when he thought we would leave St. Louis. I was fearful that he
would change his mind about taking me with him. I didn't know him
then so well as afterward. I came to learn that his slightest word
was his bond.

But visions of Mr. Drake, an old negro woman and a hornet's nest,
still haunted me and made me overanxious. I wanted to get as far
out of their reach as possible and still remain on the earth.

Mr. Carson laughed in a quiet and yet much amused way and said:

"You must learn to not do anything until you are good and ready,
and there are heaps of things to do before we can start out. Now
let's go and see Mrs. Becket."

So I piloted him to the widow's home, which, as near as I can
remember, was about four blocks from the hotel. Mr. Carson being
able to speak French first-rate, had a talk with Mrs. Becket
concerning me. The story she told him, corresponding with that
which I had told him, he concluded that I had given him nothing
but truth, and then he asked Mrs. Becket what my bill was. She
replied that she had just taken me in because I was a poor boy,
until such time as I could find employment, and that her charges
were nothing. He then asked her how long I had been with her, and
being told that it was four days, he begged her to take five
dollars, which she finally accepted.

I took my little budget of clothes and tearfully bidding Mrs.
Becket and Henry good-bye, started back to the hotel with my new
guardian, and I was the happiest boy in the world, from that on,