"But no," he suddenly resolved, "I will not act as if I were guilty. I did what I thought was right, and now I'll stand by the consequences. I know that I'm innocent, which is lots of comfort, and surely the Frenchman will soon let me go when he sees how meekly I take my punishment."
By this time they had reached the edge of the woods, and the man was leading the way along one of the paths in the direction of the city.
"Where on earth is the fellow going to take me, I wonder?" mused Art, "and what can have become of the little girl and the big umbrella?"
Presently they left the park behind them, and now our hero was given to understand that his punishment was but just begun; for suddenly the man stopped, opened the camp-stool arrangement, motioned to Art to set the organ on top of it, and then intimated that he expected him to turn the crank.
"Never!" cried the boy, excitedly, and he attempted to shake himself free of the Frenchman's grasp. But the struggle that ensued only served to draw a gaping crowd around them, and Art speedily saw that the easiest thing for him to do was to submit.
So, with the man's hand still on his shoulder, he caught up the crank, and began to grind out the waltz from the Chimes of Normandy, all the while busily wondering how he could get back to the hotel in time for lunch, and thus save his mother a deal of anxiety.
Once he had thought of mentioning the name of the hotel to the organ-grinder, but as often gave up the idea when he recollected in what capacity he would be obliged to traverse the principal boulevards in order to reach it.
By this time faces began to appear at the windows of the houses, and pieces of money were now and then thrown out. Some of these fell quite a distance from the organ, and having noted this fact, Art set to work to contrive a plan of escape.
The Frenchman, however, was not to be easily fooled, for whenever he was compelled to leave Art's side in order to pick up a coin, he pointed to the crank and made a circular motion with his arm, to intimate that his ears were open if his eyes were turned away, and that the instant the music ceased he would know the reason why.