The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1913-12-18

|
plish his purpose.
! Late in the day of Abbott's release on
bail, party of five persons, arriving in a
motor car coated with the dust of many
miles, registered under assumed names at a
small resort hotel folded deep in crack of
the mountains far from any beaten track.
Four of these persons were Joe Abbott, his
| wife, her sister, and her sisters husband;
the fifth was Fremont Older. For weeks
the editor did not visit his office, but spent
the time in daily, hourly intimacy with the
bunko man and his companions, with the
sole object of holding Abbott of fixed
mind till he could testify against Flannery.
But his attitude changed. Shut away
from all other society, talking, walking,
reading with these folks, he began to be
interested in them upon their own account.
To his surprise they appeared no different
clay from other folk. They seemed, if
anything different, more sensitive, more
sympathetic, more appreciative, even more
trustful, once their confidence was gained,
than the common run.
The Man Helper is Born
This struck Older with all the force of
great surprise. He tried reading Emerson
to them, and they liked it, shifted to Toll
stoy, and they liked that. AS discussions
resulted and they disclosed themselves
more freely, he discovered that they loved
the world and wished it well; that they
had even a code of morals, although they
weighed some acts with tricky balances and
measured some consequences with an elias
tic rule.
In marvelously short time he had con-
ceived an affection for this qua.tette, had
lost sight of his main point-to hold Alb
bolt straight for the witness box and the
story that would damn Flannery-and be-
gun to concern himself with clarifying
Abbott's moral perceptions and inducing
est society He succeeded. Abbott struck
palms with him while his wife sobbed out
her Joy. By becoming a state witness
against Flannery, Abbott escaped prosecu-
ton for his own crime, and is today an or
chardst in Rocky Mountain state, and
growing better fruits than his trees.
Three years have passed. The trial of
Flannery is almost forgotten incident.
The jury acquitted, and Older scarcely
cared. He was done with that kind of
hunts. He had shifted a new and, to him,
delicious kind of scent, that which lies up
on the trail to the good in the heart of
bad man. His conception of character
had been upset. Criminals were not so
different from honest people. The divid-
ing line was SO narrow as to be at times
undiscoverable from without, and what
wonder if at times it was indistinguishable
from within.
Much that Older was reading at this
time contributed to heighten and fructify
these impressions. Presently he was COM
pletely turned about and going headlong
as usual. The extent of his rebound be-
came apparent when he startled San Fran
cisco and shocked the whole state by a
loud and still-continued appeal for the par
don or parole of Ruef, the archconspira-
tor of the graft regime and the only one of
the principales finally placed in prison.
ASKING Mercy for His Quarry
In defense of his action in seeking this
and other pardons, Mr.. Older issued
| statement which shows how completely
the mans heart had changed and which
gives the moral reason for it. In part he
said:
az have asked for mercy for Ruef be-
cause felt that l, above all others, had
done most to bring about his downfall.
| attacked him bitterly with all the invec
tive could personally command and all
that l could hire. l cartooned him in
stripes; described him on his way to San
Quentin; told how l thought he would act
en- route, and what his manner would be
when he was locked up in a cell. l was
indicative, INSCRIPTIONS, savage.
"At last, after eight years of man-hunt-
ing and man-hating debauch, Ruef crossed
over and became what | wanted him to be,
what | had long dreamed that he might be
"a convict-stripped of his citizenship,
stripped of everything society values, ex-
cept the remnant of an ill-gotten fortune.
1t was then l said to myself:
"'I have got him. He is in stripes. He
is in cell. His head is shaved. He is in
tears. He is helpless, beaten, chained,
killed-so for as his old life is concerned.
You have won. How do you like your vic
tory? Do you enjoy the picture now that it
is complete? You painted it. Every saw
age instinct in your nature is expressed in
the canvass.