ow far he might be under the ban of that authority.

"Now you go," said Johnny, when at last he paused, breathless from all
his exertions, and with one final shake released his captive; "go und
tell de gran'fader I fin' vat is de matter out, und I gifs de vorst
vips as I could gif to de vorst poy in all de down, und so I safes him
some droubles. But if he dinks to gif you some more of de same veesic,
I dink it not too moosh. For dat gran'fader, I says notings to de
police for dis time; bud if you says one leetle more vord apout de
young lady or dat goot poy Jim, or makes afrait any more dese
schillens, den you see some dings to make you shtare. Go, go!"

And Theodore stood not upon the order of his going.

The pleasure of the day with our friends had been much marred for me by
the recollection of the shorn head of my forlorn little _protegee_ and
the repulsive appearance she now presented; and I was more than ever
anxious to remove her from the father and mother, who, I thought, had
treated her so unjustly and cruelly; and I could not reconcile myself
to the idea that this afforded no grounds for my taking them away.

But that difficulty was presently to be solved in the most satisfactory
way to those who had at heart the welfare of the crippled children.

Mother had occasion to send Jim upon an errand shortly after his return
from school that afternoon; and he found it convenient, according to
his usual custom, to return by a roundabout way, and stop at the
peanut-stand. The excitement in Johnny's small establishment had hardly
subsided when he made his appearance, and it was little wonder that he
tarried long on his errand; so long, indeed, that mother rather lost
patience, and said that she should forbid his stopping at his favorite
haunt, except by express permission, if this occurred again. But his
want of punctuality was quite forgiven when he came in with the tidings
which he bore.

As usual, however, when any question arose of Theodore's want of
principle, or any instance of it was shown, there was something in
Jim's manner which excited the attention of those of the household
under whose immediate observation he most came; and again Milly was
surprised to see how wistful, uneasy, and absolutely nervous he was,
appearing, as he often had before, as if there were something on his
mind which he wished to tell her, but which he could not muster courage
to confess.

CHAPTER XIII.

MATTY IS PROVIDED FO