ow
gaslight her face gleamed excitedly up into his, her breath came
quickly.

"Well, sir, what do you think of me?" she demanded. "Have I changed
much?"

"Changed? Why, it's magic, Maggie! I left you a schoolgirl; you're a
woman now. And a wonder!"

"You think so?" She flushed with pride and pleasure, and a wildness of
spirit possessed her and demanded expression in action. She freed
her left hand and slipped it over Larry's shoulder. "Come on--let's
two-step."

"But, Maggie, I've forgotten."

"Come on!"

Instantly she was dragging him over the scanty floor space. But after a
moment he halted, protesting.

"These prison brogans were not intended by their builders for such
work. If you've got to dance, you'll have to work it out of your system
alone."

"All right!"

At once, in the midst of the dingy room, humming the music, she
was doing Carmen's dance--wild, provocative, alluring. It was not a
remarkable performance in any professionally technical sense; but it had
vivid personality; she was light, lithe, graceful, flashing with color
and spirits.

"Maggie!" he exclaimed, when she had finished and stood before him
glowing and panting. "Good! Where did you learn that?"

"In the chorus of a cabaret revue."

"Is that what you're doing now, working in a chorus?"

"No. Barney and father said a chorus was no place for me." She drew
nearer. "Oh, Larry, I've such a lot to tell you."

"Go on."

"Well"--she cocked her head impishly--"I've been going to school."

"Going to school! Where?"

"Lots of places. Just now I'm going to school at the Ritzmore Hotel."

"At the Ritzmore Hotel!" He stared at her bewildered. "What are you
learning there?"

"To be a lady." She laughed at his increasing bewilderment. "A real
lady, Larry," she went on excitedly. "Oh, it's such a wonderful idea!
Father had never seemed to think much of me till the night I went to
a masquerade ball with Mr. Hunt, and he and Barney saw me in these
clothes. They had never seen me really dressed up before; Barney said it
was an eye-opener. They saw how I could be of big use to you all. But to
be that, I've got to be a lady--a real lady, who knows how to behave and
wear real clothes. That's what they're doing now: making me a lady."

"Making you a lady!" exclaimed Larry. "How?"

"By putting me where I can watch real ladies, and study them. Barney cut
short my being in a chorus; Barney said a chorus girl never learned to
pass for a lady.