the chorus of the preceding Revue and commented so
enthusiastically upon her beauty that this season had witnessed
her advancement to a speaking part. Through Pope's column
attention had been focused upon Bergman's latest acquisition; and
once New York had paused to look carefully at this fresh young
new-comer, her fame had spread. But he had never met the girl
herself, and he wondered idly what effect success had had upon
her. A total absence of scandal had argued against any previous
theatrical experience.

Meanwhile he exchanged greetings with the star--a clear-eyed man
with the face of a scholar and the limbs of an athlete. The latter
had studied for the law; he had the drollest legs in the business,
and his salary exceeded that of Supreme Court Justice. They were
talking when Mr. Regan returned to tell the interviewer that he
would be received.

Pope followed to the next floor and entered a brightly lighted,
overheated dressing-room, where Lorelei and her mother were
waiting. It was a glaring, stuffy cubbyhole ventilated by means of
the hall door and a tiny window opening from the lavatory at the
rear. Along the sides ran mirrors, beneath which was fixed a wide
make-up shelf. From the ceiling depended several unshaded
incandescent globes which flooded the place with a desert heat and
radiance. An attempt had been made to give the room at least a
semblance of coolness by hanging an attractively figured cretonne
over the entrance and over the wardrobe hooks fixed in the rear
wall; but the result was hardly successful. The same material had
been utilized to cover the shelves which were littered with a
bewildering assortment of make-up tins, cold-cream cans, rouge and