ARCHIE LONGS FOR A CHANGE IN SURROUNDINGS--A TRIP TO NEW YORK WITH UNCLE
HENRY.
THE Hut Club went out on a picnic the next Saturday, and had a jolly
time. They camped upon an island in the middle of a shallow stream, and
while there made coffee and cooked their dinner, having brought most of
the necessary apparatus from the Hut. They fished a little, and hunted
for turtles in the water, and altogether had a good time, if nothing
exciting did occur. It was after nine o’clock at night when they reached
town again, footsore and weary, and Archie Dunn had hardly entered the
house before he was on the dining-room lounge, half-asleep. His mother
seemed to be out, and as he lay there he wondered how long it would be
before she came back. Archie truly loved his mother, but of late he
had often thought that he would like to leave home and go to the famous
city, where he felt sure he could get something to do. But he disliked
the idea of leaving his mother.
“I’m getting to be a big boy, now,” he often said to himself, “and it’s
time that I began to look out for myself. I’m nearly seventeen, and I
think I ought to be earning some money. This thing of belonging to Hut
Clubs and spending my time in going to picnics and to circuses ought to
stop. It’s all right for boys, but I’m getting to be a man, now.”
All these thoughts were flying through his mind when his mother came in.
“Oh, Archie,” she exclaimed, “I’ve been so worried about you. I’ve just
been over to Mrs. Sullivan’s to see if Dannie had come home, and whether
he had seen you. Wherever have you been?”
“We didn’t think it would take so long to walk home,” said Archie,
jumping up from the sofa, “but we were awfully tired, and we didn’t come
very fast. I’m so sorry you were worried.
“And I’m as hungry as a bear, mother. Can’t you find me something to
eat?”
“Yes, dear,” said Mrs. Dunn, softly, “and when you’ve finished your
supper I have something for you. I won’t give it to you now for fear you
won’t be able to eat, but as soon as you have finished your meal, you
shall have it.”
So Archie was obliged to eat his baked beans and brown bread and drink
his milk without knowing what was in store for him, and he hurried as
fast as he could, so that he could learn. When he had finished he went
into the sitting-room, and found his mother sitting with a letter spread
open upon her lap. “Uncle Henry has written me asking if you cannot go
with him to New York on Monday, for a couple of days. He is obliged to
go down there on business, and says he will be glad to take you along
and show you something of the wonderful city, for he knows you won’t be
any trouble to him. Now I hardly know what to say, Archie. If I can feel
that you are behaving yourself properly, and are doing your best to be
as little trouble as possible, I am willing that you shall go.”
“Oh, mother,” cried Archie, “I’ll promise anything. Only let me go this
once, and I’ll promise to stay at home all the rest of the summer.”
“All right, then,” said Mrs. Dunn. “You shall go on the first train
Monday morning, and Uncle Henry will join you at Heddens Corner. Run
along to bed now.”
Archie went up-stairs almost dumb with delight Was it really true that
he was to see the great city at last? He had heard some of the boys at
school telling what their fathers saw there, but he had never even hoped
that he would see it for himself so soon. Of course he had determined to
see it all some day, but that was to be far in the future. The lad
could hardly sleep for the joy of it all, and when he did finally
lose consciousness, it was only to dream of streets of gold, and great
buildings reaching to the skies.
Sunday passed slowly by. At Sunday school, Archie told the boys that
he was going to New York on the morrow, and from that moment he was the
hero of the class. The boys looked at him with wondering admiration, and
seemed scarcely able to realise that one of their number was to go so
far from home. The city was in reality little more than a hundred miles,
but to their boyish minds this distance seemed wonderfully great.
Early on Monday morning Archie was at the depot waiting for the train.
His mother was there to see him off, and there were tears in her eyes
at the thought of parting with her only child, if only for a day or two.
And Archie was radiant with delight at the glorious prospect ahead of
him. He walked nervously up and down the platform, and wished frequently
that it were not so early in the morning, so that some of the boys might
be there to see him off. Finally, the great hissing locomotive drew up,
with its long train of coaches, and Archie was soon aboard, hurrying off
to Heddens Corner and the city. In a few minutes Uncle Henry was with
him, a tall, fine-looking man, with an air of business. Uncle Henry
kept the general store at the Corner, and was an important person in the
neighbourhood. He was of some importance in the city, too, for his
name was known in politics, and his custom was always desired at
the wholesale stores. So Archie was going to see the city under good
auspices, if his uncle would only have time to take him about with him.
After a couple of hours, during which Archie kept his face glued to
the window-pane, watching the flying landscape, the great train pulled
through a long, dark tunnel, and finally entered an immense shed,
covered with glass where it came to a final stop. Crowds left the
coaches, and passed out of the station, where they were swallowed up in
the great rush of traffic. Some drove away in cabs and carriages. Some
entered the street-cars, and some went up a stairway and entered what
seemed to Archie a railway train in the air.
Uncle Henry told Archie to follow him carefully, and they, too, were
soon flying away from the neighbourhood of the terminal, past hotels,
stores, and dwellings, until they finally left the trolley-car, and
passed through a cross street into a long, quiet thoroughfare which
looked old enough to have been there for a hundred years. The houses
were built far back from the street, with pillars in front, and into one
of these quaint old dwellings went Archie and his uncle.
“I always stop down-town,” explained Uncle Henry, “because I am near to
the great wholesale establishments. It is central to the retail stores,
too, and to many of the places of interest.”
When they were settled in their room, Uncle Henry explained that he
would have to be away most of this first day, but that to-morrow he
would take Archie out and show him the sights. So Archie expected to
remain indoors all day; but when his uncle had left the house he
decided that he couldn’t possibly remain in this close room when so many
wonderful things were taking place outside. So he decided to walk up and
down the street, anyhow, and when he went out he felt like a prisoner
just escaped from a cell. But the noise was terrible, and there were a
great many wagons and trucks passing through the street. The greatest
crowd seemed to be on that cross street about two blocks away, so Archie
decided to go there, and see if there was anything new on that street.
He saw many wonderful things. There were cars running along without any
apparent motive power, there were thousands and thousands of people in
the streets, and the stores looked so handsome and interesting that he
simply couldn’t resist going into one or two of them, just to see what
they were like. And when he had finished with one or two he could think
of no reason why he shouldn’t go on up the street, where he was sure he
would find a great many more interesting things to see. So on and on
he went, until at last he was tired and hungry, and then, for the first
time, he was a little frightened, because he thought of all he had read
about people losing their way in the city, and not being able to find
their relatives again. But he was a brave boy, so he determined to make
an effort to find his way back without appealing to a policeman. And
after a time he was successful, and entered the queer old house in the
ancient street at just three o’clock in the afternoon. His uncle was
there waiting for him, and was nearly beside himself with apprehension.
“I was about to send out a general alarm for you, at the police
station,” he said. “How did you happen to go away?”
“Oh, I was so very tired of staying in the house,” said Archie, “and I
felt sure that I could find my way back without getting lost at all.
And to-morrow I’m sure I can get along all right, Uncle Henry, so you
needn’t bother with me at all, unless you want to.”
And it so happened that Mr. Kirk was very busy the next day, and would
have found it quite impossible to show Archie about. So it was fortunate
that he was able to go everywhere alone, or he would have had to return
home without seeing anything at all of the city.
As it was, he went here, there, and everywhere, and saw a great deal of
the city, the people, and the way in which they lived. The entire place
had a strange fascination for him, and all the time he was thinking how
glad he would be to live where he could see all this rush of business,
this varied life, every day. And he fully determined to return some day
and get something to do, so that he might work himself up, and come
to own one of the handsome houses on the avenues, or drive one of the
elegant carriages on the boulevard. And he observed every boy who
passed him, and talked with several of them, trying to find out whether
positions were easy to secure, and whether they paid much when they were
secured.
So when they took the four o’clock train for home, and arrived at
Archie’s house in time for supper, he told more about the city boys and
their work than about the tall buildings, the Brooklyn Bridge, or the
Central Park. He talked so much, in fact, about the delights of the city
boy, and the money he earned, that after he had gone to bed Mrs. Dunn
took her brother aside and talked with him concerning Archie’s future.
And between them they definitely decided that Archie must not go to the
city to work.