“Next week, Monday, an' we're goin' to Niagara Falls. It's a big excursion, an' costs only a dollar an' sixty cents.”

Niagara Falls! The great water-hammers!

“I wish I could go with you,” I suggested.

“Come on,” said he; “we'll have a grand time. But you must go to the weddin'—you'll kind o' steady me.”

I was thrilled by what lay before me, for now I should see the Falls and the fleet horses.

“If I can earn my board, I'll stay where I am until Monday,” I said.

“Wait a minute,” said he. “I'm goin' to see the landlord. He's an old friend o' mine.”

Well, within five minutes Sam got a job for me. I was to look after the billiard-tables, and to receive my board for my labor until we went away.

That evening an elderly man of distinguished appearance sat in the billiard-room.

“Who are you, my boy?” he asked.