The messenger assured the neighbors that they were neither thieves, nor ruffians, and that no harm would come to them as long as they did not try to interfere.
How could Melly have been so — so — Well, there was no word for Melanie's action in taking in this old ruffian and not telling her friends he was a jailbird.
And the policeman and the other people were crying more loudly than ever: " Who was it? Who did it? One of his glasses has been driven into his eye! He has been blinded! The ruffians" !