So he carefully observed all that was going on, making mental notes of the peculiarities of the place and the people.  When at last the dark man came up and inquired if he wouldn’t like a chance to earn some money easily, he very readily answered yes, and the man was overjoyed to find so willing a victim.  Then, of course, Archie was introduced to the mysteries of the famous roulette wheel, of which he had read so much.  Archie was interested in everything, and didn’t mind losing four dollars in learning so much that was new.  He succeeded in getting away when he had lost this sum, though the man assured him that he couldn’t help winning back all he had lost, and much more, too, if he would but remain awhile longer.  Archie was firm, however, and passed out into the narrow alleyways again, feeling that he had learned a great deal through a very small expenditure of money.  He gradually found his way back into the crowded Surf Avenue, where there were hundreds of things, evidently, which he had not yet seen.  The crowds, too, seemed greater even than before, and there seemed to be thousands of people arriving every hour from New York and Brooklyn, over the various street-car and railway lines, and by the excursion boats landing at the great iron pier.  The noise was still deafening, and every one seemed to be having a splendid time in every way.  “Surely,” said Archie to himself, “no one can feel blue or despondent in such a place as this, where every one is full of fun, and apparently determined to have a good time while here.”  And he felt that he would like to remain longer, but he knew he should go back again to the city, so that he might see the editor, and tell him something about what he had seen and done.

So again he rode over the great Brooklyn bridge, and stopped on the other side at the handsome building of the Enterprise.  It made Archie very happy to feel that he was now a reporter on such a great paper, and he found it hard to realise that so much good fortune had come to him in such a short time.  He met reporters in the various hallways, and all of them spoke to him pleasantly, so that he began to feel that he had never been thrown with such pleasant men before.

He had no difficulty in seeing the editor this time, and found him a ready listener to the story of his Coney Island experiences.  He insisted on Archie’s describing all the men he had seen in the gambling den, and then asked him if he could identify them, if necessary, and also if he would be able to find the place again.  Archie gave good descriptions of most of the men, and said that he could take any one to the place at any time.  The editor lost himself in thought for a few minutes, and at the end of that time he rang for a copy-boy.  “Ring for a messenger boy,” he said, “and when he arrives come for a note which I want him to take to Mr. Pultzer’s house.”  Archie stared with amazement at Mr. Jennings, and waited for further information.  He wondered what was going to be