Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-05-24

Su+ come down through the
w. years questions that have
given themes to. writer's of romances
and Of plays and that have been the
basis for discussions that have en-
thralled though they have not solved.
No need there is to go to Dickens for
the pathetic, nor to Balzac for the
imaginative, nor to Dumas for the
nor to Hugo for the sensa-
tionally sordid.
There are stories of our own day
and In our own courts told only in
tabloid that more than match. There
are men paying In prison cells the
toll that their disordered sense of hon
or demands; there are women to
whom a realization Of justice has
come only after the conviction of their
former friends and accomplices.
Within the last few months three
remarkable cases have been disclosed.
In two of them men to shield the
honor of a woman have gone to prison.
In both instances the women have
voluntarily come forward within a
week and have confessed that they
could have cleared the accused, but
the men, knowing It would be at the
cost of the women's good name, would
not permit them to testify.
sordld Romance Here.
But the third case, and now for the
first time told. is as strange as any
that ever was conjured by any master
of romance. A mans peculiar and
sordid plan for securing himself
against want in his old age. wom-
ans beauty, wife's duplicity, divorce,
imprisonment for one Of the parties,
penury for the other and scandal
that 1t has taken all the influence of
family of great wealth and much
distinction to keep from the public
are involved in the tale.
In one of the exclusive families Of
the staid old aristocratic city Of Bal
timore was a man of fine presence
and education, but with no moral
sense. He had no conception Of the
difference between mine and thine.
He would do the smallest Of things
and the meanest. Trusts were be.
trayed by him, and many times it was
family influence and the family money
chest that kept him from being brand
ed as criminal.
There was no reforming him, ant
decent men and women Stunned hin
as they would leper. Like mos
criminals, he considered himself 6
much wronged person. and he wat
particularly bitter because society out
lawed him.
One thing that tho man viewed
with alarm was. the future. He was 8
coward at heart, loved the good things
of life. and as old age approached and
his opportunities for thieving mar
rowed year by year he became more
and more uneasy. He gambled and
he drank gambled in the vain hope
of winning a fortune; drank to for
get for time what his remnant Of &
conscience constantly brought up &C
cusingly before him. And each veal
he sank little lower than before
Then came the first act In as queer 6
romance as playwright ever has giver
to the stage.
scoundrel's Scheme.
Z One morning as he was idly saunt
ering up Charles street he saw ar
Italian organ grinder and girl O.
perhaps eleven or thirteen years who
was playing the tambourine. The
thing that attracted the attention O
the man was the gypsy beauty of the
girl. She had all the grace of form
that SO peculiarly adorns the womer
of the southern countries. She was
vivacious, graceful fascinating. A,
the man gaxed at her he could see II
his minds eye what she would be OF
what she might become In few years
II polished, developed, veneered. Ant
as he gazed an idea seized him. VIII,
not make the child the medium
through which he might work GU
comfort for his declining days? Sh,
could be made most alluring in thu
eyes of men. He could train her to hi.
own ends and make of her an asse
that would be worth all the trouble
: and expense. He spoke to the Italian
and gave him a generous tip. He me
him frequently, and after a lot O
clever lying and maneuvering, telling
the man he meant to adopt the cir
and equip her as befitted her beauty
he actually purchased her for s1OO.
He gave his name as Vaunce, and a!
Vaunce he shall remain. He took tn,
girl, and patiently, earnestly, care
fully he went to work to equip he
for the life he had determined sh,
should lead. She was hot tempered
wilful, fiery. He was kind and gen
tie when he thought that treatmen
best, and he beat her when he cor
sidered that method necessary. H
was generous In the extreme to her
going to the length at times of dc
priving himself in order to add t
her comfort. thing he never ha
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