The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1914-05-07

l4Tncn, fClOW convict. Win WnOm
she had slight degree of acquaintance.
nothing more. This young woman, Il
criminal by training, offered alllTa-
nents of illegitilnate employment in
the outer world when they should he
free. Mary endured the companios-
ship with this prisoner because Il sixth
sense proclaimed the fact that here
was one 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 Il sort to
widen often in demure wonder over
most things in a surprising and naugh-
ty world. She had been convicted of
b1ackmail, and she made no pretense
even of innocence. Instead, she was
inclined to boast over her ability to
bamhoozle men at her will. She was
a natural actress of the ingenue role,
and in that pose she could unfailingly
beg,1ie the heart of the Wisest of
worldly men.
She had been reared in q criminal
family, which must excuse much.
Tong ago she. had lost track Of her
father. Her mother she had mover
Known. Her one relation was Il broth
er of high standing as a piczpockct.
One principal reason of her success in
leading ON men to make fools of them
selves over her, to their everlasting re-
gret 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 ladylile personality
that might mean much financial profit
In the devious ways of which she was
a mistress. With the frankness char
acteristic of her, she proceeded to paint
glowing pictures Of q future shared to
the undoing Of ardent and fatuous
. swains. Mary Turner listened with
curiosity, but she was in no wise
moved to follow such 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 bl'utally.
Mary found the prophecy true. Back
in New York she experienced pow
erty more rayaging than any she had
known in those five lean years of her
working in the store. She had been
l,e.p 1+ojy y,nnni1nuC. fpl, two 6ovC and
without food through the gnaWing
hours. when she found employment in
a miIliner's shop. Followed a blessed
interval in which she worked content
ed]y, happy over the meager stipend,
since it served to give her shelter and
food honestly earned
The police informed Maly's employer
concerning her record as convict,
and she was at once discharged. The
unfortunate victim of the law came
perilously close. to despair then. Yet
her spirit triumphed, and again she
persevered in that resolve to live
straight. She found a cheap position
in cheap shop, only to be again per-
secuted by the police, so that she
speedily lost the place.
A third time she obtained work ana
there, after little. she told her en-
poyer, a candy manufacturer in a
small way, the truth as to her having
been in prison. The man had kindly
heart and he ran little risk, so he al
lowed her to remain. When the police
called his attention to the girls Grim
inal record lie paid no heed to their al
vice against retaining her services
The police brought pressure to bear on
the man. They even called in the as
sistance of Edward Glider himself
who obligingly wrote very severe let
ter to the girls employer. In the end
though unwillingly enough, he dismiss
ed Mary from his service.
It was then that despair did come
upon the girl. She had tried with al
the strength of her to live straight
Yet, despite her innocence, the worle
would not let her live according to hel
own conscience It demanded that she
be the criminal it had branded her-l
she were to live at all. She still walk
ed the streets falterinyly, seeking some
place, but her heart was gone from
the quest. Came an hour when sh'
thought of the river and was glad.
So she went through the long stretcf
of i'll lighted streets, crossed some rail
road tracks to pier, over which sh'
hurried to the far end, where it pro
jected out to the fiercer currents OF TIL
Hudson. There. without giving her
self moments pause for reflection o
hesitation, she leaped out as far a
her strength permitted into the coll
waters. But In that final second nat
ural terror in the face Of death over
came the lethargy Of despair-a shrleI
burst from her lips.
On the side of the pier man hat
just tied up motorboat. He stood VI
in alarm at the cry and was just II
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