"Imbecile!" was the complimentary good-night thrown by his angel, as she passed out of the hall into the adjoining room. This--the women's room--was in all respects similar to the men's hall, being furnished with the like grated windows, rusty iron stove, and rude benches. Along, on these benches, or on the floor, were scattered wretched women in every attitude of self-abandonment; some in the stupor of intoxication; some in the depths of sorrow; some in stony despair; some in reckless defiance. The men who had come in with the drunken woman deposited her on one of the benches, from which she quickly rolled to the floor, where she lay dead to all that was passing around her. Her misfortune was greeted with a shout of laughter from the reckless denizens of this room; but that shout was turned into a deafening yell when their eyes fell upon Faustina's array. "Eh, sirs! wha the deil hae we here fra the ball?" they cried, gathering around her with curiosity. "Off, you wretches!" screamed Faustina, stamping at them. "Hech! but she hae a temper o' her ain, the quean," said one. "Ou, aye, just! It will be for sticking her lad under the ribs she is here," surmised another. "Eh, sirs, how are the mighty fa'en!" exclaimed a third, as they closed around her, and began to closely examine her rich dress. "Rabble! how dare you?" screamed Faustina, fiercely twitching herself away from them. "Eh! the braw furs and silks! the town doesna often see the loike o' them," said the first speaker, lifting up the corner of the rich sable cloak. "Wretch, let alone!" shrieked Faustina, stamping frantically. The uproar brought Policeman Christie to the scene. "Take me away from this place directly, you beast! How dare you bring me among such wretches?" screamed the poor creature. "My lass, I hae na commission to remove you. I dinna ken what ye hae done to bring yoursel' here; but here ye maun bide till the morn," said Christie kindly and composedly. "I will not, I say! What have I done to be placed among these vile wretches?" she persisted, stamping. "I dinna ken, lassie, as I telled ye before; but joodging by your manners, I suld say ye hae guided yoursel' an unco' ill gait. But howe'er that will be, here ye maun bide till the morn. And gin ye will heed guid counsel, ye'll haud your tongue," said Christie, at the same time good-naturedly setting down the hamper that contained Faustina's luxuries. She did not want it. She threw herself down upon one of the benches and burst into a passion of tears. The women gathered around the hamper, and quickly tore off the lid and made themselves acquainted with its contents. But Faustina did not mind. She was too deeply distressed to care what they did. The contents of the hamper were now of no use to her. The "good fire, the comfortable bed, the warm beverage" that she had vehemently demanded were unattainable, she knew, and she cared for nothing else now.