Ruth could tell the doctor; she could bare many of her innermost thoughts to that kindly man; but there was an inexplicable reserve before this young man whom she still endued with the melancholy charm of Sydney Carton.

It was not due to shyness: it was the inherent instinct of the Woman, a protective fear that she must retain some elements of mystery in order to hold the interest of the male.
When she told him that the natives called her The Dawn Pearl, his delight was unbounded.

He addressed her by that title, and something in the tone disturbed her.

A sophisticated woman would have translated the tone as a caress.

And yet to Spurlock it was only the title of a story he would some day write.