"What peril menaces you?"
"I have no confidant in the world; shall I make one of you?"
"Yes."
"My confidence may get you into trouble."
"How sad."
"You are a brave, noble man; you will desire to act as my champion."
"You are a strange girl."
"Yes; mine is a hard lot; I am a waif; I am nothing; I am all outcast; a thing, and yet—"
The girl ceased. She had spoken with a wild energy, and she had looked ravishingly beautiful while talking.
"And yet, what?" said the detective interrogatively.