Part 25 (1/2)
”Well, well, don't cry any more; I'll give you half a dollar, and that will make it all right;” and he put his hand in his pocket for the money.
”Don't give it to her,” said Katy, stepping out of the lane by the side of the bank. ”She has deceived you, sir.”
”Deceived me, has she?” added the stranger as he glanced at Katy.
”Yes, sir. She has got more than a dollar in her pocket now.”
”Don't you believe her,” sobbed Ann, still prudently keeping up the appearance of grief.
”How do you know she has deceived me?” asked the stranger, not a little piqued, as he thought how readily he had credited the girl's story.
”Because I saw her play a trick just like this twice before this afternoon. She has two half dollars in her pocket now, though one of them is counterfeit.”
”What do you mean by that, Katy Redburn?” demanded Ann, angrily, and now forgetting her woe and her tears.
”You speak very positively,” said the gentleman to Katy; ”and if what you say is true, something should be done about it.”
”She is telling lies!” exclaimed Ann, much excited.
”We can soon determine, for here comes a policeman, and I will refer the matter to him.”
At these words, Ann edged off the steps of the bank, and suddenly started off as fast as she could run, having, it seemed, a very wholesome aversion to policemen. But she made a bad mistake, for, not seeing in what direction the officer was approaching, she ran into the very jaws of the lion.
”Stop her!” shouted the gentleman.
The policeman laid a rude hand upon her shoulder, and marched her back to the bank. In a few words the gentleman stated what had happened, and requested the officer to search her, and thus decide whether Katy told the truth or not. He readily consented, and on turning out Ann's pocket, produced the two half dollars, one of which the gentleman decided was a counterfeit coin.
”How could you know this was a counterfeit?” he asked of Katy.
”I heard a gentleman at the door of the American House, who knew the game, tell another that it was a counterfeit;” and she proceeded to give all the particulars of the two tricks she had seen Ann play off.
”I shall have to take you to the lock-up, my little joker,” said the policeman.
”O, dear me!” cried Ann, and this time she was in earnest.
”Please don't do that!” said Katy, who had not foreseen this consequence of the game.
”I must; it is downright swindling.”
”Please don't; she has a father and mother and I dare say they will feel very bad about it. I promise you she shall never do it again,”
pleaded Katy.
”I must do my duty. This candy trick has been played a good many times, and has become a nuisance. I must lock her up.”
”Save me, Katy, save me!” begged Ann terrified at the thought of being put in a prison or some dreadful place.
”Why do you wish to save her?” interposed the gentleman.
”Because her mother will feel so bad; and she will lay it all to me.”
Katy told him all about herself and about Ann, and he was so much interested in her that he joined in pleading for Ann's release. The officer was firm for a long time, but when the gentleman declared that he should not appear against her, he decided to let her go, to Katy's great delight, as well as to Ann's.