The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-12-05

gently tender. When inaily shs was
able to stand and to walk with tn
support Of bin arm she went forward
slowly al his side without ~ much
even IN 4 question Of whittier.
Ioe tiarxon had performed. peshaps.
hix first action with no thought Of self
ut the back Of It. he had risks.d his
life to save that Of u stranger. The
sensation was at once novel and thrill
lng. Since It wax 10 agreeable he
meant to prOlOng the glow Of self xat.
~isfactiOn by continuing to care for this
waif Of the river.
Joe tlarson. the notorious forger. led
the dripping girl eastward through the
squaIid streets until ut last they came
to an adequately lighted avenue. and
there a taxicab was found. II carried
them farther north. and to the eaxt to
an apartment house that was rAther
Imposing. set In q street Of humber
dwellings.
Here Carson paid the fare and then
helped the girl to alight and on into
the hallway. Mary went with him
quite unafraid. though now with 4
growing curiosity.
The two entered and went slowly up
three fights Of stairs. On the landing
beyond the third aiGht the door OF Z
real DAT stood open. and In the door,
way appeared the dgure Of q woman.
We'll. Joe. who's the skirtT' this
person demanded IN the man and his
charge halted before her. Then,
abruptly. the round. baby-like face Of
the woman puckered In amusement.
Her voice rose shrill. well. II It amt
Mary Turner"
"Aggie!" was the reply. !.
In the time that followed Mary lived
in the dat which Aggie Lynch occu-
pied with her brother. Jim. Z pickpock.
ct much esteemed among his fellow
craftsmen. The period wrought trans
formations Of q radical and bewilder-
ing o r In both the appearance and
the character Of the girl.
Joe Carson. the forger. had long been
with Agile and her broth
er. though be considered them far be-
meath him In the social scale. since
their criminal work was not Of that
high kind on which he prided himself.
But as he cast about for some woman
to whom be might take the hapless
girl he had rescued his thoughts fell
on Aggie. He was relieved rather
than otherwise to learn that there was
already an acquaintance between the
two women. and the fact that his
charge had served time in prison did
not influence him one jot against her.
Mary let herself drift. It seemed to
her that she had abandoned herself to
fate in that hour when she threw her
self into the river. Afterward. with
out any volition on her part, she had
been restored to life and Get within an
environment new and strange to her.
in which soon. to her surprise. she
q vivid pleasure. So she
fought no MORE. but left destiny to
work its will. unhampered BY her fu-
tile strivings.
For the first time in her life. thanks
to the hospitality Of Aggie Lynch. Sc
cretly REINFORCED from the funds of
Joe Carson. Mary found herself living
in luxurious idleness. while her every
wish could be gratified by the merest
mention of it. She was fed on the
dnintiest Of fare. she vas clothed with
the most delicate richness for the first
time as to those more mysterious gar
ments which women love. In addition.
there were is many Of books and mag
azines as she could wish.
Her mind. long starved like her body.
seized avidly on the nourishment thus
afforded. In this interest Aggie had
share-was perhaps Il little envi-
GUS over Mary's absorption in printed
pages. Aggie took a vast pride in her
guest. with the unmistakable air Of
elegance. and she dared to dream of
great triumphs to come. though as
yet she carefully avoided any sugges-
tion to Mary of wrongdoing.
In the end the suggestion came from
Mary Turner herself. to the great sur
prize Of Aggie. and. truth tn tell. Of
herself.
There were two factors that chiefly
Influenced her decision. The first was
due to the feeling that. since the world
had rejected her. she need no longer
concern herself with the worlds opin-
ion or retain any scruples 0ver It.
Back of this lay her bitter. sentiment
toward the man who had been the d.
rect cause Of her imprisonment. Ed.
ward Glider.
The factor that was the immediate
cause Of her decision on an irregular
mode Of life was an editorial In one
Of the daily newspapers. This was .
scathing arraignment Of q master In
high finance. The point Of the writ
er's attack was the grim sarcasm for
jss1ch methods of thieveey a. are Kept
within the law: That phrase held the
girls fancy. and she read the article
ewnfn with a. u~,,}Ckouod iuforout Than