The San Francisco call., 1913-09-11

and that the store detective must
be discharged for intolerable inso-
/ lence"
Glider bounced up from his chair
angrily.
'Tn be damned If I'll discharge
McCracken." he yociferated. glartng
on Smithson. who shrank visibly.
But that mild and meek man had
a certain strength of pertinacity. Be-
sides. in this case. he had been having
1lultitudinous troubles of his own.
which could be ended only by his
employers placating Of the offended
, kleptomaniac.
But about the apology, Mr.. Gil
der" he reminded. speaking very def
erentially, yet with insistence-
BUSINESS instinct triumphed over
the magnate's irritation, and his face
cleared
"oh, I'll apologize he said with
a wry smile of discontinue. III
make things even up a bit when /
get an apology from Gaskell. I
shrewdly suspect that that estimable
of my baking. from his wtfe's recipe.
And his will be an honest apol-
ogy-wl1ich mine won't. not by a
damned sight" With the words, he
left the room. in his wake hugely
relieved Smithson.
Alone in the Office, Sarah neglected
her work for q few minutes TO brood
over the startling contrast Of events
that had just forced itself on her at
tention. She was not a girl given to
the analysis of either persons or
things. but in this instance the move
ment of affairs had come close to
her, and she was compelled to some
depth Of feeling by the two aspects
of life on which today she looked.
- 4. II l. -
girl under the urge of poverty had
stolen. That thief had been promptly
arrested, finally she had been tried,
| had been convicted, had been SEN
fenced to three years in prison. In
the other case. a woman of wealth
had stolen. There had been no pun
ishment. A euphemism of klepto-
as sufficient excuse for her crime. A
polite lie had been written to her hus-
band. banker OF power in the city.
! To her, the proprietor of the store
was even now apologizing in courte-
Gus phrases Of regret. And
Mary Turner had been sentenced to
three years in prison. Sadie shook
her head in doIorous doubt, as she
again bent over the keys of her type
writer. Certainly. some happenings
in this world of ours did not seem
quite fair.
CHAPTER v.
The Victim of the Law
It was on this same day that Sarah.
on one of her numerous trips through
the store in behalf OF Glider. was ac-
costed by salesgirl. whose name.
Helen Morris. she chanced to know.
II was In spot somewhere out of
the crowd, so that for the moment
the two were practically alone. The
salesgirl showed signs of embarrass-
ment as she ventured TO lay a detain-
ing hand on sarahs arm, but she
maintained her position. despite the
secretary's manner OF disapprovai
What. on earth do you want?"
Sarah inquired snappishly.
The salesgirl put her question at
once.
what did they do to Mary Tur-
ner?"
"oh, thatf' the secretary exclaimed.
with increased impatience over the
delay. for she was very busy, as al
ways. You Will all know soon
enough"
Tell me now The voice of the
girl was singularly compelling; there
was something vividly impressive
about her just now, though her pallid,
prematureIy mature face and the thin
figure in the regulation black dress
and white apron showed ordinarily
only Insignificant Tell me now
she repeated, with monotonous en-
phasis that somehow moved Sarah
to obedience against her will. greatly
to her own surprise.
"They sent her to prison for three
years" she answered, sharply.
esThree years?" The saiesgirl had
repeated her words in a tone that was
inieffnab Bile vet a tone vehement in
its incredulous questioning. Three
years7' she said again, as one re-
fusing to believe.
YES" Sarah said, impressed by the
girls earnestness; three years.
Good God" There was no irrever-
ance in the exclamation that broke
from the girls lips. Instead. only
tense horror that touched to the
roots of emotion.
| Sarah regarded this display Of feel