City for Conquest Page #4

- Cool off, fella.

- Danny.

- Mutt, look who's here. Googi.

Gee, and if it ain't the

old mutt face. How are you?

- Hello.

- It's been a long time.

- It's been a long time.

- How you doing?

- I just checked in.

- You been away someplace?

Yeah, I been a lot of places and no place.

Tell you the truth, Danny,

I've been sightseeing.

I spent a year and a day on that sweet

little island they call Blackwells.

Then I took a little trip up the Hudson too.

There's a beautiful view up there.

I ought to know. I looked

at it for 36 months.

- I heard you were doing a stretch.

- I had it coming to me.

I was playing for peanuts.

But from now on I play for high stakes

and with nothing in my pocket either, see?

And I'll chop off the hand of the

first guy that tries to stop me.

Hey, look, Danny. Gee, I hate to

ask this, but could you stake me?

I could use a shave and a haircut and

a pair of shoes with soles on them.

I'll give you a stake. French

fried potatoes too. Come on, get in.

Get in that limousine, Googi. Okay, fellas?

- Okay!

- Give her the gas, Danny. Let her go.

Gee, it's good to see you guys.

What a break bumping into you.

It's funny, Danny, the old

bunch, every one of them.

They keep turning up like bad

pennies. First Pete, now Googi.

The other day, I heard that Mushy

Kelly finished his stretch for burglary.

What a bunch.

It must be pretty late.

You gotta get some sleep.

No, that's all right.

Keep on playing, will you?

Play that part you just played.

What? This?

Now I know something's

wrong. Who is it, Peggy?

I thought so.

Peggy's old lady nailed me on the stairs

tonight and lit into me like a bantam.

Where was Peggy, and what did I

mean keeping her out all night?

- Your fault, huh?

- Yeah, how do you like that?

Peggy chasing around with that

sharpie from 65th Street...

...and I gotta take the schlack.

Danny. You're still pretty

set on that kid, aren't you?

You ought to know. She's part

of me by now. Like my right arm.

Everything was going good

until that sharpie came...

...and gave her a fancy line of gab.

Danny, I don't know this guy

Burns, but I think I know the type.

And he's not the one to worry about.

You got a lot more

competition than that spieler.

What do you mean? I don't get you, Ed.

Danny, I know Peggy,

and I certainly know you.

I can't exactly explain this to you...

...but call it applause,

ambition, call it what you like.

But it'd take a lot more than

a man to come between you two.

You see, when she rubs her

eyes open in the morning...

...she sees her name up in bright

lights:
"Peggy Nash, dancer."

All day long, keeps moving those lights

around different theaters, different cities.

At night, she goes to sleep

with applause in her ears.

Danny, she can't see you

and she can't hear you...

...because she's blinded by those

lights and deafened by that applause.

It looks like you nailed it, Ed.

But whatever it is, I'm not gonna

let it take her away from me.

Come in.

I waited downstairs since 10:00.

You didn't show up. I thought

I'd see what was the matter.

What are you trying to pull on me?

Why, I thought we had a date for today.

- It's Sunday, isn't it? - So

you're getting big-hearted, huh?

Why, don't you want to, Danny? Or

are you trying to give me a stand up?

Stand up? That's what I've been getting

since that creepy cake-eater horned in.

- You got soap in your ears.

- So I got soap in my ears.

- You needn't yell.

- Who's yelling?

Not me.

- What are you trying to do, cut my throat?

- I'm sorry. I didn't mean it.

- You didn't mean it.

- Here, let me wash it.

Honestly, I was only fooling.

- First you cut me, then say "only fooling."

- You got a right to be sore.

I thought since it was

Sunday and so nice and warm...

...maybe you'd take me to the beach.

We could have the day together.

- Why didn't you say so?

- You jumped down my throat.

- You know what I ought to do to you?

- What?

I certainly missed you, Peggy.

We had a swell time last

week and the week before.

We won't have a swell time today

unless we get started, so...

You know, Danny, someday I'd

love to take a long ocean trip.

We could do that on our honeymoon. We

could take a cruise to Atlantic City.

I think I can get my boss

to give me a week off.

No, I mean far away. Europe, South America.

Traveling on big ships, seeing

the world from a front seat.

Danny, if I'm successful, I can go anywhere.

Get off that express and take a local.

- Still dreaming about being a star, huh?

- Why not?

Danny, I just know I could be a great dancer.

Maybe even up there someday,

up on Broadway, in a big show.

- My name in bright lights.

- What do you want that for?

We could be happy together

without all that noise.

- Together?

- Yeah, sure. Married. Why not?

Well, I wasn't exactly

thinking about that yet.

- No?

- Don't you see, Danny?

We're hurting each other if we let

ourselves into the lives our families had.

Always struggling, trying to make a dime do

for a dollar. I want out of Forsyth Street.

We don't have to live down there.

We can move up to the Bronx.

Danny, sometimes I don't understand you.

Everybody in New York wants to do

something, be somebody, except you.

- I just wanna be happy.

- But you've got to have ambition.

You can't drag around this town on one foot.

You've got to run like the

rest, or you'll be left behind.

I didn't know you wanted me to, Peggy.

I'd do anything if you'd

tell me you wanted me to.

Danny, I guess we want different things.

Yeah, maybe you're right.

I'll tell you what. We go over

to Chinatown, have some chop suey.

Then we go over to

Settlement and have a dance.

I'd love to, but, well, I wanted to tell

you this before, only I didn't know how.

You see, I can't tonight.

I promised to go to Palace Gardens.

There's a contest there, a big city contest.

There's going to be a booking

agent. Maybe I can get a job.

Yeah, I guess we are talking

about different things.

That sharpshooter gonna be there?

Oh, I don't know, Danny.

I don't care about him.

- We'd better go.

- Look, Peggy.

Suppose I do stop dragging one foot?

Suppose I do join up with

the pack and run with them?

I can do something besides

juggling a packing case.

I got two fists to beat

the way for both of us.

All you gotta do is say

the word and I'll get going.

But, Danny, I don't want you to do it for me.

I want you to be somebody for yourself.

All right. Any way you want it, Peggy.

But tell me one thing so I won't

always be worrying about you.

Promise me that you'll always

be my girl, no matter what.

I promise, Danny.

Always. No matter what.

Okay, but do I have to start the show?

The house is as cold as a

corpse. They'll freeze us.

Can't you make it three or four?

Wait a minute. You're breaking

in. You can't pick your spots now.

I might fix it for you so you'd

have number two. That's all.

- All right, skip it. What's the route?

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