Seba Smith

“ At this, one of the boys looked round that happened to know Billy, and he cried out, "Ah, Billy Snub, clear out of this; here's no place for you! No boys comes to this office that don't wear no hats and shoes?" ”

“ He also was destined to see his posterity still in the descendant, for his son William was a village shoemaker, who sat on his bench, and drew his thread, and hammered his lapstone from morning till night, the year in and year out, with the occasional variation of whistling while paring off a shoe, and singing a song of an evening to the loungers in his shop. The tendency in the Snub family, however, was still downwards; even the shoemaker was not at the bottom of the hill, for his son was Billy Snub the newsboy. ”

“ They gradually lost sight of the familiar faces they had seen on board the boat, and when the last one disappeared, and they could no longer discern in the vast multitude hurrying to and fro, and down the street, a single individual they had ever seen before, a sense of solitude and home-sickness came over them, that was most overpowering. ”

“ It's New York; I'm going right into the middle of New York; so pack up your duds about the quickest; for I ain't going to stop for nobody."
And sure enough, a few mornings after this, among the deck passengers of one of the steamers that arrived at New York, was no less a personage than Bill Snub, the shoemaker, with his wife Sally and his son Billy. The group landed, and stared at every object they met, with a wild and wondering expression, that seemed to indicate pretty clearly that they were not accustomed to sights and scenes like those around them. ”

“ There is some doubt as to what nation may rightfully claim the honor of supplying the blood that flows in their veins, and it is probable the question at this late day can never be settled with entire satisfaction. Though the claims of England, France, and Germany, might each and all be urged with so much force as to incline the historian to believe that their blood is of mixed origin, yet the prevailing testimony ought to be considered sufficient to establish the point that John Bull is the father of the Snub family ”

“ Bill Snub had to serve out his year in prison, but Billy constantly supplied him with all the comforts and necessaries of life which his situation admitted, and always visited him as often as once a week. And when he came out of prison he was an altered man. He joined the temperance society, and quitted the rum-bottle forever. He became more industrious, worked at his trade, and earned enough to support himself and Sally comfortably. ”

“ After a while a throng of boys had gathered around him, and by various annoyances rendered his position so uncomfortable, that he was glad to escape, and shouldering his baggage, he and his group wandered on with heavy hearts up the street.
Most of the day passed in this way without any profitable result, and as night approached they grew weary and desponding. They had no money left to provide themselves with a home for the night, though they had provision enough for a meal or two remaining in their wallets. ”

“ Bill Snub at last came to the conclusion that his son Billy was doing a pretty fair business in something or other, for he had become satisfied that the food which he and his wife daily received was furnished by Billy, as well as occasional articles of his wife's clothing. And when he ascertained from some of the boys of Billy's acquaintance, that he had probably laid up some thirty or forty dollars in cash, Bill at once conceived the design of getting possession of the money. As he could not catch Billy in the street, he formed a plan to get the aid of police officers ”

“ He might be seen standing in his shop door, or with his head out of the window, hour after hour, watching his old customers as they entered the shop of his rival. He would go home to his meals in ill-humor, and scold his wife for his bad luck. And if little Billy, then six years old, came round him with his accustomed prattle and play, he was pretty sure to be silenced with a smart box on the ear. ”

“ They stopped short on the sidewalk, and Bill looked in his wife's face, and his wife looked in his, and little Billy stood between them, and looked up in the faces of both.
"What are you going to do?" said Sally.
"Going to do?" said Bill; "I'm going to hire out; or else hire a shop and work on my own hook."
Just at that moment a gentleman brushed past his elbow, and Bill hailed him. "I say, mister, you don't know of nobody that wants to hire a shoemaker, do ye?" ”

“ He had battled with boys in the street till he had become such an adept at fisticuffs, that boys of nearly twice his size stood in fear of him. And he had so often been harshly driven from the doors of the wealthy, where he had been sent to beg cold victuals, that he had come to regard mankind in general as a set of ferocious animals, against whose fangs it was necessary to be constantly on his guard. ”

“ When he reached the first corner he stopped and looked back, and by the light of the street lamps, he saw his father and mother come out, and stand on the sidewalk two or three minutes, looking earnestly around them in every direction. They then went quietly back to their room, and Billy cautiously returned again to the house. He placed himself as near the window as he could, without being discovered from within, and listened to what was going on. His mother took the little bundle to the table, and opened it. ”

“ It is much to be lamented that the ancient history of this ancient family is lost to the world; but, alas! they had no poet, no historian.
The ancestors of Billy Snub can be traced in a direct line only to the fourth generation. The great-grandfather was a lawyer of thrift and respectability; a man of talents and influence ”

“ The rum bottle had been broken, and he still retained the sixpence. He hastened immediately to the publishing office of the paper he had just seen sold. When he arrived there, he found quite a crowd of newsboys pressing up to the counter, and clamorous for papers; for the publisher could not supply them fast enough to meet the demand. Billy edged his way in among them, and endeavored to approach the counter. But he was suddenly pushed back by two or three boys at once, who exclaimed, "What new-comer is this? Here's boys enough here now, so you better be off." ”

“ He must keep him for a while in the background, and with a careful and skilful progression drag him slowly up from the dark and misty slough of antiquity, to the full light of day. It is not sufficient to commence with the father, nor even with the grandfather; propriety requires that the ancestral chain should be examined to the very topmost link. ”

“ The officer replied that the particular money had not been identified, only the amount.
"Well, bring the man forward," said the magistrate; "he must identify his money."
The officer then called up Bill Snub, who was stowed away in a distant corner of the room, apparently desirous of keeping out of sight. This was the first intimation that Billy had that his father was his accuser, and it gave him such a shock that he sank down upon the seat, and almost fainted away. The magistrate asked Snub if that was his money, found on the boy. ”

“ The result was, that though it was not properly a news-day, there being no subject of special interest to give a demand for papers, yet, by his diligence and perseverance, he managed to clear, in the course of the day almost another dollar, leaving in his pocket, when night came on, nearly a dollar and three quarters.
Having completed his work for the day, his thoughts instinctively turned to the home of his parents. He felt an intense desire to go and share with them the joys of his good fortune ”

“ At the end of three months, Billy found himself in possession of thirty dollars in cash, notwithstanding he had in the meantime purchased himself a pretty good second-hand cap, a little too small to be sure, but nevertheless he managed to keep it on the top of his head; also a second-hand frock coat, which was somewhat too large, but whose capacious pockets he found exceedingly convenient for carrying his surplus gingerbread and apples. ”

“ His son William was nothing more than a plain, respectable country farmer, who planted his potatoes, and hoed his corn, and mowed his hay, and milked his cows very much as other farmers do, without ever doing anything to become distinguished in the history of his times. ”

“ The way was already open for him for a good run of business. Bill's customers, exasperated at their numerous disappointments, discarded him at once, and flocked to the new comer. In a week's time, Bill had nothing to do. ”