The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1913-06-05

knew naught but that we were an or.
binary young man and an ordinary
young woman partaking of the re-
freshments of the after the theater.
True it was of myself, that ordinary
part-but for the woman who faced
me there was a great difference. l
leaned across the table.
Il can't help saying it," had be-
gun, "but you don't look like a de-
tective."
She laughed, whoie-heartedly.
perhaps that's the reason I've sue
ceeded," she answered Then sud-
denly she bent toward me, her eyes
flashing, the fire of enthusiasm, of the
hunter, in her face. Il know what
you're going to say" was added
that it's no work for woman who
loves the things that woman
should love; that it is work that will
make me old beyond my time and
make me forget the good things of the
world. Well?" she laughed. 1--WE
been at it nearly twelve years now.
and if it was going to make me old it
by this time. And so, one guess as
to my age"
l tried to be truthful.
"Twenty-four," hazarded.
"You missed it" the eternal wom-
an came forth in it's strength then
"but l won't tell you how much. You
see, q person doesn't have to let
crime enter the soul. simply because
the business is that of crime tracking.
But there was a time once"
The eyes lost their softness. A
glitter, cold, steel-like, supplanted the
happy brilliancy. The diamond pen
dant at her throat shook and shed
forth its sparkling radiance against
the brightness of the lights. The
hands, folded on the table, clenched
hard. I noticed that the lips we're
drawn in a straight line. 1 waited
and then:
when was that?"
The being of Alice Clement had
seemingly changed. There was bit of
remorselessness in her face now, of
determination. Those flashing eyes
were becoming colder and colder.
1T was the only time in my life,'
she began, that I ever tracked a man
for revenge. More than one little
angle turned up in that case, for 1t
not only gave me the vengeance
sought, but it proved to me that q
woman can be as brave as a man; 1t
proved to me that l had the detective
tnstinct-and it also, later on, made
municipal detective of me. 1t hap
pened twelve years ago, and that's a
fairly long time, but when / tell the
story the true names will be changed
and locations will be renamed, be
cause-well, just because, that's ALL
She was still the woman, in reasons
ut least. waited.
you remember that l laughed
when you guessed at my age" she
began, "and one reason for that is that
have out home little daughter, hall
- old as you guessed my age to be
When my entrance into the detective
world began that child was a baby IL
arms. And she went with me.
Years before, my husband hat
been slugged. He had been held W
ut night, on a street on the West Side
Knocked, down, beaten and robbed.
had seen the face of the man who hai
done the work-and that face burnet
itself into my memory with q per
manency that I knew would never
fade. The time came when was sur.
OF that.
my husband had gone away on {
trip that week, remember Since
she added with a tone of sadness II
her voice, he has gone on a longe
tourney from which he will not re
turn. We were not the most prosper
Gus persons in the world then, and W,
lived in fiat near Chicago avenue
The neighborhood was squalid; Their,
were characters around us whose re
spect for the law was not of the high
est 1t was street of mystery ant
pf darkness and of danger.
sAnd someway. In daytime as