"Come out o' this, Nucky," said the officer.

Nucky rose, obediently, and followed Foley into the next room. Mr.
Seaton was leaning against the desk, talking with Captain Blackly.

"Look here, Nucky," said Blackly, "this gentleman has been telephoning
the judge and the judge has paroled you once more in this gentleman's
hands. I think you're a fool, Mr. Seaton, but I believe in giving a
kid as young as Huntingdon the benefit of the doubt. We've all failed
to find a spark of decent ambition in him. Maybe you can. Just one
word for you, young fellow. If you try to get away from Mr. Seaton,
we'll get you in a way you'll never forget."

Nucky said nothing. His unboyish eyes traveled from one face to
another, then he shrugged his shoulders and dropped his weight to the
other hip. John Seaton, whose eyes were still smoldering, tapped Nucky
on the arm.

"All right, Enoch! I'm going to take you up to my house to meet Mrs.
Seaton. See that you behave like a gentleman," and he led the way into
the street. Nucky followed without any outward show of emotion. His
new guardian did not speak until they reached the door of the apartment
house, then he turned and looked the boy in the eye.

"I'm obstinate, Enoch, and quick tempered. No one but Mrs. Seaton
thinks of me as a particularly likable chap. You can do as you please
about liking me, but I want you to like my wife. And if I have any
reason to think you've been anything but courteous to her, I'll break
every bone in your body. You say you don't want sob stuff. You'll get
none of it from me."