marked; and all
pressed close to watch the result.

Sue had turned very white--so white that the policeman put his hand on
her shoulder, thinking she was going to faint.

"She is innocent," said in his heart of hearts this experienced
functionary; but he further added, "It will go hard for her to prove
it--poor lass!"

Aloud he said:

"I've got to take you to the lock-up, my girl; for you must say how you
'appened to come by that 'ere little trinket. The quieter you come, and
the less you talk, the easier it 'ull go wid you."

"I have nothink to say," answered Sue. "I can't--can't see it at all.
But I'll go wid yer," she added. She did not asseverate any more, nor
even say she was innocent. She walked away by the policeman's side, the
crowd still following, and the owner of the pawnshop--having recovered
his property, and given his address to the policeman--returned to his
place of business.

Sue walked on, feeling stunned; her thought just now was how very much
poor Mary Jones would miss her penny pies.

CHAPTER XVI.

PICKLES.

The lock-up to which the policeman wanted to convey Sue was at some
little distance. With his hand on her shoulder, they walked along, the
crowd still following. They turned down more than one by-street, and
chose all the short cuts that Constable Z could remember. One of these
happened to be a very narrow passage, and a place of decidedly ill
repute. The policeman, however, still holding his terrified charge,
walked down it, and the crowd followed after. In the very middle of this
passage--for it was little more--they were met by a mob even greater
than themselves. These people were shouting, vociferating, waving
frantic hands, and all pointing upwards. The policeman raised his eyes
and saw that the cause of this uproar was a house on fire. It was a very
tall, narrow house, and all the top of it was completely enveloped in
flames. From one window, from which escape seemed impossible--for the
flames almost surrounded it--a man leaned out, imploring some one to
save him. The height from the ground was too great for him to jump down,
and no fire-escape was yet in sight.

Policeman Z was as kind-hearted a man as ever lived. In the excitement
of such a moment he absolutely forgot Sue. He rushed into the crowd,
scattering them right and left, and sent those who had not absolutely
lost their heads flying for the fire-escape and the engines. They all
arrived soon after, and the ma