“You hear!” came from Frank. “I have the proof!”
“All right!” panted the desperate engineer. “I can live. I’ll take care of my nevvy and niece. If I’m out of work, I can look arter them all the better.”
Frank started. So that was what Hicks would do. He would force himself on the lame boy and the blind girl by right of relationship. He would take the money they made on the street, and he would spend it for drink.
A sudden idea came to Merry.
“Look here, Mr. Hicks,” he said, “on one condition I will agree not to make a charge against you.”
“What’s that?”
“You are to let little Jack and his sister quite alone. You are not even to claim them as relations, or try to see them.”
“Think I’ll do that?”
“If you don’t, I’ll swear you tried to kill me to-day, and I have the proof. You were seen by Mr. Hall and by the fireman on 33. You will lose your job on this road. You will be discharged in disgrace, and it will not be easy for you to get a job anywhere else. When they ask you why you left the last place, you’ll have to lie. Perhaps they will know why you left. You may be blacklisted.”
Old Joe’s face turned almost green, while his lips seemed dry and parched. He stood before Frank Merriwell, half cowering, half defiant, like a tiger driven at bay.