"Oh, Izzy darling!"
"I can pay up when I earn the money like a man, Renie. It would have killed me if you had sold yourself to him for me. I'd have gone to the stripes first. But I got a man's chance now, Renie, and I don't have to do that rotten thing to you and Squash. A man's chance, Renie, and—and I'm going to take it."
She sat down on the bed suddenly, as though the blood had flowed out of her heart, weakening her.
"A sister like you that would have stuck; and—and I'm going to make good to a sister like you, Renie. I am, this time. Please believe me, Renie. I am! I am!"
Her hand lay pressed to his cheek and she could feel the warm course of his tears. "Izzy, I knew you wasn't yellow; I—I knew you wasn't."
Sobs shook him suddenly and he buried his face in the pillow beside her.
"Why, Izzy! Why, Izzy darling, what—what is it, Izzy darling?"
"It's nothing. You—you get out, Renie. I'm all right; only—only it's—it's—Now that it's all over, I—I—Just let me alone a minute, Renie. Go—you—please—please!"
She closed the door behind her and fumbled through the gloom of the hallway, her hand faltering as she groped ahead.
From the recesses of the moonflower vine Mr. Hochenheimer rose to meet her; and, because her limbs would tremble, she slid quickly into her chair.