do not discredit my statement. There is no mistake; I know whereof I
speak when I say that just such villains as I have described are to be
found in, and leaders of, the select dancing school, in the ball room
and at the parlor dance, figuring in what is called the best society, as
the most refined and highly polished society gentlemen of the day.

Nor is the ball-room scene an imaginary one.

I have seen it, just as described, hundreds, yes, thousands of times,
and have known of many and many a case with the same sad ending.

Do not delude yourself, my dear reader, with the thought that such
scenes occur only at low public dances. Some of the lowest and most
disgusting deeds of which I have had any knowledge, have occurred at and
in connection with, the most fashionable parlor dances.

The following infamous deeds were done on one of the principal avenues
and at the home of one of the most aristocratic families of this city.

The occasion was a fashionable dance of which I was manager.

There was present the _creme de la creme_ of the city's society. Among
them two beautiful young women who were actors in the play I am about to
put before you. The play is in five acts.

The first scene is of exquisite loveliness. It is a large drawing room,
elegant in all its appointments. Its coloring as seen by gas light is
soft, rich, and beautifully blended or prettily contrasted. Its pictures
are rare bits of art from the brush of the most popular artists of
ancient and modern times, and all its ornamentation is forcibly