The Washington times., 1921-02-22

cannot believe 1t is too late to
make atonement ! am not yet thirty.
and l cannot believe my life Is done.
| cannot believe that l shall never be
able to face the world again with a
chance to prove that l am worthy or
respect, because j want that chance
above everything else in the world. /
now plead for fair play.
PICTURED WRONGLY AS
wANTON, SHE SAYS.
1t isn't fair that while 1 am help
less, waiting for trial, that / should
be condemned beyond my deserts. 1
have been pictured as a wanton who
became a mans sweetheart for the
money and luxuries ne could give her.
" have been pictured as q woman who
/ heartlessly lured a man from his wife
! and children. / cannot bear to have
these things said. They are not true.
Those who know my life, even those
who are unfriendly to me, know they
are not true.
If there Is one thing / can say with
pride, it Is that / have never been
parasite woman. 1 have worked hard
for every bit Of happiness / have had
in my life. l worked side by side
with the man / loved while he made
his fortune.
helped him as he climbed step
by step in his career. l do not say
this with bitterness. / do not be-
grudge my labors for him. / loved
him then and / wished no greater
happiness than to work for him. He
had been the only man in my life.
In the ten years I was with him
I never had luxuries. l had comforts.
Yes, when we Travelled, we stopped at
L., n
Washington we stayed mt fashionable
places. But those familiar with my
life in Ardmore know that l did not
have even comforts here.
was only fifteen when l met him.
He tried to win me even then-to be-
guile me with the flattery and gifts
of a world-wise man, and i, mere
school girl with curls. He bought me
candy and perfumes and other things
that would appeal to a girl of that
age, but thank God, I was more in
terested in boys of my own age then,
and this man of forty seemed quite
ancient to me.
LEFT SCHOOL At SIXTEEN.
At sixteen I had to leave school to
60 to work. / do not think / was
as frivolous as most girls of that
age. There was little time for frivol-
ity in my home. My parents had had
a hard struggle to make both ends
meet, and from childhood / knew
would have to become a wage Garner.
How proud ! felt when i took home
my first weeks wages. I had gone
into a store at Lawton as bookkeeper.
At seventeen my life became linked
with Jake j.. lannon's. He had per-
sisted in his attention during the two
~
pressed his attentions upon me on
every occasion. He told me / was
beautiful. No one had ever told me
that before. He did everything that
would turn the head of a girl of that
age.
was a small-town girl. Remember,
I had never been outside Of Oklahoma.
| could conceive of no adventure more
wonderful than trip to Kansas City
or Fort Worth. They seemed as far
away and as inaccessible as the North
Pole to my simple mind.
But despite my ignorance and in
experience, | was not an easy victim
to this man, old enough to be my
father. He had to persist to win me,
for rooted in me was the ideal held
before the average girl--that the goal
for every woman is marriage and that
her love anu virtue are 10 De Surren-
dered only to the man God has des-
tined for her to wed.
FULL OF ROMANCE
LIKE MOST GIRLS.
Like most girls Of seventeen, I was
full OF romance. / had a dream man
young and splendid-who some day
would come a-wooing and carry me
far away to love and be loved al.
ways and always.
Both my father and mother were
orphans from childhood. My mother
had had lonely existence until my
father came into her life. lie was
her first and only sweetheart. She
waited for him FIVE years. My ro-
nance was to be as sweet as theirs.
but, of course, not without its flaws
Without these, IL was the most beau
tiful In all the world.