Ben Bruce: Scenes in the Life of a Bowery Newsboy

“I know what you would say, Mr. Wentworth, but if any wrong has been done it will be repaired. I have a letter here written by Mrs. Harcourt, which I opened after her death. It...

Mr. Snodgrass led the way to a small restaurant two or three streets distant, and the two went in and seated themselves at a table covered with a cloth of far from immaculate wh...

How to foil Ezra Winter in his fraudulent schemes Ben could not tell. Though he had more experience than most boys of his age he was not so familiar with villainy as some boys w...

Jacob Winter felt very sorry over Ben’s running away. His stepson was a strong boy and would have been of considerable service on the farm even if Mr. Flack had not agreed to ta...

“Because I went up to call him just now and found that his bed had not been slept in. Do you think he went over to sleep with Albert Graham?”

Ben slept later than usual the next morning. He was awakened by his neighbor, Mr. Snodgrass, who entered his room, his face glowing with excitement. In his hand he held a mornin...

Mr. Snodgrass dropped a hint that he should be glad to have Ben redeem _his_ watch too, but the young actor did not feel that his prosperity was sure to be permanent, and ignore...

“And now, Edwin,” said the lady, “I won’t detain you. You may go down at once to the Fifth Avenue Hotel and await me there. Or, if you want two hours for yourself, meet me at th...

Jacob Winter felt, though he hardly liked to confess it, that but for Ben he would have been the loser of five hundred dollars. He was not a liberal man, but he determined to ma...

“You will need a recommendation, and I will write you one before I leave town. I haven’t known you long, but what I have seen of you gives me confidence in your good qualities....

Ben kept at work for the remainder of the week, but felt far from satisfied with his position and pay. He found that his three meals a day included only the cheapest and least d...

As there was considerable time to be filled up, Ben went about the city under the guidance of Adelbert, and got a fair idea of it. Never before having been in any city, he was q...

Just at first Ben failed to make the money that he expected. There is a way to sell papers as there is to do any other kind of business, and it took a little time to learn.

Leaving Ben for a time, we go back to his old home to inquire how his mother and stepfather were faring. Mr. Winter seemed to grow meaner as he grew older. His wife often asked...

Ben managed to slip away unobserved, for he feared that Mr. Snodgrass might be disposed to follow him. He arrived at the theater in good season, and there on the large poster in...

He made application at various places for employment, but generally found some one ahead of him. He was, however, offered one place at two dollars and a half a week, and another...

From their place of concealment the two boys watched attentively. They were rather mystified as to Mr. Winter’s intentions. It occurred to them, however, that he might have in h...

Leaving Ben for a time we will go back to Brooklyn and make the reader better acquainted with the family of Frank Mordaunt, the newsboy whom Ben had so generously assisted.

At first Ben was puzzled, but all at once it flashed upon him that the man was the one who had tried to rob his stepfather and afterward to enter the house. He could see in his...

There was very little conversation at the supper table after Ben had told the story of the explosion. Mrs. Winter was indignant at her husband’s breaking his promise to her that...

Though Mrs. Harcourt could have gone back to Paris with safety after Basil’s return to New York, she decided to remain in Geneva, and did so through the winter. She engaged teac...

“Do you need any money?” asked Basil when they landed. “As your guardian, as well as the executor of Mrs. Harcourt’s estate, I am ready to meet any reasonable demands.”

It was certainly a trying position in which Ben was placed. He was only a boy of sixteen, and he found a man’s responsibility thrown upon him. In this juncture General Flint cam...

Ben hesitated whether to address the burglar or not before firing the gun. Certainly the intruder had no claim to a warning, but Ben decided to be generous and give him the chan...

“I have just received news from England that obliges me to sail thither at once with Edwin. I am disappointed, as it will prevent my meeting Basil, who you told me is expected o...

“I should prefer to stay away myself but I have no good excuse. You had better make an excursion somewhere as my uncle may insist on sending to the hotel for you.”

The two boys rose from the bench, fully appreciating the danger to which they were exposed, and uncertain what it was safest to do. The dog was of medium size, weighing perhaps...

“Well, Ben, it is all settled,” said the dramatic author. “I want you to do yourself credit, and help on the success of my piece. You have no engagement for the rest of the day...

“I must tell you that I have been adopted by a wealthy lady, and my name is changed to Edwin Harcourt. Mrs. Harcourt wants my past life forgotten, so I will ask you not to allud...

In five minutes they were rattling up Fifth Avenue in a cab. The driver, who had his instructions, turned into East Fifty-seventh Street, and paused in front of a handsome brown...

These words were spoken in a stern voice by Jacob Winter, and emphasized by a heavy frown. The speaker was rather an undersized man, with a rugged, weather-beaten face. He had s...

He had at times fancied that he should like to cross the Atlantic, and visit the countries and cities of which he had heard so much, but it had never entered his imagination as...

Ben had been long enough in the city to know where to go for his purchases. He laid in a great stock of underclothing of excellent quality, and bought a steamer trunk, as instru...

Ezra Winter was sitting in his office in the Sears Building in Boston. All his plans had been perfected, and he was prepared to reap the fruit of his rascality.

He looked about him to see if among the eight hundred passengers he could recognize any one. He walked through the brilliant saloon and out upon the open deck in the rear. There...

Before leaving New York for his return to his old home, Ben took a brief trip over to Brooklyn to see his friend Frank Mordaunt. He found the family in a cheerful and happy mood.

Probably no more astonished man lived than the tramp when his consciousness returned and he found himself lying on his back under the big oak tree. He lifted himself on his elbo...

Ben quickly informed the paying teller of the new arrival, and he and Snodgrass took a position on the left hand side of the main entrance, where there was a chance of their esc...

The summer passed slowly. Business was unusually dull even for this time of the year, and Ben’s earnings were proportionately small. Week by week he was obliged to draw from his...

After attending to his chores, Ben decided to take a walk--not in the direction of the village, but away from it. A quarter of a mile to the westward there was a river with a ra...