Branded

c

-an inmate of the State penitentiary. Lacking the needful good behavior, five long years would be taken out of the best part of life for me, and what was worse (I realized this even in the

be the sooner free to square my account with Abel Geddis and Abner Withers. I need make no secret now of the depth of this hatred. At times, when the obsession was strongest upon me, the fear th

m with a rigidity that knew no lapses. I am not defending the motive; I cheerfully admit that it was unworthy. None the less, I owe i

irly enlightened prison system; or at least it is less brutalizing than many others. During my period of incarceration the warden-in-office was an upright and impartial man, just to his charges and even kind

ore I could outlive it I should become a criminal in fact. Fight the idea as we may, environment, association, and suggestion have a great deal to say to the human atom. I was treated

the letter, begging her not to write again, or to expect me to write. It seemed a refinement of humiliation to have the home letters come addressed to me in a prison; and besides, I was like the sick man who turns his face to the wall, wishing neither to see nor to h

notonous routine, with nothing eventful or disturbing to mark the passing weeks and months; and by living strictly within the prison requirements, working faithfully, and never once earning even a reprimand from the

es-my own among the number-for the indeterminate prison sentence. The reform was doubtless conceived in mercy and a true spirit of sociological lenity toward the offender. B

chief of police in any city in which I might be living; to retain my own name; and to bind myself to tell a straightforward story of my conviction and imprisonment at any time and to any one who should requi

secure honest employment? Fortunately for me, I was still only twenty-eight-young and hopeful; and I started out to do my best, saying only that nothing s

planned to do the opposite thing. I told myself that I was not a criminal, and therefore would not follow the criminal's example. I would board an interurban trolley and expend a

so was not disappointed. None the less, on my way to the central trolley station I had a half-confirmed

sion who made all the turns that I made, keeping always a few paces in the rear. He was a man of about my own age, round-faced and

up to the ticket window, followed by a hotel porter carrying a grip and a sample case. I saw then how facilely easy it was going to be to take fright at shadows. Evidently the young man was a salesman, and his apparent pursuit of me had bee

town restaurant, he did not once leave his place, which was two seats behind mine and on the opposite side of the car. On the contrary, like a seasoned traveler, he made himself comfortable behind the barricade of hand-baggage and wore out the entire time with sundry newspapers and magazines. Moreover, at

wing morning, when I went out to lay siege to my new world, he was smoking in the hotel office and again buried in a newspaper. Two hours later I had found employme

the town marshal I assured myself that I might as well have published my story in the county newspaper. Before the end of the week half of my customers on the delivery route were beginning to look askance at me, and when the Saturday night came

been working before you came here, you didn't

bank in Glendale," I protested

t you'd put in the last three years

at. But I would have told

f I could, the customers wouldn't. I suppose as many as a dozen women have been to me in the last few days. They sa

foolish enough to try t

I was as innocent of the crime for which I was convi

onvicted. There ain't no gettin' 'round that. You've worn the stripes, and you'll jus

d victim of this paradox it

t down, Mr. Bucks, if nobody w

, every day, as it is, and I can't afford to make experiments.

refer to have somebody else give it to me. I don't blame you. Perhaps under

otice. I shall always be glad that I still had pride enough left to refuse the charity. Even at this early twisting of the thumb-screws

efinitely charging the exposure to the town marshal as being the only person who could ha

e retorted. "He's the last man on top of earth t

on you have for thin

e seen him every day this week, and he knew you was workin' for me. If he

you hear the sto

dy in town seems to know it," he asserted; and with t

f the State. This time I went to the chief of police as soon as I arrived,

city," I said, "and I'd like to know beforeh

h a coldly appraisive eye. He was a coarse-featured man with a face

e've got plenty and more than enough of your

like a man the first thing, and have made my report accordi

ou stay here to get it," was the gruff respo

n such a man, even casua

ce has been mostly in office work," I told him; adding: "

hard-bitted mouth to the other. "That means that you want to

by line, I was incautious enough to say

d that settles it." At this point he broke off short, righted his chair with a snap and reached for a bill-spindle on his desk. After a glance at one of the impaled memoranda he sat back a

right; you come back here this afternoon and we'll see whet

chair with his feet on his desk, looking as if he hadn't moved since my visit of the forenoon. When he saw who it was cutting off the afternoon sunlight

hat didn't-do-it stuff. Forget it and come down to business. You say you want to hit the straight

ggar to be a chooser; that I'd be only too glad to ge

llins, the head book-keeper, that I sent you, see? Tell him to call me on the 'phone if he wants to know anything more a

to me, I left police headquarters with a warm spot in my heart, thinking that I had l

of the typewritten sheet he had consulted, and who had written it? If it had been a telegram I might have concl

nd the coal yard and the bookkeeper, Mullins, a red-faced Irishman

rst inquiry shot at me; but it was not made until after the book-keeper had sh

None of the detail

and Peters 'll show you what you don't know. Peel your coat and jump in. Ho

nson's cheerful li

ot and ti

en gras

n the m

e is on

lls are called. It was almost unbelievable that my luck had turned so soon, and yet the fact seemed undeniable. I had a job to which I had been rec

t of Consolidated Coal, locally, at least, and whose word, in the office and about the yards, was law. None the less, the little mystery connected with this easy finding of a job in a s

check the railroad waybills on consignments of coal, to correct the weights, and to make claims for overcharges and shortages. I made these claims as I had been told to make them, taking the figures

f any fellow I've ever run up against," he said, lo

u say that, To

t you and make their little roar about the overcharges. Believe me, it takes nerve to do that-and carry it off as if you were reading 'em a verse out o' the

a sudden sinking of the heart. "Why should it take ne

man of this outfit: do you know the rates on coal

ourse

nowing 'em, eh? Consolidated Coal pays these rates, doesn't

m. I check the bills

g claim on the railroad company for overcharges, and maybe you've

to see the hole

ve them to me, Peters. Do you mean to tell

rebates. But if you're not a heap greener than you look, you know that we're getting our cut rates, just the same. All we need is a man right her

ed. "You are the man who gives them to me,

le forgettery of any clock-watcher in the works. Nix for me, Weyburn; you are the chap with the figures, and the only man in the shop who has them down in black on white. When the roar com

er. When the checking was completed I knew perfectly well why I had been hired so promptly, and why Mullins had been willing to take on an ex-convict. My basing figures, which Peters had been giving me

ut as much show as a rat in a trap. If there should be an investigation, Mullins would swear that I had e

ay-day, and I had my month's salary in my pocket when I left the office about eleven o'clo

im; and then with a hand on my arm he stopped

not," I

"It's pay-day at the works

the crooked coal company to do crooked work, and I was to be held up for a graft on my salary. With a swift

't come acros

to 'produce' all right. You're a paroled man, and yo

got in their work. I couldn't face the grafter down

d, and my tongue w

sy. You fork over a ten-spot for the campaign fund

ach my boarding place, intent only upon flight, instant and secret, from this moral cesspool of a city. I rememb