The Odyssey of Ben O'Neal Read Free

were on the verge of knocking. So I replied, "I'd like to get to Sailor's Bethany. It's somewhere here. Maybe down on the waterfro-
ont
." Of all miserable luck, my voice squeaked again.
    The boy stood there lordly and cocked his head over. "Tar Heel, you been to sea so many times you ought to find it easy." The green eyes prodded.
    Plainly, I had two choices. Tell him the gospel truth or wander around stupidly asking other people. Again looking at him straight, I admitted, "First time on a train; first time to sea, if I can get there." I felt vast relief.
    The boy grinned and pushed back his Atlantic News Company hat. "First time away from home, too, I figure. Name's Michael Grant." He shoved his hand out.
    He was friendly, after all, I thought, quite surprised. "Mine's Ben O'Neal. I'm from down Hatteras way." His thin hand was firm and just as friendly. I had misjudged the Yankee boy.
    "Wherever you're from, you don't want to stay at Sailors Bethany. Despite all the soul-savin', too many drunks there every night. Tomorrow morning you won't have that seabag, either. Maybe not your shoes."
    "My older brother stayed there."
    "How old's he?"
    "Twenty-four."
    "How old are you?"
    There was no sense in carrying on the lie at this point. "Thirteen."
    "Ben, you got a lot to learn about cities. Those men might not tamper with your big brother, but they'll backhand you quicker'n look at you. I should know. I've rescued a dozen like you. I been drummin' two years."
    "Drummin'?"
    "Sellin' on these trains. I been to Norfolk a hundred times."
    I could not hide my curiosity. "How old are you, Mike?"
    "Sixteen come May."
    Yet he seemed much older, now that we were talking about something other than overpriced apples. "All right, where should I go?"
    "Come to a safe place. My boardinghouse. Mrs. Crowe's. I sleep there overnight, and keep my street clothes in a closet when I don't."
    "How much does she charge?"
    "Sixty-five cents a night, including breakfast and supper."
    "I can't afford that," I protested. Me and Mama had lived on five dollars a month in the house near Heron Head. My fund, which was already damaged by the railway fare, would be gone in three weeks at those outrageous prices.
    "There're lice-ridden places here you can get a bed for fifteen cents, but watch they don't slit your throat during the night. Besides, you got to buy all your meals extra."
    All this talk about getting backhanded and slit-throated was unnerving. "I guess I better go with you."
    We walked out to East Main Street and headed for midtown. Buildings were jawbone to jawbone, some five stories high. Trolley tracks were in the middle of the street. Horse wagons jangled by. People moved along the sidewalk like schooled fish.
    Mike wagged his head to one side. "Chinese places."
    HOP SING & COMPANY SHING HONG YICK SAM I had never seen a Chinese, dead or alive, and looked into the window of Hop
Sing,
smelling herbs, making up my mind to come back and walk this street slowly.
    "This is purely the biggest street I ever saw," I confessed, craning my head, almost stumbling several times. The signs alone were enough to stop a person: MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE OF NEW YORK WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY POCOMOKE GUANO COMPANY COLUMBIA TYPEWRITER COMPANY FEREBEE, JONES & COMPANY, AGENTS FOR KNOX HATS.
    To think all these things were going on less than two hundred miles from Chicky Dock.
    NORFOLK CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC NORFOLK SHAVING PARLOR HEPTASOPHIAN HALL, whatever that was.
    "Has to be the biggest street in the world," I said.
    Mike shook his head. "Only seventy-one miles of streets in this town. Some made of Belgian blocks, some cobblestone, some brick. Some just ground oyster shells. Wait'll you see Philadelphia and New York. This is a hick town."
    Hick town? He should visit Whalebone, North Carolina.
    A trolley came ringing by, spraying sparks, and I almost fell into the gutter, trying to walk backward and watch it.
    Mike smiled. "Stay around here long enough and you'll