“Who was dat guy?”
It was a small voice that spoke at Michael’s elbow. Hester and Will were far down the street in the other direction and had forgotten Michael.
Michael turned and saw one of his smallest “kids” crouching in the shadow beside him.
“Why, Tony, are you here yet? You ought to have been asleep long ago.”
“Was dat de ike wot comes to see Lizzie?”
“See here, Tony, what do you know about this?”
Whereupon Tony proceeded, to unfold a tale that made Michael’s heart sick. “Lizzie, she’s got swell sence she went away to work to a res’trant at de sheeshole. She ain’t leavin’ her ma hev her wages, an’ she wears fierce does, like de swells!” finished Tony solemnly as if these things were the worst of all that he had told.
So Michael sent Tony to his rest and went home with a heavy heart, to wake and think through the night long what he should do to save Starr, his bright beautiful Starr, from the clutches of this human vampire.
When morning dawned Michael knew what he was going to do. He had decided to go to Mr. Endicott and tell him the whole story. Starr’s father could and would protect her better than he could.
As early as he could get away from the office he hurried to carry out his purpose, but on arriving at Mr. Endicott’s office he was told that the gentleman had sailed for Austria and would be absent some weeks, even months, perhaps, if his business did not mature as rapidly as he hoped. Michael asked for the address, but when he reached his desk again and tried to frame a letter that would convey the truth convincingly to the absent father, who could not read it for more than a week at least, and would then be thousands of miles away from the scene of action, he gave it up as useless. Something more effectual must be done and done quickly.