"I should like to know about your life, Mr. Cronk, how long your children have been away from you, and all about it."
"They've been gone since September," replied Lon. "They runned away from hum, and I ain't seed 'em till I found out that they was at Shellington's."
"And how did you discover them?"
"Saw Flea goin' up the steps," lied Cronk. "I knowed her the minute I see her, in spite of her pretty clothes."
"Then you applied to Mr. Shellington for them?"
"Yep."
"And he refused to deliver them up?"
"Yep—damn him! But I'll take 'em, anyway."
"Don't say that outside my office," warned Everett. "The law does not want to be threatened."