"Scientific interest, in part. Besides, she wasn't wholly unknown.
She's a sort of cousin of Raimonda's."
Carroll's mind flew back to his fatally misinterpreted
conversation with the young Caracunan.
"What did he mean by letting me think that you shouldn't associate
with Miss Polly?"
"Oh, he had the usual erroneous dread of leprosy contagion, I
suppose."
"May I ask you another question, Mr. Per--I beg your pardon, Dr.
Pruyn?" said the visitor, almost timidly.
"Perkins will do." The other smiled wanly. "Ask me anything you
want to."
"Why did you run away that day on the tram-car?"
"To avoid trouble, of course."
"You? Why, you go about searching for dangerous and difficult
jobs. That won't do!"
"Not at all. It's only when I can't get away from them. But I
couldn't risk arrest then. Some one would surely have recognized
me as Luther Pruyn. You see, I've been here before."
"Then I don't see why they didn't identify you, anyway."
"Three years ago I was much heavier, and wore a full beard. Then
these glasses, besides being invaluable for protection, are a
pretty thorough disguise.
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