Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-09-23
A SLUM ANGEL.
seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeClese

COME one was coming up the stairs
as the little district visi tor was de-
scending. The ascending p, Lrty struck
a vesta, which threw ftful glare over
the damp and filthy walls an d the gray
gowned form of Hester Mo, ore.
DR.. Paul Maryland stepped aside, fat
tening his broad shoulders against the
baluster rail to admit a wider passage
for her benefit,
During the next two weeks this
Stunning" doctor and the soberly-
dressed little district Wis, tor met about
half dozen times ON their separate
ways to or from some zen in crowded
alley; and at the end OIL fortnight they
actually defed critic .sm and spoke, 1t
was raining ste ldy drizzle, and
through the mire 0 dirty court Paul
Maryland saw f@ miliar form in gray
stepping over the puddles wi thout an
umbrella.
please take ~ ine," he said.
But she wou'JI only consent to share
it.
THESE phases are not fit for you"
said the doctor later when walking with
her homewrTd. "You are too young,
too-too-bNleed, it is scarcely safe for
so young a girl to venture among the
criminals that are hidden here"
But l. must" she InurmUred.
"Ah, you are one of those brave wom-
en- willing to risk an ything. I had heard
of you long before J. had the pleasure of
lighting you down those rickety stairs
two weeks ago."
you have heard of me?" she asked,
with an abrupt shs rpness of tone which
he did not notice.
eyes, from the poor wretches whom
you have made your devoted friends"
he exclaimed. at is more often for you
they call in the extremity of their pain
than for me-"
Il am glad if I have clone any good"
she said, sighin g with re lief.
Good" he choed. "Lf the depraved
creatures abo, tt here wo rship anything
at all, it is the Little Ora. Y Lady, as they
have named Ou."
DIR. Paul N ayland was eel ebrating his
10th birthdc " over a lonely cup of tea.
Old Betsy, his housek eep err and one
time nurse }, had made do' lbtful look
ing cake in honor of the oc casion, and
her affer jtionate master was sacrificing
his Dig ,stion to please her.
1t W as not often that he was left to
enjoy a meal in peace, and o-day was
not an exception to the rule He was
still contemplating secont | slice Of
ca kewhen he received hastya summons
to case in Lavender court.
That's just like him." she growled
in monologue. He'll never be rich
while he doctors them paupers Il u moth
ing. And they take vantage of his
goodness, they do. Now, if MastR r. Jack
hadn't turned out scoundrel . here,
being devout Catholic, she rossed
herself and unused mournfully pom the
Doctors secret sorrow.
Master Jack" was Paul Ma yIand's
youngest brother, his junior by Is
years, who had been left as a sacred
trust by their dying mother to the
elders care. Some seeds of DEF rayity,
perhaps sown in long generation as past,
early developed in young Jack. After
rushing through various vicissit udes of
gambling and drink, he devoted the re-
naming part OF his sodden int lect to
the criminal science of burglary
His distracted brother for several
years grieved for his sacred tn Ht" as
a thing lost to him, until one night
Jack had appeared craving prot ection
from the law For the sake of hi sdead
mother, Paul had shielded the boy,
who, when the danger was over, broke
loose again, and in the course of time
his dexterity earned him in the Grim
inal world the sobriquet of 'Ligh thing
Jack"
At Lavender court, in the roomw here
his patient lay, DR.. Maryland foun, the
Little Gray Lady knecling by the
truckle bed on which a consuml tive
child was dying.e la