The Princess and Joe Potter

"If she insists on keeping the whole dollar, I shall never look upon her as an honest woman."

On this evening aunt Dorcas read two chapters, instead of one, and her prayer was nearly twice as long as on the night previous.

Then, as before, she accompanied the boys up-stairs, to make certain everything in the chamber was in proper order, although it was already scrupulously clean, and when, after having bidden them "good night," they heard her light footsteps as she descended the stairs, Joe said, with an air of perplexity:

"I'm dead certain we don't do the right thing when she's prayin'."

"I didn't make any noise," Plums replied, indignantly.

"Course you didn't, else I'd thumped your head. I'd like to see the feller that would kick up a row, or even so much as laugh while aunt Dorcas was prayin'. What I mean is, that we ought'er do somethin', instead of settin' up there like a couple of chumps, an' she on her knees. Do you s'pose it would be right for us to kneel down when she does?"

"I don't know. It couldn't do much harm, I s'pose, an' if you think it would please her any better, why, I'm willin' to stay on my knees half a day."

"We'll try it to-morrer night, and see how she takes it. Say, I've found out what them towels are for. Aunt Dorcas had one side of her plate, an' she wiped her mouth on it."

"Perhaps she didn't have a handkerchief."

"Now, look here, Plums, you don't s'pose that a woman what's so slick an' clean as aunt Dorcas is would go 'round without a handkerchief, do you?"

"It seems as though she must, if she used the towel; but that ain't botherin' me half so much jest now as Dan Fernald is. I reckon he's pretty near wild by this time, an' it would be a terrible thing if the perlice should come an' drag us out of this place, wouldn't it?"

"I ain't afraid he'll kick up a row. That detective business is all in his eye. He don't 'mount to any more'n Sim Jepson does, when it comes to law matters."

"But he might do something for all that."

"If he does, it can't be helped. We'll know, whatever happens to us, that princess has got a good home."

"Of course, there's somethin' in that; but, all the same, I'd rather know I was goin' to stay in a good one," and Master Plummer crept between the lavender-scented sheets with an expression of most intense satisfaction upon his face.

Day had but just dawned, when Joe Potter awakened after a long and restful sleep.

"Come, turn out, Plums," he said, as he shook his friend roughly. "I'm goin' down-stairs to build a fire for aunt Dorcas before she gets up, an' you'd better come along. If we're goin' to eat her food an' sleep in her bed, it stands us in hand to try to pay our way."

Master Plummer promised to get up in "two minutes" but the fire had been built, and breakfast was nearly ready, when he made his appearance.

Aunt Dorcas had made no remark, when she came down-stairs and found Joe performing such of the household duties as he was familiar with; but he knew, by the expression on her face, that she was pleased, and this was sufficient reward for having left the rest-inviting bed at such an early hour.

According to the arrangements made on the previous evening, Joe was to set out on his three-mile journey immediately after breakfast, and, as soon as the meal was brought to a close, aunt Dorcas made up a reasonably large parcel of seed-cakes and doughnuts, intended, as she explained, to serve as lunch for the travellers.

"But I won't be hungry, aunt Dorcas, 'cause I'm about as full as I can be, now, an' the princess couldn't eat all you've got there if she tried for a week."

"I dare say you won't be sorry for taking it," and Joe made no further protest.

Aunt Dorcas actually kissed him, much to his embarrassment, as he left the house, and called after him, while he was yet in the lane:

"Don't try to make the child walk too far, Joseph, and be careful not to carry her very long at a time. You've got plenty of food, even if you shouldn't get back until nightfall, and it's better to go slowly than overtax yourself."

Perhaps never before in his life had Joe Potter been cautioned against undue exertion, and he fully appreciated the little woman's solicitousness.

"If I was any kind of a feller, I'd turn to an' tell her the whole story, but I don't dare to, for fear she'd believe I'd done somethin' awful wicked, an' turn me out of the house. Of course it's got to come some day, but it'll be tough, – mighty tough."

There was but little room for bitter thoughts in Joe's mind on this June morning when it seemed good to be alive, and before he had traversed half a mile he put far from him all forebodings, thinking only of what he would do to add to the comfort of aunt Dorcas, and the happiness of the princess.

There was in his mind a well-defined idea that it was his duty to search for the child's parents, but he wholly failed to realise the mental anguish which must be theirs while in ignorance of the baby's whereabouts, and believed there was no especial reason why he should inconvenience himself to find them.

"If she wasn't all right, it would be different," he said, arguing with himself. "After we get her into aunt Dorcas's home, she couldn't be fixed any better if she was living with the President, so of course her folks won't fuss so awfully much about her."

He enjoyed this journey, because every step was bringing him nearer to the princess, whose devoted slave he was, and the tramp of three miles came to an end before he was conscious of having walked one-third of the distance.

He had arrived within sight of Mrs. Weber's home, and was hoping to catch a glimpse of the princess's curly head in the window, when some one stepped deliberately in front of him, barring his passage.

"Hello, Dan, ain't you gone back to the city yet?" he cried, in surprise, as he recognised the amateur detective.

"I started last night, an' if I'd got there, you an' Plums would be in jail by this time; but I wasn't such a chump as to run right over without findin' out if things had been goin' wrong. You think I don't 'mount to anything as a detective, eh? Well, jest look at this, an' see what would have happened if I'd gone there same's you'd done!"

As he ceased speaking Dan handed his friend a copy of an evening paper, folded in such a manner that a certain advertisement stood out prominently.

Joe's face paled, as he read the following lines:

One hundred dollars will be paid for information concerning the whereabouts of a fruit vendor known as Joseph Potter, and two newsboys, one of whom answers to the nickname of "Plums," and the other known as Dan Fernald. The above reward will be paid to any one who will secure for the undersigned an interview with either of the boys named.

Address Cushman & Morton, Attorneys at Law, 47-1/2 Pine Street, New York.

As before, he failed to see immediately below this an advertisement requesting information concerning a little girl who had strayed from the Grand Central Depot, and offering one thousand dollars reward for the same.

"You see I got myself into a scrape tryin' to help you through and how's it turned out! You wouldn't so much as give me a bite to eat when I was starvin', even when you had plenty of it without costin' a cent. Now, if I'm caught, I've got to go to jail, jest the same's if I'd done whatever you did."

"But I haven't done anything crooked, Dan. I can't so much as guess what these lawyers want me for."

"Oh, you tell that to the marines! Fellers what get so swell they can't sell papers for a living, but splurge out into a fruit store, with a clerk, an' all them things, have to get money somehow. I don't say as you've robbed a bank, 'cause I don't see how you could get into one; but it must be something pretty nigh as bad, else who'd offer a hundred dollars jest to get hold of you? I ain't so certain but I shall snoop in that cash, an' take the chances of goin' to jail."

"I don't s'pose it's any use for me to keep on tellin' you I've been straight ever since I started out sellin' papers," Joe said, sadly. "It's true all the same, though, an' you can't find a feller what'll say I ever did him out of one cent."

"That's all in my eye, 'cause here's the advertisement what proves different. All I want to know is, how am I goin' to get out of the scrape?"

"I wish I could tell you."

"If you did, I s'pose you'd say, 'Get over to the city, an' let them do what they want to with you; but don't hang 'round me,' same's you did yesterday."

"Dan, I never believed the lawyers would know you had come away with us, 'cause it didn't seem reasonable, an' it's terrible to have you countin' on livin' with aunt Dorcas, when she is feedin' two of us already."

"What's the reason you couldn't step out an' let me have the snap for a spell? I ain't been stealin' money! I wasn't advertised for, till I took up your case! No, that don't suit you; but I must be the one to starve, an' sneak 'round anywhere I can, while you're bein' filled up with custard pie, an' sleepin' on a bed so soft that Plums thought it was feathers. You make me tired, you do!"

"See here, Dan, I'm willing to do anything you say, now that you're really in the scrape with us. Go to aunt Dorcas an' tell her I couldn't come back. Perhaps she'll take you in my place."

"Perhaps she will, an' perhaps she won't. I s'pose you've been coddlin' the old woman up so she thinks there's nobody in the world but Joe Potter; an' I wouldn't want to bet a great deal of money that you haven't been tellin' her I'm a chump, an' all that kind of stuff, so she wouldn't look at me if I should go there."

"I never told her so much as your name – "

"Where are you goin'?" Dan interrupted, suspiciously.

"To get the princess; aunt Dorcas said I might bring her there."

"So! You felt awful bad about lettin' your aunt Dorcas feed three when I was 'round starvin', yet you can make it three by luggin' in your bloomin' princess."

"Havin' a little baby in the house is different from a big boy like you, Dan. There's no use for us to stand here chinnin' about it. I'm ready to say I'm sorry for the way I talked to you yesterday, an' I'll 'gree never to go back to aunt Dorcas's. Now, what more can I do?"

"But I want you to go back," Dan replied, angrily.

"What for?"

"I'm no chump, Joe Potter, an' I know what kind of a stew would be served up to me if I went there alone. I want you to go an' introduce me to the family."

"It's a dead sure thing, Dan, we can't all live there. You know Plums won't work any more'n he has to, an' we're jest spongin' right off of a poor woman what ain't got enough for herself."

"It ain't any worse for me than it is for you."

Joe was in a pitiable frame of mind.

Believing that Dan was being searched for by the attorneys simply because of what he had done in the affair, Joe considered the amateur detective had such a claim upon him as could not be resisted; yet, at the same time, he was determined not to add a fourth member to aunt Dorcas's family.

"Dan, you go an' tell her all I said, – tell her the whole truth if you want to, – an' most likely she'll let you stay; but I can't ask her to open up a reg'lar 'sylum for us fellers. Course I'm bound to do anything you say, seein's you got into this trouble through me; but I won't 'gree to sponge a livin' off the best woman that ever lived, when there's three others doin' the same thing."

"Look here, you've got to go back with me."

Joe was in deepest distress, and after a pause of several seconds he said, slowly:

"If you lay right down on my goin' to her house with you, I'll do it; but I won't stay there a single minute. The princess can be left where she is till I get back."

Now was the time when Dan Fernald could exert his authority with effect, and he said, sharply:

"If you go back without the kid, the old woman'll lay it to me. Now this is what you've got to do. Take your bloomin' princess, an' act jest the same as if you hadn't met me. I'll wait till your aunt Dorcas gets through fussin' over the kid, an' then I'll flash up. Tell her I'm one of your friends, an' we'll see how she takes it."

"But I don't want to do that, Dan," Joe cried, in distress.

"You must, or I'll have to go to jail, an' when it comes to anything like that, the whole boilin' of us are in it. Go ahead, an' get the kid."

Joe was no longer able, because of his sorrow and perplexity, to contend against the amateur detective, and, without making any further reply, he walked slowly towards Mrs. Weber's home, his heart heavier even than on that morning when he first read the advertisement which seemingly branded him as a criminal.

CHAPTER XI.

A BRIBE

It appeared very much as if Dan suspected Joe of treachery even in this matter of reclaiming the princess, for he followed him to Mrs. Weber's home, and there stood within a few paces of the door, where he might overhear all that was said.

Now that the amateur detective was thoroughly alarmed concerning his own safety, he had ceased his grotesquely mysterious movements, and behaved very much like an ordinary boy.

Not until Joe had knocked twice at the door was his summons answered, and then the old German lady stood before him, with the princess in her arms.

He had hoped the child would recognise him, but was not prepared for such a hearty greeting as he received.

The princess, looking less dainty than when he first saw her, because of a coarse calico frock which the careful Mrs. Weber had put on, in the place of her more expensive garments, leaned forward in the old lady's arms, stretching out both tiny hands to Joe, as she twittered and chirped, after her own peculiar manner, what was evidently a greeting to the boy who had acted a guardian's part to the best of his ability.

"She really knows me!" Joe cried, in an ecstasy of joy, forgetting for a moment his own sorrow, and, as the child nestled her face against his neck, he kissed the curly brown hair again and again.

Mrs. Weber welcomed the princess's guardian in her own language, which was as unintelligible to Master Potter as the baby's cooing, and only served to arouse the amateur detective's suspicions.

"What's that old woman sayin'?" Dan asked, sharply. "You don't want to try any funny games with me, 'cause I won't stand it."

Joe did not hear the unkind words; his heart had been made so glad by the princess's joy at seeing him, that he would hardly have been conscious of the fact had the officers of the law come forward at that moment to make him a prisoner.

Mrs. Weber, observing Dan for the first time, addressed him in a kindly tone, which only served to deepen the frown on the amateur detective's face.

"I dunno what you're drivin' at, missis; but you won't pull wool over my eyes by jabberin' away in that lingo."

It so chanced that Joe heard this remark, and, turning quickly towards the boy who, he believed, held him in his power, he said, sharply:

"Now, don't make a bigger fool of yourself than you can help, Dan Fernald! Mrs. Weber can't talk our way, an' is only tryin' to treat you decent."

"I'm keepin' my eyes open, all the same, cause I don't count on gettin' left the same as I was yesterday."

Accepting the invitation given by gestures, Joe entered the house with the princess in his arms, and followed by the boy who considered himself his master.

Now a serious difficulty presented itself.

Mrs. Weber's grandson was not at home, and it would be necessary to dispense with the services of an interpreter.

"I don't know how I'm going to fix it," Joe said, speaking half to himself, and Master Fernald believed he was addressed.

"What is it you can't fix?"

"I want to get back some of the money I paid Mrs. Weber; but how am I goin' to tell her I'll carry the princess away for good?"

"She must know what you say, of course. Who ever heard of a woman what didn't understand how to talk?"

"But she's a German, you know."

"I can't help that. If you tell her right up an' down what you mean, she's bound to know it, 'less she's a dummy."

There was little in the way of advice to be gained from the alleged detective, and Joe began a pantomime which he intended should convey the idea.

He pointed to the princess's clothes, then out of the window; put on his hat, and, with the child in his arms, walked towards the door.

Then he opened the parcel aunt Dorcas had given him, displaying the food, and pointed up the street in the direction from which he had just come.

After a time, Mrs. Weber appeared to understand something of what he was trying to convey, and, with a volley of words which sounded very much like a protest, took the princess from him.

The child screamed violently, clinging to Joe with all her little strength, and the boy was seriously disturbed; but the smile on Mrs. Weber's face told that she did not consider the outburst as anything very serious.

"What's she goin' to do with the kid?" Dan asked, as the German woman disappeared in an adjoining room.

"I s'pose she's gone to put on the princess's other clothes, 'cause it seemed like as if she understood what I'd been tellin' her."

"It would be a precious good job if she didn't come back. That kid has got you into a heap of trouble, Joe Potter, an' it'll grow worse instead of better so long as you stick to her."

Joe made no reply. It is doubtful if he heard the words, for the princess was crying so loudly he feared she might do herself an injury.

Five minutes later, Mrs. Weber reëntered the room, bringing the princess clad in her own garments, and the little maid ran with outstretched arms to Joe, pressing her tear-stained face against his cheek in such a manner as went straight to his heart.

After a prolonged caress, Joe said to Dan, as if answering the remark which the amateur detective had made a few moments previous:

"No matter how much trouble she might get me into, I'd stick to this little thing as long as I lived, if she needed me."

"Course you've got the right to be jest as big a fool as you like; it ain't any of my business, so long's I don't have to starve to death on her account. What about the money you was goin' to try to get from the old woman?"

"I'll have to let that go, 'cause I can't make her understand what I mean. Will you carry the cakes?"

Master Fernald seized the parcel with avidity, and straightway began devouring its contents.

With the princess in his arms, Joe arose, put on his hat, and held out his hand in token of adieu.

Mrs. Weber looked at him in surprise an instant, and then, after saying something in German, hastened out of the room, returning a moment later with several silver coins in her hand.

Joe hesitated, and then took from the outstretched palm fifty cents, motioning that she keep the remainder.

The old lady shook her head, energetically, and literally forced him to take all the coins, which amounted in value to ninety cents.

"You've only kept a dime," he said, in protest, "an' it isn't enough to pay for takin' care of the princess two days."

Mrs. Weber smiled, kindly, patted Joe on the head, kissed the princess affectionately, and by opening the door signified that she would not accept further payment for her services.

"I'll come back some day an' square up for what you've done," Joe cried, as he stepped down on to the sidewalk, and then he remembered that if matters were arranged as seemed necessary, he would soon be in prison. "Anyway, I'll come back as soon as I can," he added to himself, and kissing the tiny hand which the princess had wilfully placed over his mouth, he set forward, resolutely, on the journey, followed by the boy who claimed the right to dictate as to his future movements.

During half an hour Joe walked steadily on towards aunt Dorcas's peaceful home, listening to the princess's childish prattle, and banishing all forebodings from his mind with the thought that the baby trusted and loved him.

Then Dan, who had been walking a few paces in the rear, came to his side, appearing a trifle more friendly than when they first met.

"At this rate you'll get back in time for dinner."

"It seems as though I ought to, but it's kind of hard work carryin' the princess. Aunt Dorcas gave me the cakes so's we wouldn't need to hurry on the road, an' – where are they?"

"Do you mean that little bunch of cakes you gave me?"

"Little bunch! Why, there was a stack of 'em!"

"It don't make any difference how many there was, 'cause I ate the whole lot."

Joe looked at the amateur detective as if about to make an angry reply; but checked himself, and Dan said, defiantly:

"The time's gone by when you can put on airs with me, Joe Potter. I ain't goin' to starve to death when there's anything 'round I can eat."

"No, you'd rather let a little baby like this one go hungry. I wouldn't have touched the cakes any sooner'n I'd cut my finger off, 'cause they was for her."

"You make me tired with your bloomin' princess. She's stuffed jest about as full as she can hold, an' I'm the same as starved."

Joe did not so much as look at the selfish boy, but walked more rapidly than before until fully one-half the distance from Mrs. Weber's to aunt Dorcas's had been traversed.

Light though the burden was, his arms ached from long carrying the child, and it seemed absolutely necessary to come to a halt.

The princess was more than willing to take advantage of the opportunity to search for flowers or wintergreen plums by the roadside, and Joe stretched himself out at full length on the cool grass, keeping jealous watch all the while over the happy little girl.

Dan seated himself near by, having once more assumed an air of injured innocence, and Master Potter could not longer delay having an understanding with this boy, who was bent on claiming even more than his right.

"So you're bound on goin' straight to aunt Dorcas's with me?" he said, after a brief pause.

"It's got to be that, or jail."

"I don't see why; there are other places 'round here besides hers."

"Yes; but I ain't sure of gettin' into 'em for nothin'. When you strike a house where Plums is so contented, it must be a pretty soft snap."

"It ain't certain you can get in there, an' it's dead sure you're drivin' the princess an' me away."

"I ain't doin' anything of the kind. You're gettin' on your ear 'cause I want to be treated decent, that's the size of it."

"You know very well we can't ask that poor little woman to take care of four, an' somebody must go, if you're comin'. Now, of course, I must take the princess with me, an' I don't want to leave the very minute I get there. Will you hang off a couple of days, an' give me a chance to find out how I can fix things?"

"I'd starve to death in two days, an' you know it."

"That's all foolishness; you've got plenty of money in your pocket that was borrowed from the fellers to help Plums an' me through."

"I haven't so much that I can go sportin' 'round the country like a swell, have I?"

"You've got enough to keep you from starvin' for a week."

"All the same, I'm goin' to live with you an' Plums," Dan replied, doggedly, and Joe remained silent while one might have counted twenty, after which he said, with the air of a boy who has suddenly decided upon a course of action:

"Mis' Weber gave me back ninety cents. Now I'll turn over seventy-five of it if you agree not to show up at aunt Dorcas's until three o'clock to-morrow afternoon."

"What kind of a game are you tryin' to play on me now?" Master Fernald asked, suspiciously.

"It ain't any game. I'm hirin' you to stay away, so I can stop there till that time, an' then I'll leave."

"Yes, an' you're goin' to tell her a whole lot of stuff 'bout me, so's she won't let me stop there."

"I'll promise never to speak your name except to tell her you come as far's this with us, an' was up behind the barn twice. Now with seventy-five cents you can live a good deal more swell somewhere else than at aunt Dorcas's, an' at three o'clock to-morrow afternoon you may do what you please."

"How do I know you'll keep your promise?"

"'Cause neither you nor anybody else can say I ever went back on my word, an' fix it any way you're a mind to, it's the best trade you can make. I'm certain she wouldn't take in four of us, an' the only show you've got is for me to leave."