"'SH, Mack!" whispered a cautious voice from the stairway."That's a friend of mine and not one of those you need.He's only a student and scared to death.""Hurry," said the policeman, under his breath, twisting Eugene sharply by him into the street;after which he stormed vehemently: "On yer way, both of ye! Move on up the street! Don't be tryin' to poke yer heads in here! Ye'd be more anxious to git out, once ye got in, I tell ye!"A sob of relief came from Bantry as he gained the next corner, the slight figure of his conductor at his side."You'd better not go to places like the `Straw-Cellar,' " said the latter, gravely."I'd been watching you for an hour.You were dancing with the girl who did the cutting."Eugene leaned against a wall, faint, one arm across his face.He was too ill to see, or care, who it was that had saved him."I never saw her before," he babbled, incoherently, "never, never, never! I thought she looked handsome, and asked her if she'd dance with me.Then I saw she seemed queer--and wild, and she kept guiding and pushing as we danced until we were near that man--and then she--then it was all done--before--""Yes," said the other; "she's been threatening to do it for a long time.Jealous.Mighty good sort of a girl, though, in lots of ways.Only yesterday I talked with her and almost thought I'd calmed her out of it.But you can't tell with some women.They'll brighten up and talk straight and seem sensible, one minute, and promise to behave, and mean it too, and the next, there they go, making a scene, cutting somebody or killing themselves! You can't count on them.But that's not to the point, exactly, I expect.You'd better keep away from the `Straw-Cellar.' If you'd been caught with the rest you'd have had a hard time, and they'd have found out your real name, too, because it's pretty serious on account of your dancing with her when she did it, and the Canaan papers would have got hold of it and you wouldn't be invited to Judge Pike's any more, Eugene."Eugene dropped his arm from his eyes and stared into the face of his step-brother.
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