"What are you going to do?" asked Bess, at once--and as usual--shifting
all responsibility to her chum's shoulders. "Knock at all the doors, one
after the other, until we find somebody who will direct us further?"
"Maybe that would not be a bad idea, Bess," Nan returned. "But--"
Just then a door opened and the confusion of voices burst on the
visitors' ears with startling directness. A girl, dressed as a Gypsy,
gaudy of raiment and bejeweled with brilliantly colored glass beads,
almost ran the chums down as she tried to pull the door to behind her.
The girl's face was painted with heavy shadows and much white, and so
oddly that it looked almost like the make-up for a clown's part.
"Hello, kids. Going in here?" she asked pleasantly enough, refraining
from closing the door entirely.
Nan and Bess obtained a good view of the noisy room. It was lighted by
high windows and a skylight. There were rows of lockers for the girls'
clothes along the blank wall of the room. Through the middle and along
the sides were long tables and stools. The tables were divided into
sections, each of which had its own make-up and toilet outfit.
A mature woman was going about, re-touching many of the girl's faces and
scolding them, as Nan and Bess could hear, for not putting on the grease
paint thick enough.
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