"I ought'er know as much by this time, an' if I didn't, the princess wouldn't be left with her. That poor little swell hasn't got anybody to look out for her but me, till we find her folks, an' I ain't takin' chances of her comin' to harm. Here's the dollar, an' you tell your granny I'll be back by the day after to-morrer if all the cops in New York are close after me." The little German boy looked up in perplexity, for he failed to understand the greater portion of what Joe had said, and the latter was in too great a hurry to heed the fact. A shrill whistle from the outside told that detective Dan was growing impatient, and Joe started towards the door, after seeing the old lady take the money; but halted an instant later. "Is there something more you want granny to do?" the German boy asked, and Joe was at a loss for a reply. "I was thinkin', perhaps,--if, course, it wouldn't make any difference to your granny,--say, I'm goin' to sneak in an' kiss the princess!" The boy nodded carelessly, but Joe made no effort to carry his threat into execution. Again the amateur detective whistled, and Master Potter stepped towards the bedroom door, but halted before gaining it. "Perhaps her folks wouldn't want a duffer like me doin' anything of that kind," he muttered, and straightway walked out of the house as rapidly as his legs would carry him, much as if he feared to remain longer lest the temptation should be too great to resist. "It begun to look as if you was goin' to stay all night," Dan said, petulantly, when Joe appeared. "There's more'n a hundred people walked past here, an' I'll bet some of 'em was huntin' for us; we've got to get out of this place mighty lively, if you don't want to be chucked into jail." Plums looked so thoroughly terrified that Joe at once understood the amateur detective had been frightening him by picturing improbable dangers, and said, almost sharply: "There's no use makin' this thing any worse than it really is." "That can't be done, Joe Potter. You're in an awful scrape, an' don't seem to know it." "I wish I'd stood right up like a man till I'd found the princess's folks, an' then gone to jail, if the lawyers are so set on puttin' me there." "What's comin' over you now?" "I'm thinkin' of that poor little swell we've brought out here." "She's a good deal better off than if you let her tag along behind." "That may be; but I ought'er found her folks instead of runnin' away." "Now, see here, Joe Potter, you're makin' a fool of yourself, an' all about a kid what's goin' to have a soft snap while she stays here. Of course if you want to be put into jail for two or three years, I won't say another word, an' you can rush right straight back to the city." "Don't stand here talkin'!" Plums cried, in an agony of apprehension. "We've got to leave, else nobody knows what may happen!"