The man saw through her purpose.
"I'll make you a proposal," he said.
"What sort of proposal?"
"Get up behind me."
"Yes, that's likely!" replied Mary; "a pretty sight it would be to see a poor girl like me holding on to a man who looks like a gentleman."
"Especially as you are not accustomed to hug those who look and are such."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Mary.
"I mean that you may pass for a peasant-girl in the eyes of gendarmes; but my eyes are another thing. You are not what you are trying to seem, Mademoiselle Mary de Souday."
"If you have no evil intentions toward me why do you say my name in a loud voice on the public highway?" asked the young girl, stopping short.
"What harm is there in that?" said the rider.