"Why don't you answer me?" he insisted.
Mary's reply came with all the coldness she could command.
"That was not in the bargain," Mary said, indifferently.
The man's voice grew tenderly winning, persuasive with the
longing of a lover, persuasive with the pity of the righteous for
the sinner.
"Mary, Mary!" he cried. "You've got to change. Don't be so hard.
Give the woman in you a chance."
The girl's form became rigid as she fought for self-control. The
plea touched to the bottom of her heart, but she could not, would
not yield. Her words rushed forth with a bitterness that was the
cover of her distress.
"I am what I am," she said sharply. "I can't change. Keep your
promise, now, and let's get out of this."
Her assertion was disregarded as to the inability to change.
"You can change," Dick went on impetuously. "Mary, haven't you
ever wanted the things that other women have, shelter, and care,
and the big things of life, the things worth while? They're all
ready for you, now, Mary.... And what about me?" Reproach leaped
in his tone.
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