“Now look here, I don’t like to cheat that Bartlett boy outer the fun while he’s helpin’ the little girl. S’pose you run after him, Bob? ’Siah an’ me’ll see enough right here on this corner to keep us amused till you get back, for it ain’t often we have sich a chance.”
Bob, who had been regretting his partner’s absence, was more than willing to act upon the suggestion, and set out at full speed, in order to economize time.
So intent was Josiah and his father on the scenes around them, that it hardly seemed more than five minutes before the boys returned, both looking radiantly happy because of the good fortune in store for Sadie.
Although Mr. Shindle’s destination was the “wax figure show” on Twenty-Third street, considerable time was occupied in reaching the place, for he found it necessary to stop here and there, and look about him quite as often as had Josiah.
Tom and Bob piloted the party directly up Broadway, doing the utmost to keep their guests in motion; for now that his father was with him, it seemed as if Josiah’s exclamations of delight were louder and more frequent than before.
The pedestrians enjoyed the odd antics of these Berry Corner pleasure-seekers to such an extent, that before the party had reached Bleecker street the attention which they received was even more apparent than Bob and Tom fancied desirable.
“We’ll have to hurry the old man along faster’n this,” the former said in a whisper, “else we’ll have the whole city taggin’ after us. He’s actin’ worse’n Josiah ever dared to, an’ how it’ll be when we get up among the swell stores, I don’t know.”
“I reckon it would be a good idea to holler fire, when he gets so much of a crowd ’round him,” Tom suggested. “Perhaps if we did that we could run him pretty near all the way up.”
“I don’t b’lieve it would work, ’cause he’d soon find out there wasn’t anything the matter, an’ we don’t want to make the old man mad. He was too good last summer for us to play any funny business.”
“Then tell him if we don’t get there pretty soon, the show’ll be closed. That’ll settle it.”