Adventures of a Boy Reporter

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  DOING "SPECIAL" WORK UPON THE EVENING PAPER--INTERVIEWS WITH FAMOUS MEN--CALLS UPON OLD FRIENDS.

  THERE was so much to tell Mr. Jennings and Mr. Van Bunting, that Archiedidn't get away from the Enterprise office until seven o'clock in theevening. And what a lot they did say to each other during the afternoon!Archie told of all his experiences, and found them all anxious to hearabout them. He learned, to his joy, that everything he had sent had beenprinted, and that the articles had made a great hit with the public. "Wewould have liked to keep you there longer, but we knew you must be wornout, and then we want you to stay right here, now, and see if youcannot get us some good interviews and articles of various kinds for theEvening Enterprise. The paper has been losing ground somewhat, of late,and we need some new life for its pages. Of course the morning paperprofited greatly by your articles, but the evening edition seemed veryweak in comparison, and we think it only fair to Mr. Jennings to lethim have you on his staff for awhile now. So if you are willing, you canstart in to-morrow as a member of the staff. We will see that you arewell paid for what you write, or we will put you on salary, whicheveryou like. You can think it over, and in the morning you can tell uswhich plan you like best."

  Archie wanted to ask for a few days' absence to return home, but hefelt, somehow, that he ought not to ask it just now. So he contentedhimself with writing a long letter to his mother, in which he enclosed avery large check, money which he had not used on his return to New York.He told her that he would be home just as soon as he could get off forany length of time, and he knew that she would now be looking forward tothe visit every day. She had written him about the enthusiasm displayedby every one over his achievements, and how proud she was of what hehad accomplished. "I think I am the proudest mother in the country," shewrote one day, and this sentence made Archie very happy, of course, andmore anxious than ever to return home. He received a letter, too, fromJack Sullivan, telling him how much the boys all thought of his success,and how every member of the Hut Club had longed time and again to bewith him. "It all reads just like some book," Jack wrote, "and we aredying to have you come home and tell us all about it." Then his mothersent him clippings from the town papers, eulogising his efforts, andcalling him the "coming man of the State." All this was very pleasantand very encouraging, and Archie couldn't help having a kindly feelingfor the townsfolk who thought so much of him.

  New York was as delightful as ever. It was now the last of April, andthe trees were all green with fresh leaves, and the numerous littleparks scattered over the city were looking their very best. The asphaltpavements looked clean and elegant when Archie thought of some otherstreets he had seen, and the tall office buildings lifted their ornatedomes and cupolas into a sky of clear blue. "Surely," he thought tohimself, "this is the most charming city in all the world." FifthAvenue, with its crowds of fashionable folk, and its throng of vehicles,was a delight of which he never tired, and when he went into theBowery, just to see how things were looking now, he found it quite asinteresting and as dirty as in the fall.

  But the first place he visited was the dear little square awaydown-town, where he had lived during those few happy days spent in NewYork. It, too, looked the same, only the flowers and grass were freshernow, and the fountain seemed to flow more joyously, now that spring washere. The house where he had lodged was as clean as ever, and Archieat once decided to engage a room here, where he could have his New Yorkhome. So he called upon the motherly landlady, and was glad to learnthat the room he had first was still vacant, and that he could takepossession at once.

  As before, when he came to this house, Archie was almost out ofclothing, so he went out and fitted himself with everything he needed.And this time he felt able to buy the best to be had, for he thought hehad now earned the privilege to dress well if he liked. And then, whenhe had everything he needed to wear, he went out and bought many prettythings for his room, for he felt that he would like to have it just ascosy and home-like as possible. He wasn't able to do much at it thisfirst night, but in the succeeding days he furnished the place in acharming way, so that the landlady said it was the "handsomest room inthe house, sir." The dear old lady could hardly understand this greatchange in her lodger's circumstances. She worried about it very often,and discussed the question with many of the neighbours. "He come herelast fall looking mighty poor-like, but, lawsy me, he's as fine now asany man on the avenue." And she never did understand it until one dayshe learned that her lodger was the "very young man who had been to thewar in the Philippines, and writ about his battles in the Enterprise."

  There was no ceremony when Archie began work on the evening paper. Mr.Jennings told him that he thought they understood each other prettywell, and that he could use his own discretion, very often, aboutgetting articles. "You can be as independent as you like, Archie," hesaid, "and use your own ideas as much as you like." This pleased the boyvery much indeed. He was beginning to feel now that he had really wonhis spurs, and that he was a full-fledged journalist. It seemed scarcelypossible that it had taken him little more than six months to makethis great advance in circumstances, and yet he could see himself a fewmonths previous, sleeping in the station-house. Now his days of povertywere surely over, and he would have a clear path ahead of him toaccomplish his great ambition to be a successful author and writer ofbooks. For the present, it was good experience for him to be workingupon the Enterprise, and he felt that he ought to be very muchcontented, since there were men old enough to be his father who were notearning as much money.

  He liked the work upon the evening paper very much. He didn't have toget down early in the morning, and at three o'clock in the afternoonhe was always through. He was very glad indeed that there was no nightwork, for he now spent his evenings in studying shorthand, which hethought might be helpful to him in many ways. He didn't have muchroutine work to do upon the paper in the beginning, but he told Mr.Jennings that he would like to get as much experience as possible, sothe good editor gave him a lot of regular reporting to do, as well asthe special work which was daily featured in the paper. This specialwork consisted of interviews with various successful men. Archie hadalways felt a great admiration for men who had "done something," andas New York was simply filled with wealthy and successful men, who hadstarted as poor boys, he found a wide field for work. He found it veryinteresting to meet these men of affairs, and have them tell him oftheir early struggles, how they had begun on the farm or in the factory,and had worked themselves up through industry and perseverance to thehigh places they now occupied. He found it very easy to get accessto most of them, for they had all read of his experiences in theEnterprise, and Archie found that his fame as the "Boy Reporter" wasquite general and widespread. Some of the great men were quite as muchdetermined to interview him as he was anxious to interview them, sothat he usually got along very well by telling them first of his ownexperiences, and then asking them about their own boyhood days. Itwas work that never became monotonous, for each day he saw a man quitedifferent in most respects from the man he had interviewed the daybefore, and of course every one had something different to say.

  These interviews proved very successful when published in the EveningEnterprise, and Mr. Jennings had him continue them during all the weeksArchie was connected with the paper. And of course he did other things,too, work which took him into every part of the great city, lookingup this event, or investigating this reported disappearance or murder.Archie was quite successful in this line, too, and, as he was being paidby the column, his weekly income was something larger than he had everdared to hope for in all his life. He was now enabled to study hisstenography at the best school, and to indulge himself in many thingswhich had been denied him before. He could, for instance, attend theperformances of grand opera, and hear the great musical artists of theworld. He was able, too, to read the best literature, and he graduallylearned to appreciate all the many good things in life. He was very gladto find himself broadening in such a way, for he real
ised that hewould not always want to be a "Boy Reporter," and that he had better bedeveloping his mind in every possible way.

  He had not been back long in New York before he met all his old friends.One of the first upon whom he called was the good policeman who had beenso very kind to him when he had no place to sleep. The large-hearted manwas as enthusiastic over his success as if he had been his own son,and Archie felt that here was one true friend upon whom he could alwaysdepend. The policeman never tired of telling about that first night whenhe found Archie walking up and down Broadway, and he always spoke of himto the other officers as "that boy of mine." So the boy, who was now afull-fledged reporter, spent as much time with this friend as possible,and many a time he sat at the station-house telling them all of hisadventures in the Orient.

  Another friend whom he met was the great railway president with whom hehad travelled to Chicago on his way to San Francisco. Archie had likedthis man from the very first, and he felt that in him he wouldalways find a friend, because he had shown such interest in his firstundertaking. And when he called upon him in his elegant office, hereceived a very cordial greeting.

  "No, indeed," said the great man of affairs, "I have never forgotten ourtrip West together, and I have followed you with much interest throughthe columns of the Enterprise. And I am glad that you are back again inNew York, for I hope to see a great deal of you. You must come up to myhouse some evening and tell us all about yourself."

  Archie was naturally much surprised to receive an invitation of thiskind, but he resolved to accept it, nevertheless.

  Bill Hickson was now employed in the Brooklyn navy yard. He had beenfeatured for several days in the Enterprise, and had enjoyed theexcitement of New York for awhile, but he decided he would like to be atwork. So one day Archie learned that he was working at the navy yard.

  "I've got to be with Uncle Sam," was all the reason Bill would give forhis action.