him, and he said yes, that Mrs. Waldron was a
particular lady-friend of his. When they got to New York he offered to
take Little Rosebud to her aunt's house. And as Little Rosebud hadn't no
money, she said yes, and the villain called a cab and they started for
Brooklyn, him laughing to himself all the time, thinking how easily she
was going to tumble into the trap he was getting fixed for her."

"Hot air!" murmured Phoebe.

"But while they were rattling over the Brooklyn Bridge, another man was
following them in another cab--a Wall-street broker with barrels of
cash. He was Raymond Leslie, and a real good man. He'd seen Rosebud get
into the cab with Paul Howard, who he knew for a villain for fair. They
had a terrible rumpus, but Raymond Leslie rescued her and took her to
her aunt's house. It turned out that he was the gentleman-friend of
Little Rosebud's cousin Ida, the very place they were going to. But,
riding along in the cab, he fell in love with Little Rosebud, and then
he was in a terrible pickle because he was promised to Ida. Little
Rosebud's relations lived real grand, and her aunt was real nice to her
until she saw she had hooked on to Ida's gentleman-friend; then they put
her to work in the kitchen and treated her terrible. Oh, I tell you she
had a time of it, for fair. Her aunt was awful proud and wicked, and
after while, when she found that Raymond Leslie was going to marry
Little Rosebud even if they did make a servant of her, she hired Paul
Howard to drug her and carry her off to an insane-asylum that he ran up
in Westchester County. It was in a lonesome place, and was full of girls
that he had loved only to grow tired of and cast off, and this was the
easiest way to get rid of them and keep them from spoiling his sport.
Once a girl was in love with Paul Howard, she loved him till death. He
just fascinated women like a snake does a bird, and he was hot stuff as
long as he lasted, but the minute he got tired of you he was a demon of
cruelty.

"He did everything he could, when he got Little Rosebud here, to get her
under his power. He tried his dirty best to poison her food, but Little
Rosebud was foxy and wouldn't touch a bite of anything, but just sat in
her cell and watched the broiled chicken and fried oysters, and all the
other good things they sent to tempt her, turn to a dark-purplish hue.
One night she escaped disguised in the turnkey's daughter's dress. Her
name was Dora Gray, and Paul Howard ha