Page:Bob Chester's Grit.djvu/111

Rh "What's the matter, are you running away from her?"

"No. I never saw her before."

"Then why did she call you to stop?" asked the conductor, his tone indicating that he thought perhaps Bob might have picked her pocket.

"I don't know. When I was walking along with that colored man, I heard her say she thought he was trying to take me somewhere I shouldn't go."

Bob's evident lack of familiarity with Chicago and the circumstances under which he had boarded the car, aroused the conductor's curiosity, and he inquired:

"Well, was he?"

"No, he had just offered to show me about Chicago."

And then Bob told enough of the story to convince the street-car man that there was nothing improper about the occurrence, and that he succeeded was evidenced by the comment of the conductor, as he said:

"That's just like some women, always meddling in things they don't know anything about. I'll tell you when you get to 101st street."

Bob was deeply interested in the scenes through which he was passing, and it seemed to him that he had scarcely been on the car ten minutes when