EDITH A Story of Chinatown BY HARRY M. JOHNSON. VOL. 1. NO. 2. JUNE, 1895. BEACON LIBRARY SERIES. PUBLISHED MONTHLY. SUBSCRIPTION $3.00 PER ANNUM. Entered at Post Office at Boston is Second Class Matter. PRICE 25 CENTS- BOSTON, MASS. Two Books of Social Thought. By B. 0. Flower. Just published. Clotk, cxtra> $/.oo. GERALD MASSEY: Poet, Prophet and Mystic. Mr. Flower in this new book, presents a study of the life and writings of Geraid Massey, an English Poet of the People who has done great service for the cause of Social Democracy in England, and whose brave words for Freedom and Justice and the Dignity of Labor and Manhood and Womanhood are espe- cially pertinent m the conflict for Social and Political and Legal j i ustice for all classes and both sexes now beginning in Amenca. Mr. h lower s object is to introduce American readers to a lofty and inspiring spirit in contemporary poetry, who will hearten the struggle of the poor and oppressed for equitable conditions with the highest spiritual aims and hopes. Liberal quotation brings the reader into close touch with the Poet's spirit and pur- poses, and Mr. Flower's commentary, critical and historical is interesting and suggestive. The parallels he draws are instruct- ive, and should touch all interested in the new social thought. I he book is beautifully gotten up and illustrated by Laura Lee It also contains a fine portrait of Massey. Price, cloth, $1.00; paper, 25 cents. THE NEW TIME: A Plea for the Union of the Moral Forces for Practical Progress. This new worV which has called forth a volume of criticism both adverse and favorable, is published to meet the wants of those who wish to apply themselves to, and interest their friends in, the various branches of educational and social effort com- prised in the platform of the National Union for Practical Prog- ress; but from its wide sweep of all the factors in the social problem, it will also serve to introduce many readers to a general consideration of the new Renaissance of social thought and to realize the strength and character of the evolutionary movement for a nobler social science, that is marshaling all the best minds of the day in its ranks. The book deals with prac- tical methods of reform and is not merely a bundle of specula- tions. The New York World says: " It is in every way practical, every day common sense, dealing with facts and not theories." _ The Chicago Times says: " Candor is a marked character- istic of the author's treatment of the various economic subjects touched in the course of the book. Mr. Flower is one of the prominent " reform" writers of the day. lie has done more perhaps than any other one writer for the advancement of his fellow men and the improvement of their condition. His plans, if put in practical operation, would be productive of good to all." For sale by all Booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt cf price by tlie Publishers. THE ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY, Boston, Mass. EDITH A STORY OF CHINATOWN BY HARRY M. JOHNSON BOSTON ARENA PUBLISHING CO. COPLEY SQUARE 1895 Copyrighted, 1895 BY ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY All rights reserved ARENA PRINT INTRODUCTION. The little story that appears in the following pages was not written for the purpose of pampering the depraved tastes of a certain class of book readers who crave sensational literature. It was upon the theory that "if we could see ourselves as others see us" good would result, that the story was written; that if the residents of the larger Pacific-slope cities : could be brought to realize the shocking condition of the moral atmosphere of their communities, they would not be slow in mending the existing state of affairs, which has been of such long standing that, through its very familiarity, it has lost its hideousness to native-born Californians and old residents. It was upon the occasion of the writer's first visit to Chinatown, Los Angeles, that the material for 2 INTE OD UCTION. the little tale was gathered. He was a "tenderfoot" in the far West, and the conditions found on Ala- meda Street were a shocking sur- prise. The author was impressed with winder that the valiant modern crusaders who wield pen and pencil had not long since turned their effective batteries up- on the iniquitous conditions to be found there. The facts as presented in the story have not been exaggerated in the least the picture has not been overdrawn. In the city of Los Angeles one may search the muni- cipal statute-books in vain for legis- lation calculated to suppress or con- trol this vice. The traffic that in all civilized centres of life is con- sidered a moral crime, and in most communities is a statutory of- fence, is wholly ignored in the larger cities of the Golden West, and consequently thrives beyond comprehension and to the amazed INTBODUCTION. 3 wonder of residents of better regu- lated Eastern cities. While the story deals only with Los Angeles, the conditions are manifoldly worse in that part of San Francisco's Chinatown known as Du Pont Street. Probably in no city in the United States does vice the social evil thrive as it does within the Golden Gates of this western metropolis. Among the fellow-travelers of the writer on the homeward bound trip was a resident of San Fran- cisco, a man attired in striped rai- ment of the "loudest" type and wearing a sparkling shirt stud of the prodigious proportions so sug- gestive of paste. On one occasion the conversation among the party of gentlemen gathered in the smok- ing compartment of the Pullman turned upon the social conditions existing upon the coast. In the course of the discussion he of the striped clothes proudly stated that 4 INTRODUCTION. no city in the Union would compare with 'Frisco in "life and sport" from the hour of midnight to the break of dawn. It is needless to state that "life and sport," as understood by the man of the paste pin, are syn- onymous with what might be, per- haps inelegantly but expressively, termed rotten immorality and licentiousness. Eight here let it be said that, although Chinatown bears the odium of harboring the infamous "cribs," the Chinese are not respon- sible for their existence or support. While the inmates are mainly French or Spanish girls (with a fair proportion of daughters of America and a sprinkling of Japanese and females of other nationalities), upon Americans mainly lie the dishonor and shame of perpetuating these hell-holes. Native-born Califor- nians or the adopted sons of the state who have drifted in from the INTR OD UCTION. 5 East constitute the bulk of the patrons of the "cribs." The old campaign cry, "Chinese need not apply," might still be heard from the lips of the unfortu- nates who are on sale at the "cribs" should the almond-eyed denizen of Chinatown presume to spend his money in this section of the Town. The cribs are located in China- town and constitute a part of that section of the city both in 'Frisco and Los Angeles, but are not patron- ized by the Chinese; the inmates as a rule consider it "debasing" to re- ceive Chinese patronage, and the policeman on the beat told the writer that he never knew of but two or three instances where the girls would take the Chinaman's money. They are located in China- town principally for the reason thai it is the meanest section of the city, and lawlessness and immorality naturally gravitate to such locali- ties and away from clean surround- 6 INTE OD UCTION. ings and clear moral atmosphere. The fact, however, that the "cribs'* flourish and carry on their disgrace- ful traffic in the most untrammelled manner, yea even under the protec- tion of the law in a certain measure, is a disgrace to the community as a whole, and must be laid at the door of every respectable citizen who has a vote that he can cast at the ballot- box and a voice in the conduct of the affairs of his city. HARRY M. JOHNSON. Kockford, 111., April 24, 1895. CHAPTER I. It was the twenty-fifth of January in the year of our Lord, 1895, and to Jack Sherwood had been assigned the task of "doing" Chinatown of getting up for the next morning's paper a readable story on the sights and scenes he might encounter in that interesting section of the city; of the novel features of the New Year celebration which would be inaugurated by the "Heathen Chinee" on that date and continue throughout the week. Jack was the latest recruit on the sheet he represented ; he was fresh from the East and had never seen China- town, and it was for this reason, doubtless, that he had been given the assignment by the long-headed 8 EDITH. managing editor. To the veterans on the force "the Town" was an old story. Jack would see things in their freshest, most striking aspect, and from his pen something inter- esting and new might reasonably be expected. He liked the assign- ment; much that was strange to this "tenderfoot" had fallen to his lot during the few weeks he had thus far spent on the western, sunny slopes of Uncle Sam's great domain, but he promised himself the most interesting night's work of his life, as he gratefully acknowl- edged the assignment to his grim superior. Sherwood had left the blustering East a few weeks prior to the dawn of this New Year day of the Chinese. He had served the editors of more than one of the great dailies of the A STOBT OF CHINATOWN. 9 metropolis, with greater or less satisfaction to them and profit to himself. He was not lacking, in ability, was calculated to hold his own, in fact, in the throng of bright, energetic, gifted young men who glut the brain markets of the great centres of life in the East. Still, when Jack announced his intention of throwing up his "job," the man- aging editor did not show signs of the sorrow with which this great disaster should have weighted his heart; did not even so much as offer an additional salary inducement to keep the malcontent on the force. On the contrary, he distinctly inti- mated, by his tone and bearing, that it was more than likely that the sheet would survive the blow, though, to his credit be it said (and to Jack's also, for that matter), he 10 EDITH. did write some very sugary and pleasant things about the young journalist, in the letter of reconi mendation which he solicited. With two or three other similar documents, a railroad ticket as long- as his arm, and pasteboard author- ity for boarding a Pullman and occupying one of its comfortable berths with these in his inside pocket, and his purse by no means overburdened with the coin of the realm, Jack packed up his earthly belongings and started on his journey across the continent. He had no particular reason for mak- ing the change; no man in his right mind would have thrown up a snug berth in the East and started for California on a rainbow-chasing trip. Not that Jack was daft, by a long shot; no jury (not even an A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 11 American one) could have found cause for sending him to an asylum for the unsound of mind; still it was not prudent, to say the least, to wholly and for no other reason than a desire for a change, for ad- ventures, and a glimpse of the Far West disregard the sound, hoary- headed, and safe adage bearing up- on the incompatibility of moss and rolling stones keeping each other company. But then Jack never could see what earthly pleasure or profit the pebble derived from the accumulation of green, damp vege- tation. It only served to cloud its enjoyment of the sunshine; and, for himself, he would infinitely prefer to be rolling about,, untrammelled by moss and kindred accumula- tions, luxuriating in the joys he picked up by the wayside. 12 EDITH. Anyway, he found himself com- fortably ensconced in a Pullman, fortified for the long journey with the latest light literature, a box of his favorite Havanas, and the old black-briar, companion and solace of many a long year past. But even these pleasures paled lost their power to wholly and satisfactorily mutilate the long hours that bur- dened the tourist's life and, by way of diversion, he fell to studying the fellow-creatures about him. But fate had not dealt over-kindly with our Jack even in the small matter of arranging his traveling compan- ions. Not a young maiden of any description had taken passage on the Pullman, stay, there was one, a Norwegian nurse-girl who had charge of a lad of tender years be- longing to the couple in the forward A STOEY OF CHINATOWN. 13 section. But she was such an ill- begotten specimen of her kind that Jack's greatest flights of fancy could not conceive of anything in- teresting or entertaining in her make-up, even had her social stand- ing warranted an impromptu flirta- tion. It was very evident that romance was to have no place in the trip of the young scribe, and so he turned his thoughts to other mat- ters. And in the course of sleeping-car events he became not a little inter- ested in a sweet old lady and, inci- dentally, her sterner half, who oc cupied the section second removed from his own, in front. Something about the soft brown eyes reminded Jack of the dear good mother who had left him so many years ago. Had she lived to bless. Ms lonely 14 EDITH. days (careless Jack tried to imagine himself a lonely, solitary, melan- choly figure in life) she would be about the age of the motherly-look- ing dame beyond him. Only, Jack hoped she would not have borne the look of great sorrow, of saddening, cankering grief, that sat upon the features and shone from the mild brown eyes of the quiet, silent lady of section three. Handsome she still was, despite the snowy hair, frosted more likely by sorrow than by years; and Jack amused himself with a mental vision of that sweet- faced woman when she had just turned her twentieth birthday; when the soft light-brown hair had riotously waved over the smooth brow; when laughter and love and merriment had beamed from bright hazel eyes, and the dimpled, shapely A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 15 face had been abloom with the be- witching colors and contours of budding womanhood. "Ah ! she must have been a hand- some girl," pondered Jack, "before the coming of the sorrow that aged her, that left its scar upon body and soul, that is pictured to all who gaze into those sad eyes. Wonder where the old couple came from, whither they are going, and what the story of their life-sorrow may be? I will the old man, if he gives me half a chance, just to keep my hand in practice." Accordingly the following morn- ing, when the "old man" (who, it has been intimated, either by nature or through circumstances had be- come a little crusty and stern) made his appearance in the smoking com- partment for his after-breakfast 16 EDITH. cigar, Jack picked an acquaintance with him, making some small re- mark on the scenery without, which led to more pretentious conversa- tion, which finally became personal in its nature, just as Sherwood had meant it should. "Going far west, Mr. Sherwood?" the old gentleman inquired, the civility of a fresh cigar from the senior having been followed by an exchange of cards, the pasteboard of the stranger revealing the fact that he bore the name of Eichard White. His w^ife frequently ad- dressed him simply as "Colonel," from which circumstance Jack con- cluded he had served his country in that capacity at some period of his life. "To California," Sherwood made reply. A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 17 "Ah! that is my state now; lived there going on forty -four years ; call myself a >49er, you know. Was only a slip of a boy of twenty when I landed in 'Frisco in search of gold and adventures. 'Spose you are in for your health?" critically looking over his rather sparely-built com- panion. "No, I brought both of my lungs with me." "Did, eh?" smiling, but giving Jack a look of wonder, as though a young man with a pair of sound bellows bound California-ward was a rare curiosity, as seldom encoun- tered as hen's teeth. And then it transpired, in the course of the long chat between the two smokers that followed, that the colonel and his wife were returning to their adopted state after spend- 18 EDITH. ing the summer and early winter in the East, trying- to find old friends and relatives who had been left be- hind them nearly half a century ago. He said his wife had not been well the past year; said it in such a way in halting sentences, with restraint and a hint of embarrass- ment as gave his keen-witted hearer the impression that the ill- ness from which the sweet-visaged lady had suffered was that chapter in their lives which had left her so sad and broken. After seeking pleasure and rest on the shores of the Atlantic, they were now fleeing from the rigors of the eastern winter, bound for the southern section of the state. He would not return to their old home in 'Frisco for the present; old scenes and faces would not improve the A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 19 health of his wife; the milder cli- mate of the orange belt would do both of them good. Later, Jack was presented to the dear old lady, was charmed by her kindly manner, the tone of her con- versation. When she learned that Jack was alone in the world had neither father nor mother she vis- ibly warmed toward the heedless but good-hearted young vagabond. Had she children of her own at home? Sherwood had asked. A daughter had been given to them, she told him, with restraint in her manner, but she had been lost; had gone out of their lives and left them terribly bereft. More than that he did not learn, for the crusty old colonel had interrupted this conversation and brusquely- even sternly directed it into en- 20 EDITH. tirely different channels. And the dear old lady had dropped out of the discussion, had turned her sor- row-freighted eyes and features away from the inquisitive young man, and sadly, contemplatively gazed out of the window without, however, seeing anything of the grand mountain scenery that was flitting past. Jack had been dangerously near forbidden ground, where the hus- band neither entered himself nor allowed the approach of others. CHAPTER II. In the course of time the journey was completed, and, partly through those letters that told "whom it may concern" such pleasant things about the bearer, but mainly as a result of a few bright articles from the pen of that same individual, Jack had secured a place on a morn- ing daily, and on this evening of January 25th he made his way through the old Plaza and into the heart of Chinatown. That section of the city which had been turned over to the Ori- entals a comparatively few square blocks in area, but the abode of nearly four thousand natives of the Empire w T as ablaze with lanterns, brilliant overhead with the vari- 21 22 EDITH. colored lights of the gay and unique- shaped paper globes. The triangu- lar silk and gold dragon-flag of the wearers of the cue, floating from the mast-head of the brilliantly deco- rated joss-house; the colors of the various societies, or "tongs," flutter- ing in the breeze from dozens of staffs; banners of all sizes and shapes, bearing pot-hooked hiero- glyphics that put to shame the most elaborate efforts of our own court stenographers ; good-luck crowns and ornaments in tinsel-work; paper flowers, blazing candles, and burning tapers of pungent punk- all this display was calculated to make the scene brilliant and ani- mated, to mantle the squalor of the Chinese quarter, to throw a glam- our over the picturesque hovels that jostled and squeezed and A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 23 crowded each other in Chinatown. Underfoot w^as a sea of mud. As a rule California mud is mostly dust; but following the spring showers, Chinatown could boast of real, live, genuine, loud-smelling mud; ankle-deep and as soft as underdone mush. The alley-like streets of the Town were alive with life; pig-tailed Orientals, with here and there a breech evS-wearing female, good naturedly jostled each other on the narrow walks as they flitted from one tiny shop to another. Doubtless they were settling up old scores of the past twelve- months' accumulation, as all good Orientals must do on the New Year, if they would be recognized in good "society" of Chinatown. By the end of the week of festivity the 24 EDITH. honest yellow man could look the world in the face, declare truthfully that he owed no man a dollar (or a red cent, either, for that matter), and realize that what wealth still remained in the toe of the old sock was all his own. He could face the coming year with a clear conscience and out of debt, even though his purse might be light. Ah ! a splen- did practice; one that our own debt- contracting, slow-paying people might emulate with profit to their trusting neighbors and credit to themselves. Jack's ears were assailed with the din of the loud-voiced explo- sives, bunches of Chinese fire-crack- ers that were "going off" at nearly every door-step. Over yonder the "melody" of the orchestra at the Chinese theatre tortured the sensi- A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 25 tive ear-drums of the sojourners in the Town, and illustrated how wholly music is a question of taste and cultivation. This hideous, dis- cordant racket (a cross between the sounds evolved from a Scotch bag- pipe and all the combined audible horrors one encountered on "Mid- way" at the World's Fair) was melody, with a big "M," to the ears of the enchanted natives. Much that was new and interest- ing the Easterner encountered in his rambles about the Town its quaint little shops and markets, the strange ways of its people, the opium-joints, joss-house, traders, fakirs, and the small, rat-hole abodes of all these people, who were crowded into niches in the wall like sardines in their box. About eleven o'clock he faced 26 EDITH. city-ward ; he had gathered material and inspiration enough for his story, and turned into Alameda Street. On either side of the thor- oughfare were two rows of windows in the long line of low structures that abutted close to the walk, and from each casement light was streaming upon the darkness with- out. "Here is a part of the show that I have missed," mused Sherwood, leisurely joining the throngs of men who were idly strolling on the walks. "Wonder what it is?" Not long was he kept in doubt as to the purpose of that double row of box-like stalls. Up and down the street he paced and gazed into the open windows, inspecting the goods that were offered for sale; at first shrinkingly, with shame. But the A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 27 shock that this strange spectacle had produced gradually wore away, though the honest indignation of the young man would not so easily be subdued. Within those apart- ments, presented for inspection like so much produce, live-stock, dry- goods, or other merchandise com- mon in the open marts of the com- mercial world, where human chat- tels young women, white slaves of men's passion. Attired in gaudy raiment, some with the abbreviated skirts and cor- respondingly liberal exhibition of hose seen elsewhere only on the stage; others with an exposure of the upper portion of the form, en- countered most frequently on "full- dress" occasions in polite society; some few modestly clothed. Some faces were bright and fresh and 28 EDITH. pretty; others were jaded and faded and worn, despite the liberal use of all the artificial beautifiers the dressing-case afforded. Many of the inmates had sur- rounded themselves with furniture and fixtures calculated to give the rooms an appearance of luxury tawdry bits of finery created by feminine hands; flashy, highly- colored prints of a striking style; and little touches here and there that made the rooms bright and cheery the inmates appearing, by contrast, all the more pitifully, woe- fully, cruelly miserable. Less for- tunate sisters of woe sat in their cheerless apartment, a lamp, a chair, a stand, constituting the sum- total of their belongings. Some of the human chattels as- sumed a gay and careless bearing; A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 29 sang snatches of merry ditties, but with neither mirth nor joy in the hard tones of the tuneful voices; others silently sat upon the auction- block awaiting the coming of bid- ders, perhaps in shame, perhaps with anguish and in hunger, with fear and hope. Sometimes a bird, a cat, or a poodle shared the homes of these slaves of society the only living beings upon which they could lavish the affections of their loveless lives. Every stall presented different types and grades of beauty; differ- ent conditions, surroundings, and suggestions: yet all the inmates were bent upon the same quest; all were for sale, all sought purchasers. All this was upon a public street of a modern city of civilized Amer- ica. All this was openly, glaringly 30 EDITH. exposed to the gaze yea, com- manded and demanded publicity of any and all who might pass by; the human chattels could be touched by the hand of the pedes- trian; his or her eyes could not escape the sad and shocking and shameful sight. A row of cages, a hundred more or less, each imprisoning a human captive, shut out from the rest of the world, but free to lure within those who were without. A hun- dred spider's webs, more or less, and a hundred spiders inviting the fly that they would devour to come into their parlors. Only, in this case, the spiders themselves had once been the flies that had fallen into the meshes of male plunderers; and then, when man had despoiled them of purity, virtue, chastity, he A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 31 and his sisters had driven them out of society, out of homes, out of human affections, and into a worse wilderness than the jungles of Darkest Africa a black, hopeless, loveless, living hell. Somebody's daughters, some- body's sisters, and yet exposed to view on public sale; subjected to the brutal jests and jeers of coarse men, and the scornful contempt of those who consider themselves their betters, who by accident or through ignorance of the character of the locality are throw r n in their path, but who lift not so much as a finger to free these poor, foolish, unhappy, sinning, and sinned-against sisters of humanity. CHAPTEE III. Sherwood was not at all inclined to be a prudish man. He had been thrown among, and had lived with, all manner and kind of men and women; he knew life and its many- sided phases; knew how the shady half of the world lived; that there was much blackness and rottenness and foulness among the dregs of society. But nothing quite like this had he ever seen before. In the East the cloak of decency, if not possessed, is at least assumed. Those who would shut their eyes upon the great social evil are priv- ileged to do so. Human chattels are not forced upon their notice; they are not offered for sale in pub- 32 A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 33 lie market, but rather seek seclu- sion and darkness and secrecy. "Shades of Parkhurst!" mut- tered the young man. "And they tell me the churches are still send- ing out missionaries to foreign lands to convert the savages. God have mercy on the female heathen if this is a result of our civilizing influences. I wonder if the author- ities recognize this flagrant wrong, or merely shut their eyes to it." Hardly had the thought shaped itself in his mind when he heard a voice at his elbow commanding, "Don't stand in front of the stalls, sir; move on." It was a blue-coated officer of the law, wearing his badge of authority, and exercising his protective power in behalf of the girl-chattels within those gaudily decorated rooms. 34 EDITH. Sherwood encountered a middle- aged man of decent appearance, and waylaid him for further infor- mation on this social puzzle. "How long has this sort of thing existed?" he asked. "What, Chinatown?" "No, no; this hell's row here." "Oh, that! Well, I don't know; I have lived here twenty years, and it was flourishing in my early days always, I guess." "And no one tries to suppress it?" "Try? what for? They couldn't do it if they wanted to, and I guess no one cares to try. What is the use? Men will have this sort of thing, you know." "Yes, but no need to flaunt it in the very eyes of all the world, where children, young boys, and innocent A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 35 women may be thrown into contact with it." "For that matter, the boys are not supposed to be here unless their parents are with them; which is not at all likely, for, though the dads may come down on the row occa- sionally to see what is going on, you can rest assured they leave the kids at home. Of course the boys do show up; you see them here to- night; but that is the fault of the police, not of the girls in there. As for the older innocents, if they don't like the looks of things, they have a pair of legs that can carry them into purer atmosphere." Another blue-coat instructed the couple to "move on," and Sherwood started down the walk, again headed city-ward; it was high time he was getting up his copy. His 36 EDITH. eyes were fixed upon that line of faces framed in by the long row of windows. Suddenly his attention was arrested by the face and form of a girl who had hitherto been engaged and not on public exhibi- tion. She occupied apartments No. 97. They were tastefully fitted up with really bright and attractive dra- peries and upholstery, with light and heat and some considerable degree of comfort not noted in the majority of the stalls. Within this cosy room a young girl sat tilted far back in a comfortable rocking-chair that stood in the middle of the floor. The bright light on the side wall flooded the fair features and grace- ful form, and something in that sweet face (so painfully out of place in those surroundings) puzzled the A STOEY OF CHINATOWN. 37 young man, strongly impressed him that somewhere and at some time he had seen it before. She sat immovable as a statue; her hands were folded behind, and supported 'the fair head; the soft silken material of her becoming costume fell to her elbows and re- vealed the marble- white flesh of the plump arms. Her red-brown hair, as fine as spun gold, was parted in the middle and rippled all over the shapely crown until at last confined in a rebellious mass behind. The features were clear-cut and regular, beautiful without a doubt; no sign of paint or powder marred the charm of the clear, milky complex- ion of face and rounded throat. The perfectly-formed mouth bore the faintest suspicion of a smile, with just a little shade of sadness l/^ 38 EDITH. and regret and sorrow, perhaps, that touched the heart of the ob- servant watcher. The soft brown eyes were fixed upon the ceiling above her; but they saw nothing; her thoughts were undoubtedly far away perhaps with the mother who had tenderly nurtured the little rosebud of a baby so many years ago; who had watched over and loved her off- spring, as only a mother can, until that terrible day when someone, and something, had robbed her of a daughter. Perhaps they were with the pleasant home that she had left behind her on that momentous day; with the friends who surrounded her; with the pure, holy, and inno- cent thoughts and hopes and aspir- ations of her maidenhood. Perhaps her thoughts were of these things, A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 39 at that moment, when her present life and surroundings were cer- tainly far removed from the mind of that sweet-faced girl who, all unconsciously, presented a most enchanting vision to the eyes of the young man in the darkness without. And where and when had he seen that face before, or one that so strikingly reminded him of it? He could not remember, he racked his memory in vain for a clue that would put him on the right track. It was not long that he stood there, only a few seconds. Now his attention was distracted by the voice of a man a familiar voice, one that he had heard before some- where sternly storming at the blunder or carelessness of some second party. "Confound him! I told him to be 40 EDITH. sure and meet us at that infernal Chinese theatre at eleven o'clock. Now we shall have to run over to First Street and catch a late car. You will have to hurry, wife, or we shall be obliged to hoof it the entire distance. Say, isn't that his team coming down the street? I believe it is I will hail the vagabond. Hi, there!" and he raised his voice and lustily shouted at a hack-driver who was impatiently urging his horses over the rough, muddy street, well knowing that he was late and the kind of greeting he was likely to receive from his crabby customer. The gentleman and his wife stopped on the walk directly in front of No. 97. Hitherto the eyes of the couple had been fixed upon the street, anxiously on the look-out A STOEY OF CHINATOWN. 41 for the tardy hackman. Now, while they waited for him to pull up at the walk's edge, the old gentleman turned toward the row of slave-pens and curiously scanned their in- mates. From stall to stall his glance flitted until at last his gaze rested upon the window of No. 97. He shifted his position slightly, to better see its occupant; he looked in upon the fair vision that had aroused the interest of Sherwood. Swiftly the careless curiosity, the scornful contempt, that had been depicted upon the cold, stern, feat- ures of that man from the upper walks of life, so far removed from the lives of these social outcasts, gave place to other and different emotions. The strong man started as though he had heard his own death-knell; he trembled in every 42 EDITH. limb as one stricken with palsy; and the features of the hard, firm face became pallid, drawn, distorted with sorrow, anguish, horror. A half-suppressed startled exclama- tion escaped from his parted lips as, with wide-extended eyes, he gazed at the fair dreamer. "What is it, Kichard?" the calm, sweet voice of the woman asked. The question, the light touch of the lady's hand upon his arm, brought him back to his senses. With an effort he regained his self- possession, and hastily turning to- ward his companion, wholly ignor- ing her question, he nervously urged her to take the carriage now in readiness for them, attempted to peremptorily force her attention away from the long row of human chattel-shops, and, above all, lead A 8 TOEY OF CHINATOWN. 43 her from the vicinity of that fateful No. 97. "Let us hasten, wife; it grows late, and this is no place for us. It's nothing, dear; step into the car- riage, and John will have us in our own snug quarters in no time." But she had noted his strange bearing, so unusual in men of his stamp; and the startled exclama- tion, the strained attention he had given to the window of No. 97, his peculiar behavior in urging her departure, the tones of his voice sometimes pleading and then again commanding further aroused her curiosity, wonder, dread. What could have affected him so strongly? She would see for herself; she would turn back to those brilliantly- lighted little shops that she had passed a few moments before with- 44 EDITH. out giving them so much as a glance or a thought. "Don't look there; for God's sake come away from that window!" It was the terrible, agonized cry of a heart tortured with pain, that plea of the outwardly cold and stern husband to his wife, that effort of the strong man to spare his weaker companion the shock that had wrung from the deepest depths of his nature that first startled excla- mation. It was too late. The lady shook herself free from the restraining grasp of her husband, and she too stepped up beside the wondering Sherwood, peered into the cosy, bright interior of No. 97, gazed upon the face of its fair occupant for an instant and then the air A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 45 was rent with the agonized cry of a bleeding, broken heart. "Edith!" Just one little word, but, oh! what a world of sorrow, what depths of woe, what hell-born tor- ture, what mournful yearning the tones of that heartbreaking voice conveyed to those who heard the exclamation! She swayed, tottered feebly, and the next moment Sherwood held the unconscious form of Mrs. White in his arms. The light from the window of No. 97 streamed over the sweet, sad features and soft snowy hair of the face that had charmed him during the long journey across the continent, that had reminded him of his dead mother, and had aroused in his breast pity and sym- pathy for the greaJjjorrQjythat had 0* TMB "\ UNIVERSITY 46 EDITH. prematurely withered the beauty she possessed and aged her before her time. He knew now the great burden that was upon her heart ; knew now why that fair dreamer in No. 97 had arrested his attention, why the beautiful features had seemed so familiar in a flash all came to him. Then the tremulous voice of the husband and father excitedly com- manded him to lend assistance in getting the unconscious woman into the carriage. Between them, with John's aid, they placed her upon the seat, the pallid face was tenderly pillowed upon the shoulder of the husband, and then iron in the man's heart once more coming to the surface he commanded the coachman to drive home. It all took place so suddenly A STOBY OF CHINATOWN. 47 the interval between the utterance of that agonized wail by the pallid lips of the woman and the banging of the hack door by the nervous driver was so short that when Jack once more turned toward No. 97 its door had just been thrown open, and the young girl stood upon the threshold, a look of shame and fear and agony in the widely dilated eyes. Her startled gaze swiftly traveled up and down the walk, then sought the street for some explanation of that mother's cry which had aroused her from her revery and stirred in her breast only God knows what emotions. She caught sight of the fast- disappearing carriage, and hungrily watched it with strained, yearning eyes until it was swallowed up in the blackness beyond the pale of 48 EDITH. the electric light that swung over the street some rods distant. Then she slowly turned away, the pretty, fluffy head bent low, and a great sigh swelling up from the heaving chest. The door was closed, the window curtain drawn; to all the world the inmate of No. 97 was "riot at home" for the remainder of that, night. But Jack could see the shadow of the girl behind the flimsy wall of muslin, restlessly pacing up and down the narrow confines of her cage-like abode. He turned away; his work would not wait; it must be done. When he reached the end of the row, he looked back to catch another glimpse of that curtained window of No. 97. "Ah!" he muttered to himself, "Chinatown and Hell. 'Twould A STOET OF CHINATOWN. 49 make a good head-line for niy story in the morning an appropriate one, with more truth than poetry in it; but I suppose the old man would consider it too striking, and kill it with a slash of his blue pencil." CHAPTER IV. Jack's work that memorable night did not disappoint his su- perior, the editor of the morning sheet; but not a tithe of what he had seen and heard and learned during the short hours he had strolled about Chinatown reached the eyes or the understanding of the thousands who read his article the next morning. There are things and happenings every hour of every day of the year scores of them that are too good, or, more properly speaking, too bad, for the public prints. The genteel and cultured sensibilities of the Christian com- munities must not be shocked by the unseemly scribblings of journal - 50 A STOET OF CHINATOWN. 51 istic strollers. The newspaper pre- sents only what its readers demand, and the "better half of society does not care to know how the other half exists. It would be an uncomfort- able knowledge; might trouble the conscience of some, entail labor up- on others, and mayhap make de- mands upon the purses of donation- givers. So Jack preserved a discreet silence as to the conditions encoun- tered upon Hell's Kow, and, of course, the startling episode of the evening was not for public ears; it concerned his friends, the Whites, and, if for no other reason, he would keep his discovery of the identity of the fair one of No. 97 to himself. His thoughts, however, were con- stantly busied with the dramatic scene he had witnessed, and early 52 EDITH. the next afternoon his steps were bent toward Chinatown. He hoped he might in some way be thrown in contact with that sweet-faced girl, partly from curiosity to know the story of her life, but more strongly actuated with the nobler impulse of lending her a helping hand, of lead- ing her back to her parents, who mourned for her as one who was worse than dead. He knew that the mother's heart, yearned for the daughter who had come into her life late in years and had been snatched from her in this terrible fashion; he believed, in spite of the stern, inflexible exterior of the father, that he had displayed evidences of weakening, and would gladly condone the errors of his offspring if she sued for, and strove to merit, forgiveness. A STOBY OF CHINATOWN. 53 With a beating heart Jack made his way to Alameda Street and slowly walked down the row of stalls. He gave no heed to the faces that were turned toward him from every open casement, but made direct for No. 97. He experi- enced a sense of great disappoint- ment as he came in sight of the window that interested him. Its curtain was drawn ; the inmate was "not at home." His gaze rested upon the door; he wondered if he dared to apply for admittance and, on one pretext or another, demand an audience with the girl. A plac- ard was tacked up on the door; he drew near and, with all the rest of the Alameda Street world, learned that No. 97 was 54 EDITH. * * * * FOR RENT. J J APPLY AT * * MCMURPHY'S SALOON. * * * * * ************************* She had gone. For a long time he stupidly stood before the bit of printed cardboard, pondering upon the meaning of it all. Whither had she fled? Had the father and mother sought her out? had she returned to them at last? He hoped so, and finally con- cluded that he must be making a spectacle of himself standing there before the door of the vacant apart- ments. He would do better than that; he would call at McMurphy's and see if he could gain any infor- mation. The mean-visaged bartender inso- A STOUT OF CHINATOWN. 55 lently leered at the young man when he made his inquiries, told him they did not maintain an information bureau for the benefit of the tenants and their curious friends, and inti- mated that they had been bothered quite enough by "blokes" who had called to inquire about No. 97. If he wanted to rent that place they could accommodate him, otherwise he had better go to a warmer cli- mate with his d - questions. And so Jack left McMurphy's and the ugly bartender no wiser than he had entered, save for the knowledge that others had been there ahead of him seeking light as to the where- abouts of the missing girl. When Sherwood reached the office, later in the afternoon, he found upon his desk two letters 56 EDITH. bearing the city postmark. One was from Colonel White. "I recognized you last night," it ran, "but that was neither the time nor the place for friendly greetings. I lacked even the opportunity to thank you for the assistance you rendered me under the trying cir- cumstances of that unexpected meeting. If you will call at your earliest convenience, I shall appre- ciate the kindness; I need your assistance in a delicate matter of business, and as my wife is seriously ill I cannot well leave her. Kindly consider the receipt and contents of this letter a matter wholly between ourselves, and make no reference to same in the hearing of Mrs. White." The other, strangely enough, bore on the same subject, the theme uppermost in the mind of the young A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 57 man, and was written by Mrs. White herself. "My husband tells me that you were in Chinatown last night, and, in fact, that it was through your prompt action that I was saved from an ugly fall. Will you kindly call upon me this afternoon that I may thank you in person for the service you rendered and discuss other matters that weigh heavy on my heart? I am too weak and ill to leave my bed, and presume on your good nature and the pri vileges of an invalid in hoping for a com- pliance with my earnest desire to see you with all possible dispatch. As this matter is one that is very distasteful and annoying to Mr. W T hite, will you, while in his pres- ence, kindly refrain from mention- ing that I have written you?" 68 EDITH. Jack smiled grimly at the latter part of this otherwise sad epistle, tallying, as it did, with the wind-up of the husband's communication. He believed he understood the sit- uation; he remembered the per- emptory and stern interruption of the conversation between himself and the dear old lady when, on the trip out, she had spoken of the child that was lost to them. Doubtless the subject was a forbidden one; the stern old father's heart had been embittered and hardened by the sorrow that the child had brought upon them. Now he found that his feelings were not of adamant; he yearned for the wayward daughter, and would fain extend her a helping hand, but his man's pride would not allow that dear suffering helpmeet to share his A STOEY OF CHINATOWN. 59 hopes and longings, for fear that they might be in vain; that his efforts Avould be fruitless, his prof- fered amenity rejected. On the other hand, she, striving to be loyal to her husband, but unable to turn from that loved though fallen daughter unable to stifle the motherhood within her breast desired secretly to pursue her inves- tigations and search for the tenant of No. 97. Sherwood lost no time in present- ing himself at the home of his friends. The old colonel received him cordially, though he could not hide the evidences of embarrass- ment born of the relations now existing between the two men. The visage of the host bore marks of care and sorrow; he seemed to have grown old and bent since the night 60 EDITH. before. He led the way to the library, seated his guest in a com- fortable lounging-chair, shoved a box of cigars within his easy reach, then restlessly paced up and down the length of the hearth-rug, while he addressed his visitor. "It is not necessary for me to tell you who that girl is the relation she bears us; doubtless you have already guessed that she is our daughter. She left us, as her mother told you on the cars, a little over a year ago. It is the same old story you have heard it a hundred times, undoubtedly have encoun- tered scores of similar cases in your quest of those things that editors deem fit food for the readers of their papers. An only child, an indulged and petted daughter, she came into our lives when we were already on A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 61 the shady side of our stay on earth, and she knew no desire or caprice that was not gratified. Yet she was not a spoiled child; our Edith was as sweet and wholesome and noble a girl as God Almighty ever- blessed a father or mother with ; but impulsive, perhaps a bit strong- headed, and not as carefully guarded as she might have been from the dangers that we little sus- pected hedged in young women of her station in life. We knew that the daughters of the humble were in constant danger; we never dreamed that the man lived who would dare to tempt our child. But he came, nevertheless; came in the guise of a gentleman, a human vampire; and the greatest sorrow of my life the regret that is more bitter than that resulting from the 62 EDITH. fall of our darling is that I lacked the manhood, the moral courage, to crush the poisonous, hell-born life from the black heart of that smooth- voiced, insinuating villain." The face of the self -tortured man was distorted with awful wrath and hate; the clenched hands shook with the agitation that racked his frame; the eyes were ablaze; and for a long time only the labored, heavy breathing of the father broke the silence. "But I let him escape; I turned my back on him and his victim; both passed out of our lives I thought forever. I supposed that they were together, that perhaps she was making the most of her blasted life in some secluded corner of the great world, that he had at least provided her with a home and A STOEY OF CHINATOWN. 63 given her his disgraceful name. I thought that no love was left in my heart for that daughter, that she was as wholly lost and forgotten as though she had never been born to us. "Last night I learned how blind I have been all these months, how weak the will is against those emo- tions that nature has planted deep in the human heart. The shock of that terrible vision, of seeing my own flesh and blood publicly offered for sale in that human slave-market, unmanned me. I know now that she is alone in the world, that she was either deserted by her betrayer or forsook him when she learned the blackness of his heart. "To-day I visited her rooms and found them deserted, the place for rent. In seeking information of 64 EDITH. the renting agents, in my anger and excitement I nearly came to blows with the insolent cur who baffled my efforts. Then I realized that I was not a fit person to pursue this investigation, and in my extremity I thought of you, and presumed on our short acquaintance and the knowledge you already possessed of the case, to secure your assistance. Sherwood, I want my daughter- back again. Dead or alive, soiled in soul and body though she may be, I want her as I have wanted noth- ing else within the gift of God or man." Oh! the pathos, the sadness, the pitiful, touching yearning of that great, iron-hearted man as the wall of obstinate disregard and indiffer- ence he had maintained against the child of his affections gave way in A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 65 the heartbreaking declaration! He leaned against the mantel and rested the grizzled head on the cold, hard marble, regaining the compos- ure that had deserted him. "I do not know what thoughts and suffering torture that good mother; in this matter we seem to have drifted apart. She confides nothing in me; I have studiously forced her to silence. She is pros- trated; I fear that she too may leave me that death may rob me of a wife as that hell-hound stole my child." Poor old Jack, who had been furiously consuming his host's cigars during the trying recital, and struggling in vain to burn his own emotions and send them ceiling- ward with the clouds of fragrant fumes, now aroused himself and 66 EDITH. made a master effort in behalf of the sweet-faced old lady whose agent he must also be in this strange case. Without a word he drew the mother's touching letter from his pocket, smoothed out the closely written, tear-stained sheet, and silently placed it in the hands of the husband. For a long time the stern old man held that bit of paper before his eyes; it seemed to the anxious Jack that he might have read it ten times over, as the mantel clock slowly ticked off the fleeting moments. Still the eyes of the husband rested upon the words of the mother and wife; but at last Jack knew that they saw not the words written there, for tears had gathered ; they rolled down the hard, bronzed cheeks that had been strangers to A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 67 showers of this kind for many a long year past. They splashed upon the letter still held in the father's hand, they mingled with the blots the mother had made; and as the tears of that sorrowing couple commingled and flowed to- gether, so at last their hearts were united in their great purpose of seeking, of forgiving, and of loving. "Come, let us go to her," he said at last, huskily; and Sherwood fol- lowed to the chamber above, saw the husband stoop down and ten- derly kiss the face of the stricken woman, heard him tell her that which brought gladness and hope and new life to the sad features. He knew that he had done well, and departed from the home with the consciousness that he had at least left its inmates happier in 68 EDITH. their love for each other, more hopeful and brave. For himself, he had many misgivings as to the ultimate success of the quest upon which he had been commissioned. CHAPTER V. Again Sherwood visited Mc- Murphy's saloon, and this time, by the judicious use of a bit of silver, he was more civilly received. But no news of the tenant of No. 97 could be gleaned from this source. The girl had moved out, turned the key over to them, and that was the last they had seen of her. Every quarter of the city where he thought she would be likely to locate or visit was carefully but vainly searched in the days that followed. Jack had about concluded that the girl had left the city, though he kept his eyes open, scanned the faces of all who in any way tallied with the appearance of the missing 70 EDITH. woman, and industriously, patiently continued his prowlings about lodg- ing-places and apartment-houses. Ten days had rolled around since the night when Jack's assignment had taken him into Chinatown.' He stood idly leaning against the door- way leading to the editorial rooms of his paper, smoking his afternoon cigar, and listlessly watching the throngs that were streaming past on the walks beneath him. His glance fell upon the figure of a young woman who deftly threaded her way through the crowd and rapidly neared the spot where the journalist lounged. Her grace, the pleasing contours of the form, re- vealed by the well-made, becoming street costume; the small gloved hands; the poise of the shapely A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 71 head all claimed the admiration of the young man. Of the face he could see nothing, for she wore a thick veil, and this circumstance aroused the curiosity and suspicion of the idler. As he critically studied the pretty figure he was impressed with its striking similarity to that of Edith White. True, he had followed scores of girls whose forms had been equally like that of the girl he sought; but they had not hidden their faces from their neighbors on the street, and this circumstance, he argued, was in his favor. When the veiled lady reached the office building she suddenly turned at the main entrance and passed into the counting-rooms. Before the puzzled man could make up his mind what course he had better 72 EDITH. pursue, the unknown again ap- peared upon the street and com- menced retracing her steps. Jack was between two fires; he wanted to follow her and learn her destina- tion and abode; and it was quite as important to ascertain what her business had been in the newspaper office. If he delayed making in- quiries within he would be unsuc- cessful; the clerk would forget this particular caller among the many who were coming and going; per- haps he might learn all he wished to know on the inside. He turned his back on the rapidly-disappear- ing woman, entered the office, and sought the want-ad, clerk as being the most likely person with whom the veiled stranger would have dealings. "Who was that young woman A STOET OF CHINATOWN. 73 who just left the office, Jackson the one with the veil over her face?" he asked, in a low tone of voice, not caring' to bring down upon him the amused attention of the other attaches. "Seeing as it is you," Jackson made reply, smiling broadly, "I don't inind telling you that I do not know. She has called five days past for answers to a liner she is running on the want page; always masked with that infernal veil and never getting a single scrap of a reply. I have been tempted to write an answer to the advertise- ment myself, just in hopes of get- ting a glimpse of her face. If it is iD line with her shape and voice, it would be worth w^hile to give her a place," with an ugly leer. "What is she advertising for 74 EDITH. what does she want?" Jack rather coldly questioned. "There it is"; and Jackson drew a blue circle around the liner in the morning paper: "Situation Wanted. A young- woman desires employment of any kind that is honest and honorable. Has had no experience, but is anx- ious to learn and be useful. Address P. 43, Tribune Office. t6" "Honest, isn't she? Don't pre- tend to know anything useful, but wants to be tutored. The woods are full of them, apparently, for no one seems to care to give her a trial," Jackson commented, after Sher- wood had run through the ad. "I see it is marked times six, and you say it has been in five days already?" A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 75 "Yes; going to hire her for a housekeeper, Sherwood?" "I am obliged to you," Jack said, ignoring the question and leaving the office. He had an idea. It might be a crazy one, but it had a firm hold on him; it would not be shaken: P. 43, Tribune Office, and the tenant of No. 97 HelPs Row were one and the same individual. He took a car and sought the home of his friends, and for a long time Jack and the colonel were in consultation to- gether in the sunny library. "Try your plan, anyway," the old gentleman had finally said. "We have but one more day to reach her by this means, and if it is not she we can at least give the stranger a helping hand; her advertisement 76 EDITH. reads as though she sorely needed aid." So it was arranged, and an hour later the city mail was freighted with one letter addressed to "P. 43, Care Tribune Office, City." And within the envelope a brief note requested the advertiser to call at 1423 - - Street, at ten o'clock the following morning; an invalid needed a companion. Good salary and a permanent position were as- sured the advertiser if she was the right party for the place. The following afternoon found Jack lying in wait for the coming of the veiled lady. She was late in making her last call; she had begun to despair of securing the work she needed by means of the advertising columns of the newspapers. Slowly she walked down the street, her A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 77 head bent forward in evident dejec- tion. Wearily she climbed the three or four steps leading to the counting-rooms ; drearily she passed through the door and out of Sher- wood's sight. When she again appeared she clutched the letter the watcher had written, hurriedly turned homeward, and was soon lost to sight. A whole day must elapse ere Jack could hope to learn the result of the little scheme that was to enable his sleeping-car acquain tances to catch a glimpse of the face that was hidden behind the thick folds of the baffling veil. He hurried through with his lunch the next day and sought his desk at the office; but no letter awaited him, no word had been left in his absence. The three o'clock mail, however, brought a missive 78 EDITH. that set his heart loudly thumping. It was in the colonel's hand, a brief note, but its few lines suggested volumes: "Our answer to the Tribune's advertisement resulted in a call from the advertiser. She will give eminent satisfaction; we have given her the position for life. My wife sends you her blessing; call at once that we may both express our heartfelt gratitude. If mother's health will permit, we depart for other lands in a week's time." Jack Sherwood restrained his impatience; he refrained from in- truding on the reunited family that first day, but the early afternoon of the morrow found him nervously puffing at a cigar on the rear end of a car that passed near the home of the White's. A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 79 A little later his good right hand was nearly crushed to a jelly in the vise-like grasp of the sturdy old father, who had no words to express the feelings that mastered him. The dear old mother was already able to occupy her seat by the blaz- ing fireplace; the joy of the past twenty-four hours, tinctured with sadness though it was, had removed the cause of her prostration. Tenderly, tearfully she drew the head of the overwhelmed Jack down to her and gave him the first motherly kiss his brow had received for something more than half a score of years. When composure had settled down upon the little party once more, the colonel withdrew, and shortly returned to the library with the mysterious lady of the veil, the 80 EDITH. fair applicant for the position of life-companion to the invalid of No. 1423 - - Street, timidly, shrink- ingly leaning upon his arm. The soft brown eyes were scarcely raised to meet the eager gaze of the young stranger, who was presented to "My daughter, Mr. Sherwood ! Edith, this is the gentleman who made our trip from the East pleas- ant with his company." And the shrinking woman, more beautiful than ever in the simple house costume, though her face bore evidences of the great up- heaval of the past few days and hours, would have wholly collapsed with shame and mortification had she known that this same hand- some youth had known her as the tenant of No. 97 HelFs Row; had been the prime factor in bringing A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 81 her back to father and mother and home. Jack learned afterwards the story of Edith's life during the time that she had been without home and parents. A merciful providence had spared her child the necessity of facing the world; it did not live to see the light of day. As soon as the young mother was strong enough, she fled from its black-hearted father; his very pres- ence poisoned the atmosphere she breathed, and at most he only of- fered her the position of a mistress. For months she had striven for honest labor, living upon the pro- ceeds of the sale of the costly jewelry and raiment that she had brought away with her. At last she gave up the useless struggle; only one avenue of making a liveli- 82 EDITH. hood seemed open to the young girl without a name, a friend, or a talent that she could sell or turn to profit. Five hundred miles from her old home, discouraged and reck- less believing that father and mother had forever turned their backs upon her the terrible down- ward step was taken. She became a part and parcel of Hell's Row; day by day the chains that fettered her to the prison-like home were forged, grew heavier. She had come to the belief that there was no escape for her, but that, like those other sisters of shame, she must end her brief days there or in greater depths of degradation and woe. That heartrending mother's cry which had broken in on her reveries on that New Year night had aroused the dormant womanhood A STORY OF CHINATOWN. 83 in the fair breast. All that night she paced her rooms, and ere morn- ing dawned a firm resolve to break away from the hell on earth that she was living had shaped itself in the mind of the aroused woman. She would die for the want of a crust of bread, but would never again prostitute her body before man while the breath of life re- mained. Many pleasant afternoons Jack Sherwood spent at the colonel's home, and all too soon the day came when he must bid father and mother -and daughter, good-by. The colonel proposed making a tour of old Mexico, and sadly Jack saw the last of his good friends as they waved him farewell salutations from the car-windows; fervently he vowed he would see more of the 84 EDITH. sturdy old colonel, the dear sweet- faced wife, and the sad-visaged but pathetically beautiful daughter when they should have returned to their Northern home and he would be privileged to accept the oft-repeated and urgent invitations of the parents to pay them a long visit. Of TM UNIVERSITY IN THE BEACON LIBRARY SERIES. THE REIGN OF LU5T. BY THE DUKE OF OATMEAL. This is a remarkably clever burlesque or satire on a well known work written by, and on certain doctrines attributed to, a prominent Scotch nobleman and British liberal statesman, who is thinly dis- guised under the title of " The Duke of Oatmeal." By " lust " the author means greed, and his object is to show that, by following the Duke's line of argument, lust or greed can be proved to be the great ruling force of the universe; that it animates all things, from the atom, which seeks to attract other atoms, up to man, with his in- satiate greed for wealth and power. The argument touches upon all the burning, social and eco- nomic questions of the day in a vein of light but biting satirical commentary and caricature. In its forcible commendation of every- thing that tends to show that the world has no meaning or purpose apart from the greed of human nature the author whips the orthodox economists, who without logic or knowledge of natural laws claim that their partisan quibbling and baseless assumptions constitute a science. The work is pungently and brilliantly written, and the author deals some very telling blows at the object of his satire, and happily parodies his somewhat pompous and dogmatic style and his partiality for the use of capitals. By those who like to see a grave subject occasionally treated in a vein of keen and witty but good-natured badinage and who does not? this entertaining parody will be greatly enjoyed; and probably by no one more than by the writer at whom it is aimed. Price, Cloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents. JUST PUBI-ISHBD BV Copley Square, Boston, Mass. A STRANGE STORY OF DUAL PERSONALITY. A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM. THE MYSTERY OF EYELIN DELORME. By ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE. This is a novelette of remarkable strength and brilliance, and it will be read at a sitting, because, once taken up, it cannot be put down until the end is reached. The author's name will be new to many readers, but in our day the public finds no fault with new names in literature so long as they stand for novelty and power and skill, and this is a story that has made a hit on account of the author's remarkable skill in giving the verisimilitude of fact to the most fantastic flight of the imagination. The story deals with an entirely unfamiliar and startling situation in hypnotism. It is not merely transposed or assumed personality with which the author deals, but a new and curious problem in dual personality. Eva Delorrne is an innocent, pure minded, gentle type of girlhood, of superior breeding and quiet manners, who becomes in- terested in hypnotism. She applies to a well known hypnotist to be put under a test. From this she comes to herself a gay, heartless woman of the world. In her dual character as Eva Delorme and Evelin March alternated, she sits to an artist who paints her who believes that he is painting two separate persons and is in love with both. Upon this mystification the tragedy of the story is based. There is something very uncanny in the th -ught that it is possible for us to come so entirely under the control of another that what has always seemed our real self our normal personality is lost for the the time being. " The Mystery of Evelin Delorme " is based upon the power of hypnotism, and gives an extreme illustration of the in- fluence exercised over a susceptible person by one possessing, in high degree, this power. The author has made a double study here, and the little volume which, at first, seems a story to be read through quickly and laid aside, seems before the end is reached to hold one more and more. Mr. Paine, in his story, has made an interesting study of the subject, and has given with comparatively few strokes, two characters Julian Goetze and Evelin Delorme which stand out with marked prominence. Boston Transcript. The heroine is the subject of the most remarkable transformations in character and appearance, effected by the weird art of the hypnotizer. Denver Republican. Among all the multitudinous and multtfarous hypnotic incidents of the story writers of to-day, this is as ingenious as any we have noticed. Topeka Capital. A NEW STORY PAINTING THE ROMANCE HISTORY OF THE COLONIZATION OF AMERICA AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. MRISTOPIM. A HISTORY IN ROMANCE. BY CASTELLO N. HOLFORD. One of the most strikingly original romances issued from the press in recent years. It is founded on a perfectly novel idea, never be- fore utilized in fiction, and gives an imaginative picture of what this country and its history "might have been" had its foundations been laid and its beginnings moulded under the fostering care of a man of thoroughly enlightened views, animated by the single desire of benefiting his fellow-creatures to the utmost. Aristopia is the name of a colony founded by a young English- man in Virginia in the seventeenth century, under a charter obtained from King James. The name, like that of Sir Thomas More's famous social vision, is derived from the Greek and means " the best place." The author's purpose in telling this facinating story of colonization in the seventeenth century, is not to look forward to some impossible millennial society, such as that pictured in More's " Utopia," or Bellamy's " Looking Backward,"' but to show the lost opportunities of the past. A glowing picture is given of the uni- versal prosperity, peace, contentment, and happiness which would have been the lot of the people under such favoring circumstances, and of the earthly paradise which the country would by this time have become, in place of the spectacle of social and political unrest which it now presents. Aside from the interest of the story, the book will provide much food for thought for reformers and others who are seeking a sure pathway out of our present bemuddlement. Price, Cloth, $1.25; Paper, So Cents. For sale by all Booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. THE ARENA PUBLISHING CO., Copley Square, Boston, Mass. A LOVE STORY OF POWER. for 39 Impure By WILLIAM WHITTEMORE TUFTS. This is a very charming love story, whose scene is one of those delightful old New England towns, which afford so many interesting contrasts of characters. The central figure in the story is Peyton Wade, a man of impulse, who is actuated by the highest ideals and motives in life. The author skilfully shows how, although his honesty of character com- mands the respect of his townsfolk, it stands in the way of his ad- vancement and bars him up in poverty at every turn. The manner in which the man of impulse falls in love and finds a market for his lofty ideals and generous sacrifices is very delightfully drawn. Margaret Hillworthy, who loves him, also wins the interest of the reader at once. It is a story of great power, told with quietness and the charm of a light, deft touch of style. All the characters are distinct person- alities, and their most fantastic doings seem real and natural. The dialogue is especially smart and natural and sparkling, re- minding the reader here and there in its bright, epigrammatic- turns of George Meredith's playful cut and thrust, and again of Charlotte Bronte's keen and deft fixing of moods and character in the ex- change of'everyday topics, used to subtly touch deeper themes. It glides lightly over the deeper springs of human thought and conduct, and reveals as few contemporary writers can, the dramatic intensity of the psychological tragedy of life beneath its apparent round of mmotony. The storv, too, has incident and spirit and moves uickly. It is distinctly clever and quite out of the ordinary run of ction. All the characters have reality and force, and the author shows great skill in lighting up unusual types of character. The story, too, is very original in theme, and the whole shows literary attainments of a high order. Price, Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents. For sale by all Booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. THE ARENA PUBLISHING CO., Copley Square, Boston, Mass. In the New Beacon Series from the Press of the Arena Publishing Company, ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY. By ADELINE KNAPP. Cloth !*1.OO. l| this book the famous poet Joaquin Miller has said, " ("I real tal stuff! Full of good points, well put." '1 'In-; volume of short, racy stories promises to be one of the most pronounced literary hi'ts which the Arena Publishing Coin- puny has made in this line of literature. It will surely make a for itself and its author in the front ran' literature. The writer : . v >ung newspaj- ; Coast, whose work has been along somewhat ' es from those that usually fall to the lot of the woman in journalism. It has brought her face to face with many of the socio-economic problems that even newspaper workers do not often have to deal with, and these sketches have been the outcome < earnest study of these problems. Miss Knapp has received for her work a mental equipment which comes in the way of few women, or men either. Her .;ile mind has enabled her to fill all department- in : paperwork. AVw York Recor ems as though her range knew no limit. Whether dis- cussing economic questions, or writing exquisite sketch' medical articles that interest snvans and laymen, or describing the heroes she so much loves, she seems equally at home. Scitt/it ru Maga~i' It must be admitted that this little book does give the thought- ful men and women of America something to think about. Miss Knapp presents \vhat she has to say in a very readable style. Tke Times, Denver, Col. The book is excellent in its suggestive thought. It is made up of five sketches besides the one giving name to the book. The Inter-Ocean , Chi -.mall acceptable volume of sketches embodying a series of -tive and homely studies in social economics. Every -clay ,;id women will find many practical hints in the little book. Tlie Press, Philadelphia. The stories are written in a sprightly manner and will take with the reading public. The Hawk /-.)'''> Burlington, Iowa. A Good Book is like a Beacon on a Hill. lie by all Bookseller- eipt ol price by the publi.-' THE ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY, f oploy Square, - Jiostoii, Mass. A SEQUEL TO "THE STRIKE OF A SEX." "AFTER THE SEX STRUCK. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. The thousands of readers who have been held and fascinated by the vistas of hope and happiness held out to suffering men and womankind in " The Strike of a Sex," will be glad to learn that the question raised and left involved in mystery in that book has been answered. In response to numberless inquiries regarding the nature and method of Zugassent's Dis- covery, Mr. George N. Miller has given a categorical answer to the question in a sequel called " After the Sex Struck ; or, Zugassent's Discovery." It is given in a very compact form in a little booklet that is read in- side an hour. This slender presentation of a subject which is inseparably connected with the gravest problems of the age is made because the author, who is intensely in earnest, is unwilling to be thought capable of having trifled with a subject which con- cerns the happiness of every human being. The book aims simply to introduce an idea which has been proved to possess the highest spiritual and phy- sical value, leaving to the scientific minds who are now studying it in France, England and Germany, to establish its deep significance as a satisfactory solution of the sexual and population problems. In the COPLEY SQUARE SERIES. Price, Paper, 25 Cents. For sale by all Booksellers, or sent postpaid on re- ceipt of price by the publishers. ARENA PUBLISHING COHPANY, BOSTON, HASS: