“I must work fast if I am to save Avis. I care not for myself now—since
I have felt love. She is an orphan. She came here from a western state,
determined to make her fortune on the stage. Like thousands of others,
she found that her talent was mediocre. She sought to make a living
in other ways when she found that all that was open to her was the
downward path. Meta—again it was Meta who served as the lure—read her
advertisement. Meta appeared before her as the Good Samaritan—a woman,
wealthy, refined, seeking a companion. She brought her here.
“Lessman allows me to see her every day now. What devilish plan has he in
view that he should torture me with her sufferings?”
_CHAPTER VI._
_Occasionally through the clouds of obscurity there appears some
incident which I remember distinctly. Strange as it may appear, there
is no record of these occasions in my diary. I can explain this only
by the supposition that at such times Lessman withdrew his power over
me, while on all other occasions I was, as I have said before, in a
semi-somnambulic state._