“You—­you do not at all understand my position, do you?” she asked timidly.  “I mean why I should be homeless, on the street, alone at—­at such an hour?”

“No,” I responded, surprised into frankness, “you do not seem like that kind.”

A wave of color flooded her clear cheeks, the brown eyes darkening.

“And I am not that kind,” she exclaimed proudly, her head flung back, revealing the round, white throat.  “You must comprehend that fact at once.”

CHAPTER VI

WE OPEN CONFIDENCES

I bent my head, impressed by her earnestness, every instinct of a gentleman born, returning instantly.

“I do comprehend,” I admitted seriously.  “Believe me I have felt the truth of this ever since I first saw your face.  You have ample reason for misjudging me, for believing me a criminal, but I possess no excuse for even questioning you.  Shall we not permit the whole matter to rest there, and pretend at being friends for the moment?  You have already acknowledged being both homeless and hungry.  What more do I need know to be of assistance?  The cause of such a condition is no business of mine, unless you choose to tell me voluntarily.  You may not consider me a gentleman,” and I glanced down at my cheap suit.  “Yet surely you cannot regard me as a mere brute.”

She continued to gaze at me, her eyes misty, yet full of wonderment.  My language was not that of the slums, nor were my manners.  To her I must have seemed as strange a character, as she appeared to me.  We were both advancing blindly through the dark.

“You are also,” she affirmed finally, as if half regretting the words.  “You are just as penniless as I.”

“Why should you say that?”

“Because I know,” and by now her eyes were blinded by the tears clinging to her lashes.  “You—­you humiliated yourself to serve me; you—­you were obliged to pawn something in security for this food.  I—­I saw you—­your excuse for leaving me outside was just a sham.  You had no money.  I watched through the window, and—­and I almost ran away, only my promise held me.”

I laughed uneasily, yet sobered almost at once, leaning across the table, all earlier embarrassment vanished.

“Well, even at that, it would not be my first experience,” I said swiftly.  “Poverty is extremely unpleasant, but not a crime.  Do not let that unfortunate condition of my exchequer spoil your appetite, my girl.  I can assure you that is among the least of my troubles.  In fact I have of late become hardened to that state of affairs.  My life has been up and down; I ’ve ridden the top wave of prosperity, and have knocked against the rocks at the bottom.  Lately I ’ve been on the rocks.  But good luck, or bad, I am not the sort to desert a woman in distress.”

“You are a man of some education?”

“Two years at the University.”