So she rose, as if to leave the car.
The red-faced man rose also, and stepped back as she passed him. In a moment she found herself on the platform, and the train soon went on. Everything about the station looked unfamiliar, and glancing up, she saw by a large sign that she was at Newark! She had never before been in Newark, though she knew in a general way where it was. She went uncertainly into the station, and looked at the clock. It was after five. Marjorie knew she could take another train, and proceed to Jersey City, and so to New York, but her courage had failed her, and she couldn't bear the thought of travelling any further.
And yet, how could she stay where she was? Also, she began to feel very hungry. The exhaustion caused by her emotional grief, and her wearisome journey, made her feel hollow and faint.
She sank down on a seat in the waiting-room, sadly conscious of her lonely and desolate situation.
She tried to summon anew her natural pluck and independence.
"Marjorie Maynard!" she said, to herself, and then stopped,—overwhelmed by the thought that she had no right even to that name!
Presently a voice beside her said: "Now, little miss, won't you let me help you?"
She turned sharply, and looked the red-faced man in the eyes.
He didn't look very refined, he didn't even look good, but the sound of a friendly voice was like a straw held out to a drowning man.
"How can you help me?" she said, miserably.