"The' was dope an' booze an' ... hell.... Charley's was a reg'lar boil on th' face of God's earth, that's what it was.... He--Bruce Bayard--got me out of there."
The girl breathed hard and swiftly. Her upper lip was drawn back and her white teeth gleamed in the semi-darkness as she sat forward in her chair, flushed, her accusing face thrust forward toward the bewildered, horrified Ann Lytton.
"He got me there, so you know what I was, what I am. He brung me here, got me this job, has kept me here ever since,"--with a suggestion of faltering purpose in her voice. "It's been him ever since; just him. I'll say that for myself. I've been on th' level with Bruce an' ain't had nothin' to do with others.
"You see he's mine!"--her voice, which had dropped to a monotone, rose bitingly again. "He's mine; he's all I got. If 'twasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. If he quits me, I'll go back to that other. I don't want to go back; so long as he sticks by me I won't go back. If I leave, it'll be because I'm drove back....
"That's what you're doin'. You're drivin' me back to Charley's ... or some place like it...."
She moved from side to side, defiantly, and leaned further forward, resting her elbows on her knees, staring out into the darkened street below them.
"You come here, a married woman; you got one man now, an' he don't suit. So you think you're goin' to take mine. That's big business for a ... a respectable lady, like yourself, ain't it? Stealin' a man off a woman like me!"
She laughed shortly, and did not so much as look up as Ann tried to reply and could not make words frame coherent sentences.
"I've kept still until now, 'cause I ain't proud of my past, 'cause I thought you, havin' one man, had enough without meddlin' with mine. But I'm through keepin' my mouth shut now,"--menacingly. "I'm through, I tell you,"--wiping her hands along her thighs and straightening her body slowly as she turned a malevolent gaze on the silent Ann. "You're tryin' to take what belongs to me an' I won't set by an' let you walk off with him. I'll--
"Why, what'd this town say, if I was to tell 'em you're Ned Lytton's wife instead of his sister? They all know you've been havin' Bruce come here to your room; they all think he's your lover. First thing, they'd fire you out of th' hotel; then, they'd laugh at you as you walked along th' street! It'd ruin him, too; what with keepin' your man out at his ranch so's he can see you without trouble!"