An' that's what you are. Yes, you're as crazy as you c'n be. _I_ tormented you, eh? Is that what I did? I picked you up outa the gutter! I fetched you outa the midst of a blizzard when you was standin' by the chronometer an' stared at the lamplighter with eyes that was that desperate scared! You oughta seen yourself! An' I hounded you, eh? Yes, to prevent the police an' the police-waggon an' the devil hisself from catchin' you! I left you no rest, eh? I tortured you, did I? to keep you from jumpin' into the river with the child in your womb! [_Mocking her._] "I'll throw myself into the canal, mother John! I'll choke the child to death! I'll kill the little crittur with my hat pin! I'll go an' run to where its father plays the zither, right in the midst o' the saloon, an' I'll throw the dead child at his feet!" That's what you said; that's the way you talked--all the blessed day long and sometimes half the night too till I put you to bed an' petted you an' stroked you till you went to sleep. An' you didn't wake up again till next day on the stroke o' twelve, when the bells was ringin' from all the churches, Yes, that's the way I scared you, an' then gave you hope again, an' didn't give you no peace! You forgot all that there, eh? PAULINE But it's my child, Mrs. John ... MRS. JOHN [_Screams._] You go an' get your child outa the canal! [_She jumps up and walks hastily about the room, picking up and throwing aside one object after another._ PAULINE Ain't I goin' to be allowed to see my child even? MRS. JOHN Jump into the water an' get it there! Then you'll have it! I ain't keepin' you back. God knows! PAULINE All right! You c'n slap me, you c'n beat me, you c'n throw things at my head if you wants to. Before I don' know where my child is an' before I ain't seen it with my own eyes, nothin' an' nobody ain't goin' to get me away from this place. MRS. JOHN [_Interrupting her._] Pauline, I put it out to nurse! PAULINE That's a lie! Don't I hear it smackin' its lips right behind that there partition. [_The child behind the partition begins to cry. PAULINE hastens toward it. She exclaims with pathetic tearfulness, obviously forcing the note of motherhood a little._] Don' you cry, my poor, poor little boy! Little mother's comin' to you now! [_MRS. JOHN, almost beside herself, has sprung in front of the door, thus blocking PAULINE'S way._ PAULINE [_Whining helplessly but with clenched fists._] Lemme go in an' see my child! MRS. JOHN [_A terrible change coming over her face._] Look at me, girl! Come here an' look me in the eye!--D'you think you c'n play tricks on a woman that looks the way I do? [_PAULINE sits down still moaning._] Sit down an' howl an' whine till ... till your throat's swollen so you can't give a groan. But if you gets in here--then you'll be dead or I'll be dead an' the child--he won't be alive no more neither. PAULINE [_Rises with some determination._] Then look out for what'll happen. MRS. JOHN