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Full text of "Laughing Torso"

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PARIS   REVISITED

paint a picture out of the hotel window. The win-
dow overlooked some roofs. As I had already done
several roof scenes in London, I was interested to
see some new roofs of a different colour. I found
that these were much more gay and I sat at home
most of the day painting. I gave him all the money
that I had as he would take me out in the evenings to
a workmen's restaurant, near by, in the Avenue du
Maine, and we had a good dinner and a small bottle
of red wine for almost nothing. What he did during
the day I did not know and never took the trouble
to enquire. One day I introduced him to a friend
of mine, whom I had known in London. She was
very good-looking and well dressed and had some
money, about eight hundred a year. I saw that she
liked him (she had a passion for stealing other
people's men), and that he liked her was obvious.
She had much more money than I had. I had
written to some friends of mine in London, and as
they knew that I was working, and that it was
cheaper for me to live in Paris, they sent me thirty
pounds.
This was in June 1920. I knew only two or
three people and those not very well. One of
them was Zborowski the picture-dealer who gave the
contract to Modigliani. I gave the Pole most of my
money to look after. One day 'he said,.V.I love
your friend and I am going away with her to-
night." He disappeared, leaving me almost penni-
less. This of course, was my own fault for being so
stupid, but, I thought, thinking of my past experi-
ences, "One has to pay for all one's stupidities, and
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