North-bound cars were packed, and the sidewalks were lined with pedestrians hurrying homeward from their places of business. The cool air fanned Frank’s glowing face and filled his lungs in a grateful way.
This was New York, and to himself Merry confessed that it was the place of places. He had traveled much, had visited hundreds of cities in both hemispheres, had been pleased and fascinated by many other places, but there was something about this great city that attracted him more than any and all others combined. It was a city of rush and roar, of toil and tumult, of poverty and wealth, of squallor and extravagance; it was not a place of peace and gentle pleasures, such as old men enjoy; but in every way it was such a city as fascinated the strong and determined youth who was confident of his prowess and not afraid to meet a hundred rivals all striving for the very goal he sought and desired.
Frank knew this great city had swamped and overwhelmed thousands of ambitious lads who came rushing to it fresh from the country, spurred by ambition and lured by visions of triumphs and glories. He knew there was that in New York which must tempt the weak and wavering, and lead them to disappointment and failure. But he also knew that the steadfast and bold, who possessed ability above the average of their fellow men, could here find opportunities rarely met with elsewhere. If they grasped the opportunity at the right moment, held fast without faltering or doubting themselves for a moment, the reward they longed for must be theirs in the end.
Frank thought of the time soon coming when he would have to face the world and make his way in some business or profession, for, even though his father was a rich man, he was not the kind of youth to be content to live on inherited wealth and be a nobody in the great workaday world.
Thinking thus, the trip up Broadway seemed short indeed. Twenty-third Street was congested where Fifth Avenue and Broadway cross, but the hansom-driver plunged into the mass without hesitation. As a rule, hansom-drivers are most skilled in working their ways through such jams, and there might have been no trouble in this instance but that the horse of another cab, passing in the opposite direction, suddenly bolted, and there was a collision.