“Oh, yes; in a way of speaking. Once in a while a bit of heaven comes now and then to one or another of us--when some man lets a girl go and live with him till he gets tired of her.” “And you call that heaven?” “Some does: for me, I’d say it depends on who the man is.” He lighted a cigar and puffed at it in silence. And when he spoke again: “Do you care to tell me what brought you to this, Mona?” “You wouldn’t want to know.” Then, in lower tones and with her face averted: “I ain’t got no hard-luck story to tell. I just went bad because I was ... but what’s the use of trying to make you see? It’s just in the blood, or it ain’t; and I’m thinking it ain’t in your blood at all.” He smiled soberly. “Maybe there are worse things in my blood than anything you will ever have to plead guilty to. But that is neither here nor there. Tell me this, Mona: if you could have one wish, and could be sure it would be granted, what would it be?” “My God! Can you ask me that?--after what I’ve been telling you?” “I can and I do. I have been thinking a good deal about you since--since that morning when you sat here on the bed and told me how I came to be here in this room. You were honest with me then. I’ve been wondering if you could go on being honest with me.” “You mean that you’d take me out of this--for a little while--and let me--let me----” “No,” he denied gravely; “I didn’t mean that. But if I should do that--what then?” A soft light leaped into the blue Irish eyes and for a moment the reckless look vanished and the girl’s face became almost beautiful. “I’d--I’d work my fingers to the bone to make it last as long as I could--with you!” “Why with me, rather than with another man?” “I can tell,” she said. “You’re not like other men. Even when you’re drunk, you don’t forget. I know!” Another little silence, and at the end of it: “You must know the truth about me, Mona. I have been to the bottom--I’m on the bottom, now; just as much out of the decent running as you are. And I have fallen so hard that it makes me feel for other people who are caught and can’t get loose. Can you understand that?” “It’s terribly dumb I’d be if I couldn’t--the way I’m living.” “All right; then we’ll go on. When I was here before it seemed to me that you hadn’t gone quite stony hard--as some of them do; that if you had a chance, you might climb back. Would you?” She shook her head. “There’s no chance for the woman; you’d know that very well.” “There is one chance; just one, I suppose. Do you want to get out of this badly enough to marry me, Mona?” “_Marry you?_ My God, man, what are you talking about! Do you think I’d----”