Her first impulse was to get into her carriage, which, with Peter on the box, was waiting beside the curb. Then reflecting that Ding Dong could not speak a word to the officer, she returned to the scene of the conflict.
Attracted by the sight of the officer, men and boys, scenting excitement, flocked up the stairs from the other floors. When Rachel gained the door of the workroom the intruder was clearing the blood from his face, and the officer, who evidently had accepted a bribe, was swinging his club and ordering the onlookers to depart. Still perched on the organ, the monkey, to the delight of the spectators, continued to chatter with fright. Rachel looked at the officer.
"Arrest that man. Why do you not arrest him?"
The officer ceased smiling. "On what charge, madam? He says he came here to do some work; well, that's all right!"
"He came here to steal the idea of an invention."
"An idea? I've searched him without finding anything of the kind."
At this fine piece of wit, the spectators, most of them beardless boys, snickered.
"However, madam," the officer continued, "I'm willing to haul them both to the station if you say the word, and I take it you're willing to press the charge, that is, appear against him?"
"No,—I shall not do that," she said, pausing between her words, for the light in which Simon would view the matter came to her. "Is there no other way?"
"None that I ever heard of. If you want a man put in jail,—well, you have to appear and tell why you want it."