The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-12-09
THE POLLARDS OF WEST GAP
By Henry Payson Dowst

Rocky Bottom Railway, but grinder. and he stole twenty-five thousand dol East and escaped and the authorities have been looking for him for the last seven years. In some way or other, they failed to identify him as William D. Wilton.
 The interior of the West Gan Opera House was as still as a mouse. The intensity of the attention paid Ms. Clarke Pollard, slender, refined, painful Wilton squirnled in his chair, but there were hands upon his arms so that his scope was limited.
 "I know all this,'' said Lucy, be cause he is my stepfather. He mar ried my mother when I was five wears old; squandered her money; taught me to steal and pick pockets; and finally ran away with the funds of his employers and deserted me to the charity of our neighbors when I was twelve years old. If there is a. and thief in this opera-house, you can see him sitting between my hus band and MT. Burgess.
 ''The lessons of dishonesty which he taught me as child I unlearned when he deserted me. The people with whom 1 lived moved into New Pollard and I were married. They were extremely poor. l have one un- cle who occasionally mailed me a, check on account of a debt he owed
  tors I went to work as cashier in d restaurant where I was employed when I met my husband, so you see, I am not Q society girl
 MT Pollard and I came here al most penEiless, and I knew he was working hard to save the railway he had in the world. I sent piece 1 of jewelry that my mother left me. | the last nemento l had of her. to my ! friends in New York to be pawned nd in he TT l finance his trip to Schenectady and | New York in the interests of the plan l he has told you of today.
 T am sure my husband has been 1 told that I stole Mrs. Regents brooch, | but he didn't believe it. Yet I did not tell him where I got the money | East. He has trusted me, has been loyal to me through all this trouble. sacrificing his interests. and rislling 1 the success of his plan rather than | suffer any smirch upon my good name. So you see could not sit idle l and allow an interruptions promoter to bludgeon us and the people of this vicinity out of thousands or even 1 millions.
 "I have not acted in this way or said what I have said in spirit of evil deeds have brought their own revenge. He made me a thief as 9. little girl and it was my skill as a pickpocket, taugh me by him, which l was turned against him to bring about his downfall.
 My object in making this confess sion is to help my husband first of all. If I have sacrificed my stand ing here in West Gap, I cannot help it. But in helping MT. Pollard I am helping every bondholler and stock holder of the railway company, and am serving the community where I have been received with courtesy, hospitality and kindness, where my l husband was born, and where I am sure he desires to live a life of use fulness. I hope I shall be a help to him always, and I thank you very speech"
 Lucy turned abruptly and went iswiftly to Clarke Pollard, who kissed approval; they didn't pay enough at tention to John Grinder. alias Will liam D. Wilton. to prevent his sneak ing out the stage door and escaping in his Eig Pazzarro car; but he was caught in couple of days in another State and subsequently sent to serve a ten years penitentiarY sen tence. it didn't matter so very much.
 At the stockholders meeting that evening Lucy Pollard was elected. along with Clarke, to the board of directors of the w. G. and R. B. Railway; and Clarke was made pres ident by the new board.
 Of course he hasn't had time as yet to prove himself the young Ma ? poleon of transportation; but he draws his salary regularly and con- ducts the affairs of the road hon. estIy-Morehouse F. Burgess con- tends that he does it brilliantly. But he qualities the commendation by saying that of course he mightnt do so we'll if, in general managing the W. G. and R. B. he didn't pay Lucy to general-manage him. This may be true-any married lady will tell you
 Clarke. on the othe rhand, will deny being managed at all, but be- lieves himself governed by his better impulses He was explaining this at one time to his old friend MeldOn, of the Superb National Bank.
 Your impulses are all right, Clarke,'' says the old banker but maybe they work better in railroad | ing than they would in banking. ], Anyhow you are mistaken unless you give that better impulse another
 name. I'd call it Lucy''
 , So Clarke just grins cheerfully and 2 says he doesn't care, it's probably the same thing in the long run. THE END.
 Copyright 1922, Thompson Feature l Service.)