The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1900-04-20


greed OF the man who would thus
swindle his poor employees. utterly
amazed him. And the oldest thing
was that the girl made no complaint,
accepting her lot as n matter Of course,
q fact beyond dispute. Yet. observe
her position-she worked ten hours per
day for her slave driving master, earn
Ing enough per week to pay the greedy
landlord for her shelter. the mother
and sisters. by similar drudgery, find
ing the food and clothing for the fam
lily.
So "What Is the name Of your employ
er?" he asked presently.
Herman Polaski."
"Polaski? But that is your name.
Is lie n relativeY"
"Yes, sir; my uncle"
Her uncle! Comment seemed super
fiuous. Mr.. Mitchell paused to think,
and the girl rambled on.
"Unclc Herman's been very kind to
us. l don't know what we would have
done without his hclp-starvcd, l
guess. You see. father was sick n
long, long time, and all the money we
had went to the doctor and for funeral
expenses. Then we had nothing. So
uncle gave us all work in his shop,
though he said lie didn't need any
more hands and it was just taking
money out Of his own pocket to hire
us. We don't earn much, but anyway
we've lived on our wages for over
year now"
The girls gratitude was in strange
contrast with the greed CT her fathers
brother, who had not hcSitated to ben
EFT by the distress Of his rClntiveS
Mr.. Mitchell felt n great Symptrly for
this poor family of women and would
gladly have opened his pockCtbOok
in their behalf but Ec realized the
magnitude of this problem Of aid to
the poor. He had gone into but two
homes. In one he had promised as
sistance, and in the. other lie found
the same need. inviting the same rem.
edy.
But were he to 60 on ana visit
tenomcnt after tenement home after
home. how soon would his resources
be Mt nm end and how little would he
tho .uner,ns ON tho srcnt ~ast s,asi
He felt the helplcssness Of the situa-
tion more than he had ever done when
theorizing about 1t. and for the mo-
ment he decided that he might better
confine himself to his special object.
IL have heard that you saw the(baby
which was taken from the.sgRayer""
next door," be -beganvu ahd enlstar-
,.a,i c.~uf evidently alat1sd az. 6s
Iell me about IT," he asked per-
suaslvely. '"Tell me all that you
know"
She looked at him sadly and4howaht.
fully and then. to his establishment,
burst Into tears. eXclaiming:
oh. don't put me in prison! Please
don't take me to prison. Mother'd
starve II you locked me up!"
My dear girl" said Mr.. Mitchell
soothngly. what are you saying?
What have you done? Why should
you be put In prisonT'
She cndeavored to control herself,
and. finally Between her sobs he caught
the words:
Don't - don't - they put - wit-wit.
nesscs-in-in jail"
AT Inst he understood. This girl knew
something. but was not herself guilty.
OF any wrong. She had witnessed the
crime which had been committed, and
she knew enough Of our laws to under
STAND that she could be held prisoner
AZ witness needed by the state, un.
der law which thus works great in.
Justice to many.
There. there!" said he Don't wccp.
You have nothing 70 fear. l am not an
Omcer. and you shall not be locked uD.
promise you that. But wish YOU to
tell me all that you know. Come.
Won't you trust me?"
Yes, sir-Pll-trust you" she nm.
swered tlmidly, wiping away her tears.
Then after n few moments she had
composed herself and began her story.
you see, sir, one night last week |
had some extra work to do, and I
tried hard to finish it, cause mother
needed the money for medicine. She's
got bad cough. But / was so tired
that couldn't sew, and about o'clock |
had to go to bed. But | couldn't |
sieep very well. Every now and then |
near mother cough, and I'd think of |
the work hadn't finished, and I'd try |
10 get mp to &C at IT again. Int was |
80 dead with sleep. too, that ! Just |
couldn't But after long time heard |
the clock strike r. and | knew that If
! wns going to get the work done Idl
nave to get up, sleep or no sleep. So
made jump and landed on the floor I'm
hcnp. ] guess l hurt myself little,
ause 1t woke me up complete. Then
lthought was suffocating, the room
was so hot and sitting, nnd went 70
Tie window and stood breathing the
fresh air. That's how l came to see
him"
.fWhom did you seeT' asked Mr..
Mitchell eagerly.