Argosy All-Story Weekly — "The Purple Limited" — page 48: what you’re looking at

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

614 Leila shrugged her shoulders. ‘‘No, not me. I’ve done all I can. I’m speaking of a good woman. You have heard of her; she’s Mrs. Ruth Gordon. But we can’t stand here. Will you come with me? I know a quiet, respectable res- taurant where we can talk. There’s no time to lose. Will you come? I want your advice.” The strength of the will-purpose behind Leila’s words was enough to influence any man; but it was really the last few words that moved Ernest from his rut of slow pondering before acting. Leila had asked - his advice. As may be supposed, Leila needed no advice from Emest; but she put it that way and thus obtained his help. The end justified the means. CHAPTER XI. A LA MOG MODE. T a scowl and a whispered word from A Sid, Artie ushered Julie, not to the café, but to the elevator. “ Going to fix you a nice little surprise party,” explained the young man. “ Got one or two things to see to, theugh. You can wait up-stairs.” “ Who—what did that woman want?” asked the girl when Artie led her down a long corridor and into a large room. “Oh, nothing. She’s crazy. That’s all. Forget it. In a minute or two I'll have a waiter bring you a cocktail. I won't be gone long.” Leaving the girl seated on a couch, Artie closed the door. For five, ten, fifteen minutes, Julie was occupied in looking about her. She had no experience of hotel apartments, but this room certainly looked peculiar to her. It seemed to be half dismantled. There was dust everywhere, and the furniture was scattered about in disorder. After a while she walked about examin- ing things with a curious eye. She found an odd-looking table with a tarnished, sunken disk set in the center. All around the wheel were funny little red-and-black compartments. Scattered about on a buffet ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. were piles of unopened packs of playing- cards, and boxes of colored counters. Then she found something else. It was a paper-bound, soiled, dog-eared book. She picked it up, turned a page, and dropped it as if she had been stung. In some human products there is great . beauty, in others there are several degrees of beastliness; but the palm for super- degradedness and sneaky viciousness shall be awarded to the wielders of the leprous pen and brush. With facile, lewd word, and slick, decadent drawing they paint the bawd and spawn tales and pictures of gar- =- landed vice. These cooties, authors of cel- - lar-hid, abominable printing, drip and ex- ude poisonous corruptions and for a few easy dollars betray and besmirch the clean minds. of the unwary curious. These loath- some publicists of the unclean, under the cloak of anonymity, while a thousand all too easy credulous victims of their teachings tiptoe to adventures in ave- nues they would never otherwise have dreamed of. Even if they resist the con- tagion of the defiling pages the stain on their thoughts is sometimes long in being eradicated. But the creature responsible for the abomination, Julie found, had overstepped the bounds. The concoction was too crude, too lacking, happily, in insiduousness for the girl to do other than close the book at once. She was untaught, untutored in vice or in the finer perception of refined virtue; — but she experienced jnstant repugnance. With a sudden gesture of disgust she again picked up the book and flung it aside. It dropped to the carpet and went sliding under the couch. This event caused a break in Julie's pa- tience. Realization at last came to her that all was not so gayly harmless, and there was an unpleasant underside to the fun of being.a sport. Knowing that she was taking a chance, she had dallied with tempting, thinly veiled, forbidden. pleas- ures: Now the thought occurred to her that she had perhaps taken a step too far; ventured deeper than she had intended. She went to the door. She would go and look for Artie. He was all right.- A nice chap and— CGOMIGIOO shelter: . S CO