Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1911-12-18
Miss Graham HEROES
BY Carl jenkins

came running around the corner OF the
house to where her father sat reading
on the yeranda.
Yes, it sounds like It," was the in
different reply.
"Bnt it's a bloodhound after q pris'
oner who has escaped from the chain
gang
Very likely"
And the poor fellow will be recap
tured and terribly punished! Father
father, Why don't you do something!
II you don't, | WILL
Daughter, come up here and take
a seat Now, then, ever since those
conyicts from the state camp have
been working on the big ditch you
have been all upset. You have been
fun of pity for what you call the poor,
innocent men, and you've been heard
TO hope that all of them might es-
cape You are wasting your sympa'
thies. They deserve no pity. They
are a wicked lot, and you don't want
~ carry this fad too far"
Some may be wicked and deserve
their punishment" admitted the girl
~-ith moisture in her eyes, "but not all.
When I have been out in my electric l
have seen"
"Oh, you have been looking the gang
over to find a martyr and a hero, have
you?"
Father, there is one man who can't
possibly be guilty OF any crime. He is
born a gentleman. He has been edu'
Gated. There are no hard lines in his
face. No one can make me believe he
is guilty"
But he was tried by jury and
sent there by judge"
Then they made an awful mis-
take"
We'll, don't you make another. Bet
ter take some other road when you
ride out. shouldn't think it would
be a pleasant sight for a young lady
to pass a chain-gang."
There was one man in the chain
gang whose face almost haunted Myra
Graham. He was what she had de-
scribed to her father. This one con.
Wet stood out above all the others
Even the guards with their rifles VINO
lowered about seemed to pay him de-
ference. He had Strengthened up and
looked square into the girls eyes three
different times as she passed, and she
had read shame, humility, appeal IN
the look. Her sympathies had been
touched. She had almost decided TO
appeal to her father to make an In
vestigation and seek to secure a par
don. She had heard Of dozens OF cases
where men had been wrongfully con-
y,cted. and this was surely another in
stance.
Miss Graham and Mr.. Lee Benedict
were not actually engaged, but as Aunt
Linda, The coored cook of the Graham
household put it: "Dey's shore gittln
mighty clus to it,
Mr.. Bennett was frequent caller,
and was welcomed by all. 1t was un-
fortunate that he should appear on
the afternoon of the blood-hounds bay.
He not only did, but he brought news
Of the escape and recapture of pris-
oner. He also had words of praise Tor
the dog. He had received no hint or
the feelings of Miss Myra in the mat
ter. and he even spoke Of her hero to
call him desperate of the worse
type. and to add that any one had but
TO glance at him to realize the fact.
81 have glanced at him, and | beg
your pardon" was the stiff reply.
why, the gang is distributed for
half a mile along the highway
al am aware OF the fact.
And young lady riding out alone
Has encountered nothing to offend,
Mr. Bennett"
Put the hero You particularly NEIL
ton"
let us not discuss the case fur.
Their"
There was a difference misun-
erStanu1nS-aJmOSL IL rupture. WI.
Bennett rode away in a perplexed
mood. and Miss Myra looked after him
and said to herself that it was such
men as he, acting as Jurors, who sent
innocent men to the chain-gangs as
carelessly as they shot quail.
Her father had suggested that she
take some other road when riding
about, and she would heed the sugges-
ton, but she found herself more In
earnest about the gentlemanly convict
that she cared to be. She was almost
startled to find herself wondering il
she could not aid him to escape.
For three days Miss Myra did not
ride out at all. Then the runabout
traversed another road. The return
might be made by the turnpike, on
the side OF which the convicts were
working. She would decide that point
later on. At five miles from home the
vehicle stopped that its owner might
gather bouquet of roses She was
culling here and there, and no one was
In sight up or down the road as far
as she could see, when the baying of