The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1913-12-19

you are going to pay for every minute
of them. Mr.. Glider. There won't b.
a day or an hour that | won't remem
Der that at the last it was your wore
sent Inc to prison. And you are goinl
to pay me for that. You are going t.
pay me for the five years have starv
ed making money for you-that too
You are going to pay me for all the
things I am losing today, and
The girl thrust forth her left hand
on that side where stood the officer
So vigorous was her movement that
Cassidy's clasp was thrown off the
wrist. But the bond between the two
was not broken, for from wrist to
wrist showed taut the steel chain of
the manacles. The girl shook the links
of the handouts in a gesture stronger
than words.
"You are going to pay me for thisv'
she said. Her voice was little more
than a whisper, but it was loud in the
listeners heart Yes, you are going
to pay-for thisr'
hCy "ClO SL1hI gCdAOs LhO5C ILL
years during which Mary Turner serv
ed her sentence in Burnsing. There
was no time off for good behavior. The
! girl learned soon that the favor of those
set in authority over her could only be
won at cost against which her every
maidenly instinct revolted. So she
went through the inferno of days and
nights in a dreariness of suffering that
was deadly Naturally the life there
was altogether an evil thing There
was the material I'll ever present in the
round Of wearisome physical tofl-the
coarse. distasteful food; the hard mar
row couch: the constant. gnawing irk-
someness of Imprisonment, away from
ligh~ 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 at 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
sure knowledge as to the difficulties
WOulu DCoCL IhC ChOlL anu III IhC
face of the temptations offered to fol-
low an easier path.
There was, for, example. Aggie
Lynch, fellow convict. with whom
she had slight degree of acquaintance.
nothing more This young woman,
criminal by training, offered allure
ments Of illegitimate employment in
the outer world when they should be
free. Mary endured the companion
ship with this prisoner because a sixth |
sense proclaimed the fact that here
was one 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 Il 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 surprising and naugh-
BY world. She had been convicted of
blackmail. and she made no pretense
even of innocence. Instead. she was
Inclined to boast over her ability to
BAN boozle 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 wisest Of
men.
She had been reared in a criminal
family. which must excuse much.
Long ago she had lost track of her
father Her mother she had never
known. Her one relation was a broth
err of high standing as a pickpocket.
leading on men to make fools of them
selves over her. to their everlasting re-
gret 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 a ladyike personality
that might mean much financial profit
IN the devious ways of which she was
4 mistress With the frankness char
lcteristic of her. she proceeded to paint
glowing pictures of a future shared to
he undoing of ardent and fatuous
swains Mary Turner listened with
curiosity. but she was in no wise
moved to follow such a life. even
though it did not necessitate anything
worse than a fraudulent playing at
owe. So. she steadfastly continued her
.efusals. She would live straight
"You will find that you are up
against an awful frost" Aggie would
leclare brutally.
Mary found the prophecy true. Back
n New York she experienced pow
,rty more ravaging than any she had
Known in those five lean years Of her
working in the store. She had been
absolutely penniless for two days. and
food through the gnawing
hours, when she found employment In
milliner's shop. Followed a blessed
interval in which she worked content
,dly, happy over the meager stipend.
ince it served to give her shelter and
God honestly earned
The police informed Mary's employer
her record as a convict.
md she was at once discharged The
Unfortunate victim of the law came
,erilously close to despair then. Yet.
Ter spirit triumphed. and again she