The Bearcat turned and went out of the hotel, walking rapidly toward Eighth Avenue.

When Babe Gordon had told the Bearcat she had been to church, it never occurred to her that she was lying. That is, it had no moral significance for her. To Babe, a lie was simply something one told to gain an advantage, to get what one wanted by the shortest route. She never lied just for the sake of lying. When she had lied she had a definite reason for doing so. It was for the purpose of creating a valuable impression. Charlie might say things about her, which, even if Bearcat did not believe them outright, might cause him to have suspicions. Therefore, she had made up the story about going to church. Bearcat was now convinced that she was a good girl, had character; and now, no matter what Charlie said against her, if she were careful Bearcat would always believe in her.

Babe was the living example of all that is immoral, when viewed through conventional eyes. But she herself was unmoral. For her, morals did not exist. She would not have known what a moral was if it could be made to dance naked in front of her.

As she prepared her toilette before going to meet the Bearcat, she looked at her glowing body with self-appreciation. The well-turned arms and legs, the smooth contour of curving hips, her pink curling toes, all combined to give her a thrill of sensuous pleasure and to remind her how she might captivate any man.

“How nice I am,” she thought, as she enumerated to herself all the points of her alluring perfection.

Babe attired herself with particular care and when at the appointed time she met the Bearcat on the corner, she certainly made a ravishing appearance.

“You sure look good to me,” the Bearcat commented.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” said Babe, with a gracious smile.

“Are you hungry?” asked the Bearcat.

“Well,” Babe responded, “I could do dirt to a good meal. How about you?”

“Oh, I always got a good appetite,” the Bearcat answered.

“There’s a nice place on 48th Street, over near Sixth Avenue,” Babe told him.

“Anything you say’s all right with me,” the Bearcat said smilingly.

They walked toward Broadway, Babe tucking her right arm under the Bearcat’s brawny left.