“No, but she will be in a few minutes; she's often late, she waits until it's dark.”
“How long has she been here with you?”
“About two weeks.”
“Two weeks! You didn't tell me that.”
“She wouldn't let me. She is having trouble enough and I have to do pretty much as she wants.”
He ruminated for a moment, this time scrutinizing the palms of his hands, seemingly interested in some callous spots near the thumb-joint, and then asked: “How did she find you?”
“By God's mercy and nothing else. I was sitting in a Third Avenue car and there she was opposite. I couldn't believe my eyes, she was that changed! She would have been off the dock, I believe, if she hadn't found me. She has run away from Dalton now, and is so scared of him she trembles every time some one comes up the stairs. That's why I wrote you not to ring. He has nothing left. He kept a-hounding her to write to her father and nigh drove her crazy; so she left him.”
“Does she know Mr. Felix is here?” He had finished with the callous spots and was cracking every horny knuckle in his fingers as he spoke, as if their loosening might help solve the problem that vexed him.
“No, I haven't dared tell her. She would be off the dock for sure then. She is more afraid of him than she is of Dalton.”
“Mr. Felix won't hurt her,” he rejoined sharply.