Clinton by Walter Aimwell

Jerry had planned his flight with considerable care and skill, for a / boy of his age; and before the time came for him to take the first / step, he had laid out the course he intended to pursue. Dressed in his / best suit, with his bundle of clean clothes under his arm, and with / the ill-gotten thirty dollars stowed away in the lower corner of his / vest pocket, he started on his journey into the great unknown world. / He walked for many a weary mile, over a road covered with snow that / had recently fallen; but the sun shone pleasantly, and the weather was / not so cold but that he sweat very freely from his exercise. It was / not until after sunset that he reached the tavern where he proposed / to spend the night. This tavern was a large wooden building, somewhat / dingy with age, and bore upon its front a faded, weather-beaten sign, / on which was inscribed the name of its proprietor. Some time before / Jerry reached the building, he could see the bright, cheerful light of / the fire shining through the windows, and flickering and flashing over / the wide, level field of snow which separated him from its comfortable / shelter. Quickening his steps, he was soon at the door, and without / stopping to knock, he entered the room from which he had seen the light.

It was a large room, with sanded floor, and the walls were covered / with dingy maps, pictures, stage and railroad bills, advertisements / of public houses in other places, and various other things. There was / a large, open fire-place on one side, and a heap of glowing coals and / blazing logs gave the room a very comfortable and attractive aspect. / Several men were seated around the fire, in chairs, which supported / themselves on their back legs, at an angle of forty-five degrees. Two / or three of the company were smoking cigars, the fumes of which filled / the room almost to suffocation. As Jerry entered, the men all seemed to / look at him pretty sharply, and as he laid down his bundle, and drew a / chair up to the fire, one of them said,