"
A dusky afterglow filled the sky before them as they silently
trudged to the rock and from the top of the sheer cliff
contemplated the smooth and steely-gray Hudson below. Nelly
squeaked her fear at the drop and clutched his arm, but suddenly
let go and drew back without his aid.
He groaned within, "I haven't the right to help her." He took her
arm as she hesitatingly climbed from the rock down to the ground.
She jerked it free, curtly saying, "No, thank you."
She was repentant in a moment, and, cheerfully:
"Miss Nash took me in her room yesterday and showed me her
things. My, she's got such be-_yoo_-ti-ful jewels! La V'lieres
and pearls and a swell amethyst brooch. My! She told me all
about how the girls used to study in Paris, and how sorry she
would be to go back to California and keep house."
"Keep house?"
Nelly let him suffer for a moment before she relieved him with,
"For her father."
"Oh.... Did she say she was going back to California soon?"
"Not till the end of the summer, maybe.
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