The Washington times., 1925-06-15
New and Amazing Serial Describes One
Mans Long But Losing Battle
for Freedom.

COULDN'T understand why she
= had sent for me. It was not
until long afterward that I came
to the realization, and even then
I knew that Ruth had been wan
dering through life a lost soul,
frantically seeking real love. crav-
ing TO find some one who could
understand her and who could
and would love her for herself
alone.
Ruth stood before me, waiting.
Something forlorn in her image
held me. I glanced about the
room, with its rich crimson hang
ings. its subdued lights. There
was nothing combining about 1t.
yet It suddenly oppressed me
with its intolerable quiet-Quiet
as prison.
It was a prison. She was
convict as much as ever I had
been. The notion stirred me. We
were two trapped lost souls. We
were lost souls. I told myself
again. and why shouldn't we
Ruth and take what we could
Of happiness before the end came?
I know now how fatally I was
arguing with myself, plying the
two Of US. saw Ruth wistful
and pathetic, I saw myself lonely
and told myself I was unhappy.
Just those few short months ago
had been In q prison cell and
now was standing in the midst
Of ali this luxury. / lost my
balance.
At that moment took one
more step back to prison. It was
another decision as fatal and as
irrevocable as the one had
taken weeks before in that Oak
land hotel room when / accepted
the glass OF whiskey from .Es-
teIle. / was to take many more
steps In the years to come. some
Of them toward prison. some Of
them away. but none more fateful
Than fhis-in these two or three
seconds while I stoeda face to
face with Ruth in that room at
Jessie Hayman's.
I looked at Ruth. Something
skeptical and worried fitted
across her face. moved toward
her. put, out my hand. and said:
AN right. Ruth. I'll stick"
CHAPTER XIV.
During the spring OF 1919 our
editor, Fremont Older, was obliged
to go to New York on business
connected with the paper. He
had previously sent the manu-
script Of the serial to Mitchell
KIMBERLEY. the welI-known New
York publisher, but had not yet
had word from him. In the mean
time the story had been con-
cluded, and we had received a
number Of inquiries as to when It
would be out in book form.
Suspicion.
Me-. Older met Kennerley in New
York and asked him why he had
not published Lowrie's my Life in
Prison" The publisher uncon-
sciously paid me very high COM
pliment when he looked at Older
and said: Because he didn't write
1t. It was written by John D.
Barry, whom consider the great
est artist In America This idea
that I hadAnot written the serial
was not new. While II was be.
ing published in the Bulletin an
opposition newspaper had init
mated that the narrative was not
being written by a bona fide ex-
convict, but by staff writer
using a nom de plume.
Older replied to the publisher:
'Lowrie wrote the book. He'wrote
every word of it,"
Kennerley. said he would take
Older's word for it and publish the
book.
When Mr.. Older returned to San
Francisco he brought the publish
er's contract with him. 1t stipu-
lated that the book must not ex-
coed 10000 words. The news
paper serial has been 100000, APP
proximately. I was confronted
with the task OF eliminating
10000 words. or, about one-fifth Of
the original narrative. What to
take out and what TO leave in was
q staggering problem.
A Problem.
labored over the pages for
days, becoming more and more
uncertain and confused as I did
so, fearful that 1 would take
something out that might bear
direct relation to something pre-.
ceding or following it. In my
quandary I almost decided to