The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1913-12-26

VI tue ntIIuCuuS III d ScSbuic otl'iSc'
than words.
You arc going 10 pay me for this!
she said. Her voice was little more
than a whisper, but 1t was loud In the
listeners heart. Yes, you are going
to pay-for this!"
They Were grim years. those three
years during which Mary Turner serv-
ed her sentence In Burnslng. There
was no time OFF for good behavior. Tho
girl learned oon that the favor Of those
set IN authority over her could only be
won at a cost against which her every
maidenly instinct revoltcd. So she
went through the inferno OF days and
nights in n dreariness Of suffering that
was deadly. Naturally the life there
VAS altogether an evil thing. There
was the material III ever present In the
round OF wearlsome physical toil-the
coarse. distasteful food; the hard mar
row couch; the constant, gnawing irk-
someone's OF Imprisonment. away from
light and air. away from all that
makes life worth while.
The best evidence Of the fact that
Mary Turner's soul was not fatally
soiled must be found In the fact that
still ut the expiration Of her sentence
she was fully resolved to live straight.
as the saying is which she had quoted
to Glider. This. too. In the face OF
aure knowledge rs to the difficulties
that would beset the effort and in the
face Of the temptations offered to fol
low m easier path.
There WIS, for example. .Aggie
Lynch. a fellow convict. with whom
she had n slight degree Of acquaintance.
nothing more. This young woman. a
criminal by training. offered allure
rents Of ilIegitinatc employment in
rho oufcr world when they should be
free. Mary endured the companion
ship with this prisoner because a sixth
sense proclaimed the fact that here
IA n immoral rather than immoral,
and the difference is mighty.
For that reason Aggie Lynch was
not actively offensive, as were most Of
the others. She was a dainty little
blond. with a baby face. in which were
set two light blue eyes Of a sort to
widen often in demure wonder over
most things in q surprising and naugh-
~ world. She had been convicted OF
blackmail. and she made no p~retense
ever OF innocence. Instead. she was
inclined TO boast over her ability to
bamboozle men at her will. She was
a natural actress Of the ingenue role.
and in that pose she could unfailingly
beguile the heart Of the wlsest Of
worldly men.
She had been reared IN ii criminal
family. which must excuse much.
Long ago She had lost track OF her
father. Her mother she had never
known. Her n relation was n broth
er OF high standing as a pickpocket.
One principal reason Of her success In
leading on men TO make fools of them
selves over her. 10 their everlasting re
greet afterward, lay in the fact that In
spite Of all the gross irregularities OF
her life she remained chaste.
The girl saw In Mary Turner the
possibilities OF q ladylike personality
that might mean much financial profit
in the devious ways Of which she was
a mistress. With the ~frankness char
acteristlc OF her, she proceeded to paint
glowing pictures Of a future shared to
the undoing II ardent and fstuous
SWANS. Mary Turner listened with
curiosity. but she was in no wise
moved 10 follow such q life. even
though it did not necessitate anything
worse than a fraudulent playing at
love. So. she steadfaStly continued her
r~efusals. She would live straight.
"You will find that you are up
against an awful frost" Aggie would
declare brutally.