Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-03-08
DAILY SHORT STORY
The BlackmaiIer.


as she called herself. was brief. but full
of incident. and the way she happened
TO become an inmate OF the prison l
was connected with was a fair sample
of the adventures she engaged in
The job for which the woman was
convicted and sentenced was carried
out in London. She invented excuses
To go 10 the office of wealthy broker
several times and 10 have him call on
her at least twice. He was i widOwer,
but was soon to be married again. One
day she demanded $1,000 of him, and
he stood up and deted her to do her
worst She was angered over his def
ant attitude and made the mistake of
taking him into court. The woman he
was to be married TO ut once broke the
enga cement, and he was the subject of
public and private scandal.
This made him thirst for revenge.
He won his case. but he set private de-
tectiveS at work. and in the course of
time the girl was traced clear back to
the home from which she had run
away. Then lie caused her arrest and
unmasked her III court, and pretty soon
the doors of prison closed on her on
three year sentence. At her trial n
prominent divine testified:
Il was favOrably impressed with her
appearance. l never saw Il more truth
full, honest face. Her voice charmed
me. She WAS very shy and dittident,
and all my sympathies We're aroused.
received her in my study, as l did all
others. She was there for about TWEEN
~ minutes and told me story that
was false from beginning TO end, but
which l implicitly believed at the time.
When she rose TO 20. she demanded
5000 of me, threatening TO 20 before
judge and swear out warrant for me
if l did nos hand it over She was
cool and calm. and while admitting
my innocence, she argued that | could
not afford 10 be dragged into court and
scandalized. The result was that 1
gave her the money
Prison officials are not easily be-
guiled. but l must admit that Miss
Saunders pulled the wool over our eyes
in great shape. She hadn't been with
us two weeks before we began to look
upon her as martyr. She won the
heart of the matran in Il month, and
within three she was being treated
more as Il guest than prisoner. Our
prison was open to the public several
hours each day, and everybody who
came wanted TO see the beautiful
prisoner" In one month six different
men offered To marry her in case she
could get pardon, and nine-tenths of
the female visitors gave her their sym
pathies The prison doctor. the chap
Lot, 4 oil
soft" on her at the same time, and
yet all of them We're old prison Off
Gals and married men.
The matrOn had u sister living about
half mile from the prison. After
Miss Saunders had been with us for
FIVE or six months this sister was taken
i'll, and the matrOn would go over after
breakfast and after supper One even
ing | WAS coming up from the village
in Il buggy and encountered the wo-
man on the highway. We nodded to
each other, but after l had passed on
it struck me that the female, whose
weight WAS 100 pounds. had suddenly
lost flesh. / turned to look and then
became certain that some one had Dor
rOwed her clothes. Whirling the bug
gy around, / overlook her, and, be-
hold. it was Miss Saunders!
l took her back to prison and made
an investigation. and it did not sur
prise me Overmuch to learn that the
matrOn was in the plot. She believed
the girl innocent and was willing to
help her get away. The political stu
alton was rather ticllish. just then. and
so the facts We're kept from the pub
from London dropped in and inquired
for Miss Saunders. He had been APP
pealed TO by Il score OF outsiders who
did not believe her guilty The ma
iron and myself We're present ut the
interview. The commissioner had the
record of her trial, and he started in
without Il doubt of her guilt. but two
hours later he was very mitch be-
logged
The prisoner not only explained away
the points bearing hardest against her,
but accused the broker so circumStan-
Tally that il seemed 10 be case where
he had evoked the law TO carry out a
private spite. She spoke without halt
ing or heSitating She seemed TO an
ticipate every question and have an
answer ready. 1t was not her words
alone, but she knew just where to
fetch a smile and where To shed tear,
and 1T times she looked so sad and
hPartbroken that you wanted TO pat
her on the head and tell her TO put on
her hat and walk out 1t may be
mean thing TO give the commissioner
away. but I'll bet boots 10 buttons that
he was Il bit stuck on our prisoner
when lie left the institution.
| don't know how things would have
turned out in the matter of securing 4
new trial or a pardon had not some
thing occurred to render further pro
ceedings useless. The doctors wife
was an almost daily caller at the pris-
on. and OF course she had the run of
tho nIaro Sha u-oS .rraatfx- Interested