d him in my office,' answered the station-master, and to the
office Coote went accordingly.

Now, if he had acted sensibly in the matter he would have spared Jimmy a
good deal of unpleasantness, and Jimmy's father and mother much anxiety.
But Coote was fond of what he called a 'joke,' and instead of telling
the boy that he was going to take him home and give him a bed and some
supper, he opened the office-door, put his great red face into the room,
and stared hard at Jimmy. Jimmy was already so much upset that very
little was required to frighten him still more. When he saw the face,
with a policeman's helmet above it, he drew back farther against the
wall.

'None o' your nonsense now, you just come along with me!' cried Coote,
speaking in a very deep voice, and looking very fierce.

'I--I don't want to come,' answered Jimmy.

'Never mind what you want,' said Coote, 'you just come along with me.'

'Where--where to?' asked Jimmy.

'Ah, you'll see where to,' was the answer. 'Come along now. No
nonsense.'

Very unwillingly Jimmy accompanied Coote along the platform and out into
the street. It was quite dark and very cold, as the boy trotted along by
the policeman's side, looking up timidly into his red face.

'Nice sort of boy you are and no mistake,' said Coote, 'travelling over
the company's line without a ticket. Do you know what's done to them as
travels without a ticket?'

'What?' faltered Jimmy.

'Ah, you wait a few minutes, and you'll see fast enough,' said Coote.

What with his policeman's uniform, his red cheeks, his great size, Jimmy
felt more and more afraid, and he really believed that he was going to
be locked up because he had travelled in the wrong train. Instead of
that the man was thinking what he should do to make the boy more
comfortable. He naturally supposed that Jimmy's friends would reward
him, and as it seemed likely that Mrs. Coote might not have anything
especially tempting for supper he determined to buy something on the way
home. After walking along several quiet streets they came to one which
was much busier. There were brilliant lights in the shop windows, and in
front of one of the brightest Coote stopped.

CHAPTER VIII

JIMMY RUNS AWAY

It was a ham and beef shop, and in Jimmy's cold and hungry condition the
meat pies and sausages and hams in the window looked very tempting.

'You just wait here a few moments,' said Coote, as he came to a
standstill, 'and mind it's