The Lambertville record., 1902-09-03
WHEN
WO M AN
LOVES
By JOHN F. PEARSON
Copyright, 1901, by A. s. Richardson

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1t Will simplify matters and lead to a
better understanding If confess at the
outset that l am what the police de.
nominate Crook" | am neither d
thief, robber nor burglar, but flnan-
eial agent for people who have proper
ty TO dispose of, property acquired In
an unlawful way. For instance, IL II
burglar comes across bonds, shares
notes. deeds and the like while pursu-
Ing his calling he bundles them up and
brings them to me. For liberal COM
mission l dispose of the papers OH tho
open market or deal with tho loser d.
rect. Now and then | handle jewelry,
but the gems must he valuable and the
losers wealthy to interest me In case.
1t may be of interest to know that |
was fairly good civil engineer before
l became Il financial agent. Why l ex-
changed professions Is matter con-
cerning myself alone.
Ten years since Il friend of mine
named Dee got into trouble In west
ern state. In trying to break away
|
dead. That meant the gallows for Dee.
at once secured the best legal counsel
for him. but was plainly told that only
Il miracle could save his neck. When
his case came up. he was convicted
without the jury leaving the box. and
he was sentenced to be hung. We
made an appeal, and he went back to
prison knowing that he would be safe
for eight or ten months TO come.
Dee was II man of twenty eight,
gentleman by birth, one of the hand
soonest men you ever snw. Had II been
n jury of women they would have ac.
quilted him us promptly as he was
convicted. A dozen females broke
down and wept when he was SEN
fenced. Though watching things close
| ly had not put myself forward ut the
trial. Among the Interested ones | had
noticed n handsome girl about twenty,
and the trial was not half concluded
when | knew that she regarded Dec
as an innocent man and hero, When
the verdict of guilty was pronounced,
she tainted away, and the incident
created some local gossip
AS nothing more could be done for
Dee for some timo was about TO leave
the city, when l received Il note asking
me to call Mt certain house. | called
and met Miss Fay, Dee's courtroom ad-
mlrer and an helress. She told me that
she had fallen I'm love with Dec and
that every dollar she had was ut his
disposal TO save his neck When l re-
piled that 1t wasn't question of mon
ey and that he was almost certain to
hang after we had exhausted all legal
lodges, she asked me 10 remain In
town until heard from her again.
\ -- bes -Sy--- a. saa, --lAattars In. al
things than ree-fourths of thos,
shouting their morality, but | felt Il
my duty TO tell Miss Fay Just where hi
stood. | admitted to her that he was q
criminal instead of hero and that
even II his life was saved through her
efforts she could hardly hope he would
marry her and settle down. Nothing
could say would dispel her illusions,
and she actually became angry at me
for giving her brothcrly advice. She
did not tell me what steps she meant
to take, but knew by the light in her
eyes that she would hesitate at moth
ing. 1t was seven days before | met
| her again, and | was astonished at the
| work she had done. Dee was confined
| In the county jail, which was as strong
and safe as state prison. lie had II
| cell at the end of wing, and was so
hedged In by bolts, bars, guards and
steel aud stone walls that there was
not the rcmotest chance for an escape.
In week the girl had located the
cell, rented cottage outside the walls
and stocked 1t with tools and provl-
| sionS and laid the plan TO defeat JUS
tIce. The plan was boldnoss Itself.
| was to find two trusty men and ell
sconce myself In the cottage and dig
| tunnel to the cell of the condemned.
The distance was 100 feet, and we
must go under the street, under the
yard wall and then under the wall of
| the Jail. The cottage was one Of three
and had space of only twenty feet on
each side of 1t. The other cottages
were owned by the families occupying
them, and the people were bound to
watch any strangers moving In. To
dig that tunnel was the work OF
months, and to run It's other mouth
into cell was feat the oldest engi-
necr and the nerviest sort Of crook
might well hesitate over. | ridiculed
the whole plan at once, but Miss Fay
took It up point by point and SO well
did she argue that after three or four
hours | agreed thnt there was one
chance In thousand that success
might be achieved.
The first move was to find family
TO occupy the cottage. 1t was not very
difficult for me to get hold of an oldish
woman who would assist us TO carry
the scheme through She opened u
boarding house, but took In only three
men OF us. We We're supposed to be
railroad men and to come and go be-
fore daylight and after dark. Now and
then we did come and go, but 1t was
only to deceive the neighbors. AS soon
as we settled In the house we began
work on the tunnel, and we never put
In less than fourteen hours out of the
twenty-four The two men with me
knew what they were being paid for
snd could be depended upon. The cell
lar of the cottage gave us room for the
dirt excavated, and 1t seemed as II
luck was with us from the start. 1t
was winter, with but few people pass.
Ing on the side street, and the ground
being hard frozen there was less dan
ger of the roof Of the tunnel falling In.
One can run a ditch on the surface
as straight as rule, but when you
come to run a tunnel 1t Is a different