The Press., 1910-12-21
sous and multicolored past.

lIt was when they were leaving Syfa .cuse one morning that Dora got hel first insight into the business attitud,
 that these women took toward theil profession. She was sitting in from
 pf the manager of the company There
 were no parlor cars on the tIain. and E they were all in rwllat was hamboy
 mntly advertised as an respectfully en.
 gaged eoacll.S She would have pre-
 ferred not to oysrhear the conversa
 lion. but afterwhrd she gloried in it. rhe dancer, Miss Weston, came slI
 to the manager and began:
 E ''Can I talk business with you for a
 moment? ?''
 Sure" he replied, with the cigar
 still in his mouth and his hat at the proper managerial angle. "Sit, down.
 ''That dance of mine is not getting over,'" she began earnestly,
 'sOh. quit worrying! Wait until we strike a real town and you'll see that 1t will be alF right Don't, for heavens sake, start changes on me now!',
 But know persisted Miss Wes. ton-'.I know that in white my figure i. looks awfully large. Now, in black or in red l look great deal thinner, and it is more becoming to me.'' 1~
 ''You are just nervous" said the manager. RA ~ f .' 'sBut my figure is not nervous" an. swered Miss Weston laughingly. "I'm serious, MT. Bleinian. T want to make hit in this thing, and know from my experience in vaudeville and in mu- sical shows that I don't do my best. and don't look my best i'll white. Now, if you won't pay for a black dress I will pay for it myself.' &
 The conversation continued; and. Hiss Weston devolved into discussion in which her figure was intimately con- versed about. She speculated as to whether white stockings caused. her limbs to appear disproportionately large. She insisted that she be given either red or black stockings
 The talk of the manager and the player went on for few moments along this line and was settled with out any satisfaction to the dancer, but with vague promise that before they got into Chicago or New York the mat ter would be taken.up.as x4-y.st
 The thing that hung over Dora's I mind was: Here was a woman who didn't hesitate to discuss what she had beers accustomed to regard as an~ in- terdicted subject; here was d woman, who discussed the proportions of her calves without any immodesty and without fear with even this coarse man, for whose opinion she had not | only the greatest respect, but financfaI | fear. And even he, with all his con- summate and accumulated Brutality; | answered i'll most matter of fact and | absolutely impartial manner. s,. =
 It gave her a. thrills that here at least was unqualified honesty.
 Dora ,shaving. a feminine mind. was missing the great danger of all this because it seemed to her beyond doubt that in. this very frankness. in this very attitude of being businesslike about things that are not ordinarily. the subjects goi, conventional .conversa- ti9n, lay elttire safety for a. person of and of sound instincts. But possibly, her .puritanical Aunt Cornelia would not have agreed with her ,coil- terning the matter
 At any rate, the broad vista of life as it is in many sided, ccomplex, world was beginning, te unfold before Dora, and little could she foretell as to what the future held in store for her.