I saw everything from a friendly handshake to a hugging match behind an artificial palm. Every inducement to a man of virile, animal instincts was held out to the male visitors of this law abiding place, while the revolting scenes of depraved humanity were made more distasteful to the refined person on account of the pit of hellish wretchedness his fellow men had fallen into.
So much for a city which is regarded as being under the surveillance, of proper authorities at all times.
I sat down at a table alone. The three-man band struck up a waltz, the notes arose and mingled with smoke, curses and a discordant humming which came from the husky throats of a dozen or more wearers of bleached hair and otherwise falsified females.
As the music continued I glanced around the large room. The sight of drunken men lolling over women whose only claim to life and conviviality was supplied by the effect of the different intoxicants which these daughters of misfortune had freely indulged in, was sufficiently disgusting to cause me to desire to make my exit without further delay.
I arose to go; just as I did so, I caught the eye of a creature whose smile showed in itself just how much of an effort it cost for the woman to present it. I lingered by the chair, and she approached me timidly. Her action, combined with her appearance, served to mislead me. I mistook her for a novice; on account of her seemingly natural shyness I looked upon her as being wholly out of place. Her general appearance too was far above the ordinary “she frequenters” of this place.
She was young, well preserved, modestly dressed and talked with a degree of sense and moral refinement unknown to the patrons of the establishment. Notwithstanding the fact that circumstances were against her, I believed her when she told me that she was not an habitue of this particular resort.
“But why are you here tonight?” I asked.
“Oh, I have the blues, good and plenty,” she said, as she dropped into a chair.
“For why?” was my bantering query.
It was then that I was treated to a square look into her face. She was pretty to say the least. Her soft hazel eyes denoted everything but viciousness; her full, round face carried the freshness of youth and she made feeble attempts to smile pleasantly, at which time she showed a set of white, firm, but very short teeth. She gazed at me for a full moment, then with an air of wisdom she said: “I suppose you are fixing to make a raid on all the ‘joints’?”