"'Oh! I feel mean, I do. I feel real mean.'
"I imagined, of course, that she was ashamed of the advantage that she was taking of the confidence which her parents had reposed in her, and I tried to comfort her upon that supposition. But she was inconsolable.
"'No, no, it isn't that,' she said. 'Why I feel mean is that I deceived you. I'm not Daisy van Bean, and my poppa isn't a railroad king.'
"I tried to assure her that I was superior to all foolish prejudices about her social station; but she interrupted me again—
"'Listen! There's no time to lose. I'm just a spy and a decoy of the Third Section. They heard of you, and they sent me up to make sure, and they're following me—six of them—this very afternoon. I didn't intend telling you; but when you looked at me just then, I felt real mean.'
"'I must not stay here another moment,' I said. 'Come with me. Let us fly together.'
"'Too late! too late!' she murmured. 'I hear them coming.'
"And, sure enough, there was the sound of footsteps on the gravel. But a thought struck her.
"'What's the matter with getting out of the window?' she asked eagerly.
"'They are all barred,' I answered. 'With my own hands I fixed the bars, so that the Third Section might not break in by night. How was I to know that the Third Section would attempt to enter in broad daylight by the door?'