He's not a
slaver."
Irrepressible curiosity made her send him a swift glance from the corner of
her eye. He was a young man, thick set, with an aggressive nose set in a
round hard face. His small, hard, black eyes were steady, and so were his
feet. He did not look in the least drunk.
"I think you have made a mistake," she said quietly, and with no pretense
at immense dignity (she could hear Aileen say: "Cut it out. Nothing doing
in that line here"). "I, also, have made a mistake--in walking at night on
this street. Would you mind letting go my arm? I think I'll take a car."
"No, I think you'll stay just where you are," he said insolently. "You
don't belong here all right, but you've come and you can stand the
consequences. You're just the sort that needs a jolt and I like the idea of
handing it."
Alexina gave him a coldly speculative glance. "I wonder why?"
"You would? Well, I'll tell you. Never been out alone at night before, I'll
bet, like these other girls, that ain't got no place on earth to have any
fun but the streets. Never even rubbed against the common herd? Generally
go about in a machine, don't you?"
"It is quite true that I have never been out alone at night before. I
certainly shall not go again."
"No, you don't have to! That's the point, all right. And if you weren't
such a beauty, damn you! I'd hate you this minute as I hate your whole
parasite class.
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