"Then there's the police. After you kill a few men nat'rally the police
begins to worry you. I always hate to kill a policeman."

"It must be an interesting life."

"It is, but it's a hard one," he said, after a pause during which he had
changed feet again and taken up another six inches of the distance which
separated them. He was almost afraid to continue the conversation. He
was finding progress so much easier than he had expected. It was evident
that he had made a tremendous hit with Y.D.'s daughter. What a story to
tell Linder! What would Transley say? He was shaking with excitement.

"It's an awful hard life," he went on, "an' there comes a time, Miss,
when a man wants to quit it. There comes a time when every decent man
wants to settle down. I been thinkin' about that a lot lately.... What
do YOU think about it?" Drazk had gone white. He felt that he actually
had proposed to her.

"Might be a good idea," she replied, demurely. He changed feet again.
He had gone too far to stop. He must strike the iron when it was hot. Of
course he had no desire to stop, but it was all so wonderful. He could
speak to her now in a whisper.

"How about you, Miss? How about you an' me jus' settlin' down?"

She did not answer for a moment. Then, in a low voice,

"It wouldn't be fair to accept you like this, Mr. Drazk. You don't know
anything about me."