y and
charity, but she began to speak, the words coming from a full heart
that gave her pain were spoken in low tones, nearly as if she had been
talking to herself.

"I--I'm thinking of the boys who were stoning the frog," she began,
haltingly. "You remember. It was fun for them but death to the frog.
I--I think a good many things work that way in the world, don't--don't
you, Mr. Ennis? You--you don't really look like--like a very bad man.
If--if you had a sister or mother you'd--you'd probably be kind to
them. What--what do you think of it yourself, honestly? A--a girl,
who's a fool, of course, but after all just a girl, is dying of
loneliness and misery in a big city. She--she can't stand it any more,
not--not for another day. And then she finds that paper and like--like
an utter fool she answers that advertisement. It--it looked like a
bare chance of--of being able to keep body and soul together, and--and
remain honest and decent, which--which is a hard enough thing for a
girl to do, in--in some places. And then the man answers back. She--I
never expected he would, but he did, and he offered all sorts of
wonderful things that--that looked like heaven itself to--to a hungry
failure of a girl to whom life had become too heavy a burden to bear.
And--and so she answers that letter and--and tries to tell the truth
about herself, and says that--that she is prepared to carry out her
part of the bargain if--if the man has spoken truly of himself--if--if
he can respect her--treat her like a woman who--who is ready to do her
best to--to deserve a little kindness and consideration. And he tells
her again to come--to come as soon as possible, and--and there was
nothing to detain her for a moment. The city had been too cruel--too
utterly cruel. And then she comes here and finds that--that it was all
lies--wicked lies--I'm sorry, it's the only word I can use."

Hugo was staring at her, open-mouthed, but before he could utter a
word she began again:

"The man had never meant it, of course--he wasn't awaiting her at all,
as he had promised--and when she finally comes to him he speaks
coldly, cynically, denying his words, pretending he knows nothing.
It--it's a rather clumsy way of getting out of it, seems to me. Anyway
he saw that his joke had been carried too far. It--it hasn't proved
such a very good one, has it? It--it has turned out to be pretty poor
fun. I--I dare say I deserve it all. It--it was awful folly on my
part, I s