Page:A hairdresser's experience in high life.djvu/163

Rh me to this strange house. She had taken a letter out of her husband's pocket the night before, from a female, saying she left the key with the hotel porter, and would meet him there, and if he could not come at that time not to come till the next day, as one of the other gentlemen would be there that day, so she got the key and determined to be there to meet her husband.

I told her if I had known such was her object in coming I would not have come with her on any account, as it might end badly, for assuredly her husband would not overlook meeting her in such a place, and I feared it would result in no good to her; however, after expostulating a long time with her I at length asked her to come to a fortune-teller's and have her fortune told and we could come back there again; she readily consented to go. Before leaving, however, we concluded to look round the place, it was certainly as curious a house as I ever saw.

The first room we went into was all lined, in place of papered ceiling and walls, with crimson oiled calico; there was a couch covered with the same, and also the chairs; there was but one mirror in the room. The next room was lined in like manner with oiled calico, but instead of crimson it was blue; the bed had a blue spread, and an elegant lace musquito bar; a wash-stand was in one corner with, everything on it belonging to a wash-stand, and in the other corner was a bureau, with everything on it a lady could require, even to paint and powder. In the third room were bottles of good old wine, bottles of champaign, dry wine, old bourbon, and every kind of liquor that could be desired; on a table spread in the middle of the floor were two or three packs of cards, with