THE BOY BROKER;
or,
AMONG THE KINGS OF WALL STREET.
by
FRANK A. MUNSEY.
NEW YORK:
FRANK A. MUNSEY & CO., Publishers, 81 Warren Street.
1888.
Copyright, 1888, by
FRANK A. MUNSEY.
[All rights reserved.]
Press of Ferris Brothers.
420 Pearl Street, N. Y.
TO MY DEAR FATHER,
whose rigid new england discipline seemed to me as a boy severe and
unnecessary, this volume is affectionately dedicated with the
grateful acknowledgment that he was right and that
i was wrong. for this training and for all else
i owe him i can pay the debt best by
living the life that will
please him most.
PREFACE.
The best story for boys is the one that will help them most and give them the greatest pleasure—the story that will make them more manly, more self reliant, more generous, more noble and sweeter in disposition. Such a story I have aimed to make The Boy Broker. The moral or lesson it contains could be put into a very short lecture, but as a lecture I am confident that it would prove valueless. Boys are benefited little by advice. They seldom listen to it and less frequently make any practical application of it. Imitative by nature, they are easily influenced by those with whom they associate, and no associate, in my opinion, has so strong a grasp upon them as the hero of some much prized book. He becomes a real being to their young, healthy imagination—their ideal of manliness, bravery, generosity, and nobility. He enters into their lives, their sports, their adventures, their kind acts, a companion, a model so much idealized and admired that unconsciously they grow to be like him in so far as their surroundings will permit. In a good story plot and action are but the setting to the gem—the means of conveying a lesson in disguise in such a way that the reader will not suspect he is being taught. Let it once occur to him that he is reading a lecture and the book will at once be quietly but most effectually packed away. Many authors, it seems to me, fail in their purpose by devoting too much time to the gem and too little to the setting. Others go too far the other way and write stories that give young readers a wrong idea of life—stories whose heroes do improbable and unnatural acts. While my purpose has been to make The Boy Broker interesting I have aimed to give a true idea of life in a great city. So much nonsense of a misleading character has been written about benevolent old gentlemen who help poor boys from the country that I have sought to turn the light of fact on the subject and picture a little real life—about such life as a boy may expect to find if he comes to New York friendless and alone. He might find it much worse; he could not wisely hope to find it better.
Frank A. Munsey.
New York, September, 1888.
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
has been kept a prisoner, Frontispiece. The Great City, 10 “You evidently know all about propriety, so here is my
hand,” said Herbert, 13 Herbert Randolph in the Post Office, 17 Memories of country life—The greeting by the way, 23 The benevolent old gentleman presses money on the
country boy, 27 The country boy finds a well filled pocket book, 29 The country boy to the rescue, 31 At the Boss Tweed Restaurant, 33 A Glimpse of Wall Street, 35 Herbert Randolph finds himself among a mob of
rival applicants, 37 Gunwagner and Felix agree upon a plan, 48 Young Randolph handed Ray into the carriage with
just enough embarrassment in his manner to interest her, 51
become of his new friend, 59 Tom Flannery, 64 Bob Hunter speaks up for Herbert, 71 Bob Hunter plays the detective, 77 A surprise for Felix Mortimer, 85 Young Randolph at last falls asleep exhausted, 92 Suddenly realizing his horrible situation, Herbert sprang
upon the bench with a pitiful cry of terror, 105 Gunwagner pursuing the boys, 111 Gunwagner bursts into the room in a furious mood, 121 Gunwagner in the hands of the police, 130 Young Randolph and Bob Hunter confront Felix Mortimer
and charge him with his villainy, 147 “Tom,” said Bob, “here’s a five for you.” 155 The great banquet, 163 Bob and Tom coming out of the bank, 179 Herbert’s first visit to the banker’s house, 185 “You embarrass me,” said Herbert, blushing,
THE BOY BROKER.
CHAPTER I.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GREAT CITY.