Stage Confidences by Clara Morris
page 116 of 169 (68%)
page 116 of 169 (68%)
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propriety, it seems a pity that he was facing the wrong way.
I laugh, oh, yes, I laugh at the memory, until I think how silvery were these three wine-muddled old heads, and then I feel "the pity, oh, the pity of it!" _CHAPTER XVIII A BELATED WEDDING_ It was in a city in the far West that this small incident took place--a city of the mountains still so young that some of its stateliest business buildings of stone or marble, with plate-glass, fine furniture, and electric lighting, were neighboured not merely by shanties, but actually by tents. But though high up in the mountains, the young city was neither too far nor too high for vice to reach it; and so it came about that a certain woman, whose gold-bought smiles had become a trifle too mocking and satirical to be attractive, had come to the young city and placed herself at the head of an establishment where, at command, every one from sunset laughed and was merry, and held out hungry, grasping little hands for the gold showered upon them--laughed, with weary, pain-filled eyes--laughed, with stiff, tired lips sometimes--but still laughed till sunrise--and then, well, who cared what they did _then_? |
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