So, my proud beauty, your spirit is broken at last! And at last I have you within my power! MARY Oh, God, give me strength! If I were a man, I’d _kill_ you! You are of the kind who drag women to the gutter. DALTON Now, now, my fine young animal! Remember--’twas you, too, who sinned! MARY (_sobbing wildly_) Folly, yes--but not sin, no, no--not sin, not sin! It is the weakness of women and the perfidy of men that makes women sin. DALTON (_sneering_) Sin it was--_sin_, I repeat it. You--you’re no better now than the women of the streets! MARY No, no! Don’t say that, don’t say that! Have pity! (_throwing herself before him_) See! It is a helpless woman who kneels at your feet-- DALTON (_throwing her from him_) Bah! MARY (_pleading_) Who asks you to give back what is more precious to her than jewels and riches, than life itself--her honor! DALTON Enough of that! Now, you, listen to me! Do as I say and I can make a lady of you--you shall be dressed like a queen and move in society, loved, honored and famous. This I offer you if--if you will become my wife. MARY Your wife! Not if all the gold of the world were in your hands, and you gave it to me. Your wife--never--never--not even to become a lady! Before I’d be your wife I’d live in rags and be proud of my poverty! There is the door--_go_! DALTON Not so fast, my girl! MARY I’ll do what thousands of other heartbroken and despairing women have done--seek for peace in the silence of the grave! DALTON (_sneeringly_) Well, what _will_ you do? MARY Stand back! Let me pass. If you lay your hand on me, I’ll-- DALTON Ha! (_He advances upon her and makes to seize her in his arms. She struggles, screams. Enter Dick, revolver drawn_) DICK What’s the meaning of this? _Speak!_ DALTON (_to Mary, airily_) Who is this young--this young _cub_? (_aside_) Damnation! DICK (_advancing_) I’ll show you soon enough, you fighter of _women_! DALTON (_in a superior tone, loftily ignoring the insult_) Hm, you Americans are a peculiar lot. But I suppose your manners will improve as your country grows older. DICK Oh, I see! So you’re an Englishman, aren’t you? Englishmen never believe how fast we grow in this country. They won’t believe that George Washington ever made them get out of it, either, but he did! DALTON Ah, my dear fellow, _our_ country has grown up of its own accord, but _you_ have to get immigrants to help _you_ build up _your_ country--and what are they? DICK That’s so: they don’t amount to anything until they come over here and inhale the free and fresh air of liberty. Then they become _American citizens_ and they amount to a great deal. We build up the West and feed the world! DALTON Feed the world! Oh, no! Certainly you don’t feed England! DICK Oh yes we do! We’ve fed England. We gave you a warm breakfast in 1776, a boiling dinner in 1812--and we’ve got a red-hot supper for you any time you want it! DALTON (_insolently_) ’Pon my word, you amuse me.