"I told him he'd better hold on a spell, 'cause we've got to do somethin', fellers, an' perhaps he can help us."
"But if Sam's here with money in his pocket, how shall we stop him from workin' up the case?" Dan asked helplessly.
"First off we must tell Jip," Seth replied promptly. "To-morrow mornin' you an' Bill will have to see what can be done with Sam. It won't do to let him keep on the way he was goin' before we sent him off."
"I reckon you can't stop him if he's set on doin' it, an' he likely will be now he finds you're in the Department, 'cause he said he was goin' to be an out-an'-out detective long before you ever dreamed of gettin' a fireman's job."
"If he only knew how little of a fireman I am he wouldn't feel very bad 'bout it," Seth said with a sigh, and then added more cheerily, "Come on, fellers, we must find Jip, an' not stay out too late either, else Miss Hanson will raise a row."
The three went down the stairs softly, crept out on the sidewalk as if their own lives might be in jeopardy if the slightest noise was made, and there met Teddy Bowser.
"Oh yes, I saw him," Teddy said in reply to Seth's question. "He's been swingin' himself 'round Grand Street big as life for more'n an hour; says he had a great time in Philadelphy, an' ain't certain but he'll go over there to live after he gets Jip in jail. Sam must have struck some mighty soft snap, 'cause when he left this town he had only sixteen cents to his name."
"Do you s'pose he could find any one chump enough to lend him money?" Dan asked musingly, and Seth said almost sharply:
"It won't pay for us to stand here tryin' to figger how he's fixed things, 'cause we must be back mighty soon, and it may take quite a spell to find Jip."
"I reckon it will," Teddy added emphatically. "I hunted all 'round the ferry for him."