“What’s his last name?”
“I dunno. Alwus heard him called der Buster.”
“That’s the man I want to find!” exclaimed Snodgrass. “He told me to hunt him up if I ever came this way.”
The boy looked incredulous.
“Why, youse ain’t like anny of his gang,” he declared. “Anny of ’em could eat youse.”
“Perhaps so; perhaps not. But I want to find Bill, and this quarter is yours if you take me to him.”
The urchin reflected. He was in mortal fear of Buster Bill and “der gang,” but he wanted that quarter. It was possible that this stranger told the truth. It might be he knew Bill, and Bill would be glad to see him. Did he dare to chance it for the quarter?
Snodgrass kept still, knowing it might be a mistake to seem too anxious.
“Annyhow,” said the boy, “Bill an’ his gang will knock the stuffin’s out of you if you’re a stranger. Dey don’t like to be bothered when dey’re havin’ a little settin’.”
So the boy knew where Buster Bill was to be found, and Snodgrass tightened his hold.