Page:O'Higgins--The Adventures of Detective Barney.djvu/150

 He nodded again.

She gave him her town address. “And, Barney, be a good boy. Won’t you? I want you to be such a big, brave, honest man.”

Poor Barney could not answer. He was crying.

She held him close. “Kiss me good-by, then—in case you don’t come back.”

He put his arm around her neck childishly, and kissed her—and then he broke away from her caress and ran.

He found his hat on the wood road, and He had no more than put it on before he snatched it off again to flag the approaching automobile, with Babbing in the front seat. “What has happened?” Babbing asked. “What ’s the matter with your head?”

Barney waited till the car had stopped. He jumped on the running board. “Don’t tell them it was me,” he pleaded. “An’—’n’ don’t put the cuffs on him there—in the