



Produced by Al Haines.





[Illustration: "I don't like men, I never did." (Page 100)]




                                  *The
                             Laughing Girl*


                         By ROBERT W. CHAMBERS



                               AUTHOR OF
                          "The Restless Sex,"
                            "The Dark Star,"
                      "The Business of Life," Etc.



                           With Frontispiece
                             By HENRY HUTT



                           A. L. BURT COMPANY
                          Publishers New York

          Published by arrangement with D. APPLETON & COMPANY




                          Copyright, 1918, by
                           ROBERT W. CHAMBERS



                Printed in the United States of America




                                   TO
                                 MY SON
                                  BOB
                        AT PLATTSBURGH BARRACKS




                               *FOREWORD*


    I

    Here's a pretty tale to tell
    All about the beastly boche--
    How the Bolsheviki fell
    Out of grace and in the wash!
    --How all valiant lovers love,
    How all villains go to hell,
    Started thither by a shove
    From the youth who loved so well,
    Virtue mirrored in the glass
    Held by his beloved lass.


    II

    _He who grins in clown's disguise_
    _Often hides an aching heart--_
    _Sadness, sometimes worldly-wise,_
    _Dresses for a motley part--_
    _Cap, and bells to cheat the ears,_
    _Chalk and paint to hide the tears_
    _Lest the world, divining pain,_
    _Turn to gape and stare again._


    III

    You who read but may not run
    Where the bugles summon youth,
