"Then tell it to me."
"I will, and without any mincing of words. The Gayety is a mere
adjunct to the Poodle-Dog saloon and the gambling hell up-stairs. They
are so closely connected that on the stage last evening I could easily
hear the click of ivory chips and the clatter of drinking glasses. One
man owns and controls the entire outfit, and employs for his variety
stage any kind of talent which will please the vicious class to which
he caters. All questioning as to morality is thoroughly eliminated.
Did you comprehend this?"
The young girl bowed slightly, her face as grave as his own, and again
colorless, the whiteness of her cheeks a marked contrast to her dark
hair.
"I understood those conditions fully."
"And yet consented to appear there?"
She shook back her slightly disarranged hair, and looked him directly
in the eyes, every line of her face stamped with resolve.
"Mr. Winston, in the first place, I deny your slightest right to
question me in this manner, or to pass moral judgment upon my motives.
I chance to possess a conscience of my own, and your presumption is
almost insulting. While you were absent in pursuit of Albrecht, the
manager of the Gayety, having chanced to learn the straits we were in,
called upon me here with his proposal. It appeared an honorable one,
and the offer was made in a gentlemanly manner. However, I did not
accept at the time, for the plain reason that I had no desire whatever
to appear upon that stage, and in the midst of that unpleasant
environment. I decided to await your return, and learn whether such a
personal sacrifice of pride would be necessary. Now, I believe I
recognize my duty, and am not afraid to perform it, even in the face of
your displeasure. I am going to deliver the parting scene from the
'Heart of the World,' and I do not imagine my auditors will be any the
worse for hearing it. I certainly regret that the Gayety is an adjunct
to a saloon; I should greatly prefer not to appear there, but,
unfortunately, it is the only place offering me work. I may be
compelled to sink a certain false pride in order to accept, but I shall
certainly not sacrifice one iota of my womanhood. You had no cause
even to intimate such a thing."
"Possibly not; yet had you been my sister I should have said the same."
"Undoubtedly, for you view this matter entirely from the standpoint of
the polite world, from the outlook of social respectability, where self
rules every action with the question, 'What will others say?' So
should I two years ago, but conditions have somewhat changed my views.
Professional necessity can never afford to be quite so punctilious,
cannot always choose the nature of its environments: the nurse must
care for the injured, however disagreeable the task; the newspaper
woman must cover her assignment, although it takes her amid filth; and
the actress must thoroughly assume her character, in spite of earlier
prejudices. The woman who deliberately chooses this life must, sooner
or later, adjust herself to its unpleasant requirements; and if her
womanhood remain true, the shallow criticism of others cannot greatly
harm her. I had three alternatives in this case--I could selfishly
accept my handful of money, go to Denver, and leave these other
helpless people here to suffer; I could accept assistance from you, a
comparative stranger; or I could aid them and earn my own way by
assuming an unpleasant task. I chose the last, and my sense of right
upholds me."