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JIMMY ADOPTS A LAME DOG
87

"Gee! I wish you'd found me! Did youse want me to help on some lay, boss? Is it a bank, or—jools?"

"Well, no, not that. Do you remember that night we broke into that house uptown—the police-captain's house?"

"Sure."

"What was his name?"

"What, de cop's? Why, McEachern, boss."

"McWhat? How do you spell it?"

"Search me," said Spike, simply.

"Say it again. Fill your lungs, and enunciate slowly and clearly. Be bell-like. Now."

"McEachern."

"Ah! And where was the house? Can you remember that?"

Spike's forehead wrinkled.

"It's gone," he said, at last. "It was somewheres up some street up de town."

"That's a lot of help," said Jimmy. "Try again."

"It'll come back some time, boss, sure."

"Then, I'm going to keep an eye on you till it does. Just for the moment, you're the most important man in the world to me. Where are you living?"

"Me! Why, in de Park. Dat's right. One of dem swell detached benches wit' a Southern exposure."

"Well, unless you prefer it, you needn't sleep in