TOBACCO LEAVES 



who eagerly turns to her for solace after a 

 day of toil or a night of crime. 



She is as ready to grant a stolen, hasty 

 kiss to the tired, wet sentry on his guard, 

 who perils a heavy punishment for the 

 fleeting favour, as to linger on the lips 

 of some puissant prince or potentate, it 

 may be, of the Church itself. 



Wanton she is in her reckless, bound- 

 less lust of conquest, not delicate of selec- 

 tion, as even a Messalina might be, but 

 robustious and all-devouring, as one of 

 Smollett's trolls. 



And yet I love her passing well. 



How dearly I remember the hour of my 

 seduction. Hardly more than a mere lad, 

 I had yet maintained for years a Puritan's 

 contempt for the riotous libertines who 

 surrendered themselves to the strenuous 

 sway of the Circean sorceress. Filled I 

 had been with orthodox lies about the swin- 

 ish transformations she wrought in her vic- 



149 



