"But you've got to live somehow, Jip."
"It won't be here. I've been thinkin' if I could get rid of Sam Barney I'd go over by the Thirty-fourth Street Ferry. Nobody knows me there an' it ought to be a good place for sellin' papers."
Bill Dean thought this a wise plan, providing Jip could find lodgings round about that locality, and then came the question as to how it would be possible for him to start in business again, for he confessed that all his money had been spent in the purchase of food.
"What with helpin' Sam Barney off, layin' out for a spread last night, an' gettin' money together to pay the room-rent, this is kind of a tough week for me," Dan said thoughtfully; "but I'll be willin' to chip in a nickel toward helpin' you along, Jip."
Bill and Seth made the same generous proposition, and when the money had been handed to the fugitive it was as if he found it difficult to swallow a certain lump which had arisen in his throat.
"You fellers have been terrible good to me after I come pretty near killin' you, an' I want you to b'lieve I'm goin' to be straight. I'll try to show that I can be decent."
"Of course you can, Jip," Seth said soothingly, "and there's no need of your tellin' us 'bout it. Jest plug right ahead an' do the best you know how; then things will come out all right, I'm certain. By the time Sam gets back we'll take care he don't meddle with the case, an' I reckon Mr. Davis will fix the balance. When you goin' to leave here?"
"Jest as soon as I can. I made up my mind this noon that I'd let Sam Barney lug me off to jail rather than stay any longer."
"Then come with us, an' there'll be time for you to get in some of the evenin' trade if we hurry. Bill an' Dan will go over with you an' see if there's any fellers 'round the Thirty-fourth Street Ferry that might make trouble, an' most likely I'll see you again to-morrow."
At this point Dan would have told the firebug of Seth's good fortune, but that the latter checked him, believing at such a time the information had best be withheld, and the three Good Samaritans with their penitent friend set out for New York.