"A DARK FORM LEAPED THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW.""A DARK FORM LEAPED THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW."
"Sit down here by the table, where you will have something on which to rest your head if you grow faint, and I'll be back in a moment."
Aunt Dorcas closed the kitchen door, lest a draft of air should come upon the boy she believed so grievously wounded, and went to her own room, Joe saying to himself, meanwhile:
"I'd been willin' for him to have pounded me into shoestrings, if it would save me from havin' to tell a woman as good as she is that I ran away from New York to keep out of jail."
It seemed to Joe as if aunt Dorcas had but just left the room when she returned, ready for the work of binding up his wounds.
"Do you feel any worse, Joseph?" she asked, laying her hand gently on his shoulder.
"Not a bit of it," Master Potter replied, stoutly.
"Do you think you can bear up until I have built a fire and heated some water?"
"Now, look here, aunt Dorcas, I ain't hurt any to speak of, even though there is a good deal of blood on my face, an' as for bearin' up, why, it wouldn't do me a bit of harm if there wasn't anything done to my face. I'll build a fire, if it's warm water you're after," and, before the little woman could prevent him, he had set about the task.
While waiting for the fire to burn, aunt Dorcas collected such articles as she believed would be needed, and Joe found it difficult to prevent a smile from appearing on his bruised face, as he watched the preparations.
Several rolls of clean, white cloth, in sufficient quantity to have bandaged the heads of twenty boys, arnica,antiseptic washes, adhesive plaster, a sponge, cooling lotions, and, as Joe afterwards told Plums, "a whole apothecary's shop full of stuff," was placed on the table in a methodical fashion.
"I guess while this water's bein' heated I'll wash some of the blood off my face, an' then you'll see that there ain't any need of worryin' much 'bout me," Joe said, with a laugh, as he turned towards the sink, and aunt Dorcas cried, excitedly:
"Don't do it, Joseph! Don't you dare to do it; it might be as much as your life is worth to put cold water on that bruised flesh! It won't be many minutes before we shall have plenty of the proper temperature."
"Of course I'll do jest as you say, aunt Dorcas; but I've been hurt worse'n this a good many times, an' never had any one to touch me up the same's you seem bound on doin'."
"If you have been foolhardy in the past, it is no reason why you should run unnecessary risks now," the little woman said, severely, and Joe made no further attempt to dissuade her from her purpose.
When the water was sufficiently warm, aunt Dorcas set about her self-appointed task, passing the moist sponge over Joe's face with an exceedingly light touch, as if afraid of causing him pain, and he said, with a stifled laugh:
"You needn't be afraid of hurtin' me, aunt Dorcas. I can stand a good deal more'n that without yippin'. I'd been willin' to got it twice as bad, if we could have held on to that duffer."
"You shouldn't harbour revengeful thoughts, Joseph. I am truly glad he made his escape."
"If you treat burglars in that way, this place will be overrun with them before next winter."
"Of course I don't like the idea of having strange men prowling around the house in the night; but there is nothing here for them to steal, and I am certain they couldn't be wicked enough to hurt a poor old woman like me. Instead of harbouring revengeful thoughts, we should endeavour to do good to those who would injure us, remembering the words spoken on the Mount, 'That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.'"
"If a feller went 'round doin' anything like that, I reckon he'd soon be in worse shape than I am. Do you mean, aunt Dorcas, that I ought to have stood still an' let that burglar have fun with me?"
"I can't think it was intended we should take the words literally; but they certainly were meant that we should be forgiving,—that we should love our enemies so heartily as to lead them from their evil ways. The man who beat you so cruelly will never be brought into a better life by harsh words. Now, I am going to put some arnica on these bruises; it will hurt, but you must try to bear the pain manfully."
"Don't be afraid of me, aunt Dorcas. You couldn't do anything that would make me yip."
The little woman treated Joe's wounds with such simple remedies as she had near at hand, and then proceeded to bandage his head, until but little more thanhis eyes and mouth could be seen, striving, meanwhile, to show him how much better the world would be for his having lived in it, if he would govern himself strictly by the Golden Rule.
During all the while she was putting the many bandages in place, Joe was saying to himself that now was come the time when he should make that confession he had decided upon, and, although aunt Dorcas had said so much concerning the blessedness of forgiving those who have done us an injury, he did not believe she would so far carry her precepts into practice as to be willing to shelter one who appeared to be as great a criminal as himself.
"I believe, Joseph, I have done all that is possible to-night," the little woman finally said, as she fastened in place the last bandage. "You are not to get up in the morning until after I have made certain you are in no danger of a fever. Now, go to your room, and if you think George may disturb you, I'll put him in the spare chamber."
"Wait a minute, aunt Dorcas; I want to tell you something," and Joe laid his hand on the little woman's arm to prevent her from rising. "You never knew why Plums an' I left New York to come out here where there isn't a chance to earn a living."
"I understood from something you said, Joseph, that there was a reason for your leaving home suddenly; but I can't believe, my boy, you have done anything wrong."
"An' I haven't, aunt Dorcas; as true as I live, I haven't, though everybody, even Plums, thinks I'vebeen cuttin' a terrible swath! Of course, when that advertisement come out, I had to run away, else they'd carried me to jail—"
"To jail?" aunt Dorcas repeated, in horror. "What advertisement do you mean, Joseph?"
"The one that was in the paper 'bout payin' anybody who'd tell where I was."
"But who wanted to know where you were?"
"The lawyers, of course,—the fellers that advertised."
"Why did they want to find you?" aunt Dorcas asked, in perplexity.
"That's what knocks me silly, 'cause I don't know a thing about it, any more'n you do."
"Did you say the advertisement knocked you silly, Joseph?" and the little woman now looked thoroughly bewildered.
"Course it did, an' it would have paralysed 'most anybody that didn't know what they'd been about."
"Joseph, I'm afraid I don't understand you. It is a printed advertisement you are telling me about, isn't it?"
"Of course. I saw the first one in theHerald, an'—"
"I thought you said some one had dealt you a blow. Tell me what there was in the advertisement."
Joe repeated the words almost verbatim, and then told aunt Dorcas all the details of the flight, up to the moment they arrived at her home.
Regarding the threats made by the amateur detective he remained silent, because of the promise to Dan.
"There must be some terrible mistake about it all, Joseph. If you haven't committed a crime, and I feel certain you couldn't have done such a thing, then it is some other boy these lawyers are hunting for."
"There's no such good luck as that, aunt Dorcas. I don't believe there's another feller in town named Joseph Potter, who's been sellin' newspapers an' then went into the fruit business. You see, that's me to a dot, an' now Plums an' Dan are in the scrape because they helped me away. Just as likely as not Dan will come here to-morrow to ask you to take him in, too, an' I've made up my mind that the princess an' I have got to leave. We're goin' away about noon, aunt Dorcas, an' some time I'll be back to pay you for bein' so good to us."
The little woman looked at Joe for an instant, as if not understanding what he had said, and repeated:
"Going away?"
"Yes, aunt Dorcas, we've got to. Even if you was willin' we should stay, after what I've told you, I wouldn't agree to hang 'round, livin' on you, while there are two other fellers doin' the same thing."
Aunt Dorcas gazed at Joe steadily during several seconds, and then said, in a decided tone:
"I don't understand what you have tried to tell me; but it is certain, Joseph Potter, that you sha'n't leave my house while you are wounded so seriously."
"I ain't wounded, aunt Dorcas, an' I'm as well able to go this minute as I was when I came."
"It doesn't make any difference whether you are ornot. I sha'n't allow you to step your foot off of these premises until I know more about this affair. It is all a mistake from beginning to end; there can be no question of that, and I'll get at the bottom of it before we are very much older. Now go straight to bed, and mind what I told you about getting up in the morning."
Aunt Dorcas pulled the bandages apart sufficiently to admit of her kissing Joe on the lips, and then, putting the lamp in his hand, she led him to the stairway.
"You're an awful good woman, aunt Dorcas, an' some day I'll be able to do more than tell you so."
"Good night, my boy. Put this matter entirely out of your mind and go to sleep."
When Joe gained the chamber once more, it was as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart.
The confession which caused him so much anxiety had been made, and, instead of reproaching him for having come to her home, aunt Dorcas was the same kindly, Christianlike woman as when he first saw her.
Master Plummer, who had slept peacefully during all the adventures of the night, was disturbed by the light of the lamp, as it shone full in his face, and opening his eyes, he said, petulantly:
"What are you doin'—" He ceased speaking suddenly, as he saw his friend's bandaged face, and cried, in something very like alarm, "Wha—wha—what's happened to you?"
"There was a burglar in the house, an' I tackled him."
This was sufficient to bring Master Plummer to a sitting posture at once, and he demanded to be told all the particulars.
Joe began to comply with his friend's request, but was interrupted by the voice of aunt Dorcas from the room below.
"George! Don't you allow Joseph to say a single word to-night. He must be kept perfectly quiet, or no one can say what may be the result of his terrible wounds. Go to sleep immediately, both of you, and to-morrow morning I'll do the talking, if Joseph isn't strong enough."
"Go on, an' tell me all about it," Plums whispered. "She won't hear if we talk low."
"I'll do jest exactly as aunt Dorcas told me, even if she said I was to stand on my head for half an hour. A feller who wouldn't mind what she tells him ain't fit to live," and Joe got into bed, refusing to so much as speak when Plums plied him with questions.
Although he had made light of his wounds when talking to aunt Dorcas, they gave him no slight amount of pain, and this, together with his anxiety of mind, would seem to have been sufficient to keep his eyes open until morning; yet within a very short time he was sleeping as peacefully as if attorneys and burglars had never been known in this world.
Not until aunt Dorcas tapped gently on the door next morning did either of the boys awaken, and then Joe would have leaped out of bed immediately after answering her summons, but for the words:
"You're not to get up, Joseph, until I am positive you are out of danger."
Joe laughed aloud, in the gladness of his heart; such solicitude for his welfare was something he had never known before, and it seemed very sweet to him.
"Let me get up, aunt Dorcas, an' if I don't show you I'm all right, I'll come straight back to bed. There's no need of my layin' here, 'cause I'm sound as a nut."
The little woman hesitated, but finally gave the desired permission, and when Joe was in the kitchen once more, she insisted on removing the bandages to examine the wounds before even so much as allowing Master Plummer to partake of the breakfast already prepared.
To Joe and Plums, who were accustomed to such injuries, there appeared to be no reason why the bandages should be replaced, but aunt Dorcas, who could be as firm as she usually was gentle, when occasion required, insisted upon obedience, and once more Joe's face was enveloped in white cloth, until he presented a most comical appearance.
Then aunt Dorcas brought the princess down-stairs, and the little maid, not recognising her young guardian, positively refused to speak to him, but nestled close by the little woman's side until Joe, by dint of much coaxing and bribing, persuaded her to accept him as a new, if not an old, acquaintance.
When the meal was brought to an end, and before the breakfast dishes were cleared away, aunt Dorcas referred to the confession of the previous night, by saying:
"I've been thinking over what you told me, Joseph,and verily believe I should have awakened you before daylight this morning to ask a few questions, if you had not been in such a serious condition. You have no objection to my speaking about the matter before George?"
"Of course not, aunt Dorcas. He knows the whole thing as well as I do, except he believes I must have done something pretty tough."
"You should never think evil of any person, George, no matter how much appearances are against him."
"Well, if Joe didn't do anything, what are these lawyers offerin' to give a whole hundred dollars to catch one of us for?"
"That is what I hope to find out. There is something in connection with the matter which you boys have failed to explain, that will make it all very simple. Have either of you a copy of that advertisement?"
"No, aunt Dorcas, I wasn't achin' to lug such a thing as that 'round with me."
"Does it still appear in the papers?"
"It did yesterday mornin', 'cause Dan showed it to me, an' his name and Plums's were 'longside of mine."
"Then George must go to Weehawken and buy one of those papers."
Master Plummer looked up in dismay. A six-mile walk was to him such exercise as amounted almost to torture, and he said, petulantly:
"What good will it do for you to read it in the paper, when we can tell you every word?"
"Indeed, I don't know; but there must be something which you have failed to remember."
"Truly, there isn't, aunt Dorcas. I said over the words jest as they was printed, 'cause I'd be sure to remember a thing like that," Joe replied.
"I am set, when I make up my mind, as all old maids are," the little woman said, grimly, "and it seems to me absolutely necessary I should see that advertisement. Now, if George thinks he cannot walk to Weehawken, I must go myself."
"Indeed you mustn't, aunt Dorcas," and Joe spoke in a tone of authority, such as he had never before used. "There's nothin' to prevent my walkin' a dozen miles, if anything is to be gained by it, an' I'll start this very minute."
To such a proposition as this, aunt Dorcas positively refused to listen. She was certain Joe's wounds were of such serious nature that violent exercise might be fatal to him, and Master Plummer began to fear he would be forced to take that long walk when there was no real necessity for so doing, until a happy thought came to him, and he cried, animatedly:
"There's no need for anybody to go to Weehawken, 'cause Dan Fernald must have that paper he showed to Joe, in his pocket now."
"Where is he?" aunt Dorcas asked, quickly.
"Loafin' 'round here somewhere," Plums replied. "He counted on comin' here this afternoon to ask if you'd let him stop a spell, so's the lawyers couldn't catch him. He would have come last night, but Joe hired him to keep away."
Aunt Dorcas looked at Master Potter, inquiringly, and the latter said:
"I promised Dan I wouldn't speak a word to you about what he was goin' to do; but you'll know it all when he comes."
"Ididn't promise, so there's nothing to keep me from tellin'," Master Plummer cried, and, before his friend could prevent him, he had added, "Joe thought it was playin' too steep on you for Dan to come, when you had him, an' me, an' the princess, so he gave him seventy-five cents to keep away till three o'clock this afternoon. He counted on goin' off with the kid before then."
Aunt Dorcas did not appear to fully understand this explanation; but her impatience to see the advertisement was so great that she evidently could not wait to ask further concerning the matter.
"Can you find Dan Fernald now?" and she turned to Plums.
"Well, I guess it wouldn't take very long, 'cause he's somewhere close 'round."
"Go out this minute, George, and hunt for him."
"He'll count on stoppin', once he gets in here," Plums said, warningly.
"If the poor boy hasn't any home, and is hidin' here in the country for the same reason you are, I will give him a shelter so long as may be necessary."
"But you see, aunt Dorcas, you can't afford to jam this house full of boys what have got into a scrape," Joe cried. "I'm willin' to go away, so's to give Dan the chance; but I won't hang 'round here when there's a whole crowd."
"You will remain exactly where you are, Joseph Potter,until this matter is settled, so don't let me hear anything more of that kind. George, go directly and find your friend."
The boys did not dare oppose aunt Dorcas when she spoke in such a tone, and although Plums was not inclined to do even so much as go in search of Dan, when he might be resting quietly in the house, he obeyed.
The amateur detective was a boy who had but little faith in the honesty of his fellows, perhaps because he himself could not be trusted implicitly, and even though Joe Potter had solemnly promised he would say nothing in his disfavour, Dan entertained grave suspicions that the little woman was being prejudiced against him.
Therefore it was he had been loitering near the cottage since early morning, in the hope of gaining speech with Plums, and, when that young gentleman finally appeared, Master Fernald came out from his hiding-place amid a clump of bushes.
"What's up, now?" he cried, suspiciously.
"You're to come right in, an' see aunt Dorcas," Plums replied, with no little show of excitement.
"What's wrong? Has Joe been tellin' her not to take me in?"
"Look here, Dan, I may not like his threatenin' to leave 'cause you was comin', an' perhaps I said a good many hard things against him, when I talked with you yesterday; but I won't let anybody accuse him of lyin'. When Joe promised not to tell aunt Dorcas anything 'bout you, he meant to keep his word, an' he'll do it. Itold her he'd paid you seventy-five cents to stay away till this afternoon."
"What did you do that for? Are you turnin' sneak, Plums? 'Cause if you are, I'll break your jaw!"
"Perhaps you could do it; but I ain't so certain. Anyway, I told the story, 'cause Joe gave the advertisement business dead away last night, when he got thumped."
"Did he have a row?"
"He tackled a burglar, an' got the best of him, that's what Joe Potter did. A feller has got nerve what'll jump on to a man in the dark, an' don't you make any mistake."
"Was there a real burglar in the house?" Dan asked, incredulously.
"Course there was, an' Joe knocked him silly. The feller come in through the kitchen window, an'—"
"I'd made up my mind that 'most everybody knew I was out here on your case," the amateur detective said, as if speaking to himself, and Plums asked, in surprise:
"What's that got to do with it?"
"Nothin'; only it shows that some folks don't know it, else the burglar never'd dared to show his nose 'round here."
"'Cause he'd be afraid of you?"
"He wouldn't run the risk of my gettin' on his trail," Master Fernald replied, with dignity, and Plums could not repress a smile, for he had already begun to question his friend's detective ability.
Dan pretended not to see this evidence of incredulity,for it did not suit his purpose to have hard words with Plums now, when he was, as he believed, about to become his roommate.
"See here, you've got to come right up to the house, 'cause aunt Dorcas wants to see that paper," Master Plummer cried, as if but just reminded of his mission.
"What for?"
"She wants to read the advertisement."
"Oh, she does, eh? Well, if the old woman is willin' to promise that I can come here to live, I'll let her take the paper; that's the only way she'll get it."
Plums looked at his friend, as if believing he had not heard him aright.
"I mean what I say. I've got the chance now to have things my way, in spite of all Joe Potter may do. Go up an' tell her so; if she agrees, whistle, an' I'll be there before she can wink."
"Come with me, an' tell her yourself; I won't carry a message like that to aunt Dorcas," Plums replied, indignantly.
"All right; then she can go without the paper. It don't make any difference to me."
"She won't go without it, 'cause one of us will walk over to Weehawken, an' perhaps that would be cheaper for her than to feed you."
The amateur detective began to understand that he was not exactly in a position to drive a very hard bargain, although confident the possession of the paper would give him the home he desired. Therefore, insteadof attempting to force Plums into acting the part of messenger, he said, in a tone of condescension:
"If you're so perky 'bout it, I s'pose I can go with you, though I'd rather have the thing settled before I flash up."
Without replying, Plums turned, and began to retrace his steps, regretting, now, that he had spoken harshly to Joe concerning this fellow who was displaying such a mean spirit.
Master Fernald followed, with the air of one who is master of the situation, rehearsing in his mind what he should say when the little woman asked for the paper.
The matter was not arranged exactly as he intended it should be.
When they arrived at the cottage, Plums opened the door for him to enter, and Dan stepped inside with a jaunty air, unsuspicious of his companion's purpose.
Aunt Dorcas greeted the newcomer kindly; but, before Joe could speak, Plums, standing with his back against the door, to prevent the alleged detective from making his escape, cried, in a loud tone:
"Dan's got the paper, but says he won't give it up unless aunt Dorcas agrees that he shall live here till we get out of the scrape."
"Did you say that, Dan Fernald?" Joe asked, mildly. And the amateur detective replied, with a great show of firmness:
"That's what I told Plums; but I didn't mean to spring it on the old woman quite so sudden."
"Do you really mean it?"
"Course I do; I ain't such a fool as to let a chance like this go by me. I've got her where she can't help herself, now, an' we'll see who'll—"
Dan did not conclude the threat, for, regardless of aunt Dorcas's presence, Joe leaped from the table, and seized the pretended detective by the throat, forcing him back against the wall.
With a cry of fear, aunt Dorcas sprang to her feet, and would have gone to Dan's relief, but that Plums, moving more quickly than he had ever been known to move before, stepped directly in front of her, as he said, imploringly:
"Now, don't mix into this row, 'cause it wouldn't be fair. I knew pretty well what Joe would do, after I'd told him how Dan was countin' on gettin' pay for his paper, an' if he hadn't gone for the duffer, I'd had to do it myself."
"But I can't have any quarrelling in this house. Why, George, I'd rather never see a paper in my life than to have a right-down fight here!"
"There won't be any fight, aunt Dorcas," Plums said, with a smile, "'cause Joe will chew him all up before he can wink."
Brief as this conversation had been, before it came to an end there was no longer any employment for a peacemaker.
Joe had shaken the amateur detective until he was glad to give up the worthless newspaper, and, before aunt Dorcas could step past Plums, Master Fernald was literally thrown out of the kitchen door.
"I'll have every perliceman in New York City here before you're an hour older!" he screamed, shaking his fist in impotent wrath when he was at a safe distance.
"Go ahead, an' do what you can, an' when it's all over I'll finish servin' you out for talkin' as you did to aunt Dorcas!" Joe replied, after which he closed the door and resumed his seat at the table, as if nothing unusual had occurred.
"Now you can see the advertisement," Plums said, as he handed the paper to the little woman; but she hesitated about taking it.
"It seems as if we had robbed that poor boy," she said, in distress. "I do wish, Joseph, that you hadn't been so hasty."
"Now don't fret over the sneak, aunt Dorcas, 'cause he ain't worth it. Robbed him of nothin'! What was the paper good for to him? Yet he counted on makin' you do as he said for the sake of gettin' it."
"Last night I wanted him to come here, an' thought Joe was kind er hard when he wouldn't 'gree to it; but I'll take all that back now. Dan Fernald's the meanest kind of a sneak," and Master Plummer, realising he was indulging in too much exercise by thus allowing himself to be angry, sank into a chair, as if exhausted.
It is doubtful if aunt Dorcas would have taken the paper procured by such a questionable method, but for anxiety to read the advertisement which had made of Joe an exile. As a matter of fact, she did not take it until after considerable urging from both the boys, and, even then, only when Joe held it so near that it would have been necessary to close her eyes in order to prevent herself from seeing the printed lines.
JOE AND DAN DISAGREE.JOE AND DAN DISAGREE.
The princess, who had been frightened into silence by Joe's attack on Dan, crept into aunt Dorcas's lap, and, sitting directly opposite, the two boys watched the little woman's face intently as she read the fateful lines.
It seemed to them as if she had kept her eyes fixed upon that particular portion of the paper fully fifteen minutes before a look of relief came over her face, and she asked, suddenly:
"Did you tell me the princess's parents were dead?"
"Oh, no; I said she'd lost 'em," Joe replied.
"I understood you found her in the street."
"An' that's true. I was up by the Grand CentralDepot, lookin' for a job to carry baggage, when she came along, an' I waited there till pretty nigh dark without seem' anybody that belonged to her. We went to Plums's shanty, an' stayed all night. I was countin' on findin' her folks in the mornin', when Dan Fernald come up an' showed this advertisement. Then, of course, we had to skip, an' you know the rest, except that I'm goin' back as quick as ever I can, to hunt 'em up."
"Did any one near the station know you had found a little girl?" aunt Dorcas asked, now looking really cheerful.
"Nobody that I knew, except Plums," Joe replied; and added, an instant later, "Yes, there was. I'd forgot 'bout that feller who works in the fruit store pretty near thedepot. He saw me when I was luggin' her down to Plums's shanty, an' almost knocked us over."
Aunt Dorcas looked straight up at the ceiling for as many as two minutes, and then said, abruptly, as if having decided upon some course of action:
"George, I want you to go right over to Mr. McArthur's, and tell him that I must be carried to the ferry at once. Be sure you say 'at once' very emphatically, because I want him to understand that my business admits of no delay, otherwise he will be putting me off with all manner of excuses. Now go immediately; don't sit there looking at me," and aunt Dorcas spoke so sharply that both the boys were amazed.
The little woman, putting the princess down from her lap, began to clear away the breakfast dishes, but stopped before the work was well begun, as she said:
"Why do I spend my time on such trifling matters, when it is so necessary I get into the city at once? Haven't you gone yet, George?"
"Say, aunt Dorcas, how do you s'pose I know where Mr. McArthur lives?"
"You should know; he is our next-door neighbour; the first house on the right, just above here. Now don't loiter, George, for I am in a great hurry."
Master Plummer, looking thoroughly bewildered, went out of the house almost rapidly, and aunt Dorcas said to Joe:
"Of course I am depending upon you to take care of the princess, and when she goes to sleep this noon, perhaps you can put these soiled dishes into the sink. I haven't the time now, because I must change my clothes."
"Are you goin' into the city, to try to help us out of the scrape?"
"Of course I am, and it can be done. I knew there was some mistake about it all when you told me the story; but I haven't time to talk with you now, Joseph. You will find food enough in the pantry, in case I am not back by dinner-time, and see to it that the princess doesn't go hungry. I am depending upon your keeping things in proper order while I'm away."
Before the astonished boy could ask any further questions, aunt Dorcas had actually run up the stairs, and the princess immediately raised a wail of sorrow at being separated from her particular friend, thereby forcing Joe to devote all his attention to her for the time being.
Before aunt Dorcas had completed her preparations for the journey, Joe succeeded in inducing the little maid to walk out-of-doors with him, and they were but a short distance from the house, down the lane, when Plums returned with Mr. McArthur.
The worthy farmer, alarmed by a peremptory message from a neighbour who had never before been known to give an order save in the form of the mildest request, had harnessed his horse with all possible despatch, and was looking seriously disturbed in mind when he drove up to where Joe was standing.
"I reckon by your looks you're the boy what tackled the burglar last night? Well, you showed clean grit, an' no mistake. Can you tell me what the matter is with aunt Dorcas? This 'ere friend of yours seems tobe all mixed up; don't appear to know much of anything."
"She wants to go to the city, sir, an' to get there quick."
"There must be some powerful reason behind it all for Dorcas Milford to send any sich message as this boy brought. I allow he mistook her meanin', so to speak, eh?"
"I didn't mistook anything," Plums cried, indignantly. "She said to tell you she must be carried to the ferry at once, very emphatically, an' she didn't want you to be puttin' her off with any excuses."
"Is that so, sonny?" the farmer asked of Joe.
"I don't think she said it exactly that way, an' Plums wasn't told you shouldn't make any excuses; but aunt Dorcas wants to go in a hurry, I know that much."
"Anybody dead, eh?"
"No, sir."
"The burglar didn't get away with anything, eh?"
"No, sir."
Before the farmer could ask any more questions, aunt Dorcas herself appeared on the scene.
"I'm glad you came quickly, Mr. McArthur, because I'm in a great hurry," she said, nervously. "Don't stop to drive up to the house, but turn around right here."
The farmer looked at her for a moment, and then, mildly urging the patient steed on, he drove in a circle as wide as the lane would permit, saying, meanwhile:
"It seems to me, Dorcas Milford, I'd send some word by telegraph, rather than get into sich a pucker. I neverknowed you to be so kinder flighty as you're appearin' now."
"I shall be a good deal worse, Mr. McArthur, if you don't start very soon," aunt Dorcas replied, in a matter-of-fact tone, which alarmed her neighbour more than a threat from some other person would have done.
"Take good care of the princess; don't get crumbs on the floor, an' be sure to eat all you need," aunt Dorcas cried, as the vehicle was whirled almost rapidly around the corner of the lane into the highway. And Plums shouted:
"When'll you be back?"
"I can't say; be good boys, an' I'll come as soon as ever it's possible."
Then the little woman had disappeared from view, and Master Plummer, turning to his friend, asked, seriously:
"Do you s'pose there's anything gone wrong with aunt Dorcas's head? It seems to me she don't act as if she was jest straight."
"Now don't be foolish, Plums. If everybody in this world was as straight as she is, us boys would have a snap."
"But she seems to think she can fix all this, else why did she rush off so?"
"If anybody can straighten things out, she's the one, though I don't see how it's goin' to be done. Let's go into the house, an' do the work. I b'lieve I can wash the dishes without breakin' any of 'em."
"What's the use to rush 'round like this? I'm alltired out goin' over to McArthur's, an' there's no knowin' what'll happen if I can't get a chance to rest."
"Now, don't be so foolish, Plums. You haven't done enough to hurt a kitten, since we come here, an' all I'll ask of you is to take care of the princess while I'm fixin' up."
With this understanding, Master Plummer agreed to his friend's proposal, and during the next half hour Joe laboured faithfully at the housework, while Plums amused the princess, when it was possible for him to do so without too great an exertion.
Then it was that the child, who had been looking out of the window for a moment, clapped her tiny hands, and screamed, as she pointed towards the orchard, thereby causing Master Plummer to ascertain the cause of the sudden outburst.
"There goes Dan Fernald!" he exclaimed.
"Where?"
"Sneakin' up through the orchard. It looks like he was goin' to the barn."
"He's on some of his detective sprees, I s'pose. That feller can make an awful fool of hisself without tryin' very hard," and Joe would have gone back to his work but that Plums prevented him, by saying:
"He ain't sneakin' 'round there for any good. It would be different if he thought we was in the garden. I wouldn't be 'fraid to bet he was where he could see aunt Dorcas, when she went away, an' is countin' on makin' it hot for us."
"'COME ON QUICK, PLUMS! DAN'S SET THE BARN A-FIRE.'""'COME ON QUICK, PLUMS! DAN'S SET THE BARN A-FIRE.'"
"It would be a sore job for him if he did. Look out for the princess, an' I'll snoop 'round to see what he's doin'."
Joe went through the shed door, which led out of the garden, but could see no one. If the amateur detective had not gone inside the barn, he must be loitering at the further end, where he was screened from view of any one on either side the building.
"If I go 'round there, he'll think it's because I'm 'fraid he'll make trouble for us, an' that's what would please him," Joe said to himself.
Then, passing through the shed, he looked out of the door on the opposite side.
No one could be seen from this point, and he returned to the garden just as Dan came out from around the corner of the barn, running at full speed towards a grove, situated a mile or more from the main road.
"What have you been doin' 'round here?" Joe shouted, angrily, and the amateur detective halted long enough to say:
"You think you're mighty smart, Joe Potter, but you'll find there are some folks that can give you points. What I've done to you this time ain't a marker 'longside of what it'll be when I try my hand again."
Then Master Fernald resumed his flight, much to Joe's surprise, and halted not until he was within the friendly shelter of the trees.
"Now, I wonder what he meant by all that talk? It seems like he was more of a fool this mornin' than I ever knew him to be before."
At that moment Joe saw, or fancied he saw, a tiny curl of blue vapour rising from the corner of the barn, and, as he stood gazing in that direction, uncertain whether his eyes might not have deceived him, another puff of smoke, and yet another, arose slowly in the air, telling unmistakably of what Master Fernald had done.
Joe darted into the house, and seized the water-pail, as he cried, excitedly:
"Come on quick, Plums! Dan's set the barn a-fire! Get anything that you can carry water in, and hump yourself lively!"
"But what'll I do with the princess?" Master Plummer asked, helplessly.
"She'll have to take care of herself," Joe cried, as he ran at full speed towards the smoke, which was now rising in small clouds, giving token of flames which might soon reduce aunt Dorcas's little home to ashes.
It was really the princess who saved aunt Dorcas's home from destruction. Had she not seen Dan Fernald, as he made his way through the orchard, the barn would most likely have been in a blaze before Joe or Plums were aware of the fact.
Thanks to her warning, Joe saw the smoke before the fire gathered headway, and when he arrived on the scene, the flames had but just fastened upon the side of the barn.
Plums, aroused to something like activity by the knowledge of danger, followed Joe with remarkable promptness, and the amount of water thus brought by both was sufficient to extinguish what, a few moments later, would have been a conflagration.
Not until he had pulled the charred sticks from beneath the end of the barn, and assured himself every spark had been drowned out, did Joe speak, and then it was to relieve his mind by making threats against the would-be incendiary.
"It's all well enough for a woman like aunt Dorcas to tell about doin' good to them what tries to hurt you,for she couldn't so much as put up her hands. If you keep on forgivin' duffers like Dan Fernald, you're bound to be in such scrapes as this all the time. What he needed was a sound thumpin', when he begun talkin' so rough to aunt Dorcas; then he wouldn't dared to try a game of this kind. When I get hold of him again, I'll make up for lost time."
"I'll bet he's somewhere 'round here, watchin' out, an' when he sees this game didn't work, he'll try somethin' else."
"Not much he won't. I know pretty near where he is, an' I'm goin' to make him—"
At this moment the voice of the princess could be heard in vehement protest against thus being left alone, and Joe was forced to defer his punishment of the amateur detective until a more convenient season.
"Stay here, Plums, an' watch for Dan, while I go and get the princess. He went among them trees over there, so's to have a reserved seat while the house was burnin'; but he's got to come out some time."
"Don't stay away too long, for I ain't certain as I'd dare to tackle him alone,—you see I'm too fat to be much of a fighter."
A certain quaver in Plums's voice told that he was afraid to be alone even while Dan was a long distance away, and Joe thought it extremely comical that any one should fear the amateur detective.
The princess did not object to taking a walk, fortunately for Master Plummer's peace of mind, and, in a short time, the three were patrolling the grounds,Joe carrying the little maid whenever she insisted upon such service.
At noonday, a certain amount of food was brought out on the lawn in front of the house, and, even while the boys ate, they continued their self-imposed duty of guarding the premises.
Then the princess wanted to sleep, and Joe sat by her side, while Plums kept watch from the windows, or walked rapidly around the buildings.
So far as Dan was concerned, they might as well have amused themselves according to their own fancies, for he never showed himself after having sought refuge in the grove.
When the excitement consequent upon the attempt to destroy aunt Dorcas's home had subsided in a measure, the boys began to speculate upon the reasons for the little woman's hurried departure, but could arrive at no satisfactory conclusion as to what it might be she hoped to accomplish.
"Of course she could do a pile of beggin' off for a feller, 'cause anybody would have to listen to her; but when the lawyers are willin' to pay a hundred dollars for either one of us three, I don't believe she can do very much by talkin'," Joe said, reflectively, as he summed up the situation according to his belief. "I expect she'll be terribly disappointed when we see her again, 'cause she counts on straightenin' things out in a jiffy."
"Do you s'pose Dan Fernald will hang 'round here till he gets a chance to do her some mischief?"
"As soon as aunt Dorcas gets back I'm goin' toskirmish through them trees, an', if he's there, it won't take more'n three minutes to make him sick of this part of the country."
The boys were yet discussing what should be done to Dan to prevent him from attempting to work more mischief, when a covered carriage, drawn by two horses, whose harness was resplendent with silver, and driven by a coachman in livery, turned from the highway into the lane leading to the cottage.
"Hi, Joe!" Plums cried, excitedly. "See the swells what are comin' to visit aunt Dorcas!"
"They want to ask the way somewhere, an' seein's we couldn't even tell 'em where the post-office is, I guess we'd better keep kind er shady. Now the princess is awake! We'll have to show ourselves, 'cause she's bound to make a noise," Joe added, as the little maid clambered upon his knee.
"I'm goin'—Say, aunt Dorcas herself is in that funny rig!"
"What are you givin' me?" and Joe leaned forward eagerly, in order to have a better view.
"It's her, dead sure! There! Look at that! What do you think, now?"
It was, indeed, as Master Plummer had said.
Aunt Dorcas was getting out of the carriage, assisted by a gentleman who spoke to the driver in such a manner as one would expect from the owner of the equipage, and immediately behind the little woman could be seen a younger lady.
"I wonder if aunt Dorcas thinks them swells wouldhelp two chumps like us out of our scrape!" Joe exclaimed. "If she does, her head ain't—"
"Papa! Papa!" the princess screamed in delight, as she pounded on the window with her tiny fists, and instantly the gentleman left aunt Dorcas to alight from the vehicle as best she could, while he ran at full speed up the sharp ascent to the house.
"I'll be blowed, if aunt Dorcas hasn't found the princess's folks!" Joe cried, as an expression of bewilderment came over his face. "That dude is comin' in, an' we'd best leave."
Followed by Plums, Joe ran out of the kitchen door, just as the gentleman came through the main entrance of the cottage, and the boys heard a wild scream of delight from the princess.
Master Potter threw himself, face downward, on the grass near the garden, and Plums seated himself by his comrade's side, asking again and again how it was aunt Dorcas had so readily found the princess's parents.
"When we first come here, I didn't think she 'mounted to very much, 'cause she was so little an' kind er dried up. Then, when she struck out so heavy prayin', I begun to think there might be more to her than I'd counted on. But now,—why, Joe, little as she is, aunt Dorcas has done more'n all the cops in town put together. When we told her the princess had lost her folks, what does she do but go right out and hunt 'em up, an' don't look as though she'd turned a hair doin' it."
Joe made no reply.
"Didn't she hump herself, when we showed her thatadvertisement? She was jest like a terrier after a rat, an' bossed me 'round till, as true's you live, I run more'n half the way over to Mr. McArthur's. Then how she jumped on him when he begun to ask questions! If I only had somebody like aunt Dorcas to look out for me, I wouldn't have to work so hard."
Joe remained silent; but Plums was so intent on singing aunt Dorcas's praises, that he failed to pay any especial attention to the fact that his comrade had not spoken since they knew the princess's parents had arrived.
"Joseph! George!"
"Here we are, aunt Dorcas," Plums replied.
"Come into the house this very minute, both of you."
"Come on, Joe; I s'pose we've got to go. The dude wants to thank us for lookin' after the princess."
"You can go; I sha'n't," Joe said, with difficulty, as if he were choking, and Plums gazed at him in surprise.
"Joseph! George! Where are you?"
"Out here by the garden, aunt Dorcas. Joe won't come in."
"Go on by yourself, an' leave me alone," Master Potter said, angrily, still keeping his face hidden from view.
"It can't do any hurt to have one look at the dudes, an' seein's how there's nothin' else goin' on, I guess I'll take the show in."
Then Master Plummer sauntered leisurely towards the cottage, and Joe, believing himself alone, began to sob as if his heart were breaking.
He failed to hear aunt Dorcas as she came swiftly out through the shed door and kneeled by his side. Not until she spoke did he think there was a witness to his grief.