, and tell her to
keep the door locked, and not to answer it for nobody. I tell you, Kate,
if he touches Billy, I will peach on him as sure as I am a living
sinner. I am dead sore. He has got all my money, and I am in all wrong
with the police, but I will help him anyway I can, so long as he keeps
his hands off Billy. Now, if you or your friends have got any way of
getting word with him, you just let him know it.

_Nan_.

XXXII

_Dear Kate_:

Billy is all right. I got him planted in a place where Jim would never
dare look for him. I was in an awful fix. Every time I turned around it
seemed I saw some one from Jim, and I got so scared I couldn't do my
work, because every time I come home, I thought perhaps they might have
copped him. Did you ever know Tom Cassidy, a young cop at our Station?
His father was captain there for years and years and years, a great big
good-looking Irishman. Well, young Tom is just as good looking as his
dad, and he has been awful nice to me. He is the one that took my part
before the captain, when the captain tried to give me the third degree.
He walks down to the corner with me every once in awhile, and he likes
Billy. The other day he walked home with me and Billy, and I was all
in, as I just had a rotten note from Jim. He was so kinda nice, I
started a crying in the street, and he said, "You poor little thing, let
me go up with you and tell me all about it." First I thought it might be
a plant, then I thought I didn't care, for I had to talk to somebody who
had some sense, and it would not be peaching on Jim, for I really didn't
know where he was. So he came up to the room, and I made some coffee to
give me time to get my feelings collected so I could talk, and he sat
down and played with Billy. Then I told him all about it, how I didn't
know where Jim was, but that he kept a touching me all the time, till I
didn't have a cent left, and now he was threatening to take the kid. He
was awful nice, and patted my hand with his great big hand, and said,
"You poor little red head, it has sure made you peaked looking. Your
eyes are bigger than your face. What you going to do?" "That's just it,"
I said, "I don't know what to do. I've got to work, I can't set around
and watch Billy all the time. I just don't know _what_ to do. If I
could only get him away somewhere where they couldn't find him, I'd tell
the whole bunch to go to Hell."

"Say, kid," he said, "I got an idea. Why don't yo