"Yes, I am very, truly very, fond of your people. There is a lighthearted openness about you all, a good fellowship which is very appealing."

I could distinguish the electric bulbs in the room

now.

"If, at times, some of you seem to stray by the wayside, you are so openly frank about it one can hardly find it in his heart to chide. I like to mingle with you, as it were, for I feel in your atmosphere is no hypocrisy, and as I have known many of you intimately, I also consider you a very much maligned people. At all events I am very happy to call you friends."

The lights, table, wine glasses, room and people, the comic opera star, and the chorus girl, all were clear to my vision now. I looked at Miriam smiling, and beamingly entertaining a man of letters who, only the evening before, had been telling me, as he was now probably telling her, the "loveless home and hungry heart" story. Again my eyes rested on the comic opera star, who, we all knew, was spending a race horse man's money at the rate of fifty thousand dollars a year; once more I looked at the girl from the chorus, who receiving eighteen dollars a week salary, had, in sight, on her hands and neck, enough jewels to satisfy a royal princess. Then I saw the manager who escorted her to the dinner; one of the most notorious roués in the city, and my eyes wandered around that table to the several women from other companies, not one of whom but had her

"affairs," and one in fact escorted to this dinner and, quite as a matter of course, introduced by the married man, a citizen of great wealth and prominence who was accounted her "backer" and "friend." Not even a winker of our fraternity did I see, for as a rule they are seldom invited out unless it be that they are useful, as in my case.

Yes, surely, we were a charming lot. None of us hypocrites, all beautifully open hearted children of nature. It was really kind of a clergyman to like us. But, of course, Miss Guiltygirl, he didn't know our histories, and mechanically I kept repeating “to the pure all things are pure" until I began rather to believe it. It must be so indeed.

But some way the halo my admiring thoughts had lifted over this man's head at the beginning of our conversation, seemed to have become askew on his beautiful curls, and I felt a slight shock of realization that, after all, he was rather a commonplace, if not a bit obtuse, sort of man. However, he sweetly gurgled on of our virtues, our ennobling and uplifting art; of what a privilege it must be to deliver our sermons in such an æsthetic atmosphere, which embraced all arts; that of reading, picture, voice, and motion; for in reality the mission of the theatre was to be a preacher unto the people and give them their lessons, while they least suspected they were being lectured; in sugar coated pellets so to speak.

I asked him, at this point, if he belonged to the Association for the Union of Church and Stage.

"Oh, yes," he said brightly, "I am one of the charter members.”

So was Miss Melloweye, if you remember. I asked if he knew her.

"Stella Melloweye? Indeed I do, well," he went on enthusiastically, "and a dear, lovely girl she is too." Well, that was all right, Stella could easily tell him she didn't know what bread and butter was. halo was dreadfully lopsided by now.

His

"Are you a member of the Association?" he asked me. I said, "No," and he continued urgently:

"Ah, but you really must join-not that you need it perhaps," some way the smile did not seem sweet nor kindly any more, "but we do need all the good workers we can get."

"There are some people who belong to it of whom I do not approve," I was foolish enough to remark.

"Nonsense," he laughed, "do you know that is exactly what my dearest friend in the profession, Mr. Scrapegrace, said when I asked him to join. 'Chaplain,' he said, 'there are people in that Association that it would be worth my reputation for me to be connected with.' Wasn't it droll?”

It certainly was. If he had dashed the wine from the loving cup which was now making its rounds, into my face, I could hardly have gasped for breath more chokingly. He had mentioned the name of a man whose fame as an actor was only equaled by his infamy as a man; whose life was at that time being raked over in every newspaper in the land in

connection with a most cruel case of a beautiful young girl who had died from the result of a criminal operation for which he was responsible, and he had recently been compelled to pay her family a large sum of money, his price for their daughter's virtue and life.

The halo fell to the floor and smashed into a thousand pieces and before me sat a black robed, black eyed, black haired, good looking, physical, common, every day, contemptible WINKER; nothing more; nothing less.

Build a wall of austerity and reserve about himself? Well, I should say not. I felt that I could gladly play foot ball with his black coated worldly personality and not ruffle my own dignity in the least. Talk about the fall of Lucifer! This man, in his own words and conversation, fell, in the estimation of a sinner, somewhat further than from Heaven to earth.

Dear, good, men of the cloth, if you value yourselves and your calling, please, please inquire if we are taking your hands in meekness and repentance, if we come to you with contrite sincere hearts, before you try to make chums of us. Believe me, even we will think better of you for it.

CHAPTER XVI.

"A CHANGE CAME O'ER THE SPIRIT OF MY DREAM."

As insidiously as had the conditions of tranquillity, born of the atmosphere of Bob's and Miriam's attachment crept upon us, so now began to steal the spirit of unrest. In looking back over the four eventful seasons, I can no more define the place, date, nor circumstance which marks the line from whence began the descent from these heights of voluptuous unconsciousness, than I can read the meaning of those supposed-canals on the planet Mars. What is more, no other personality interfered, as in the case of Miss Prettystyle; therefore, it is even harder to account for the gradual decay of things beautiful or to attribute it to any definite change in conditions.

I was not a witness to Miriam's and Bob's first quarrel; nor to their second, nor possibly their third. They kept them well in the background for a time, and I only remember of becoming slowly, haltingly conscious that both were having moods; hers those of indignant sulks; his, little evidences of the old brutality to members of the company. This would last sometimes for days, then both would appear beaming and smiling; she radiant as the morning, he foolishly exuberant and doing all sorts of silly things