And as the gates of the police station were reached, he took good care that they should close on Susie too.
She had no wish to escape, although she trembled as they entered a room where another man asked their names and where they lived.
While this was being done, the policeman who had brought them, whispered to one of the others, and then they were taken to a dark room and locked up. Elfie screamed with terror as the door closed, and they were left standing there in the cold, dark room, with only the rift of daylight that struggled through the grating high up in the wall. Susie shuddered, but she was not so frightened as Elfie, who fell sobbing on her neck.
Susie clasped her arms round her. "What is it, Elfie? What have you done?" asked Susie in a whisper.
"Just what they said. I've done it many a time," sobbed Elfie; "but I didn't do it to-day, for I saw somebody coming, and put the boots down."
"O Elfie! You've been stealing," said Susie sadly.
Elfie tried to twist herself away from Susie. "Why don't you say you hate me? I know you do," she said.
"No, I don't, Elfie, or else I shouldn't have come to prison with you," said Susie, holding her more tightly in her arms.
Elfie yielded to the loving embrace and sobbed again. "That's the worst of it," she said. "I shouldn't care so much for what the policemen could do to me, if you didn't know about it."
"But God would know, if I did not," said Susie, in a gentle whisper.