[Illustration: “ALMOST A CROWD, FOR RUSSELLVILLE, STOOD IN FRONT OF THE DRUG STORE.”] THE YOUNG REPORTER A Story of Printing House Square. BY WILLIAM DRYSDALE, _Author of “Abel Forefinger,” “In Sunny Lands,” “Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit,” etc._ ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLES COPELAND. [Illustration: Colophon] BOSTON: W. A. WILDE & COMPANY, 25 BROMFIELD STREET. COPYRIGHT, 1895, By W. A. WILDE & COMPANY. _All rights reserved._ THE YOUNG REPORTER. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. A NIGHT IN THE TRANSPORT OFFICE 7 II. THE PRINTER BOY BECOMES A REPORTER 24 III. THE STOLEN LOCOMOTIVE 40 IV. A WILD NIGHT ON NEW YORK BAY 64 V. “SHADOWING” THE CHIEF OF POLICE 83 VI. HOW DICK SPURNED A BRIBE 102 VII. DICK LANDS IN MEXICO WITH A FAMILY 119 VIII. A VOYAGE TO PORTO RICO 139 IX. A STRANDED SHIP AND A BOARD OF SURVEY 158 X. DICK MEETS A FIGHTING PREACHER 181 XI. THE “HOODOOED” STEAMBOAT 201 XII. A NARROW ESCAPE IN ARKANSAS 221 XIII. DICK BEGINS TO WRITE A NOVEL 240 XIV. A NIGHT RIDE ON A FIRE ENGINE 260 XV. “THE THROUGH SLEEPER” 280 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE “Almost a crowd, for Russellville, stood in front of the drugstore” _Frontispiece_ 12 “You’re just in time, Randall” 59 “What’s the matter, old fellow?” 128 “He snatched an iron belaying-pin from its socket and sprang forward” 179 “On they flew, faster and faster, every moment” 266 THE YOUNG REPORTER. CHAPTER I. A NIGHT IN THE TRANSPORT OFFICE. The big clock in The Russellville Record office said half-past three, and Dick Sumner stood in front of his case distributing type. “It’s a dark day,” he said to himself, glancing at the window, “and I’m afraid I feel rather dark myself. But that won’t do;” and he straightened himself up and began to drop the types faster than ever. Dick was the “last boy” in the Record office and had all of a last boy’s privileges: the privilege of sweeping the office, making the fires, washing the rollers, doing all the dirty work. “It’s a long day, too,” he said as he took up the next handful of type. “I wish that clock would move a little faster.”