“I forgot to get his name,” muttered Roy, “and I could have had it without asking. All I needed to do was to read the address on the envelope. Now I may never see him again.”
For a minute Roy felt gloomy enough. Then he recalled the man’s promise to look him up on the Lycoming. “If he does,” smiled Roy, “I’ll bet a dollar I won’t forget again to find out his name. Now I’m going to take his advice and get a guide-book. Wonder where I can find one.”
A policeman was passing. Roy stopped him and asked where he could purchase the desired volume. The policeman directed him to a near-by book shop and in a few minutes Roy was back in Battery Park with a little guide-book in his hand.
CHAPTER IV
IN LOWER NEW YORK
“Now,” thought Roy, as he sought out a shady bench and sat down, “if this book will tell me, I’m going to find out why this park is called Battery Park. I’ve often wondered.”
He opened his book and, turning to the index, readily found where to look for the information. Looking on the proper page, he read: “Battery Park and Battery Place take their name from the fortification begun in 1693 by Governor Fletcher to defend the city. The original battery was a line of cannons extending from the foot of Greenwich Street to the intersection of Whitehall and Water Streets.”
“That was a pretty nice row of cannons,” thought Roy, glancing up from his book to see about where these guns had stood. With the geography of the city he was quite familiar, as it had been necessary, during the search for the secret wireless, for Roy and his companions to acquaint themselves with the city in order that they could travel surely and speedily. After he had measured the distance with his eye, he turned back to the guide-book and read: “The land beyond this line was under water until after 1800.”
At first Roy did not grasp the significance of the statement. But when he read that the original shore-line of the lower end of Manhattan Island is marked approximately by Greenwich, State, and Pearl Streets, he was almost stunned.