durable, and who, utterly devoid of conscience, would quaff
champagne and dance on the raw, quivering hearts of their fellow-men
with glee, if thereby their jaded appetites for novelty and
entertainment might be for the moment appeased.

And so Larry Beers brought his _swami_ and dervish to the Ames
mansion, and caused his hostess to be well advertised in the
newspapers the following day. And he caused the eyes of Carmen to
bulge, and her thought to swell with wonder, as she gazed. And he
caused the bepowdered nose of Mrs. Hawley-Crowles to stand a bit
closer to the perpendicular, while she sat devising schemes to cast a
shade over this clumsy entertainment.

The chief result was that, a week later, Mrs. Hawley-Crowles, still
running true to form, retorted with a superb imitation of the French
_Bal de l'Opera_, once so notable under the Empire. The Beaubien had
furnished the inspiring idea--and the hard cash.

"I wonder why I do it?" that woman had meditated. "Why do I continue
to lend her money and take her notes? I wanted to ruin her, at first.
I don't--I don't seem to feel that way now. Is it because of Carmen?
Or is it because I hate that Ames woman so? I wonder if I do still
hate her? At any rate I'm glad to see Carmen oust the proud hussy from
her place. It's worth all I've spent, even if I burn the notes I hold
against Jim Crowles's widow."

And often after that, when at night the Beaubien had sought her bed,
she would lie for hours in the dim light meditating, wondering. "It's
Carmen!" she would always conclude. "It's Carmen. She's making me over
again. I'm not the same woman I was when she came into my life. Oh,
God bless her--if there is a God!"

The mock _Bal de l'Opera_ was a magnificent _fete_. All the members of
the smart set were present, and many appeared in costumes representing
flowers, birds, and vegetables. Carmen went as a white rose; and her
great natural beauty, set off by an exquisite costume, made her the
fairest flower of the whole garden. The Duke of Altern, costumed as a
long carrot, fawned in her wake throughout the evening. The tubbily
girthy Gannette, dressed to represent a cabbage, opposed her every
step as he bobbed before her, showering his viscous compliments upon
the graceful creature. Kathleen Ames appeared as a bluebird; and she
would have picked the fair white rose to pieces if she could, so
wildly jealous did she become at the sight of Carmen's further
triumph.

About midn