Her strength had gone utterly from
her. Finally there came the sound of a quiet footfall.
Close to her it came, and stopped.
"Why, Chirpy!" a quiet voice said.
She tried to move, but could not. She was as one paralysed. She could
not so much as utter a word.
He knelt down beside her and raised her to a sitting posture, so that
she leaned against him. Holding her so, he gently rubbed her cheek.
"Poor little Chirpy!" he said. "It's all right!"
At sound of the pity and the tenderness of his voice, something seemed
to break within her, the awful constriction passed. She hid her face
upon his arm, and burst into a wild agony of weeping.
He laid his hand upon her head, and kept it there for a while; then as
her sobbing grew more and more violent, he bent over her.
"Don't cry so, child, for Heaven's sake!" he said earnestly. "It's all
right, dear; all right. You are perfectly safe!"
"I shall never--feel safe--again!" she gasped, between her sobs.
"Yes, yes, you will," he assured her. "You will have me to take care of
you. I shall not leave you again."
"But the nights!" she cried wildly. "The nights!"
"Hush!" he said. "Hush! There is nothing to cry about. I will take care
of you at night, too."
She began to grow a little calmer. The assurance of his manner soothed
her. But for a long time she crouched there shivering, with her face
hidden, while he knelt beside her and stroked her hair.
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