"I'm going to do more than that, by golly!" Bybee shouted. "I'm going to the district attorney of this burg and tell him the whole yarn! I'll get them charges against you and Sally quashed in less time than it takes to say it! You're a hero, boy, and by golly, I feel like charging admission for the rubes to look at you! The biggest and bravest hero in captivity! Yes, sir! How's that for a spiel, Gus?" he shouted to the barker.
"Dave don't seem to think it's so grand!" Gus chuckled. "Look at him! A body'd thing he'd been socked in the eye instead of slapped on the back!"
It was true. David was looking so white and sick and his eyes were so filled with embarrassment and distress that Sally was in tears again.
"What's the matter, Dave?" Bybee asked in bewilderment. "I thought you and the kid would be tickled to death to get a clean bill of health from the cops. What's wrong?"
David struggled upon the elbow of his right arm, his white face twitching with a spasm of pain. "I'd be glad to be free of those charges, Mr. Bybee, but I guess we'd better let them stand for a while. I might get off all right, but--it's Sally. You see, sir, she's not of age, and the state would make her go back to the orphanage. The law in this state makes her answerable to the orphanage till she's eighteen, and it would kill her to go back. I couldn't bear it, either, Mr. Bybee. Sally and I belong together, and we're going to be married when this trouble blows over." Although he was blushing furiously, his voice was strong and clear, his eyes unwavering as they met the bright, frowning blue eyes of Pop Bybee.
"But man alive," Pop protested, and it was noticeable to both Sally and David that he did not call him "boy" after David's declaration of his intentions toward Sally. "We can't simply hush this whole thing up! You did follow the crooks and take the money away from them! I've got to notify the police that the swag has been recovered."
"Can't you tell them it was all a mistake and call off the case?" David pleaded earnestly.
"And let that Hula-hussy get off Scot-free?" Bybee hooted. "No, siree! She ain't a member of this family no more, and she'll have to pay for double-crossing me! I was good to that girl! Staked her to cakes and clothes when she joined up, whining she didn't have a cent to her name! Stringing me all along! Just joined up to learn the lay of the land!