THE GIRL THAT DISAPPEARS
of the streets as neighbors is of terrible importance. The prostitute invariably is better dressed than her neighbors. In fact, she is, in the parlance of the slums, "a swell dresser." She can spend her days idly in her home. At night she is supposed to frequent public places of amusement and to have "a good time of it." Her life is one of ease, luxury, and enjoyment, in the eyes of her neighbors. Creature comforts count for much with most of us. To the very poor, especially the very poor shopgirls who work in the big stores with all their atmosphere of spending and pleasure, the urge of life is particularly keen. And it would have done away with white slavery, for where the protector cannot hold over a woman the fear that she is doing something that lays her liable to immediate arrest, he cannot keep her in his clutches. I would have been criticised, and I expected it. I will be criticised for this book, and I expect that; but I found
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