"You lie!" he gritted. "When y' say I married you just to keep outta stir, you lie. I married you because I was crazy about you. You liked me, too, until--until you run into that other bird and fell for him. But when I got outta the Tombs I stopped that, all right." "Yes, you stopped it," choked Helen. "I loved him--with every beat of my heart. You--you robbed me of my one chance to be happy. You--oh, why do you drag all these ghosts before me? Those are things I'm always trying to forget. I saved you from doing a twenty-year stretch, and you've been hounding me--hounding me ever since. That--that's your idea of gratitude!" "Aw, cut out that stuff. I'm desperate. The cops is lookin' for me; I gotta make a get-away and I gotta have money." "Oh, I see, you want money," nodded Helen, fumbling at her purse. "You said a hundred dollars----" Don Haskins gave a contemptuous sneer. "I said that's what I owe Annie, but I want more'n that--a lot more. Aw, I know you're well fixed. I know you married a guy that's got it. I got all the dope on you, see." "How----" "You thought you were pretty foxy, didn'tcha? It wasn't much trouble gettin' a line on you. When I went out West with Keegan and got nabbed pullin' the job we went out there to do in Chi, you thought I was in for a long stretch, and that you'd lose me. You changed your name, did the workin'-girl stunt, and hooked a live one--married a fellow that writes, Kirklan Gilmore. "But the State's attorney out there made a little deal with me; I handed him some information he wanted, and he got me paroled. See? I come back, lookin' for you. Madge knew all about it, and I made her tell. Never trust a friend, girlie; that's my motto." "So Madge told you?" "She hadda tell; I'd have choked the life outta her if she hadn't." "I--I suppose the past is one thing that never dies," Helen whispered. "I was a fool to think I could get away with it. I--I was a fool to take the chance." "I ain't gonna stop you from gettin' away with it," grunted Don; "at least I ain't--providin'----" "Don't beat around the bush, Don; get to the point. Providing--what?" "I'll get to the point fast enough. I gotta be practical, I oughtta make you squirm, but I'm in a bad fix. What I need is a thousand bucks, and I need it quick." Helen stared at him fixedly. "I haven't got a thousand dollars, Don, but if two hundred will help any----" Her fingers were at the clasp of her hand bag. "If you ain't got a thousand, then get it--from that rich husband you've swung onto." "But he's not rich. You don't understand. He owns a house, an automobile, and lives well, but he's not rich. I doubt if he's got much money outside the royalties from his book. I--I don't see how I could ask him for a thousand dollars, without giving him some sort of an explanation, and I don't know what I could tell him."