He was known to the fair promenaders of the Empire and Alhambra, he was an _habitue_ of the places where these--er--ladies partake of supper after the exertions of the evening.

Of home life or respectable friends he seems to have had none." "This," Mason declared, leaning back and lighting a cigarette, "is better than the newspapers.

Go on, Colonel! Your biography may not be sympathetic, but it is lifelike!" The Colonel's eyes were full of a distinct and vivid light.

He scarcely heard the interruption.

He was on fire with his subject.
"You see," he continued, "that the man's days were spent amongst a class where the passions run loose, where restraint is an unknown virtue, where self and sensuality are the upraised gods.