"Oh, that's soon mended," she laughed drearily. "The truth is, it's been
a good thing for me--your turning up. They're gettin' in too deep water
for me, Helene and her friends, and I've broken with the lot, or they've
broken with me, whichever it is. We couldn't hang together after the
fightin' we've done to-day. I had to do a lot of threatenin' and things.
Welch was ugly, so I had to be ugly too. Never mind"--she checked an
uncertain effort of his to speak--"I saw what you were like, soon as
we sat down at the table last night--how new you were and all that. It
needed only a glance to see that Helene had made a mistake about you.
She'd got a notion you were a millionaire like the little Cooley, but
I knew better from your talk. She's clever, but she's French, and she
can't get it out of her head that you could be an American and not a
millionaire. Of course, they _all_ knew better when you brought out
your express checks and talked like somebody in one of the old-time
story-books about 'debts of honor.' Even Helene understood then that
the express checks were all you had." She laughed. "I didn't have any
trouble gettin' the _note_ back!"

She paused again for a moment, then resumed: "There isn't much use our
goin' over it all, but I want you to know one thing. Your little friend
Cooley made it rather clear that he accused Helene and me of signalin'.
Well, I didn't. Perhaps that's the reason you didn't lose as much as he
did; I can't say. And one thing more: all this isn't goin' to do you any
harm. I'm not very keen about philosophy and religion and that, but I
believe if you're let in for a lot of trouble, and it only _half_ kills
you, you can get some good of it."

"Do you think," he stammered--"do you think I'm worth saving?"

She smiled faintly and said: