We had to exhibit the infant and establish our
identity before he would let us proceed with the huge basket. It was
about time! Firemen bearing a length of pipe dashed by us and entered
the cleaning establishment. The fire, it appeared, was in the restaurant
next door and threatened to invade Felicie's premises.

My two friends were wringing their hands as they dashed towards us, and
upon their heads their hats were awry.

"Paul is all right!" I assured them. "But they took us for robbers."

Frances picked her infant out of the basket, hysterically. She had tried
to follow me and had wrestled with a sinewy policeman, who had defeated
her. We reached Mrs. Milliken's, where Paul was deposited on his
mother's bed, soundly sleeping, and the basket, which it had taxed the
good woman's strength and mine to carry upstairs, was placed on the
floor. After this, Frieda threw her fat arms around my neck and called
me a hero. Frances would have followed suit but, being forestalled, had
to content herself with embracing the cleaning lady who, puffing, soon
disengaged herself and fanned herself with a newspaper.

"The brigands," she declared, "will soak everything with water, but I
have saved most of my customers' things."

She finally went off to spend the night at Eulalie's sister's, leaving
the plunder in our care. On the next morning, when Frances went off to
work, she found that the fire had invaded a part of the shop, that the
plate-glass window was broken and chaos reigned. Felicie was there and
deplored the fact that, until insurance matters were adjusted and
repairs made, all business would have to be suspended.

The poor girl came home to throw herself on her knees beside little
Paul. Then, she bethought herself of me and knocked at my door,
hurriedly. I opened it. My face, unfortunately, was covered with lather.

"I--I'm out of work. It--it will be several weeks before Felicie can
open the shop again. Oh! What shall I do?"

"My dear child," I said, "you will, for the time being, return to little
Paul and let me finish scraping my face. You will also please remember
that you have some good friends. As soon as I am shaved, we will hold a
session and form ourselves into a Committee of Ways and Means. In the
meanwhile remember about the little sparrow falling to the ground."

"I--I'm afraid a cat often gets him," she said sadly, and went back to
her room.

CHAPTER XI

GORDON VACILLATES

It behooved me to