The Denver star., 1917-12-08
Without Sin

"And thsy lived happily ever after
wrots Mildred Newcomb. Then -ahl
damned down her desk, pushed hei
pompadour back or her forehead and
6ung hsrsalf on the bed In hsr prstt,
bedroom.
Il seemed to her a. II shs weel
asleep long time when the inceasanl
tinkle Of the telephone beside her bed
aroused her.
"0h. 1t r. you. Mr.. Norrisr' shs an
swsFsd. very sweetly. what's thati
Pardon me. I didn't quite get what
you said. Oh. yes. you have the lsttss
ready. Thank you, 20 mucAl Yea.
Just hr1shei the last line Of It toby.
I can hardly wait to got your lsetss
md start for Chicago"
Tor the past three years Mldred
Nswcomb had dabbled In stories. A
the only daughter Of . prospeeous
middle West farmer, she had had ex-
csptional educational opportunities.
Almost every week since her gradua-
ton from the state college she had
written some story or other.
The editor Of the local paper. . vsry
close frisnd Of the family, decided
20 be brutally frank with her. And
% when she handed him one Of her
literary attempts some months befors.
he told her the truth:
"1nss Mildred, a writer Of fiction
requires moro than a good education.
A writer must come down to the peo-
pie. live their lives. breathe their air.
The successful writer must rub shoul-
0eEs with the great. throbbing human
tty Of which the world is composed
You know but one kind Of people
Tho people in your world are small
people. The men splitting into the com-
muniU sawdust cuspidor at the gen
sral store win tell any stranger whs
win buy few cigars or several drinks
q soda-pop Just what girls have gone
wrong In your section. They viii tell
yuu eagerly why Doctor Blair lost his
license and any other bit oe slandefous
Information you desire.
'You don't know women. You know
the school girls Of your class and you
know these extravagant country won,-
en- whose greatest ambition Ii to pur-
chase more expensive silk stockings
than any other member Of the mail
order club. When you have had some
real rubs With the red-blooded women
Of this world. write q story, and II I
think 1t q good enc. I shall give you
O letter Of Introduction to Mr.. Mar
Vim, editor Of the New York Chatter.
Until then, wen forget literature"
Mildred was Just twenty-thrss. She
could not bs called a beautiful siri.
nor even q pretty one. Her hair was
rather straight and Of q washed-out
brown shade. Her complexion was do
e1detly sallow. But her excellent
grooming and exquisite, daintineas
made the casual observer think hes
- mighty pretty GIRL"
1t was almost two weeks after Mr..
Norris comment before anything hap
peoed in River county. The Chris
tan Reform club Of River county
called q special meeting. It seems
that somehow or other Red Letter
Kate had purchased ticket for the
annual Sunday school excursion. She
wore q veil ~ she boarded the Ms
assippi excursion boat, and no one
recognized her. Everyone thought her
- perfectly respectable woman" un-
Ill
Well, Mildred was on the sxcur-
sion, too. It wasn't many moments
before everyone on the excursion
know their boat had taken IRE. Panic
osased the pleasure-seeksrs. Hfeboats
wsre lowered. LAfebelts were torn
nrom their places in the excitement
which prevailed. The minister. scarce
h recovered frou the recent death a
his wife, begged God to spare him his
fttle child. He had searched the boat
fran1cally for him until the guards
had forced him into q ufeboat.
Several hsroic men plunged into
the river when they had landed On
shors, but only to return since thsy
could not get anywhere near the burn
ing vessel.
Then q woman. tore OF hsf. SKIRT
her shiftwaist and shoes and plunged
headlong into the river. On and o.
she swan. until she disappeared from
sight.
The GOOD Christians on the shoee
eg1od out to God to give her strength.
Through ths marine slass someone
thought she oaw . tiny. curly head
above q chaffod beard TO Which tie
woman seemed to be clins1ng.
TAeu q Woman's form seemed b
ufxusgis IN the river away from ~