The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1913-05-03


tasks and disappear again,
knew naught but that we we're an or
dinary young man and an ordinary
young woman partaking OF the re-
freshments of the after the theater.
True 1t was of myself. that ordinary
part-but for the woman who faced
me there was a great difference. /
leaned across the table.
Il can't help saying It," had be-
sun, but you don't look like a de-
tectiye."
She laughed, intellectually.
Perhaps that's the reason I've sue
ceeded," she answered. Then sud-
denly she bent toward me, her eyes
flashing, the fire of enthusiasm. of the
hunter, In her face. 81 know what
you're going to say" was added
that it's no work for a woman who
loves the things that woman
should love; that 1t is work that will
make me old beyond my time and
make me forget the good things Of the
world. Well?" she laughed. I've
been at It nearly twelve years now,
and II 1t was going to make me old 1t
should have accomplished something
by this time. And so. one guess as
to my age"
tried to be truthful.
"Twenty-four," l hazarded.
You missed it" the eternal wom-
IN came forth in its strength then
but won't tell you how much. You
See a--1pei%eBs doesn't have to let
crime enter the soul. simply because
the business Is that Of crime tracking
But there was q time once"
The eyes lost their softness. A
glitter, cold, steel-like, supplanted the
happy brilliancy. The diamond pen
dant at her throat shook and shed
forth its sparkling radiance against
the brightness of the lights. The
hands, folded on the table. clenched
hard. I noticed that the lips we're
drawn In a straight line. I waited
and then:
when was THAR"
The being Of Alice Clement had
seemingly changed. There was bit Of
remorselessness In her face now, of
determination. Those flashing eyes
we're becoming colder and colder.
1T was the only time in my life,"
she began, that ever tracked a man
for revenge. More than one little
angle turned up in that case, for It
not only gave me the vengeance I
sought, but 1t proved to me that a
woman can be as brave as a man: It
proved to me that had the detective
instinct-and 1t also, later on, made
q municipal detective of me. II hap
psned twelve years ago. and that's a
fairly long time, but when I tell the
story the true names will be changed,
and locations will be renamed. be-
cause-well, just because, that's all"
She was still the woman, in reasons,
at least. / waited.
You remember that I laughed
when you guessed at my age" she
began. and one reason for that Is that
l have out home a little daughter. half
as old as you guessed my age to be.
When my entrance into o., detective
world began that child was babv in
-.
Years before. my husband hac
been slugged. He had been held uI
at night, on a street on the West Side
knocked down. beaten and robbed.
had seen the face Of the man who hat
done the work-and that face burned
itself into my memory with a per
manency that I knew would neve
fade. The time came when | was sur,
OF that.
MY husband had gone away on
trip that week, l remember. Since.
she added with tone Of sadness Il
her voice, he has gone on a longe
Journey from which he will not re
turn. We were not the most prosper
GUS persons in the world then, and W
lived in a fat near Chicago avenue
The neighborhood was squalid: Their
were characters around us whose r,
spect for the law was not Of the higi
est. It was a street OF mystery an
of darkness and of danger.
-And someway. in daytime as
walked along that street, or In tn
evening when l was returning frol
the little store with my purchases Il
the evening meal, my eyes were a
ways searching. always looking fl
the sight Of face that RENAME
ever clear to me. Something SCENE
always whispering to me that SON
day | would find that man whom
hunted; some day. he and. / wou
come face to face, and the. Il won
be woman against man-with prise
or death as the ending The polio
in the years that had passed. had dol
nothi1g. toward success in catchir
him. Md for that | hated them. D