Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-09-27
She Took
[OriginaI.l

Miss Brereton was n very excellent
type Of the new woman. 1 say an ex-
cellent type, for Miss Brereton was
simply educated and energetic with
out being mannish.
Miss Brereton, who was an orphan
and possessed of means in her own
right, having beer graduated at col
lege, concluded to complete her edu-
cation by seeing something Of the
world. One day she returned to New
York and had under her protection a
young Indian woman dressed In the
costume she had worn in her native
land. The woman attracted q great
deal of attention. and the Immigration
commissioners asked many Questions,
none of which Miss Brereton answer
ed for her charge except that che
would guarantee that the woman
should not become q care to the Amer
lean people. Since this promise full
filled the law there was nothing to
be done but pass the Indian. Every
body believed there was q story in
the case, and there was. 1t is this:
In q little seaport town in India OPP
posite Il house In which Miss Brereton
was living q man died. When Miss
Brereton learned that he was an old
man and had left a young wife, who,
according to the custom of the country,
was expected to immediate he Self on
her husbands funeral pyre, all b nm
tagonlsm of an advanced American wo-
man living in the foremost files of
Ain,otp voc 49, a<rnt,r+ tIt, +u,~ta L.
Justice done to one of her sex. She
stood at her window watching the
preparations in the house opposite, her
wrath boiling md bubbling.
From this excited condition she grad
ually curbed herself. Then she gath
cred her wits, and instead of putting
her neck In a halter openly put 1t there
with a cunning she had never suspected
possible In herself. She sent for an
Indian costume, put 1t on and, bronz-
Ing her face and hands, went across the
street and asked to be permitted to
dress tho hair of the widow for the
sacrifice. Contrary to her expectation,
she had no trouble in gaining access
and found q young girl of twenty sit
ting with her hands folded, a picture of
dependency. f,
How Miss Brereton made herself
known to the young widow, how she
found bits of opportunity to give her
plan and persuade her to adopt 1t,
would make a very long story. The
widow had hope In 1t for herself, but
non for her p%reserver. At last Miss
Brereton carried her point and that
night visited the widow again. Near
midnight the first part OF the plan was
carried put. The widow as Miss Brere-
ton went to Miss Brereton's apart
ments; Miss Brereton remained to be
sacrificed. might ngt
Miss Brereton had made provision,
which might or might not be success
full, for her safety. She had sent a.
statement Of what she had done, to the
American consul. When the consul
opened and read her colnmunicatlon he
made an ejaculation that shook the
whole house. Erratlc as he knew his
countrymen to be be had no idea that
one of them would be so idiotic as to
rush thus into death, especially death
by fire. AMFab afHt LiaN 4
Wilut uOSD OC iuffutiC VARtLt LIZ \
to dor he howled, and, getting up from
his chair, he thrust his hands In his
pockets and thrashed the floor with his
strides back and forth. d
Now, there would be no story In this
case without a bit Of luck. Miss Brere-
ton would have gone to the funeral pyre
and been burned, whether she declarejt
herself or not, and the fact might nev-J
er have been known. But this was no
to he. She was to live to browbeat the
immigration commissioners at New
York. While the consul was tearing
about In his office, looking out on the
harbor In which were two Chinese
junks and q French merchantmen, he
saw on the horizon a man-of-war. Get
ting his glass, he brought 1t to his eyes
and there, luttering at the peak, were
the stars and stripes.
While tho vessel was coming In q
procession was forming to take Miss
Brereton to be burned with another
woman's dead husband. Miss Brerer
ton, who kept her face well covered
and remained In the dark as far as
possible, knowing what was taking
place and hearing nothing from the
consul. began to feel that she had TAX
en- q risk which as her enthusiasm
cooled and she neared a martyrs death
was appalling. She had not realized
that a man representing what she con-
sidered the greatest Of nations single
handed was powerless to prevent sev-i
eral thousand people who had been
welded for centuries to their cust0ms1
from carrying them out In her case.
When the chief men of the town en-
tered, led her out, placed her IN posi-
ton in the line and she began to move
to the pyre with the rest. Miss Brere-
tons confidence In the protection of
her government began to wane. Her
government was mighty, but it was
very far away. Not Il sign of civiliza-
ton was to be seen anywhere. The,
procession threaded the main street.
and emerged on to q plain. Before her