Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1913-06-05

knew naught but that we were an or
dinary young man and an ordinary
young woman partaking Of the re.
freshments of the after the theater
True it 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-
gun, but you don't look like de-
tective"
She laughed, whole-heartedly,
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 Il know what
you're going to say" was added
that it's no work for 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. "Ive
been at It nearly twelve years now,
and If it was going to make me old II
should have accomplished something
by this time. And so, one guess us
TO my age"
tried to be truthful
"Twenty.four." hazarded.
You missed it" the eternal wom
an came forth in its strength then
but won't tell you how much. You
see, a person doesn't have to let
crime enter the soul, simply because
the business is that Of crime tracking
But there was a 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 It's sparkling radiance against
the brightness of the lights. The
hands, folded on the table, clenched
hard. | noticed that the lips were
drawn in a straight line. | waited
and then:
When was that?"
The being Of Alice Clement had
seemingly changed. There was bit OF
remorselessness in her face now, OF
determination. Those flashing eyes
were becoming colder and colder
1T was the only time In my life
she began, that | ever tracked mar
for revenge More than one little
angle turned up in that case, for II
not only gave me the vengeance
sought but 1t proved to me that a
woman can be as brave as a man; II
proved to me that had the detective
instinct-and it also. later on, made
a municipal detective of me. 1t hap
pened twelve years ago, and that's q
fairly long time. but when | 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
lat least. / waited.
"You remember that laughed
when you guessed at my age" she
began, land one reason for that Is tha
I have out home a little daughter, hal
as old as you guessed my age to be
When my entrance into the detective
world began that child was a baby II
farms. And she went with me-
Years before, my husband hat
been slugged. He had been held W
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 per
manency that l knew would neve
fade. The time came when was SURF
.of that.
my husband had gone away on
tprip that week, l remember Since,
she added with tone of sadness IL
her voice, "he has gone on longe
journey from which he will not re
turn. We were not the most prosper
uns persons in the world then, and W.
lived in a fat near Chicago avenue
The neighborhood was squalid; ther'
wene characters around us whose re
| spect for the law was not of the high
est It was a street of mystery ant
OF darkness and of danger.
And someway, in daytime az