him out. Besides, as I said, it will be a good lesson for him."

"But hasn't he any money of his own?" queried the reporter.

"What do you want to know for? Are you a lawyer? No, sir! if you are,
and have come to tell me about Bob in the hope that I will hire you, you
might as well go back to your place of business. I won't spend a cent on
him. The lesson will do him good."

The heartlessness of the grocer incensed Foster, and he retorted:

"It happens that I am not a lawyer, so it isn't any money that I am
after. I am acting simply from a desire to see the boy get fair
treatment, and if I were his guardian, whether he had any money or not,
I would do everything in my power to help him out of his trouble."

"But what can I do? There is no one to stay in the store here, and I
don't see how I could help any way."

"You could go down to the police station and speak a word for the lad.
If you have had the care of him for so long, what you could say in
regard to his honesty ought to be sufficient to cause his release."

As he mentioned the grocer's going to the police station, Foster thought
he noticed the old man tremble, as though in fear, and what the sergeant
had said about Dardus recurred to him, and while he hesitated as to
whether or not he should press the point, Bob's guardian exclaimed:

"I can't go now. There is no one to look after the store. But perhaps I
can go down this evening."