"Oh, no; I said she'd lost 'em," Joe replied.
"I understood you found her in the street."
"An' that's true. I was up by the Grand Central Depot, lookin' for a job to carry baggage, when she came along, an' I waited there till pretty nigh dark without seem' anybody that belonged to her. We went to Plums's shanty, an' stayed all night. I was countin' on findin' her folks in the mornin', when Dan Fernald come up an' showed this advertisement. Then, of course, we had to skip, an' you know the rest, except that I'm goin' back as quick as ever I can, to hunt 'em up."
"Did any one near the station know you had found a little girl?" aunt Dorcas asked, now looking really cheerful.
"Nobody that I knew, except Plums," Joe replied; and added, an instant later, "Yes, there was. I'd forgot 'bout that feller who works in the fruit store pretty near the depot. He saw me when I was luggin' her down to Plums's shanty, an' almost knocked us over."
Aunt Dorcas looked straight up at the ceiling for as many as two minutes, and then said, abruptly, as if having decided upon some course of action:
"George, I want you to go right over to Mr. McArthur's, and tell him that I must be carried to the ferry at once. Be sure you say 'at once' very emphatically, because I want him to understand that my business admits of no delay, otherwise he will be putting me off with all manner of excuses. Now go immediately; don't sit there looking at me," and aunt Dorcas spoke so sharply that both the boys were amazed.
The little woman, putting the princess down from her lap, began to clear away the breakfast dishes, but stopped before the work was well begun, as she said:
"Why do I spend my time on such trifling matters, when it is so necessary I get into the city at once? Haven't you gone yet, George?"
"Say, aunt Dorcas, how do you s'pose I know where Mr. McArthur lives?"