an
overtax yourself."

Perhaps never before in his life had Joe Potter been cautioned against
undue exertion, and he fully appreciated the little woman's
solicitousness.

"If I was any kind of a feller, I'd turn to an' tell her the whole
story, but I don't dare to, for fear she'd believe I'd done somethin'
awful wicked, an' turn me out of the house. Of course it's got to come
some day, but it'll be tough,--mighty tough."

There was but little room for bitter thoughts in Joe's mind on this
June morning when it seemed good to be alive, and before he had
traversed half a mile he put far from him all forebodings, thinking only
of what he would do to add to the comfort of aunt Dorcas, and the
happiness of the princess.

There was in his mind a well-defined idea that it was his duty to search
for the child's parents, but he wholly failed to realise the mental
anguish which must be theirs while in ignorance of the baby's
whereabouts, and believed there was no especial reason why he should
inconvenience himself to find them.

"If she wasn't all right, it would be different," he said, arguing with
himself. "After we get her into aunt Dorcas's home, she couldn't be
fixed any better if she was living with the President, so of course her
folks won't fuss so awfully much about her."

He enjoyed this journey, because every step was bringing him nearer to
the princess, whose devoted slave he was, and the tramp of three miles
came to an end before he was conscious of having walked one-third of the
distance.

He had arrived within sight of Mrs. Weber's home, and was hoping to
catch a glimpse of the princess's curly head in the window, when some
one stepped deliberately in front of him, barring his passage.

"Hello, Dan, ain't you gone back to the city yet?" he cried, in
surprise, as he recognised the amateur detective.

"I started last night, an' if I'd got there, you an' Plums would be in
jail by this time; but I wasn't such a chump as to run right over
without findin' out if things had been goin' wrong. You think I don't
'mount to anything as a detective, eh? Well, jest look at this, an' see
what would have happened if I'd gone there same's you'd done!"

As he ceased speaking Dan handed his friend a copy of an evening paper,
folded in such a manner that a certain advertisement stood out
prominently.

Joe's face paled, as he read the following lines:

One hundred dollars will be paid for information concerning