She was convinced now of the truth of her suspicions--the woman was not only interwoven with his past, but was closely identified with his present anguish.
She drew closer, her voice rising.

"Ye'll go with me, won't ye, Mr.Felix ?" she went on, hiding under an assumed indifference all recognition of his struggle.

"Father Cruse told me if I ever come across her again, and there wasn't time to get hold of him, to let ye know." "I will go anywhere, where Father Cruse thinks I should, Mrs.
Cleary--especially in cases of this kind, where I may be of use." The words had come from between partly closed lips; his hands were still tightly clinched.

"And you say she was arrested--for stealing ?" "Yes, shopliftin', they call it.

Poor creatures, they get that miserable and trodden on they don't know right from wrong!" Then, as if to give him time in which to recover himself fully, she went on, speaking rapidly: "And, after all, it may only be a put-up job or a mistake.