The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-08-27

N y RS. RAY MILLS, the Woman
NH in Black" OF police annals, is
IN" when I call upon her.
4 She cannot help being in, in
deed, surrounded as she Is by
bolts and bars. It Is her privilege,
however, over here in the City Prison,
to say whether or no she is at home"
to callers and 1 wait as patiently as
may BE- seated upon an adamantine
wooden bench, while she, hidden in the
Businesses Of the matrons small do
main, decides that momentous ques-
ton.
have heard much OF Mrs. Mills and
the crimes charged against her since
she emerged from the obscurity Of pri-
vate life into the fierce light of public
ity which in these days beats so cruelty
and unsparingly upon innocent or
guilty, once the unfortunate has suf-
fered the ignominy Of arrest.
It Is alleged that the Woman IN
Black" has, during the past few
months, stolen diamonds and other
jewelry amounting in value TO at least
S25, 000 besides the three dimes and the
five one-cent pieces, which, being
found IN her poCketbook and positively
identified by g lady guest OF the Hotel
Stewart as her own especial property,
are the only really tangible causes Of
her present Imprisonment,
have been informed that she is a
morphine "1end." Privately, I am
pretudiced against the woman, and
look forward to the interview which
am seeking as an unpleasing but nee
essary experience to be gone through
with as quickly as possible.
II takes her an Internationally long
time to make up her mind concerning
the advisability of seeing me. but final
ly I hear a soft rustic Of skirts and,
looking up, see a woman standing be
fore me.
The attitude-the dropping shoulders,
the head bent slightly forward and the
hands clasped just below her waists
that OF timid schoolgirl accused Of
fault and uncertain whether the per
son TO whom she is about to appeal In
going to blame or exonerate her
81 am Mrs. Mills she says simply
and I note that with a fine sense OF
her position she does not offer me any
other greeting. She feels that I have
come to see her as a matter Of bust
ness, and she has made up her mind
TO endure the infection Of my inter
negative presence just as I made up
my mind 10 endure the fiendish fortunes
inflicted by my dentist.
She sits down on the bench at q lit
tie distance and, gazing straight ahead,
waits for me to begin the conversation.
I am in despair. 1 cannot possibly talk
to a profile, especially one as impressive
as is this womans, and besides. 1 want
to see her eyes. An observant and
gallant officer heaves in sight with the
only loose chair obtainable, and my
difficulty Is at an end.
Seated squarely In front Of her,
wonder in my soul how some newspa-
per artists can be as they are and live.
There is absolutely nothing Of the an
archist or the low Neutrality-suspicious.
in her face or expression or manner
She is a woman of medium size, whose
bones are just softly cushioned with
flesh. and no more. Evidently In her
early thirties, her face still has a child
ish roundness Of contour, except where
the cheeks sag a little each side Of the
firm chin in a way which tells of mus
Giles made faced by either years or IL
ness.
wide and prominent, a pair Of prettily
curved dark eyebrows, and clear blu
ish-gray eyes. a small but decidedly
self-assertive nose the short upper lip
which Is supposed to be a hallmark
Of aristocratic lineage, a rather wide
but thin-lipped mouth. and teeth as
small and white and even as two rows
OF corn in the milk.
I have induced her to do her share Of
the talking, for she has q peculiar way
of speaking and smiling without un-
closing them at all. Her smile is bright
and frequent, her eyes seem frank, her
lips are mobile and her tongue nimble
enough, but there is something about
those two firmly meeting rows of ivory
which contrasts oddly with the express
sion of open and Ingenious honesty
which characteriZes the rest of her
face.
Innocently contiding as Mrs Ray
Mills may seem, she is most assuredly
Il woman who can keep a secret, wheth-
er # be her own or another's. She will
tell Just as much as she chooses and
no more; and, by my faith, do not be-
iieve that all the flames of the inquisi-
ton could force her to recant once she
had-right or wrong-taken her stand
On any subject.
We converse Of eXtraneous and ire
ievant matters at first, for believe me
1t is a little difficult to even suggest
personal application Of such terms as
burglary" and "sneak-thieving" to a
woman with the face and manners of
Mrs Mills, even though she may be
guilty Of these crimes in infinite and