The Tin Box, and What it ContainedAlger, Horatio, Jr.
General
The Tin Box, and What it Contained
Alger, Horatio, Jr.
Diligence -- Juvenile fiction; Success -- Juvenile fiction; Youth -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction
It was over a year since Harry had been in the city, and he was not
very familiar with it, but he had a modest confidence in his ability to
get along.
“Shine yer boots, guv’nor?” asked a ragged bootblack.
“How much?” Harry asked. “Seein’ it’s you, I’ll only ask ten cents,”
returned the street boy.
“Thank you. I blacked my own boots before I left home.”
“Do you call that a shine?” said the boy, contemptuously, as his glance
rested on Harry’s shoes, which certainly did not vie in polish with
those operated upon by city bootblacks.
“It’ll do for me,” answered Harry, good-naturedly.
“Mornin’ papers—_Herald, Times, Tribune, World!”_ called a newsboy.
“Give me a _Herald,”_ said Harry, who suddenly bethought himself of the
tin box, and was anxious to find out whether any allusion was made to
the theft in the morning papers.
He opened the paper, and his eyes ran hastily over the crowded columns.
CHAPTER XXI — A REWARD OFFERED
Harry looked over the news columns in vain for an account of the
robbery, or some allusion to the tin box which he had seen concealed in
the wood.
“There may have been something about it in yesterday’s paper,” he said
to himself. “I must go to the office of publication and buy a copy.”
It occurred to him, however, that there might be an advertisement
offering a reward for its recovery, and he began to search, with this
object in view.
Presently his eye lighted on the following:
“Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars Reward.
“On the fifteenth instant, a Tin Box, containing a considerable sum in
Five-Twenty Government and Union Pacific Bonds, was stolen from the
office of the subscriber. The above sum will be paid for the discovery
of the thief, or for information leading to the recovery of all, or the
larger part, of the bonds. JAMES P. WHEELER,
“No. 265 Broadway, Room 10.”
I do not claim to have given the correct number, for obvious reasons.
Of course, the address given in the advertisement was accurate.
Naturally, Harry was much pleased at his easy success. He had only to
go to the office mentioned and communicate what he knew, and leave Mr.
Wheeler to take the necessary steps for the recovery of the property.
Should he attend first to that, or to the sale of the coupons? On the
whole, he decided to go to Mr. Wheeler’s office first, as the tin box
might be removed at any time, if the suspicions of Vernon or Temple
should be excited.
It was, of course, perfectly easy to find any address on Broadway, and
not many minutes elapsed before Harry found himself before the door of
office No. 10.
Entering—for the door was ajar—he saw a large, handsomely fitted-up
office, with a small room partitioned off at one corner.
In this room sat a man of middle age, with a keen face and a brisk air,
which indicated that he was a trained man of business.
Outside, at a desk, sat a young man, evidently a clerk, who was busily
engaged in writing. It was he who looked up when Harry entered and
looked hesitatingly about.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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