[Illustration: Sunny Boy was speaking to the tall policeman who directed traffic from the center of the street. 

 (_See Page 193_)]

 SUNNY BOY

 IN THE BIG CITY

 BY

 RAMY ALLISON WHITE

 Author of

 "SUNNY BOY IN THE COUNTRY, " "SUNNY BOY AT THE SEASHORE, " ETC. 

 _ILLUSTRATED BY_

 CHARLES L. WRENN

 BARSE & HOPKINS

 PUBLISHERS

 NEW YORK, N. Y. NEWARK, N. J. 

 * * * * *

Copyright, 1920

By

BARSE & HOPKINS

SUNNY BOY IN THE BIG CITY

 * * * * *

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I THE PARADE 9

II OLIVER'S LESSON 23

III OFF FOR NEW YORK 36

IV GOING SHOPPING 52

V SUNNY BOY LOSES HIS ROOM 67

VI ON TOP OF THE BUS 82

VII IN CENTRAL PARK 97

VIII THE FERRYBOAT RIDE 110

IX WHEN MAKE-BELIEVE IS REAL 125

X MORE SIGHTSEEING 139

XI SUNNY BOY GETS LOST 154

XII SUNNY BOY IS FOUND 169

XIII HELPING THE HARRITYS 182

XIV JOE BROWN GOES BACK 195

XV HOME AGAIN 208

 * * * * *

ILLUSTRATIONS

"Sunny Boy was speaking to the tall policeman who directedtraffic from the center of the street" _Frontispiece_

 PAGE

"He had not supposed that a moving stairway wentfurther than one story" 63

"Sunny Boy was just the least little bit afraid whenthey went under the elevator tracks" 91

"Sunny Boy sat down sociably on an old soap box" 165

 * * * * *

SUNNY BOY IN THEBIG CITY

CHAPTER I

THE PARADE

"Fall in!" said Sunny Boy sharply. 

The army, six small boys distributed comfortably over the front steps, scrambled to obey. That is, all except one, who remained seated, a seashell held over each ear. 

"I said 'Fall in, '" repeated Sunny Boy patiently, as a general shouldspeak. 

"I heard you the first time, " admitted the small soldier. "Did youknow these shells made a noise, Sunny?"

"Of course, " answered Sunny Boy scornfully. "Any shell sounds likethat if you hold it up to your ear. Come on, Bobbie, we're going toparade. "

But Private Robert Henderson, it seemed, didn't feel like paradingjust that minute. 

"Let's take this stuff out to the sand-box, " he suggested. "We canmake a real beach, with shells and everything. Gee, you must have hadfun at the seashore. "

"Did, " said Sunny Boy briefly. 

He was exasperated. As general of his army he tried not to be cross, but Bobbie was famous for always spoiling other people's plans. Henever by any chance wanted to do what the other boys wanted to do. 

"You can play with the sand-box after we parade, " announced Sunny Boynow. "Come on, Bobbie. "

Bobbie remained obstinately absorbed in the shells. 

"Let me!" Down the steps tumbled a pink gingham frock and a fluff ofyellow bobbed hair that proved to be four-year-old Ruth Baker. Shelived next door to Sunny Boy, and her brother, Nelson, was alreadymarking time with the waiting army. 

"Let me march, Sunny Boy, " Ruth begged. "I can mark time, an'everything!"

Sunny Boy decided swiftly. 

"All right, " he assented. "I don't think much of girls in an army, butI s'pose it's better than being one short. Get in next to David. "

Ruth's feelings were not easily hurt, and she didn't mind if herenlistment was not accepted with enthusiasm as long as she wasaccepted. She slipped happily into line back of David Spellman, afreckle-faced boy with smiling dark eyes. 

"Forward, march!" Sunny Boy beat a lively quick-step on his drum andthe army moved down the quiet street, leaving Bobbie Henderson playingwith the shells. 

Sunny Boy's drum, of all his toys, was probably his favorite. He hadlet it roll into the street once and a horse had nearly stepped on it, but his mother had mended it neatly with court-plaster, and it seemedgood for many more days. 

"Rub-a-dub, dub! Rub-a-dub, dub!" he pounded gaily now as he swungalong at the head of his gallant forces. 

"I don't think generals play drums, " David Spellman had saiddoubtfully, when Sunny Boy first organized his army. 

"Well, I'm going to play mine, " Sunny Boy had retorted firmly. "Daddysays when you're short of help a man has to do two people's work. Ican play my drum and be general, too. "

"Halt!"

Sunny Boy issued his order so quickly that the army was startled andstepped on one another's heels as they came to a standstill. 

"This square's a good place to drill, " he explained. "I'll see howwell you know the man'l of arms. "

Sunny Boy meant the manual of arms, and his idea of army drill, gleaned from the talk of his father and one or two older cousins, wasn't very clear; but then, his army didn't know much about iteither, so his authority wasn't questioned. 

"Column right!" said Sunny Boy. 

The army obediently turned to the right. 

"Ruth, don't you know which is your right?" demanded Sunny Boyseverely. 

A general must keep up discipline, you know, and when a girl is in anarmy she must do just as the others do. 

"I get mixed 'bout right and left, " admitted Ruth Baker cheerfully. "But I'm all right now, Sunny. See?"

"All right, " approved Sunny Boy graciously. "Column left!"

The army swung to the left. 

"Look here, I don't intend to have you children making a noise likethis in front of my house!" The handsome glass-paneled door of thehouse before which the army was drilling had opened suddenly. A womanwhom Sunny Boy afterward described to his mother as "awful big andtall" came out on the steps and frowned down at the children. "Why onearth do all the children in the neighborhood pick out my house toplay around?" she continued fretfully. 

Sunny Boy's army wanted very much to run home, but he showed no signsof running himself so they waited, huddled together in a frightenedlittle group. 

"Why don't you stay at your own homes to play?" persisted the woman. 

The woman really wasn't very tall, not taller than Sunny Boy's ownmother. She came out so unexpectedly and stared down at the childrenso crossly that she seemed taller than she was. She had near-sightedeyes, and wore big, thick-rimmed glasses, and these, too, made herlook more severe. 

"Well?" she demanded. 

Sunny Boy stood at the foot of the steps and smiled at her. He knewshe wasn't always upset like this. 

"You have such a nice sidewalk, " he explained, putting down his drumand removing his cap as Mother had taught him. "It's so wide andsmooth. I should think it would be great for roller-skating. "

"I won't let 'em!" the woman answered quickly. "In the summer I justabout spend my whole day chasing children off this walk. I didn't haveit put down for a roller-skating rink. What are you young ones doing, anyhow?"

"This is my army, " Sunny Boy indicated the column with a backwardsweep of his hand. "We were marching, and we stopped to drill. Butwe'll go, if you'd rather. "

"That's a cunning little girl, " said the woman, looking at Ruth. "Isshe a soldier, too? I thought only boys could join the army. "

Sunny Boy explained that Ruth was taking the place of a private whodidn't want to do his duty. 

"We'll be going now, " he added politely. 

"Wait a minute, " said the woman, who didn't seem cross at all now. "I've been bothered to death this morning--company telephoning theywere coming to spend the afternoon and then changing their minds afterI had the lemonade all made and on the ice. I have a lot to botherme. "

She looked a little wistfully at Sunny Boy. He didn't know it, but shewas trying to say she was sorry she had been impatient and testy. Grown-ups frequently find it as difficult to say "I'm sorry" as boysand girls do. 

"I wonder if your army would like some nice ice-cold lemonade?" saidthe woman abruptly. "Would your mothers mind, do you think?"

"Not lemonade, " Sunny Boy assured her promptly. "'Sides, it is a longtime to lunch, and Mother doesn't mind if you don't eat just beforelunch. "

"Well, all right, then. But how shall I give it to you?" asked theirwould-be hostess. "If I bring it out here all the neighborhood willcome and want some. And I do hate to have so many children tramping inover my clean rugs. "

Not without reason was Sunny Boy a general. 

"I can march 'em in the basement door, " he suggested. "They'll stay ina row and not muss anything. "

So it was decided. The woman went in and closed the door, promising toopen the iron basement gate for them, and Sunny Boy turned to hisarmy. 

"Forward march!" he ordered. 

A little fearfully the army marched down the area steps and into adark hall. They each had a feeling that the woman might change hermind after all, and scold them again. But she was smiling as theytramped into her old-fashioned kitchen. 

"Halt!" commanded Sunny Boy, and the army ranged itself against thewall without further orders. 

"I'll give each one a glass, and then I'll pour the lemonade, " saidthe hostess pleasantly. 

She went down the line, filling a tall crystal glass for each child. Then, after that, she brought out a plate of brown and white cookiesand insisted that they must each take three. 

"Sugar cookies don't hurt any one, " she declared, patting Ruth on thehead as she passed her. "Do they, General?"

"I guess not, " agreed Sunny Boy contentedly, munching a cake. 

When they had finished, they put the glasses carefully on the table, and said "Thank you" politely. 

"My name is Miss Lyons, Miss Edith Lyons, " announced their hostess, following them to the door. "I'm going to watch you march off, and Ihope you'll come to see me again. "

"We didn't muss anything, did we?" asked Sunny Boy anxiously. He feltresponsible for all the rest. 

Miss Lyons stooped down and kissed him. 

"Bless your heart, for a thoughtful little boy, " she said warmly. "Youhaven't hurt a thing. Good-bye, Soldier, and good luck!"

"Fall in!" Sunny Boy commanded as they reached the walk. "Forward, march!"

The drum sounding merrily, the army fell into step and marched downthe street, Miss Lyons waving her handkerchief in good-bye. 

"Those were good cookies, " chuckled Harold Wallace, who marched besideSunny Boy. "Gee, I wanted to run when she opened the door. Did youknow her, Sunny?"

"My, no, " Sunny Boy assured him. "I guess she was just glad to havesomebody come and drink up all that lemonade. "

When they reached Sunny's house, a familiar touring car was drawn upat the curb. 

"Daddy's home!" cried Sunny Boy. "P'haps he'll give us a ride. Where'sBobbie?"

Bobbie was not in sight, but his shells lay scattered on the top stepwhere he had left them. 

"Well, well, who wants a little ride?" Mr. Horton came smiling downthe steps. "Sunny Boy, Mother wants you to pick up this stuff and putit in the hall. Any one's likely to fall over it out here. And thenI'll take you round the park and back. "

"All of us?" asked Sunny Boy, beginning to pick up the shells andsea-weed. "Where's Bobbie, Daddy?"

"All of you, " assented Mr. Horton. "Bobbie Henderson? Oh, his mothersent for him. Ready now, children?"

Mr. Horton put Ruth Baker in the front seat because she was the onlygirl, and the seven boys piled happily into the tonneau. They were allready to start when Sunny Boy, turning around, saw a grinning littlecolored boy holding on at the back of the car. Mr. Horton saw him, too. 

"Hey, get down from there!" Sunny Boy's father called crisply. "You'llbe hurt, taking a chance like that. Get off now, before I start thecar. "

The woolly black head and grinning brown face disappeared, but SunnyBoy set up a loud wail. 

"Daddy, he took my hat! See him! He's got it! Let me get out and chasehim!"

"Stay where you are, " commanded Mr. Horton. "You can't catch him now. Perhaps we can find him later. If not, Mother will have to get youanother hat to-morrow. "

"It was brand-new, " Sunny Boy explained mournfully to David, as thecar started. "Mother bought it for me to wear to New York. And nowthat colored boy went and stole it!"

CHAPTER II

OLIVER'S LESSON

"You going to New York?" Harold Wallace asked curiously. "When? Mycousin lives there. He's coming to see me next summer. "

Sunny Boy bounced around excitedly on the seat. That is, he bounced asmuch as he could in the rather crowded space. 

"Yes, we're going to New York, " he announced. "To-morrow--no, the nextday--when is it, Daddy?"

"Soon, " said Mr. Horton. 

"Send me a post-card for my album, " begged Ruth. 

"Me, too, " chimed in Nelson. 

All the boys, it seemed, wanted post-cards from New York. 

"Well, maybe, if Mother will write 'em, " agreed Sunny Boy dubiously. "I can print A's and B's, but not a real letter writing. Are you goingto get out, Daddy?"

The car had circled a large green that made attractive the center ofthe city, and Mr. Horton had parked before a busy grocery store. 

"I'm going in here to do an errand for Mother, " he said. "Now, youngsters, I won't be long, and every one of you stay in the car tillI come back. I don't want to have to hunt up missing boys when it'stime to go home. "

Ruth Baker turned so she faced the back of the car. 

"You never stay at home, Sunny Horton!" she declared accusingly. "Ithink it's mean. You were going to play Indian braves and sleep out inthe tent, and pretty soon it will be so cold Mother won't let us. "

"You have been away a lot, haven't you?" suggested David. 

Sunny Boy considered. 

"I had to go to see my Grandpa Horton, " he urged. "And then I had togo to see my Aunt Bessie. And Daddy would be lonesome in New Yorkwithout Mother and me. He said so. "

You see, Sunny Boy had had a busy summer. First he and his mother hadgone into the country to visit his grandfather who lived on a farm. Sunny Boy was named for this grandfather, "Arthur Bradford Horton, "though Daddy and Mother called him Sunny Boy, and many people thoughthe had no other name. Grandfather Horton's farm was known as"Brookside, " and Sunny Boy learned to love the place dearly in themonth he spent there. You may have read what he did there and thefriends he made in the first book about him, called "Sunny Boy in theCountry. "

After Sunny Boy and his mother came home from "Brookside, " they wentalmost immediately to visit Mrs. Horton's sister, Sunny's AuntBessie, in her bungalow at Nestle Cove. Mr. Horton took them down tothe seashore in the automobile, and Sunny Boy had a delightful timeplaying in the sand and learning to swim. He found a little lost dog, too, as you may remember if you have read the book about him called"Sunny Boy at the Seashore. "

Now he was at home again in Centronia, the city where he and his daddyand mother lived, and they were getting ready to make a trip to thegreat city of New York. 

"Where 'bouts does your cousin live?" Sunny Boy asked Harold Wallace, hoping his friends understood that all this traveling he wasexperiencing was truly necessary. "P'haps Mother and I'll see him. "

"I don't know exactly where he lives, " answered Harold cautiously. "But I know it is in a brick row. Aunt Lucy wrote my mother when theymoved. "

"I'll tell Daddy, " promised Sunny Boy confidently. "He'll know whatstreet. Don't get out, Oliver. "

Oliver Dunlap, red-haired and blue-eyed, grinned provokingly. 

"Wait till you see me, " he retorted. "Can't I put just one foot out ofthe car?"

Of course, having one foot out, Oliver in another moment had both feeton the running board and from there jumped to the sidewalk. 

"Daddy said to stay in the car, " insisted Sunny Boy. 

"He only meant not to go away, " said Oliver. "Oh, look at the crowdcoming!"

The children stood up in the car and stared in the direction Oliverwas pointing. On the next block they could see a man running swiftly, followed by a crowd of people, and back of them two policemen. 

"Come back, Oliver!" screamed Ruth, jumping up and down withexcitement. "Make him come back, Sunny. "

But before Oliver could run over to the car, if he had wanted to, theman, the crowd close upon his heels, had reached the spot where Oliverstood. He caught hold of him, whirled him about, and dropped somethinginto his hands, all without stopping his headlong flight. The crowdimmediately closed in around Oliver just as Mr. Horton, attracted bythe noise and the shouting, came out of the store. One of thepolicemen continued to run after the man. 

"Oh, Daddy, get Oliver, " Sunny Boy almost sobbed, as his father cameover to the car. 

"Why, where is he?" asked Mr. Horton, surprised. "Aren't you allhere?"

"Oliver isn't. He's in there. " Sunny Boy pointed to the crowd whichwas growing larger every minute as more and more people pressed in, eager to know what the excitement was about. "Oh, gee!"

Sunny Boy's eyes grew wide with wonder and terror. The other boys inthe car looked frightened. Ruth began to cry. 

A policeman had come out from the center of the crowd, and he hadOliver by the arm. Oliver was crying, and looked very small andmiserable. 

"Why, Oliver Dunlap!" Mr. Horton walked up to him, and put his armprotectingly around the frightened child. "What is the matter, Officer?"

"Do you know him?" asked the policeman politely. "Maybe that'sdifferent then. That pickpocket stole a lady's purse, and here's theempty bag he left in the kid's hands. We thought they weretogether--using the boy to cover up his tracks, you see. "

"I left him in my car ten minutes ago with these other children, " saidMr. Horton calmly. "He's Henry Dunlap's son. Your chief knows hisfather. "

"If you say it's all right, it is, " pronounced the policeman. "Don'tcry, kid, you're all right now. Sorry to make you any trouble, sir. "

He turned to push back the crowd, which was surging about theautomobile now, and Mr. Horton lifted in Oliver. Then slowly, so asnot to injure any one, he steered the car out of the mass of peopleand turned it around. 

"Guess you'll stay in the car the next time, Oliver, " jeered HaroldWallace. 

"That'll do, Harold, " said Mr. Horton sharply. "I'm going to take youall around the park twice now and then we'll scoot home for lunch. Itis twelve o'clock. I don't want to take home such solemn faces. See ifyou can't smile a bit. "

By the time they had circled the park twice every one felt decidedlymore cheerful. Even Oliver had managed a smile, though it would besome time before he could see a policeman and not want to run. 

Sunny Boy had so much to tell Mother at lunch that he almost forgot toinform her of the loss of his hat. Seeing her trying on a new hatbefore the hall mirror after lunch reminded him. 

"And how can I go to New York without a hat?" he finished sadly, whenhe had described to her how the colored boy had run off with hisbeautiful new, round, blue hat. 

"You can't, of course, " said Mother. "I'll have to take you down townagain to-morrow and buy you another. Harriet, here's Sunny Boy losinghis new hat before he's had it three days. "

"Dear, dear! Do tell!" said Harriet, who was passing through the hallon her way upstairs. She sat down to listen. 

"I might take Sunny down through the River Section, " she suggested toMrs. Horton. "We could go this afternoon. All the colored folks livethere, you know, and Sunny might see the boy. I'd make him give thehat back, drat him!"

Mrs. Horton had little faith in their finding boy or hat, but she waswilling they should go, and so Harriet and Sunny Boy set out half anhour later, bound for the River Section, which was over on the otherside of the city from where the Hortons lived. 

They decided to walk there and then ride home if they were tired, andSunny Boy found much to interest him along the way. They passed ahorse that had lost his nosebag before he had eaten all his oats andwho was regarding it hungrily as it lay on the ground at his feet. 

"Fix it, Harriet, " implored Sunny. "He hasn't had all his dinner. "

So Harriet stopped and picked up the nosebag and fixed it nicely onthe horse's nose. He went right to eating the moment she had it inplace, but Sunny Boy was sure his wise brown eyes thanked themgratefully. 

"Look, Harriet!" they were crossing another street when Sunny Boy'squick eyes spied something else that interested him. "See, littledesks. "

A man was carrying desks into a brown stone house, and a large numberof similar desks were propped up on the walk. 

"'Miss May Ford's School for Boys and Girls. '" Harriet read theshining brass plate on the side of the house as they walked slowlypast. "Why, Sunny, that must be the Miss May your mother talks about. I guess that's where you'll be going to school this winter. "

Sunny Boy stared at the building with interest. He was very eager tolearn what school was like, and he hoped that as soon as they cameback from New York he would go to school every day as Nelson Bakerdid. 

Two or three blocks further on Harriet turned suddenly down a sidestreet. 

"Now begin to look, Sunny, " she admonished him. "See if you see a boythat looks like the one who took your hat this morning. How old wouldyou say he was?"

"'Bout 'leven, " returned Sunny Boy wisely. "He acted 'bout that, anyway. Isn't that a cunning baby, Harriet?"

Harriet wasn't interested in babies just then. She was determined tofind that missing hat. 

"That looks like him, " Sunny pointed an accusing finger at a coloredboy leaning against a rickety porch railing. 

At the same moment the boy saw them and started to run. 

"We can't chase him, " said Harriet. "He'll run up some alley. You stayhere on the sidewalk, and I'll ask if he lives in this house. "

A little girl answered Harriet's knock. "Yes'm, " she said, she knewthe boy. 

"He don't live here--don't live nowhere, " she volunteered. "He justhangs around. His name is Pete. "

"Well, there's no use in looking any further, " announced Harriet, rejoining Sunny Boy on the pavement. "Pete, if that's his name, won'tshow up around here for several days now. And before that you'll be onyour way to New York. "

CHAPTER III

OFF FOR NEW YORK

"Sunny Boy and I will go ahead and get the trunk checked, " said Mr. Horton, picking up the two suitcases that stood in the hall. "Where'syour hat? You haven't lost it again, have you?"

Sunny Boy dashed under the table and picked up his new hat. 

"It's all right, " he assured his father anxiously. "It just fell offwhen I wasn't looking. Mother bought it yesterday. Does it do for NewYork, Daddy?"

"I don't see why not, " replied Mr. Horton, smiling. "All through, Olive? Sure you and Harriet can lock up all right?"

Mrs. Horton came into the hall, pencil and pad in hand. It was the dayfor leaving--Sunny Boy had been afraid that it would never come--andthey were almost on the way to New York. The train would leaveCentronia Union Station in an hour. 

"I'm finishing the list of things I want Harriet to remember, "explained Mrs. Horton. "Sunny, dear, did you say good-bye to her? Allright then, run along with Daddy. And I'll meet you at the southentrance not later than a quarter of ten. "

Sunny Boy and Daddy took the street car, and Sunny was so blissfullyhappy to be beginning the journey at last that a white-hairedgentleman next to him asked him if he was thinking about Christmas. 

Sunny Boy shook his head. He hadn't begun to think of Christmas. Thatwas months and months away. 

"I'm going to New York, " he informed the white-haired gentlemanproudly. "Daddy and Mother and me. And I can ride on top of thebusses, Daddy said so. "

"Dear me, " said the gentleman, "that is a long trip for a chap of yourage. I have a little grandson who lives in New York. He's counting thedays now till he can come to see me. "

This was a new idea to Sunny Boy. 

"Do you s'pose folks who live in New York like to come to seeCentronia?" he asked doubtfully. 

"Just as much as you count on going to New York, " said thewhite-haired gentleman promptly. "It's new to them, you see. Here's mycorner now. Good-bye. I hope you will have all the good times you arelooking forward to. "

"Isn't it funny, Daddy?" said Sunny Boy, watching the gentleman go outthe door. "Most everybody has relations living in New York. HaroldWallace's cousin lives there. Have we any 'lations to go to see?"

"Not in New York, " answered Mr. Horton, pressing the button to tellthe motor-man to let them off. "You and Mother will have to amuseeach other, because you may find it lonesome at first with no friendsto talk to. "

They were opposite the station now, and the car stopped. Sunny Boyhopped off blithely, but his thoughts were busy with what Daddy hadsaid. How could one be lonely in New York?

"'Member the time the baggage man thought the alarm clock was a'fernal machine?" asked Sunny Boy, as he followed his father into thestation and over to the baggage room. 

"Indeed I do, " Mr. Horton laughed. 

You see, when Sunny Boy and his mother had been going to see GrandpaHorton, Sunny, as his part in the packing, tucked in the family alarmclock so that he would be sure to get up early in the country. And heforgot the clock might be set, as it was. The station people had heldthe trunk and it took a great deal of explaining, and the Hortonsnearly missed their train before they were allowed to check the trunk. 

The baggage man remembered Sunny Boy. 

"How's the alarm clock?" he grinned cheerfully. "Any more infernalmachines in your baggage this time?"

Sunny Boy smiled shyly. 

"We didn't have a finger in packing this trunk, " Daddy answered forhim. "All right, Son, we're fixed. Now we'll see if we can get someparlor car seats. "

But, it seemed, the parlor car seats were all sold. 

"All the way through. Convention going to-day on your train, "announced the man behind the brass-barred window. "Sorry, but you'llhave to go in the day coach. "

"You and I don't mind, Sunny, " said Mr. Horton, as they walked over tothe south entrance to wait for Mrs. Horton. "It is rather hard onMother, but perhaps she won't mind. It isn't so warm to-day. "

"And we can put the window up, " suggested Sunny Boy helpfully. "Oh, there's Mother!"

He ran to meet her and brought her over triumphantly to the seat savedfor her. 

"Am I in time?" she asked a little anxiously. "Ten minutes yet? That'sfine. There was a block on the cars. "

"Get your breath, and then I think we'd better go through the gate, "counseled Mr. Horton. "Couldn't get parlor car seats, so the earlierwe get on, the better chance we have of getting a good seat. I'll takethe grips, Sunny, you take care of Mother. "

Sunny Boy felt that he was an experienced traveler when he handed thetickets to the man at the gate, Daddy's hands being occupied with thesuitcases. The long gray train shed was filled with shining dark carsand snorting, puffing engines, but Daddy seemed to know where to go, and he led the way. 

"This is all right, " he decided, coming to a stop before a coach. 

He put down the heavy suitcases and took the tickets from Sunny. 

"They'll be safer in my wallet, " he explained. "But you may give themto the conductor if you wish. Up you go--there!"

Sunny Boy found himself on the platform beside Mother, who had gonefirst. He followed her into the nearly dark car, and they found twonice seats near the center and on what Daddy said would be the shadyside as soon as they pulled out of the shed. 

"If a crowd comes in we must give up one of these seats, " Mr. Hortonsaid, turning back one so that it faced the other. "But until thenlet's be as comfortable as we can. "

He put the suitcases in the racks overhead, put Mother's light dustcoat up with them, and raised both windows. Sunny Boy and his mothersat facing Daddy. 

"Now we're off, " announced Mr. Horton, smiling at Sunny Boy, who waswatching everything. 

A few more people came into the car, but not many, and after whatseemed a long wait to Sunny, they heard the conductor's long-drawn-out"All a-bo-ard!"

The train groaned and started slowly. 

"And now we're going!" declared Sunny Boy, with satisfaction. 

"Now we're going, " echoed Mother. "Don't put your head out, Sunny. Ifthe wind blows too strongly we'll have to put the window down. "

Sunny Boy hoped it wouldn't blow too much. He loved to feel itrumpling his hair and cutting gently across his cheek. 

"There's Haver's grocery, " he cried, as they passed the red-brickstore on a street corner. "And the market! There's where we punctureda tire, Daddy. And, look! There's where Harriet took her shoes to bemended!"

"Not so loud, " cautioned Mr. Horton. Indeed, Sunny had unconsciouslyraised his voice, and several people were smiling at him. 

So Sunny Boy made up a little song to amuse himself as the train wentslowly through the city streets, streets he knew fairly well becausehe had ridden through them with his father in the automobile. 

"Bicycle shop, gasoline station, fresh egg store, " sang Sunny softly. "Mr. French's ice-cream--wonder if he'll know I've gone to New York. "

Soon the train began to go faster, and Sunny Boy did not know thelittle towns they were passing through. Almost before he knew it, thewaiter came through announcing lunch, and the Hortons went into thedining-car. This was the third time Sunny Boy had eaten on the train, and he was, as he said, "'Most used to it. "

When they came back into their own coach, and had settled down, Mr. Horton to read his paper and Mrs. Horton with a book to read aloud toSunny, a tall, thin, rather odd looking man who had sat huddled up ina corner seat suddenly clapped his hand to his eye and began to actstrangely. 

"Ow!" he cried. "Ow! I told you not to have that window opened. Oh!Oh, my! What shall I do?"

"He must be in a fit, " said the woman in the seat behind the Hortons. 

"Appendicitis, probably, " declared the man across the aisle. 

"Nonsense, " said Mr. Horton briskly. "He has a cinder in his eye. Iwonder if he would let me take it out for him?"

There was a crowd about the man now, and as Mr. Horton went down theaisle to help him, Sunny Boy slipped out of his seat, too, and taggedalong after. 

"I know something about first-aid, " he heard his father say. "Let melook at your eye. Stand back, neighbors, we need a little room. "

Watching, Sunny Boy managed to see his father take out a clean whitehandkerchief and a lead pencil. He seemed only to look at the man'seye, and then the cinder was out and the excitement over. 

"If that boy hadn't opened his window, this never would havehappened, " declared the man, who was grateful to Mr. Horton forrelieving his pain, but determined to lay his misfortune to some one. "I'm going into the smoker. Perhaps a man can have a little less freshair and a bit more common sense in there. "

He tramped angrily away. Sunny Boy looked for the first time at theboy in the seat ahead, who had been leaning over the backapologetically, fearful that his open window really had caused thetrouble. 

"Why, Joe Brown!" said Sunny Boy. 

Joe turned a dull red. He was a boy whom Sunny did not know very well, and he was a number of years older, twelve or thirteen years old atleast. His mother often did sewing for Mrs. Horton, and Sunnysometimes saw Joe at Sunday school and at the grocery store where hesometimes worked after school. 

"Hullo, Sunny, " said Joe Brown awkwardly. "Where you goin'?"

"To New York, " announced Sunny Boy importantly. "Where you going?"

"To New York, " was the answer. 

"How do you do, Joe?" asked Mr. Horton kindly, coming up to him. "Taking a trip, too, are you?"

"Yes, sir, " mumbled Joe. "Going to see my Aunt Annabell in New York. "

"Where does she live?" said Mr. Horton with interest. "Perhaps we candrop you there on our way from the station. Do you plan to stay long?"

Joe Brown fumbled with his cap. 

"I don't know just how long I'll stay, " he blurted out. "Maybe allwinter. I've got Auntie's address somewhere in my satchel. I know howto get there all right. "

Mr. Horton went back to his seat, but Sunny Boy lingered. 

"You're another with 'lations in New York, " he observed. "HaroldWallace has a cousin, and the gentleman on the street car had agrandson. I wish my Aunt Bessie lived in New York. Have you been therebefore?"

"No, I haven't, " admitted Joe Brown. "But I guess one city's prettymuch like another. I went to Chicago when I was six. I'm going to seeall the big places when I'm grown up. "

"There's Mother motioning to me, " said Sunny Boy. "Come on and seeher. "

But Joe Brown wouldn't. 

"I have to write a letter, " he protested hastily. 

Sunny Boy went back to his parents. He had an odd feeling that JoeBrown was not looking forward to seeing New York as much as he, SunnyBoy, was. 

"Is he sick, do you think, Daddy?" he urged, his troubled eyes restingon Joe, now huddled moodily in his seat and making no pretense ofletter-writing. 

"No, he's all right, " said Mr. Horton easily. "Come, laddie, we'realmost at the end of our trip. Sit down by Mother and see your firstglimpse of one of the largest cities in the world. "

Sunny Boy scrambled into his place again, but Joe Brown was still inhis thoughts. Presently he heard his father speaking in a low voice tohis mother. 

"Olive, I believe that young scamp, the Brown boy, is running awayfrom home. He has it written all over him. I wish we could keep an eyeon him. "

"But Mrs. Brown has a sister who lives in New York, " said Sunny Boy'smother. "He may really be going to visit her. "

"Perhaps, " admitted Mr. Horton doubtfully. 

There was no time to say more just then for the train rushed down fromdaylight into what was next to darkness. 

"Oh!" cried Sunny Boy, "where are we going, Mother? Are we in acellar?"

"We are going down under the Hudson River into New York, " explainedMrs. Horton. "That will save us the trouble of going over on aferryboat. "

Sunny Boy was very much interested in the ride under the river andasked many questions. 

"I should think the river would leak in on us, " he remarked. "And wehaven't any umbrellas along. "

"We are perfectly safe, " his father assured him. 

Then in a few minutes the bustle of getting ready to leave the trainbegan. 

"We'll take a taxi, " announced Mr. Horton, holding his wife's coat forher. "Take Mother's hand, Sunny. Careful, now. "

Down the steps on to the platform, where Mr. Horton gave the suitcasesto a porter, and they joined a steady stream of people all going inone direction. 

CHAPTER IV

GOING SHOPPING

"Oh, look! There's a bus! Let's ride on top, " cried Sunny Boy, pointing out toward the street as one of the Fifth Avenue busseslumbered into sight. 

"But our taxi is here, " reasoned Mr. Horton, helping in Sunny Boy'smother as he spoke. "And I couldn't go up on top with these heavybags. Come, Son, and you shall have your ride to-morrow. "

Sunny Boy climbed into the taxi cab, Mr. Horton followed, and theywere on the way to their hotel. 

It was a brief ride, but in those few moments Sunny Boy was sure hehad seen more automobiles than he had ever seen in his life. Heprobably had, for it was the time of day when the city traffic isheaviest, and never-ending streams of motor-cars and trucks and wagonswere being driven on the cross streets, as well as on the avenues. 

"I feel as if I wasn't here, " said Sunny Boy slowly, watching thecrowds from the open window. 

Mr. Horton glanced down at him and smiled. 

"You do look rather small in all this, " he admitted; "but I should sayyou were very much here. And here's our hotel, and I think you areready for supper. "

The taxi cab stopped before the McAlpin Hotel, and Sunny Boy, holdingfast to Daddy's hand, went into a beautiful high-ceilinged room ablazewith light. He and his mother sat down in one of the big chairs whileMr. Horton registered and arranged for their room. Then a severe-facedboy took the suitcases and led them into an elevator. 

"I wonder if he's cross, " thought Sunny Boy to himself, studying theface of the boy as he stood stiffly, his eyes fixed grimly on the wiregrating of the elevator. 

He was staring at him so hard that when the boy turned and caught himSunny Boy blushed. The boy stuck out his tongue and immediatelyresumed his stern expression. 

"He wears such a lot of buttons, " thought Sunny Boy, who in all hislife had never been in a hotel to stay over night. "I wonder did hereally stick out his tongue--"

The elevator stopped while Sunny Boy was trying to decide, and theHortons followed the boy along a silent corridor till he stoppedbefore a door and, unlocking it, ushered them into a large, pleasantroom. 

"Well, dear, hungry?" asked Mrs. Horton. 

"He did it again, " said Sunny Boy. 

"Who did what?" laughed Mrs. Horton. "Sunny, don't let New York addleyou like this. I asked if you were hungry. "

"That boy did stick out his tongue, " explained Sunny Boy. "I don'tguess he is cross at all. When he closed the door he winked at me. AndI am hungry, Mother. "

Supper, as Sunny Boy insisted on calling it, or dinner, was rather avague affair to him, for he was not only hungry but very sleepy afterthe long train ride. He liked riding down in the elevator and upagain, but he was glad enough to go to bed. 

"It's just like the three bears, " he said to Mother as she helped himto undress. "Big Bear, Middle-sized Bear, and Little Bear, " he added, pointing to the three beds in the room. "Did they know I was comingand put a little bed in for me?"

"Daddy asked them to, " said Mother. "Now a little wash, precious, andyou'll be in Dreamland in two seconds. "

There was a pretty white bathroom opening into the room, and Sunny Boyenjoyed a splash, and then tumbled into bed. 

In the morning he had a hard time to get dressed, because he found itso interesting to stare out of the window down at the busy streets. 

"Such lots of people and trolley cars and automobiles--andeverything!" he reported to his mother, who insisted that he reallymust finish dressing. "Do you suppose they know I'm looking at 'em?"

"I doubt it, " said Mother, brushing his hair smooth. "Now don't putyour nose on the screen again, Sunny. We're going downstairs in just aminute. Daddy is almost through shaving. "

"You look dressed up, Mother, " announced Sunny Boy critically. "Andaren't we going to eat breakfast first?"

"First?" repeated Mrs. Horton, puzzled. "Oh, you mean I have my hatand veil on. Well, dear, I believe you and I are going out rightafter breakfast, and I won't have to come upstairs again. Ready, Daddy?"

Soon they were in the dining room. 

"Where are we going?" asked Sunny Boy, at the table and trying not tofeel queer when the waiter brought him his cantaloupe with the sameflourish with which he served Daddy sitting opposite. 

"Why, I'm going to be very busy this morning, " explained Mr. Horton, "and I thought you and Mother might enjoy a little shopping trip. I'llmeet you here for lunch. Anything you specially want to buy, Sunny?"

"Some post cards, " replied Sunny Boy promptly. "Ruth Nelson wants onefor her collection. And I could get Aunt Bessie a present. "

"I'd wait till we're almost ready to go home for Aunt Bessie'spresent, " said Mr. Horton kindly. "You'll know better what you wantthen. But get the post cards by all means this morning. "

He gave Sunny Boy a bright new fifty-cent piece. 

"I think we'll walk, " decided Mrs. Horton, serving the golden brownomelet carefully. "Put your money in your new purse, dear. Harry, haveyou heard from Mr. Vernon yet?"

Left to himself while his parents talked business matters, Sunny Boylooked about the dining room. He saw several children, little girlsand boys here and there, and a little girl across the room nodded andsmiled at him. Sunny Boy wondered where the boy who had carried uptheir suitcases was. 

"I didn't bring my hat, " he mourned when breakfast was over. "Can I goand get it, Mother?"

"I brought it down, dear, " was the answer. "We're going right away. Daddy has some telephoning to do, and we'll go on. "

In the hotel lobby Sunny Boy saw the suitcase boy, as he had namedhim, again. He didn't seem quite so severe as he had at night, andwhen Sunny smiled at him he actually returned it with a grin thatshowed a set of very white teeth. 

"What a funny carriage, " said Sunny Boy, calling Mother's attention toa queer looking vehicle on two wheels and drawn by a bob-tailed horse, which was the first thing he saw when they got out on the street. "Look where the coachman is. "

The driver was perched up on a little seat behind and held the reinsover the roof of the coach. 

"That's a hansom cab, " explained Mrs. Horton. "They were very popularand stylish before the automobile came. "

Privately Sunny Boy thought it wasn't very handsome, and the poor oldhorse was no longer stylish if he had ever been, but there was littletime to think about hansom cabs, for just then Mother remarked:

"Here's the big store where they have such a wonderful toydepartment. "

It was a big store, much larger than any Sunny Boy had ever seen inCentronia, and it seemed filled with people to him. 

"Oh, Mother!" he stopped so short that several people nearly fell overhim, "what's that?"

"That" was a long shining moving thing on which people were beingwafted gently upward. It reminded Sunny Boy of the fairy tale he hadseen in the motion picture where the Wishing Girl who wanted to flywas suddenly granted her wish. 

"Where do they go?" Sunny Boy asked so loudly that a floor-man heardand answered him. 

"That's an escalator, " he announced, much as one might say: "That's astrawberry. "

"It's a moving stairway, precious, " added his mother. "I suppose youwant to ride on it. Well, first I must get Daddy some handkerchiefs, for we never packed him a one. And we'll find out on which floor thetoys are, too. "

Sunny Boy waited patiently while the handkerchiefs were bought, andthen while Mother chose a new veil, a pretty white one with blackdots. 

"Here are the post-cards, Sunny, " she said, turning into anotheraisle. "See which ones you want for Ruth and Nelson. "

"What do they say, Mother?" asked Sunny Boy, wishing he could read. "May I send all the boys some?"

Mrs. Horton said he could, and she helped him select a dozen views ofNew York, promising that he should print his name on each one andthat she would write whatever messages he wanted sent. 

"You can look them over this afternoon, " she suggested, "and see whatplaces you want to see first. That will be nice, won't it?"

"Yes, Mother, " agreed Sunny Boy. "And now can we ride on thealligator?"

"The escalator?" corrected Mother, laughing heartily. "Why yes, Ithink we are about ready to do that. The girl at the handkerchiefcounter told me the toys were on the sixth floor. Do you think youwant to ride that far on such a queer thing?"

[Illustration: "He had not supposed that a moving stairs went furtherthan one story" (Page 63)]

Sunny Boy was enraptured. He had not supposed that a moving stairwaywent further than one story, and the thought of riding to the sixthfloor was bliss. He felt decidedly odd when he put his foot on themoving platform at first, but ahead of him and behind him people wereserenely moving up, so he knew everything must be all right. Whenhe reached the top he slid off with such an unexpected bump that hegave a startled cry and the girl who was there to see that no one washurt laughed at him. 

"You said we could go to the sixth floor!" exclaimed Sunny Boy, turning aggrievedly to Mother who had followed him. 

"And so we can, dear, but not without stopping, " explained Mrs. Horton. "See, we turn here and there is another escalator. At everyfloor we get off one and then on another. "

Sunny Boy thought this was absolutely the most delightful way of goingupstairs he had ever tried. He wondered why the stores at home didn'thave moving stairways, and he resolved to come down the whole sixflights the same way. He was astonished when the time came to go homeand he found that the escalators didn't carry people down, but onlyup. 

"I see a horse!" he shouted, when they were half way up the laststairway. 

They stepped off onto a floorful of toys that reminded Sunny Boy ofChristmas and birthdays and Santa Claus all rolled into one. A tank ofwater in which boats were sailing caught his eye. 

"I wish I'd brought my boat, " he remarked, standing on tiptoe to seeover the edge. "See the motor-boat, Mother? It's just like CaptainFranklin's. "

Captain Franklin was the man who had found Sunny Boy when he wasdrifting out to sea in a rowboat that summer, as related in the bookcalled "Sunny Boy at the Seashore. "

"If you want to see them race, " said the young man in charge of theboats, "I'll wind another up for you. "

CHAPTER V

SUNNY BOY LOSES HIS ROOM

Of course Sunny Boy wanted to see the boats race, and he hungbreathlessly over the edge of the tank while the good-natured clerkwound up the motor-boats and sent them racing across several times. 

"Come, dear, " Mrs. Horton urged at last. "You haven't seen the trainsyet, nor the rocking-horses. And Daddy will be waiting for us at one, you know. "

So Sunny Boy, very reluctantly, thanked the man in charge of the boatsand walked down the aisle to see the mechanical trains. 

Goodness! the trains were more fascinating than the boats. There weremiles and miles of track, and little colored signal lights, andstations and tunnels and freight and coal and passenger trains, withfreight and coal and passengers to go in them. 

"All running!" marveled Sunny Boy. "Just like Christmas!"

Mrs. Horton was trying to pull him past this absorbing counter, forthey really had a great deal more to see and the time was gettingshort, when Sunny gave a shout. 

"Mother, look! There's a runaway engine! Whee, a wreck!"

Sure enough, an engine with no cars attached was coming rapidly downgrade toward a passenger train stopped at one of the stations. SunnyBoy's voice had drawn a number of the shoppers, and a small crowdgathered to see what would happen. The clerk had left the counter andgone out to an aisle table to have a floor-man sign his book, andthere was no one about to prevent the wreck. 

Smash! with a truly thrilling noise the engine crashed into the trainand the passengers must have, as the newspapers say, "received asevere shaking up. "

"Oh, gee!" breathed Sunny Boy, and his sigh was echoed by thegrown-ups. 

People looked at one another and smiled. 

"Nobody hurt!" announced the clerk, who had hurried back when he heardthe noise of the collision. "I said that switch needed overhaulingyesterday. Guess I'll shut off the current and get a repair man tocome up. "

As there would be no more moving trains for the present, Sunny Boy waswilling to go to see the rocking-horses. He had a fine time, too, forthe clerk lifted him up on the largest one, and very high from theground Sunny felt. 

But it was the tin automobile that captured his heart. 

"Oh, Mother!" he said when he found it, "it's just like our car, twolamps and all. "

"It is pretty nice, " admitted Mrs. Horton. "We'll have to see whatDaddy says about one when we go home. You are getting too old for thekiddie car, aren't you? How does this one run, dear?"

Sunny Boy showed her, and explained how the brakes worked, and theyhad an interesting half-hour comparing the different kinds of cars andlearning how much they cost. Then Mother discovered that it was timeto go back to the hotel if they were to meet Daddy promptly. 

"I could stay here, " suggested Sunny Boy, his arm about a stuffedcamel that was almost large enough for him to ride. His jaw went upand down if you poked it right, and he had two most realistic humps. "You could go and see Daddy and then come back and get me. "

"But, precious, what would Daddy say? He'll want to see you. And therewill be many other times for you to come over and visit the toys. Besides, think, Sunny--suppose he wanted to take you riding on theFifth Avenue bus?"

That settled it. Sunny Boy was ready to go immediately. Anyway, herealized that he had a queer feeling he couldn't just name, but hesuspected that maybe he was hungry. 

They found Mr. Horton waiting for them in their room, and Mrs. Hortonhad so much to tell him that Sunny Boy had to wait his chance to ask amost important question. 

"Daddy, " he began when his father finished telling the waiter what tobring, and after they were in the dining room and seated at the table, "Daddy, do you think p'haps we could go riding on the bus?"

Mr. Horton smiled. 

"Well, I'll tell you, " he said, glancing at his watch. "Mother wantsto lie down and rest a bit this afternoon and I have to meet some menwithin an hour. But if you are a good boy, I'll take you when I comeback. That will be about three o'clock. How'll that do?"

Sunny Boy thought that would be very nice, and he ate his luncheoncontentedly. Afterward he and Mother went upstairs, and Daddy had togo and keep his appointment. 

"Now you see how much company we are for each other, " said Mother, asshe changed her dress and put on a pretty blue dressing gown. "Withsuch a busy Daddy, wouldn't we be lonesome here in New York allalone?"

Sunny Boy nodded solemnly. 

"Could I paint pictures?" he asked hopefully. 

"Of course. You'll find your paint box and a pad of paper in that greybox in the trunk tray. Mother's going to lie down just a second. Pullthe little table over to the light, dear, and you'll have a nice, quiet time, " directed Mrs. Horton. 

Sunny Boy dragged the table over nearer to the window, found his watercolor paints and the paper and set to work to paint a picture. Hetalked a steady stream to Mother at first but, as he grew interestedin his work, he forgot to talk. 

"There now!" he said softly, when he had finished three pictures. "Ithink they're good. I'll show 'em to Mother. "

But Mother was fast asleep. Sunny Boy tiptoed carefully around thebed, but she did not wake up. 

"I don't want to paint any more, " decided Sunny Boy. "What'll I do?"

He remembered the bell-boy they had seen first the night before. Hewould go and visit him. 

Sunny Boy opened the door into the corridor carefully, so as not todisturb Mother, and closed it carefully behind him. The halls werelighted, though it was daytime, and the thick carpet was so soft thatSunny couldn't hear the noise of his own feet. 

"Where 'bouts, " he speculated aloud, "do they have the stairs in thishouse?"

He hunted for several minutes, but no stairs could he find. Then hedecided to go back to Mother, and he couldn't find the room! He hadmade so many turnings in the halls that he was hopelessly lost. 

"Oh, dear!" sighed poor Sunny Boy. "New York is such a big place!"

A light down the corridor attracted his attention now. The elevator, of course! Why hadn't he thought of that? He would find the bell-boydownstairs. He remembered that was where he had seen him at breakfasttime. 

The elevator boy took him downstairs without asking any questions andlet him off at the first floor. 

"This looks somehow different, " puzzled Sunny Boy, standing where theelevator left him. 

He didn't know it, but it was another elevator, in a different part ofthe building from the one his father and mother took down to thedining room. Sunny Boy had never been downstairs alone, and he feltdecidedly shy. 

"Hello, kid, what you lost?" asked one of the bell boys, swinging pasthim. 

"Nothing, " murmured Sunny Boy. 

"Are you lost, dear?" asked a lady, stopping on her way to theelevator. She was old and lame and walked with a cane. A maid, with acurly black dog under her arm, walked beside her. 

Sunny shook his head. How could he be lost with a mother in the samebuilding with him? Of course he wasn't lost!

He sat down in a leather chair to consider. He didn't know the name ofthe bell boy he wanted to see, and at any minute his father might comeback and want to take him for a ride on the bus. Sunny Boy made uphis mind that he would try to find his room and look for the bell boyanother time. He waited till a friendly-looking man came hurrying bywhere he sat. 

"Please, " he stuttered nervously, "how do you find--"

"Ask the clerk at the desk!" snapped the man, who wasn't cross, butonly in a hurry to make a train. 

Sunny Boy looked about for the desk. 

"Go 'round there, " directed the elevator boy when he ventured to askhim. Then he clashed his door shut with a bang and went sailing up inhis little car. 

Sunny obediently wandered around a turn in the corridor. He saw only acounter, but he guessed that to be the desk. He remembered it waswhere his father had gone to arrange for their rooms the night before. 

"Please, " he began, standing on tiptoes and grasping the edge of thecounter with both hands. "Please, where is our room?"

"Eh, what?" demanded the startled clerk, bending down to see the smallperson speaking to him. "Your room? Have you lost your key?"

"Haven't any key, " explained Sunny Boy gravely. "I came out, and whenI went to go back I couldn't find our door. "

"All right, we'll fix you up, " promised the clerk. "Jack, lift thisyoung man up so I won't have to strain my voice. "

A bell-boy lifted Sunny to the counter, and he sat there comfortably, sure that the clerk would solve his troubles for him. 

"What floor are you on?" asked the clerk capably. 

"I don't know, " confessed Sunny Boy. 

"Well, then, give us your name. "

"Sunny Boy, " announced Sunny cheerfully. 

The clerk laughed, and the bell-boys standing about snickered. 

"No Sunny Boy registered, " announced the clerk, running his fingerdown the register, where hotel guests write their names. "Haven't youany other name you use when you're traveling around?"

"Oh, no, " insisted Sunny Boy. "Daddy and Mother always call methat--just Sunny Boy. "

"But you have to have a regular name, " protested the clerk. "When yougo to school--Oh, you don't go to school! Well, what is Daddy's name?Your last name must be the same as his. "

Then Sunny Boy understood. 

"Daddy's name is Harry Horton, and I am named for Grandpa, ArthurBradford Horton, " he announced rapidly. "An' we live in Centronia. "

"Now you're talking, " said the clerk approvingly. "Here you are. " Heread from the big register: "'Mr. And Mrs. Harry Horton and son'. You're son. And your room is 1038. Jack, you take him up, will you?Is any one there, or have they gone out and left you alone?"

Sunny Boy explained that his mother was lying down, and Jack liftedhim from the counter and went over with him to the elevator. 

"He lost his room, " he told the elevator boy as they shot up. "Didn'tyou bring him down?"

"Must have come down in one of the other cars, " said the elevator boy. "I don't remember him. Here's your floor. "

Jack showed Sunny Boy which was the door to his room, and, stillgrinning at the idea of losing one's way in a hotel, he went back. 

"Why, Sunny dear, where have you been?" Mrs. Horton was sitting up inbed as Sunny Boy came in. "I woke up a minute ago and thought you werestill painting. Then I spoke to you and found you weren't in the room. Where did you go?"

"I got lost, " said Sunny Boy placidly. 

He told his mother what had happened and she laughed. 

"Here's Daddy, " she announced, as some one rapped on the door. "Comein, Harry. Sunny Boy's adventures in New York have already begun. "

So Mr. Horton heard the story. 

"Well, well, we'll have to go out for our ride, or there's no knowingwhat will happen next, " he said jokingly. "Want to come, Olive?"

Mrs. Horton answered that she didn't want to dress hurriedly and thatshe would rather wait for them and write a letter or two, perhaps. 

"I'll help you write your post cards in the morning, " she promisedSunny Boy. "Harriet will be expecting a card from you every day tillit comes. "

Sunny Boy and his father went out of the hotel and walked over towardFifth Avenue. The trolley cars and automobiles and crowds of peopleseemed to Sunny Boy to be hopelessly mixed. He held tightly to Daddy'shand when they crossed the street, and he was very grateful to thetall policeman that made the traffic stop while the people surgedsafely across. 

"Up top, you know, Daddy, " he urged, trotting along, trying to keepstep with his father's long stride. 

"All right, up top we'll go, " said Mr. Horton, smiling. "I thoughtwe'd walk around to the Pennsylvania station and get a bus there. Wemay want to go home from there instead of the way we came. "

CHAPTER VI

ON TOP OF THE BUS

The Pennsylvania Station is a beautiful building, but Sunny Boy hardlysaw it, so eager was he to climb up the winding stairs on one of thebusses. 

"Are we going up, or down?" he chattered to Daddy, as they stood onthe curb. 

"Over first, " explained Mr. Horton, "and then up. I thought we mightgo as far as Grant's Tomb; then you can see the river, and to-morrow, if Mother likes to, we will go down and through the Arch at WashingtonSquare. "

A bus came up and stopped presently, and Sunny Boy was afraid therewould be no room left for him, so many people seemed to want to rideoutside and enjoy the fine September afternoon. 

"Careful, now, " cautioned Mr. Horton, as he guided Sunny Boy up thenarrow, steep stairs. "They will start before you get to the top. "

Sure enough, the bus did start, but Sunny Boy had a firm grip on theiron railing. He thought it great fun to be going upstairs on a movingautomobile, and when he reached the top, the very first seat, away upfront, was vacant!

"P'haps I'd better take my hat off, " he suggested, as he snuggled intothe seat next the railing and Daddy sat down beside him. "The coloredboy took my first one, you know, and if I lost this one Mother mightnot like it. "

"Indeed she might not, " agreed Mr. Horton. "Neither should I, becausenew hats cost money. You'll be more comfortable holding it, anyway. "

Sunny Boy took it off then, and held it in his lap. When the conductorcame for their fares, he held out a funny-looking thing and said theywere to put the money in that. 

"Let me, " begged Sunny Boy. 

Daddy gave him two ten-cent pieces, and he put them in the little slitand heard the bell ring twice. 

Sunny Boy had never been so happy. He liked to look down from the hightop of the bus and watch the motors and the people in the street. Atnearly every cross street they had to stop while traffic went theother way, and often there would be four or five automobiles abreast. Once Sunny, looking down, saw a little boy in a beautiful car lookingup at him. Sunny Boy waved, and the little boy smiled delightedly andwaved back. Then the whistle blew and the car shot far ahead of theslow-running bus. 

"Where are we going now?" demanded Sunny, as their bus turned. 

"Wait and see, " smiled Mr. Horton. 

And in a minute Sunny Boy saw on one side of him a row of handsomehouses, on the other a strip of cement walk and a green park, andbeyond that water that sparkled in the sun. 

"This is Riverside Drive, " said Mr. Horton. "See, Son, those arebattleships anchored out there. "

Sunny Boy stood up to see better, while Daddy steadied him. He hadnever seen a battleship before except in pictures. 

"What funny wire cages, " he puzzled. "And see the little boat goingout to them, Daddy. "

"Those wire 'cages' as you call them, are masts, " explained hisfather. "And the little boat is probably carrying some officers orsailors out to their ship. That is as near as the battleships cancome to the land, you see. "

Sunny Boy wanted to know why, and Mr. Horton told him that the waterwasn't deep enough close in shore. 

"If you want to see a battleship better, perhaps go aboard one, wemust visit the Navy Yard before we go home, " he remarked. 

Sunny Boy was sure he would like that. 

The battleships were left far behind now, and a man and woman ridinghorseback attracted Sunny's attention. He thought it must be fun tohave a horse and go riding along such a beautiful drive. 

"I could roller skate and Harriet could knit like that, " he suggested, pointing to a boy skating merrily up and down while a white-cappednurse sat on a bench and knitted comfortably. 

"Yes, you could, " said his father. "But since Harriet isn't here, you'll have to write her about what you've seen instead. We get offat the next corner, Sunny; press the little black button there by yourhand. "

Sunny Boy pressed the button which rang the bell to tell the busdriver to stop, and he and Mr. Horton walked to the stairs. Sunny wasvery glad to have his father go first, because he discovered thatcoming downstairs was more ticklish than going up. He had a feelingthat he was going to pitch forward on his yellow head. 

However, they both reached the ground safely, and, his hand inDaddy's, Sunny Boy crossed over and stood at the flight of broad stepsthat led to Grant's Tomb. 

"Do you know who General Grant was, dear?" asked Daddy. 

Sunny Boy nodded his head. 

"Grandpa told me, " he said confidently. "He was in the Civil War. "

"Yes, he was a general in the Civil War, and later president of theUnited States, " assented Mr. Horton. "And this beautiful building wasgiven by the people who loved and admired him, as a memorial. "

They went up the wide steps and entered the rotunda. The light wassubdued, and at first Sunny Boy could see nothing. Then he saw severalpeople, the men with their hats in their hands, looking down what hethought was a deep well. 

Daddy lifted him up so that he might look over, and there, down on themarble floor, he saw two American flags draped over two oblong stoneslabs and a wreath on each. 

"Mrs. Grant is buried here, too, " said Mr. Horton. 

The old, battle-stained flags and war mementos in the two littlealcoves off the rotunda would have interested Sunny's Grandpa Horton, who had seen some of those same flags carried on the battle fields, but one couldn't expect Sunny Boy to care much about them. When theycame out and stood once more on the steps in the sunshine, he sawsomething that interested him more. 

"Daddy!" he raised his voice in excitement. "What are those funnyboats'? Over there--see? There's two of 'em!"

A young man standing near heard and turned with a grin. 

"Where did you hail from, kid?" he asked curiously. "Haven't you everseen a ferryboat before?"

Sunny Boy hated to be laughed at, so he said nothing. 

"We're inland folks, " explained Mr. Horton, who didn't seem to mindthe young man's smile. "Out where we live no rivers connect ourcities. My little boy has seen his first ferryboat to-day. "

"I've seen _boats_, " said Sunny Boy with dignity. "I saw them down atthe seashore. But not like those. What do they use 'em for?"

The young man laughed again. 

"Excuse me, " he apologized. "But I've crossed the river every morningfor ten years on the ferry, and it strikes me as funny to find someone who doesn't know what a ferryboat is. They carry people and horsesand automobiles, kid. "

"Horses?" repeated Sunny Boy incredulously. "Come on, Daddy, let's goride on one. "

"That's the Fort Lee Ferry. Nothing much to see, " advised the youngman, who was good-natured if he did laugh at folks. "Better go downtown and take the Twenty-third Street, if you want a nice sail. "

"Thank you, we will, when we do go, " replied Mr. Horton. "But, Sunny, you and I must be getting back to Mother. She will be wondering whathas become of us. See if you can signal a bus. "

[Illustration: "Sunny Boy was just the least little bit afraid whenthey went under the elevator tracks"]

Sunny Boy stopped a bus very nicely, and again they found a seat onthe top. Sunny Boy was just the least little bit afraid when they wentunder the elevated tracks--they didn't have elevated trains inCentronia--and he hoped nothing would drop on him. 

"What a lot of things there are to ride on in New York, " he confidedto Daddy. "Busses, an' trains up high, and ferryboats, and automobilesand trolley cars like at home. "

"And another kind of train you don't know about yet, " said Mr. Horton. "What is it? Oh, I'm going to let you find out for yourself. You seemto be developing a liking for riding about on all kinds oftransportation. "

"Well, I would like to go on a ferryboat, " admitted Sunny Boy, "an'maybe on the elevated. An' the other kind of train that I don't knowabout. And that's all. "

They found Mrs. Horton dressed for dinner and awaiting them, andwhile she helped Sunny to put on a clean suit and brush his hair, hetold her about their trip and what they had seen on Riverside Drive. 

"And Daddy says if you want to, we can ride on the bus to-morrow, " hefinished. "We can go and see an arch. "

Mr. Horton, who had been reading some letters that had come for himwhile he and Sunny were out, looked up from the little book in whichhe wrote the things he wanted to remember. 

"I'm sorry, but you and Mother will have to amuse each otherto-morrow, " he announced. "I shall be busy all day. But I think youcan manage to have a pleasant time, and perhaps the next day I can goabout with you. "

"Of course we'll have a happy day, " promised Mrs. Horton. "Don't worryabout us, Daddy Horton. We know you are on a business trip. I thinkSunny Boy and I will plan to spend the day in Central Park. "

"Yes, let's, " agreed Sunny Boy enthusiastically. 

He had not the smallest idea what Central Park was like, but he wasvery sure that he would like it. He liked everything that he had seenin New York so far. 

As the Hortons came out of the dining room, and Mr. Horton stopped tobuy a paper, Sunny Boy saw the bell-boy he had tried to visit thatafternoon. 

"Hello, " he remarked conversationally. "I was looking for you thisafternoon. "

"Were you the kid that got lost?" chuckled the bell-boy. "Jack said tome: 'Frank, there was a boy couldn't find his own room this afternoon, can you believe it?' And what have you been doing with yourself allday?"

Sunny Boy recounted his adventures, and announced that the next day heand Mother were going to Central Park. 

"Be sure you go in the Monkey House, " counseled Frank. "I tell youthose monkeys are the cutest things you ever saw. Almost human, I'llsay. Like monkeys?"

"Yes in pictures, " said Sunny Boy. "And those the organ grinders have. Here comes Daddy. "

Before he went to sleep that night Sunny Boy thought of something hewanted to ask Frank. 

"I will the next time I see him, " he muttered drowsily. 

He was wondering why he never put his cap on straight, but always woreit a little over one ear. 

CHAPTER VII

IN CENTRAL PARK

The next morning Sunny Boy and Mother started early for Central Park. Much to Sunny's delight they took a bus, and though they did not havevery far to go, Mother climbed up to the top with him. When they gotoff at the Park gate they found carriages waiting for those who wantedto drive around the park. 

"I think we should like that, don't you?" asked Mrs. Horton. "I'm surewe can not hope to walk all over this great place in one day. Shall wedrive, dear?"

"Let's, " nodded Sunny Boy. "I like that fat, black horse, Mother. "

So they got into the carriage pulled by the fat, black horse anddriven by a young man so tall that he couldn't sit up straight in theseat or his head would have hit the roof of the carriage. 

"Is Central Park bigger than Brookside?" Sunny Boy asked, as theydrove over a well-kept road past the greenest of green lawns andbright flower beds. Brookside was the name of Grandpa Horton's farm. 

"How big is Brookside?" asked the driver, slapping the reins to makehis horse go faster. 

"Oh, ever so big, " Sunny Boy assured him. "Seventy-nine acres, Daddysaid. "

"Well, you could put Brookside right down in Central Park and neversee it, " announced the driver complacently. "This park has eighthundred and seventy-nine acres. "

"Gee!" murmured Sunny Boy. 

He was silent for a few moments, trying to imagine how large the parkmust be. 

"What a funny way to hay, " he remarked, as they came up to a horsetramping steadily over the grass pulling a machine that lookedsomething like a mower. "Grandpa didn't do it that way. "

"They're cutting the grass, " explained the driver of the carriage. "Guess you haven't seen one of those machines. If they had only a lawnmower like the one your father uses on your lawn at home, you know, the grass would never get cut in one summer. "

"Can't we get out?" Mrs. Horton asked next. "I'd like to go up and seethe reservoirs. "

"Sure you can, " was the quick response. "I'll wait right here for you. Suppose you'll want to go in the snake house, too, and see themenagerie and the monkeys. "

"Frank said to see the monkeys, didn't he, Mother?" said Sunny Boy. "But he didn't say anything about snakes. "

They were out of the carriage now and walking toward the reservoirs. 

"No, and I don't believe we want to see the snakes, " returned Mrs. Horton. "I don't like them very much, and if you don't care I'd muchrather see the monkeys. They can do so many funny tricks. "

Sunny Boy didn't care about snakes, and he forgot them right away whenhe saw the gallons of water, spread out like a smooth lake. 

"Is it all to drink?" he wanted to know. "Can't they go swimming init, Mother? Where does it come from?"

"I'm afraid I don't know where the water comes from, " admitted Mrs. Horton, "but we know it must be piped from miles and miles away. Thinkof all the thirsty people in New York who are glad to get a cool, clean drink this warm day. "

"Wouldn't they like to swim in it?" insisted Sunny Boy. 

"My, no, precious! No one must swim in water that is to be drunk, youmust know that. Now we'll go back to our carriage, or the driver willbe tired of waiting. "

When they came to the menagerie and the monkey house, Mrs. Hortondecided not to keep the carriage standing. She did not know how longthey would be, and she knew that they could easily get back to thestreet and car lines again. She paid the driver and he drove off, whistling merrily. 

"Let's see the bears, first, " suggested Sunny Boy. 

And they did. Sunny Boy pressed so close to the cages of the animalsthat his mother pulled him back repeatedly. They saw lions and tigersand bears and elephants and more queer and curious animals than SunnyBoy dreamed existed. 

"I like the bears best, " he told Mother, as they came away. "The polarbear looked just like our fur rug at home. And he had cakes of ice tosleep on. "

"That is because he is used to cold weather, " explained Mrs. Horton. "The polar bear isn't well or happy unless his den is nice and cold. "

In the monkey house Sunny Boy was fascinated by one little black-facedmonkey that kept running up to the top of his cage, swinging across, and then hanging by his tail at the other end before he dropped with abang that would shake any one else's teeth loose. 

"Doesn't he get a headache?" asked Sunny Boy aloud. 

A boy who had been standing with his nose pressed against the cagebars, a rather shabby-looking boy with big holes in his tan stockings, answered without turning around. 

"He's been doing that for the last hour, " said the boy. "I think someone was mean to him early this morning and he is just mad. "

Sunny moved closer to the other boy. 

"You _are_ Joe Brown, aren't you?" he asked, puzzled. 

The boy turned sharply, and they saw that it was Joe Brown. A shabbierJoe Brown than he had been on the train, and with a pinched hungrylook on his face that went to Mrs. Horton's heart. 

"Did you find your aunt, Joe?" she asked kindly. "And do you like NewYork?"

Joe snatched off his cap awkwardly when Mrs. Horton spoke to him, andhe tried to stuff it into his pocket now as he shuffled his feet andmumbled that he liked New York pretty well. Plainly he was notcomfortable. 

"Aunt Annabell moved away, " he explained. "I went to the house, butItalians were living in it and they didn't know where she'd moved to. But I guess I can find her. Folks don't drop out of sight in NewYork. "

"But where are you staying?" said Mrs. Horton. "What do you do? Can'tI or Mr. Horton help you, Joe? A boy alone in a great city like thismight need a friend, you know. "

Joe Brown scuffled his feet uneasily. 

"I'm all right, " he insisted. 

"Well, at least come and have some lunch with Sunny and me, " invitedMrs. Horton. "Perhaps you can tell us some place to go? And then comeup to the hotel with us this afternoon and we'll see if Mr. Hortoncan't find out something about your aunt. "

Joe knew of a place where lunch could be had, and he and Mrs. Hortonand Sunny Boy were soon seated at a white-topped little table eatingsandwiches and milk. Joe ate as though he were half-starved, and Mrs. Horton pretended to be hungrier than she was so that he would not beafraid to eat all the sandwiches he wanted. 

"Has Sunny seen the carrousel?" Joe demanded, when the ice-cream hadbeen brought and Sunny was deep in the blissful employment ofscooping spoonfuls out of the white mound before him. 

"No, I haven't, " answered Sunny quickly. 

"Well you'll like it--it's like a big playground, " explained Joe. "Swings, merry-go-rounds, all that kind of stuff, you know. And it'spretty around there, too. I'll take you if you want to see it. "

After they had finished lunch he did take them, and he was very goodand patient, too, about swinging Sunny Boy and giving him rides on allthe contrivances that make small people happy. 

"Let the old cat die, " called Sunny Boy, as he was being swung for thethird time. 

Slower and slower went the swing, and finally it stopped. Sunny Boysat still, expecting Joe to come and lift him out, but no Joe came. Mrs. Horton was quietly reading on one of the benches. Sunny Boyturned his head. Where was Joe?

"Looking for the boy that was swinging you?" demanded a girl in thenext swing. "He ran off. I saw him going across the park after he gaveyou that one good push. Was he your brother? Did he get mad at you?"

Sunny Boy shook his head. He got out of the swing with some difficultyand trotted over to his mother. 

"Joe Brown's gone, " he announced mournfully. "Maybe he was mad 'causeI didn't swing him. "

Mrs. Horton closed her magazine. 

"Joe gone?" she echoed. "Oh, I'm so sorry! No, precious, I don't thinkhe was hurt because you didn't swing him. I'm afraid he didn't want togo up to the hotel with us and see Daddy. I hate to think of a boy hisage all alone in New York. "

However, Joe had gone, and they could not hope to find him. Sunny Boyand Mother walked a bit about the pretty rocky paths and peeped intoone or two of the little rustic cabins they found perched inunexpected places, and then Mother glanced at her watch and said itwas time to go home. 

"Are you tired, dear?" she asked as they started to walk to thenearest entrance. 

"I guess my feet are, " confided Sunny Boy. "They trip. "

They saw one other thing that interested them very much before theyleft the park. 

"What's that mon'ment?" Sunny Boy asked suddenly, pointing to a tallshaft that ended in a point at the top. 

"That's the Egyptian obelisk, " returned Mrs. Horton. "Come and look atit, dear. It is called 'Cleopatra's Needle, ' and was brought all theway from Egypt. It is very, very old. "

"How old?" demanded Sunny Boy practically. "It looks all right, Mother. "

"Well, I've read that it was erected in Cairo, Egypt, sixteen hundredyears before the birth of Christ, " said Mrs. Horton. "So you see, dear, we are looking at a stone that is more than three thousand yearsold. "

They took a surface car down to the hotel, and Sunny Boy, who did notlike to say he was tired, was glad to curl up in a chair and look at abook till Daddy and Mother were ready to go to dinner. 

Everyone went to bed early that night, for Mr. Horton had had a busyday, too, and was tired. He was not able to go about with them thenext day, but on the following Monday he took them over to theBrooklyn Navy Yard and Sunny Boy actually went on board a battleship. The afternoon of the same day they crossed the wonderful BrooklynBridge and, getting out of the trolley car half way over, saw New YorkCity from the middle of the river. 

"See the ferryboats!" cried Sunny Boy, peering down into the water. "And there are, too, horses on 'em, just like the man said. Daddy, when can we go on a ferryboat?"

"That isn't so much to do, " teased Mr. Horton. "I suppose we might goto-morrow. Olive, had you anything else planned?"

Mrs. Horton smiled and said that she had nothing in view moreimportant than the ferryboat trip, so Sunny Boy went to bed that nightto dream of riding a horse about the roof of a ferryboat while theNavy Yard band played and Joe Brown kept time like the band master. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE FERRYBOAT RIDE

"Let's go away up front, Daddy, right up near the gate, so's I can seeeverything, " suggested Sunny Boy eagerly, as he and Mother and Daddyentered the Twenty-third Street ferry house. 

"All right. But let me get the tickets, " said Mr. Horton, feeling inhis pocket for change. 

Sunny Boy was so short that he walked under the turnstile instead ofthrough it, and the ticket man laughed when he saw him do it. 

"Look out one of the sea gulls doesn't take you for a bite ofbreakfast, " he called jokingly after him. 

"Huh, " Sunny Boy said resentfully to Mother, "I'm not so little. Iknow lots of children littler than I am. Wonder what he'd say if hesaw Lottie Saunders going through his gate. "

Lottie Saunders was a little friend of Sunny Boy's at home. She wasnot quite three years old. 

There was a crowd of people waiting to get on the ferryboat and for afew minutes the Hortons had to stand at the closed door while thepeople on the boat walked off. There were a great many automobiles andhorses and wagons and trucks coming off, too, and the drivers did adeal of shouting. 

"Everybody's in a hurry, " observed Sunny Boy, when the door was atlast slid back and the crowd started to jostle its way on board. 

Crowds are always in a hurry, if you have noticed it. They run andpush and scramble to get somewhere, and then, when they are there, they sit down and rest or stand about contentedly, quite as thoughthey did not know what hurrying meant. 

"What do they do with the ropes?" asked Sunny Boy, as they went downthe inclined plank and stepped on the ferryboat deck. 

"They're what hold the boat in the slip, " explained Mr. Horton. "If westay on this back deck till the boat moves, you'll see the men takeout those great hooks and wind the ropes on those wheels. Do you wantto see them do it?"

Sunny Boy did, of course, and he waited till the gates were closed andthe ropes loosened. Then two men, one on either side of the wharf, orslip, as they call the docks built for this kind of boat, gave a largespiked wheel one long, powerful turn, and it spun round rapidly, coiling up the ropes. 

"Now we'll go up to the front, " announced Mr. Horton, "and see whatails that noisy little tugboat we hear. "

But Sunny Boy had made a discovery. 

"Oh, Daddy!" he shouted. "There's a top! Let's go up!"

Mrs. Horton laughed. 

"I'm sure Sunny will be an aviator when he grows up, " she declared, smiling at her little boy. "He always wants to get as near to the skyas he can. "

Sunny Boy was eager to climb the stairs to the second deck of theferryboat, and he promised to help Mother up the stairs. So they wentinto the wide, pleasant cabin and up the broad staircase and came outon the sunny deck. There was a roof over it, and a cabin where peoplewho did not like so much fresh air might sit, but Sunny Boy, ofcourse, wanted to stand by the railing, and since it was a pleasantday, so did almost every one else. 

"See the birds!" exclaimed Mrs. Horton, to whom a ferry trip was newtoo. "What do you suppose they find to eat?"

The gulls were flying gracefully above the water, sometimes comingclose to the boat and now and then one would make a sudden dash downto the water, just dip his head in it and skim it with his wings, thensoar up into the air again. 

"I suppose they find bits of fruit and other refuse they can eat, "replied Mr. Horton. 

"That boat is going to run into the little flat one, " said Sunny Boypositively, pointing an excited little forefinger at a fussy littletugboat making straight for a lazily floating barge loaded with coal. 

"You watch, " counseled Mr. Horton. "You can not see the rope becauseit is in the water, but that other tug up ahead is towing the barge. She'll have it out of the way before the other boat gets there. "

And the towing tug did just that, apparently without hurrying, andbefore the noisy tugboat reached the coal barge it drifted safely outof the way. 

"Now you can see where we are going in, " said Mr. Horton, pointing outa dark opening just ahead of them. 

The slips were made like stalls, with piling driven down on eitherside, and beams nailed across them. As the ferryboat turned into herslip she bumped smartly against the sides of the slip two or threetimes. It swayed, and Sunny Boy thought that there had been anaccident. 

"Oh, that often happens, " his father assured them, as they stood alittle to one side watching the people streaming off. "Sometimes, whenit is very foggy, the boats have great difficulty in getting in, andsometimes an unusually high tide makes it hard for them, too. "

The Hortons did not get off the ferryboat, and it was not long beforemore people were crowding on the decks again. 

"Are they the same ones?" asked Sunny, puzzled. 

"My no, " answered Daddy quickly. "There are large cities on this sideof the river, and people go back and forth between New York and NewJersey all day long. But I thought we were taking this trip becauseyou wanted to see the horses enjoying a boat ride. Don't you want togo downstairs and look around?"

Sunny Boy said he did, and they went down. 

"He looks like one of Grandpa's horses, " said Sunny Boy, indicating abay horse attached to a light delivery wagon. "Do you suppose he likesto go on a boat, Mother?"

"Sure he does, " replied the driver, who had overheard. "He likes to goanywhere he doesn't have to use his own feet. That's what makes him sofat. "

Sunny Boy laughed, and a colored man driving a team of horsesharnessed to a wagon-load of empty barrels, rolled his eyes indelight. 

"You've said it, " he cackled joyously. "Dat horse sure look like hewished he was a automobile. "

As the ferryboat drew near the New York side, Sunny Boy saw thewonderful "sky line" which is famous all over the world--the outlinemade by the tall buildings against the sky. Even a little boy couldappreciate the picture the tall skyscrapers made, some buildingswhite, some gray, with here and there a gleaming gold dome against thefleecy September clouds. 

"What makes the boat go?" Sunny Boy thought to ask, as the gates wereopened and they were moving off with the crowd. 

"Engines and steam, " answered Mr. Horton. "And turn around and you'llsee who steered us. "

Sunny Boy turned and saw a white-bearded, blue-capped man in a smallround pilot house above the deck. There was a wheel beside him whichhe turned as he wanted the boat to go. 

"We've been sailing on the what is its name, Daddy?" asked Sunny, noticing for the first time large gold lettering below the pilot housewhich he guessed to be the name of the boat. 

"The 'Lansdowne', " answered Mr. Horton. "And a nice old ferryboat sheis. I don't know how you feel, Sunny, but I've had enough travelingfor a few hours. Can't we have lunch down town, Olive?"

"And not go up to the hotel?" said Mrs. Horton. "Why, I'm willing. Iknow where I want to take Sunny Boy this afternoon, if you are goingup to Yonkers to meet that buyer from Chicago. "

"Where?" demanded Sunny Boy eagerly. "Where are we going, Mother?"

Mrs. Horton smiled mysteriously. 

"Let it be a surprise, " she suggested. "You're having so many goodtimes, Sunny, that I'm afraid you'll find it hard to settle down andgo to school when we are home again. "

"School!" That made Sunny Boy jump. But just then Daddy hailed astreet car, which they got on, and Sunny forgot everything else. 

They found a clean, comfortable restaurant after a short ride on thestreet car, and Sunny Boy was quiet and good while Daddy looked oversome papers and Mother read a letter from Aunt Bessie she had beencarrying in her purse since breakfast time that morning. 

"Bessie says, " Mrs. Horton announced, "that some boy threw a ballthrough the front window and she's had it fixed. And Ruth and NelsonBaker send their love to you, Sunny. This is a very short letterbecause Aunt Bessie wants us to try to match the sample of silk sheencloses and she hurried the letter to catch the next mail. "

"I wonder if Nelson got the postal I sent him?" speculated Sunny Boy. "It was a picture of Central Park. "

"He probably received it, and you'll see it in Ruth's album when youget home, " said Mrs. Horton. "And now, Daddy, how about going uptown?"

Sunny Boy was excited, and wouldn't you be, if you were goingsomewhere you didn't know about, to see something no one had told youyou would see? He wondered if they could be going to anothermenagerie, or if they were going shopping again. 

"Wait and see, " was all Mrs. Horton would answer, when he teased her. 

They took the surface car, and after a few blocks Mr. Horton left themto get a train for Yonkers, which is a suburb of New York. Sunny Boyand his mother continued some half dozen blocks further and then leftthe car. They walked over a busy street, and suddenly Mrs. Hortonstopped in front of a building with many entrances, and peoplecrowding into them all. 

"I know!" shouted Sunny Boy, as he saw a red and yellow poster. "It'sa theater!"

"Yes, it is, " admitted Mrs. Horton smiling. "I read in the paper lastnight that there was a children's matinee to-day, and Daddy 'phoneddownstairs after you were asleep and bought our tickets. Can you tellwhat the play is, dear, from the pictures? See, here is a case ofphotographs. "

Sunny Boy plunged his hands deep into his pockets, spread his feetsturdily apart, and studied the pictures seriously. 

"There's a girl, " he murmured aloud. "An' an old lady--she's a witch, I guess. Do I know it, Mother?"

"I've read you the story, " said Mrs. Horton. "Don't you remember SnowWhite and the dwarfs?"

Sunny Boy remembered the story, and he would have liked to look atthe photographs again, but Mrs. Horton thought it was time to go inand find their seats. An usher, a pretty girl, took them easily andquickly to the right row, and Sunny Boy found himself seated next toan elderly lady, with two children, a boy and a girl, evidently hergrandchildren, in two seats directly in front of her. 

"Why don't they sit next to her?" Sunny Boy whispered, watching thelady standing up to smooth out the little girl's hair-ribbon. 

"They probably couldn't get three seats together, " explained Mrs. Horton. "Better let me hold your hat, precious; you might drop it andsome one would walk on it. "

The orchestra was playing a gay bit of music, and Sunny's feet kepttime to it merrily. He had been to the theater once or twice at home, generally at Christmas time, but this was decidedly different. 

"I like New York, " he confided to Mother. 

The grandmotherly lady smiled. 

"So you don't live here?" she asked pleasantly. "I have lived here somany years that no other place would seem like home. But Louise andDavid, my grandchildren, are, like you, visitors. They come fromGeorgia. "

Mrs. Horton leaned forward. 

"We're from Centronia, " she volunteered, for Sunny Boy was too shy todo more than smile at the two children who had turned around when theyheard their names spoken, and now grinned at him politely over thebacks of their seats. "I don't believe Sunny Boy knows where Georgiais--do you, dear?"

"It's down South, " said the little girl. "We slept on the train. AndDavid was sick. I wasn't. Grandmother said he prob'ly ate too muchice-cream for his supper. "

"Sh!" cautioned their grandmother. "The curtain's going up in aminute. "

The lights went out, the music stopped, and Sunny Boy snuggled closeto Mother. Slowly, oh, very slowly, the big blue curtain began to rollup, and the play began. 

"Such a mean old stepmother, " scolded Sunny Boy, at the end of thefirst act. "Poor little Snow White! I hope they never find out whereshe went when she ran away. "

The orchestra played again, and then stopped as the lights were turnedoff for the second act. Sunny Boy gave a nervous little squeak as thecurtain rose and he saw the dwarfs in their house. 

CHAPTER IX

WHEN MAKE-BELIEVE IS REAL

The dwarfs trotted gaily about the stage and finally went off to theirwork of chopping wood in the forest, leaving Snow White singinghappily and brushing up the hearth. 

"Isn't she pretty?" whispered Sunny Boy to Mother, who nodded andhanded him the opera glasses. 

Sunny Boy couldn't make the glasses work very well, but he loved totry, and he never felt that he was really at the theater unless hespent some minutes trying to look through the end that brought thestage nearer to him. He pretended that he had seen Snow White by theaid of the dainty pearl-handled glasses that were a gift from Daddyto Mother, and gave them back. 

"Oh, look!" he nudged Mother sharply. 

A queer old beggar woman had thrust her face close to the window inthe dwarf's house and was watching Snow White. 

"Sh!" whispered Mother, as Sunny Boy bounced in his seat. "You mustkeep still, dear. Don't make a noise. "

The play went on, and Snow White let the old beggar woman in. She wasselling apples, and right away, if you had been in the audience, youwould have known she wasn't a beggar woman at all, but the wickedstepmother, who was also a witch. 

"What did she say?" whispered Sunny Boy, who couldn't hear every wordthat was said on the stage. 

"She wants to sell Snow White an apple, and Snow White says she has nomoney, " explained Mother, in a low voice so that the people sittingnear them would not be disturbed. "Now listen, and you'll hear whatthey say next. "

Snow White had picked up her broom again and was going to work. 

"I'll give you this beautiful apple, " smiled the crafty old beggarwoman. "See, my dear, I have it for you as a gift. Isn't itbeautiful?"

She put it on the table, and went limping out of the door, prettylittle Snow White running after her to thank her. At the window shestopped once, waved her hand, and vanished. 

Snow White picked up the apple, and admired it. It was very red, andlarge and shining. 

This was too much for Sunny Boy. He had kept still when Snow White letthe witch in the door--"after the dwarfs told her not to let any onein the house, too, " he grumbled as he watched her do it--and he hadkept still while the witch tried to persuade her to buy an apple; butit was altogether too much to expect him to sit quietly there andwatch Snow White eat that apple. Not for nothing had Harriet read himhis book of fairy tales!

Snow White shook back her curly black hair and raised the apple to herrosy mouth for a bite. 

"Don't eat it!" shouted Sunny Boy "at the top of his lungs" Harrietwould have said. "Don't bite it! Throw it away! The witch poisonedit!"

He stood up on the seat, waving his hands frantically, a conspicuouslittle figure in a blue and white sailor suit. 

How the people about him laughed! The lady sitting next to him had towipe her eyes because she laughed so hard the tears came. Motherpulled Sunny Boy down into the seat beside her, and Snow White went oneating her apple, because, of course, the play had to go on. 

"It's only make-believe, dear, " whispered Mother, smoothing SunnyBoy's tousled hair. "You know she won't really die. "

Sunny Boy smiled, a faint little smile. 

"I guess I forgot it wasn't real, " he said sheepishly. "Anyway, thelittle girl from Georgia is crying. I guess she forgot, too. "

The little girl from Georgia was crying, the big tears rolling slowlyand silently down her cheeks. Many of the children all over the housewere crying, or if not actually crying, sniffling a bit. Snow Whitehad eaten her apple and fallen asleep and the poor little brown dwarfscame home to find her, as they supposed, dead. 

But the third and last act had a happy ending. Snow White came to lifeagain, and the big curtain came down and the lights flared up to showa houseful of happy, smiling children being buttoned into coats andgloves, and having their caps and hats and bonnets put on for them bymothers and grandmothers and aunts and big sisters. 

Sunny Boy walked soberly up the aisle beside his mother, thinkingabout a great many things. He thought about the dwarfs, and how hewould like to know some to play with. He thought about the bigtheater, and wondered if it was fun to be an actor. And then hethought what a lot of children had come to see the play, and whetherthey all lived in New York. He put this last thought into words. 

"Do they all live here?" he asked Mother, who, of course, did not knowwhat he had been thinking and had to have it explained to her. 

"No, I don't suppose they all live here, " she said thoughtfully, whenSunny Boy had told her. "I imagine a great many of these boys andgirls are New Yorkers and live in the houses and apartments we haveseen in the city. Some of them, I am sure, come from the suburbantowns to the matinee, the way the children from Glendale come in toCentronia when we have a good play at our theaters, you know. And someof these children you saw this afternoon are like a little boy Iknow--they come from other cities on their first visit to New York. Though not all of them stand up and shout at the stage people, I'mglad to say. "

Sunny Boy snickered. 

"Well, next time I won't, " he promised. "Won't Daddy laugh when I tellhim? Guess he'll think I never went to the theater. "

Daddy did laugh when they told him that night, after they had haddinner and were up in their room together. Sunny Boy had had his bathand, all cool and clean, was curled up in his pink pajamas in ablanket on Mother's bed trying to keep awake and listen to Mother andDaddy talk. 

"Right out loud in the theater!" repeated Mr. Horton, pretending to beshocked. "Why, Sunny Boy, you must be more careful. I don't supposeyou stopped to think that if Snow White had taken your advice andthrown away the apple, the rest of the play couldn't have happened. "

"Yes, and suppose they had come down to you and had said you wouldhave to write them a new fairy story before they could finish theplay, " teased Mrs. Horton. "What would you have done then, Sunny?"

"I'd have just said I couldn't, " giggled Sunny Boy, trying to turn asummersault on the bed. 

"Some one called you up about five o'clock this afternoon, " said Mr. Horton, speaking to his wife. "It was a short time before you came in. She said she would call again after dinner. "

"I didn't know I knew any one in New York, at least any one who knewwe were here, " Mrs. Horton began, puzzled, when the telephone on thetable rang. 

She went to answer it, and Sunny Boy and Daddy had a pillow fight, which was all the more exciting because they had to keep quiet and notbother Mother at the telephone. Sunny Boy grew red in the face, notdaring to laugh aloud, and Daddy tickled him unmercifully. 

"There, now, do be still, " said Mrs. Horton, hanging up the receiverand coming over to the bed where Sunny Boy and his father were rollingaround, each apparently trying to stuff a pillow down the other'sneck. "Harry! Sunny! Neither of you will go to sleep to-night. SunnyBoy and I are invited to pay a call to-morrow afternoon. "

"All right, let's. " A flushed and triumphant Sunny Boy sat up andsmiled blissfully at his mother. He had had "last whack" at Daddy, whowas now busy brushing lint off his trousers. 

Mrs. Horton laughed. 

"Sunny, you're getting to be keen for going, " she declared. "You don'tseem to care where you go as long as it is somewhere. I'm anxious tosee you in school and having a little less excitement. And look at mybed!"

"That's all right, " Mr. Horton assured her hastily. "We scoop SunnyBoy off so. " He swung Sunny high in the air and landed him safely inhis own little bed. "Then we pat up the pillows, so, and smooth thecovers like this--and there you are!"

"Thank you, " smiled Mrs. Horton. "Who do you suppose called me up?"

Mr. Horton couldn't guess, and Sunny Boy couldn't guess. 

"Adele Parker, " announced Mrs. Horton. "We went to school together, but I haven't seen her since she was married. Bessie and her youngersister are great chums, and Bessie wrote the sister we were in NewYork. She gave our address and Adele has hunted us up. She wants meto come up to-morrow afternoon. They are just back from the country, and the house is all torn up, so we won't stay long. But I do want tosee her. "

Sunny Boy dropped asleep while they were talking, and in the morninghe and Mother went shopping again, because Daddy was to have anall-day conference with business men and they must amuse themselves. 

"I think we ought to choose a few little gifts to take to the friendsat home, " suggested Mrs. Horton, as she and Sunny Boy stepped from thecar and went into one of the beautiful big shops. "Daddy says we won'tbe here much longer, perhaps not more than another week. Wouldn't youlike to take something home to Nelson and Ruth?"

Sunny Boy thought this would be very nice, but what should he takethem?

"Well, suppose you think about it, while I buy some things for AuntBessie and Aunt Betty Martinson and Harriet, " said Mrs. Horton. 

Sunny Boy puzzled and puzzled, but Mother was all through her shoppingbefore he could think of a single thing that Ruth and Nelson mightlike. 

"Could we buy 'em a spress wagon?" he asked doubtfully. "Nelson'salways borrowing mine. Or roller skates?"

"Dear me, " said Mrs. Horton, "don't you think something we could packin the trunk would be nicer? It needn't be a large gift, you know. Just something they can say came from New York. We'll go up to the toydepartment and look around. "

This was a different shop from the first one they had visited, andSunny Boy had to see all the toys before he could settle down tochoosing gifts for Ruth and Nelson. Finally, by Mother's advice, hesettled on a quaint little painted music box for Ruth that played fourdifferent tunes, and a picture puzzle game for Nelson, who liked toput things together. These were sent home to the hotel so that SunnyBoy and Mother would not have to carry packages with them the rest ofthe day. 

"Now we'll go to the restaurant and have lunch, " planned Mrs. Horton, leading the way to the elevator. "And then I want to get a box of nicecandy to take Adele's children. I hope their mother lets them eatcandy. "

"Will there be some children?" asked Sunny Boy, surprised. "That willbe fun. Houses where I sit on a chair visiting are kind of lonesome. "

"I don't doubt it, " agreed Mother sympathetically. "Well, you'll findthree children to visit with this afternoon. You must have beenasleep last night when I told Daddy. Adele Parker has two boys and alittle girl. "

"Daddy calls her Mrs. Kennedy, " objected Sunny Boy, following Motherout of the elevator into a large dining room. 

Mrs. Horton stopped at the door till the waitress should find themseats. 

"She is Mrs. Kennedy, " Mother admitted, smiling. "I call her AdeleParker because that was her name when I knew her at school. Sheprobably calls me Olive Andrew, because that was my name before it wasMrs. Horton. "

The waitress came up to them and beckoned. 

"There's a table for two over by the window, " she said. "I'll see thatsome one takes your order. "

CHAPTER X

MORE SIGHTSEEING

Sunny Boy and Mother had a pleasant lunch, Sunny Boy, as he ate hissandwiches and drank his milk, looking down into the street six orseven stories below, or out over the roofs of the city. 

"Now we're going to Adele's, " he remarked, as Mother gathered up hergloves and purse. 

"Oh, Sunny Boy!" Mrs. Horton surveyed him half laughingly, half withdespair. "You musn't call her Adele. Say Mrs. Kennedy. You never callMother's friends by their first names, you know you don't. "

"Well, I don't know her, " offered Sunny Boy mildly, as though thatmade a difference. 

They took a bus, which never lost its charm for Sunny, and after arather long ride, got out at a cross street and walked until theyreached a narrow, five-storied brick house with gay window boxes atevery window. A maid opened the door for them and showed them into apleasant, rather small room where a little girl sat at the grandpiano, practicing. 

She glanced up shyly as Mrs. Horton and Sunny Boy came in. 

"I'm sure I know who you are, " smiled Mrs. Horton. "You must beAlice. "

The little girl got up and made a pretty curtsy. 

"I'm Alice Kennedy, " she said, smiling too. "Are you Mother's friend, Mrs. Horton? Is he your little boy?"

Mrs. Kennedy came in as Mrs. Horton nodded, and there was a greatshowering of kisses and many questions asked and ever so manyintroductions, for two small boys followed Mrs. Kennedy in and theywere presented as her sons, Dick and Paul. 

"Now you and I'll go upstairs where it is cozier, " said Mrs. Kennedy, when every one knew every one else, "and the children shall take SunnyBoy up to their playroom on the top floor. "

"We brought a little candy, " explained Mrs. Horton, giving Sunny Boythe box. "Are you willing to have it passed?"

Mrs. Kennedy was, so each of the children had three pieces and climbedthe stairs to the playroom chattering like old friends. 

"Have you been to the ac-quarium?" asked Paul, pronouncing it as if itwere two words. He was rocking Sunny Boy on his rocking horse, whichwas as large as a small pony and had real hair in its mane and tail. 

"Got one at home, " announced Sunny Boy contentedly. "There were tengoldfish but one died. "

"Oh, Paul means the real aquarium, " explained Alice. "Down at theBattery, with the queerest fish you ever saw, and big tanks, andcorals, and everything. "

No, Sunny Boy hadn't seen that. He was so much interested in Alice'sdescriptions that when the two mothers came up to see what they weredoing, they found them still talking about the fish. 

"Hasn't Sunny Boy been down to the Battery?" asked Mrs. Kennedy. "Why, we must all go. How about to-morrow?"

Mrs. Horton explained that she had planned to go to the Statue ofLiberty the following day. 

"You can do that easily in the afternoon, " said Mrs. Kennedy. "Wemight as well make a day of it. I have to get the children ready forschool, and one day is all I can spare. Suppose we meet at the Batteryin the morning and see the aquarium. We'll have lunch somewhere andtake the boat right from the Battery for Bedloe's Island. "

So it was arranged that they should meet the next morning, and SunnyBoy and Mother went back to the hotel to tell Daddy all about theirplans and to hear about his busy day. 

As soon as Sunny Boy and Mother entered the park at the Battery thefollowing morning, the glint of water in the sun attracted him. 

"Why is it the Battery?" he asked. "Are there guns?"

"There used to be, " said Mother. "Long ago, when instead of a park, this end of New York was high rocks, a water battery guarded the townand was used a little in the Revolution. That is where the Batterygets its name. The aquarium is housed in the old fort. "

"I see Alice, " cried Sunny Boy. 

"Yes, here they all are, " said Mother. 

The Kennedy family came up to them, and together they walked towardthe dingy building where the queer fish, Sunny had been told, lived. 

"It doesn't look much, but think who's been in it, " remarked Alice. She went to school and liked history. "After it stopped being a fort, they called it Castle Garden, and three presidents of the UnitedStates held receptions there. 'Sides Lafayette landed there when hecame to this country to visit. Didn't he, Mother?"

"Yes, " agreed Mrs. Kennedy. "But I think Sunny Boy is more interestedjust now in seeing the fish. Here we are, and please, children, don'tall talk at once and do try to keep together. "

Sunny Boy stared about him in amazement. Huge glass tanks with thequeerest fish he had ever seen swimming in them were on all sides ofhim. A sudden noise, like a harsh cough, startled him. 

"That's a seal, " laughed Dick. "Come on over here, Sunny, and seethem. "

Funny, flat heads, bright eyes and "whiskers" had the seals, and theymade the queer coughing sound Sunny Boy had heard. He privately didn'tthink they were very pretty, and he admired the great turtles inanother tank much more. 

"Let's go in back and see if we can touch the fish, " he suggested toDick, when they had seen all the open tanks on the floor. "I'd like tolook out from behind there and see how it seems. "

Dick was puzzled, but Alice understood right away. 

"Those are all tanks, with just glass in front, " she informed SunnyBoy. 

The round walls of the fort were set with what looked like glassplates, behind which great lazy fish were idly swimming. It looked asthough one could go in back of them and see through, and perhaps touchthe fish in the water. 

After they had seen all the fish in all the tanks downstairs, theywent upstairs and looked at the fish and the corals and anemones andfunny crabs living and growing in other glass tanks. The anemoneslooked like beautiful, vivid flowers, and Mrs. Horton and Mrs. Kennedyboth exclaimed over their beauty. 

"I like the crab that walks crooked best, " announced Sunny Boy, andDick and Paul agreed with him. 

When they came out of the aquarium they walked about the picturesqueold park a little, and then found a small place where they had lunch. 

"What does Sunny Boy know about the statue we're going to see?" askedMrs. Kennedy, as they stepped on board the boat that was to take themto the Statue of Liberty that afternoon. "My children have been sooften that it is an old story to them. "

"I know, " cried Sunny Boy eagerly. "Donald Joyce told me. I know, don't I, Mother?"

"Donald Joyce is a young neighbor of ours who went to war and cameback safely, " said Mrs. Horton. 

"An' Donald said, " recited Sunny Boy, slowly and carefully because hedid not want to forget before he had told it all, "the Statue ofLiberty was made by a man--you say it, Mother, " he broke off. "Itbegins with 'B'. "

"A man named Bartholdi, " said Mrs. Horton smilingly. 

"A man named Bartholdi, " repeated Sunny Boy. "He came over from Franceto see us, and he saw all the im-im-immigrants acting glad when theyfirst saw the United States. So he went home and asked the French togive some money so's he could build us a statue. And they did. AndBartholdi made the statue and it's a present from France. Donald Joycesaid the soldiers were awful glad to see it when they came home fromFrance and they were glad they'd helped fight for the country thatmade the Statue of Liberty, too. "

"Isn't that nice?" said Alice Kennedy, with satisfaction. "I neverheard that part about the soldiers being glad. The boat's moving, Sunny!"

The four children hung over the rail, pulled back now and then by ananxious mother, during the short sail. Alice had brought some crumbsof bread with her, and they amused themselves by throwing these intothe water for the gulls. 

"See the boats!" cried Sunny Boy, pointing to several large steamersplainly seen from their boat. 

"That's Ellis Island we're passing, " explained Mrs. Kennedy. "All theimmigrants are sent there from the ships on which they arrive. Theysee the Statue of Liberty first, Sunny, as you said. "

The beautiful bronze Statue of Liberty, familiar to all the boys andgirls of our country through pictures if not by actual sight, loomedup before the passengers on the boat now. It was so much larger thanSunny Boy had expected, that he stared at it silently. 

"The torch isn't lit, but you can imagine how wonderful it must lookthen, " said Mrs. Horton, as the boat docked and the people prepared togo ashore. "Just think of the millions of people who have been glad tocatch their first glimpse of 'Miss Liberty'. "

"It's awful big, " Sunny managed to gasp. 

"Guess how high it is, " said Alice. "You can't? Well, it's one hundredand fifty-one feet high. My father told me. And that's not countingthe thing it stands on. "

"Don't talk all the time, Alice, " implored her mother. "Let Sunny Boyhave time to collect his thoughts. Shall we walk around it first, dear, before we go in?"

They walked slowly around the statue, and then went inside. 

"Now we'll go up, " chattered Alice. "I just love going up and lookingout over the bay when we get there. "

Sunny Boy planted his feet firmly on the stone floor. 

"I isn't going up, " he announced quietly. 

"Why, Sunny! Why not? Don't you want to?" several voices urged him atonce. 

Sunny Boy shook his head. 

"I'll wait for you, " he said politely. 

"But we've been up, " declared Dick and Paul. "Nobody ever comes 'wayout to the Island and not go up. What will people say?"

"You haven't seen the Statue of Liberty at all, " cried Alice, greatlydisappointed. 

"I'd rather not, " insisted Sunny Boy. 

The two mothers looked at each other and laughed. 

"I went up with Harry years ago, " said Mrs. Horton. "Of course Ishould like Sunny Boy to have the experience, but he'll come to NewYork other times I hope. Anyway, I can't agree with Alice that hehasn't seen the statue. He can learn the dimensions when he studiesarithmetic. "

Sunny Boy wasn't quite sure in his own mind why he refused to take theelevator, as people all around him were doing, and go to the top ofthe statue. He only knew that he would be dreadfully unhappy if anyone made him go. 

He was very quiet on the trip back, but all the children were a littletired from their busy day and not so inclined to be hilarious asearlier in the afternoon. They all said good-bye to Sunny Boy at theferry, for the Kennedys took a different way from Sunny Boy and hismother. 

"We're going home in the subway, " said Mrs. Kennedy, kissing Mrs. Horton. "It's the quickest way to travel. I think you're foolish todrag Sunny around on the surface cars. "

"I want to wait till his father can go with us, " answered Mrs. Horton. "Your noisy old subways make me nervous, Adele. "

Sunny Boy, sleepily leaning against Mother's shoulder in the crowdedstreet car, remembered this. 

"What's a subway?" he asked drowsily. "Where is it, Mother?"

"You'll find out perhaps to-morrow, if Daddy isn't too busy, " Motherassured him. "Oh, precious, see this poor old woman. "

Sunny Boy sat up, wide awake instantly. 

An old woman, bent and lame, had entered the car and stood swaying, trying to reach a hanger. She had a worn old shawl over her shouldersand carried a big basket. 

Sunny Boy slipped out of his place. 

"Here's a seat for you, " he called clearly. 

The woman sat down heavily, mumbling her thanks, and Sunny Boy had tostand the rest of the way home. Not that he minded. For one thing, itkept him wide awake, and for another, his father always gave everywoman his seat in a crowded car, and Sunny Boy was sure he would beglad to hear that Sunny Boy had done the same. 

"And what do we do to-morrow?" this same Daddy asked that night as hehelped a very tired, sleepy little boy to get ready for bed. "I'mgoing to play with you and Mother all day, you know. "

Sunny Boy was ready with his reply. 

"To-morrow, " he said indistinctly, in the midst of a big yawn, "we'regoing to travel quick on the subway!"

CHAPTER XI

SUNNY BOY GETS LOST

"Do you remember when you were counting up the kinds of cars you hadridden on?" asked Daddy, as he and Sunny Boy stood on the walk waitingfor Mother, who had gone into a drugstore to buy some postage stamps. 

Sunny Boy nodded. 

"Well, the subway is one kind you haven't been on, " said Daddy. 

Sunny Boy was surprised. 

"But it isn't cars, Daddy, " he argued. "I think it is a boat. "

Mr. Horton laughed. 

"The subway isn't what you ride on, " he tried to explain. "It's whatyou ride _in_. The trains go through the subway, Sunny. "

Mrs. Horton came out with her postage stamps just then, and the threewalked till they came to one of the funny little houses Sunny Boy hadseen at many street corners. Mr. Horton led the way straight down thesteps. 

"Why, we're going down cellar!" exclaimed the astonished little boy, who followed him. "Daddy, do the trains run in the cellar?"

It was clear that they did, for even before they reached the last stepthe rumble and roar of a coming train was heard. It was light andbright in the subway station, and Sunny Boy thought that it did notseem like a cellar at all. 

He stood as close to the edge of the platform as his father would lethim and peered up the track. It was dark, like a tunnel, and coloredlights winked at him from the walls. 

"Will the next be our train?" he asked. 

"We can take any that comes, " answered Daddy. "This is an expressstation. See the red light coming--that is a train. "

A tiny red glow far in the distance grew larger and larger, and theroar and rumble of the train was heard. A long train of cars, brilliantly lighted, swept past them, such a long train that Sunny Boythought at first that it was not going to stop. But it did. 

"Where's the engine?" he asked disappointedly, as he and Mother andDaddy stepped on through a center door. 

"There isn't any engine, " replied his father. "Don't you remember theelevated train has no engine, either? Both kinds of trains are run byelectricity. If Mother doesn't mind, we'll go up in the first car andwatch from the front door. "

Mrs. Horton didn't mind, even though they had to walk almost thelength of the train to reach the first car. There were plenty ofseats in this car, and Mrs. Horton sat down to rest while Sunny Boyand his father stood at the door and peered through the glass panel. They could see the tracks stretching ahead of them, and as theywatched the train flashed through a station without stopping. 

Sunny Boy was delighted. 

"Let's ride all day, " he suggested. "Don't get off, Daddy. See theblue light! What's that for?"

Mr. Horton didn't know. It was some sort of signal for the engineer. The engineer was shut away from them in a little enclosed corner spacewhere it was dark and he could see the lights ahead of him plainly. 

When they stopped at a station, many people always got off, butseemingly as many crowded on. 

"Where are we going, Daddy?" Sunny Boy thought to ask at one of thesestops. 

"A long way, " Daddy assured him. "Up to Bronx Park and the ZoologicalGarden. I thought you'd like to see the animals. "

Sunny Boy was fond of animals, but he was sure that he would neveragain have as much fun as he was having watching the train speed alongthose dark shining rails. 

"You can go and sit down, if you're tired, Daddy, " he told his father. "I can stay here alone. "

Mr. Horton did go back and sit down beside Mother. 

"I guess maybe I will sit down a minute, " said Sunny Boy, after he hadstood up for many blocks. "I'm not tired, but my feet are. "

Then, before his feet were rested, Daddy announced that the nextstation was theirs. They were out of the subway now, riding along inthe open air, and he took Mother's hand. 

"And now, " said Mr. Horton, with a smile for Sunny as they left thetrain and, after a short walk, entered the park, "let's seeeverything!"

This they proceeded to do. 

There isn't room to tell you of the wonderful animals they saw, thebuffaloes, the beautiful deer, so tame that they came up to the wiresto have their noses rubbed; of the lions and tigers and panthers andleopards; of strange animals that Sunny Boy had never seen even in hisbook of wild animals; and of the woods where they enjoyed their lunch, just as if they were on a picnic. They visited the Botanical Gardens, too, where Mother made as much fuss over the flowers as Sunny Boy hadover the baby deer, and where Daddy took pictures of them both to sendto Grandpa and Grandma Horton. 

"We may be tired, " Daddy admitted, when he looked at his watch andfound it was time for them to go home, "but then look what we have forbeing tired!"

Sunny Boy was busy thinking of all the things he had seen, and heforgot to be disappointed because the first car was full and hecouldn't get near the door to look out, as he had coming up thatmorning. 

"We'll change at Forty-second Street, " he heard Daddy say to Mother. "I'm afraid we stayed a little too long and will be caught in therush. "

Mrs. Horton had a seat, but Sunny Boy and Daddy were standing. 

"Hang on to my coat sleeve and you'll be steady enough, " Daddy advisedhis little son. 

"I think it would be better if he sat in his mother's lap, don't you?"said Mrs. Horton, smiling. 

"But I'm not slipping, Mother, " he announced proudly. "Wouldn't youthink I was standing without holding on to anything?"

"You manage very nicely, " Mrs. Horton told him. "Isn't the next stopours, Harry?"

It was, and Mr. Horton had to elbow a little path for them to thedoor, there were so many people trying to get in and out at the sametime. Sunny Boy had hold of Mother's dress, and as they squeezed outof the car he lost his grasp. 

"Goodness, " he scolded, "I should think folks would wait a minute. That man bumped right into me and never said 'excuse me. '"

Sunny Boy looked ahead and saw Mother's blue dress and tan coat. 

"I 'spect I'd better hurry, " he said aloud. 

He ran after the blue dress and tan coat and slipped in through a doorjust a second before the guard closed it. 

Then Sunny Boy made a surprising discovery. 

The blue dress and the tan coat were not Mother's at all! He hadfollowed a strange woman!

He looked all around the car and couldn't see his own mother, nor asign of Daddy. Though Sunny Boy did not know it, he had crossed thestation platform and taken an uptown train. He was riding away fromthe hotel as fast as the noisy rumbling subway train could carry him. 

"It's pretty crowded, " said Sunny Boy to himself. "Maybe when somemore folks get off at the next station, I can see Mother. "

But though people got off at the next station and the next, there wasno Mother. 

Sunny Boy sat quietly. No one, looking at him, would have guessed thathe was lost. When the crowd of people began to thin out, he followed afat man with a big basket to the door and up the steps out into thestreet. 

It was still light enough to see clearly, and Sunny Boy knew that hehad never been in this part of New York. There were many small shopson either side of the street and moving picture places with greatglaring signs already lit. 

"Papers!" a boy on the corner was calling. "Papers!"

As Sunny watched him, several men stepped up and bought papers and randown the subway steps. 

Sunny felt in his pocket. There were two bright pennies there, slippedin by Mother, who always put money in the pocket of each new suit. Sunny jammed his hat more tightly on his yellow head and walked overto where the newsboy stood. 

"Want a paper?" the boy grinned at him in a friendly way. "_World?_Well, didn't your father say? How much you got?"

Sunny Boy held out his pennies silently. 

The boy whipped a paper from the pack under his arm, folded it neatlyand gave it to Sunny, taking his money as he did so. 

"You'd better scoot, " he advised him kindly. "If your father's waitingfor that paper he'll think you're reading it. Hurry up--get a moveon!"

Sunny Boy sat down sociably on an old soap box. 

"Daddy isn't waiting, " he said. 

"Papers! Here you are, sir!" the boy made change quickly with not tooclean hands. "Then what do you want a paper for? You can't read, canyou?"

"Well some writing I can, " admitted Sunny Boy modestly. "That is, ifit's printed. I thought maybe you'd talk to me. "

"Talk to you!" repeated the newsboy. "Say, kid, you ought to be homerunning errands for supper. "

Sunny Boy doubled a small foot under him. 

"I got lost, " he announced casually. 

[Illustration: "Sunny Boy sat down sociably on an old soap box"]

"In the subway. They pushed me and then I thought I saw mother and itwas another lady. "

The boy glanced at him sharply. 

"You stringing me?" he demanded. "You do look as if you were used tohaving somebody around with you. Don't you know where you live?"

"Of course I do, " declared Sunny Boy quickly. "I always 'member whereI live. It's the Macnapin Hotel. "

The newsboy had sold nearly all his papers now and he felt that hecould take a little time to question this strange child who sat on thesoap box and said he was lost. 

"That's a new one to me, " he admitted, when Sunny Boy mentioned thehotel. "Is it in New York?"

"My, yes!" Sunny Boy answered, surprised. "Don't you know? I know oneof the bell-boys. "

"Well, how do you get to it?" demanded the newsboy. 

Sunny Boy didn't know. 

"Well, then, what's your name?" said his new friend. 

"Sunny Boy, " came the prompt answer. 

The newsboy laughed. 

"'Sunny Boy'!" he jeered. "That's a great name to be lost with. S'poseyour folks will put an ad in to-morrow's papers for a lost child namedSunny Boy?"

Now by this time Sunny was very hungry and tired from his long day atthe Park. He was worried, too, and he felt very far away from hisdaddy and mother. Two big tears gathered in his eyes and ran down hisface. 

CHAPTER XII

SUNNY BOY IS FOUND

"Oh, I say!" the newsboy's voice changed instantly. "Don't cry, kid. If you say your name is Sunny Boy, all right, it is. And I'll evenhave it you live at the Macnapin Hotel, though where that is is morethan I know. Quit crying, I tell you; you're going home along withme. "

Sunny Boy continued to stare at him, the tears slowly chasing down hischeeks. 

"I want my mother!" he sobbed forlornly. 

"All right, all right, I'll get her for you, " promised the distractedolder boy. "You leave it to Tim Harrity, and there won't nothinghappen to you. Only quit crying, because folks are beginning to lookat you. Come on. I'm through for the night. "

Sunny Boy slipped a hot little hand into Tim's. 

"Where we going?" he quavered. 

"Home, " said Tim Harrity briefly. "When I'm sold out, I go home. Youcome along now, and don't talk because I'm trying to figure out whathotel you belong at. "

Sunny Boy trotted beside Tim, obediently silent. He was so tired thathis feet stumbled, but he plodded on, keeping a tight clutch on hisfriend's hand. 

Suddenly Tim stopped short and gave a shout. 

"I have it!" he cried, snapping his fingers excitedly. "I'll bet whatyou're trying to say is the 'McAlpin'! Aren't you staying at theMcAlpin Hotel?"

"Why, yes, " admitted Sunny Boy, surprised. "I told you so. "

Tim was in high good humor at his cleverness in solving the riddle, and he hurried Sunny Boy down the street as fast as he could go. Presently they came to a smaller street and turned the corner. Thehouses were very close together, and it seemed to Sunny that at leastthree people were hanging out of every window. Babies toddled all overthe sidewalk, and in one place, where a pushcart had broken down, aswarm of little children quarreled over a heap of half-rotten pears. 

"Here we are, " announced Tim, steering Sunny Boy up the rickety stepsof a sagging brick house. "Go careful, 'cause you're not used to thestairs. And don't take hold of the railing--it's weak. "

Sunny Boy felt his way up three pairs of dark stairs behind Tim, andwhen they reached the third floor a door opened to let a flood oflight out on them. 

"That you, Tim?" some one called. "You're late. I set the stew back tokeep it hot. Glory be, and who is it you're bringing home with you?"

Sunny Boy blinked. The room was hot and the glaring light blinded him. He was dizzily aware that a great many people stood around staring athim. 

Tim pulled his hand free. 

"The rest of you get back, " he commanded his family sternly. "Where'sMa? This kid's lost, and if you don't want him crying again, keep awaytill Ma's had a chance to tell him what's what. "

Then from out another room stepped a large woman with a great kind redface. She was drying her hands on her apron, and she had evidentlybeen washing, for her purple wrapper was splashed with soap-suds. Buther voice went right to Sunny's heart. 

"Lost, is it?" she said tenderly. "Saints above, what a baby to be outalone in this city! An' his poor mother, the saints pity her she'll bethat wild. There, there, dearie, you're all right. A bit of supper'swhat you're needin'. And then 'tis Timmie himself who shall be takingye home. "

She gathered Sunny Boy into her capacious lap and crooned over him inthe deep rich voice that her own six children knew and loved withoutrealizing its charm. 

"'Tis a cruel city to the babies, " she sighed, smoothing Sunny Boy'shair with a touch as gentle as that of his own mother's. "But yourpoor mother--the saints help her. Timmie, ye must not be waiting aminute. Come, Theresa, give him a sup of stew. We must be taking himhome before the heart of the mother is broke entirely. "

Tim, who had been noisily washing at the sink, was frowning into thecracked mirror above it as he tried to part his hair exactly in thecenter. 

"I want to telephone first, " he explained. "He's after giving me sucha crazy name--Sunny Boy, I've doped it out that he belongs at theMcAlpin Hotel, but there's no reason why I should make a fool ofmyself by taking him 'way down there and then being told that no childis lost from there. "

A pretty, dark-haired girl, Sunny Boy called her a young lady in hismind, was stirring something at the stove. She wore a pink blouse andwas smiling. 

"I'll bring him some stew over there, Ma, " she suggested. "Thechildren have mussed up the table pretty well, and they'd take hisappetite away with their eyes. Can't you stand back a bit?" shedemanded of the four children, three little boys and a girl, who stoodin a ring about Sunny Boy and their mother, gazing fixedly at thestranger. 

"I'll eat first, I guess, " decided Timmie. "I didn't get me a crumb oflunch, and after I've told his folks he's safe they'll be wanting tosee him the next minute. Just give me a taste of the stew on somebread, Theresa. "

Theresa had already taken her mother a plate for Sunny, and now shegave her brother his supper. The stew was hot and really delicious, and Sunny Boy was sure he had never tasted anything so good. Mrs. Harrity held the plate for him and patted him now and then as he ate. The Harrity children edged nearer and nearer, till a frown from theirmother drove them back. 

"Going now, " announced Tim, seizing his cap. 

He slammed the door with such force that the plates on the tablerattled, but no one seemed to mind it. They could hear him cheerfullywhistling as he clattered downstairs. 

Theresa put some water on to heat for the dishes, and came over nearher mother and Sunny Boy. She took the little girl on her lap. 

"Timmie will help you all right, " she assured Sunny Boy, nodding andsmiling at him encouragingly. "Tim's a great lad for seeing thingsthrough. How did he come to find you?"

Sunny Boy explained. 

"Well, well, " said Mrs. Harrity. "If you're not used to it, thesubway's built for confusin' ye. But Marty there, he's seven nextbirthday, he can get about as well as the next one. "

Marty grinned and wriggled uneasily. 

"I'm five, " said Sunny Boy conversationally. 

"Five now, well, well, " repeated Mrs. Harrity. "Rose over there isfive. Jim's eight and Thomas, he that's licking the gravy spoon, isnine. An' a fine, noisy bunch they do be. The kettle is boilin', Theresa. "

Theresa put her little sister down, and rolling back the sleeves ofher pink waist, began to gather up the dishes. Thomas had to be madeto give up the gravy spoon, which he was apparently enjoying verymuch. 

Theresa had just poured the water over the dishes in the pan and wasfolding up the tablecloth, when the noise of some one falling upstairsstartled them. 

"That's Timmie, " declared Mrs. Harrity excitedly. "The boy's in such ahurry to tell his news he can't wait to walk. He'll be prayin' forwings. Open the door, Marty. "

Tim dashed in, so out of breath that for several seconds he couldn'ttell them the news. When he could speak, he fairly danced up and down, snapping his fingers at Sunny Boy to emphasize his words. 

"It's all right!" he gasped. "I found 'em, Ma. They want me to bringSunny Boy right down. They were just going to the police--seems theyspent an hour or two riding up an' down in the subway looking for himand asking all the guards. "

The Harritys had all gathered in a circle again. 

"Let the kid breathe, " protested Tim. "Say, Ma, I had a great timegetting 'em. I called the hotel, and the switchboard operator thoughtI was stringing her. I knew that 'Sunny Boy' was a fool name to tellanybody, but when she got fresh I made her give me the clerk. 

"'Has anybody down there lost a child?' I asks. 'There's a boy at myhouse says his name's Sunny Boy and he's lost. '"

"'Well, find out the rest of his name, ' snaps the clerk. And say, young feller, " Tim pretended to glare at Sunny Boy, "next time you getlost you want to have a name folks can get quicker than the one you'rewearing now. "

"Hurry up, " urged Theresa impatiently. "Did you find his mother?"

"I'm hurrying, " retorted Tim. "Leave a feller alone, can't you? Iheard the clerk say to some one. 'Here's a nut says he has a lostchild; you don't know anything about it, do you?'"

"I couldn't hear what the other one said, and then, all of a sudden, some one shouts. 'For the love of Pete, hold that wire! Are you dumb?The Hortons lost their kid in the subway coming down this afternoon. '"

"Then what happened?" asked Theresa. 

"Nothing much, " answered Tim, who like some other story tellers alwaysstopped short when the story got exciting. "The clerk told me to holdthe call, and I heard him ordering the girl to put me on another wire. A man answered, an' he didn't give me time to say more than 'SunnyBoy' when he sang out; 'All right, Mother, the boy's been found. ' ThenI told him where we were, and he says should he send a taxi, but Itold him the subway'd make better time. We can take an express. Andthat's about all, I guess. "

"Well you must be hurrying off, " said Mrs. Harrity. "Let me polish hisface a bit, so they won't think he's been neglected entirely, an' thenthe two of yese must be goin'. 'Tis glad I am that his mother won'thave to live through a night wondering if harm's come to him. "

Mrs. Harrity washed Sunny Boy's face and hands carefully and brushedhis hair with a brush that was probably the family hairbrush andcertainly showed signs of much use. She kissed him heartily when hewas ready, and he put his arms about her neck and hugged her. 

"Hurry up, " urged Tim, pulling him toward the door. "Cut the good-byesshort, for I can't be accused of wasting time on this trip. "

"Tim, " whispered Theresa, "Timmie, you sure you have enough?"

Tim rattled the change in his pockets by way of answer. 

"Plenty, " he said proudly. "I wasn't after giving Ma any to-night. When I come back I'll fix it up with her. We're off now--watch yourstep. "

The whole Harrity family stood at the top of the stairs and watchedthem go down. 

"Good-bye!" cried the children, losing their shyness as Sunny Boy wentfurther away. "Good-bye, Sunny Boy!"

Sunny Boy waved his hand. Tim was hurrying him down so fast that hewas in danger of tripping if he turned. At the very foot of the stairshe stopped and looked up. Mrs. Harrity was leaning over the railing. 

"A blessin' on ye, darlin', " she called. "Good-bye. "

CHAPTER XIII

HELPING THE HARRITYS

"Now you hang on to me, " commanded Tim, as he and Sunny Boy went downthe subway steps into the warm, moist air of the station. "I don't aimto lose you changing, and we have to change, 'cause this ain't anexpress station. "

Sunny Boy obediently "hung on to" Tim, keeping so close beside himthat several times it was inconvenient, as when people tried to getpast them at the door of the car. The train was crowded, and the twoboys had to stand. 

"We change here, " warned Tim, when they reached the express station. "Look sharp!"

Sunny Boy breathed a sigh of relief when they were safely on theexpress train; he didn't trust himself to change cars. 

"You look kind of beat out, " commented Tim, eyeing his chargecritically when they were near their last stop. "I s'pose you've donemore going to-day than you're used to. Never mind, we're most therenow. 

"I wonder, " Tim said, when they reached the entrance of the McAlpinHotel a few minutes later, "will I have to go in and let that bunchlook me over? I didn't bring my dress suit, and I ain't exactly crazyabout giving 'em something to stare at. "

Sunny Boy's little heart understood. Tim was ashamed of his shabbyclothes, and he knew that the bright lights would make his worn coatreveal every spot and hole. 

"Mother won't care, " Sunny assured him. "Come on, Tim, I'll show you. "

So it was Sunny Boy who pulled Tim into the foyer, and even then Timwould have backed out if, almost the instant they entered the door, some one had not come running to them. 

"Oh, my baby!" cried Sunny Boy's mother, gathering him up and hugginghim. 

Tim felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to find Sunny Boy'sfather smiling down at him. 

"You look as if you might cut and run, " said Mr. Horton cheerfully. "And you and I must have a little talk first. Olive, here's the chapwho found Sunny Boy. "

Mrs. Horton, still holding Sunny Boy in her arms, smiled with wet darkeyes at Tim. 

"She certainly was pretty, " said Tim afterward to his mother. "Tall asTheresa, and young and dressed up nice and all. But she shook handswith me just as if I was a friend of hers. I guess all mothers arenice and friendly. "

By this time a little crowd had gathered about the Hortons, for manyof the guests at the hotel had heard that Sunny Boy was lost and theywanted to tell his father and mother how glad they were that he wassafely found. Tim began to get decidedly restless. 

"I got to go, " he whispered to Mr. Horton. "Ma won't know what'skeeping me. 'Sides I have to be up at five in the morning to cover mypaper route. "

"Olive, " said Mr. Horton to his wife, "suppose you take the boy up. Iwant to have a little talk with Tim" (for Sunny of course had toldthem his name) "and we're going into the grill room where there won'tbe so many people. I guess we can have a bite to eat if we have hadsupper. "

"And we had Welsh rabbit and coffee, " Tim recounted to his admiringfamily later that night. "The grill room's just a restaurant. I'll betthat waiter didn't want me coming in there looking like a tramp, butMr. Horton never let on I looked any different from the rest of 'em. "

Sunny Boy and his mother went up in the elevator, and after they werein their room, while she undressed him, "for, " she said, "I'm so gladto have my baby back I must undress him and put him to bed just as Iused to when he was really a baby, " he told her about the Harritys andhow he had met Tim. 

"We rode up and down in the subway, hunting for you, " explained Mrs. Horton. "Daddy asked every guard, and I even asked the ticket sellersif they had seen a little boy in a blue suit. Then we thought youmight have remembered the name of the hotel, and we hurried back herein case you should manage to get here before we did. "

"Did you cry?" asked Sunny Boy, patting her cheek, as he lay in herlap. 

"Yes, I did, " admitted Mother softly. "Poor Daddy had a hard time ofit. But, darling, we won't talk of it any more--you're all right andMother is very happy. I'll lie down beside you here on the bed tillyou go to sleep. " And going to sleep did not take long. 

"Where's Tim?" asked Sunny Boy when he woke up the next morning. 

He had slept later than usual, after his exciting day, and Mother wasup and dressed and sewing fresh ruffles in her coat over by thewindow. Daddy was not in the room. 

"Good morning, precious, " Mrs. Horton greeted him. "You've had a finelong sleep. Daddy has been gone an hour--he had a telephone callbefore breakfast. "

"Did Tim stay all night? Is he here now?" asked Sunny Boy, slippingout of bed and beginning to hunt for his socks and shoes. "Do I haveto take a bath, Mother?"

"Yes indeed you do, " said Mother. "We are going down town, you and I, on a very important shopping trip, and I want you to be as clean andas fresh as a rose when we start. And if you hurry, I'll tell youabout Tim while you are eating your breakfast. "

Sunny Boy hurried, and in less than half an hour he was sitting at thetable in the big dining room eating breakfast with Mother, who hadwaited for him. 

"Tell me about Tim, " begged Sunny Boy when the waiter had brought himhis orange and asked him how he felt; the waiter knew he had beenlost. 

"Well, Daddy had a long talk with Tim last night, " said Mrs. Horton. "We wanted to reward him in some way for his kindness to you and hisgood sense in going about to find where you lived. But Tim wouldn'ttake any money. He said his mother wouldn't let him. "

"Then can't Daddy 'ward him?" asked Sunny Boy disappointedly. 

"Listen, " said Mrs. Horton. "Daddy got Tim to tell about his family. His mother is a widow with six children, and, dear, she takes inwashing. She was washing last night when you were there, clothes forher own children, after having done two big washes at other housesthat day. Theresa, who is sixteen, works in a department store, andTim sells papers before and after school, and sometimes, I am afraid, when he plays hooky. He can't leave school till he is at leastfourteen and he is only thirteen now. Of course the other children aretoo young to help. "

"Theresa can cook, " announced Sunny Boy. "She made stew. "

"Theresa does most everything, " returned his mother. "But what shewants to do is to be a dressmaker. And Daddy has prevailed on Tim tolet him send her to a trade school where she can learn to sew. Aftershe has graduated, if she wishes, she can pay him back the money. Daddy had to arrange it that way because the Harritys are proud andindependent. "

"And Tim?" urged Sunny Boy, forgetting to eat his egg. 

"Oh, Tim is to go to school, too, " said Mrs. Horton. "Daddy knows aman who has a school for boys like Tim where they can work and pay fortheir education, and if Tim can have three or four years there he willbe able to help his mother much more than if he got 'working papers'at fourteen and left school. "

"Why didn't he go there before?" demanded Sunny Boy. "If he can payfor it himself, he wouldn't be too poor, would he, Mother?"

"Well, you see, he didn't know about this school, " said Mrs. Horton. "And then you must remember that he has been helping his mother. Eventhe little he earned was sorely needed by Mrs. Harrity. So Daddy hadto plan for her, too. "

"So she won't have to wash?" suggested Sunny Boy eagerly. 

"So she won't have to wash, " assented Mrs. Horton. "She is to have anapartment rent-free in exchange for janitor work. A man does theheavier work and has four or five apartment houses to take care of, but they want some one to clean the halls, and so on. Tim said it waswhat his mother often planned. And then she wants to take in a boarderor two. I told Daddy I didn't see that she was having it any easier, but at least she will have a warm, comfortable home this winter. AndDaddy is going to keep an eye on them this winter through New Yorkfriends. She must be willing to let us help her till her children areold enough. "

Sunny Boy finished his breakfast rather soberly. He was learning thatall little boys didn't have the many nice things he had. Marty andThomas, for instance, had they had the kind of breakfast he had justhad?

"And we're going shopping, " Mother reminded him, as she led the wayout of the dining room. Perhaps she guessed what he was thinking. "Yousee, Daddy did all this for you and for me, but we want to give theHarritys something, don't we?"

"Oh, yes!" Sunny Boy was all smiles. "Let's, Mother! But what shall webuy?"

"I thought I'd send something nice to Mrs. Harrity and Theresa, andyou would choose something for each of the children, " explained Mrs. Horton. "We'll go right out now and see what we can find. "

When they reached the corner Mrs. Horton was confused for a moment. She couldn't remember whether to turn up or down to get to theparticular shop she wanted. 

"I'll find out, " said Sunny Boy. 

Before she could stop him, he had dashed out into the middle of thestreet and was speaking to the tall policeman who directed trafficfrom the center of the street. He was so tall that he had to bend downto hear what Sunny Boy was saying. 

Mrs. Horton, on the curb, saw him laugh, then point up the street and, as Sunny Boy started back to her, the policeman blew his whistle andstopped the traffic till Sunny Boy was safely across. 

"What made you do that?" demanded Mrs. Horton. "It's never safe to runout into the street like that. I didn't know you were even going. "

"Daddy and I know that p'liceman, " said Sunny Boy calmly. "He s'lutesus--sometimes. I asked him which way to go, and he showed me. That'swhy they stand in the middle of the street, Mother; to show peoplewhere to go. "

"What did you say that made him laugh?" Mrs. Horton asked, as she andSunny Boy started to walk in the direction the policeman had pointed. "You were so little, Sunny, and he was so tall, I don't see how youever heard each other. "

Sunny Boy was puzzled for a minute. 

"Did he laugh?" he said. "Oh, yes, I 'member. I asked him please notto step on me. His feet are pretty big when you're close to him. "

"And here is the store, " smiled Mrs. Horton. "Your policeman knewwhere we wanted to go, didn't he? Begin now and think what you wouldwant most if you were Tim Harrity. "

CHAPTER XIV

JOE BROWN GOES BACK

Sunny Boy thought about what Tim would like all the while Mrs. Hortonwas buying things for Mrs. Harrity. He wondered, too, why she boughtsuch queer articles--sheets and towels and pillow cases. 

"Because, precious, " she explained when he asked her, "I know Mrs. Harrity will want to have things clean and comfortable in the newhome. And she can not have two or three boarders unless she has bedand table linen. You're not a housekeeper, but she and I understand. And for her very own present, something just for her own use, I'mgoing to send her this pretty gray bathrobe and slippers. "

"And Theresa?" said Sunny Boy, forgetting Tim for the moment. 

"Theresa shall have regular shoes and stockings and also a pair ofsilk stockings and slippers to match, " announced Mrs. Horton. "I knowwhat it is to be poor and young and pretty and not have the rightthings to wear to a party. She can bring the slippers back if they'renot the right size. "

"How can she go to parties if they're poor?" questioned Sunny Boycuriously. 

"Oh, poor people often have the best parties, " said his mother. "Theyalways manage to have a good time. And Theresa is going to school, youknow, and there will be little affairs now and then to which she'llwant to go. Anyway, Son, girls like to have pretty clothes if only tolook at. "

Sunny Boy didn't know much about girls' clothes, but he liked hismother's pretty dresses. He thought it was nice if Theresa could havesome, too. 

"I've thought ever so hard, " he complained, "but I can't think of athing to send Tim. "

"Let me put on my thinking cap, " mused Mrs. Horton. "Tim is thirteen, isn't he? Daddy will see that he has a new suit for school, butwouldn't you like to send him hockey skates? Boys with fathers andmothers and good homes have those things, but I'm sure Tim hasn't; hehasn't even had time to play very much. We'll get him skates, and thenhe can try for the hockey team at school. "

Sunny Boy thought this a fine selection, and he and Mother wentupstairs and chose a pair of skates. 

"Now there's only Marty and Thomas and Rose and Jim, " declared SunnyBoy, when the skates had been ordered and paid for. 

Mrs. Horton laughed. 

"I should say that was a great many, " she said. "I don't see how youremember their names. Well, now let's see--Rose must have a new dolland a couple of pretty dresses I think; and for the boys suppose wesay good warm school gloves and sweaters and a game apiece, so theywon't think you and I choose too useful gifts?"

The gloves and sweaters were bought, and then Sunny Boy picked outthree games he thought the boys would like and helped Mother decideabout a doll for Rose and a pink dress and a blue one. Then they werethrough for the morning. 

"We'll go back to the hotel for lunch, " decided Mrs. Horton. "Daddymay come in. And I must write a note to Harriet this afternoon. "

Mr. Horton was waiting for them, and he had great news. 

"How would you like to go home day after to-morrow?" he asked. 

"Home?" repeated Mrs. Horton. "Why, Harry!"

"Haven't you seen enough of New York?" Mr. Horton asked Sunny Boy, tilting up his chin. 

"We-ll, " hesitated Sunny, "I guess so. But I did want to see thestuffed birds. "

"Stuffed birds?" echoed his father. 

"I promised to take him over to the Museum of Natural History, " Mrs. Horton explained. "But of course, Daddy, if you are ready to go, weare. "

"Well, I'm through a week earlier than I expected, " said Mr. Horton. "And if you can be ready by Friday, there's no reason why we shouldstay longer. "

"I'm anxious to get Sunny Boy started in school, " answered Mrs. Hortonthoughtfully. "We'll wire Bessie to have Harriet open the house, and Ihave very little packing to do. Yes, we'll be ready easily by Friday. "

Mr. Horton was consulting a time table. 

"I'd like to go down to the station this afternoon, " he said, "andsee about reservations. The hotel will do it, of course, but I like toattend to such matters myself. Suppose you and Sunny Boy go with meand then go on to the Museum. "

So after lunch Sunny Boy and his mother went over to the bigPennsylvania Station with Daddy and waited for him to get theirtickets for Centronia. 

"It's the biggest place, " observed Sunny Boy. "And such lots and lotsof people!"

"I dare say we could stand here all day, or a week for that matter, and never see a soul we knew, " returned Mrs. Horton. 

"Why Mother!" Sunny Boy almost shouted in his excitement, "there'ssomebody we know this minute--over there by that window. It's JoeBrown!"

"We'll go over and speak to him, " said Mrs. Horton. 

As they came up to the window they heard the ticket agent speaking tothe boy. 

"Seven sixty-five, one way to Centronia, " said the agent. 

"But I don't want a parlor car seat or nothing, " protested Joe Brown. 

"That doesn't count in a Pullman, " retorted the agent. "Sevensixty-five one way, I tell you. "

Joe Brown shuffled his shabby feet uneasily. 

"How--how--how little do you have to be to get half-fare?" he blurted. 

"A sight smaller than you are, " snapped the agent. "Do you want aticket or not?"

Joe Brown looked at the crumpled wad of dirty bills and loose changein his hand. 

"I guess I won't take it just now, " he mumbled, and turned away. 

"Hello, Joe!" Sunny Boy pounced upon him gleefully, having waited tillthis minute only because his mother had held him back. "How are you?"

"Pretty well, thank you, " answered Joe politely, flushing a little. 

"Joe, do you want to go home?" asked Mrs. Horton gravely. "I overheardyou talking with the ticket agent. Haven't you enough money?"

Joe Brown looked at her quickly, then away again. 

"I would kinda like to go home, " he admitted. 

"Oh, Joe!" Mrs. Horton cried half impatiently, half laughing. "Comeover here and sit down a minute. Now tell me truly. Did you run away, and do you want to go back?"

Joe sat down on one side of her, and Sunny Boy scrambled into the seaton the other side. He leaned over her shoulder to listen. 

"Well, yes, I did run away, " confessed Joe humbly. "That is, I meantto go see my Aunt Annabell, and write the folks from her house. Butshe had moved, honest she had; I couldn't locate her nowhere. And thenI thought I'd get me a job and wear new clothes home. But New Yorkisn't such an easy place to get along in. These don't look much likenew clothes. "

Mrs. Horton glanced at the shabby suit. 

"But your mother, Joe?" she urged. "Haven't you written to her?"

"I sent her postals telling her not to worry, " answered Joe. 

"And now you want to go home?" asked Mrs. Horton. 

Sunny Boy, watching the careless, slouching Joe, was surprised to seegreat tears come into his eyes suddenly. He tried to wipe them awaywith his coat sleeve. 

"I want to go home!" he choked. "It's been an awful long time, and I'mso lonesome--and there's my mother!"

Sunny Boy's mother tucked a clean little white handkerchief into Joe'shand. 

"Don't cry, " she said kindly. "We'll see that you get home. Here comesMr. Horton. He'll make it all right. "

When Mr. Horton heard that Joe wanted to go home, he said it was the"easiest thing in the world. "

"I'll get your ticket and see you on the train, " he promised. "There'sa local leaving in half an hour. You'll be in Centronia by eighto'clock to-night. "

"But I haven't enough money, " faltered Joe. 

"I'll lend it to you, " said Mr. Horton, just as he would speak to abusiness friend. "Then next week you come down to the office and we'lltalk things over. How will that do?"

Joe said he guessed it was all right, and while he and Mr. Horton wentoff to buy the ticket, Mrs. Horton and Sunny Boy bought a bag of fruitand sandwiches for Joe to have on the train. 

"He looks half starved, " commented Mrs. Horton. "Won't his motherenjoy getting him a good meal!"

"When you going home?" Joe Brown asked, as they walked with him to thetrain gate. "Wish it was now. "

"We're coming to-morrow, " said Mrs. Horton, "Say good-bye to Joe, precious. He'll be home before you are. "

Joe shook hands awkwardly with Sunny Boy and then with Mr. And Mrs. Horton. 

"I sure am obliged to you, " he said shyly. 

They watched him pass through the gate and down the platform, and sawa brakeman point to the train he was to board. At the steps Joe turnedagain, and waved to them. 

"I'm glad he's out of New York, " declared Mr. Horton. "This city is noplace for a friendless boy. And now you and Sunny Boy go on up to theMuseum, and I'll see you at dinner. "

Sunny Boy enjoyed another ride on top of his beloved bus, and then heand Mother spent a couple of busy and happy hours looking at thewonderful exhibits in the Museum of Natural History. 

"Jack said to see the birds, " Sunny insisted, for Jack, the bell-boyat the hotel, had his own ideas as to what was worth seeing in NewYork. 

After the birds came the Eskimo cases, and after them, those givenover to the American Indians. And then, quite by accident, Sunny Boyand his mother came to the exhibits of the marvelous giganticcreatures that were the animals of this world centuries ago. 

"My goodness!" gasped Sunny Boy, startled, when he caught his firstglimpse of a creature labeled with a long name that he couldn't hopeto read. "What's that, Mother?"

"That's the way the animals used to look, " said Mrs. Horton smiling. "You'd be surprised, wouldn't you, if when you went to take a walksome morning you saw this great thing coming over the field towardyou?"

"I wouldn't want to see him, " said Sunny Boy decidedly. "Are theremore of 'em? Hurry up, Mother, and let's see this one in the corner. "

"Now don't dream about any of them, " said Mrs. Horton jokingly, asthey went down the Museum steps. 

"Course not, " answered Sunny Boy stoutly. "I never dream--hardly any, I mean. And we're going home to-morrow, aren't we?"

CHAPTER XV

HOME AGAIN

The next morning Mrs. Horton did their packing and the trunk was sentearly to the station. Sunny Boy was just as excited at the prospect ofgoing home as he had been at the idea of the trip to New York. 

"But what will you do all the time at home?" teased Jack the bell-boy, when Sunny Boy went to say good-bye to him. 

"Oh, I'm going to school, " announced Sunny Boy proudly. "All thechildren that I know go. Harriet's going to take me till I get used toit, and then Mother says p'haps I can go by myself. "

"Would you like to live here?" Sunny Boy asked Mother, when they hadfound their comfortable seats in the train and it was almost time forit to start. 

"Live in New York?" echoed Mrs. Horton thoughtfully. "No, I think not, precious. Though we have had a good time, haven't we?"

Sunny Boy nodded his head. 

"I wouldn't like to live here all the time, either, " he confided. "I'drather live in our house. "

The train ride was uneventful, and as they had taken an express, theywere in Centronia by early afternoon. Aunt Bessie met them at thestation. 

"Well, well, honey-bunch, " she greeted her nephew, hugging him, "Isurely have missed you. What do you think of New York?"

"All right, " said Sunny Boy, wriggling out of her arms. "Did thechildren get the post cards I sent them?"

"I think they did, " admitted Aunt Bessie gravely. "Ruth Baker talks agreat deal about her post-card album, I know. What is this I hearabout you going to school?"

Aunt Bessie and Sunny Boy were seated in the tonneau of Mr. Horton'scar which Aunt Bessie had driven down to meet him. Mrs. Horton wassitting in the front seat with Mr. Horton who was driving. 

"I'm going to school!" beamed Sunny Boy. "Did Mother tell you? Andthen I can write in ink. "

"That will be fine, " said Aunt Bessie. "Here's the house, though, andthere's Harriet standing on the step. "

"Harriet! Harriet! I've come home, " yelled Sunny Boy. "And I broughtyou something! Mother has it in the trunk!"

Harriet came down as the car drew up at the curb and tried to shakehands with Mrs. Horton, carry a suitcase for Mr. Horton and hug SunnyBoy all at once. 

"Did you miss me?" demanded Sunny Boy, following her upstairs. 

"Miss you? Well, I should say so!" declared Harriet, kissing himagain. "Haven't I been up and dusted all your toys every time I cameover to see that the house was all right? You'll find them all sittingup there in the playroom waiting for you. "

Sunny Boy was very glad to be at home, and after he had inspected histoys he went out into the back yard and whistled for Ruth and Nelson. Ruth was not at home, but Nelson answered and had a hundred questionsto ask about New York. 

"Say, you remember the boy that took your new hat?" he suddenlyreminded Sunny Boy. "Well, I know him. He lives back over in Oak Lane, near where Molly lives. "

Molly was the colored woman who did Mrs. Baker's washing. 

"Let's go over and get it from him, " suggested Nelson. "He won't daresay a word. I'll tell Molly if he does and she'll tell his mother. "

Sunny Boy thought it would be nice to have the hat back, so he said hewould go with Nelson. After a short walk the boys reached the sectionwhere the colored people lived and turned down a street where Nelsonsaid he had seen the colored boy who had taken Sunny's hat. 

"There he is now!" shouted Nelson, pointing to a boy sitting on thecurbstone. 

The boy heard him, looked up and started to run. Sunny Boy and Nelsonran pell-mell after him. As the colored boy dodged round a truck inthe street the hat fell off. 

"Told you we'd get it!" boasted Nelson, picking it up and holding ittriumphantly out to Sunny Boy. "That's the very one, isn't it?"

They carried it home, and Sunny Boy went to find Harriet. 

"Got my hat, Harriet, " he announced soberly. "Nelson helped me chasethe boy that stole it. It fell off. "

"Well, you don't seem very joyful over it, " commented Harriet. "Whereis it?"

Sunny Boy held out the hat silently. 

It was spotted, and the brim was crushed, the ribbon band was slashedin several places, and the crown was hopelessly faded from the sun. 

"He had it on, " explained Sunny Boy. "Somehow, I don't feel much likewearing it any more. "

Harriet pulled Sunny Boy down into her lap. 

"For a lost hat, I'd consider that one still lost, " she told him, laughing. "That boy must have been wearing it rather steady. Don't youcare, Sunny, it isn't as if you needed it. "

"No, 'tisn't as if I needed it, " agreed Sunny Boy, picking up thedilapidated hat and going off to show it to his mother. "I have mynew one. Only it's not new any more. But it looks better than thisone, I think, a whole lot. "

So, like the cat, his hat came back. And now if you want to read whathappened to Sunny Boy next and what a busy time the next few weekswere for him, you will have to read the book about him called "SUNNYBOY IN SCHOOL AND OUT. "

THE END

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THE SUNNY BOY SERIES

By Ramy Allison White

[Illustration: SUNNY BOY ON THE OCEANRAMY ALLISON WHITE]

Children, meet Sunny Boy, a little fellow with big eyes and aninquiring disposition, who finds the world a large and wonderful thingindeed. And somehow there is lots going on, when Sunny Boy is around. Perhaps he helps push! In the first book of this new series he has thefinest time ever, with his Grandpa out in the country. He learns a lotand he helps a lot, in his small way. Then he has a glorious visit tothe seashore, but this is in the next story. And there are still moreadventures in other books. You will like Sunny Boy. 

1. SUNNY BOY IN THE COUNTRY2. SUNNY BOY AT THE SEASHORE3. SUNNY BOY IN THE BIG CITY4. SUNNY BOY IN SCHOOL AND OUT5. SUNNY BOY AND HIS PLAYMATES6. SUNNY BOY AND HIS GAMES7. SUNNY BOY IN THE FAR WEST8. SUNNY BOY ON THE OCEAN9. SUNNY BOY WITH THE CIRCUS10. SUNNY BOY AND HIS BIG DOG

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GOOD STORIES FOR CHILDREN

(From four to nine years old)

THE KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES

By RICHARD BARNUM

[Illustration: SQUINTY THE COMICAL PIG]

In all nursery literature animals have played a conspicuous part; andthe reason is obvious, for nothing entertains a child more than theantics of an animal. These stories abound in amusing incidents such aschildren adore, and the characters are so full of life, so appealingto a child's imagination, that none will be satisfied until they havemet all of their favorites--Squinty, Slicko, Mappo, and the rest. 

1. Squinty, the Comical Pig. 2. Slicko, the Jumping Squirrel. 3. Mappo, the Merry Monkey. 4. Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant. 5. Don, a Runaway Dog. 6. Dido, the Dancing Bear. 7. Blackie, a Lost Cat. 8. Flop Ear, the Funny Rabbit. 9. Tinkle, the Trick Pony. 10. Lightfoot, the Leaping Goat. 11. Chunky, the Happy Hippo. 12. Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox. 13. Nero, the Circus Lion. 14. Tamba, the Tame Tiger. 15. Toto, the Rustling Beaver. 16. Shaggo, the Mighty Buffalo. 17. Winkie, the Wily Woodchuck. 

_Cloth, Large 12mo. , Illustrated. _

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THE BOBBY BLAKE SERIES

BY FRANK A. WARNER

BOOKS FOR BOYS FROM EIGHT TO TWELVEYEARS OLD

[Illustration: BOBBY BLAKE _AT_ ROCKLEDGE SCHOOLFRANK A. WARNER]

True stories of life at a modern American boarding school. Bobbyattends this institution of learning with his particular chum and theboys have no end of good times. The tales of outdoor life, especiallythe exciting times they have when engaged in sports against rivalschools, are written in a manner so true, so realistic, that thereader, too, is bound to share with these boys their thrills andpleasures. 

1. BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL. 2. BOBBY BLAKE AT BASS COVE. 3. BOBBY BLAKE ON A CRUISE. 4. BOBBY BLAKE AND HIS SCHOOL CHUMS. 5. BOBBY BLAKE AT SNOWTOP CAMP. 6. BOBBY BLAKE ON THE SCHOOL NINE. 7. BOBBY BLAKE ON A RANCH. 8. BOBBY BLAKE ON AN AUTO TOUR. 9. BOBBY BLAKE ON THE SCHOOL ELEVEN. 10. BOBBY BLAKE ON A PLANTATION. 11. BOBBY BLAKE IN THE FROZEN NORTH. 12. BOBBY BLAKE ON MYSTERY MOUNTAIN. 

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Famous Americans ForYoung Readers

"Life Stories with the Charm of Fiction"

 "This new series is timely. As an urgent civic need, our schools should be vivified more by the spirit of the founders and builders of the Republic. "

WALTER E. RANGER, Commissioner of Education, Rhode Island. 

 "I regard the series one of rare usefulness for young readers, and trust it will become a formidable rival for much of the fiction now in circulation among the young. "

JOHNSON BRIGHAM, State Librarian, Iowa. 

Titles Ready

"GEORGE WASHINGTON" Joseph Walker"JOHN PAUL JONES" Chelsea C. Fraser"BENJAMIN FRANKLIN" Clara Tree Major"DAVID CROCKETT" Jane Corby"THOMAS JEFFERSON" Gene Stone"ABRAHAM LINCOLN" J. Walker McSpadden"ROBERT FULTON" Inez N. McFee"THOMAS A. EDISON" Inez N. McFee"HARRIET BEECHER STOWE" Ruth Brown MacArthur"MARY LYON" H. Oxley Stengel"THEODORE ROOSEVELT" J. Walker McSpadden

Illustrated. Size 5-1/8 x 7-5/8. Cloth. 

OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION

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BARSE & HOPKINS

Publishers

New York, N. Y. Newark, N. J. 

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