Station and here, at a street corner, the young lady paused,
withdrew her arm from Challoner's, and looked up and down as though
in pain or indecision. Then, with a lovely change of countenance,
and laying her gloved hand upon his arm -

'What you already think of me,' she said, 'I tremble to conceive;
yet I must here condemn myself still further. Here I must leave
you, and here I beseech you to wait for my return. Do not attempt
to follow me or spy upon my actions. Suspend yet awhile your
judgment of a girl as innocent as your own sister; and do not,
above all, desert me. Stranger as you are, I have none else to
look to. You see me in sorrow and great fear; you are a gentleman,
courteous and kind: and when I beg for a few minutes' patience, I
make sure beforehand you will not deny me.'

Challoner grudgingly promised; and the young lady, with a grateful
eye-shot, vanished round the corner. But the force of her appeal
had been a little blunted; for the young man was not only destitute
of sisters, but of any female relative nearer than a great-aunt in
Wales. Now he was alone, besides, the spell that he had hitherto
obeyed began to weaken; he considered his behaviour with a sneer;
and plucking up the spirit of revolt, he started in pursuit. The
reader, if he has ever plied the fascinating trade of the
noctambulist, will not be unaware that, in the neighbourhood of the
great railway centres, certain early taverns inaugurate the
business of the day. It was into one of these that Challoner,
coming round the corner of the block, beheld his charming companion
disappear. To say he was surprised were inexact, for he had long
since left that sentiment behind him. Acute disgust and
disappointment seized upon his soul; and with silent oaths, he