“Say, Mister,” said Swipsey, a bootblack, “only sellers and bootblacks in this deal?”
“Yes, only sellers and bootblacks this time, and I don’t want a good boy in the crowd. I want only boys who are bad. I want all the gang and their friends. I want poor boys, but they must all be newsboys. That is, they must sell papers or shine shoes, and not a boy must come in dress suit.”
READY TO START FOR THE FIRST CHRISTMAS DINNER.
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CHAPTER V.
Christmas morning came without a cloud in sight. The sun was warm. It was an ideal Christmas day. The boys were to meet at eleven o’clock, but fifty newsies were playing around the corners of the post-office as early as seven o’clock and at ten o’clock they came in groups of five and ten from every direction. When the gentleman appeared he was considerably embarrassed at the noisy reception. The boys formed in line by twos and as the hundred and fifty marched down the street yelling at the tops of their voices the good people of the city stood on the sidewalks wondering what had broken loose. The boys when near their destination, arriving at the top of a hill, without warning made a break for the bottom, like a flock of sheep scattering down a hill. They ran screaming as only boys can. At the door of the building, where they were to have their Christmas dinner, they were met by six policemen, who held them at bay, requiring them to go up stairs single file.