"It won't do you any harm, Plums, an' I honestly think the princess is hungry."
"She can't be very bad off, with Bologna, an' cakes, an' peanuts 'round. I'll bet she won't touch this."
Joe broke into the milk such fragments of cracker as remained in the cupboard-box, after which, and first wiping the spoon carefully on his coat sleeve, he began to feed the little maid.
"HE BEGAN TO FEED THE LITTLE MAID.""HE BEGAN TO FEED THE LITTLE MAID."
To Master Plummer's disappointment, she ate almost greedily, and Joe said, in a tone of triumph:
"You may know a good deal 'bout Mis' Carter's babies, but you're way off when it comes to one of this kind."
"I don't know whether I am or not," and Plums laid himself down once more, falling asleep, or pretending to, almost immediately thereafter.
Having eaten with evident relish the food which had cost Plums so much labour, the princess's ill-temper vanished entirely, and she twittered and chirped to Joe until he forgot his former fears and anxieties in the love which sprang up in his heart for the tiny maid who was dependent upon him for a shelter.
The day was close at hand when the amateur nurse and his charge journeyed into dreamland for the second time, and although Joe had gained but little rest during the night, his slumbers were not so profound but that a hum of shrill voices near the building awakened him very shortly afterward.
The one fear in his mind was that the princess would be disturbed, and he stepped quickly outside the shanty to learn the cause of the noise.
"Here he is! Here he is now! We was in big luck to come 'round this way!" one of a party of boys said, excitedly, and Joe recognised in these early visitors three friends and business acquaintances, all of whom were looking very serious, and evidently labouring under great excitement.
"What's brought you fellers up to this part of thetown so early?" Joe asked, in surprise, and Dan Fernald, who had under his arm a bundle of morning papers, said, in a mournful tone:
"We've come after you."
"What for? I'm goin' to hang 'round here a spell till I can get enough money ahead to go into business ag'in. Did you fellers think I'd be so mean as to sell papers 'round City Hall after I'd sold out to Dan?"
"It ain't anything like that, Joe Potter," Master Fernald replied, so gravely that the princess's guardian could not fail of being alarmed.
"What's floatin' over you fellers?" he asked, sharply. "Ain't been gettin' into trouble, have you?"
"We're all right; but there's somethin' mighty wrong 'bout you, Joe. Say, did you do anything crooked when you sold that stand to Sim Jepson?"
"Crooked? Why, how could I? He'd been workin' for me at a dollar a week, an' when I hadn't any more money, he took the stand for what I owed him. If you call it crooked to sell out a business for a dollar an' twenty cents, when it cost pretty nigh eight times as much, you're off your base."
"Then whathaveyou been doin'?" Tim Morgan asked.
By this time Joe began to understand that something serious had caused this early visit, and he began to grow alarmed, without knowing why it should disturb him.
"I don't want you to make any noise 'round here, 'cause Plums an' me have got a kid what we picked up in the street last night, an' she's asleep. It won't do towake her 'less you want to hear the tallest kind of screechin'. But I've got to know what's givin' you fellers the chills; so out with it, but be as quiet as you can."
Dan Fernald looked at his comrades as if hoping one of them would act as spokesman; but since both remained silent, he began by saying:
"See here, Joe, you know we're your friends, an' are willin' to do all we can to help you out of a scrape?"
"Yes," Master Potter replied, growing yet more alarmed because of Dan's solemn manner.
"If you'd come right to us in the first place, we'd helped you, no matter how much money was wanted."
"Look here, Dan, don't give me a stiff like this!" Joe cried, imploringly. "If anything's wrong, out with it, 'stead of mumblin' 'bout helpin' me. I've allers managed to help myself, and you fellers, too, a good many times, so I don't know why you should stand 'round lookin' like as if somethin' was chewin' you."
"If we wasn't your friends, Joe, you might give us a bluff like that, an' even if we didn't take it, we'd make out as though we did. See here," and unfolding a newspaper, Dan pointed to an advertisement, as he added, "I saw this almost 'fore I got out of theHeraldoffice, an' didn't stop for anything but jest to pick up Tim an' Jerry before I come to find you."
Joe looked at each of his friends in turn before taking the proffered paper, and then, after considerable difficulty because of the necessity of spelling out each word in turn, he read the following:
JOSEPH POTTER. Information wanted of a newsboy or fruit vendor answering to the name of Joseph Potter. He was last seen in front of the Grand Central Station at about seven o'clock on the evening of yesterday (Tuesday), holding in his arms a child three years old. A liberal reward will be paid for information as to the present whereabouts of the boy. Address Cushman & Morton, Attorneys at Law, 47-1/2 Pine Street, New York.
JOSEPH POTTER. Information wanted of a newsboy or fruit vendor answering to the name of Joseph Potter. He was last seen in front of the Grand Central Station at about seven o'clock on the evening of yesterday (Tuesday), holding in his arms a child three years old. A liberal reward will be paid for information as to the present whereabouts of the boy. Address Cushman & Morton, Attorneys at Law, 47-1/2 Pine Street, New York.
Immediately below this was an advertisement signed with the same names, requesting information concerning a little girl who had strayed from the Grand Central Station and was last seen in the company of a newsboy; but this Joe did not read.
The fact that he was advertised for, as if he had been a fugitive from justice, terrified him.
He could not so much as speak; but looked alternately at the printed sheet and his companions, until Dan said, sternly:
"Now, Joe, you can tell us 'bout this thing or not, jest as you have a mind. What we've come for is to help you get clear, an' we're bound to do it."
"Get clear of what?" Joe repeated, in bewilderment.
"You know better'n we do, an' I ain't askin' questions if you think it ought'er be kept secret from us."
"But I haven't been doin' anything that wasn't square," Joe replied, with a trembling voice.
"Then what's a couple of lawyers advertisin' you for?" Tim Morgan asked, shrilly. "Do you s'pose sich folks want'er catch a feller what sells papers, jest to look at him?"
"DAN POINTED TO AN ADVERTISEMENT.""DAN POINTED TO AN ADVERTISEMENT."
"See here, Tim, you know me, an' you know I never did a mean thing to anybody in my life."
"Then what they advertisin' yer for?"
"Say, fellers, I wouldn't try to make out—"
"Now, Joe, this ain't any time for you to stuff us," Dan Fernald said, impatiently. "If you hadn't done anything crooked, your name wouldn't be right there in them big letters. You've allers been willin' to do us a good turn, an' we're goin' to pay you back. You'vegotto skip! An' you've got to skip bloomin' quick!"
It was literally impossible for Joe Potter to make any reply to Dan Fernald's positive statement that he must run away in order to escape punishment.
As a matter of course he knew he had done nothing of a criminal nature, and yet the advertisement, which seemed to stand out more conspicuously than any other item in the paper, could not be construed either by himself or his companions to mean anything else.
The fact that it was signed by attorneys seemed to Joe and his friends positive proof that a crime had been committed; otherwise why would representatives of the law have appeared in the matter?
Dan Fernald, as Joe's oldest and nearest friend, took it upon himself to act as master of ceremonies in the affair, and, understanding that his comrade was so overwhelmed by the impending danger as to be absolutely incapable of intelligent movement, led him towards the shanty, as he said, gravely:
"Never mind what it is you've done, Joe, us fellers are goin' to see you through, an' it won't do to hang 'round here very long, if you plan on givin' the perlice the slip. I reckon they'll be hot after you before nineo'clock, an' by that time I'm countin' on havin' you hid. Got anything here you want to take with you?"
Joe shook his head; but Master Fernald seemed to consider it necessary they should enter the building, and his two comrades followed close in the rear.
Once inside the shanty, the visitors, as a matter of course, saw the princess sleeping on the straw, and, despite the fact that her garments were not as cleanly as on the day previous, making a most charming picture.
"Well, I'll be blowed! Where'd you get that?"
Joe had been so bewildered by the terrible knowledge that the officers of the law were probably on his trail, as to have forgotten for the moment that the princess was in his charge, and he stood for an instant staring at her vacantly before making any reply, which odd behaviour served to strengthen the belief in the minds of his friends that he was guilty of some serious crime.
"Oh, that's the princess. She lost her folks somewhere near thedepot last night, an' I was countin' on findin' 'em for her this mornin'. Plums an' me had to take her in, else she'd been layin' 'round the streets."
Dan looked at him sharply, while Tim and Jerry raised themselves on tiptoe to gaze at the sleeping child.
"Well, what you goin' to do with her now?" Dan asked, after waiting in vain for his friend to speak.
"I don't know," Joe replied, sadly, and added, in a more hopeful tone, "If you fellers would look after the little thing, she might—"
"We'll have all we can do keepin' you out of jail, without bein' bothered by a kid taggin' everywhere we go. You don't seem to understand, Joe, that it's goin' to take mighty sharp work, an' most likely every feller that ever knew you will be watched by the perlice from this time out."
"But I can't leave her here alone," Master Potter wailed.
"Why not take her down where Plums used to live? Mis' Carter's got a reg'lar raft of kids, an' ought'er know how to take care of another."
"It would jest 'bout break the little thing's heart to put her in with that Carter gang, an' I can't do it. I'd sooner the perlice nabbed me."
"Now you're talkin' through your hat. Of course you don't want to go up to Sing Sing for two or three years, an' that's what's bound to happen if them lawyers get hold of you. What's Plums snorin' away for, when things are all mixed up so bad?" Dan asked, impatiently, and without further delay he proceeded to arouse Master Plummer to a knowledge of the terrible danger that threatened Joe, by shaking him furiously.
"What do you want now,—more milk?" the fat boy asked, without opening his eyes, and Dan pulled him suddenly to his feet.
"Wake up, an' see what we want! Here's the perlice after Joe, red-hot, an' we've got to get him out'er town."
"After Joe?" Master Plummer repeated, stupidly. "What's he been doin'?"
"We don't know, an' he won't tell us."
"I haven't been doin' a thing, Plums, as true as I live; but there it all is in the paper," Master Potter replied, in a tearful voice. "Of course there's no gettin' away from that."
Not until Plums had spelled out for himself the ominous advertisement was it possible for those who would rescue Joe Potter from the impending doom to do anything towards his escape, and, once having mastered the printed lines, the fat boy gazed at his grief-stricken friend in mingled astonishment and reproach.
"Of course the perlice are goin' to know you slept here last night, an' jest as likely as not I'll be pulled for takin' you in."
"Course you will!" Jerry Hayes cried, shrilly. "You're in a pretty tight box, Plums."
Joe protested vehemently that he was innocent of any intentional wrong-doing; but with that unexplainable advertisement before him, Plums received the statement with much the same incredulity as had the others.
"Where you goin' to take him?" he asked of Dan; and the latter replied:
"I don't know; but we've got to get him out of town by the shortest cut, an' I reckon that'll be Thirty-fourth Street Ferry. How much money you fellers got?"
Master Plummer took from his pocket that which remained of the amount given him by Joe the night previous, and, after counting it twice, replied:
"Here's sixteen cents what belongs to Joe, an' I've got twenty of my own."
"Us fellers have anteed up a dollar an' a quartertowards seein' you through, an' here it is," Master Fernald said, as he gave Plums a handful of small coins.
Joe did not so much as glance at the money, and Dan said, impatiently:
"Now, don't hang 'round here any longer, you two, 'cause it's mighty near sunrise."
"But what about the kid?" Plums asked, as if until that moment he had entirely forgotten the sleeping child.
"I reckon she'll have to take her chances," Dan replied, carelessly. "Some one will look out for her, of course,—turn her over to McDaniels, the blacksmith."
This suggestion aroused Joe very suddenly, and he glanced at each of his companions in turn, as if to read the thoughts of all, after which he said, sharply:
"You fellers can believe me or not, but I haven't done anything to set the perlice after me. I can't say as I blame you for thinkin' it ain't so, 'cause there's that advertisement; but it's a fact all the same, an' I'm goin' to let the cops take me."
"What?" Tim Morgan screamed. "You're goin' to jail?"
"What else can I do?"
"Run away, of course, the same's we're fixin' it."
"In the first place, we haven't got money enough to go very far, an' then, ag'in, I won't leave the princess knockin' 'round the streets."
"You'd have to if you went to jail."
"I could take her with me for a spell, anyhow."
Joe appeared so thoroughly determined to give himselfup to the officers of the law that his comrades were seriously alarmed.
Although there was but little question in their minds that he was guilty of some crime, not one of them was willing he should yield to the order of arrest which they believed had already been issued.
Plums looked at Dan imploringly, and the latter said, as he laid hold of Joe's arm:
"Now see here, old man, we ain't goin' to stand by with our hands in our pockets while you go to jail, 'cause there's no need of it. The perlice won't be 'round for two or three hours, an' it's pretty hard lines if we can't get you out of town before they come."
"I won't leave the princess," Joe replied, doggedly.
"Then take her with you. Of course there's a good deal of risk in it, seein's how the advertisement said you had her; but it's a blamed sight better'n givin' right up same's any chump would do."
"I counted on findin' her folks this mornin'."
"The way things have turned out, you can't; an' what's the odds if you wait two or three days? I'll see that you have money enough to keep you goin' for a spell, anyhow, 'cause all the fellers what know you an' Plums will chip in to help."
"Am I goin', too?" Master Plummer asked, in surprise.
"I can't see any other way out of it. When the perlice find where Joe slept last night, they're bound to pull you in. It don't look to me as if it was goin' to be sich a terrible hard thing to go off in the country for a spell,now the weather's warm, an' if it wasn't for the kid here, I'd say you'd have a great time."
At this moment the princess awakened, and, fortunately, in an amiable mood.
She raised her hands towards Joe as if asking to be taken in his arms, and, instantly the mute request was complied with, the ruined merchant's courage failed him.
Burying his face in her dress, regardless of the possible injury to be done the delicate fabric, the poor boy gave way to tears, and the little maid must have understood that he was suffering, for she patted him on the ear, or ruffled his hair gently with her hands, all of which served but to make his grief more intense.
"Now's the time to get him right away," Dan said, in a low tone to Master Plummer. "We've fooled 'round here too long already, and if he kicks ag'in goin', why, we've got to lug him, that's all. I won't see Joe Potter put in jail if it can be helped."
"What do you s'pose he's been doin'?" Plums asked, in a terrified whisper.
"Blamed if I know; but it must be somethin' pretty tough, else they wouldn't spend money advertisin' for him."
"I don't b'lieve he'd kill anybody."
"Neither do I; but it must be somethin' 'bout as bad as that. While he's takin' on so we can get him off without much trouble. We'd better walk to the ferry, 'cause there might be somebody on the horse-car what would know him."
"If I've got to leave the town, I don't want to hang'round Long Island, 'cause there ain't so much chance of gettin' further away," Plums objected, and Dan began to show signs of ill temper at being thus thwarted in his efforts to do a favour.
"You'll be blamed lucky if you get anywhere, except to jail."
"But what's the difference if we go over to Jersey? It ain't much further to the Weehawken Ferry than it is Thirty-fourth Street way."
"All right, go there, then,—anywhere, so's you get a move on."
Master Plummer took the precaution to gather up such provisions as remained in the cupboard, and, after one long look around at the home he might be leaving for ever, shook Joe gently.
"Come on, old man; this thing's got to be done, an' the sooner we start the better. There's no show for you to give yourself up 'less I'm with you, 'cordin' to what Dan says, an' you can bet I ain't countin' on goin' to jail so long as it can be helped."
Joe rose to his feet obediently, still holding the princess tightly in his arms, and Dan ordered Jerry to precede them into the street, in order to make certain the officers of the law were not in the vicinity.
"If you whistle once, we'll know nobody's there, an' twice means that we're surrounded."
Jerry, looking as important as the occasion demanded, set about doing the scouting for the party, and an instant later a shrill call rang out on the morning air, telling that the coast was clear.
Dan and Plums ranged themselves either side of Joe; Tim marched in advance, wary as an Indian hunter; and in this order the little party gained the street, the princess in high glee because of the numbers who were escorting her.
Joe neither spoke nor looked back. His heart was as heavy as though the shadow of a real crime hung over him, and, had he been going directly to prison, could not have appeared more despondent.
On the other hand, Dan Fernald was enjoying himself hugely.
Aiding a desperate criminal to escape from the clutches of the law was to him a most exciting adventure. He had always believed he possessed remarkable detective ability, and this was the first time an opportunity of establishing such fact had presented itself.
"If I don't get you two fellers out of this scrape, then I'm willin' to lay right down," he said, as Tim and Jerry led the way towards the west side of the city at a rapid pace. "I've kept myself posted on the detective business pretty sharp, 'cause I've made up my mind to go into it before long, an' by the time we finish this job I guess the perlice will find out what I'm made of. I ain't so sure but I shall join the force after you're straightened out."
"They wouldn't take on a feller of your size," Master Plummer said, with something very like a sneer; which was not seemly, in view of the fact that Dan was at this moment giving him the full benefit of his wonderful ability, simply through friendship.
"It don't make any difference about a feller's size; it's the head what counts. Before long you'll find out whether I've got one or not."
Joe gave no heed to his friend's words. His grief was so great that probably he knew nothing whatever regarding that morning journey, save that the princess, when not laughing and chattering at him, was eating, with evident relish, the sugar-besprinkled cake which Plums had slipped into her chubby hand.
The boy did not realise that he might be doing a grievous wrong against the parents of the princess by thus taking her from the city. He knew she would be cared for to the best of his ability, and it seemed as if those who loved her must realise the same. Of course he understood that she was to be restored to her father and mother as soon as it should be possible, but he failed to take into consideration the suffering which might be theirs because of her disappearance.
Therefore it was that, in all this wretched business, at the end of which he could see nothing but the open door of a prison, the only bright thing to him, amid the clouds of despair, was the companionship of the princess.
After the first slight sorrow at being forced to leave his home, Plums began to enjoy this flight, and discussed with Dan the possible enjoyment of a detective's life until the party arrived within a block of the ferry-slip.
It was yet so early in the morning that but few were on the street; but Dan had no intention of allowing theboy whom he was saving to enter the slip like an ordinary citizen.
Ordering a halt near the entrance of an alleyway which led between two stables, he said, with the air of a general:
"Tim, you scout along down towards the ferry-slip, an' see if anybody's there on the watch. We'll stay here so's we can sneak up through this alley if you should whistle twice. Jerry, you're to walk back about half a block, so's to make certain the perlice don't creep up on us from behind."
"But there ain't a dozen people in sight, an' we can see that there's no cop 'round!" Master Plummer exclaimed. "What's to hinder our goin' right on board the boat?"
"Look here, Plums, if you know more 'bout this kind of business than I do, take hold an' run the thing. We'll see how far you'll get before the whole crowd is nabbed."
"I don't know anything about it, of course; but I can see there's nobody between us an' the ferry-slip that would likely make trouble."
"If we depended on you, we wouldn't have got so far as we have," Master Fernald replied, disdainfully. "Jest likely as not, there's a dozen cops hid close 'round here, an' I ain't goin' to be fool enough to walk right into their arms."
Plums was silenced by this exhibition of superior wisdom, and Joe indifferent to whatever steps might be taken for his own safety; therefore Dan was not interfered with in his management of the affair.
The scouts set about their work, and not until fully ten minutes had passed did the amateur detective give the word for the fugitives to advance.
"I reckon it's all straight enough now, an' we'll go on board the boat; but there's no tellin' what might have happened if I hadn't 'tended to the work in the right way."
Then Master Fernald walked a few paces in advance of his friends, moving stealthily, as if knowing danger menaced them on every hand, and casting furtive glances up and down the street until, had any one observed his movements, suspicions must have been aroused as to the innocence of his purpose.
Jerry paid for the ferry tickets out of his own funds, for it was the purpose of these rescuers to remain in the company of the fugitives until they should have escaped from the State.
Once on the boat, Joe wanted to remain in the ladies' cabin, because of the princess; but Dan would not countenance any such rash proceeding.
He insisted that they must take up their stations in what was, for the time being, the bow of the boat, where they could prevent possible pursuers from "sneakin' up on 'em."
The princess made no objection to this breezy position, otherwise the boy who was being rescued by Master Fernald would have flatly refused to obey orders; and thus the fugitives and their friends remained where every passenger on board must of necessity have seen them.
Dan gave his friends what he considered good advice during the passage, and when the boat was nearing the slip on the Jersey side, summed up his instructions with a statement which electrified them all.
"You fellers are to hang 'round Weehawken till 'long towards dark, when Plums must come down to the ferry-slip. I'm goin' back to New York to fix up my business, so's I can stay with you till the worst of the trouble is over."
"Are you countin' on runnin' away with us?" Master Plummer asked, in surprise.
"That's jest the size of it. You fellers don't seem to know scarcely anything at all about takin' care of yourselves, an' if I don't 'tend to business you'll both be in jail before to-morrow mornin'. I'm goin' to size up things 'round perlice headquarters to-day, an' then come over to look after you. Jest as soon's the boat touches the slip, you two take a sneak, find some place where you can hide till night, an' then watch out for me."
Five minutes later, the fugitives stepped on Jersey soil, and Master Fernald's scouts were deployed to guard against an attack from the enemy until the two boys were lost to view in the distance. Then the amateur detective said, in a tone of grim determination, "Now, fellers, we'll go back, an' size up the cops in New York."
When Dan Fernald and his two assistants returned to their usual place of business in the city, they found Joe Potter's mercantile friends in a state of high excitement.
It seemed as if the eyes of each boy who was acquainted with Joe had been attracted to that particular advertisement, and business among a certain portion of the youthful merchants in the vicinity of City Hall Square was almost entirely suspended because of the startling information that "the lawyers were after Joe Potter."
It was only natural for each fellow to speculate as to the reason why the unfortunate fruit merchant should be "wanted," and many and wild were the theories advanced.
Some of the boys even went so far as to suggest that Joe had robbed a bank, and, in order to make such a proposition plausible, insinuated that he had failed in the fruit business simply for the purpose of deceiving the public as to the true state of his finances.
Little Billy Dooner ventured the opinion that "perhaps Joe had killed aItalian," but no one gave weightto the possible explanation, for Master Potter enjoyed the reputation of being as peaceable a boy as could be found in the city.
When each one of those more particularly interested had in turn given his theory regarding the mystery, without throwing any positive light on the subject, the conversation was always brought to a close with something like the following words:
"At any rate, he's gone a mighty long ways crooked, else the lawyers wouldn't spend money advertisin' for him."
The arrival of Dan Fernald and his assistants only served to heighten the mystery, for these young gentlemen positively refused to make any statement either for or against the missing boy, and the natural result was that they were credited with knowing very much more regarding the affair than really was the case.
Dan immediately assumed such an air as he believed befitted detectives, and hinted more than once that Joe's friends "would be s'prised before the day was ended."
Not until noon was there any change in the situation of affairs, and then a bootblack who worked in the vicinity of the Grand Central Station came down to City Hall Square with information that Plums was no longer attending to business.
"If he wasn't so bloomin' slow, I'd say he'd run away with Joe Potter," the informant added; "but as it is, he couldn't get out of the town in much less than a week, even if he humped hisself the best he knew how."
Under ordinary circumstances, Plums might have disappearedwithout causing a ripple of excitement among his business acquaintances, but since Joe Potter was missing also, it began to look as if the two might be together.
At three o'clock in the afternoon Sim Jepson startled the community of newsboys by announcing that he had been closely questioned by a man in citizen's clothing, who "looked for all the world like a cop got up in disguise," concerning Joe's habits, and Master Jepson added, on his own responsibility:
"They're after him hot, an' no mistake. He'll be mighty smart if he can keep out of sight when they've gone reg'larly to work huntin' him up."
This information disturbed Dan Fernald not a little.
Although quite positive he was a match for any detective or policeman in the city, Dan would have preferred to work on a case where there appeared to be less danger. This affair of Joe's was growing more serious each moment, and he who meddled with it might come to grief, but yet never for a moment did Master Fernald think of abandoning his friend.
"I'll do jest as I told him I would, no matter what kind of a scrape I get into," he said, confidentially, to Tim and Jerry. "You fellers must hang 'round here so's to find out all that's goin' on, an' be sure to let me know if any more men come here searchin' for Joe."
"But you ain't goin' to stay in Weehawken?"
"Well, I guess not."
"Then how shall we know where to find you?"
"Look here, Jerry Hayes, if you ain't smart enough to find us three when you know we're somewhere in Jersey, it ain't any kind of use for you to try to be a detective, 'cause you'll never make one. You must come over to Weehawken, an' get on our trail; then the rest of it will be easy enough."
"I'd like to know how we're goin' to do that?"
"If I've got to explain every little thing, I might jest as well run this case all by myself. Findin' a man when you don't know where he is, is the first thing a detective has to learn, an' you'd better put in a good part of your time studyin' it up. Now I'm goin' to see how much money I can raise, an' 'long 'bout five o'clock you can count on my sneakin' out of town."
While his friends were thus speculating, and working in what they believed to be his behalf, Joe was spending a most wretched day.
Immediately after landing from the ferry-boat, he, carrying the princess and followed by Plums, walked directly away from the river, believing that by such a course he would the sooner arrive at the open country.
Now that he was really running away, his fears increased momentarily.
While in the city, it had seemed to him as if he could summon up sufficient courage to surrender himself to those people, who most likely wanted to commit him to prison; but having once begun the flight, all his courage vanished,—he no longer even so much as dreamed of facing the trouble.
The princess, well content with this morning strolland the cake Joe had given her, appeared willing to continue such form of amusement indefinitely.
She laughed and crowed until the young guardian trembled lest she should attract undue attention to him, and when, ceasing this, the little maid poured some wondrous tale in his ear, his heart smote him, for he believed she was urging to be taken home.
"I'll find your mother, baby darling, the very first thing after I get out of this scrape; but there couldn't any one blame me for runnin' away when the perlice are after me."
Plums was more discontented than alarmed during this journey. There was altogether too much walking in it to please him, and Joe pushed ahead so rapidly that he nearly lost his breath trying to keep pace with him.
"If you go on this way much longer I'll have to give the thing up," he said, in despair, when they were a mile or more from the ferry-slip.
"But you surely ought to walk as fast as I can when I am carrying the princess."
"Perhaps I ought'er, but I can't. I'm pretty near knocked out of time already. Why not slack up a little now, we're so far from the city?"
"I don't dare to, Plums. We haven't gone any distance yet, an' jest as likely as not the perlice here have had orders to stop us. Do the best you can a spell longer, an' perhaps we can find a place to hide in till you get rested."
Master Plummer made no reply; but his companion could readily see that he was suffering severely fromsuch unusual exertions. His fat face was of a deep crimson hue; tiny streams of perspiration ran down his cheeks, and he breathed like one affected with the asthma.
There was little need for Master Plummer to explain that a halt would soon be necessary, for this Joe understood after but one glance at the unhappy-looking boy.
The princess's guardian had hoped they might gain the forest, where it would be possible to hide, or at the least find a small thicket of trees or bushes; but as yet there were dwellings on every hand, and each instant the sun was sending down more fervent rays.
At the expiration of an additional ten minutes Plums gave up the struggle by saying, despondently:
"It's no use, Joe, I couldn't keep on my feet half an hour longer, to save the lives of all hands. S'posin' you leave me here, an' go on by yourself? That will be better than for both of us to be arrested."
"I'm not sich a chump as to do anything of that kind, old man. You got into this trouble through tryin' to help me, an' I'll stay right side of you till it's over."
"But it ain't safe to hang 'round here."
"I know it; yet what else can we do? We're bound to take the chances, an' I'm goin' to stop at one of these houses."
Master Plummer appeared thoroughly alarmed, yet he made no protest against the proposed plan.
At that moment imprisonment had less horrors for him than such severe exertions.
Joe's greatest fear was that, while asking for shelter,he would be forced to explain why he was taking the princess with him for a long tramp, when the day was so warm; and, dangerous though such a course might be, he was resolved to tell only the truth.
"If I can't get through without lyin', I'll go to jail, an' take my medicine like a man," he said to himself, and once this resolve had been made he stopped in front of the nearest dwelling.
His timid knock at the door was answered by a motherly-looking German woman, who appeared surprised at seeing the visitors.
"If we'll pay whatever you think is right, may we come in an' stay a little while?" Joe asked, falteringly. "It's awful hot, an' the princess must be tired."
"Kannst du kein deutch sprechen?"
Joe looked at her in bewilderment, and Plums said in a whisper:
"She talks a good deal the way the princess does. I guess the kid must know what she says."
"We want to come in for a little while, an' are willin' to pay you for it," Joe repeated, and the old lady shook her head doubtfully as she leaned over and kissed the princess squarely on the mouth.
"Ich kann nicht Englisch sprechen."
As she spoke, the good woman gave Joe a smile which went far towards reassuring him, and he in turn shook his head.
"I guess we'll have to give it up," Plums said, mournfully. "It's too bad, for she must be a real good kind of an old woman, or she wouldn't have kissed the princess."
Joe hesitated an instant, and had half turned to go when the old lady stretched out her hands towards the child, who immediately displayed a very decided desire to forsake the boy who had ministered to her wants so devotedly during the past twelve or fifteen hours.
"Komme herein aus der hitze."
This was said with a gesture which could not be misunderstood, as the old lady took the princess in her arms; and Joe followed without hesitation, Master Plummer saying, meanwhile:
"If she can't talk United States, an' that seems to be about the size of it, there ain't any chance she can tell where we are. It's mighty lucky we struck her, 'cordin' to my way of thinkin'."
Joe was of the same opinion, when the old lady ushered them into a cleanly but scantily furnished room, so darkened as to make it seem cool by comparison with the scorching rays of the sun on the pavements, and then gave her undivided attention to the baby.
She took off the child's hat and cloak, and, carrying her into an adjoining room, bathed her face and hands, much to the delight of the princess.
"I'd 'a' washed her up this mornin' if I hadn't been 'fraid she'd get mad about it," Joe said, regretting most sincerely that he had not attended to the little maiden's toilet in a proper manner.
"What's the good? Old Mis' Carter says dirt makes children healthy, an' if that's straight I should say your princess needs a couple of quarts to put her in trim."
"'MAY WE COME IN AN' STAY A LITTLE WHILE?'""'MAY WE COME IN AN' STAY A LITTLE WHILE?'"
"She ain't like Mis' Carter's kids, so what's the use to keep throwin' them up all the time. Say, Plums, look at the old woman now! Why didn't I think of cuddlin' the princess in that style?"
Their hostess, having made the little maid more presentable, gathered the child to her breast, as she rocked to and fro in a capacious armchair, singing a lullaby, which speedily closed the two brown eyes in slumber.
"I shouldn't feel very bad if the old woman served me in the same way," Master Plummer said, with a long-drawn sigh, as he straightened himself up in the wooden chair. "I'd rather lay right down on the floor an' go to sleep than do anything else I know of."
"But you mustn't, Plums, you mustn't," Joe whispered, nervously. "If you should do anything like that she'd think we was more'n half fools, both of us."
"Seid ihr kinder hungrich?"
The old lady spoke so abruptly that the boys started as if in alarm, both looking at her with such a puzzled expression on their faces that she must have known they failed to understand the question.
"Perhaps she thinks we can't pay our way," Plums whispered. "You might let her know we've got money, even if you can't do anything better."
Joe acted upon the suggestion at once by taking several coins from his pocket, holding them towards the old lady.
She shook her head and smiled cheerily. Then, laying the princess on a chintz-covered couch without disturbing the child's slumbers, she left the room.
Again was Master Potter surprised by the apparently careless, yet deft manner in which she handled the child, and he said, in a tone of admiration to his friend:
"Don't it jest knock your eye out to see the way she fools with the princess, an' yet the little thing seems to like it? If I'd done half as much as that she'd be screechin' blue murder by this time."
"Women know how to take care of kids better'n boys do, though I ain't any slouch at it, 'cause I've tried it so many times down to Mis' Carter's."
"I notice you couldn't stop her from cryin' last night."
"I didn't try, did I? Perhaps if you hadn't sent me racin' all over the city for milk I might'er done somethin'."
This conversation was interrupted by the German lady, who returned, bringing two plates, one of which was heaped high with seed-cakes, and the other filled with generous slices of boiled ham.
If a boy's mouth ever did water, Plums was in that peculiar condition just at that moment.
Alarmed by the news which Dan Fernald brought, he had, for perhaps the first time in his life, forgotten to eat breakfast, and nothing could have been more welcome in his eyes than this plentiful supply of food.
"Better pay her for it," he whispered to Joe, "an' then she'll be likely to bring on more. I could eat all she's got there, an' not half try."
Joe did as his companion wished; but the old lady positively refused to take the money until the boy urgedher in dumb show, when, with the air of one who complies with a request against her will, she took from Master Potter's outstretched hand a dime.
Plums had not waited for this business to be finished before he began the attack, and when Joe turned he saw that his comrade had assumed a position of supreme content, with three seed-cakes in one hand, and a large slice of ham in the other.
"You're awfully good to us, an' I wish you'd taken more money," Joe said, as he helped himself to a small portion of the food, knowing, even as he spoke, that his words would not be understood.
The old lady smiled, and went out of the room again, returning almost immediately with a glass of water and more ham, much to Master Plummer's satisfaction.
"I guess we're fixed jest about as well as we could be, an' it'll pay us to hang on here till Dan comes over. This beats walkin' 'round the streets."
"Perhaps she wouldn't like it if we stayed a great while," Joe suggested.
"Well, s'posin' she shouldn't? So long's she can't talk United States there's no chance of her turnin' us out, or tellin' where we are."
"Would you stay here when you thought she didn't want us?"
"I'd stay in most any place where we was strikin' it as rich as we are jest now," and then Master Plummer ceased speaking, in order that he might give more attention to this unexpected meal.
It was sunset, and Master Plummer stood at the ferry-slip in Weehawken, awaiting the coming of Dan, the detective.
Much against his will had the fat boy left the home of the German lady to set out on this long tramp. He understood that it would not be safe for Joe to come out of hiding, and, because of the arrangements made by Dan in the morning, it was absolutely necessary some one should meet the amateur detective at the ferry-slip.
Hence it was that Master Plummer was loitering around just outside the gate, keeping a close watch upon all who came from the boat, and on the alert for anything bearing the resemblance of a blue coat with brass buttons.
Dan Fernald, believing that a detective who knew his business would not make a single movement without a certain attendant mystery, had decided it was not safe for him to leave New York in the daytime, and therefore Plums's time of waiting was exceedingly long.
Not until eight o'clock did Dan appear; and then, instead of answering his friend's hail, he marched gravelyout through the gate, crossed the street, and, during several seconds, stood peering first to the right and then the left, while from the opposite side Plums looked at him in bewilderment.
Master Plummer had spoken to his friend, but received no reply; had followed a certain distance without being apparently recognised, and stopped in bewilderment when Dan indulged in these curious antics.
Finally the fat boy grew impatient, and, crossing the street, asked, sharply:
"What's the matter with you, anyhow, Dan?"
Master Fernald glanced at his friend only sufficiently long to wink in a most mysterious fashion, and then, turning quickly around, marched gravely up the street without speaking.
Plums watched in anxiety until, seeing his friend dart into a doorway, it suddenly dawned upon him that Dan was desirous of avoiding a too public interview.
Then Plums hastened after him, muttering to himself:
"That feller thinks he's awful smart, scrimpin' an' scrapin' 'round here as if there was a dozen perlicemen right on his track. If he'd go on about his business nobody'd notice him; but when he's kitin' 'round in this fashion folks are bound to wonder what's the matter."
On arriving at the doorway, he looked in, but without seeing any one, because of the gloom.
Thinking he had made a mistake, Plums would have hurried on, but for a hoarse whisper which came from out the darkness.
"Come in here, quick! Don't stand there where everybody'll tumble to who you are."
Plums obeyed immediately, as was his custom when any one spoke harshly, and Dan seized him by the arm.
"Keep quiet, now, whatever you do, 'cause I wouldn't be s'prised if more'n a dozen cops followed me over on the boat."
"I didn't see any," Plums replied, in astonishment.
"That's 'cause you didn't keep your eye peeled. Of course they wouldn't try to get on my track while they was dressed in uniform. I saw one I felt certain about; he was disguised like a truckman, an' drivin' a team, but he couldn't fool me."
"Do they know where Joe an' I are?"
"I don't think so; but jest as soon as I left the town they was bound to have their eyes open mighty wide, 'cause I guess it must be known up to perlice headquarters that I'm in on this case. Where's Joe?"
Master Plummer told the amateur detective of the very pleasant refuge they had found, and concluded by saying:
"First off we couldn't talk with the old woman at all; but at dinner-time a kid about half as big as me, what calls her 'grandmarm,' come home, an' he knew how to talk United States. Little as he was, he could chin in the old woman's lingo as fast as she. That fixed things for us. Joe said he was out lookin' for work, which is the dead truth when you come to that, an' made a trade for us to stay there a couple of days. I was 'fraid they'd ask about the princess, but it seems like they didn't.They thought she belonged to us straight enough, so it's been all plain sailin'."
"I didn't get over here any too soon, if you fellers have gone to stoppin' at a house."
"But why shouldn't we, when we found one like that where they'll take us in mighty cheap? An' say, that old woman is the boss cook!"
"An' she'll get in jail, too, if you keep on this way. Here's you an' Joe advertised for by the lawyers, an' yet are sich chumps as to settle right down where the detectives will get on to you the very first thing."
"I ain't been advertised for."
"Well, that's where you make a mistake, Master Smartie. Perhaps you haven't seen the evenin' papers."
"What's in them?" Plums cried, in a tone of alarm.
"Pretty much the same as what you saw in theHeraldthis mornin', only that they're offerin' to pay for any news of Joe Potter an' a feller what's called 'Plums.'"
"Do you mean that, Dan? Are they really advertisin' for me?" Master Plummer asked, in a tone of terror.
"That's what they're doin', an' the way the cops are chasin' 'round town huntin' up bootblacks an' newsboys is a caution. Three different ones asked Jerry Hayes if he knew you or Joe; but you can bet they didn't find out very much. Jerry's sharp enough to keep his mouth shut."
"But what do they want me for? What have I done?"
"I reckon it's 'cause Joe slept at your house. Now the only safe thing is for us to strike off into the country as quick as we know how. We've got to walk all night before we so much as think of stoppin'."
"But what about the princess? We can't make that little thing travel from post to pillar."
"If Joe Potter hadn't been a fool he'd left her in town. It jest makes my blood boil when I think of his havin' a kid taggin' 'round after him, an' every detective in New York on his track!"
"I don't believe he'd be willin' to leave the princess, not even if he knew he was goin' to be 'rested the next minute."
"He's got to, or I'll throw up the job of tryin' to save him. Now we'll go up to this Dutch woman's house that you've been talkin' 'bout, an' snake him out. All I hope is we'll get away in time."
Master Plummer turned to walk out of the hallway in obedience to this command, when Dan, clutching him by the arm, brought the boy to a sudden standstill.
"What kind of a way is that to go out when the streets are full of detectives huntin' after you?"
"How else can I go?" Plums asked, in surprise.
"I'll show you. Watch out on what I do, an' act the very same way. I'll go on one side of the street, an' you on the other, so's folks sha'n't know we're together."
Master Plummer was puzzled to understand why it might work them mischief if the public knew they were acquainted with each other; but Dan was so peremptoryin his commands that the boy did not venture to ask a question.
Then Master Fernald went out from the hallway, in what he evidently believed was the most approved detective fashion of walking, and, as Plums confidentially told Joe later, "he acted like he was a jumpin'-jack, with some one pullin' the string mighty hard."
The two went slowly up the street, one on either side, and such of the citizens of Weehawken who saw them were mystified by their singular method of proceeding.
Dan quieted down somewhat after half an hour had passed, for no slight amount of labour was required to continue the supposed detective manner of walking, and, before arriving at the house where Joe had taken refuge, he behaved very nearly like other and more sensible boys.
"No, I won't go in," he said, decidedly, when Plums proposed that he call upon the old lady. "You don't catch me showin' myself 'round this place any more'n I can help, 'cause there's no tellin' when the perlice will be here askin' questions, an' I'm goin' to steer clear of trouble."
"Shall I tell Joe to come out?" Plums asked, timidly, for Dan's superior wisdom awed him.
"Of course, else how can I see him? Don't let that kid tag on behind, for it's mighty dangerous to be on the street with her. That advertisement about you had in it that you was last seen with a little girl."
Master Plummer entered the dwelling, and Dan pacedto and fro on the sidewalk, with a consequential air, until Joe appeared.
"Why don't you come in?" the latter asked. "Mrs. Weber—that's the name of the lady who owns the house—is mighty nice, even if you can't talk to her."
"I ain't so foolish as to show myself in such places, an' you ought'er let your head be cut off before takin' all these chances."
"But we couldn't keep the princess out-of-doors from mornin' till night, an'—"
"That's what's makin' all the trouble, Joe Potter. If you hadn't brought the kid along we'd get through this scrape in good style."
"But I couldn't have left her in Plums's shanty alone."
"It was a fool business pickin' her up in the first place, 'cause if you never'd done it, them lawyers couldn't say you had a kid with you. That's the very best way they have to let folks know who you are. Anyhow, you've got to give her the dead shake now, if you want me to keep hold of this case."
"Then I'll have to get along the best I can without you, for I won't run away from a poor little baby, who counts on my findin' her folks."
Joe spoke so decidedly that the amateur detective understood he could not easily be turned from his purpose, and Master Fernald was astonished. He had supposed that his threat to "drop the case" would have reduced the unfortunate merchant to submission, and itseemed little less than madness for Joe and Plums to continue the flight without the guiding hand of one so wise as himself.
"Of course, if you don't want me, that settles it," he said, sulkily. "I ain't throwin' my time away when folks had rather I wasn't 'round; but you'll get into a heap of trouble without somebody what knows the ropes, to steer you."
"I would like to have you with us, Dan; but I won't leave that poor little princess when she needs me so much."
"But how you goin' to fix it nights? We've got to sleep outdoors mostly all the time, an' she'd soon get wore up with that kind of knockin' 'round."
"Why must we sleep outdoors?"
Dan explained that the search for the supposed criminal was to be prosecuted with such vigour that even Master Plummer was included in the advertisements, which piece of news both alarmed and mystified Joe.
"What are they after him for? Does anybody claim he's been goin' crooked?"
"I s'pose it's 'cause he let you sleep in his shanty. You see, Joe, the lawyers are bound to nab you if the thing can be done, an' you've got to give up sleepin' in houses. It might work once or twice; but you'd be sure to run across somebody what had read the papers, an' then you'd find yourself an' the princess in jail mighty quick. The evenin' papers said a large reward would be paid, an' perhaps, by mornin', they'll raise the price to as much as ten dollars."
It can well be understood how disturbed in mind Joe was at learning that his enemies were so eager to capture him; but yet he had no intention of abandoning the princess, until Plums made a suggestion which seemed like an exceedingly happy one.
"Why not pay old Mis' Weber somethin' to take care of her for two or three days?" he asked. "The little thing would get along a good deal better with a woman, an' we can sneak back here once in awhile to make certain she's all right. I don't believe them lawyers will spend very much more money huntin' for us, 'cause we ain't worth it, no matter what we've done."
"That's the very best snap you could fix up!" Dan cried, approvingly. "I'd been thinkin' of somethin' like that myself; but didn't have time to tell you about it. I've got more'n two dollars that I borrowed to help you fellers through with this scrape, an' that ought'er be a good deal more'n enough to keep her till we can earn more."
Joe understood that it would be to the princess's advantage if he left her with the kind old German lady, and at once decided in favour of the plan.
Never for a moment did he fancy they might be as safe in this house as anywhere else, but firmly believed a continuation of the flight was absolutely necessary, as Dan had announced.
"I'll see what Mis' Weber says about it, an' if she's willin', we'll go right away."
"Don't stay in there all night chinnin', 'cause it's mighty dangerous for us to be hangin' 'round here,"Dan called after him as he entered the dwelling, and Joe hastened the matter as much as possible.
The princess was in bed sleeping quietly, and looking, as Plums expressed it, "fit to eat." Mrs. Weber's grandson was ready to act as interpreter, and in a few moments Joe had made the proposition.
The good woman asked no questions concerning the parents of the child it was proposed she should keep, and her silence on this point may have been due to the fact that, even with her grandson's aid, it was difficult to understand all the boys said.
She was willing to take the princess for a week, but not longer, and decided that one dollar would repay her for the labour.
"Tell your grandmother we'll make the trade," Joe said, quickly, delighted because the sum named was so much less than he expected. "I'll be back here in two days at the longest, an' she's to take the very best care of the little thing."
"Granny would be kind even to a mouse," Master Weber replied, with an air of pride, and Joe added, promptly:
"I ought'er know as much by this time, an' if I didn't, the princess wouldn't be left with her. That poor little swell hasn't got anybody to look out for her but me, till we find her folks, an' I ain't takin' chances of her comin' to harm. Here's the dollar, an' you tell your granny I'll be back by the day after to-morrer if all the cops in New York are close after me."
The little German boy looked up in perplexity, for hefailed to understand the greater portion of what Joe had said, and the latter was in too great a hurry to heed the fact.
A shrill whistle from the outside told that detective Dan was growing impatient, and Joe started towards the door, after seeing the old lady take the money; but halted an instant later.
"Is there something more you want granny to do?" the German boy asked, and Joe was at a loss for a reply.
"I was thinkin', perhaps,—if, course, it wouldn't make any difference to your granny,—say, I'm goin' to sneak in an' kiss the princess!"
The boy nodded carelessly, but Joe made no effort to carry his threat into execution.
Again the amateur detective whistled, and Master Potter stepped towards the bedroom door, but halted before gaining it.
"Perhaps her folks wouldn't want a duffer like me doin' anything of that kind," he muttered, and straightway walked out of the house as rapidly as his legs would carry him, much as if he feared to remain longer lest the temptation should be too great to resist.
"It begun to look as if you was goin' to stay all night," Dan said, petulantly, when Joe appeared. "There's more'n a hundred people walked past here, an' I'll bet some of 'em was huntin' for us; we've got to get out of this place mighty lively, if you don't want to be chucked into jail."
Plums looked so thoroughly terrified that Joe at onceunderstood the amateur detective had been frightening him by picturing improbable dangers, and said, almost sharply:
"There's no use makin' this thing any worse than it really is."
"That can't be done, Joe Potter. You're in an awful scrape, an' don't seem to know it."
"I wish I'd stood right up like a man till I'd found the princess's folks, an' then gone to jail, if the lawyers are so set on puttin' me there."
"What's comin' over you now?"
"I'm thinkin' of that poor little swell we've brought out here."
"She's a good deal better off than if you let her tag along behind."
"That may be; but I ought'er found her folks instead of runnin' away."
"Now, see here, Joe Potter, you're makin' a fool of yourself, an' all about a kid what's goin' to have a soft snap while she stays here. Of course if you want to be put into jail for two or three years, I won't say another word, an' you can rush right straight back to the city."
"Don't stand here talkin'!" Plums cried, in an agony of apprehension. "We've got to leave, else nobody knows what may happen!"
Dan seized Joe by the arm, literally forcing him onward, and the two who were ignorant of having committed any crime continued the flight from the officers of the law.