"But, Jennie, I can't leave you like that."
She turned to face him. He was abashed by her steadfast brown eyes.
"Why for no'?" she asked. "Aleck, I 'm no lassie that's been fooled. What is between us, Aleck, is because I liked you and I knew you liked me. Don't let that bother your head. I 've done you no hurt, Aleck, nor you me. That's our own affair."
"But why break like this? What for?"
"For this, Aleck. You 're the owner and the master. I 'm a worker. I 've always been a worker. You mind I 've never taken a thing from you, Aleck. I 'm one of the people you 're fighting, Aleck, and I stick by my folks. While this fight's on, Aleck, you and I are finished. That's the way I feel, Aleck. I can't change it."
"You're foolish!"
"I don't think I am." This time she signaled the car. It stopped with its ill-tempered, hurried air.
"When'll I see you again?"
"When you do what my folks ask in justice, Aleck, and not before." And she was gone.
He stood for a few minutes in the rain. A touch of panic seized him. For a year he had not been so lonely. He felt he was on the verge of doing a foolish thing.