Nelson The Newsboy

"Certainly, sir; soon as I git paid," said Worden coolly.

"Oh, that's it! What do you want?"

"It's worth a quarter, aint it?"

"I suppose so," answered Bulson carelessly, and passed over a silver piece.

"Thanks; I'm off now," said Con Worden, and speedily disappeared.

In a few minutes Homer Bulson followed the man, and it did not take him long to reach Sam Pepper's resort once more.

As he entered he found Pepper in the act of clearing out all the hangers-on, including Worden, who had just received the quarter promised to him.

"Well, what is it?" asked Homer Bulson.

"I've got news that I guess will surprise you," was the answer.

"What is it?"

"You want to find your cousin Gertrude."

"I do."

"What will you give me for finding her for you?"

"Oh, I don't know. What do you want?"

"Is it worth a hundred dollars?"

"What, for just finding her?"

"For finding her and putting her in your power."

"Can you put her in my power?"

"Perhaps I can."

"When?"

"Very soon,—if you'll pay the hundred."

"I will," returned Bulson eagerly. "Perhaps you've got her in your power already," he went on hastily.

"I have."

"Where?"

"Here."

Homer Bulson looked around him and then stared at Pepper in amazement.

"I don't see her."

"She is in my sitting room, under lock and key."

"Back there?"

The café keeper nodded.

"But I can't understand it, Pepper. How did you get her here, and so soon? You didn't have her when I was here before, did you?"

"Of course not. Right after you went away she came in, looking for Nelson, because the woman she lives with is very sick. I told her to wait in the sitting room, and then I locked the door and the window on her."

"What is she doing now?"

As if in reply to the young man's question there was a loud knock on the sitting-room door.

"Mr. Pepper! Mr. Pepper!" came in Gertrude's voice.

"She has knocked several times," said Pepper. "But I didn't mind that. I'm thankful she hasn't begun to kick and scream."

"I must have a talk with her. Now that she finds she is in our power, perhaps she'll come to terms."

"More than likely."

The door was unlocked, and Sam Pepper allowed Homer Bulson to enter the room.

"Watch the door, if you don't want her to get away," whispered Sam Pepper, and the young man winked one eye knowingly.

On seeing her cousin Gertrude fell back in astonishment.

"What, you?" she faltered.

"Yes, Gertrude, I've been looking for you," he answered.

"Where is Nelson?"

"I don't know, and I don't care. I don't see how you can interest yourself in that young ruffian."

"He is more of a true gentleman than you will ever be, Mr. Bulson."

"You are truly complimentary, Gertrude. But you do not know your own mind, nor what is best for you. This running away has upset your judgment."

"I did not run away—I was driven away—and all because of you."

"Then let me set matters right for you."

"Will you do that?" she asked eagerly.

"I promise I will—if you'll only marry me."

"Always the same thing!" she cried, bursting into tears. "I will not listen. Let me go."

She started for the door, but he placed himself directly in her path.

"Wait a minute. Where do you live?"

"I decline to answer that question."

"I'll wager it is in some low tenement house, among the poorest people."

"I live among poor people, it is true, but they are not low, as you understand the word."

"Did Nelson Pepper find the place for you?"

"He did."

"Always that boy! You make me angry with your foolishness. Why don't you come back? I want to share Uncle Mark's fortune with you."

"I have talked all I wish upon the subject."

"How are you to live? You never did any work in your whole life."

"I can work when it is necessary."

"At what?"

"I am giving piano lessons."

"At starvation wages, I presume," he sneered.

"I am making an honest living. Thousands can do no more. Now I demand that you let me go."

Again she moved toward the door, and again he stood in her path.

"Did you hear what I said?" she cried. "Stand aside!"

"I will stand aside—when we have come to terms," he answered, setting his teeth. "You shall not leave this house until you have promised to do as I and your uncle desire."

CHAPTER XIX.

NELSON TO THE RESCUE

On the same evening that Gertrude visited Sam Pepper's establishment, Nelson, after closing up, determined to run down and call upon the girl and tell her about the stand and how well they had done that day.

"She'll be pleased, I know," he told himself. "She wants me to make a man of myself."

Arriving at the tenement house, he ascended the stairs to Mrs. Kennedy's rooms and knocked upon the back door. To his surprise Gladys Summers, the flower girl, let him in.

"Hullo, Gladys! you here?" he said.

"Oh, Nelson! I thought it was Gertrude," answered the flower girl. "Did you bring her along?"

"Along? I haven't seen her."

"She went over to Sam Pepper's place to bring you here. Mrs. Kennedy is very sick, and we didn't know what to do."

"I haven't been to Sam's place. I left there yesterday for good. What's the matter with the old lady?"

"Her rheumatism has got up around her heart, and she's very bad. I think she ought to have a doctor."

"She shall have one, Gladys. Was Gertrude going to get one?"

"No, she was going to get you to do that. She doesn't know anything of doctors down here, so she said."

"I'll have one here in a little while," said our hero, and ran down the stairs, two steps at a time.

Two blocks below the house there was a drug store, and a doctor had his office upstairs. The physician was in, and listened to what Nelson had to say.

"I'll go," he said. "But you know my terms to strangers."

"How much will the visit be?"

"A dollar."

"There's your money." And our hero handed it over.

The pair were soon at Mrs. Kennedy's bedside, and after an examination the doctor wrote out a prescription and Nelson had it filled at the drug store. The physician said he would call again the following afternoon.

"She's in a bad state," he said. "She has likely had this rheumatism for years, and her age is against her."

"Don't you think she'll get over it?" asked our hero.

"I think she will. But she may be helpless for many weeks."

"It's hard luck. She hasn't any money."

"Then you had better send her to the hospital."

"No, she shall stay home, if she wants to," said Nelson. "I guess I and the rest can take care of her. She was always good to me and the others."

After the medicine had been administered and Mrs. Kennedy was a trifle easier, Nelson began to grow impatient that Gertrude had not yet returned.

"I guess I'll go out and hunt her up," he said to Gladys Summers. "Will you stay here?"

"Yes; I promised to stay all night, Nelson."

Our hero was soon in the street again and making his way rapidly over to the East Side in the direction of Sam Pepper's resort. It was now late, but this part of the city was still bustling with life. Yet to our hero's surprise, when he reached Pepper's place he found it locked up.

"Closed!" he muttered. "This is queer. I wonder where Gertrude went?"

He stood for a moment on the pavement, then went and rapped loudly on the glass of the door.

For a minute there was no response, then, as he rapped again, Sam Pepper appeared. His face fell when he lifted a door shade and saw our hero.

"What do you want now?" he growled, as he opened the door for a space of several inches.

"Was that young lady over here to find me?" asked our hero.

"Nobody here to see you," answered Sam Pepper gruffly.

"She wasn't? Why, she started for here."

"I haven't seen anybody. Is that all you want?"

"Yes. Why are you shut up so early?"

"I didn't feel very well and thought I'd go to bed and sleep it off," answered Pepper smoothly. "I'm going back again. Good-night!"

"Then you haven't seen her at all?" persisted the newsboy.

"Haven't I told you so before? Now, don't disturb me again." And with this Sam Pepper slammed the door shut and locked it.

Nelson was nonplused, not so much by what Pepper had said as by the man's manner.

"He wanted to get rid of me in a hurry," he mused. "Somehow, this affair doesn't look right to me."

While our hero was standing near the curb, speculating upon where next to look for Gertrude, he was surprised to see Paul Randall come down the street.

"Why, Paul, how is it you are out so late?" he asked.

"Got stuck on some sporting extras and was bound to sell 'em," answered Paul. "Say, I hear you've bought out a stand."

"George Van Pelt and I have bought out a stand."

"Hope you make lots of money. If you need a clerk, don't forget me."

"I won't forget you, Paul. We have a boy now who delivers papers for us. He talks of leaving. If he does, I'll let you know. But, I say, have you been around here long?"

"Most all the evening."

"You know that young lady who is stopping with Mrs. Kennedy, don't you?"

"Yes. Gladys Summers calls her 'the angel,'" answered Paul readily. "She's a real lady, aint she, Nelson?"

"She is."

"I saw her go into Pepper's an hour or two ago."

"You did! I was going to ask you if you had seen her. You haven't made any mistake?"

"Not much! I'd know her in a whole city full—she's so sweet and beautiful."

"Did you see her come away?"

"No."

"Were you around so you could have seen her?"

"Yes; and I kept my eye on the door for almost an hour. I thought you might be with her."

"No; Sam Pepper and I have parted for good, Paul. I've got a room uptown, near the stand. I'd like to know what became of the young lady."

"If she came out, it must have been after I went away."

Paul knew that his mother, who was now getting better, would be anxious about him, so, without waiting longer, he hurried on. Nelson remained on the sidewalk, in deep thought.

Presently, as he was looking toward Sam Pepper's resort, he saw a corner of a curtain lifted and saw the man peer out at him. Then the curtain was dropped again.

"He's watching me," thought the newsboy. "Something is wrong here, and I know it. He and that Homer Bulson are friends, and Bulson is bound to make Miss Gertrude marry him. Perhaps they have hatched up some game against Miss Gertrude."

Not to make Sam Pepper more suspicious, Nelson walked briskly away, up the street. But at the first corner he turned, sped down the side street, and then into the alleyway connecting with the rear of Pepper's resort.

It took him but a minute to ascertain that the shutters to the rear room were tightly closed, and held together by a wire bound from one catch to the other.

The shutters were solid, but near the tops were several round holes, put there for ventilating purposes.

Looking around our hero discovered an empty barrel, and standing on this he managed to look through one of the holes into the apartment.

He saw Gertrude sitting on a chair, the picture of misery. The hot tears were flowing down her cheeks.

The sight went straight to his heart, and without waiting to think of results, he leaped from the barrel, pulled away the wire, and flung the shutters open. Then he lifted the window, which had been pulled down, but not fastened.

Gertrude heard the noise and leaped up in fresh alarm. But when she saw our hero she gave a cry of joy.

"Oh, Nelson! will you help me?" she gasped.

"Certainly I'll help you, Miss Gertrude," he answered. "What are they doing—keeping you a prisoner here?"

"Something like that. Mr. Bulson was here and went out to get a coach, so that he could take me away. Mr. Pepper is on guard in his saloon."

"Just come with me, and you'll be safe."

Gertrude came to the window, and Nelson helped her into the alleyway. Just as she leaped from the window Sam Pepper unlocked the door and opened it.

"Stop!" roared the man. "Stop, I say!"

"Don't stop!" said Nelson, and caught Gertrude by the hand. Dark as it was, the boy knew the narrow and dirty thoroughfare well, and soon led his companion to the street beyond. Pepper came as far as the window, and called after them once more, but did not dare to follow further.

CHAPTER XX.

THE HOME IN THE TENEMENT

"Oh, how thankful I am that you came!" exclaimed Gertrude, when she felt safe once more.

"I'm glad myself," answered Nelson heartily. "But how was it Pepper made you a prisoner?"

"I went there to find you, because Mrs. Kennedy is so sick. I must get back to her at once."

"There is no need to hurry." And Nelson told of what he and Gladys had done for the patient.

Then Gertrude related her story and told how Homer Bulson had said she must marry him.

"He was going to take me to some place in New Jersey," Gertrude continued. "I heard him and Sam Pepper talk it over."

"The both of them are a big pair of rascals!" burst out Nelson. "Oh, I wish I was a man! I'd teach them a lesson!" And he shook his head determinedly.

"I am afraid Mr. Bulson will find out that I am living with Mrs. Kennedy, and he'll watch his chance to make more trouble for me," said the girl despondently. "Oh, why can't he let me alone? He can have my uncle's money, and welcome."

"We'll all be on guard," answered Nelson. "If he tries to harm you, call a policeman. Perhaps that will scare him."

Gertrude returned to her home with Mrs. Kennedy, and satisfied that Homer Bulson would do nothing further that night, the newsboy started to walk uptown.

But presently he changed his mind and turned his footsteps toward the East Side. When he reached the vicinity of Sam Pepper's resort he saw a coach drawn up in front of the place.

Homer Bulson was just coming out of the resort with Sam Pepper behind him.

"It's too bad," our hero heard Bulson say.

"You're a fine rascal!" cried the boy boldly. "For two pins I'd have you locked up."

"Here he is now!" exclaimed Bulson. "Pepper, you ought to take him in hand for his impudence."

"Sam Pepper won't touch me, and you won't touch me, either," cried our hero, with flashing eyes. "You thought you were smart, Mr. Homer Bulson, but your game didn't work. And let me tell you something. If you trouble Miss Horton in the future, she and I are going to put the police on your track."

"Me? The police!" ejaculated the young man, in horror.

"Yes, the police. So, after this, you had better let her alone."

"Nelson, you talk like a fool," put in Sam Pepper.

"I don't think so."

"What is that girl to you? If you'd only stand in with us, it would be money in your pocket."

"I'm not for sale."

"Mr. Bulson wants to do well by her. She don't know how to work. If she marries him, she'll have it easy for the rest of her life."

"But she don't want him, and that's the end of it. I've given you warning now. If anything happens to her I'll call in the police, and I'll tell all I know, and that's more than either of you dream of," concluded our hero, and walked off.

"He's an imp!" muttered Bulson savagely. "I'd like to wring his neck for him!"

"I wonder how much he knows?" said Pepper, in alarm. "It was always a mystery to me how he and the girl fell in with each other."

"He can't know very much, for she doesn't know a great deal, Pepper. He's only talking to scare us," said Bulson. His uncle had not told him of the meeting in the library.

"What are you going to do next?"

"Better wait till this affair blows over. Then Gertrude will be off her guard," concluded Homer Bulson.

After that several weeks slipped by without anything unusual happening. Gertrude kept on her guard when going out to give piano lessons, but neither Bulson nor Pepper showed himself.

Gertrude, Gladys, and Nelson all took turns in caring for Mrs. Kennedy, and the old lady speedily recovered from the severe attack of rheumatism she had experienced. She was anxious to get back to her fruit-and-candy stand.

"It's meself as can't afford to be idle at all," she declared. "Sure an' I must owe yez all a whole lot av money."

"Don't owe me a cent," said Nelson, and Gertrude and Gladys said the same.

Business with the firm was steadily increasing. The boy who had carried the paper route had left, and Paul Randall was now filling the place and doing his best to bring in new trade.

"We'll soon be on our way to opening a regular store," said George Van Pelt, one day. "We really need the room already."

"Let us go slow," said Nelson. "I know a fellow who had a stand near the Fulton ferry. He swelled up and got a big store at fifty dollars a month, and then he busted up in less than half a year. I want to be sure of what I am doing." And Van Pelt agreed with him that that was best.

Of course some newsboys were jealous of our hero's success, and among these were Billy Darnley and Len Snocks. Both came up to the stand while Nelson was in sole charge one afternoon, and began to chaff him.

"T'ink yer big, don't yer?" said Darnley. "I could have a stand like dis, if I wanted it."

"Perhaps you could, if you could steal the money to buy it," replied our hero suggestively.

"Dis aint no good spot fer business," put in Len Snocks. "Why didn't yer git furder downtown?"

"This is good enough for me," said our hero calmly. "If you don't like the stand, you don't have to patronize me."

"Yer don't catch me buyin' nuthin here," burst out Snocks. "We know better where to spend our money; don't we, Billy?"

"Perhaps you called to pay up that balance you owe me," said Nelson to Billy Darnley. "There is a dollar and ninety cents still coming my way."

"Ah, go on wid yer!" growled Billy Darnley, with a sour look. "I wouldn't have de stand, if yer give it to me. Come on, Len!" And he hauled his companion away.

Our hero felt that he could afford to laugh at the pair. "I guess it's a case of sour grapes," he said to himself. "They'd think they were millionaires if they owned a place like this."

Both Darnley and Snocks were out of money, and hungry, and they were prowling along the street, ready to pick up anything which came to hand.

"It's a shame Nelse's got dat stand," said Darnley. "He don't deserve it no more'n I do."

"No more dan me," added Snocks. "It beats all how some fellers strike it lucky, eh?"

"I wish we could git something off of him," went on the larger bully.

"Off de stand?" queried Snocks.

"Yes."

"Maybe we can—to-night, after he locks up."

"Say, dat would be just de t'ing," burst out the larger boy. "Nobody is around, and it would be easy to break open de lock. If only we had a push-cart, we could make a big haul."

"I know an Italian who has one. We can borrow dat."

"Will he lend it?"

"I'll borrow it on de sly."

So a plan was arranged to get the push-cart that night, after the news stand was locked up and Nelson and Van Pelt had gone away. Billy Darnley had a bunch of keys in his pocket, and he felt fairly certain that one or another would fit the lock to the stand.

"Won't Nelse be surprised when he finds de t'ings gone?" said Snocks. "But it will serve him right, won't it?"

"To be sure," added Darnley. "He's gittin' too high-toned. He wants to come down out of de clouds."

CHAPTER XXI.

NELSON MAKES A PRESENT

In some manner of her own Mrs. Kennedy had found out that that day was Gertrude's birthday, and she had concocted a scheme with Nelson and Gladys to give her a surprise.

"Sure an' the poor dear deserves a bit av pleasure," said the old Irishwoman. "This humdrum life is almost a-killin' av her. We'll buy her a few things, and have a bit av a party supper."

"She shall have my best bouquet," said the flower girl. She loved Gertrude dearly.

Nelson was in a great state of perplexity concerning what to give Gertrude. One after another, different things were considered and rejected.

"You see, she's a regular lady," he said to George Van Pelt, "and I want to give her something that just suits. Now a common girl would like most anything, but she's—well, she's different; that's all."

"Most girls like dresses and hats," suggested Van Pelt.

Nelson shook his head.

"It won't do. Her dresses and her hat are better than I could buy. Besides, I want to give her something she can keep."

"Does she like to read?"

"I guess she does."

"I saw a new book advertised—a choice collection of poems. It's really something fine—far better than most collections. How would that suit?"

"How much was the book?"

"Two dollars and a half, but we, as dealers, can get it for a dollar and seventy-five cents."

"Then that's what I'll get. And I'll write in it, 'To Miss Gertrude Horton, from her true friend Nelson,'" said the boy.

The book was duly purchased, and our hero spent the best part of half an hour in writing in it to his satisfaction. That night he closed up a little early and walked down to the Kennedy home with the volume under his arm.

"Oh, what a splendid book!" cried Gertrude, on receiving it. Then she read the inscription on the fly-leaf. "Nelson, you are more than kind, and I shall never forget you!" And she squeezed his hand warmly.

Gladys had brought her largest bouquet and also a nice potted plant, and Mrs. Kennedy had presented a sensible present in the shape of a much-needed pair of rubbers.

"Winter will soon be here," said the old woman. "And then it's not our Miss Gertrude is going to git wet feet, at all!"

The girl was taken quite by surprise, and even more so when Mrs. Kennedy brought in a substantial supper, which had been cooking on the stove of a neighbor. To this Nelson added a quart of ice cream from a near-by confectioner's, and the birthday party was voted a great success by all who participated.

"You have all been so kind to me," said Gertrude, when they broke up, "you make me forget what I had to give up."

"Don't ye be after worryin', dear," said Mrs. Kennedy. "'Twill all come out right in the end."

"I trust so, Mrs. Kennedy. But I ask for nothing more than that I can earn my own living and keep the friends I have made," answered the girl.

"How many scholars have you now?" questioned Gladys.

"Fourteen, and two more are promised."

"Sixteen is not bad," said our hero, who knew that that meant eight dollars a week for the teacher.

It was after midnight when the party broke up, and Nelson had to take Gladys to her home, several blocks away. The flower girl lived with a bachelor brother, who supported himself and paid the rent. The rest Gladys had to supply herself.

"I wish I had a regular stand for flowers," she said to Nelson. "I could make a good deal more, then."

"I'll help you buy a stand some day, Gladys," he replied. "I know a good place up in your neighborhood."

That was Nelson, helping everybody he could, and that is why he is the hero of this tale of New York street life.

"If you'll help me I'll pay you back," said the flower girl earnestly. "You know flowers keep so much better when they are in a glass case," she explained.

A light rain was falling when the newsboy at last started for the house where he roomed. He buttoned his coat up around his throat and pulled his hat far down over his eyes.

He was almost to his room when, on turning a corner, he saw two big boys shoving a push-cart along, piled high with goods concealed under some potato sacking. As the boys passed in the glare of an electric light he recognized Billy Darnley and Len Snocks.

"Hullo, this is queer!" he murmured. "Where are they going with that push-cart? I didn't know either of 'em was in the peddling business."

The pair soon passed out of sight, and Nelson continued on his way. Quarter of an hour later he was in bed and in the land of dreams.

It was George Van Pelt's turn to open up the stand on the following morning, our hero being entitled to sleep an hour longer than otherwise in consequence. But hardly had the time for opening arrived when George Van Pelt came rushing around to our hero's room in high excitement.

"Nelson, what does this mean?" he demanded.

"What does what mean?" asked our hero sleepily.