"I've no doubt you did. You undertook to run away from me, did you? I knew I should come across you sooner or later."
While this conversation was going on, Ben glanced from one to the other in surprise, his attention momentarily drawn away from his own troubles.
"Do you know this boy, Rudolph?" he inquired.
"I should think I did," answered the tramp, grimly. "You can ask him."
"Who is he?" asked Ben, evidently excited.
"What is that to you?" returned Rudolph. "It's a boy I picked up, and have taken care of, and this is his gratitude to me, and I've had a long chase to find him."
"Is this true?" asked Ben, turning to Tony.
"Some of it is true," said our hero. "I've been with him ever since I could remember, and I ran away because he wanted me to join him in robbing a house. He calls me his son sometimes, but I know he is not my father."
"How do you know?" demanded the tramp sternly.