young man seized the mate on the other side; the team was
stopped and surrounded by a crowd directly. Then I saw it was Mary Mason
who was the heroine of the drama. She withdrew from the throng,
straightened her flat hat above her rosy face, and walked off with her
habitual indifferent air.

"She's got good grit, that girl," said I to myself, but I thought no
more about her till I came home on a certain evening in March, and found
her comfortably ensconced on one side of our nursery fire, while my
mother from the other side cast suspicious glances at her over her
spectacles. "Miss Mason," had supper with us, and then I retired to my
big leather-covered spring rocker in the parlor to await developments.
That chair needs to be approached with deference, for it has a
precocious trick of either tilting in the air the feet of any unwary
occupant, or of tipping him out on the floor. I know its disposition,
can preserve my proper balance, and have never been flung either forward
or backward--except once each way.

Presently Belle followed me, "loaded up," as the boys say.

"It seems as if I was never to get free from the responsibility of that
child."

"What's up now?"

"Down town to-day I met the chief of police----"

"Great chum of yours!"

"Yes, indeed. We've had considerable conversation at different times
about some of my cases. To-day he said, 'You're interested in that young
girl, Mary Mason, aint you, Mrs. Gemmell?' 'Yes,' said I, though my
heart sank, and I didn't see why he couldn't have addressed any other
one of the committee; 'anything wrong with her?' 'Not yet,' said he;
'but there will be pretty soon if somebody doesn't look after her.
There's a scheme on foot to take her off to Chicago--to sell a book--so
they say.' 'Good gracious! Nobody would dare!' 'Wouldn't they, though?'
said he. 'There's a well-known drummer in this town at the bottom of
it. He's aware the girl has no friends, and in Chicago she don't even
know a soul. It's too bad, for I've had my eye on the young woman all
winter, and she's kept perfectly straight.'

"You may think, Dave, that I ought to be hardened to horrors by this
time, but I became fairly dazed as the chief of police went on to say,
'I can't move in the matter. We never can touch these things until the
mischief is done; but if you like to make inquiries, you'll find out
that I've been telling you the truth.'

"When he left me, I turned to come home, not knowing what to d