The Golden Room

'There's not too much to see,' Karen told Bruce. But then the mayor's reform statistics came to mind. 'The Levee itself is roughly four blocks by four blocks, with over 200 brothels, some of them small as a closet, but of these, thirty-seven are major bordellos. There are about 3,000 persons who inhabit the area. Most of these are hoodlums, drunkards, gamblers, opium dealers, criminals of every stripe. In a single day, usually at night, there's an average of five murders here, seven suicides, ten persons killed by bombings. Raping of women daring to walk through here is routine. Most of the rapes don't get into the press, but I was told that one time a socialite, Mrs Frank C. Hollister, was found in a garbage heap. She had been raped, strangled with copper wire, and then beaten to a pulp. That made the papers and provoked some police protection, but only briefly.'

Cathleen shuddered. 'How can our aunts live near such a terrible neighbourhood?'

Karen was uncertain what to say. She said what she could. 'I imagine they were taken by the idea of dwelling in a mansion, but couldn't afford one in a more respectable area.'

Together, the three of them strolled past a brothel where painted young women, semi-clad, stood in the windows and beckoned to Bruce.

Karen pointed to another brothel. 'It's called The California. There are dozens of prostitutes inside, wearing only flimsy chemises and colourful high-heeled shoes. The two men standing in front are cadets trying to lure customers inside.'

'Cadets, you call them,' Bruce laughed. 'You know they're pimps.'

'I try to avoid such language,' Karen retorted.

As they strolled along, Karen waved her hand to take in the entire block. 'All you'll find here are winehouses – some play Scott Joplin ragtime on piano rolls all night long, saloons awash with whisky, pawnshops, gambling joints, and, above all, the mainstay of this district, houses of prostitution. This red-light district is filled with them.'

'Red-light district,' said Cathleen. 'What does that mean?'

'Women for sale,' said Karen. 'Red-light comes from the fact that many of the bordellos have red beacons on the outside.' Again she pointed. 'Over there you see the house owned by Julia and Maurice Van Bever, who were found guilty of practising white slavery, inducing i

'White slavery?' Cathleen was appalled. 'Isn't that ancient history?'

'It still goes on here and there,' said Karen. 'Off to your left, do you see that hovel with the windows painted over? It's known as a breaking-in house. A handsome man finds a girl who is looking for a good time, a few drinks, some song, and for some love. The man takes the girl to a breaking-in house like that and fills her with liquor. Then he takes her into a back room where a gang of men are waiting. All the men take turns raping the girl, standing in line to do it. Then they give her cocaine or morphine to make her even more passive. After that, she's broken in and ready to become a prostitute.'

'How horrible,' Cathleen gasped.

'It's not the rule,' Karen assured her. 'White slavery is uncommon. Such tactics are u

Cathleen looked about her, shocked. 'Those poor girls, how I pity them.'

Bruce squeezed her hand. 'As Karen told you, most of the girls are here by choice. It's the madams of the brothels that trouble me. They're hiring the girls. I wonder what their excuses are?'

'There can't be any excuses,' Cathleen said firmly.

Karen was feeling extremely uncomfortable. As they reached the end of a block, she a

They retraced their steps to the Everleigh Club. After Cathleen and Bruce had gone upstairs to their bedrooms, Karen turned around to see Mi

She hastened toward Mi

'That was a long tour,' said Mi

Karen recounted where they had been, and what they had seen, omitting the visit to the Levee. 'Bruce and Cathleen enjoyed it all.'

'Then it went perfectly.'

Karen hesitated, then decided to speak out. 'Not quite, Mi

'The Levee,' Mi

'He saw it.'

'But for heaven's sake, why did you take him there – here – all around here?'

'Because he insisted, Mi

'He saw the brothels?'

'They both did,' admitted Karen.

Mi

'They were upset by everything in general,' said Karen. 'They seemed to understand and excuse the girls who work here.' Karen paused. 'They blamed the brothel madams most.'

'Oh, my God!' Mi

Many of the Everleigh girls were idling at the Tremont House Hotel during their enforced vacation.

Dr Holmes had agreed to examine each of them once a week, and he had been doing so during the past two hours.

Now, towards the end of his day, there was only one girl waiting to be examined. This was Greta, a Swedish beauty of about twenty, who was the most playful of all the girls and the most receptive to Holmes's advances.

Greta and Holmes were alone in her room on the fourth floor, and Holmes, removing his jacket, watched her provocatively undressing.

It had crossed his mind when he had arrived, and it was still on his mind as he waited for Greta, that he could have her right there in her room. He had never attempted any sexual advances in the Everleigh Club itself, because it was too populated, and there was a chance that Mi

But here in the Tremont House Hotel, a comfortable distance from the Everleighs, he felt safe to do whatever he wanted to do.

Greta sat down on the bed, and spread her legs. Finding his speculum, Dr Holmes approached her.

He kneeled down, and perfunctorily examined her for any evidence of recent sexual activity.

There was none. She was clean.

Holmes remained on his knees. 'No real problem,' he said.

'I shouldn't think so,' she called down to him. 'I haven't had a man since leaving the Club. I feel like a virgin.'

Gazing at her vagina, Holmes began to feel the stiffening between his legs.

'If there is any problem,' he said, 'it's that you're very tight down here. You need lubricating.'

'How do I do that?' Greta wanted to know.

'By letting your doctor help you.'

'If you think you can, go ahead,' she said lazily.

Holmes put down his speculum, and returned his attention to her vagina. 'Lie back flat,' he called up hoarsely. 'Spread your legs wider. Very good.'