of work. I thought of going out. Be a Good Samaritan and
tell me where to find a restaurant in Broadway, somewhere where crowds
of people go but not what they call a fashionable place. I want to get
some dinner--I haven't had anything decent to eat for I don't know how
long--and I want to breathe the same atmosphere as other people."

She looked at him a little enviously.

"How much do you want to spend?" she asked bluntly.

"I don't know that that really matters very much. I have some money.
Things are more expensive over here, aren't they?"

"I should go to the New Martin House," she advised him, "right at the
corner of this block. It's real swell, and they say the food's
wonderful."

"I could go as I am, I suppose?" he asked, glancing down at his clothes.

She stared at him wonderingly.

"Say, where did you come from?" she exclaimed. "You ain't supposed to
dress yourself out in glad clothes for a Broadway restaurant, not even
the best of them."

"Have you been to this place yourself?" he enquired.

"Nope!"

"Come with me," he invited suddenly.

She arose at once to her feet and threw the remains of her cigarette into
the grate.

"Say, Mr. Ware," she pronounced, "I ain't that sort, and the sooner you
know it the better, especially if I'm going to do your work. I'll be
going."

"Look here," he remonstrated earnestly, "you don't seem to understand me
altogether. What do you mean by saying you're not that sort?"

"You know well enough," she answered defiantly. "I guess you're not
proposing to give me a supper out of charity, are you?"

"I am asking you to accompany me," he declared, "because I haven't spoken
to a human being for a week, because I don't know a soul in New York,
because I've got enough money to pay for two dinners, and because I am
fiendishly lonely."

She looked at him and it was obvious that she was more than half
convinced. Her brightening expression transformed her face. She was still
hesitating, but her inclinations were apparent.

"Say, you mean that straight?" she asked. "You won't turn around
afterwards and expect a lot of soft sawder because you've bought me a
meal?"

"Don't be a silly little fool," he answered good-humouredly. "All I want
from you is to sit by my side and talk, and tell me what to order."

Her face suddenly fell.

"No good," she sighed. "Haven't got any clothes."

"If I am going like this," he expostulated, "why can't you go as you are?
Take your apron