James Otis

“ After Nelly had sung the second time the applause died away, as if the audience were willing that the regular business of the evening should proceed. All the actors were standing where they could go on to the stage at a moment’s notice, save Dickey, who was leaning against the wall, holding his sword straight out, at the imminent peril of hitting some one of his partners as they passed.
“Now be all ready, Dickey,” said Mopsey, warningly, as he prepared to go on the stage.
“See here,” whispered Johnny, “be kinder careful when you an’ I fight, ’cause there’s lots of pins in these pants.” ”

“ Paul promised that he would send letters regularly to his friends; and when he left the store with Dickey to be sure that he did not miss the way, Ben felt more sad at parting with him than he would have thought it possible for a boy to feel who was half owner of such a beautiful store.
The business of selling newspapers seemed to have been nearly forsaken the next morning, for fully forty newsboys and at least a dozen boot-blacks were at the pier to say good-bye to Polly Weston, the boy who had once seemed so forlorn, and who had played Hamlet so successfully. ”

“ Then the huge steamer slowly started from the dock, and Paul stood near the stern, where he could see his army of small acquaintances, the greater portion of whom had been so kind to him when he most needed friends. The ragged crowd were all swinging their hats, and Paul had just begun to wave his handkerchief when Mopsey saw the chance to bestow a very delicate compliment. Jumping on a pile of merchandise, where he could better see and be seen, he waved his hat furiously and shouted, in his shrillest dramatic key,
“Three cheers for Polly, an’ three more for Polly’s father!” ”

“ The shock of Ben’s fall and Paul’s leap so shook the frail structure which Johnny had built that the curtain came down with a thud, tearing away from its fastenings above, and the poor ghost was made doubly a prisoner by this additional covering.
“Don’t tear it, Ben!” shouted Johnny, fearing lest his artistic labors in the way of the “Wild Indian” would be ruined, and then he and Mopsey sprang on the stage, rescuing the curtain from the frantic clutch of the ghost, and leaving that worthy to get to his feet as best he might. ”

“ Green proposed to turn into a place where meals and lodgings could be procured on a limited scale; but neither Ben nor Johnny lost any opportunity of stopping to gaze in at the lighted windows that served as mirrors, in order to make sure that their attire had not been disarranged in any way by their rapid walk. And when they stood in front of the door, it seemed to Paul as if they never would get ready to ring the bell, so much time did they spend in making sure that their fine toilets were quite in order, and the general effect satisfactory. ”

“ It is highly probable that one might have searched over New York City that night and not found a happier household than that of Mrs. Green’s. Paul was so wonderfully happy in the thought that he was going back to Chicago, where, even though he could not see his parents, he should find relatives and friends, that he could talk of little else. Even the theatre was forgotten by him; for when Mopsey spoke of the necessity of getting another boy to take his place in the dramatic company he hardly gave the matter a thought, except to say that he hoped they would make plenty of money out of it. ”

“ The twelve bottle foot-lights flared and flickered as if they were conscious of the wonderful display of talent they were there to illumine, while the barrel-hoop chandeliers cast even a more brilliant light than one would have supposed. The flower decorations on the wall, forming the word that meant quite as much as if it had been spelled correctly, stood forth in all their beauty, even more prominently than if the light had been stronger.
That Mrs. Green had never acted in the capacity of [Pg 122] door-keeper of a theatre before, was shown by the trouble she was having. ”

“ Johnny stood up in a careful manner, and got along very well, but poor Dickey could neither sit down nor help himself. He made one or two vain efforts to pick up a biscuit from the table, but his armor would not permit, and he was about to lean back against the wall in helpless indignation, when Mrs. Green noticed him.
“Poor child!” she said, in a motherly tone, “I do think it is a shame for Mopsey to rig you up in such a way that you can’t eat, an’ you do have such a good appetite.” ”

“ It was just as well that they did not adhere to their original plan, for when Ben explained to Master Spry the reason why they could not keep their engagement with him, he gruffly told them that it was just as well, for he had already made up his mind to go to Jersey City in search of the defaulter, Tim Dooley. Therefore they were not troubled with any pangs of conscience because they were leaving Dickey to mourn alone while they planned the transformation of the attic, and their dinner was eaten with a celerity that astonished their landlady. ”

“ It was not only evident to the audience, but to Mopsey himself, that it was of no use for him to try to remember the words he should have spoken, and he waved his sword frantically for Johnny to come on, hoping to save his good name by the bloody combat, which could be prolonged until their patrons were in good-humor. ”

“ Ben was in favor of visiting Nelly Green, whose mother kept a fruit-stand on Chatham Square, and who was always to be found acting as clerk, while Johnny was anxious to visit a mutual friend by the name of Mopsey Dowd, who had risen from boot-black to the proud eminence of owning a pea-nut stand near Fulton Market. ”

“ It was a furious combat, truly, and the audience favored it with the most generous applause, some inciting Mopsey and others Johnny to renewed exertions, until Mrs. Green started up in alarm, fearing that a riot would ensue.
“Why don’t you die?” whispered Mopsey, hoarsely, as he panted from exertion, and believed that in justice to the other performers the battle should end. ”

“ In order that the audience might not be kept waiting until their patience was exhausted, or their good-humor began to evaporate, the curtain was raised as soon as the ghost could be tucked away in his hiding-place, and Paul made his first appearance on any stage. Mopsey had explained to him the part which he was to assume, and in a well-thumbed copy of Shakespeare’s works belonging to Mrs. Green he had found the lines which Hamlet is supposed to speak after he sees the ghost. ”

“ Dickey was wearied with long standing, sore from the effects of the pounding, and so thoroughly cured of his desire to wear an armor, that all he thought of or wanted was to get where he could take off the trappings of war, and [Pg 143] become a humble boot-blacking citizen once more. In fact he utterly refused to dance, which would really have been an impossibility, unless he had been relieved from the embarrassment of the boiler covers, and Ben and Johnny went on in a double clog to give a proper finish to the performance. ”

“ To Paul the difference was so great between the place and the one they were then occupying, that he was anxious to go there at once, and the others were quite as eager as he was. Ben was sure that he could induce Dickey to make the fourth in that perfection of boarding-houses, as he knew it would prove to be; and in case he should not succeed in convincing Master Spry that it would be better for him to live there rather than in his hogshead, he promised to use all his eloquence on Mopsey Dowd, or some other equally eligible party. ”

“ The company were now ready for their arduous duties on the stage, and could afford the time to go to dinner. More than once had Mrs. Green called out to them that that very important meal was ready, and should be eaten if they expected her to get the dishes washed in time to act as door-keeper. She had also become imbued with the excitement of this first performance, and had packed away her fruit-stand fully two hours earlier than usual, in order that she might first feed her actor-boarders, and then look out for their interest at the door. ”

“ He also wrote that his father had promised to let him remain a fortnight in New York, during which time he would be with his old friends, and again live over the time when he was a newsboy for ten days.
The story of Ben and Johnny is a true one; their start in life is not without many parallels. To be sure, it is but seldom that such opportunities for advancement come; but each boy has it within himself to win his way in the world quite as well as either Ben, Johnny, or Dickey. ”

“ Johnny Jones told him at once that his idea of trying to get home by the cars without money enough in his pocket to buy his ticket was an impossibility; for he and Ben had tried riding on the cars without paying for it, even a short distance, and had always come to grief because of either the conductor or the brakemen, whom they looked upon as the [Pg 15] natural enemies of boys. It was useless, therefore, to think of getting to Chicago in that way, and Johnny appealed to Ben to decide whether he was right or not. ”

“ Johnny was a trifle alarmed at the words, and looked almost timidly behind him to see if he was really there in [Pg 129] several forms, or if it was only a portion of the play, when Mopsey struck his gun so severe a blow with the edge of his sword that it fell from his not over-strong grasp, striking directly on the toes of the blood-thirsty Richard. ”

“ Ben Treat was the only one who appeared to think he had any cause for complaint, and he very soon made his grievance known.
“I can’t play ghost,” he said, fretfully; “I don’t know nothin’ ’bout it, an’ I want more to do.”
Mopsey had made up his mind as to what course he should pursue in case of any dissatisfaction, and he said to Ben, in tones of deepest scorn,
“A great feller you are to get up a fuss before you know what you’ve got to do! an’ you oughter be ashamed of yourself. Why, you’ve got an awful lot to do. ”

“ Weston and Paul went to the steamship office to engage passage to Europe for the coming Saturday, and the partners went to startle Mrs. Green and her daughter with the wonderful news. To their great surprise Mrs. Green, even though she did own one-sixth of the hundred dollars, decided that she could not afford to close up her basket-store for the day, even when she had been invited to make one of the pleasure-party; but she was willing and anxious for Nelly to go, which was, perhaps, just as well. ”

“ Some even allowed such flights to their imaginations that they came to believe Paul’s father would give them money enough to make them all rich, and they came to think of the five cents which they had spent for a theatre ticket as just so much money given directly to Paul. But the boys who had actually received money from Mr. Weston were so much excited by the wealth which had so suddenly become theirs that they could do no business at all that day. ”

“ Having no one on whom they could wreak their vengeance without considerable danger to themselves, the combatants dispersed, and not until then did Mopsey remember that the very one whom they had been using so roughly was the one upon whom they depended to close the performance.
When the self-elected manager thought of this, he called to Ben to help him set the vanquished Macbeth on his feet, and to get him in dancing condition. It was quite an easy matter to get the tin-encased hero on his feet, but quite another matter to bolster him up so that he could dance. ”

“ It seemed singular that two should be condemned to stand, and through no one’s fault; but Johnny also found it almost impossible to sit down, owing to the number of pins Mopsey had used, to make sure that the trousers would remain at the proper length, and he leaned against the wall by the side of Dickey.
Ben’s costume required very little care, since it was simply a sheet thrown over his head; but he insisted so strongly that a ghost had just as much right as anybody else to have his legs laced up with red tape, and to wear a sword, that Mopsey was obliged to give way, and do as he desired. ”

“ He was recalled from these pleasant dreams by stepping on a tack that penetrated his shoe at a place where a patch was much needed, and then he appeared to see for the first time his friends, who were anxiously waiting for him to complete his survey of the room.
“It’s a stunner!” he said, patronizingly, to Ben, as he seated himself on the floor with easy grace, to remove the tack from his foot—“it’s a stunner! an’ we can jest set the boys wild if we can play somethin’ with plenty of murder in it.” ”

“ As Paul had agreed, he spent the next day with Ben and Johnny in their store; and surely no shopman ever felt more pride in selling goods than they did. Paul acted as clerk; and a very inquisitive one he was, too, for he insisted on looking everywhere, so that he should know just what kind of goods his friends had for sale. ”

“ The painting of the scenery was an artistic bit of work, which Johnny was certain he and Nelly, with perhaps some trifling assistance from Paul, could do in such a manner as would delight their patrons and cover themselves with credit. Therefore that portion of the work was left entirely in their hands one evening, while Ben and Mopsey started out to call on Dickey Spry for the purpose of consulting with him as to how they could procure material with which to build seats, for Dickey was supposed to be quite an authority in such matters. ”

“ Green had several things which it was thought could be used with good effect, and all hands went to work making wooden swords, in case there should be any trouble in finding the real articles. Nelly made more tickets, so that all who were anxious to witness the performance might at least have one, and Paul was given charge of the money that had been received thus far; for all were anxious to see the entire receipts of that night’s performance in one unbroken whole, even if it was necessary to advance funds from each individual pocket in order to make the necessary purchases. ”

“ Ben, Johnny, and Dickey are still in business in the same place that Mr. Weston purchased for them, but one would hardly recognize the dirty, ragged boys whom Paul first met, in the neat, gentlemanly little tradesmen who are so [Pg 203] courteous to their patrons, and so prompt in all their business transactions. That they did study, as Ben told Paul they would, is shown by their manner of speaking, their accounts, which are kept in the most precise order, and their general information when one enters into conversation with them.
And their business has improved quite as much as they have. ”