Presently the office boy returned, and said:
He walked into a large room and was directed to a smaller room, which was partitioned off in the extreme corner. A tall, thin man rose to greet him, and nodding in a friendly way, pointed to a chair:
“I am sorry,” said this gentleman, “that Mr. Blakeley, the city editor of the Argus, is not here to-day. This is his day off. However he spoke to me about you and I am very glad to meet you; but it is not possible for me to serve you in any way to-day. It will be necessary for you to see him in person before you can go to work.”
Herbert thanked him for his courtesy and the pleasant manner in which he had been greeted and promised to return again the next day. In the few minutes he was in the office he noticed that the room was gradually beginning to assume an air of activity. Men were coming in constantly and seating themselves in front of desks in the large apartment, which because of the ink and paper and pencils and furniture looked very much like a large edition of the old schoolroom in Cleverly.
Herbert was quite disappointed at not seeing Mr. Blakeley on his first visit, but resolved to utilize the remainder of the day by sight-seeing. He visited many of the places of interest in New York, including the Aquarium, the tomb of General Grant at Riverside Park, and the Metropolitan Museum in Central Park. All of these things were deeply interesting, and in a larger sense highly educational. On his way home he purchased copies of all the afternoon papers, and after dinner that evening spent several hours in going over them very carefully with a view of becoming familiar with the style of reporting that prevailed on the popular newspapers in New York City. In spite of the fact that he had put in a very busy day he went to bed with a feeling of regret over the apparent loss of two whole days.
At noon the following day he was again at the Argus office, and this time was successful in meeting Mr. Blakeley. The city editor was a short, stockily built man, wearing eyeglasses and possessed of a quick, nervous manner. He looked Herbert over from head to foot as soon as he entered and gazed at him very earnestly during all the course of their brief conversation.