It was not long, as we waited, before another woman, older than
Miss Sawtelle, but dressed in an extreme fashion, hurried into the
cabaret and with scarcely a look to right or left went directly to
Whitecap's corner. I noticed that she, too, had the look.

There was a surreptitious passing of a bottle in exchange for a
treasury note, and she dropped into the seat beside him.

Before he could interfere, she had opened the bottle, crushed a
tablet or two in a napkin, and was holding it to her face as
though breathing the most exquisite perfume. With one quick
inspiration of her breath after another, she was snuffing the
powder up her nose.

Whitecap with an angry gesture pulled the napkin from her face,
and one could fancy his snarl under his breath, "Say--do you want
to get me in wrong here?"

But it was too late. Some at least of the happy dust had taken
effect, at least enough to relieve the terrible pangs she must
have been suffering.

As she rose and retired, with a hasty apology to Whitecap for her
indiscretion, Kennedy turned to me and exclaimed, "Think of it.
The deadliest of all habits is the simplest. No hypodermic; no
pipe; no paraphernalia of any kind. It's terrible."

She returned to sit down and enjoy herself, careful not to obtrude
herself on Whitecap lest he might become angry at the mere sight
of her and treasure his anger up against the next time when she