"I didn't do the hollerin'; but a feller who was with me when a man stole my money thought you must be the one."
"Where is he?" the stranger asked, advancing threateningly.
"I don't know. He ran away when he saw it was a mistake."
The crowd immediately began to disperse. The policeman called down quite the reverse of blessings on Sam's head, and then walked away, leaving Teddy and the stranger comparatively alone.
"I don't know as it does any harm to have a lot of fools chasing a man," the latter said, "but it might give him a bad name in his work."
"I'm not blaming you, my boy, since it was the other fellow who did the mischief. Tell me how you lost your stuff."
"Oh!" and Teddy at once gave the stranger a detailed account of all that had happened, the latter saying, as the story was concluded:
"I wouldn't be afraid to bet my head that Long Jim was the duck who played the trick. I know he came here, headed for the fair grounds, and it's jest about his style of working."
"Do you think there's any chance I'll get it back?"
"He shall give up if I see him. I'll be at the fair myself, working a neat little game, and will see you there."
With this remark the stranger walked away, and Teddy went toward the depot once more, feeling quite certain he had made a friend who would aid him in his new venture.
When Teddy reached the depot he was not obliged to hunt very long for Sam, for that young gentleman crept out from behind a pile of baggage on seeing his friend was alone, and asked, in a hoarse whisper:
"Nothing; but that don't prove we should get out of another scrape so easily, and you must be careful, or we'll be in no end of trouble before the fair is ended."
"It surely wouldn't have done any harm if you had found out whether that was the man or not before you started the whole crowd after him."
"That's right, rub it into a feller when he tries to do you a good turn," Sam said, sarcastically, and then remembering an instant later that he proposed to be this boy's guest, he added, "I was only lookin' out for you, an' so long as there's been no harm done we needn't talk about it. Do you still mean to walk home?"
"There's nothing else to be done, if we want to get to the Run to-night, for the stage left while we were chasing that man."