Produced by Taavi Kalju, Woodie4, Joseph Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Transcriber's notes: Captions have been added to the illustration markers for the convenience of some readers. These have been indicated by an asterisk. A list of some of the author's other books has been moved from the front papers to the end of the book. [Illustration: Front cover]* [Illustration: Title page: RAGGED DICK SERIES BY HORATIO ALGER JR. BEN THE LUGGAGE BOY] BEN, THE LUGGAGE BOY; OR, AMONG THE WHARVES. BY HORATIO ALGER, JR., AUTHOR OF "RAGGED DICK," "FAME AND FORTUNE," "MARK, THE MATCH BOY," "ROUGH AND READY," "CAMPAIGN SERIES," "LUCK AND PLUCK SERIES," ETC. THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., PHILADELPHIA, CHICAGO, TORONTO. TO ANNIE, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED In Tender Remembrance, BY HER _AFFECTIONATE BROTHER_ PREFACE. In presenting "Ben, the Luggage Boy," to the public, as the fifth of the Ragged Dick Series, the author desires to say that it is in all essential points a true history; the particulars of the story having been communicated to him, by Ben himself, nearly two years since. In particular, the circumstances attending the boy's running away from home, and adopting the life of a street boy, are in strict accordance with Ben's own statement. While some of the street incidents are borrowed from the writer's own observation, those who are really familiar with the different phases which street life assumes in New York, will readily recognize their fidelity. The chapter entitled "The Room under the Wharf" will recall to many readers of the daily journals a paragraph which made its appearance within two years. The writer cannot close without expressing anew his thanks for the large share of favor which has been accorded to the volumes of the present series, and takes this opportunity of saying that, in their preparation, invention has played but a subordinate part. For his delineations of character and choice of incidents, he has been mainly indebted to his own observation, aided by valuable communications and suggestions from those who have been brought into familiar acquaintance with the class whose mode of life he has sought to describe. NEW YORK, April 5, 1876. BEN, THE LUGGAGE BOY; OR, AMONG THE WHARVES. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCES BEN, THE LUGGAGE BOY. "How much yer made this mornin', Ben?" "Nary red," answered Ben, composedly. "Had yer breakfast?" "Only an apple. That's all I've eaten since yesterday. It's most time for the train to be in from Philadelphy. I'm layin' round for a job."