I suppose I must go somewhere."
"There is a hotel close by – Leggett's."
"So a policeman told me, but I haven't much money, and I had better not go to a hotel. He said there was a Newsboys' Lodging House, where I could get lodging for six cents."
"I am afraid you couldn't get in at this late hour."
Ben looked perplexed. He felt sleepy, and needed rest.
"Then I suppose I shall have to go to the hotel," he answered. "Do you know how much they charge?"
"Not exactly. It depends on the room. I can direct you to a cheaper lodging even than you could get at the Newsboys' Lodging House."
"I wish you would," said Ben, looking up hopefully.
"Then come home with me. My room-mate is away for a few days, and I have room for you."
"Thank you, sir, if it won't inconvenience you."
"Not at all."
Ben had read of adventurers that lie in wait for unsuspecting travellers and "rope them in," but he entertained no suspicion of the young man who had so kindly offered him a bed. The mere fact that he was a newspaper man seemed to Ben a guarantee of respectability.
As Hugh Manton (the reporter) and he went up to the counter to pay the amount of their checks, a stout, handsomely-dressed man, of portly form and medium stature, entered the restaurant. As his eye fell upon Ben he started and muttered to himself:
"That boy in New York! What does he want here?"
CHAPTER II.
A Lodging in St. Mark's Place
Hugh Manton, whose calling had trained him to quick observation, did not fail to notice that the stout gentleman was in some way moved by the sight of his young companion. This surprised him not a little, for in the portly gentleman he recognized a wealthy retail merchant whose store was located on the upper part of Broadway.
"Can there be any connection between this country boy and the rich Mr. Walton?" he asked himself, curiously.
He resolved to take an early opportunity to question Ben.
When their bills were paid they went out of the restaurant. It was twelve o'clock by the clock on the City Hall when they emerged from the lunch-room. A Third Avenue horse-car was just passing.
"Follow me!" said the reporter, as he jumped aboard.
Ben did so.
"My room is on St. Mark's place," he said. "I suppose you don't know where that is?"
"No; I have never been in New York before."
"It must be nearly two miles from the City Hall Park. It is the eastern part of Eighth street."
"Fare!" said the conductor.
Ben put his hand into his pocket.
"No," said his companion, "I have the change."
"Thank you!" said Ben, "but you ought not to pay for me."
"Oh, you shall take your turn some time."
They sat down in the car, and, both being tired, sat silent.
After riding fifteen to twenty minutes they came in sight of a large brown-colored building, set between Third and Fourth avenues, just beyond the termination of the Bowery.
"We will get out here," said Hugh Manton. "That building is the Cooper Institute. Of course you have heard of it? We turn to the right, and will soon reach my den."
Time was when St. Mark's place had some pretension to gentility, but now it is given up to lodging and boarding-houses. In front of a brick house, between Second and First avenues, the reporter paused.
"This is where I live," he said.
He opened the door with a latch-key, and they entered a dark hall, for at eleven o'clock the light was extinguished.
"Follow me," he said to Ben. "Take hold of the banister, and feel your way. I am generally the last in," he said, "unless some one of my fellow-lodgers is out having a good time. One more flight of stairs. So, here we are."
The rear room on the third floor was his. Opening a door, he quickly lighted a gas-jet on one side of the room.
"There, my young friend," said the reporter, "you can undress as soon as you please, and jump into that bed nearest the window. It isn't luxurious, but will serve your turn."
"Thank you," said Ben. "I feel very tired. I shan't lie awake long to consider what kind of a bed I am in. Do you get up early?"
"Sometimes I get up as early as nine o'clock."
Ben laughed.
"Do you call that early?" he said. "Six o'clock isn't extra early in the country."
"My young friend – by the way, what's your name?"
"Ben Baker."
"Well, Ben, let me tell you that nine o'clock is a very early hour for a reporter. We'll rise at nine, and go out to breakfast together."
"I think I can sleep till then," said Ben, "for I am as tired as I ever was after a hard day's work on the farm."
"Wake up, Ben."
It was the next morning and the words were spoken by Hugh Manton, as he gave a gentle shake to the still sleeping boy.
Ben opened his eyes and looked about him in a confused way. Finally recollection came to him.
"I thought I was in that park down town," he said, with a smile.
"Do you know where you are now?"
"Yes."
"Have you slept well, youngster?"
"I have had a bully sleep."
"And you feel ready for breakfast?"
"I think I can eat some."
The two new acquaintances dressed and went down stairs. Ben was about to take his bundle, but the reporter stopped him.
"Leave it here," he said, "for the present. Blodgett won't be back for three or four days, and you can stay here till he returns. You won't want to be lugging that bundle all over town."
"You are very kind," said Ben, gratefully.
"Why shouldn't I be? I came to the city myself a poor country youth, and I had a hard struggle as first till I reached my present pinnacle of wealth," he concluded, with a smile.
"Are reporters well paid?" asked Ben, innocently.
"That depends! Whatever they earn, it is seldom that one gets fifty dollars ahead. That is because, as a rule, they are improvident, and sometimes dissipated. I am not as well paid as some, but I make a little writing sketches for the weekly story papers. I pick up two or
