The Adventures of a Boy Reporter | Page 2

President, and he expects to
enter politics the day he is twenty-one."
"Is that so, indeed," said Mrs. Sullivan. "Well, we can never tell what is
going to come of our boys. As I says to Dannie to-day, says I, 'Dannie,
you must do your best to be somebody and make something of yourself,
for you and Jack bees all that I has to depend upon now.' But Dannie
pays no attention to my entreaties, and somehow it seems to me that
since Mr. Sullivan died the boys are gettin' worse and worse. It's
beyond me to control them, anyhow."
"Oh, take heart, Mrs. Sullivan," said Mrs. Dunn, "our boys will all turn
out well in the end, and all we can do is to bring them up in the best
way we know, and trust to them to take care of themselves after they
leave home. Now Dannie is certainly an industrious lad. I hear him
pounding nails all day long in the back yard, and he made a good job of

shingling the woodshed the other day. He seems made to be a
carpenter."
"Yes, I think so myself," said the Widow Sullivan. "The whole lot of
them is out by the railroad now, building a hut. They've organised a
'Hut Club' to-day, and never a lick of work have I had out of them boys
since mornin'. They've always got something going on, and when I
want a bit of water from the well, or a little wood from the shed, they're
never around."
"Yes, but boys will be boys, Mrs. Sullivan, and we'd better keep them
contented at home as long as we can. They'll be leaving us soon enough.
It seems that no boys are content to stay in town any longer; they're all
anxious to be off to the city."
"That's true, that's true, Mrs. Dunn," said Mrs. Sullivan. "I must be
going now. I'm much obliged for the rain-water, and whenever you
want a bit of milk call over the fence, and I'll bring it to you with
pleasure. It's a good neighbour you are, Mrs. Dunn."
And Mrs. Sullivan went slowly around the house and out at the front
gate, while good Mrs. Dunn returned to her ironing, a few clothes
having to be ready for Sunday.
While these mothers were discussing their boys, the youngsters
themselves were busy behind the barn, building a hut down near the
railway track. There were six of them altogether, the three extra ones,
besides Archie Dunn and the Sullivan boys, having come from across
the railway to play for the day. Two hours before they had solemnly
organised themselves into the "Hut Club," each boy walking three
times around the block blindfolded, and swearing upon his return to be
true to all the rules and regulations of the organisation, which had been
written with chalk on the side of the barn. The regulations were
numerous, but the most important one was that no East Side boys were
to be allowed within the club-room when it was built, and that the
club's policy should be one of warfare against the East Siders on every
occasion when they met. This fight against the East Side was, indeed,
responsible for the organisation of the club. It was felt necessary to
have some head to their forces, and some means of holding together. So
the club was organised, and now the next thing on the programme was
the erection of a hut to serve as a club-house. Archie Dunn, who had
been elected president, volunteered to get three boards and a hammer if

the other boys would each get two boards and some nails. This
proposition was agreed to, and when the boys returned from their
foraging expeditions it was found that there were more than enough
boards to build the hut, so the work began at once. Holes were dug in
the ground, and some posts planted as supports for the structure, and
then the boards were hastily nailed together from post to post. In three
hours the hut was practically completed, and it remained only to lay a
floor until they could hold their first meeting in the new club-house.
The floor itself was down by noon, and the club then served a
memorable dinner to mark the completion of the structure.
A hole was dug in the ground outside the door, and a furnace made. A
skillet was brought from Archie's house, together with some dishes and
a coffee-pot, and Dan Sullivan brought some more dishes, and six eggs
from his nests under the barn. The boys were obliged to make several
trips to and from the houses, but finally nearly everything was ready,
and the eggs were carefully cooked by Archie, who was really a good
housekeeper,