"I--I'm thinking of the boys who were stoning the frog," she began, haltingly. "You remember. It was fun for them but death to the frog. I--I think a good many things work that way in the world, don't--don't you, Mr. Ennis? You--you don't really look like--like a very bad man. If--if you had a sister or mother you'd--you'd probably be kind to them. What--what do you think of it yourself, honestly? A--a girl, who's a fool, of course, but after all just a girl, is dying of loneliness and misery in a big city. She--she can't stand it any more, not--not for another day. And then she finds that paper and like--like an utter fool she answers that advertisement. It--it looked like a bare chance of--of being able to keep body and soul together, and--and remain honest and decent, which--which is a hard enough thing for a girl to do, in--in some places. And then the man answers back. She--I never expected he would, but he did, and he offered all sorts of wonderful things that--that looked like heaven itself to--to a hungry failure of a girl to whom life had become too heavy a burden to bear. And--and so she answers that letter and--and tries to tell the truth about herself, and says that--that she is prepared to carry out her part of the bargain if--if the man has spoken truly of himself--if--if he can respect her--treat her like a woman who--who is ready to do her best to--to deserve a little kindness and consideration. And he tells her again to come--to come as soon as possible, and--and there was nothing to detain her for a moment. The city had been too cruel--too utterly cruel. And then she comes here and finds that--that it was all lies--wicked lies--I'm sorry, it's the only word I can use." Hugo was staring at her, open-mouthed, but before he could utter a word she began again: "The man had never meant it, of course--he wasn't awaiting her at all, as he had promised--and when she finally comes to him he speaks coldly, cynically, denying his words, pretending he knows nothing. It--it's a rather clumsy way of getting out of it, seems to me. Anyway he saw that his joke had been carried too far. It--it hasn't proved such a very good one, has it? It--it has turned out to be pretty poor fun. I--I dare say I deserve it all. It--it was awful folly on my part, I see it now, and--and I'm ashamed, dreadfully ashamed--I feel the redness mounting to--to the very roots of my hair--and it overwhelms me. Don't--don't you feel something of--of the same sort, or--or do you still think the joke was a good one?" She had grown rather excited and it was quite true that a deep blush was now mantling her face. In her halting speech--in the words that had come slowly at first, and then had flowed more rapidly, there had been wounded pride beside the deep resentment and the pain.