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146 curtain to the window beside the door, was only partly pulled down. The window was raised a few inches, and getting close to it, Franklin was able to see and hear all that took place.

"And you say you have been in Philadelphia since you left home, Andy?" Mrs. Gresson was questioning. "Why didn't you write to me?"

"I was afraid the police would learn where I was. The postman might show him the letter with the postmark on it."

"But what of that, so long as you are not guilty," cried Mrs. Gresson. "I think it a mistake to run away."

"Well, I did," returned Andy Gresson, surlily. "I wasn't going to go to state's prison for five or ten years."

"But how could they send you if you were not guilty, Andy? Could't you prove your innocence?"

"I guess not, Mary. Those lawyers have a way of fixing these things when they want to send a poor dog like me to jail. Besides that Bell boy is willing to swear he saw me at Mrs. Mace's that morning, and so is the cook."

"But you were not there, so you said before."

"Of course I wasn't there, Mary," growled Andy Gresson. "How many more times have I got to tell you that? You act just as if you didn't believe what I said."