"Well, Pepper, that's strong talk," returned Lane. "But cut it, and hurry to—to what comes home to me. What's the matter with these Middleville girls?"
"Lane, any intelligent man, who knows things, and who can think for himself, will tell you this—that to judge from the dress, dance, talk, conduct of these young girls—most of them have apparently gone wrong."
"You include our nice girls—from what we used to call Middleville's best families?"
"I don't only include them. I throw the emphasis on them. The girls you know best."
Lane straightened up, to look at his companion. Pepper certainly was not drunk.
"Do you know—anything about Lorna?"
"Nothing specifically to prove anything. She's in the thick of this thing in Middleville. Only a few nights ago I saw her at a roadh
