d
when he wouldn't 'gree to it; but I'll take all that back now. Dan
Fernald's the meanest kind of a sneak," and Master Plummer, realising he
was indulging in too much exercise by thus allowing himself to be angry,
sank into a chair, as if exhausted.

It is doubtful if aunt Dorcas would have taken the paper procured by
such a questionable method, but for anxiety to read the advertisement
which had made of Joe an exile. As a matter of fact, she did not take it
until after considerable urging from both the boys, and, even then, only
when Joe held it so near that it would have been necessary to close her
eyes in order to prevent herself from seeing the printed lines.

[Illustration: JOE AND DAN DISAGREE.]

The princess, who had been frightened into silence by Joe's attack on
Dan, crept into aunt Dorcas's lap, and, sitting directly opposite, the
two boys watched the little woman's face intently as she read the
fateful lines.

It seemed to them as if she had kept her eyes fixed upon that particular
portion of the paper fully fifteen minutes before a look of relief came
over her face, and she asked, suddenly:

"Did you tell me the princess's parents were dead?"

"Oh, no; I said she'd lost 'em," Joe replied.

"I understood you found her in the street."

"An' that's true. I was up by the Grand Central _De_pot, lookin' for a
job to carry baggage, when she came along, an' I waited there till
pretty nigh dark without seem' anybody that belonged to her. We went to
Plums's shanty, an' stayed all night. I was countin' on findin' her
folks in the mornin', when Dan Fernald come up an' showed this
advertisement. Then, of course, we had to skip, an' you know the rest,
except that I'm goin' back as quick as ever I can, to hunt 'em up."

"Did any one near the station know you had found a little girl?" aunt
Dorcas asked, now looking really cheerful.

"Nobody that I knew, except Plums," Joe replied; and added, an instant
later, "Yes, there was. I'd forgot 'bout that feller who works in the
fruit store pretty near the _de_pot. He saw me when I was luggin' her
down to Plums's shanty, an' almost knocked us over."

Aunt Dorcas looked straight up at the ceiling for as many as two
minutes, and then said, abruptly, as if having decided upon some course
of action:

"George, I want you to go right over to Mr. McArthur's, and tell him
that I must be carried to the ferry at once. Be sure you say 'at once'
very emphatically, because I wan