[And with that we hear music. It's a ragtime tune, and something about
it hurts us. After ten bars we find out what and why. It is the theme
of the gods cheapened and degraded. Music is of all the arts the
directest epitome of life. Not a noble thing in it that cannot, it
would seem, with just a turn or two, be turned to baseness.
Alice and Uncle Edward draw back the curtains, and there's another
curtain to be seen. It is not beautiful to look at--but it's useful. It
has six advertisements painted on it in "screaming" colour.
and keep thin" says one. "Drink and keep sober" says the next, and
Somebody's Patent Something is the way. "Indulge freely; we take the
consequence", the motto runs beneath the two. "Patent pearls that will
deceive an oyster" says the third. The fourth's a Face Cream, and the
fifth's for Shattered Nerves. The sixth says, "Believe in our Patent
God and you shall assuredly be saved." From one side comes the Man of
the World--Man of Business-- Business Manager.
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