The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1913-12-11

that might mean much financial profit
in the devious ways of which she was
4 mistress. With the frankness char
acteristic Of her. she proceeded to paint
glowing pictures Of a future shared to
the undoing Of ardent and fatuous
SWANS. Mary Turner listeped with
curiosity. but she vas in no wise
moved to follow such a life. even
though ii did not necessitate anything
worse than a fraudulent playing at
love. So. she steadfastly continued her
refusals. She would live straight.
"You will find that you are up
against an awful FROST" Aggie would
declare brutally.
Mary found the prophecy true. Back
in New York she experienced a pow
erty more ravaging than any she had
known in those five lean years Of her
working in the store. She had been
absolutely penniless for two days. and
without food through the gnawing
hours. when she found employment In
a milliner's shop. Followed a blessed
interval in which she worked content
eddy, happy owe the meager stipend.
since it served to give her shelter and
food honestly earned.
The police informed Mary's employer
concerning her record as a convict.
and she was at once discharged. The
unfortunate victim of the law came
perilously close to despair then. Yet.
her spirit triumphed. and again she
p~ersevered In that resolve to live
straight. She found a cheap position
in a cheap shop, only to be again per-
secuted by the police. so that she
speedily lost the place.
A third time she obtained work and
there. after a little. she told her EN-
ployer, a candy manufacturer In a
small way. the truth as to her having
been in prison. The man had a kindly
heart and he ran little risk, so he al
lowed her to remain. When the police
called his attention to the girls Grim
inal record he paid no heed to their ad
vice against retaining her services
The police brought pressure to bear on
the man. They even called In the as
~sistance of Edward Glider himself,
who obligingly wrote a very severe let
ter to the girls employer. In the end
though unwillingly enough. he dismiss
ed Mary from his service.
1t was then that despair did come
upon the girl. She had tried with all
the strength Of her to live straight
Yet, despite her innocence, the world
would not let her live according to heI
w conscience. 1t demanded that she
be the criminal 1t had branded her-i1
she were to live at all. She still walk
ed the streets f~alteringly, seeking some
place, but her heart was gone from
the quest. Came an hour when she
thought of the river and was glad.
So she went through the long stretch
Of i'll lighted streets, crossed some rail
road tracks TO a pier, over which she
hurried to the far end. where 1t pro
jected out to the fiercer currents OF the
Hudson. There. without giving her
self a moments pause for reflection OF
hesitation. she leaped out as far al
her strength permitted into the coil Of
waters. But in that final second nat
ural terror In the face of death over
came the lethargy Of despair-a SHREK
burst from her lips.
On the side of the pier a man had
just tied up a motOrboat. He stood uI
in alarm at the cry and was just ir
time to gain a glimpse Of a white face
under the dim moonlight as 1t swept
down with the tide, two rods beyond
him. He threw Off his coat and sprang
far out after the drifting body. he
came to 1t in a few furious strokes and
caught 1t.
Then began the savage struggle to
save her and himself. The currents
tore at him wrathfully. but he fought
against them with all the fierceness OF
his nature. What saved the two OF
them was the violent temper Of the
man. Always 1t had been the demon
to set him aflame. His rage mounted
and gave him new power in the battle.
Under the urge Of it he conquered and
at last brought himself and his charge
to the shore.
Mary revived to clear consciousness.
which was at first inclined toward
hysteria. but this phase yielded 500
under the sympathetic ministrations
Of the man. His rather low voice was
soothing to her tired soul. and his
whole sir was at once masterful and
gently tender. When finally she wa.
able to stand and to walk with the
support Of his arm she went forward
slowly at his side without 30 much
even as a question Of whittier.
Joe Carson had performed. perhaps
his first action with no thought of sell
at the back Of it. He had risked hi,
life to save that of a stranger. The
sensation was at once novel and thrill
ing. Since 1t was SO agreeable be
meant to p~rolong the glow of self sat
isfaction By continuing to care for this
waif Of the river.
Joe Carson. the notorious forger, Lei
the dripping girl eastward through thu
squalid streets until at last they came
to an adequately lighted avenue. and
there a taxicab was found. 1t carried
them farther north, and to the east Il
an apartment house that was rather
imposing, set In a street Of humber
dwellings.
Here Carson paid the fare and ther
helped the girl to alight and on int