JOE. [_With a shudder._] No. Not that--we'll wait, Mary. Don't speak of
that.

MARY. [_Wistfully._] You've thought of it too?

JOE. Thought of it! Don't, Mary, don't! It's bad enough, in the night,
when I lie there and think of to-morrow! Something will happen--it must.

MARY. What? We haven't a friend in the world.

JOE. I may meet some one I used to know.

MARY. You've met them before--they always refuse--

JOE. [_Passionately._] I've done nothing wrong--I haven't drunk or
gambled--I can't help being only a clerk, and unable to do heavy work! I
can't help my lungs being weak! I've a wife and a child, like other
people--and all we ask is to be allowed to live!

MARY. [_Pleading._] Let's give it up, Joe. Go away together, you'd sleep
without coughing. Sleep, that's all. And God will be kinder than men.

JOE. [_Groaning._] Don't, Mary--don't!

MARY. Joe, I can't stand it any longer--I can't. Not only myself--but
Minnie--Joe, it's too much for me! I can't stand Minnie crying, and asking
me for her breakfast, as she will in the morning. Joe, dear Joe, let there
be no morning!