which was as noisy and bright as in the
afternoon, they all made a bee-line for the gambling den, headed by
Archie, who surprised the others with his certainty and confidence as to
which was the right direction. In a very few minutes they all stood in
front of the dilapidated structure built out over tide-water, and Archie
heard one of the detectives say that the place looked "mighty suspicious
like." He gave three knocks just as the dark man had done in the
afternoon, and in a few minutes the door was cautiously opened and a
head made its appearance. The detectives lost no time in pushing their
way in, amid great confusion and cries of fear, and it seemed only a
few seconds until all the inmates were huddled in a corner, covered with
pistols, and wailing in fear, when they weren't cursing through anger.
Then they were all arrested and taken to the police station, where they
were all refused bail, and placed in cells overnight. Then the reporters
returned to the office of the Enterprise, where Archie was told by Mr.
Van Bunting to write the story of his experience for the morning paper.
This was his first work for the morning edition, and he took great pains
to make his descriptions as complete as possible, and the details as
accurate as he knew how to make them. And his hard work was rewarded by
words of praise from the managing editor when he turned the copy in for
editing.
Tired from his hard day's work, Archie then went up-town to the quiet
square in which he had his home, and he was glad to get to bed. He had
been nervous and excited all day, and found it difficult to sleep, but
finally the tired eyelids lay quietly over the tired eyes, and Archie
was dreaming of the cool and pleasant arbour of grapes at home, and of
how the Hut Club was holding a special meeting there to devise ways and
means of welcoming home their distinguished fellow member, Mr. Archie
Dunn, who had achieved such great success in the city.
Notwithstanding his tired feeling, Archie was up early the next morning,
and out at the corner to buy an Enterprise. He hastily turned the pages,
trying to find the story of his Coney Island adventures, but he looked
in vain. It wasn't visible anywhere. He was about to think that it had
not been thought worth while printing when he noticed on the front
page, in large letters, "The Boy Reporter's Great Discovery," and then
followed the complete account, just as he had written it. This was
the best thing yet
|