After hearing Hebe’s explanation, I didn’t say anything, believing that she wouldn’t have left her homeland if she were not really in desperate need of money. She had just done what she had to do.
If anybody feels that she shouldn’t have fallen prey to the trick that easily, however desperate her need of money was, I would say to them that they know too little about how cruel life can be. I’m from an impoverished family as well. I know that Hebe, an artless girl without a strong educational background, did that only because she didn’t have a choice. If anybody was to blame, it would be the one who hoodwinked her.
“Sleep!” I said, clapping Hebe on the shoulder and lying on my side on the bed. I felt fretful and weary, for I knew that I was faced with a tricky problem.
Hebe was unaware of
