“Oh, dear! I shall never do it! There is no use in trying!” he muttered, disconsolately. “If it was only play, now, what a shout I could give. Goodness! there comes a man! If grandmother was only here, I do believe I Should hide behind her dress. But there isn’t a place, and he comes on so fast. Dear me!” The man was, indeed, walking fast, and seemed a good deal excited. Joseph made a brave attempt at boldness, and marched toward him, blushing at his own audacity. “Ledger! Dispatch!” The words broke from his lips in a frightened cry; he trembled all over, and stood still, terrified by the sound, faint and hoarse as it was. The very singularity of his cry drew the young man’s attention, and he turned quickly. “Give me a paper,” he said, taking some money from his pocket-book. “Any one—I have no choice. Why, what a young thing it is—so well dressed, too! Selling newspapers must be a prosperous business, my little man?” “I—I haven’t got a cent of change. What shall I do?” cried Joseph, looking wistfully at the twenty-five cents which loomed before him. “Please, sir, I never did this before, and don’t know how.” “Never did it before,” cried the young man, smiling upon the lad. “I thought you looked above the business. Then you are such a mere baby; keep the money. By the way, you seem a sharp little fellow, and I can put you in the way of earning twice that amount.” “Can you, sir? I’m glad of that. What shall I do?” cried the boy, all in a glow of delight. “Nothing very difficult. Just keep along this garden wall, turn the corner, and you will see the house it belongs to. Watch the door till a young lady in a brown merino dress and straw bonnet comes out; follow her where she goes. Be sure you take the papers, that she may not think it strange; take sharp notice of the house she enters; then come back here at dusk, and I will give you a dollar bill.” “A greenback, sir?” “Yes; a new greenback, with Mr. Chase’s picture on the end.” Joseph gathered up his papers in breathless haste; his cheeks glowed, his eyes sparkled with delight. “I’ll do it—I’ll do it!” All at once his countenance fell, and his small figure drooped in abject disappointment. “No, I can’t,” he said, with tears in his eyes. “These papers belong to another boy, and he told me not to leave the block.” “That’s unfortunate,” said the young man, smiling at Joseph’s evident distress. “But you can stand at the corner and tell me which way she turns?” “Yes, I can do that.” “Better still,” cried the young man, struck by a sudden idea. “She had a parcel in her hand, and appears as if she took in work. Speak to her as she comes out; tell her that you know a person who wants some fine sewing done, and ask her where you shall bring it to. She’ll trust that face, no fear about that. So you shall earn the money, and keep that promise about leaving the block.” “I—I should be a little ashamed to speak to a strange lady, sir.”