you see, missus; no more and no less," replied Nick, speaking
boldly, for he deemed that to be the surest way to her favor.

"I see very little; nothing whatever that betokens the strength you are
said to possess."

"You can't always tell what's inside of a crib before you crack it," was
the reply; and the woman smiled.

"Where do you come from?" she asked.

"I ain't giving out my past history, lady, if it's all the same to you,"
said Nick coolly; and she frowned. Evidently she did not like this
answer.

"What errand brought you to this part of the country, and finally
induced you to make your camp in the woods out there?" she asked,
smiling again.

"I suppose you want the plain truth, lady?"

"Yes," she replied, in an easy tone; "that is, if you put any value on
your life."

"Well, the truth is this: I have heard, here and there, a good deal
about a certain person who is known as Hobo Harry, the Beggar King. I
have heard that he has gathered around him a lot of my kind, and I
reckoned that maybe he'd give me a show to be one of them. That's what I
came here for, and that's why I camped out there in the woods."

"And who are the three men who came with you?"

"Nobody came with me. I came alone."

"There were three other men there when Handsome found you? No?"

"Yes."

"Who are they?"

"Handsome can tell you that as well, or better, than I. He did the
questioning."

"Why do you want to join the forces of Hobo Harry?"

"Because I'm tired of going it alone, and because I have heard that he
takes good care of his followers."

"What can you do?"

"I can do anything that I am told to, once I have acknowledged a chief."

"That is a good answer. It covers a good deal of ground. Now, who told
you about Hobo Harry?"

"I have heard about him in a good many places."

"Who told you where to find him?"

"A gun friend of mine, who croaked down in Indianapolis, a month ago or
more. Jimmy the Sly he was called." (It was true that there had been a
Jimmy the Sly, who was one of the many of the band who had been arrested
and imprisoned; and after his release he had gone to Indianapolis, and
died there, in a hospital. Nick knew this from his interview with the
railroad president, and therefore he was not afraid to make use of the
name.)

"So you knew Jimmy the Sly, did you?"

"Yes."

"Describe him to me."

"He was tall and slender, with a pock-marked face, and the longest
fingers I ever saw; and he had a