The Princess and Joe Potter Part 31

"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 advertis.e.m.e.nt 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 Central _De_pot, 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 advertis.e.m.e.nt. 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.

"n.o.body 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 the _de_pot. 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 sc.r.a.pe?"

"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 to be 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 never knowed 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?"