The daily Alaskan., 1921-09-13
CLIFFORD S. RAYMOND
Illustrated by IRWIN MYERS

Illustrated by IRWIN MYERS Copyright by George II. Doran Co.
 The warden was affected by the news of Mir. SIdney's death. He re- membered him as the pleasant man who had called one day. It seemed to me that our visit, so shortly after Mir. Sldney's death. must appear as a thing strangely without purpose 10 the war den, but Jed was so apparently right in asking for silence at this time that I yielded to his prudential course.
 The right and wrong of the Dobson affair was in the grave. Our depar- lure from the penitenJIary was awk- ward. thought. The warden did not seem to find 1t so.
 On the way back Jed presented, vl- clousIy. the sharp edges of our trouble.
 oYou have that fellow Morgan to deal with" he said. If you are going to be morallstlc, you will ruin the lives of two ladies who have trusted you. Morgan has to be bought, You are not doing anyone any hurt now. You are no. keeplng an innocent man in the penitentiary. You are not disturbing Justice or defeating punishment You are taking the surcSt means to the protection of the innocent by bribns this man to silence
 Of all the obvious things I might have said to this man who for a long time had tcrrorized the Sidney house hold, none seemed pertinent. They would have been imprecationS and rc- p-oachcs. They would have dealt with the past. He, as if he had clean slate, was dealing with the fu- ture. It did Mrs. Sidney and Isohel no good 10 tell Jed that he had been A rascal and was unfit to advise.
 "If you go to Mrs. sidney" saiA Jed "shp will sacrifice herself and everybody else. Go to Miss Sidney and tell her that the family must pay Mir. Morgan S2O.OOO. He'll want S1o.- ODO. He'll take twenty. Give it 10 him in five annual inStallmcnrS. At the end of five years hell be harm less. You and Miss Sidney win have established yourselves. and Morgan'S story will be a dricd-up walnut"
 The proposal was so repulSive that l did not answer Jed. He said great deal more in a great deal of bitter ness. chiefly against me and what he conceived to be my moraiStlc ideas.
 When we had returned to Hartley house, Jed said:
 "Do at least one thing, ask Miss Sidney what she prefers"
 I had no right and no inclination 10 make a decision which concerned the family and not me I did uo, want to speak to Mrs. Sidnry-Jed was right, her conscience mtEh- permit only the answer which would expose the family to consequences. I spoke to IsobeL
 We compromised with Morgan. Jed again was right. Morgan wanted >5o.- OOO. He took S20ooo.
 Isobel had been mSiStent. She had been Impatient of any suggestion that there could be anything immoral or dangerous in such compromising. Fem mine morals are scliSh'y protective of things near and dear. A general. ized immortality. an unrabohIed !m- morality. Is 10 women unlmportgn,. T. Is less than unimrortaEt; it is impoS- slhle: il does nor exist. This is a part of the instinct which uourisheS and protects the infant.
 "I don't understand you at all John," she said. "IS there any Ques- tlon in your mind that Te ought to protect my fathers memory and my mothers peace of mind? You admit that even now this man Morgan can wreck the things We hold dearest You admit that a small payment can protect these things. You know that the one thing of which We have more than We need is money, and You ad- init that We are not doing any person any harm by using it to bribe thIS man Morgan"
 Of course, I had to give in.