Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-12-18

she said. Fer voice was little more
than a whisper, but it was loud in the
listeners heart. Yes. you are going
to pay-for this!"
They We're grim years. those three
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 owe her could only be
won at a 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 toil-the
coarse. distasteful food: the hard mar
row couch; the constant. gnawing irz-
someness 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 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
that would beset the effort and in the
face of the temptations offered to fol
low an easier path.
There was, for example. Aggi,
Lynch, a fellow convict. with whom
she had a slight degree of acquaintance.
nothing more. This young woman. a
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 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 a surprising and naugh-
ty world. She had been convicted of
blackmail. and she made no p%retense
even 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 wisest Of
worldly 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
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. to 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 a ladylike personality
that might mean much financial profit
in the devious ways of whicl>she was
a mistress. With the frankns6.S char
acteristic Of her. she proceeded to paint
glowing pictures Of a future shared to
SWANS. 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
love. So. she steadfastly continued her
refusals. She would live straight.
"You will find that you are up
against an awful frost" Aggie would
declare brutally.
Mary found the prophecy true. Back
in New York she experienced a pow
erty 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
without food through the gnawing
hours. when she found employment in
n milliner's shop. Followed a blessed
interval in which she worked content
eddy, happy over the meager stipend,
since 1t served to give her shelter and
food honestly earned,
The police informed Mary's employer
concerning her record ms II convict,
and she was mt once discharged. The
unfortunate victim OF the law came
p~erilously close TO despair then, Yet.
her spirit %triumphed, and again she
perseyered IN that resolve to live
straight She found u cheap position
In u cheap shop, only 10 be again per.