Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-02-14

I've .SSHNSNe peveNNt
The AdAge. "Stin waters run rssp."
y \ .bromide. but 1t describes Letter
sons character pretty thoroly. Jeffer'
son was the silent. timid. self-con-
scious little secretary of the president
Of . great corporation which is said to
own certain state.
Hartridge. the district attorney, de-
scribed Jefferson by the epigram. AZ.
ter the men had clashed. the district
attorney. who used to pride himself
on being able to read mems souls.
found that not even his insight had
been keen enough to probe the mys.
tsrious. secret pools which lay. deep
and quiet, beneath the little secreta:
rvs apologize exterior.
Hsrtridge had battered his own soul
into lump Of steel. He was young
man With q bright future. He had amF
bition. personality. aggressiveness.
and discrimination, without any of the
conscientious scruples that might
have held him from the fulfllment Of
his dreams. These dreams carried
him to the Governors chair. al, least.
and, maybe. to the United States
Senate. His aim was high. but his
soul groveled on the ground. He &C
CURED much Of the point Of view Of
the criminals whom he sent daily to
Jail In the course OF his duty.
He had become willingly the crea-,
ture Of the corporation. because, in
that way. he thought. his ambition
could be more quickly realized. Hand
In hand with corrupt judges. he work
ed for his. owners. and did his work
well. He became cynical. more de.
tsrmined. and more unrelenting, until.
finally. he grew to be like the bronze
statue Of Justice with her eyes band.
aged, which stood over the courthouse
"a menacing. hardened figure. blind
to everything. even to Justice and fair
play.
Then came Jefferson to spoil it all
Jefferson the silent. timid. selfcon.
scious little secretary with the large
family and the small salary, and a
soul In whose depths the waters ran
stin and deep.
One day the corporation overstep-
ped itself. and meddling grand jury
indicted its president and some of its
officers. A certain little newspaper.
which. altho q corporation itself.
fought other corporations valiently
and noisily for its circulation's sake.
began to. scream columns about perso-
nal. guilt and Imprisonment.
Hartridge found himself in pre-.
dicament. or course he had to nolle
the indictments against his owners.
SO he determined, as the easiest way
to do 1t safely. to have Jefferson give
false evidence on the witness stand.
But Hartridge had reckoned with
out Jefferson. The little man, when
he was. called to the district attor-
ney's, Office, stood stubbornly against
him. There was stormy scene. Hart
ridge. hammered his desk with Draw
ny fist, While Jefferson stood nervous
ly twisting his hat between his hands.
Hartridge ragged and threatened and
cajoled, but jefferson refused to- take
his orders.
At the end of the interview, Jeffer-
son went home and told his wife that
he was out of job, and that foolish
little woman, strange to say, threw
her arms around his neck and laughed
and wept on his shoulders, and called
him her brave, strong man. But, of
course, that hasn't anything to do
with the story
Jefferson testified truthfully on the
stand, and because he did so, was in
dicted himself shortly afterward for
perjury.
When justice demands victim, It
must be given her quickly. Long be-
fore the corporation cases came be-
fore the court, while they were being
shuttled around on motions and other
legal delays, Jefferson was brought be-
fore the bar.
In court in which contempt was
but little lower in the criminal scale
than murder, kept judge sat upon
the trial of an innocent man, who was
being jobbed by kept prosecutor to
satisfy the demands of Justice. JEFF
= ferson. was found guilty, and the
court sent him to the penitentiary for
as long as it had power to sentence
him.
The little man heard the sentence
with slowly whitening face. He
seemed dazed at first, and looked odd
ly at the shaft of sunlight which came
thru the tall windows OF the court
room. and fell on the table before him.
Once he turned and glanced at his
little family, which huddled hopeless
ly behind him. A tear trickled down.
his face, but he wiped 1t away with
his dusty sleeve and left a grotesoue
black mark on his white skin. The he
swallowed once or twice and licked
his lips as II they were dry.
Suddenly he asked, II he might
speak, The, Judge nodded assent, and
Hartridge found himself leaning over,
his table. while every word that JEFF
fersop said hammered its way into his