For a week his conductor did not see Joe, who was, during every moment
of this time, ceaselessly combing the slums, the dives, the police
courts and even the "jungles" upon the outskirts of the city in a vain
effort to get a glimpse of Kansas Shorty.
To some of the fellows whom he recognized as having been members of the
"mob" which prevented his choking Kansas Shorty into a confession, he
told the story of his missing brother and repeated the strange
conversation that had passed between them before he felled the scoundrel
to the pavement. These plingers, knitted together by the common
knowledge that of all human vultures they are the most despised, had
only shrugs for the unfortunate man, and when one of them, tiring of his
repeated pleadings, condescended to hand him a mite of consolation, all
the information he cared to impart was contained in the rejoinder that
"Kansas Shorty had jumped the city."
[Illustration: Unconscious in the gutter]
CHAPTER XIV.
"The Noble Work of the Salvation Army."
A most decided change had come over Joseph McDonald when he again
reported himself ready for duty. Since his struggle with Kansas Shorty
he had repeatedly weighed every word this rascal had spoken and adduced
from it that something most dishonorable must have been Jim's fate, and
the oftener he attempted to unravel the mystery that lay concealed
behind the ill-omened remarks made by this scoundrel, the more morose he
became from the constant strain, for his troubled conscience caused him
to feel that he was equally to be blamed for any disgrace that might
have overtaken his missing brother.
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