o give you an introduction to a girls'
employment club. They have a hall and hold dances once a week and you
get acquainted. It only costs you ten cents a week and it will give you
a place to spend your evenings. If you join that you'll need evening
dresses for the dances. Of course I understand some of the girls just go
in their street suits, but you stand a great deal better chance of
having a good time if you are dressed attractively. And then they say
men often go in there evenings to look for a stenographer, or an actor,
or some kind of a worker, and they always pick out the prettiest. Dress
goes a great way if you use it rightly. Now there's a frock in here--"
Gila stooped and untied the cord on the box. "This frock cost a hundred
and fifty dollars, and I never wore it but once!"

She held up a tattered blue net adorned with straggling, crushed,
artificial rosebuds, its sole pretension to a waist being a couple of
straps of silver tissue attached to a couple of rags of blue net. It
looked for all the world like a draggled butterfly.

"It's torn in one or two places," pursued Gila's ready tongue, "but it's
easily mended. I wore it to a dance and somebody stepped on the hem. I
suppose you are good at mending. A girl in your position ought to know
how to sew. My maid usually mends things like this with a thread of
itself. You can pull one out along the hem, I should think. Then here is
a pink satin. It needs cleaning. They don't charge more than two or
three dollars--or perhaps you might use gasolene. I had slippers to
match, but I couldn't find but one. I brought that along. I thought you
might do something with it. They were horribly expensive--made to order,
you know. Then this cerise chiffon, all covered with sequins, is really
too showy for a girl in your station, but in case you get a chance to
act you might need it, and anyhow I never cared for it. It isn't
becoming to me. Here's an indigo charmeuse with silver trimmings. I got
horribly tired of it, but you will look stunning in it. It might even
help you catch a rich husband; who knows! There's half a dozen pairs of
white evening gloves! I might have had them cleaned, but if you can use
them I can get new ones. And there's a bundle of old silk stockings!
They haven't any toes or heels much, but I suppose you can darn them.
And of course you can't afford to buy expensive silk stockings!"

One by one Gila had pulled the things out of the box, rattling on about