ss defeat.

"Miss Norvell," he began firmly, and in the depth of his earnestness he
touched her hand where it yet clung to the door, "I may, indeed, be
presuming upon an exceedingly brief friendship, but my sole excuse must
be the very serious interest I feel in you, especially in your
undoubted ability and future as an actress. It is always a great
misfortune for any man to repose trust and confidence in the character
of a woman, and then suddenly awaken to discover himself deceived.
Under these circumstances I should be unworthy of friendship did I fail
in plain speaking. To me, your reckless acceptance of this chance
engagement at the Gayety seems inexpressibly degrading; it is a
lowering of every ideal with which my imagination has heretofore
invested your character. I am not puritanical, but I confess having
held you to a higher plane than others of my acquaintance, and I find
it hard to realize my evident mistake. Yet, surely, you cannot fully
comprehend what it is you are choosing, I was with you last night,
true, but I considered it no honor to appear upon _that_ stage, even
with the 'Heart of the World,' and it hurt me even then to behold you
in the midst of such surroundings. But deliberately to take part in
the regular variety bill is a vastly more serious matter. It is almost
a total surrender to evil, and involves a daily and nightly association
with vice which cannot but prove most repugnant to true womanhood.
Surely, you do not know the true nature of this place?"

"Then tell it to me."

"I will, and without any mincing of words. The Gayety is a mere
adjunct to the Poodle-Dog saloon and the gambling hell up-stairs. They
are so closely connected that on the stage last evening I could easily
hear the click of ivory chips and the clatter of drinking glasses. One
man owns and controls the entire outfit, and employs for his variety
stage any kind of talent which will please the vicious class to which
he caters. All questioning as to morality is thoroughly eliminated.
Did you comprehend this?"

The young girl bowed slightly, her face as grave as his own, and again
colorless, the whiteness of her cheeks a marked contrast to her dark
hair.

"I understood those conditions fully."

"And yet consented to appear there?"

She shook back her slightly disarranged hair, and looked him directly
in the eyes, every line of her face stamped with resolve.

"Mr. Winston, in the first place, I deny your slig