The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-11-28

carried u curious dignity u Its own.
The very simplicity Of her statement
might have had Il power to convince
one who listened without prejudice. nj
though the words themselves were Of
the trite sort that any protesting Grim
inal might utter.
II tell you I didn't do III"
Glider himself felt the surge Of mo
ton that swung through these mo
ments. but he would not yield to It.
whats the use Of all this pre-
tense?" be demanded sharply. lyon
were given a fair trial. and there's an
end of it."
"Oh. no. I wasn't! Why. II the trial
had been fair I shouldn't be here. Do
you call it fair when the lawyer | had
was only u boy-one whom the court
told me to take. 4 boy trying his first
case. my case. that meant the ruin Of
my life? My lawyer! Why, he was
Just getting experience-EettinK It al
my expense!"
There followed . few seconds Of 81,
lence. Then Glider made an effort to
shake off the feeling that had 10 pos
sessed him. and to n certain degree hp
succeeded.
1.-The jury found you guilty" he as
serted. with an attempt to make bis
voice ma%gisterial in its severity.
Yes. the jury found me guilty. Do
you know why? l can tell You. Mr..
Glider. 1t was because they had been
out for three hours without reaching
q decision. The evidence didn't seem
to he quite enough for some Ut them,
after all. Well. the judge threatened
to lock them up all night. The men
wanted to get home. The a thing
to do was to find me guilty. and let ii
60 at that. Was that fair. do you
think? And that's not all either. Was
it fair of you. Mr.. Glider! Was il
fair Of you to come to the court this
morning and tell the judge that
should he sent to prison as a warning
to others?"
"You know" he exclaimed in mo.
mentary CONSERVATION.
II heard you in the courtroom" SHE
said. 1.-THE dock isn't very far from
the bench where you spoke to the
Judge about my case. Yes. l heard
you. 1t wasn't. Did I do 1t :? or. Didn't
I do it? No. 1t was only that I must
be made a warning to Others"
Again silence fell for u tense inter
val. Then finally the girl spoke:
"Mr. Glider" she said simply. "a,
God il my Judge. l am going to prison
for three years for something l didn'
do. Why did you ask the judge t
send me to ~prison?"
1.-THE thieving that has been goin.
ON IN this store for over q year hal
got to stop" Glider answered em
phatically. with all his usual energy o
manner restored.
Sending me to prison won't stop it.
Mary Turner said drearily.
perhaps not" Glider sternly retort
ed. but the discovery and punish
ment Of the other guilty ones will.
His manner changed to q businesslik'
alertness. "You sent word to me tina
You could tell me how to stop tn
thefts In the store. Well. my girl. d
this and. while I can make no definit
promise. I'll see what can be don
about getting you out of yonr presen
lificulty." He picked up . pencil
,ulled a pad Of blank paper convenien
to his hand and looked at the girl ex
pectantly. with aggressive inquiry Il
his gaze. .'Telt me now" he eonclud
ed, who were your pals?"
II have no palx!!" she calculated II
riously. II never stole anything 4
my life. Must ! 70 on telling you owe
and over again?" Her voice rose In
wall Of misery. .Oh. why won't an,
one believe mefr
"Unless you ~ rOntrOl yourself
you must 70" Glider pushed away tn
pad Of paper and tossed the penc!
aside In physical expression 0f his dil
pleasure, .Why did y0u aend th1
message II v0u have nothing Ia sayl
he demanded. with increasing rholer.
n have something II tell you. III
Glider. she eripti qnietly. "Oniy -