The Girl. You don't pay me a very big salary, and there are others whom I must help. But I'm not complaining. [She smiles.] I—I used to be like the other girls. I used to watch the clock. I used to count the hours and the minutes till the day's work was over. But it's different now.
Strickland [slowly]. How—different?
The Girl. I thought it over, and I made up my mind that it wasn't right to count the minutes you worked for an honest man. [Strickland turns away.] And there is a new pleasure in my work: I do my best—that's all I can do, but you do your best, and it's the least I can do.
Strickland [after a pause]. Are you sure—I do my best? Are you sure I am an honest man?
The Girl. Don't you know it yourself, Mr. Strickland?
Strickland [after another pause]. You remember—a few minutes ago, you spoke the name of Alfred Stevens?
The Girl. Yes.
Strickland. Suppose I told you that there once was an Alfred Stevens? [The girl does not answer.] Suppose I told you that Stevens, whom I knew, stole money—stole it when there was no excuse for it—when he didn't need it. His people had plenty, and they gave him plenty. But the chance came, and he couldn't resist the temptation.... He was eighteen years old then.
The Girl [gently]. Only a boy.
Strickland. Only a boy, yes, but he had the dishonest streak in him! Other boys passed by the same opportunity. Stevens didn't even know what to do with the money when he had stolen it. They caught him in less than twenty-four hours. It was almost funny.