"She is a tender-hearted woman; she would answer that I did what was right."
"Look upon it in that light, and I will continue the case. In the child's clothes you find a fifty-pound note, and a letter, unsigned, to the effect that the little one has no protector, is alone in the world, and beseeching you to take charge of it and save it from destitution and degradation. No scruples as to the child being a Christian would disturb you then; you would act as humanity dictated. In the case I have imagined you would not be at war with your conscience; why should you be at war with it now?"
"Still I must reflect; and I have a question or two to ask. The name of the mother?"
"Not to be divulged."
"The name of the father?"
"The same answer. Indeed, I do not know it myself."
"Where is the child?"
"At the Salutation Hotel, in the charge of a woman I brought with me."
"My decision must be made to-night?"
"To-night."