musicians on the sidewalk in front of the entrance, were all
attractive to his boyish eyes, but he was wise enough to pass them all
by, and to make his way as quickly as possible to the cheap
lodging-house. The street was jammed with persons of every
description. He was surprised particularly at the number of Chinamen
he met, for he didn't know that a block or two away was the centre of
the Chinese population of New York, where the Celestials have their
theatre, their hotels, their great stores, and their joss-house. There
were many Italians in the street, too, and Polish Jews, to say nothing
of Frenchmen and Germans. Then there was the typical Bowery "tough,"
who swaggered up and down, looking for trouble, which he usually finds
before an evening passes. Archie was not afraid in this cosmopolitan
crowd. No one seemed to notice him, and, anyhow, there were a great
many policemen about, who seemed to keep a sharp lookout all the time.
And as Archie shared his mother's faith in the city policeman, he felt
no fear.

In the lodging-house everything looked very much as before. The chairs
were still occupied with filthy-looking men, who smoked and spat and
talked in undertones among themselves. The boy paid no attention to
any of them, but, walking up to the seedy individual behind the
counter, asked him if he could go to bed now. The man answered,
"Certainly," and sent a fellow with Archie to show him his bed. It was
in a long, narrow room, which was poorly lighted with a few gas-jets
here and there, and which was filled with about thirty beds, all
narrow, and all dirty. One of these was pointed out to Archie, and
then the man left him. The poor lad felt more homesick than ever, and
had it not been that he had a glorious to-morrow to look forward to,
he would have been very miserable indeed. As it was, he undressed and
got between the chilly sheets, when he remembered that he hadn't