CHAPTER VII.
ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK-- A NIGHT IN A LODGING-HOUSE.
ON and on for the rest of the day walked Archie. His feet were sore,
he was weak from hunger, and he was made miserable with being
homesick. People who met him on the road turned around to look at the
slender lad with the pale face and the weary step, but he kept walking
on, stopping for nothing, and noticing no one. At noon he picked some
apples in an orchard, and these appeased his hunger. When evening drew
near, however, he felt that he could go without food no longer, so he
didn't hesitate to stop at a house and ask for food. "I know mother
would give a boy food if one should come to our door," he said to
himself, "so I do not think it wrong for me to ask for food here." He
was fortunate enough to strike a pleasant housewife, who took him in
and made him sit down at the kitchen table, which she covered with
good things to eat. There was cold roast beef, some fried potatoes and
a glass of good fresh milk. And then she gave him some apple pie, so
that when he had finished Archie felt better than for many a day.
While he ate he told the good woman why he was going to New York, and
her sympathy was enlisted at once. "Why, you poor lad," she exclaimed,
"just to think of your being in the city all alone. And what will your
mother think?"
Archie couldn't imagine what his mother did think.
Pages:
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52