Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1912-02-16

rette, he leaned back in his chair and
! lapsed into silence.
Annie sat and watched him, wish
ing she could suggest some way to
solve the problem that troubled him.
She loved her husband with all her
heart and soul. His very weakness
Of character endeared him the more
to her. She was not blind to his
faults, but she excused them. His
vices. his drinking, cigarette smoking
and general shiftlessness were, she
argued. the result of bad associates
He was self-indulgent. He made many
good resolutions and broke them. But
he was not really vicious He had a
good heart. With some one to watch
him and keep him in the straight path
he would still give good account of
himself to the world. She was con-
fident of that. She recognized many
excellent qualities in him. They only
wanted fostering and bringing out.
That was why she married him. She
was a few years his senior; she felt
that she was the stronger mentally
She considered it was her duty to
devote her life to him, to protect him
from himself and make man of him.
1t was not her fault, she unused, If
she was not lady. Literally brought
up In the gutter, what advantages had
she had? Her mother died in child
birth and her father, a professional
gambler, abandoned the little girl to
the tender mercies of an Indifferent
neighbor. When she was about eight
years old her father was arrested. He
refused to pay police blackmail, was
indicted, railroaded to prison and died
soon after in convict stripes. There
was no provision for Annie's main
tenance. SO at the age of nine she
found herself toiling in a factory, a
helpless victim of the brutalizing sys-
tenn of child slavery, which in spite
of prohibiting laws still disgraces the
United States. Ever since that time
she had earned her own living. The
road had often been hard, there were
times when she thought she would
have to give up the fight; other girls
she had met had limited at an easier
way of earning ones living, but she
had kept her courage, refused to listen
to evil counsel and always managed
to keep her name unsullied. She left
the factory to work behind the coun-
ter in a New York dry goods store.
Then about year ago she drifted to
New Haven and took the position of
waitress at the restaurant which the
college boys patronized.
Robert Underwood was among the
students who came almost every day.
He made love to her from the start,
and one day attempted liberties which
she was prompt to resent in way
he did not relish. After that he let
her alone. She never liked the man.
She knew him to be unprincipled as
well as vicious. One night he brought
Howard Jeffries to the restaurant.
They seemed the closest of cronies
and she was sorry to see what bad
influence the elder sophomore had
over the young freshman, to whom
she was at once attracted Every
time they came she watched them and
she noticed how under his mentor
Howard became more hardened He
drank more and more and became a
reckless gambler. Underwood seemed
to exercise baneful spell over him.
She saw that he would soon be ruined
with such man as Underwood for a
constant companion. Her interest in
the young student grew. They be-
came acquainted and Howard, not
realizing that she was older than he,
was Immediately captivated by her
vivacious charm and her common
sense views. They saw each other
more frequently and their friendship
grew until one day Howard asked her
to marry him.
While she sometimes blamed her.
self for having listened too willingly
to Howard's pleadingsS she did not
altogether regret the step she had
taken. 1t was most unfortunate that
there must be this rupture with his
family, yet something within told her
that she was doing Gods work-sav-
ing a mans soul. Without her, How
ard would have gone swiftly to ruin,
there was little doubt Of that. His af-
fection for her had partly. II not
wholly, redeemed him and was keep
Ing him straight He had been good
to her ever since their marriage and
done everything to make her CON-
Portable. Once he took a position as
guard ON the elevated road, but
caught cold and was forced to give
1t up. She wanted to go to work
again, but he angrily refused. That
alone showed that he was not entirely
devoid of character. He was un.
fortunate at. present and they were
poor but by dint Of perseverance he
would win out and make position
for himself without his fathers help.
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