andpa, in which Bonny Angel
was guide, was now added a search for these unknown "folks" to whom she
must give the little one up. That was all. It was very simple and very
hard to do, till one thought came to cheer her courage. By the time she
found these unknown people she would, also, have found Captain Simon
Beck! She had been supremely happy with him, always, and she would be
happy again; yet how dear, how dear this little comrade of a day had
become!

Glory's decisions never wavered. Once made, she acted upon them without
hesitation. She now turned to the policeman, who had written some
further items in his book and was now putting it into his pocket, and
said, "You needn't bother, Mister P'liceman, to find 'em. I'll take
Bonny Angel home my own self."

"Hey? What? Do know where she belongs, after all? You been fooling me
with your talk?" he asked quickly, and now with face becoming very stern
indeed. He was sadly used to dealing with deceit but hated to find it in
one so young as Goober Glory.

"No, sir. I never. But I will. I'd rather an' I must--I must! Oh, I
can't let her go to that terr'ble station house where thievers an' bad
folks go, an' she so white an' pure an' little an' sweet! I can't. She
mustn't. She shan't! So there."

At her own enumeration of Bonny Angel's charms, the girl's heart
thrilled afresh with love and admiration, and, catching her again into
her close embrace, she fell to rapturously kissing the small face that
was now "sweet" in truth, from the sticky drops the child had licked.

"Nonsense! If you don't know where she belongs, nor have any money to
spend in finding out, the station's the only place. It's the first
place, too, she'll be looked for, and she'll be well cared for till
claimed. You can go along with her, maybe, since you appear to be lost,
too," remarked the officer. "But I'm wasting time. You stop right here
by Apple Kate's stand, while I step yonder and telephone headquarters. A
man'll come over next boat and take you both back."

The chance of going "back" to the city whose very paving stones now
seemed dear to her did, for an instant, stagger Glory's decision. But
only for an instant. Bonny Angel was still the guide. It was Bonny Angel
who had brought them to this further shore where, beyond this great,
noisy ferry-house were those green terraces and waving trees. It was
here, separated by the wide river from all familiar scenes, that her
search must go on.

A cust