Sally nodded, and sipped again at the thick glass from which she was drinking. "I'm strong," she said. "I'm hard ... tough. If I make up my _mind_...." "Yes. I'm like that," insisted Gaga. It was so preposterous that Sally could only look measuringly at him with a puzzled contempt that might have been read. "I'm stronger'n you are," she answered. "I'm small; but I don't mind what I do. You're a _good_ boy. I'm not. I'm bad. I'm ... you don't know what goes on in my head." Suddenly exasperated, she went on: "That's what I meant. You think I'm just a quiet little thing. I'm not. You don't know _what_ I think about. I want to do all sorts of things. I want to be rich, and have a good time, and have lots of ... lots of _power_. I want to get on. If anybody gets in my way I push 'em out of it. If anybody gets in _your_ way you stand aside." "I don't. I get my own way, but not by fighting," Gaga said. "Oho! I don't fight," retorted Sally. "They're afraid to fight me." Gaga smiled. "They're afraid of hurting you," he suggested. "But I know just what you mean." His confidence was unshakable. "I kick 'em in the stomach," Sally asserted. "Anywhere." "Yes. They wouldn't take liberties with you." "Not unless I wanted them to," said Sally, abruptly sober. "They wouldn't try it on. None of the girls ever worry me. When I first came they did. They were saucy. I soon stopped that. I got a tongue, and they found it out. Now Miss Summers----" "Don't let's talk about the business," pleaded Gaga. Sally was arrested. "Funny!" she exclaimed. "We haven't, have we!" "It's so much nicer being ... friends." One of Gaga's hands was stretched across the table. With a sense of mischief Sally allowed him to take her own hand. Then she moved it quickly. "They're looking at us," she whispered to him. "Those waitress girls." Instantly she was free. She had the thought that a real man would have held her hand for a moment longer. All the same, she enjoyed her power over Gaga. The little unreadable smile that so excited him was upon her face, and the knowledge of power was in her heart. They sat for a little while over coffee; and then Sally began to put on her gloves. A few minutes later they were out in the dark street, and pausing to discover the points of the compass. As they stood, a great gust of wind came sweeping along from the southeast, and at its onset the two became strangely embraced, Gaga's arm being round Sally, and the brim of her hat against his breast. They both laughed, and Sally stood upright; but she did not move so violently that Gaga must withdraw his arm. She was amused and elated at contact with him. Gaga, encouraged, drew her closer. "Oo!" murmured Sally. She let him see her laughing face.