"Oh!" cried Sunny Boy, "where are we going, Mother? Are we in a cellar?"
"We are going down under the Hudson River into New York," explained Mrs. Horton. "That will save us the trouble of going over on a ferryboat."
Sunny Boy was very much interested in the ride under the river and asked many questions.
"I should think the river would leak in on us," he remarked. "And we haven"t any umbrellas along."
"We are perfectly safe," his father a.s.sured him.
Then in a few minutes the bustle of getting ready to leave the train began.
"We"ll take a taxi," announced Mr. Horton, holding his wife"s coat for her. "Take Mother"s hand, Sunny. Careful, now."
Down the steps on to the platform, where Mr. Horton gave the suitcases to a porter, and they joined a steady stream of people all going in one direction.
CHAPTER IV
GOING SHOPPING
"Oh, look! There"s a bus! Let"s ride on top," cried Sunny Boy, pointing out toward the street as one of the Fifth Avenue busses lumbered into sight.
"But our taxi is here," reasoned Mr. Horton, helping in Sunny Boy"s mother as he spoke. "And I couldn"t go up on top with these heavy bags. Come, Son, and you shall have your ride to-morrow."
Sunny Boy climbed into the taxi cab, Mr. Horton followed, and they were on the way to their hotel.
It was a brief ride, but in those few moments Sunny Boy was sure he had seen more automobiles than he had ever seen in his life. He probably had, for it was the time of day when the city traffic is heaviest, and never-ending streams of motor-cars and trucks and wagons were being driven on the cross streets, as well as on the avenues.
"I feel as if I wasn"t here," said Sunny Boy slowly, watching the crowds from the open window.
Mr. Horton glanced down at him and smiled.
"You do look rather small in all this," he admitted; "but I should say you were very much here. And here"s our hotel, and I think you are ready for supper."
The taxi cab stopped before the McAlpin Hotel, and Sunny Boy, holding fast to Daddy"s hand, went into a beautiful high-ceilinged room ablaze with light. He and his mother sat down in one of the big chairs while Mr. Horton registered and arranged for their room. Then a severe-faced boy took the suitcases and led them into an elevator.
"I wonder if he"s cross," thought Sunny Boy to himself, studying the face of the boy as he stood stiffly, his eyes fixed grimly on the wire grating of the elevator.
He was staring at him so hard that when the boy turned and caught him Sunny Boy blushed. The boy stuck out his tongue and immediately resumed his stern expression.
"He wears such a lot of b.u.t.tons," thought Sunny Boy, who in all his life had never been in a hotel to stay over night. "I wonder did he really stick out his tongue--"
The elevator stopped while Sunny Boy was trying to decide, and the Hortons followed the boy along a silent corridor till he stopped before a door and, unlocking it, ushered them into a large, pleasant room.
"Well, dear, hungry?" asked Mrs. Horton.
"He did it again," said Sunny Boy.
"Who did what?" laughed Mrs. Horton. "Sunny, don"t let New York addle you like this. I asked if you were hungry."
"That boy did stick out his tongue," explained Sunny Boy. "I don"t guess he is cross at all. When he closed the door he winked at me. And I am hungry, Mother."
Supper, as Sunny Boy insisted on calling it, or dinner, was rather a vague affair to him, for he was not only hungry but very sleepy after the long train ride. He liked riding down in the elevator and up again, but he was glad enough to go to bed.
"It"s just like the three bears," he said to Mother as she helped him to undress. "Big Bear, Middle-sized Bear, and Little Bear," he added, pointing to the three beds in the room. "Did they know I was coming and put a little bed in for me?"
"Daddy asked them to," said Mother. "Now a little wash, precious, and you"ll be in Dreamland in two seconds."
There was a pretty white bathroom opening into the room, and Sunny Boy enjoyed a splash, and then tumbled into bed.
In the morning he had a hard time to get dressed, because he found it so interesting to stare out of the window down at the busy streets.
"Such lots of people and trolley cars and automobiles--and everything!" he reported to his mother, who insisted that he really must finish dressing. "Do you suppose they know I"m looking at "em?"
"I doubt it," said Mother, brushing his hair smooth. "Now don"t put your nose on the screen again, Sunny. We"re going downstairs in just a minute. Daddy is almost through shaving."
"You look dressed up, Mother," announced Sunny Boy critically. "And aren"t we going to eat breakfast first?"
"First?" repeated Mrs. Horton, puzzled. "Oh, you mean I have my hat and veil on. Well, dear, I believe you and I are going out right after breakfast, and I won"t have to come upstairs again. Ready, Daddy?"
Soon they were in the dining room.
"Where are we going?" asked Sunny Boy, at the table and trying not to feel queer when the waiter brought him his cantaloupe with the same flourish with which he served Daddy sitting opposite.
"Why, I"m going to be very busy this morning," explained Mr. Horton, "and I thought you and Mother might enjoy a little shopping trip. I"ll meet you here for lunch. Anything you specially want to buy, Sunny?"
"Some post cards," replied Sunny Boy promptly. "Ruth Nelson wants one for her collection. And I could get Aunt Bessie a present."
"I"d wait till we"re almost ready to go home for Aunt Bessie"s present," said Mr. Horton kindly. "You"ll know better what you want then. But get the post cards by all means this morning."
He gave Sunny Boy a bright new fifty-cent piece.
"I think we"ll walk," decided Mrs. Horton, serving the golden brown omelet carefully. "Put your money in your new purse, dear. Harry, have you heard from Mr. Vernon yet?"
Left to himself while his parents talked business matters, Sunny Boy looked about the dining room. He saw several children, little girls and boys here and there, and a little girl across the room nodded and smiled at him. Sunny Boy wondered where the boy who had carried up their suitcases was.
"I didn"t bring my hat," he mourned when breakfast was over. "Can I go and get it, Mother?"
"I brought it down, dear," was the answer. "We"re going right away.
Daddy has some telephoning to do, and we"ll go on."
In the hotel lobby Sunny Boy saw the suitcase boy, as he had named him, again. He didn"t seem quite so severe as he had at night, and when Sunny smiled at him he actually returned it with a grin that showed a set of very white teeth.
"What a funny carriage," said Sunny Boy, calling Mother"s attention to a queer looking vehicle on two wheels and drawn by a bob-tailed horse, which was the first thing he saw when they got out on the street.
"Look where the coachman is."