Adventures of a Telegraph Boy; Or,"Number 91
1884
New York City, 1884. Sixteen-year-old Paul Parton wears the messenger's cap and carries the weight of the city on his shoulders. As a telegraph boy for the American District Telegraph Company, he threads through crowded streets on foot, delivering messages that could change fortunes, ruin reputations, or save lives. He lives with a penny-pinching old man he calls grandfather, though the word means something different when you've got nothing but your wits and your willingness to work. When Paul first hits the streets, his first errand leads him to an elderly stranger named Mr. Meacham, and along the way he spots a smaller boy getting beaten by a bully. Most kids would walk past. Paul stops. This is the choice that defines him: not just hard work, but hard courage. Horatio Alger Jr. wrote this novel when New York was becoming the capital of ambition, when thousands of young boys ran messages for a living and dreamed of something more. It's a period piece, yes, but the engine hasn't changed. Every kid who's ever been underestimated, every outsider who's had to earn everything the hard way, will recognize Paul Parton. He doesn't wait for rescue. He rescues others.
