“I went. That night I went to lunch with him after the performance. Next day, Dollie, on small pretext, assailed me in an unmerciful manner; she heaped abuse upon my head. I said nothing when she had finished, but had the regulation cry; when I came out I came with teeth set hard, what was the use? My condition was not to be considered. My poor mother was a deceived and ruined woman, my father whom I had worshiped as a divinity, was a bigamist and a seducer. The blight was on me. My mother was ill; it was due to my father’s misstep that I was placed where I now was. I must now feed, clothe, and house the woman whose life he had ruined. “Professor Riggles was ugly, red-faced and slouchy in his habits, but he told me his wife objected to his dressing better, and besides, he was so wrapped up in his music that he cared little, in fact, there was not much in this world to make him happy. I was touched by his pitiful story. I asked him how Dollie happened to have such an influence over him; he laughed and said she was a willful, headstrong girl. “The fact that I could hurt her never entered my head until I was dressing for the first call after she had abused me so, when I overheard a conversation between two of the girls. “‘I wish she would,’ said one, ‘it would be just good enough for her, and if Althy would try she could make herself so solid with old Rig. that he would throw that smarty Squires out.’ “That was enough, I had nothing to lose. “Just before the overture, Prof. Riggles came on the stage and left a note with the call boy for me. It said, ‘Meet me at the ⸺ Hotel, twelve tonight.’ “I was curious to know why it should take him so long to go the short distance (for we always got out at 10:45). I watched and when he left, Dollie was with him. I saw them get into a carriage and drive rapidly south; I began to dream and wonder what it all meant, then like ‘a good little girl’ I went to the appointed place and waited; he came at twelve; we had a dinner, some wine, and then⸺” the girl snapped the stub of a cigarette across the small room, during the pause. “After Prof, had gone from the room next morning I found a door key on the floor, which, as I afterwards learned, had fallen from his pocket. That night I was placed in a more prominent part in the piece. I was kindly received; my old admirers were joined by numerous new ones; after the show Prof. Riggles came to me and said, ‘my girl, you did fine.’ “Dollie Squires never spoke to me after that; she told some of the girls that she ‘would put me to sleep.’ When the time came for me to leave, I simply asked the Prof. if he could assist me to a place; he told me that the leading lady was suffering from a cold and that I was to rehearse for the understudy’s part in the piece as I might be called at any time.