"What's she goin' to do with the kid?" Dan asked, as the German woman disappeared in an adjoining room.
"I s'pose she's gone to put on the princess's other clothes, 'cause it seemed like as if she understood what I'd been tellin' her."
"It would be a precious good job if she didn't come back. That kid has got you into a heap of trouble, Joe Potter, an' it'll grow worse instead of better so long as you stick to her."
Joe made no reply. It is doubtful if he heard the words, for the princess was crying so loudly he feared she might do herself an injury.
Five minutes later, Mrs. Weber reëntered the room, bringing the princess clad in her own garments, and the little maid ran with outstretched arms to Joe, pressing her tear-stained face against his cheek in such a manner as went straight to his heart.
After a prolonged caress, Joe said to Dan, as if answering the remark which the amateur detective had made a few moments previous:
"No matter how much trouble she might get me into, I'd stick to this little thing as long as I lived, if she needed me."
"Course you've got the right to be jest as big a fool as you like; it ain't any of my business, so long's I don't have to starve to death on her account. What about the money you was goin' to try to get from the old woman?"
"I'll have to let that go, 'cause I can't make her understand what I mean. Will you carry the cakes?"
Master Fernald seized the parcel with avidity, and straightway began devouring its contents.