“Nay, nay, Madame Jaubert,” I exclaimed, “that wont do. You mean fairly, I dare say; but I don’t enter that respectable alley alone at this time of night.”
She stopped, silent and embarrassed. Presently she said with a sneer, “You are afraid, I suppose?”
“Yes I am.”
“What is to be done then?” she added after a few moments’ consideration. “He is alone, I assure you.”
“That is possible; still I do not enter that cul-de-sac to-night unaccompanied save by you.”
“You suspect me of some evil design, Mr. Waters?” said the woman with an accent of reproach. “I thought you might, and yet nothing can be further from the truth. My sole object is to obtain the reward, and escape from this life of misery and degradation to my own country, and if possible begin the world respectably again. Why should you doubt me?”
“How came you acquainted with this robber’s haunts?”
“The explanation is easy, but this is not the time for it. Stay; can’t you get assistance?”
“Easily—in less than ten minutes; and if you are here when I return, and your information proves correct, I will ask pardon for my suspicions.”
“Be it so,” she said joyfully; “and be quick, for this weather is terrible.”