The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1910-04-28
His Conversion
By EDGAR FALEs MOODY
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association

Some years ago visited the far
west. passing through region that
had been infested by the worst ele-
meni of society
John Murphy. IA sheep raiser His
ranch house was not large. but com.
Portable, and its decorations showed
evidence OF refinement. His wife was
a woman who impressed me as one
having considerable equipoiSe and
character After supper went out
on the porch TO have II 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 'lnade them. Then he
told me his story.
You're dead right. stranger he
said. land I'm one of the men that
has been made by woman. When !
came to this country it 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 a
wrong principle. AS 1t was. ] ad-
mired them. Mnd 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 head man among
them and for eight years lived life
that l would give anything ! have to
forget have to be thankful for only
one thing. During that frightful pc
riod | never took a life. didn't ac-
cumuate any money. and If | had |
should later on have got rid OF II.
Zone evening ! stopped at a house
and knocked at the door. intended
to ask for some supper. expecting once
inside to get my bearings for valua-
bes 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 man Is always going either
uphill or downhill. and as was
necessarily going down wasn't above
taking anything could get my hands
on, even from a 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 chimney in
the room where | was with 10 fire.
knew a chimney was favorite place
to hide money. and. going TO the FIRE
place. stopped and looked up. On a
projecting brick | saw q 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 a good supper on the table.
ate my OIL and when | had finished
took out one Of the coins had taken
from the box and handed II to her
"'No.' she said. there's nothing TO
pay. You're quite welcome TO your
supper hope II 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. AZ any rate. il
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 II. my
despicable meanness seemed to shrivel
me all up. couldn't look her In the
face.
"'You don't need to 60 on she said.
We have spare bed upstairs
II was thinking how would get the
money back In the box In the chin
ney. aud IL occurred 20 me that II
stayed there all night could slip
down In the night aud do the job So
said: Thank you. miss. II you
don't mind l reckon | will. tn be a
great accommodation TO me.
"'No more than TO me- My brother
and his wife have gone away for a
few days and left me alone with the
children. They say that Murphys
gang is operating In the neighbor'
hood. and | wouldn't mind having a
man In the house
"'In that case | said. 4 think III
sleep on that lounge. and III guaran-
tee that no man gets upstairs unless
he goes over my dead body
II knew two Of my men would be
along there that night. and rcckoned
they'd take In anything by the way,
The FIRST thing ! did before turning
in was to put the money back In the
box. When ia done that felt the
first Of a kind OF comfort I'd never
experienced before. didn't 20 to
sleep. wanting TO be awake II any one