She put out one hand, grasping the iron rail of a fence, and I thought I could see her form tremble.
"Oh, no! it—it is not that exactly," she explained brokenly. "I believe I—-I might trust you, but—but of course I do not know. I think you—you mean well; your words sound honest, and your—your face inspires confidence. Only I have found so much deceit, so much cruelty and heartlessness in the world I have become afraid of everyone. But I—I simply cannot let you go with me—oh! please don't urge it!"
I leaned forward, my face full of sympathy, my voice low and earnest.
"And do you suppose I will consent to desert you after that confession?" I questioned, almost indignant. "I would be a brute to do so. You saved me from arrest just now; for me to have been taken to the station house and searched would have put me in a bad hole. It was your wit that saved me, and now I am going to stay and help you. I 'll not leave you alone here in the street at this hour of the night."
She looked at me, her eyes wide open, shining like stars, her face picturing perplexity, not unmixed with fear, one hand yet gripping the supporting rail, the other pressed against her forehead.
"Oh, but you must! indeed, you must!" the words scarcely more than sobs. "I—I have no place to go!"
CHAPTER V
BEGINNING ACQUAINTANCE
I drew in my breath sharply, my lips set in a straight line. Already had I half-suspicioned this truth, and yet there was that about the girl—her manner, her words, even her dress—which would not permit me to class her among the homeless, the city outcasts.