"You had it--I left it in your charge!"
"Unfortunately, that is the most unfortunate part of the whole affair."
"What do you mean?"
He explained. For the second time that night he told his tale. It had not rolled easily off his tongue at the first time of telling. He found the repetition a task of exquisite difficulty. In the presence of that young lady it seemed so poor a story. Especially in the mood in which she was. She continually interrupted him with question and comment--always of the most awkward kind. By the time he had made an end of telling he felt as if most of the vitality had gone out of him. She was silent for some seconds--dreadful seconds; Then she drew a long breath, and she said:--
"So I am to understand, am I, that your sister has lost the bag--my bag?"
"I fear that it would seem so, for the present."
"For the present? What do you mean by for the present? Are you suggesting that she will be able to find it during the next few hours? Because after that it will be too late."
"I--I should hardly like to go so far as that, knowing my sister."
"Knowing your sister? I see. Of course I am perfectly aware that I had no right to intrust the bag to your charge even for a single instant: to you, an entire stranger; though I had no notion that you were the kind of stranger you seem to be. Nor had I any right to slip, and fall, and become unconscious and so allow that train to leave me behind. Still--it does seems a little hard. Don't you think it does?"
"I can only hope that the loss was not of such serious importance as you would seem to infer."