It was soon noised about that the 'Russian Princess' was not
Freda Moloof. Interest deepened. Here was a fresh enigma. They
knew Freda though they could not find her, but here was somebody
they had found and did not know. Even the women could not place
her, and they knew every good dancer in the camp. Many took her
for one of the official clique, indulging in a silly escapade.
Not a few asserted she would disappear before the unmasking.
Others were equally positive that she was the woman-reporter of
the Kansas City Star, come to write them up at ninety dollars per
column. And the men at the scales worked busily.
At one o'clock every couple took to the floor. The unmasking
began amid laughter and delight, like that of carefree children.
There was no end of Oh's and Ah's as mask after mask was lifted.
The scintillating 'Aurora Borealis' became the brawny negress
whose income from washing the community's clothes ran at about
five hundred a month. The twin 'Sun-Dogs' discovered mustaches on
their upper lips, and were recognized as brother Fraction-Kings
of El Dorado. In one of the most prominent sets, and the slowest
in uncovering, was Cal Galbraith with the 'Spirit of the Pole.
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