THE ASSAULT.
The appearance of the clean-looking boy, even though his clothes were rather shabby, attracted no particular attention among the small army of newsboys and bootblacks to be found in the vicinity of City Hall Park; and Teddy Thurston was enabled to survey the scene around him without interruption.
During a few moments he interested himself in what, to the country lad, must have been a bewildering scene; and then, mentally "pulling himself together," he began to watch the young gentlemen who were selling papers.
Near by him were several bootblacks who appeared to be doing a flourishing business; and he said to himself, jingling the coins in his pocket, as if trying to revive his courage:
"If I had money enough to buy brushes an' a box, I b'lieve I'd black boots for a while. It seems as if there was a good deal of profit in it. One of those fellows has earned fifteen cents since I stood here, an' I'm sure the paper-sellers aren't doin' so well."
Just at that moment a small boy, with particularly red hair, and a stubby nose on which was a large smudge of blacking, finished his work of polishing a gentleman's boots, and pocketed with an air of satisfaction the three extra pennies which had been given him.
Then, standing very near Teddy, he whistled in the most contented manner possible.
The boy from Saranac looked at him a moment, as if trying to decide whether the city fellow would be willing to give the desired information, and then asked:
"Say, what do the brushes cost?"
"I paid Ikey Cain forty cents for these two," the stranger replied without hesitation, as he displayed the articles last mentioned. "They're good ones. I couldn't have got 'em less'n a dollar down on Fulton Street."