CHAPTER IX.
The earl and Washington started on the sorrowful errand, talking as they walked.
“ And as usual!”
“ What, Colonel?”
“ Seven of them in that hotel. Actresses. And all burnt out, of course.”
“ Any of them burnt up?”
“ Oh, no they escaped; they always do; but there’s never a one of them that knows enough to fetch out her jewelry with her.”
“ That’s strange.”
“ Strange—it’s the most unaccountable thing in the world. Experience teaches them nothing; they can’t seem to learn anything except out of a book. In some cases there’s manifestly a fatality about it. For instance, take What’s-her-name, that plays those sensational thunder and lightning parts. She’s got a perfectly immense reputation—draws like a dog-fight—and it all came from getting burnt out in hotels.
