Part 4 (2/2)
When the two days were up Archie had made all his preparation, and was ready to leave New York for Manila He had sent a long letter hoood fortune, and enclosing a cheque for a hundred dollars, which she was to spend while he was gone
He told her that he would send her more money from time to time, and felt very proud as he mailed the letter He told her, too, that if at any time she didn't hear fro, and he would let her know of his whereabouts This was sohtfully advised him to do
”Your mother is sure to worry if the mails are overdue,” he had said, ”and if she writes to me, I will always be able to tell her of your whereabouts, for we can hear of you through our other correspondents, if not from your own despatches” So Archie felt that his mother shouldn't worry, since he was such a fortunate boy in sofarealk up Broadway
Everything was bright with light, and there was, as usual, a great crowd of pleasure-seekers on the sidewalks It was all as fascinating as ever to Archie, and he felt sorry that he was to leave it so soon New York had begun to grow on hith of time, who is in a position to appreciate the city's attractions He felt that he would almost rather be on Broadway than in the Philippines, but of course he forgot this feeling when he re had reposed in hi him upon such an iht theatres and restaurants, he turned down a quiet side street and returned to his lodging, so that hejourney
At seven in thefarewell to hisEnterprise Every one congratulated hiuish hireat future before him, Archie felt happier than ever before in all his life
The train left the Grand Central Station at one o'clock, and Mr
Jennings ith him to the station to see him well started upon the journey ”You may be sure we are all much interested in you, Archie,” he said, as the train was leaving, ”and we shall look forward anxiously to your safe return” These words lad, for it cheered him to know that at least one of the editors liked him for himself as well as for what he could do
The Southwestern Li the banks of the beautiful Hudson, and everything was so delightful that Archie could scarcely believe that only a week or two before he had been walking along country roads, anxious to reach New York, that hein this train was as perfect as enuity could s to be examined, when Archie tired of the landscape Then, when the train had been two hours out of New York, he discovered that the fareat railway systee, he deter been anxious to see this famous after-dinner orator and statesain So he went back to the drawing-rooreat , and Archie was asked to seat hi horeat interest, and this distinguished wit seemed to find many of the adventures very funny indeed ”You have certainly had some wonderful experiences,” he said, when Archie had finished, ”and I can appreciate your anxiety to leave school I had that desire myself when I was a boy of about fifteen, but e ument, unless you can call an ox-tea to stay at ho ti there with a lot of girls and soer boys, and that I wanted to work Finally, my father said that I could stay at home if I cared to, and that he would let me work on the farm for a ti out of school
”The nextI akened at four o'clock, and had to s my breakfast in a hurry, because I was late, my father said Then he took me out to the barn and ordered me to hitch up the ox-team, and when this was done he took me out to a pasture lot and told me to pick up all the boulders there Well, I picked up boulders all day long, and by evening my back and arms were so sore I could hardly move them I was too tired to eat supper, and was soon asleep in bed When , I told hi back to school After that I was content to stay in school, and said nothinguntil I had finished the course and was ready to go to college”
And Archie thought it very queer that such a famous man should have had such experiences when a boy He re-room for more than an hour, and when he left he felt perfectly sure that he had been talking with theman in the world
The train sped on and on, and when daylight cah Northern Ohio Early in the afternoon they reached a great smoky metropolis, spread out for o, and he decided, as this was Saturday, and the steamer wouldn't leave San Francisco until the next Friday, that he would have time to remain here over Sunday So he left the train at the station in Pacific Avenue, and, Finding a hotel near the station, he started out to see so of the city famous for its dirt and for the World's Fair, tidely different things
CHAPTER XIII
SAN FRANCISCO--THE TRANSPORT GONE--WORKING HIS WAY TO HONOLULU BY PEELING VEGETABLES ON A PACIFIC LINER--THE CAPITAL OF HAWAII
ARCHIE found Chicago to be so widely different fro to hiested business section of the city, the tall office buildings, the great stores, and the faht, but still it wasn't nearly so fascinating to him as New York had been on the first day he visited it
”Chicago seereat town,” he explained to the hotel clerk in the evening ”I feel as if I were not in a great city at all, because there are not the evidences of a large and wealthy population that we have everywhere in New York” Archie spoke of New York as if he had lived there always, and foundhe went up to Lincoln Park and the beautiful North Shore, and he felt that there was nothing nificent park, and this handsoreat houses whose lawns reached down almost to the lake itself On the South Side of the city, too, he found some handso of being in so town It wasn't hard for Archie to realise that there were older houses in his native town than could be found anywhere in the great city of Chicago
The greatest difference between Chicago and New York was to be noticed in the evening Instead of the brilliantly lighted thoroughfares of upper Broadway and Twenty-third and Thirty-fourth Streets, he found but one street in Chicago which was at all illuns in front of dime museums The streets, too, were not so crowded, and Archie aled that he could be back on Broadway, if only for a little while
On Sunday he found Chicago to be a more noisy city than he had ever been in before on that day, and he found that the people ood use of their one weekly holiday All places of a in ”full blast”
The parks seemed to be very popular, indeed, and there were nuan, to Milwaukee, St Joe, and various other neighbouring cities The street-cars were crowded all day long, ame of baseball at the Athletic Park All of this was very interesting and very new to Archie, but it didn't er than Monday , so on that day he took the limited train for the Pacific Coast, for he had deterain until he reached Denver
Days of weary travel over a level, uninteresting stretch of ground followed the departure of the train fro persons to talk with he would have been very weary long before reaching Denver As it was, he ed to pass the time very pleasantly until the train entered Colorado, and after that he found much that was new to look at until he reached Denver Here he re of the city and a little of the neighbouring country Then, taking a train for San Francisco, he reached that city on Thursday afternoon, and i He found, to his great disappointment, that the army transport had sailed the previous day, contrary to the expectations of the editors, and of the War Department itself, until the arrival of important despatches from Manila, which made it necessary to start the transport at once with supplies of ammunition Archie hardly knehat to do He had not anticipated anything like this, and could scarcely think of any plan for a tiency He went to the naval agent and asked him when the transport would be due at Honolulu, and then he ascertained that a passenger stea for that port on Saturday would reach the destination three days sooner than the transport, so that by taking the liner he would have three extra days in Honolulu, and would be able to reach Manila on schedule time, after all
He at once decided that this was the thing for hi the steaht possibly be able to work his way to Honolulu, instead of paying the regular passenger fare, which he kneas high So he went down to the great docks, and, after interviewing the second steward, he approached the chief steward hi that he could do aboard the shi+p to earn his passage The chief steas thoughtful for a time, and finally said, ”Well, yes, I believe there is
We haven't any one to peel vegetables yet, and if you think you care to do that work I guess we can fix you up all right” Archie didn't wait to consider whether peeling vegetables was hard work or not He was too glad to have a position of any kind aboard shi+p to be particular about what his as like, so he told the steward that he illing to take the place ”Well, be on hand at about eight in the et to Honolulu”
Archie was overjoyed at his goodto save about a hundred dollars,” he said to himself, ”and I will have this money to send ho he spent in going about San Francisco, and he found it to be more like New York than any city he had yet seen There was the sahfares, and the sahout the city He found a great deal to interest hi connected with the army monopolised his attention Heto be sent to the Philippines, and hoped, on leaving, that he would meet some of them there, but he hardly expected that he would e manner as it was his fate to do in Luzon