The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-05-31
MAGGIE HALE
" w YuAT is your name"
NM Maggie Hale"
Wv And your occupation?'
Fnr n frnctinn nf n mlnnt

Wv And your OccupatiOnE
For Il fraction of a minute
she hesitated ana then answered light
~ 81 am ont Of employment just at
present. was private secretary to
Theodore Barker"
4 flicker of mutual amusement shot
from Langdon's eyes to those Of the
Prosecutor, and the spectators with a
whispering rustic Of interest leaned
forward to stare, for Texas" Barker
was a striking figure in the city
His millions amaSsed by the mascu-
line love Of taking Il chance" would
have made him notable anywhere, but
Texas the gambler enlarged that
notability to the spectacular, though
his constant clashes with the police
had recently robbed him Of some OF
his more exclusive patronage.
TO Mary Page alone the name Bark
or meant nothing. and the sudden Gag
efuess In her manner was due not to
the expectation of Il bit Of sensational
testimony, but because this was the
woman she hsA been supposed to be
on the night when the police dragged
hel TO Jail
This new witness was, however not
a woman to bring from Mary anything
but m uncomfortable shudder of aver
sion. For she was Of the hard-mouth-
ed, bold-oyei type whose profession
| it IS TO make herself attractive TO men.
She was the dccoy of the great gam
bling hell back of the Hotel Republic,
and Mary wondered vaguely whGs on
earth she could possibly know of the
tragedy, that after so many weeks
seemed no nearer a solution.
The Prosecutor wondered much the
same thing, and the Judge made a
mental note to warn Langdon that
witnesses whose characters were not
beyond reproach detracted from rather
than added to case.
And lie made that resolution in the
face of the twinkle o1amuscd recoe-
milton that Maggie Hae had shot him
when she took the stand. For all
kinds and all classes met at Barker's,
aud it was with this famous place that
Langdon's first Question dealt
AS secretary to Mr.. Barker you
must have beeh frequently at his es-
adjustment beck of the Hotel Repub-
lie. were you hot?'
Il was" The witness answered read
ily but mostly in the daytime I
had my Evenings free"
There We're evenings when you were
there, though, were there notT'
"0h, lbts!' Her tone was freighted
with easy amusement. Sometimes
met up with party for dinner or a
show and then we'd drift about to try
and bank at The House."
SHE smiled, and several men in the
courtroom smiled too.
Miss Hale, were you friend of
James PolockT"
81 knew him; knew him pretty well.
He was at Barker's a good bit"
Were you at Barker's on the night
that he was shoty"
Eyes, but early. Somebody tipped me
= off that the air was fresher at a caba.
ret
a Singer of repressed mirth filtered
through the room at this hint of the
big raid, but Langdon frowned.
Had YOU seen Mr. Pollock that
day."
mo, Not since the night before"
Miss Hale, isn't it true that you
( were to have joined the supper party
for the company that Mr.. Pollock and
Mr. Daniels were givng?"
mo. wanted to, but he said It was
purely theatrical Then ] bet him
would come anyway
why were YOU particularly anylou.
TO attend that party--on Mr.. Pollock.
accountp
mot on your life! knew that there
was going to be some crooked work
pulled of, but couldn't prove it. l.
! had erudge against someone whC
was in on it, and / wanted to queer
The deal"
"Will You tell us please what thai
deal wasp
The woman twisted her hands TO
Cether nervously. and her eyes dartet