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THE DEVIL'S AMBASSADOR 123
and has a good influence over her. He may
be able to help you."
On meeting the lawyer I found that he
was quite a good fellow. The moment he
knew who I was and the business I was on,
he consented to take me to Madame V.'s to
see if she would tell me the truth about the
horrid traffic that brought her originally to
the East, and which is bringing hundreds of
other girls to these places of infamy. We
hailed a rickisha, and my
friend instructed
the Chinese runner to " Pigie, pigie Malay
Street."
The rickisha man grinned a broad grin, and
was soon trotting along en route for Malay
Street, which is known as the " Babylonian
Hell of the East." It is the show street
of the East for women of ill-fame from
every nationality under the sun. It is said
that there are 510 Babylonian houses in
this street and that each house contains
from eight to thirty women of ill repute.
Fabulous prices have been paid for the goodwill
and stock-in-trade of some of the
" "
best houses in the street, one woman
a notorious character having, it is said, paid
as high a figure as 22,000 dollars for the
goodwill of a "good" house. Each house
has a large stone veranda, with overhead
balconies, where from three o'clock in the
afternoon until ten or eleven o'clock in
the evening
bedecked in
the
their
poor,
tinsel,
painted creatures,
sit sipping coffee,
smoking cigarettes, and accosting passers-by