king like he was just about to say, 'Can any little
boy in the Sunday school answer that?' He was freezing on to a grip
that weighed like a dozen gold bricks, and a swell girl--a regular
peach, with a Fifth Avenue cut--was sitting on a wooden chair. An old
black woman was fixing some coffee and beans on a table. The light
they had come from a lantern hung on a nail. I went and stood in the
door, and they looked at me, and I said:

"'Mr. Wahrfield, you are my prisoner. I hope, for the lady's sake,
you will take the matter sensibly. You know why I want you.'

"'Who are you?' says the old gent.

"'O'Day,' says I, 'of the Columbia Detective Agency. And now, sir,
let me give you a piece of good advice. You go back and take your
medicine like a man. Hand 'em back the boodle; and maybe they'll let
you off light. Go back easy, and I'll put in a word for you. I'll
give you five minutes to decide.' I pulled out my watch and waited.

"Then the young lady chipped in. She was one of the genuine
high-steppers. You could tell by the way her clothes fit and the
style she had that Fifth Avenue was made for her.

"'Come inside,' she says. 'Don't stand in the door and disturb the
whole street with that suit of clothes. Now, what is it you want?'

"'Three minutes gone,' I said. 'I'll tell you again while the other
two tick off.

"'You'll admit being the president of the Republic, won't you?'

"'I am,' says he.

"'Well, then,' says I, 'it ought to be plain to you. Wanted, in New
York, J. Churchill Wahrfield, president of the Republic Insurance
Company.

"'Also the funds belonging to said company, now in that grip, in the
unlawful possession of said J. Churchill Wahrfield.'

"'Oh-h-h-h!' says the young lady, as if she was thinking, 'you want
to take us back to New York?'

"'To take Mr. Wahrfield. There's no charge against you, miss.
There'll be no objection, of course, to your returning with your
father.'

"Of a sudden the girl gave a tiny scream and grabbed the old boy
around the neck. 'Oh, father, father!' she says, kind of contralto,
'can this be true? Have you taken money that is not yours? Speak,
father!' It made you shiver to hear the tremolo stop she put on her
voice.

"The old boy looked pretty bughouse when she first grappled him, but
she went on, whispering in his ear and patting his off shoulder till
he stood still, but sweating a little.

"She got him to one side and they talked together a minute, and then
he