"They haven't done anything, and you haven't done
anything to be arrested for, have you?"
Jeff looked at the White China Cat, but did not answer.
"I'll just carry these youngsters out to the wagon, and then come back
for more," the policeman went on. "You'll all be kept safe in the
station house, or some place, until the river goes down."
Jeff breathed easier. He was afraid it had been found out that he took
the China Cat. He darted quickly back into his bedroom and began putting
on his shoes. That was all he had taken off when he curled up to go to
sleep. He had only a few clothes, and he slept in them. So did most of
the other children of the tenements in cold weather.
Out into the rain splashed the policeman carrying the two little colored
girls. They were softly crying now, but he comforted them as best he
could, and kept them dry under his coat. The rain was coming down harder
than ever and the roar of the rising river was louder. When Jeff's
father and mother and the other children were ready to be taken out, the
water on the floor of the tenement was up to the policeman's knees.
"You'll have to hurry!" he called to the frightened family. "We have to
rescue a lot of other people. Skip out and get into the wagon and you'll
be safe."
As Jeff and the others made their way up the steps to the sidewalk they
saw and heard more of the terrible storm.
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