Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/229

 Sadie snorted aloud.

"That old geezer was nothin' but a gang-boss to me! And yuh canned me chances before I could git a hook into him!" Her voice took on a note of mockery. "But wasn't I the foolish kid to run away wit' the idear that gittin' married was just me own privut affair? Wasn't I the wall-eyed wop not to see that about ev'ry gover'ment agent paradin' a tin badge had a right to poke his nose into me birt' certificate and me other equally privut matters? Wasn't I, now?"

Kestner did not smile. His patience, in fact, carried with it a touch of pity.

"That is not the point, Sadie. You just spoke about a certain door. And the point is that a very wise man has said the future is only the past, entered by another door. No one is more anxious for your eventual happiness than I am. But our past has the habit of reaching out a hand and taking our happiness away from us. I only want to warn you that—"

"Well, there's no wop can put the rollers under me!" cut in the indignant-eyed young woman. "There was nothin' underhand about any o' that hitchin' up, and there was nothin' underhand about