e. Somebody
will hear you."

The girl made an effort to free herself from his detaining hand, but it
was useless. Light as his grasp was, it held her.

"Let me a-be," she cried, sobbing petulantly. "Yo' ha' no reet to howd
me. Yo' were ready enow to let me go when--when I wur i' trouble."

"Trouble!" he repeated after her. "Wasn't I in trouble, too? You don't
mean to say you did not know what a mess I was in? I'll own it looked
rather shabby, Liz, but I was obliged to bolt as I did. I hadn't time to
stay and explain. The governor was down on us, and there'd have been an
awful row. Don't be hard on a fellow, Lizzie. You're--you're too nice a
little girl to be hard on a fellow."

But Liz would not listen.

"Yo' went away an' left me wi'out a word," she said; "yo' went away an'
left me to tak' care o' mysen when I could na do it, an' had na strength
to howd up agen th' world. I wur turned out o' house an' home, an' if it
had na been fur th' hospytal, I might ha' deed i' th' street. Let me go.
I dunnot want to ha' awt to do wi' yo'. I nivver wanted to see yore
face agen. Leave me a-be. It's ower now, an' I dun-not want to get into
trouble agen."

He drew his hand away, biting his lip and frowning boyishly. He had been
as fond of Liz as such a man could be. But she had been a trouble to him
in the end, and he had barely escaped, through his cowardly flight, from
being openly disgraced and visited by his father's wrath.

"If you had not gone away in such a hurry, you would have found that I
did not mean to treat you so badly after all," he said. "I wrote to you
and sent you money, and told you why I was obliged to leave you for the
time, but you were gone, and the letter was returned to me. I was not so
much to blame."

"Th' blame did na fa' on yo'," said Liz. "I tell yo' I wur turnt out,
but--it--it does na matter now," with a sob.

Now that she was out of his reach, he discovered that she had not lost
all her old attractions for him. She was prettier than ever,--the shawl
had slipped from her curly hair, the tears in her eyes made them
look large and soft, and gave her face an expression of most pathetic
helplessness,--and he really felt that he would like to defend, if not
clear himself. So, when she made a movement as if to leave him, he was
positively anxious to detain her.

"You are not going?" he said. "You won't leave a fellow in this way,
Lizzie?"

The old tone, half caressing, half reproachful, was har