I'm going to try an experiment with you. I've
tried it several times but--No matter. I'm not discouraged.
I never give up. . . . Can you stand being alone?"
"I spend most of my time alone. I prefer it."
"I thought so. Yes--you'll do. Only the few who can stand
being alone ever get anywhere. Everything worth while is done
alone. The big battle--it isn't fought in the field, but by
the man sitting alone in his tent, working it all out. The
bridge--the tunnel through the great mountains--the
railway--the huge business enterprise--all done by the man
alone, thinking, plotting to the last detail. It's the same
way with the novel, the picture, the statue, the play--writing
it, acting it--all done by someone alone, shut in with his
imagination and his tools. I saw that you were one of the
lonely ones. All you need is a chance. You'd surely get it,
sooner or later. Perhaps I can bring it a little sooner. . . .
How much do you need to live on?"
"I must have fifty dollars a week--if I go on at--as I am now.
If you wish to take all my time--then, forty."
He smiled in a puzzled way.
"The police," she explained. "I need ten----"
"Certainly--certainly," cried he. "I understand--perfectly.
How stupid of me! I'll want all your time. So it's to be
forty dollars a week. When can you begin?"
Susan reflected. "I can't go into anything that'll mean a
long time," she said.
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