"Sometimes I wish--"
She did not finish her sentence, but wandered over to the window,
and gazed out across the square. On the far side something quite
out of the ordinary seemed to be going on.
"The legless beggar seems to have collected quite an audience,"
she remarked idly.
Her suitor joined her on the parlor balcony.
"Possibly he's starting a revolution. Any one can do it down
here."
Vehement adjuration, in a high, strident voice, came floating
across to them.
"Listen!" cried the girl. "He's speaking. English, isn't he?"
"It seems to be a mixture of English, French, and Spanish. Quite a
polyglot the friend of your friend Perkins appears to be."
She turned steady eyes upon him.
"Mr. Perkins is not my friend."
"No?"
"I never want to see him, or to hear his name again."
"Ah, then you've found out about him?"
"Yes." She flushed. "Yes--at least--Yes," she concluded.
"He admitted it to you?"
"No, he lied about it."
"I think I shall go up and make a call on Mr. Perkins," said
Carroll, with formidable quiet.
"Oh, it doesn't matter," she answered wearily.
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