ave me warning, but actually made the arrest
himself. Caruth, our detective, was hurt, and the forger would have
escaped but for this boy here," and he, wrung Fred's hand as he spoke.

"That's so," remarked a broker, shaking Fred's hand. "I saw the whole
business myself, but didn't know what it meant. Shake, my dear boy," and
he gave him a hearty handshake. A half dozen others followed, and one
said:

"Here, let's set him up. We want to encourage boys like him," and he
drew a ten-dollar bill from the inside pocket of his vest and laid it on
the desk. "Cover that with as much as you please, gentlemen."

Seven other laid down similar amounts, and Barton remarked;

"Whatever you give, gentlemen, I'll double it."

"Very good," said another, putting down a ten. "We'll all chip in."

The sum of $130 was laid on the desk while Fred stood there looking on,
with his heart way up in his throat.

"Now, Fred Halsey," the banker said to the newsboy. "I am going to
double this sum, giving you two hundred and sixty dollars. What are you
going to do with so much money?"

"Set up a bank of my own," was the prompt reply at which the banker and
the brokers broke into a roar of laughter.

"Gimme ten dollars," Fred said, "and keep the rest in the bank for me."

"Very well; here's the ten," and Fred took the bill and went out on the
street, feeling richer than ever before in his life.

CHAPTER II.--Halsey & Company.

Fred Halsey was a sturdy youth of sixteen whose father had died when he
was but ten years old. He was a manly little fellow who knew how to take
care of himself in his career of newsboy. He had laughing blue eyes and
a handsome face, while his mouth showed that he possessed a dauntless
spirit. His mother died long before his father did, and he and his
little sister lived with an aunt--his mother's sister--who was a
childless widow. She was a mother to him and Adah, who was two years
younger than Fred, a pretty blue-eyed little miss with golden hair and
pearly teeth.

She did washing, and Fred sold papers, while Adah was a cash girl in one
of the big stores on Grand street. Even then it was but a poor living
for them in the great city, where grasping landlords demanded rent money
with the regularity of the almanac. When Fred Halsey went out of the
bank with ten dollars in his pocket and $250 more in the bank behind
him, he had a feeling in his heart he never had there before. The whole
world seemed opened to him.