oothold on the boards it must be looked upon merely as an unfortunate
accident. The better element in the theatre shuns them and their
theatrical aspirations are not encouraged by reputable managers.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Picking up a hat, Laura looked at herself
in the mirror _Frontispiece_ 251

"I've bought a house for you on Riverside Drive" 86

She began to sew a rip in her skirt 162

She sank down on her knees beside him 273

Laura commenced to pack the trunk 307

John stood looking at her in silence 337

She crouched down motionless on the trunk 344

THE EASIEST WAY

CHAPTER I.

The hour was late and the theatres were emptying. The crowds, coming
from every direction at once, were soon a confused, bewildered mass of
elbowing humanity. In the proximity of Broadway and Forty-second Street,
a mob of smartly-dressed people pushed unceremoniously this way and
that. They swept the sidewalks like a resistless torrent, recklessly
attempting to force a path across the carriage blocked road, darting in
and out under restive horses' heads, barely rescued by stalwart traffic
policemen from the murderous wheels of onrushing automobiles. They
scrambled into taxicabs, trains and trolleys, all impelled by a furious,
yet not unreasonable, desire to reach home with the least possible
delay. These were the wise ones. Others lingered, struggling feebly in
the whirling vortex. Not yet surfeited with the evening's amusement,
they now craved recherche gastronomical joys. With appetites keen for
the succulent, if always indigestible, dainties of after-theatre
suppers, they sought the hospitable portals of Gotham's splendidly
appointed lobster palaces which, scattered in amazing profusion along
the Great White Way, their pretentious facades flamboyantly ablaze with
light, seemed so many oases of luxurious comfort set down in the
nocturnal desert of closed shops.

"Move on there!" thundered an irate policeman. "What the h--ll are you
blocking the way for? I've half a mind to lock you fellows up!"

This to two grasping jehus, who, while quarrelling over a prospective
fare, had so well succeeded in interlocking their respective wheels
that a quart