Show t 77 L the jeffries mansion was bes eged by callers ja tl CHAMES KLEIN W AN D T 7 ta W W V illustration RAY WALTER COM BY G P 9 LL 11 NHAM COMPANY SYNOPSIS f howard jeffries bankers pon under the evil influence of robert underwood fellow student at yale leads a life of d a el st pation marries the daughter ot of a ga n bier bler who died in pr son and is disowned 1 b 9 h e out aut nt wan cwi n balmor da desperate es it s underwood an adert 00 W who ho W o 0 on e been engage enga geff fi to howard a 13 step tep mother ayda Is apparently in prosper ous DUB circumstances taking advantage of hia his intimacy with alicia he becomes a sort of social highwayman discovering h his a true character al cla denies him tl ti e house he sends her a note threatening suicide art dealers for whom he acted as commiss oner demand an accounting he cannot make good howard calls at hie his apartments apart menta in an intoxicated condi tion to request a loan of to enable him lo 10 take p a business proposition underwood tells h rn he Is in debt up to hia his ebes howard drinks himself into a maud in condition and goes to sleep on a divan A caller is announced and under wood draws a screen around the drunken sleeper alicia enters she demands a promise from underwood that he will not take bis his I 1 te fe he ile refuses unless she will renew her patronage this she refuses and takes her leave underwood kills himself the report of the pistol awa kens howard he finds underwood dead realizing his predicament he attempts to flee and la Is met by underwood a valet rov howard ard is turned over to the po ice capt clinton notorious for his brutal treatment of prisoners puts howard howa rd I 1 through the third degree and finally gets in an alleged confession from the harassed man annie howard s wife declares her belief in her husband husbands s innocence az CHAPTER XI continued not Is of this lady said the boy the other lady 1 I think she said jeffries or jenkins or something like that the captain waved his hand toward the door that s all right go well we 11 find her ber all right the boy went out and the captain turned round to annie it 11 be rather a pity if ft it isn t you he said with a suggestive smile how soa so she demanded the captain laughed well you see a woman always gets the lury jury mixed up nothing fools a man like a pretty face and 12 times t 1 is 12 you see if they quarreled about you your husband would stand some chance patronizingly be he added come mrs jeffries you d bet ter tell the truth and I 1 can advise you ho to go to annie drew herself up and with dignity said T thanks I 1 in going to the best law i er I 1 can get not one of those court room politicians recommended by a police captain I 1 am going to kichard richard brewster iles he s the man hell he 11 soon get my husband out of the tombs reflectively she added it if my father had had judge brewster to defend him instead of a legal shark he bed d never have been railroaded to jail hed he d be alive to today day capt clinton guffawed loudly the idea of ex judge brewster taking the case seemed to amuse him hugely 9 he laughed boisterous ly IY you d never be able to get brewster firstly he s too expensive secondly he hes s old man jeffries law yer he ile touch your case with a ten foot pole besides be added in a tone of contempt brew eter ster sno s no good in a case of this kind he iles s a constitution lawyer one of them international fellers he dont don t know nothing he ile s the only lawyer I 1 want sho she retorted determinedly then she went wen on howard s folks must come to his rescue they must stand by him they must ahe he captain grinned from what I 1 hear be he said old man jeffries wont won t raise a finger to save his scapegrace son from going to the chair iles he s done with him for good and all ch cv cli rp alo aln seit self rather than to his vis a vis he muttered that alone will convince the jury they 11 argue that the boy can cant t be much good if his own go back on him annie s eye flashed precisely she exclaimed but his own won t go back on him see to it that they don t rising and turning toward the door she asked have you anything more to say to me captain no replied the captain hesitate angly you can go of course you 11 be called later for the trial you can see your husband in the tombs when you wish iso no man is so hard that he has not a soft spot somewhere at heart capt clinton was not an unbind unkind man long service in the police force and a mistaken notion of the proper method of procedure in treating his prisoners had hardened him handmade and made him brutal secretly he felt sorry tor for this plucky energetic little woman 0 who had such unbounded faith in her good for nothing husband and was ready to fight all alone in his defense dyeing her with renewed interest he demanded what are you go ng to do now nowa annie reached the door and draw ing herself up to her full height turned and said I 1 in going to undo all you have done capt clinton I 1 in going to free my husband and prove his innocence before the whole world I 1 don t know how I 1 im in going to do it but III do it JL fight you captain to the last ditch and III rescue my poor husband from your clutches if it takes everything I 1 possess in the world quickly she opened the door and disappeared CHAPTER XII the american dearly loves a sen bation and the bigger and more blood curdling it Is the better nothing is more gratifying on arising in the morning and sitting down to partake of a daintily served breakfast than to glance hurriedly over the front page of one ones s favorite newspaper new shaper and see it covered with startling headlines it matters little what has happened dur ing the night to shock the community so long as it satisfies ones one s appetite for sensational news it lt can be a fatal conflagration a fearful railroad wreck a gigantic bank robbery a hor warder or even a scandalous divorce case all one asab Is that it be something big with column after column of harrowing details the newspapers are fully alive to what Is expected of them qt but it Is not always easy to supply the demand there are times when the metropolis lan ian nor wr news of any description there are no disastrous fires trains run without mishap burglars go on a vacation cation ra society leaders act with de corum in a word the city Is deadly dull further consideration of the tariff rr remains the most thrilling topic the newspapers can find to write about the murder at the aristocratic As bruria therefore was hailed by the editors as an unmixed journalistic blessing and they proceeded to play it up for all it was worth all the features of a first class sensation were present the victim robert under wood was well known in society and a prominent art connoisseur the place where the crime was committed was one of the most fashionable of new york s hostelries the presumed assassin was a college man and the son of one of the most wealth wealthy and influential of new york yorks s citizens true this howard houard jeffries Jeff rles the son was a black sheep he ile had been mixed up in all kinds of scandals be fore his own father had turned him out of doors and he was married to a woman whose father died in prison could a better combination of cir cum curn stances for a newspaper be con calved the crime was discovered too late for the morning papers to make mention of it but the afternoon papers fired a broadside that shook the town all the evening papers had big scare heads sti etching across the entire front page with pictures of the principals involved and long inter views with the coroner and capt clinton there seemed to be no doubt that the police had arrested the right man and in all quarters of 0 the city there was universal sympathy for mr howard jeffries Jeff rles sr it was terrible to think that this splendid upright man whose whole career was without a single stain who had served his country gallantly through the civil war should have such disgrace brought upon him in his old age everything pointed to a speedy trial and quick conviction public indigena tion was aroused almost to a frenzy and a loud clamor went up against the law s delay too many crimes of this nature screamed the yellow press had been allowed to sully the good name of the city A fearful ex ample must be made no matter what the standing and influence of the pris boners family thus goaded on the courts acted with promptness taken before a magistrate howard was at once committed to the tombs to await trial and the district attorney Y set to work impaneling a ury jury J estice he promised would rould be swiftly done one newspaper stated positively that the family would not interfere but would abandon the scapegrace son to his richly deserved fate judge brewster the famous lawyer it was said sald had al ready been approached by the prison er s wife but had declined to take tale the case banker jeffries Jeff rles also was quoted as saying that the man under unde arrest was no longer a son of his As one paper pointed out it seemed a farce and a waste of money to have any trial at all the assassin had not only bee U babdj cn rally y c cf why waey ehlt over a trial true one paper timidly suggested that it might have been a case of suicide robert underwood s financial affairs it went on to say were in a critical condition and the theory of suicide was borne out to some extent by an interview with dr bernstein professor of psychology at one of the universities who stated that he was by no means convinced of the prisoner prisoners s guilt and hinted that the alleged confession might have been forced from him by the police while in a hypnotic state this the ory belittling as it did their pet sen bation did not suit the policy of the yellow press so the learned protes sor at once became the target tor for edi attach attack the sensation grew in importance as the day for the trial approached all ne nev york was agog with excite way ment the hand handsome c ome jeffries Jeff rles man on riverside drive was besieged by callers the guides on the sight seeing coaches shouted through their megaphones that s the house where the mur derer of robert underwood lived the immediate vicinity of the house the da day y that the crime was made pub lie was thronged with curious peo pie the blinds of the house were ere drawn down as it if to shield the in mates from observation but there were several cabs in front of the main entrance and passers by stopped on the sidewalk pointing at the house A number of newspaper men stood in a group gathering fresh material for the next edition A reporter ap preached pro ached rapidly from broadway and joined his colleagues well boys cje said cheerily any thing doing say my paper is going to have a bully story to morrow corn com account by underwood s valet he tells how he caught the murderer just as he was escaping from the apartment well have pictures and everything it its s fine ani anything thing doing here he demanded naw grunted the others in dis tones we saw the butler said one re porter and tried to get a story from him but he flatly refused to talk all he would say was that howard jef fries was nothing to the family that his father care a straw what became of him 1 pretty tough exclaimed another reporter lies ile s his son aft er all oh you don t know old jeffries chimed in a third when once he makes up his mind you might as well try to move a house the afternoon mas as getting 01 if their papers were to print anything more that day they must hasten down town lets make one more attempt to get a talk out of the old man sug one enterprising scribe all right cried the others in chorus you go ahead we well 11 fol low ioa in a body and back you up passing through the front gate they rang the bell and after a brief par ley were admitted to the house they had hardly disappeared when a cab drove hurriedly up and stopped at the curb A young woman heavily veiled descended paid the driver and walked quickly through the gates toward the house annie tried to feel brave but her heart her when she saw thia this splendid home with all its evidence of wealth culture and refinement it was the first time she had ever entered its gates although in a measure she was entitled to look upon it as her own home perhaps never so much as now she realized what w hat a deep gull lay between her husband husbands s family and herself this was a world she had never known a world of opulence and luxury she did not know how she had summoned up courage enough tc come yet there was no time tp to be lost immediate action was feces sary howard must have the best lawyers that money could procure judge brewster had bee been deaf to hei her entreaties he had declined to take the case she had no money how ard s father must come to his assist ance she would plead with him and insist that it was his duty to stand by his son she wondered how he bould receive her it if he would put her out or be rude to her he might tell the servants to shut the door in her face timidly she rang the bell the butler opened the door and sum moning up all her courage she asked Is mr jeffries ls in to her utter amazement the burlei offered no objection to her entering mistaking her for a woman reporter several of whom had already called that morning he said go right in the library madam the other newspaper folk are there she passed through the splendid re caption hall marveling inwardly a at the beautiful statuary and pictures no little intimidated at findan finding her self amid such splendid surround surroundings g idl on 01 the left there was a door drap draped ed with handsome tapestry right in there miss said the butler she went in and found herself in a room of noble proportions the walle of which were lined with bookshelves filled with tomes in rich bindings the light that entered through the stained glass windows cast a subdued halt light warm and rich in color on the crimson crimson plush furnishings near the heavy flat desk in the center of the room a tall distinguished man a standing listening deprecatingly tc te the halt half dozen reporters who were bombarding him with questions As annie entered the room she caught the words of his reply the young man who has inherited my name has chosen his own path in life I 1 am grieved to say that his con duct at college his marriage has L completely separated halh from bis his an anar t 1 ilive ve quite made up my I 1 iri d that thana ra o 0 ai 4 his family become identified with any steps he may take to escape the pe pen n alty of his mad act I 1 am his father and I 1 suppose under the circum stances I 1 ought to say something but I 1 have decided not to I 1 don t wish to give the american public any ex cuse to think that I 1 am palliating or condoning his crime gentlemen I 1 wish you good day annie who had been I 1 in bently at once saw her opportunity mr jeffries had taken no notice of her presence believing her to be a newspaper writer like the others As the reporters took their departure and filed out of the room she re bained behind As the last one digap feared she turned to the banker and said may I 1 speak to you a moment he turned quickly and looked at her in surprise for the first time he was nas conscious of her presence bow dow ing courteously he shook his head I 1 am afraid I 1 can do nothing for you madam as I 1 ve just explained to your confreres of thel theoress the press annie looked up at him and said boldly I 1 am not a reporter mr jeffries I 1 am lour our son s wifel wife the banker started back in amaze ment this woman whom he be had taken for a newspaper reporter was an interloper an imposter the very last woman in the world whom he would have permitted to be admitted to his house he considered that she as much as anybody else had con tri tributes buted to his son sons s ruin yet what could he doa she was there and he was too much of a gentleman to have her turned out bodily wondering |