me to that, anyway," he
replied. "With the sky populated with aeroplanes and the streets filled
with automobiles man stands little chance in these days of preserving
either his supremacy or his identity. When we get on Fifth Avenue to-day
you see if you do not agree with me," he added, as the train pulled into
the big station.

CHAPTER VIII

NEW YORK AND WHAT HAPPENED THERE

It took no very long interval to prove that there was some foundation
for Mr. Tolman's last assertion, for within a short time the travelers
were standing on Fifth Avenue amid the rush of traffic, and feeling of
as little importance as dwarfs in a giant's country. The roar of the
mighty city, its bustle and confusion, were both exhilarating and
terrifying. They had left their luggage at the hotel and now, while
Steve's father went to meet a business appointment, the boy was to take
a ride up the Avenue on one of the busses, a diversion of which he never
tired. To sit on top and look down on the throng in the streets was
always novel and entertaining to one who passed his days in a quiet New
England town. Therefore he stopped one of the moving vehicles and in
great good humor bade his father good-by; and feeling very
self-sufficient to be touring New York by himself, clambered eagerly up
to a seat.

There were few passengers on the top of the coach for the chill of early
morning still lingered in the air; but before they reached Riverside
Drive a man with a bright, ruddy countenance and iron-grey hair hailed
the bus and climbed up beside the boy. As he took his place he glanced
at him kindly and instantly Steve felt a sense of friendliness toward
the stranger; and after they had ridden a short distance in silence the
man spoke.

"What a beautiful river the Hudson is!" he remarked. "Although I am an
old New Yorker I never cease to delight in its charm and its fascinating
history. It was on this body of water, you know, that the first
steamboat was tried out."

"I didn't know it," Stephen confessed, with an honest blush.

"You will be learning about it some day, I fancy," said the other, with
a smile. "An interesting story it is, too. All the beginnings of our
great industries and inventions read like romances."

"My father has just been telling me about the beginnings of some of our
railroads," observed Steve shyly, "and certainly his stories were as
good as fairy tales."

"Is your father especially interested in railroads?" inquir