“I see so much,” he said; “but I don’t understand about Uncle Mike.”

“Andy,” said Pete, with a compassionate air, “yer a dandy with yer dukes, an’ yer square as a brick; but yer ain’t cut yer eye-teeth yet.  Gimme the paper an’ let me show yer.”

Andy gave him the paper and the knowing Pete took it and turned to the back pages.

“There!” said he, pointing to a column beaded “Dates Ahead.”  “Look at that an’ see if Uncle Mike ain’t mentioned.”

Andy, with a glimmering of Pete’s idea, looked along the column until he came to “U,” and there he saw, at the head of the list, “Uncle Mike Co.; Philadelphia, July 8—­week.”

He read it aloud to Pete, and Pete nodded his head, as if to say, “Of course, I knew you’d find it.”

“Does it mean that Uncle Mike is a theatrical company?” asked Andy, eagerly.

“That’s what it means, sonny, an’ it means that Uncle Mike is goin’ ter play Philadelf fer the week wot begins on the eighth.  So all yer’ve got ter do is ter add that up an’ there yer air.  What! ain’t we on ter his nibs?  Oh, no, I guess not!”

And Pete dashed his old hat down over his eyes and strutted around.

“You think my man is going on there to join the company?” asked Andy.

“Naw.  The man with the kid is in Philadelf.  That’s the way I lay it out.”

“That’s it,” cried Andy.  “I see!  He wanted to get away on the steamer, and Mr. Roberts was afraid there would be detectives on the watch; so he dressed the little boy up just like Regy to make the trial first.  Then, when he found that the steamer would be watched, the man with Regy went to Philadelphia.”

“That sounds like it,” said Pete, approvingly.

“Yes,” continued Andy; “but I don’t understand what Uncle Mike has to do with it.”

“No more do I,” answered Pete.  “But I tell yer what yer can do.  Yer can go on an’ find out.”

“Go to Philadelphia?” exclaimed Andy.

“Why not?”

“It’ll take too much money.”

“Huh! won’t take a cent.”

“Why not?”

“How fur is it?”

“I don’t know.  About a hundred miles, I think.”

“Well, yer can walk, can’t yer?  Terday’s the fifth, ain’t it?  That gives yer till the eighth, an’ a week more.  It won’t take us that long;”

“Us?”

“Yes.  I’ll go along ter take care o’ yer.”

Andy considered a moment.

“See here, Pete,” he said, presently, “how do you come to know so much about what the letter meant?”

“Been there,” answered Pete.

“Been where?”

“In the show business.  Greatest knock-about juvee-nile all-around dance artist in the world!  That’s me.  Too much knock-about fer me, an’ I skipped.  Tra-la-la!”

And Pete made a comical show of skipping away.

It seemed to account for Pete’s extreme shrewdness, and Andy had no difficulty in believing him.  He weighed the reasons for and against going to Philadelphia after Regy on the strength of the letter.