"That's bad."
"Not so bad; it's a widow, with two children—one a little boy of eight or thereabouts, the other sixteen."
"Do you know anything about them?"
"The oldest boy is a street peddler. He keeps a necktie stand below the Astor House."
Hitherto Julius had not taken much interest in the conversation. That his disreputable guardian should be planning a burglary did not strike him with surprise. It seemed only a matter of course. But the last remark of Marlowe put a different face upon the matter. The description was so exact that he felt almost certain the boy spoken of must be his new friend, to whom he had been indebted for the best dinner he had eaten for many a day. He began to listen now, but not too obtrusively, as that might awaken suspicion.
"A boy of sixteen may give trouble," said Jack Morgan.
"He is easily disposed of," said Marlowe, indifferently.
"I wish it were only the woman and little boy we had to deal with."
"We can easily secure the boy's absence for that night."
"How?"