The San Francisco call., 1913-09-11

! ing on the part Of the young woman
before her with an increasing aston
! ishment. 1t was not in her own ma
ture to be demonstrative, and such
strong expression of emotion as this
she deemed rather suspicious. She
recalled. in addition, the fact that
this was not the first time that Helen
Morris had shown a particular inter
est in the fate OF Mary Turner. Sarah
wondered why.
Say" she demanded, with the d.
rectness habitual TO her, why are
you so anxious about it? This is the
, third time you have asked me about
Mary Turner What's 1t to you, I'd
like to know
The salesgirl started violently, and
deep flush drove the accustomed
pallor from her cheeks She was
obviously much disturbed by the
question
What is 1t to me-" she re-
peated in an effort to gain time.
Why. nothing-nothing at allt'
Her expression of distress light
ened little as she hit on
an excuse that might serve TO
| all, only-she's a friend of mine, a
great friend of mine. on, yes" Then.
in an instant. the look of relief van
lshed, as once again the terrible real
1ty hammered on her consciousness.
and an overwhelming detection
showed In the dull eyes and in the
dropping curves of the white lips
There was monotone of desolation
as she went on speaking in a whisper
meant for the ears of no other. ITS
awful-three years. oh, didn't un-
derstand! It's awful--awfu1s' With
! the final word, she hurried off, her
/ n 81
ing brokenly, incoherently. Her whole
attitude was of wondering grief.
Sarah stared after the girl in COM
piete mystification. She could not at
first guess any possible cause for an
emotion so poignant. Presently, how
ever. her shrewd though very prosaic,
commonsense suggested a simple ex-
planation of the girls extraordinary
/ distress.
TN bet that girl has been tempted
to steal. But she didn't, because she
was afraid" With this satisfactory
conclusion of her wonderment, the
secretary hurried on her way. quite
/ content. tt never occurred to her
that the girl might have been tempted
! TO steal-and had not resisted the
temptation.
| 1t was on account of this brief
conversation with the salesgirl that
| Sarah was thinking intently OF Mary
| Turner, after her return to the office,
| from which Glider himself happened
TO be absent for the moment AS the
secretary glanced up at the opening
of the door, she did not at first recog-
nize the f1gure outlined there. She re-
membered Mary Turner as a tall,
slender girl, who showed an underly-
ing vitality in every movement, a
girl with a face of regular features.
in which was a complexion OF blended
milk and roses, with a radiant JOY OF
life shining through all her arduous
and vulgar conditions. Instead OF this,
now, she saw frail form that stood
swaying in the opening of the door
way, that bent in sinister fashion
which told of bodily impotence, while
the face was quite bloodless And
too there was over all else pail of
helplessness-help that had
endured much, and must still endure
infinitely more.
AS reinforcement Of the dread i'm
port of that figure of woe, a man
stood beside it, and one OF his hands
was clasped around the girls wrist,
q man who wore his derby hat some
what far back on his bullet-shaped
| head. whose feet were conspicuous in
shoes with very heavy soles and very
| square toes.
1t was the man who now took
charge of the situation. Cassidy, from
| Headquarters, spoke in rough. in
| different voice, well suited to his ap
pearance of stolid strength.
"The district attorney told me to
bring this girl here. on my way to
| the Grand Central station with her.
Sarah got TO her feet mechanically.
Somehow, from the raucous notes Of
the policemans voice. she understood
in a flash Of illumination that the
| pitiful figure there in the doorway was
] that of Mary Turner, whom she had
remembered so different, SO frightful-
ly different. She spoke with a miser-
| able effort toward her usual liveli-
| ness.
| Continued Tomorrow