“Well,” said Barry, reassuringly, “we mustn’t be too hard on him. We’ve got to watch. But, frankly, I must say that I never heard of Smalley doing any good thing, and he’s mostly after big game. Probably if he’s planning to take the child he won’t do it himself. He’ll arrange everything, then slip off and have confederates come. You see, his face will get known in the city, and he might be suspected. But I fancy the confederates will go back on him and confess if we capture them.”
“Well, what do you propose to do?” asked Mrs. Everest.
“I propose selfishly to keep out of the way. Smalley might possibly recognize me if he saw me, and if he recognized me the whole thing would be up. He’d know I would give him away.”
“We could not warn Bethany.”
“O, no, that would not be wise.”
“We should keep the children from knowledge of the evil in the world as long as possible,” continued Mrs. Everest. “At the same time, I don’t think it does any harm to tell any child to be careful about talking to strangers or going with them.”
“I wouldn’t say a word to her,” said Barry, emphatically.
“What would you do?”
“I’d speak to the English boy; he’s had some experience of the world. Tell him to keep a lookout for strangers prowling about the house, but not to be too watchful. And I’d warn the little girl’s school-teacher. I guess about the only time of day she’s alone is when she goes to and comes from school. That’s the time of all she’s got to be watched.”
“I know who’ll do that without attracting attention,” said Mrs. Everest, promptly.