he had been sustained only by the knowledge that she was doing what
she was doing not for herself--but for those helpless ones whom she
loved.

As the moment drew nearer, she strained more tightly that elastic and
strong thread of courage which had so far held. As an antidote to the
increased loathing she fixed her mind on one supporting thought and
tried to hold it focused there. Tomorrow she could begin looking for
better quarters, and then the two old people should return, not to the
lavish wealth of former times, but to its more essential comfort.

She heard the orchestra tuning for the overture, and shivered. She felt
much more like a victim waiting her turn to be thrown to the lions than
a young woman about to make her debut as a "headliner." To herself she
kept repeating under her breath, "Tomorrow they will be comfortable
again." She did not know that already they were comfortable without her
assistance and that her ordeal was pitifully wasted.

Her fortitude wavered momentarily as she looked at her watch--wavered,
but held, and at last she found herself on the stage with no concise
recollection of how she had reached it, beyond a shadowy memory of
Smitherton's smiling face in the wings. The curtain rose, and the
public--part of it was the rabble--fed its eyes on the beauty they had
paid to see--the beauty of a fallen royalty.

There are times when vaudeville galleries are not excessively polite.
This was such a time. For a few moments Mary Burton had the stage to
herself, and her acting was in dumb-show. This was the author's device
for allowing the audience a full realization of her remarkable
beauty--and to the device the audience responded.

From high up among the hoodlums Mary caught, quite distinctly, long low
whistles of very sensual admiration and such critical epigrams as
"Wow!" "Oi-yoi!"... "Me for that!" and "_Some_ girl!"

She felt for an instant that she was standing there wrapped in a blaze
of shame, bound to a stake of vulgar heckling. Then suddenly a scornful
fire mounted through her arteries and with that serene and regal dignity
that added majesty to her beauty she went on as though this stage were
her rightful throne and those people out there were gazing up at her
from a ground level.

The act ran twenty-five minutes, during which time Mr. Lewis and Mr.
Smitherton stood together in the wings. Mr. Lewis rubbed his hands.

"I ask you, Smitherton," he inquired, "could we have arranged it