THE WOMAN'S STORY I had never supposed I lacked audacity, yet I found it strangely difficult to again pick up our conversation.

This woman puzzled me; was becoming an enigma.

She encouraged me, and yet something about her precluded all familiarity.

I was haunted by the vague suspicion that she might be "stringing" me; that she was not as innocent as she pretended.

Her eyes again glanced up, and met mine.
"It is a terrible experience being penniless, and alone," she said with a shudder.