// SIIA.VU ANDREWS. Wicked Nell GAYGIRLofTHETOWN.' By SHANG ANDREWS, AUTHOR OF "CRANKY ANN;" ".THE MYSTERIES AND MISERIES OF CHICAGO;" " IRISH MOLLIE" " JOE AND JENNIE," &c., &c. latrimoniai . . 'rtOWIJUL NKWS OO.. CHICAGO; COMET PUBLISHING COMPANY, 1878. Entered, according to act of Congress in the year 1877, by K. H. ANDKEWS, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. WICKED NELL, A GAY GIRL OF THE TOWN. CHAPTER I. On a warm summer* evening, about two years before the fire, Captain Hickey sat in front of the old Armory, puffing leisurely at a cigar, and from appearances indulg- ing in a reverie. He was probably calling to mind some of the strange and startling adventures through which he had passed while in the discharge of his duties as a thief- catcher. But his thoughts on that occasion are not to be the text of this story. They were disturbed by the approach of an elderly woman, whose manner indicated that she was in deep trouble. " Well, my good woman, what can I do for you to-night ?" said the Captain, motioning the woman to a seat on a wooden bench at his tide. "Oh, Captain Hickey," sobbed the woman, ' It's a sorry day that brought me here !" The poor creature was suffering intense mental agony , and when the last word was uttered she com- pletely broke down, and wept and moaned with an intensity of grief that was really painful to witness. The Captain, knowing that to express sympathy would only make matters worse, made no immediate attempt to pacify the woman. Fi- nally, however, when her burst of impassioned sorrow had partially subsided, he said ; " Well, madam, if there is any- thing I can do for you, it shall be done willingly. If you are in trouble, you should meet it bravely, and not give way to your feelings as you have done since you came here. What is the nature of the complaint you have to make ?" " Oh, Captain Hickey, I haven't the heart to tell !" " But you must tell, if you want help." " Captain my daughter!" " Ah ! I understand it all now ! You have a daughter that has gone astray ! Poor woman ! God knows I pity you ! Do you know where your girl can be found ?" " Indeed, Captain, I do not. If I did, I should never come here, to bring disgrace on myself and my own child my darling little Nell!" " Then I understand that you want me to hunt h#r up for you. Is that it ?" " That's just what I want, Cap- tain ; and if you'll do it, sir, the old widow will call down God Al- mighty's blessing on your head!" Without appearing to notice the woman's fervent words, the Captain said : " We must have a description of your daughter." " Oh, sir, she's as tidy a girl as ever you laid eyes on !" " That is not very definite. We must have an accurate description her age, height, the color of her hair and eyes, and any peculiarities by which she may be distinguished from other girls. In the first place, yom may give me her age how old is she?" " She'll be thirteen years old next month, sir !" " Only thirteen! Why, you don't think she's gone to the bad. do 9 you i "God knows I don't want to think so, Captain, but I can't help it I know it !" " Have you any idea where she can be found whether ,in a public house, or a private place ?" " It's a week now since she left home. She went alone; there wasn't a soul with her, and she wore her eve^day dresp, without any hat or shawl." " Had she been in the habit of keeping company with other girls, or with young men ?" " She was out with 'em every blessed night, often till twelve and one o'clock, and sometimes as late as two and three in the morning." " I am afraid she is lost beyond hope," said the Captain, " but we will do* our best to save her you may rely upon that. By the way, what is your daughter's name ?" " The neighbors call her ' WICKED NELL,' but her right name is Nellie O'Brien bad luck to the day that ever brought shame upon the fami- ly that raised her !" " I have heard of this Wicked Nell before," said the Captain, " but I thought she was one of the old settlers something like the girls on Wells, Griswold or Sherman streets." " She's young in years, Captain, but as old as any of them in wickedness ! Why, you'll blush when you hear her talk ! She's the very devil !" " I don't doubt her viciousness, but I long since stopped blushing at the words or actions of any of the depraved creatures of this wicked city. I hope I may never become hard- hearted, or conscience-calloused, as some officers are said to have done ; but when one is constantly surrounded by the most depraved wretches that walk the streets and skulk in the dark alleys, it is scarce- ly to be wondered at that he should lose confidence in humanity and almost become a convert to the doctrine of total depravity. But while we are talking, time is being lost. If you come here at eight o'clock to-morrow morning, I have no doubt you will find your girl." After furnishing as perfect a de- scription of the missing girl as she could, the unhappy old woman went towards her miserable home. When the men answered to their names at roll call, a few minutes subsequent to the above interview, Captain Hickey said : " Officer Morgan will be detailed for special duty to-night. He will report to me in my private office." Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys went marching to their beats, and Morgan repaired to the office of his superior. " Jim," said the Captain, " You are pretty well posted as to the location of the hell-holes about town, are you not?" "If I ain't I ought to be," was the blunt reply. ' Well, I want you to start out now, and never come back until you find this old woman's girl this Wicked Nell, as she is called." " Oh ! if it's Wicked Nell you want, I'll soon run her in ! I saw her only yesterday, drinking beer with a sailor on Jackson street. I think I can lay my hand on her in less than half an hour ; but if I don't, I'll obey orders, Captain I'll not come back without her." "Very well. I hope you will have speedy success, for the heart of her poor old mother ia almost broken !" "Running her in won't do any .good, Cap. She's gone, head and heels, body and soul ! Why, she's the wickedest girl in Chicago !" " Then she should be taken care of, by all means. Do you believe, Jim, that she's only thirteen years old ? Her mother says that's her age." " I don't doubt it and to my knowledge she's been on the town, off and on, for about three years! People have got to look sharp after their babies, in these days !" " It is shocking, Jim, it's shock- ing ! We will lock this girl up to- night, if we get her, and to-morrow morning she shall have her choice she can go home to her mother, if .she will promise to be a good girl ; if not she gets ninety days in the Bridewell." " And do you know what she'll do?" " I think she will go home, and try to behave herself." " There's where you're mistaken, Captain ! As sure as my name is Jim Morgan, she'll defy the Court and go to the Bridewell! She's a thoroughbred, every inch of her!" CHAPTER II. When the widow O'Brien left Captain Hickey, she did not return to her home, on Franklin street, two blocks from the Armory. Wild :and wicked as she knew her daugh- ter to be, the old lady still had a mother's strong love in her breast, and she could not bear to see her Nellie go to the lock-up, even for one night, if such a course could be avoided. With the resolution to prevent an arrest, if possible, .she lingered near the Armory until after the first platoon had left, and then her bent figure and sorrowful face was again seen in the doorway. The Captain saluted her respect- fully. " I am just about sending a man out in search of your daughter a man who knows her well, and thinks he can find her* without trouble," he said, addressing the widow. " Sure, and I'm obliged to you, Captain, but I came back to as^k a favor." " Name it, and it shall be grant- ed." " It would break my poor old heart entirely, to see my little chick of a child behind those bars in those horrid ce-lls." " If we find her, Mrs. O'Brien, we must keep her, but she shall not be locked up in a cell. We have a room up stairs where she can be kept." " But, Captain, can't /go with the officer, and when he finds her won't you let her go home with me]? I can coax the child I know I can." " It shall be as you wish. You can accompany Mr. Morgan, and when he finds her you can have an interview. If she consents to go home and premises to stay there, nothing further will be done ; but if she refuses, and insists upon remain- ing with her dissolute associates, then there will be but one course to pursue she must be arrested and punished. She had better be in the Bridewell, Mrs. O'Brien, than wan- dering about the streets, associat- ing with abandoned men and wo- men." " I know it, Captain, I know it , and I thank you for your kindness God bless you !" Tears glad tears, that there was still hope, and sorrowful ones, that she should be forced to such a dreadful expedient to save her daughter coursed down the bronz- ed cheeks of this working woman, as she uttered these words. " I am merely doing my duty," responded the Captain, who was deeply touched by the woman's dis- tress. u It would be a cruel act, and an unjust one, too, if I should not hold out every inducement for the return of an erring but repentant child to her home. I have been an officer for many years, and have wit- nessed more suffering, more sorrow, more misery, more agony, more heart-breakings, than I could tell you of should we talk from now till daylight. God knows we have enough outcasts in Chicago to-day, without driving down and perse- cuting those who may be inclined to turn from the error of their ways. We are the protectors of socie- ty, Mrs. O'Brien, not its persecutors. It is our duty to sav e, not to de- stroy. I hope your daughter will abandon her evil associations and, eventually become a good woman. If by any act of mine such an end can be attained, I shall only be too glad to volunteer my assistance. You can go with the officer, and take your daughter, wherever you can find her." With tender and feeling acknowl- edgment and thanks, the widow and the officer started on their painful ission painful to both, for Jim organ was a father himself, and good man, and the tears of the ereaved mother had touched a soft spot in his honest heart. " Mr. Morgan," said the widow, after they had started, " the Captain told me you knew my little daugh- ter are you well acquainted with her ? " " No I am not acquainted with her at all ; but she has been point- ed out to me as ' Wicked Nell/ and I have seen her a great many times, while I have been traveling my beat." " And is the such a very, very wicked girl, Mr. Morgan ?" " For one of her age, I should ' say that she is the worst girl that I ever saw. It is hard to say this to a mother, of her daughter, but it would do no good to deceive you. When you know the truth you can perhaps act with more . effect for good than you could should I at- tempt to cover up the bad traits the girl has adopted." For a block, Mrs. O'Brien walked in silence ; but the experienced of- ficer saw tears stealing from her eyelids, and realized that the burden that weighed upon her heart was so heavy as to be almost unbearable. Hers was unspeakable grief. With an effort that forced a sigh, the woman rallied, and said : " Do you think you will have any trouble in finding my Nellie? " "I do not," was the reply. "I have seen her many times near the corner of Wells and Jackson streets, and it is my opinion that she has found a stopping place on the latter street, not far from the corner." While this conversation was tak- ing place, they had been walking at a brisk pace, and were nearing the locality mentioned. A sound of coarse revelry com- ing from a " saloon and restaurant," whose doors were open, greeted their ears. There were at least a dozen men in the place, and as many women, and from the unnatural tones of their voices, it was evident that nearly' all were, more or less, under the influence of liquor. Some were in the public saloon, and others were seated in stalls on the side of the room, drinking, eating, smok- ing, telling stories, and enjoying themselves as fancy dictated. Heavy curtains, capable of entirely screen- ing the persons in the stalls from observation, hung in front of them, but they were parted in the mid- dle, and evidently no ' concealment was desired by the motley crowd. Some of the women, depraved though they were, would be really handsome were it not for that brazen look that the harlot, let her try ever so hard, cannot banish. These creatures, however, made no effort to hide their calling. On the con- trary, it looked as though special pains had been taken, in arranging their toilettes, to display such charms as they had to the best ad- vantage. The dresses of some were so low in the neck as to be abso- lutely indecent, while others went to the other extreme, and let no op- portunity slip to display to the very best advantage, with the most out- rageous immodesty, their lower limbs. While this insane revelry was at its height, while tumblers were clinking merrily, and the en- tire company seemed to be in a jol- ly mood, there came flying, rather than walking, into the room, a young girl, whose rare beauty and mag- nificiently moulded form dimmed the lustre of the charms of her frail sisters, as bright diamonds in the sunlight make dull and unsight- ly common glass. Her entrance created a profound sensation, and for a brief moment there was a hush silence such as usually precedes a wild demonstration of delight or applause. But it was for a moment only. The girl was attired in the most gay and dashing, though not expensive apparel. Evidently there had been an effort made to make her appear " stunning," without the expenditure of any considerable suoa of money. The silence that her entrance produced was almost instantaneously followed by as bois- terous and wild a huzza as was ever heard in Chicago. There was a rat- tling of glasses, a clapping of hands, a stamping of feet, and a chorus of voices shouted : u Hurrah ! boys and gals, here's the pet of the petticoats! Three cheers and a tiger for WICKED NBLL ! " CHAPTER III. From the lips of Wicked Nell those luscious lips, that looked as pure as those of an angel there came an oath that would make a scoffer or an infidel shudder. " Let ( s have a drink ! " she cried ; " say, old Baldy, sling us a jolly cocktail ! I've got the blues to- night ! Something tells me I'm going to have trouble, and I want something to make me . brace up! There's nothing like a good square drink the real old stuff to drive away the blue devils ! " The beverage had been prepared while she was speaking, and she tossed it off as though it had been the most delicious nectar ever pre- pared with which to tickle the palate. Just at that moment Jim Mor- gan and Mrs. O'Brien reached the front of the saloon. The old lady clutched his arm with a start. " There she is ! There's my little Nellie!" exclaimed the mother of the wicked girl, and the poor wom- an started for the door with a ner- vousness that threatened hysteria. But the strong arm of Jim Mor- gan drew her back, and he fairly forced her along. So prompt was the interference of the officer that no one in the sa- loon noticed the occurrence. " You came near spoiling every- thing," he said, after the danger had been avoided. " Had you gone into the saloon, there would have been a " scene," and your rebellious daughter would have died on the spot rather than go with you. In such cases as these, judgment and prudence are required. We must use discretion resort to strategy. The girl does not know me as an officer ; and, as I am not dressed in uniform, it will be easy enough for me to coax her out of that place. I will take her to the house where she lives, and when once there, you can see her, and talk with her, qui- etly and alone." " Your plan is the best, I can see that now,' but nothing but force could have prevented me from going to my daughter, when I saw her in that awful place, and on my kncss begging her to come away with me ! Oh, sir, only God in heaven knows how I love that child." " Mrs. O'Brien," said Morgan, " I know you love that wayward girl, but had you gone into that saloon, and had fallen upon your knees be- fore the crowd, do you know what she would have done ? Why, she would have laughed in your face, and called you names that would have frozen the blood in your veins ! I have heard her swear she was bound to be a thoroughbred, and if you knew what that meant you would never think of upbraiding or pleading with her in public, be- fore those who know her. It is possible that* in her own room, where there are none to hear, you may with kind and endearing words persuade her to go home with you But you can't drive her an inch. " The good Lord knows I'll speak as gently and kindly to my Nellie as woman ever spoke to one she loved ! Bat you must go quick or perhap she'll go away." , ' ; I will go now. You remain out of sight until I take her to the place she calls home, and then you can follow us in." The officer returned to the saloon; and found Wicked Nell sitting upon the knee of a tipsy young man. She was smoking a cigar a bad ci- gar at that and held in her hand a tumbler half filled with a poison- ous mixture compounded from the bottles behind the bar, and called a " cocktail." " Hello, Nell, old girl, how are ye?" exclaimed Morgan, holding out his hand, as though he were an inti- mate acquaintance. The girl was accustomed to such greetings from those whose faces were not familiar, and she supposed the officer was one of those who had met her in some of her adventure- some frolics in that vicinity. Nell left the intoxicated young man, and at once joined Morgan, who looked as though he might be what she would call a "monied bloke." "Can I see you privately, Nell ?" he whispered. 'You bet you can ! Come on . r Let's go to my room around the corner." That was exactly what the officer wanted. Arm in arm they hurried to their destination a one-story wooden building, painted white, on Jackson street, five or six doors from the corner. " Come right to my room," she said, entering the front door and walking towards a room off the parlor. But Jim Morgan did not go. She heard a footstep behind her, but it was not the officer's. Lighting the kerosene lamp, Wick- ed Nell turned to her (as she sup- posed) companion, and stood face to face with HER MOTHER ! " My daughter ! Nellie ! Darling !" gasped the old lady, stretching out her arms and advancing. " How came j0# here ? " were her first words, uttered with freezing accents, and her dark eyes flashed fire. " Oh, darling, I have come to save you !" " If that's all you want, you 'd better go back home ! I don't need saving just now ! When I want hflp from you, I'll call on you ! " The poor old woman clasped her hands and moaned : 1 1 " Oh, Nellie, by the memory of your dead father, whose grave is yet fresh and unsodded, recall those cruel words and come home with me!" " My father died a drunkard, and so will his daughter ! " This was a heavy blow, and the bereft widow trembled violently, but could not speak. After a moment's pause Nellie continued : '* Mother, I know what you came here for. I know now that my gal- \axA, friend \s> an officer, and unless I go home with you I shall be ar- rested. Now let me tell you this : I will never go home. I will nei>er be what you call a good girl ! You may throw me into your rotten Ar- mory, but you can't kill me ! I shall always pe Wicked Nell, a gay girl of the town!" With a shriek of agony that star- tled the neighborhood, the widow O'Brien fell prostrate upon the floor! CHAPTER IV. When Wicked Nell saw her poor old mother fall to the floor, the girl's heart was not touched, and there was a sneer on her beautiful face as she said : " Old woman, that's played! " " You infernal little hussey," ex- claimed Jim Morgan, who rushed into the room, " What have you done to your mother ? Don't you see that you have broken the old lady's heart ? " "Oh, pshaw? If you knew the old woman as well as I do, you'd understand her little tricks better. That's all put on. You can just bet your sweet life on that ! Why, she's fainted more times than she's got hairs in her head ! It used to scare me once, but I've got used to it, and I know very well that she only makes believe, just as you tried to make believe that you wanted to be my friend, when the truth was that you was running me into a trap!" Jim looked at the girl in utter astonishment. " Well, well ! " he said, after sur- veying her for a full minute, from head to foot, " if you ain't the cus- sedest little devil I ever laid eyes on ! Why , you're worse than old Roxey Brooks, who was on the town before you were born ! " " Am I ? " said the girl, excitedly; " Oh, officer, you don't know how proud that makes me feel ! " " Proud ! Does that make you proud ? Do you take pride in be- ing the wickedest girl in Chicago?" " I had a thousand times rather be the wickedest girl than the best girl ! A nybody can be good ; any- body can put on a sweet face, and go to school, and to church, and say their prayers, and work, and be a drudge and a slave, and what are they ? Why, officer, they're just no- body at all ! But look at me ! Ev- erybody is talking about me ! Peo- ple look at me and point me out on the street, and one says to the oth- er, ' See ! there goes that awftl Wicked Nell ! " It's just jolly fun, and I like it ! I love this wild .ife, and there is no power in Chicago that can make me leave it ! " "We'll see about that, my fine lass," was Jim's response. The widow O'Brien groaned, and Mr. Morgan, turning from the ugly girl, gently raised the old lady's head. Wicked Nell laughed. The officer, entirely out of pa- tience, exclaimed: " You devilish brat, bring me some water, quick ! " " Niggers can bring water, sir ! I'm no servant I'm a lady ! " Turning upon her heel with all the dignity of a queen, Nell walk- ed to the mirror and commenced rearranging the wayward curls that 12 had been displaced by the evening breezes. This done, she again faced the officer. " You need'nt be alarmed about the old woman," she said, " for there's no danger of her croaking. She'll grunt and splutter and flop around a little, and foam some at the month, and in about five min- utes she '11 be ready to furnish enough chin music to last a month. If you '11 stand and listen, when she comes to, she'll talk you to death." "It's a pity she has'nt flogged you to death, you ugly little slut," was all the officer said, as he again turned his attention to the insensi- ble widow. It was as Nell had said. The pro- cess of recovery was accompanied by painful spasms, but these soon subsided, and Morgan helped her to her feet, and led her to a sofa, in another room. Nell remained in the bed room and slammed 'the door shut. " Don't attempt to go away," shouted Morgan, who thought she might slip out of a window, and skip away. " Oh, don't you ' fret," was the defiant reply, " Wicked Nell don't run, and she don't; scare either ! You can threaten, you can bark, but you can't bite ! I've got good friends in this town, who won't see me locked up, if money can get me out, and I guess it can. " Nellie, darling, won't you come to your mother? " The old lady's voice trembled, and her bosom heav- ed with a deep sigh. " No, I wont !" Short, sharp and biting were the words. " One minute, Nellie, just one minute ! " " Oh, hush up ! I know what you want to say ; you want to slobber and leak water out of your eyes, and sling in a long rigmarole that I don't want to hear, and wont listen to." " She's the wickedest girl that ever struck this town," remarked the indignant policeman, " and the best thing that we can do is to let her try the bugs and soup of tne rotten old Bridewell for a month or two. That'll bring her to her milk if anything will." There was a marked, a wonderful change in the widow's manner. No tears moistened her eyelids, no sob was heard. " Nellie O'Brien," she said sternly, " come here ! I order you to come." " If you'll order the drinks I might take a bowl with you, old woman, but you can't put on any lordly airs over me ! And don't call me Nellie O'Brien any more ! That's not my name ! The only name I am going to be known by in this town is ' Wicked Nell ! ' the gayest girl in Chicago ! " The door opened, and Nell came out, with hat and shawl on. " Nellie," said her mothe-i, " you're going home with me ! " " I'll see you d d first ! " was the profane reply of thelittle wretch. " But you shall go ! If you will walk along peaceably, all right ; if not, I'll drag you through the streets by the hair of your head !" The old woman's anger was now fully aroused and she started tow- ards her daughter ; but Nell was not, apparently, in the least alarm- ed. She stood as stiff as a post, and bold defiance flashed from, her dark and lustrous eyes eyes' that could almost talk when passion inflamed them. Jim Morgan stepped between them. " Mrs. O'Brien," he said, " it is my duty as an officer to arrest this girl. You heard what the Cap- taiin said if the girl consented to go home with you, she could do so, it not, I was to bring her in." "Well, why in h 11 don't you take me in, then ? I've got on my harness, I've sent word to my lov- er, an rl I'm all ready to waltz around to the stone house on the cor- ner ! Come, now, Mr. Peeler, give us your arm and let's take a prom- enade ! You came home with me, nd I thought you meant business ! Now, I'll go home with you, and sing you some of the gayest songs you ever listened to. We'll sing all night, till broad daylight, and pay our respects to old Milliken in the morning. They say the old roos- ter's a hard nut 11 rough on the girls and boys when they get snatched!" And thus the wild, wicked girl rattled on, regardless of the fact that every cruel word pierced a widowed mother's broken heart. " You see how it is," said the officer, to Mrs. O'Brien ; " there's no use in coaxing her, for she's as stubborn as a mule and ugly as the very devil. You'd better go home and come down to court at 8 o'clock in the morning. Perhaps a night under lock and key will take some of that wickedness out of her, and learn her that it is better to be a good girl than a bad one." "Oh, cheese that ! " sneered Nell. " Yes, take her along ! Lock her up ! Put her in your darkest cell ! And you, Nellie O'Brien, when you lay your head on a hard plank, and when the big rats run over you, and the damp walls send chills to your very bones, remember that your mother sent you there ! Re- member, too, that a mother's curse hangs over you ! May God Al- mighty send devils to your bed side when you sleep ! May you rot with disease .' May your eyes fester and fall out of your head ! May your hair turn gray in a night ! May the roses on your cheeks with- er and leave them sallow and sunken ! May you become a hag an object of scorn and 7 loathing, so offensive that the dogs of the street will snarl and growl at your appv< ich ! May you fill a pauper's grave before the snow of another winter shall whiten the earth ! Do you hear me, Nellie O'Brien ? Do you hear your mother's curse ?" The old woman had fallen on her knees, and the words were fairly^ screamed into the ears of the erring daughter. Wicked Nell laughed. " Ha ! ha ! ha ! Why, this is as good as a circus ! Go it, old gal,, you're a trump ! Can't you do that act over ? It was immense !" And She clapped her hands and stamped her feet, in imitation of the patrons of a variety theatre. " Come along you unfeeling wretch, come along !" The officer was thoroughly disgusted, and, tak- ing the girl's arm, he started with her towards the station. The old lady, with a sad and lonely heart, sought her desolated home, to pass a night of such horror as only those can realize who have experienced trouble such as was her's. Husbandless, worse than childless, her's was indeed a pitiful grief. " Bye-bye, Mother O'Brien," shouted Wicked Nell, " I'll think of you when the rats commence nib- bling at my nose, and my eyes fall out, and all those horrid dreadful things happen ! Oh, you're a gay old mother, you are ! You're a sweet plum, ain't you ? Come and see me in the morning /'// be back on the town before midnight, as sure as the Court House bell strikes twelve ?" With these threatening parting words between mother and daughter, the officer and his strange prisoner wended their way to the Armory. CHAPTER V. Captain Hickey was still at the station when Jim Morgan arrived with his prisoner. The Captain gave the girl a steady, searching look. " So this is the Wicked Nell I have heard so much about?" he said, inquiringly. "Yes, and she's the ugliest little cat that ever wore claws," said Mor- g^an, by way of reply. "Well, then, we'll try and tame her. What's your name, sissy ?" " My name's Wicked Nell that's good enough for me ! What you going to do with me, boss ?" "What am I going to do with you ? Oh, nothing to speak of. I am only going to strip off that toggery, chain you down to the floor in the darkest cell we've got, give you an ice water shower bath, and then leave you alone with the bugs, roaches and rats until morn- ing that's all! The poor little creatures have not had a square meal for several days, and I fancy they must be terrible hungry by this time." The Captain never looked more serious in his life, and Nell could not keep back a shulder as she listened. But she was a brave as well as a bad girl, and quickly rallied. "Couldn't you put in a few rattlesnakes, and one or two hy- enas ?" She inquired, with a mock- ing laugh. Captain Hickey's long experience in his profession enabled him to read character as readily as ordinary men read an open book. He saw that there was no use in attempting to frighten or intimidate that bold bundle of wickedness, and made no further attempt in that direction. " Take her up stairs, Jim, and put her in the witness room," he said to Mjrga'i, and the order was obeyed without further ceremony or talk. She was simply booked as " inmate of a house of ill-fame." When Wicked Nell found that she was to be arrested, she hastily penciled a brief note to her "friend," a real estate dealer then doing busi- aess opposite the Court House, on LaSalle street, informing him of che fact. The shrewd girl had anticipated something of the kind, and had received assurances that in case of trouble prompt assistance wuld be at hand. This note was placed in the hands of another inmate of the house on Jackson street, with full directions, and it was not long after her arrival at the Armory that the unwelcome missive was placed in the hands of the party for whom it was designed. Tnis person was a respectable man a married man, too and of course it would not do for him to figure personally in the matter. To do so would injure his reputa- tion, and subject him to exposures that would be disastrous in more ways than one. It would be ruin- ous in a business point of view, and would also make it uncomfortable for his peace of mind when the news should be conveyed, as it certainly would be, to his wife. But he could not afford, even if he felt so in- clined, to neglect -the girl with whom he had for some months been on terms of criminal intimacy. She was young and beautiful a flower of uncommon sweetness and he ha 1 no idea of abandoning her in the hour of her peril. And if he did, what then ? Why, she would certainly ''squeal" on him, and thus bring down upon his head a flood of disgrace that he could not well stand up under. There are always hundreds of expedients by which men can con- ceal their sins, and at the same time accomplish just as much as though they openly braved the storm. This highly respectable real estate man did not intercede with Captain Hickey for the release of Wicked Nell. But be hurriedly sought an interview with one of the numerous professionals who are always ready to put their names to any prisoner's bond, for a con- sideration. In this case the sum of $25 was paid, and at about 10 o'clock the professional bailor made his appearance at the Armory, with an order from a Justice of the Peace for the release of Nellie O'Brien, a bond having been ac- cepted for her appearance at court in the morning. Captain Hickey had no alterna- tive. The law makes no distinctions, and if Nellie O'Brien gave the proper security, it was her privilege to do so, even though the act was calculated to do her irreparable injury, and perhaps prevent a reformation that might have been effected had she been subjected to such rigorous treatment as the emergency demanded. Her glee on being informed that she was at liberty to go was unboun- ded. She fairly danced with delight, and became so extravagant in her conduct that the bondsman felt called upon to warn her that there was danger of another arrest for disorderly conduct at the station, unless she behaved herself. " Where are you going, Nellie ?" asked the captain. " I'm going to the devil !" was the reply, as she gathered up her ample skirts, tossed her head back proudly, and sailed up A-iams street in company with the man whose autograph had proved an open sesame to the prison door. " The little wretch has told the truth once," was the remark the Captain made, as the footsteps of the guilty twain died in the distance. "That girl," he continued, ad- dressing the station keeper, " will be a wretched old bloat at twenty ! She may keep up appearances for a year or two, but after that God help her ! She \&friends now what handsome girl has not ? But when whisky gets in its dreadful work, when dissipation and exces- sive indulgences take the roses from her cheeks and the sparkle from ner eyej, when disease leaves its horrid imprint upon her face and form, when her white teeth rot and her fair hair becomes matted and tangled, and when all her beau- ty has faded as the leaves fade when the biting frosts come, then where will these friends be ? Why, they'll be looking iwc fresh victims ! They'll be searching for , other beautiful children to lure to de- struction and death ! Then Wicked Nell, as she calls herself, will be a sot a wreck a bloated, diseased, scorned thing ! The gutter, the sta- tion house and the Bridewell will be her home, and ten chances to one, the river's dark bottom will be her final bed ! The law is powerful, but in cases of this kind it is weak and unavailing. The thief who s'eals a few dollars is pounced upon and punished ; the murderer ex- piates his crime on the scaffold or in a life cell ; but for the man who steals a widow's child, who poisons her young mind, who drags her down to the level of a beast, there is no punishment ! His crime is worse than that of the assassin ; and yet he is screened, and honored, and trusted, and loved just the same as though he was not a baser scoundrel than can be found within the walls of the penitentiary !" The entrance of an officer with a drunken prisoner put an end to the Captain's soliloquy, and soon after he left the sta f ion. i6 CHAPTER VI. Wicked Nell enjoyed the adven- tures of that night as she had not enjoyed anything for a long time. Excitement made her happy, and there was no such thing as getting too much of it. She was in reality a wild girl, and wherever and whenever she could plunge into tur- bulent associations and participate in wicked deeds, there and then she was in her element. As certain kinds of fish delight in muddy wa- ter, so did she revel in the moral filth that surrounded the locality she had chosen for a home. Her arrest and brief incarcera- tioa therefore served to exhilarate rather than depress her spirits. Her heart was as light as a snow- flake when she shook the Armory dust from her feet. So buoyant were her thoughts that she hum- Hied, as she n eared Fifth Avenue with her money-grabbing compan- ion: ' Ob, I feel just as happy as a big tui-flower, Tbat nods and bends in the breezes, And my heart is as light as the wind that blows The leaves from off the treeses ! " " You feel merry after your trou- ble," said the " professional " gen- tleman. " "Who told you I'd had trouble, old bow-legs ? I've only been hav- ing a little fun I Oh, you ought to have seen the old woman kick ! And then that boss peeler why, he actually tried to frighten me with his cock-and-bull stories about rats and bugs, and dark cells, and cold shower-baths ! I wish I'd just slapped his face for him ! I wili next time, as sure's my name's Wicked Nell ! But come, old top, let's take a drink I'm devilish dry ain't you, old boy ? " Her companion seemed to make no objection to the proposal, and the two entered one of those dis- reputable saloons with which Wells street was then lined. As they were about to drink, a flashily dress- ed loafer, who had been lounging about the place, joined them, and slapping Nell familiarly on the back, said : " So you gave the peeler the slip, did you ? " " I've been played for a sucker once to-night, but I guess there's no more danger. Have a drink, stranger ? " " I'm not on that lay just now> but I could'nt refuse anything from you ! " " Well, if you're not on the lush lay-out, what is your racket ? " " I'm just trying to catch a girl that's all, sweetness ! " " And do you think you could cat :h me ! " " I can try almighty hard, daugh- ter ! " Nell looked at him again. He was rather a handsome sort of a fellow, with black hair, an elegant mous- tache, a fashionable plug hat, pulled well down in front, a heavy gold watch chain, with a big seal ; a dia- mond pin, a white vest, and neatly fitting garments. Take him as he stood, he was just the sort of ni to catch a wicked girl's eye, and Nel was at first inclined to look favor- ably on his advances. She had heard the other girls talk about their " men," and although she had been in a public house but a week, the wild little thing considered that she, too, must have a "man." But this fellow was a stranger, and she was shrewd enough not to let him know what her thoughts might be. "You've got a good deal of brass," she said, after a short pause, " and that goes a long way in this town, but how are you off for stamps? How are you fixed for sugar ? How big is your roll ? If you want to talk business with me, you must show up the dust ! " "This is no good place to talk business," he replied ;" let's take a walk, and then we can have a talk. I saw you when the coppers had you in tow, and I said to my- self, says I, " there goes a stunner that gal's a thoroughbred ! I've been waiting and watching for you, and now I've found you ! ' While he had been saying this, Nell bade her former escort an ab- rupt good-bye, and herself and the gallus youth, whose name, even, she did not know, were walking arm- in-arm on the sidewalk. "I'm going home," she said; "you can come along, if you feel like it." Their conversation on the way was of a trivial nature, and before five minutes had elapsed they were at the house on Jackson street. "Now, then," said Nell, after she had thrown off her hat and shawl, 11 what's your name ?" " They call me Nobby Tom," the youth replied, as he surveyed him- self in the mirror, apparently to his own satisfaction. Well, Nobby," she said, "I don't think you and I can have any truck together. You look to me like a dead beat a bilk a masher a rooster who travels on his shape ! If I want a plaything, or a pet, I'll buy a poodle dog but when I get a man, I want one who's got sand in his gizzard! Can you fight ? Nobby Tom did'nt like these un- kind cuts. He turned red in the face when Nell used the hard names, and was half inclined to get mad ; but the fact was, he was not a fighter, and he was a beat. In the confusion of the moment, not knowing what to say, he said nothing at all. Noticing his cow- ardice, and despising him for it, Wicked Nell continued : " Do you see this gold chain around my neck, and this diamond cross ? The man who gave me these is my lover he is a gentle- man he is coming here to-night and if he should catch you in this room he'd scatter your brains, if you've got any, all over the carpets and the walls ! Hark ! I think I hear his step now ! Yes, he's coming !" CHAPTER VII. When Nobby Tom heard the words of Wicked Nell, a cold shiv er ran through his frame. He waa a big bluffer, but a rank coward, and the idea of being found by a girl's lover, in her room at night, with the prospect of a shooting fes- tival, filled him with alarm. " For God's sake, Nell," he cried, "where can I hide ? Tell, me quick!" The poor fellow's voice sounded as though he was suffering from an ague chill. Nell gave him one withering look, so scornful that it brought a blush of shame to his cheeks. "Crawl under the bed!" Her words were uttered with a con- temptuous curl of the lip, as she pointed her pretty finger to the foot of the bed. The frightened fellow needed no second invitation. At that time he could have crawled through a kej hole, if no other avenue of es- cape had been offered, for he im- agined he stood in imminent peril. But it was only imagination. Wicked Nell was never so happy as when she could cause trouble. She was always as full of the devil as a bloated bed-bug is full of blood. It was true that she ex- pected a visit from her real estate friend that night; but she knew him to be a timid, harmless man, who would run his legs off rather than engage in any dispute that oould, by any possibility, come to blows. She rather liked him be- cause he was generous ; but she could not love him, because he was not brave. " Now, you stay where you are, and I'll try and get you away with a whole hide," she said, as she opened the door, walked out, and closed the door behind her. " I'd like to keep the dung hill there all night," were her thoughts, ."and I would, too, if I did'nt ex- pect company that will pay. JJut I'll have some fun with him any- way !" Nell found in the other room, a young loafer, with whom she was somewhat acquainted, who was known as Freckled Jim. He was a thick-set, red-headed bummer, who made a living by steering cus- tomers to the low women of Wells and adjoining streets, and divid- ing with them the spoils. Nell hated him on general principles, but at that time she had use for him. " Jim," she whispered, " I want you to come into my room a few minutes." The fellow had been trying to make love to her for a week, and supposing she had at last yielded to his entreaties, his rapture knew no bounds. Sticking out a rough and rather dirty paw, he exclaimed: " Shake ! " "Don't be too fast, sir," said Nell, drawing back a little ; "I only want you to play that you're my lover, so that we can have a little fun." Jim's chop fell about three in- ches, but he was not the kind of a man to give way to disappointment. Wicked Nell then, in a few words, explained to him the situation, and gave him instructions as to what she wanted. Then the play began. Opening the door just a little, she said: "Please don't come in, darling ! I have particular reasons for want- ing to be alone for half an hour." In a harsh, deep bass voice the pretended lover replied : " And I have particular reasons for coming in now ! Come, now, either let me in peaceably arid pleas- antly, or I'll let you know that I can come in another way ! Do you understand ?" " Well, if you will be so mean, I don't suppose I can help myself so come along, and sit down, you jealous old creatuie !" " I don't know whether I want to sit down or not," was the ungra- cious reply. " What's the matter with you, darling ? What have I done ? Are you mad because I sent for ycu to get me out of trouble ?" " No, not that but I have my suspicions !" " Suspicions ! What in the world do you suspect /" " What should I suspect, when I come here after paying twenty- five dollars for you, and find my- self barred out ? Nell, I believe you've been playing dirt on me !" The wicked girl could not help but laugh. " That's the funniest thing I ever heard a man say," she said, merrily, " tVho makes a living by dealing in dirt!" "Oh, don't try to get out of this by making bad jokes ! That dodge won't go down ! Come, Nell, own up have you had a man here, since I came !" " Well, suppose I had, what are you going to do about it ?" This was uttered with a display of spunk quite natural for a high- strung girl. " Suppose you had ! Do you know what I'd do if I should find a man in this room to-night ? I'd chaw his ears off ! I'd bite of his nose ! I'd scalp him ! I'd take this knife out of my boot and carve him ! I'd cut off his toes and fin- 21 geis ! I'd gouge out his eyes ! And then I'd drag him down to the riv- er, tie a big stone to his neck, and heave him out into the middle of the creek ! That's what I'd do ! " Nobby Tom commenced to say his prayers. His teeth chattered, and he could hardly keep from groaning, so great was his terror. Fully appreciating this, Wicked Nell found it quite as difficult to restrain herself from shrieking out- right, so full was she of cussedness and glee. She controlled herself, and with well- feigned distress kept up her role. " Oh, dear," she said, falling upon her knees, " you will drive me cra- zy, if you keep on in that way ! I'rn sure I couldn't help it, if a man did come ! You know what kind of a house this is, and what men expect when they come here! " With a terrible oath, that would have raised the roof off of a house that was not used to them, Freck- led Jim roared : " Then somebody is here ! I know it ! I smell him ! Oh, let me find him ! Let me get my hands on him !" " Mercy !" shrieked Wicked Nell, "Mercy!" And she fell to the floor, having apparently swooned. Freckled Jim rushed to a closet, and fumbled arouud among the clothing, exclaiming in loud tones, " come out of here, you cowardly scoundrel, come out and face me like a man ! " '' This is my only chance," thought Nobby Tom, and with the quickness of a cat he crawled from his hid- ing place, sprang for the door, suc- ce an ^ 1'^ ^ i* *f " don't last a month ! What do you say, J.n ? Are you with me ? " " / '// stick by you to the death ! " " Shake on that ! You're a brave gal ! From this time on we are twin sisters in wickedness /" CHAPTER IX. The two bad girln, believing that it would be useless to make farther efforts to obtain admittance to a house of ill-fime making any pre- tence to decency, determined to ap- ply to the Jackson street den, kept by a debased woman named Annie Davis, but more familiarly known as Pock-marked Ann. Thither, therefore, they directed their foot- steps, after the unsatisfactory inter- view with Madame Herri ck. The place kept by Pock-marked Asm was as low as any that could be found in the city. It was a one- story wooden structure, with front door opening directly into the par- lor, three small bed rooms, and a rear shanty that served as i kitchen and dining room. There was a common cheap carpet, well-worn, upon the floor, a few lewd pictures upon the dirty walls, and other fur- niture to correspond. The fre- quenters of the place were sailors, laboring men and the class of crea- tures commonly denominated as pimps. The girls both knew Pock-marked Ann, and many times, as with bare feet and tangled hair they had loiter- ed about the neighborhood, she had invited them in, for purposes the foulest the human mind can con- ceive. They found Ann seated in a rock- ing chair, smoking a cigar. The af- ternoon was warm, the neighbor- hood was deserted, and the " ladies" of the establishment were reclining in different postures, more or les's indecent. There were four girls in the house, aside from the " land- lady." . To look at these creatures that we have called girls, would produce emotions as antagonistic as fire and water. The first feeling, as the eye rested upon their red and wa- tery eyes, their bloated and brazen faces, their decayed teeth, and their general appearance of degra- dation, would be loathing and dis- gust. " What man would take to his bosom such a wretch ?" would be the question that would force itself to the lips, as the eye pointed out these repulsive features. It would seem impossible that any human being could look upon them and not shudder and recoil yes, flee in fright as from the presence of some reptile whose sting would be certain death. And to the young men who read this story the author would say : Better, far better, take a rattlesnake to your bosom, and let its sharp 2 5 fangs, with their deadly saliva, pierce you in a hundred places, than take to your arms for one brief minute any one of these ulcerated and rotten wretches ! The poison of the one kills quickly ; but the equally venomous sting of the other eats slowly into the vitals, produc- ing lingering torture, and carries its victim to a death-bed whose hor- rors no pen can describe on paper, no brush depict on canvas ! The pages of the history of prostitution are all blotched over with recitals of the ravages of the peculiar di- seases incident to the brothel, and thousands upon thousands of robust young men have been swept away by the tide of corruption into which they have recklessly and thought- lessly plunged ! There are hun- dreds of these low down unfortu nates in Chicago to-day ! They leer at you from the doors and win- dows of their wicked homes ; they stare at you on the walk ; they hail you on the street; they embrace you in the saloons of Clark street and Pacific avenue ! Beware, young man, beware ! They sow the seed that sprouts in pain, grows in ag- ony, blossoms in ulcers, and ripens in death I Looking at them, then, with a full consciousness of their ugliness and their danger, and what man could do otherwise than turn his face away from them in disgust and alarm ? And yet, these out casts are hu- man beings. Once they were pure. Like Wicked Nell, some of them may have resorted to the bagnio from choice, but nine-tenths of them have been made the victims of man's lust and baseness ! They have been deceived, betrayed, abandoned, thrown upon the world ! . Sacred vows have been disregarded, solemn pledges have been broken the cruel world has turned its scornful back upon them, and they have been driven down the broad road to ruin, as cattle are driven to the slaughter pen. Resistance was vain. Their arms were weak, the current was strong, no friendly helping hand was held out, and on they were carried until they found them- selves floundering way out upon the broad sea, rudderless, compassless, and with the terrible knowledge that they were cast oft 7 , scorned, re- viled, loathed, despised, shunned ! This is the condition of those poor creatures God help them ! As the two girls entered, Pock- marked Ann blew a cloud of smoke from her mouth, and looked up at her visitors in surprise. To save her life she could not have told who they were, so perfectly were they disguised. Yet she saw they were young and pretty, and with a smil- ing face and pleasant words she in- vited them to come in. " We are looking for a boarding house," said Nell. Her voice betrayed her, and Anna Davis sprang from her seat. "As I'm a sinner," she exclaim- ed, " I believe this is Wicked Nell !" " There's no do*ubt about your being a sinner, and nobody ever said I was very good" said Nell, in reply; "but don't you know this girl, too ? " Pock-marked Ann looked and shook her head, but she finally pen- etrated the disguise, and replied : " Red-headed Jennie, by G ! " "Well, Mrs. Davis, are you going to take us poor girls in ? " This woman Davis really had no. vacant room in the hou-e, having but two bed rooms in all; but she could not afford to let this golden opportunity pass. There was money in those two young girls, and she would have turned every soul out of the house, if necessary, to secure them. Without hesitating after the question had been asked, she said: 26 " Of course I will take you in ! Haven't I invited you to come more than a dozen times ? Yes, take off your hats, make yourselves at home, and I'll fit up the nicest room in the house for you ! Wouldn't you like a glass of wine, now that you are going to be regular boarders ? " " Oh, I'm dying for a drink ! " and Wicked Nell, with her partner, drank off the sparkling fluid as though they were old stagers, in- stead of mere children. They then took off their hats, and as Nell threw herself upon a sofa in the parlor she pulled Jennie down also, threw her arms about her and exclaimed : " Jen, we have found a home ! We are on the turf ! We are two gay girls on the town ! " And the foolish girl laughed so loudly that the merry peal could be heard a block away. CHAPTER X. We have alluded to the real estate dealer on LaSalle street, but have given no name. As this is a trlie story, it was our intention to give genuine names to all the char- acters ; but in this instance, we are compelled to deviate from the rule. Wicked Nell's first lover was then sowing his wild oats at the time of this writing he is a far different man, and it would be doing him a great wrong to rake up the dead arid forgotten past, *nd narrate the exploits that are now recalled by him with the keenest regret. For this reason we will call him Charles Williams the first name only being real. Wicked Nell sent for him at once, after having found a boarding house, and he had visited her every day, up to the time he found her in the questionable company of Freckled Jim. Nell had not anticipated such a surprise, and her usual self-posses- sion deserted her. For the first time in her life, the girl blushed I Itwas not the blush of shame, but was caused by mortification and embarassment. Though she was incapable of love, yet she thought a great deal of Charley Williams, because he was liberal, affectionate, and kind; and to be caught in such a predicament was painfully unfortunate. "Nellie," said Charlie, with a sober face, " what does this mean ? What have you been doing ?" The girl stammered, but made no immediate reply. Her lover turned red in the face. " Is this the way you 'keep your promise ?" he continued ; " is this the way you keep a pledge to be faithful and true ?" " I will explain everything, if you will only give me time," said Nell, who was now upon her feet, and had partially regained her composure. " Before you make any further explanation, perhaps you had better tell me who this fellow is, and what he is doing in your room !" The comtempt in the man's look and voice nettled Freckled Jim, and assuming a belligerent attitude he said : " Say, you baby-faced rooster, wat yer got to say about it, anyway ?" " I was not talking to you, sir," Charlie replied, stepping back, and turning a shade paler. " But I'm talking to you, sir ! If yer don't like the looks of this lay- out, just square yourself, like a game man, and we'll have it right out here !" By this time Wicked Nell had stepped between them. The girl was " game from the ground up," if her lover was not. ' Young man," she said, address- ing Fred, " I have got through with you you have done all that I asked you to now, git !" Her shapely finger pointed to the door, and her eyes blazed with excitement. *' All right, sis, if you say so, I'm off but if that sucker gives me any- lip again, let him look out for his smeller, that's all!" and with a loaferish swagger he left the room, and proceeded to some other haunt in the locality. Wicked Nell then turned to her lover and said : " Don't look so ugly, Charley, for I have only been having a little fun, and have not broken any promise. Sit down, now, like a good man, and let me wil you all about it." " I will sit down, and you can tell me what you wish but you must allow me to believe only as much or as little of what you say as I think proper." " Oh, dear, what a jealous lover }'ou are ! Why, any one would think I had done something awful, to judge by your looks, and your words." " Yes, and you have done some- thing awful ! You have deceived a good solid friend, for the companion- ship of a common loafer a dirty pimp ! I am not soft enough to let you pull the wool over my eyes, after what I have seen !" "Then you won't let me coax you ?" Nell was getting a little " riled," and there was a perceptible threat in her voice, if not her words. " I don't think you can ! I would be a fool to let you, with your sweet smiles, and your soft words, and your affectionate embraces, make me believe that black is white that this ruffian that you called Fred was not in this room that you are not false as you are fair !" " Charlie Williams, stop ! If you have come here to abuse me, to in- sult me, to charge me with some- thing I have not done, you had better take your hat and walk !" " It might have been better for me if I had told your messenger to walk, when she came to me this evening !" " I wish you had ! I had rather be in jail, and stay there, than have any man throw it up into my face that he has done me a favor, and is sorry for it !" " Did I say I was sorry ?" " No, but you might as well." " Nell, you are a strange girl. You are rightly named Wicked Nell !" " I know I am ! Suppose I had been a good girl would I have had anything to do with you ?" " Probably not ; but a girl need not be lost to all decency, totally depraved, because she has erred in one particular." " I told you that I had not wronged you, a little while ago, and you sneered at me, and might as well have said, 'Nell, you lie /" " I believed that you did lie ! I think so still ! If you did not, then circumstances lie !" ' k Well, you can believe me or not, just as you choose ! It makes little difference to me, for I can get a hundred lovers before sundown to-morrow, if I try !" " Oh, I suppose you can ! But such lovers ! This Fred is a good specimen ! " " Fred be d d ! I have used\*.\m, sir, but there are gentlemen who are anxious to take your place ! A dozen of them have been writing to me, and sending after me, and coming here to see me, and I like a fool have told them all to keep their distance !" " You seem to be rather anxious to get rid of me, Nell," he said, in tones more kind than he had used before ; "are you really tired of me, so quick ?" 28 " You are the one who seems to begetting tired," said Nell, "but come now, Charlie, let's quit quarel- ing until I can tell you all about it, and then if you want to keep your back up, all right." Her lover sat down as requested, and Nell told him the whole story, just as it has been related in preced- ing chapters. When she had finished, Charlie Williams threw his arms around the wilful, wicked girl. " My darling," he said, " I believe you ! I was a brute to talk to you the way I did ! Will you forgive me, Nell ?" " With all my heart ! You were a brute, I know, but you werejea/vus, Charley, and they say that men are rot responsible for what they do, in such cases." The lovers had made up. 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