Dan The Newsboy 1
Dan The Newsboy
Author: Horatio Alger Jr.
CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE.
I.--Introducing Dan 9
II.--Dan at Home 16
III.--Gripp's Clothing Store 24
IV.--An Odd Couple 31
V.--Effecting a Loan 39
VI.--More than a Match 46
VII.--Mr. Gripp is Worsted 54
VIII.--Mike Rafferty's Trick 63
IX.--Mike's Theft is Discovered 69
X.--Dan as a Detective 77
XI.--Dan Has Another Adventure 85
XII.--A Mysterious Lady 93
XIII.--Althea 101
XIV.--A New Home 109
XV.--Dan Becomes a Detective 117
XVI.--Dan Makes a Discovery 125
XVII.--Talbot's Secret 133
XVIII.--Two Knights of the Highway 141
XIX.--Dan as a Good Samaritan 150
XX.--Laying the Train 154
XXI.--Twelve Thousand Dollars 158
XXII.--Talbot's Scheme Fails 166
XXIII.--The Calm Before the Storm 175
XXIV.--Old Jack, the Janitor 179
XXV.--The Burglary 183
XXVI.--Dan Learns to Dance 191
XXVII.--In the Dressing-room 195
XXVIII.--Dan at the Party 199
XXIX.--A Ne'er do Well 207
XXX.--How Hartley Got a Clew 215
XXXI.--Althea's Abduction 222
XXXII.--Donovan's 229
XXXIII.--Althea Becomes Katy Donovan 237
XXXIV.--Another Little Game 245
XXXV.--Dan Disguises Himself 252
XXXVI.--Dan Makes a Discovery 260
XXXVII.--Dan is Discovered 264
XXXVIII.--Unpleasant Quarters 268
XXXIX.--Dan Discomfits the Donovans 272
XL.--Hartley Surprised 279
XLI.--Dan is Adopted 286
XLII.--Conclusion 292
DAN, THE NEWSBOY.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCING DAN.
"_Evening Telegram!_ Only one left. Going for two cents, and worth
double the money. Buy one, sir?"
Attracted by the business-like tone of the newsboy, a gentleman paused
as he was ascending the steps of the Astor House, and said, with a
smile:
"You seem to appreciate the _Telegram_, my boy. Any important news this
afternoon?"
"Buy the paper, and you'll see," said the boy, shrewdly.
"I see--you don't care to part with the news for nothing. Well, here are
your two cents."
"Thank you, sir."
Still the gentleman lingered, his eyes fixed upon the keen, pleasant
face of the boy.
"How many papers have you sold to-day, my boy?" he asked.
"Thirty-six, sir."
"Were they all _Telegrams_?"
"No; I sell all the papers. I ain't partial. I'm just as willing to make
money on the _Mail_, or _Commercial_, or _Evening Post_, as the
_Telegram_."
"I see you have an eye to business. How long have you dealt in papers?"
"Three years, sir."
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
"What did you do before you sold papers?"
A shadow rested on the boy's bright face.
"I didn't have to work then, sir," he said. "My father was alive, and he
was well off. We lived in a nice house up town, and I went to a private
school. But all at once father failed, and soon afterward he died, and
then everything was changed. I don't like to think about it, sir."
The gentleman's interest was strongly excited.
"It is a sad story," he said. "Is your mother living?"
"Yes, sir. The worst of it is, that I don't make enough to support us
both, and she has to work, too."
"What does she do?"
"She makes vests for a man on Chatham street."
"I hope she is well paid."
"That she is not. He only allows her twenty cents apiece."
"That is a mere pittance. She can't earn much at that rate."
"No, sir; she has to work hard to make one vest a day."
"The man can't have a conscience," said the gentleman, indignantly. "It
is starvation wages."
"So it is, sir, but he pretends that he pays more than the work is
worth. Oh, he's a mean fellow," pursued the boy, his face expressive of
the scorn and disgust which he felt.
"What is your name, my boy?"
"Dan, sir--Dan Mordaunt."
"I hope, Dan, you make more money than your mother does."
"Oh, yes, sir. Sometimes I make a dollar a day, but I don't average
that. I wish I could make enough so that mother wouldn't have to work."
"I see you are a good son. I like to hear you speak in such terms of
your mother."
"If I didn't," said Dan, impetuously, "I should deserve to be kicked.
She's a good mother, sir."
"I have no doubt of it. It must be hard for her to be so reduced after
once living liberally. How happened it that your father failed?"
The boy's pleasant face assumed a stern __EXPRESSION__.
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