The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-06
Hope p EH HI |N
 From tfle Play by WILLIAM J. HURLBURT

Mrs. Mason left the antIers and hunt ing scenes and went to the favorite guns.
 i've been strictly brought up, Mir. Craven. and somehow I feel 1t ain't right-it's doing violence to my con- science-to stay on under this roof"
 For a second Craven studied her curiOusly-this sturdy New England housekeeper who for three years had made the daily routine of living in the Temple home a smooth and comtor- table thing
 Her cons ience-yes. that was if. She was beginning to feel that she could not live in the same Clace and take money from a man whom she considered had come by it unwcrthily. "Purita nisr is as lasting in a family as sin-to the third or four. h genera tions," he thought to himself. the outer corners of his eyes still contracted. 'I think, somehow, that sin might be easier to lop off the family tree"
 ''Yes." went on Mrs. Mason, land can't work for a man who has done wickedly as MT. Temple has. His con duct would reflect on me. There you have it, MT. Craven. My conscience won't let me give silent consent to his deeds by my presence"
 "Oh. I say. Mrs. Mason. come, comc," laughed Craven in spite of himself. "Get off old Plymouth rock just for once, that's a good soulv'
 "It might be better for your new New York if it stood a bit frmer on old Plymouth rock" snapped she, ''in- stead of Wall street quicksand." She was about leaving sthe room in high dCdgeon when her eye chaEced upon some glaring headlines in the morn ing's paper whi h. with Cthe- journals, Craven in his hustle had flung upon the floor.
 "See! See thatY' she said, picking it up and harf:ng it triunphantly to the lawyer. "It's that piece in today's pa- per which has finally decided me to make a chanre. All about the Grang case and MT. Temples connection with it. Look!'
 "'Justice and hiPh finance.'" read Craven half aloud in fine. sneering fashion. The continued silence on the part of Mr. Burton Temple re- garding his connection win the Gren- ger case cnlv confirms suspicion in t-.e minds of the thinking public
 ""ThinFing public that's goOdT' ejaculatod he. He bit of the end of a cigar. Every successful mans cur and every rich man a malefactor in that blessed thinking public's eve"
 "Just read it through. please" plead ed Mrs. MaSon. with cIasped hands.
 "'When the law is so flagrantly de- fed it is time that the American pub lie made a stand. The Granger case has gone q step too far. It is one thing for rich man to avoid punish ment; it is another thing for a rich nan to avoid punishment by throwing the guilt on another's shoulders There is scarcely a man today who does not believe that Robert Granger is a scape- goat for Burton Temple
 'Why in the name of heaven must this Granger case come up again? ?' shouted Craven, throwing down the paper with a hot expletive. Granger had a fair trial, was convicted, sent 1 to prison, and now, not content with the justice of their own courts, these | newspapers are trying to get him out" i
 And send MT. Temple in his place ! to serve his term,'' finished Mrs. Ma 1 son quietly, where he deserves to be-" l she added in measured tones. There, 1 I've said it. To be silent is to acqui- | esce. It is sheltering evil. 'Tisn't' al- | ways easy to speak out our thoughts. | But I've been taught where a principle | is concerned it's our duty to do so. It's like the sun-it purifies." Her chin was well up in the air.
 A pause. Craven's cigar was out, | and he was slow about relighting it
 ''The sun purifes, yes,' sighed he, | "but it germinates too. Half the moral and social crimes would cease if wom- en and men also buried the other | half in silence That hysterical de- sire to express it belongs to a past age. Mrs. Mason,'' he said sternIy. 'after all, we don't know much about our neighbors' Hves-really any of us-so | it's safer and wiser to be kind in our judgments, eh? None of us needs to resolve himself into a fraction of the day of jud"ment, thank God" He swallowed hard, this old stoic of a lawyer. And. by thunder" he ex- ploded, If three years knowledge of a mans daily life. with all its integrity and fneness and honesty of purpose, must go for naught then
 The telephone bell interrupted. Mrs. Mason, close at hand, took the mes sage.
 Its Miss Dale, Miss Graham's sue cessor," announced she, awaiting Ora ven's orders.
 Have her shown up," tartly. And incisively. Hope she'll prove as capa- bIe a secretary es Miss Graham and a fairer woman"
 With this little dig he turned to the biz bay window and let the air of the Hudson cool his brow, while the housekeeper stood at the door to usher | ln the new secretary.
 Anna, AErar' she gasped, stepping | back, confounded.