“I will try. Somehow I am not afraid of him the way I was. He seems so ill and lonely in the world. It must be terrible to be all alone in the world, with no one to work for, and no one to care about.”
“Yes,” said Frank, a touch of sadness coming to his handsome face; “I realized it, for I was all alone in the world till we met. I have had more courage since.”
“But—some time—we must be separated.”
Something in the way she said the words smote Frank with a sensation of pain. He had not thought of that.
“I suppose so,” he said, slowly; “it always happens so. Our early friendships are broken, and we are separated from those without whom we often fancied we could not exist. In time we form other attachments, which, in turn, may be broken.”
“Oh, but I know—I know——”
“What is it that you know, dear little girl?”
“I know we can never care for anyone as we care for you. I know it, Frank!”
She reached up her slender arms as he bent down to kiss her, clasping them about his neck and straining him close to her with all her childish strength. He was surprised, for this was quite unlike her; she usually demonstrated her affection by a gentle touch or a whispered word.
“You are overwrought, Nellie,” he said, gently. “Your nerves are all unstrung. It is too bad that that man followed Jack here to-night.”