cer. Is he your boy?"

"Oh, my!" said Gerhardt, "Ach Gott!" He actually wrung his
hands in distress.

"Want to see him?" asked the Sergeant.

"Yes, yes," said the father.

"Take him back, Fred," said the other to the old watchman in
charge, "and let him see the boy."

When Gerhardt stood in the back room, and Sebastian was brought out
all marked and tousled, he broke down and began to cry. No word could
cross his lips because of his emotion.

"Don't cry, pop," said Sebastian bravely. "I couldn't help it. It's
all right. I'll be out in the morning."

Gerhardt only shook with his grief.

"Don't cry," continued Sebastian, doing his very best to restrain
his own tears. "I'll be all right. What's the use of crying?"

"I know, I know," said the gray-headed parent brokenly, "but I
can't help it. It is my fault that I should let you do that."

"No, no, it isn't," said Sebastian. "You couldn't help it. Does
mother know anything about it?"

"Yes, she knows," he returned. "Jennie and George just came up
where I was and told me. I didn't know anything about it until just
now," and he began to cry again.

"Well, don't you feel badly," went on Bass, the finest part of his
nature coming to the surface. "I'll be all right. Just you go back to
work now, and don't worry. I'll be all right."

"How did you hurt your eye?" asked the father, looking at him with
red eyes.

"Oh, I had a little wrestling match with the man who nabbed me,"
said the boy, smiling bravely. "I thought I could get away."

"You shouldn't do that, Sebastian," said the father. "It may go
harder with you on that account. When does your case come up?"

"In the morning, they told me," said Bass. "Nine o'clock."

Gerhardt stayed with his son for some time, and discussed the
question of bail, fine, and the dire possibility of a jail sentence
without arriving at any definite conclusion. Finally he was persuaded
by Bass to go away, but the departure was the occasion for another
outburst of feeling; he was led away shaking and broken with
emotion.

"It's pretty tough," said Bass to himself as he was led back to his
cell. He was thinking solely of his father. "I wonder what ma will
think."

The thought of this touched him tenderly. "I wish I'd knocked the
dub over the first crack," he said. "What a fool I was not to get
away."

CHAPTER VII

Gerhardt was in despair; he did not know any one to whom he could
appeal between the hours of two and