'Lish Davis was speaking very seriously now, and Seth literally trembled with apprehension for Jip.
"Ain't there anything I can do to help the poor feller out of the scrape?" he asked in a tone which told that the tears were very near his eyelids.
"That's what I can't say right on the spur of the minute; but I'll think the matter over, and it may be we'll see a way out if you're dead sure he won't try any more such games."
"I don't believe he will, 'cause he's feelin' mighty bad, an' promises to be straight after this."
"I've thought all along that he ought'er be sent up for startin' the fire," Dan said with an air of exceeding wisdom; "but Seth has been makin' such a row about givin' him another chance that I had to hold my tongue."
"I wouldn't be surprised if the amateur was nearer in the right than you are, Daniel, though the officers of the law may look at the matter in a different light. However, the young reprobate hasn't been caught yet, even if that keen-eyed detective of yours is on his track, and we'll drop the subject for a spell. What I wanted to see the amateur about was lodgings."
Dan's eyes sparkled, for he felt certain they were to be given quarters in the engine-house, and Seth looked really distressed.
"What's the matter?" 'Lish Davis asked in surprise as he noted the expression on the boy's face. "It don't seem to strike you right because I'm thinking of where you'll find a shelter."
"I'm 'fraid it'll seem like as if Dan an' I were beggin' for a bed. We can find one after a spell, an' it wouldn't be any new thing if we knocked around the streets a few nights."
"Now, don't distress yourself on the score of begging," the driver said with a hearty laugh. "I've come to know how thin-skinned you are on that point, and ain't counting on giving either of you the value of a pin. But it so happens that a friend of mine lives in the next block, and he's got a room in his attic that he's just dying to let. I was telling him about you kids, and he'll make what I call a fair trade."