"Ah, that's all right, then." There was relief in his tone. "Of
course, in a place like this there is a lot of gossip and
criticism. And when one runs counter to the general law--"
"Counter to the law?"
"Yes. As a rule, I'm not 'beyond the pale of law,'" he said,
smiling. "But down here one isn't bound by the same conventions as
at home."
The girl's hand went to her throat in a piteous gesture.
"I--I--don't understand. I don't want to understand."
"There's got to be a certain broad-mindedness in these matters,"
he blundered on, with what seemed to her outraged senses an
abominable jauntiness. "But the risk was small for me, and, of
course, for her, anything was better than the other life. At that,
I don't see how the truth reached you. What is it, Miss Polly?"
Rage, grief, and shame choked the girl's utterance.
Without a word, she ran from the room, leaving her companion a
prey to troubled wonder.
In the patio, she turned sharply to avoid a group gathered around
Galpy, who, with a patch over one eye, was trying to impart some
news between gasps.
"Got it from the bulletin board of La Liberdad," he cried.
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