Page:Arthur Stringer - The Shadow.djvu/85

 "And?" prompted the First Deputy, as she came to a stop.

"We all know, now, exactly where we 're at. We all know what we want, each one of us. We know what Blake wants. We know what you want. And I want something more than I 'm getting, just as you want something more than writing reports and rounding up pushcart peddlers. I want my end, as much as you want yours."

"And?" again prompted the First Deputy.

"I 've got to the end of my ropes; and I want to swing around. It 's no reform bee, mind! It 's not what other women like me think it is. But I can't go on. It does n't lead to anything. It does n't pay. I want to be safe. I 've got to be safe!"

He looked up suddenly, as though a new truth had just struck home with him. For the first time, all that evening, his face was ingenuous.

"I know what 's behind me," went on the woman. "There 's no use digging that up. And there 's no use digging up excuses for it.