"Don't be frightened," entreated a voice quite near to her, and out of the lesser darkness a tall black figure rose suddenly.
"I am not at all frightened," said Peggy at once. In spite of the bigness of the figure there was something reassuring in the voice with its crisp, humorous note and its intonation that Peggy at once recognized as American.
"What are you doing here?" she continued, inhospitably addressing the darkness before her.
"I went to sleep" the voice explained, "on the other side of the pillar."
"How silly!" said Peggy, severely, "didn't you see me here?"
"It was a little dim," the voice apologized and, Peggy's silence still condemning, "you should have snored," it continued extenuatingly.
Peggy arose with a dignity that she hoped penetrated the darkness. Then she groped along the bench.
"My purse," she explained anxiously, "and it had a sixpence for tea and two shillings for tips," she continued with an unconscious epitome of the joys of traveling. As she groped along bench and floor she was conscious of assistance from her companion, and just as she grasped the discovered purse she felt purse and hand caught and retained in a firm grip.
"I apologize," he said at once, still however, holding on to her hand, "I thought it was the purse."
Peggy jerked her hand loose indignantly, and speechless with wrath she hurried toward the door only to find that she had mistaken her direction. In her effort to recover her bearings she become hopelessly confused, stumbled noisily over a bench, and fell headlong into the arms of her companion.
"You had better sit down again," he remarked coolly as he returned her to her seat and sat down calmly beside her. As he did so Peggy noted curiously the dim attractive silhouette of his head and the remarkably good line from ear to shoulder.
"I am going at once," she said haughtily, but without moving.
"You can't," the man beside her replied, "and if you promise not to cry or fall over any more benches I will tell you why--although I myself do not object to the latter," he continued judicially, "but for the sake of your own bones, merely."
"Because the door is locked," he explained succinctly.
"We can both scream or you can throw a bench through the window," said Peggy triumphantly.