Personally, he did not attempt to analyze the marvel of a saintly woman.

He would take off his hat, and would silence the light-tongued and the vicious in her presence--much as the Irish keeper of a Bowery hall will humble himself before a Sister of Mercy, and pay toll to charity with a willing and reverent hand.

But he would not think much upon the question of why he did so.
A man in his situation who comes, after a long round of worthless or hardening experiences, upon a young, unsophisticated, innocent soul, is apt either to hold aloof, out of a sense of his own remoteness, or to draw near and become fascinated and elated by his discovery.

It is only by a roundabout process that such men ever do draw near such a girl.
They have no method, no understanding of how to ingratiate themselves in youthful favor, save when they find virtue in the toils.

If, unfortunately, the fly has got caught in the net, the spider can come forth and talk business upon its own terms.