His shifty eyes
gave the lie to his words, but he was firm in his resolution, whatever
may have led him to it, and Rita was driven back to Kazmah. His
charges had become more exorbitant than ever, but her need was
imperative. Nevertheless, she endeavored to find another drug dealer,
and after a time was again successful.
At a certain supper club she was introduced to a suave little man,
quite palpably an uninterned alien, who smilingly offered to provide
her with any drug to be found in the British Pharmacopeia, at most
moderate charges. With this little German-Jew villain she made a pact,
reflecting that, provided that his wares were of good quality, she had
triumphed over Kazmah.
The craving for chandu seized her sometimes and refused to be
exorcised by morphia, laudanum, or any other form of opium; but she
had not dared to spend a night at the "House of a Hundred Raptures"
since her marriage. Her new German friend volunteered to supply the
necessary gum, outfit, and to provide an apartment where she might
safely indulge in smoking. She declined--at first. But finally, on
Mollie Gretna's return from France, where she had been acting as a
nurse, Rita and Mollie accepted the suave alien's invitation to spend
an evening in his private opium divan.
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