“Why not?”
“Tom Fitzpatrick told me not to—and that’s all I know!” The words came with a fierce snap.
“But he’s been here—he didn’t say anything! Why—?”
“I tell you, I don’t know! He said to keep away from that doctor, and not to blab. I s’pose he’s a crook, and the police have got on to it.”
He had been talking to the floor; now he glanced up.
The little white face, all the eager joy gone out of it; the big, startled eyes that looked past his brother, into the long, helpless years ahead;—it overpowered Blue’s self-command. He put his hands to his face and broke into sobs.
“Why, Blue, don’t! Don’t cry!” pleaded Doodles. “See! I’m not crying! If that doctor isn’t a nice man, God wouldn’t have let him cure me anyway, so it is better to know it before I began. Don’t cry, please don’t! I’m not going to give up! I am going to keep on!”
CHAPTER XXV
IN FAIR HARBOR
The morning newspapers announced the arrest of Emmanuel de Vendôme, alias Henry Cochin, who was wanted by another state to answer various charges, and the policeman’s warning against the epauleted stranger was at once made clear. The Stickneys’ thankfulness lessened the sting of disappointment, and their gratitude to Thomas Fitzpatrick grew great.