it came along, making the station and track rock and sway with the
vibration.

"Come on," cried De Royster.

"Where are you going?" asked Roy, hanging back.

"On the elevated train, of course."

"It isn't safe!" exclaimed the boy from the ranch. "It is shaking now.
It'll topple down! It needs bracing! Do you mean to tell me they run
trains up in the air, on a track, and they don't fall off?"

"Of course. Come on. It's safe, even if it does shake a bit. It
always does. There's no danger of it falling off. Next time we'll
take the subway."

"All aboard! Step lively!" cried the guard at the gate, and Roy, with
some misgivings, followed his friend.

The ride, on a level with the second-story windows of the buildings,
was a great novelty to the boy from the ranch and he soon got over his
feeling of nervousness in looking out at the strange sights on every
hand.

"Here we are!" exclaimed De Royster at length. "I'll take you to the
hotel."

They got out, walked down a flight of steps, and soon were in front of
a good, though not showy hotel. In spite of the fact that it was not
one of the most fashionable in New York, the magnificence of the
entrance, with its rich hangings, the marble ornamentation, the
electric lights and the stained glass, made Roy wonder if his friend
had not made some mistake. It seemed more like the home of some
millionaire, than a public hotel.

"Go ahead; I'll be right with you," called De Royster, as he showed Roy
into the lobby. "I want to speak to a gentleman a moment."

Somewhat bewildered, Roy advanced into the middle of the lobby, with
its marble floor. Though he was not aware of it, he made rather a
queer figure, with his clothes of unstylish cut, his travel-stained
appearance, the mud on his hands and garments, and his general air of
being a stranger, totally unused to New York ways.

"Well, what do you want?" suddenly exclaimed the voice of a boy in a
uniform that seemed to consist of nothing but brass buttons. "We don't
allow peddlers in here!"

CHAPTER XIII

A VISIT TO MR. ANNISTER

Roy turned and looked at the boy who had made the somewhat insulting
remark.

"I beg your pardon, stranger," he replied in his western drawl. "I
didn't quite catch your remark."

"Aw, come off!" slangily replied the brass-buttoned boy, one of many in
the hotel employed to show guests to their rooms whenever summoned by a
bell rung by the clerk. "What are you, anyhow