CHAPTER II.
THE ARRIVAL.
A glance at the plethoric pocket-book caused the boy on the train to feel a kindly interest in the traveler from Berry’s Corner; and as a result of this one-sided friendship Josiah, in a comparatively short time, had two more brass pins with their accompaniment of candy, a roll of colored pictures, and three bananas.
If the distance had been longer, to this collection would have been added the news-agent’s broken-bladed knife; for he had already begun to make overtures toward such a sale when the train rolled into the station, and the journey was at an end.
“Jersey City!” the conductor shouted, and the newsboy said imploringly:—
“Hold on a while. You’ll have plenty of time; the cars won’t be pulled out for twenty minutes yet, and I’ve got a lot of things to trade.”
Josiah paid no attention to the young man’s request. His one desire was to meet Tom and Bob as soon as possible, and there was no question in his mind but that they were at this moment standing on the platform ready to receive him.
He fancied the general arrangement of the station would be similar to the one at Berry’s Corner, and, therefore, anticipated but little trouble in finding his friends.
Staggering under the weight of the heavy valise, he hurried to the door, despite the news-agent’s attempts to detain him, and, stepping down on the platform, looked about him in bewilderment.
Crowds of people hurrying to and fro as if their very lives depended upon reaching a certain point at a given time; trucks of baggage; odd, crate-like carts with tiny wheels, drawn by well-groomed horses, and the impatient panting of the engines, all served to confuse him greatly and frighten him not a little.
Had he been sufficiently friendly with the newsboy to have confided in him as to his intended course after leaving the cars, he might have been told that Tom and Bob could not get into the train-shed, but would be obliged to wait outside near the ferry-slip.
Since he was ignorant regarding the rules governing the waiting friends of passengers, he considered it necessary to remain exactly where he had alighted, arguing with himself that the boys might have been detained at home, and would soon arrive.
No one paid any attention to him.
Each person was bent on his or her business or pleasure; and the boy from the country, with his satchel beside him, stood looking first in one direction and then another for those who were to introduce him to city life.
When the passengers from the incoming train had alighted, many people came from the waiting-rooms to embark in the several cars which had been made ready for departure; and this change in the living current was to Josiah most perplexing.
He fancied he was in the station proper, and believed the new-comers had simply chanced to enter from the street in such large groups.
For a time he was interested in the bustle and confusion everywhere around him, and then came the thought that possibly his friends might be on the outside.
“I reckon that’s where they’re waitin’; an’ I’ve been standin’ here like a bump on a log, showin’ folks jest how green I am.”
Although Josiah was not ashamed of living at Berry’s Corner, he hoped it might be possible to pass as a city boy, for he had a certain dread of appearing “countrified.”
In order to prevent any possibility of this, he decided not to ask a single question relative to locations; but to follow in the direction taken by his fellow-passengers half an hour previous.
A sign-board bearing the name “Jersey City” attracted his attention; and he argued with himself that since this was the point where he was to meet the boys, he could not go astray by pursuing the path thus marked out.
The natural result was that he found himself in the street opposite Taylor’s Hotel, almost deafened by the clatter of wheels, the cries of street vendors, and bewildered by the apparently inextricable tangle of vehicles.
Tom and Bob were nowhere to be seen.
Standing with his back against an awning-post and his valise at his feet, he spent another long, weary time of waiting; but all in vain.
A feeling of utter desolation and homesickness came over him, and he began to question whether his proper course would not be to return to the farm immediately.
A desire to be free from the bewildering bustle prompted him to do so; but the wish to see the big city of which he had heard so much, overbalanced the homesickness.
Two hours had elapsed since he alighted from the train, and there was no longer any good reason to believe his friends’ non-appearance the result of accidental delay.
They must either have forgotten the time set for his arrival, or made some mistake as to the station at which he would land.
“I ought to be big enough to find my way around a city, even if I never was in one before,” he said to himself. “I reckon ’most anybody can tell me where Baker’s Court is, an’ I’ll jest give Bob an’ Tom a s’prise.”
The longer he revolved the plan in his mind the more feasible did it seem; and when the hands of the neighboring clock pointed to half-past two, he started valiantly forward toward the entrance of the ferry-slip.
Greatly to his surprise the ticket-taker called sharply to him at the moment when his valise had become wedged across the narrow passage in such a manner that he was forced to come to a halt, much to the annoyance of a stout lady immediately behind him, who was urged forward by the throng in the rear.
“Two cents!” the man cried, tapping impatiently on the ledge in front of him, and the stout lady said quite sharply:—
“Why don’t you have your money ready before coming inside, boy, and not delay people in this manner?”
“I didn’t know I had to pay anything; father bought me a ticket from Berry’s Corner to New York,” and Josiah allowed his valise to drop dangerously near the stout lady’s feet, as he began to explain more fully why he was impeding travel in such a manner.
“Never mind all that,” she said irritably. “Pay the money, and let me get past!”
Josiah tried to obey both these commands at the same moment.
With one hand he seized the valise, while with the other he attempted to extricate the huge pocket-book from its resting place, succeeding only in causing the anger of the lady to increase.
In the meantime other persons were arriving, and, much against their will, were obliged to see the boat on which they had intended to take passage depart, while they were yet outside the gate.
The many commands for Josiah to “move on,” “get out,” and “don’t stay there all day,” so bewildered the boy that he remained silent and motionless as if unable to decide whether he should give his attention first to the valise or the pocket-book.
The ticket agent came to his relief by saying:—
“Step inside until you can find your money, and let the other passengers through.”
Josiah understood this command, and obeyed instantly, heeding not the angry glances which were bestowed upon him as the long-delayed throng succeeded in reaching the slip.
Then, working more leisurely, after considerable difficulty he succeeded in extricating his money from the depth of pocket and pocket-book, and paid the amount demanded.
This done, he marched on board the first boat which appeared ready to leave.
Again did the fates decide against Josiah’s meeting his friends.
The boat on which he took passage was the one bound for Desbrosses Street, while Tom and Bob, if they had concluded to wait any longer on the chance of his coming, would be devoting their attention to the Courtland Street ferry.
Josiah had never been on a steamboat before; and he found very much to occupy his attention, not only on board, but in the scene upon the river.
The largest stream he had ever seen was the trout brook at Berry’s Corner, and this broad expanse of water astonished him.
It was several moments before he could convince himself that he was not upon the Atlantic Ocean. The many craft of every description darting here and there, filled him with wonder and amazement; and so interested was he in all around, that when the boat was made fast at the ferry slip on the New York side, he paid no attention to the fact of its being necessary to go ashore.
Standing at the after end of the steamer, he remained looking out over the river until one of the deck-hands asked:—
“Did you just come aboard, sonny?” intending, of course, to inquire if he was a passenger from that side of the river.
“Yes,” Josiah replied, unconscious of the flight of time. “Say, is this the harbor or the bay?”
“It’s the North River, sonny. Where are you bound for?”
“Well, you see, I jest come from Berry’s Corner, an’ am goin’ to Baker’s Court to visit Bob an’ Tom.”
The man was called away at this moment by the arrival of several heavy teams; and Josiah was so deeply occupied with the strange sights that the boat had started, and was nearly across once more before he became aware that there had been any stop made.
Then he asked one of the passengers standing near by, how long it would be before they arrived at New York.
“We are leaving that side now. Are you going to Jersey City?”
“Why, I’ve jest come from there!”
“Didn’t get off, eh? So you are trying to cheat the ferry company out of two cents?”
“No, I ain’t either. I paid the money before comin’ aboard.”
“Then you should have landed when the boat stopped.”
“But what shall I do now? I want to go to New York.”
“Stay here till the boat starts again, and then keep your wits about you, if you can, long enough to understand when she stops.”
Josiah was beginning to realize he had made a mistake, and, in order to be certain of the proper direction, looked around for the station when the boat entered the slip.
As a matter of course, he failed to see any such building, and in a troubled frame of mind remained leaning against the rail with his precious valise between his feet until the deck-hand approached once more.
“Say, why don’t you get off?” the man demanded.
“’Cause I want to go to Baker’s Court.”
“Well, what’s to hinder you?”
“Has the boat got there?”
“Got where?”
“Why, to Baker’s Court.”
“Look here, young feller, what are you givin’ me? Where is Baker’s Court, anyhow?”
“It’s where Tom an’ Bob live in New York, of course.”
“We’ve just come from there. Now, when the boat stops again take a sneak, do you hear? Go over to the forward end where you can see when she is in the dock, if you’re so dumb you can’t tell whether she’s movin’ or not.”
Josiah obeyed meekly, and when the steamer entered the slip on the opposite side of the river he took very good care to follow the passengers; but, a short time later, deeply regretted having done so.
The streets were thronged with vehicles to a greater extent than he had ever seen the streets at home, even when a circus was in town; and no one appeared to have a care whether he was crushed beneath the feet of the horses, or forced to remain on the sidewalk.
It was this apparent selfishness which struck the boy from the country more forcibly than anything he had experienced since his departure from home.
Even the ladies jostled him as he lingered on the crossings to ascertain whether the teams on the right or the left were the most likely to run him down; and the gentlemen had no hesitation in pushing him to this side or that, as best suited their convenience.
“Seems to me folks are in an awful hurry here. It must be there’s somethin’ goin’ on. I’ve come to town to see all there is, an’ reckon I’ll foller the crowd for a while. There’ll be plenty of time to find Baker’s Court after I’ve had a look at the show.”
Josiah followed the pedestrians with no slight difficulty, owing to the weight of his valise.
He failed to see any evidence of a “show,” other than such as was obtainable from the shop windows.
Changing his valise from one hand to the other at short intervals, he continued on until it seemed as if several miles had been traversed, when he stopped in dismay.
“This won’t do! I’ll get lost the first I know, an’ then there will be a muss! I reckon I would have to spend as much as twenty-five cents if I wanted to stay all night in a hotel.”
It was time he made some inquiries as to the location of Baker’s Court, and he began by attempting to stop the next gentleman who passed.
“Get out of the way! I have nothing for you.”
“But I want”—
The gentleman had hurried on without waiting to hear the explanation, and Josiah eagerly turned to another.
In this second case he met with the same rebuff; and after attempting four times to make the necessary inquiries, it dawned upon him that he was mistaken for a beggar.
“The people here must be fools if they can’t answer a civil question,” he said to himself. “I’m sure there ain’t anybody up our way who wouldn’t tell a feller where he oughter go.”
“What’s the matter, bub?” and a big, blue-coated policeman halted directly in front of Josiah.
“I wanter find Baker’s Court, an’ nobody’ll tell me the way. They act as if I was beggin’.”
“Baker’s Court, eh? I wonder where that is?” the officer muttered half to himself.
“That’s what I wonder, too. You see, Tom an’ Bob ’greed to meet me at the station, but didn’t come, an’ I thought it wouldn’t be much trouble to find their house.”
“Where do you live?”
“At Berry’s Corner, an’ I’m here to stay a whole week. You see, the Bartlett twins, an’ Tom an’ Bob, an’ Bob’s brother Jimmy, was out to the farm this summer, an’ said when they left if I’d come here they’d give me an awful good time, so”—
The policeman, instead of listening, was referring to a book which he had taken from his pocket; and, finding that no attention was paid to his story, Josiah ceased speaking.
“Baker’s Court runs off West Broadway, and that is a long distance from here. I reckon you’ll have hard work to find it; but after you’ve walked half an hour or so, ask some policeman, and he’ll tell you.”
“Half an hour or so!” Josiah repeated in dismay.
“Yes, I allow it will take that long, and if you don’t stir yourself right lively you won’t get there before dark.”
Once more Josiah lifted the huge valise, and, following the direction pointed out by the officer, pursued his weary way with a heart quite as heavy as the burden in his hand, because of the possibility of being lost in the crowded streets, where, as he believed, so many terrible deeds of violence were perpetrated upon unsuspecting travelers.