In a hall of irregular shape sat Pete and Maggie drinkingbeer. A submissive orchestra dictated to by a spectacled man withfrowsy hair and a dress suit, industriously followed the bobs ofhis head and the waves of his baton. A ballad singer, in a dressof flaming scarlet, sang in the inevitable voice of brass. Whenshe vanished, men seated at the tables near the front applaudedloudly, pounding the polished wood with their beer glasses. Shereturned attired in less gown, and sang again. She receivedanother enthusiastic encore. She reappeared in still less gown anddanced. The deafening rumble of glasses and clapping of hands thatfollowed her exit indicated an overwhelming desire to have her comeon for the fourth time, but the curiosity of the audience was notgratified.

Maggie was pale. From her eyes had been plucked all look ofself-reliance. She leaned with a dependent air toward hercompanion. She was timid, as if fearing his anger or displeasure. She seemed to beseech tenderness of him.

Pete's air of distinguished valor had grown upon him until itthreatened stupendous dimensions. He was infinitely gracious tothe girl. It was apparent to her that his condescension was a marvel.

He could appear to strut even while sitting still and he showed thathe was a lion of lordly characteristics by the air with which he spat.

With Maggie gazing at him wonderingly, he took pride in commandingthe waiters who were, however, indifferent or deaf.

"Hi, you, git a russle on yehs! What deh hell yehs lookin' at?Two more beehs, d'yeh hear?"

He leaned back and critically regarded the person of a girlwith a straw-colored wig who upon the stage was flinging her heelsin somewhat awkward imitation of a well-known danseuse.

At times Maggie told Pete long confidential tales of herformer home life, dwelling upon the escapades of the other membersof the family and the difficulties she had to combat in order toobtain a degree of comfort. He responded in tones of philanthropy. He pressed her arm with an air of reassuring proprietorship.

"Dey was damn jays," he said, denouncing the mother and brother.

The sound of the music which, by the efforts of the frowsy-headed leader, drifted to her ears through the smoke-filledatmosphere, made the girl dream. She thought of her formerRum Alley environment and turned to regard Pete's strong protectingfists. She thought of the collar and cuff manufactory and theeternal moan of the proprietor: "What een hell do you sink I piefife dolla a week for? Play? No, py damn." She contemplatedPete's man-subduing eyes and noted that wealth and prosperity wasindicated by his clothes. She imagined a future, rose-tinted,because of its distance from all that she previously had experienced.

As to the present she perceived only vague reasons to bemiserable. Her life was Pete's and she considered him worthy ofthe charge. She would be disturbed by no particular apprehensions,so long as Pete adored her as he now said he did. She did not feellike a bad woman. To her knowledge she had never seen any better.

At times men at other tables regarded the girl furtively. Pete, aware of it, nodded at her and grinned. He felt proud.

"Mag, yer a bloomin' good-looker," he remarked, studying herface through the haze. The men made Maggie fear, but she blushedat Pete's words as it became apparent to her that she was the appleof his eye.

Grey-headed men, wonderfully pathetic in their dissipation,stared at her through clouds. Smooth-cheeked boys, some of themwith faces of stone and mouths of sin, not nearly so pathetic asthe grey heads, tried to find the girl's eyes in the smoke wreaths. Maggie considered she was not what they thought her. She confinedher glances to Pete and the stage.

The orchestra played negro melodies and a versatile drummerpounded, whacked, clattered and scratched on a dozen machines tomake noise.

Those glances of the men, shot at Maggie from under half-closed lids,made her tremble. She thought them all to be worse men than Pete.

"Come, let's go," she said.

As they went out Maggie perceived two women seated at a tablewith some men. They were painted and their cheeks had lost theirroundness. As she passed them the girl, with a shrinking movement,drew back her skirts.