“Be very careful,” cautioned his mother. “Don’t let anyone steal your pocketbook.”
Larry thought a thief would not make a very good haul, as he only had twenty-five cents in it, but he did not say so to his mother.
The boy did not know where to start to look for work. He had had no experience except on a farm, and there is not much call for that sort of labor in the city. Still he was strong, quick, and willing, and, though he didn’t know it, those qualities go a great way in any kind of work.
Larry started out from the apartment house, and walked slowly. He had the address of his new home written down, in case he got lost, but he determined to walk slowly, note the direction of the streets, and so acquaint himself with the “lay-out” of the big city.
He had two plans in mind. One was to go along the streets looking for a sign “Boy Wanted.” The other was to look at the advertisements in the newspapers. He resolved to try both.
Purchasing one of the big New York daily newspapers, which bore on the front page the name The Leader, Larry turned to the page where the dealer who sold it to him had said he would find plenty of want advertisements. There were a number of boys wanted, from those to run errands to the variety who were expected to begin in a wholesale house at a small salary and work their way up. In nearly every one were the words “experience necessary.”
Now Larry had had no experience, and he felt that it would be useless to try the places where that qualification was required. He marked several of the advertisements that he thought might provide an opening for him, and asked the first policeman he met how to get to the different addresses.
The bluecoat was a friendly one, who had boys of his own at home, and he kindly explained to Larry just how to get to the big wholesale and retail places that needed lads.
But luck seemed to be against Larry that day. At every place he went he was told that he was just too late.
“You’ll have to get up earlier in the morning if you want to get a job,” said one man where he inquired. “There were ten boys here before breakfast after this place. This is a city where you can’t go to sleep for very long.”