第10章 ONLY THREE YEARS(4)

"Just before the judge imposed sentence, he asked her if she had anything to say.You know, it's just a usual form--a thing that rarely means much of anything.But this case was different, let me tell you.She surprised us all by answering at once that she had.It's really a pity, Gilder, that you didn't wait.Why, that poor girl made a--damn--fine speech!"The lawyer's forensic aspirations showed in his honest appreciation of the effectiveness of such oratory from the heart as he had heard in the courtroom that day.

"Pooh! pooh!" came the querulous objection."She seems to have hypnotized you." Then, as a new thought came to the magnate, he spoke with a trace of anxiety.There were always the reporters, looking for space to fill with foolish vaporings.

"Did she say anything against me, or the store?""Not a word," the lawyer replied, gravely.His smile of appreciation was discreetly secret."She merely told us how her father died when she was sixteen years old.She was compelled after that to earn her own living.Then she told how she had worked for you for five years steadily, without there ever being a single thing against her.She said, too, that she had never seen the things found in her locker.And she said more than that! She asked the judge if he himself understood what it means for a girl to be sentenced to prison for something she hadn't done.Somehow, Gilder, the way she talked had its effect on everybody in the courtroom.I know! It's my business to understand things like that.And what she said rang true.What she said, and the way she said it, take brains and courage.The ordinary crook has neither.So, I had a suspicion that she might be speaking the truth.You see, Gilder, it all rang true! And it's my business to know how things ring in that way." There was a little pause, while the lawyer moved back and forth nervously.

Then, he added: "I believe Lawlor would have suspended sentence if it hadn't been for your talk with him."There were not wanting signs that Gilder was impressed.But the gentler fibers of the man were atrophied by the habits of a lifetime.What heart he had once possessed had been buried in the grave of his young wife, to be resurrected only for his son.

In most things, he was consistently a hard man.Since he had no imagination, he could have no real sympathy.

He whirled about in his swivel chair, and blew a cloud of smoke from his mouth.When he spoke, his voice was deeply resonant.

"I simply did my duty," he said."You are aware that I did not seek any consultation with Judge Lawlor.He sent for me, and asked me what I thought about the case--whether I thought it would be right to let the girl go on a suspended sentence.Itold him frankly that I believed that an example should be made of her, for the sake of others who might be tempted to steal.

Property has some rights, Demarest, although it seems to be getting nowadays so that anybody is likely to deny it." Then the fretful, half-alarmed note sounded in his voice again, as he continued: "I can't understand why the girl wants to see me."The lawyer smiled dryly, since he had his back turned at the moment.

"Why," he vouchsafed, "she just said that, if you would see her for ten minutes, she would tell you how to stop the thefts in this store."Gilder displayed signs of triumph.He brought his chair to a level and pounded the desk with a weighty fist.

"There!" he cried."I knew it.The girl wants to confess.

Well, it's the first sign of decent feeling she's shown.Isuppose it ought to be encouraged.Probably there have been others mixed up in this."Demarest attempted no denial.

"Perhaps," he admitted, though he spoke altogether without conviction."But," he continued insinuatingly, "at least it can do no harm if you see her.I thought you would be willing, so Ispoke to the District Attorney, and he has given orders to bring her here for a few minutes on the way to the Grand Central Station.They're taking her up to Burnsing, you know.I wish, Gilder, you would have a little talk with her.No harm in that!"With the saying, the lawyer abruptly went out of the office, leaving the owner of the store fuming.