Dan The Newsboy 12

Dan The Newsboy 12

"Do you know the wharf of the Cunard steamers?" asked the gentleman.

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Is it far off?"

 

"Not more than five or six minutes' walk," answered Dan.

 

"Can you help me as far as that with my luggage?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"I will make it worth your while, and you will be doing me a great favor

besides. I was brought down to the ferry, but the rascally hackman

demanded five dollars more to carry me across and land me at the Cunard

pier. He thought I would have to submit to this imposition, but I was so

indignant that I tried to handle all my luggage myself. I don't know how

I should have managed without you."

 

"I won't charge you so much, sir," said Dan, smiling.

 

"It isn't for the money I cared so much as for the imposition. I would

rather pay you ten dollars than the hackman five."

 

"Be careful, sir," said Dan, smiling, "or I may take advantage of your

liberal offer."

 

The gentleman smiled in turn.

 

"You don't look like a boy that would take advantage of a traveler."

 

"You can't judge from appearances, sir. I have been robbed of six

dollars to-day, and I might try to make it up that way."

 

"You have been robbed! How?"

 

Dan briefly related the circumstances.

 

"Was it all the money your mother had?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"How did you happen to be coming across the ferry?"

 

"I thought Mike might be here somewhere."

 

By this time they were in sight of the Cunard wharf.

 

"Were you ever on a Cunard steamer?" asked the gentleman.

 

"No, sir."

 

"Help me on board with my luggage, and I will show you about."

 

"I thought the steamers generally left in the morning," said Dan.

 

"So they do; but to-day the tide did not serve till later."

 

Dan helped Mr. Stevens down below with his luggage, and assisted him in

storing them in his stateroom. He surveyed with interest the cabin, the

deck, the dining-saloon, and the various arrangements.

 

"Well," said the gentleman, smiling, "how do you like it?"

 

"First-rate, sir."

 

"Do you think you would like to be going with me?"

 

"Yes, sir, but for my mother."

 

"Of course, it won't do to desert her; otherwise I might be tempted to

make you an offer. I am sure you would be very useful to me."

 

"I should like it very much, if mother did not need me."

 

Dan went up stairs with Mr. Stevens, and remained till visitors were

warned that it was time to go ashore.

 

"I must go, sir," he said.

 

Mr. Stevens drew a five-dollar bill from his vest pocket and handed it

to Dan.

 

"I haven't any change, sir," said Dan.

 

"None is required," said the gentleman, smiling.

 

"Do you really mean to give me five dollars, sir?"

 

"That is what the hackman wanted to charge me."

 

"But it was too much."

 

"It was too much for him; it is not too much for you, if I am willing to

give it to you."

 

"You are very kind, sir," said Dan, almost doubting the reality of his

good fortune.

 

"It will prove that I spoke truly when I said I didn't care for the

amount of money, only for the imposition. I am really very glad to give

it to you. Good-by, my boy."

 

He offered his hand. Dan shook it heartily, and, wishing him a pleasant

voyage, descended the gangplank.

 

"That is almost as much as Mike robbed me of," he said to himself. "How

lucky I came over to Jersey City! Now, if I could only get back part of

the money Mike robbed me of, I should be the better off for his mean

trick."

 

Dan did not immediately return to New York. He had been so fortunate

that he decided to spend the rest of the afternoon as he liked.

 

He walked on for ten minutes, Mike being temporarily out of his mind,

when his attention was suddenly drawn to him. Just in front of him he

saw Mike himself swaggering along, with a ten-cent cigar in his mouth,

and both hands thrust deep in his trousers pockets. He was strolling

along in fancied security, not dreaming of the near presence of the boy

whom he had so meanly robbed.

 

Dan's eyes sparkled when he recognized his enemy, and hastening his

pace, he put his hand on Mike's shoulder.

 

Mike turned quickly, and his countenance changed when he saw Dan.

 

"Has he found it out?" suggested his guilty conscience. "Anyway, he

can't prove anything. I'll bluff him off."

 

"Hallo, Dan!" he said, in affected cordiality. "What brings you over

here?"

 

"What brings _you_ over here, Mike?" asked Dan, significantly.

 

"I'm looking for a job," said Mike.

 

"You look like it," retorted Dan, "with both hands in your pockets and

a cigar in your mouth! Times seem to be good with you. How much did that

cigar cost?"

 

"I don't know," answered Mike, with unblushing falsehood. "A man gave it

to me for holdin' his hoss."

 

Mike was never at a loss for a plausible lie.

 

"I thought you bought it."

 

"I haven't got any money."

 

"Did they let you over the ferry free, then?"

 

"Oh, I had money enough for that."

 

"I guess you have got more."

 

"No, I haven't. Ten cents was all I had."

 

"Then how are you going to take Terence Quinn to the theater to-night?"

asked Dan.

 

Even Mike's brazen effrontery was hardly prepared to meet this

unexpected question.

 

"What do you mane?" he stammered.

 

"Terence told me you had invited him."

 

"Then he lies!" said Mike, his self-assurance returning. "He invited

me."

 

"Look here, Mike Rafferty," said Dan, out of patience; "that won't go

down! Terence told the truth. I know where you got the money you were

going to treat him with."

 

"Where, then?"

 

"From my mother's pocket-book."

 

"It's a lie!" blustered Mike.

 

"It's the truth, and if you don't hand over what's left without making

any more trouble, I'll have you arrested."

 

"You can't. We're in Jersey----"

 

"I shall have you arrested as soon as you get home."

 

"I didn't take the money," said Mike, sullenly.

 

"You did, and you know it," said Dan, firmly. "Give me what you have

left, and I'll make no trouble about it. If you don't, you're booked for

another term at the island."

 

Mike tried to save his ill-gotten gains, but Dan was persistent, and

finally extracted from him four dollars and a half. The rest Mike

pretended he had spent. He was sly enough, however, to have saved enough

to take him to the Old Bowery.

 

On the whole, Dan was satisfied, considering the five dollars he had

received on the Cunard steamer, but he could not forbear giving Mike a

farewell shot.

 

"How did it happen, Mike, that you took the Jersey Ferry to Brooklyn?"

 

Mike did not deign a reply.

 

"That is my first appearance as a detective," thought Dan. "It seems to pay."