"Joseph, I'm afraid I don't understand you. It is a printed advertisement you are telling me about, isn't it?"
"Of course. I saw the first one in the Herald, an'—"
"I thought you said some one had dealt you a blow. Tell me what there was in the advertisement."
Joe repeated the words almost verbatim, and then told aunt Dorcas all the details of the flight, up to the moment they arrived at her home.
Regarding the threats made by the amateur detective he remained silent, because of the promise to Dan.
"There must be some terrible mistake about it all, Joseph. If you haven't committed a crime, and I feel certain you couldn't have done such a thing, then it is some other boy these lawyers are hunting for."
"There's no such good luck as that, aunt Dorcas. I don't believe there's another feller in town named Joseph Potter, who's been sellin' newspapers an' then went into the fruit business. You see, that's me to a dot, an' now Plums an' Dan are in the scrape because they helped me away. Just as likely as not Dan will come here to-morrow to ask you to take him in, too, an' I've made up my mind that the princess an' I have got to leave. We're goin' away about noon, aunt Dorcas, an' some time I'll be back to pay you for bein' so good to us."
The little woman looked at Joe for an instant, as if not understanding what he had said, and repeated:
"Going away?"
"Yes, aunt Dorcas, we've got to. Even if you was willin' we should stay, after what I've told you, I wouldn't agree to hang 'round, livin' on you, while there are two other fellers doin' the same thing."