"Alger Jr, Horatio - Ragged Dick" - читать интересную книгу автора (Alger Horatio Jr)

I hope my young readers will like him as I do, without being
blind to his faults. Perhaps, although he was only a boot-black,
they may find something in him to imitate.

And now, having fairly introduced Ragged Dick to my young
readers, I must refer them to the next chapter for his
further adventures.



CHAPTER II


JOHNNY NOLAN


After Dick had finished polishing Mr. Greyson's boots he was
fortunate enough to secure three other customers, two of them
reporters in the Tribune establishment, which occupies the
corner of Spruce Street and Printing House Square.

When Dick had got through with his last customer the City
Hall clock indicated eight o'clock. He had been up an hour,
and hard at work, and naturally began to think of breakfast.
He went up to the head of Spruce Street, and turned into Nassau.
Two blocks further, and he reached Ann Street. On this street
was a small, cheap restaurant, where for five cents Dick could
get a cup of coffee, and for ten cents more, a plate of
beefsteak with a plate of bread thrown in. These Dick ordered,
and sat down at a table.

It was a small apartment with a few plain tables unprovided
with cloths, for the class of customers who patronized it
were not very particular. Our hero's breakfast was soon
before him. Neither the coffee nor the steak were as good as
can be bought at Delmonico's; but then it is very doubtful
whether, in the present state of his wardrobe, Dick would
have been received at that aristocratic restaurant, even if
his means had admitted of paying the high prices there charged.

Dick had scarcely been served when he espied a boy about his
own size standing at the door, looking wistfully into the
restaurant. This was Johnny Nolan, a boy of fourteen, who was
engaged in the same profession as Ragged Dick. His wardrobe
was in very much the same condition as Dick's.

"Had your breakfast, Johnny?" inquired Dick, cutting off a
piece of steak.

"No."