| Show goldzal fl by peter be kyne copyright by bell syndicate service SYNOPSIS theodore gatlin adopts a baby will which eh be names penelope in a final effort to solve his matrimonial troubles but ble his wife has never wanted her and their affairs end in the divorce court ten year old penelope Is given into the keeping of mrs gatlin at a baseball game a ball strikes penelope on the nose mrs gatlin spirits tho the child to europe gatlin retires from business wills penelope all his money and Is about to begin a search for or his daugh ter when a motor accident ends his lite life borne some ten years later in san Francl francisco stephen burt rising young karist Is in presented by dan mcnamara chief of police with a new patient nance belden a girl with a dual per sodality aon sona allty lity tor for which her saddle nose was in part responsible mcnamara does not think she Is a criminal and obtains burt burts s testimony in court lanny the doctor a 9 office nurse Is won over de spite nance s hard boiled exterior CHAPTER ill III continued 6 A normal weight your honor he took the girls hand and counted her pulse then he took a stethoscope from his pocket placed it against her left breast and listened her iler pulse pulse and I 1 cart beat normally your honor and from her appearance of general good health we have no reason to suspect pulmonary trouble her skin Is clear soft and smooth it Is tree free from blem ishaq another indication osgood of good health her hair Is fine and lustrous not dry and lifeless as Is the case of a person of pronounced psychopathic cleg cles her eyes are full lambent kind ly IY intelligent her brow Is full broad and of medium height her head bead a little larger than that of the average woman and she Is broad between the ears because as she has brains nature or dallied that she should have room tor for them she Is neatly dressed and decidedly not a slattern she gives no indication of dissipation drugs or a al cohol but mark her nose it Is a grand wreck A nose like that would cause a continuous mental conflict in any woman but for this lamentable facial de feet this girl would be beautiful per haps she remembers or used to kemem ber her herself as beautiful or attractive then this accident occurred and lo 10 she became an ugly buckl ng she brooded upon her misfortune she wept over it doubtless she thought it ery nery hard that god should afflict her so doubtless the knowledge that she was an object of curiosity or derision to strangers and repugnance to her friends made of her a gloomy depressed recluse who knows what wild desperate and deso late thoughts she became a prey to mental conflicts undoubtedly were at work an impulse to run away to hide herself countered by the natural im pulse to make the best of the situa tion to be brave to pretend she was not different in the case of a girl whose mind and nerves had been thus harassed over a long period a new sorrow const tut ing a definite mental shock even if of no great magnitude might nevertheless be sufficient to bring about the condl condi tion of dissociation of personality which I X have described anything else doctor burt I 1 have given a concise and general outline of the case as it presents itself to me your honor this defendant should have treatment it Is quite pos bible sible to cure her and I 1 am morally tain I 1 could do so her saddle nose can be repaired I 1 have a very good friend a specialist in plastic surgery and I 1 know he would be willing to help without charge to make male a swan of this ugly du duckling elling and you think you would make her over into a responsible moral citizen I 1 think so your honor I 1 how would she support herself dur ing the period of treatment by theft or worse the judge glanced at nance belden how do you support yourself young woman I 1 carry my own checkbook check book the girl replied you have a private income sure old thing what Is its source I 1 don t know on the first of every month somebody puts some money in the bank tor for me and I 1 check against it and that s all you know about it eh sometimes I 1 can remember but I 1 can it now it s the time I 1 can t kemem ber that raises h I 1 with me judge I 1 don t know what name to sign to my checks then or I 1 forget I 1 have a check cheek ing account then I 1 get hard up and steal llo v truly remarkable miss bel den I 1 have you ever issued any checks that bounced back on you say are you trying to kid me whiskers WhIsker sr the judge ignored this obvious con tempt of court I 1 cupl suppose ose you lave had many sweethearts miss belden nance belden s scornful laughter filled the courtroom oh juda jude you on re precious what sort of a man would pick me for a I 1 ask von vout be yourself judge now you tell one I 1 why not the judge pursued remorselessly morse lessly well mabe maybe because nobody ever asked me the girl assured him with simple directness I 1 dont don t mind ad milting I 1 d like to have a nice sweetie if I 1 could find one but what the h 1 s the use trying I 1 id d only have him a little while then he bed d get ashamed of me what s the use bothering myself I 1 know a blind fellow mad about me I 1 lie e often thought of taking the poor on for my steady sweet e but he makes me so sad I 1 know tt it wouldn t last ile has that funny lunny staring look and when he walks with his arms held straight out it just breaks my heart wl IVI ere does he live god knows knos now I 1 was taking care of him when I 1 got pinched you ee judge I 1 took him to a doctor to see it if something couldn t be done for his poor eyes and the doctor said he could be cured but it would be eapen sive ile d have to go east to a very noted specialist who would charge a lot for the operation well I 1 paid that doctor his bill and that left me short did the same doctor say anything to you about your nose tes yes he said he could cure that himself and to come in when I 1 was ready and bed he d put me in a hospital and operate gosh its it a some baby isn t it judge how did it happen 1 I don dont t know you don t know anything do you yes I 1 know something what is it you haven t the slightest intention of agreeing with steve that sheep faced mutt blethen has given glen you an earful you re one of these judges that believes what he wants to believe steves told you im nutty but steves wrong I 1 im in not steves steve s just a good fellow fello trying to give the little girl a hand so you believe you re quite sane of course I 1 am there s nothing arong with me except a bad memory and a beak beat like the american eagle eig e ig I 1 e stephen s ched and shook his head seeing which nance cross d to hib if you re a good girl nance ill I 1 II 11 not put the cuffs on you s de put her arm around his neck and laid her cheek against his steve darling you d be a wonderful sweet heart she assured him and laughed your honor stephen pleaded cant can t you see she s I 1 can see she ashes s as intelligent as you say she Is doctor in fact she s more than that she Is very artfully simu lating mental irresponsibility by at tempting to spoil the good work of her expert witness it Is my conviction that doctor blethen was ri right when he told me she was the smartest most ad rolt criminal type he had ever e ex X I 1 believe with him that she is incorrigible and incorrigible crim finals should be set apart from society he ile turned to his clerk I 1 believe the sentence was two years in san quentin penitentiary verify it and prepare the commitment good G d stephen burt cried sharply you are not going to commit this social outrage your honor the judge eyed him sourly doctor burt you will apologize to the court for that language or I 1 shall fine you fifty lifty dollars for contempt of court stephen burt drew a fifty dollar bill from his pocketbook and tossed it on the table court Is adjourned his honor mum bled much embarrassed the policemen poll poli cemin who ft ho had brought nance belden into superior court ap pro preached ached her if lf you re a good girl nance ill not put the cuffs on you you didn dian t put them on me coming here so why should you think it feces sary now you re an impotent Impo tant prisoner prison ejr now nance the judge just gave you two wa years in san quentin didn t he nance belden turned did he steve the doctor nodded miserably and not see you any more steve of course you shall nance ill come to see you from time to time I 1 I 1 haven t finished with you not by a long shot my dear tyrrell you re still retained on this case the lawyer waved his hand hope lessly were licke I 1 he stated with it emotion this Is one hand no laws klawier er can beat and I 1 wouldn t try and arrell shook hands with stephen and nance belden put on his hat and str de out C me girlie the policeman lol oll ceman iceman sug well the girl declared with an in effort at nonchalance thie this Is a tough break for old lady belden it she smiled upon him patronizingly youre you re a good scout steve thanks a lot for all you ve done and tried to do you beant ant well but at that I 1 think the old scientific hooey has got you a olt cuckoo too I 1 stood for it a while because I 1 thought his nib nibs ight fall for it but when I 1 saw you veren t going to get to first base with the big boob I 1 called it no contest she thrust out her little hand well good by steve I 1 suppose I 1 in keeping you from other nuts outs she came close to him and looked up at him v m wistfully ully fully so he stooped and kissed her at once tears suffused her eyes you don dont t mind what I 1 look I 1 ke do you doctor burt too you re kind enough not to feel sorry for me amazingly she had bad changed slipped out of one personality into the other as one slips out of a coat will you do something for me doctor she continued and he saw that she was all nerves now I 1 im in looking for a girl named penelope I 1 can t remember her last name but I 1 do wish you d try to find her for me even with so little to go on where does she live nance out there somewhere you youve ve been reading a poem I 1 think nance bancea a poem that runs and you my sweet penelope out th ther ere a somewhere orne where you watt wait tor for me with buds of roses in your hair and kisses on your mouth she trembled with eagerness I 1 W why by you know her doctor that 2 the penelope im I 1 m looking for I 1 oh if that a the penelope why of course III find her for you good by my ray poor dear girl and remember to look for me at the gate the day you re released from san quentin A deputy sheriff took nance belden to san quentin and was decent enough to refrain from handcuffing her en ell route the girl was not particularly sad indeed she appeared to enjoy the brief trip across the bay in the ferry boat and the halt half hours hour a journey by train to Green brae where the prison bus meets arriving deputy sheriffs and their charges even the first glimpse of the penitentiary did not disturb her for the road that enters the grounds Is flanked ranked by the homes of the official officials and guards and well kept lawns and flower gardens give no hint of the gloom that lies in waiting beyond the main gate she was taken first to the wardens office from here she was passed on to another officer where she was meas ared by the bernillon Ber tillon system thumb printed and photographed after which a guard escorted her over to the worn wom en s wing of the prison the building in which female con evicts are housed at san quentin would readily be mistaken tor for a hospital were it not for the bars at the windows and the high metal mesh fence that sur our rounds the grounds two young worn wom en were hoeing in the flower beds along the cement walks other women strolled singly or in pairs chatting and enjoying the sunshine and fresh salt breeze that blew in from the bay less than fifty yards distant about two hundred yards off the beach some men in skiffs were fishing for striped bass and with the exception of a guard in a kiosk klosk at the entrance to the grounds one would have to search in vain for the slightest hint of official surveillance so this Is san quentin nance remarked gaily to her escort not so bad my boy not so bad the guard did not answer he knew that the realization of restriction rather than high walls constitutes the horror of prison life he took her into a small lobby where a pleasant faced middle aged matron greeted the girl cordially come with me nance she said and led the girl into her office where she took charge of nances bances suitcase opened it and searched it thoroughly you have nice clothes and toilet articles she commented have you more clothes at home these will scarcely last two years yes may I 1 send for them asked nance eagerly of course you may the women inmates of san quentin are not required to wear a prison uniform al though we furnish one it if necessary hurrah tor for our side nance replied cheerfully you read and write of course I 1 nance do alook I 1 look like a dumb belij bell well patiently here are the he prison rules read them and then obey them strictly failure to obey them will lead to disciplinary measures and repeated infractions may lead to solitary confinement it if you prove to be a good girl you 11 receive credit tor for good behavior in the shape of a deduc tion in the length of your sentence good conduct will also render you ell gible for parole after you have served half of your sentence if it you should get into trouble tell me about it first I 1 try to give my girls a square deal but very few of them try to give me one if you should think you re not being treated fairly always be glad to discuss your grievances with vou von you will meet some terrible women here and you will also meet some who had they been spared the unfortunate circumstances which conducted to br bring them here would be ladles ladies con diction doesn doean t mean that a person Is devoid of all human attributes you will keep your person and your cell clein you will not be locked in your cell unless you misbehave your cell it Is really a nice little room will be sacred to you alone and you will have the freedom of the building and grounds I 1 will assign you to a cell and show you up to it then you can change your clothes and come down and join the women in the recreation room yonder TO BB BE CONTINUED |
