I> editor was indeed waiting, and he was very uneasy. "What a +calamity it would be," he thought, "to have my own 'devil' arrested for +burglary. The <I>Inquirer</I> would enjoy that! It isn't Jack's fault, but +I can't bear everything!" +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Mary sat at the table and pretended to look among the papers +for a new story, but really she was trying to keep from crying over +Jack's departure. Mr. Murdoch and Jack had gone to the station. +</P> + +<P> +There was cunning in the plans of the pursuers of Mrs. McNamara's +burglar this time. Three of them, each aided by several eager +volunteers, dashed around Mertonville, searching every shop in which +any sort of face-blacking might be used, and Deacon Abrams himself went +to the station with a justice of the peace, a notary-public, a +constable, and the man that kept the village pound. +</P> + +<P> +"He won't get by <I>me</I>," said the deacon wisely, as Mr. Murdoch and a +neatly dressed young gentleman passed him, arm in arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, Mr. Murdoch. The <I>Eagle's</I> improving. You did me +justice. We're after that same villain now. We'll get him this time, +too." +</P> + +<P> +"Deacon," said the editor, gripping Jack's arm hard, "I'll mention your +courage and public spirit again. Tie him tighter next time." +</P> + +<P> +"We will," said the deacon; "and I've got some new subscribers for you, +and a column advertisement." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdoch hurried to the ticket-window, and Jack patiently looked +away from Deacon Abrams all the while. +</P> + +<P> +"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in. Keep your satchel with you. +I'm going back to the office." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-119"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-119.jpg" ALT=""There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="376" HEIGHT="335"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 376px"> +<I>"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in."</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Good-by," said Jack, pocketing his ticket and entering the car. +</P> + +<P> +He took a seat by the open window, just as the train started. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack's gone, Mary," exclaimed Mr. Murdoch, under his breath, as he +re-entered the <I>Eagle</I> office. "Have those men been here again?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Mary. "But the chairmen of the two central committees have +both been here. Elder Holloway said they would. They will call again." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you say?" the editor asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Why," replied Mary, "I told them you were just getting well." +</P> + +<P> +"So I am," said Mr. Murdoch. "There's a great demand for that number +of the <I>Eagle</I>. Forty-six old subscribers have stopped their papers, +but a hundred and twenty-seven new ones have come in. I can't guess +where this will end. Are you going to the house?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think I'd better," said Mary. "If there's anything more I can do—" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, no! Don't spoil your visit," said he, hastily. "You've had +work enough. Now you must be free to rest a little, and meet your +friends." +</P> + +<P> +He would not say he was afraid to have her in the <I>Eagle</I> office, to +stir up storms for him. But Mary made no objection—she was very +willing to give up the work. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Murdoch came home in a more hopeful state of mind, but soon went to +his room and lay down. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear," he said to his wife, "the paper's going right along; but I'm +too much exhausted to see anybody. Tell 'em all I'm not well." +</P> + +<P> +Mary was uneasy about Jack, but she need not have worried. The moment +the train was in motion, he forgot even Deacon Abrams and Mrs. McNamara +in the grand thought that he was actually on his way to the city. +</P> + +<P> +"This train's an express train," he said to himself. "Doesn't she go! +I said I'd get there some day, and now I'm really going! Hurrah for +New York! It's good I learned something about the streets—I'll know +what to do when I get there." +</P> + +<P> +He had nine dollars in his pocket for capital, but he knew more or less +of several businesses and trades. +</P> + +<P> +In the seat in front of him were two gentlemen, who must have been +railway men, he thought, from what they said, and it occurred to Jack +that he would like to learn how to build a railway. +</P> + +<P> +The train stopped at last, after a long journey, and a well-dressed man +got in, came straight to Jack's seat, took the hitherto empty half of +it, and began to talk with the men in front as if he had come on board +for the purpose. At first Jack paid little attention, but soon they +began to mention places he knew. +</P> + +<P> +"So far, so good," remarked the man at his side; "but we're going to +have trouble in getting the right of way through Crofield. We'll have +to pay a big price for that hotel if we can't use the street." +</P> + +<P> +"I think not," said Jack, with a smile. "There isn't much hotel left +in Crofield, now. It was burned down last Sunday." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" exclaimed one of the gentlemen in front. "Are you from +Crofield?" +</P> + +<P> +"I live there," said Jack. "Your engineer was there about the time of +the fire. The old bridge is down. I heard him say that your line +would cross just below it." +</P> + +<P> +The three gentlemen were all attention, and the one who had not before +spoken said: +</P> + +<P> +"I know. Through the old Hammond property." +</P> + +<P> +"It used to belong to Mr. Hammond," replied Jack, "but it belongs to my +father now." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you give me a list of the other owners of property?" asked the +railway man with some interest. +</P> + +<P> +"I can tell you who owns every acre around Crofield, boundary lines and +all," answered Jack. "I was born there. You don't know about the +people, though. They'll do almost anything to have the road there. My +father will help all he can. He says the place is dead now." +</P> + +<P> +"What's his name?" asked the first speaker, with a notebook and a +pencil in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"His is John Ogden. Mine's Jack Ogden. My father knows every man in +the county," replied Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Ogden," said the gentleman in the forward seat, next the window. "My +name's Magruder; we three are directors in the new road. I'm a +director in this road. Are you to stay in Albany?" +</P> + +<P> +"I go by the night boat to New York," said Jack, almost proudly. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you stay over a day? We'll entertain you at the Delavan House if +you'll give us some information." +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly; I'll be glad to," said Jack; and so when the train stopped +at Albany, Jack was talking familiarly enough with the three railway +directors. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mary Ogden had a very clear idea that Mr. Murdoch preferred to make up +the next paper without any help from her, and even Mrs. Murdoch was +almost glad to know that her young friend was to spend the next week +with Mrs. Edwards. +</P> + +<P> +One peculiar occurrence of that day had not been reported at the +<I>Eagle</I> office, and it had consequences. The Committee of Six, who had +visited the sanctum so threateningly, went away beaten, but recounted +their experience. They did so in the office of the Mertonville Hotel, +and Mike Flaherty had more than a little to say about "that gurril," +and about "the black eyes of her," and the plucky way in which she had +faced them. +</P> + +<P> +One little old gentleman whose eyes were still bright, in spite of his +gray hair, stood in the door and listened, with his hand behind his ear. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen," exclaimed this little old man, turning to the men behind +him. "Did you hear 'em? I guess I know what we ought to do. Come on +into Crozier's with me—all of you. We must give her a testimonial for +her pluck." +</P> + +<P> +"Crozier's?" asked a portly, well-dressed man. "Nothing there but +dry-goods." +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Jeroliman. You're a banker and you're needed. I dare you to +come!" said the little old man, jokingly, leading the way. +</P> + +<P> +Seven of them reached the dress-goods counter of the largest store in +Mertonville, and here the little old gentleman bought black silk for a +dress. +</P> + +<P> +"You brought your friends, I see, General Smith," said the merchant, +laughing. "One of your jokes, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"No joke at all, Crozier; a testimonial of esteem,"—and three +gentlemen helped one another to tell the story. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll make a good reduction, for my share," exclaimed the merchant, as +he added up the figures of the bill. "Will that do, General?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll join in," promptly interposed Mr. Jeroliman, the banker, +laughing. "I won't take a dare from General Smith. Come, boys." +</P> + +<P> +They were old enough boys, but they all "chipped in," and General +Smith's dare did not cost him much, after all. +</P> + +<P> +Mary Ogden had the map of New York out upon the table that evening, and +was examining it, when there came a ring at the door-bell. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a boy from Crozier's with a package," said Mrs. Murdoch; "and +Mary, it's for you!" +</P> + +<P> +"For me?" said Mary, in blank astonishment. +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed addressed to her, and contained a short note: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"The girl who was not afraid of six angry men is requested to accept +this silk dress, with the compliments of her admiring friends, +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"SEVEN OLD MEN OF MERTONVILLE." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Oh, but, Mrs. Murdoch," said Mary, in confusion, "I don't know what to +say or do. It's very kind of them!—but ought I to take it?" +</P> + +<P> +This testimonial pleased Mr. Murdoch even more than it pleased Mary. +He insisted Mary should keep it, and she at last consented. +</P> + +<P> +But not even the new dress made Mary forget to wonder how Jack was +faring. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The lightning express made short work of the trip to Albany, and Jack +was glad of it, for he had not had any dinner. His new acquaintances +invited him to accompany them to the Delavan House. +</P> + +<P> +As they left the station, Mr. Magruder took from his pocket a small +pamphlet. +</P> + +<P> +"Humph!" he said. "Guide-book to the New York City and Hudson River. +I had forgotten that I had it. Don't you want it, Ogden? It'll be +something to read on the boat." +</P> + +<P> +"Won't you keep it?" asked Jack, hesitating. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," said Mr. Magruder. "I was going to throw it away." +</P> + +<P> +So Jack put the book into his pocket. It was a short walk to the +Delavan House, but it was through more bustle and business, considering +how quiet everybody was, Jack thought, than he ever saw before. He +went with the rest to the hotel office, and heard Mr. Magruder give +directions about Jack's room and bill. +</P> + +<P> +"He's going to pay for me for one day," Jack said to himself, "and +until the evening boat goes to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Ogden," said Mr. Magruder, "I can't ask you to dine with us. It's a +private party—have your dinner, and then wait for me here." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Jack, and then he stood still and tried to think what +to do. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go to my room, now, and leave my satchel there," he said to +himself. "I don't want anybody to know I never was in a big hotel +before." +</P> + +<P> +He managed to get to his room without making a single blunder, but the +moment he closed the door he felt awed and put down. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the finest room I was ever in in all my life!" he exclaimed. +"They must have made a mistake. Perhaps I'll have a bedroom like this +in my own house some day." +</P> + +<P> +Jack made himself look as neat as if he had come out of a bandbox, +before he went down-stairs. +</P> + +<P> +The dining-room was easily found, and he was shown to a seat at one of +the tables, and a bill of fare was handed him; but that was only one +more puzzle. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what some of these are," he said to himself. "I'll try +things I couldn't get in Crofield. I'll begin on those clams with +little necks." +</P> + +<P> +So the waiter set before him a plate of six raw clams. +</P> + +<P> +That was a good beginning; for every one of them seemed to speak to him +of the salt ocean. +</P> + +<P> +After that he went farther down the bill of fare and selected such +dishes as, he said, "nobody ever saw in Crofield." +</P> + +<P> +It was a grand dinner, and Jack was almost afraid he had been too long +over it. +</P> + +<P> +He went out to the office and looked around, and asked the clerk if Mr. +Magruder had been inquiring for him. +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet, Mr. Ogden," said the clerk. "He is not yet through dinner. +Did you find your room all right?" +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Jack. "I'll sit down and wait for Mr. Magruder." +</P> + +<P> +It was an hour before the railway gentlemen returned. There were twice +as many of them now, however, and Mr. Magruder remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Ogden, we won't detain you long. After that you can do what you +like. Thank you very much, too." +</P> + +<P> +Jack followed them into a private sitting-room, which seemed to him so +richly furnished that he really wished it had been plainer; but he +found the men very straightforward about their business. +</P> + +<P> +They all sat down around the table in the middle of the room. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll finish Ogden first, and let him go," said Mr. Magruder, +laughing. "Ogden, here's a map of Crofield and all the country from +there to Mertonville. I want to ask some questions." +</P> + +<P> +He knew what to ask, too; but Jack's first remark was not an answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Your map's all wrong," said he. "There isn't sand and gravel in that +hill across the Cocahutchie, beyond the bridge." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-129"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-129.jpg" ALT=""Your map's all wrong," said Jack." BORDER="2" WIDTH="602" HEIGHT="439"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 602px"> +<I>"Your map's all wrong," said Jack.</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"What is there, then?" asked a gentleman, who seemed to be one of the +civil engineers, pettishly. "I say it's earth and gravel, mainly." +</P> + +<P> +"Clear granite," said Jack. "Go down stream a little and you'll see." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," exclaimed Mr. Magruder; "it will be costly cutting it, but +we shall want the stone. Go ahead now. You're just the man we needed." +</P> + +<P> +Jack thought so before they got through, for he had to tell all there +was to tell about the country, away down to Link's bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"Look here," said one of them, quizzically. "Ogden, have you lived all +your life in every house in Crofield and in Mertonville and everywhere? +You know even the melon-patches and hen-roosts!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I know some of 'em," said Jack, coloring and trying to join in +the general laugh. "I wouldn't talk so much, but Mr. Magruder asked me +to stay over and tell what you didn't know." +</P> + +<P> +Then the laughter broke out again, and it was not at Jack's expense. +</P> + +<P> +They had learned all they expected from him, however, and Mr. Magruder +thanked him very heartily. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you'll have a good time to-morrow," he said. "Look at the +city. I'll see that you have a ticket ready for the boat." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't expect—" began Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense, Ogden," said Mr. Magruder. "We owe you a great deal, my +boy. I wouldn't have missed knowing about that granite ledge. It's +worth something to us. The ticket will be handed you by the clerk. +Good-evening, Jack Ogden. I hope I'll see you again, some day." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope so," said Jack. "Good-evening, sir. Good-evening, gentlemen." +</P> + +<P> +Out he walked, and as the door closed behind him the engineer remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"He ought to be a railway contractor. Brightest young fellow I've seen +in a long time." +</P> + +<P> +Jack felt strange. The old, grown-up feeling seemed to have been +questioned out of him, by those keen, peremptory, clear-headed business +men, and he appeared to himself to be a very small, green, poor, +uneducated boy, who hardly knew where he was going next, or what he was +going to do when he got there. "I don't know about that either," he +said to himself, when he reached the office. "I know I'm going to bed, +next, and I believe that I'll go to sleep when I get there!" +</P> + +<P> +Weary, very weary, and almost blue, in spite of everything, was Jack +Ogden that night, when he crept into bed. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tisn't like that old cot in the <I>Eagle</I> office," he thought. "I'm +glad it isn't to be paid for out of my nine dollars." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was tired all over, and in a few minutes he was sound asleep. +</P> + +<P> +He had gone to bed quite early, and he awoke with the first sunshine +that came pouring into his room. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't time to get up," he said. "It'll be ever so long before +breakfast, but I can't stay here in bed." +</P> + +<P> +As he put on his coat something swung against his side, and he said: +</P> + +<P> +"There! I'd forgotten that pamphlet. I'll see what's in it." +</P> + +<P> +The excitement of getting to the Delavan House, and the dinner and the +talk afterward, had driven the pamphlet out of his mind until then, but +he opened it eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" he said, as he turned the leaves. "Maps and pictures, all the +way down. Everything about the Hudson. Pictures of all the places +worth seeing in New York. Tells all about them. Where to go when you +get there. Just what I wanted!" +</P> + +<P> +Down he sat, and he came near forgetting his breakfast, so intensely +was he absorbed by that guide-book. He shut it up, at last, however, +remarking: "I'll have breakfast, and then I'll go out and see Albany. +It's all I've got to do till the boat leaves this evening. First city +I ever saw." He ate with all the more satisfaction because he knew +that he was not eating up any part of his nine dollars, and it did not +seem like so much money as it would have seemed in Crofield. He was in +no haste, for he had no idea where to go, and did not mean to tell +anybody how ignorant he was. He walked out of the Delavan House, and +strolled away to the right. Even the poorer buildings were far better +than anything in Crofield or Mertonville, and he soon had a bit of a +surprise. He reached a corner where a very broad street opened, at the +right, and went up a steep hill. It was not a very long street, and it +ended at the crest of the hill, where there were some trees, and above +them towered what seemed to be a magnificent palace of a building. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go and see that," said Jack. "I'll know what it is when I see +the sign,—or I'll ask somebody." +</P> + +<P> +His interest in that piece of architecture grew as he walked on up the +hill; and he was a little warm and out of breath when he reached the +street corner, at the top. Upon the corner, with his hands folded +behind him and his hat pushed back on his head, stood a well-dressed +man, somewhat above middle height, heavily built and portly, who seemed +to be gazing at the same object. +</P> + +<P> +"Mister," said Jack, "will you please tell me what that building is?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," replied the gentleman, turning to him with a bow and a +smile. "That's the New York State Miracle; one of the wonders of the +world." +</P> + +<P> +"The State Miracle?" said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"What's your name?" asked the gentleman, with another bow and smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Ogden—Jack Ogden." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Jack Ogden; thank you. My name's 'Guvner.' That's a miracle. +It can never be finished. There's magic in it. Do you know what that +is?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's one of the things I don't know, Mr. Guvner," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what it is either," smiled Mr. Guvner. "When they built +it they put in twenty tons of pure, solid gold, my lad. Didn't you +ever hear of it? Where do you live when you're at home?" +</P> + +<P> +"My home's in Crofield," said Jack, not aware of a group of gentlemen +and ladies who were standing still, a few yards away, looking at them. +"I'm on my way to New York, but I wanted to see Albany." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Guvner put a large hand on his shoulder, and smiled in his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack, my son," he said, "go up and look all over the State Miracle. +Many other States have other similar miracles. Don't stay in it too +long, though." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it unhealthy?" asked Jack, with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +The portly gentleman was smiling also. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no; not unhealthy, my boy; but they persuade some men to stay +there a long time, and they're never the same men again. Come out as +soon as you've had a good view of it." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll take a look at it any way," said Jack, turning away. "Thank you, +Mr. Guvner. I'll see the Miracle." +</P> + +<P> +He had gone but a few paces, and the others were stepping forward, when +he was called by Mr. Guvner. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack, come back a moment!" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, Mr. Guvner?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm almost sorry you're going to the city. It's as bad as the Capitol +itself. You'll never be the same man again. Don't get to be the wrong +kind of man." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll remember, Mr. Guvner," said Jack, and he walked away again; but +as he did so he heard a lady laughing, and a solemn-faced gentlemen +saying: +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, Gov-er-nor. A very fine morning?" +</P> + +<P> +"I declare!" exclaimed Jack, with almost a shiver. "I've been talking +with the Governor of the State himself, and I'm going to see the +Capitol. I couldn't have done that in Crofield. And I'll be in New +York City to-morrow!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE STATE-HOUSE AND THE STEAMBOAT. +</H3> + +<P> +Mary Ogden had three dresses, one quite pretty, but none were of silk. +Aunt Melinda was always telling Mary what she ought not to wear at her +age, and with hair and eyes as dark as hers. Mary felt very proud, +therefore, when she saw on the table in her room the parcel containing +the black silk and trimmings. +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been expensive," she said, and she unfolded it as if +afraid it would break. +</P> + +<P> +"What will mother say?" she thought. "And Aunt Melinda! I'm too young +for it—I know I am!" +</P> + +<P> +The whole Murdoch family arose early, and the editor, after looking at +the black silk, said that he felt pretty well. +</P> + +<P> +"So you ought," said his wife. "You had more new subscribers yesterday +than you ever had before in your life in any one day." +</P> + +<P> +"That makes me think," said Mr. Murdoch. "I owe Mary Ogden five +dollars—there it is—for getting out that number of the <I>Eagle</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no!" exclaimed Mary. "I did that, and Jack did it, only because—" +</P> + +<P> +He put the bank-note into her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd rather you'd take it," he said. "You'll never be a good editor +till you learn to work on a business basis." +</P> + +<P> +As he insisted, she put the bill into her pocket-book, thanking him +gratefully. +</P> + +<P> +"I had two dollars when I came," she thought, "and I haven't spent a +cent; but I may need something. Besides, I'll have to pay for making +up my new dress." +</P> + +<P> +But she was wrong. Mrs. Murdoch went out to see a neighbor after +breakfast, and before noon it was certain that if seven old men of +Mertonville had paid for the silk, at least seven elderly women could +be found who were very willing to make it up. +</P> + +<P> +About that time Jack was walking up to the door of the Senate Chamber, +in the Capitol, at Albany, after having astonished himself by long +walks and gazings through the halls and side passages. +</P> + +<P> +"It's true enough," he said to himself. "The Governor's right. No +fellow could go through this and come out just as he came in." +</P> + +<P> +He understood about the "twenty tons of pure gold" in the building, but +nevertheless he could not keep from looking all around after signs of +it. +</P> + +<P> +"There's plenty of gilding," he said, "but it's very thin. It's all +finished, too. I don't see what more they could do, now the roof's on +and it's all painted. He must have been joking when he said that." +</P> + +<P> +Jack roamed all over the Capitol, for the Legislature was not in +session, and the building was open to sight-seers. There were many of +them, and from visitors, workmen, and some boys whom he met, Jack +managed to find out many interesting things. +</P> + +<P> +The Assembly Chamber seemed to him a truly wonderful room, and upon the +floor were several groups of people admiring it. +</P> + +<P> +He saw one visitor seat himself in the Speaker's chair. "There's room +in that chair for two or three small men," said Jack; "I'll try it by +and by." +</P> + +<P> +So he did. +</P> + +<P> +"The Speaker was a boy once, too, and so was the Governor," he said to +himself aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my boy," said a lady, who was near enough to hear him; "so they +were. So were all the presidents, and some went barefoot and lived in +log-cabins." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I've often gone barefoot," said Jack, laughing. +</P> + +<P> +"Many boys go barefoot, but they can't all become governors," she said, +pleasantly. +</P> + +<P> +She looked at Jack for a moment, and then said with a smile, "You look +like a bright young man, though. Do you suppose you could ever be +Governor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I could," he said. "It can't be harder to learn than any +other business." +</P> + +<P> +The lady laughed, and her friends laughed, and Jack arose from the +Speaker's chair and walked away. +</P> + +<P> +He had seen enough of that vast State House. It wearied him, there was +so much of it, and it was so fine. +</P> + +<P> +"To build this house cost twenty tons of gold!" he said, as he went out +through the lofty doorway. "I wish I had some of it. I've kept my +nine dollars yet, anyway. The Governor's right. I don't know what he +meant, but I'll never be just the same fellow again." +</P> + +<P> +It was so. But it was not merely seeing the Capitol that had changed +him. He was changing from a boy who had never seen anything outside of +Crofield and Mertonville, into a boy who was walking right out into the +world to learn what is in it. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go to the hotel and write to father and mother," he said; "and I +have something to tell them." +</P> + +<P> +It was the first real letter he had ever written, and it seemed a great +thing to do—ten times more important than writing a composition, and +almost equal to editing the <I>Eagle</I>. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll just put in everything," he thought, "just as it came along, and +they'll know what I've been doing." +</P> + +<P> +It took a long time to write the letter, but it was done at last, and +when he put down his pen he exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Hard work always makes me hungry! I wonder if it isn't dinner-time? +They said it was always dinner-time here after twelve o'clock. I'll go +see." It was long after twelve when he went down to the office to +stamp and mail his letter. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Ogden," said the clerk, giving Jack an envelope, "here's a note +from Mr. Magruder. He left—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ogden," said a deep, full voice just behind him, "didn't you stay +there too long? I am told you sat in the Speaker's chair." +</P> + +<P> +Jack wheeled about, blushing crimson. The Governor was not standing +still, but was walking steadily through the office, surrounded by a +group of dignified men. It was necessary to walk with them in order to +reply to the question, and Jack did so. +</P> + +<P> +"I sat there half a minute," he answered. "I hope it didn't hurt me." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you got out so soon, Jack," replied the Governor approvingly. +</P> + +<P> +"But I heard also that you think of learning the Governor business," +went on the great man. "Now, don't you do it. It is not large pay, +and you'd be out of work most of the time. Be a blacksmith, or a +carpenter, or a tailor, or a printer." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Governor," said Jack, "I was brought up a blacksmith; and I've +worked at carpentering, and printing too; and I've edited a newspaper; +but—" +</P> + +<P> +There he was cut short by the laughter from those dignified men. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye, Jack," said the Governor, shaking hands with him. "I hope +you'll have a good time in the city. You'll be sent back to the +Capitol some day, perhaps." +</P> + +<P> +Jack returned to the clerk's counter to mail his letter, and found that +gentleman looking at him as if he wondered what sort of a boy he might +be. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-140"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-140.jpg" ALT="The hotel clerk looked at Jack." BORDER="2" WIDTH="367" HEIGHT="373"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 367px"> +<I>The hotel clerk looked at Jack</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"That young fellow knows all the politicians," said the clerk to one of +the hotel proprietors. "He can't be so countrified as he looks." +</P> + +<P> +After dinner, Jack returned to his room for a long look at the +guide-book. He went through it rapidly to the last leaf, and then +threw it down, remarking: +</P> + +<P> +"I never was so tired! I'll take a walk around and see Albany a little +more; and I'll not be sorry when the boat goes. I'd like to see Mary +and the rest for an hour or two. I think they'd like to see me coming +in, too." +</P> + +<P> +Jack sauntered on through street after street, getting a clearer idea +of what a city was. +</P> + +<P> +He walked so far that he had some difficulty in returning to the hotel, +but finally he found it without asking directions. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after, Jack brought down his satchel, said good-bye to the very +polite clerk, and walked out. +</P> + +<P> +He had learned the way to the steamboat-wharf; and he had already taken +one brief look at the river and the railway bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"There's the 'Columbia,'" he said, aloud, as he turned a street corner +and came in sight of her. "What a boat! Why, if her nose was at the +Main Street corner, by the Washington Hotel, her rudder would be +half-way across the Cocahutchie!" +</P> + +<P> +He walked the wharf, staring at her from end to end, before he went on +board. He had put Mr. Magruder's note into his pocket without reading +it. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't open it here," he had said then. "There's nothing in it but a +ticket." +</P> + +<P> +He found, however, that he must show the ticket at the gangway, and so +he opened the envelope. +</P> + +<P> +"Three tickets?" he said. "And two are in one piece. This one is for +a stateroom. That's the bunk I'm to sleep in. Hulloo! Supper ticket! +I have supper on board the steamer, do I? Well, I'm not sorry. I'll +have to hurry, too. It's about time for her to start." +</P> + +<P> +Jack went on board, and soon was hunting for his stateroom, almost +bewildered by the rushing crowd in the great saloon. +</P> + +<P> +He had his key, and knew the number, but it seemed that there were +about a thousand of the little doors. +</P> + +<P> +"One hundred and seventy-six is mine," he said; "and I'm going to put +away my satchel and go on deck and see the river. Here it is at last. +Why, it's a kind of little bedroom! It's as good as a floating hotel. +Now I'm all right." +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he was aware, with a great thrill of pleasure, that the +Columbia was in motion. He left his satchel in a corner, locked the +door of the stateroom behind him, and set out to find his way to the +deck. He went down-stairs and up-stairs, ran against people, and was +run against by them; and it occurred to him that all the passengers +were hunting for something they could not find. +</P> + +<P> +"Looking for staterooms, I guess," he remarked aloud; but he himself +should not have been staring behind him, for at that moment he felt the +whack of a collision, and a pair of heavy arms grasped him. +</P> + +<P> +"What you looks vor yourself, poy? You knocks my breath out! You find +somebody you looks vor—eh?" +</P> + +<P> +The tremendous man who held him was not tall, but very heavy, and had a +broad face and long black beard and shaggy gray eyebrows. +</P> + +<P> +"Beg pardon!" exclaimed Jack, with a glance at a lady holding one of +the man's long arms, and at two other ladies following them. +</P> + +<P> +"You vas got your stateroom?" asked his round-faced captor +good-humoredly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes!" said Jack. "I've got one." +</P> + +<P> +"You haf luck. Dell you vot, poy, it ees a beeg schvindle. Dey say +'passage feefty cent,' und you comes aboard, und you find it is choost +so. Dot's von passage. Den it ees von dollar more to go in to supper, +und von dollar to eat some tings, und von dollar to come out of supper, +und some more dollars to go to sleep, und maybe dey sharges you more +dollars to vake up in de morning. Dot is not all. Dey haf no more +shtateroom left, und ve all got to zeet up all night. Eh? How you +like dot, poy?" +</P> + +<P> +Jack replied as politely as he knew how: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you will find a stateroom. They can't be full." +</P> + +<P> +"Dey <I>ees</I> full. Dey ees more as full. Dere vill be no room to sleep +on de floor, und ve haf to shtand oop all night. How you likes dot, +eh?" +</P> + +<P> +The ladies looked genuinely distressed, and said a number of things to +each other in some tongue that Jack did not understand. He had been +proud enough of his stateroom up to that moment, but he felt his heart +melting. Besides, he had intended to sit up a long while to see the +river. +</P> + +<P> +"I can fix it," he suddenly exclaimed. "Let the ladies take my +stateroom. It's big enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Poy!" said the German solemnly, "dot is vot you run into my arms for. +My name is Guilderaufenberg. Dis lady ees Mrs. Guilderaufenberg. Dis +ees Mees Hildebrand. She's Mees Poogmistchgski, and she is a Bolish +lady vis my wife." +</P> + +<P> +Jack caught all the names but the last, but he was not half sure about +that. He bowed to each. +</P> + +<P> +"Come with me; I'll show you the room," he said. "Then I'm going out +on deck." +</P> + +<P> +"Ve comes," said the wide German; and the three ladies all tried to +express their thanks at the same time, as Jack led the way. Jack was +proud of his success in actually finding his own door again. +</P> + +<P> +"I puts um all een," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg; "den I valks mit you on +deck. Dose vommens belifs you vas a fine poy. So you vas, ven I dells +de troof." +</P> + +<P> +They all talked a great deal, and Jack managed to reduce the Polish +lady's name to Miss "Podgoomski," but he felt uneasily that he had left +out a part of it. Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and the others were loaded up +with more parcels and baggage than Jack had ever seen three women carry. +</P> + +<P> +"Dey dakes care of dot shtateroom," said his friend. "Ve goes on deck. +I bitty anypoddy vot dries to get dot shtateroom avay from Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg and Mees Hildebrand and Mees Pod——ski;" but again +Jack had failed to hear that Polish lady's name. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DOWN THE HUDSON. +</H3> + +<P> +Jack already felt well acquainted with Mr. Guilderaufenberg. +</P> + +<P> +The broad and bearded German knew all about steamboats, and found his +way out upon the forward deck without any difficulty. Jack had lost +his way entirely in his first hunting for that spot, and he was glad to +find himself under the awning and gazing down the river. +</P> + +<P> +"Ve only shtays here a leetle vile," said his friend. "Den ve goes and +takes de ladies down to eat some supper. Vas you hongry?" +</P> + +<P> +Jack was not really hungry for anything but the Hudson, but he said he +would gladly join the supper-party. +</P> + +<P> +"I never saw the Hudson before," he said. "I'd rather sit up than not." +</P> + +<P> +"I seet up all de vay to New York and not care," said his friend. "I +seet up a great deal. My vife, dot ees Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, she keep +a beeg boarding-house in Vashington. Dot ees de ceety to lif in! Vas +you ever in Vashington? No?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never was anywhere," said Jack. "Never was in New York—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yon nefer vas dere? Den you petter goes mit me und Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg. Dot ees goot. So! You nefer vas in Vashington. +You nefer vas in New York. So! Den you nefer vas in Lonton? I vas +dere. You lose youself in Lonton so easy. I lose myself twice vile I +vas dere." +</P> + +<P> +"You weren't lost long, I know," said Jack, laughing at the droll shake +of the German's head. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I vas find. I vas shoost going to advertise myself ven I finds a +street I remember. Den I gets to my hotel. You nefer vas dere? Und +you nefer vas in Vashington. You come some day. Dot ees de ceety, mit +de Capitol und de great men! Und you vas nefer in Paris, nor in +Berlin, nor in Vienna, nor in Amsterdam? No? I haf all of dem seen, +und dose oder cities. I dravel, but dere ees doo much boleece, so I +comes to dis country, vere dere ees few boleece." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was startled for a moment. The bland, good-humored face of his +German acquaintance had suddenly changed. His white teeth showed +through his mushtaches, and his beard seemed to wave and curl as he +spoke of the police. For one moment Jack thought of Deacon Abram and +Mrs. McNamara, of the dark room and the ropes and the window. +</P> + +<P> +"He may not have done anything," he said to himself, aloud, "any more +than I did; and they were after me." +</P> + +<P> +"Dot ees not so!" Mr. Guilderaufenberg growled. "I dell dem de troof +too mosh. Den I vas a volf, a vild peest, dot mus' be hoonted, und dey +hoonted me; put I got avay. I vas in St. Beetersburg, vonce, vile dey +hoont somevere else. Den I vas in Constantinople, mit de Turks—" +</P> + +<P> +Jack's brain was in a whirl. He had read about all of those cities, +and here was a man who had really been in them. It was even more +wonderful than talking with the Governor or looking at the Hudson. +</P> + +<P> +But in a moment his new friend's face assumed a quieter expression. +</P> + +<P> +"Come along," he said. "De ladies ees ready by dees time. Ve goes. +Den I dells you some dings you nefer hear." +</P> + +<P> +He seemed to know all about the Columbia, for he led Jack straight to +the stateroom door, through all the crowds of passengers. +</P> + +<P> +"I might not have found it in less than an hour," said Jack to himself. +"They're waiting for us. I can't talk with them much." +</P> + +<P> +But he found out that Mrs. Guilderaufenberg spoke English with but +little accent, Miss Hildebrand only knocked over a letter here and +there, and the Polish lady's fluent English astonished him so much that +he complimented her upon it. +</P> + +<P> +"Dot ees so," remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "She talks dem all so +vell dey say she vas born dere. Dell you vat, my poy, ven you talks +Bolish or Russian, den you vas exercise your tongue so you shpeaks all +de oder lankwitches easy." +</P> + +<P> +The ladies were in good humor, and disposed to laugh at anything, +especially after they reached the supper-room; and Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg at once took a strong interest in Jack because he had +never been anywhere. +</P> + +<P> +For convenience, perhaps, the ladies frequently spoke to one another in +German, but Jack, without understanding a word of it, listened +earnestly to what they were saying. +</P> + +<P> +They often, however, talked in English, and to him, and he learned that +they had been making a summer-vacation trip through Canada, and were +now on their way home. It was evident that Mr. Guilderaufenberg was a +man who did not lack money, and that none of the others were poor. +Besides hearing them, Jack was busy in looking around the long, +glittering supper-room of the Columbia, noticing how many different +kinds of people there were in it. They seemed to be of all nations, +ages, colors, and kinds, and Jack would not have missed the sight for +anything. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm beginning to see the world," he said to himself, and then he had +to reply to Mrs. Guilderaufenberg for about the twentieth time: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not at all. You're welcome to the stateroom. I'd rather sit up +and look at the river than go to bed." +</P> + +<P> +"Den, Mr. Ogden," she said, "you comes to Vashington, and you comes to +my house. I can den repay your kindness. You vill see senators, +congressmen, generals, fine men—great men, in Vashington." +</P> + +<P> +After supper the party found seats under the awning forward, and for a +while Jack's eyes were so busy with the beauties of the Hudson that his +ears heard little. +</P> + +<P> +The moonlight was very bright and clear, and showed the shores plainly. +Jack found his memory of the guidebook was excellent. The villages and +towns along the shores were so many collections of twinkling, changing +glimmers, and between them lay long reaches of moonshine and shadow. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to write home about it," thought Jack, "but I couldn't begin +to tell 'em how it looks." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was not sorry when the three ladies said good-night. He had never +before been so long upon his careful good behavior in one evening, and +it made him feel constrained, till he almost wished he was back in +Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg," he said as soon as they were alone, "this is +the first big river I ever saw." +</P> + +<P> +"So?" said the German. "Den I beats you. I see goot many rifers, ven +I drafels. Dell you vat, poy; verefer dere vas big rifers, anyvere, +dere vas mosh fighting. Some leetle rifer do choost as vell, +sometimes, but de beeg rifers vas alvays battlefields." +</P> + +<P> +"Not the Hudson?" said Jack inquiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"You ees American poy," said the German; "you should know de heestory +of your country. Up to Vest Point, de Hudson vas full of fights. All +along shore, too. I vas on de Mississippi, and it is fights all de vay +down to his mout'. So mit some oder American rifers, but de vorst of +all is the Potomac, by Vashington. Eet ees not so fine as de Hudson, +but eet is battle-grounds all along shore. I vas on de Danube, and eet +ees vorse for fights dan de Potomac. I see so many oder rifers, all +ofer, eferyvere, but de fighting rifer of de vorld is de Rhine. It is +so fine as de Hudson, and eet ees even better looking by day.—Ve gets +into de Caatskeel Mountains now. Look at dem by dis moonlight, and you +ees like on de Rhine. You see de Rhine some day, and ven you comes to +Vashington you see de Potomac." +</P> + +<P> +On, on, steamed the Columbia, with what almost seemed a slow motion, it +was so ponderous, dignified, and stately, while the moonlit heights and +hollows rolled by on either hand. On, at the same time, went Mr. +Guilderaufenberg with his stories of rivers and cities and countries +that he had seen, and of battles fought along rivers and across them. +Then, suddenly, the gruff voice grew deep and savage, like the growl of +an angry bear, and he exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"I haf seen some men, too, of de kind I run avay from—" +</P> + +<P> +"Policemen?" said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Yah; dat is de name I gif dem," growled the angry German. "De Tsar of +Russia, I vas see him, and he vas noding but a chief of boleece. De +old Kaiser of Germany, he vas a goot man, but he vas too mosh chief of +boleece. So vas de Emperor of Austria; I vas see him. So vas de +Sultan of Turkey, but he vas more a humpug dan anyting else. Dere ees +leetle boleece in Turkey. I see de Emperor Napoleon before he toomble +down. He vas noding but a boleeceman. I vas so vild glad ven he comes +down. De leetle kings, I care not so mosh for. You comes to +Vashington, and I show you some leetle kings—" and Mr. +Guilderaufenberg grew good-humored and began to laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"What kind of kings?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Leetle congressman dot is choost come de first time, und leetle beeg +man choost put into office. Dey got ofer it bretty soon, und de fun is +gone." +</P> + +<P> +There was a long silence after that. The broad German sat in an +arm-chair, and pretty soon he slipped forward a little with his knees +very near the network below the rail of the Columbia. Then Jack heard +a snore, and knew that his traveler friend was sound asleep. +</P> + +<BR> + +<A NAME="img-151"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-151.jpg" ALT="His traveler friend was sound asleep." BORDER="2" WIDTH="371" HEIGHT="401"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 371px"> +<I>His traveler friend was sound asleep</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"I wish I had a chair to sleep on, instead of this campstool," thought +Jack. "I'll have a look all around the boat and come back." +</P> + +<P> +It took a long while to see the boat, and the first thing he discovered +was that a great many people had failed to secure staterooms or berths. +They sat in chairs, and they lounged on sofas, and they were curled up +on the floor; for the Columbia had received a flood of tourists who +were going home, and a large part of the passengers of another boat +that had been detained on account of an accident at Albany; so the +steamer was decidedly overcrowded. +</P> + +<P> +"There are more people aboard," thought Jack, "than would make two such +villages as Crofield, unless you should count in the farms and farmers. +I'm glad I came, if it's only to know what a steamboat is. I haven't +spent a cent of my nine dollars yet, either." +</P> + +<P> +Here and there he wandered, until he came out at the stern, and had a +look at the foaming wake of the boat, and at the river and the heights +behind, and at the grand spectacle of another great steamboat, full of +lights, on her way up the river. He had seen any number of smaller +boats, and of white-sailed sloops and schooners, and now, along the +eastern bank, he heard and saw the whizzing rush of several railway +trains. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd rather be here," he thought. "The people there can't see half so +much as I can." +</P> + +<P> +Not one of them, moreover, had been traveling all over the world with +Mr. Guilderaufenberg, and hearing and about kings and their "police." +</P> + +<P> +Getting back to his old place was easier, now that he began to +understand the plan of the Columbia; but, when Jack returned, his +camp-stool was gone, and he had to sit down on the bare deck or to +stand up. He did both, by turns, and he was beginning to feel very +weary of sight-seeing, and to wish that he were sound asleep, or that +to-morrow had come. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a warm night," he said to himself, "and it isn't so very dark, +even now the moon has gone down. Why—it's getting lighter! Is it +morning? Can we be so near the city as that?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a growing rose-tint upon a few clouds in the western sky, as +the sun began to look at them from below the range of heights, +eastward, but the sun had not yet risen. +</P> + +<P> +Jack was all but breathless. He walked as far forward as he could go, +and forgot all about being sleepy or tired. +</P> + +<P> +"There," he said, after a little, "those must be the Palisades." +</P> + +<P> +Out came his guide-book, and he tried to fit names to the places along +shore. +</P> + +<P> +"More sailing-vessels," he said, "and there goes another train. We +must be almost there." +</P> + +<P> +He was right, and he was all one tingle of excitement as the Columbia +swept steadily on down the widening river. +</P> + +<P> +There came a pressure of a hand upon his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Goot-morning, my poy. De city ees coming. How you feels?" +</P> + +<P> +"First-rate," said Jack. "It won't be long, now, will it?" +</P> + +<P> +"You wait a leetle. I sleep some. It vas a goot varm night. De +varmest night I efer had vas in Egypt, and de coldest vas in Moscow. +De shtove it went out, and ve vas cold, I dell you, dill dot shtove vas +kindle up again! Dere vas dwenty-two peoples in dot room, and dot safe +us. Ye keep von another varm. Dot ees de trouble mit Russia. De +finest vedder in all the vorlt is een America,—and dere ees more +vedder of all kinds." +</P> + +<P> +On, on, and now Jack's blood tingled more sharply, to his very fingers +and toes, for they swept beyond Spuyten Duyvil Creek, which his friend +pointed out, and the city began to make its appearance. +</P> + +<P> +"It's on both sides," said Jack. "No, that's New Jersey"—and he read +the names on that side from his guidebook. +</P> + +<P> +Masts, wharves, buildings, and beyond them spires, and—and Jack grew +dizzy trying to think of that endless wilderness of streets and houses. +He heard what Mr. Guilderaufenberg said about the islands in the +harbor, the forts, the ferries, and yet he did not hear it plainly, +because it was too much to take in all at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I brings de ladies," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, "an' ve eats +breakfast, ven ve all gets to de Hotel Dantzic. Come!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack took one long, sweeping look at the city, so grand and so +beautiful under the newly risen sun, and followed. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +At that same hour a dark-haired girl sat by an open window in the +village of Mertonville. She had arisen and dressed herself, early as +it was, and she held in her hand a postal-card, which had arrived for +her from Albany the night before. +</P> + +<P> +"By this time," she said, "Jack is in the city. Oh, how I wish I were +with him!" +</P> + +<P> +She was silent after that, but she had hardly said it before one of two +small boys, who had been pounding one another with pillows in a very +small bedroom in Crofield, suddenly threw his pillow at the other, and +exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose Jack's there by this time, Jimmy!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN A NEW WORLD. +</H3> + +<P> +Jack Ogden stood like a boy in a dream, as the "Columbia" swept +gracefully into her dock and was made fast. Her swing about was helped +by the outgoing tide, that foamed and swirled around the projecting +piers. +</P> + +<P> +A hurrying crowd of people was thronging out of the "Columbia," but +Jack's German friend did not join them. +</P> + +<P> +"De ceety vill not roon avay," he said, calmly. "You comes mit me." +</P> + +<P> +They went to the cabin for the ladies, and Jack noticed how much +baggage the rest were carrying. He took a satchel from Miss +Hildebrand, and then the Polish lady, with a grateful smile, allowed +him to take another. +</P> + +<P> +"Dose crowds ees gone," remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "Ve haf our +chances now." +</P> + +<P> +Afterward, Jack had a confused memory of walking over a wide gang-plank +that led into a babel. Miss Hildebrand held him by his left arm while +the two other ladies went with Mr. Guilderaufenberg. They came out +into a street, between two files of men who shook their whips, shouted, +and pointed at a line of carriages. Miss Hildebrand told Jack that +they could reach their hotel sooner by the elevated railway. +</P> + +<P> +"He look pale," she thought, considerately. "He did not sleep all +night. He never before travel on a steamboat!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack meanwhile had a new sensation. +</P> + +<P> +"This is the city!" he was saying to himself. "I'm really here. There +are no crowds, because it's Sunday,—but then!" +</P> + +<P> +After walking a few minutes they came to a corner, where Mr. +Guilderaufenberg turned and said to Jack: +</P> + +<P> +"Dees ees Proadvay. Dere ees no oder street in de vorlt dat ees so +long. Look dees vay und den look dat vay! So! Eh? Dot ees Proadvay. +Dere ees no oder city in de vorlt vere a beeg street keep Soonday!" +</P> + +<P> +It was indeed a wonderful street to the boy from Crofield, and he felt +the wonder of it; and he felt the wonder of the Sunday quiet and of the +closed places of business. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-158"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-158.jpg" ALT="On Broadway, at last!" BORDER="2" WIDTH="442" HEIGHT="512"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 442px"> +<I>On Broadway, at last!</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"There's a policeman," he remarked to Mr. Guilderaufenberg. +</P> + +<P> +"So!" said the German, smiling; "but he ees a beople's boleeceman. Eef +he vas a king's boleeceman, I vas not here. I roon avay, or I vas lock +up. Jack, ven you haf dodge some king's boleecemen, like me, you vish +you vas American, choost like me now, und vas safe!" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe I should," said Jack, politely; but his head was not still +for an instant. His eyes and his thoughts were busily at work. He had +expected to see tall and splendid buildings, and had even dreamed of +them. How he had longed and hoped and planned to get to this very +place! He had seen pictures of the city, but the reality was +nevertheless a delightful surprise. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Hildebrand pointed out Trinity Church, and afterward St. Paul's. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe I'll go to one of those big churches, to-day," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," said Miss Hildebrand. "You find plenty churches up-town. +Not come back so far." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall know where these are, any way," Jack replied. +</P> + +<P> +After a short walk they came to City Hall Square. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" Jack exclaimed. "I know this place! It's just like the +pictures in my guide-book. There's the Post-office, the City +Hall,—everything!" +</P> + +<P> +"Come," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, beginning to cross the street. "Ve +must go ofer und take de elevated railvay." +</P> + +<P> +"Come along, Meester Jack Ogden," added Mrs. Guilderaufenberg. +</P> + +<P> +"There are enough people here now," said Jack, as they walked +along—"Sunday or no Sunday!" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," said Miss Hildebrand, pointing with a hand that lifted a +small satchel. "That's the elevated railway station over there, across +both streets. There, too, is where you go to the suspension bridge to +Brooklyn, over the East River. You see, when we go by. You see +to-morrow. Not much, now. I am so hungry!" +</P> + +<P> +"I want to see everything," said Jack; "but I'm hungry, too. Why, +we're going upstairs!" +</P> + +<P> +In a minute more Jack was sitting by an open window of an elevated +railway car. This was another entirely new experience, and Jack found +it hard to rid himself of the notion that possibly the whole +long-legged railway might tumble down or the train suddenly shoot off +from the track and drop into the street. +</P> + +<P> +"Dees ees bretty moch American," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, as Jack +stared out at the third-story windows of the buildings. "You nefer vas +here before? So! Den you nefer feels again choost like now. You ees +fery moch a poy. I dell you, dere is not soch railvays in Europe; I +vonce feel like you now. Dot vas ven I first come here. It vas not +Soonday; it vas a day for de flags. I dell you vat it ees: ven dot +American feels goot, he hang out hees flag. Shtars und shtripes—I +like dot flag! I look at some boleece, und den I like dot flag again, +for dey vas not hoont, hoont, hoont, for poor Fritz von +Guilderaufenberg, for dot he talk too moch!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's pretty quiet all along. All the stores seem to be closed," said +Jack, looking down at the street below. +</P> + +<P> +"Eet ees so shtill!" remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "I drafel de vorlt +ofer und I find not dees Soonday. In Europe, it vas not dere to keep. +I dell you, ven dere ees no more Soonday, den dere ees no more America! +So! Choost you remember dot, my poy, from a man dot vas hoonted all +ofer Europe!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack was quite ready to believe Mr. Guilderaufenberg. He had been used +to even greater quiet, in Crofield, for after all there seemed to be a +great deal going on. +</P> + +<P> +The train they were in made frequent stops, and it did not seem long to +Jack before Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and the other ladies got up and began +to gather their parcels and satchels. Jack was ready when his friends +led the way to the door. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be glad to get off," he thought. "I am afraid Aunt Melinda would +say I was traveling on Sunday." +</P> + +<P> +The conductor threw open the car door and shouted, and Mr. +Guilderaufenberg hurried forward exclaiming: "Come! Dees ees our +station!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack had taken even more than his share of the luggage; and now his arm +was once more grasped by Miss Hildebrand. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll take good care of her," he said to himself, as she pushed along +out of the cars. "All I need to do is to follow the rest." +</P> + +<P> +He did not understand what she said to the others in German, but it +was: "I'll bring Mr. Ogden. He will know how to look out for himself, +very soon." +</P> + +<P> +She meant to see him safely to the Hotel Dantzic, that morning; and the +next thing Jack knew he was going down a long flight of stairs, to the +sidewalk, while Miss Hildebrand was explaining that part of the city +they were in. Even while she was talking, and while he was looking in +all directions, she wheeled him suddenly to the left, and they came to +a halt. +</P> + +<P> +"Hotel Dantzic," read Jack aloud, from the sign. "It's a tall +building; but it's very thin." +</P> + +<P> +The ladies went into the waiting-room, while Jack followed Mr. +Guilderaufenberg into the office. The German was welcomed by the +proprietor as if he were an old acquaintance. +</P> + +<P> +A moment afterward, Mr. Guilderaufenberg turned away from the desk and +said to Jack: +</P> + +<P> +"My poy, I haf a room for you. Eet ees high oop, but eet ees goot; und +you bays only feefty cent a day. You bay for von veek, now. You puys +vot you eats vere you blease in de ceety." +</P> + +<P> +The three dollars and a half paid for the first week made the first +break in Jack's capital of nine dollars. +</P> + +<P> +"Any way," he thought, when he paid it, "I have found a place to sleep +in. Money'll go fast in the city, and I must look out. I'll put my +baggage in my room and then come down to breakfast." +</P> + +<P> +"You breakfast mit us dees time," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, kindly. +"Den you not see us more, maybe, till you comes to Vashington." +</P> + +<P> +Jack got his key and the number of his room and was making his way to +the foot of a stairway when a very polite man said to him: +</P> + +<P> +"This way, sir. This way to the elevator. Seventh floor, sir." +</P> + +<P> +Jack had heard and read of elevators, but it was startling to ride in +one for the first time. It was all but full when he got in, and after +it started, his first thought was: +</P> + +<P> +"How it's loaded! What if the rope should break!" +</P> + +<P> +It stopped to let a man out, and started and stopped again and again, +but it seemed only a few long, breathless moments before the man in +charge of it said; "Seventh, sir!" +</P> + +<P> +The moment Jack was in his room he exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't this grand, though? It's only about twice as big as that +stateroom on the steamboat. I can feel at home here." +</P> + +<P> +It was a pleasant little room, and Jack began at once to make ready for +breakfast. +</P> + +<P> +He was brushing his hair when he went to the window, and as he looked +out he actually dropped the brush in his surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's my guide-book?" he said. "I know where I am, though. That +must be the East River. Away off there is Long Island. Looks as if it +was all city. Maybe that is Brooklyn,—I don't know. Isn't this a +high house? I can look down on all the other roofs. Jingo!" +</P> + +<P> +He hurried through his toilet, meanwhile taking swift glances out of +the window. When he went out to the elevator, he said to himself: +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go down by the stairs some day, just to see how it seems. A +storm would whistle like anything, round the top of this building!" +</P> + +<P> +When he got down, Mr. Guilderaufenberg was waiting for him, and the +party of ladies went in to breakfast, in a restaurant which occupied +nearly all of the lower floor of the hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"I understand," said Jack, good-humoredly, in reply to an explanation +from Miss Hildebrand. "You pay for just what you order, and no more, +and they charge high for everything but bread. I'm beginning to learn +something of city ways." +</P> + +<P> +During all that morning, anybody who knew Jack Ogden would have had to +look at him twice, he had been so quiet and sedate; but the old, +self-confident look gradually returned during breakfast. +</P> + +<P> +"Ve see you again at supper," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, as they arose. +"Den ve goes to Vashington. You valks out und looks about. You easy +finds your vay back. Goot-bye till den." +</P> + +<P> +Jack shook hands with his friends, and walked out into the street. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, here I am!" he thought. "This is the city. I'm all alone in +it, too, and I must find my own way. I can do it, though. I'm glad +it's Sunday, so that I needn't go straight to work." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +At that moment, the nine o'clock bells were ringing in two wooden +steeples in the village of Crofield; but the bell of the third steeple +was silent, down among the splinters of what had been the pulpit of its +own meeting-house. The village was very still, but there was something +peculiar in the quiet in the Ogden homestead. Even the children went +about as if they missed something or were listening for somebody they +expected. +</P> + +<P> +There were nine o'clock bells, also, in Mertonville, and there was a +ring at the door-bell of the house of Mr. Murdoch, the editor. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Elder Holloway!" exclaimed Mrs. Murdoch, when she opened the +door. "Please to walk in." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, Mrs. Murdoch, but I can't," he said, speaking as if +hurried, "Please tell Miss Ogden there's a class of sixteen girls in +our Sunday school, and the teacher's gone; and I've taken the liberty +of promising for her that she'll take charge of it." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll call her," said Mrs. Murdoch. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," replied the elder. "Just tell her it's a nice class, and +that the girls expect her to come, and we'll be ever go much obliged to +her. Good-morning!"—and he was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mrs. Murdoch!" exclaimed Mary, when the elder's message was given. +"I can't! I don't know them! I suppose I ought; but I'd have said no, +if I had seen him." +</P> + +<P> +The elder had thought of that, perhaps, and had provided against any +refusal by retreating. As he went away he said to himself: +</P> + +<P> +"She can do it, I know; if she does, it'll help me carry out my plan." +</P> + +<P> +He looked, just then, as if it were a very good plan, but he did not +reveal it. +</P> + +<P> +Mary Ogden persuaded Mrs. Murdoch to take her to another church that +morning, so that she need not meet any of her new class. +</P> + +<P> +"I hope Jack will go to church in the city," she said; and her mother +said the same thing to Aunt Melinda over in Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +Jack could not have given any reason why his feet turned westward, but +he went slowly along for several blocks, while he stared at the rows of +buildings, at the sidewalks, at the pavements, and at everything else, +great and small. He was actually leaving the world in which he had +been brought up—the Crofield world—and taking a first stroll around +in a world of quite another sort. He met some people on the streets, +but not many. +</P> + +<P> +"They're all getting ready for church," he thought, and his next +thought was expressed aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew! what street's this, I wonder?" +</P> + +<P> +He had passed row after row of fine buildings, but suddenly he had +turned into a wide avenue which seemed a street of palaces. Forward he +went, faster and faster, staring eagerly at one after another of those +elegant mansions of stone, of marble, or of brick. +</P> + +<P> +"See here, Johnny," he suddenly heard in a sharp voice close to him, +"what number do you want?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hallo," said Jack, halting and turning. "What street's this?" +</P> + +<P> +He was looking up into the good-natured face of a tall man in a neat +blue uniform. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you looking for?" began the policeman again. But, without +waiting for Jack's answer, he went on, "Oh, I see! You're a greeny +lookin' at Fifth Avenue. Mind where you're going, or you'll run into +somebody!" +</P> + +<P> +"Is this Fifth Avenue?" Jack asked. "I wish I knew who owned these +houses." +</P> + +<P> +"You do, do you?" laughed the man in blue. "Well, I can tell you some +of them. That house belongs to—" and the policeman went on giving +name after name, and pointing out the finest houses. +</P> + +<P> +Some of the names were familiar to Jack. He had read about these men +in newspapers, and it was pleasant to see where they lived. +</P> + +<P> +"See that house?" asked the policeman, pointing at one of the finest +residences. "Well, the man that owns it came to New York as poor as +you, maybe poorer. Not quite so green, of course! But you'll soon get +over that. See that big house yonder, on the corner? Well, the cash +for that was gathered by a chap who began as a deck-hand. Most of the +big guns came up from nearly nothing. Now you walk along and look out; +but mind you don't run over anybody." +</P> + +<P> +"Much obliged," said Jack, and as he walked on, he kept his eyes open, +but his thoughts were busy with what the policeman had told him. +</P> + +<P> +That was the very idea he had while he was in Crofield. That was what +had made him long to break away from the village and find his way to +the city. His imagination had busied itself with stories of poor +boys,—as poor and green as he, scores of them,—born and brought up in +country homes, who, refusing to stay at home and be nobodies, had +become successful men. All the great buildings he saw seemed to tell +the same story. Still he did say to himself once: +</P> + +<P> +"Some of their fathers must have been rich enough to give them a good +start. Some were born rich, too. I don't care for that, though. I +don't know as I want so big a house. I am going to get along somehow. +My chances are as good as some of these fellows had." +</P> + +<P> +Just then he came to a halt, for right ahead of him were open grounds, +and beyond were grass and trees. To the right and left were buildings. +</P> + +<P> +"I know what this is!" exclaimed Jack. "It must be Central Park. Some +day I'm going there, all over it. But I'll turn around now, and find a +place to go to church. I've passed a dozen churches on the way." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A WONDERFUL SUNDAY. +</H3> + +<P> +When Jack turned away from the entrance to Central Park, he found much +of the Sunday quiet gone. It was nearly half-past ten o'clock; the +sidewalks were covered with people, and the street resounded with the +rattle of carriage-wheels. +</P> + +<P> +There was some uneasiness in the mind of the boy from Crofield. The +policeman had impressed upon Jack the idea that he was not at home in +the city, and that he did not seem at home there. He did not know one +church from another, and part of his uneasiness was about how city +people managed their churches. Perhaps they sold tickets, he thought; +or perhaps you paid at the door; or possibly it didn't cost anything, +as in Crofield. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-171"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-171.jpg" ALT=""How would he get in?"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="414" HEIGHT="455"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 414px"> +<I>"How would he get in?"</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"I'll ask," he decided, as he paused in front of what seemed to him a +very imposing church. He stood still, for a moment, as the steady +procession passed him, part of it going by, but much of it turning into +the church. +</P> + +<P> +"Mister—," he said bashfully to four well-dressed men in quick +succession; but not one of them paused to answer him. Two did not so +much as look at him, and the glances given him by the other two made +his cheeks burn—he hardly knew why. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a man I'll try," thought Jack. "I'm getting mad!" The man of +whom Jack spoke came up the street. He seemed an unlikely subject. He +was so straight he almost leaned backward; he was rather slender than +thin; and was uncommonly well dressed. In fact, Jack said to himself: +"He looks as if he had bought the meeting-house, and was not pleased +with his bargain." +</P> + +<P> +Proud, even haughty, as was the manner of the stranger, Jack stepped +boldly forward and again said: +</P> + +<P> +"Mister?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, my boy, what is it?" +</P> + +<P> +The response came with a halt and almost a bow. +</P> + +<P> +"If a fellow wished to go to this church, how would he get in?" asked +Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you live in the city?" There was a frown of stern inquiry on the +broad forehead; but the head was bending farther forward. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Jack, "I live in Crofield." +</P> + +<P> +"Where's that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Away up on the Cocahutchie River. I came here early this morning." +</P> + +<P> +"What's your name?" +</P> + +<P> +"John Ogden." +</P> + +<P> +"Come with me, John Ogden. You may have a seat in my pew. Come." +</P> + +<P> +Into the church and up the middle aisle Jack followed his leader, with +a sense of awe almost stifling him; then, too, he felt drowned in the +thunderous flood of music from the organ. He saw the man stop, open a +pew-door, step back, smile and bow, and then wait until the boy from +Crofield had passed in and taken his seat. +</P> + +<P> +"He's a gentleman," thought Jack, hardly aware that he himself had +bowed low as he went in, and that a smile of grim approval had followed +him. +</P> + +<P> +In the pew behind them sat another man, as haughty looking, but just +now wearing the same kind of smile as he leaned forward and asked in an +audible whisper: +</P> + +<P> +"General, who's your friend?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. John Ogden, of Crofield, away up on the Cookyhutchie River. I +netted him at the door," was the reply, in the same tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Good catch?" asked the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Just as good as I was, Judge, forty years ago. I'll tell you how that +was some day." +</P> + +<P> +"Decidedly raw material, I should say." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, so was I. I was no more knowing than he is. I remember what it +is to be far away from home." +</P> + +<P> +The hoarse, subdued whispers ceased; the two gentle men looked grim and +severe again. Then there was a grand burst of music from the organ, +the vast congregation stood up, and Jack rose with them. +</P> + +<P> +He felt solemn enough, there was no doubt of that; but what he said to +himself unconsciously took this shape: +</P> + +<P> +"Jingo! If this isn't the greatest going to church <I>I</I> ever did! Hear +that voice! The organ too—what music! Don't I wish Molly was here! +I wish all the family were here." +</P> + +<P> +The service went on and Jack listened attentively, in spite of a strong +tendency in his eyes to wander among the pillars to the galleries, up +into the lofty vault above him, or around among the pews full of +people. He knew it was a good sermon and that the music was good, +singing and all—especially when the congregation joined in "Old +Hundred" and another old hymn that he knew. Still he had an increasing +sense of being a very small fellow in a very large place. When he +raised his head, after the benediction, he saw the owner of the pew +turn toward him, bow low, and hold out his hand. Jack shook hands, of +course. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning, Mr. Ogden," said the gentleman gravely, with almost a +frown on his face, but very politely, and then he turned and walked out +of the pew. Jack also bowed as he shook hands, and said, +"Good-morning. Thank you, sir. I hope you enjoyed the sermon." +</P> + +<P> +"General," said the gentleman in the pew behind them, "pretty good for +raw material. Keep an eye on him." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I won't," said the general. "I've spoiled four or five in that +very way." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I believe you're right," said the judge, after a moment. "It's +best for that kind of boy to fight his own battles. I had to." +</P> + +<P> +"So did I," said the general, "and I was well pounded for a while." +</P> + +<P> +Jack did not hear all of the conversation, but he had a clear idea that +they were talking about him; and as he walked slowly out of the church, +packed in among the crowd in the aisle, he had a very rosy face indeed. +</P> + +<P> +Jack had in mind a thought that had often come to him in the church at +Crofield, near the end of the sermon:—he was conscious that it was +dinner-time. +</P> + +<P> +Of course he thought, with a little homesickness, of the home +dinner-table. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I could sit right down with them," he thought, "and tell them +what Sunday is in the city. Then my dinner wouldn't cost me a cent +there, either. No matter, I'm here, and now I can begin to make more +money right away. I have five dollars and fifty cents left anyway." +</P> + +<P> +Then he thought of the bill of fare at the Hotel Dantzic, and many of +the prices on it, and remembered Mr. Guilderaufenberg's instructions +about going to some cheaper place for his meals. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't tell him that I had only nine dollars," he said to himself, +"but I'll follow his advice. He's a traveler." +</P> + +<P> +Jack had been too proud to explain how little money he had, but his +German friend had really done well by him in making him take the little +room at the top of the Hotel Dantzic. He had said to his wife: +</P> + +<P> +"Dot poy! Vell, I see him again some day. He got a place to shleep, +anyhow, vile he looks around und see de ceety. No oder poy I efer +meets know at de same time so moch and so leetle." +</P> + +<P> +With every step from the church door Jack felt hungrier, but he did not +turn his steps toward the Hotel Dantzic. He walked on down to the +lower part of the city, on the lookout for hotels and restaurants. It +was not long before he came to a hotel, and then he passed another and +another; and he passed a number of places where the signs told him of +dinners to be had within, but all looked too fine. +</P> + +<P> +"They're for rich people," he said, shaking his head, "like the people +in that church. What stacks of money they must have? That organ maybe +cost more than all the meeting-houses in Crofield!" +</P> + +<P> +After going a little farther Jack exclaimed; +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care! I've just got to eat!" +</P> + +<P> +He was getting farther and farther from the Hotel Dantzic, and suddenly +his eyes were caught by a very taking sign, at the top of some neat +steps leading down into a basement: +</P> + +<P> +"DINNER. ROAST BEEF. TWENTY-FIVE CENTS." +</P> + +<P> +"That'll do." said Jack eagerly. "I can stand that. Roost beef alone +is forty cents at the Dantzic." +</P> + +<P> +Down he went and found himself in a wide comfortable room, containing +two long dining tables, and a number of small oblong tables, and some +round tables, all as neat as wax. It was a very pleasant place, and a +great many other hungry people were there already. +</P> + +<P> +Jack sat down at one of the small tables, and a waiter came to him at +once. +</P> + +<P> +"Dinner sir? Yessir. Roast beef, sir? Yessir. Vegetables? +Potatoes? Lima-beans? Sweet corn?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, please," said Jack. "Beef, potatoes, beans, and corn?" and the +waiter was gone. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed to be a long time before the beef and vegetables came, but +they were not long in disappearing after they were on the table. +</P> + +<P> +The waiter had other people to serve, but he was an attentive fellow. +</P> + +<P> +"Pie sir?" he said, naming five kinds without a pause. +</P> + +<P> +"Custard-pie," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Coffee, sir? Yessir," and he darted away again. +</P> + +<P> +"This beats the Hotel Dantzic all to pieces," remarked Jack, as he went +on with his pie and coffee; but the waiter was scribbling something +upon a slip of paper, and when it was done he put it down by Jack's +plate. +</P> + +<P> +"Jingo!" said Jack in a horrified tone, a moment later. "What's this? +'Roast beef, 25; potatoes, 10; Lima-beans, 10; corn, 10; bread, 5; +coffee, 10; pie, 10: $0.80.' Eighty cents! Jingo! How like smoke it +does cost to live in New York! This can't be one of the cheap places +Mr. Guilderaufenberg meant." +</P> + +<P> +Jack felt much chagrined, but he finished his pie and coffee bravely. +"It's a sell," he said, "—but then it <I>was</I> a good dinner!" +</P> + +<P> +He went to the cashier with an effort to act as if it was an old story +to him. He gave the cashier a dollar, received his change, and turned +away, as the man behind the counter remarked to a friend at his elbow: +</P> + +<P> +"I knew it. He had the cash. His face was all right." +</P> + +<P> +"Clothes will fool anybody," said the other man. +</P> + +<P> +Jack heard it, and he looked at the men sitting at the tables. +</P> + +<P> +"They're all wearing Sunday clothes," he thought, "but some are no +better than mine. But there's a difference. I've noticed it all +along." +</P> + +<P> +So had others, for Jack had not seen one in that restaurant who had on +at all such a suit of clothes as had been made for him by the Crofield +tailor. +</P> + +<P> +"Four dollars and seventy cents left," said Jack thoughtfully, as he +went up into the street; and then he turned to go down-town without any +reason for choosing that direction. +</P> + +<P> +An hour later, Mr. Gilderaufenberg and his wife and their friends were +standing near the front door of the Hotel Dantzic, talking with the +proprietor. Around them lay their baggage, and in front of the door +was a carriage. Evidently they were going away earlier than they had +intended. +</P> + +<P> +"Dot poy!" exclaimed the broad and bearded German. "He find us not +here ven he come. You pe goot to dot poy, Mr. Keifelheimer." +</P> + +<P> +"So!" said the hotel proprietor, and at once three other voices chimed +in with good-bye messages to Jack Ogden. Mr. Keifelheimer responded: +</P> + +<P> +"I see to him. He will come to Vashington to see you. So!" +</P> + +<P> +Then they entered the carriage, and away they went. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +After walking for a few blocks, Jack found that he did not know exactly +where he was. But suddenly he exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Why, if there isn't City Hall Square! I've come all the way down +Broadway." +</P> + +<P> +He had stared at building after building for a time without thinking +much about them, and then he had begun to read the signs. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll come down this way again to-morrow," he said. "It's good there +are so many places to work in. I wish I knew exactly what I would like +to do, and which of them it is best to go to. I know! I can do as I +did in Crofield. I can try one for a while, and then, if I don't like +it, I can try another. It is lucky that I know how to do 'most +anything." +</P> + +<P> +The confident smile had come back. He had entirely recovered from the +shock of his eighty-cent expenditure. He had not met many people, all +the way down, and the stores were shut; but for that very reason he had +bad more time to study the signs. +</P> + +<P> +"Very nearly every kind of business is done on Broadway," he said, +"except groceries and hardware,—but they sell more clothing than +anything else. I'll look round everywhere before I settle down; but I +must look out not to spend too much money till I begin to make some." +</P> + +<P> +"It's not far now," he said, a little while after, "to the lower end of +the city and to the Battery. I'll take a look at the Battery before I +go back to the Hotel Dantzic." +</P> + +<P> +Taller and more majestic grew the buildings as he went on, but he was +not now so dazed and confused as he had been in the morning. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is Trinity Church, again," he said. "I remember about that. And +that's Wall Street. I'll see that as I come back; but now I'll go +right along and see the Battery. Of course there isn't any battery +there, but Mr. Guilderaufenberg said that from it I could see the fort +on Governor's Island." +</P> + +<P> +Jack did not see much of the Battery, for he followed the left-hand +sidewalk at the Bowling Green, where Broadway turns into Whitehall +Street. He had so long been staring at great buildings whose very +height made him dizzy, that he was glad to see beside them some which +looked small and old. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll find my way without asking," he remarked to himself. "I'm pretty +near the end now. There are some gates, and one of them is open. I'll +walk right in behind that carriage. That must be the gate to the +Battery." +</P> + +<P> +The place he was really looking for was at some distance to the right, +and the carriage he was following so confidently, had a very different +destination. +</P> + +<P> +The wide gateway was guarded by watchful men, not to mention two +policemen, and they would have caught and stopped any boy who had +knowingly tried to do what Jack did so innocently. Their backs must +have been turned, for the carriage passed in, and so did Jack, without +any one's trying to stop him. He was as bold as a lion about it, +because he did not know any better. A number of people were at the +same time crowding through a narrower gateway at one side, and they may +have distracted the attention of the gatemen. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd just as lief go in at the wagon-gate," said Jack, and he did not +notice that each one stopped and paid something before going through. +Jack went on behind the carriage. The carriage crossed what seemed to +Jack a kind of bridge housed over. Nobody but a boy straight from +Crofield could have gone so far as that without suspecting something; +but the carriage stopped behind a line of other vehicles, and Jack +walked unconcernedly past them. +</P> + +<P> +"Jingo!" he suddenly exclaimed. "What's this? I do believe the end of +this street is moving!" +</P> + +<P> +He bounded forward, much startled by a thing so strange and +unaccountable, and in a moment more he was looking out upon a great +expanse of water, dotted here and there with canal-boats, ships, and +steamers. +</P> + +<P> +"Mister," he asked excitedly of a little man leaning against a post, +"what's this?" +</P> + +<P> +"Have ye missed your way and got onto the wrong ferry-boat?" replied +the little man gleefully. "I did it once myself. All right, my boy. +You've got to go to Staten Island this time. Take it coolly." +</P> + +<P> +"Ferry-boat?" said Jack. "Staten Island? I thought it was the end of +the street, going into the Battery!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you're a greenhorn!" laughed the little man "Well, it won't hurt +ye; only there's no boat back from the island, on Sunday, till after +supper. I'll tell ye all about it. Where'd you come from?" +</P> + +<P> +"From Crofield," said Jack, "and I got here only this morning." +</P> + +<P> +The little man eyed him half-suspiciously for a moment, and then led +him to the rail of the boat. +</P> + +<P> +"Look back there," he said. "Yonder's the Battery. You ought to have +kept on. It's too much for me how you ever got aboard of this 'ere +boat without knowing it!" And he went on with a long string of +explanations, of which Jack understood about half, with the help of +what he recalled from his guide-book. All the while, however, they +were having a sail across the beautiful bay, and little by little Jack +made up his mind not to care. +</P> + +<P> +"I've made a mistake and slipped right out of the city," he said to +himself, "about as soon as I got in! But maybe I can slip back again +this evening." +</P> + +<P> +"About the greenest bumpkin I've seen for an age," thought the little +man, as he stood and looked at Jack. "It'll take all sorts of blunders +to teach him. He is younger than he looks, too. Anyway, this sail +won't hurt him a bit." +</P> + +<P> +That was precisely Jack's conclusion long before the swift voyage ended +and he walked off the ferry-boat upon the solid ground of Staten Island. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FRIENDS AND ENEMIES. +</H3> + +<P> +When Jack Ogden left the Staten Island ferry-boat, he felt somewhat as +if he had made an unexpected voyage to China, and perhaps might never +return to his own country. It was late in the afternoon, and he had +been told by the little man that the ferry-boat would wait an hour and +a half before the return voyage. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't lose sight of her," said Jack, thoughtfully. "No running +around for me this time!" +</P> + +<P> +He did not move about at all. He sat upon an old box, in front of a +closed grocery store, near the ferry-house, deciding to watch and wait +until the boat started. +</P> + +<P> +"Dullest time I ever had!" he thought; "and it will cost me six cents +to get back. You have to pay something everywhere you go. I wish that +boat was ready to go now." +</P> + +<P> +It was not ready, and it seemed as if it never would be; meanwhile the +Crofield boy sat there on the box and studied the ferry-boat business. +He had learned something of it from his guide-book, but he understood +it all before the gates opened. +</P> + +<P> +He had not learned much concerning any part of Staten Island, beyond +what he already knew from the map; but shortly after he had paid his +fare, he began to learn something about the bay and the lower end of +New York. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad to be on board again," he said, as he walked through the long +cabin to the open deck forward. In a few minutes more he drew a long +breath and exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"She's starting! I know I'm on the right boat, too. But I'm hungry +and I wish I had something to eat." +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing to be had on board the boat, but, although hungry, +Jack could see enough to keep him from thinking about it. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all city; and all wharves and houses and steeples,—every way you +look," he said. "I'm glad to have seen it from the outside, after all." +</P> + +<P> +Jack stared, but did not say a word to anybody until the ferry-boat ran +into its dock. +</P> + +<P> +"If I only had a piece of pie and a cup of coffee!" Jack was thinking, +as he walked along by the wharves, ashore. Then he caught sight of the +smallest restaurant he had ever seen. It was a hand-cart with an +awning over it, standing on a corner. A placard hanging from the +awning read: +</P> + +<P> +"Clams, one cent apiece; coffee, five cents a cup." +</P> + +<P> +"That's plain enough!" exclaimed Jack. "She can't put on a cent more +for anything." +</P> + +<P> +A stout, black-eyed woman stood behind a kind of table, at the end of +the cart; and on the table there were bottles of vinegar and +pepper-sauce, some crackers, and a big tin coffee-heater. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-185"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-185.jpg" ALT="Coffee and clams." BORDER="2" WIDTH="481" HEIGHT="561"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 481px"> +<I>Coffee and clams.</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Clams?" she repeated. "Half-dozen, on the shell? Coffee? All right." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all I want, thank you," said Jack, and she at once filled a cup +from the coffee-urn and began to open shellfish for him. +</P> + +<P> +"These are the smallest clams I ever saw," thought Jack; "but they're +good." +</P> + +<P> +They seemed better and better as he went on eating; and the woman +willingly supplied them. He drank his coffee and ate crackers freely, +and he was just thinking that it was time for him to stop when the +black-eyed woman remarked, with an air of pride, +</P> + +<P> +"Nice and fresh, ain't they? You seem to like them,—thirteen's a +dozen; seventeen cents." +</P> + +<P> +"Have I swallowed a dozen already?" said Jack, looking at the pile of +shells. "Yes, ma'am, they're tiptop!" +</P> + +<P> +After paying for his supper, there were only some coppers left, besides +four one-dollar bills, in his pocket-book. +</P> + +<P> +"Which way's the Battery, ma'am?" Jack asked, as she began to open +clams for another customer. +</P> + +<P> +"Back there a way. Keep straight on till you see it," she answered; +adding kindly, "It's like a little park; I didn't know you were from +the country." +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty good supper, after all," he said. "Cheap, too; but my money's +leaking away! Well, it isn't dark yet. I must see all I can before I +go to the hotel." +</P> + +<P> +He followed the woman's directions, and he was glad he had done so. He +had studied his guide-book faithfully as to all that end of New York, +and in spite of his recent blunder did not now need to ask anybody +which was the starting place of the elevated railways and which was +Castle Garden, where the immigrants were landed. There were little +groups of these foreigners scattered over the great open space before +him. +</P> + +<P> +"They've come from all over the world," he said, looking at group after +group. "Some of those men will have a harder time than I have had +trying to get started in New York." +</P> + +<P> +It occurred to him, nevertheless, that he was a long way from Crofield, +and that he was not yet at all at home in the city. +</P> + +<P> +"I know some things that they don't know, anyway—if I <I>am</I> green!" he +was thinking. "I'll cut across and take a nearer look at Castle +Garden—" +</P> + +<P> +"Stop there! Stop, you fellow in the light hat! Hold on!" Jack heard +some one cry out, as he started to cross the turfed inclosures. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want of me?" Jack asked, as he turned around. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you see the sign there, 'Keep off the grass'? Look! You're on +the grass now! Come off! Anyway, I'll fine you fifty cents!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack looked as the man pointed, and saw a little board on a short post; +and there was the sign, in plain letters; and here before him was a +tall, thin, sharp-eyed, lantern-jawed young man, looking him fiercely +in the face and holding out his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Fifty cents! Quick, now,—or go with me to the police station." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was a little bewildered for a moment. He felt like a cat in a +very strange garret. His first thought of the police made him remember +part of what Mr. Guilderaufenberg had told him about keeping away from +them; but he remembered only the wrong part, and his hand went +unwillingly into his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Right off, now! No skulking!" exclaimed the sharp eyed man. +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't fifty cents in change," said Jack, dolefully, taking a +dollar bill from his pocket-book. +</P> + +<P> +"Hand me that, then. I'll go and get it changed;" and the man reached +out a claw-like hand and took the bill from Jack's fingers, without +waiting for his consent. "I'll be right back. You stand right there +where you are till I come—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on!" shouted Jack. "I didn't say you could. Give me back that +bill!" +</P> + +<P> +"You wait. I'll bring your change as soon as I can get it," called the +sharp-eyed man, as he darted away; but Jack's hesitation was over in +about ten seconds. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll follow him, anyhow!" he exclaimed; and he did so at a run. +</P> + +<P> +"Halt!"—it was a man in a neat gray uniform and gilt buttons who spoke +this time; and Jack halted just as the fleeing man vanished into a +crowd on one of the broad walks. +</P> + +<P> +"He's got my dollar!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me what it is, quick!" said the policeman, with a sudden +expression of interest. +</P> + +<P> +Jack almost spluttered as he related how the fellow had collected the +fine; but the man in gray only shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I saw him putting up something," he said. "It's well he +didn't get your pocket-book, too! He won't show himself here again +to-night. He's safe by this time." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know him?" asked Jack, greatly excited; but more than a little +in dread of the helmet-hat, buttons, and club. +</P> + +<P> +"Know him? 'Jimmy the Sneak?' Of course I do. He's only about two +weeks out of Sing Sing. It won't be long before he's back there again. +When did you come to town? What's your name? Where'd you come from? +Where are you staying? Do you know anybody in town?" +</P> + +<P> +He had a pencil and a little blank-book, and he rapidly wrote out +Jack's answers. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll get your eyes open pretty fast, at this rate," he said. +"That's all I want of you, now. If I lay a hand on Jimmy, I'll know +where to find you. You'd better go home. If any other thief asks you +for fifty cents, you call for the nearest policeman. That's what we're +here for." +</P> + +<P> +"A whole dollar gone, and nothing to show for it!" groaned Jack, as he +walked away. "Only three dollars and a few cents left! I'll walk all +the way up to the Hotel Dantzic, instead of paying five cents for a car +ride. I'll have to save money now." +</P> + +<P> +He felt more kindly toward all the policemen he met, and he was glad +there were so many of them. +</P> + +<P> +"The police at Central Park," he remarked to himself, "and that fellow +at the Battery, were all in gray, and the street police wear blue; but +they're a good-looking set of men. I hope they will nab Jimmy the +Sneak and get back my dollar for me." +</P> + +<P> +The farther he went, however, the clearer became his conviction that +dollars paid to thieves seldom come back; and that an evening walk of +more than three miles over the stone sidewalks of New York is a long +stroll for a very tired and somewhat homesick country boy. He cared +less and less, all the way, how strangely and how splendidly the +gas-lights and the electric lights lit up the tall buildings. +</P> + +<P> +"One light's white," he said, "and the other's yellowish, and that's +about all there is of it. Well, I'm not quite so green, for I know +more than I did this morning!" +</P> + +<P> +It was late for him when he reached the hotel, but it seemed to be +early enough for everybody else. Many people were coming and going, +and among them all he did not see a face that he knew or cared for. +The tired-out, homesick feeling grew upon him, and he walked very +dolefully to the elevator. Up it went in a minute, and when he reached +his room he threw his hat upon the table, and sat down to think over +the long and eventful day. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-190"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-190.jpg" ALT="Jack is homesick." BORDER="2" WIDTH="460" HEIGHT="584"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 460px"> +<I>Jack is homesick.</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"This is the toughest day's work I ever did! I'd like to see the folks +in Crofield and tell 'em about it, though," he said. +</P> + +<P> +He went to bed, intending to consider his plans for Monday, but he made +one mistake. He happened to close his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The next thing he knew, there was a ray of warm sunshine striking his +face from the open window, for he had slept soundly, and it was nearly +seven o'clock on Monday morning. +</P> + +<P> +Jack looked around his room, and then sprang out of bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah for New York!" he said, cheerfully. "I know what to do now. +I'm glad I'm here! I'll write a letter home, first thing, and then +I'll pitch in and go to work!" +</P> + +<P> +He felt better. All the hopes he had cherished so long began to stir +within him. He brushed his clothes thoroughly, and put on his best +necktie; and then he walked out of that room with hardly a doubt that +all the business in the great city was ready and waiting for him to +come and take part in it. He went down the elevator, after a glance at +the stairway and a shake of his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Stairs are too slow," he thought. "I'll try them some time when I am +not so busy." +</P> + +<P> +As he stepped out upon the lower floor he met Mr. Keifelheimer, the +proprietor. +</P> + +<P> +"You come in to preakfast mit me," he said. "I promise Mr. +Guilderaufenberg and de ladies, too, I keep an eye on you. Some +letters in de box for you. You get dem ven you come out. Come mit me." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was very glad to hear of his friends, what had become of them, and +what they had said about him, and of course he was quite ready for +breakfast. Mr. Keifelheimer talked, while they were eating, in the +most friendly and protecting way. Jack felt that he could speak +freely; and so he told the whole story of his adventures on +Sunday,—Staten Island, Jimmy the Sneak, and all. Mr. Keifelheimer +listened with deep interest, making appreciative remarks every now and +then; but he seemed to be most deeply touched by the account of the +eighty-cent dinner. +</P> + +<P> +"Dot vas too much!" he said, at last. "It vas a schvindle! Dose +Broadvay restaurants rob a man efery time. Now, I only charge you +feefty-five cents for all dis beautiful breakfast; and you haf had de +finest beefsteak and two cups of splendid coffee. So, you make money +ven you eat mit me!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack could but admit that the Hotel Dantzic price was lower than the +other; but he paid it with an uneasy feeling that while he must have +misunderstood Mr. Keifelheimer's invitation it was impossible to say so. +</P> + +<P> +"Get dose letter," said the kindly and thoughtful proprietor. "Den you +write in de office. It is better dan go avay up to your room." +</P> + +<P> +Jack thanked him and went for his mail, full of wonder as to how any +letters could have come to him. +</P> + +<P> +"A whole handful!" he said, in yet greater wonder, when the clerk +handed them out. "Who could have known I was here? +Nine,—ten,—eleven,—twelve. A dozen!" +</P> + +<P> +One after another Jack found the envelops full of nicely printed cards +and circulars, telling him how and where to find different kinds of +goods. +</P> + +<P> +"That makes eight," he said; "and every one a sell. But,—jingo!" +</P> + +<P> +It was a blue envelope, and when he opened it his fingers came upon a +dollar bill. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg's a trump!" he exclaimed; and he added, +gratefully, "I'd only about two dollars and a half left. He's only +written three lines." +</P> + +<P> +They were kindly words, however, ending with: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I have not tell the ladies; but you should be pay for the stateroom. +</P> + +<P> +I hope you have a good time. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +F. VON GUILDERAUFENBERG. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The next envelope was white and square; and when it came open Jack +found another dollar bill. +</P> + +<P> +"She's a real good woman!" he said, when he read his name and these +words: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I say nothing to anybody; but you should have pay for your stateroom. +You was so kind. In haste, +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +GERTRUDE VON GUILDERAUFENBERG. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"I'll go and see them some day," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +He had opened the eleventh envelope, which was square and pink, and out +came another dollar bill. Jack read his own name again, followed by: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +We go this minute. I have not told them. You should have pay for your +stateroom. Thanks. You was so kind. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +MARIE HILDEBRAND. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Now, if she isn't one of the most thoughtful women in the world!" said +Jack; "and what's this?" +</P> + +<P> +Square, gray, with an ornamental seal, was the twelfth envelope, and +out of it came a fourth dollar bill, and this note: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +For the stateroom. I have told not the others. With thanks of +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DOLISKA POD——SKI. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was a fine, small, pointed, and wandering handwriting, and Jack in +vain strove to make out the letters in the middle of the Polish lady's +name. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care!" he said. "She's kind, too. So are all the rest of +them; and Mr. Guilderaufenberg's one of the best fellows I ever met. +Now I've got over six dollars, and I can make some more right away." +</P> + +<P> +He pocketed his money, and felt more confident than ever; and he walked +out of the Hotel Dantzic just as his father, at home in Crofield, was +reading to Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda and the children the letter he +had written in Albany, on Saturday. +</P> + +<P> +They all had their comments to make, but at the end of it the tall +blacksmith said to his wife: +</P> + +<P> +"There's one thing certain, Mary. I won't let go of any of that land +till after they've run the railway through it." +</P> + +<P> +"Land?" said Aunt Melinda. "Why, it's nothing but gravel. They can't +do anything with it." +</P> + +<P> +"It joins mine," said Mr. Ogden; "and I own more than an acre behind +the shop. We'll see whether the railroad will make any difference. +Well, the boy's reached the city long before this!" +</P> + +<P> +There was silence for a moment after that, and then Mr. Ogden went over +to the shop. He was not very cheerful, for he began to feel that Jack +was really gone from home. +</P> + +<P> +In Mertonville, Mary Ogden was helping Mrs. Murdoch in her housework, +and seemed to be disposed to look out of the window, rather than to +talk. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Mary," said the editor's wife, "you needn't look so peaked, and +feel so blue about the way you got along with that class of girls—" +</P> + +<P> +"Girls?" said Mary. "Why, Mrs. Murdoch! Only half of them were +younger than I; they said there would be only sixteen, and there were +twenty-one. Some of the scholars were twice as old as I am, and one +had gray hair and wore spectacles!" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care," said Mrs. Murdoch, "the Elder said you did well. Now, +dear, dress yourself, and be ready for Mrs. Edwards; she's coming after +you, and I hope you'll enjoy your visit. Come in and see me as often +as you can and tell me the news." +</P> + +<P> +Mary finished the dishes and went upstairs, saying, "And they want me +to take that class again next Sunday!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +NO BOY WANTED. +</H3> + +<P> +After leaving the Hotel Dantzic, with his unexpected supply of money, +Jack walked smilingly down toward the business part of the city. For a +while he only studied signs and looked into great show-windows; and he +became more and more confident as he thought how many different ways +there were for a really smart boy to make a fortune in New York. He +decided to try one way at just about nine o'clock. +</P> + +<P> +"The city's a busy place!" thought Jack, as he walked along. "Some +difference between the way they rush along on Monday and the way they +loitered all day Sunday!" +</P> + +<P> +He even walked faster because the stream of men carried him along. It +made him think of the Cocahutchie. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll try one of these big clothing places," he said, about nine +o'clock. "I'll see what wages they're giving. I know something about +tailoring." +</P> + +<P> +He paused in front of a wide and showy-looking store on Broadway. He +drew a long breath and went in. The moment he entered he was +confronted by a very fat, smiling gentleman, who bowed and asked: +</P> + +<P> +"What can we do for you, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to know if you want a boy," said Jack, "and what wages you're +giving. I know—" +</P> + +<P> +"After a place? Oh, yes. That's the man you ought to see," said the +jocose floor-walker, pointing to a spruce salesman behind a counter, +and winking at him from behind Jack. +</P> + +<P> +The business of the day had hardly begun, and the idle salesman saw the +wink. Jack walked up to him and repeated his inquiry. +</P> + +<P> +"Want a place, eh? Where are you from? Been long in the business?" +</P> + +<P> +Jack told him about Crofield, and about the "merchant tailors" there, +and gave a number of particulars before the very dignified and +sober-faced salesman's love of fun was satisfied; and then the salesman +said: +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say. You'd better talk with that man yonder." +</P> + +<P> +There was another wink, and Jack went to "that man," to answer another +string of questions, some of which related to his family, and the +Sunday-school he attended; and then he was sent on to another man, and +another, and to as many more, until at last he heard a gruff voice +behind him asking, "What does that fellow want? Send him to me!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack turned toward the voice, and saw a glass "coop," as he called it, +all glass panes up to above his head, excepting one wide, semicircular +opening in the middle. The clerk to whom Jack was talking at that +moment suddenly became very sober. +</P> + +<P> +"Head of the house!" he exclaimed to himself. "Whew! I didn't know +he'd come;" Then he said to Jack: "The head partner is at the +cashier's desk. Speak to him." +</P> + +<P> +Jack stepped forward, his cheeks burning with the sudden perception +that he had been ridiculed. He saw a sharp-eyed lady counting money, +just inside the little window, but she moved away, and Jack was +confronted by a very stern, white-whiskered gentleman. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want?" the man asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to know if you'll hire another boy, and what you're paying?" +said Jack, bravely. +</P> + +<P> +"No; I don't want any boy," replied the man in the coop, savagely. +"You get right out." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell you what you <I>do</I> want," said Jack, for his temper was rising +fast, "you'd better get a politer set of clerks!" +</P> + +<P> +"I will, if there is any more of this nonsense," said the head of the +house, sharply. "Now, that's enough. No more impertinence." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was all but choking with mortification, and he wheeled and marched +out of the store. +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't afraid of him," he thought, "and I ought to have spoken to +him first thing. I might have known better than to have asked those +fellows. I sha'n't be green enough to do that again. I'll ask the +head man next time." +</P> + +<P> +That was what he tried to do in six clothing-stores, one after another; +but in each case he made a failure. In two of them, they said the +managing partner was out; and then, when he tried to find out whether +they wanted a boy, the man he asked became angry and showed him the +door. In three more, he was at first treated politely, and then +informed that they already had hundreds of applications. To enter the +sixth store was an effort, but he went in. +</P> + +<P> +"One of the firm? Yes, sir," said the floor-walker. "There he is." +</P> + +<P> +Only a few feet from him stood a man so like the one whose face had +glowered at him through that cashier's window in the first store that +Jack hesitated a moment, but the clerk spoke out: +</P> + +<P> +"Wishes to speak to you, Mr. Hubbard." +</P> + +<P> +"This way, my boy. What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +Jack was surprised by the full, mellow, benevolent voice that came from +under the white moustaches. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you want to hire a boy, sir?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not, my son. Where are you from?" asked Mr. Hubbard, with a +kindlier expression than before. +</P> + +<P> +Jack told him, and answered two or three other questions. +</P> + +<P> +"From up in the country, eh?" he said. "Have you money enough to get +home again?" +</P> + +<P> +"I could get home," stammered Jack, "but there isn't any chance for a +boy up in Crofield." +</P> + +<P> +"Ten chances there for every one there is in the city, my boy," said +Mr. Hubbard. "One hundred boys here for every place that's vacant. +You go home. Dig potatoes. Make hay. Drive cows. Feed pigs. Do +<I>anything</I> honest, but get out of New York. It's one great +pauper-house, now, with men and boys who can't find anything to do." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, sir," said Jack, with a tightening around his heart. "But +I'll find something. You see if I don't—" +</P> + +<P> +"Take my advice, and go home!" replied Mr. Hubbard, kindly. +"Good-morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning," said Jack, and while going out of that store he had the +vividest recollections of all the country around Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll keep on trying, anyway," he said. "There's a place for me +somewhere. I'll try some other trade. I'll do <I>anything</I>." +</P> + +<P> +So he did, until one man said to him: +</P> + +<P> +"Everybody is at luncheon just now. Begin again by and by; but I'm +afraid you'll find there are no stores needing boys." +</P> + +<P> +"I need some dinner myself," thought Jack. "I feel faint. Mister," he +added aloud, "I must buy some luncheon, too. Where's a good place?" +</P> + +<P> +He was directed to a restaurant, and he seated himself at a table and +ordered roast beef in a sort of desperation. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care what it costs!" he said. "I've got some money yet." +</P> + +<P> +Beef, potatoes, bread and butter, all of the best, came, and were eaten +with excellent appetite. +</P> + +<P> +Jack was half afraid of the consequences when the waiter put a bright +red check down beside his plate. +</P> + +<P> +"Thirty cents?" exclaimed he joyfully, picking it up. "Why, that's the +cheapest dinner I've had in New York." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, sir. Come again, sir," said the waiter, smiling; and then +Jack sat still for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Six dollars, and, more too," he said to himself; "and my room's paid +for besides. I can go right on looking up a place, for days and days, +if I'm careful about my money. I mustn't be discouraged." +</P> + +<P> +He certainly felt more courageous, now that he had eaten dinner, and he +at once resumed his hunt for a place; but there was very little left of +his smile. He went into store after store with almost the same result +in each, until one good-humored gentleman remarked to him: +</P> + +<P> +"My boy, why don't you go to a Mercantile Agency?" +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked Jack, and the man explained what it was. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go to one right away," Jack said hopefully. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the address of a safe place," said the gentleman writing a few +words. "Look out for sharpers, though. Plenty of such people in that +business. I wish you good luck." +</P> + +<P> +Before long Jack Ogden stood before the desk of the "Mercantile Agency" +to which he had been directed, answering questions and registering his +name. He had paid a fee of one dollar, and had made the office-clerk +laugh by his confidence. +</P> + +<P> +"You seem to think you can take hold of nearly anything," he said. +"Well, your chance is as good as anybody's. Some men prefer boys from +the country, even if they can't give references." +</P> + +<P> +"When do you think you can get me a place?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't tell. We've only between four hundred and five hundred on the +books now; and sometimes we get two or three dozen fixed in a day." +</P> + +<P> +"Five hundred!" exclaimed Jack, with a clouding face. "Why, it may be +a month before my turn comes!" +</P> + +<P> +"A month?" said the clerk. "Well, I hope not much longer, but it may +be. I wouldn't like to promise you anything so soon as that." +</P> + +<P> +Jack went out of that place with yet another idea concerning "business +in the city," but he again began to make inquiries for himself. It was +the weariest kind of work, and at last he was heartily sick of it. +</P> + +<P> +"I've done enough for one day," he said to himself. "I've been into I +don't know how many stores. I know more about it than I did this +morning." +</P> + +<P> +There was no doubt of that. Jack had been getting wiser all the while; +and he did not even look so rural as when he set out. He was really +beginning to get into city ways, and he was thinking hard and fast. +</P> + +<P> +The first thing he did, after reaching the Hotel Dantzic, was to go up +to his room. He felt as if he would like to talk with his sister Mary, +and so he sat down and wrote her a long letter. +</P> + +<P> +He told her about his trip, all through, and about his German friends, +and his Sunday; but it was anything but easy to write about Monday's +experiences. He did it after a fashion, but he wrote much more +cheerfully than he felt. +</P> + +<P> +Then he went down to the supper-room for some tea. It seemed to him +that he had ordered almost nothing, but it cost him twenty-five cents. +</P> + +<P> +It would have done him good if he could have known how Mary's thoughts +were at that same hour turning to him. +</P> + +<P> +At home, Jack's father and Mr. Magruder were talking about Jack's land, +arranging about the right of way and what it was worth, while he sat in +his little room in the Hotel Dantzic, thinking over his long, weary day +of snubs, blunders, insults and disappointments. +</P> + +<P> +"Hunting for a place in the city is just the meanest kind of work," he +said at last. "Well, I'll go to bed, and try it again to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +That was what he did; but Tuesday's work was "meaner" than Monday's. +There did not seem to be even so much as a variation. It was all one +dull, monotonous, miserable hunt for something he could not find. It +was just so on Wednesday, and all the while, as he said, "Money will +just melt away; and somehow you can't help it." +</P> + +<P> +When he counted up, on Wednesday evening, however, he still had four +dollars and one cent; and he had found a place where they sold bread +and milk, or bread and coffee, for ten cents. +</P> + +<P> +"I can get along on that," he said; "and it's only thirty-cents a day, +if I eat three times. I wish I'd known about it when I first came +here. I'm learning something new all the time." +</P> + +<P> +Thursday morning came, and with it a long, gossipy letter from Mary, +and an envelope from Crofield, containing a letter from his mother and +a message from his father written by her, saying how he had talked a +little—only a little—with Mr. Magruder. There was a postscript from +Aunt Melinda, and a separate sheet written by his younger sisters, with +scrawly postscripts from the little boys to tell Jack how the workmen +had dug down and found the old church bell, and that there was a crack +in it, and the clapper was broken off. +</P> + +<P> +Jack felt queer over those letters. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't answer them right away," he said. "Not till I get into some +business. I'll go farther down town today, and try there." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +At ten o'clock that morning, a solemn party of seven men met in the +back room of the Mertonville Bank. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees, please come to order. I suppose +we all agree? We need a teacher of experience. The academy's not +doing well. The lady principal can't do everything. She must have a +good assistant." +</P> + +<P> +"Who's your candidate, Squire Crowninshield?" asked Judge Edwards. +"I'm trustee as Judge of the County Court. I've had thirty-one +applications for my vote." +</P> + +<P> +"I've had more than that," said the Squire good humoredly. "I won't +name my choice till after the first ballot. I want to know who are the +other candidates first." +</P> + +<P> +"So do I," said Judge Edwards. "I won't name mine at once, either. +Who is yours, Elder Holloway?" +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better have a nominating ballot," remarked the Elder, handing a +folded slip of paper to Mr. Murdoch, the editor of the <I>Eagle</I>. "Who +is yours, Mr. Jeroliman?" +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't any candidate," replied the bank-president, with a worried +look. "I won't name any, but I'll put a ballot in." +</P> + +<P> +"Try that, then," said General Smith, who was standing instead of +sitting down at the long table. "Just a suggestion." +</P> + +<P> +Every trustee had something to say as to how he had been besieged by +applicants, until the seventh, who remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"I've just returned from Europe, gentlemen. I'll vote for the +candidate having the most votes on this ballot. I don't care who wins." +</P> + +<P> +"I agree to that," quickly responded General Smith, handing him a +folded paper. "Put it in, Dr. Dillingham. It's better that none of us +should do any log-rolling or try to influence others. I'll adopt your +idea." +</P> + +<P> +"I won't then," said Squire Crowninshield, pleasantly but very +positively. "Murdoch, what's the name of that young woman who edited +the <I>Eagle</I> for a week?" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Mary Ogden," said the editor, with a slight smile. +</P> + +<P> +"A clever girl," said the Squire, as he wrote on a paper, folded it, +and threw it into a hat in the middle of the table. He had not heard +Judge Edwards's whispered exclamation: +</P> + +<P> +"That reminds me! I promised my wife that I'd mention Mary for the +place; but then there wasn't the ghost of a chance!" +</P> + +<P> +In went all the papers, and the hat was turned over. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, gentlemen," said General Smith, "before the ballots are opened +and counted, I wish to ask: Is this vote to be considered regular and +formal? Shall we stand by the result?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, certainly," said the trustees in chorus. +</P> + +<P> +"Count the ballots!" said the Elder. +</P> + +<P> +The hat was lifted and the count began. +</P> + +<P> +"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven—for Mary Ogden," said Elder +Holloway calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare!" said General Smith. "Unanimous? Why, gentlemen, we were +agreed! There really was no difference of opinion whatever." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad she is such a favorite," said Judge Edwards; "but we can't +raise the salary on that account. It'll have to remain at forty +dollars a month." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad she's got it!" said Mr. Murdoch. "And a unanimous vote is a +high testimonial!" +</P> + +<P> +And so Mary was elected. +</P> + +<P> +Each of them had other business to attend to, and it was not until +Judge Edwards went home, at noon, that the news was known to Mary, for +the Judge carried the pleasant tidings to Mary Ogden at the +dinner-table. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Judge Edwards!" exclaimed Mary, turning pale. "I? At my age—to +be assistant principal of the academy?" +</P> + +<P> +"There's only the Primary Department to teach," said the Judge +encouragingly. "Not half so hard as that big, overgrown Sunday-school +class. Only it never had a good teacher yet, and you'll have hard work +to get it into order." +</P> + +<P> +"What will they say in Crofield!" said Mary uneasily. "They'll say I'm +not fit for it." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure Miss Glidden will not," said Mrs. Edwards, proudly. "I'm +glad it was unanimous. It shows what they all thought of you." +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps it did; but perhaps it was as well for Mary Ogden's temper that +she could not hear all that was said when the other trustees went home +to announce their action. +</P> + +<P> +It was a great hour for Mary, but her brother Jack was at that same +time beginning to think that New York City was united against him,—a +million and a half to one. +</P> + +<P> +He had been fairly turned out of the last store he had entered. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JACK'S FAMINE. +</H3> + +<P> +At Crofield, the morning mail brought a letter from Mary, telling of +her election. +</P> + +<P> +There was not so very much comment, but Mrs. Ogden cried a little, and +said: +</P> + +<P> +"I feel as if we were beginning to lose the children." +</P> + +<P> +"I must go to work," said the tall blacksmith after a time; "but I +don't feel like it. So Mary's to teach, is she? She seems very young. +I wish I knew about Jack." +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, poor Jack was half hopelessly inquiring, of man after man, +whether or not another boy was wanted in his store. It was only one +long, flat, monotony of "No, sir," and at last he once more turned his +weary footsteps up-town, and hardly had he done so before he waked up a +little and stood still, and looked around him. +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo!" he exclaimed, "I never was here before. This must be Chatham +Square and the Bowery. I've read about them in the guide-book. I can +go home this way. It's not much like Broadway." +</P> + +<P> +So he thought, as he went along. And it did not at all resemble +Broadway. It seemed to swarm with people; they appeared to be +attending to their own business, and they were all behaving very well, +so far as Jack could see. +</P> + +<P> +"Never saw such a jam," said Jack, as he pushed into a small throng on +a street corner, trying to get through; but at the word "jam" something +came down upon the top of his hat and forced it forward over his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Up went both of his hands, instinctively, and at that moment each arm +was at once caught and held up for a second or two. It was all done in +a flash. Jack knew that some boisterous fellow had jammed his hat over +his eyes, and that others had hustled him a little; but he had not been +hurt, and he did not feel like quarreling, just then. He pushed along +through the throng, and was getting out to where the crowd was thinner, +when he suddenly felt a chill and a weak feeling at his heart. He had +thrust his hand into his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"My pocket-book!" he said, faintly. "It's gone! Where could I have +lost it? I haven't taken it out anywhere. And there was more than +three dollars in it I'd saved to pay for my room!" +</P> + +<P> +He leaned heavily against a lamp-post for a moment, and all the bright +ideas he had ever had about the city became very dim and far away. He +put up one hand before his eyes, and at that moment his arm was firmly +grasped. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, boy! What's the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +He looked up, and saw a blue uniform and a hand with a club in it, but +he could not say a word in reply. +</P> + +<P> +"You seem all right. Are you sick?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've lost my pocket-book," said Jack. "Every cent I had except some +change." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-210"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-210.jpg" ALT=""I've lost my pocket-book."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="466" HEIGHT="581"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 466px"> +<I>"I've lost my pocket-book."</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"That's bad," and the keen-eyed officer understood the matter at a +glance, for he added: +</P> + +<P> +"You were caught in a crowd, and had your pocket picked? I can't do +anything for you, my boy. It's gone, and that's all there is of it. +Never push into crowds if you've any money about you. You'd better go +home now." +</P> + +<P> +"Only sixty-five cents left," Jack said, as he walked away, "for this +evening, and Saturday, and Sunday, and for all next week, till I get +something to do and am paid for doing it!" +</P> + +<P> +He had eaten ten cents' worth of bread and milk at noon; but he was a +strong and healthy boy and he was again hungry. Counting his change +made him hungrier, and he thought longingly of the brilliant +supper-room at the Hotel Dantzic. +</P> + +<P> +"That won't do," he thought. "I must keep away from Keifelheimer and +his restaurant. There, now, that's something like." +</P> + +<P> +It was a small stand, close by a dark-looking cellar way. Half was +covered with apples, candy, peanuts, bananas, oranges, and cocoa-nuts. +The other half was a pay-counter, a newspaper stand, and an +eating-house. Jack's interest centered on a basket, marked, "Ham +Sanwiges Five Cents." +</P> + +<P> +"I can afford a sandwich," he said, "and I've got to eat something!" +</P> + +<P> +At the moment when he leaned over and picked up a sandwich, a small old +woman, behind the counter, reached out her hand toward him; and another +small old woman stretched her hand out to a boy who was testing the +oranges; and a third small old woman sang out very shrilly: +</P> + +<P> +"Here's your sanwiges! Ham sanwiges! Only five cents! Benannies! +Oranges! Sanwiges!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack put five cents into the woman's hand, and he was surprised to find +how much good bread and boiled ham he had bought. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all the supper I'll have," he said, as he walked away. "I could +eat a loaf of bread and a whole ham, it seems to me!" +</P> + +<P> +All the way to the Hotel Dantzic he studied over the loss of his +pocket-book. +</P> + +<P> +"The policeman was right," he said to himself, at last. "I didn't know +when they took it, but it must have been when my hat was jammed down." +</P> + +<P> +When Jack met Mr. Keifelheimer in the hotel office, he asked him what +he thought about it. An expression of strong indignation, if not of +horror, crossed the face of the hotel proprietor. +</P> + +<P> +"Dey get you pocket-book?" he exclaimed. "You vas rob choost de same +vay I vas; but mine vas a votch und shain. It vas two year ago, und I +nefer get him back. Your friend, Mr. Guilderaufenberg, he vas rob dot +vay, vonce, but den he vas ashleep in a railvay car und not know ven it +vas done!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack was glad of so much sympathy, but just then business called Mr. +Keifelheimer away. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't go upstairs," thought Jack. "I'll sit in the reading-room." +</P> + +<P> +No letters were awaiting him, but there were plenty of newspapers, and +nearly a score of men were reading or talking. Jack did not really +care to read, nor to talk, nor even to listen; but two gentlemen near +him were discussing a subject that reminded him of the farms around +Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he heard one of them say, "we must buy every potato we can +secure. At the rate they're spoiling now, the price will be doubled +before December." +</P> + +<P> +"Curious, how little the market knows about it yet," said the other, +and they continued discussing letters and reports about potatoes, from +place after place, and State after State, and all the while Jack +listened, glad to be reminded of Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +"It was just so with our potatoes at home," he said to himself. "Some +farmers didn't get back what they planted." +</P> + +<P> +This talk helped him to forget his pocket-book for a while; then, after +trying to read the newspapers, he went to bed. +</P> + +<P> +A very tired boy can always sleep. Jack Ogden awoke, on Saturday +morning, with a clear idea that sleep was all he had had for +supper,—excepting one ham sandwich. +</P> + +<P> +"It's not enough," he said, as he dressed himself. "I must make some +money. Oh, my pocket-book! And I shall have to pay for my room, +Monday." +</P> + +<P> +He slipped out of the Hotel Dantzic very quietly, and he had a fine +sunshiny walk of two and a half miles to the down-town restaurant where +he ate his ten cents' worth of bread and milk. +</P> + +<P> +"It's enough for a while," he said, "but it doesn't last. If I was at +home, now, I'd have more bread and another bowl of milk. I'll come +here again, at noon, if I don't find a place somewhere." +</P> + +<P> +Blue, blue, blue, was that Saturday for poor Jack Ogden! All the +forenoon he stood up manfully to hear the "No, we don't want a boy," +and he met that same answer, expressed in almost identical words, +everywhere. +</P> + +<P> +When he came out from his luncheon of bread and milk, he began to find +that many places closed at twelve or one o'clock; that even more were +to close at three, and that on Saturday all men were either tired and +cross or in a hurry. Jack's courage failed him until he could hardly +look a man in the face and ask him a question. One whole week had gone +since Jack reached the city, and it seemed about a year. Here he was, +without any way of making money, and almost without a hope of finding +any way. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go to the hotel," he said, at about four o'clock. "I'll go up +the Bowery way. It won't pay anybody to pick my pocket this time!" +</P> + +<P> +He had a reason for going up the Bowery. It was no shorter than the +other way. The real explanation was in his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Forty cents left!" he said. "I'll eat one sandwich for supper, and +I'll buy three more to eat in my room to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +He reached the stand kept by the three small old women, and found each +in turn calling out, "Here you are! Sanwiges!—" and all the rest of +their list of commodities. +</P> + +<P> +"Four," said Jack. "Put up three of 'em in a paper, please. I'll eat +one." +</P> + +<P> +It was good. In fact, it was too good, and Jack wished it was ten +times as large; but the last morsel of it vanished speedily and after +looking with longing eyes at the others, he shut his teeth firmly. +</P> + +<P> +"I won't eat another!" he said to himself. "I'll starve it out till +Monday, anyway!" +</P> + +<P> +It took all the courage Jack had to carry those three sandwiches to the +Hotel Dantzic and to put them away, untouched, in his traveling-bag. +After a while he went down to the reading-room and read; but he went to +bed thinking of the excellent meals he had eaten at the Albany hotel on +his way to New York. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mary Ogden's second Sunday in Mertonville was a peculiar trial to her, +for several young ladies who expected to be in the Academy next term, +came and added themselves to that remarkable Sunday-school class. So +did some friends of the younger Academy girls; and the class had to be +divided, to the disappointment of those excluded. +</P> + +<P> +"Mary Ogden didn't need to improve," said Elder Holloway to the +Superintendent, "but she is doing better than ever!" +</P> + +<P> +How Jack did long to see Mary, or some of the family in Crofield, and +Crofield itself! As soon as he was dressed he opened the bag and took +out one of his sandwiches and looked at it. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, they're smaller than I thought they were!" he said ruefully; "but +I can't expect too much for five cents! I've just twenty cents left. +That sandwich tastes good if it is small!" +</P> + +<P> +So soon was it all gone that Jack found his breakfast very +unsatisfactory. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't feel like going to church," he said, "but I might as well. I +can't sit cooped up here all day. I'll go into the first church I come +to, as soon as it's time." +</P> + +<P> +He did not care where he went when he left the hotel, and perhaps it +did not really make much difference, considering how he felt; but he +found a church and went in. A young man showed him to a seat under the +gallery. Not until the minister in the pulpit came forward to give out +a hymn, did Jack notice anything peculiar, but the first sonorous, +rolling cadences of that hymn startled the boy from Crofield. +</P> + +<P> +"Whew!" he said to himself. "It's Dutch or something. I can't +understand a word of it! I'll stay, though, now I'm here." +</P> + +<P> +German hymns, and German prayers, and a tolerably long sermon in +German, left Jack Ogden free to think of all sorts of things, and his +spirits went down, down, down, as he recalled all the famines of which +he had heard or read and all the delicacies invented to tempt the +appetite. He sat very still, however, until the last hymn was sung, +and then he walked slowly back to the Hotel Dantzic. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care to see Mr. Keifelheimer," he thought. "He'll ask me to +come and eat at a big Sunday dinner,—and to pay for it. I'll dodge +him." +</P> + +<P> +He watched at the front door of the hotel for fully three minutes, +until he was sure that the hall was empty. Then he slipped into the +reading-room and through that into the rear passageway leading to the +elevator; but he did not feel safe until on his way to his room. +</P> + +<P> +"One sandwich for dinner," he groaned, as he opened his bag. "I never +knew what real hunger was till I came to the city! Maybe it won't last +long, though. I'm not the first fellow who's had a hard time before he +made a start." +</P> + +<P> +Jack thought that both the bread and the ham were cut too thin, and +that the sandwich did not last long enough. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll keep my last twenty cents, though," thought Jack, and he tried to +be satisfied. +</P> + +<P> +Before that afternoon was over, the guide-book had been again read +through, and a long home letter was written. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll mail it," he said, "as soon as I get some money for stamps. I +haven't said a word to them about famine. It must be time to eat that +third sandwich; and then I'll go out and take a walk." +</P> + +<P> +The sandwich was somewhat dry, but every crumb of it seemed to be +valuable. After eating it, Jack once more walked over and looked at +the fine houses on Fifth Avenue; but now it seemed to the hungry lad an +utter absurdity to think of ever owning one of them. He stared and +wondered and walked, however, and returned to the hotel tired out. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +On Monday morning, the Ogden family were at breakfast, when a neat +looking farm-wagon stopped before the door. The driver sprang to the +ground, carefully helped out a young woman, and then lifted down a +trunk. Just as the trunk came down upon the ground there was a loud +cry in the open doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"Mother! Molly's come home!" and out sprang little Bob. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercy on us!" Mrs. Ogden exclaimed, and the whole family were on their +feet. +</P> + +<P> +Mary met her father as she was coming in. Then, picking up little +Sally and kissing her, she said: +</P> + +<P> +"There was a way for me to come over, this morning. I've brought my +books home, to study till term begins. Oh, mother, I'm so glad to get +back!" +</P> + +<P> +The blacksmith went out to thank the farmer who had brought her; but +the rest went into the house to get Mary some breakfast and to look at +her and to hear her story. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Ogden said several times: +</P> + +<P> +"I do wish Jack was here, too!" +</P> + +<P> +That very moment her son was leaving the Hotel Dantzic behind him, with +two and a half miles to walk before getting his breakfast—a bowl of +bread and milk. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JACK-AT-ALL-TRADES. +</H3> + +<P> +Jack Ogden, that Monday morning, had an idea that New York was a very +long city. +</P> + +<P> +He had eaten nothing since Saturday noon, excepting the sandwiches, and +he felt that he should not be good for much until after he had had +breakfast. His mind was full of unpleasant memories of the stores and +offices he had entered during his last week's hunt, and he did not +relish renewing it. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go ahead though," he thought. "Something must be done, or I'll +starve." +</P> + +<P> +Every moment Jack felt better, and he arose from the table a little +more like himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Ten cents left," he said, as he went out into the street. "That'll +buy me one more bowl of bread and milk. What shall I do then?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-220"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-220.jpg" ALT=""Ten cents left."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="369" HEIGHT="401"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 369px"> +<I>"Ten cents left."</I> +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +It was a serious question, and demanded attention. It was still very +early for the city, but stores were beginning to open, and groups of +men were hurrying along the sidewalks on their way to business. Jack +went on, thinking and thinking, and a fit of depression was upon him +when he entered a street turning out from Broadway. He had not tried +this street before. It was not wide, and it was beginning to look +busy. At the end of two blocks, Jack uttered an exclamation: +</P> + +<P> +"That's queer!" he said. "They all sell coffee, tea, groceries, and +that sort of thing. Big stores, too. I'll try here." +</P> + +<P> +His heart sank a little, as he paused in front of a very bustling +establishment, bearing every appearance of prosperity. Some men were +bringing out tea-chests and bags of coffee to pile around the doorway, +as if to ask passers-by to walk in and buy some. The show-windows were +already filled with samples of sugar, coffee, and a dozen other kinds +of goods. Just beyond one window Jack could see the first of a row of +three huge coffee-grinders painted red, and back of the other window +was more machinery. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go in, anyway," he said, setting his teeth. "Only ten cents +left!" +</P> + +<P> +That small coin, because it was all alone in his pocket, drove him into +the door. Two thirds down the broad store there stood a black-eyed, +wiry, busy-looking man, giving various directions to the clerks and +other men. Jack thought, "He's the 'boss.' He looks as if he'd say +no, right away." +</P> + +<P> +Although Jack's heart was beating fast, he walked boldly up to this man: +</P> + +<P> +"Mister," he said, "do you want to hire another boy?" +</P> + +<P> +"You are the hundred and eleventh boy who has asked that same question +within a week. No," responded the black-eyed man, sharply but good +naturedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Gifford," came at that moment from a very cheerful voice over Jack's +left shoulder, "I've cleaned out that lot of potatoes. Sold two +thousand barrels on my way down, at a dollar and a half a barrel." +</P> + +<P> +Jack remembered that some uncommonly heavy footsteps had followed him +when he came in, and found that he had to look upward to see the face +of the speaker, who was unusually tall. The man leaned forward, too, +so that Jack's face was almost under his. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Gifford's answer had disappointed Jack and irritated him. +</P> + +<P> +"You did well!" said Mr. Gifford. +</P> + +<P> +Before he had time to think Jack said: +</P> + +<P> +"A dollar and a half? Well, if you knew anything about potatoes, you +wouldn't have let them go for a dollar and a half a barrel!" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you know about potatoes?" growled the tall man, leaning an +inch lower, and frowning at Jack's interruption. +</P> + +<P> +"More than you or Mr. Gifford seems to," said Jack desperately. "The +crop's going to be short. I know how it is up <I>our</I> way." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell us what you know!" said the tall man sharply; and Mr. Gifford +drew nearer with an expression of keen interest upon his face. +</P> + +<P> +"They're all poor," said Jack, and then he remembered and repeated, +better than he could have done if he had made ready beforehand, all he +had heard the two men say in the Hotel Dantzic reading-room, and all he +had heard in Crofield and Mertonville. He had heard the two men call +each other by name, and he ended with: +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't you sell your lot to Murphy & Scales? They're buying +everywhere." +</P> + +<P> +"That's just what I did," said the tall man. "I wish I hadn't; I'll go +right out and buy!" and away he went. +</P> + +<P> +"Buy some on my account," said Mr. Gifford, as the other man left the +store. "See here, my boy, I don't want to hire anybody. But you seem +to know about potatoes. Probably you're just from a farm. What else +do you know? What can you do?" +</P> + +<P> +"A good many things," said Jack, and to his own astonishment he spoke +out clearly and confidently. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you can?" laughed Mr. Gifford. "Well, I don't need you, but I +need an engineer. I wish you knew enough to run a small steam-engine." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I can run a steam-engine," said Jack. "That's nothing. May I +see it?" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Gifford pointed at some machinery behind the counter, near where he +stood, and at the apparatus in the show-window. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a little one that runs the coffee-mills and the printing-press," +he said. "You can't do anything with it until a machinist mends +it—it's all out of order, I'm told." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I can," said Jack. "A boy who's learned the blacksmith's +trade ought to be able to put it to rights." +</P> + +<P> +Without another word, Jack went to work. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing wrong here, Mr. Gifford," he said in a minute. "Where are the +screw-driver, and the monkey-wrench, and an oil-can?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well!" exclaimed Mr. Gifford, as he sent a man for the tools. +"Do you think you can do it?" +</P> + +<P> +Jack said nothing aloud, but he told himself: +</P> + +<P> +"Why, it's a smaller size but like the one in the <I>Eagle</I> office. They +get out of order easily, but then it's easy to regulate them." +</P> + +<P> +"You do know something," said Mr. Gifford, laughing, a few minutes +later, when Jack said to him: +</P> + +<P> +"She'll do now." +</P> + +<P> +"She won't do very well," added Mr. Gifford, shaking his head. "That +engine never was exactly the thing. It lacks power." +</P> + +<P> +"It may be the pulley-belt's too loose," said Jack, after studying the +mechanism for a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll send for a man to fix it, then." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you needn't," said Jack. "I can tighten it so she'll run all the +machinery you have. May I have an awl?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," said Mr. Gifford. "Put it to rights. There's plenty of +coffee waiting to be ground." +</P> + +<P> +Jack went to work at the loose belt. +</P> + +<P> +"He's a bright fellow," said Mr. Gifford to his head-clerk. "If we +wanted another boy—but we don't." +</P> + +<P> +"Too many now," was the short, decisive reply. +</P> + +<P> +It was not long before the machinery began to move. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" said Mr. Gifford. "I almost wish I had something more for you +to do, but I really haven't. If you could run that good-for-nothing +old printing-press—" +</P> + +<P> +"Printing-press?" exclaimed Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Over in the other window," said Mr. Gifford. "We thought of printing +all our own circulars, cards, and paper bags. But it's a failure, +unless we should hire a regular printer. We shall have to, I suppose. +If you were a printer, now." +</P> + +<P> +"I've worked at a press," said Jack. "I'm something of a printer. I'm +sure I can do that work. It's like a press I used to run when I worked +in that business." +</P> + +<P> +Jack at once went to the show-window. +</P> + +<P> +"An 'Alligator' press," he said, "like the one in the <I>Standard</I> +office. It ought to be oiled, though. It needs adjusting, too. No +wonder it would not work. I can make it go." +</P> + +<P> +The business of the store was beginning. Steam was up in the engine, +and the coffee-mills were grinding merrily. Mr. Gifford and all his +clerks were busied with other matters, and Jack was left to tinker away +at the Alligator press. "She's ready to run. I'll start her," he said +at last. +</P> + +<P> +He took an impression of the form of type that was in the press and +read it. +</P> + +<P> +"I see," he said. "They print that on their paper bags for an +advertisement. I'll show it to Mr. Gifford. There are plenty of blank +ones lying around here, all ready to print." +</P> + +<P> +He walked up to the desk and handed in the proof, asking: +</P> + +<P> +"Is that all right?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Mr. Gifford. "We let our stock of bags run down because the +name of the firm was changed. I want to add several things. I'll send +for somebody to have the proof corrections made." +</P> + +<P> +"You needn't," said Jack. "Tell me what you want. Any boy who's ever +worked in a newspaper office can do a little thing like that." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you come to know so much about machinery?" asked Mr. Gifford, +trying not to laugh. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," said Jack, "I was brought up a blacksmith, but I've worked at +other trades, and it was easy enough to adjust those things." +</P> + +<P> +"That's what you've been up to is it?" said Mr. Gifford. "I saw you +hammering and filing, and I wondered what you'd accomplished. I want +the new paper bags to be,"—and he told Jack what changes were +required, and added: +</P> + +<P> +"Then, of course, I shall need some circulars—three kinds—and some +cards." +</P> + +<P> +"That press will run over a thousand an hour when it's geared right. +You'll see," said Jack, positively. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, here's a true Jack-at-all-trades!" exclaimed Mr. Gifford, +opening his eyes. "I begin to wish we had a place for you!" +</P> + +<P> +It was nearly noon before Jack had another sample of printing ready to +show. There was a good supply of type, to be sure, but he was not much +of a printer, and type-setting did not come easily to him. He worked +almost desperately, however, and meanwhile his brains were as busy as +the coffee-mills. He succeeded finally, and it was time, for a +salesman was just reporting: +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Gifford, we're out of paper bags." +</P> + +<P> +"We must have some right away," said Mr. Gifford. "I wish that +youngster really knew how to print them. He's tinkering at it over +there." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that right?" asked Jack only a second later, holding out a printed +bag. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes, that's the thing. Go ahead," said the surprised +coffee-dealer. "I thought you'd failed this time." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll run off a lot," said Jack, "and then I'll go out and get +something to eat." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you won't," said Mr. Gifford promptly. "No going out, during +business hours, in <I>this</I> house. I'll have a luncheon brought to you. +I'll try you to-day, anyhow." +</P> + +<P> +Back went Jack without another word, but he thought silently, "That +saves me ten cents." +</P> + +<P> +The Alligator press was started, and Jack fed it with the blank paper +bags the salesmen needed, and he began to feel happy. He was even +happier when his luncheon was brought; for the firm of Gifford & +Company saw that their employees fared well. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare!" said Jack to himself, "it's the first full meal I've had +since last week Wednesday! I was starved." +</P> + +<P> +On went the press, and the young pressman sat doggedly at his task; but +he was all the while watching things in the store and hearing whatever +there was to hear. +</P> + +<P> +"I know their prices pretty well," he thought. "Most of the things are +marked—ever so much lower than Crofield prices, too." +</P> + +<P> +He had piles of printed bags of different sizes ready for use, now +lying around him. +</P> + +<P> +"Time to get at some of those circulars," he was saying, as he arose +from his seat at the press and stepped out behind the counter. +</P> + +<P> +"Five pounds of coffee," said a lady, before the counter, in a tone of +vexation. "I've waited long enough. Mocha and Java, mixed." +</P> + +<P> +"Thirty-five cents," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick, then," said she, and he darted away to fill her order. +</P> + +<P> +"Three and a half pounds of powdered sugar," said another lady, as he +passed her. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, ma'am," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"How much is this soap?" asked a stout old woman, and Jack remembered +that price too. +</P> + +<P> +He was not at all aware that anybody was watching him; but he was just +telling another customer about tea and baking-soda when he felt a hand +upon his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"See here," demanded Mr. Gifford, "what are you doing behind the +counter?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was afraid they'd get tired of waiting and go somewhere else," said +Jack. "I know something about waiting on customers. Yes, ma'am, +that's a fine tea. Forty-eight cents. Half pound? Yes ma'am. In a +jiffy, Mr. Gifford;—there are bags enough for to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"I think you may stay," said the head of the house. "I didn't need +another boy; but I begin to think I do need a blacksmith, a carpenter, +a printer, and a good sharp salesman." As he was turning away he +added, "It's surprising how quickly he has picked up our prices." +</P> + +<P> +Jack's fingers were trembling nervously, but his face brightened as he +did up that package. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Gifford waited while the Crofield boy answered yet another customer +and sold some coffee, and told Jack to go right on. +</P> + +<P> +"Come to the desk," he then said. "I don't even know your name. Come." +</P> + +<P> +Very hot and yet a little shaky was Jack as he followed; but Mr. +Gifford was not a verbose man. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Jones," he said to the head clerk, "please take down his +name;—what is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"John Ogden, sir," and after other questions and answers, Mr. Gifford +said: +</P> + +<P> +"Find a cheaper boarding-place. You can get good board for five +dollars a week. Your pay is only ten dollars a week to begin, and you +must live on that. We'll see that you earn it, too. You can begin +printing circulars and cards." +</P> + +<P> +Jack went, and Mr. Gifford added: +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Mr. Jones, he's saved sending for three different workmen since +he came in. He'll make a good salesman, too. He's a boy—but he isn't +only a boy. I'll keep him." +</P> + +<P> +Jack went to the press as if in a dream. +</P> + +<P> +"A place!" he said to himself. "Well, yes. I've got a place. Good +wages, too; but I suppose they won't pay until Saturday night. How am +I to keep going until then? I have to pay my bill at the Hotel +Dantzic, too—now I've begun on a new week. I'll go without my supper, +and buy a sandwich in the morning, and then—I'll get along somehow." +</P> + +<P> +He worked all that afternoon with an uneasy feeling that he was being +watched. The paper bags were finished, a fair supply of them; and then +the type for the circular needed only a few changes, and he began on +that. Each new job made him remember things he had learned in the +<I>Standard</I> office, or had gathered from Mr. Black, the wooden foreman +of the <I>Eagle</I>. It was just as well, however, that things needed only +fixing up and not setting anew, for that might have been a little +beyond him. As it was, he overcame all difficulties, besides leaving +the press three times to act as salesman. +</P> + +<P> +Gifford & Co. kept open to accommodate customers who purchased goods on +their way home; and it was after nearly all other business houses, +excepting such as theirs, were closed, that the very tall man leaned in +at the door and then came striding down the store to the desk. +</P> + +<P> +"Gifford," he said, "that clerk of yours was right. There's almost a +panic in potatoes. I've got five thousand barrels for you, and five +thousand for myself, at a dollar and sixty, and the price just jumped. +They will bring two dollars. If they do, we'll make two thousand +apiece." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad you did so well," said Mr. Gifford dryly, "but don't say much +to him about it. Let him alone—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, yes;—but I want to do something for him. Give him this ten +dollar bill from me." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said Mr. Gifford, "you owe the profit to him. I'll take +care of my side of the matter. Ogden, come here a moment!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack stopped the press and came to the desk. The money was handed to +him. +</P> + +<P> +"It's just a bit of luck," said the tall man; "but your information was +valuable to me." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you," said Jack, after he had in vain refused the money. +</P> + +<P> +"You've done enough," said Mr. Gifford; "this will do for your first +day. Eight o'clock in the morning, remember. Good-night!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad I belong here," Jack said to himself. "If I'd had my pick of +the city I would have chosen this very store. Ten dollars! I can pay +Mr. Keifelheimer now, and I sha'n't have to starve to death." +</P> + +<P> +Jack felt so prosperous that he walked only to the nearest station of +the elevated railway, and cheerfully paid five cents for a ride up-town. +</P> + +<P> +When the Hotel Dantzic was reached, it seemed a much more cheerful and +home-like building than it had appeared when he left it in the morning; +and Jack had now no notion of dodging Mr. Keifelheimer. There he stood +on the doorstep, looking stern and dignified. He was almost too polite +when Jack said: +</P> + +<P> +"Good-evening, Mr. Keifelheimer." +</P> + +<P> +"Goot-efening," he replied, with a bow. "I hope you gets along vell +mit your beezness?" +</P> + +<P> +"Pretty well," said Jack cheerfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Vere vas you feexed?" asked Mr. Keifelheimer, doubtfully. +</P> + +<P> +Jack held out one of the business cards of Gifford & Company, and +replied: +</P> + +<P> +"That's where I am. I guess I'll pay for my room here till the end of +this week, and then I'll find a place farther down town." +</P> + +<P> +"I vas so sorry dey peek your pocket," said Mr. Keifelheimer, looking +at the card. "Tell you vat, Mr. Ogden, you take supper mit me. It +cost you not'ing. I haf to talk some mit you." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-232"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-232.jpg" ALT="Jack dines with Mr. Keifelheimer." BORDER="2" WIDTH="453" HEIGHT="391"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 453px"> +<I>Jack dines with Mr. Keifelheimer</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"All right," said Jack. "I'll pay up at the desk, and then I'll get +ready for dinner." +</P> + +<P> +When he came down Mr. Keifelheimer was waiting for him, very smiling, +but not nearly so polite and dignified. Hardly were they seated at the +supper-table, before the proprietor coughed twice affectedly, and then +remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"You not leaf de Hotel Dantzic, Mr. Ogden. I use up pounds and boxes +of tea und sugar und coffee, und all dose sometings dey sell at Gifford +und Company's. You get me de best prices mit dem, und you safe me a +great heap of money. I get schwindled, schwindled, all de times! You +vas keep your room, und you pays for vat you eats. De room is a goot +room, but it shall cost you not vun cent. So? If I find you safe me +money, I go on mit you." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do my best," said Jack. "Let me know what you're paying now." +</P> + +<P> +"Ve go all ofer de leest after ve eat someting," said Mr. Keifelheimer. +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg say goot deal about you. So did de ladies. I +vas sorry dot dey peek your pocket." +</P> + +<P> +Probably he had now forgotten just what he had thought of saying to +Jack in case the boy had not been able to pay for his room, and had +been out of employment; but Jack was enjoying a fine illustration of +that wise proverb which says: "Nothing succeeds like success." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DRUMMER BOY. +</H3> + +<P> +The Ogden family had said very little, outside of their own house, +about the news of Mary's success in Mertonville, but on that Monday +morning Miss Glidden received no less than four letters, and each of +them congratulated her over the election of her dear young friend, and +commented on how glad she must be. "Well," she said to herself, "of +course I'm glad. And I did all I could for her. She owes it all to +me. I'll go and see her." +</P> + +<P> +Mary Ogden had so much talking to do and so many questions to answer, +at the breakfast table, that her cup of coffee was cold before she +could drink it, and then she and her mother and her aunt went into the +parlor to continue their talk. +</P> + +<P> +John Ogden himself waited there a long time before going over to the +shop. His helper had the forge ready, and the tall blacksmith at once +put a rod of iron into the fire and began to blow the bellows. The rod +was at white heat and was out on the anvil in no time, and the hammer +began to ring upon it to flatten it out when John heard somebody speak +to him: +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Ogden, what are you making? I've been watching you—and I can't +imagine!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Deacon Hawkins," said the blacksmith, "you'll have to tell. The +fact is I was thinking—well—my daughter has just come home." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad to hear it and to hear of her success," answered the Deacon. +"Miss Glidden told us. If you're not busy, I wish you'd put a shoe on +my mare's off hind foot." +</P> + +<P> +The blacksmith then went to work in earnest: and meanwhile Mary, at the +house, was receiving the congratulations of her friends. "Why, Mary +Ogden, my dear! Are you here?" exclaimed Miss Glidden. "I'm so glad! +I'm sure I did all I could for you." "My dear Mary!" exclaimed +another. And Mary shook hands heartily with both her callers, and +expressed her gratitude to Miss Glidden. +</P> + +<P> +It was a day of triumph for Mary, and it must have been for Miss +Glidden, for she seemed to be continually persuading herself that much +of the credit of Mary's advancement was hers. The neighbors came and +went, and more than one of Mary's old school-fellows said to her: "I'm +glad you are so fortunate. I wish <I>I</I> could find something to do." +When the visitors were gone and Mary tried to help with the housework, +her mother said positively, "Now, Molly, don't touch a thing; you go +upstairs to your books, and don't think of anything else; I'm afraid +you won't have half time enough, even then." +</P> + +<P> +Her aunt gave the same advice, and Mary was grateful, being unusually +eager to begin her studies; and even little Sally was compelled to keep +out of Mary's room. +</P> + +<P> +During the latter part of that Monday afternoon John Ogden had an +important conference with Mr. Magruder, the railway director; and the +blacksmith came home, at night, in a thoughtful state of mind. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +His son Jack, at about the same time sat in his room, at the Hotel +Dantzic, in the far-away city he had struggled so hard to reach; and +he, too, was in a thoughtful mood. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll write and tell the family at home, and Mary," he said after a +while. "I wonder whether every fellow who makes a start in New York +has to almost starve at the beginning!" +</P> + +<P> +He was tired enough to sleep well when bed-time came; but, +nevertheless, he was downstairs Tuesday morning long before Mr. +Keifelheimer's hour for appearing. Hotel-men who have to sit up late +often rise late also. +</P> + +<P> +"For this once," said Jack, "I'll have a prime Dantzic Hotel breakfast. +After this week, my room won't cost me anything, and I can begin to lay +up money. I won't ride down town, though; except in the very worst +kind of winter weather." +</P> + +<P> +It delighted him to walk down that morning, and to know just where he +was going and what work he had before him. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure," he thought, "that I know every building, big and little, +all the way along. I've been ordered out of most of these stores. But +I've found the place that I was looking for, at last." +</P> + +<P> +The porters of Gifford & Company had the store open when Jack got +there, and Mr. Gifford was just coming in. +</P> + +<P> +"Ogden," he said, in his usual peremptory way, "put that press-work on +the paper-bags right through, to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"One moment, please, Mr. Gifford," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I've hardly a moment to spare," answered Mr. Gifford. "What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"A customer," said Jack; "the Hotel Dantzic. I can find more of the +same kind, perhaps." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me," was the answer, with a look of greater interest, but also a +look of incredulity. +</P> + +<P> +Jack told him, shortly, the substance of his talk with Mr. +Keifelheimer, and Mr. Gifford listened attentively. +</P> + +<P> +"His steward and buyers have been robbing him, have they?" he remarked. +"Well, he's right about it. No doubt we can save him from ten to +twenty per cent. It's a good idea. I'll go up and see him, by and by. +Now hurry with your printing!" +</P> + +<P> +Jack turned to the waiting "Alligator," and Mr. Gifford went on to his +desk. +</P> + +<P> +"Jones," he said, to his head clerk, "Ogden has drummed us a good hotel +customer," and then he told Mr. Jones about it. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Gifford," said Mr. Jones, shrewdly, "can we afford to keep a sharp +salesman and drummer behind that little printing-press?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course not," said Mr. Gifford. "Not after a week or so. But we +must wait and see how he wears. He's very young, and a stranger." +</P> + +<P> +"Young fellows soon grow," said Mr. Jones. "He'll grow. He'll pick up +everything that comes along. I believe you'll find him a valuable +salesman." +</P> + +<P> +"Very likely," said Mr. Gifford, "but I sha'n't tell him so. He has +plenty of confidence as it is." +</P> + +<P> +"It's not impudence," said Mr. Jones. "If he hadn't been +pushing—well, he wouldn't have found this place with us. It's energy." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Mr. Gifford; "if it was impudence we should waste no time +with him. If there is anything I despise out and out, it's what is +often called cheek." +</P> + +<P> +Next, he hated laziness, or anything resembling it, and Jack sat behind +the Alligator that day, working hard himself and taking note of how Mr. +Gifford kept his employees busy. +</P> + +<P> +"No wonder he didn't need another boy," he thought. "He gets all the +work possible out of every one he employs. That's why he's so +successful." +</P> + +<P> +It was a long, dull, hot day. The luncheon came at noon; and the +customers came all the time, but Jack was forbidden to meddle with them +until his printing was done. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Gifford's eyes are everywhere," said he, "but I hope he hasn't +seen anything out of the way in me. There are bags enough to last a +month—yes, two months. I'll begin on the circulars and cards +to-morrow. I'm glad it's six o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Gifford was standing near the door, giving orders to the porters, +and as the Alligator stopped, Jack said to him: "I think I will go +visiting among the other hotels, this evening." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said Mr. Gifford quietly. "I saw Mr. Keifelheimer to-day, +and made arrangements with him. If you're going out to the hotels in +our interest, buy another hat, put on a stand-up collar with a new +necktie; the rest of your clothing is well enough. Don't try to look +dandyish, though." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course not," said Jack, smiling; "but I was thinking about making +some improvements in my suit." +</P> + +<P> +He made several purchases on his way up town, and put each article on +as he bought it. The last "improvement" was a neat straw hat, from a +lot that were selling cheaply, and he looked into a long looking glass +to see what the effect was. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-240"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-240.jpg" ALT="Jack buys a new hat." BORDER="2" WIDTH="424" HEIGHT="641"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 424px"> +<I>Jack buys a new hat</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"There!" he exclaimed. "There's very little of the 'green' left. It's +not altogether the hat and the collar, either. Nor the necktie. Maybe +some of it was starved out!" +</P> + +<P> +He was a different looking boy, at all events, and the cashier at the +desk of the Hotel Dantzic looked twice at him when he came in, and Mr. +Keifelheimer remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"Dot vas a smart boy! His boss vas here, und I haf safe money. Mr. +Guilderaufenberg vas right about dot boy." +</P> + +<P> +Jack was eager to begin his "drumming," but he ate a hearty supper +before he went out. +</P> + +<P> +"I must learn something about hotels," he remarked thoughtfully. "I'll +take a look at some of them." +</P> + +<P> +The Hotel Dantzic was not small, but it was small compared to some of +the larger hotels that Jack was now to investigate. He walked into the +first one he found, and he looked about it, and then he walked out, and +went into another and looked that over, and then he thought he would +try another. He strolled around through the halls, and offices, and +reading-rooms, and all the public places; but the more he saw, the more +he wondered what good it would do him to study them. +</P> + +<P> +It was about eight o'clock in the evening when he stood in front of the +office of the great Equatorial Hotel, feeling very keenly that he was +still only a country boy, with very little knowledge of the men and +things he saw around him. +</P> + +<P> +A broad, heavy hand came down upon his shoulder, and a voice he had +heard before asked, heartily: +</P> + +<P> +"John Ogden? You here? Didn't I tell you not to stay too long in the +city?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you did, Governor," said Jack, turning quickly. "But I had to +stay here. I've gone into the wholesale and retail grocery business." +</P> + +<P> +Jack already knew that the Governor could laugh merrily, and that any +other men who might happen to be standing by were more than likely to +join with him in his mirth, but the color came at once to his cheeks +when the Governor began to smile. +</P> + +<P> +"In the grocery business?" laughed the Governor. "Do you supply the +Equatorial?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, not yet; but I'd like to," said Jack. "I think our house could +give them what they need." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me have your card then," said one of the gentlemen who had joined +in the Governor's merriment; "for the Governor has no time to spare—" +</P> + +<P> +Jack handed him the card of Gifford & Company. +</P> + +<P> +"Take it, Boulder, take it," said the Governor. "Mr. Ogden and I are +old acquaintances." +</P> + +<P> +"He's a protégé of yours, eh?" said Boulder. "Well, I mean business. +Write your own name there, Mr. Ogden. I'll send our buyer down there, +to-morrow, and we'll see what can be done. Shall we go in, Governor?" +</P> + +<P> +Jack understood, at once, that Mr. Boulder was one of the proprietors +of the Equatorial Hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm called for, Jack," said the Governor. "You will be in the city +awhile, will you not? Well, don't stay here too long. I came here +once, when I was about your age. I staid a year, and then I went away. +A year in the city will be of great benefit to you, I hope. Good-bye." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye, Governor," said Jack, seriously. "We'll do the right thing +by Mr. Boulder;" and there was another laugh as Jack shook hands with +the Governor, and then with the very dignified manager of the +Equatorial Hotel. +</P> + +<P> +"That will do, for one evening," thought Jack, as the distinguished +party of gentlemen walked away. "I'd better go right home and go to +bed. The Governor's a brick anyhow!" +</P> + +<P> +Back he went to the Hotel Dantzic, and he was soon asleep. +</P> + +<P> +The Alligator press in Gifford & Company's was opening and shutting its +black jaws regularly over the sheets of paper it was turning into +circulars, about the middle of Wednesday forenoon, when a dapper +gentleman with a rather prominent scarf-pin walked briskly into the +store and up to the desk. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Gifford?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm Mr. Barnes," said the dapper man. "General buyer for the +Equatorial Hotel. Your Mr. Ogden was up with us, last night, to see +some of his friends, and I've come down to look at your price-list, and +so forth." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" quietly remarked Mr. Gifford, "our Mr. Ogden. Oh, quite right! +I think we can satisfy you. We'll do our best, certainly. Mr. Jones, +please confer with Mr. Barnes—I'll be back in a minute." +</P> + +<P> +Up toward the door walked Mr. Gifford, but not too fast. He stood +still when he arrived at the Alligator press. +</P> + +<P> +"Ogden," he said, "you can leave that work. I've another printing hand +coming." +</P> + +<P> +Jack's heart beat quickly, for a moment. What,—could he be discharged +so suddenly? He was dismayed. But Mr. Gifford went on: +</P> + +<P> +"Wash your hands, Ogden, and stand behind the counter there. I'll see +you again, by and by. The buyer is here from the Equatorial." +</P> + +<P> +"I promised them you'd give them all they wanted, and as good prices as +could be had anywhere," said Jack, with a great sense of relief, and +recovering his courage. +</P> + +<P> +"We will," said Mr. Gifford, as he turned away, and he did not think he +must explain to Jack that it would not do for Mr. Barnes to find +Gifford & Company's salesman, "Mr. Ogden," running an Alligator press. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Barnes was in the store for some time, but Jack was not called up +to talk with him. Mr. Gifford was the right man for that part of the +affair, and in the course of his conversation with Mr. Barnes he +learned further particulars concerning the intimacy between "your Mr. +Ogden" and the Governor, with the addition that "Mr. Boulder thinks +well of Mr. Ogden too." +</P> + +<P> +Jack waited upon customers as they came, and he did well, for "a new +hand." But he felt very ignorant of both articles and prices, and the +first thing he said, when Mr. Gifford again came near him, was: +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Gifford, I ought to know more than I do about the stock and +prices." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course you ought," said Mr. Gifford. "I don't care to have you try +any more 'drumming' till you do. You must stay a few months behind the +counter and learn all you can. You must dress neatly, too. I wonder +you've looked as well as you have. We'll make your salary fifteen +dollars a week. You'll need more money as a salesman." +</P> + +<P> +Jack flushed with pleasure, but a customer was at hand, and the +interruption prevented him from making an answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Jones," remarked Mr. Gifford to his head clerk, "Ogden is going to +become a fine salesman!" +</P> + +<P> +"I thought so," said Jones. +</P> + +<P> +They both were confirmed in this opinion, about three weeks later. +Jack was two hours behind time, one morning; but when he did come, he +brought with him Mr. Guilderaufenberg of Washington, with reference to +a whole winter's supplies for a "peeg poarding-house," and two United +States Army contractors. Jack had convinced these gentlemen that they +were paying too much for several articles that could be found on the +list of Gifford & Company in better quality and at cheaper rates. +</P> + +<P> +"Meester Giffort," said the German gentleman, "I haf drafel de vorlt +over, und I haf nefer met a better boy dan dot Jack Ogden. He knows +not mooch yet, alretty, but den he ees a very goot boy." +</P> + +<P> +"We like him," said Mr. Gifford, smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"So do I, und so does Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, und Miss Hildebrand, und +Miss Podgr-ms-chski," said the German. "Some day you lets him visit us +in Vashington? So?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. Perhaps I will," said Mr. Gifford; but he afterward +remarked grimly to Mr. Jones: "If I should, and he should meet the +President, Ogden would never let him go until he bought some of our tea +and coffee!" +</P> + +<P> +That day was a notable one in both Crofield and Mertonville. Jack's +first long letter, telling that he was in the grocery business, had +been almost a damper to the Ogden family. They had kept alive a small +hope that he would come back soon, until Aunt Melinda opened an +envelope that morning and held up samples of paper bags, cards, and +circulars of Gifford & Company, while Mrs. Ogden read the letter that +came with them. Bob and Jim claimed the bags next, while Susie and +Bessie read the circulars, and the tall blacksmith himself straightened +up as if he had suddenly grown prouder. +</P> + +<P> +"Mary!" he exclaimed. "Jack always said he'd get to the city. And +he's there—and earning his living!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but—Father," she said, with a small shake in her voice, "I—wish +he was back again. There'd be almost room for him to work in Crofield, +now." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe so, maybe so," he replied. "There'll be crowds of people coming +in when they begin work on the new rail way and the bridge. I signed +the deeds yesterday for all the land they're buying of Jack and me. I +won't tell him about it quite yet, though. I don't wish to unsettle +his mind. Let him stay where he is." +</P> + +<P> +"This will be a trying day for Mary," said Aunt Melinda, thoughtfully. +"The Academy will open at nine o'clock. Just think of what that child +has to go through! There'll be a crowd there, too,—oh, dear me!" +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mary Ogden sat upon the stage, by previous orders from the Academy +principals, awaiting the opening exercises; but the principals +themselves had not yet arrived. She looked rather pale, and she was +intently watching the nickel-plated gong on the table and the hands of +the clock which hung upon the opposite wall. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps the principals are here," Mary thought as the clock hands +crept along. "But they said to strike the bell at nine, precisely, and +if they're not here I must do it!" +</P> + +<P> +At the second of time, up stood Mary and the gong sounded sharply. +</P> + +<P> +That was for "Silence!" and it was very silent, all over the hall, and +all the scholars looked at Mary and waited. +</P> + +<P> +"Clang," went the gong again, and every boy and girl arose, as if they +had been trained to it. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Mary was thinking, "I hope nobody sees how scared I am!" but the +Academy term was well opened, and Dr. Dillingham was speaking, when the +Reverend Lysander Pettigrew and Mrs. Henderson, the tardy principals, +came hurrying in to explain that an accident had delayed them. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +COMPLETE SUCCESS. +</H3> + +<P> +Two years passed. There was a great change in the outward aspect of +Crofield. The new bridge over the Cocahutchie was of iron, resting on +stone piers, and the village street crossed it. The railroad bridge +was just below, but was covered in with a shed, so that the trains +might not frighten horses. The mill was still in its place, but the +dam was two feet higher and the pond was wider. Between the mill and +the bridge was a large building of brick and stone that looked like a +factory. Between the street and the railway, the space was filled by +the station-house and freight depot, which extended to Main Street; and +there were more railway buildings on the other side of the Cocahutchie. +Just below the railroad and along the bank of the creek, the ground was +covered by wooden buildings, and there was a strong smell of leather +and tan-bark. Of course, the old Washington Hotel was gone; but across +the street, on the corner to the left, there was a great brick +building, four stories high, with "Washington Hotel" painted across the +front of it. The stores in that building were just finished. Looking +up Main Street, or looking down, it did not seem the same village. The +new church in the middle of the green was built of stone; and both of +the other churches were rapidly being demolished, as if new ones also +were to take their places. +</P> + +<P> +It was plain, at a glance, that if this improvement was general, the +village must be extending its bounds rapidly, for there never had been +too much room in it, for even the old buildings with which Jack had +been familiar. +</P> + +<P> +Jack Ogden had not been in Crofield while all this work was going on. +His first week with Gifford & Company seemed the most exciting week +that he had ever known, and the second was no less busy and +interesting. He did not go to the German church the second Sunday, but +later he did somehow drift into another place of worship where the +sermon was preached in Welsh. +</P> + +<P> +"Well!" said Jack, when he came out, at the close of the service, "I +think I'll go back to the church I went to first. I don't look so +green now as I did then, but I'm sure the General will remember me." +</P> + +<P> +He carried out this determination the next Sunday. The sexton gave him +a seat, and he took it, remarking to himself: +</P> + +<P> +"A fellow feels more at home in a place where he's been before. +There's the General! I wish I was in his pew. I'll speak to him when +he comes out." +</P> + +<P> +The great man appeared, in due season, and as he passed down the aisle +he came to a boy who was just leaving a pew. With a smile on his face, +the boy held out his hand and bowed. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning," said the General, shaking hands promptly and bowing +graciously in return. Then he added, "I hope you'll come here every +Sunday." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-250"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-250.jpg" ALT="Jack speaks to the General." BORDER="2" WIDTH="370" HEIGHT="380"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 370px"> +<I>Jack speaks to the General</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +That was all, but Jack received at least a bow, every Sunday, for four +weeks. On the Monday after the fourth Sunday, the door of Gifford & +Company's store was shadowed by the entrance of a very proud-looking +man who stalked straight on to the desk, where he was greeted cordially +by Mr. Gifford, for he seemed to be an old friend. +</P> + +<P> +"You have a boy here named John Ogden?" asked the General. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, General," said Mr. Gifford. "A fine young fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"Is he doing well?" asked the General. +</P> + +<P> +"We've no fault to find with him," was the answer. "Do you care to see +him? He's out on business, just now." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I don't care to see him," said the General. "Tell him, please, +that I called. I feel interested in his progress, that's all. +Good-morning, Mr. Gifford." +</P> + +<P> +The head of the firm bowed the general out, and came back to say to Mr. +Jones: "That youngster beats me! He can pick up a millionaire, or a +governor, as easily as he can measure a pound of coffee." +</P> + +<P> +"Some might think him rather bold," said Jones, "but I don't. He is +absorbed in his work, and he puts it through. He's the kind of boy we +want, no doubt of that." +</P> + +<P> +"See what he's up to, this morning!" said Mr. Gifford. "It's all +right. He asked leave, and I told him he might go." +</P> + +<P> +Jack had missed seeing the General because he did not know enough of +the grocery business. He had said to Mr. Gifford: +</P> + +<P> +"I think, Mr. Gifford, I ought to know more about this business from +its very beginnings. If you'll let me, I'd like to see where we get +supplies." +</P> + +<P> +That meant a toilsome round among the great sugar refineries, on the +Long Island side of the East River; and then another among the tea and +coffee merchants and brokers, away down town, looking at samples of all +sorts and finding out how cargoes were unloaded from ships and were +bought and sold among the dealers. He brought to the store, that +afternoon, before six o'clock, about forty samples of all kinds of +grocery goods, all labeled with prices and places, and he was going on +to talk about them when Mr. Gifford stopped him. +</P> + +<P> +"There, Ogden," he said. "I know all about these myself,—but where +did you find that coffee? I want some. And this tea?—It is two cents +lower than I'm paying. Jones, he's found just the tea you and I were +talking of—" and so he went on carefully examining the other samples, +and out of them all there were seven different articles that Gifford & +Company bought largely next day. +</P> + +<P> +"Jones," said Mr. Gifford, when he came back from buying them, "they +had our card in each place, and told me, 'Your Mr. Ogden was in here +yesterday. We took him for a boy at first.'—I'm beginning to think +there are some things that only that kind of boy can do. I'll just let +him go ahead in his own way." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mary had told Jack all about her daily experiences in her letters to +him, and he said to himself more than once: +</P> + +<P> +"Dudley Edwards must be a tip-top fellow. It's good of him to drive +Mary over to Crofield and back every Saturday. And they have had such +good sleighing all winter. I wish I could try some of it." +</P> + +<P> +There was no going to Crofield for him. When Thanksgiving Day came, he +could not afford it, and before the Christmas holidays Mr. Gifford told +him: +</P> + +<P> +"We can't spare you at Christmas, Ogden. It's the busiest time for us +in the whole year." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Gifford was an exacting master, and he kept Jack at it all through +the following spring and summer. Mary had a good rest during the hot +weather, but Jack did not. One thing that seemed strange to her was +that so many of the Crofield ladies called to see her, and that Miss +Glidden was more and more inclined to suggest that Mary's election had +been mainly due to her own influence in Mertonville. +</P> + +<P> +On the other hand, it seemed to Jack that summer, as if everybody he +knew was out of the city. Business kept pressing him harder and +harder, and all the plans he made to get a leave of absence for that +second year's Thanksgiving Day failed to work successfully. +</P> + +<P> +The Christmas holidays came again, but throughout the week, Gifford & +Company's store kept open until eight o'clock, every evening, with Jack +Ogden behind the counter. He got so tired that he hardly cared about +it when they raised his salary to twenty-five dollars a week, just +after Mr. Gifford saw him come down town with another coffee and tea +dealer, whose store was in the same street. +</P> + +<P> +"We mustn't let him leave us, Jones," Mr. Gifford had said to his head +clerk. "I am going to send him to Washington next week." +</P> + +<P> +Not many days later, Mrs. Guilderaufenberg in her home at Washington +was told by her maid servant that, "There's a strange b'y below, ma'am, +who sez he's a-wantin' to spake wid yez." +</P> + +<P> +Down went the landlady into the parlor, and then up went her hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mr. Jack<I>og</I>den! How glad I am to see you! You haf come! I gif +you the best stateroom in my house." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe I'm here," said Jack, shaking hands heartily. "How is Mr. +Guilderaufenberg and how is Miss—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Miss Hildebrand," she said, "she will be so glad, and so will Mrs. +Smith. She avay with her husband. He is a Congressman from far vest. +You will call to see her." +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Smith?" exclaimed Jack, but in another second he understood it, +and asked after his old friend with the unpronounceable name as well as +after Miss Hildebrand. +</P> + +<P> +"She has a name, now, that I can speak! I'm glad Smith isn't a Polish +name," he said to himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mr. Jack<I>og</I>den!" exclaimed Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, a moment later. +"How haf you learned to speak German? She will be so astonish!" +</P> + +<P> +That was one use he had made of his evenings, and he had improved by +speaking to all the Germans he had met down town; and his German was a +great delight to Mr. Guilderaufenberg, and to Miss Hildebrand, and to +Mrs. Smith (formerly Miss Pod——ski) when he called to see them. +</P> + +<P> +"So!" said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, "you takes my advice and you comes. +Dis ees de ceety! Ve shows you eet all ofer. All de beeg buildings +and all de beeg men. You shtay mit Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and me till +you sees all Vashington." +</P> + +<P> +Jack did so, but he had business errands also, and he somehow managed +to accomplish his commissions so that Mr. Gifford was quite satisfied +when he returned to New York. +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't sold so many goods," said Jack, "but then I've seen the city +of Washington, and I've shaken hands with the President and with +Senators and Congressmen. Mr. Gifford, how soon can I make a visit to +Crofield?" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll arrange that as soon as warm weather comes," said his employer. +"Make it your summer vacation." +</P> + +<P> +Jack had to be satisfied. He knew that more was going on in the old +village than had been told him in any of his letters from home. His +father was a man who dreaded to write letters, and Mary and the rest of +them were either too busy, or else did not know just what news would be +most interesting to Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to see Crofield!" said he, a hundred times, after the days +began to grow longer. "I want to see the trees and the grass and I +want to see corn growing and wheat harvesting. I'd even like to be +stung by a bumblebee!" +</P> + +<P> +He became so eager about it, at last, that he went home by rail all the +way, in a night train, and he arrived at Crofield, over the new +railroad, just as the sun was rising, one bright June morning. +</P> + +<P> +"Goodness!" he exclaimed, as he walked out of the station. "It's not +the same village! I won't go over to the house and wake the family +until I've looked around." +</P> + +<P> +From where he stood, he gazed at the new hotel, and took a long look up +and down Main Street. Then he walked eagerly down toward the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +"Hullo!" he said in amazement. "Our house isn't there! Why, what is +the meaning of this? I knew that the shop had been moved up to the +back lot. They're building houses along the road across the +Cocahutchie! Why haven't they written and told me of all this?" +</P> + +<P> +He saw the bridge, the factory, the tannery, and many other buildings, +but he did not see the familiar old blacksmith shop on the back lot. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know where we live nor where to find my home!" he said, almost +dejectedly. "They know I'm coming, though, and they must have meant to +surprise me. Mary's at home, too, for her vacation." +</P> + +<P> +He walked up Main Street, leaving his baggage at the station. +New—new—new,—all the buildings for several blocks, and then he came +to houses that were just as they used to be. One pretty white house +stood back among some trees, on a corner, and, as Jack walked nearer, a +tall man in the door of it stepped quickly out to the gate. He seemed +to be trying to say something, but all he did, for a moment, was to +beckon with his hand. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-257"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-257.jpg" ALT="Jack returns home." BORDER="2" WIDTH="491" HEIGHT="487"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 491px"> +<I>Jack returns home</I>. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Father!" shouted Jack, as he sprang forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Jack, my son, how are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is this our house?" asked Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, this is our house. They're all getting up early, too, because +you're coming. There are some things I want to talk about, though, +before they know you're actually here. Walk along with me a little +way." +</P> + +<P> +On, back, down Main Street, walked Jack with his father, until they +came to what was now labeled Bridge Street. When Jack lived in +Crofield the road had no name. +</P> + +<P> +"See that store on the corner?" asked Mr. Ogden. "It's a fine-looking +store, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Very," said Jack. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, now," said his father, "I'm going to run that store, and I do +wish you were to be in it with me." +</P> + +<P> +"There will be none too much room in it for Bob and Jim," said Jack. +"They're growing up, you know!" +</P> + +<P> +"You listen to me," continued the tall blacksmith, trying to be calm. +"The railway company paid me quite a snug sum of money for what they +needed of your land and mine. Mr. Magruder did it for you. I bought +with the money thirty acres of land, just across the Cocahutchie, to +the left of the bridge. Half of it was yours to begin with, and now +I've traded you the other half. Don't speak. Listen to me. Most of +it was rocky, but the railway company opened a quarry on it, getting +out their stone, and it's paying handsomely. Livermore has built that +hotel block. I put in the stone and our old house lot, and I own the +corner store, except that Livermore can use the upper stories for his +hotel. The factory company traded me ten shares of their stock for +part of your land on which they built. I traded that stock for ten +acres of rocky land along the road, across the Cocahutchie, up by the +mill. That makes forty acres there." +</P> + +<P> +"Father!" exclaimed Jack. "All it cost me was catching a runaway team, +and your bill against the miller! Crofield is better than the grocery +business in New York!" +</P> + +<P> +"Listen!" said his father, smiling. "The tannery company traded me a +lot of their stock for the rest of my back lot and for the rest of your +gravel, and they tore down the blacksmith shop, and I traded their +stock and some other things for the house where we live. I made your +part good to you, with the land across the creek, and that's where the +new village of Crofield is to be." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't see a cent of money in any of those trades, but I've a +thousand dollars laid up, and I'm only working in the railroad shop +now, but I'm going into the hardware business. I wish you'd come back +and come in with me. There's the store—rent free. We can sell plenty +of tools, now that Crofield is booming!" +</P> + +<P> +"I've saved up seven hundred and fifty dollars," said Jack, "from my +salary and commissions. I'll put that in. Gifford & Company'll send +you things cheap. But, Father,—I belong in the city. I've seen +hundreds of boys there who didn't belong there, but I do. Let's go +back to the house. Bob and Jim—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, maybe you're right," said his father, slowly. "Come, let us go +home. Your mother has hardly been able to wait to see you." +</P> + +<P> +When they came in sight of the house, the stoop and the front gate were +thronged with home-folk, but Jack could not see clearly for a moment. +The sunshine, or something else, got into his eyes. Then there were +pairs of arms, large and small, embracing him, and,—well, it was a +happy time, and Mary was there and his mother, and the family were all +together once more. +</P> + +<P> +"How you have grown!" said his aunt. "<I>How</I> you have grown!" +</P> + +<P> +"I do wish you'd come home to stay!" exclaimed his mother. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps he will," said his father, and Mary had hardly said a word +till then, but now it seemed to burst out in spite of her. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh Jack!" she said. "If I could go back with you, when you go! I +could live with a sister of Mrs. Edwards. She's invited me to live +with her for a whole year. And I could finish my education, and be +really fit to teach. I've saved some money." +</P> + +<P> +"Mary!" answered Jack, "I can pay all the other expenses. Do come!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you'd better go, Jack," said his father, thoughtfully. "I am +sure that you are a city boy." +</P> + +<P> +That was a great vacation, but no trout were now to be caught in the +Cocahutchie. The new store on the corner was to be opened in the +autumn, and Jack insisted upon having it painted a bright red about the +windows. There were visits to Mertonville, and there were endless +talks about what Jack's land was going to be worth, some day. But the +days flew by, and soon his time was up and he had to go back to the +city. He and Mary went together, and they went down the Hudson River +in the steamer "Columbia." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Dudley Edwards, of Mertonville, went at the same time to attend to +some law business, he said, in New York. +</P> + +<P> +Jack told Mr. Gifford all about the Crofield town-lots, and his +employer answered: +</P> + +<P> +"That is the thing for you, Ogden; you'll have some capital, when you +come of age, and then we can take you in as a junior partner. You +belong in the city. I couldn't take you in any sooner, you know. We +don't want a boy." +</P> + +<P> +"That's just what you told me," said Jack roguishly, "the first time I +came into this store; but you took me then. Well, I shall always do my +best." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Crowded Out o' Crofield, by William O. 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Stoddard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Crowded Out o' Crofield + or, The Boy who made his Way + +Author: William O. Stoddard + +Release Date: June 16, 2007 [EBook #21846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: _The Sorrel Mare was tugging hard at the Rein_.] + + + + + + +CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD + +OR + +THE BOY WHO MADE HIS WAY + + +BY + +WILLIAM O. STODDARD + + + +_SIXTH EDITION_ + + + +NEW YORK + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + +1897 + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1890, + +BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. + + + + +PREFACE. + +Only a few of the kindly reviewers of the earlier editions of Crowded +Out o' Crofield have suggested that it has at all exaggerated the +possible career of its boy and girl actors. If any others have +silently agreed with them, it may be worth while to say that the +pictures of places and the doings of older and younger people are +pretty accurately historical. The story and the writing of it were +suggested in a conversation with an energetic American boy who was +crowded out of his own village into a career which led to something +much more surprising than a profitable junior partnership. + +W. O. S. + +NEW YORK, 1893. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER + + I.--THE BLACKSMITH'S BOY + II.--THE FISH WERE THERE + III.--I AM ONLY A GIRL + IV.--CAPTAIN MARY + V.--JACK OGDEN'S RIDE + VI.--OUT INTO THE WORLD + VII.--MARY AND THE _EAGLE_ + VIII.--CAUGHT FOR A BURGLAR + IX.--NEARER THE CITY + X.--THE STATE-HOUSE AND THE STEAMBOAT + XI.--DOWN THE HUDSON + XII.--IN A NEW WORLD + XIII.--A WONDERFUL SUNDAY + XIV.--FRIENDS AND ENEMIES + XV.--NO BOY WANTED + XVI.--JACK'S FAMINE + XVII.--JACK-AT-ALL-TRADES + XVIII.--THE DRUMMER BOY + XIX.--COMPLETE SUCCESS + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +The Sorrel Mare was tugging hard at the Rein . . . _Frontispiece_ + +The Runaway + +Along the Water's Edge + +Fighting the Fire + +"Run for Home" + +He listened in silence + +"There won't be any _Eagle_ this week" + +Just out + +"I'm the Editor, sir" + +"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in" + +"Your map's all wrong," said Jack + +The hotel clerk looked at Jack + +His traveler friend was sound asleep + +On Broadway, at last! + +"How would he get in?" + +Coffee and clams + +Jack is homesick + +"I've lost my pocket-book" + +"Ten cents left" + +Jack dines with Mr. Keifelheimer + +Buying a new hat + +Jack speaks to the General + +The return home + + + + +CROWDED OUT O' CROFIELD. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BLACKSMITH'S BOY. + +"I'm going to the city!" + +He stood in the wide door of the blacksmith-shop, with his hands in his +pockets, looking down the street, toward the rickety old bridge over +the Cocahutchie. He was a sandy-haired, freckled-faced boy, and if he +was really only about fifteen, he was tall for his age. Across the top +of the door, over his head, stretched a cracked and faded sign, with a +horseshoe painted on one end and a hammer on the other, and the name +"John Ogden," almost faded out, between them. + +The blacksmith-shop was a great, rusty, grimy clutter of work-benches, +vises, tools, iron in bars and rods, and all sorts of old iron scraps +and things that looked as if they needed making over. + +The forge was in the middle, on one side, and near it was hitched a +horse, pawing the ground with a hoof that bore a new shoe. On the +anvil was a brilliant, yellow-red loop of iron, that was not quite yet +a new shoe, and it was sending out bright sparks as a hammer fell upon +it--"thud, thud, thud," and a clatter. Over the anvil leaned a tall, +muscular, dark-haired, grimy man. His face wore a disturbed and +anxious look, and it was covered with charcoal dust. There was +altogether too much charcoal along the high bridge of his Roman nose +and over his jutting eyebrows. + +The boy in the door also had some charcoal on his cheeks and forehead, +but none upon his nose. His nose was not precisely like the +blacksmith's. It was high and Roman half-way down, but just there was +a little dent, and the rest of the nose was straight. His complexion, +excepting the freckles and charcoal, was chiefly sunburn, down to the +neckband of his blue checked shirt. He was a tough, wiry-looking boy, +and there was a kind of smiling, self-confident expression in his +blue-gray eyes and around his firm mouth. + +"I'm going to the city!" he said, again, in a low but positive voice. +"I'll get there, somehow." + +Just then a short, thick-set man came hurrying past him into the shop. +He was probably the whitest man going into that or any other shop, and +he spoke out at once, very fast, but with a voice that sounded as if it +came through a bag of meal. + +"Ogden," said he, "got him shod? If you have, I'll take him. What do +you say about that trade?" + +"I don't want any more room than there is here," said the blacksmith, +"and I don't care to move my shop." + +"There's nigh onto two acres, mebbe more, all along the creek from +below the mill to Deacon Hawkins's line, below the bridge," wheezed the +mealy, floury, dusty man, rapidly. "I'll get two hundred for it some +day, ground or no ground. Best place for a shop." + +"This lot suits me," said the smith, hammering away. "'Twouldn't pay +me to move--not in these times." + +The miller had more to say, while he unhitched his horse, but he led +him out without getting any more favorable reply about the trade. + +"Come and blow, Jack," said the smith, and the boy in the door turned +promptly to take the handle of the bellows. + +The little heap of charcoal and coke in the forge brightened and sent +up fiery tongues, as the great leathern lungs wheezed and sighed, and +Jack himself began to puff. + +"I've got to have a bigger man than you are, for a blower and striker," +said the smith. "He's coming Monday morning. It's time you were doing +something, Jack." + +"Why, father," said Jack, as he ceased pulling on the bellows, and the +shoe came out of the fire, "I've been doing something ever since I was +twelve. Been working here since May, and lots o' times before that. +Learned the trade, too." + +"You can make a nail, but you can't make a shoe," said his father, as +he sizzed the bit of bent iron in the water-tub and then threw it on +the ground. "Seven. That's all the shoes I'll make this morning, and +there are seven of you at home. Your mother can't spare Molly, but +you'll have to do something. It is Saturday, and you can go fishing, +after dinner, if you'd like to. There's nothin' to ketch 'round here, +either. Worst times there ever were in Crofield." + +There was gloom as well as charcoal on the face of the blacksmith, but +Jack's expression was only respectfully serious as he walked away, +without speaking, and again stood in the door for a moment. + +"I could catch something in the city. I know I could," he said, to +himself. "How on earth shall I get there?" + +The bridge, at the lower end of the sloping side-street on which the +shop stood, was long and high. It was made to fit the road and was a +number of sizes too large for the stream of water rippling under it. +The side-street climbed about twenty rods the other way into what was +evidently the Main Street of Crofield. There was a tavern on one +corner, and across the street from that there was a drug store and in +it was the post-office. On the two opposite corners were shops, and +all along Main Street were all sorts of business establishments, +sandwiched in among the dwellings. + +It was not yet noon, but Crofield had a sleepy look, as if all its work +for the whole week were done. Even the horses of the farmers' teams, +hitched in front of the stores, looked sleepy. Jack Ogden took his +longest look, this time, at a neat, white-painted frame-house across +the way. + +"Seems to me there isn't nearly so much room in it as there used to +be," he said to himself. "It's just packed and crowded. I'm going!" + +He turned and walked on up toward Main Street, as if that were the best +thing he could do till dinner time. Not many minutes later, a girl +plainly but neatly dressed came slowly along in front of the village +green, away up Main Street. She was tall and slender, and her hair and +eyes were as dark as those of John Ogden, the blacksmith. Her nose was +like his, too, except that it was finer and not so high, and she wore +very much the same anxious, discontented look upon her face. She was +walking slowly, because she saw, coming toward her, a portly lady, with +hair so flaxy that no gray would show in it. She was elegantly +dressed. She stopped and smiled and looked very condescending. + +"Good-morning, Mary Ogden," she said. + +"Good-morning, Miss Glidden," said Mary, the anxious look in her eyes +changing to a gleam that made them seem very wide awake. + +"It's a fine morning, Mary Ogden, but so very warm. Is your mother +well?" + +"Very well, thank you," said Mary. + +"And is your aunt well--and your father, and all the children? I'm so +glad they are well. Elder Holloway's to be here to-morrow. Hope +you'll all come. I shall be there myself. You've had my class a +number of times. Much obliged to you. I'll be there to-morrow. You +must hear the Elder. He's to inspect the Sunday-school." + +"Your class, Miss Glidden?" began Mary; and her face suggested that +somebody was blowing upon a kind of fire inside her cheeks, and that +they would be very red in a minute. + +"Yes; don't fail to be there to-morrow, Mary. The choir'll be full, of +course. I shall be there myself." + +"I hope you will, Miss Glidden--" + +The portly lady saw something up the street at that moment. + +"Oh my! What is it? Dear me! It's coming! Run! We'll all be +killed! Oh my!" + +She had turned quite around, while she was speaking, and was once more +looking up the street; but the dark-haired girl had neither flinched +nor wavered. She had only sent a curious, inquiring glance in the +direction of the shouts and the rattle and the cloud of dust that were +coming swiftly toward them. + +"A runaway team," she said, quietly. "Nobody's in the wagon." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Miss Glidden; but Mary began to move away, looking +not at her but at the runaway, and she did not hear the rest. "Mary +Ogden's too uppish.--Somebody'll be killed, I know they will!--She's +got to be taken down.--There they come!--Dressed too well for a +blacksmith's daughter. Doesn't know her place.--Oh dear! I'm so +frightened!" + +Perhaps she had been wise in getting behind the nearest tree. It was a +young maple, two inches through, lately set out, but it might have +stopped a pair of very small horses. Those in the road were +large--almost too large to run well. They were well-matched grays, and +they came thundering along in a way that was really fine to behold; +heads down, necks arched, nostrils wide, reins flying, the wagon behind +them banging and swerving--no wonder everybody stood still and, except +Mary Ogden, shouted, "Stop 'em!" One young fellow, across the street, +stood still only until the runaways were all but close by him. Then he +darted out into the street, not ahead of them but behind them. No man +on earth could have stopped those horses by standing in front of them. +They could have charged through a regiment. Their heavy, furious +gallop was fast, too, and the boy who was now following them, must have +been as light of foot as a young deer. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Go it, Jack! Catch 'em! Bully for you!" arose from +a score of people along the sidewalk, as he bounded forward. + +"It's Jack! Oh dear me! But it's just like him! There! He's in!" +exclaimed Mary Ogden, her dark eyes dancing proudly. + +"Why, it's that good-for-nothing brother of Mary Ogden. He's the +blacksmith's boy. I'm afraid he will be hurt," remarked Miss Glidden, +kindly and benevolently; but all the rest shouted "Hurrah!" again. + +Fierce was the strain upon the young runner, for a moment, and then his +hands were on the back-board of the bouncing wagon. A tug, a spring, a +swerve of the wagon, and Jack Ogden was in it, and in a second more the +loosely flying reins were in his hands. + +The strong arms of his father, were they twice as strong, could not at +once have pulled in those horses, and one man on the sidewalk seemed to +be entirely correct when he said, "He's a plucky little fellow, but he +can't do a thing, now he's there." + +[Illustration: _The Runaway_.] + +His sister was trembling all over, but she was repeating: "He did it +splendidly! He can do anything!" + +Jack, in the wagon, was thinking only: "I know 'em. They're old +Hammond's team. They'll try to go home to the mill. They'll smash +everything, if I don't look out!" + +It is something, even to a greatly frightened horse, to feel a hand on +the rein. The team intended to turn out of Main Street, at the corner, +and they made the turn, but they did not crash the wagon to pieces +against the corner post, because of the desperate guiding that was done +by Jack. The wagon swung around without upsetting. It tilted +fearfully, and the nigh wheel was in the air for a moment, until Jack's +weight helped bring it down again. There was a short, sharp scream +across the street, when the wagon swung and the wheel went up. + +Down the slope toward the bridge thundered the galloping team, and the +blacksmith ran out of his shop to see it pass. + +"Turn them into the creek, Jack!" he shouted, but there was no time for +any answer. + +"They'd smash through the bridge," thought Jack. "I know what I'm +about." + +There were wheel-marks down from the street, at the left of the bridge, +where many a team had descended to drink the water of the Cocahutchie, +but it required all Jack's strength on one rein to make his runaways +take that direction. They had thought of going toward the mill, but +they knew the watering-place. + +Not many rods below the bridge stood a clump of half a dozen gigantic +trees, remnants of the old forest which had been replaced by the +streets of Crofield and the farms around it. Jack's pull on the left +rein was obeyed only too well, and it looked, for some seconds, as if +the plunging beasts were about to wind up their maddened dash by a +wreck among those gnarled trunks and projecting roots. Jack drew his +breath hard, and there was almost a chill at his young heart, but he +held hard and said nothing. + +Forward--one plunge more--hard on the right rein-- + +"That was close!" he said. "If we didn't go right between the big +maple and the cherry! Now I've got 'em!" + +Splash, crash, rattle! Spattering and plunging, but cooling fast, the +gray team galloped along the shallow bed of the Cocahutchie. + +"I wish the old swimming-hole was deeper," said Jack, "but the water's +very low. Whoa, boys! Whoa, there! Almost up to the hub--over the +hub! Whoa, now!" + +And the gray team ceased its plunging and stood still in water three +feet deep. + +"I mustn't let 'em drink too much," said Jack; "but a little won't hurt +'em." + +The horses were trembling all over, but one after the other they put +their noses into the water, and then raised their heads to prick their +ears back and forth and look round. + +"Don't bring 'em ashore till they're quiet, Jack," called out the deep, +ringing voice of his father from the bank. + +There he stood, and other men were coming on the run. The tall +blacksmith's black eyes were flashing with pride over the daring feat +his son had performed. + +"I daren't tell him, though," he said to himself. "He's set up enough +a'ready. He thinks he can do 'most anything." + +"Jack," wheezed a mealy voice at his side, "that's my team--" + +"I know it," said Jack. "They 're all right now. Pretty close shave +through the trees, that was!" + +"I owe ye fifty dollars for a-savin' them and the wagin," said the +miller. "It's wuth it, and I'll pay it; but I've got to owe it to ye, +jest now. Times are awful hard in Crofield. If I'd ha' lost them +hosses and that wagin--" + +He stopped short, as if he could not exactly say how disastrous it +would have been for him. + +There was a running fire of praise and of questions poured at Jack, by +the gathering knot of people on the shore, and it was several minutes +before his father spoke again. + +"They're cool now," he said. "Turn 'em, Jack, and walk 'em out by the +bridge, and up to the mill. Then come home to dinner." + +Jack pretended not to see quite a different kind of group gathered +under the clump of tall trees. Not a voice had come to him from that +group of lookers-on, and yet the fact that they were there made him +tingle all over. + +Two large, freckle-faced, sandy-haired women were hugging each other, +and wiping their eyes; and a very small girl was tugging at their +dresses and crying, while a pair of girls of from twelve to fourteen, +close by them, seemed very much inclined to dance. Two small boys, who +at first belonged to the party, had quickly rolled up their trousers +and waded out as far as they could into the Cocahutchie. Just in front +of the group, under the trees, stood Mary Ogden, straight as an arrow, +her dark eyes flashing and her cheeks glowing while she looked silently +at the boy on the wagon in the stream, until she saw him wheel the +grays. Even then she did not say anything, but turned and walked away. +It was as if she had so much to say that she felt she could not say it. + +"Aunt Melinda! Mother!" said one of the girls, "Jack isn't hurt a +mite. They'd all ha' been drowned, though, if there was water enough." + +"Hush, Bessie," said one of the large women, and the other at once +echoed, "Hush, Bessie." + +They were very nearly alike, these women, and they both had long +straight noses, such as Jack's would have been, if half-way down it had +not been Roman, like his father's. + +"Mary Ann," said the first woman, "we mustn't say too much to him about +it. He can only just be held in, now." + +"Hush, Melinda," said Jack's mother. "I thought I'd seen the last of +him when the gray critters came a-powderin' down the road past the +house"--and then she wiped her eyes again, and so did Aunt Melinda, and +they both stooped down at the same moment, saying, "Jack's safe, +Sally," and picked up the small girl, who was crying, and kissed her. + +The gray team was surrendered to its owner as soon as it reached the +road at the foot of the bridge, and again Jack was loudly praised by +the miller. The rest of the Ogden family seemed to be disposed to keep +away, but the tall blacksmith himself was there. + +"Jack," said he, as they turned away homeward, "you can go fishing this +afternoon, just as I said. I was thinking of your doing something else +afterward, but you've done about enough for one day." + +He had more to say, concerning what would have happened to the miller's +horses, and the number of pieces the wagon would have been knocked +into, but for the manner in which the whole team had been saved. + +When they reached the house the front door was open, but nobody was to +be seen. Bob and Jim, the two small boys, had not yet returned from +seeing the gray span taken to the mill, and the women and girls had +gone through to the kitchen. + +"Jack," said his father, as they went in, "old Hammond'll owe you that +fifty dollars long enough. He never really pays anything." + +"Course he doesn't--not if he can help it," said Jack. "I worked for +him three months, and you know we had to take it out in feed. I +learned the mill trade, though, and that was something." + +Just then he was suddenly embarrassed. Mrs. Ogden had gone through the +house and out at the back door, and Aunt Melinda had followed her, and +so had the girls. Molly had suddenly gone up-stairs to her own room. +Aunt Melinda had taken everything off the kitchen stove and put +everything back again, and here now was Mrs. Ogden back again, hugging +her son. + +"Jack," she said, "don't you ever, ever, do such a thing again. You +might ha' been knocked into slivers!" + +Molly had gone up the back stairs only to come down the front way, and +she was now a little behind them. + +"Mother!" she exclaimed, as if her pent-up admiration for her brother +was exploding, "you ought to have seen him jump in, and you ought to +have seen that wagon go around the corner!" + +"Jack," broke in the half-choked voice of Aunt Melinda from the kitchen +doorway, "come and eat something. I felt as if I knew you were killed, +sure. If you haven't earned your dinner, nobody has." + +"Why, I know how to drive," said Jack. "I wasn't afraid of 'em after I +got hold of the reins." + +He seemed even in a hurry to get through his dinner, and some minutes +later he was out in the garden, digging for bait. The rest of the +family remained at the table longer than usual, especially Bob and Jim; +but, for some reason known to herself, Mary did not say a word about +her meeting with Miss Glidden. Perhaps the miller's gray team had run +away with all her interest in that, but she did not even tell how +carefully Miss Glidden had inquired after the family. + +"There goes Jack," she said at last, and they all turned to look. + +He did not say anything as he passed the kitchen door, but he had his +long cane fishing-pole over his shoulder. It had a line wound around +it, ready for use. He went out of the gate and down the road toward +the bridge, and gave only a glance across at the shop. + +"I didn't get many worms," he said to himself, at the bridge, "but I +can dig some more if the fish bite. Sometimes they do, and sometimes +they don't." + +Over the bridge he went, and up a wagon track on the opposite bank, but +he paused for one moment, in the very middle of the bridge, to look up +stream. + +"There's just enough water to run the mill," he said. "There isn't any +coming over the dam. The pond's even full, though, and it may be a +good day for fish. I wish I was in the city!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE FISH WERE THERE. + +Saturday afternoon was before Jack Ogden, when he came out at the +water's edge, near the dam, across from the mill. That was there, big +and red and rusty-looking; and the dam was there; and above them was +the mill-pond, spreading out over a number of acres, and ornamented +with stumps, old logs, pond-lilies, and weeds. It was a fairly good +pond, the best that Cocahutchie Creek could do for Crofield, but Jack's +face fell a little as he looked at it. + +"There are more fellows than fish here," he said to himself, with an +air of disgust. + +There was a boy at the end of the dam near him, and a boy in the middle +of it, and two boys at the flume, near the mill. There were three +punts out on the water, and one of them had in it a man and two boys, +while the second boat held but one man, and the third contained four. +A big stump near the north shore supported a boy, and the old snag +jutting out from the south shore held a boy and a man. + +There they all were, sitting perfectly still, until, one after another, +each rod and line came up to have its hook and bait examined, to see +whether or not there had really been a bite. + +"I'm fairly crowded out," remarked Jack. "Those fellows have all the +good places. I'll have to go somewhere else; where'll I go?" + +He studied that problem for a full minute, while every fisherman there +turned to look at him, and then turned back to watch his line. + +"I guess I'll try down stream," said Jack. "Nobody ever caught +anything down there, and nobody ever goes there, but I s'pose I might +as well try it, just for once." + +He turned away along the track over which he had come. He did not +pause at the road and bridge, but went on down the further bank of the +Cocahutchie. It was a pretty stream of water, and it spread out wide +and shallow, and rippled merrily among stones and bowlders and clumps +of willow and alder for nearly half a mile. Gradually, then, it grew +narrower, quieter, deeper, and wore a sleepy look which made it seem +more in keeping with quiet old Crofield. + +"The hay's about ready to cut," said Jack, as he plodded along the +path, near the water's edge, through a thriving meadow of clover and +timothy. "There's always plenty of work in haying time. Hullo! What +grasshoppers! Jingo!" + +As he made the last exclamation, he clapped his hand upon his trousers +pocket. + +"If I didn't forget to go in and get my sinker! Never did such a thing +before in all my life. What's the use of trying to fish without a +sinker?" + +The luck seemed to be going directly against him. Even the +Cocahutchie, at his left, had dwindled to a mere crack between bushes +and high grass, as if to show that it had no room to let for fish to +live in--that is, for fish accustomed to having plenty of room, such as +they could find when living in a mill-pond, lined around the edges with +boys and fish-poles. + +"That's a whopper!" suddenly exclaimed Jack, with a quick snatch at +something that alighted upon his left arm. "I've caught him! +Grasshoppers are the best kind of bait, too. I'll try him on, sinker +or no sinker. Hope there are some fish, down here." + +The line he unwound from his rod was somewhat coarse, but it was +strong, and so was his hook, as if the fishing around Crofield called +for stout tackle as well as for a large number of sportsmen. The big, +long-limbed, green-coated jumper was placed in position on the hook, +and then, with several more grumbling regrets over the absence of any +sinker, Jack searched along the bank for a place whence he could throw +his bait into the water. + +"This'll do," he said, at last, and the breeze helped him to swing out +his line until the grasshopper at the end of it dropped lightly and +naturally into a dark little eddy, almost across that narrow ribbon of +the Cocahutchie. + +Splash--tug--splash again-- + +"Jingo! What's that? I declare--if he isn't pulling! He'll break the +line--no, he won't. See that pole bend! Steady--here he comes. +Hurrah!" + +Out he came, indeed, for the rude, strong tackle held, even against the +game struggling of that vigorous trout. There he lay now, on the +grass, with Jack Ogden bending over him in a fever of exultation and +amazement. + +"I never could have caught him with a worm and a sinker," he said, +aloud. "This is the way to catch 'em. Isn't he a big fellow! I'll +try some more grasshoppers." + +There was not likely to be another two-pound brook-trout very near the +hole out of which that one had been pulled. There would not have been +any at all, perhaps, but for the prevailing superstition that there +were no fish there. Everybody knew that there were bullheads, suckers, +perch, and "pumpkin-seeds" in the mill-pond, and eels, with now and +then a pickerel, but the trout were a profound secret. It was easy to +catch another big grasshopper, but the young sportsman knew very well +that he knew nothing at all of that kind of fishing. He had made his +first cast perfectly, because it was about the only way in which it +could have been made, and now he was so very nervous and excited and +cautious that he did very well again, aided as before by the breeze. +Not in the same place, but at a little distance down, and close to +where Jack captured his second bait, there was a crook in the +Cocahutchie, with a steep, overhanging, bushy bank. Into the glassy +shadow under that bank the sinkerless line carried and dropped its +little green prisoner, and there was a hungry fellow in there, waiting +for foolish grasshoppers in the meadow to spring too far and come down +upon the water instead of upon the grass. As the grasshopper alighted +on the water, there was a rush, a plunge, a strong hard pull, and then +Jack Ogden said to himself: + +"I've heard how they do it. They wait and tire 'em out. I won't be in +too much of a hurry. He'll get away if I am." + +That is probably what the fish would have done, for he was a fish with +what army men call "tactics." He was able to pull very hard, and he +was also wise enough to rush in under the bank and to sulkily stay +there. + +"Feels as if I'd hooked a snag," said Jack. "May be I've lost the fish +and he's hitched me into a 'cod-lamper' eel of some kind. Steady--no, +I mustn't pull harder than the fish." + +He was breathless, but not with any exertion that he was making. His +hat fell off upon the grass, as he leaned forward through the alder +bushes, and his sandy hair was tangled for a moment in some stubby +twigs. He loosened his head, still holding firmly his bent and +straining rod. One step farther, a slip of his left foot, an +unsuccessful grasp at a bush, and then Jack went over and down into a +pool deeper than he had thought the Cocahutchie afforded so near +Crofield. + +There was a very fine splash, as the grasshopper fly-fisherman went +under, and there was a coughing and spluttering a moment afterward, +when his eager, excited, anxious face came up again. He could swim +extremely well, and he was not thinking of his ducking--only of his +game. + +"I hope I haven't lost him!" he exclaimed, as he tried to pull upon the +line. + +It did not tug at all, just then, for the fish on the hook had been +rudely startled out from under the bank and was on his way up the +Cocahutchie, with the hook in his mouth. + +"There' he is! I've got him yet! Glad I can swim--" cried Jack; and +it did seem as if he and this fish were very well matched, except that +Jack had to give one of his hands to the rod while his captive could +use every fin. + +Down stream floated Jack, passing the rod back through his hands until +he could grasp the line, and all the while the fish was darting madly +about to get away. + +"There, I've touched bottom. Now for him! Here he comes. I'll draw +him ashore easy--that's it! Hurrah! biggest fish ever was caught in +the Cocahutchie!" + +That might or might not be so, but Jack Ogden had a three-pound trout, +flopping angrily upon the grass at his feet. + +"I know how to do it now," he almost shouted. "I can catch 'em! I +won't let anybody else know how it's done, either." + +He had learned something, no doubt, but he had not learned how to make +a large fish out of a small one. All the rest of that afternoon he +caught grasshoppers and cast them daintily into what seemed to be good +places, but he did not have another occasion to tumble in. When at +last he was tired out and decided to go home, he had a dozen more of +trout, not one of them weighing over six ounces, with a pair of very +good yellow perch, one very large perch, a sucker, and three bullheads, +that bit when his bait happened to sink to the bottom without any lead +to help it. Take it all in all, it was a great string of fish to be +caught on a Saturday afternoon, when all that the Crofield sportsmen +around the mill-pond could show was six bullheads, a dozen small perch, +a lot of "pumpkin-seeds" not much larger than dollars, five small eels, +and a very vicious snapping-turtle. + +Jack stood for a moment looking down at the results of his experiment +in fly-fishing. He felt, really, as if he could not more than half +believe it. + +"Fishing doesn't pay," he said. "It doesn't pay cash, any way. There +isn't anything around Crofield that does pay. Well, it must be time +for me to go home." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +I AM ONLY A GIRL. + +Jack was dry enough, but anybody could see that he had had a ducking, +when he marched down the main street. He was carrying his prizes in +two strings, one in each hand, and he was looking and feeling taller +than he ever felt before. It was just the right hour to meet people, +and he had to answer curious questions from some women, and from twice +as many men, and from three times as many boys, all the way from above +the green, where he came out into the street, down to the front of the +Washington Hotel. + +"Yes; I caught 'em all in the Cocahutchie." + +He had had to say that any number of times, and he had also explained, +apparently without trying to conceal anything: + +"I had to swim for 'em. Caught 'em all under water. Those big +speckled fellows are trout. They pulled me clean under. All that kind +of fish live under water." And he told half a dozen inquiring boys: +"I've found the best fish-hole you ever saw. Deep water all 'round it. +I'm going there again." And then every one asked: "Take me with you, +Jack?" + +He had to come to a halt at the tavern, for every man in the arm-chairs +on the piazza brought his feet down from the railing. + +"Hold on! I want to look at those fish!" shouted old Livermore, the +landlord. "Where'd you catch 'em?" + +"Down the Cocahutchie," said Jack once more. "I caught 'em under +water." + +"Those are just what I'm looking for," replied Livermore, rubbing his +sides, while nearly a dozen men crowded around to admire, and to guess +at the weights. + +"Traout's a-sellin' at a dollar a paound, over to Mertonville," +squealed old Deacon Hawkins; "and traout o' that size is wuth more'n +small traout. Don't ye let old Livermore cheat ye, Jack." + +"I won't cheat him, Deacon," said the big landlord. "I don't want any +thing but the trout. There's a Sunday crowd coming over from +Mertonville, to-morrer, to hear Elder Holloway. I'll give ye two +dollars, Jack." + +"That's enough for one fish," said Jack. "Don't you want the big one? +I had to dive for him. He'll weigh more'n three pounds." + +"No, he won't!" said the landlord, becoming more and more eager. "Say +three dollars for the lot." + +"I daon't know but what I want some o' them traout myself," began +Deacon Hawkins, peering more closely at the largest prize. "It's hard +times,--and a dollar a paound. I've got some folks comin' and Elder +Holloway's to be at my haouse. I don't know but I oughter--" + +"I'll take 'em, Jack," interrupted the landlord, testily. "I spoke +first. Three pounds, and two is five pounds, and--" + +"I'll give another dollar for the small traout," exclaimed Deacon +Hawkins. "He can't have 'em all." + +The landlord might have hesitated even then, but the excitement was +catching, and Squire Jones was actually, but slowly, taking out his +pocket-book. + +"Five! There's your five, Jack. The big fish are mine. Take your +money. Fetch 'em in," broke out old Livermore. + +"There's my dollar,--and there's my traout,--" squealed the deacon. + +"I was just a-goin' to saay--" at that moment growled the deep, heavy +bass voice of Squire Jones. + +"Too late," said the landlord. "He's taken my money. Come in, Jack. +Come in and get yours, Deacon," and Jack walked on into the Washington +House with six dollars in his hand, just as a boy he knew stuck his +head under Squire Jones's arm and shouted: + +"Jack!--Jack! Why didn't yer put 'em up at auction?" + +It took but a minute to get rid of the very fine fish he had sold, and +then the uncommonly successful angler made his way out of the +Washington Hotel through the side door. + +"I don't intend to answer any more questions," he said to himself; "and +all that crowd is out there yet." + +There was another reason that he did not give, for his perch, good as +they were, and the wide-mouthed sucker, and the great, clumsy +bullheads, looked mean and common, now that their elegant companions +were gone. He felt almost ashamed of them until just as he reached the +back yard of his own home. + +A tall, grimy man, with his head under the pump, was vigorously +scrubbing charcoal and iron dust from his face and hands and hair. +"Jack," he shouted, "where'd you get that string o' fish? Best I've +seen round here for ever so long." + +Another voice came from the kitchen door, and in half a second it +seemed to belong to a chorus of voices. + +"Why, Jack Ogden! What a string of fish!" + +"I caught 'em 'way down the Cocahutchie, Mother," said Jack. "I caught +'em all under water. Had to go right in after some of 'em." + +"I should say you did," growled his father, almost jocosely, and then +he and Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda and the children crowded around to +examine the fish, on the pump platform. + +"Jack must do something better'n that," said his father, rubbing his +face hard with the kitchen towel; "but he's had the best kind o' luck +this time." + +"He caught a team of runaway horses this morning, too," said Mary, +looking proudly at the fish. "I wish I could do something worth +talking about, but I'm only a girl." + +Jack's clothes had not suffered much from their ducking, mainly because +the checked shirt and linen trousers, of which his suit consisted, had +been frequently soaked before. His straw hat was dry, for it had been +lying on the grass when he went into the water, and so were his shoes +and stockings, which had been under the bed in his bedroom, waiting for +Sunday. + +It was not until the family was gathered at the table that Jack came +out with the whole tremendous story of his afternoon's sport, and of +its cash results. + +"Now I've learned all about fly-fishing," he said, with confidence, "I +can catch fish anywhere. I sha'n't have to go to fish out of that old +mill-pond again." + +"Six dollars!" exclaimed his mother, from behind the tea-pot. "What +awful extravagance there is in this wicked world! But what'll you do +with six dollars?" + +"It's high time he began to earn something," said the tall blacksmith, +gloomily. "It's hard times in Crofield. There's almost nothing for +him to do here." + +"That's why I'm going somewhere else," said Jack, with a sudden burst +of energy, and showing a very red face. "Now I've got some money to +pay my way, I'm going to New York." + +"No, you're not," said his father, and then there was a silence for a +moment. + +"What on earth could you do in New York?" said his mother, staring at +him as if he had said something dreadful. She was not a small woman, +but she had an air of trying to be larger, and her face quickly began +to recover its ordinary smile of self-confident hope, so much like that +of Jack. She added, before anybody else could speak: "There are +thousands and thousands of folks there already. Well--I suppose you +could get along there, if they can." + +"It's too full," said her husband. "It's fuller'n Crofield. He +couldn't do anything in a city. Besides, it isn't any use; he couldn't +get there, or anywhere near there, on six dollars." + +"If he only could go somewhere, and do something, and be somebody," +said Mary, staring hard at her plate. + +She had echoed Jack's thought, perfectly. "That's you, Molly," he +said, "and I'm going to do it, too." + +"You're going to work a-haying, all next week, I guess," said his +father, "if there's anybody wants ye. All the money you earn you can +give to your mother. You ain't going a-fishing again, right away. +Nobody ever caught the same fish twice." + +Slowly, glumly, but promptly, Jack handed over his two greenbacks to +his mother, but he only remarked: + +"If I work for anybody 'round here, they'll want me to take my pay in +hay. They won't pay cash." + +"Hay's just as good," said his father; and then he changed the subject +and told his wife how the miller had again urged him to trade for the +strip of land along the creek, above and below the bridge. "It comes +right up to the line of my lot," he said, "and to Hawkins's fence. The +whole of it isn't worth as much as mine is, but I don't see what he +wants to trade for." + +She agreed with him, and so did Aunt Melinda; but Jack and Mary +finished their suppers and went out to the front door. She stood still +for a moment, with her hands clasped behind her, looking across the +street, as if she were reading the sign on the shop. The discontented, +despondent expression on her face made her more and more like a very +young and pretty copy of her father. + +"I don't care, Molly," said Jack. "If they take away every cent I get, +I'm going to the city, some time." + +"I'd go, too, if I were a boy," she said. "I've got to stay at home +and wash dishes and sweep. You can go right out and make your fortune. +I've read of lots of boys that went away from home and worked their way +up. Some of 'em got to be Presidents." + +"Some girls amount to something, too," said Jack. "You've been through +the Academy. I had to stop, when I was twelve, and go to work in a +store. Been in every store in Crofield. They didn't pay me a cent in +cash, but I learned the grocery business, and the dry-goods business, +and all about crockery. That was something. I could keep a store. +Some of the stores in New York 'd hold all the stores in Crofield." + +"Some of 'em are owned and run by women, too," said Mary; "but there's +no use of my thinking of any such thing." + +Before he could tell her what he thought about it, her mother called +her in, and then he, too, stood still and seemed to study the sign over +the door of the blacksmith-shop. + +"I'll do it!" he exclaimed at last, shaking his fist at the sign. "It +isn't the end of July yet, and I'm going to get to the city before +Christmas; you see 'f I don't." + +After Mary Ogden left him and went in, Jack walked down to the bridge. +It seemed as if the Cocahutchie had a special attraction for him, now +that he knew what might be in it. + +There were three boys leaning over the rail on the lower side of the +bridge, and four on the upper side, and all were fishing. Jack did not +know, and they did not tell him, that all their hooks were baited with +"flies" of one kind or another instead of worms. Two had grasshoppers, +and one had a big bumblebee, and they were after such trout as Jack +Ogden had caught and been paid so much money for. One told another +that Jack had five dollars apiece for those fish, and that even the +bullheads were so heavy it tired him to carry them home. + +Jack did not go upon the bridge. He strolled down along the water's +edge. + +[Illustration: _Along the Water's Edge_.] + +"It's all sand and gravel," he said; "but I'd hate to leave it." + +It was curious, but not until that very moment had he been at all aware +of any real affection for Crofield. He was only dimly aware of it +then, and he forgot it all to answer a hail from two men under the +clump of giant trees which had so nearly wrecked the miller's wagon. + +The men had been looking up at the trees, and Jack heard part of what +they said about them, as he came near. They had called him to talk +about his trout-fishing, but they had aroused his curiosity upon +another subject. + +"Mr. Bannerman," he said, as soon as he had an opportunity between +"fish" questions, "did you say you'd give a hundred dollars for those +trees, just as they stand? What are they good for?" + +"Jack," exclaimed the sharp-looking man he spoke to, "don't you tell +anybody I said that. You won't, will you? Come, now, didn't I treat +you well while you were in my shop?" + +"Yes, you did," said Jack, "but you kept me there only four months. +What are those trees good for? You don't use anything but pine." + +"Why, Jack," said Bannerman, "it isn't for carpenter work. Three of +'em are curly maples, and that one there's the straightest-grained, +biggest, cleanest old cherry! They're for j'iner-work, Jack. But you +said you wouldn't tell?" + +"I won't tell," said Jack. "Old Hammond owns 'em. I stayed in your +shop just long enough to learn the carpenter's trade. I didn't learn +j'iner-work. Don't you want me again?" + +"Not just now, Jack; but Sam and I've got a bargain coming with +Hammond, and he owes us some, now, and you mustn't put in and spile the +trade for us. I'll do ye a good turn, some day. Don't you tell." + +Jack promised again and the carpenters walked away, leaving him looking +up at the trees and thinking how it would seem to see them topple over +and come crashing down into the Cocahutchie, to be made up into chairs +and tables. Just as long as he could remember anything he had seen the +old trees standing guard there, summer and winter, leafy or bare, and +they were like old friends to him. + +"I'll go home," he said, at last. "There hasn't been a house built in +Crofield for years and years. It isn't any kind of place for +carpentering, or for anything else that I know how to do." + +Then he took a long, silent, thoughtful look up stream, and another +down stream, and instead of the gravel and bushes and grass, in one +direction, and the rickety bridge and the slippery dam and the dingy +old red mill, in the other direction, he seemed to see a vision of +great buildings and streets and crowds of busy men, while the swishing +ripple of the Cocahutchie changed into the rush and roar of the great +city he was setting his heart upon. He gave it up for that evening, +and went home and went to bed, but even then it seemed to him as if he +were about to let go of something and take hold of something else. + +"I've done that often enough," he said to himself. "I'll have to leave +the blacksmith's trade now, but I'm kind o' glad I learned it. I'm +glad I didn't have my shoes on when I went into the water, though. +Soaking isn't good for that kind of shoes. Don't I know? I've worked +in every shoe-shop in Crofield, some. Didn't get any pay, except in +shoes; but then I learned the trade, and that's something. I never had +an opportunity to stay long in any one place, but I could stay in the +city." + +Then another kind of dreaming set in, and the next thing he knew it was +Sunday morning, with a promise of a sunny, sultry, sleepy kind of day. + +It was not easy for the Ogden family to shut out all talk about +fishing, while they were eating Jack's fish for breakfast, but they +avoided the subject until Jack went to dress. Jack was quite another +boy by the time he was ready for church. He was skillful with the +shoe-brush, and from his shoes upward he was a surprise. + +"You do look well," said Mary, as he and she were on their way to +church. "But how you did look when you came home last night!" + +There was little opportunity for conversation, for the walk before the +Ogden family from their gate to the church-door was not long. + +The little processions toward the village green did not divide fairly +after reaching there that morning. The larger part of each aimed +itself at the middle of the green, although the building there was no +larger than either of the two that stood at its right and left. + +"Everybody's coming to hear Elder Holloway," said Jack. "They say it +takes a fellow a good while to learn how to preach." + +Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda led their part of the procession, and Jack +and his father followed them in. There were ten Ogdens, and the family +pew held six. Just as they were going in, some one asked Mary to go +into the choir. Little Sally nestled in her mother's lap; Bob and Jim +were small and thin and only counted for one; Bessie and Sue went in, +and so did their father, and then Jack remarked: + +"I'm crowded out, father. I'll find a place, somewhere." + +"There isn't any," said the blacksmith. "Every place is full." + +He shook his head until the points of his Sunday collar scratched him, +but off went Jack, and that was the last that was seen of him until +they were all at home again. + +Mary Ogden had her reasons for not expecting to sing in the choir that +day, but she went when sent for. The gallery was what Jack called a +"coop," and would hold just eighteen persons, squeezed in. Usually it +was only half full, but on a great day, what was called the "old choir" +was sure to turn out. There were no girls nor boys in the "old choir." +There had been three seats yet to fill when Mary was sent for, but Miss +Glidden and Miss Roberts and her elder sister from Mertonville came in +just then. So, when Mary reached the gallery, Miss Glidden leaned +over, smiled, and said very benevolently: + +"You will not be needed to-day, Mary Ogden. The choir is filled." + +The organ began to play at that moment, somewhat as if it had lost its +temper. Mr. Simmons, the choir-leader (whenever he could get there), +flushed and seemed about to say something. He was the one who had sent +for Mary, and it was said that he had been heard to say that it would +be good to have "some music, outside of the organ." Before he could +speak, however, Mary was downstairs again. Seats were offered her in +several of the back pews, and she took one under the gallery. She +might as well have had a sounding-board behind her, arranged so as to +send her voice right at the pulpit. Perhaps her temper was a little +aroused, and she did not know how very full her voice was when she +began the first hymn. All were singing, and they could hear the organ +and the choir, but through, over, and above them all sounded the clear, +ringing notes of Mary Ogden's soprano. Elder Holloway, sitting in the +pulpit, put up a hand to one ear, as half-deaf men do, and sat up +straight, looking as if he was hearing some good news. He said +afterward that it helped him preach; but then Mary did not know it. +When all the services were over, she slipped out into the vestibule to +wait for the rest. She stood there when Miss Glidden came downstairs. +The portly lady was trying her best to smile and look sweet. + +"Splendid sermon, Mary Ogden," said she. "I hope you'll profit by it. +I sha'n't ask you to take my class this afternoon. Elder Holloway's +going to inspect the school. I'll be glad to have you present, though, +as one of my best scholars." + +Mary went home as quickly as she could, and the first remark she made +was to Aunt Melinda. + +"_Her_ class!" she said. "Why she hasn't been there in six weeks. She +had only four in it when she left, and there's a dozen now." + +The Ogden procession homeward had been longer than when it went to +church. Jack understood the matter the moment he came into the +dining-room, for both extra leaves had been put into the +extension-table. + +"There's company," he said aloud. "You couldn't stretch that table any +farther, unless you stretched the room." + +"Jack," said his mother, "you must come afterward. You can help Mary +wait on the table." + +Jack was as hungry as a young pickerel, but there was no help for it, +and he tried to reply cheerfully: + +"I'm getting used to being crowded out. I can stand it." + +"Where'd you sit in church?" asked his mother. + +"Out on the stoop," said Jack, "but I didn't go till after I'd sat in +five pews inside." + +"Sorry you missed the sermon," said his mother. "It was about +Jerusalem." + +"I heard him," said Jack; "you could hear him halfway across the green. +It kept me thinking about the city, all the while. I'm going, somehow." + +Just then the talk was interrupted by the others, who came in from the +parlor. + +"I declare, Ogden," said the editor, "we shall quite fill your table. +I'm glad I came, though. I'll print a full report of it all in the +Mertonville _Eagle_." + +"That's Murdoch, the editor," said Jack to himself. "That's his paper. +Ours was a _Standard_,--but it's bu'sted." + +"There's no room for a newspaper in Crofield," said the blacksmith. +"They tried one, and it lasted six months, and my son worked on it all +the time it ran." + +Mr. Murdoch turned and looked inquisitively at Jack through a huge pair +of tortoise-shell-rimmed glasses. + +"That's so," said Jack; "I learned to set type and helped edit the +paper. Molly and I did all the clipping and most of the writing, one +week." + +"Did you?" said the editor emphatically. "Then you did well. I +remember there was one strong number." + +"Molly," said Jack, as soon as they were out in the kitchen, "there's +five besides our family. They won't leave a thing for us." + +"There's hardly enough for them, even," said Mary. "What'll we do?" + +"We can cook!" said Jack, with energy. "We'll cook while they're +eating. You know how, and so do I." + +"You can wait on table as well as I can," said Mary. + +There was something cronyish and also self-helpful, in the way Jack and +Molly boiled eggs and toasted bread and fried bacon and made coffee, +and took swift turns at eating and at waiting on the table. + +The editor of the _Eagle_ heard the whole of the trout item, and about +the runaway, and told Jack to send him the next big trout he caught. + +There was another item of news that was soon to be ready for Mr. +Murdoch. Jack was conscious of a restless, excited state of mind, and +Mary said things that made him worse. + +"You want to get somewhere else as badly as I do," he remarked, just as +they came back from taking in the pies to the dinner-table. + +"I feel, sometimes, as if I could fly!" exclaimed Mary. Jack walked +out through the hall to the front door, and stood there thinking, with +a hard-boiled egg in one hand and a piece of toast in the other. + +The street he looked into was silent and deserted, from the bridge to +the hotel corner. He looked down to the creek, for a moment, and then +he looked the other way. + +"I believe Molly could do 'most anything I could do," he said to +himself; "unless it was catching a runaway team. She couldn't ha' +caught that wagon. Hullo, what's that? Jingo! The hotel cook must +have made a regular bonfire to fry my trout!" + +He wheeled as he spoke, and dashed back through the house, shouting: + +"Father, the Washington Hotel's on fire!--over the kitchen!" + +"Ladder, Jack. Rope. Bucket," cried the tall blacksmith, coolly +rising from the table, and following. As for the rest, beginning with +the editor of the _Eagle_, it was almost as if they had been told that +they were themselves on fire. Even Aunt Melinda exclaimed: "He ought +to have told us more about it! Where is it? How'd it ever catch? Oh, +dear me! It's the oldest part of the hotel. It's as dry as a bone, +and it'll burn like tinder!" + +Everybody else was saying something as all jumped and ran, but Jack and +his father were silent. Ladder, rope, water-pails, were caught up, as +if they were going to work in the shop, but the moment they were in the +street again it seemed as if John Ogden's lungs must be as deep as the +bellows of his forge. + +"Fire! Fire! Fire!" His full, resonant voice sent out the sudden +warning. + +[Illustration: _Fighting the Fire_.] + +"Fire! Fire! Fire!" shouted Jack, and every child of the Ogden +family, except Mary, echoed with such voice as belonged to each. + +Through the wide gate of the hotel barn-yard dashed the blacksmith and +his son, with their ladder, at the moment when Mrs. Livermore came out +at the kitchen door, wiping a plate. All the other inmates of the +hotel were gathered around the long table in the dining-hall, and they +were too busy with pie and different kinds of pudding, to notice +anything outdoors. + +"Where is the fire, Mr. Ogden?" she said, in a fatigued tone. + +"The fire's on your roof, close to the chimney," said the blacksmith. +"May be we can put it out, if we're quick about it. Call everybody to +hand up water." + +Up went a pair of hands, and out came a great scream. Another shrill +scream and another, followed in quick succession, and the plate she had +held, fell and was shivered into fragments on the stone door-step. + +"Foi-re! Foi-re! Foi-re-re-re!" yelled the hotel cook. "The house is +a-bur-rnin'! Wa-ter! Waw-aw-ter!" + +The doors to passage-ways of the hotel were open, and in a second more +her cry was taken up by voices that sent the substance of it ringing +through the dining-hall. + +Plates fell from the hands of waiters, coffee-cups were upset, chairs +were overturned, all manner of voices caught up the alarm. + +It would have been a very serious matter but for the promptness of Jack +Ogden and his very cool father. The ladder was planted and climbed, +there was a quick dash along the low but high-ridged roof of the +kitchen addition of the hotel,--the rope was put around Jack's waist, +and then he was able safely to use both hands in pouring water from the +pails around the foot of the chimney. Other feet came fast to the foot +of the ladder. More went tramping into the rooms under the roof. The +pumps in the kitchen and in the barn-yard were worked with frantic +energy; pail after pail was carried upstairs and up the ladder; water +was thrown in all directions; nothing was left undone that could be +done, and a great many things were done that seemed hardly possible. + +"Hot work, Jack," said his father. "It's a-gaining on us. Glad they'd +all about got through dinner,--though Livermore tells me he's insured." + +"I can stand it," said Jack. "They have steam fire-engines in the +city, though. Oh, but wouldn't I like to see one at work, once. I'd +like to be a fireman!" + +"That's about what you are, just now," said his father, and then he +turned toward the ladder and shouted: + +"Hurry up that water! Quick, now! Bring an axe! I want to smash the +roof in. Bear it, Jack. We've got to beat this fire." + +The main building of the Washington Hotel was long, rather than high, +with an open veranda along Main Street. The third story was mainly +steep roof and dormer-windows, and the kitchen addition had only a +story and a half. It was an easy building to get into or out of. Very +quickly, after the cry of "Fire!" was heard, the only people in it, +upstairs, were such of the guests as had the pluck to go and pack their +trunks. The lower floor was very well crowded, and it was almost a +relief to the men actually at work as firemen that so many other men +kept well back because they were in their "Sunday-go-to-meeting" +clothes. + +Everybody was inclined to praise Jack Ogden and his father, who were +making so brave a fight on the roof within only a few feet of the smoke +and blaze. It was heroic to look a burning house straight in the face +and conquer it. During fully half an hour there seemed to be doubt +about the victory, but the pails of water came up rapidly, a line of +men and boys along the roof conveyed them to the hands of Jack, and the +fire had a damp time of it, with no wind to help. The blacksmith had +chopped a hole in the roof, and Tom and Sam Bannerman, the carpenters, +were already calculating what they would charge old Livermore to put +the addition in order again. + +"There, Jack," said his father, at last, "we can quit, now. The fire's +under. Somebody else can take a turn. It's the hottest kind of work. +Come along. We've done our share, and a little more, too." + +Jack had just swallowed a puff of smoke, but as soon as he could stop +coughing, he said: + +"I've had enough. I'm coming." + +Other people seemed to agree with them; but there would have been less +said about it if little Joe Hawkins had not called out: + +"Three cheers for the Ogdens!" + +The cheers were given as the two volunteer firemen came down the +ladder, but there were no speeches made in reply. Jack hurried back +home at once, but his father had to stop and talk with the Bannermans +and old Hammond, the miller. + +"Jack," said his mother, looking at him, proudly, from head to foot, +"you're always doing something or other. We were looking at you, all +the while." + +"He hasn't hurt his Sunday clothes a bit," said Aunt Melinda, but there +was quite a crowd around the gate, and she did not hug him. + +He was a little damp, his face was smoky, his shirt-collar was wilted, +and his shoes would require a little work, but otherwise he was none +the worse. + +Jack went into the house, saying that he must brush his clothes; but, +really it was because he wished to get away. He did not care to talk +to anybody. + +"I never felt so, in all my life, as I did when sitting on that roof, +fighting that fire," he said aloud, as he went upstairs; and he did not +know, even then, how excited he had been, silent and cool as he had +seemed. In that short time, he had dreamed of more cities than he was +ever likely to see, and of doing more great things than he could ever +possibly do, and when he came down the ladder he felt older than when +he went up. He had no idea that much the same thoughts had come to +Mary, nor did he know how fully she believed that he could do anything, +and that she was as capable as he. + +"Father's splendid, too," she said, "but then he never had any chance, +here, and Mother didn't either. Jack ought to have a chance." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CAPTAIN MARY. + +Mr. Murdoch had stood on the main street corner; taking notes for the +_Eagle_, but now he came back to say the fire was out and it was nearly +time for Sunday-school. + +It seemed strange to have Sunday-school just after a fire, but the +Ogden family and its visitors at once made ready. + +It was a quarterly meeting, with general exercises and singing, and a +review of the quarter's lessons. The church was full by the hour for +opening, and the school had a very prosperous look. Elder Holloway and +Mr. Murdoch and two other important men sat in the pulpit, and Joab +Spokes, the superintendent, stood in front of them to conduct the +exercises. The elder seemed to be glancing benevolently around the +room, through his spectacles, but there were some things there which +could be seen without glasses, and he must have seen those also. + +Miss Glidden looked particularly well and very stately, as she sat in +the pew in front of her class (if it were hers), with Mary Ogden. Her +first words, on coming in to take command, had been: + +"Mary, dear, don't go. I really wish you to stay. You may be of +assistance." + +Mary flushed a little, but she said nothing in reply. She remained, +and she certainly did assist, for the girls looked at her almost all +the while, and Miss Glidden had no trouble whatever, and nothing to do +but to look pleased and beaming and dignified. The elder, it was +noticed, seemed to feel special interest in the part taken in the +exercises by the class with two teachers, one for show and one for +work. He even seemed to see something comical in the situation, and +there was positive admiration in a remark he made to Mr. Murdoch: + +"She's a true teacher. There's really only one teacher to that class. +She must have been born with a knack for it!" + +Elder Holloway, with all his years and experience, had not understood +the case of Miss Glidden's class more perfectly than had one young +observer at the other end of the church. Jack Ogden could not see so +well as those great men in the pulpit, but then he could hear much and +surmise the rest. + +"All those girls will stand by Molly!" he said to himself. "I hope it +won't be long before school's dismissed," he added. + +He had reasons for this hope. He was a little late through lingering +to take a curious look at what was left of the fire. The street had a +littered look. The barns and stables were wide open, and deserted, for +the horses had been led to places of safety. There seemed to be an +impression that the hotel was half destroyed; but the damage had not +been very great. + +A faint, thin film of blue was eddying along the ridgepole of the +kitchen addition. Jack noticed it, but did not know what it meant. A +more practiced observer would have known that, hidden from sight, +buried in the punk of the dry-rotted timber, was a vicious spark of +fire, stealthily eating its way through the punk of the resinous pine. + +Jack paid little attention to the tiny smoke-wreath, but he was +compelled to pay some attention to the weather. It had been hot from +sunrise until noon, and the air had grown heavier since. + +"I know what that haze means," said Jack to himself, as he looked +toward the Cocahutchie. "There's a thunderstorm coming by and by, and +nobody knows just when. I'll be on the lookout for it." + +For this reason he was glad that he was compelled to find a seat not +far from the door of the church. Twice he went out to look at the sky, +and the second time he saw banks of lead-colored clouds forming on the +northwestern horizon. Returning he said to several of the boys near +the vestibule: + +"You've just time to get home, if you don't want a ducking." + +Each boy passed along the warning; and when the school stood up to sing +the last hymn, even the girls and the older people knew of the coming +storm. There was a brief silence before the first note of the organ, +and through that silence nearly everybody could catch the shrill squeak +in which little Joe Hawkins tried to speak very low and secretly. + +"Deakin Cobb, we want to git aout! We've just time to git home if we +don't want a duckin'." + +The hymn started raggedly and in a wrong pitch; and just then the great +room grew suddenly darker, and there was a low rumble of thunder. + +"Mary Ogden!" exclaimed Miss Glidden, "what are you doing? They can't +go yet!" + +Mary was singing as loudly and correctly as usual, but she was out in +the aisle, and the girls of that class were promptly obeying the motion +of hand and head with which she summoned them to walk out of the church. + +Elder Holloway may have been only keeping time when he nodded his head, +but he was looking at Miss Glidden's class. + +So was Miss Glidden, in a bewildered way, as if she, like little +Bo-peep, were losing her sheep. Mary was following a strong and sudden +impulse. Nevertheless, by the time that class was out of its pews the +next caught the idea, and believed it a prudent thing to do. They +followed in good order, singing as they went. + +"The girls out first,--then the boys," said Elder Holloway, between two +stanzas. "One class at a time. No hurry." + +Darker grew the air. Jack, out in front of the church, was watching +the blackest cloud he had ever seen, as it came sweeping across the sky. + +The people walked out calmly enough, but all stopped singing at the +door and ran their best. + +"Run, Molly! Run for home!" shouted Jack, seeing Mary coming. "It's +going to be an awful storm." + +[Illustration: _"Run for Home."_] + +Inside the church there was much hesitation, for a moment; but Miss +Glidden followed her class without delay, and all the rest followed as +fast as they could, and were out in half the usual time. Joe Hawkins +heard Jack's words to Molly. + +"Run, boys," he echoed. "Cut for home! There's a fearful storm +coming!" + +He was right. Great drops were already falling now and then, and there +was promise of a torrent to follow. + +"I don't want to spoil these clothes," said Jack, uneasily. "I need +these to wear in the city. The storm isn't here yet, though. I'll +wait a minute." He was holding his hat on and looking up at the +steeple when he said that. It was a very old, wooden steeple, tall, +slender, and somewhat rheumatic, and he knew there must be more wind up +so high than there was nearer the ground. "It's swinging!" he said +suddenly. "I can see it bend! Glad they're all getting out. There +come Elder Holloway and Mr. Murdoch. See the elder run! I hope he +won't try to get to Hawkins's. He'd better run for our house." + +That was precisely the counsel given the good man by the editor, and +the elder said: + +"I'd like to go there. I'd like to see that clever girl again. Come, +Murdoch; no time to lose!" + +The blast was now coming lower, and the gloom was deepening. + +Flash--rattle--boom--crash! came a glitter of lightning and a great +peal of thunder. + +"Here it is!" cried Jack. "If it isn't a dry blast!" + +It was something like the first hot breath of a hurricane. To and fro +swung the tottering old steeple for a moment, and then there was +another crash--a loud, grinding, splintering, roaring crash--as the +spire reeled heavily down, lengthwise, through the shattered roof of +the meeting-house! Except for Mary Ogden's cleverness, the ruins might +have fallen upon the crowded Sunday-school. Jack turned and ran for +home. He was a good runner, but he only just escaped the deluge +following that thunderbolt. + +Jack turned upon reaching the house, and as he looked back he uttered a +loud exclamation, and out from the house rushed all the people who were +gathered there. + +"Jingo!" Jack shouted. "The old hotel's gone, sure, this time!" + +The burrowing spark had smoldered slowly along, until it felt the first +fanning of the rising gale. In another minute it flared as if under a +blowpipe, and soon a fierce sheet of flame came bursting through the +roof. + +Down poured the rain; but the hottest of that blaze was roofed over, +and the fire had its own way with the empty addition. + +"We couldn't help if we should try," exclaimed Mr. Ogden. + +"I'll put on my old clothes, any way," said Jack. "Nobody knows what's +coming." + +"I will, too," said his father. + +Jack paused a moment, and said, from the foot of the stairs: + +"The steeple's down,--right through the meeting-house. It has smashed +the whole church!" + +The sight of the fire had made him withhold that news for a minute; but +now, for another minute, the fire was almost forgotten. + +Elder Holloway began to say something in praise of Mary Ogden about her +leading out the class, but she darted away. + +"Let me get by, Jack," she said. "Let me pass, please. They all would +have been killed if they had waited! But I was thinking only of my +class and the rain." + +She ran up-stairs and Jack followed. Then the elder made a number of +improving remarks about discipline and presence of mind, and the +natural fitness of some people for doing the right thing in an +emergency. He might have said more, but all were drawn to the windows +to watch the strife between the fire and the rain. + +The fierce wind drove the smoke through the building, compelling the +landlord and his wife to escape as best they could, and, for the time +being, the victory seemed to be with the fire. + +"Seems to me," said the blacksmith, somberly, "as if Crofield was going +to pieces. This is the worst storm we ever had. The meeting-house is +gone, and the hotel's going!" + +Mary, at her window, was looking out in silence, but her face was +bright rather than gloomy. Even if she was "only a girl," she had +found an opportunity for once, and she had not proved unequal to it. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JACK OGDEN'S RIDE. + +Jack needed only a few minutes to put on the suit he had worn when +fishing. + +"There, now," he said; "if there's going to be a big flood in the creek +I'm going down to see it, rain or no rain. There's no telling how high +it'll rise if this pour keeps on long enough. It rattles on the roof +like buckshot!" + +"That's the end of the old tavern," said Jack to Mary, as he stood in +the front room looking out. + +He was barefooted, and had come so silently that she was startled. + +"Jack!" she exclaimed, turning around, "they might have all been killed +when the steeple came down. I heard what Joe Hawkins said, and I led +out the class." + +"Good for Joe!" said Jack. "We need a new meeting-house, any way. I +heard the elder say so. Less steeple, next time, and more church!" + +"I'd like to see a real big church," said Mary,--"a city church." + +"You'd like to go to the city as much as I would," said Jack. + +"Yes, I would," she replied emphatically. "Just you get there and I'll +come afterward, if I can. I've been studying twice as hard since I +left the academy, but I don't know why." + +"I know it," said Jack; "but I've had no time for books." + +"Jack! Molly!" the voice of Aunt Melinda came up the stairway. "Are +you ever coming down-stairs?" + +"What will the elder say to my coming down barefoot?" said Jack; "but I +don't want shoes if I'm going out into the mud." + +"He won't care at such a time as this," said Mary. "Let's go." + +It was not yet supper-time, but it was almost dark enough to light the +lamps. Jack felt better satisfied about his appearance when he found +how dark and shadowy the parlor was; and he felt still better when he +saw his father dressed as if he were going over to work at the forge, +all but the leather apron. + +The elder did not seem disturbed. He and Mr. Murdoch were talking +about all sorts of great disasters, and Mary did not know just when she +was drawn into the talk, or how she came to acknowledge having read +about so many different things all over the world. + +"Jack," whispered his mother, at last, "you'll have to go to the barn +and gather eggs, or we sha'n't have enough for supper." + +"I'll bring the eggs if I don't get drowned before I get back," said +Jack; and he found a basket and an umbrella and set out. + +He took advantage of a little lull in the rain, and ran to the +barn-yard gate. + +"Hullo!" he exclaimed. "Now I'll have to wade. Why it's nearly a foot +deep! There'll be the biggest kind of a freshet in the Cocahutchie. +Isn't this jolly?" + +The rain pattered on the roof as if it had been the head of a drum. If +the house was gloomy, the old barn was darker and gloomier. Jack +turned over a half-bushel measure and sat down on it. + +"I want to think," he said. "I want to get out of this. Seems to me I +never felt it so before. I'd as lief live in this barn as stay in +Crofield." + +He suddenly sprang up and shook off his blues, exclaiming: "I'll go and +see the freshet, anyhow!" + +He carried the eggs into the house. + +All the time he had been gone, Elder Holloway had been asking Mary very +particularly about the Crofield Academy. + +"I don't wonder she says what she does about the trustees," remarked +Aunt Melinda. "She took the primary room twice, for 'most a month each +time, when the teacher was sick, and all the thanks she had was that +they didn't like it when they found it out." + +The gutter in front of the house had now become a small torrent. + +"All the other gutters are just like that," said Jack. "So are the +brooks all over the country, and it all runs into the Cocahutchie!" + +"Father," said Jack, after supper, "I'm going down to the creek." + +"I wish you would," said his father. "Come back and tell us how it's +looking." + +"Could a freshet here do any damage?" asked Mr. Murdoch. + +"There's a big dam up at Four Corners," said the blacksmith. "If +anything should happen there, we'd have trouble here, and you'd have it +in Mertonville, too." + +Jack heard that as he was going out of the door. He carried an +umbrella; but the first thing he noticed was that the force of the rain +seemed to have slackened as soon as he was out of doors. It was now +more like mist or a warm sleet, as if Crofield were drifting through a +cloud. + +"The Washington House needs all the rain it can get," said Jack, as he +went along; "but half the roof is caved in. I'm glad Livermore's +insured." + +When Jack reached the creek he felt his heart fairly jump with +excitement. The Cocahutchie was no longer a thin ribbon rippling along +in a wide stretch of sand and gravel. It was a turbid, swollen, +roaring flood, already filling all the space under its bridge; and the +clump of old trees was in the water instead of on dry land. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Jack. "As high as that already, and the worst is to +come!" + +He could not see the dam at first, but the gusts of wind were making +openings in the mist, and he soon caught glimpses of a great sheet of +foaming brown water. + +"I'll go and take a look at the dam," he said; and he ran to the mill. + +"It's just level with the dam," he said, after one swift glance. "I +never thought of that. I must go and tell old Hammond what's coming." + +The miller's house was not far away, and he and his family were at +supper when there came a bang at the door. Then it opened and Mrs. +Hammond exclaimed: + +"Why, John Ogden!" + +"I'm out o' breath," said Jack excitedly. "You tell him that the +water's 'most up to the lower floor of the mill. If he's got anything +there that'd be hurt by getting wet--" + +"Goodness, yes!" shouted the miller, getting up from the table, "enough +to ruin me. There are sacks of flour, meal, grain,--all sorts of +stuff. It must all go up to the second floor. I'll call all the +hands." + +"But," said his wife, "it's Sunday!" + +"Can't help it!" he exclaimed; "the Cocahutchie's coming right up into +the mill. Jack, tell every man you see that I want him!" + +Off went Jack homeward, but he spoke to half a dozen men on the way. +He did not run, but he went quickly enough; and when he reached the +house there was something waiting for him. + +It was a horse with a blanket strapped on instead of a saddle; and by +it stood his father, and near him stood his mother and Aunt Melinda and +Mary, bareheaded, for it was not raining, now. + +"Mount, Jack," said the blacksmith quietly. "I've seen the creek. +It's only four and a half miles to the Four Corners. Ride fast. See +how that dam looks and come back and tell me. Mr. Murdoch will have +his buggy ready to start when you get back. See how many logs there +are in the saw-mill boom." + +"Oh, Jack!" exclaimed Mary, in a low suppressed voice. "I wish that I +were you! It's a great day for you!" + +He had sprung to the saddle while his father was speaking, and he felt +it was out of his power to utter a word in reply. He did not need to +speak to the horse, for the moment Mr. Ogden released the bit there was +a quick bound forward. + +"This horse is ready to go," said Jack to himself, as he felt that +motion. "I've seen her before. I wonder what's made her so excited?" + +There was no need for wonder. The trim, light-limbed sorrel mare he +was riding had been kept in the hotel stables until that day. She had +been taken out to a neighboring stable, at the morning alarm of fire, +and when the blacksmith went to borrow her he found her laboring under +a strong impression that things in Crofield were going wrong. She was +therefore inclined to go fast, and all that Jack had to do was to hold +her in. The blacksmith's son was at home in the saddle. It was not +yet dark, and he knew the road to the Four Corners. It was a muddy +road, and there was a little stream of water along each side of it. +Spattered and splashed from head to foot were rider and horse, but the +miles vanished rapidly and the Four Corners was reached. + +A smaller village than Crofield, further up among the hills, it had a +higher dam, a three times larger pond, a bigger grist-mill, and a large +saw-mill. That was because there were forests of timbers among the yet +higher hills beyond, and Mr. Ogden had been thinking seriously about +the logs from those forests. + +"I know what father means," said Jack aloud, as he galloped into the +village. + +There were hardly any people stirring about its one long street; but +there was a reason for that and Jack found out what it was when he +pulled up near the mill. + +"Everybody has come to watch the dam," he exclaimed. "No use asking +about the logs, though; there they are." + +The crowd was evidently excited, and the air was filled with shouts and +answers. + +"The boom got unhitched and swung round 'cross the dam," said one eager +speaker; "and there's all the logs, now,--hundreds on 'em,--just +a-pilin' up and a-heapin' up on the dam; and when that breaks, the +dam'll go, mill and all, bridge and all, and the valley below'll be +flooded!" + +The moon was up, and the clouds which had hidden it were breaking away +as Jack looked at the threatening spectacle before him. + +The sorrel mare was tugging hard at the rein and pawing the mud under +her feet, while Jack listened to the talk. + +"Stand it? No!" he heard a man say. "That dam wasn't built to stand +any such crowdin' as that. Hark!" + +A groaning, straining, cracking sound came from the barrier behind +which the foaming flood was widening and deepening the pond. + +"There it goes! It's breaking!" + +Jack wheeled the sorrel, as a dull, thunderous report was answered by a +great cry from the crowd; and then he dashed away down the homeward +road. + +"I must get to Crofield before the water does," he said. "Glad the +creek's so crooked; it has twice as far to travel as I have." + +Not quite, considering how a flood will sweep over a bend instead of +following it. Still, Jack and the sorrel had the start, and nearly all +the way it was a downhill road. + +The Crofield people gathered fast, after the sky cleared, for a rumor +went around that there was something wrong with the dam, and that a man +had gone to the Four Comers to warn the people there. + +All the men that could crowd into the mill had helped Mr. Hammond get +his grain up into the second story, but the water was a hand-breadth +deep on the lower floor by the time it was done. + +There came a moment when all was silent except the roar of the water, +and through that silence the thud of hoofs was heard coming down from +Main Street. Then a shrill, excited voice shouted: + +"All of you get off that bridge! The Four Corners dam's gone. The +boom's broken, and the logs are coming!" + +There was a tumult of questioning, as men gathered around the sorrel, +and there was a swift clearing of people from the bridge. + +"Why, it's shaking now!" said the blacksmith to Mr. Murdoch. "It'll go +down with the first log that strikes it. You drive your best home to +Mertonville and warn them. You may be just in time." + +Away went the editor, carrying with him an extraordinary treasure of +news for the next number of his journal. Jack dismounted, and her +owner took the sorrel to her stable; she was very muddy but none the +worse for the service she had rendered. + +The crowd stood waiting for what was sure to come. Miller Hammond was +anxiously watching his threatened and already damaged property. Jack +came and stood beside him. + +"Mr. Hammond," he said, "all the gravel that you were going to sell to +father is lying under water." + +"More than two acres of it," said the miller. "The water'll run off, +though. I'll tell you what I'll do, Jack. I'll sell it for two +hundred dollars, considering the flood." + +"If father'll take it, will you count in the fifty you said you owed +me?" inquired Jack. + +The miller made a wry face for a moment, but then responded, smiling: + +"Well! After what you've done to-night, too: saved all there was on +the first floor,--yes, I will. Tell him I'll do it." + +They all turned suddenly toward the dam. A high ridge of water was +sweeping down across the pond. It carried a crest of foam, logs, +planks, and rubbish, shining white in the moonlight, and it rolled on +toward the mill and the dam as if it had an errand. + +Crash--roar--crash--and a plunging sound,--and it seemed as if the +Crofield dam had vanished. But it had not. Only a section of its top +work, in the middle, had been knocked away by the rushing stroke of +those logs. + +A frightened shout went up from the spectators, and it had hardly died +away before there followed another splintering crash. + +"The bridge!" shouted Jack. + +The frail supports of the bridge, brittle with age and weather, already +straining hard against the furious water, needed only the battering of +the first heavy logs from the boom, and down they went. + +"Gone!" exclaimed Mr. Ogden. "The hotel's gone, and the meeting-house, +and the dam, and the bridge. There won't be anything left of Crofield, +at this rate." + +"I'm going to get out of it," said Jack. + +"I'll never refuse you again," replied his father, with energy. "You +may get out any way you can, and take your chances anywhere you please. +I won't stand in your way." + +The roar of the surging Cocahutchie was the only sound heard for a full +minute, and then the miller spoke. + +"The mill's safe," he said, with a very long breath of relief; "the +breaking of that hole in the dam let the water and logs through, and +the pond isn't rising. Hurrah!" + +There was a very faint and scattering cheer, and Jack Ogden did not +join in it. He had turned suddenly and walked away homeward, along the +narrow strip of land that remained between the wide, swollen +Cocahutchie and the fence. + +At the end of the fence, where he came into his own street, away above +where the head of the bridge had been, there was a large gathering. +That around the mill had been nearly all of men and boys. Here were +women and girls, and the smaller boys, whose mothers and aunts held +them and kept them from going nearer the water. Jack found it of no +use to say, "Oh, mother, I'm too muddy!" She didn't care how muddy he +was, and Aunt Melinda cared even less, apparently. Bessie and Sue had +evidently been crying; but Mary had not; and it was her hand on Jack's +arm that led him away, up the street, toward their gate. + +"Oh, Jack!" she exclaimed, "I'm so proud! Did you ride fast? I'm glad +I can ride! I could have done it, too. It was splendid!" + +"Molly," said Jack, "I don't mind telling you. The sorrel mare +galloped all the way, going and coming, up hill and down; and Molly, I +kept wishing and thinking every jump she gave,--wishing I was galloping +to New York, instead of to the Four Corners! + +"Molly," he added quickly, "father gives it up and says I may go!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +OUT INTO THE WORLD. + +Monday morning came, bright and sunshiny; and it hardly reached +Crofield before the people began to get up and look about them. + +Jack went down to the river and did not get back very soon. His mind +was full of something besides the flood, and he did not linger long at +the mill. + +But he looked long and hard at all the pieces of land below the mill, +down to Deacon Hawkins's line. He knew where that was, although the +fence was gone. + +"The freshet didn't wash away a foot of it," he said. "I'll tell +father what Mr. Hammond said about selling it." + +A pair of well-dressed men drove down from Main Street in a buggy and +halted near him. + +"Brady," said one of these men, "the engineer is right. We can't +change the railroad line. We can say to the Crofield people that if +they'll give us the right of way through the village we'll build them a +new bridge. They'll do it. Right here's the spot for the station." + +"Exactly," said the other man, "and the less we say about it the +better. Keep mum." + +"That's just what I'll do, too," said Jack to himself, as they drove +away. "I don't know what they mean, but it'll come out some day." + +Jack went home at once, and found the family at breakfast. After +breakfast his father went to the shop, and Jack followed him to speak +about the land purchase. + +When Jack explained the miller's offer, Mr. Ogden went with him to see +Mr. Hammond. After a short interview, Mr. Ogden and Jack secured the +land in settlement of the amount already promised Jack, and of an old +debt owed by the miller to the blacksmith, and also in consideration of +their consenting to a previous sale of the trees for cash to the +Bannermans, who had made their offer that morning. Mr. Hammond seemed +very glad to make the sale upon these terms, as he was in need of ready +money. + +When Jack returned to his father's shop, he remembered the men he had +seen at the river, and he told his father what they had said. + +"Station?--right of way?" exclaimed Mr. Ogden. "That's the new +railroad through Mertonville. They'll use up that land, and we won't +get a cent. Well, it didn't cost anything. I'd about given up +collecting that bill." + +Later that day, Jack came in to dinner with a smile on his face. It +was the old smile, too; a smile of good-humored self-confidence, which +flickered over his lips from side to side, and twisted them, and shut +his mouth tight. Just as he was about to speak, his father took a +long, neatly folded paper out of his coat pocket and laid it on the +table. + +"Look at that, Jack," he said; "and show it to your mother." + +"Warranty deed!" exclaimed Jack, reading the print on the outside. +"Father! you didn't turn it over to me, did you? Mother, it's to John +Ogden, Jr.!" + +"Oh, John--" she began and stopped. + +"Why, my dear," laughed the blacksmith, cheerfully, "it's his gravel, +not mine. I'll hold it for him, for a while, but it is Jack's whenever +I chose to record that deed." + +"I'm afraid I couldn't farm it there," said Jack; and then the smile on +his face flickered fast. "But I knew Father wanted that land." + +"It isn't worth much, but it's a beginning," said Mary. "I'd like to +own something or other, or to go somewhere." + +"Well, Molly," answered Jack, smiling, "you can go to Mertonville. +Livermore says there's a team here, horses and open carriage. It came +over on Friday. The driver has cleared out, and somebody must take +them home, and he wants me to drive over. Can't I take Molly, Mother?" + +"You'd have to walk back," said his father, "but that's nothing much. +It's less than nine miles--" + +"Father," said Jack, "you said, last night, I needn't come back to +Crofield, right away. And Mertonville's nine miles nearer the city--" + +"And a good many times nine miles yet to go," exclaimed the blacksmith; +but then he added, smiling: "Go ahead, Jack. I do believe that if any +boy can get there, you can." + +"I'll do it somehow," said Jack, with a determined nod. + +"Of course you will," said Mary. + +Jack felt as if circumstances were changing pretty fast, so far as he +was concerned; and so did Mary, for she had about given up all hope of +seeing her friends in Mertonville. + +"We'll get you ready, right away," said Aunt Melinda. "You can give +Jack your traveling bag,--he won't mind the key's being lost,--and I'll +let you take my trunk, and we'll fit you out so you can enjoy it." + +"Jack," said his father, "tell Livermore you can go, and then I want to +see you at the shop." + +Jack was so glad he could hardly speak; for he felt it was the first +step. But a part of his feeling was that he had never before loved +Crofield and all the people in it, especially his own family, so much +as at that minute. + +He went over to the ruined hotel, where he found the landlord at work +saving all sorts of things and seeming to feel reasonably cheerful over +his misfortunes. + +"Jack," he said, as soon as he was told that Jack was ready to go, "you +and Molly will have company. Miss Glidden sent to know how she could +best get over to Mertonville, and I said she could go with you. +There's a visitor, too, who must go back with her. + +"I'll take 'em," said Jack. + +Upon going to the shop he found his father shoeing a horse. The +blacksmith beckoned his son to the further end of the shop. He heard +about Miss Glidden, and listened in silence to several hopeful things +Jack had to say about what he meant to do sooner or later. + +[Illustration: _He listened in silence_.] + +"Well," he said, at last, "I was right not to let you go before, and +I've doubts about it now, but something must be done. I'm making less +and less, and not much of it's cash, and it costs more to live, and +they're all growing up. I don't want you to make me any promises. +They are broken too easily. You needn't form good resolutions. They +won't hold water. There's one thing I want you to do, though. Your +mother and I have brought you up as straight as a string, and you know +what's right and what's wrong." + +"That's true," said Jack. + +"Well, then, don't you promise nor form any resolutions, but if you're +tempted to do wrong, or to be a fool in any kind of way, just don't do +it that's all." + +"I won't, Father," said Jack earnestly. + +"There," said his father, "I feel better satisfied than I should feel +if you'd promised a hundred things. It's a great deal better not to do +anything that you know to be wrong or foolish." + +"I think so," said Jack, "and I won't." + +"Go home now and get ready," said his father; "and I'll see you off." + +"This is very sudden, Jack,", said his mother, with much feeling, when +he made his appearance. + +"Why, Mother," said Jack, "Molly'll be back soon, and the city isn't so +far away after all." + +Jack felt as if he had only about enough head left to change his +clothes and drive the team. + +"It's just as Mother says," he thought; "I've been wishing and hoping +for it, but it's come very suddenly." + +His black traveling-bag was quickly ready. He had closed it and was +walking to the door when his mother came in. + +"Jack," she said, "you'll send me a postal card every day or two?" + +"Of course I will," said he bravely. + +"And I know you'll be back in a few weeks, at most," she went on; "but +I feel as sad as if you were really going away from home. Why, you're +almost a child! You can't really be going away!" + +That was where the talk stopped for a while, except some last words +that Jack could never forget. Then she dried her eyes, and he dried +his, and they went down-stairs together. It was hard to say good-by to +all the family, and he was glad his father was not there. He got away +from them as soon as he could, and went over to the stables after his +team. It was a bay team, with a fine harness, and the open carriage +was almost new. + +"Stylish!" said Jack. "I'll take Molly on the front seat with me,--no, +the trunk,--and Miss Glidden's trunk,--well, I'll get 'em all in +somehow!" + +When he drove up in front of the house his father was there to put the +baggage in and to help Mary into the carriage and to shake hands with +Jack. + +The blacksmith's grimy face looked less gloomy for a moment. + +"Jack," he said, "good-by. May be you'll really get to the city after +all." + +"I think I shall," said Jack, with an effort to speak calmly. + +"Well," said the blacksmith, slowly, "I hope you will, somehow; but +don't you forget that there's another city." + +Jack knew what he meant. They shook hands, and in another moment the +bays were trotting briskly on their way to Miss Glidden's. Her house +was one of the finest in Crofield, with lawn and shrubbery. Mary Ogden +had never been inside of it, but she had heard that it was beautifully +furnished. There was Miss Glidden and her friend on the piazza, and +out at the sidewalk, by the gate, was a pile of baggage, at the sight +of which Jack exclaimed: + +"Trunks! They're young houses! How'll I get 'em all in? I can strap +and rope one on the back of the carriage, but then--!" + +Miss Glidden frowned at first, when the carriage pulled up, but she +came out to the gate, smiling, and so did the other lady. + +"Why, Mary Ogden, my dear," she said, "Mrs. Potter and I did not know +you were going with us. It's quite a surprise." + +"So it is to Jack and me," replied Mary quietly. "We were very glad to +have you come, though, if we can find room for your trunks." + +"I can manage 'em," said Jack. "Miss Glidden, you and Mrs. Potter get +in, and Pat and I'll pack the trunks on somehow." + +Pat was the man who had brought out the luggage, and he was waiting to +help. He was needed. It was a very full carriage when he and Jack +finished their work. There was room made for the passengers by putting +Mary's small trunk down in front, so that Jack's feet sprawled over it +from the nook where he sat. + +"I can manage the team," Jack said to himself. "They won't run away +with this load." + +Mary sat behind him, the other two on the back seat, and all the rest +of the carriage was trunks; not to speak of what Jack called a "young +house," moored behind. + +It all helped Jack to recover his usual composure, nevertheless, and he +drove out of Crofield, on the Mertonville road, confidently. + +"We shall discern traces of the devastation occasioned by the recent +inundation, as we progress," remarked Mrs. Potter. + +Jack replied: "Oh, no! The creek takes a great swoop, below Crofield, +and the road's a short cut. There'll be some mud, though." + +He was right and wrong. There was mud that forced the heavily laden +carriage to travel slowly, here and there, but there was nothing seen +of the Cocahutchie for several miles. + +"Hullo!" exclaimed Jack suddenly. "It looks like a kind of lake. It +doesn't come up over the road, though. I wonder what dam has given out +now!" + +There was the road, safe enough, but all the country to the right of it +seemed to have been turned into water. On rolled the carriage, the +horses now and then allowing signs of fear and distrust, and the two +older passengers expressing ten times as much. + +"Now, Molly," said Jack, at last, "there's a bridge across the creek, a +little ahead of this. I'd forgotten about that. Hope it's there yet." + +"Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Miss Glidden. + +"Don't prognosticate disaster," said Mrs. Potter earnestly; and it +occurred to Jack that he had heard more long words during that drive +than any one boy could hope to remember. + +"Hurrah!" he shouted, a few minutes later. "Link's bridge is there! +There's water on both sides of the road, though." + +It was an old bridge, like that at Crofield, and it was narrow, and it +trembled and shook while the snorting bays pranced and shied their +frightened way across it. They went down the slope on the other side +with a dash that would have been a bolt if Jack had not been ready for +them. Jack was holding them with a hard pull upon the reins, but he +was also looking up the Cocahutchie. + +"I see what's the matter," he said. "The logs got stuck in a narrow +place, and made a dam of their own, and set the water back over the +flat. The freshet hasn't reached Mertonville yet. Jingo!" + +Bang, crack, crash!--came a sharp sound behind him. + +"The bridge is down!" he shouted. "We were only just in time. Some of +the logs have been carried down, and one of them knocked it endwise." + +That was precisely the truth of the matter; and away went the bays, as +if they meant to race with the freshet to see which would first arrive +in Mertonville. + +"I'm on my way to the city, any how," thought Jack, with deep +satisfaction. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MARY AND THE _EAGLE_. + +The bay team traveled well, but it was late in the afternoon when Jack +drove into the town. Having been in Mertonville before, Jack knew +where to take Miss Glidden and Mrs. Potter. + +Mertonville was a thriving place, calling itself a town, and ambitious +of some day becoming a city. + +Not long after entering the village, Miss Glidden touched Jack's arm. + +"Stop, please!" exclaimed Miss Glidden. "There are our friends. The +very people we're going to see. Mrs. Edwards and the Judge, and all!" + +The party on foot had also halted, and were waiting to greet the +visitors. After welcomes had been exchanged, Mrs. Edwards, a tall, +dignified lady, with gray hair, turned to Mary and offered her hand. + +"I'm delighted to see you, Miss Ogden," she exclaimed, "and your +brother John. I've heard so much about you both, from Elder Holloway +and the Murdochs. They are expecting you." + +"We're going to the Murdochs'," said Mary, a little embarrassed by the +warmth of the greeting. + +"You will come to see me before you go home?" said Mrs. Edwards. "I +don't wonder Miss Glidden is so fond of you and so proud of you. Make +her come, Miss Glidden." + +"I should be very happy," said Miss Glidden benevolently, "but Mary has +so many friends." + +"Oh, she'll come," said the Judge himself, very heartily. "If she +doesn't, I'll come after her." + +"Shall I drive to your house now, Judge Edwards?" Jack said at last. + +The party separated, and Jack started the bay team again. + +The house of Judge Edwards was only a short distance farther, and that +of Mrs. Potter was just beyond. + +"Mary Ogden," said Miss Glidden in parting, "you must surely accept +Mrs. Edwards's invitation. She is the kindest of women." + +"Yes, Miss Glidden," said Mary, demurely. + +Jack broke in: "Of course you will. You'll have a real good time, too." + +"And you'll come and see me?" said Mrs. Potter, and Mary promised. +Then Jack and the Judge's coachman lowered to the sidewalk Miss +Glidden's enormous trunk. + +As Mrs. Potter alighted, a few minutes later, she declared to Mary: + +"I'm confident, my dear, that you will experience enthusiastic +hospitality." + +"What shall I do?" asked Mary, as they drove away. "Miss Glidden +didn't mean what she said. She is not fond of me." + +"The Judge meant it," said Jack. "They liked you. None of them +pressed me to come visiting, I noticed. I'll leave you at Murdoch's +and take the team to the stable, and then go to the office of the +_Eagle_ and see the editor." + +But when they reached the Murdochs', good Mrs. Murdoch came to the +door. She kissed Mary, and then said: + +"I'm so glad to see you! So glad you've come! Poor Mr. Murdoch--" + +"Jack's going to the office to see him," said Mary. + +"He needn't go there," said the editor's wife; "Mr. Murdoch is ill at +home. The storm and the excitement and the exposure have broken him +down. Come right in, dear. Come back, Jack, as soon as you have taken +care of the horses." + +"It's a pity," said Jack as he drove away. "The _Eagle_ will have a +hard time of it without any editor." + +He was still considering that matter when he reached the livery-stable, +but he was abruptly aroused from his thoughts by the owner of the team, +who cried excitedly: + +"Hurrah! Here's my team! I say, young man, how did you cross Link's +bridge? A man on horseback just came here and told us it was down. I +was afraid I'd lost my team for a week." + +"Well, here they are," said Jack, smiling. "They're both good +swimmers, and as for the carriage, it floated like a boat." + +"Oh, it did?" laughed the stable-keeper, as he examined his property. +"Livermore sent you with them, I suppose. I was losing five dollars a +day by not having those horses here. What's your name? Do you live in +Crofield?" + +"Jack Ogden." + +"Oh! you're the blacksmith's son. Old Murdoch told me about you. My +name's Prodger. I know your father, and I've known him twenty years. +How did you get over the creek--tell me about it?" + +Jack told him, and Mr. Prodger drew a long breath at the end of the +story. + +"You didn't know the risk you were running," he said; "but you did +first-rate, and if I needed another driver I'd be glad to hire you. +What did Livermore say I was to pay you?" + +"He didn't say," said Jack. "I wasn't thinking about being paid." + +"So much the better. I think the more of you, my boy. But it was +plucky to drive that team over Link's bridge just before it went down. +I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll pay you what they'll earn me +to-night--it will be about three dollars--and we'll call it square. +How will that do?" + +"It's more than I've earned," said Jack, gratefully. + +"I'm satisfied, if you are," said Mr. Prodger as Jack jumped down. +"Come and see me again if you're to be in town. You're fond of horses +and have a knack with them." + +"Three dollars!" said Jack, after the money had been paid him, and he +was on his way back to the Murdochs'. "Mother let me have the six +dollars they gave me for the fish. And this makes nine dollars. Why, +it will take me the rest of the way to the city--but I wouldn't have a +cent when I got there." + +When he reached the editor's house, Jack noticed that the house was on +the same square with the block of wooden buildings containing the +_Eagle_ office, and that the editor could go to his work through his +own garden, if he chose, instead of around by the street. He was again +welcomed by Mrs. Murdoch, and then led at once into Mr. Murdoch's room, +where the editor was in bed, groaning and complaining in a way that +indicated much distress. + +"I'm very sorry you're sick, Mr. Murdoch," said Jack. + +"Thank you, Jack. It's just my luck. It's the very worst time for me +to be on the sick-list. Nobody to get out the _Eagle_. Lost my +'devil' to-day, too!" + +"Lost your 'devil'?" exclaimed Jack. + +"Yes," said Mr. Murdoch in despair. "No 'devil'! No editor! Nobody +but a wooden foreman and a pair of lead-headed type-stickers. The man +that does the mailing has more than he can do, too. There won't be any +_Eagle_ this week, and perhaps none next week. Plenty of 'copy' nearly +ready, too. It's too bad!" + +[Illustration: _"There won't be any Eagle this week."_] + +"You needn't feel so discouraged," said Jack, deeply touched by the +distress of the groaning editor. "Molly and I know what to do. She +can manage the copy, just as she did for the _Standard_ once. So can +I. We'll go right to work." + +"Oh, yes, I'd forgotten," said Mr. Murdoch. "You've worked a while at +printing. I'm willing you should see what you can do. I'd like to +speak to Mary. I'm sorry to say that you'll have to sleep in the +office, Jack, for we've only one spare room in this nutshell of a +house." + +"I don't mind that," said Jack. + +"I hope I'll be out in a day or so," added the editor. "But, Jack, the +press is run by a pony steam-engine, and that foreman couldn't run it +to save his life," he added hopelessly. + +"Why, it's nothing to do," exclaimed Jack. "I've helped run an engine +for a steam thrashing-machine. Don't you be worried about the engine." + +Mr. Murdoch was able to be up a little while in the evening, and Mary +came in to see him. From what he said to her, it seemed as if there +was really very little to do in editing the remainder of the next +number of the _Eagle_. + +"I'm so glad you're here," said Mrs. Murdoch, when Mary came out to +supper. "I never read a newspaper myself, and I don't know the first +thing about putting one together. It's too bad that you should be +bothered with it though." + +"Why, Mrs. Murdoch," exclaimed Mary, laughing, "I shall be delighted. +I'd rather do it than not." + +The truth was that it was not easy for either Mary or her brother to be +very sorry that Mr. Murdoch was not able to work. They did not feel +anxious about him, for his wife had told them it was not a serious +attack, and they enjoyed the prospect of editing the newspaper. + +After supper Jack and Mary went through the garden to the _Eagle_ +office. The pony-engine was in a sort of woodshed, the press was in +the "kitchen," as Mary called it, and the front room of the little old +dwelling-house was the business office. The editor's office and the +type-setting room were up-stairs. + +Jack took a look at the engine. + +"Any one could run that," he said. "I know just how to set it going. +Come on, Molly. This is going to be great fun." + +The editor's room was only large enough for a table and a chair and a +few heaps of exchange newspapers. The table was littered and piled +with scraps of writing and printing. + +"See!" exclaimed Jack, picking up a sheet of paper. "The last thing +Mr. Murdoch did was to finish an account of his visit to Crofield, and +the flood. We'll put that in first thing to-morrow. It's easy to edit +a newspaper. Where are the scissors?" + +"We needn't bother to write new editorials," said Mary. "Here are all +these papers full of them." + +"Of course," said Jack. "But we must pick out good ones." + +Their tastes differed somewhat, and Mary condemned a number of articles +that seemed to Jack excellent. However, she selected a story and some +poems and a bright letter from Europe, and Jack found an account of an +exciting horse-race, a horrible railway accident, a base-ball match, a +fight with Indians, an explosion of dynamite, and several long strips +of jokes and conundrums. + +"These are splendid editorials!" said Mary, looking up from her +reading. "We can cut them down to fit the _Eagle_, and nobody will +suspect that Mr. Murdoch has been away." + +"Oh, they'll do," said Jack. "They're all lively. Mr. Murdoch is sure +to be satisfied. I don't think he can write better editorials himself." + +The young editors were much excited over their work, and soon became so +absorbed in their duties that it was ten o'clock before they knew it. + +"Now, Molly," said Jack, "we'll go to the house and tell him it's all +right. We'll set the _Eagle_ a-going in the morning. I knew we could +edit it." + +Mary had very little to say; her fingers ached from plying the +scissors, her eyes burned from reading so much and so fast, and her +head was in a whirl. + +At the house they met Mrs. Murdoch. + +"Oh, my dear children!" exclaimed she to Mary, "Mr. Murdoch is +delirious. The doctor's been here, and says he won't be able to think +of work--not for days and days. Can you,--_can_ you run the _Eagle_? +You won't let it stop." + +"No, indeed!" said Mary. "There's plenty of 'copy' ready, and Jack can +run the engine." + +"I'm so glad," said Mrs. Murdoch. "I'd never dare to clip anything. I +might make serious mistakes. He's so careful not to attack anything +nor to offend anybody. All sorts of people take the _Eagle_, and Mr. +Murdoch says he has to steer clear of almost everything." + +"We won't write anything," said Jack; "we'll just select the best there +is and put it right in. Those city editors on the big papers know what +to write." + +The editor's wife was convinced; and, after Mary had gone to her room, +Jack returned to a room prepared for him in the _Eagle_ office. + +"I sha'n't wear my Sunday clothes to-morrow," said Jack; "I'll put on a +hickory shirt and old trousers; then I'll be ready to work." + +The last thing he remembered saying to himself was: + +"Well, I'm nine miles nearer to New York." + + +Morning came, and Jack was busy before breakfast, but he went to the +house early. + +"I must be there when the 'hands' come," he said to Mrs. Murdoch. +"Molly ought to be in the office, too--" + +"I've told Mr. Murdoch," she said, "but he has a severe headache. He +can't bear to talk." + +"He needn't talk if he doesn't feel able," replied Jack. "The _Eagle_ +will come out all right!" + +Mary could hardly wait to finish her cup of coffee, but she tried hard +to appear calm. She was ready as soon as Jack, but she did not have +quite so much confidence in her ability to do whatever might be +necessary. + +There was to be some press-work done that forenoon, and the pony-engine +had steam up when the foreman and the two type-setters reached the +office. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Black," said Jack, as he came into the engine-room. +"It's all right. I'm Jack Ogden, a friend of Mr. Murdoch's. The new +editor's upstairs. There's some copy ready. Mr. Murdoch will not be +at the office for a week." + +"Bless me!" said Mr. Black. "I reckoned that we'd have to strike work. +What we need most is a 'devil'--" + +"I can be 'devil,'" said Jack. "I used to run the _Standard_." + +"Boys," said the foreman, without the change of a muscle in his +pasty-looking face, "Murdoch's hired a proxy. I'll go up for copy." + +He stumped upstairs to what he called the "sanctum." The door stood +open. Mr. Black's eyes blinked rapidly when he saw Mary at the +editor's table; but he did not utter a word. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Black," said Mary, holding out Mr. Murdoch's +manuscript and a number of printed clippings. She rapidly told him +what they were, and how each of them was to be printed. Mr. Black +heard her to the end, and then he said: + +"Good-morning, ma'am. Is your name Murdoch, ma'am?" + +"No, sir. Miss Ogden," said Mary. "But no one need be told that Mr. +Murdoch is not here. I do not care to see anybody, unless it's +necessary." + +"Yes, ma'am," said Mr. Black. "We'll go right along, ma'am. We're +glad the _Eagle_ is to come out on time, ma'am." + +He was very respectful, as if the idea of having a young girl as editor +awed him; and he backed out of the office, with both hands full of +copy, to stump down-stairs and tell his two journeymen: + +"It's all right, boys. Bless me! I never saw the like before." + +He explained the state of affairs, and each in turn soon managed to +make an errand up-stairs, and then to come down again almost as awed as +Mr. Black had been. + +"She's a driver," said the foreman. "She was made for a boss. She has +it in her eye." + +Even Jack, when he was sent up after copy, was a little astonished. + +"That's the way father looks," he thought, "whenever he begins to lose +his temper. The men mind him then, too; but he has to be waked up +first. I know how she feels. She's bound the _Eagle_ shall come out +on time!" + +Even Jack did not appreciate how responsibility was waking up Mary +Ogden, or how much older she felt than when she left Crofield; but he +had an idea that she was taller, and that her eyes had become darker. + +Mr. Bones, the man of all work in the front office below, was of the +opinion that she was very tall, and that her eyes were very black, and +that he did not care to go up-stairs again; for he had blundered into +the sanctum, supposing that Mr. Murdoch was there, and remarking as he +came: + +"Sa-ay, that there underdone gawk that helps edit the _Inquirer_, he +was jist in, lookin' for--yes, ma'am! Beg pardon, ma'am! I'm only +Bones--" + +"What did the gentleman want, Mr. Bones?" asked Mary, with much +dignity. "Mr. Murdoch is at home. He is ill. Is it anything I can +attend to?" + +"Oh, no, ma'am; nothing, ma'am. He's a blower. We don't mind him, +ma'am. I'll go down right away, ma'am. I'll see Mr. Black, ma'am. +Thank you, ma'am." + +He withdrew with many bows; and while down-stairs he saw Jack, and he +not only saw, but felt, that something very new and queer had happened +to the Mertonville _Eagle_. + +Both Mary and Jack were aware that there was a rival newspaper, but it +had not occurred to them that they were at all interested in the +_Inquirer_, or in its editors, beyond the fact that both papers were +published on Thursdays, and that the _Eagle_ was the larger. + +The printers worked fast that day, as if something spurred them on, and +Mr. Black was almost bright when he reported to Mary how much they had +done during the day. + +"The new boy's the best 'devil' we ever had, ma'am," said he. "Please +say to Mr. Murdoch we'd better keep him." + +"Thank you, Mr. Black," said she. "I hope Mr. Murdoch will soon be +well." + +He stumped away, and it seemed to her as if her dignity barely lasted +until she and Jack found themselves in Mr. Murdoch's garden, on their +way home. It broke completely down as they were going between the +sweet-corn and the tomatoes, and there they both stopped and laughed +heartily. + +"But, Molly," Jack exclaimed, when he recovered his breath, "we'll have +to print the liveliest kind of an _Eagle_, or the _Inquirer_ will get +ahead of us. I'm going out, after supper, all over town, to pick up +news. If I can only find some boys I know here, they could tell me a +lot of good items. The boys know more of what's going on than anybody." + +"I'd like to go with you," said Mary. "Stir around and find out all +you can." + +"I know what to do," said Jack, with energy, and if he had really +undertaken to do all he proceeded to tell her, it would have kept him +out all night. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CAUGHT FOR A BURGLAR. + +Supper was ready when Jack and Mary went into the house, and Mrs. +Murdoch was eager that they should eat at once. She seemed very +placidly to take it for granted that things were going properly in the +_Eagle_ office. Her husband had been ill before, and the paper had +somehow lived along, and she was not the kind of woman to fret about it. + +"He's been worrying," she said to Mary, "principally about town news. +He's afraid the _Inquirer_ 'll get ahead of you. It might be good to +see him." + +"I'll see him," said Mary. + +"Mary! Mary!" came faintly in reply to her kindly greeting. "Local +items, Mary. Society Notes--the flood--logs--bridges--dams--fires. +Brief Mention. Town Improvement Society--the Sociable--anything!" + +"Jack will be out after news as soon as he eats his supper," said Mary. +"He'll find all there is to find. The printers did a splendid day's +work." + +"The doctor says not to tell me about anything," said the sick man, +despondently. "You'll fill the paper somehow. Do the best you can, +till I get well." + +She did not linger, for Mrs. Murdoch was already pulling her sleeve. +The three were soon seated at the table, and hardly was a cup of tea +poured before Mrs. Murdoch remarked: + +"Mary," she said, "Miss Glidden called here to-day, with Mrs. Judge +Edwards, in her carriage. They were sorry to find you out. So did +Mrs. Mason, and so did Mrs. Lansing, and Mrs. Potter. They wanted you +to go riding, and there's a lawn-tennis party coming. I told them all +that Mr. Murdoch was sick, and you were editing the _Eagle_, and Jack +was, too. Miss Glidden's very fond of you, you know. So is Mrs. +Potter. Her husband wishes he knew what to send Jack for saving his +wife from being drowned." + +This was delivered steadily but not rapidly, and Mary needed only to +say she would have been glad to see them all. + +"I didn't save anybody," said Jack. "If the logs had hit the bridge +while we were on it, nothing could have saved us." + +Mary was particularly glad that none of her new friends were coming in +to spend the evening, for she felt she had done enough for one day. +Mrs. Murdoch, however, told her of a "Union Church Sociable," to be +held at the house of Mrs. Edwards, the next Thursday evening, and said +she had promised to bring Miss Ogden. Of course Mary said she would +go, but Jack declined. + +After supper, Jack was eager to set out upon his hunt after news-items. + +"I mustn't let a soul know what I'm doing," he said to Mary. "We'll +see whether I can't find out as much as the _Inquirer's_ man can." + +He hurried away from the house, but soon ceased to walk fast and began +to peer sharply about. + +"There's a new building going up," he said, as he turned a corner; +"I'll find out about it." + +So he did, but it was only "by the way"; he really had a plan, and the +next step took him to Mr. Prodger's livery-stable. + +"Well, Ogden," said Prodger, when he came in. "That bay team has +earned eight dollars and fifty cents to-day. I'm glad you brought them +over. How long are you going to be in town?" + +"I can't tell," said Jack. "I'm staying at Murdoch's." + +"The editor's? He's a good fellow, but the _Eagle_ is slow. All dry +fodder. No vinegar. No pickles. He needs waking up. Tell him about +Link's bridge!" + +That was a good beginning, and Jack soon knew just how high the water +had risen in the creek at Mertonville; how high it had ever risen +before; how many logs had been saved; how near Sam Hutchins and three +other men came to being carried over the dam; and what people talked +about doing to prevent another flood, and other matters of interest. +Then he went among the stable-men, who had been driving all day, and +they gave him a number of items. Jack relied mainly upon his memory, +but he soon gathered such a budget of facts that he had to go to the +public reading-room and work a while with pencil and paper, for fear of +forgetting his treasures. + +Out he went again, and it was curious how he managed to slip in among +knots of idlers, and set them to talking, and make them tell all they +knew. + +"I'm getting the news," he said to himself; "only there isn't much +worth the time." After a few moments he exclaimed, "This is the +darkest, meanest part of all Mertonville!" + +It was the oldest part of the village, near the canal and the railway +station, and many of the houses were dilapidated. Jack was thinking +that Mary might write something about improving such a neglected, +squalid quarter, when he heard a shriek from the door of a house near +by. + +"Robbers!--thieves!--fire!--murder!--rob-bers!--villains!" + +It was the voice of a woman, and had a crack in it that made it sound +as if two voices were trying to choke each other. + +"Robbers!" shouted Jack springing forward, just as two very short men +dashed through the gate and disappeared in the darkness. + +If they were robbers they were likely to get away, for they ran well. + +Jack Ogden did not run very far. He heard other footsteps. There were +people coming from the opposite direction, but he paid no attention to +them, until just as he was passing the gate. + +Then he felt a hand on his left shoulder, and another hand on his right +shoulder, and suddenly he found himself lying flat on his back upon the +sidewalk. + +"Hold him, boys!" + +"We've got him!" + +"Hold him down!" + +"Tie him! We needn't gag him. Tie him tight! We've got him!" + +There were no less than four men, and two held his legs, while the +other two pinioned his arms, all the while threatening him with +terrible things if he resisted. + +It was in vain to struggle, and every time he tried to speak they +silenced him. Besides, he was too much astonished to talk easily, and +all the while an unceasing torrent of abuse was poured upon him, over +the gate, by the voice that had given the alarm. + +"We've got him, Mrs. McNamara! He can't get away this time. The young +villain!" + +"They were goin' to brek into me house, indade," said Mrs. McNamara. +"The murdherin' vagabones!" + +"What'll we do with him now, boys?" asked one of his captors. "I don't +know where to take him--do you, Deacon Abrams?" + +"What's your name, you young thief?" sternly demanded another. + +Jack had begun to think. One of his first thoughts was that a gang of +desperate robbers had seized him. The next idea was, that he never met +four more stupid-looking men in Mertonville, nor anywhere else. He +resolved that he would not tell his name, to have it printed in the +_Inquirer_, and so made no answer. + +"That's the way of thim," said Mrs. McNamara. "He's game, and he won't +pache. The joodge'll have to mak him spake. Ye'd betther lock him up, +and kape him till day." + +"That's it, Deacon Abrams." + +"That's just it," said the man spoken to. "We can lock him up in the +back room of my house, while we go and find the constable." + +Away they went, guarding their prisoner on the way as if they were +afraid of him. + +They soon came to the dwelling of Deacon Abrams. + +It was hard for Jack Ogden, but he bore it like a young Mohawk Indian. +It would have been harder if it had not been so late, and if more of +the household had been there to see him. As it was, doors opened, +candles flared, old voices and young voices asked questions, a baby +cried, and then Jack heard a very sharp voice. + +"Sakes alive, Deacon! You can't have that ruffian here! We shall all +be murdered!" + +"Only till I go and find the constable, Jerusha," said the deacon, +pleadingly. "We'll lock him in the back room, and Barney and +Pettigrew'll stand guard at the gate, with clubs, while Smith and I are +gone." + +There was another protest, and two more children began to cry, but Jack +was led on into his prison-cell. + +It was a comfortable room, containing a bed and a chair. There was +real ingenuity in the way they secured Jack Ogden. They backed a chair +against a bedpost and made him sit down, and then they tied the chair, +and the wicked young robber in it, to the post. + +"There!" said Deacon Abrams. "He can't get away now!" and in a moment +more Jack heard the key turn in the lock, and he was left in the dark, +alone and bound,--a prisoner under a charge of burglary. + +"I never thought of this thing happening to me," he said to himself, +gritting his teeth and squirming on his chair. "It's pretty hard. May +be I can get away, though. They thought they pulled the ropes tight, +but then--" + +The hempen fetters really hurt him a little, but it was partly because +of the chair. + +"May be I can kick it out from under me," he said to himself, "and +loosen the ropes." + +Out it came, after a tug, and then Jack could stand up. + +"I might climb on the bed, now the ropes are loose," he said, "and lift +the loops over the post. Then I could crawl out of 'em." + +He was excited, and worked quickly. In a moment he was standing in the +middle of the room, with only his hands tied behind him. + +"I can cut that cord," he thought, "if I can find a nail in the wall." + +He easily found several, and one of them had a rough edge on the head +of it, and after a few minutes of hard sawing, the cord was severed. + +"It's easy to saw twine," said he. "Now for the next thing." + +He went to the window and looked out into the darkness. + +"I'm over the roof of the kitchen," he said, "and that tree's close to +it." + +Up went the window--slowly, carefully, noiselessly--and out crept Jack +upon that roof. It was steep, but he stole along the ridge. Now he +could reach the tree. + +"It's an apple-tree," he said. "I can reach that longest branch, and +swing off, and go down it hand over hand." + +At an ordinary time, few boys would have thought it could be done, and +Jack had to gather all his courage to make the attempt; but he slid +down and reached for that small, frail limb, from his perilous perch in +the gutter of the roof. + +"Now!" said Jack to himself. + +Off he went with a quick grasp, and then another lower along the +branch, before it had time to break, but his third grip was on a larger +limb, below, and he believed he was safe. + +"I must be quick!" he said. "Somebody is striking a light in that +room!" + +Hand over hand for a moment, and then he was astride of a limb. Soon +he was going down the trunk; and then the window (which he had closed +behind him) went up, and he heard Deacon Abrams exclaiming: + +"He couldn't have got out this way, could he? Stop thief! Stop thief!" + +"Let 'em chase!" muttered Jack, as his feet reached the ground. "This +is the liveliest kind of news-item!" + +Jack vaulted over the nearest fence, ran across a garden, climbed over +another fence, ran through a lot, and came out into a street on the +other side of the square. + +"I've got a good start, now," he thought, "but I'll keep right on. +They don't expect me at Murdoch's to-night. If I can only get to the +_Eagle_ office! Nobody'll hunt for me there!" + +He heard the sound of feet, at that moment, around the next corner. +Open went the nearest gate, and in went Jack, and before long he was +scaling more fences. + +"It's just like playing 'Hare-and-Hounds,'" remarked Jack, as he once +more came out into a street. "Now for the _Eagle_, and it won't do to +run. I'm safe." + +He heard some running and shouting after that, however, and he did not +really feel secure until he was on his bed, with the doors below locked +and barred. + +"Now they can hunt all night!" he said to himself, laughing. "I've +made plenty of news for Mary." + +So she thought next morning; and the last "news-item" brought out the +color in her cheeks and the brightness in her eyes. + +"I'll write it out," she said, "just as if you were the real robber, +and we'll print it!" + +"Of course," said Jack; "but I'd better keep shady for a day or so. I +wish I was on my way to New York!" + +"Seems to me as if you were," said Mary. "They won't come here after +you. The paper's nearly full, now, and it'll be out to-morrow!" + +Mr. Murdoch would have been gratified to see how Mary and Jack worked +that day. Even Mr. Black and the type-setters worked with energy, and +so did Mr. Bones, and there was no longer any doubt that the _Eagle_ +would be printed on time. Mr. Murdoch felt better the moment he was +told by Mary, at tea-time, that she had found editing no trouble at +all. He was glad, he said, that all had been so quiet, and that nobody +had called at the editor's office, and that people did not know he was +sick. As to that, however, Mr. Bones had not told Mary how much he and +Mr. Black had done to protect her from intrusion. They had been like a +pair of watch-dogs, and it was hardly possible for any outsider to pass +them. As for Jack, he was not seen outside of the _Eagle_ all that day. + +"If any of Deacon Abram's posse should come in," he remarked to Mary, +"they wouldn't know me with all the ink that's on my face." + +"Mother would have to look twice," laughed Mary. "Don't I wish I knew +what people will think of the paper!" + +She did not find out at once, even on Thursday. Jack had the engine +going on time, and as fast as papers were printed, the distribution of +them followed. It was a very creditable _Eagle_, but Mary blushed when +she read in print the account Mr. Murdoch had written of the doings in +Crofield. + +"They'll think Jack's a hero," she said, "and what will they think of +me?--and what will Miss Glidden say? But then he has complimented her." + +Jack, too, was much pleased to read the vivid accounts she had written +of the capture and escape of the daring young burglar who had broken +into the house of Mrs. McNamara, and of the falling of Link's bridge. +Neither of them, however, had an idea of how some articles in the paper +would affect other people. Before noon, there was such a rush for +_Eagles_, at the front office, that Mr. Black got out another ream of +paper to print a second edition, and Mr. Bones had almost to fight to +keep the excited crowd from going up-stairs to see for themselves +whether the editor was there. Before night, poor Mrs. Murdoch went to +the door thirty times to say to eager inquirers that Mr. Murdoch was in +bed, and that Dr. Follet had forbidden him to see anybody, or to talk +one word, or to get himself excited. + +"What's the matter with the people?" she said wearily. "Can it be +possible that anything's the matter with the _Eagle_? Mary Ogden said +she'd taken the very best editorials from the city papers." + +The _Inquirer_ was nowhere that Thursday, and the excitement over the +_Eagle_ increased all the afternoon. + +[Illustration: _Just out_.] + +"It's all right, Mrs. Murdoch," said Jack, at supper. "Bones says he +has sold more than two hundred extra copies." + +"I'm glad of that," she said, "and I'll tell Mr. Murdoch; but he +mustn't read it." + +When she did so, he smiled faintly and with an effort feebly responded: + +"Thank Mary for me. I suppose they wanted to read about the flood." + +Mr. Bones had not seen fit to report to Mary that a baker's dozen of +old subscribers had ordered their paper stopped; nor that one angry man +with a big club in his hand had inquired for the editor; nor that +Deacon Abrams, and the Town Constable, and three other men, and a +lawyer had called to see the editor about the robbery at Mrs. +McNamara's; nor that the same worthy woman, with her arms akimbo and +her bonnet falling back, had fiercely demanded of him: + +"Fwhat for did yez print all that about me howlin'? Wudn't ony woman +spake, was she bein' robbed and murdhered?" + +Bones had pacified Mrs. McNamara only by sitting still and hearing her +out, and he would not for anything have mentioned it to Miss Ogden. +She therefore had only good news to tell at the house, and Mrs. +Murdoch's replies related chiefly to the Union Church Sociable at Judge +Edwards's. + +"Mr. Murdoch is quiet," she said, "and he may sleep all the time we're +gone." + +"I'll be on hand to look out for him," said Jack, "I'm not going +anywhere." + +That reassured them as to leaving home, and Mrs. Murdoch and Mary +departed without anxiety; but they had hardly entered the Edwards's +house before they found that many other people were very much less +placid. + +The first person to come forward, after Mrs. Edwards had welcomed them, +was Miss Glidden. + +"Oh, Mary Ogden!" she exclaimed, very sweetly and benevolently. "My +dear! Why did you say so much about me in the _Eagle_?" + +"That was Mr. Murdoch's work," said Mary. "I had nothing to do with +it." + +"And that robbery and escape was really shocking." + +"Exactly!" They heard a sharp, decided voice near them, and it came +from a thin little man in a white cravat. "You are right, Elder +Holloway! When a leading journal like the _Eagle_ finds it needful to +denounce so sternly the state of the public streets in Mertonville, it +is time for the people to act. We ministers must hold a council right +away." + +Mary remembered a political editorial she had taken from a New York +paper, and had cut down to fit the _Eagle_; but its effect was +something unexpected. + +A deeper voice on her left spoke next. + +"There was serious talk among the hotel-men and innkeepers of mobbing +the _Eagle_ office to-day!" + +"That," thought Mary, "must be the high-license editorial from that +Philadelphia weekly." + +"We must _act_, Judge Edwards!" exclaimed another voice. "Nobody knows +Murdoch's politics, but his denunciation of the prevailing corruption +is terrible. There's a storm rising. The Republican Committee has +called a special meeting to consider the matter, and we Democrats must +do the same. The _Eagle_ is right about it, too; but it was a daring +step for him to take." + +"That's the editorial from the Chicago daily," thought Mary; "the last +part was from that Boston paper! Oh, dear me! What have I done?" + +She had to ask herself that question a dozen times that evening, and +she wished Jack had been there to hear what was said. + +The sociable went gayly on, nevertheless, and all the while Jack sat in +Mrs. Murdoch's dining-room, his face fairly glowing red with the +interest he took in something spread out upon the table before him. It +was a large map of New York city that he had found in the _Eagle_ +office and brought to the house. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +NEARER THE CITY. + +Mary Ogden would have withdrawn into some quiet corner, at the +sociable, if it had not been for Elder Holloway and Miss Glidden, who +seemed determined to prevent her from being overlooked. All those who +had called upon Mrs. Murdoch knew that Mary had had something to do +with that extraordinary number of the _Eagle_, and they told others, +but Mrs. Murdoch escaped all discussion about the _Eagle_ by saying she +had not read it, and referring every one to Miss Ogden. + +Mary was glad when the evening was over. After hearing the comments of +the public, there was something about their way of editing the paper +that seemed almost dishonest. + +Jack was still up when she came home. + +"I've used my time better than if I'd gone to the party," he said. +"I've studied the map of New York. I'd know just how to go around, if +I was there. I am going to study it all the time I'm here." + +Mr. Murdoch was better. He had had a comfortable night, and felt able +to think of business again. + +"Now, my dear," he said to his wife, "I'm ready to take a look at the +_Eagle_. I am glad it was a good number." + +"They talked about it all last evening at the sociable," she answered, +as she handed him a copy. + +He was even cheerful, when he began; and he studied the paper as Jack +had studied the map. It was a long time before he said a word. + +"My account of the flood is really capital," he said, at last, "and all +that about Crofield matters. The report of things in Mertonville is +good; that about the logs, the dam, the burglary--a very extraordinary +occurrence, by the way--it's a blessing they didn't kill Mrs. McNamara. +The story is good; funny-column good. But--oh, gracious! Oh, Mary +Ogden! Oh my stars! What's this?" + +He had begun on the editorials, and he groaned and rolled about while +he was reading them. + +"They'll mob the _Eagle_!" he said at last. "I must get up! Oh, but +this is dreadful! She's pitched into everything there is! I must get +up at once!" + +Those editorials were a strong tonic, or else Mr. Murdoch's illness was +over. He dressed himself, and walked out into the kitchen. His wife +had not heard him say he would get up, but she seemed almost to have +expected it. + +"It's the way you always do," she said. "I'm never much scared about +you. You'll never die till your time comes. I think Mary is over at +the office." + +"I'm going there, now," he said, excitedly. "If this work goes on, I +shall have the whole town about my ears." + +He was right. Mary had been at her table promptly that morning to make +a beginning on the next number; Jack was down in the engine-room; Mr. +Black was busy, and Mr. Bones was out, when a party of very red-faced +men filed in, went through the front office, and climbed the stairs. + +"We'll show him!" said one. + +"It'll be a lesson he won't forget!" remarked another, fiercely. + +"He'll take it back, or there will be broken bones!" added another; and +these spoke for the rest. They had sticks, and they tramped heavily as +they marched to the "sanctum." The foremost opened the door, without +knocking, and his voice was deep, threatening, and husky as he began: + +"Now, Mr. Editor--" + +"I'm the editor, sir. What do you wish of me?" + +[Illustration: _"I'm the Editor, sir."_] + +Mary Ogden stood before him, looking him straight in the face without a +quiver. + +He was a big man; but, oddly enough, it occurred to him that Mary +seemed larger than he was. + +"Bob!" exclaimed a harsh whisper behind him, "howld yer tongue! it's +only a gir-rl! Don't ye say a har-rd word to the loikes o' her!" + +Other whispers and growls came from the hall, but the big man stood +like a stone post for several seconds. + +"You're the editor?" he gasped. "Is old Murdoch dead,--or has he run +away?" + +"He's at home, and ill," said Mary. "What is your errand?" + +"I keep a decent hotel, sir,--ma'am--madam--I do,--we all do,--it's the +_Eagle_, you know,--and there's no kind of disorder,--and there was +never any complaint in Mertonville--" + +"Howld on, Bob!" exclaimed the prompter behind him. "You're no good at +all; coom along, b'ys. Be civil,--Mike Flaherty will never have it +said he brought a shillalah to argy wid a colleen. I'm aff!" + +Away he went, stick and all, and the other five followed promptly, +leaving Mary Ogden standing still in amazement. She was trying to +collect her thoughts when Mr. Black marched in from the other room, +followed by the two typesetters; and Mr. Bones tumbled up-stairs, out +of breath. + +Mary had hardly any explanation to make about what Mr. Bones +frantically described as "the riot," and she was inclined to laugh at +it. Just then Mr. Murdoch himself came to the door. + +Jack stopped the engine, exclaiming, "Mr. Murdoch! you here?" + +"What is it? What is it?" he exclaimed. "I saw them go out. Did they +break anything?" + +"Miss Ogden scared 'em off in no time," said Mr. Black. + +Mary resigned the editorial chair to Mr. Murdoch. Bones brought in two +office chairs; Mr. Black appeared with a very high stool that usually +stood before one of his typecases; Mary preferred one of the office +chairs, and there she sat a long time, replying to Mr. Murdoch's +questions and remarks. She had plenty to tell, after all she had heard +at the sociable, and Mr. Murdoch groaned at times, but still he thanked +her for her efforts. Meanwhile Mr. Black went to the engine-room with +an errand for Jack that sent him over to the other side of the village. +Jack looked in the little cracked mirror in the front room as he went +out. + +"Ink enough; they'll never know me," said Jack. "I'm safe enough. +Besides, Mrs. McNamara wasn't robbed at all. She was yelling because +she thought robbers were coming." + +He loitered along on his way back, with his eyes open and his ears +ready to catch any bit of stray news, and paused a moment to peer into +a small shoe-shop. + +It was only a momentary glance, but a hammer ceased tapping upon a +lapstone, and a tall man straightened up suddenly and very straight, as +he untied his leather apron. + +"That's the fellow!" he exclaimed under his breath, but Jack heard him. + +"He knew me! He knew me! I can't stay in Mertonville!" thought Jack. +"There'll be trouble now." + +He started at a run, but it was so early that he attracted little +attention. + +His return to the _Eagle_ office was so quick that Mr. Black opened his +eyes in surprise. + +"I've got to see Mr. Murdoch," Jack said hurriedly, and up-stairs he +darted, to break right in upon the conference between the editors. + +Jack told his story, and Mr. Murdoch felt it was only another blow +added to the many already fallen upon him and his _Eagle_. "Perhaps +you will be better satisfied to leave town," said Mr. Murdoch, uneasily. + +"I've enough money to take me to the city, and I'll go. I'm off for +New York!" said Jack, eagerly. + +"New York?" exclaimed Mr. Murdoch. "That's the thing! Go to the house +and get ready. I'll buy you a ticket to Albany, and you can go down on +the night boat. They're taking passengers for half a dollar. You +mustn't be caught! No doubt they are hunting for you now." + +Mr. Murdoch was right. At that very moment the cobbler was in the +grocery kept by Deacon Abrams, shouting, "We've got him again, Deacon! +He's in town. He works in a paint shop--had paint on his face. Or +else he's a blacksmith, or he works in coal, or something black--or +dusty. We can run him down now." + +While they went for the two others who knew Jack's face, he was putting +on his Sunday clothes and packing up. When he came down, there was no +ink upon his face, his collar was clean, his hair was brushed, and he +was a complete surprise to Mr. Black and the rest. + +"I can get a new boy," said Mr. Murdoch, as if he were beginning to +recover his spirits; "and I can run the engine myself now I'm well. I +can say in the next _Eagle_ that you are gone to the city, and that +will help me out of my troubles." + +Neither Jack nor Mary quite understood what he meant, and, in fact, +they were not thinking about him just then. Mr. Murdoch had said that +there was only time to catch the express-train, and they were saying +good-by. Mary was crying for the moment, and Jack was telling her what +to write to his mother and father and those at home in Crofield. + +"It's so sudden, Jack!" said Mary. "But I'm glad you're going. I wish +I could go, too." + +"I wish you could," said Jack, heartily; "but I'll write. I'll tell +you everything. Good-by, Mr. Murdoch's waiting. Good-by!" + +The _Eagle_ editor was indeed waiting, and he was very uneasy. "What a +calamity it would be," he thought, "to have my own 'devil' arrested for +burglary. The _Inquirer_ would enjoy that! It isn't Jack's fault, but +I can't bear everything!" + +Meanwhile Mary sat at the table and pretended to look among the papers +for a new story, but really she was trying to keep from crying over +Jack's departure. Mr. Murdoch and Jack had gone to the station. + +There was cunning in the plans of the pursuers of Mrs. McNamara's +burglar this time. Three of them, each aided by several eager +volunteers, dashed around Mertonville, searching every shop in which +any sort of face-blacking might be used, and Deacon Abrams himself went +to the station with a justice of the peace, a notary-public, a +constable, and the man that kept the village pound. + +"He won't get by _me_," said the deacon wisely, as Mr. Murdoch and a +neatly dressed young gentleman passed him, arm in arm. + +"Good morning, Mr. Murdoch. The _Eagle's_ improving. You did me +justice. We're after that same villain now. We'll get him this time, +too." + +"Deacon," said the editor, gripping Jack's arm hard, "I'll mention your +courage and public spirit again. Tie him tighter next time." + +"We will," said the deacon; "and I've got some new subscribers for you, +and a column advertisement." + +Mr. Murdoch hurried to the ticket-window, and Jack patiently looked +away from Deacon Abrams all the while. + +"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in. Keep your satchel with you. +I'm going back to the office." + +[Illustration: _"There," said Mr. Murdoch, "jump right in."_] + +"Good-by," said Jack, pocketing his ticket and entering the car. + +He took a seat by the open window, just as the train started. + +"Jack's gone, Mary," exclaimed Mr. Murdoch, under his breath, as he +re-entered the _Eagle_ office. "Have those men been here again?" + +"No," said Mary. "But the chairmen of the two central committees have +both been here. Elder Holloway said they would. They will call again." + +"What did you say?" the editor asked. + +"Why," replied Mary, "I told them you were just getting well." + +"So I am," said Mr. Murdoch. "There's a great demand for that number +of the _Eagle_. Forty-six old subscribers have stopped their papers, +but a hundred and twenty-seven new ones have come in. I can't guess +where this will end. Are you going to the house?" + +"I think I'd better," said Mary. "If there's anything more I can do--" + +"No, no, no! Don't spoil your visit," said he, hastily. "You've had +work enough. Now you must be free to rest a little, and meet your +friends." + +He would not say he was afraid to have her in the _Eagle_ office, to +stir up storms for him. But Mary made no objection--she was very +willing to give up the work. + +Mr. Murdoch came home in a more hopeful state of mind, but soon went to +his room and lay down. + +"My dear," he said to his wife, "the paper's going right along; but I'm +too much exhausted to see anybody. Tell 'em all I'm not well." + +Mary was uneasy about Jack, but she need not have worried. The moment +the train was in motion, he forgot even Deacon Abrams and Mrs. McNamara +in the grand thought that he was actually on his way to the city. + +"This train's an express train," he said to himself. "Doesn't she go! +I said I'd get there some day, and now I'm really going! Hurrah for +New York! It's good I learned something about the streets--I'll know +what to do when I get there." + +He had nine dollars in his pocket for capital, but he knew more or less +of several businesses and trades. + +In the seat in front of him were two gentlemen, who must have been +railway men, he thought, from what they said, and it occurred to Jack +that he would like to learn how to build a railway. + +The train stopped at last, after a long journey, and a well-dressed man +got in, came straight to Jack's seat, took the hitherto empty half of +it, and began to talk with the men in front as if he had come on board +for the purpose. At first Jack paid little attention, but soon they +began to mention places he knew. + +"So far, so good," remarked the man at his side; "but we're going to +have trouble in getting the right of way through Crofield. We'll have +to pay a big price for that hotel if we can't use the street." + +"I think not," said Jack, with a smile. "There isn't much hotel left +in Crofield, now. It was burned down last Sunday." + +"What?" exclaimed one of the gentlemen in front. "Are you from +Crofield?" + +"I live there," said Jack. "Your engineer was there about the time of +the fire. The old bridge is down. I heard him say that your line +would cross just below it." + +The three gentlemen were all attention, and the one who had not before +spoken said: + +"I know. Through the old Hammond property." + +"It used to belong to Mr. Hammond," replied Jack, "but it belongs to my +father now." + +"Can you give me a list of the other owners of property?" asked the +railway man with some interest. + +"I can tell you who owns every acre around Crofield, boundary lines and +all," answered Jack. "I was born there. You don't know about the +people, though. They'll do almost anything to have the road there. My +father will help all he can. He says the place is dead now." + +"What's his name?" asked the first speaker, with a notebook and a +pencil in his hand. + +"His is John Ogden. Mine's Jack Ogden. My father knows every man in +the county," replied Jack. + +"Ogden," said the gentleman in the forward seat, next the window. "My +name's Magruder; we three are directors in the new road. I'm a +director in this road. Are you to stay in Albany?" + +"I go by the night boat to New York," said Jack, almost proudly. + +"Can you stay over a day? We'll entertain you at the Delavan House if +you'll give us some information." + +"Certainly; I'll be glad to," said Jack; and so when the train stopped +at Albany, Jack was talking familiarly enough with the three railway +directors. + + +Mary Ogden had a very clear idea that Mr. Murdoch preferred to make up +the next paper without any help from her, and even Mrs. Murdoch was +almost glad to know that her young friend was to spend the next week +with Mrs. Edwards. + +One peculiar occurrence of that day had not been reported at the +_Eagle_ office, and it had consequences. The Committee of Six, who had +visited the sanctum so threateningly, went away beaten, but recounted +their experience. They did so in the office of the Mertonville Hotel, +and Mike Flaherty had more than a little to say about "that gurril," +and about "the black eyes of her," and the plucky way in which she had +faced them. + +One little old gentleman whose eyes were still bright, in spite of his +gray hair, stood in the door and listened, with his hand behind his ear. + +"Gentlemen," exclaimed this little old man, turning to the men behind +him. "Did you hear 'em? I guess I know what we ought to do. Come on +into Crozier's with me--all of you. We must give her a testimonial for +her pluck." + +"Crozier's?" asked a portly, well-dressed man. "Nothing there but +dry-goods." + +"Come, Jeroliman. You're a banker and you're needed. I dare you to +come!" said the little old man, jokingly, leading the way. + +Seven of them reached the dress-goods counter of the largest store in +Mertonville, and here the little old gentleman bought black silk for a +dress. + +"You brought your friends, I see, General Smith," said the merchant, +laughing. "One of your jokes, eh?" + +"No joke at all, Crozier; a testimonial of esteem,"--and three +gentlemen helped one another to tell the story. + +"I'll make a good reduction, for my share," exclaimed the merchant, as +he added up the figures of the bill. "Will that do, General?" + +"I'll join in," promptly interposed Mr. Jeroliman, the banker, +laughing. "I won't take a dare from General Smith. Come, boys." + +They were old enough boys, but they all "chipped in," and General +Smith's dare did not cost him much, after all. + +Mary Ogden had the map of New York out upon the table that evening, and +was examining it, when there came a ring at the door-bell. + +"It's a boy from Crozier's with a package," said Mrs. Murdoch; "and +Mary, it's for you!" + +"For me?" said Mary, in blank astonishment. + +It was indeed addressed to her, and contained a short note: + + +"The girl who was not afraid of six angry men is requested to accept +this silk dress, with the compliments of her admiring friends, + +"SEVEN OLD MEN OF MERTONVILLE." + + +"Oh, but, Mrs. Murdoch," said Mary, in confusion, "I don't know what to +say or do. It's very kind of them!--but ought I to take it?" + +This testimonial pleased Mr. Murdoch even more than it pleased Mary. +He insisted Mary should keep it, and she at last consented. + +But not even the new dress made Mary forget to wonder how Jack was +faring. + + +The lightning express made short work of the trip to Albany, and Jack +was glad of it, for he had not had any dinner. His new acquaintances +invited him to accompany them to the Delavan House. + +As they left the station, Mr. Magruder took from his pocket a small +pamphlet. + +"Humph!" he said. "Guide-book to the New York City and Hudson River. +I had forgotten that I had it. Don't you want it, Ogden? It'll be +something to read on the boat." + +"Won't you keep it?" asked Jack, hesitating. + +"Oh, no," said Mr. Magruder. "I was going to throw it away." + +So Jack put the book into his pocket. It was a short walk to the +Delavan House, but it was through more bustle and business, considering +how quiet everybody was, Jack thought, than he ever saw before. He +went with the rest to the hotel office, and heard Mr. Magruder give +directions about Jack's room and bill. + +"He's going to pay for me for one day," Jack said to himself, "and +until the evening boat goes to-morrow." + +"Ogden," said Mr. Magruder, "I can't ask you to dine with us. It's a +private party--have your dinner, and then wait for me here." + +"All right," said Jack, and then he stood still and tried to think what +to do. + +"I must go to my room, now, and leave my satchel there," he said to +himself. "I don't want anybody to know I never was in a big hotel +before." + +He managed to get to his room without making a single blunder, but the +moment he closed the door he felt awed and put down. + +"It's the finest room I was ever in in all my life!" he exclaimed. +"They must have made a mistake. Perhaps I'll have a bedroom like this +in my own house some day." + +Jack made himself look as neat as if he had come out of a bandbox, +before he went down-stairs. + +The dining-room was easily found, and he was shown to a seat at one of +the tables, and a bill of fare was handed him; but that was only one +more puzzle. + +"I don't know what some of these are," he said to himself. "I'll try +things I couldn't get in Crofield. I'll begin on those clams with +little necks." + +So the waiter set before him a plate of six raw clams. + +That was a good beginning; for every one of them seemed to speak to him +of the salt ocean. + +After that he went farther down the bill of fare and selected such +dishes as, he said, "nobody ever saw in Crofield." + +It was a grand dinner, and Jack was almost afraid he had been too long +over it. + +He went out to the office and looked around, and asked the clerk if Mr. +Magruder had been inquiring for him. + +"Not yet, Mr. Ogden," said the clerk. "He is not yet through dinner. +Did you find your room all right?" + +"All right," said Jack. "I'll sit down and wait for Mr. Magruder." + +It was an hour before the railway gentlemen returned. There were twice +as many of them now, however, and Mr. Magruder remarked: + +"Come, Ogden, we won't detain you long. After that you can do what you +like. Thank you very much, too." + +Jack followed them into a private sitting-room, which seemed to him so +richly furnished that he really wished it had been plainer; but he +found the men very straightforward about their business. + +They all sat down around the table in the middle of the room. + +"We'll finish Ogden first, and let him go," said Mr. Magruder, +laughing. "Ogden, here's a map of Crofield and all the country from +there to Mertonville. I want to ask some questions." + +He knew what to ask, too; but Jack's first remark was not an answer. + +"Your map's all wrong," said he. "There isn't sand and gravel in that +hill across the Cocahutchie, beyond the bridge." + +[Illustration: _"Your map's all wrong," said Jack._] + +"What is there, then?" asked a gentleman, who seemed to be one of the +civil engineers, pettishly. "I say it's earth and gravel, mainly." + +"Clear granite," said Jack. "Go down stream a little and you'll see." + +"All right," exclaimed Mr. Magruder; "it will be costly cutting it, but +we shall want the stone. Go ahead now. You're just the man we needed." + +Jack thought so before they got through, for he had to tell all there +was to tell about the country, away down to Link's bridge. + +"Look here," said one of them, quizzically. "Ogden, have you lived all +your life in every house in Crofield and in Mertonville and everywhere? +You know even the melon-patches and hen-roosts!" + +"Well, I know some of 'em," said Jack, coloring and trying to join in +the general laugh. "I wouldn't talk so much, but Mr. Magruder asked me +to stay over and tell what you didn't know." + +Then the laughter broke out again, and it was not at Jack's expense. + +They had learned all they expected from him, however, and Mr. Magruder +thanked him very heartily. + +"I hope you'll have a good time to-morrow," he said. "Look at the +city. I'll see that you have a ticket ready for the boat." + +"I didn't expect--" began Jack. + +"Nonsense, Ogden," said Mr. Magruder. "We owe you a great deal, my +boy. I wouldn't have missed knowing about that granite ledge. It's +worth something to us. The ticket will be handed you by the clerk. +Good-evening, Jack Ogden. I hope I'll see you again, some day." + +"I hope so," said Jack. "Good-evening, sir. Good-evening, gentlemen." + +Out he walked, and as the door closed behind him the engineer remarked: + +"He ought to be a railway contractor. Brightest young fellow I've seen +in a long time." + +Jack felt strange. The old, grown-up feeling seemed to have been +questioned out of him, by those keen, peremptory, clear-headed business +men, and he appeared to himself to be a very small, green, poor, +uneducated boy, who hardly knew where he was going next, or what he was +going to do when he got there. "I don't know about that either," he +said to himself, when he reached the office. "I know I'm going to bed, +next, and I believe that I'll go to sleep when I get there!" + +Weary, very weary, and almost blue, in spite of everything, was Jack +Ogden that night, when he crept into bed. + +"'Tisn't like that old cot in the _Eagle_ office," he thought. "I'm +glad it isn't to be paid for out of my nine dollars." + +Jack was tired all over, and in a few minutes he was sound asleep. + +He had gone to bed quite early, and he awoke with the first sunshine +that came pouring into his room. + +"It isn't time to get up," he said. "It'll be ever so long before +breakfast, but I can't stay here in bed." + +As he put on his coat something swung against his side, and he said: + +"There! I'd forgotten that pamphlet. I'll see what's in it." + +The excitement of getting to the Delavan House, and the dinner and the +talk afterward, had driven the pamphlet out of his mind until then, but +he opened it eagerly. + +"Good!" he said, as he turned the leaves. "Maps and pictures, all the +way down. Everything about the Hudson. Pictures of all the places +worth seeing in New York. Tells all about them. Where to go when you +get there. Just what I wanted!" + +Down he sat, and he came near forgetting his breakfast, so intensely +was he absorbed by that guide-book. He shut it up, at last, however, +remarking: "I'll have breakfast, and then I'll go out and see Albany. +It's all I've got to do till the boat leaves this evening. First city +I ever saw." He ate with all the more satisfaction because he knew +that he was not eating up any part of his nine dollars, and it did not +seem like so much money as it would have seemed in Crofield. He was in +no haste, for he had no idea where to go, and did not mean to tell +anybody how ignorant he was. He walked out of the Delavan House, and +strolled away to the right. Even the poorer buildings were far better +than anything in Crofield or Mertonville, and he soon had a bit of a +surprise. He reached a corner where a very broad street opened, at the +right, and went up a steep hill. It was not a very long street, and it +ended at the crest of the hill, where there were some trees, and above +them towered what seemed to be a magnificent palace of a building. + +"I'll go and see that," said Jack. "I'll know what it is when I see +the sign,--or I'll ask somebody." + +His interest in that piece of architecture grew as he walked on up the +hill; and he was a little warm and out of breath when he reached the +street corner, at the top. Upon the corner, with his hands folded +behind him and his hat pushed back on his head, stood a well-dressed +man, somewhat above middle height, heavily built and portly, who seemed +to be gazing at the same object. + +"Mister," said Jack, "will you please tell me what that building is?" + +"Certainly," replied the gentleman, turning to him with a bow and a +smile. "That's the New York State Miracle; one of the wonders of the +world." + +"The State Miracle?" said Jack. + +"What's your name?" asked the gentleman, with another bow and smile. + +"Ogden--Jack Ogden." + +"Yes, Jack Ogden; thank you. My name's 'Guvner.' That's a miracle. +It can never be finished. There's magic in it. Do you know what that +is?" + +"That's one of the things I don't know, Mr. Guvner," said Jack. + +"I don't know what it is either," smiled Mr. Guvner. "When they built +it they put in twenty tons of pure, solid gold, my lad. Didn't you +ever hear of it? Where do you live when you're at home?" + +"My home's in Crofield," said Jack, not aware of a group of gentlemen +and ladies who were standing still, a few yards away, looking at them. +"I'm on my way to New York, but I wanted to see Albany." + +Mr. Guvner put a large hand on his shoulder, and smiled in his face. + +"Jack, my son," he said, "go up and look all over the State Miracle. +Many other States have other similar miracles. Don't stay in it too +long, though." + +"Is it unhealthy?" asked Jack, with a smile. + +The portly gentleman was smiling also. + +"No, no; not unhealthy, my boy; but they persuade some men to stay +there a long time, and they're never the same men again. Come out as +soon as you've had a good view of it." + +"I'll take a look at it any way," said Jack, turning away. "Thank you, +Mr. Guvner. I'll see the Miracle." + +He had gone but a few paces, and the others were stepping forward, when +he was called by Mr. Guvner. + +"Jack, come back a moment!" + +"What is it, Mr. Guvner?" asked Jack. + +"I'm almost sorry you're going to the city. It's as bad as the Capitol +itself. You'll never be the same man again. Don't get to be the wrong +kind of man." + +"I'll remember, Mr. Guvner," said Jack, and he walked away again; but +as he did so he heard a lady laughing, and a solemn-faced gentlemen +saying: + +"Good morning, Gov-er-nor. A very fine morning?" + +"I declare!" exclaimed Jack, with almost a shiver. "I've been talking +with the Governor of the State himself, and I'm going to see the +Capitol. I couldn't have done that in Crofield. And I'll be in New +York City to-morrow!" + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE STATE-HOUSE AND THE STEAMBOAT. + +Mary Ogden had three dresses, one quite pretty, but none were of silk. +Aunt Melinda was always telling Mary what she ought not to wear at her +age, and with hair and eyes as dark as hers. Mary felt very proud, +therefore, when she saw on the table in her room the parcel containing +the black silk and trimmings. + +"It must have been expensive," she said, and she unfolded it as if +afraid it would break. + +"What will mother say?" she thought. "And Aunt Melinda! I'm too young +for it--I know I am!" + +The whole Murdoch family arose early, and the editor, after looking at +the black silk, said that he felt pretty well. + +"So you ought," said his wife. "You had more new subscribers yesterday +than you ever had before in your life in any one day." + +"That makes me think," said Mr. Murdoch. "I owe Mary Ogden five +dollars--there it is--for getting out that number of the _Eagle_." + +"Oh, no!" exclaimed Mary. "I did that, and Jack did it, only because--" + +He put the bank-note into her hand. + +"I'd rather you'd take it," he said. "You'll never be a good editor +till you learn to work on a business basis." + +As he insisted, she put the bill into her pocket-book, thanking him +gratefully. + +"I had two dollars when I came," she thought, "and I haven't spent a +cent; but I may need something. Besides, I'll have to pay for making +up my new dress." + +But she was wrong. Mrs. Murdoch went out to see a neighbor after +breakfast, and before noon it was certain that if seven old men of +Mertonville had paid for the silk, at least seven elderly women could +be found who were very willing to make it up. + +About that time Jack was walking up to the door of the Senate Chamber, +in the Capitol, at Albany, after having astonished himself by long +walks and gazings through the halls and side passages. + +"It's true enough," he said to himself. "The Governor's right. No +fellow could go through this and come out just as he came in." + +He understood about the "twenty tons of pure gold" in the building, but +nevertheless he could not keep from looking all around after signs of +it. + +"There's plenty of gilding," he said, "but it's very thin. It's all +finished, too. I don't see what more they could do, now the roof's on +and it's all painted. He must have been joking when he said that." + +Jack roamed all over the Capitol, for the Legislature was not in +session, and the building was open to sight-seers. There were many of +them, and from visitors, workmen, and some boys whom he met, Jack +managed to find out many interesting things. + +The Assembly Chamber seemed to him a truly wonderful room, and upon the +floor were several groups of people admiring it. + +He saw one visitor seat himself in the Speaker's chair. "There's room +in that chair for two or three small men," said Jack; "I'll try it by +and by." + +So he did. + +"The Speaker was a boy once, too, and so was the Governor," he said to +himself aloud. + +"Yes, my boy," said a lady, who was near enough to hear him; "so they +were. So were all the presidents, and some went barefoot and lived in +log-cabins." + +"Well, I've often gone barefoot," said Jack, laughing. + +"Many boys go barefoot, but they can't all become governors," she said, +pleasantly. + +She looked at Jack for a moment, and then said with a smile, "You look +like a bright young man, though. Do you suppose you could ever be +Governor?" + +"Perhaps I could," he said. "It can't be harder to learn than any +other business." + +The lady laughed, and her friends laughed, and Jack arose from the +Speaker's chair and walked away. + +He had seen enough of that vast State House. It wearied him, there was +so much of it, and it was so fine. + +"To build this house cost twenty tons of gold!" he said, as he went out +through the lofty doorway. "I wish I had some of it. I've kept my +nine dollars yet, anyway. The Governor's right. I don't know what he +meant, but I'll never be just the same fellow again." + +It was so. But it was not merely seeing the Capitol that had changed +him. He was changing from a boy who had never seen anything outside of +Crofield and Mertonville, into a boy who was walking right out into the +world to learn what is in it. + +"I'll go to the hotel and write to father and mother," he said; "and I +have something to tell them." + +It was the first real letter he had ever written, and it seemed a great +thing to do--ten times more important than writing a composition, and +almost equal to editing the _Eagle_. + +"I'll just put in everything," he thought, "just as it came along, and +they'll know what I've been doing." + +It took a long time to write the letter, but it was done at last, and +when he put down his pen he exclaimed: + +"Hard work always makes me hungry! I wonder if it isn't dinner-time? +They said it was always dinner-time here after twelve o'clock. I'll go +see." It was long after twelve when he went down to the office to +stamp and mail his letter. + +"Mr. Ogden," said the clerk, giving Jack an envelope, "here's a note +from Mr. Magruder. He left--" + +"Ogden," said a deep, full voice just behind him, "didn't you stay +there too long? I am told you sat in the Speaker's chair." + +Jack wheeled about, blushing crimson. The Governor was not standing +still, but was walking steadily through the office, surrounded by a +group of dignified men. It was necessary to walk with them in order to +reply to the question, and Jack did so. + +"I sat there half a minute," he answered. "I hope it didn't hurt me." + +"I'm glad you got out so soon, Jack," replied the Governor approvingly. + +"But I heard also that you think of learning the Governor business," +went on the great man. "Now, don't you do it. It is not large pay, +and you'd be out of work most of the time. Be a blacksmith, or a +carpenter, or a tailor, or a printer." + +"Well, Governor," said Jack, "I was brought up a blacksmith; and I've +worked at carpentering, and printing too; and I've edited a newspaper; +but--" + +There he was cut short by the laughter from those dignified men. + +"Good-bye, Jack," said the Governor, shaking hands with him. "I hope +you'll have a good time in the city. You'll be sent back to the +Capitol some day, perhaps." + +Jack returned to the clerk's counter to mail his letter, and found that +gentleman looking at him as if he wondered what sort of a boy he might +be. + +[Illustration: _The hotel clerk looked at Jack_.] + +"That young fellow knows all the politicians," said the clerk to one of +the hotel proprietors. "He can't be so countrified as he looks." + +After dinner, Jack returned to his room for a long look at the +guide-book. He went through it rapidly to the last leaf, and then +threw it down, remarking: + +"I never was so tired! I'll take a walk around and see Albany a little +more; and I'll not be sorry when the boat goes. I'd like to see Mary +and the rest for an hour or two. I think they'd like to see me coming +in, too." + +Jack sauntered on through street after street, getting a clearer idea +of what a city was. + +He walked so far that he had some difficulty in returning to the hotel, +but finally he found it without asking directions. + +Soon after, Jack brought down his satchel, said good-bye to the very +polite clerk, and walked out. + +He had learned the way to the steamboat-wharf; and he had already taken +one brief look at the river and the railway bridge. + +"There's the 'Columbia,'" he said, aloud, as he turned a street corner +and came in sight of her. "What a boat! Why, if her nose was at the +Main Street corner, by the Washington Hotel, her rudder would be +half-way across the Cocahutchie!" + +He walked the wharf, staring at her from end to end, before he went on +board. He had put Mr. Magruder's note into his pocket without reading +it. + +"I won't open it here," he had said then. "There's nothing in it but a +ticket." + +He found, however, that he must show the ticket at the gangway, and so +he opened the envelope. + +"Three tickets?" he said. "And two are in one piece. This one is for +a stateroom. That's the bunk I'm to sleep in. Hulloo! Supper ticket! +I have supper on board the steamer, do I? Well, I'm not sorry. I'll +have to hurry, too. It's about time for her to start." + +Jack went on board, and soon was hunting for his stateroom, almost +bewildered by the rushing crowd in the great saloon. + +He had his key, and knew the number, but it seemed that there were +about a thousand of the little doors. + +"One hundred and seventy-six is mine," he said; "and I'm going to put +away my satchel and go on deck and see the river. Here it is at last. +Why, it's a kind of little bedroom! It's as good as a floating hotel. +Now I'm all right." + +Suddenly he was aware, with a great thrill of pleasure, that the +Columbia was in motion. He left his satchel in a corner, locked the +door of the stateroom behind him, and set out to find his way to the +deck. He went down-stairs and up-stairs, ran against people, and was +run against by them; and it occurred to him that all the passengers +were hunting for something they could not find. + +"Looking for staterooms, I guess," he remarked aloud; but he himself +should not have been staring behind him, for at that moment he felt the +whack of a collision, and a pair of heavy arms grasped him. + +"What you looks vor yourself, poy? You knocks my breath out! You find +somebody you looks vor--eh?" + +The tremendous man who held him was not tall, but very heavy, and had a +broad face and long black beard and shaggy gray eyebrows. + +"Beg pardon!" exclaimed Jack, with a glance at a lady holding one of +the man's long arms, and at two other ladies following them. + +"You vas got your stateroom?" asked his round-faced captor +good-humoredly. + +"Oh, yes!" said Jack. "I've got one." + +"You haf luck. Dell you vot, poy, it ees a beeg schvindle. Dey say +'passage feefty cent,' und you comes aboard, und you find it is choost +so. Dot's von passage. Den it ees von dollar more to go in to supper, +und von dollar to eat some tings, und von dollar to come out of supper, +und some more dollars to go to sleep, und maybe dey sharges you more +dollars to vake up in de morning. Dot is not all. Dey haf no more +shtateroom left, und ve all got to zeet up all night. Eh? How you +like dot, poy?" + +Jack replied as politely as he knew how: + +"Oh, you will find a stateroom. They can't be full." + +"Dey _ees_ full. Dey ees more as full. Dere vill be no room to sleep +on de floor, und ve haf to shtand oop all night. How you likes dot, +eh?" + +The ladies looked genuinely distressed, and said a number of things to +each other in some tongue that Jack did not understand. He had been +proud enough of his stateroom up to that moment, but he felt his heart +melting. Besides, he had intended to sit up a long while to see the +river. + +"I can fix it," he suddenly exclaimed. "Let the ladies take my +stateroom. It's big enough." + +"Poy!" said the German solemnly, "dot is vot you run into my arms for. +My name is Guilderaufenberg. Dis lady ees Mrs. Guilderaufenberg. Dis +ees Mees Hildebrand. She's Mees Poogmistchgski, and she is a Bolish +lady vis my wife." + +Jack caught all the names but the last, but he was not half sure about +that. He bowed to each. + +"Come with me; I'll show you the room," he said. "Then I'm going out +on deck." + +"Ve comes," said the wide German; and the three ladies all tried to +express their thanks at the same time, as Jack led the way. Jack was +proud of his success in actually finding his own door again. + +"I puts um all een," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg; "den I valks mit you on +deck. Dose vommens belifs you vas a fine poy. So you vas, ven I dells +de troof." + +They all talked a great deal, and Jack managed to reduce the Polish +lady's name to Miss "Podgoomski," but he felt uneasily that he had left +out a part of it. Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and the others were loaded up +with more parcels and baggage than Jack had ever seen three women carry. + +"Dey dakes care of dot shtateroom," said his friend. "Ve goes on deck. +I bitty anypoddy vot dries to get dot shtateroom avay from Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg and Mees Hildebrand and Mees Pod----ski;" but again +Jack had failed to hear that Polish lady's name. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DOWN THE HUDSON. + +Jack already felt well acquainted with Mr. Guilderaufenberg. + +The broad and bearded German knew all about steamboats, and found his +way out upon the forward deck without any difficulty. Jack had lost +his way entirely in his first hunting for that spot, and he was glad to +find himself under the awning and gazing down the river. + +"Ve only shtays here a leetle vile," said his friend. "Den ve goes and +takes de ladies down to eat some supper. Vas you hongry?" + +Jack was not really hungry for anything but the Hudson, but he said he +would gladly join the supper-party. + +"I never saw the Hudson before," he said. "I'd rather sit up than not." + +"I seet up all de vay to New York and not care," said his friend. "I +seet up a great deal. My vife, dot ees Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, she keep +a beeg boarding-house in Vashington. Dot ees de ceety to lif in! Vas +you ever in Vashington? No?" + +"Never was anywhere," said Jack. "Never was in New York--" + +"Yon nefer vas dere? Den you petter goes mit me und Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg. Dot ees goot. So! You nefer vas in Vashington. +You nefer vas in New York. So! Den you nefer vas in Lonton? I vas +dere. You lose youself in Lonton so easy. I lose myself twice vile I +vas dere." + +"You weren't lost long, I know," said Jack, laughing at the droll shake +of the German's head. + +"No, I vas find. I vas shoost going to advertise myself ven I finds a +street I remember. Den I gets to my hotel. You nefer vas dere? Und +you nefer vas in Vashington. You come some day. Dot ees de ceety, mit +de Capitol und de great men! Und you vas nefer in Paris, nor in +Berlin, nor in Vienna, nor in Amsterdam? No? I haf all of dem seen, +und dose oder cities. I dravel, but dere ees doo much boleece, so I +comes to dis country, vere dere ees few boleece." + +Jack was startled for a moment. The bland, good-humored face of his +German acquaintance had suddenly changed. His white teeth showed +through his mushtaches, and his beard seemed to wave and curl as he +spoke of the police. For one moment Jack thought of Deacon Abram and +Mrs. McNamara, of the dark room and the ropes and the window. + +"He may not have done anything," he said to himself, aloud, "any more +than I did; and they were after me." + +"Dot ees not so!" Mr. Guilderaufenberg growled. "I dell dem de troof +too mosh. Den I vas a volf, a vild peest, dot mus' be hoonted, und dey +hoonted me; put I got avay. I vas in St. Beetersburg, vonce, vile dey +hoont somevere else. Den I vas in Constantinople, mit de Turks--" + +Jack's brain was in a whirl. He had read about all of those cities, +and here was a man who had really been in them. It was even more +wonderful than talking with the Governor or looking at the Hudson. + +But in a moment his new friend's face assumed a quieter expression. + +"Come along," he said. "De ladies ees ready by dees time. Ve goes. +Den I dells you some dings you nefer hear." + +He seemed to know all about the Columbia, for he led Jack straight to +the stateroom door, through all the crowds of passengers. + +"I might not have found it in less than an hour," said Jack to himself. +"They're waiting for us. I can't talk with them much." + +But he found out that Mrs. Guilderaufenberg spoke English with but +little accent, Miss Hildebrand only knocked over a letter here and +there, and the Polish lady's fluent English astonished him so much that +he complimented her upon it. + +"Dot ees so," remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "She talks dem all so +vell dey say she vas born dere. Dell you vat, my poy, ven you talks +Bolish or Russian, den you vas exercise your tongue so you shpeaks all +de oder lankwitches easy." + +The ladies were in good humor, and disposed to laugh at anything, +especially after they reached the supper-room; and Mrs. +Guilderaufenberg at once took a strong interest in Jack because he had +never been anywhere. + +For convenience, perhaps, the ladies frequently spoke to one another in +German, but Jack, without understanding a word of it, listened +earnestly to what they were saying. + +They often, however, talked in English, and to him, and he learned that +they had been making a summer-vacation trip through Canada, and were +now on their way home. It was evident that Mr. Guilderaufenberg was a +man who did not lack money, and that none of the others were poor. +Besides hearing them, Jack was busy in looking around the long, +glittering supper-room of the Columbia, noticing how many different +kinds of people there were in it. They seemed to be of all nations, +ages, colors, and kinds, and Jack would not have missed the sight for +anything. + +"I'm beginning to see the world," he said to himself, and then he had +to reply to Mrs. Guilderaufenberg for about the twentieth time: + +"Oh, not at all. You're welcome to the stateroom. I'd rather sit up +and look at the river than go to bed." + +"Den, Mr. Ogden," she said, "you comes to Vashington, and you comes to +my house. I can den repay your kindness. You vill see senators, +congressmen, generals, fine men--great men, in Vashington." + +After supper the party found seats under the awning forward, and for a +while Jack's eyes were so busy with the beauties of the Hudson that his +ears heard little. + +The moonlight was very bright and clear, and showed the shores plainly. +Jack found his memory of the guidebook was excellent. The villages and +towns along the shores were so many collections of twinkling, changing +glimmers, and between them lay long reaches of moonshine and shadow. + +"I'd like to write home about it," thought Jack, "but I couldn't begin +to tell 'em how it looks." + +Jack was not sorry when the three ladies said good-night. He had never +before been so long upon his careful good behavior in one evening, and +it made him feel constrained, till he almost wished he was back in +Crofield. + +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg," he said as soon as they were alone, "this is +the first big river I ever saw." + +"So?" said the German. "Den I beats you. I see goot many rifers, ven +I drafels. Dell you vat, poy; verefer dere vas big rifers, anyvere, +dere vas mosh fighting. Some leetle rifer do choost as vell, +sometimes, but de beeg rifers vas alvays battlefields." + +"Not the Hudson?" said Jack inquiringly. + +"You ees American poy," said the German; "you should know de heestory +of your country. Up to Vest Point, de Hudson vas full of fights. All +along shore, too. I vas on de Mississippi, and it is fights all de vay +down to his mout'. So mit some oder American rifers, but de vorst of +all is the Potomac, by Vashington. Eet ees not so fine as de Hudson, +but eet is battle-grounds all along shore. I vas on de Danube, and eet +ees vorse for fights dan de Potomac. I see so many oder rifers, all +ofer, eferyvere, but de fighting rifer of de vorld is de Rhine. It is +so fine as de Hudson, and eet ees even better looking by day.--Ve gets +into de Caatskeel Mountains now. Look at dem by dis moonlight, and you +ees like on de Rhine. You see de Rhine some day, and ven you comes to +Vashington you see de Potomac." + +On, on, steamed the Columbia, with what almost seemed a slow motion, it +was so ponderous, dignified, and stately, while the moonlit heights and +hollows rolled by on either hand. On, at the same time, went Mr. +Guilderaufenberg with his stories of rivers and cities and countries +that he had seen, and of battles fought along rivers and across them. +Then, suddenly, the gruff voice grew deep and savage, like the growl of +an angry bear, and he exclaimed: + +"I haf seen some men, too, of de kind I run avay from--" + +"Policemen?" said Jack. + +"Yah; dat is de name I gif dem," growled the angry German. "De Tsar of +Russia, I vas see him, and he vas noding but a chief of boleece. De +old Kaiser of Germany, he vas a goot man, but he vas too mosh chief of +boleece. So vas de Emperor of Austria; I vas see him. So vas de +Sultan of Turkey, but he vas more a humpug dan anyting else. Dere ees +leetle boleece in Turkey. I see de Emperor Napoleon before he toomble +down. He vas noding but a boleeceman. I vas so vild glad ven he comes +down. De leetle kings, I care not so mosh for. You comes to +Vashington, and I show you some leetle kings--" and Mr. +Guilderaufenberg grew good-humored and began to laugh. + +"What kind of kings?" asked Jack. + +"Leetle congressman dot is choost come de first time, und leetle beeg +man choost put into office. Dey got ofer it bretty soon, und de fun is +gone." + +There was a long silence after that. The broad German sat in an +arm-chair, and pretty soon he slipped forward a little with his knees +very near the network below the rail of the Columbia. Then Jack heard +a snore, and knew that his traveler friend was sound asleep. + +[Illustration: _His traveler friend was sound asleep_.] + +"I wish I had a chair to sleep on, instead of this campstool," thought +Jack. "I'll have a look all around the boat and come back." + +It took a long while to see the boat, and the first thing he discovered +was that a great many people had failed to secure staterooms or berths. +They sat in chairs, and they lounged on sofas, and they were curled up +on the floor; for the Columbia had received a flood of tourists who +were going home, and a large part of the passengers of another boat +that had been detained on account of an accident at Albany; so the +steamer was decidedly overcrowded. + +"There are more people aboard," thought Jack, "than would make two such +villages as Crofield, unless you should count in the farms and farmers. +I'm glad I came, if it's only to know what a steamboat is. I haven't +spent a cent of my nine dollars yet, either." + +Here and there he wandered, until he came out at the stern, and had a +look at the foaming wake of the boat, and at the river and the heights +behind, and at the grand spectacle of another great steamboat, full of +lights, on her way up the river. He had seen any number of smaller +boats, and of white-sailed sloops and schooners, and now, along the +eastern bank, he heard and saw the whizzing rush of several railway +trains. + +"I'd rather be here," he thought. "The people there can't see half so +much as I can." + +Not one of them, moreover, had been traveling all over the world with +Mr. Guilderaufenberg, and hearing and about kings and their "police." + +Getting back to his old place was easier, now that he began to +understand the plan of the Columbia; but, when Jack returned, his +camp-stool was gone, and he had to sit down on the bare deck or to +stand up. He did both, by turns, and he was beginning to feel very +weary of sight-seeing, and to wish that he were sound asleep, or that +to-morrow had come. + +"It's a warm night," he said to himself, "and it isn't so very dark, +even now the moon has gone down. Why--it's getting lighter! Is it +morning? Can we be so near the city as that?" + +There was a growing rose-tint upon a few clouds in the western sky, as +the sun began to look at them from below the range of heights, +eastward, but the sun had not yet risen. + +Jack was all but breathless. He walked as far forward as he could go, +and forgot all about being sleepy or tired. + +"There," he said, after a little, "those must be the Palisades." + +Out came his guide-book, and he tried to fit names to the places along +shore. + +"More sailing-vessels," he said, "and there goes another train. We +must be almost there." + +He was right, and he was all one tingle of excitement as the Columbia +swept steadily on down the widening river. + +There came a pressure of a hand upon his shoulder. + +"Goot-morning, my poy. De city ees coming. How you feels?" + +"First-rate," said Jack. "It won't be long, now, will it?" + +"You wait a leetle. I sleep some. It vas a goot varm night. De +varmest night I efer had vas in Egypt, and de coldest vas in Moscow. +De shtove it went out, and ve vas cold, I dell you, dill dot shtove vas +kindle up again! Dere vas dwenty-two peoples in dot room, and dot safe +us. Ye keep von another varm. Dot ees de trouble mit Russia. De +finest vedder in all the vorlt is een America,--and dere ees more +vedder of all kinds." + +On, on, and now Jack's blood tingled more sharply, to his very fingers +and toes, for they swept beyond Spuyten Duyvil Creek, which his friend +pointed out, and the city began to make its appearance. + +"It's on both sides," said Jack. "No, that's New Jersey"--and he read +the names on that side from his guidebook. + +Masts, wharves, buildings, and beyond them spires, and--and Jack grew +dizzy trying to think of that endless wilderness of streets and houses. +He heard what Mr. Guilderaufenberg said about the islands in the +harbor, the forts, the ferries, and yet he did not hear it plainly, +because it was too much to take in all at once. + +"Now I brings de ladies," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, "an' ve eats +breakfast, ven ve all gets to de Hotel Dantzic. Come!" + +Jack took one long, sweeping look at the city, so grand and so +beautiful under the newly risen sun, and followed. + + +At that same hour a dark-haired girl sat by an open window in the +village of Mertonville. She had arisen and dressed herself, early as +it was, and she held in her hand a postal-card, which had arrived for +her from Albany the night before. + +"By this time," she said, "Jack is in the city. Oh, how I wish I were +with him!" + +She was silent after that, but she had hardly said it before one of two +small boys, who had been pounding one another with pillows in a very +small bedroom in Crofield, suddenly threw his pillow at the other, and +exclaimed: + +"I s'pose Jack's there by this time, Jimmy!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +IN A NEW WORLD. + +Jack Ogden stood like a boy in a dream, as the "Columbia" swept +gracefully into her dock and was made fast. Her swing about was helped +by the outgoing tide, that foamed and swirled around the projecting +piers. + +A hurrying crowd of people was thronging out of the "Columbia," but +Jack's German friend did not join them. + +"De ceety vill not roon avay," he said, calmly. "You comes mit me." + +They went to the cabin for the ladies, and Jack noticed how much +baggage the rest were carrying. He took a satchel from Miss +Hildebrand, and then the Polish lady, with a grateful smile, allowed +him to take another. + +"Dose crowds ees gone," remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "Ve haf our +chances now." + +Afterward, Jack had a confused memory of walking over a wide gang-plank +that led into a babel. Miss Hildebrand held him by his left arm while +the two other ladies went with Mr. Guilderaufenberg. They came out +into a street, between two files of men who shook their whips, shouted, +and pointed at a line of carriages. Miss Hildebrand told Jack that +they could reach their hotel sooner by the elevated railway. + +"He look pale," she thought, considerately. "He did not sleep all +night. He never before travel on a steamboat!" + +Jack meanwhile had a new sensation. + +"This is the city!" he was saying to himself. "I'm really here. There +are no crowds, because it's Sunday,--but then!" + +After walking a few minutes they came to a corner, where Mr. +Guilderaufenberg turned and said to Jack: + +"Dees ees Proadvay. Dere ees no oder street in de vorlt dat ees so +long. Look dees vay und den look dat vay! So! Eh? Dot ees Proadvay. +Dere ees no oder city in de vorlt vere a beeg street keep Soonday!" + +It was indeed a wonderful street to the boy from Crofield, and he felt +the wonder of it; and he felt the wonder of the Sunday quiet and of the +closed places of business. + +[Illustration: _On Broadway, at last!_] + +"There's a policeman," he remarked to Mr. Guilderaufenberg. + +"So!" said the German, smiling; "but he ees a beople's boleeceman. Eef +he vas a king's boleeceman, I vas not here. I roon avay, or I vas lock +up. Jack, ven you haf dodge some king's boleecemen, like me, you vish +you vas American, choost like me now, und vas safe!" + +"I believe I should," said Jack, politely; but his head was not still +for an instant. His eyes and his thoughts were busily at work. He had +expected to see tall and splendid buildings, and had even dreamed of +them. How he had longed and hoped and planned to get to this very +place! He had seen pictures of the city, but the reality was +nevertheless a delightful surprise. + +Miss Hildebrand pointed out Trinity Church, and afterward St. Paul's. + +"Maybe I'll go to one of those big churches, to-day," said Jack. + +"Oh, no," said Miss Hildebrand. "You find plenty churches up-town. +Not come back so far." + +"I shall know where these are, any way," Jack replied. + +After a short walk they came to City Hall Square. + +"There!" Jack exclaimed. "I know this place! It's just like the +pictures in my guide-book. There's the Post-office, the City +Hall,--everything!" + +"Come," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, beginning to cross the street. "Ve +must go ofer und take de elevated railvay." + +"Come along, Meester Jack Ogden," added Mrs. Guilderaufenberg. + +"There are enough people here now," said Jack, as they walked +along--"Sunday or no Sunday!" + +"Of course," said Miss Hildebrand, pointing with a hand that lifted a +small satchel. "That's the elevated railway station over there, across +both streets. There, too, is where you go to the suspension bridge to +Brooklyn, over the East River. You see, when we go by. You see +to-morrow. Not much, now. I am so hungry!" + +"I want to see everything," said Jack; "but I'm hungry, too. Why, +we're going upstairs!" + +In a minute more Jack was sitting by an open window of an elevated +railway car. This was another entirely new experience, and Jack found +it hard to rid himself of the notion that possibly the whole +long-legged railway might tumble down or the train suddenly shoot off +from the track and drop into the street. + +"Dees ees bretty moch American," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, as Jack +stared out at the third-story windows of the buildings. "You nefer vas +here before? So! Den you nefer feels again choost like now. You ees +fery moch a poy. I dell you, dere is not soch railvays in Europe; I +vonce feel like you now. Dot vas ven I first come here. It vas not +Soonday; it vas a day for de flags. I dell you vat it ees: ven dot +American feels goot, he hang out hees flag. Shtars und shtripes--I +like dot flag! I look at some boleece, und den I like dot flag again, +for dey vas not hoont, hoont, hoont, for poor Fritz von +Guilderaufenberg, for dot he talk too moch!" + +"It's pretty quiet all along. All the stores seem to be closed," said +Jack, looking down at the street below. + +"Eet ees so shtill!" remarked Mr. Guilderaufenberg. "I drafel de vorlt +ofer und I find not dees Soonday. In Europe, it vas not dere to keep. +I dell you, ven dere ees no more Soonday, den dere ees no more America! +So! Choost you remember dot, my poy, from a man dot vas hoonted all +ofer Europe!" + +Jack was quite ready to believe Mr. Guilderaufenberg. He had been used +to even greater quiet, in Crofield, for after all there seemed to be a +great deal going on. + +The train they were in made frequent stops, and it did not seem long to +Jack before Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and the other ladies got up and began +to gather their parcels and satchels. Jack was ready when his friends +led the way to the door. + +"I'll be glad to get off," he thought. "I am afraid Aunt Melinda would +say I was traveling on Sunday." + +The conductor threw open the car door and shouted, and Mr. +Guilderaufenberg hurried forward exclaiming: "Come! Dees ees our +station!" + +Jack had taken even more than his share of the luggage; and now his arm +was once more grasped by Miss Hildebrand. + +"I'll take good care of her," he said to himself, as she pushed along +out of the cars. "All I need to do is to follow the rest." + +He did not understand what she said to the others in German, but it +was: "I'll bring Mr. Ogden. He will know how to look out for himself, +very soon." + +She meant to see him safely to the Hotel Dantzic, that morning; and the +next thing Jack knew he was going down a long flight of stairs, to the +sidewalk, while Miss Hildebrand was explaining that part of the city +they were in. Even while she was talking, and while he was looking in +all directions, she wheeled him suddenly to the left, and they came to +a halt. + +"Hotel Dantzic," read Jack aloud, from the sign. "It's a tall +building; but it's very thin." + +The ladies went into the waiting-room, while Jack followed Mr. +Guilderaufenberg into the office. The German was welcomed by the +proprietor as if he were an old acquaintance. + +A moment afterward, Mr. Guilderaufenberg turned away from the desk and +said to Jack: + +"My poy, I haf a room for you. Eet ees high oop, but eet ees goot; und +you bays only feefty cent a day. You bay for von veek, now. You puys +vot you eats vere you blease in de ceety." + +The three dollars and a half paid for the first week made the first +break in Jack's capital of nine dollars. + +"Any way," he thought, when he paid it, "I have found a place to sleep +in. Money'll go fast in the city, and I must look out. I'll put my +baggage in my room and then come down to breakfast." + +"You breakfast mit us dees time," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, kindly. +"Den you not see us more, maybe, till you comes to Vashington." + +Jack got his key and the number of his room and was making his way to +the foot of a stairway when a very polite man said to him: + +"This way, sir. This way to the elevator. Seventh floor, sir." + +Jack had heard and read of elevators, but it was startling to ride in +one for the first time. It was all but full when he got in, and after +it started, his first thought was: + +"How it's loaded! What if the rope should break!" + +It stopped to let a man out, and started and stopped again and again, +but it seemed only a few long, breathless moments before the man in +charge of it said; "Seventh, sir!" + +The moment Jack was in his room he exclaimed: + +"Isn't this grand, though? It's only about twice as big as that +stateroom on the steamboat. I can feel at home here." + +It was a pleasant little room, and Jack began at once to make ready for +breakfast. + +He was brushing his hair when he went to the window, and as he looked +out he actually dropped the brush in his surprise. + +"Where's my guide-book?" he said. "I know where I am, though. That +must be the East River. Away off there is Long Island. Looks as if it +was all city. Maybe that is Brooklyn,--I don't know. Isn't this a +high house? I can look down on all the other roofs. Jingo!" + +He hurried through his toilet, meanwhile taking swift glances out of +the window. When he went out to the elevator, he said to himself: + +"I'll go down by the stairs some day, just to see how it seems. A +storm would whistle like anything, round the top of this building!" + +When he got down, Mr. Guilderaufenberg was waiting for him, and the +party of ladies went in to breakfast, in a restaurant which occupied +nearly all of the lower floor of the hotel. + +"I understand," said Jack, good-humoredly, in reply to an explanation +from Miss Hildebrand. "You pay for just what you order, and no more, +and they charge high for everything but bread. I'm beginning to learn +something of city ways." + +During all that morning, anybody who knew Jack Ogden would have had to +look at him twice, he had been so quiet and sedate; but the old, +self-confident look gradually returned during breakfast. + +"Ve see you again at supper," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, as they arose. +"Den ve goes to Vashington. You valks out und looks about. You easy +finds your vay back. Goot-bye till den." + +Jack shook hands with his friends, and walked out into the street. + +"Well, here I am!" he thought. "This is the city. I'm all alone in +it, too, and I must find my own way. I can do it, though. I'm glad +it's Sunday, so that I needn't go straight to work." + + +At that moment, the nine o'clock bells were ringing in two wooden +steeples in the village of Crofield; but the bell of the third steeple +was silent, down among the splinters of what had been the pulpit of its +own meeting-house. The village was very still, but there was something +peculiar in the quiet in the Ogden homestead. Even the children went +about as if they missed something or were listening for somebody they +expected. + +There were nine o'clock bells, also, in Mertonville, and there was a +ring at the door-bell of the house of Mr. Murdoch, the editor. + +"Why, Elder Holloway!" exclaimed Mrs. Murdoch, when she opened the +door. "Please to walk in." + +"Thank you, Mrs. Murdoch, but I can't," he said, speaking as if +hurried, "Please tell Miss Ogden there's a class of sixteen girls in +our Sunday school, and the teacher's gone; and I've taken the liberty +of promising for her that she'll take charge of it." + +"I'll call her," said Mrs. Murdoch. + +"No, no," replied the elder. "Just tell her it's a nice class, and +that the girls expect her to come, and we'll be ever go much obliged to +her. Good-morning!"--and he was gone. + +"Oh, Mrs. Murdoch!" exclaimed Mary, when the elder's message was given. +"I can't! I don't know them! I suppose I ought; but I'd have said no, +if I had seen him." + +The elder had thought of that, perhaps, and had provided against any +refusal by retreating. As he went away he said to himself: + +"She can do it, I know; if she does, it'll help me carry out my plan." + +He looked, just then, as if it were a very good plan, but he did not +reveal it. + +Mary Ogden persuaded Mrs. Murdoch to take her to another church that +morning, so that she need not meet any of her new class. + +"I hope Jack will go to church in the city," she said; and her mother +said the same thing to Aunt Melinda over in Crofield. + +Jack could not have given any reason why his feet turned westward, but +he went slowly along for several blocks, while he stared at the rows of +buildings, at the sidewalks, at the pavements, and at everything else, +great and small. He was actually leaving the world in which he had +been brought up--the Crofield world--and taking a first stroll around +in a world of quite another sort. He met some people on the streets, +but not many. + +"They're all getting ready for church," he thought, and his next +thought was expressed aloud. + +"Whew! what street's this, I wonder?" + +He had passed row after row of fine buildings, but suddenly he had +turned into a wide avenue which seemed a street of palaces. Forward he +went, faster and faster, staring eagerly at one after another of those +elegant mansions of stone, of marble, or of brick. + +"See here, Johnny," he suddenly heard in a sharp voice close to him, +"what number do you want?" + +"Hallo," said Jack, halting and turning. "What street's this?" + +He was looking up into the good-natured face of a tall man in a neat +blue uniform. + +"What are you looking for?" began the policeman again. But, without +waiting for Jack's answer, he went on, "Oh, I see! You're a greeny +lookin' at Fifth Avenue. Mind where you're going, or you'll run into +somebody!" + +"Is this Fifth Avenue?" Jack asked. "I wish I knew who owned these +houses." + +"You do, do you?" laughed the man in blue. "Well, I can tell you some +of them. That house belongs to--" and the policeman went on giving +name after name, and pointing out the finest houses. + +Some of the names were familiar to Jack. He had read about these men +in newspapers, and it was pleasant to see where they lived. + +"See that house?" asked the policeman, pointing at one of the finest +residences. "Well, the man that owns it came to New York as poor as +you, maybe poorer. Not quite so green, of course! But you'll soon get +over that. See that big house yonder, on the corner? Well, the cash +for that was gathered by a chap who began as a deck-hand. Most of the +big guns came up from nearly nothing. Now you walk along and look out; +but mind you don't run over anybody." + +"Much obliged," said Jack, and as he walked on, he kept his eyes open, +but his thoughts were busy with what the policeman had told him. + +That was the very idea he had while he was in Crofield. That was what +had made him long to break away from the village and find his way to +the city. His imagination had busied itself with stories of poor +boys,--as poor and green as he, scores of them,--born and brought up in +country homes, who, refusing to stay at home and be nobodies, had +become successful men. All the great buildings he saw seemed to tell +the same story. Still he did say to himself once: + +"Some of their fathers must have been rich enough to give them a good +start. Some were born rich, too. I don't care for that, though. I +don't know as I want so big a house. I am going to get along somehow. +My chances are as good as some of these fellows had." + +Just then he came to a halt, for right ahead of him were open grounds, +and beyond were grass and trees. To the right and left were buildings. + +"I know what this is!" exclaimed Jack. "It must be Central Park. Some +day I'm going there, all over it. But I'll turn around now, and find a +place to go to church. I've passed a dozen churches on the way." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A WONDERFUL SUNDAY. + +When Jack turned away from the entrance to Central Park, he found much +of the Sunday quiet gone. It was nearly half-past ten o'clock; the +sidewalks were covered with people, and the street resounded with the +rattle of carriage-wheels. + +There was some uneasiness in the mind of the boy from Crofield. The +policeman had impressed upon Jack the idea that he was not at home in +the city, and that he did not seem at home there. He did not know one +church from another, and part of his uneasiness was about how city +people managed their churches. Perhaps they sold tickets, he thought; +or perhaps you paid at the door; or possibly it didn't cost anything, +as in Crofield. + +[Illustration: _"How would he get in?"_] + +"I'll ask," he decided, as he paused in front of what seemed to him a +very imposing church. He stood still, for a moment, as the steady +procession passed him, part of it going by, but much of it turning into +the church. + +"Mister--," he said bashfully to four well-dressed men in quick +succession; but not one of them paused to answer him. Two did not so +much as look at him, and the glances given him by the other two made +his cheeks burn--he hardly knew why. + +"There's a man I'll try," thought Jack. "I'm getting mad!" The man of +whom Jack spoke came up the street. He seemed an unlikely subject. He +was so straight he almost leaned backward; he was rather slender than +thin; and was uncommonly well dressed. In fact, Jack said to himself: +"He looks as if he had bought the meeting-house, and was not pleased +with his bargain." + +Proud, even haughty, as was the manner of the stranger, Jack stepped +boldly forward and again said: + +"Mister?" + +"Well, my boy, what is it?" + +The response came with a halt and almost a bow. + +"If a fellow wished to go to this church, how would he get in?" asked +Jack. + +"Do you live in the city?" There was a frown of stern inquiry on the +broad forehead; but the head was bending farther forward. + +"No," said Jack, "I live in Crofield." + +"Where's that?" + +"Away up on the Cocahutchie River. I came here early this morning." + +"What's your name?" + +"John Ogden." + +"Come with me, John Ogden. You may have a seat in my pew. Come." + +Into the church and up the middle aisle Jack followed his leader, with +a sense of awe almost stifling him; then, too, he felt drowned in the +thunderous flood of music from the organ. He saw the man stop, open a +pew-door, step back, smile and bow, and then wait until the boy from +Crofield had passed in and taken his seat. + +"He's a gentleman," thought Jack, hardly aware that he himself had +bowed low as he went in, and that a smile of grim approval had followed +him. + +In the pew behind them sat another man, as haughty looking, but just +now wearing the same kind of smile as he leaned forward and asked in an +audible whisper: + +"General, who's your friend?" + +"Mr. John Ogden, of Crofield, away up on the Cookyhutchie River. I +netted him at the door," was the reply, in the same tone. + +"Good catch?" asked the other. + +"Just as good as I was, Judge, forty years ago. I'll tell you how that +was some day." + +"Decidedly raw material, I should say." + +"Well, so was I. I was no more knowing than he is. I remember what it +is to be far away from home." + +The hoarse, subdued whispers ceased; the two gentle men looked grim and +severe again. Then there was a grand burst of music from the organ, +the vast congregation stood up, and Jack rose with them. + +He felt solemn enough, there was no doubt of that; but what he said to +himself unconsciously took this shape: + +"Jingo! If this isn't the greatest going to church _I_ ever did! Hear +that voice! The organ too--what music! Don't I wish Molly was here! +I wish all the family were here." + +The service went on and Jack listened attentively, in spite of a strong +tendency in his eyes to wander among the pillars to the galleries, up +into the lofty vault above him, or around among the pews full of +people. He knew it was a good sermon and that the music was good, +singing and all--especially when the congregation joined in "Old +Hundred" and another old hymn that he knew. Still he had an increasing +sense of being a very small fellow in a very large place. When he +raised his head, after the benediction, he saw the owner of the pew +turn toward him, bow low, and hold out his hand. Jack shook hands, of +course. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Ogden," said the gentleman gravely, with almost a +frown on his face, but very politely, and then he turned and walked out +of the pew. Jack also bowed as he shook hands, and said, +"Good-morning. Thank you, sir. I hope you enjoyed the sermon." + +"General," said the gentleman in the pew behind them, "pretty good for +raw material. Keep an eye on him." + +"No, I won't," said the general. "I've spoiled four or five in that +very way." + +"Well, I believe you're right," said the judge, after a moment. "It's +best for that kind of boy to fight his own battles. I had to." + +"So did I," said the general, "and I was well pounded for a while." + +Jack did not hear all of the conversation, but he had a clear idea that +they were talking about him; and as he walked slowly out of the church, +packed in among the crowd in the aisle, he had a very rosy face indeed. + +Jack had in mind a thought that had often come to him in the church at +Crofield, near the end of the sermon:--he was conscious that it was +dinner-time. + +Of course he thought, with a little homesickness, of the home +dinner-table. + +"I wish I could sit right down with them," he thought, "and tell them +what Sunday is in the city. Then my dinner wouldn't cost me a cent +there, either. No matter, I'm here, and now I can begin to make more +money right away. I have five dollars and fifty cents left anyway." + +Then he thought of the bill of fare at the Hotel Dantzic, and many of +the prices on it, and remembered Mr. Guilderaufenberg's instructions +about going to some cheaper place for his meals. + +"I didn't tell him that I had only nine dollars," he said to himself, +"but I'll follow his advice. He's a traveler." + +Jack had been too proud to explain how little money he had, but his +German friend had really done well by him in making him take the little +room at the top of the Hotel Dantzic. He had said to his wife: + +"Dot poy! Vell, I see him again some day. He got a place to shleep, +anyhow, vile he looks around und see de ceety. No oder poy I efer +meets know at de same time so moch and so leetle." + +With every step from the church door Jack felt hungrier, but he did not +turn his steps toward the Hotel Dantzic. He walked on down to the +lower part of the city, on the lookout for hotels and restaurants. It +was not long before he came to a hotel, and then he passed another and +another; and he passed a number of places where the signs told him of +dinners to be had within, but all looked too fine. + +"They're for rich people," he said, shaking his head, "like the people +in that church. What stacks of money they must have? That organ maybe +cost more than all the meeting-houses in Crofield!" + +After going a little farther Jack exclaimed; + +"I don't care! I've just got to eat!" + +He was getting farther and farther from the Hotel Dantzic, and suddenly +his eyes were caught by a very taking sign, at the top of some neat +steps leading down into a basement: + +"DINNER. ROAST BEEF. TWENTY-FIVE CENTS." + +"That'll do." said Jack eagerly. "I can stand that. Roost beef alone +is forty cents at the Dantzic." + +Down he went and found himself in a wide comfortable room, containing +two long dining tables, and a number of small oblong tables, and some +round tables, all as neat as wax. It was a very pleasant place, and a +great many other hungry people were there already. + +Jack sat down at one of the small tables, and a waiter came to him at +once. + +"Dinner sir? Yessir. Roast beef, sir? Yessir. Vegetables? +Potatoes? Lima-beans? Sweet corn?" + +"Yes, please," said Jack. "Beef, potatoes, beans, and corn?" and the +waiter was gone. + +It seemed to be a long time before the beef and vegetables came, but +they were not long in disappearing after they were on the table. + +The waiter had other people to serve, but he was an attentive fellow. + +"Pie sir?" he said, naming five kinds without a pause. + +"Custard-pie," said Jack. + +"Coffee, sir? Yessir," and he darted away again. + +"This beats the Hotel Dantzic all to pieces," remarked Jack, as he went +on with his pie and coffee; but the waiter was scribbling something +upon a slip of paper, and when it was done he put it down by Jack's +plate. + +"Jingo!" said Jack in a horrified tone, a moment later. "What's this? +'Roast beef, 25; potatoes, 10; Lima-beans, 10; corn, 10; bread, 5; +coffee, 10; pie, 10: $0.80.' Eighty cents! Jingo! How like smoke it +does cost to live in New York! This can't be one of the cheap places +Mr. Guilderaufenberg meant." + +Jack felt much chagrined, but he finished his pie and coffee bravely. +"It's a sell," he said, "--but then it _was_ a good dinner!" + +He went to the cashier with an effort to act as if it was an old story +to him. He gave the cashier a dollar, received his change, and turned +away, as the man behind the counter remarked to a friend at his elbow: + +"I knew it. He had the cash. His face was all right." + +"Clothes will fool anybody," said the other man. + +Jack heard it, and he looked at the men sitting at the tables. + +"They're all wearing Sunday clothes," he thought, "but some are no +better than mine. But there's a difference. I've noticed it all +along." + +So had others, for Jack had not seen one in that restaurant who had on +at all such a suit of clothes as had been made for him by the Crofield +tailor. + +"Four dollars and seventy cents left," said Jack thoughtfully, as he +went up into the street; and then he turned to go down-town without any +reason for choosing that direction. + +An hour later, Mr. Gilderaufenberg and his wife and their friends were +standing near the front door of the Hotel Dantzic, talking with the +proprietor. Around them lay their baggage, and in front of the door +was a carriage. Evidently they were going away earlier than they had +intended. + +"Dot poy!" exclaimed the broad and bearded German. "He find us not +here ven he come. You pe goot to dot poy, Mr. Keifelheimer." + +"So!" said the hotel proprietor, and at once three other voices chimed +in with good-bye messages to Jack Ogden. Mr. Keifelheimer responded: + +"I see to him. He will come to Vashington to see you. So!" + +Then they entered the carriage, and away they went. + + +After walking for a few blocks, Jack found that he did not know exactly +where he was. But suddenly he exclaimed: + +"Why, if there isn't City Hall Square! I've come all the way down +Broadway." + +He had stared at building after building for a time without thinking +much about them, and then he had begun to read the signs. + +"I'll come down this way again to-morrow," he said. "It's good there +are so many places to work in. I wish I knew exactly what I would like +to do, and which of them it is best to go to. I know! I can do as I +did in Crofield. I can try one for a while, and then, if I don't like +it, I can try another. It is lucky that I know how to do 'most +anything." + +The confident smile had come back. He had entirely recovered from the +shock of his eighty-cent expenditure. He had not met many people, all +the way down, and the stores were shut; but for that very reason he had +bad more time to study the signs. + +"Very nearly every kind of business is done on Broadway," he said, +"except groceries and hardware,--but they sell more clothing than +anything else. I'll look round everywhere before I settle down; but I +must look out not to spend too much money till I begin to make some." + +"It's not far now," he said, a little while after, "to the lower end of +the city and to the Battery. I'll take a look at the Battery before I +go back to the Hotel Dantzic." + +Taller and more majestic grew the buildings as he went on, but he was +not now so dazed and confused as he had been in the morning. + +"Here is Trinity Church, again," he said. "I remember about that. And +that's Wall Street. I'll see that as I come back; but now I'll go +right along and see the Battery. Of course there isn't any battery +there, but Mr. Guilderaufenberg said that from it I could see the fort +on Governor's Island." + +Jack did not see much of the Battery, for he followed the left-hand +sidewalk at the Bowling Green, where Broadway turns into Whitehall +Street. He had so long been staring at great buildings whose very +height made him dizzy, that he was glad to see beside them some which +looked small and old. + +"I'll find my way without asking," he remarked to himself. "I'm pretty +near the end now. There are some gates, and one of them is open. I'll +walk right in behind that carriage. That must be the gate to the +Battery." + +The place he was really looking for was at some distance to the right, +and the carriage he was following so confidently, had a very different +destination. + +The wide gateway was guarded by watchful men, not to mention two +policemen, and they would have caught and stopped any boy who had +knowingly tried to do what Jack did so innocently. Their backs must +have been turned, for the carriage passed in, and so did Jack, without +any one's trying to stop him. He was as bold as a lion about it, +because he did not know any better. A number of people were at the +same time crowding through a narrower gateway at one side, and they may +have distracted the attention of the gatemen. + +"I'd just as lief go in at the wagon-gate," said Jack, and he did not +notice that each one stopped and paid something before going through. +Jack went on behind the carriage. The carriage crossed what seemed to +Jack a kind of bridge housed over. Nobody but a boy straight from +Crofield could have gone so far as that without suspecting something; +but the carriage stopped behind a line of other vehicles, and Jack +walked unconcernedly past them. + +"Jingo!" he suddenly exclaimed. "What's this? I do believe the end of +this street is moving!" + +He bounded forward, much startled by a thing so strange and +unaccountable, and in a moment more he was looking out upon a great +expanse of water, dotted here and there with canal-boats, ships, and +steamers. + +"Mister," he asked excitedly of a little man leaning against a post, +"what's this?" + +"Have ye missed your way and got onto the wrong ferry-boat?" replied +the little man gleefully. "I did it once myself. All right, my boy. +You've got to go to Staten Island this time. Take it coolly." + +"Ferry-boat?" said Jack. "Staten Island? I thought it was the end of +the street, going into the Battery!" + +"Oh, you're a greenhorn!" laughed the little man "Well, it won't hurt +ye; only there's no boat back from the island, on Sunday, till after +supper. I'll tell ye all about it. Where'd you come from?" + +"From Crofield," said Jack, "and I got here only this morning." + +The little man eyed him half-suspiciously for a moment, and then led +him to the rail of the boat. + +"Look back there," he said. "Yonder's the Battery. You ought to have +kept on. It's too much for me how you ever got aboard of this 'ere +boat without knowing it!" And he went on with a long string of +explanations, of which Jack understood about half, with the help of +what he recalled from his guide-book. All the while, however, they +were having a sail across the beautiful bay, and little by little Jack +made up his mind not to care. + +"I've made a mistake and slipped right out of the city," he said to +himself, "about as soon as I got in! But maybe I can slip back again +this evening." + +"About the greenest bumpkin I've seen for an age," thought the little +man, as he stood and looked at Jack. "It'll take all sorts of blunders +to teach him. He is younger than he looks, too. Anyway, this sail +won't hurt him a bit." + +That was precisely Jack's conclusion long before the swift voyage ended +and he walked off the ferry-boat upon the solid ground of Staten Island. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FRIENDS AND ENEMIES. + +When Jack Ogden left the Staten Island ferry-boat, he felt somewhat as +if he had made an unexpected voyage to China, and perhaps might never +return to his own country. It was late in the afternoon, and he had +been told by the little man that the ferry-boat would wait an hour and +a half before the return voyage. + +"I won't lose sight of her," said Jack, thoughtfully. "No running +around for me this time!" + +He did not move about at all. He sat upon an old box, in front of a +closed grocery store, near the ferry-house, deciding to watch and wait +until the boat started. + +"Dullest time I ever had!" he thought; "and it will cost me six cents +to get back. You have to pay something everywhere you go. I wish that +boat was ready to go now." + +It was not ready, and it seemed as if it never would be; meanwhile the +Crofield boy sat there on the box and studied the ferry-boat business. +He had learned something of it from his guide-book, but he understood +it all before the gates opened. + +He had not learned much concerning any part of Staten Island, beyond +what he already knew from the map; but shortly after he had paid his +fare, he began to learn something about the bay and the lower end of +New York. + +"I'm glad to be on board again," he said, as he walked through the long +cabin to the open deck forward. In a few minutes more he drew a long +breath and exclaimed: + +"She's starting! I know I'm on the right boat, too. But I'm hungry +and I wish I had something to eat." + +There was nothing to be had on board the boat, but, although hungry, +Jack could see enough to keep him from thinking about it. + +"It's all city; and all wharves and houses and steeples,--every way you +look," he said. "I'm glad to have seen it from the outside, after all." + +Jack stared, but did not say a word to anybody until the ferry-boat ran +into its dock. + +"If I only had a piece of pie and a cup of coffee!" Jack was thinking, +as he walked along by the wharves, ashore. Then he caught sight of the +smallest restaurant he had ever seen. It was a hand-cart with an +awning over it, standing on a corner. A placard hanging from the +awning read: + +"Clams, one cent apiece; coffee, five cents a cup." + +"That's plain enough!" exclaimed Jack. "She can't put on a cent more +for anything." + +A stout, black-eyed woman stood behind a kind of table, at the end of +the cart; and on the table there were bottles of vinegar and +pepper-sauce, some crackers, and a big tin coffee-heater. + +[Illustration: _Coffee and clams._] + +"Clams?" she repeated. "Half-dozen, on the shell? Coffee? All right." + +"That's all I want, thank you," said Jack, and she at once filled a cup +from the coffee-urn and began to open shellfish for him. + +"These are the smallest clams I ever saw," thought Jack; "but they're +good." + +They seemed better and better as he went on eating; and the woman +willingly supplied them. He drank his coffee and ate crackers freely, +and he was just thinking that it was time for him to stop when the +black-eyed woman remarked, with an air of pride, + +"Nice and fresh, ain't they? You seem to like them,--thirteen's a +dozen; seventeen cents." + +"Have I swallowed a dozen already?" said Jack, looking at the pile of +shells. "Yes, ma'am, they're tiptop!" + +After paying for his supper, there were only some coppers left, besides +four one-dollar bills, in his pocket-book. + +"Which way's the Battery, ma'am?" Jack asked, as she began to open +clams for another customer. + +"Back there a way. Keep straight on till you see it," she answered; +adding kindly, "It's like a little park; I didn't know you were from +the country." + +"Pretty good supper, after all," he said. "Cheap, too; but my money's +leaking away! Well, it isn't dark yet. I must see all I can before I +go to the hotel." + +He followed the woman's directions, and he was glad he had done so. He +had studied his guide-book faithfully as to all that end of New York, +and in spite of his recent blunder did not now need to ask anybody +which was the starting place of the elevated railways and which was +Castle Garden, where the immigrants were landed. There were little +groups of these foreigners scattered over the great open space before +him. + +"They've come from all over the world," he said, looking at group after +group. "Some of those men will have a harder time than I have had +trying to get started in New York." + +It occurred to him, nevertheless, that he was a long way from Crofield, +and that he was not yet at all at home in the city. + +"I know some things that they don't know, anyway--if I _am_ green!" he +was thinking. "I'll cut across and take a nearer look at Castle +Garden--" + +"Stop there! Stop, you fellow in the light hat! Hold on!" Jack heard +some one cry out, as he started to cross the turfed inclosures. + +"What do you want of me?" Jack asked, as he turned around. + +"Don't you see the sign there, 'Keep off the grass'? Look! You're on +the grass now! Come off! Anyway, I'll fine you fifty cents!" + +Jack looked as the man pointed, and saw a little board on a short post; +and there was the sign, in plain letters; and here before him was a +tall, thin, sharp-eyed, lantern-jawed young man, looking him fiercely +in the face and holding out his hand. + +"Fifty cents! Quick, now,--or go with me to the police station." + +Jack was a little bewildered for a moment. He felt like a cat in a +very strange garret. His first thought of the police made him remember +part of what Mr. Guilderaufenberg had told him about keeping away from +them; but he remembered only the wrong part, and his hand went +unwillingly into his pocket. + +"Right off, now! No skulking!" exclaimed the sharp eyed man. + +"I haven't fifty cents in change," said Jack, dolefully, taking a +dollar bill from his pocket-book. + +"Hand me that, then. I'll go and get it changed;" and the man reached +out a claw-like hand and took the bill from Jack's fingers, without +waiting for his consent. "I'll be right back. You stand right there +where you are till I come--" + +"Hold on!" shouted Jack. "I didn't say you could. Give me back that +bill!" + +"You wait. I'll bring your change as soon as I can get it," called the +sharp-eyed man, as he darted away; but Jack's hesitation was over in +about ten seconds. + +"I'll follow him, anyhow!" he exclaimed; and he did so at a run. + +"Halt!"--it was a man in a neat gray uniform and gilt buttons who spoke +this time; and Jack halted just as the fleeing man vanished into a +crowd on one of the broad walks. + +"He's got my dollar!" + +"Tell me what it is, quick!" said the policeman, with a sudden +expression of interest. + +Jack almost spluttered as he related how the fellow had collected the +fine; but the man in gray only shook his head. + +"I thought I saw him putting up something," he said. "It's well he +didn't get your pocket-book, too! He won't show himself here again +to-night. He's safe by this time." + +"Do you know him?" asked Jack, greatly excited; but more than a little +in dread of the helmet-hat, buttons, and club. + +"Know him? 'Jimmy the Sneak?' Of course I do. He's only about two +weeks out of Sing Sing. It won't be long before he's back there again. +When did you come to town? What's your name? Where'd you come from? +Where are you staying? Do you know anybody in town?" + +He had a pencil and a little blank-book, and he rapidly wrote out +Jack's answers. + +"You'll get your eyes open pretty fast, at this rate," he said. +"That's all I want of you, now. If I lay a hand on Jimmy, I'll know +where to find you. You'd better go home. If any other thief asks you +for fifty cents, you call for the nearest policeman. That's what we're +here for." + +"A whole dollar gone, and nothing to show for it!" groaned Jack, as he +walked away. "Only three dollars and a few cents left! I'll walk all +the way up to the Hotel Dantzic, instead of paying five cents for a car +ride. I'll have to save money now." + +He felt more kindly toward all the policemen he met, and he was glad +there were so many of them. + +"The police at Central Park," he remarked to himself, "and that fellow +at the Battery, were all in gray, and the street police wear blue; but +they're a good-looking set of men. I hope they will nab Jimmy the +Sneak and get back my dollar for me." + +The farther he went, however, the clearer became his conviction that +dollars paid to thieves seldom come back; and that an evening walk of +more than three miles over the stone sidewalks of New York is a long +stroll for a very tired and somewhat homesick country boy. He cared +less and less, all the way, how strangely and how splendidly the +gas-lights and the electric lights lit up the tall buildings. + +"One light's white," he said, "and the other's yellowish, and that's +about all there is of it. Well, I'm not quite so green, for I know +more than I did this morning!" + +It was late for him when he reached the hotel, but it seemed to be +early enough for everybody else. Many people were coming and going, +and among them all he did not see a face that he knew or cared for. +The tired-out, homesick feeling grew upon him, and he walked very +dolefully to the elevator. Up it went in a minute, and when he reached +his room he threw his hat upon the table, and sat down to think over +the long and eventful day. + +[Illustration: _Jack is homesick._] + +"This is the toughest day's work I ever did! I'd like to see the folks +in Crofield and tell 'em about it, though," he said. + +He went to bed, intending to consider his plans for Monday, but he made +one mistake. He happened to close his eyes. + +The next thing he knew, there was a ray of warm sunshine striking his +face from the open window, for he had slept soundly, and it was nearly +seven o'clock on Monday morning. + +Jack looked around his room, and then sprang out of bed. + +"Hurrah for New York!" he said, cheerfully. "I know what to do now. +I'm glad I'm here! I'll write a letter home, first thing, and then +I'll pitch in and go to work!" + +He felt better. All the hopes he had cherished so long began to stir +within him. He brushed his clothes thoroughly, and put on his best +necktie; and then he walked out of that room with hardly a doubt that +all the business in the great city was ready and waiting for him to +come and take part in it. He went down the elevator, after a glance at +the stairway and a shake of his head. + +"Stairs are too slow," he thought. "I'll try them some time when I am +not so busy." + +As he stepped out upon the lower floor he met Mr. Keifelheimer, the +proprietor. + +"You come in to preakfast mit me," he said. "I promise Mr. +Guilderaufenberg and de ladies, too, I keep an eye on you. Some +letters in de box for you. You get dem ven you come out. Come mit me." + +Jack was very glad to hear of his friends, what had become of them, and +what they had said about him, and of course he was quite ready for +breakfast. Mr. Keifelheimer talked, while they were eating, in the +most friendly and protecting way. Jack felt that he could speak +freely; and so he told the whole story of his adventures on +Sunday,--Staten Island, Jimmy the Sneak, and all. Mr. Keifelheimer +listened with deep interest, making appreciative remarks every now and +then; but he seemed to be most deeply touched by the account of the +eighty-cent dinner. + +"Dot vas too much!" he said, at last. "It vas a schvindle! Dose +Broadvay restaurants rob a man efery time. Now, I only charge you +feefty-five cents for all dis beautiful breakfast; and you haf had de +finest beefsteak and two cups of splendid coffee. So, you make money +ven you eat mit me!" + +Jack could but admit that the Hotel Dantzic price was lower than the +other; but he paid it with an uneasy feeling that while he must have +misunderstood Mr. Keifelheimer's invitation it was impossible to say so. + +"Get dose letter," said the kindly and thoughtful proprietor. "Den you +write in de office. It is better dan go avay up to your room." + +Jack thanked him and went for his mail, full of wonder as to how any +letters could have come to him. + +"A whole handful!" he said, in yet greater wonder, when the clerk +handed them out. "Who could have known I was here? +Nine,--ten,--eleven,--twelve. A dozen!" + +One after another Jack found the envelops full of nicely printed cards +and circulars, telling him how and where to find different kinds of +goods. + +"That makes eight," he said; "and every one a sell. But,--jingo!" + +It was a blue envelope, and when he opened it his fingers came upon a +dollar bill. + +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg's a trump!" he exclaimed; and he added, +gratefully, "I'd only about two dollars and a half left. He's only +written three lines." + +They were kindly words, however, ending with: + + +I have not tell the ladies; but you should be pay for the stateroom. + +I hope you have a good time. + +F. VON GUILDERAUFENBERG. + + +The next envelope was white and square; and when it came open Jack +found another dollar bill. + +"She's a real good woman!" he said, when he read his name and these +words: + + +I say nothing to anybody; but you should have pay for your stateroom. +You was so kind. In haste, + +GERTRUDE VON GUILDERAUFENBERG. + + +"I'll go and see them some day," said Jack. + +He had opened the eleventh envelope, which was square and pink, and out +came another dollar bill. Jack read his own name again, followed by: + + +We go this minute. I have not told them. You should have pay for your +stateroom. Thanks. You was so kind. + +MARIE HILDEBRAND. + + +"Now, if she isn't one of the most thoughtful women in the world!" said +Jack; "and what's this?" + +Square, gray, with an ornamental seal, was the twelfth envelope, and +out of it came a fourth dollar bill, and this note: + + +For the stateroom. I have told not the others. With thanks of + +DOLISKA POD----SKI. + + +It was a fine, small, pointed, and wandering handwriting, and Jack in +vain strove to make out the letters in the middle of the Polish lady's +name. + +"I don't care!" he said. "She's kind, too. So are all the rest of +them; and Mr. Guilderaufenberg's one of the best fellows I ever met. +Now I've got over six dollars, and I can make some more right away." + +He pocketed his money, and felt more confident than ever; and he walked +out of the Hotel Dantzic just as his father, at home in Crofield, was +reading to Mrs. Ogden and Aunt Melinda and the children the letter he +had written in Albany, on Saturday. + +They all had their comments to make, but at the end of it the tall +blacksmith said to his wife: + +"There's one thing certain, Mary. I won't let go of any of that land +till after they've run the railway through it." + +"Land?" said Aunt Melinda. "Why, it's nothing but gravel. They can't +do anything with it." + +"It joins mine," said Mr. Ogden; "and I own more than an acre behind +the shop. We'll see whether the railroad will make any difference. +Well, the boy's reached the city long before this!" + +There was silence for a moment after that, and then Mr. Ogden went over +to the shop. He was not very cheerful, for he began to feel that Jack +was really gone from home. + +In Mertonville, Mary Ogden was helping Mrs. Murdoch in her housework, +and seemed to be disposed to look out of the window, rather than to +talk. + +"Now, Mary," said the editor's wife, "you needn't look so peaked, and +feel so blue about the way you got along with that class of girls--" + +"Girls?" said Mary. "Why, Mrs. Murdoch! Only half of them were +younger than I; they said there would be only sixteen, and there were +twenty-one. Some of the scholars were twice as old as I am, and one +had gray hair and wore spectacles!" + +"I don't care," said Mrs. Murdoch, "the Elder said you did well. Now, +dear, dress yourself, and be ready for Mrs. Edwards; she's coming after +you, and I hope you'll enjoy your visit. Come in and see me as often +as you can and tell me the news." + +Mary finished the dishes and went upstairs, saying, "And they want me +to take that class again next Sunday!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +NO BOY WANTED. + +After leaving the Hotel Dantzic, with his unexpected supply of money, +Jack walked smilingly down toward the business part of the city. For a +while he only studied signs and looked into great show-windows; and he +became more and more confident as he thought how many different ways +there were for a really smart boy to make a fortune in New York. He +decided to try one way at just about nine o'clock. + +"The city's a busy place!" thought Jack, as he walked along. "Some +difference between the way they rush along on Monday and the way they +loitered all day Sunday!" + +He even walked faster because the stream of men carried him along. It +made him think of the Cocahutchie. + +"I'll try one of these big clothing places," he said, about nine +o'clock. "I'll see what wages they're giving. I know something about +tailoring." + +He paused in front of a wide and showy-looking store on Broadway. He +drew a long breath and went in. The moment he entered he was +confronted by a very fat, smiling gentleman, who bowed and asked: + +"What can we do for you, sir?" + +"I'd like to know if you want a boy," said Jack, "and what wages you're +giving. I know--" + +"After a place? Oh, yes. That's the man you ought to see," said the +jocose floor-walker, pointing to a spruce salesman behind a counter, +and winking at him from behind Jack. + +The business of the day had hardly begun, and the idle salesman saw the +wink. Jack walked up to him and repeated his inquiry. + +"Want a place, eh? Where are you from? Been long in the business?" + +Jack told him about Crofield, and about the "merchant tailors" there, +and gave a number of particulars before the very dignified and +sober-faced salesman's love of fun was satisfied; and then the salesman +said: + +"I can't say. You'd better talk with that man yonder." + +There was another wink, and Jack went to "that man," to answer another +string of questions, some of which related to his family, and the +Sunday-school he attended; and then he was sent on to another man, and +another, and to as many more, until at last he heard a gruff voice +behind him asking, "What does that fellow want? Send him to me!" + +Jack turned toward the voice, and saw a glass "coop," as he called it, +all glass panes up to above his head, excepting one wide, semicircular +opening in the middle. The clerk to whom Jack was talking at that +moment suddenly became very sober. + +"Head of the house!" he exclaimed to himself. "Whew! I didn't know +he'd come;" Then he said to Jack: "The head partner is at the +cashier's desk. Speak to him." + +Jack stepped forward, his cheeks burning with the sudden perception +that he had been ridiculed. He saw a sharp-eyed lady counting money, +just inside the little window, but she moved away, and Jack was +confronted by a very stern, white-whiskered gentleman. + +"What do you want?" the man asked. + +"I'd like to know if you'll hire another boy, and what you're paying?" +said Jack, bravely. + +"No; I don't want any boy," replied the man in the coop, savagely. +"You get right out." + +"Tell you what you _do_ want," said Jack, for his temper was rising +fast, "you'd better get a politer set of clerks!" + +"I will, if there is any more of this nonsense," said the head of the +house, sharply. "Now, that's enough. No more impertinence." + +Jack was all but choking with mortification, and he wheeled and marched +out of the store. + +"I wasn't afraid of him," he thought, "and I ought to have spoken to +him first thing. I might have known better than to have asked those +fellows. I sha'n't be green enough to do that again. I'll ask the +head man next time." + +That was what he tried to do in six clothing-stores, one after another; +but in each case he made a failure. In two of them, they said the +managing partner was out; and then, when he tried to find out whether +they wanted a boy, the man he asked became angry and showed him the +door. In three more, he was at first treated politely, and then +informed that they already had hundreds of applications. To enter the +sixth store was an effort, but he went in. + +"One of the firm? Yes, sir," said the floor-walker. "There he is." + +Only a few feet from him stood a man so like the one whose face had +glowered at him through that cashier's window in the first store that +Jack hesitated a moment, but the clerk spoke out: + +"Wishes to speak to you, Mr. Hubbard." + +"This way, my boy. What is it?" + +Jack was surprised by the full, mellow, benevolent voice that came from +under the white moustaches. + +"Do you want to hire a boy, sir?" he inquired. + +"I do not, my son. Where are you from?" asked Mr. Hubbard, with a +kindlier expression than before. + +Jack told him, and answered two or three other questions. + +"From up in the country, eh?" he said. "Have you money enough to get +home again?" + +"I could get home," stammered Jack, "but there isn't any chance for a +boy up in Crofield." + +"Ten chances there for every one there is in the city, my boy," said +Mr. Hubbard. "One hundred boys here for every place that's vacant. +You go home. Dig potatoes. Make hay. Drive cows. Feed pigs. Do +_anything_ honest, but get out of New York. It's one great +pauper-house, now, with men and boys who can't find anything to do." + +"Thank you, sir," said Jack, with a tightening around his heart. "But +I'll find something. You see if I don't--" + +"Take my advice, and go home!" replied Mr. Hubbard, kindly. +"Good-morning." + +"Good-morning," said Jack, and while going out of that store he had the +vividest recollections of all the country around Crofield. + +"I'll keep on trying, anyway," he said. "There's a place for me +somewhere. I'll try some other trade. I'll do _anything_." + +So he did, until one man said to him: + +"Everybody is at luncheon just now. Begin again by and by; but I'm +afraid you'll find there are no stores needing boys." + +"I need some dinner myself," thought Jack. "I feel faint. Mister," he +added aloud, "I must buy some luncheon, too. Where's a good place?" + +He was directed to a restaurant, and he seated himself at a table and +ordered roast beef in a sort of desperation. + +"I don't care what it costs!" he said. "I've got some money yet." + +Beef, potatoes, bread and butter, all of the best, came, and were eaten +with excellent appetite. + +Jack was half afraid of the consequences when the waiter put a bright +red check down beside his plate. + +"Thirty cents?" exclaimed he joyfully, picking it up. "Why, that's the +cheapest dinner I've had in New York." + +"All right, sir. Come again, sir," said the waiter, smiling; and then +Jack sat still for a moment. + +"Six dollars, and, more too," he said to himself; "and my room's paid +for besides. I can go right on looking up a place, for days and days, +if I'm careful about my money. I mustn't be discouraged." + +He certainly felt more courageous, now that he had eaten dinner, and he +at once resumed his hunt for a place; but there was very little left of +his smile. He went into store after store with almost the same result +in each, until one good-humored gentleman remarked to him: + +"My boy, why don't you go to a Mercantile Agency?" + +"What's that?" asked Jack, and the man explained what it was. + +"I'll go to one right away," Jack said hopefully. + +"That's the address of a safe place," said the gentleman writing a few +words. "Look out for sharpers, though. Plenty of such people in that +business. I wish you good luck." + +Before long Jack Ogden stood before the desk of the "Mercantile Agency" +to which he had been directed, answering questions and registering his +name. He had paid a fee of one dollar, and had made the office-clerk +laugh by his confidence. + +"You seem to think you can take hold of nearly anything," he said. +"Well, your chance is as good as anybody's. Some men prefer boys from +the country, even if they can't give references." + +"When do you think you can get me a place?" asked Jack. + +"Can't tell. We've only between four hundred and five hundred on the +books now; and sometimes we get two or three dozen fixed in a day." + +"Five hundred!" exclaimed Jack, with a clouding face. "Why, it may be +a month before my turn comes!" + +"A month?" said the clerk. "Well, I hope not much longer, but it may +be. I wouldn't like to promise you anything so soon as that." + +Jack went out of that place with yet another idea concerning "business +in the city," but he again began to make inquiries for himself. It was +the weariest kind of work, and at last he was heartily sick of it. + +"I've done enough for one day," he said to himself. "I've been into I +don't know how many stores. I know more about it than I did this +morning." + +There was no doubt of that. Jack had been getting wiser all the while; +and he did not even look so rural as when he set out. He was really +beginning to get into city ways, and he was thinking hard and fast. + +The first thing he did, after reaching the Hotel Dantzic, was to go up +to his room. He felt as if he would like to talk with his sister Mary, +and so he sat down and wrote her a long letter. + +He told her about his trip, all through, and about his German friends, +and his Sunday; but it was anything but easy to write about Monday's +experiences. He did it after a fashion, but he wrote much more +cheerfully than he felt. + +Then he went down to the supper-room for some tea. It seemed to him +that he had ordered almost nothing, but it cost him twenty-five cents. + +It would have done him good if he could have known how Mary's thoughts +were at that same hour turning to him. + +At home, Jack's father and Mr. Magruder were talking about Jack's land, +arranging about the right of way and what it was worth, while he sat in +his little room in the Hotel Dantzic, thinking over his long, weary day +of snubs, blunders, insults and disappointments. + +"Hunting for a place in the city is just the meanest kind of work," he +said at last. "Well, I'll go to bed, and try it again to-morrow." + +That was what he did; but Tuesday's work was "meaner" than Monday's. +There did not seem to be even so much as a variation. It was all one +dull, monotonous, miserable hunt for something he could not find. It +was just so on Wednesday, and all the while, as he said, "Money will +just melt away; and somehow you can't help it." + +When he counted up, on Wednesday evening, however, he still had four +dollars and one cent; and he had found a place where they sold bread +and milk, or bread and coffee, for ten cents. + +"I can get along on that," he said; "and it's only thirty-cents a day, +if I eat three times. I wish I'd known about it when I first came +here. I'm learning something new all the time." + +Thursday morning came, and with it a long, gossipy letter from Mary, +and an envelope from Crofield, containing a letter from his mother and +a message from his father written by her, saying how he had talked a +little--only a little--with Mr. Magruder. There was a postscript from +Aunt Melinda, and a separate sheet written by his younger sisters, with +scrawly postscripts from the little boys to tell Jack how the workmen +had dug down and found the old church bell, and that there was a crack +in it, and the clapper was broken off. + +Jack felt queer over those letters. + +"I won't answer them right away," he said. "Not till I get into some +business. I'll go farther down town today, and try there." + + +At ten o'clock that morning, a solemn party of seven men met in the +back room of the Mertonville Bank. + +"Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees, please come to order. I suppose +we all agree? We need a teacher of experience. The academy's not +doing well. The lady principal can't do everything. She must have a +good assistant." + +"Who's your candidate, Squire Crowninshield?" asked Judge Edwards. +"I'm trustee as Judge of the County Court. I've had thirty-one +applications for my vote." + +"I've had more than that," said the Squire good humoredly. "I won't +name my choice till after the first ballot. I want to know who are the +other candidates first." + +"So do I," said Judge Edwards. "I won't name mine at once, either. +Who is yours, Elder Holloway?" + +"We'd better have a nominating ballot," remarked the Elder, handing a +folded slip of paper to Mr. Murdoch, the editor of the _Eagle_. "Who +is yours, Mr. Jeroliman?" + +"I haven't any candidate," replied the bank-president, with a worried +look. "I won't name any, but I'll put a ballot in." + +"Try that, then," said General Smith, who was standing instead of +sitting down at the long table. "Just a suggestion." + +Every trustee had something to say as to how he had been besieged by +applicants, until the seventh, who remarked: + +"I've just returned from Europe, gentlemen. I'll vote for the +candidate having the most votes on this ballot. I don't care who wins." + +"I agree to that," quickly responded General Smith, handing him a +folded paper. "Put it in, Dr. Dillingham. It's better that none of us +should do any log-rolling or try to influence others. I'll adopt your +idea." + +"I won't then," said Squire Crowninshield, pleasantly but very +positively. "Murdoch, what's the name of that young woman who edited +the _Eagle_ for a week?" + +"Miss Mary Ogden," said the editor, with a slight smile. + +"A clever girl," said the Squire, as he wrote on a paper, folded it, +and threw it into a hat in the middle of the table. He had not heard +Judge Edwards's whispered exclamation: + +"That reminds me! I promised my wife that I'd mention Mary for the +place; but then there wasn't the ghost of a chance!" + +In went all the papers, and the hat was turned over. + +"Now, gentlemen," said General Smith, "before the ballots are opened +and counted, I wish to ask: Is this vote to be considered regular and +formal? Shall we stand by the result?" + +"Certainly, certainly," said the trustees in chorus. + +"Count the ballots!" said the Elder. + +The hat was lifted and the count began. + +"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven--for Mary Ogden," said Elder +Holloway calmly. + +"I declare!" said General Smith. "Unanimous? Why, gentlemen, we were +agreed! There really was no difference of opinion whatever." + +"I'm glad she is such a favorite," said Judge Edwards; "but we can't +raise the salary on that account. It'll have to remain at forty +dollars a month." + +"I'm glad she's got it!" said Mr. Murdoch. "And a unanimous vote is a +high testimonial!" + +And so Mary was elected. + +Each of them had other business to attend to, and it was not until +Judge Edwards went home, at noon, that the news was known to Mary, for +the Judge carried the pleasant tidings to Mary Ogden at the +dinner-table. + +"Oh, Judge Edwards!" exclaimed Mary, turning pale. "I? At my age--to +be assistant principal of the academy?" + +"There's only the Primary Department to teach," said the Judge +encouragingly. "Not half so hard as that big, overgrown Sunday-school +class. Only it never had a good teacher yet, and you'll have hard work +to get it into order." + +"What will they say in Crofield!" said Mary uneasily. "They'll say I'm +not fit for it." + +"I'm sure Miss Glidden will not," said Mrs. Edwards, proudly. "I'm +glad it was unanimous. It shows what they all thought of you." + +Perhaps it did; but perhaps it was as well for Mary Ogden's temper that +she could not hear all that was said when the other trustees went home +to announce their action. + +It was a great hour for Mary, but her brother Jack was at that same +time beginning to think that New York City was united against him,--a +million and a half to one. + +He had been fairly turned out of the last store he had entered. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +JACK'S FAMINE. + +At Crofield, the morning mail brought a letter from Mary, telling of +her election. + +There was not so very much comment, but Mrs. Ogden cried a little, and +said: + +"I feel as if we were beginning to lose the children." + +"I must go to work," said the tall blacksmith after a time; "but I +don't feel like it. So Mary's to teach, is she? She seems very young. +I wish I knew about Jack." + +Meanwhile, poor Jack was half hopelessly inquiring, of man after man, +whether or not another boy was wanted in his store. It was only one +long, flat, monotony of "No, sir," and at last he once more turned his +weary footsteps up-town, and hardly had he done so before he waked up a +little and stood still, and looked around him. + +"Hullo!" he exclaimed, "I never was here before. This must be Chatham +Square and the Bowery. I've read about them in the guide-book. I can +go home this way. It's not much like Broadway." + +So he thought, as he went along. And it did not at all resemble +Broadway. It seemed to swarm with people; they appeared to be +attending to their own business, and they were all behaving very well, +so far as Jack could see. + +"Never saw such a jam," said Jack, as he pushed into a small throng on +a street corner, trying to get through; but at the word "jam" something +came down upon the top of his hat and forced it forward over his eyes. + +Up went both of his hands, instinctively, and at that moment each arm +was at once caught and held up for a second or two. It was all done in +a flash. Jack knew that some boisterous fellow had jammed his hat over +his eyes, and that others had hustled him a little; but he had not been +hurt, and he did not feel like quarreling, just then. He pushed along +through the throng, and was getting out to where the crowd was thinner, +when he suddenly felt a chill and a weak feeling at his heart. He had +thrust his hand into his pocket. + +"My pocket-book!" he said, faintly. "It's gone! Where could I have +lost it? I haven't taken it out anywhere. And there was more than +three dollars in it I'd saved to pay for my room!" + +He leaned heavily against a lamp-post for a moment, and all the bright +ideas he had ever had about the city became very dim and far away. He +put up one hand before his eyes, and at that moment his arm was firmly +grasped. + +"Here, boy! What's the matter?" + +He looked up, and saw a blue uniform and a hand with a club in it, but +he could not say a word in reply. + +"You seem all right. Are you sick?" + +"I've lost my pocket-book," said Jack. "Every cent I had except some +change." + +[Illustration: _"I've lost my pocket-book."_] + +"That's bad," and the keen-eyed officer understood the matter at a +glance, for he added: + +"You were caught in a crowd, and had your pocket picked? I can't do +anything for you, my boy. It's gone, and that's all there is of it. +Never push into crowds if you've any money about you. You'd better go +home now." + +"Only sixty-five cents left," Jack said, as he walked away, "for this +evening, and Saturday, and Sunday, and for all next week, till I get +something to do and am paid for doing it!" + +He had eaten ten cents' worth of bread and milk at noon; but he was a +strong and healthy boy and he was again hungry. Counting his change +made him hungrier, and he thought longingly of the brilliant +supper-room at the Hotel Dantzic. + +"That won't do," he thought. "I must keep away from Keifelheimer and +his restaurant. There, now, that's something like." + +It was a small stand, close by a dark-looking cellar way. Half was +covered with apples, candy, peanuts, bananas, oranges, and cocoa-nuts. +The other half was a pay-counter, a newspaper stand, and an +eating-house. Jack's interest centered on a basket, marked, "Ham +Sanwiges Five Cents." + +"I can afford a sandwich," he said, "and I've got to eat something!" + +At the moment when he leaned over and picked up a sandwich, a small old +woman, behind the counter, reached out her hand toward him; and another +small old woman stretched her hand out to a boy who was testing the +oranges; and a third small old woman sang out very shrilly: + +"Here's your sanwiges! Ham sanwiges! Only five cents! Benannies! +Oranges! Sanwiges!" + +Jack put five cents into the woman's hand, and he was surprised to find +how much good bread and boiled ham he had bought. + +"It's all the supper I'll have," he said, as he walked away. "I could +eat a loaf of bread and a whole ham, it seems to me!" + +All the way to the Hotel Dantzic he studied over the loss of his +pocket-book. + +"The policeman was right," he said to himself, at last. "I didn't know +when they took it, but it must have been when my hat was jammed down." + +When Jack met Mr. Keifelheimer in the hotel office, he asked him what +he thought about it. An expression of strong indignation, if not of +horror, crossed the face of the hotel proprietor. + +"Dey get you pocket-book?" he exclaimed. "You vas rob choost de same +vay I vas; but mine vas a votch und shain. It vas two year ago, und I +nefer get him back. Your friend, Mr. Guilderaufenberg, he vas rob dot +vay, vonce, but den he vas ashleep in a railvay car und not know ven it +vas done!" + +Jack was glad of so much sympathy, but just then business called Mr. +Keifelheimer away. + +"I won't go upstairs," thought Jack. "I'll sit in the reading-room." + +No letters were awaiting him, but there were plenty of newspapers, and +nearly a score of men were reading or talking. Jack did not really +care to read, nor to talk, nor even to listen; but two gentlemen near +him were discussing a subject that reminded him of the farms around +Crofield. + +"Yes," he heard one of them say, "we must buy every potato we can +secure. At the rate they're spoiling now, the price will be doubled +before December." + +"Curious, how little the market knows about it yet," said the other, +and they continued discussing letters and reports about potatoes, from +place after place, and State after State, and all the while Jack +listened, glad to be reminded of Crofield. + +"It was just so with our potatoes at home," he said to himself. "Some +farmers didn't get back what they planted." + +This talk helped him to forget his pocket-book for a while; then, after +trying to read the newspapers, he went to bed. + +A very tired boy can always sleep. Jack Ogden awoke, on Saturday +morning, with a clear idea that sleep was all he had had for +supper,--excepting one ham sandwich. + +"It's not enough," he said, as he dressed himself. "I must make some +money. Oh, my pocket-book! And I shall have to pay for my room, +Monday." + +He slipped out of the Hotel Dantzic very quietly, and he had a fine +sunshiny walk of two and a half miles to the down-town restaurant where +he ate his ten cents' worth of bread and milk. + +"It's enough for a while," he said, "but it doesn't last. If I was at +home, now, I'd have more bread and another bowl of milk. I'll come +here again, at noon, if I don't find a place somewhere." + +Blue, blue, blue, was that Saturday for poor Jack Ogden! All the +forenoon he stood up manfully to hear the "No, we don't want a boy," +and he met that same answer, expressed in almost identical words, +everywhere. + +When he came out from his luncheon of bread and milk, he began to find +that many places closed at twelve or one o'clock; that even more were +to close at three, and that on Saturday all men were either tired and +cross or in a hurry. Jack's courage failed him until he could hardly +look a man in the face and ask him a question. One whole week had gone +since Jack reached the city, and it seemed about a year. Here he was, +without any way of making money, and almost without a hope of finding +any way. + +"I'll go to the hotel," he said, at about four o'clock. "I'll go up +the Bowery way. It won't pay anybody to pick my pocket this time!" + +He had a reason for going up the Bowery. It was no shorter than the +other way. The real explanation was in his pocket. + +"Forty cents left!" he said. "I'll eat one sandwich for supper, and +I'll buy three more to eat in my room to-morrow." + +He reached the stand kept by the three small old women, and found each +in turn calling out, "Here you are! Sanwiges!--" and all the rest of +their list of commodities. + +"Four," said Jack. "Put up three of 'em in a paper, please. I'll eat +one." + +It was good. In fact, it was too good, and Jack wished it was ten +times as large; but the last morsel of it vanished speedily and after +looking with longing eyes at the others, he shut his teeth firmly. + +"I won't eat another!" he said to himself. "I'll starve it out till +Monday, anyway!" + +It took all the courage Jack had to carry those three sandwiches to the +Hotel Dantzic and to put them away, untouched, in his traveling-bag. +After a while he went down to the reading-room and read; but he went to +bed thinking of the excellent meals he had eaten at the Albany hotel on +his way to New York. + + +Mary Ogden's second Sunday in Mertonville was a peculiar trial to her, +for several young ladies who expected to be in the Academy next term, +came and added themselves to that remarkable Sunday-school class. So +did some friends of the younger Academy girls; and the class had to be +divided, to the disappointment of those excluded. + +"Mary Ogden didn't need to improve," said Elder Holloway to the +Superintendent, "but she is doing better than ever!" + +How Jack did long to see Mary, or some of the family in Crofield, and +Crofield itself! As soon as he was dressed he opened the bag and took +out one of his sandwiches and looked at it. + +"Why, they're smaller than I thought they were!" he said ruefully; "but +I can't expect too much for five cents! I've just twenty cents left. +That sandwich tastes good if it is small!" + +So soon was it all gone that Jack found his breakfast very +unsatisfactory. + +"I don't feel like going to church," he said, "but I might as well. I +can't sit cooped up here all day. I'll go into the first church I come +to, as soon as it's time." + +He did not care where he went when he left the hotel, and perhaps it +did not really make much difference, considering how he felt; but he +found a church and went in. A young man showed him to a seat under the +gallery. Not until the minister in the pulpit came forward to give out +a hymn, did Jack notice anything peculiar, but the first sonorous, +rolling cadences of that hymn startled the boy from Crofield. + +"Whew!" he said to himself. "It's Dutch or something. I can't +understand a word of it! I'll stay, though, now I'm here." + +German hymns, and German prayers, and a tolerably long sermon in +German, left Jack Ogden free to think of all sorts of things, and his +spirits went down, down, down, as he recalled all the famines of which +he had heard or read and all the delicacies invented to tempt the +appetite. He sat very still, however, until the last hymn was sung, +and then he walked slowly back to the Hotel Dantzic. + +"I don't care to see Mr. Keifelheimer," he thought. "He'll ask me to +come and eat at a big Sunday dinner,--and to pay for it. I'll dodge +him." + +He watched at the front door of the hotel for fully three minutes, +until he was sure that the hall was empty. Then he slipped into the +reading-room and through that into the rear passageway leading to the +elevator; but he did not feel safe until on his way to his room. + +"One sandwich for dinner," he groaned, as he opened his bag. "I never +knew what real hunger was till I came to the city! Maybe it won't last +long, though. I'm not the first fellow who's had a hard time before he +made a start." + +Jack thought that both the bread and the ham were cut too thin, and +that the sandwich did not last long enough. + +"I'll keep my last twenty cents, though," thought Jack, and he tried to +be satisfied. + +Before that afternoon was over, the guide-book had been again read +through, and a long home letter was written. + +"I'll mail it," he said, "as soon as I get some money for stamps. I +haven't said a word to them about famine. It must be time to eat that +third sandwich; and then I'll go out and take a walk." + +The sandwich was somewhat dry, but every crumb of it seemed to be +valuable. After eating it, Jack once more walked over and looked at +the fine houses on Fifth Avenue; but now it seemed to the hungry lad an +utter absurdity to think of ever owning one of them. He stared and +wondered and walked, however, and returned to the hotel tired out. + + +On Monday morning, the Ogden family were at breakfast, when a neat +looking farm-wagon stopped before the door. The driver sprang to the +ground, carefully helped out a young woman, and then lifted down a +trunk. Just as the trunk came down upon the ground there was a loud +cry in the open doorway. + +"Mother! Molly's come home!" and out sprang little Bob. + +"Mercy on us!" Mrs. Ogden exclaimed, and the whole family were on their +feet. + +Mary met her father as she was coming in. Then, picking up little +Sally and kissing her, she said: + +"There was a way for me to come over, this morning. I've brought my +books home, to study till term begins. Oh, mother, I'm so glad to get +back!" + +The blacksmith went out to thank the farmer who had brought her; but +the rest went into the house to get Mary some breakfast and to look at +her and to hear her story. + +Mrs. Ogden said several times: + +"I do wish Jack was here, too!" + +That very moment her son was leaving the Hotel Dantzic behind him, with +two and a half miles to walk before getting his breakfast--a bowl of +bread and milk. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +JACK-AT-ALL-TRADES. + +Jack Ogden, that Monday morning, had an idea that New York was a very +long city. + +He had eaten nothing since Saturday noon, excepting the sandwiches, and +he felt that he should not be good for much until after he had had +breakfast. His mind was full of unpleasant memories of the stores and +offices he had entered during his last week's hunt, and he did not +relish renewing it. + +"I must go ahead though," he thought. "Something must be done, or I'll +starve." + +Every moment Jack felt better, and he arose from the table a little +more like himself. + +"Ten cents left," he said, as he went out into the street. "That'll +buy me one more bowl of bread and milk. What shall I do then?" + +[Illustration: _"Ten cents left."_] + +It was a serious question, and demanded attention. It was still very +early for the city, but stores were beginning to open, and groups of +men were hurrying along the sidewalks on their way to business. Jack +went on, thinking and thinking, and a fit of depression was upon him +when he entered a street turning out from Broadway. He had not tried +this street before. It was not wide, and it was beginning to look +busy. At the end of two blocks, Jack uttered an exclamation: + +"That's queer!" he said. "They all sell coffee, tea, groceries, and +that sort of thing. Big stores, too. I'll try here." + +His heart sank a little, as he paused in front of a very bustling +establishment, bearing every appearance of prosperity. Some men were +bringing out tea-chests and bags of coffee to pile around the doorway, +as if to ask passers-by to walk in and buy some. The show-windows were +already filled with samples of sugar, coffee, and a dozen other kinds +of goods. Just beyond one window Jack could see the first of a row of +three huge coffee-grinders painted red, and back of the other window +was more machinery. + +"I'll go in, anyway," he said, setting his teeth. "Only ten cents +left!" + +That small coin, because it was all alone in his pocket, drove him into +the door. Two thirds down the broad store there stood a black-eyed, +wiry, busy-looking man, giving various directions to the clerks and +other men. Jack thought, "He's the 'boss.' He looks as if he'd say +no, right away." + +Although Jack's heart was beating fast, he walked boldly up to this man: + +"Mister," he said, "do you want to hire another boy?" + +"You are the hundred and eleventh boy who has asked that same question +within a week. No," responded the black-eyed man, sharply but good +naturedly. + +"Gifford," came at that moment from a very cheerful voice over Jack's +left shoulder, "I've cleaned out that lot of potatoes. Sold two +thousand barrels on my way down, at a dollar and a half a barrel." + +Jack remembered that some uncommonly heavy footsteps had followed him +when he came in, and found that he had to look upward to see the face +of the speaker, who was unusually tall. The man leaned forward, too, +so that Jack's face was almost under his. + +Mr. Gifford's answer had disappointed Jack and irritated him. + +"You did well!" said Mr. Gifford. + +Before he had time to think Jack said: + +"A dollar and a half? Well, if you knew anything about potatoes, you +wouldn't have let them go for a dollar and a half a barrel!" + +"What do you know about potatoes?" growled the tall man, leaning an +inch lower, and frowning at Jack's interruption. + +"More than you or Mr. Gifford seems to," said Jack desperately. "The +crop's going to be short. I know how it is up _our_ way." + +"Tell us what you know!" said the tall man sharply; and Mr. Gifford +drew nearer with an expression of keen interest upon his face. + +"They're all poor," said Jack, and then he remembered and repeated, +better than he could have done if he had made ready beforehand, all he +had heard the two men say in the Hotel Dantzic reading-room, and all he +had heard in Crofield and Mertonville. He had heard the two men call +each other by name, and he ended with: + +"Didn't you sell your lot to Murphy & Scales? They're buying +everywhere." + +"That's just what I did," said the tall man. "I wish I hadn't; I'll go +right out and buy!" and away he went. + +"Buy some on my account," said Mr. Gifford, as the other man left the +store. "See here, my boy, I don't want to hire anybody. But you seem +to know about potatoes. Probably you're just from a farm. What else +do you know? What can you do?" + +"A good many things," said Jack, and to his own astonishment he spoke +out clearly and confidently. + +"Oh, you can?" laughed Mr. Gifford. "Well, I don't need you, but I +need an engineer. I wish you knew enough to run a small steam-engine." + +"Why, I can run a steam-engine," said Jack. "That's nothing. May I +see it?" + +Mr. Gifford pointed at some machinery behind the counter, near where he +stood, and at the apparatus in the show-window. + +"It's a little one that runs the coffee-mills and the printing-press," +he said. "You can't do anything with it until a machinist mends +it--it's all out of order, I'm told." + +"Perhaps I can," said Jack. "A boy who's learned the blacksmith's +trade ought to be able to put it to rights." + +Without another word, Jack went to work. + +"Nothing wrong here, Mr. Gifford," he said in a minute. "Where are the +screw-driver, and the monkey-wrench, and an oil-can?" + +"Well, well!" exclaimed Mr. Gifford, as he sent a man for the tools. +"Do you think you can do it?" + +Jack said nothing aloud, but he told himself: + +"Why, it's a smaller size but like the one in the _Eagle_ office. They +get out of order easily, but then it's easy to regulate them." + +"You do know something," said Mr. Gifford, laughing, a few minutes +later, when Jack said to him: + +"She'll do now." + +"She won't do very well," added Mr. Gifford, shaking his head. "That +engine never was exactly the thing. It lacks power." + +"It may be the pulley-belt's too loose," said Jack, after studying the +mechanism for a moment. + +"I'll send for a man to fix it, then." + +"No, you needn't," said Jack. "I can tighten it so she'll run all the +machinery you have. May I have an awl?" + +"Of course," said Mr. Gifford. "Put it to rights. There's plenty of +coffee waiting to be ground." + +Jack went to work at the loose belt. + +"He's a bright fellow," said Mr. Gifford to his head-clerk. "If we +wanted another boy--but we don't." + +"Too many now," was the short, decisive reply. + +It was not long before the machinery began to move. + +"Good!" said Mr. Gifford. "I almost wish I had something more for you +to do, but I really haven't. If you could run that good-for-nothing +old printing-press--" + +"Printing-press?" exclaimed Jack. + +"Over in the other window," said Mr. Gifford. "We thought of printing +all our own circulars, cards, and paper bags. But it's a failure, +unless we should hire a regular printer. We shall have to, I suppose. +If you were a printer, now." + +"I've worked at a press," said Jack. "I'm something of a printer. I'm +sure I can do that work. It's like a press I used to run when I worked +in that business." + +Jack at once went to the show-window. + +"An 'Alligator' press," he said, "like the one in the _Standard_ +office. It ought to be oiled, though. It needs adjusting, too. No +wonder it would not work. I can make it go." + +The business of the store was beginning. Steam was up in the engine, +and the coffee-mills were grinding merrily. Mr. Gifford and all his +clerks were busied with other matters, and Jack was left to tinker away +at the Alligator press. "She's ready to run. I'll start her," he said +at last. + +He took an impression of the form of type that was in the press and +read it. + +"I see," he said. "They print that on their paper bags for an +advertisement. I'll show it to Mr. Gifford. There are plenty of blank +ones lying around here, all ready to print." + +He walked up to the desk and handed in the proof, asking: + +"Is that all right?" + +"No," said Mr. Gifford. "We let our stock of bags run down because the +name of the firm was changed. I want to add several things. I'll send +for somebody to have the proof corrections made." + +"You needn't," said Jack. "Tell me what you want. Any boy who's ever +worked in a newspaper office can do a little thing like that." + +"How do you come to know so much about machinery?" asked Mr. Gifford, +trying not to laugh. + +"Oh," said Jack, "I was brought up a blacksmith, but I've worked at +other trades, and it was easy enough to adjust those things." + +"That's what you've been up to is it?" said Mr. Gifford. "I saw you +hammering and filing, and I wondered what you'd accomplished. I want +the new paper bags to be,"--and he told Jack what changes were +required, and added: + +"Then, of course, I shall need some circulars--three kinds--and some +cards." + +"That press will run over a thousand an hour when it's geared right. +You'll see," said Jack, positively. + +"Well, here's a true Jack-at-all-trades!" exclaimed Mr. Gifford, +opening his eyes. "I begin to wish we had a place for you!" + +It was nearly noon before Jack had another sample of printing ready to +show. There was a good supply of type, to be sure, but he was not much +of a printer, and type-setting did not come easily to him. He worked +almost desperately, however, and meanwhile his brains were as busy as +the coffee-mills. He succeeded finally, and it was time, for a +salesman was just reporting: + +"Mr. Gifford, we're out of paper bags." + +"We must have some right away," said Mr. Gifford. "I wish that +youngster really knew how to print them. He's tinkering at it over +there." + +"Is that right?" asked Jack only a second later, holding out a printed +bag. + +"Why, yes, that's the thing. Go ahead," said the surprised +coffee-dealer. "I thought you'd failed this time." + +"I'll run off a lot," said Jack, "and then I'll go out and get +something to eat." + +"No, you won't," said Mr. Gifford promptly. "No going out, during +business hours, in _this_ house. I'll have a luncheon brought to you. +I'll try you to-day, anyhow." + +Back went Jack without another word, but he thought silently, "That +saves me ten cents." + +The Alligator press was started, and Jack fed it with the blank paper +bags the salesmen needed, and he began to feel happy. He was even +happier when his luncheon was brought; for the firm of Gifford & +Company saw that their employees fared well. + +"I declare!" said Jack to himself, "it's the first full meal I've had +since last week Wednesday! I was starved." + +On went the press, and the young pressman sat doggedly at his task; but +he was all the while watching things in the store and hearing whatever +there was to hear. + +"I know their prices pretty well," he thought. "Most of the things are +marked--ever so much lower than Crofield prices, too." + +He had piles of printed bags of different sizes ready for use, now +lying around him. + +"Time to get at some of those circulars," he was saying, as he arose +from his seat at the press and stepped out behind the counter. + +"Five pounds of coffee," said a lady, before the counter, in a tone of +vexation. "I've waited long enough. Mocha and Java, mixed." + +"Thirty-five cents," said Jack. + +"Quick, then," said she, and he darted away to fill her order. + +"Three and a half pounds of powdered sugar," said another lady, as he +passed her. + +"Yes, ma'am," said Jack. + +"How much is this soap?" asked a stout old woman, and Jack remembered +that price too. + +He was not at all aware that anybody was watching him; but he was just +telling another customer about tea and baking-soda when he felt a hand +upon his shoulder. + +"See here," demanded Mr. Gifford, "what are you doing behind the +counter?" + +"I was afraid they'd get tired of waiting and go somewhere else," said +Jack. "I know something about waiting on customers. Yes, ma'am, +that's a fine tea. Forty-eight cents. Half pound? Yes ma'am. In a +jiffy, Mr. Gifford;--there are bags enough for to-day." + +"I think you may stay," said the head of the house. "I didn't need +another boy; but I begin to think I do need a blacksmith, a carpenter, +a printer, and a good sharp salesman." As he was turning away he +added, "It's surprising how quickly he has picked up our prices." + +Jack's fingers were trembling nervously, but his face brightened as he +did up that package. + +Mr. Gifford waited while the Crofield boy answered yet another customer +and sold some coffee, and told Jack to go right on. + +"Come to the desk," he then said. "I don't even know your name. Come." + +Very hot and yet a little shaky was Jack as he followed; but Mr. +Gifford was not a verbose man. + +"Mr. Jones," he said to the head clerk, "please take down his +name;--what is it?" + +"John Ogden, sir," and after other questions and answers, Mr. Gifford +said: + +"Find a cheaper boarding-place. You can get good board for five +dollars a week. Your pay is only ten dollars a week to begin, and you +must live on that. We'll see that you earn it, too. You can begin +printing circulars and cards." + +Jack went, and Mr. Gifford added: + +"Why, Mr. Jones, he's saved sending for three different workmen since +he came in. He'll make a good salesman, too. He's a boy--but he isn't +only a boy. I'll keep him." + +Jack went to the press as if in a dream. + +"A place!" he said to himself. "Well, yes. I've got a place. Good +wages, too; but I suppose they won't pay until Saturday night. How am +I to keep going until then? I have to pay my bill at the Hotel +Dantzic, too--now I've begun on a new week. I'll go without my supper, +and buy a sandwich in the morning, and then--I'll get along somehow." + +He worked all that afternoon with an uneasy feeling that he was being +watched. The paper bags were finished, a fair supply of them; and then +the type for the circular needed only a few changes, and he began on +that. Each new job made him remember things he had learned in the +_Standard_ office, or had gathered from Mr. Black, the wooden foreman +of the _Eagle_. It was just as well, however, that things needed only +fixing up and not setting anew, for that might have been a little +beyond him. As it was, he overcame all difficulties, besides leaving +the press three times to act as salesman. + +Gifford & Co. kept open to accommodate customers who purchased goods on +their way home; and it was after nearly all other business houses, +excepting such as theirs, were closed, that the very tall man leaned in +at the door and then came striding down the store to the desk. + +"Gifford," he said, "that clerk of yours was right. There's almost a +panic in potatoes. I've got five thousand barrels for you, and five +thousand for myself, at a dollar and sixty, and the price just jumped. +They will bring two dollars. If they do, we'll make two thousand +apiece." + +"I'm glad you did so well," said Mr. Gifford dryly, "but don't say much +to him about it. Let him alone--" + +"Well, yes;--but I want to do something for him. Give him this ten +dollar bill from me." + +"Very well," said Mr. Gifford, "you owe the profit to him. I'll take +care of my side of the matter. Ogden, come here a moment!" + +Jack stopped the press and came to the desk. The money was handed to +him. + +"It's just a bit of luck," said the tall man; "but your information was +valuable to me." + +"Thank you," said Jack, after he had in vain refused the money. + +"You've done enough," said Mr. Gifford; "this will do for your first +day. Eight o'clock in the morning, remember. Good-night!" + +"I'm glad I belong here," Jack said to himself. "If I'd had my pick of +the city I would have chosen this very store. Ten dollars! I can pay +Mr. Keifelheimer now, and I sha'n't have to starve to death." + +Jack felt so prosperous that he walked only to the nearest station of +the elevated railway, and cheerfully paid five cents for a ride up-town. + +When the Hotel Dantzic was reached, it seemed a much more cheerful and +home-like building than it had appeared when he left it in the morning; +and Jack had now no notion of dodging Mr. Keifelheimer. There he stood +on the doorstep, looking stern and dignified. He was almost too polite +when Jack said: + +"Good-evening, Mr. Keifelheimer." + +"Goot-efening," he replied, with a bow. "I hope you gets along vell +mit your beezness?" + +"Pretty well," said Jack cheerfully. + +"Vere vas you feexed?" asked Mr. Keifelheimer, doubtfully. + +Jack held out one of the business cards of Gifford & Company, and +replied: + +"That's where I am. I guess I'll pay for my room here till the end of +this week, and then I'll find a place farther down town." + +"I vas so sorry dey peek your pocket," said Mr. Keifelheimer, looking +at the card. "Tell you vat, Mr. Ogden, you take supper mit me. It +cost you not'ing. I haf to talk some mit you." + +[Illustration: _Jack dines with Mr. Keifelheimer_.] + +"All right," said Jack. "I'll pay up at the desk, and then I'll get +ready for dinner." + +When he came down Mr. Keifelheimer was waiting for him, very smiling, +but not nearly so polite and dignified. Hardly were they seated at the +supper-table, before the proprietor coughed twice affectedly, and then +remarked: + +"You not leaf de Hotel Dantzic, Mr. Ogden. I use up pounds and boxes +of tea und sugar und coffee, und all dose sometings dey sell at Gifford +und Company's. You get me de best prices mit dem, und you safe me a +great heap of money. I get schwindled, schwindled, all de times! You +vas keep your room, und you pays for vat you eats. De room is a goot +room, but it shall cost you not vun cent. So? If I find you safe me +money, I go on mit you." + +"I'll do my best," said Jack. "Let me know what you're paying now." + +"Ve go all ofer de leest after ve eat someting," said Mr. Keifelheimer. +"Mr. Guilderaufenberg say goot deal about you. So did de ladies. I +vas sorry dot dey peek your pocket." + +Probably he had now forgotten just what he had thought of saying to +Jack in case the boy had not been able to pay for his room, and had +been out of employment; but Jack was enjoying a fine illustration of +that wise proverb which says: "Nothing succeeds like success." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE DRUMMER BOY. + +The Ogden family had said very little, outside of their own house, +about the news of Mary's success in Mertonville, but on that Monday +morning Miss Glidden received no less than four letters, and each of +them congratulated her over the election of her dear young friend, and +commented on how glad she must be. "Well," she said to herself, "of +course I'm glad. And I did all I could for her. She owes it all to +me. I'll go and see her." + +Mary Ogden had so much talking to do and so many questions to answer, +at the breakfast table, that her cup of coffee was cold before she +could drink it, and then she and her mother and her aunt went into the +parlor to continue their talk. + +John Ogden himself waited there a long time before going over to the +shop. His helper had the forge ready, and the tall blacksmith at once +put a rod of iron into the fire and began to blow the bellows. The rod +was at white heat and was out on the anvil in no time, and the hammer +began to ring upon it to flatten it out when John heard somebody speak +to him: + +"Mr. Ogden, what are you making? I've been watching you--and I can't +imagine!" + +"Well, Deacon Hawkins," said the blacksmith, "you'll have to tell. The +fact is I was thinking--well--my daughter has just come home." + +"I'm glad to hear it and to hear of her success," answered the Deacon. +"Miss Glidden told us. If you're not busy, I wish you'd put a shoe on +my mare's off hind foot." + +The blacksmith then went to work in earnest: and meanwhile Mary, at the +house, was receiving the congratulations of her friends. "Why, Mary +Ogden, my dear! Are you here?" exclaimed Miss Glidden. "I'm so glad! +I'm sure I did all I could for you." "My dear Mary!" exclaimed +another. And Mary shook hands heartily with both her callers, and +expressed her gratitude to Miss Glidden. + +It was a day of triumph for Mary, and it must have been for Miss +Glidden, for she seemed to be continually persuading herself that much +of the credit of Mary's advancement was hers. The neighbors came and +went, and more than one of Mary's old school-fellows said to her: "I'm +glad you are so fortunate. I wish _I_ could find something to do." +When the visitors were gone and Mary tried to help with the housework, +her mother said positively, "Now, Molly, don't touch a thing; you go +upstairs to your books, and don't think of anything else; I'm afraid +you won't have half time enough, even then." + +Her aunt gave the same advice, and Mary was grateful, being unusually +eager to begin her studies; and even little Sally was compelled to keep +out of Mary's room. + +During the latter part of that Monday afternoon John Ogden had an +important conference with Mr. Magruder, the railway director; and the +blacksmith came home, at night, in a thoughtful state of mind. + + +His son Jack, at about the same time sat in his room, at the Hotel +Dantzic, in the far-away city he had struggled so hard to reach; and +he, too, was in a thoughtful mood. + +"I'll write and tell the family at home, and Mary," he said after a +while. "I wonder whether every fellow who makes a start in New York +has to almost starve at the beginning!" + +He was tired enough to sleep well when bed-time came; but, +nevertheless, he was downstairs Tuesday morning long before Mr. +Keifelheimer's hour for appearing. Hotel-men who have to sit up late +often rise late also. + +"For this once," said Jack, "I'll have a prime Dantzic Hotel breakfast. +After this week, my room won't cost me anything, and I can begin to lay +up money. I won't ride down town, though; except in the very worst +kind of winter weather." + +It delighted him to walk down that morning, and to know just where he +was going and what work he had before him. + +"I'm sure," he thought, "that I know every building, big and little, +all the way along. I've been ordered out of most of these stores. But +I've found the place that I was looking for, at last." + +The porters of Gifford & Company had the store open when Jack got +there, and Mr. Gifford was just coming in. + +"Ogden," he said, in his usual peremptory way, "put that press-work on +the paper-bags right through, to-day." + +"One moment, please, Mr. Gifford," said Jack. + +"I've hardly a moment to spare," answered Mr. Gifford. "What is it?" + +"A customer," said Jack; "the Hotel Dantzic. I can find more of the +same kind, perhaps." + +"Tell me," was the answer, with a look of greater interest, but also a +look of incredulity. + +Jack told him, shortly, the substance of his talk with Mr. +Keifelheimer, and Mr. Gifford listened attentively. + +"His steward and buyers have been robbing him, have they?" he remarked. +"Well, he's right about it. No doubt we can save him from ten to +twenty per cent. It's a good idea. I'll go up and see him, by and by. +Now hurry with your printing!" + +Jack turned to the waiting "Alligator," and Mr. Gifford went on to his +desk. + +"Jones," he said, to his head clerk, "Ogden has drummed us a good hotel +customer," and then he told Mr. Jones about it. + +"Mr. Gifford," said Mr. Jones, shrewdly, "can we afford to keep a sharp +salesman and drummer behind that little printing-press?" + +"Of course not," said Mr. Gifford. "Not after a week or so. But we +must wait and see how he wears. He's very young, and a stranger." + +"Young fellows soon grow," said Mr. Jones. "He'll grow. He'll pick up +everything that comes along. I believe you'll find him a valuable +salesman." + +"Very likely," said Mr. Gifford, "but I sha'n't tell him so. He has +plenty of confidence as it is." + +"It's not impudence," said Mr. Jones. "If he hadn't been +pushing--well, he wouldn't have found this place with us. It's energy." + +"Yes," said Mr. Gifford; "if it was impudence we should waste no time +with him. If there is anything I despise out and out, it's what is +often called cheek." + +Next, he hated laziness, or anything resembling it, and Jack sat behind +the Alligator that day, working hard himself and taking note of how Mr. +Gifford kept his employees busy. + +"No wonder he didn't need another boy," he thought. "He gets all the +work possible out of every one he employs. That's why he's so +successful." + +It was a long, dull, hot day. The luncheon came at noon; and the +customers came all the time, but Jack was forbidden to meddle with them +until his printing was done. + +"Mr. Gifford's eyes are everywhere," said he, "but I hope he hasn't +seen anything out of the way in me. There are bags enough to last a +month--yes, two months. I'll begin on the circulars and cards +to-morrow. I'm glad it's six o'clock." + +Mr. Gifford was standing near the door, giving orders to the porters, +and as the Alligator stopped, Jack said to him: "I think I will go +visiting among the other hotels, this evening." + +"Very well," said Mr. Gifford quietly. "I saw Mr. Keifelheimer to-day, +and made arrangements with him. If you're going out to the hotels in +our interest, buy another hat, put on a stand-up collar with a new +necktie; the rest of your clothing is well enough. Don't try to look +dandyish, though." + +"Of course not," said Jack, smiling; "but I was thinking about making +some improvements in my suit." + +He made several purchases on his way up town, and put each article on +as he bought it. The last "improvement" was a neat straw hat, from a +lot that were selling cheaply, and he looked into a long looking glass +to see what the effect was. + +[Illustration: _Jack buys a new hat_.] + +"There!" he exclaimed. "There's very little of the 'green' left. It's +not altogether the hat and the collar, either. Nor the necktie. Maybe +some of it was starved out!" + +He was a different looking boy, at all events, and the cashier at the +desk of the Hotel Dantzic looked twice at him when he came in, and Mr. +Keifelheimer remarked: + +"Dot vas a smart boy! His boss vas here, und I haf safe money. Mr. +Guilderaufenberg vas right about dot boy." + +Jack was eager to begin his "drumming," but he ate a hearty supper +before he went out. + +"I must learn something about hotels," he remarked thoughtfully. "I'll +take a look at some of them." + +The Hotel Dantzic was not small, but it was small compared to some of +the larger hotels that Jack was now to investigate. He walked into the +first one he found, and he looked about it, and then he walked out, and +went into another and looked that over, and then he thought he would +try another. He strolled around through the halls, and offices, and +reading-rooms, and all the public places; but the more he saw, the more +he wondered what good it would do him to study them. + +It was about eight o'clock in the evening when he stood in front of the +office of the great Equatorial Hotel, feeling very keenly that he was +still only a country boy, with very little knowledge of the men and +things he saw around him. + +A broad, heavy hand came down upon his shoulder, and a voice he had +heard before asked, heartily: + +"John Ogden? You here? Didn't I tell you not to stay too long in the +city?" + +"Yes, you did, Governor," said Jack, turning quickly. "But I had to +stay here. I've gone into the wholesale and retail grocery business." + +Jack already knew that the Governor could laugh merrily, and that any +other men who might happen to be standing by were more than likely to +join with him in his mirth, but the color came at once to his cheeks +when the Governor began to smile. + +"In the grocery business?" laughed the Governor. "Do you supply the +Equatorial?" + +"No, not yet; but I'd like to," said Jack. "I think our house could +give them what they need." + +"Let me have your card then," said one of the gentlemen who had joined +in the Governor's merriment; "for the Governor has no time to spare--" + +Jack handed him the card of Gifford & Company. + +"Take it, Boulder, take it," said the Governor. "Mr. Ogden and I are +old acquaintances." + +"He's a protege of yours, eh?" said Boulder. "Well, I mean business. +Write your own name there, Mr. Ogden. I'll send our buyer down there, +to-morrow, and we'll see what can be done. Shall we go in, Governor?" + +Jack understood, at once, that Mr. Boulder was one of the proprietors +of the Equatorial Hotel. + +"I'm called for, Jack," said the Governor. "You will be in the city +awhile, will you not? Well, don't stay here too long. I came here +once, when I was about your age. I staid a year, and then I went away. +A year in the city will be of great benefit to you, I hope. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye, Governor," said Jack, seriously. "We'll do the right thing +by Mr. Boulder;" and there was another laugh as Jack shook hands with +the Governor, and then with the very dignified manager of the +Equatorial Hotel. + +"That will do, for one evening," thought Jack, as the distinguished +party of gentlemen walked away. "I'd better go right home and go to +bed. The Governor's a brick anyhow!" + +Back he went to the Hotel Dantzic, and he was soon asleep. + +The Alligator press in Gifford & Company's was opening and shutting its +black jaws regularly over the sheets of paper it was turning into +circulars, about the middle of Wednesday forenoon, when a dapper +gentleman with a rather prominent scarf-pin walked briskly into the +store and up to the desk. + +"Mr. Gifford?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir." + +"I'm Mr. Barnes," said the dapper man. "General buyer for the +Equatorial Hotel. Your Mr. Ogden was up with us, last night, to see +some of his friends, and I've come down to look at your price-list, and +so forth." + +"Oh!" quietly remarked Mr. Gifford, "our Mr. Ogden. Oh, quite right! +I think we can satisfy you. We'll do our best, certainly. Mr. Jones, +please confer with Mr. Barnes--I'll be back in a minute." + +Up toward the door walked Mr. Gifford, but not too fast. He stood +still when he arrived at the Alligator press. + +"Ogden," he said, "you can leave that work. I've another printing hand +coming." + +Jack's heart beat quickly, for a moment. What,--could he be discharged +so suddenly? He was dismayed. But Mr. Gifford went on: + +"Wash your hands, Ogden, and stand behind the counter there. I'll see +you again, by and by. The buyer is here from the Equatorial." + +"I promised them you'd give them all they wanted, and as good prices as +could be had anywhere," said Jack, with a great sense of relief, and +recovering his courage. + +"We will," said Mr. Gifford, as he turned away, and he did not think he +must explain to Jack that it would not do for Mr. Barnes to find +Gifford & Company's salesman, "Mr. Ogden," running an Alligator press. + +Mr. Barnes was in the store for some time, but Jack was not called up +to talk with him. Mr. Gifford was the right man for that part of the +affair, and in the course of his conversation with Mr. Barnes he +learned further particulars concerning the intimacy between "your Mr. +Ogden" and the Governor, with the addition that "Mr. Boulder thinks +well of Mr. Ogden too." + +Jack waited upon customers as they came, and he did well, for "a new +hand." But he felt very ignorant of both articles and prices, and the +first thing he said, when Mr. Gifford again came near him, was: + +"Mr. Gifford, I ought to know more than I do about the stock and +prices." + +"Of course you ought," said Mr. Gifford. "I don't care to have you try +any more 'drumming' till you do. You must stay a few months behind the +counter and learn all you can. You must dress neatly, too. I wonder +you've looked as well as you have. We'll make your salary fifteen +dollars a week. You'll need more money as a salesman." + +Jack flushed with pleasure, but a customer was at hand, and the +interruption prevented him from making an answer. + +"Jones," remarked Mr. Gifford to his head clerk, "Ogden is going to +become a fine salesman!" + +"I thought so," said Jones. + +They both were confirmed in this opinion, about three weeks later. +Jack was two hours behind time, one morning; but when he did come, he +brought with him Mr. Guilderaufenberg of Washington, with reference to +a whole winter's supplies for a "peeg poarding-house," and two United +States Army contractors. Jack had convinced these gentlemen that they +were paying too much for several articles that could be found on the +list of Gifford & Company in better quality and at cheaper rates. + +"Meester Giffort," said the German gentleman, "I haf drafel de vorlt +over, und I haf nefer met a better boy dan dot Jack Ogden. He knows +not mooch yet, alretty, but den he ees a very goot boy." + +"We like him," said Mr. Gifford, smiling. + +"So do I, und so does Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, und Miss Hildebrand, und +Miss Podgr-ms-chski," said the German. "Some day you lets him visit us +in Vashington? So?" + +"I don't know. Perhaps I will," said Mr. Gifford; but he afterward +remarked grimly to Mr. Jones: "If I should, and he should meet the +President, Ogden would never let him go until he bought some of our tea +and coffee!" + +That day was a notable one in both Crofield and Mertonville. Jack's +first long letter, telling that he was in the grocery business, had +been almost a damper to the Ogden family. They had kept alive a small +hope that he would come back soon, until Aunt Melinda opened an +envelope that morning and held up samples of paper bags, cards, and +circulars of Gifford & Company, while Mrs. Ogden read the letter that +came with them. Bob and Jim claimed the bags next, while Susie and +Bessie read the circulars, and the tall blacksmith himself straightened +up as if he had suddenly grown prouder. + +"Mary!" he exclaimed. "Jack always said he'd get to the city. And +he's there--and earning his living!" + +"Yes, but--Father," she said, with a small shake in her voice, "I--wish +he was back again. There'd be almost room for him to work in Crofield, +now." + +"Maybe so, maybe so," he replied. "There'll be crowds of people coming +in when they begin work on the new rail way and the bridge. I signed +the deeds yesterday for all the land they're buying of Jack and me. I +won't tell him about it quite yet, though. I don't wish to unsettle +his mind. Let him stay where he is." + +"This will be a trying day for Mary," said Aunt Melinda, thoughtfully. +"The Academy will open at nine o'clock. Just think of what that child +has to go through! There'll be a crowd there, too,--oh, dear me!" + + +Mary Ogden sat upon the stage, by previous orders from the Academy +principals, awaiting the opening exercises; but the principals +themselves had not yet arrived. She looked rather pale, and she was +intently watching the nickel-plated gong on the table and the hands of +the clock which hung upon the opposite wall. + +"Perhaps the principals are here," Mary thought as the clock hands +crept along. "But they said to strike the bell at nine, precisely, and +if they're not here I must do it!" + +At the second of time, up stood Mary and the gong sounded sharply. + +That was for "Silence!" and it was very silent, all over the hall, and +all the scholars looked at Mary and waited. + +"Clang," went the gong again, and every boy and girl arose, as if they +had been trained to it. + +Poor Mary was thinking, "I hope nobody sees how scared I am!" but the +Academy term was well opened, and Dr. Dillingham was speaking, when the +Reverend Lysander Pettigrew and Mrs. Henderson, the tardy principals, +came hurrying in to explain that an accident had delayed them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +COMPLETE SUCCESS. + +Two years passed. There was a great change in the outward aspect of +Crofield. The new bridge over the Cocahutchie was of iron, resting on +stone piers, and the village street crossed it. The railroad bridge +was just below, but was covered in with a shed, so that the trains +might not frighten horses. The mill was still in its place, but the +dam was two feet higher and the pond was wider. Between the mill and +the bridge was a large building of brick and stone that looked like a +factory. Between the street and the railway, the space was filled by +the station-house and freight depot, which extended to Main Street; and +there were more railway buildings on the other side of the Cocahutchie. +Just below the railroad and along the bank of the creek, the ground was +covered by wooden buildings, and there was a strong smell of leather +and tan-bark. Of course, the old Washington Hotel was gone; but across +the street, on the corner to the left, there was a great brick +building, four stories high, with "Washington Hotel" painted across the +front of it. The stores in that building were just finished. Looking +up Main Street, or looking down, it did not seem the same village. The +new church in the middle of the green was built of stone; and both of +the other churches were rapidly being demolished, as if new ones also +were to take their places. + +It was plain, at a glance, that if this improvement was general, the +village must be extending its bounds rapidly, for there never had been +too much room in it, for even the old buildings with which Jack had +been familiar. + +Jack Ogden had not been in Crofield while all this work was going on. +His first week with Gifford & Company seemed the most exciting week +that he had ever known, and the second was no less busy and +interesting. He did not go to the German church the second Sunday, but +later he did somehow drift into another place of worship where the +sermon was preached in Welsh. + +"Well!" said Jack, when he came out, at the close of the service, "I +think I'll go back to the church I went to first. I don't look so +green now as I did then, but I'm sure the General will remember me." + +He carried out this determination the next Sunday. The sexton gave him +a seat, and he took it, remarking to himself: + +"A fellow feels more at home in a place where he's been before. +There's the General! I wish I was in his pew. I'll speak to him when +he comes out." + +The great man appeared, in due season, and as he passed down the aisle +he came to a boy who was just leaving a pew. With a smile on his face, +the boy held out his hand and bowed. + +"Good-morning," said the General, shaking hands promptly and bowing +graciously in return. Then he added, "I hope you'll come here every +Sunday." + +[Illustration: _Jack speaks to the General_.] + +That was all, but Jack received at least a bow, every Sunday, for four +weeks. On the Monday after the fourth Sunday, the door of Gifford & +Company's store was shadowed by the entrance of a very proud-looking +man who stalked straight on to the desk, where he was greeted cordially +by Mr. Gifford, for he seemed to be an old friend. + +"You have a boy here named John Ogden?" asked the General. + +"Yes, General," said Mr. Gifford. "A fine young fellow." + +"Is he doing well?" asked the General. + +"We've no fault to find with him," was the answer. "Do you care to see +him? He's out on business, just now." + +"No, I don't care to see him," said the General. "Tell him, please, +that I called. I feel interested in his progress, that's all. +Good-morning, Mr. Gifford." + +The head of the firm bowed the general out, and came back to say to Mr. +Jones: "That youngster beats me! He can pick up a millionaire, or a +governor, as easily as he can measure a pound of coffee." + +"Some might think him rather bold," said Jones, "but I don't. He is +absorbed in his work, and he puts it through. He's the kind of boy we +want, no doubt of that." + +"See what he's up to, this morning!" said Mr. Gifford. "It's all +right. He asked leave, and I told him he might go." + +Jack had missed seeing the General because he did not know enough of +the grocery business. He had said to Mr. Gifford: + +"I think, Mr. Gifford, I ought to know more about this business from +its very beginnings. If you'll let me, I'd like to see where we get +supplies." + +That meant a toilsome round among the great sugar refineries, on the +Long Island side of the East River; and then another among the tea and +coffee merchants and brokers, away down town, looking at samples of all +sorts and finding out how cargoes were unloaded from ships and were +bought and sold among the dealers. He brought to the store, that +afternoon, before six o'clock, about forty samples of all kinds of +grocery goods, all labeled with prices and places, and he was going on +to talk about them when Mr. Gifford stopped him. + +"There, Ogden," he said. "I know all about these myself,--but where +did you find that coffee? I want some. And this tea?--It is two cents +lower than I'm paying. Jones, he's found just the tea you and I were +talking of--" and so he went on carefully examining the other samples, +and out of them all there were seven different articles that Gifford & +Company bought largely next day. + +"Jones," said Mr. Gifford, when he came back from buying them, "they +had our card in each place, and told me, 'Your Mr. Ogden was in here +yesterday. We took him for a boy at first.'--I'm beginning to think +there are some things that only that kind of boy can do. I'll just let +him go ahead in his own way." + + +Mary had told Jack all about her daily experiences in her letters to +him, and he said to himself more than once: + +"Dudley Edwards must be a tip-top fellow. It's good of him to drive +Mary over to Crofield and back every Saturday. And they have had such +good sleighing all winter. I wish I could try some of it." + +There was no going to Crofield for him. When Thanksgiving Day came, he +could not afford it, and before the Christmas holidays Mr. Gifford told +him: + +"We can't spare you at Christmas, Ogden. It's the busiest time for us +in the whole year." + +Mr. Gifford was an exacting master, and he kept Jack at it all through +the following spring and summer. Mary had a good rest during the hot +weather, but Jack did not. One thing that seemed strange to her was +that so many of the Crofield ladies called to see her, and that Miss +Glidden was more and more inclined to suggest that Mary's election had +been mainly due to her own influence in Mertonville. + +On the other hand, it seemed to Jack that summer, as if everybody he +knew was out of the city. Business kept pressing him harder and +harder, and all the plans he made to get a leave of absence for that +second year's Thanksgiving Day failed to work successfully. + +The Christmas holidays came again, but throughout the week, Gifford & +Company's store kept open until eight o'clock, every evening, with Jack +Ogden behind the counter. He got so tired that he hardly cared about +it when they raised his salary to twenty-five dollars a week, just +after Mr. Gifford saw him come down town with another coffee and tea +dealer, whose store was in the same street. + +"We mustn't let him leave us, Jones," Mr. Gifford had said to his head +clerk. "I am going to send him to Washington next week." + +Not many days later, Mrs. Guilderaufenberg in her home at Washington +was told by her maid servant that, "There's a strange b'y below, ma'am, +who sez he's a-wantin' to spake wid yez." + +Down went the landlady into the parlor, and then up went her hands. + +"Oh, Mr. Jack_og_den! How glad I am to see you! You haf come! I gif +you the best stateroom in my house." + +"I believe I'm here," said Jack, shaking hands heartily. "How is Mr. +Guilderaufenberg and how is Miss--" + +"Oh, Miss Hildebrand," she said, "she will be so glad, and so will Mrs. +Smith. She avay with her husband. He is a Congressman from far vest. +You will call to see her." + +"Mrs. Smith?" exclaimed Jack, but in another second he understood it, +and asked after his old friend with the unpronounceable name as well as +after Miss Hildebrand. + +"She has a name, now, that I can speak! I'm glad Smith isn't a Polish +name," he said to himself. + +"Oh, Mr. Jack_og_den!" exclaimed Mrs. Guilderaufenberg, a moment later. +"How haf you learned to speak German? She will be so astonish!" + +That was one use he had made of his evenings, and he had improved by +speaking to all the Germans he had met down town; and his German was a +great delight to Mr. Guilderaufenberg, and to Miss Hildebrand, and to +Mrs. Smith (formerly Miss Pod----ski) when he called to see them. + +"So!" said Mr. Guilderaufenberg, "you takes my advice and you comes. +Dis ees de ceety! Ve shows you eet all ofer. All de beeg buildings +and all de beeg men. You shtay mit Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and me till +you sees all Vashington." + +Jack did so, but he had business errands also, and he somehow managed +to accomplish his commissions so that Mr. Gifford was quite satisfied +when he returned to New York. + +"I haven't sold so many goods," said Jack, "but then I've seen the city +of Washington, and I've shaken hands with the President and with +Senators and Congressmen. Mr. Gifford, how soon can I make a visit to +Crofield?" + +"We'll arrange that as soon as warm weather comes," said his employer. +"Make it your summer vacation." + +Jack had to be satisfied. He knew that more was going on in the old +village than had been told him in any of his letters from home. His +father was a man who dreaded to write letters, and Mary and the rest of +them were either too busy, or else did not know just what news would be +most interesting to Jack. + +"I'm going to see Crofield!" said he, a hundred times, after the days +began to grow longer. "I want to see the trees and the grass and I +want to see corn growing and wheat harvesting. I'd even like to be +stung by a bumblebee!" + +He became so eager about it, at last, that he went home by rail all the +way, in a night train, and he arrived at Crofield, over the new +railroad, just as the sun was rising, one bright June morning. + +"Goodness!" he exclaimed, as he walked out of the station. "It's not +the same village! I won't go over to the house and wake the family +until I've looked around." + +From where he stood, he gazed at the new hotel, and took a long look up +and down Main Street. Then he walked eagerly down toward the bridge. + +"Hullo!" he said in amazement. "Our house isn't there! Why, what is +the meaning of this? I knew that the shop had been moved up to the +back lot. They're building houses along the road across the +Cocahutchie! Why haven't they written and told me of all this?" + +He saw the bridge, the factory, the tannery, and many other buildings, +but he did not see the familiar old blacksmith shop on the back lot. + +"I don't know where we live nor where to find my home!" he said, almost +dejectedly. "They know I'm coming, though, and they must have meant to +surprise me. Mary's at home, too, for her vacation." + +He walked up Main Street, leaving his baggage at the station. +New--new--new,--all the buildings for several blocks, and then he came +to houses that were just as they used to be. One pretty white house +stood back among some trees, on a corner, and, as Jack walked nearer, a +tall man in the door of it stepped quickly out to the gate. He seemed +to be trying to say something, but all he did, for a moment, was to +beckon with his hand. + +[Illustration: _Jack returns home_.] + +"Father!" shouted Jack, as he sprang forward. + +"Jack, my son, how are you?" + +"Is this our house?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, this is our house. They're all getting up early, too, because +you're coming. There are some things I want to talk about, though, +before they know you're actually here. Walk along with me a little +way." + +On, back, down Main Street, walked Jack with his father, until they +came to what was now labeled Bridge Street. When Jack lived in +Crofield the road had no name. + +"See that store on the corner?" asked Mr. Ogden. "It's a fine-looking +store, isn't it?" + +"Very," said Jack. + +"Well, now," said his father, "I'm going to run that store, and I do +wish you were to be in it with me." + +"There will be none too much room in it for Bob and Jim," said Jack. +"They're growing up, you know!" + +"You listen to me," continued the tall blacksmith, trying to be calm. +"The railway company paid me quite a snug sum of money for what they +needed of your land and mine. Mr. Magruder did it for you. I bought +with the money thirty acres of land, just across the Cocahutchie, to +the left of the bridge. Half of it was yours to begin with, and now +I've traded you the other half. Don't speak. Listen to me. Most of +it was rocky, but the railway company opened a quarry on it, getting +out their stone, and it's paying handsomely. Livermore has built that +hotel block. I put in the stone and our old house lot, and I own the +corner store, except that Livermore can use the upper stories for his +hotel. The factory company traded me ten shares of their stock for +part of your land on which they built. I traded that stock for ten +acres of rocky land along the road, across the Cocahutchie, up by the +mill. That makes forty acres there." + +"Father!" exclaimed Jack. "All it cost me was catching a runaway team, +and your bill against the miller! Crofield is better than the grocery +business in New York!" + +"Listen!" said his father, smiling. "The tannery company traded me a +lot of their stock for the rest of my back lot and for the rest of your +gravel, and they tore down the blacksmith shop, and I traded their +stock and some other things for the house where we live. I made your +part good to you, with the land across the creek, and that's where the +new village of Crofield is to be." + +"I didn't see a cent of money in any of those trades, but I've a +thousand dollars laid up, and I'm only working in the railroad shop +now, but I'm going into the hardware business. I wish you'd come back +and come in with me. There's the store--rent free. We can sell plenty +of tools, now that Crofield is booming!" + +"I've saved up seven hundred and fifty dollars," said Jack, "from my +salary and commissions. I'll put that in. Gifford & Company'll send +you things cheap. But, Father,--I belong in the city. I've seen +hundreds of boys there who didn't belong there, but I do. Let's go +back to the house. Bob and Jim--" + +"Well, maybe you're right," said his father, slowly. "Come, let us go +home. Your mother has hardly been able to wait to see you." + +When they came in sight of the house, the stoop and the front gate were +thronged with home-folk, but Jack could not see clearly for a moment. +The sunshine, or something else, got into his eyes. Then there were +pairs of arms, large and small, embracing him, and,--well, it was a +happy time, and Mary was there and his mother, and the family were all +together once more. + +"How you have grown!" said his aunt. "_How_ you have grown!" + +"I do wish you'd come home to stay!" exclaimed his mother. + +"Perhaps he will," said his father, and Mary had hardly said a word +till then, but now it seemed to burst out in spite of her. + +"Oh Jack!" she said. "If I could go back with you, when you go! I +could live with a sister of Mrs. Edwards. She's invited me to live +with her for a whole year. And I could finish my education, and be +really fit to teach. I've saved some money." + +"Mary!" answered Jack, "I can pay all the other expenses. Do come!" + +"Yes, you'd better go, Jack," said his father, thoughtfully. "I am +sure that you are a city boy." + +That was a great vacation, but no trout were now to be caught in the +Cocahutchie. The new store on the corner was to be opened in the +autumn, and Jack insisted upon having it painted a bright red about the +windows. There were visits to Mertonville, and there were endless +talks about what Jack's land was going to be worth, some day. But the +days flew by, and soon his time was up and he had to go back to the +city. He and Mary went together, and they went down the Hudson River +in the steamer "Columbia." + +Mr. Dudley Edwards, of Mertonville, went at the same time to attend to +some law business, he said, in New York. + +Jack told Mr. Gifford all about the Crofield town-lots, and his +employer answered: + +"That is the thing for you, Ogden; you'll have some capital, when you +come of age, and then we can take you in as a junior partner. You +belong in the city. I couldn't take you in any sooner, you know. We +don't want a boy." + +"That's just what you told me," said Jack roguishly, "the first time I +came into this store; but you took me then. Well, I shall always do my +best." + + + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Crowded Out o' Crofield, by William O. 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