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Show JOIAIHXS KLEIN v y ILLUSTRATIONS FY IMf YA.UTER$ CCfRlCHT, 1909, Cf C.vV. Dll.LlNG'HAM COMPAki' Mir -J I V--3 A'f !'; :f jiff ifTTffiSWmtez 18 SYNOPSIS. Howard Jeffries, banker's jnn, under lie evil Inllui n. e of Robert Unileruaio.l, ellow-stud -nt ;iL Vale, Ion. is a lite of dis- ilpalioi arrles tin' ilaim'hler ol' a Kam- )li:r who cli. cl In prison, and is disowned (V his father. Hi: Ih out of work H nil ill lospor.ale straits. 1 1 ruler .vooit , who hail Hire boon elifMKod to Howard's Klep-liothrr, Klep-liothrr, Alieia, Is nppnreully ill prnsper-iiis prnsper-iiis iii-eiiiiistaiires. Taking advantage of lis intimai'V with AP-ia. he heroines a mrt of soelal highwayman. I liseoverin lis true eharaeter, Alicia denies him the louse. Jle senhs her a nolo Ihroalcnin luieide. Art dealers for whom he noted is commissioner, d.innnd an aeeouutinK-In aeeouutinK-In cannot make Hood. I Inward calls at lis apartments In an lntn::ion'od eondi-lon eondi-lon to request ,1 loan of $J,l;:W to enable i i m to take up a business propnsit ion. ;loward thinks himself into a maudlin lonil'tion, ami kocs to sloop on a divan. V caller Is announced and Underwood Irnws a screen around the drunken ilecper. Alicia enters. She demands a M-oin'so from Underwood that he will nol like bis lite, tie refuses unless she will enew Icr pa I runn :o. This she refuses, L 1 1 1 1 takes her leave. Underwood kills limsell'. The report nf the pistol nwa-ens nwa-ens Howard, lie finds Underwood dead, iloward Is turned over to (lie police. ?npt. Ulinlon, notorious for bis brutal .rcalmeut of prisoners, tints Howard 'lironidi the third decree, and finally ets in alleged confession from the harassed nan. Annie. Howard's wife, declares br lelief in her husband's innocence, and :alis on Jeffries, Sr. He refuses to ho'p inless slu will consent to a tl:vorei To lave Howard she consents, but when s'ac lnds that t he elder Jeffries docs not in-'.end in-'.end to stand by bis son. except tln.in-lially, tln.in-lially, she seorns bis help. Annie apo.-als :o Judiie Brewster, attorney for .IcIYries. 5r., to take Howard's ease, lie declines. :t is reported that Annie is goin on the itPLio. Tito banker and bis wife call on Inline Brewster to find some way to present pre-sent it. Annie ap::lin pleads with Brew-iter Brew-iter to defend Howard. Ho consenis. licla is greatly agitated when she learns .bat Brewster has taken the case and lelectivps are looking for the woman who ailed on Underwood the nK'ht of his leath. Alicia confesses to Annie that site las a letter from Underwood threatening inlcide. bim, no doubt. Suddenly, a cold shiver ran through her. How did she krow he would take the case? Per-hr:-s this summons to his office was j o: 'y to tell her once more that he would have nothing to do with her ar. i her husband. She wondered why ho had decided so suddenly to see ht r and, like a flash, an idea came to her. She had seen Mr. Jeffries. Sr., enter the inner sanctum and, instinctively, in-stinctively, she felt that she had something to do with his visit. The banker had come out accompanied, by a richly-dressed woman whom she guessed to be his wife. She looked with much interest at Howard's stepmother. She had heard so much about her that it seemed to her that she knew her personally. As Alicia swept proudly by. the eyes of the two women met, and Annie was surprised to see in the banker's wife's face, instead of the cold, haughty stare she expected, a wistful, longing look, as if she would like to stop and talk with her, but dare not. In another an-other instant she wa? gone, and, obeying obey-ing a clerk, who beduvied her to follow fol-low bim, she entered Judge Brewster's Brew-ster's office. The lawyer looked up as she came in, but did not move from his seat. Gruffly he said: "How long do you Intend to keep up. this system of warfare? How long are you going to continue forcing for-cing your way into this office?" "I didn't force my way in," she said, quietly. "I didn't expect to come in. The clerk said you wanted to see me." The lawyer frowned and scrutinized CHAPTER XIV. Continued. "And you know what mine are!" ?xclauned the banker, hotly. "1 refuse re-fuse to be engulfed in this wave of hysterical sympathy with criminals. ( will not be stamped with the same 5all mark as the man who takes the life of his fellow being though the man be my own son. I will not set :he seal of approval on crime by defending de-fending It." The lawyer bowed and said calmly: "Then, sir, you must expect exactly ex-actly what is happening. This girl, ftiiatever she may be, is devoted to Fov.r fori. She is his wife. She'll go :o any extreme to .help him even to celling her name for money to pay .'or his defense." The banker threw up his hands with hiipatience. "It's a matter of principle with me. Her devotion is not the question." With a mocking laugh he went on: 'Sentimentality doesn't appeal to me. The whole thing is distasteful and nideous to me. My instructions to you ire to prevent her using the family name on the stage, to buy her off on aer own terms, to get rid of her at iny price." "Except the price she asks," interposed inter-posed the lawyer, dryly. Shaking his lead, he went on: "You'll find that a wife's devotion is very strong motive power, Jeffries, it will move irresistibly forward in spite of all the barriers you and I can srect to stay its progress. That may sound like a platitude, but it's a fact nevertheless." Alicia, who had been listening with faded emotions to the conversation, qow interrupted timidly: "Perhaps Judge Brewster is right, 3ear. After all, the girl Is working to save your son. Public opinion may think it unnatural " "It's Your Du Judge Brewster looked skeptical, but made no further comment. The banker rose and Alicia followed suit. As he moved toward the door, he turned and said: "Drop in and see me this evening, Brewster. Mrs. Jeffries will be delighted de-lighted if you will dine with us." Alicia smiled graciously. "Do come, judge; tve shall be all alone." The lawyer bent low over her hand as he said good-by. Mr. Jeffries had already reached the door, when he turned again and said: "Are you sure a very liberal offer wouldn't induce her to drop the name?" The lawyer shook his head doubtfully. doubt-fully. "Well, see what you can do," cried the banker. To his wife he said: "Are you caning, Alicia?" ' "Just a moment, dear," she replied. "1 want to say a word to the judge." "All right," replied the banker. "I'll be outside." He opened the door, and as he did so he turned to the lawyer: "If there are any new developments let me know at once." He left the office and Alicia breathed a sigh of relief. She did not love her husband, but she feared him. He was not only 20 years her senior, but his cold, aristocratic manner intimidated intimi-dated her. Her first impulse had been to tell him everything, but she dare not. His manner discouraged her. He would begin to ask questions, questions ques-tions which she could not answer without seriously incriminating herself. her-self. But her conscience would not allow her to stand entirely aloof from the tragedy in which her husband's scapegrace son was involved. She felt a strange, unaccountable desire to meet this girl Howard had married. I In a quick undertone to the lawyer, I ity to Do It." went back to his desk. For a few moments mo-ments he sat still plunged.- in deep thought. Suddenly, he touched a bell. The head clerk entered. "Show Mrs. Howard Jeffries, Jr., in." The clerk looked surprised. Strict orders hitherto had been to show the unwelcome visitor out. He believed that he had not heard aright. "Did you say Mrs. Jeffries, Jr., judge?" "I said Mrs. Jeffries, Jr.," replied the lawyer, grimly. "Very well, judge," said the clerk, as he left the room. Presently there was .a timid knock at the door. "Come in!" called out the lawyer. CHAPTER XV. Annie entered the presence of the famous lawyer pale and ill at ease. This sudden summons to Judge Brewster's private office was so unexpected unex-pected that it came like a shock. For days she had haunted the premises, sitting in the outer office for hcrs at a time exposed to the stace and "covert smiles of thoughtless clerks and office boys. Her requests for an interview had been met with curt refusals. re-fusals. They either said the judge was out of town or else that he was too busy to be seen. At last, evidently evi-dently acting upon orders, they flatly flat-ly refused to even send in her name, and she had about abandoned hope when, all at once, a clerk approached her, and addressing her more politely than usual, said that the judge would see her in a few minutes. Her heart gave a great throb. Almost Al-most speechless from surprise, she stammered a faint thanks and braced herself for the interview on which so much depended. For the first time her closely. , After a pause, he said: "I want to tell you for the fiftieth time I can do nothing for you." "Fifty?" she echoed. "Fifty did you say? Really, it doesn't seem that much." Judge Brewster looked at her quickly quick-ly to see if she was laughing at him. Almost peevishly, he said: "For the last time, I repeat I can do nothing for you." "Not the last time, judge," she replied, re-plied, shaking her head. "I shall come again to-morrow." The lawyer swung around in his chair with indignation. "You will?" Annie nodded. "Yes, sir," she said, quietly. "You're determined to force your way in here?" exclaimed the lawyer. : "Yes, sir." The judge banged the desk with his fist. "But I won't allow it! I have something some-thing to say, you know! I can't permit per-mit this to go on. I represent my client, Mr. Howard Jeffries. Sr., and he won't consent to my taking up your husband's case." There was a shade of sarcasm in Annnie's voice as she asked calmly: "Can't you do it without his consent?" con-sent?" The lawyer looked at her grimly. "I can," he blurted out, "but I won't." 1 Her eyes flashed as she replied quickly. "Well, you ought to " T .e lawyer looked up in amazement. amaze-ment. "What do you mean?" he demanded. "It's your duty to do it," she said, quietly. "Your duty to his son, to me, and to Mr. Jeffries himself. Why, he's so eaten up with his family pride and false principles that he can't see the difference between right and wrong. 1 ou re his lawyer. Its your duty to put him right. It's downright wicked of you to refuse you're hurting him. Why, when I was hunting around for a lawyer one of them actually refused re-fused to take up the case because he said old Brewster must think Howard How-ard was guilty or he'd have taken it up himself. You and his father are putting the whole world against him, and you know it." The judge was staggered. No one in his recollection had ever dared to speak to him like that. He was so astonished that, he forgot to resent it, and he hid his confusion by taking out his handkerchief and mopping his forehead. "I do kno"' it," he admitted. "Then why do you do it?" she snapped. The lawyer hesitated, and then he said : "I that's not the question." Annie leaped quickly forward, and she replied: "It's my question and as yon say, I've asked it 50 times." The lawyer sat back in his chair and looked at her for a moment without with-out speaking. He surveyed her critically crit-ically from head to foot, and then, as if satisfied with his examination, said: (TO BE CONTINUED.) The banker turned on his wife. Sternly he said: "Alicia, I cannot permit you to interfere. in-terfere. That young man is a self-:onfessed self-:onfessed murderer and therefore no son of mine. I've done with hirn long Jgo. I cannot be moved by maudlin sentimentality. Please let that be final." Turning to the lawyer, he said, coldly: "So, in the matter of this stage business, you can take no steps to restrain re-strain her?" The lawyer shook his head. "No, there is nothing I can do." Quickly he added: "Of course, you don't doubt my loyalty to you?" Mr. Jeffries shook his head. "No, no, Brewster." The lawyer laughed as he said: "Right or wrong, you know 'my j country' that is, my client ''tis of thee.' " Turning to Alicia, he added, laughingly: "That's the painful part sf a lawyer's profession, Mrs. Jeffries. The client's w.eakness is the lawyer's Strength. When m-;r; hate each other and rob each other we la-yeTS don't pacify them. We dare not, because that is our profession. We encourage encour-age them. Wc pit them against each other for profit. If we didn't they'd z,o to some lawyer who would." Alicia gave a feeble smile. "Yes," she replied; "I'm afraid we all love to be advised to do what wu want to do." Mr. Jeffries made an Impatient gesture ges-ture of dissent- Scoffingly he remarked: re-marked: "Thai rn?y apply to the great generality gen-erality of people, but not to me." -v - ; she said: ''I must see that woman, Judge. I think I can persuade her to change her course of action. In any case I must see her, I must " Looking at' him questioningly, she said: "You don't think it inadvisable, do you?" The judge smiled grimly. "I think I'd better see her first," he said. "Suppose you come back a little lit-tle later. It's more than probabie that she'll be here this afternoon. I'll see her and arrange for an interview." There was a knock at the door, and Alicia started guiltily, thinking her husband might have overheard their j conversation. The head clerk entered and whispered something to tho judge, i afier which he retired. The lawyer turned to Alieia with a smile. "It's just as I thought," he said, pleasantly, "she's out there now. You'd better go and leave her to me." The door opened again unceremoniously, unceremon-iously, and Mr. Jeffries put in his head: "Aren't you coining, Alicia?" he demanded, de-manded, impatiently. In a lower voice to the lawyer he added: "Say, Brewster, that woman is outside in your office. Now is your opportunity to come to some arrangement with her." Again Mrs. Jeffries held out her hand. "Good-by, judge; you're so kind! It needs a lot of patience to be a lawyer, doesn't it?" Judge Brewster laughed, and added I in an undertone: "Come back by and by." The door closed, and the lawyer since the terrible affair had happened, there was a faint glimmer of hope ahead. If only she could rush over to tho Tombs and tell Howard the joyful news so he might keep up courage! cour-age! It was eight days now since Howard's arrest, and the trial would take place in six weeks. There was still time to prepare a strong defense if the judge would only consent to take the case. She was more sure than' ever that a clever lawyer would have no difficulty in convincing a jury that Howard's alleged "confession" was untrue and improperly obtained. ' In the intervals of waiting to see the lawyer, she had consulted every one she knew, and among others she had talked with Dr. Bernstein, the noted psychologist, whom she had seen once at Yale. He received her kindly and listened attentively to her story. When she had finished he had evinced the greatest interest. He told her that he happened to be the physician called in on the night of the tragedy, and at that time he had grave doubts as to it being a case of murder. He believed it was suicide, and he had told Capt. Clinton so, but tho police captain had made up his mind, and that was the end of it. Howard's "confession," he went on, really meant nothing. If called to the stand he could show the jury that a hypnotic subject can be made to "confess" to anything. In the interest inter-est of truth, justice, and science, he said, he would gladly come to her aid. All this she would tell Judge Brewster. Brew-ster. It would be of great help to |
