THE GIRL THAT DISAPPEARS
who dropped in almost every evening to play cards and gossip with the proprietor of the establishment. It was strange talk that the former shop girl listened to. Tale after tale of girls who to show their faithfulness to their husbands in time of financial distress descended into the depths of degradation. These girls were always spoken of in terms of deepest admiration. Their deeds were extolled as examples of heroic self-sacrifice. Other tales more gruesome were unfolded. Tales of terrible retribution that followed attempts of the girls to free themselves. How one girl had wearied of her life and "selfishly" determined to escape from her master. How she slipped away one night, as she believed, without the knowledge of a living soul. Yet as she passed by an unlighted alley a mysterious figure darted out of the darkness and struck the girl fairly in the face with a razor. She arose, dazed and bleeding, her face slashed, her beauty ruined for
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