?--I found 'im a settin' up in th' machine over there by my place,
chipper's ye please. I takes 'im into my house an' Mary'--that's th'
missus--she gives 'im supper and puts 'im t' sleep. An' we thinks mebbe
somebody'd come along askin' fer 'im. An' then this mornin' I calls th'
New Haven police, an' they tole me about you folks, an' me and Shaver
comes right over."

This was entirely plausible and his hearers, The Hopper noted with relief,
accepted it at face value.

"How dear of you!" cried Muriel. "Won't you have this chair, Mr. Stevens!"

"Most remarkable!" exclaimed Wilton. "Some scoundrelly tramp picked up the
car and finding there was a baby inside left it at the roadside like the
brute he was!"

Billie had addressed himself promptly to the Christmas tree, to his very
own Christmas tree that was laden with gifts that had been assembled by
the family for his delectation. Efforts of Grandfather Wilton to extract
from the child some account of the man who had run away with him were
unavailing. Billie was busy, very busy, indeed. After much patient effort
he stopped sorting the animals in a bright new Noah's Ark to point his
finger at The Hopper and remark:--

"'Ims nice mans; 'ims let Bil-lee play wif 'ims watch!"

As Billie had broken the watch his acknowledgment of The Hopper's courtesy
in letting him play with it brought a grin to The Hopper's face.

Now that Billie had been returned and his absence satisfactorily accounted
for, the two connoisseurs showed signs of renewing their quarrel.
Responsive to a demand from Billie, The Hopper got down on the floor to
assist in the proper mating of Noah's animals. Billie's father was
scrutinizing him fixedly and The Hopper wondered whether Muriel's handsome
young husband had recognized him as the person who had vanished through
the window of the Talbot home bearing the plum-blossom vase. The thought
was disquieting; but feigning deep interest in the Ark he listened
attentively to a violent tirade upon which the senior Talbot was launched.

"My God!" he cried bitterly, planting himself before Wilton in a
belligerent attitude, "every infernal thing that can happen to a man
happened to me yesterday. It wasn't enough that you robbed me and tried to
murder me--yes, you did, sir!--but when I was in the city I was robbed in
the subway by a pickpocket. A thief took my bill-book containing
invaluable data I had just received from my agent in China giving me a
clue to porce