"I don't think it will," temporised Roger. "I'll keep a close watch for designing females, and will avoid railroad tracks at night."
Miss Mattie shook her head doubtfully. "That ain't a goin' to do no good, Roger, if they once get set after you. I've noticed that the villain always triumphs."
"But only for a little while, Mother. Surely you must have seen that?"
The Villain Foiled
She settled her steel-bowed spectacles firmly on the wart and gazed at him. "I believe you're right," she said, after a few moments of reflection. "I can't recall no story now where the villain was not foiled at last. Let me see—there was Lovely Lulu, or the Doctor's Darling, and Margaret Merriman, or the Maiden's Mad Marriage, and True Gold, or Pretty Crystal's Love, and The American Countess, or Hearts Aflame, and this one I was just speakin' of, Genevieve Carleton, or the Brakeman's Bride. In every one of 'em, the villain got his just deserts, though sometimes they was disjointed owin' to the story bein' broke off at the most interestin' point and continued the followin' week."
"Well, if the villain is always foiled, you're surely not afraid, are you?"
"I don't know's I'm afraid in the long run, but I don't like to have you go through such things and be exposed to the temptations of a great city."
"Why don't you come with me, Mother, and keep house for me? We can find a little flat somewhere, and——"