und, knelt
comfortably, and let Broadway swiftly drop behind.

He could not see all the new and engrossing sights that offered
themselves in the wake of the truck and to both sides. His ears were
packed with strange noises. Yet entertained as he was, from time to time
he took note of the cross streets--Eighth, then Tenth, next, busy
Fourteenth.

From time to time the colored man took note of him. "You-all thay yit?"
he would sing out over a shoulder; or, "Have Ah done los' you, kid?"
Upon being reassured, he would return to his problem of nosing a way
along with other vehicles, large and small, and Johnnie would once more
be left to his fascinating survey.

At Twentieth, he very nearly fell out on that shining head, this at
catching sight of a mounted patrolman. No figure in his beloved book
seemed more splendid to him than this one, so noble and martial and
proud. Here was a guardian of the peace who was obviously no common
mortal. Then and there, as the mounted dropped gradually into the
background, Johnnie determined that should he ever be rich enough, or if
hard work and study could accomplish it, he would be a mounted
policeman.

At Twenty-third Street, Broadway suddenly took a sharp turn--toward the
right. Also, it got wider, and noticeably cleaner. More: suddenly
confronted with the gigantic, three-cornered building standing there, a
structure with something of the height and beauty of his own dream
edifices, he realized that he was now entering the true New York. This
was more like it! Here was space and wealth and grandeur. Oh, how
different was this famous street from either of those which gave to the
building in the area!

Then he discovered that he was not traveling a street at all! He was
skimming along an avenue. And it was none other than Fifth Avenue, for
the signs at corners plainly said so. Fifth Avenue! The wonderful,
stylish boulevard which Cis mentioned almost reverently. And he was in
it!

The next moment he was truly in it. For at sight of a window which the
truck was passing, and without even stopping to call to the driver,
Johnnie dropped himself over the end-board to the smooth concrete. The
window was no larger than many a one he had glimpsed during the long
drive northward. What drew him toward it, as if it were a powerful
magnet, was the fact that _it was full of books_.

"My!" he whispered as he gained the sidewalk in front of the window.
There were books standing on end in curvin