Penny caught her by the elbow.
“You’ll do no such thing. Why, I can see that it hurts you every step you take. It isn’t more than a block or two out of my way to drive you home.”
Despite Rosanna’s protests, she urged the girl into the roadster which was parked at the curbing. Penny was very proud of her car. Although it was not a new model it ran very well and she spent most of her spare time keeping it washed and polished.
Since the Altman residence was close by, Penny dropped her chum off before taking Rosanna home. During the ride to Sixty-fifth Street, the Winters girl spoke scarcely a word. Several times Penny cast a curious glance in her direction.
Rosanna was the quiet type, she decided. A striking brunette with a thoughtful, almost sad face.
“I live at the next house,” the girl said as they turned a corner. “The one on the right.”
It was a modest but not unattractive boarding house. The porch was clean and the yard more orderly than the majority in the neighborhood.
“I’m only staying here a few days until I can find another place,” Rosanna mentioned, feeling that some explanation was due her companion.
“You are a stranger in Belton City?” Penny guessed.
“Yes, I came here looking for work. But now that won’t be necessary.” Rosanna hesitated, and then, because Penny had seemed so very friendly, decided to offer additional information. “I am an orphan, Miss Nichols. Until this week I had begun to think that fortune had turned against me.”