It was quite as easy to get out of the hotel with the boy as it had been to get in without him. She used the stairs this time, however. It was a matter of five minutes for Josie to release the room she had engaged at the ladylike hotel, jump in a taxi with Philip and make for the station. There was a train just ready to pull out, which she caught by the greatest good luck. It was a local, but its destination was Louisville. Josie would have taken it no matter what its destination, as she was sure it was a wise plan to leave Cheatham and Fitchet at any cost, and she hoped they would do some worrying.
Once they were settled in the train the little boy poured forth his soul to his liberator.
“I wasn’t doin’ nothin’ but jes’ sleepin’ when all of a sudden somebody jes’ picked me up an’ carried me off. I kinder thought it was Sister at first an’ I didn’t wake up all the way. I jes’ went on dreamin’, kinder half awake, but bye’m’bye I woke up ’cause somehow it didn’t smell like Sister but like powder. I was so scairt by that time I didn’t know what to do, so I kicked an’ hollered an’ clawed at that ol’ woman till she spanked me good.
“We were in a automobile an’ I don’t know where we was goin’ or where we’ve been but she made me put on my clothes an’ my overcoat, that she had brung along with me, an’ she tol’ me if I didn’t hush up cryin’ she’d tell Santa Claus I was a bad boy an’ he wouldn’t bring me a thing an’ I ’membered nex’ day was Christmus an’ I tried to stop bawlin’ but I missed Sister an’ Ben so bad I didn’t care after a while whether ol’ Santy brought me anything or not. I didn’t see how he was gonter know I wasn’t home with Sister. At last we went to that hotel where there weren’t any chimbleys an she tol’ me if I acted ugly she’d give me to the ash man, but if I ’haved she’d take me to the movies. There was a big fire here when we first came an’ I saw the men digging for dead folks but Aunty wouldn’t let me stop.”
“Oh, so she made you call her Aunty, did she?” asked Josie.
“Yes, but I don’t believe she’s any mo’ kin to me than the ash man. She ain’t never lef me ’til jes’ befo’ you came for me, an’ then somebody called her up on the ’phone an’ she jes’ powdered herself up an’ put on her hat an’ tol’ me if I didn’t stay right still until she got back a ol’ witch would git me. She said she was waitin’ out in the hall for me, but I didn’t believe her a bit ’cause Sister already tol’ me there wasn’t any witches ’cept in books an’ Aunty didn’t have any books.
“The man that called her up on the ’phone was waitin’ in the hall for her but I never saw him. He tol’ her she’d better lock me up in the room, but she said she was afraid of fire an’ I wouldn’t be no good to them any more if I got burnt up. I don’t see what good I am to them now, but Aunty made out she loved me mor’n Sister an’ Ben did, an’ she was jes a borrowin’ me for a while an’ if I ’haved like a gemman maybe sometime I could go see Sister. That’s the reason I didn’t holler, an’ was a gonter stay quiet in the room if you hadn’t come for me. She said she was gonter bring me back some all-day suckers an’ all kinds of things ’cause Santa Claus didn’t find me after all. An’ I pretty near knew he wouldn’t.”
“I am pretty sure Santa Claus left your things at your home,” said Josie softly. “I am also pretty sure you are going to see Sister and Ben in a few hours. Sister has been very sad over your going away and Ben has been miserable.”
“Now, didn’t I say so? But ol’ Aunty kep’ on tellin’ me Sister was glad to get rid of me an’ had asked her to take me off. I never did b’lieve her, ’cause I’d already caught her lyin’ ’bout Santa Claus. I sure have missed all of you, The Lady in the Chair an’ Mrs. Danny an’ Uncle Peter an’ Aunt Peter. I reckon I’m gonter go to sleep. I ain’t slep’ much since Aunty grabbed me up an’ carried me off. I been thinkin’ so much an’ then when I’d git mos’ asleep Aunty would pipe up an’ snore to beat the band. I ain’t been away from home but ’bout three nights but it seems to me as if I been born away from home an’ been a livin’ with ol’ Aunty all my life.”
“Tell me, Philip, before you go to sleep, was there anybody else with you and Aunty—a man?”