Lincoln County leader., March 01, 1912, Image 7

t
Tfie THIRD
DEGREE
cA Narrative
Jf
cTVletropolItan
Life
By CHARLES KLEIN and
ARTHUR HORNBLOW
ILLUSTRATIONS BT RAT WALTERS
(Copyright, ukjm, bj G. W. UiUiDKbamCow.
- - 3
SYNOPSIS.
Howard Jeffries, banker's son, under
Hi evil Influence of Robert Underwood,
a fellow-student at Yale, leads a life of
dissipation, marries the daughter of a
gambler who died In prison, and Is dis
owned by his father. He tries to get work
and falls. A former college chum makes
a business proposition to Howard which
requires $2,000 cash, and Howard Is broke.
Robert Underwood, who had been re
pulsed by Howard's wife, Annie, In his
college days, and had once been engaged
to Alicia, Howard's stepmother, has
apartments at th Astrurla, and Is ap
parently In prosperous circumstances.
, Howard recalls a loan to Underwood.
I. ""mains unpaid, and decides to ask
him for the $2,000 he needs. Underworfd.
taking advantage of his Intimacy with
Mrs. Jefrrles. Sr.. becomes a sort of social
highwayman. Discovering his true char
acter she denies him the house. ,
CHAPTER IV.
The richly decorated reception
rooms, brilliantly Illuminated with
soft incandescent lights artistically
arranged behind banks of flowers,
were filled with people. "In the air
was the familiar buzz always present
In a room where each person Is trying
to speak at the same time. On , all
Bides one heard fragments of Inept
conversation.
"So good of you to come! How well
you're looking, my dear."
"My husband T Oh, he's at the club,
Claying poker, as usual. He hates
music.
"I've such a terrible cold!" '
"Trouble with servants? I Bhould
say so. I bounced my cook this morn
ing." "Aren't these affairs awfully tire
tome?" "I was so glad to come. I always
enjoy your muslcales."
"Dr. Bernstein comine? How
fectly delightful. Ml ask him for bis
autograph."
"What's psycholoev?"
"Something to do with religion, I
U11UK.
"Haven't we been having dreadful
weamerr
"I saw you at the opera."
"Doesn't she look sweet?"
"Oh, I think it's Just lovely."
People now arrived In quick succes
sion and, forming little erouns. thn
room soon presented an animated
scene. The women In their smart
gowns and the men In their black
coats made a pleasing picture.
"My dear Mrs. Jeff rles how do you
do this evening?" exclaimed a rich,
deep voice.
The hostess turned to greet an el
derly and distinguished-looking man
who had Just entered. Directly he
came In voices were hushed, and on
every side one heard the whisper:
"There's Judge Brewster, the fa
mous lawyer."
There was a general craning of
necks to catch a elimnse of tha omi.
nent Jurist whose brilliant address to
the Jury in a recent cause celebre
bad saved an Innocent man from the
electric chair.
Richard Brewster was a fine ex
ample of the old school statesman
lawyer of the Henry Clay type. He
belonged to that small class of public
men who are independent of all
coteries, whose only ambition Is to
serve their country well, who know
no other duty than that dictated by
their oath and conscience. A bril
liant and forceful orator, there was
ao office In the gift of the nation that
might not have been his for the ask
ing, but be bad no taste for politics.
After serving with honor for some
years on the bench be retired Into
private practice, and thereafter his
name became one to conjure with in
the law courts.. By sheer power of
bis matchless oratory and unanswer
able logic be won case after case for
his clients and it Is a tribute to his
Dame to record the plain fact that in
all his career be never championed a
cause of which be need be ashamed.
Powerful financial Interests had at
tempted to secure his services by of
fers of princely retainers, but with
out success. He fought the trusts bit
terly every time he found them op
pressing bis profession.
Alicia advanced with extended hand.
"This Is Indeed kind, Judge," she ex
, claimed with a gracious smile. "I
hardly dared hope that my. poor musl
cale would be so honored."
The old lawyer smiled good-humor-edly
as be replied gallantly:
"I don't know much about music,
m'm; 1 came to Bee you." Looking
around he added: "You've got a nice
place here."
He Bpoke in bis characteristic man-aer-
-short, nervous, explosive sen
tences, which had often terrified hla
opponents in court.
"Lawyers are such flatterers."
laughed Alicia as she nervously fanned
herself, and looked around to see if
ber guests were watching.
"Lawyers only flatter when they
want to," Interrupted Mr. Jeffries,
who had Just Joined the group.
Alicia turned to greet a new arrival
and the lawyer continued chatting
with his host.
"I suppose you'll take a rest now.
after your splendid victory," said the
banker.
Judge Brewster shook his head
dubiously.
"No, sir, we lawyers never rest.
We can't No sooner Is one case dis
posed of than another crops up to
claim our attention. The trouble with
this country is that we have too
much law. If I were to be guilty of
an epigram I would say that the coun
try has so much law that It is prac
tically lawless."
"So you're preparing another case,
eh?" said Mr. Jeffries, Interested.
"What Is It a secret?"
"Oh, no!" answered the lawyer,
"the newspapers will be full of it in
a day or two. We are going to bring
suit against the city. It's really a
test case that should interest every
citizen; a protest against the high
banded actions of the police."
The banker elevated his eyebrows.
"Indeed," he exclaimed. "What
have the police been doing now?"
The lawyer looked at his client in
surprise.
"Why, my dear sir, you must have
seen by the papers what's been going
on in our city of late. The papers
have been full of it Police brutality,
illegal arrests, assaults in 'station
houses, star-chamber methods that
would disgrace the middle ages. A
state of affairs exists to-day in the
city of New York which Is Inconceiv
able. Here we are living In a civil
ized country, every man's liberty Is
guaranteed by the constitution, yet
citizens, as they walk our streets, are
in greater peril than the Inhabitants
of terror-stricken Russia. Take a po
lice official of Capt Clinton's type.
His only notion of the law is brute
force and the night stick. A bully by
nature, a man of the coarsest instincts
and enormous physical strength, he
loves to play the tyrant In his pre
cinct be poses as a kind of czar and
fondly imagines he has the power to
administer the law itself. By his
brow-beating tactics, intolerable un
der Anslo-Saxon government he Is
turning our police force into a gang
of ruffians who have the city terror
stricken. In order to further his polit
ical ambitions he stops at nothing.
tie lets the guilty escape when influ
ence he can't resist is brought to
"I Don't Know Much About Mu
sic, M'm."
bear, but in order to keep up his rec
ord with the department he makes ar
rests without the slightest Justifica
tion. To secure convictions he manu
factures, with the aid of bis detec
tives, all kinds of perjured evidence.
To paraphrase a well-known saying,
his motto Is: 'Convict honestly, If
you can but convict'
"It is outrageous," said Mr. Jef
fries. "No one can approve such
methods. Of course. In dealing with
the criminal population of a great
cityt they cannot wear kid gloves, but
Capt. Clinton certainly goes too far.
What is the specific complaint on
which the suit is based?"
"Capt Clinton," replied the Judge,
"made the mistake of persecuting a
young woman who happened to be the
daughter of a wealthy client of mine.
One of bis detectives arrested her on
a charge of shoplifting. The girl,
mind you, Is of excellent family and
irreproachable character. My client
and his lawyer tried to show Capt
Clinton that be had made a serious
blunder, but be brazened It out, claim
ing on the stand that the girl was an
old offender. Of course, he was
forced at last to admit his mistake
and the" girl went free, but think of
the humiliation and mental anguish
she underwent! It -was simply a
repetition of bis old tactics. A convic
tion, no matter at what cost
"What do you hope to bring about
by this suit?"
"Arouse public Indignation, and
if possible get Capt Clinton dismissed
from the force. His record Is none too
savonr Charges of graft have been
J made against him time and time
again, but so far nothing has been
proved. To-day be is a man of wealth
on a comparatively small Balary. Do
you suppose his money could have
come to him honestly?"
In another corner of the salon
stood Dr. Bernstein, the celebrated
psychologist the center of an excited
crowd of enthusiastic admirers.
Alicia approached a group of chat
tering women. Each was more elab
orately dressed than her neighbor.
and loaded down with rare gems
They at once stopped talking as their
hostess came up.
"It was so good of you to come!"
said Alicia effusively to a fat woman
with Impossible blonde hair and a
rouged face. "I want to Introduce Dr.
Bernstein to you."
"Oh, I shall be delighted." smiled
the blonde. Gushingly she added:
"How perfectly exquisite you took to
night my dear."
"Do you think so?" said Alicia,
pleased at the clumsy flattery.
"Your drees Is stunning and your
tiara simply gorgeous," raved another.
"Your muslcales are always so de
lightful," exclaimed a third.
At that moment Mr. Jeffries caught
his wife by the arm and drew her at
tention to some newcomers. With a
laugh she left the group and hurried
toward the door. Directly she was
out of earshot, the three women be
gan whispering:
"Isn't she terribly overdressed?" ex
claimed tho blonde. "The cheek of
such a parvehue to wear that tiara."
"Her face is all made up, too," said
another.
"These affairs of hers are awfully
stupid, don't you think so?" piped the
third.
"Yes, they "bore everybody to death,"
said the blonde. "She's ambitious
and likes to think she ts a social lead
er. I only come here because it
amuses me to see what a fool she
makes of herself. Fancy a woman
of her age marrying a man old enough
to be her father. By the by, I don't
see her beau here to-night."
"You mean that scamp, Robert Un
derwood?" "Isn't it perfectly scandalous, the
way be dances after her? I'm sur
prised Mr. Jeffries allows him to come
to the house."
"Maybe there's been a row. Per
haps that explains why he's not here
to-night It's the first time I've known
him absent from one of her musl
cales." "He's conspicuous by his absence.
Do you know what 1 heard the other
day? I was told that Underwood had
again been caught cheating at cards
and summarily expelled from the club
kicked out, so to speak."
"I'm not at all surprised. I always
had my doubts about him. He In
duced a friend of mine ta buy a pic
ture, and got a tremendous price for
it on the false representation that it
was a genuine Corot My friend found
out afterward that he had been duped.
Proceedings were threatened, but Un
derwood managed to hush the affair
by returning part of the money."
In another part of the room a couple
were discussing Mr. Jeffries as he
stood talking with Judge Brewster.
"Did you notice how Mr. Jeffries has
aged recently? He no longer seems
the. same man."
"No wonder, after 11 the trouble
he's had. Of course you know what a
disappointment his son turned out?"
"A scamp, I understand. Married a
chorus girl and all that sort of thing."
"Not exactly, but almost as bad.
The girl was a waitress or something
like that In a restaurant She's very
common; her father died In prison.
You can Imagine the blow to old Jef
fries. He turned the boy adrift and
left him to shift for himself."
Alicia approached her husband, who
was still talking with Judge Brewster.
She was leaning on the arm of a tall,
handsome man with a dark Van Dyke
beard.
"Who are you discussing with such
Interest?" she demanded, as she came
up with her escort
"We were talking of Capt Clinton
and his detestable police methods,"
said the banker.
"Judge," said Alicia, turning to the
lawyer, "allow me to Introduce Dr.
Bernstein. Doctor, this Is Judge
Brewster."
The stranger bowed low, as he re
plied courteously:
"The fame of Judge Brewster has
spread to every state In the union."
A faint smile spread over the face
of the famous lawyer as he extended
his hand:
I've often heard of you, too, doc
tor. I've been reading with great in
terest your book, 'Experimental Psy
chology.' Do you know," he went
on earnestly, "there's a lot in that I
We have still much to learn in that!
direction."
I think," said Dr. Bernstein, quiet
ly, "that we're only on the threshold
of wonderful discoveries."
Pleased to find that her two distin
guished guests were congenial. Alicia
left them to themselves and Joined
ber other guests.
"Yes," said the lawyer musingly,
man has studied -for centuries the
mechanism of the body, but he has
neglected entirely the mechanism of
the mind."
Dr. Bernstein smiled approvingly.
"We are Just waking up," he recited
quickly. "People are beginning tp
look upon psychology seriously. Up
to comparatively recenlly the layman
has regarded psychology as the do
main of the philosopher and the
dreamer. It did not seem possible
that it could ever be applied to our
practical everyday life, but of late we
have made remarkable strides. Al
though It Is a comparatively new
science, you will probably be aston
ished to learn' 'that there are to-day In
the United States 60 psychological
laboratories. That is to say, work
shops fully equipped with every de
vice known for the probing of the hu
man brain. In my laboratory In Cali
fornia alone I have as many as twen
ty rooms hung with electric wires and
equipped with all the necessary In
struments chronoscopes, kymograph,
tachistoscopes and ergographs In
struments which enable us to meas
ure and record the human brain as
accurately as the Bertlllon system."
"Really, you astonish me!" ex
claimed the Judge. "This Is most In
teresting. Think of laboratories sole
ly devoted to delving Into mysteries
of the human brain! It is wonderful!"
He was silent tor a moment then
he said:
"It Is. quite plain, I think, that
psychology can prove most useful in
medicine.' It is, I take it, the very
foundation of mental healing, but what
else would It do for humanity? For
Instance, can it help me, the lawyer?"
. Dr. Bernstein smiled.
"You gentlemen of the law have al
ways scoffed at the very suggestion
of bringing psychology to your aid,
but Just think, sir, how enormously It
might aid you In cross-examining a
witness. You can tell with almost
scientific accuracy If the witness Is
telling lies or the truth, and the same
would be clear to the Judge and the
Jury. Just think how your powers
would be Increased if by your skill In
psychological observation you could
convince the Jury that your client,
who was about to be convicted on cir
cumstantial evidence alone, was really
Innocent of the crime of which he was
charged. Why, sir, the road which
psychology opens up to the lawyer
is well-nigh boundless. Don't you use
the Bertlllon system to measure the
body? Don't you rely on thumb prints
to identify the hand? How do you
know that we psychologists are not
able to-day to test the individual dlt
ferences of men?"
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
REALLY A MOONLIGHT SONATA
Beethoven's Beautiful Mualo Com
posed Under the Rays of the
Queen of Night.
The story runs that Beethoven's
Moonlight sonata always so called,
though he so rarely gave a descrip
tive name to any of his works was
composed on an occasion when be had
been playing to some stranger folk by
cnance. walking with a friend be
overheard in an bumble house some
one playing with much feeling a bit
of one of his sonatas. He paused to
listen. In a moment the music ceased
and a girl spoke longingly of her wish
to hear some really good concert The
voice was so appealing that the com
poser stepped without hesitation to
the door and knocked. Admitted to
the wondering host, he said: "I will
play for you," and played wonderful
ly til) the lamp burned out Then
with the moonlight filling the room he
began to improvise the mysterious
delicate breathings of the beginning
of that wonderful sonata, then the
tricksy elf-like second part and the
glory of the close.
What We're Coming To.
Senator Depew, at the recent
bachelors' cotillion In Washington,
praised the growth of advertisement
"Advertisement," be Bald, "has
made many a man, many a book, many
a commodity. But bow much farther
will It go?
"Verily," said Senator Depew, "I
can Imagine a stormy night In the
near future, with March winds howl
ing across foaming seas, and with the
captain of a hard-pressed ship shout
ing to his mate from the bridge:
"'Is that Punk's Pills?'
" 'Aye, aye, sir, with Gibraltar Pants
shining to le'ward,' the mate will re
ply. " 'We'll weather Peerless Type
writer Rock, then, after all, the cap
tain cries.
" 'That we will. sir. heaven be
praised,' says the mate cheerfully, 'for
already Cann's Cod Liver Oil Light Is
beginning to show up on our lee.'"
When He Shakes Off the Chains.
' "McGoozler, the first baseman, Is
puttln' up a- big holler because base
ball players are slaves."-
"Is he? What's his salary?"
"Thirty-five hundred."
"Well, If be quits being a slave he
has bis old profession to fall back on."
"What's that?"
"Washing bottles In a pop factory
at seven a wuok."
That Mighty Pen.
The superiority of man to nature Is
continually illustrated. Nature needs
an immense quantity bf quills to
make a goose with, but a man can
make a goose of himself with one.
Christian Register
COULDN'T HIDE TAINT
GIRL WITH NEGRO BLOOD WANT.
ED TO BE WHITE.
Falling, She Decided to Die Faithful
Mother Hoped to Bring Up Child
as White Girl and Marry Her
to White Man.
Philadelphia, Pa. Faint though It
was, a taint of negro blood in the
veins of Mary F. Harmon of this city
wrecked what promised to be a suc
cessful musical career and brought a
self-inflicted death to the Innocent
victim of the blight By accident the
mulatto mother of the girl remains
alive after she had entered into a
Bulclde pact with her daughter.
The death of the girl and the find
ing of her mother unconscious reveal
a hopeless struggle to combat the fate
that condemned the girl to bear the
burden of her racial taint It was
learned that the mother, through all
the years the two had lived In the
Quaker city, had posed as her daugh
ter's negro servant, hoping In that way
that the younger woman might be
considered a white woman and make
a career for herself or' become the
wife of a white man of wealth and po
sition. Detectives who Investigated the
tragedy found that the father of the
girl was John Moon, a white man.
once the "policy king" of Baltimore.
When the daughter was born and ap
peared destitute of Indications of ne
gro blood, her mother conceived the
plan of bringing her up as a white
child. The father agreed to this plan
and provided liberally for the two.
When he died twelve years ago Moon
left his daughter property in Balti
more valued at $12,000 and left 5,000
In cash for the mother.
The girl proved to have an excel
lent 'voice and her mother planned a
grand opera career for her. Most of
the little fortune of the two was ex
pended In giving the elrl a musical ed
ucation. The two left Baltimore and
went to Philadelphia so that they
might escape their famllv history.
When they took an apartment the un
selfish mother represented herself as
a servant In the employ of a young
white woman of independent means
who was studying for the stage.
But the struggle was useless. Gos
sip, pieced out with a few facts,
caused the relationship of the two to
be whispered about. Then, with their
ambitious hopes ruined and poverty
coming upon them, they decided to
die together. When neighbors, at
tracted by the smell of gas, entered
the apartment, the girl was dead.
"CENTRAL" FOILS ROBBERS
Bound Texas Telephone Operator
Rings Every Bell In Exchange
With His Foot
Houston, Tex. Although gagged
and bound upright in his chair, with
his hands behind him, and looking
down the muzzles of two revolvers, W.
L. Good, a phone operator of Farmer's
Ranch, Tex., kicked a switch on the
bottom of the board which rang every
phone in the village, nipping in the
bud a daring robbery.
The robbers rode into town at mid-,
night, two of them gonlg to the phone
exchange, taking possession of the
board, while the others entered the
bank. Good was "covered" and told
to keep his hands off the board. To
make sure be would no': give the
alarm be was gagged and bound, but
allowed to remain In his - chair.
Though silent as the tomb Good
edged his foot to a switch, slowly
pressed, setting Jingling every tele-,
phone In the town.
This aroused the sleeping village
and frightened the robbers who fled
before the townsmen, exchanging
shots as they ran. They tock about
$1,500 but left $50,000 In their baste.
AN ENGINEER'S QUEER ERROR
Runs His Passenger Train Ten Miles
on Wrong Track and Then
' Backs Up.
Macon, Ga. A curious mistake hap
pened to the Georgia railroad pas
senger train.
Three miles' from the city there Is
a Junction, where a common track
branches out Into four directions, one
going to Savannah, another to Augus
ta, another to Athens, and the fourth
being a siding. This train was bound
for Augusta, but somehow or other the
switch was turned wrong, and It en
tered upon the Savannah track, going
ten miles before the engineer discov
ered his mistake.
He brought the train to an Immedi
ate stop, and discovered that only a
short distance ahead of him there was
another train which, if he hud con
tinued, he would have met In a head
on collision. The train backed to the
Junction and then proceeded to Augusta,