Richard Forrest, Bachelor — page 179: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

170 FLORINE. battered tambourine in her hand. Tossing it high into the air with the point of her foot, she caught it again, and with a saucy wink at the audience, she broke into a song, all about ‘‘birds,’’ ‘‘flowers,’’ and ‘‘her native fields.’’ At its conclusion she executed a daring pas seul, twisting and bending in her shabby costume, with such supreme grace that, with one accord, the house burst into uproarious ap- plause. She acknowledged it with a beaming smile, and then, snatching her cap off, she ran up the stage again, with her long golden hair streaming behind her. ‘‘Encore!’’ clamored her admirers, but in vain; she would not repeat. ‘‘She sings well and dances iikea nymph, but her accent, isn’t it something atrocious?’’ uttered Gertrude, behind her programme to Miss Cameron, who had not taken her eyes off the pretty singer for an instant. But a half-suppressed cry broke from her lips. Miss Cameron nad fainted. Gomichbookssco im