The Washington herald., 1914-03-22

Butcher had 10 repeat the song. Many
convict's thoughts went back to q home
long lost. and until then forgotten, as he
listened to the never fading song of long
ago.
Mary and Shorty sat together. the ftiried
flag of the Army across their knees, their
hands tightly clasped. both enjoying the
amateur vaudeville as children would
have enjoyed 1t.
Then came the great treat that was to
close the show and bring an end to
Christmas Day. There were men in the
audience that had been away from the
outside world for thirty years. The out
side world was to be brought to them by
the movies" A cheer of welcome went
up as a white curtain was dropped over
the stage and a circle OF light struck it.
A comedy and a melodrama were given
from the films. and then began the news
service afforded by one of the most i'm
portant Of the film r akers in the country.
The convicts beheld scenes OF flood and
fire as they had been enacted in actual
life. a splendid military pageant, the
launching Of a battleship. and the street
life Of New York. London, Berlin, Paris,
and other cities the world over. Land
ana sea having Deen Travelled. tnes MOVIE
man announced in a bulletin flashed to
the sheet that the final pictures would
show the progress made in aerial explora-
ton.
Splendid flights OF aviators at Hemp
stead Plains, Long Island, June 20 read
bulletin.
Shorty had begun to lose interest as
the time for parting approached, and his
head was bowed low against the back of
the bench before him. He held Mary's
little hands in his and was pressing them
to his lips.
The film showed the crowds about the
hangers, the special police driving them
back so that the machines might be
brought to the field. A biplane shot aloft
and then another and the audience
watched. spe4bound. as the two machines
SCARED through the air in exhibition
flights. Then a third machine was
pushed from its hangar and a group Of
men having 1t in charge worked up to
the foreground OF the picture and, evil
IDENTIFY, close to the cinematograph cam
era The foreman Of the gang raised a
hand and beckoned to someone on the
edge of the crowds. The machine
seemed to have become stalled in a strip
OF torn ground. A short. heavily built,
and poorly clad man made his way to
the foreman in answer TO the summons.
Every feature Of his face was sharply
outlined. For a moment or two he stood
staring straight out at the audience as
the foreman talked to him.
There was a hum OF whispers in the
audience.
There's Little Joe. all right" one con-
vict said to another.
Its Shorty. Little Joe. Must have been
just before he was pinched. Amt II
wonderful?' ran the whispered COM
ments.
Shorty heard his name whispered and
looked up just as the two little hands he
had been holding were whisked from his
and the flag Of the Army swept upward
from his knees.
Miracle Mary was on her feet, her face
as white as chalk, but light that fairly
blazed shining in her eyes. She hunS
wide the Banner of the Lord above her
blue bonnet and her voice uplifted in a
cry of glorious triumph:
THE MIRACLE"
Again her voice lifted. shaking but car
rying to every corner OF the great hall:
THE MIRACLE!"
Sixteen hundred convicts turned at ths
strange cry. and looked at the girl waving
her Salvation Army nag above them.
They shifted uneasily and their exclama-
tions of astonishment made a rumbling
sound.
The miracle has come" shouted Sergt
Mary Meakins. There it is in the mov-
the date is June 90. God promised me to
save him. He has saved him. The pic
lures prove his alibi. All the people there
with him prove that he wasn't lying when
he was on trial. oh, praise God for His
mercy! Oh. p-r-a-i-s-e-"
She fell back in Shorty's arms in a
faint of happiness and religious ecstacy.
Holding Mary tight to him, Shorty
stood. staring at the screen. stricken
dumb and sent reeling with joy at this
strange play Of fate. He saw the crowds
shifting about the field and the aero
planes landing with many a bounce He
saw himself now here and now there IN
his humble pursuit OF odd jobs and he
knew that the official records OF that
days aviation events would prove beyond
question that il was impossible for him
to have been anywhere near Riverside
Drive and the Hartley residence when il
was broken into and robbed.
When Mary regained her senses she
put her arms about Shorty's neck and
cried until she found relief from her over
abundance of joy. The warden rushed
to the group of Salvation Army soldiers,
not knowing what all the excitement
meant. Mary and Shorty told him and,
still in his Christmas mood. he promised
to send the news TO the governor by tel
egraph that very night
The convict5 were falling in line as the
words Good Night were flashed to the
curtain and. as they completed their tier
the news of Shorty's deliver
ance passed from lip TO lip.
Il says three cheers for Miracle Mary"
called a voice. and the cheers were given
Is the men Moved on their way to their
cells.
Mary was promising Shorty to be back
1t the prison in the morning to get him
Or to wait until his release was signed
when one Of her convict recruits touched
he warden on the arm and said:
Say, warden, don't you think you'd
,etter put Shorty's film in the Office safe
onight? There amt any thief would
steal it il he knew what it meant to
lifer-anyhow no thief present would
tut it might be best to be on the safs
ide"