318 The Diary of a Drug Fiend
It was not merely the curious customs that stimulated
our imaginations ; there was an indefinable atmosphere
about the place and the people which left us at a loss.
The mixture of simplicity and elegance was in itself
bizarre but still more so was the combination of absolute
personal liberty with what was evidently in some
ways a rather severe discipline. The automatic regular-
ity with which everything was done seemed to imply
an almost Prussian routine.
Lou saw the point at once, and with her usual frank-
ness asked Sister Athena outright to explain it.
“Thank you for reminding me,” said Sister Athena.
“The Big Lion said you had better rest. Suppose you
lie down in the studio. I know you don’t want to go
to sleep, but we can talk there just as well as we can
here. So you’d better make yourselves comfortable
while I explain our funny little ways.”
The arrangements for repose were as primitive as
everything else. The studio was furnished with narrow
mattresses on steel springs on the floor. They were
covered with comfortable cushions. We threw ourselves
down with a certain hesitation; but immediately
discovered that we were much more at home than if
we had been at a higher elevation. It made the room
seem larger, and the sensation of rest was more in
evidence. There was a sort of finality about being so
low, and it was certainly much more convenient to
have our drinks and cigarettes on the floor than on a
table. We found out that we had always gone about
the world with a subconscious fear of knocking things
over. I began to understand why a picnic on the grass
gives such a sense of freedom. It was the absence of
a worry which had annoyed us none the less because
we had not been aware of it.
Sister Athena stretched herself out on a folding
chair, also very low. It was no trouble for her to pick
up her glass from the ground.
“ About what you asked,” she began, ‘“‘ it’s perfectly
true that we have vanadium steel discipline in this