The daily sentinel., 1910-07-05
His Conversion
BY EDGAR FALES MOODY
Copyright. 1870. by American Press
Association.

| some years ago l visited the Tar
west. passing through region that
had been infested by the worst ele-
ment of society.
l put up one night at the house Of
John Murphy. a sheep raiser. His
ranch house was not large. but com
Portable and its decOra tions showed
evidence of refinement His wife was
a woman who impressed me as one
having considerable equipuise and
character. After supper | went out
on the porch to have smoke with
Murphy and listened with interest TO
| his account of the building up of his
| region During our conversation
stated the opinion that men were
| what women made them. Then he
told me his story.
You're dead right. stranger" he
said. and I'm one of the men that
| has been made by woman. When |
came to this country 1t was from an
eastern city. and my education was
derived from the dime novel | was
a waif. with no father or mother to
| instill into me the fact that however
brave the road agents and others of
whom | read they were acting on
wrong principle. As II was. | ad.
mircd them. and almost before be
came man ! scraped up enough mon.
| ey to bring me out here to live the
life of my heroes of the dime novel.
II soon got to be a head man among
them and for eight years lived a life
that | would give anything have to
forget. | have to be thankful for only
one thing. During that frightful pc
riod | never took life. didn't ac-
cumulate any money, and If had
should later on have got rid of it.
zone evening | stopped at a house
and knocked Mt the door. | intended
to ask for some supper, expecting once
inside to get my bearings for valua-
bles and take them away with me.
had started in with the intention of
combining my operations to stage
coaches. army paymasters and the
like. but a man is always going either
uphill or downhill. and rs | was
necessarily going down wasn't above
taking anything | could get my hands
on. even from woman.
"A woman came to the door. She
was young and fairly good looking. To
my request for some supper she gave
a smiling assent. asking me to come
in and make myself comfortable. She
went into the kitchen. and | looked
| about me There was u chimney ill
the room where | was with no fire. |
knew chimney was n favorite place
to hide money. and. going to the fire
place. ! stopped and looked up. On IA
projecting brick ! saw a small box
which appropriated and. lifting the
cover. saw lot of bills and loose
change. | slipped 1t all in my pocket
and put the box back in the chimney.
by and by the Young woman came
in and set Il good supper on the table.
ate my fill and when had finished
took out one Of the coins had taken
from the box and banded it to her.
NO she said. there's nothing 10
pay You're quite welcome to your
supper | hope it has done YOU good.
| You looked tired and hungry when YOU
| came in. and | felt sorry for you. SO
have given you the best in the
house
THAT was the first lesson in kindli-
ness ever received. At any rate. it
was the first that ever took hold of
| me. When thought of the contents
of the box in my pocket and my offer
| ing one of her own coins in payment
| for her kindness. not the least part of
| which was the way she offered il. my
dcspicable nleuuness seemed TO ShriVel
] mo all nm | ppullu'f link her I'm Thp