The San Francisco call., 1913-09-12

4
His manner changed to a businesslike
alertness. you sent word to me that
i you could tell me how to stop the
4 tnefts in the store. Well, my girl,
do this, and, while ] can make no
] definite promise. I'll see what can be
4 done about getting you out of your
present difficulty" He picked up a
| pencil, pulled pad of blank paper
convenient to his hand and looked at
the girl expectantly. with aggressive
inquiry in his gaze. Tell me, now,''
he concluded, who were your pals
The matter Of fact manner of this
man who had unwittingly wronged
her so frightfulIy was the last straw
on the girls burden of suffering.
Under 1t, her patient endurance
broke; and she cried out in q voice
OF utter despair that caused Glider
TO start nervously, and even i'm
PEELED the stolid officer to a frown OF
remonstrance.
have no palsw she calculated,
furiously. Il never stole anything In
my life. Must I go on telling you
| over and over again?" Her voice rose
In a wall of misery. "Oh, why won't
any one believe me7"
Glider was much offended by this
display of a hysterical grief, which
! seemed to his phlegmatic ternpera-
ment altogether unwarranted by the
circumstances. He spoke decisively.
Unless you can control yourself,
! you must 60" He pushed away the
pad OF paper, and tossed the pencil
aside in physical expression of his
displeasure. Why did you send that
message, II you have nothing to say?''
he demanded, with increasing choler.
But now the girl had gegained her
former poise. She stood a little
dropping and shaken, where for a mo-
ment she had been erect and tensed
There was vast weariness in her
words as she answered.
Il have something. to tell you, Mr..
Glider she said, quietly. only, T.
sort of lost my grip on the way
! here, with this man by my side'
Most of 'em do, the first time" the
4 officer commented, with a certain
/ grim appreciation.
'eWeil?" Glider insisted ENORMOUSLY.
as the girl hesitated.
At once, Mary went on speaking,
/ and now q little increase of vigor
! trembled in her tones
4 When you sit in a cell for three
months waiting for your trial, as I
4 did, you think a lot. And. so, 1 got
! the idea that IL I could talk to you,
I might be able to make you under
/ stand what's really wrong And If /
4 could do that, and so help out the
other girls. what has happened to me
would not. after all, be quite so aw-
ful-so useless. somehow" Her voice
/ lowered to quick pleading. and she
/ bent toward the man at the desk. Mr..
Glider" shesquestioned. do you really
want to stop the girls from stealing 2'
Most certainly | do" came the
forcible reply.
The girl spoke with a great earn
estness, deliberately.
Then, give them a fair chance"
The magnate stared in sincere as
tonishment over this absurd, this flu
tile suggestion for his guidance.
What do you mean?' he vocifer-
ated, with rising Indignation. There
was an added hostility in his de-
meanor. for it seemed to him that
this thief Of HIS goods whom he had
brought to justice was daring to trifie
with him. He grew wrathful over
4 the suspicion, but secret curiosity
still held his temper within bounds.
What 10 you mean?' he repeated;
and now the full force Of his strong
voice set the room trembling.
The tones of the girl came softly
musical, made more delicately reson-
ant to the ear by contrast with the
mans roaring.
why" she said, very gently, Il
mean just this: Give them a living
chance to be honest"
"A living chancer' The words
were exploded with dynamic violence.
! The preposterousness of the advice
fired Glider with resentment so per-
vasive that through many seconds he
found himself unable to express the
rage that famed within him.
The girl showed herself undismayed
T, by his anger.
Yes she went on, quietly; that's
all there is to 1t. Give them a living
chance to get enough food to eat and
a decent room to sleep in. and shoes
that Will keep their feet off the pave
ment winter mornings. Do you think
that any girl wants to steal? Do you
1 think that any girl wants to risk
l-?''
BY this time. however. Glider had
regained his powers of speech. and he
/ interrupted stormily
| And Is this what you have taken
up my time for? You want to make
a n1audlin plea for guilty, dishonest
girls. when thought you really meant
to bring me facts"
Nevertheless, Mary went on with her
arraignment uncompromisingly There
/ was a strange, compelling energy in
her infections that penetrated even
the pachydermatous officer. so that,
though he thought her raving. he let
| her rave on, which was not at all his
habit of conduct, and did indeed sur
prise him nightly AS for Glider he
felt helpless in some puzzling fashion
that was totally foreign to his ordi-
nary self. He was still glowing with
wrath over the method by which he
| had been victimized into giving the
| girl a hearing. Yet. despite his cha
grin, he realized that he could not
send her from him forthwith BY
some inexplicable spell she bound him
impotent.
eve work nine hours a day" the
quiet voice went on. curious pathos
in the rich timbre of It; nine hours
day, for six days in the week.
That's fact. isn't 1t? And the trouble
is, an honest girl can't live on six dol
| lars a week She cart do it and buy
food and clothes and pay room rent
and earfare. That's another fact,
isn't it2"
Mary regarded the owner of the
store with grave questioning in her
violet eyes Under the urgency OF
emotion. color crept into the pallid
cheeks. and now her face was very
beautiful-so beautiful, indeed, that
for little the charm of Its loveliness
caught the mans gaze, and he
watched her with a new respect. born
of appreciation for her feminine de-
lightfulness. The impression was far
too brief. Glider was not given to
esthetic raptures over women. AL
ways, the business instinct was the
dominant so, after the short period
OF amazed admiration over such unex-
pected winsomeness, his thoughts flew
back angri1y to the matters whereof
~h< .,o4xa rfdfr4tlot.elxr