The excitement of it
all, and the adventurous side of his exploit, had kept him interested,
and made him feel that he was a real hero. But he was not so foolish
as to imagine that there would not be times when he would regret
having set out for New York. He was too old and too sensible for his
age to allow his ambition to run away with him entirely, and he fully
expected to meet with many great discouragements. "But I'm sure of one
thing," he said to himself, as he walked along, "I never will return
home until I have something to show for the trip. I won't have the
club boys and the neighbours saying that Archie Dunn had to come home
discouraged. If I return without accomplishing anything, I will be
held up to the whole town as a boy who made a fool of himself by not
taking his friends' advice, and I never will be made an example of if
I can help it." And Archie walked faster as he thought of the
possibility of failure.
When seven o'clock came he was passing through the county-seat, but
though there were many interesting things to look at in the town,
Archie determined not to stop. He was afraid he might meet some one he
knew, who would be sure to ask him where he was going with his bundle,
and what he was doing out so early. And anyhow he was very hungry, and
decided to get out of the town and to the farmhouses as soon as
possible. "I can work for my meal at a farmhouse," he said to himself,
"but in the town they'll take me for a regular tramp.
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