So he turned
over his money and his baby to his friend, and gave orders that the
kid was to be brought up decent, sent to school, and that the kid was
never to know anything about Joe. Of course the baby was too young
then ever to remember him; and when he gets out he's going to keep
absolutely clear of the kid's life--he wants his kid to have the best
possible chance."
"What is his whole name, and what was he sent up for?" queried the
Duchess, that flickering fire of interest once more in her old eyes.
"Joe Ellison. He was an old-time confidence man. He got caught in a
jam--there had been drinking--there was some shooting--and he had
attempted manslaughter tacked on to the charge of swindling. But Joe
said everybody had been drinking and that the shooting was
accidental."
"Joe Ellison--I knew him," said the Duchess. "He was about the
cleverest man of his day. But I never knew he had a child. Who was
this best friend of his?"
"Joe Ellison didn't mention his name," answered Larry. "You see Joe
spoke of his story only once. But he then said that he'd had letters
once a month telling how fine the kid was getting on--till three or
four years ago when he got word that his friend had died. The way
things stand now, Joe won't know how to find the kid when he gets out
even if he should want to find it--and he wouldn't know it even if he
saw it.
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