for a little while larry felt a sense of bitter disappointment. after all his effort and the plans of mr. emberg and mr. newton, to have the venture fail was, he thought, a hard thing. and fail it seemed the scheme must, since unless he could soon get to the surface and telephone the news, it would be too late for the day’s paper and the others would have it to-morrow. then the leader would not score “a beat.”
the boy went close to the big iron door and examined it as well as he could in the dim light. it was a massive affair with ribs of steel and swung on heavy hinges. it was built to withstand heavy pressure, though there was none on it now. it was fastened by means of a peculiar catch that was operated from within.
larry passed his fingers around the edge. he began on the side where the hinges were, since he could not see very well. not a crack was to be felt. then, as his hand came around on the other side, he gave a start. he was aware of a slight opening.
114 “the door is not shut tight!” he cried. “maybe i can open it!”
he felt around until he came to a place where the opening was widest. as he had discovered the door was not quite shut tight. he put his fingers into the crack and pulled with all his force.
the big plate of iron never moved. he might as well have tried to pull down the side of the tunnel. the door was rusty on the hinges, and, even had it swung freely the very weight of it was too much for a boy.
“i guess i’ll have to give up!” thought larry.
he moved back a bit, rubbing his hands where the edges of the iron had cut them slightly. as he did so his foot hit against something and he nearly stumbled to the floor. he saved himself by putting out his hand, which came in contact with something cold.
by the touch of it larry knew it was a crowbar. he grasped it with both hands and pulled it from the crack in the wall where some workman had left it.
“maybe i can pry the door open with this,” he said. “luck seems to be coming my way after all.”
the bar was heavy, but larry strained at it until he had inserted the wedge-like edge in the crack between the door and the side of the air lock.
“here goes!” he exclaimed.
115 he pressed on the bar with all his strength. it did not budge.
“i guess it’s tighter than i thought,” gasped the boy.
once again he pushed until his arms trembled with the strain. again and again, throwing himself forward, he forced the bar away from him.
then, just when he was ready to give up in despair, he felt the iron lever give slightly. so little was the movement he half doubted whether it had moved. but as he pressed harder and harder he felt it sway, and then he knew he had started the door to swinging.
“i must keep at it!” he panted, “or it will get stuck again.”
then with all his strength he pushed until, in the half-light, he saw the crack opening wider and wider until the door was half open and there was space enough for him to slip through.
“hurrah!” cried larry faintly. “now to see if the other door is open,” for the air lock had two portals.
he dragged the bar with him as he stooped to go through the small opening. the air lock was about ten feet long, constructed entirely of steel and iron, and was about as big around as a hoisting engine boiler. larry had to bend almost double as he went through it. fortunately he found the other door open, and a few seconds later he was out in the tunnel again.
116 “now for a telephone,” he cried as he sprang forward on the run.
just ahead he could see a big patch of light that indicated where the round shaft led from the surface of the earth down to the floor of the tunnel. the going was easier now and the air was better. larry soon reached the foot of the shaft.
he found a number of workmen there. they were covered with dirt and water and larry knew they had been working in the tunnel.
“where’d ye come from, boy?” asked one of them.
“i was with the party that went through a little while ago,” larry answered. “one of the men sent me back for something.”
he did not say what it was, for fear some of the men might not think it proper for him to telephone the news to his paper.
“want to go up?” asked the man in charge of the elevator.
larry nodded. the man motioned for him to get on the movable platform which was about all the hoist was, and then gave the signal to start.
in a few moments the boy was at the surface. he made his way out of the engine room at the mouth of the upright shaft and hurried across the railroad yards in the direction he had come. on the way in he had noticed an office where there was a telephone and he made for this.
the man in charge gave permission for the boy117 to use the instrument, though he stared somewhat in surprise at larry, who was covered with dirt and water.
“fall in the river?” he asked.
“no, i came through the tunnel,” replied the boy.
then he rang up central, was soon connected with the leader office, and a few seconds later was telling mr. emberg what had happened. the city editor, who was familiar with the work, and the prospective battering down of the brick wall, could easily understand the situation from larry’s description. a few details sufficed and then, with a hurried “good-bye,” mr. emberg rang off, having told larry to come back to the office.
“are you a reporter?” asked the man in the railroad office, as larry hung up the receiver.
“no, i’m only a copy boy,” was the answer. “but i’m going to be a reporter some day. i am helping one of our men to-day.”
“well, i should say you would be a reporter,” the man went on, for he had listened to what larry was saying over the wire. “that was pretty slick on your part. the leader’s an all-right paper!”
“glad you think so,” replied larry. “how much for the telephone charge?”
“nothing,” replied the man. “glad to have you use it for such a big piece of news. so the tunnel is really cut through, eh?”
118 “it will be in a few minutes, i guess,” replied larry.
then he started for the leader office, first having borrowed a brush from the railroad man, and cleaned some of the mud from his clothes. before he got back to his office larry heard the boys on the streets crying:
“extra! extra! full account of the opening of the big hudson river tunnel!”
larry bought a leader and there, on the front page, under a big heading, was an account of the trip he, mr. newton, and the others had made that afternoon, and which was not yet finished. this time the press was a little ahead of the happening and the leader, through larry’s success, had scored a big beat.
arriving at the office larry found everyone but mr. emberg had gone home, for it was quite some time past the regular edition hour.
“you’re all right, larry!” the city editor exclaimed. “it’s a fine story. have any trouble?”
“only a little,” said larry modestly, for he did not want to boast of opening the door that had given him so much trouble.
“it’s a good story! it’s a beat!” said the city editor half to himself. “they tried to keep it quiet, but we beat ’em at their own game. that fact about the hydraulic ram breaking was a fine feature.”
larry sat down in a chair, for he was tired.119 then mr. emberg, who seemed for a time to have forgotten that he was present, noticed him.
“you can go home, larry,” he added. “you’ve done enough to-day.”
“i thought i’d stay until mr. newton came in,” said the boy. “i’d like to hear how the thing ended.”
“all right, i’m going to stay myself,” said the city editor. he began looking over some proofs on his desk in readiness for the next day’s paper. in half an hour mr. newton arrived.
“hello, larry!” the reporter exclaimed. “did we do ’em? well, i guess yes! how about it, mr. emberg?”
“you and larry certainly covered yourselves with glory,” spoke the city editor. “first thing we know larry will be out getting news himself.”
“well, i guess the other papers will sit up and take notice,” went on mr. newton. “not one of the other men got a line in to-day and they’re half wild. it took quite a while for the men to cut through the wall. then there was a lot of speech-making over the importance of the affair and we finished the journey, walking all the way from new jersey to new york, under the river, though i can’t exactly say it was without getting wet, for the tunnel leaked like a sieve after we got through the wall.”
“it was a good piece of work,” commented mr. emberg. then with a nod to larry and mr.120 newton he went out. the reporter and the copy boy soon followed and, that night, larry astonished his mother, sisters, and brother with the wonderful tale of going under the river.
“it’s dess like a fairy ’tory,” said little mary.
“did you find any gold?” asked jimmy, his eyes big with astonishment.
“no,” said larry with a laugh, “i wish i had.”
“and didn’t you see any goblins?” asked lucy with a smile.
“nary a one,” was larry’s reply. “though some of the workmen looked like ’em in the darkness with their rough clothes and big boots on.”
“i’m afraid it was a dangerous place,” spoke mrs. dexter. “i don’t believe i want you to be a reporter, larry, if they have to take such risks.”
“oh, it isn’t often they have to go into such places,” replied larry. “there was no danger. and think of being able to say you have been under the hudson river! it’s like being a discoverer.”
“well, i’m glad you’re home safe,” said his mother. “now we’ll have supper.”
