A newsboy can generally earn enough money
to maintain himself in the style to which he
is accustomed, but I have had a comfortable
and even luxurious home, and could hardly
bring myself to live in a tenement house, or
a very cheap boarding place. Yet I would
rather do either than stay in a home made
unpleasant by the persistent hostility of one
member.
"I will not take up your time by relating
the incidents of the first two days after I left
home. I came near getting into serious trouble
through no fault of my own, but happily
escaped. When I was nearly penniless I fell
in with a prosperous manufacturer of furniture
who has taken me into his employment.
He gives me a home in his own house, and pays
me two dollars a week besides. This is enough
to support me economically, and I shall after
a while receive better pay.
"I am not in the office, but in the factory,
and am learning the business practically, starting
in at the bottom. I think I have a taste for
it, and the superintendent tells me I am making
remarkable progress. The time was when
I would have hesitated to become a working
boy, but I have quite got over such foolishness.
Mr. Jennings, my employer, who is considered
a rich man, began as I did, and I hope some
day to occupy a position similar to his.
"I trust you are quite well and happy, dear
father. My only regret is, that I cannot see
you occasionally. While my stepmother and
Peter form part of your family, I feel that I
can never live at home.
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