III. MAKING ACQUAINTANCES 34 IV. A GREAT ENTERPRISE 48 V. MESSRS. TREAT, JONES, WESTON, AND DOWD 60 VI. THE THEATRICAL ENTERPRISE 73 VII. ARTISTS AND PRINTERS 86 VIII. AN AUTHOR'S TRIALS 99 IX. THE MOMENTOUS OCCASION 111 X. THE FIRST ACT 121 XI. THE EVENING'S ENTERTAINMENT 133 XII. A GENEROUS ACT 146 XIII. A JOYFUL MEETING 159 XIV. A DAY'S PLEASURING 172 XV. THE GREAT SURPRISE 185 XVI. IN CONCLUSION 197 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE SHE FED HIM PATIENTLY. _Frontispiece._ HE SHOWED THEM IN PROOF OF THE TRUTHFULNESS OF HIS STORY. 11 "IF YOU PICK ANY ROW WITH HIM, YOU PICK IT WITH ME AND JOHNNY." 31 PAUL LOOKED ON AT THESE PREPARATIONS WITH THE MOST PROFOUND SURPRISE. 45 "FELLERS! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE CAN DO UP HERE?" 57 "MULTIPLICATION IS VEXATION." 67 "HOW'S BIZ, DICK?" 81 ALL COULD SEE THE RESEMBLANCE AT ONCE. 91 "WHO PUT THAT UP?" 103 HOLDING BOTH WEAPONS IN FRONT OF HIM, HE LOOKED READY FOR INSTANT FLIGHT. 127 DICKEY FOUND HIMSELF IN THE MIDST OF A BLOOD-THIRSTY CROWD. 141 "MISTER WESTON," SAID BEN, GRAVELY. 155 THEY STOOD IN A ROW BEFORE THE CLERK OF THE FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL. 163 AT CONEY ISLAND. 179 BEN AND JOHNNY ALONE IN THE NEW STORE. 189 "THREE CHEERS FOR POLLY!" 201 LEFT BEHIND; OR, TEN DAYS A NEWSBOY. CHAPTER I. PAUL'S INTRODUCTION TO NEW YORK. He was a stray boy, with a very strange story. The two ragged boys, one of whom had a bundle of papers under his arm, and the other the outfit of a boot-black slung over his shoulder, thought that at the best he was stretching the truth to an alarming degree, even though his manner appeared to bear out what he said. He had met these two boys at the corner of Cortlandt and West streets, in New York City, and had stated his case to them, believing that they could tell him what to do. This was the story he told: