Andy considered a moment.

"See here, Pete," he said, presently, "how do you come to know so much
about what the letter meant?"

"Been there," answered Pete.

"Been where?"

"In the show business. Greatest knock-about juvee-nile all-around dance
artist in the world! That's me. Too much knock-about fer me, an' I
skipped. Tra-la-la!"

And Pete made a comical show of skipping away.

It seemed to account for Pete's extreme shrewdness, and Andy had no
difficulty in believing him. He weighed the reasons for and against
going to Philadelphia after Regy on the strength of the letter.

It was only a chance that Regy would be found there; but it was a
chance, and he could not bear to throw it away. And why should he? There
was only the thought of his mother to deter him, and he was certain that
she would be easy about him if he wrote to her.

"Let's go, Pete. I'll write to mother and then we'll start."

"Have yer got a mother?" asked Pete, with a sort of eagerness.

"Yes," said Andy, "and a father, too. I'll tell you about them and what