The Coolidge examiner., 1931-10-30
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CinnarrOn
BY
Edna Ferber
Copyright by Edna FerbsS.
wNU Service.
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CHAPTER Iv-Continued
Copyright by Edna FerbsP.
WNU Service.

then, before / begin my poor plea
in defense of this lady, my client,
most respectfully call your atten-
tion to that which, in my humble
opinion, has never before been
achieved. much less duplicated, in
the whole of the Southwest. Turn
your eye to the figure which has so
recently and so deServedly held
your attention. Gaze once more
upon him. Regard him well. You
will not look upon his like again
For, gentlemen, in my opinion this
gifted person, Mr.. Patrick Leary,
is the only man in the Oklahoma
territOry-in the Indian TERRITORY
in the whole of the brilliant and
glorious SOuthwest-nay, may
even 90 so far as to say the only
man in this magnificent country.
the United States of America of
whom it actually can be said that
he is able to strut sitting down"
The puffed little figure IN the
chair collapsed. then bounded to
its feet, redfaced, gesticulating
Your honor! | object :"
But the rest was lost in the gi-
gantic roar of the delighted crowd.
Go it, Yancey"
That's the stuff, CimarrOn :"
Here was what they had come
for. DOggOne, there was nobody
like him.
Even today, though more than a
quarter Of a century has gone by,
there still are people in Oklahoma
who have kept a copy, typed neatly
now from records made by hand,
of the speech made that day by
Yancey Cravat in defense of the
town woman. Dixie Lee. 'Yancey
Cravats Plea for a Fallen WOm-
an it is called: and never was
speech more sentimental, windy,
false, and utterly moving. The
slang words hOkum and bunk were
not then in use, but even had they
been they never would have been
applied, by that appreciative crowd
at least. to the fowery and impas-
stoned oratory of the Southwest
Silver Tongue. Yancey Cravat.
Cheap melOdramatic. gorgeous
impassiOned a quart of whisky in
him, an enthralled audience be-
hind him: white-faced woman with
hopeless eyes To spur him on; the
cry of his wronged and righteous
wife still sounding in his ears
Booth himself, in his hey-dey, new
er gave a more brilliant, a more
false performance.
Your honor gentlemen of the
jury! You have heard with what
cruelty the prosecution has referred
10 the sins of this woman, as if her
condition was of her own prefer
ence. A dreadful viciOuS-a re-
voting picture has been painted
for you of her life and surround
ings. Tell me-tell me-do you
really think that she willingly en-
braced life so repellent, so hor-
rible? No. gentlemen A thou
sand times, no This girl was
bred in such luxury. such refine
ment. as few of us have known.
And just as the young girl was bud
ding into womanhOod, cruel fate
snatched all this from her, bereft
her of her dear ones. took from
her, one by one, with a terrible and
fierce rapidity, those upon whom
she had come to look for love and
support. And then. in that mOmenr
of darkest, terror and loneliness.
came one of our sex, gentlemen. A
wolf in sleeps clothing. fiend
in the guiSe of human. False
promises Lie. Deceit so palpahle
that it would have deceived no one
but a young girl as innocent, as
pure. as starry eyed as was this
woman you now see white and
trembling before you. One of our
sex was the author of her ruin.
more to blame than she. WHAT
could be more pathetic than the
spectacle she presents? An immor-
tai soul in ruin. A moment ago you
heard her reviled, in the lowest
terms a man can employ toward
woman, for the depths TO which
she has sunk, for the company she
keeps. for the life she leads. Yet
where can she go that her sin does
not pursue her? YOu would drive
her out. But where? Gentlemen.
the very promises of God are de
MED her. Who was il said, Come
unto me all ye' that are heavy
laden. and | will give you rest?
She is indeed heavy laden. this
trampled flower of the South. but
if at this instant she were 70 kneel
down before US all and confess her
Redeemer, where is the church that
would receive her, where the COM
munity that would take her in? Our
sex wrecked her once pure life. Her
own sex shrinks from her as from
a pestilence. Society has reared
its relentless walls against her.
Only in the friendly shelter of the
grave can her betrayed and broken
heart ever find the Redeemer's
promised rest. The gentleman
who so eloquently spoke before me
told you of her assumed names. of
her sins, of her habits He never,
for all his elOquence, told you of
her sorrows, her agOnieS, her hopes.
her despairs But | could tell you.
] could tell you of the desperate
day-the red-letter day in the ban
ner of the great Oklahoma coun-
try-when she tried to win home
for herself where she could live in
decency and quiet. When the
remembered voices of father and