Still Martin was not persuaded. He felt sure that Rufus meant to mislead him, and, being unreliable himself, he put no confidence in the promise made by our hero. He prepared to follow him home, as the knowledge of where Rose lived would probably enable him to extort more than a dollar from the fear and anxiety of Rufus. So he repeated:—
"That don't go down! You aint quite smart enough to take me in. I'm goin' to follow you, and find out where you live."
"Better give him the dollar now, Rufus," suggested Miss Manning, who felt nearly as anxious as Rose.
"No," said Rufus, decidedly; "I shan't gain anything by it. As soon as he got the money, he'd follow us all the same."
"What will you do?" asked Miss Manning, anxiously.
"You'll see," said Rufus, composedly.
He had been busily thinking, and a plan had suggested itself to his mind, which he thought offered probably the best way out of the difficulty. He reflected that probably Mr. Martin, judging from his appearance, was penniless, or nearly so. He therefore decided to jump on board a horse-car, and thus elude him.
When they reached the corner of University Place, a car was seen approaching.
Rufus hailed it.
"Are we going to ride?" asked Rose.