ithout my tryin' to make more trouble for him."

"Do you mean to say you're willin' he should burn the shed an' come
pretty nigh killin' you?"

"Course I ain't willin'; but now it's been done there's no need for me
to try to put him in jail, 'cause it won't do any good, an' I'd feel bad
to think any feller I knew was up to Sing Sing doin' time."

It was evident that but few of the sidewalk merchants agreed with Seth
in the view he took of the matter.

The majority of them believed Jip should be pursued until captured, and
then punished to the full extent of the law.

Some were inclined to the opinion that Sam Barney might possibly succeed
in running down the culprit, but these credulous ones were the most
intimate friends of the amateur detective, and by far the larger number
of the throng thought a formal complaint should be lodged with the
officers of the law against the boy who had so nearly caused the death
of Seth and Dan.

Sam Barney was literally astounded at the forgiving spirit which the
would-be fireman displayed, and this first burst of astonishment soon
gave way to something like anger.

He said in what was intended to be a fine tone of irony:

"Well, you're too good, Seth Bartlett, that's what's the matter with
you! Here's Dan been tellin' that you were jest about the same as dead
when Ninety-four's men got in there. The snuggest house in town burned,
an' you thrown out of a home! After all that you've got the nerve to
say there's no reason why we should catch Jip Collins! I ain't certain
as you've got anythin' to do with it. S'posen the cops find out what was
done--an' most likely Ninety-four's driver that you claim is a chum of
yours will tell 'em--how are you goin' to help it if they try to find
him?"

"I can't, an' that's a fact; but I haven't got to start the thing
myself."

"What would you do if you should meet him right here this very minute?"

"I'm 'fraid I'd thump him."

"'Fraid!" Sam repeated sarcastically. "Why, you ought'er pound his head
off, an' then have him jugged."

"You see, it's jest like this, fellers," Seth said in an apologetic tone
as he looked around at his friends and acquaintances, understanding full
well that they disapproved of his leniency. "It's jest like this: If a
feller gets to fightin' on the street he's likely to be pulled in for
it, an' then perhaps he has to go down to the Island for ten days or so.
Now you all know I'm tryin' to work into the Department,