"He asks nothing. I, Carneta, am asking!"
"Then you are not come from him?"
At my question, all her self-possession left her. She abruptly dropped her face into her hands and was shaken with sobs! It was more than I could bear, unmoved. I forgot the shady past, forgot that she was the associate of a daring felon, and could only realize that she was a weeping woman, who had appealed to my pity and who asked my aid.
I stood up and stared out of the window, for I experienced a not unnatural embarrassment. Without looking at her I said—
"Don't be afraid to tell me your troubles. I don't say I should go out of my way to be kind to Mr. Dexter, but I have no wish whatever to be instrumental in" — I hesitated—"in making you responsible for his misdeeds. If you can tell me where to find Hassan of Aleppo, I won't even ask you where Dexter is—"
"God help me! I don't know where he is!"
There was real, poignant anguish in her cry. I turned and confronted her. Her lashes were all wet with tears.
"What! has he disappeared?"
She nodded, fought with her emotion a moment, and went on unsteadily,
"I want you to help me to find him for in finding him we shall find Hassan!"