cence; the inevitable _facilis descensus_--Batty at last. And now
the ice-cream parlor in this dirty street, with the clear-eyed,
handsome, amused young man, who had forgotten his own anger in the
impulse, so frequent in the very young and very upright man, to "save"
some little creature of the gutter! As for Maurice, he said to himself,
"She's a sweet little thing; and not really bad."

He was right there: Lily was not bad; she was as far from sin as she was
from virtue--just a little, unmoral, very amiable animal.

As for Maurice, he continued to discuss her future of rectitude and
honor--his imagination reaching in a bound amazing heights. Why not be a
trained nurse?--and have a hospital of her own, and gather about her, as
assistants, girls who--"well, had had a tough time of it," he said,
delicately. As he talked, fatigue at the boredom of his highly moral
sentiments crept into her face. She swallowed an occasional yawn, and
murmured to most of his statements, "Is that so?" She was sleepy, and
wished he would stop talking....

"Guess I'll be going along," she said, good-naturedly.

"I'll come and see you to-morrow," Maurice said, impassioned with the
idea of saving her; "then I'll tell you what my wife will do for you."

They went out together and walked toward Lily's rooms; but somehow they
both fell silent. Lily was again afraid of Batty, and Maurice's
exhilaration had begun to ebb; there came into his mind the bleak
remembrance of the overturned table and Eleanor's sobs....

At the door of the apartment house where Lily lived, she said,
nervously, "I'd ask you to come in, but he--"

"Oh, I understand; I've no desire to meet the gentleman! What time will
I come to-morrow, when he's not around?"

She reflected, uneasily: "Well, I ain't sure--"

Before she could finish, Batty loomed up beside them. He was plainly
drunk. "I lost my key," he said; "and I've been waiting--"

"Good night, Miss Lily," Maurice said,--"If he's nasty to her, I'll go
back," he thought. He was only halfway down the block when he heard a
little piping scream--"O-o-o-w! O-o-o-w!" He turned, and saw her trying
to pull her hand away from Batty's twisting grip: he was at her side in
a moment: "Here! _Drop_ it!" he said, sharply--and landed an extremely
neat blow on the drunken man's jaw. Batty, rubbing his cheek, and
staring at this very unexpected assailant in profound and giggling
astonishment, slouched into the house.

"He 'most tw