You are not thinking of moving, are you, Miss Grimes?" Philip enquired.
She snatched at the key, but he had just possessed himself of it and was swinging it from his forefinger.
"I don't know," she snapped. "I was going up there, anyway. You can't have the key to-day."
"Why not?" Philip asked in surprise.
"Never mind. There are some things of mine up there. I—"
She broke off. They both looked at her, perplexed. Philip shook his head good-naturedly.
"Miss Grimes," he said, "you forget that the rooms are mine till next quarter day. I promise you we will respect any of your belongings we may find there. Come along, Elizabeth."
"We'll see you as we come down," the latter promised, nodding pleasantly,
"I don't know as you will," the girl retorted fiercely. "I may not be here."
They climbed the last two flights of stairs together.
"What an extraordinary young woman!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Is there any reason for her being quite so rude to me?"
"None that I can conceive," he answered. "She is always like that."
"And yet you took an interest in her!"
"Why not? She is human, soured by misfortune, if you like, with an immense stock of bravery and honesty underneath it all. She has had a drunken father practically upon her hands, and life's been pretty sordid for her. Here we are."
