“Come with me to Paris.”

“To Paris?”

“Yes, to-morrow.”

There was another instant of silence, and then again Zabetta began to cry.

“Will you? Will you? Will you come with me to Paris?” I implored her.

“Oh, I would, I would. But I can’t. I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Oh, I can’t.”

“Why? Why can’t you?”

“Oh, my father—I cannot leave my father.”