nd Lady--"
"Better come along with me, George," interrupted Simmy quietly. "I'm going
down to Anne's. She has sent for me. It's the end, I fancy. That's where
you ought to be to-night, Tresslyn. She needs you. Come--"
Young Tresslyn drew back, a look of horror in his eyes. "Not if I know
myself," he muttered. "You'll never get me inside that house again.
Why,--why, it's more than I could stand, Simmy. That old man tried--but,
never mind. I can't talk about it. There's one thing sure, though: I
wouldn't go near him again for all the money in New York,--not I."
"I sha'n't insist, of course. But I do insist on your getting away from
here. You are not to annoy Lutie. She's had trouble enough and you ought
to be man enough to let her alone."
George stared at him as if he had not heard aright. "Annoy her? What the
devil are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. Oh, don't glare at me like that. I'm not
afraid of you, big as you are. I'm trying to put sense into your head,
that's all, and you'll thank me for it later on, too."
"Why, I--I wouldn't annoy her for all the world, Simmy," said George,
jerkily. "What do you take me for? What kind of a--"
"Then, why are you here?" demanded Simmy "It looks bad, George. If it
isn't Lutie, who is it you're after?"
The other appeared to be dazed. "I'm not after any one," he mumbled.
Suddenly he gripped Simmy by the shoulders and bent a white, scowling face
down to the little man's level. "My God, Simmy, I--I can't help it. That's
all there is to it. I just want to see her--just want to look at her. Can't
you understand? But of course you can't. You couldn't know what it means
to love a girl as I love her. It isn't in you. Annoy her? I'd cut my heart
out first. What business is it of yours if I choose to stand out here all
night just for a glimpse of her in all her happiness, all her triumph, all
that she's got because she deserves it? Oh, I'm sober enough, so don't
think it's that. Now, you let me alone. Get out of this, Simmy. I know
what I'm doing and I don't want any advice from you. She won't know I'm
over here when she comes out of that place, and what she doesn't know
isn't going to bother her. She doesn't know that I sneak around like this
to get a look at her whenever it's possible, and I don't want her to know
it. It would worry her. It might--frighten her, Simmy, and God knows I
wouldn't harm her by word or deed for anything on earth. Only she would
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