“In that day the Lord will take away the bravery
of their twinkling ornaments about their feet, and
their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the
bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands,
and the tablets, and the earrings, the rings and nose
jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles,
and the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses,
and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.
And it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell
there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent;
and instead of well set hair, baldness; and instead
of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth: and burning
instead of beauty.”
And at that moment the door from the corridor was
flung open, and Mary Magna came in.
“My God, will you look who’s here!
Billy, wretched creature, I haven’t laid eyes
on you for two months! Do you have to desert me
entirely, just because you’ve fallen in love
with a society girl with the face of a Japanese doll-baby?
What’s the matter with me, that I lose my lovers
faster than I get them? Edgerton Rosythe, come
in here—you’ve got a good excuse,
I admit—I’m almost as much scared
of your wife as you are yourself. But still, I’d
like a chance to get tired of some man first.
Hello, Planchet, how’s my old grannie making
out in your scalping-shop? Say, would you think
it would take three days labor for half a dozen Sioux
squaws to pull the skin off one old lady’s back?
And a week to tie up the corners of her mouth and
give her a permanent smile! ‘Why, grannie,’
I said, ’good God, it would be cheaper to hire
Charlie Chaplin to walk round in front of you all
the rest of your life!’ And—why, what’s
this? For the love of Peter, somebody introduce
me to this gentleman. Is he a friend of yours,
Billy? Carpenter? Excuse me, Mr. Carpenter,
but we picture people learn to talk about our faces
and our styles, and it isn’t every day I come
on a million dollars walking round on two legs.
Who does the gentleman work for?”
The storm of Mary Magna stopped long enough for her
to stare from one to another of us. “What?
You mean nobody’s got him? And you all
standing round here, not signing any contracts?
You, Edgerton—you haven’t run to
the telephone to call up Eternal City? Well, as
it happens, T-S is going to be here in five minutes—his
wife is being made beautiful once again somewhere
in this scalping-shop. Take my advice, Mr. Carpenter,
and don’t sign today—the price will
go up several hundred per week as long as you hold
off.”
Mary stopped again; and this was most unusual, for
as a general rule she never stopped until somebody
or something stopped her. But she was fascinated
by the spectacle of Carpenter. “My good
God! Where did he come from? Why, it seems
like—I’m trying to think—yes,
it’s the very man! Listen, Billy; you may
not believe it, but I was in a church a couple of
weeks ago. I went to see Roxanna Riddle marry
that grand duke fellow. It was in a big church
over by the park—St. Bartholomew’s,
they call it. I sat looking at a stained glass
window over the altar, and Billy, I swear I believe
this Mr. Carpenter came down from that window!”
