"You hear that, Zara? You must be very careful. Don't go out alone, and
if anyone tries to speak to you, no matter what they tell you, you pay
no attention to them. If they keep on bothering you, speak to a
policeman, if there's one around, and say that you want him to stop them
from bothering you."

"Good idea," said Charlie Jamieson. "And if you do have to speak to a
policeman, you mention my name. They all know me, and I guess most of
them like me well enough to do any little favor for a friend of mine."

Then Jamieson turned to Bessie.

"We've got to think about your case, too," he said. "Miss Mercer tells
me that you don't know what's become of your father and mother. Just
what do you know about them?"

"Not very much," said Bessie, bravely, although the disappearance of her
parents always weighed heavily on her mind. "When I was a little bit of
a girl they left me with the Hoovers, at Hedgeville, and I lived with
them after that. Maw Hoover said they promised to come back for me, and
to pay her board for looking after me until they came, and that they did
pay the board for a while. But then they stopped writing altogether, and
no one has heard from them for years."

"H'm! Where did the last letter they wrote come from?"

"San Francisco. I've heard Maw Hoover say that, often. But that was
years and years ago."

"Well, that's better than nothing, anyhow. You see, the Hoovers wouldn't