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CASES

THE CASE OF.

THE CLEVER'
RACKETE ERS
_I

I WAS A LOVE
CULT SLAVE
ODDS-AND
HE odds are against the
T criminal.
Nick Harris, the famous
Pacific Coas-t detective, address-
ed the Boys' Club of the All Na-
tions Foundation at Los Angeles.
He dealt with famous cases that
he had solved. Suddenly he
turned to the boys and said:
"Never forget this, fellows. I
can make a thousand mistakes
and still catch a criminal. He
can make but one, and I have
him."
We pay for
Crime does not pay.
crime.
Nobody knows how much crime
really costs. The National commis-
sion of Law Observance and En-
forcement, better known as the Wick-
ersham Commission, said, "It is
wholly impossible to make an accur-
ate estimate of the total economic
cost of crime to the United States."
Sanford Bates, using the 'best avail-
able figures, submits an estimate of
$1,070,000,000 as the annual cost of
crime in the United States.
Criminolog-ists differ a s to the
causes of c r i m and the proper treat-
ment of the criminal. The statistical
data a t hand do not justify the gen-
eralizations drawn by many so-called
students of crime.
Marcus Kavanagh, in his volume
"The Criminal and His Allies," states,
referring to men who have been in
prison, "Two-thirds of t h m a r e cured
by their confinement." He fails to
present bhe evidence upon which ,this
generalization is based.
Sheldon and Eleanor T. Glueck, in
the volume entitl,? "Five Hundred
Criminal Careers, one of the truly
scientific studies in this field, reach
an entirely different conclusion. Doc-
tor Richard C. Cabot, who wrote the
foreward to this study, states, "T'he
most important fact established in this
book is that out of 510 men who left
the MJassachusetts Reformatory dur-
ing the years 1911-1922, 80 per cent
were not reformed five to fifteen
years later, but went right on com-
mitting crimes after their discharge.
This is a damning piece of evidence-
not againat that reformatory in par-
ticular, which probably stands high
among institutions of its kind, but
against the reformatory s y s t m in
THE CRIMINAL
By the Reverend
G. Bromley Oxnam
Bishop of the Methodist
Episcopal Church of the
Omaha Area
Bishop Oxnam: "I have met many
criminals. I have yet to talk
to one who thinks crime pays".
general. Here i t does not work.
No one knows that its works any
better elsewhere."
The sentimentalist is thought to
be the person who wishes no crimi-
nal coddled. Is it not possible that
the sentimentalist is also a person
who relies upcrn an nndemonstrated
method of reducing crime? Appar-
ently after-conviction treatment of
the criminal is not too s u d l .
Fundamental causes continue to pro-
duce criminals. Law enforcement
agents, even though successful in ap-
pre-hending and convicting criminals,
do not remove the causes. The in-
stitutions to which the criminal is
sent fail to reform h i m
DOES crime pay? I have met
many criminals. I ,have yet t o talk
to one who thinks crime pays. Of
course, the persons one meets have
been caught. How those who avoid
the law think, I do not know. The
fundamental question, however, is
not, "Does crime pay?" but "Must
we continue to pay f o r crime rather
than pay to eliminate crime?"
In 1917, the juvenile delinquency
maps of Los Angeles showed that the
highest concentration of delinquency
was in a uertain restricted area. Year
after year ]boys and girls had been
arrested, placed upon probation, or
com~mittedto institutions. The com-
munity continued to produce delin-
yency. Boys' clubs were organized
In that section, and, under the lead-
ership of Charles S. Thompson, the
clubs grew, until a t last a thousand
boys 'belonged to the various cluibs of
the A11 Nations Foundation. I t is
interesting to note that delinquency
has been reduced to a negligible mini-
mum in that section of the city.
'I%e Gluecks say: "It i s poor state-
craft and worse economy for us to
spend most of crur enerrgies and in-
come in tinkering with the machin-
ery that deals +th existing crimi-
nals. The best thought, the most
zealous effort, the richest purses,
should rather be expended in attack-
ing i%ose problems whose solution
will tend to reduce the number of new
delinquents and crimimk."
Sanford Bates concludes his book,
"Prisons and Beyond," with this state-
m m t : "The end and aim of the penal
system is the protection of Society
. .Our c a m u n i t i e s a r e entitled to pro-
tection; they are not entitled to ven-
gence. If we are to achieve our por-
tion of this abject, we shall do i t by
a w a t e r mderstanding and c w p -
eration among all crime-reduction
agencies, by a n intelligent and fre-
quent use of scientific discoveries,
through the enlistment in our work
of loyal and devoted pnblic servants
and by never for one moment losing
our faith in the ultimate worth and
possibilities of redemption of the
human soul."
. .
(Continued on baak aover)
 CONTENTS
I CLlp::g:l~
.' ~~nsworth
OTS FOR CAS~ . 126

A SLAVE
I WASBy GIRL
Hollman -... . 18
Anna P ..
THE THIEF r~L1nes
ASLEE I _ . 19
I By Gor 0 OF T HE GYPPERS ......._....... _ .._ _ .
WAS QU EEN Lawlon ... .... 23
OR S
By Agnes AP ..._...•......
ALE CHE
MURDER F h Martin EEN .. 24
By Jo n OTLEGGING QU .
WAS A FILM BO
t Hallett - ......._ 29
I By Charlot e ..
GIRLS FOR VOODOO
. Grace S . 34
By Mane T HETravIs
GALLOW ._......._... _ _ ..
Y HONEYMOONhn IN
Sunny . 40
M By Mrs. Jo ON CANVAS _ _..
I COMMITTED. FORGERY
e Danton "'''-.' _ . 44

I WASBy SALt::.Sg~~n...
A Maunc FOR CRIME
.. _.........., . 51

By Mar .
'
AMOURS OF,sHATE
Sprague -.......... . 57

CRUSHINGd ~ul1ivan
By Deom • ICE WRD _ .
MERICA S V_ . _ _ _ .

-By E
---:-:-::-:;~;G~~~~ A~l~l..:n:g=-
This book IS
.
. Published Golden
1 Onfal'Io,
Street, Toronto ,by. Canada•.
Books_
of Amenc , d
. hts reserve.
. a 135 Yonge
_
I CLIPPED
BIG SHOTS
FOR CASH
By CEClllA WAINSWORTH
She made society pay for
her humiliation-but the
Law demands payment, too.
I DEVELOPED wy craving for
precious stones right at the
sourc-the fabulous diamond
mines of Kimberley.
As a baby, I followed my
father from one mining camp to
another in the South African
veldt, to which I mveled in my
swaddling clothes, after my
mother's death a t my birth in
New York.
My father found a simple na-
tive woman of Basuto to act a s
combined mother and nurse to
me. She was the only gentle
companionship I knew for seven
years. Gun fights, stabbings,
violence in every form are a part
of my earliest memories.
In 1923, shortly after my seventh
birthday, my father sent me to live
with his sister, Cora Wainmorth, in
New York. She was a apinster lady
who cut something of a figure in the
social world, living on fashionable
Murray Hill. As I walked down the
'
I PHONED-
Jake Conners and asked him to tip me off to some
places he knew where I could do a little gambling.
gangplank of the liner that brought
me from Ehgland, she gave me a hor-
rified glance and said:
"Cecilia, you're nothing but a.little
barbarian from the veldt. Your
father's a very wealthy man, land he's
probably going to be much wealthier
in a short time. You must learn to
take your rightful place in society
when you grow up."
She q e a n t that I had to attend
a private school for girls d my
age, later a finishing school, and per-
haps, in time, t o a fashionable college.
For eight years I suffered a t Miss
Parker's Academy on Park Avenue,
and when I was fifteen I was sent
to a finishing school on the Hudson,
a few miles north of the city.
Father came home twice on visits
while I was struggling through a
course of studies whose only purpose
-it seemed to me-was to turn us
into hothouse flowers.
On one of his visits, while he was
spending a few days with u s at Aunt
Cora's, I got him out of her hearing.
I protested bitterly over $he way I
was being brought up.
"My business is getting solidly
establidhed, Cecilia dear," he said.
"Suppose you just go on a s you have "
been for two or three more years.
Then we'll have a (home,together, just
you and me alone."
With that prospect in front of me, I ,
stopped my complaints. And on my
eighteenth birthday, Father came
home to stay.
He had aIways brought me gifts
of jewelry on his visits- home, and by
the time I was eighteen, when I was
studying fashion design, I had ac-
cumulated' a modest little fortune in
gems. They weren't all diamonds.
Father had established trading of-
fices in Johannesburg, London, Am-
sterdam and New York, where he also
bought and sold white and blue sap-
phires, emeralds and pearls.
For my eighteenth birthday, he
brought me a string of pearls. I n
an offhand way one night, when we
were coming from the opera, he said
to me, touching the pearls around
my neck:
"Cecilia, be a little careful where
you wear that gift. It's a little more
valuable than the other stones I've
given you. But they really don't do
justice to your beauty."
Several days later, when I was put-

Miami police had
arrested Romero
boarding a plane
for Rio, a n d
found h e . w a s in
possession of my
jewels.
ting my jewels away in Aunt h r a ' s
wall safe, Father's words of warn-
ing about my pearls returned to nly
mind. I kept out the pearls, and put
them in my bag. I went to a famous
firm of jewelers in midtown ,Man-
hattan
"I want to get some pearls ap-
praised," I told one of the floorwalk-
ers, who was dressed to resemble a
European diplomat. I gave my name,
and in a p ~ i v a t esitting-room was in-
troduced to one of the firm's officials,
attired even more formally than the
other man. His eyebrows arched a t
the mention of my name, but he said
I CLIPPED THE BIG SHOTS
nothing until I put the pearls on his
desk.
"Aren't you the daughter of Mr.
Philip Wainsworth?"
"That is right. How did you
guess?"
"Partly from your name," he an-
swered, smiling. "But chiefly be-
cause these pearls are-well, some-
thing out of the usual line. Then I
must confess that once o r twice I
have seen your photograph in the
society pages of the newspapers."
I t was true. My picture had ap-
peared on the society pages. Aunt
Cora had forced me to serve on com-
mittees of debs and sub-debs who set
out to raise funds for worthy causes
-and usually ended up by spending
altl the proceeds on a ball a t the Ritz-
Carlton.
"What can we db for you, Miss
Wainsworth?"
"I want to get these pearls ap-
praised."
"Did you want to dispose of this
necklace? Because ,if so, that might
be one price. If you want the re-
placement value, that might be higher
or lower, depending on the market."
"Yes," I said, "that's axactly what
I want to know. I don't want to s d l
 f
THE
JEWELER--
told me that
to replace the
pearl necklace
would cost in
the neighbor-
hood of $25,-'
000. ..-
them, but what would i t cost to re-
place them if I lost them somehow?"
The jeweler adjusted a magnify-
ing glass to his eye, switched on a
brilliant light, said nothing for a
moment. Then returned the pearl
necklace to its case, and handed i t to
me.
"Were we asked to replace the
necklace," he said, "the cost toryou
would be in the neighborhood of $26,-
000."
"Did you say $25,000?" I asked,
staring a t him.
"Thereabouts," he replied, and smil-
ed. "Does that surprise you?"
"Well... I don't know what t o
say. I t makes me realize that per-
haps sometimes I've been rather care-
less where I've worn the necklace--to
the movies. even to racetracks with
my father!;'
The ieweler laughed. Then he
said, "why don't $U have a copy
made? Then you'd have no worries.
Of course, doubtless Mr. Wainsworth
has these covered by insurance, but
t h a t doesn't cover their sentimental
value, if they were stolen or other-
wise lost."
* * * his displeasure."
I N A WEEK'S time I was in pos-
session of a copy of my necklace, a t
a cost of $425.
The next day Father told me that
one of his associates in the Wains-
worth combine, James Pollock, had
asked to take me to a play one even-
ing that week. "Would you care to
go?" Father asked.
I could remember Mr. Pollock
vaguely from childhood days in the
diamond fields. He used to send me
I CLIPPED THE RIG SHOTS
.don't tell that to everybody."
littlre presents, from time to time. and
once when he came to New York on
business he had taken me to the cir-
cus. But there was something in-
definable about him that I didn't like.
I had never been able to bring my-
self to "Uncle Jim," which he had
suggested I do years ago.
"All right," I told Father. I didn't
want to say no to anything he sug-
gested.
As i t turned out, I was glad after-
ward that I had gone to the theater
with Mr. Pollock, although not for the
usual reasons. That evening, for the
first time, I wore the copy of my pearl
necklace. Like my father, Mr. Pol-
lock was a n expert on precious stones.
During one intermission, when we
were in the smoking-room, he nodded
a t my throat and said:
"That's a lovely necklace, Cecilia."
I explained that i t was a gift from
Father. "Just for fun, Mr. Pollock,"
I said, taking the pearls off my neck
and handing them to him, "what
would you say they were worth?"
"Now, young lady," he protested,
"maybe your father doesn't want you
t o know. And I'm not going to risk
"Oh, no," I said, truthfully. "I
know what they're worth. I've had
them appraised. I just wanted to
see whether the appraiser knew his
business."
"Very well, then. But understand,
the light here isn't very good. And
also that I haven't a n examining mon-
ocle with me. But sometimes people
in our business, after long experi-
ence, can tell a s much by the tips of
their fingers a s by their eyes."
After a few moments, he reclasped
the pearls around my neck. He lean-
ed over, when we had returned to our
seats, and whispered:
"About thirty thousand dollars. But
I was so mortified I couldn't keep
my mind on tne play !
Here I had gone to all the trouble
and expense to get my pearls copied
and then, on the first night I planned
to wear the replica, I had committed
the blunder of wearing the genuine
stones... What an idiot I was!
As soon a s I reached home, I rushed
t o Aunt Cora's wall safe and took out
my jewel box. When i t came to
judging stones, Mr. Pollock was cer-
tainly a n authority-but I wanted to
prove to myself what a fool I had
been.
I took out the two cases, and open-
ed the one where I kept the real
pearls.
The real necklace was there! Mr.
Pollock might be fooled, but I could
not. My initials had been minutely
engraved on the clasp of the genuine
necklace. There were no initials on
the replica ...
I decided to tell Father the story.
Could he explain how his partner,
James Pollock, an expert with an in-
ternational reputation, could have
been misled so easily?
"Well, there's a couple of things
t o take into consideration," my father
explained. "First, that's a very fine
replica you had made. The firm that
made the copy knew you were my
daughter, and they probably lost
money on the commission in the hope
of getting some really important busi-
ness from me. - S
"Also, remember that a s Jimmy told
you in the theater, the light was very
poor. Experts a t work usually ex-
amine pearls under a very strong
white light that is even more pene-
trating than bright daylight. And
fianlly, Cecilia, we're all human and
a t times we all make mistakes."
"But father," I pursued, "just sup-
pose I had told Mr. Pollock that night
that I wanted to sell the necklace
right away, and that he could make
an easy $10,000 for himself by buy-
ing the pearls from me for $15,OM)?
Wouldn't he have jumped a t the
chance? Wouldn't you?"
"No. In the first place, our friend
Jimmy doesn't carry $15,000 around
in his wallet. And in the second
place, he would certainly have ex-
amined the stones under a light be-
fore handing over the cash. And the
light would have immediately exposed
the truth-that the 'stones were false
pearls, worth perhaps $500. And the
next thing he might have done would
be to call the.police. So stop day-
dreaming."
My father dismissed the subject.
But in my mind the question persist-
ed. What if I offered such a "bar-
gain" to a man who wasn't a gem

,xpert? And then I began to laugh
aloud; in the privacy of my bedroom,
thinking what my prim teachers a t
the finishing school would have said-
and especially Aunt Cora-had they
known the workings of my young
mind !
For the next six months I lived in
a paradise. Father purchased a house
in the East Sixties that was ideal for
the two of us.
Now that he had returned to the
United States for good, Father de-
manded some relaxation and enter-
tainment. We went to nightclubs, to
, Broadway plays, to the races. Father
deemed to have friends in all walks
of life, and he was a wonderful mix-
er. He did everything to see t h a t I
was surrounded with lots of attractive
young men, although I wasn't so much
of a simpleton not to recognize t h a t
some of these ardent males, who tried
to make love to me a few minutes
after their introduction, were more
enamoured of Father's money than
with me. But then-there was Ro-
mero. He was a s different from the
others a s night from day.
* * * impudence. Then he pleaded for the
I HAD met Romero Vargas in 5n
unconventional way, but to be quite
truthful the fault wasn't really mine.
' Nor his either. Father and I were
a t a nightclub, when a waiter brought
the phone extension to Father to an-
swer a call. After a few minutes'
conversation, he turned to me. He
looked worried.
"I must leave immediately on some-
thing important, but I don't want to
spoil your good time. I'll ask the
Reynolds .to bring you home when
they go, so will you join their table?"
"All right, Father. Don't worry,
I'll be all right."
After he left, a young ,man came
to my side, smilingly took me in his
TEIE
BRACE-
LET
S in view
evcery time I
re:rched o U t
1 L _
put my
ips on a
mber - I
a S seeing
,U to that.
I CLIPPED THE BIG SHOTS
arms without a word, and we began
to rhumba. I had never danced with
anyone so graceful, so sure of him-
self, and so good-looking. His eyes
were large and a deep brown, his
sleek black hair was perfectly groom-
ed, and his complexion suggested a
life in the open, yet he wore his
evening clothes a s though he had
been born in a New York nightclub.
While he held me in his arms, to-
ward the end of the nuhber, I said:
"I've met so many people tonight
I confess I've forgotten vour name."
"I'm IlOmero Vargas," he saiil,
bending his head over me deferent-
ially, "and-well, I too have some-
thing to confess. I didn't have the
privilege of being presented to you
tonight. But I have been looking a t
you all evening and-I just had to
take a chance."
"And besides," he continued, "if I
hadn't grabbed you the way I did,
you can be sure I would have met
you somehow. We must have mutual
friends here tonight."
We both began to laugh a t his own
next dance.
"All right," I said, "but I shouldn't.
I'll have t o introduce you to the
Reynolds first. My father h a s just
left, and I'm now with their party."
Romero's manners were perfect,
and h e proved to be a charming and
witty addition to our table. The
Reynoldses seemed impressed with
him.
He came from the Argentine where
his father was a well-to-do exporter
and rancher. Romero acted a s head
of the New York office of the Vargas
firm. He said he had spent most of
his life in the saddle on his father's
cattle ranches, and t h a t he was eager
t o return to a healthy out-of-doors
life. d spend so much time with me, away
In my happiness over bhe new
house, I failed to notice father's
growing preoccupation with his busi-
ness affairs. And I was myself be-
coming more and more preoccupied
with b m e r o . He symbolized all my
childhood dreams of the romantic
ways of a caballero.
I soon realized that I was desper-
ately in love with Romero. He had
the impetuousness of all Latins, but
when he spoke of serious things his
manner was quiet and earnest.
About a month after our meeting,
Romero took me to a fashionable
benefit held in one of the ballrooms
of the Waldorf-Astoria. I wore a
good deal of jewelry. Two or three
times Romero had said to me, on other
evenings we went dancing together,
t h a t the amount of jewelry I wore
sometimes made him apprehensive for
my safety. I laughed away his fears,
and explained that most of the time
I wore copies of my more valuable
stones, and t h a t - i n addition all of
the jewellry was insured.
I asked him that night to come in-
side for a few minutes, and have
coffee. We went to my upstairs sit-
ting-room. I prepared the coffee my-
self, and then began taking off my
jewels. I had worn my diamond and
sapphire necklace, two bracelets of
complementary stones on each wrist,
and a ten-carat square-cut diamond.
Father had placed our wall safe in
this room. I oaened i t and drew out
my jewel-case.
I asked Romero to serve the coffee,
and began putting my jewels away in
the case. Suddenly I thought of the
increasing amount of time that he
and I were spending together, and
of what the future might hold. I
asked him :
" h m e r o , how can you afford to
from your business?"
He came across the room and sat
down on the couch beside me. For a
moment he was silent, then he took
one of my hands.
"Cecilia derest--you a r e the most
important business in my life! Surely
you knew it?"
Then I was in his arms. For a long
moment he held me so closely t h a t I
could not breathe. I could feel the
excited beating of his heart. Then
he whispered :
"We must marry, dearest, right
away. Tomorrow. Don't spoil this
perfect moment by saying no. I will
call in a few hours, and ask your
father. Goodnight, darling Cecilia.
. .Then
.
1,
he was gone. Faint with joy
'at his words, I went to my bedroom,
undressed, and went t o bed to hug
my happiness. I was to live forever
with Romero, his arms would always
be there to embrace and enclose me.
... At last I fell asleep, to dream
of my Latin lover.
 I CLIPPED THE BIG SHOTS
[In the morning, one after the other, of my jewels. I told the .police that "In return, I will do everythmg I
I suffered two devastating blows. My a s long a s I had the jewels back, I can to bring you c1ient.e. When
world collapsed with a heartrender- would not prosecute. However, this friends and acquaintances compliment
ing crash about me! was not permitted. I was forced to me on my gems, I will tell them that
* * * appear in court to identify my gems. they come from your firm, and speak
FIRST THERE came a special de- The tabloids had a fieldday over of others i n your c o l l ~ t i o nAnd you
livery letter. I t was from my father. "Arrest of Scneietyk Belle's Gigolo will pay me a commission on any
"Dearest Cecilia: I could not come Lover," and they dragged in all the d e s that you make through me."
last night, and face you with my dis- sickening details of my father's sui- Two of the three dealers l inter-
grace. I am completely innocent, a s cide, Pollock's bail-jumping, and the v i e d were quick to consent
my lawyers will explain, but never- govmment's seizure of all the assets Once these stones were lent to me. ,
theless some of the shame and humil- of Wainsworbh, Ltd. City marshals I had the most expensive of them
iation must touch you. and creditors pursued me from one copied. I employed severd firms for
"I am too distraught now to say hotel to another. . . this purpose^, since I dared not arouse
anything more than to ask your for- I resolved to get even, to avenge suspicions.
giveness for what I am about to do. myself on the society that had dealt I made it a mint to be seen fre-
*'Your Father." me two staggering blows, that was quently in society. I gave ealmt little
That meant he was-dead! Yet it even now hounding me to death. parties myself. I t was most im-
couldn't be true. My father was not I was by no means broke. True, portant that, for a while at k s t ,
the weak sort of person wko there was only $10,0010 insurance, that I keep faith with the jewelers from
would take his own life. went to pay many small obligations whom I was "borrowing" bhe jewels,
In another fifteen minutes, two of which I cculd not ignore. But there because I needed quite a few "pairs"
my father's lawyers were in the was also the $25,000 cash given me -originals and their copies-before
house. by the lawyers, and I owned about befme I {began to strike back a t the
They told me they were going to $50,000 in stones. Anld most import- world.
deposit $25,000 in cash for me under ant, my name was cleared completely A t Saratogo, one August, father
an assumed name, in a place where of any complicity in the bankruptcy. had introduced me to one of his odd
i t could not be impounded by either Most of my society friends s>twckloy- acquaintances, a bigtime gambler
the government or creditors. They ally by me. whose name was Jake Connors. I
wanted to see that all the gems in A month later, I began my car- had no easy way of gwtting in tow%
th'e house were safely deposited some- eeT of revenge against society. I ibe- with Jake, since our worlds were far
place, under the same assumed name. came a m$ of female Dr. Jekyll and apart, but i t didn't take a detective
YO;~ father told us that he had Mr. Hy&. agency long to learn his whereabouts.
given you about $5Q,OQ0 in stones," I wrote him, recalling the circum-
the lawyer said. "Is that right?" stances of our meeting ami asked him
"Something like that," I replied. to telephone me. We made an ap-
"I keep them u p there in the safe." pointment to meet the next day in
The eyes of the lawyers and ~ l n e the cocktail bar of my apartment-
turned to the wall. hotel.
The safe was open! "I was sorry to hear about your
I began a frantic search around father," he began. "F'hil Wains-
the room. I remembered that I had 'worth and I were old friends. Back
taken out the jewel-case the night be-' in Rhodesia, years ago, we used to
fore and, in the glow of happiness- shoot dice togrerther. What can I do
after Romero's departure, had gone for you?"
straight to bed. I explained,. "I'd like to do a little
. A sickening fear began to clutch a t
my heart. I could not bring myself
gambling. You know-mulette, h-
carat and :so on. I h o ~ e dYOU d - h t
to telephone Romero a t his small hotel know where to direct me." -
downtown. The lawyers insisted, and Jake refused at first, but I soon
one of them phoned. wheedled his consent.
"Cecilia," he said, "this loaks very "I will give you a list of p h e s ,
bad. I don't know what to say-I herre in New York and e l s e h e m , and
don't want to give you another shock then 1'11 send out word that you're
after what you've just gone through. okay. But please understand, you are
But-well. Vargas left his hotel about doing 'this on your own responsibility.
2 zm., with all his luggage, and left I don't want anything on my con-
no forwardinp: address." science."
Romero! ,Only a few hours before I t was then early December, and I
he had spoken of marriage. .. . MY FIRST move was to get copies
"I've telephoned the police. Ce'cilia, made of all my most valuable pieces
packed two trunks and Mt immredi-
ately for Miami. Jake had arranged
. I don't know what this man meant of iewdrv. that I was to useanother name than
to you, but I had to do it." secknd step was to call upon my own.
* * * the three leading jewelers of the I was amazed at the ease with
IT STILL tortures me to recall the town. My story to each of them was whieh I flexed my first victim. The
next few days after the lawyers' the same. I said: s e c ~ n dnight in Miami I put on a
visit. The publicity was cruel. I "From time to time I want you to good deal of jewelry and took a
tried to protect mysdf from report- lend me somle of the finest jewels taxi to a place oalled t h LClu~bCall-
ers by hiding in a hobell. \but they in your collections. I will wear them ant.
cornered me a t my father's funeral. to the opera, a t Newport, Piping
* * *
Poor Aunt Cora, bewildered by events, Rock, Pdm' Beaeh, and a t dinners I BOTJGHT $500 worth of chips and
chose this time to remain in bed and parties to which I am invited. The had won Itbout $600 when some man
' and pass away. I was left al'one. stones, of course, will remain your began ,to play over my sthodder.
The Miami police arrested Romero property, and ithe insurance you al- T'here its a friendly atmosphere in
on a Pan-American plane bound for rwidy have will cover any risk of places of this sort-something like
Rio de Janeiro. He was in possession loss. that on shipboard-and i t is not dif-

ficdt to strike up a n acquaintance-
d i p . But I wanted to do i t i n a
particular way.
I was wearing a diamond bracelet
and my pearl necklace. The ;bracelet
was in view every time I reached
out to place my chips on a number.
finally the man behind m s a t down
in the next chair when i t was vacated.
He was staking as much as $500 on
every spin of the wheel.
I los t a couple of times, and then
with a show of petulance took off my
bracelet.
"Isn!t that exaswrating!" .I said to
my neighbour. "f think %his bracelet
must be giving me bad luck. Have
y o u a light, please?"
My prospective victim was J 1 at-
tention. He drew out his lighter.
"Surely nothing so beautiful a s
that bracelet could bring anyone bad
luck," he protested. "But maybe you
should ,stop for a while. I don't wish
to intrude, but would you care for a
glass of champagne at the 'bar? That
might change your luck."
We went to the bar. He introduced
himself a s a Mr. Carlhn Brown of
Washington, D.C. My name, I said,
was June Lambert. We talked about
nothing in particular for fifteen min-
utes, and then he said:
"I could not help noticing your
beautiful necklace and bracelet when
we were playing a t the table. I take
it you a r e very fond of jewelery?"
I explained that my father had
been a dealer in 'gems. in London, and
that on his death I inherited a good
- many &tones.
"But i t always astonishes me, Mr.
Brown, how appraisers vary in the
values they set on stones. For ex-
ample, this pearl necklace. I've just
had it made up for me, and I really
should get i t appraised, but down
here in Maimi I just don't know
where to turn." My tone of voice
suggested that I needed a strong pro-
tector. to lead poor little m e to an
appraiser.
Mr. Brm,,jumped a t tlhe h i t .
"Well now, he said, "I'm sure we
can arrange that. Why don't we
have luncheon tomorrow? And mean-
while I'll make inquiries. After lun-
eheon, we'll go to the best appraiser
in town!"
After luncheon we went to the
Miami branch of a well-known firm
of New York jewelers.
"Miss Lambert," the appraiser said,
"at today's market you could sell the
bracelet for about $10,000. The piearl
necklace is worth considerably more.
\Ve would appraise i t a t about $30.-
WO. That's a total of $40,000. If
you care t o sell we are a t your
service.''
Mr. Brown of Wlashington, D!(;*.,
was obviously impressed.
At luneheon the following day, we
arranqed to meet a ~ a i nin the even-
ing a t the Club Gallant. I returnled
to my hotel, packed my trunks and
I CLIPPED THE BIG SHOTS
CM them through to New Y o k
I made xwervations for the earliest
plane the following morning.
That night at the club, Mr. Brown's
luck seemed to hold. I held his hand
under the taible and he whis-pered,
"You're bringing me luck." We left
to go to tlhe bar for a few minutes
and- I said:
"W!hs can't I win like you do, Carl-
ton? i f you keep this bp, you'll be
as rich as Croesus i n another week!"
"You're doing all right, June. I
saw you rake in $400 on one turn."
"Well, I'd like to play a s you do
tonight. But I haven't $he cash wfwith
me." I loaked unhappily intn my
bag. "Look dear, do you want to
lend me some money tonight?"
"But of course! how much do you
want?" He pulled out his wallet.
"I want to play for high stakes.
&uld you give me $15,000? I could
give you a check tomorrow morning,
or even the cash if I go to the bank,
but (supposeright now I put my pearl
necklace in pawn to you?"
"It isn't $hat-" he began, as he
counted out fifteen thousand-dollar
bills.
"But I insist!" I said, kissing him
on the top of his head.
"All right, June, if you say so."
I stuffed tJIe Mlls in my bag, and
he put the fake necklace in his wal-
let.
We walked together to the tables
and began to play.
I t was ~bhenabout five in the morn-
ing. The first plane left a t six. I
sent a page-by to Mr. Brown with a
note saying I was feeling ill from the
cigarette smoke, and would he call
me first trhing in the morning?
Before noon, I was back in Man-
hattan. I had my pearl necklace,
and after deducting expenses I was
richer by almost exactly $15,000!
somehow I felt that I had struck
back a t Romlero and Pollock, a s I
counted my cash and deposited i t a t him a year to trace the manufacturer
my bank. of a fake necklace, but in the end
How Mr. Carlton Brown felt, I he found the copyist and had him
didn't care. . ..
My Maimi victim ms only the first
a m % & . The frightened copyist de-
scribed lrte in such detail that the
of a succession of Carlton Browns New York police didn't have the
with different. names in Palm Beach,
slightest difficulty i n identifying me.
Newport, New York, Pinehurst and When they also found the real
Bar H a h r . Some of them were necklacemry dead father's gift to
more difficult to swindle than Mr. me on my reighteenth birthday-as
Brown-but nat many. After every
well a s four copies of it and replicas
such coup, I hurried back to New of other of my jewels, I decided it
York and lost myself in the social was futile to plead not guilty.
whirl of Park Avenue. For a long
But because I was able to make
time no one thought of associating partial restitution, I received a sen-
June bambert, the girl who appear-
ed a t out-of-town e m b l i n g dens, with
ten= of only five years.
Miss Cecilia Wainsworth, the New But five years is a long, long time.
York Socialite. I t is 1825 days, or 43,800 hours.
But the time came when, despite I often wonder here whether my
my careful plannine; one of my vic- revenge on society was worth the
tims caupht un with me. In this price. And whether the reward of
instance, I had foolishly neglected to thnlls is enough t o pay the costs of
discover in what 'business a Mr. Gold- living dangerously.
farb of Baltimore was engagd. It Romero's in jail, too. I wonder how
developed he was a jeweler! It took he feels about it. . ..
 THE DOCTOR-
approached, and I started to swoon and fall to the
floor.

EXPOSING
I

THE
VICIOUS
DEVIL
WORSHIBPERS
CULT

ANNA HOLLMAN
HE girl lay on the ebony
T couch and her naked body
quivered with pulsating
shudders. The lights in the vast
room were soft, a twilight haze
of rose and gray.
She wasn't alone. Men in
evening dress and beautiful wo-
men in exquisite gowns stood
around the altar. They, too,
were motionless, save for that
same pulsating quiver t h a t ent m r d s in a throaty voice. There The robed figure s t a w d to chant:
showed on their sex-crazed faces was a rhythmic tempo to his garb- ...
"On, P a n , 10, P a n give me the
sign of the $pen eye and umrds of
and twitching fingers. led words, a tempo that seemed to
time the twitdhing and shuddering madmess. ..
Their eyes were on 8he girl, on the of Dhe men and women and the rise Every person in the m m took up
graceful outlines af her body; on the and fall of the nude girl's bosom. the weird chanjt and it rcse to a
breasts that were heaving with rhy-
thmic regularity and on the long,
And then ...
From the semi-darkness leaped a
frenzy of diabolical fury. And then
women started to scream. Cham-
,

slender legs that lay so easily and creature of white. I t was a goat. pagne bottles popped wen
with su& abandon Stopping in front of the couch, i t A man tore a dress from a m m m ,
Behind that couch stood a robed ~ h r e wits head back and pitiful bleats tore i t with the beastfulness of a
figure. He was mumbling incaher- came. from its throat. savage, and the woman screamed

I WAS A
I SLAVE G

louder and laarped far his a m . Other
men and women were stripping,
tearing from fieir bodies suits and
dresses that cost hundreds of
dollars.. .
A woman was rushing for the ter-
rified go&. She had a dagmr in her
hand. One swift stroke, sure and
deadly, slashed the goat's throat. I t
lunged forward, went down on its
four legr;, blood gushing in spurting
strertms from its jugular.
The sight of blood raised the frenzy
of the crowd to an insane fury. A
wuman sprang like a tigress to the
nearest man, her teeth sinking deep
in his bare shoulder. He struck her
in the face, knocked her back, and she
laughed diabolically and fell.
Others were dipping hands in the
gushing blood. The goat was on its
side, the last spasms of life passing
through its body. Hands dripping
with blood were raised high and the
blood splattered over the girl who
still lay motionless on the couch. ..
Weird and ghastly came the .words
. . . . ..
of the black-mbed figure. " I m p
. .
I rend . everlasting in the
...
might of Pan love, love, always
. . .. . ."
md.
b l o d and the world without
The mad-lashed men and women
didn't hear him.. They were grovel-
ing on the floor, on couches, in un-
bridled orgies. The screamis of, the
women had given way to moans and
groans .. . .. men cursed and then
groaned ! wine and drugs . . ..
bodies wribhing and twisting as one.
And on the ebony altar lay the girl,
her soft white skin dripping crimson
from the gwt? b l t ~ d .+
THIS didn't happen in some for-
eign country where pagan rites are
substituted for Christianity. I t h a p
pened right in this country, in a great
city and on an avenue noted for
wealth and breeding and c u l t u r e a n
avenue where rents run into six fig-
ures.
The men and women that groveled
and writhed in animal lust were not
prostitutes or procurers from red
light districts. They were members
of America's elite society, boasting of
family trees that went back hundreds
of years.
This particular ceremony was the
f 23;nous Black Mass of the Devil Wor-
shippers, one of the largest and most
P Tverful Love Cults in the world, a
cult that originated in Germany be-
fore the World Wlar and which has
sprmead to every civilized country in
the world.
'1"he Devil Worshippers, however,
-- - only one of a hundred love cults
=W
wh ich practice their strange and
hea~thenishrites weekly in every large
citj7 of America.
PL great many readers will shrug
ant1 say such a thing is impossible,
tha t in a civilized country like ours,
such things simply couldn't happen.
I WAS G SLAVE GIRL
If these doubting Thomases could STRANGE COSTUMES-
have a look a t the police records of such a s that below, are worn by
the different cities, from Miami to San members of the fantastic Devil
Francisco, to Vancouver and Mont- Worshippers.
real, they would hear a story that is
one of the most amazing and shocking
in the annals of crime.
But these persons won't see the
police records. The story is so ghast-
ly and so hideous that the police don't
dare permit We real facts to be
known.
The girl that lay on the ebony
altar, stark naked and with her white
flesh covered with goat's blood, re-
ceived one hundred dollars for her
part in that night's performance.
She wasn't a love eult member. She
had nothing to do with the orgy of
sex that followed. She is what these
cultists call: "The excitement girl."
The blood that gushes from the
goat, and which serves as a stimulant
to the patrons, is spattered over her
. body as a part of the pagan ritual.
I have served a s the excitement girl
for many of these orgies. For seven
years I was in the power of the blood
worshippers. I am free now, but my
..,
brain is seared with hideaus memor-
ies, that haunt my waking and sleep-
ing hours.
BUT before I tell my stcnry, it
might be well to classify love cults
and what is really behind t h e m
Love Cults first jumped into the
picture of American life thirty years
ago when Alister Crowley, who
called himself, "The Beast of the
Apocalypse," established his cult in
the old building that once stood a t
Number 1 University Place, in Green-
wich Village. A Canadian branch
was located in Toronto, Ont.
Crowley left this country years ago,
for obvious reasons, but the stories
of the ghastly orgies that went on in
his studio are still remembered. He
preached a strange religion. Crow-
ley called himself, "Beast Number
One," and the creed of his new re-
ligion was, "Do what thou wilt, shall
be the whole of the law."
Beautiful girls, many of them from
the ranks of New York's elite society
went there. Many of these girls were
branded with the mark of the beast
on their breasts with a red hot iron.
Branding was only one form of
Crowley's strange form of worship.
The others consisted of sex orgies,
too hideous to describe.
After Crowley came Gurdjieff and
his "Institute for the Harmonious
Development of Man." His Cult orig-
inated in Fontainebleu, France, and
i t was there that Katherine Mans-
field, novelist and poet, died.
Gurdjieff arrived in this country Pierre Barnard, who dubbed him-
with a boat-load of dancing girls and self, "W,the Omnipotent" was one
whirling dervishes. He didn't make of the most amazing of all the origin-
a great impression in New York, but ators of love cults.
today his eult still flourishes and his Barnard was born in Leon, Iowa
strange ceremonies of love still a r e His parents were respectable, con-
practised. servative, middle-west individuals. At

twenty-one, Bamard was a Lemon
picker on the west coast. %Later he
became a barber and finally drifted to
Leonia, New Jersey. He married a
vaudeville dances who knew several
ariental dances.
* * * the name of this doctor. He is dead
AND from them original $an-
came the love cult he established in
Nyack, N.J., a cult financed by Mrs.
W. K. Vanderbilt to the tune of two
hundred thousand dollars and a cult
that drew to its teachings such prom-
inent persons a s Lady Paul Duke,
formerly Mrs. Ogden Mills, and others
equally prominent.
Amazing, utterly impossible, you
say, that a me-time lemon-picker
could organize a cult that caused the
most prominent and famous society
people of the country to shower money
on him and adhere to his religious
requirements, that before anyone join-
ed his cult they had to confess to
him all seorets, all hidden desires,
all inner thoughts, arid sign his Ton-
trik Vow.
Impossible, I admit, but just the
aame it is true. Why? There m e a
number of answers to be given, all
of them making up a part of the sol@
tian to this puzzling mlystery.
Love cults and their practices a r e
hideous, inhuman and end in l u s t
orgies that place a human being lower
than the lowest animal; but the fact
must not be overlooked that in Gur-
djieff, IZamrd, Garland, and even in
Growley was the ability to show a
certain sincerity in their religious
oonceptions, warped as they were.
There is intolerance, sometimes
stark brutality in the religion we a r e
taught as- children. When we a r e
in trouble and w m t understanding,
we get cursed and certainly no kindly
understanding to help us. Gurdjieff
and Crowley and Garland and count-
less others capitalized on bhis weak-
ness of our religions.
I t was this that enabled the cultists
to me in their power, and once
in the power of the Devil Worship
pers
- you
- a r e always there.
* * * ers.
SEVEN years ago I was Wenty-
four years old. I was a typlcal
mother of the middle west. My child
was two years old. My whole life, mid
my whole background, was consen7-
ative and impeccably moral.
My marriage, however, had nut
been a success. My husband was a
small town business man, cold and
intolerant and almost a religious fan-
atic. In fairness I will admit that
part of the trouble was my fault. I
simply could not stand the strict and
unrelenting life of my husband.
My soul -my body -everything
about me rebelled, but after the Te-
bellion and I left him, I was alone
and frightened and helpless. I didn't
know what Do do or where to m.
I suffered a mental and nervous
I WAS A SLAVE GIRL
breakdown. I went to a doctor in a eyes. His voice was kindly and re-
large mid-west city, famous for his assuring and that is what I needed
treatment of nervous disorders. The then.
"Yau are in trouble," he said quiet-
day I walked into his office, I knew
absolutely nothing about love wlts. ly before I had a chance to speak
For personal reasons I cannot use I looked a t him in surprise. I had
'not expected this. I had $believed
now. H e died by his own hand, just there would be a physical examina- ,
s ~ sthe police were closing in on him. tion and questions.
His family is still prominent and be- "Yes," I answered, "I am in trouble,
cause there was no conviction, i t Doctor. I am very unhappy."
would be dangerous to mention his He did not keep me long that day.
name. He walked over to me and took my
There was little about his office to hand and said: "You must not worry.
indicate the strange orgies that went You must know that the best of us
on behind closed doors. His office are but mere ants in a strange world.
looked like any other of the thou- We need guidance and we need love.
sands of successful doctors in the Love cures all things-love, pure and
middle west. undefiled."
There was a seoretary a t the desk. If anybody--doctor or otherwise--
She was dark-haired and dark-eyed. would say that to me today, I would
She was beautiful, one of those wo- get up, t r y to be polite, and tell t h a
men that you instinctively feel is individual I could tell him more about
above the ordinary. The smoldering love than he is likely to ever know
black eyes, the ivory-like pallor of and that such speeches always pre-
ceded things hardly consistent to pure
living.
But I was too inexperienced to see
that then. I was carried away with
the doctor - wholly and helplessly.
For the first ltime in a long while I
had heard somebody speak words of
kindness to me. I thought he was an
angel on eath.
He was smart enuugh to see that I '
felt that way, but on that first visit
there was nothing crude, nothing im-
proper about his manner or the way
he acted. He remained the physician
- professional, kindly, and ;under-
standing.
He was that way for several weeks.
. I went to see him a s often as I could.
2 i s words soothed me, paralyzed my
sense of reality. I looked on him a s
my master, my savior. Foolish-ut-
erly idiotic for any intelligent wo-
man, but a t that period of my life
I wlasn't exactly intelligent. I had
suffered too much, had too many dis-
appointments.
And remember this : the. doctor a t
that time was k n m a s one of the
great authorities on nervous disord-
He treated famous actresses,
Anna Hollman, the girl who confesses. writers, and society women. His was
a reputation demanding respect and
the face, caught your attention and confidence..
made. you wonder. How many of these famous women
"You wish," she said in a softly that went to him ever knew what lay
modulated voice, "to have an appoint- behind bhose many doors that led
ment with the doctor?" She spoke from his office to the rest of the great
quietly, professionally. house, I do not know. But I do know
When I entered Dr. Latson's office, that some women, whose fame was
i t was a typical conventional physi- international, went behind those doors
cian's office. Nothing exotic about it; -just as I was destined to do.
nothing to indicate the real purpose In those several weeks I had seen
behind it. Neither was there any- a number of things that told me that
thing a b u t the doctor that would all of the doctor's interests were not
cause m e to believe he was other than in the front office. I had seen strange
a successful physician. and beautiful women coming out of
He W rather handsome, with a those doors; women the doctor hast-
round face and large eyes. Ead I ened to tell me were his nurses. I
not been so naive, I might have seen had seen dances in the other office
something sinister in those languid t b t wem savage and beautiful.

I was completely under his domi-
nance. His words soothed me. I know
now that I .believed then I was in
l w e with him. I also know that he
had watched my emotional reactions
to his words and planned every move
with consummate skill.
So when he asked me to disrobe, I
felt no repulsion, no fear. Naturally
I was embarrassed. My rigid relig-
ious training caused me to blush red.
He smiled professionally and led
me from his office into a large room
that was bare af furniture. I stood in
the center of this room, conscious that
his eyes were on me, watching every
move.
I did not hesitate long. Slowly I
began to disrobe, taking one garmmt
off a t a time until I stood there com-
pletely naked. I felt shame naturally,
because I had never done such a thing
before, but his voice soon caused all
shame to leave.
He walked toward me, s l m l y and
his lazy eyes took in the lines of my
body greedily. His hands wen6 on my
shoulders. The touch of his bare skin
on mine sent strange thrills through
my body. My breath came in short
'gasps.
His hands went d m my arms,
slowly and creeping-like. I thought
I wmld swoon. Then his hands touCh-
ed my body. ...
I fainted. I had been married five
years, but never before had I redly
felt that strange thrill.
The next thing I remembered, I was
on a much. The lights over me were
soft m d glowed redly. The doctor
was standlng over me, his lean face
silhouetted in the strange light.
"Love" - he was muttering in a
voice that seemed f a r away. 'Love
.. .. ..,, . . .
love always love . divine. .
I didn't understand what he meant.
I had mooned, but I knew he had not
touched me and he was making no
move to do so.
"Exquisite - perfect," he gasped,
"You would move the gods . yes . .
. . . . ..
yes the gods ...
you move
me
.not
...
...
I cannot resist
the blood of
...
they can-
. *. ."
* *
THAT night I lay again on that
ebony couch. Again I was naked,
but this time I wasn't alone. The
doctor stood behind me. He was
wearing a black robe. He was mum-
bling words that didn't make sense.
'I'he room was filled with men and
women in evening clothes. Then the
goat came. Its throat was slashed,
and after that an ongy of lust that
brought the men and women in that
room lower than beasts.
But it didn't sicken me, a s the mem-
ory does now. I was in love, madly
d insanely, and the presence of the
ctor behind me, even though mv-
:d with black robes, raised me to
renth heaven.
I WAS A SLAVE GIRL
The next day came the nude awak-
ening and the ghastly horror of what
hung over me. The doctor was
changed. There was no more love--
no words of kindness.
"You need never worry about
money," he said to me in a cold and
matter-of-fact way. "You have pass-
ed the test of the Devil Worshippers.
From now on you will be their excite-
ment girl. I will explain to you what
that means."
His explanation left me cold and
terrified. He didn't mince words. But
briefly and to the point, he said that
from the first my body had attracted
him. P a r t of his business was to find
women whose bodies attracted him.
He didn't t r y to hide the story of
the Devil Worshippers. It was a love
cult that boasted of a world wide
membership of over a hundred thou-
sand persons. He was the high priest
in his city. In the luxurious rear rooms
of his office the sex rites were held.
I t was important, and he explained
this casually, to secure women whose
bodies excited men accustomed to
naked bodies. When such a woman
was found, she was invaluable.
"For your information," he added,
"T know every detail of your life
story. I have investigated. You have
a child and you don't want to lose
that child. If it were known that you
lay naked on that ebony couch, you
would lose the child forever. In five
minutes I can have the whole story
i n k o u r husband's hands by wire. Do
you wish that?
His face was wkite and twisted
strangely. Two nurses entered the
room. The dark-eyed secretary was
with them. No words were spoken.
The secretary gralhed my shoulders
and pulled me back against the chair,
holding me in such a way that I
couldn't move a muscle in my body.
A nurse ripped the sleeve from my
waist. There was a sharp pain in my
arm a s a hypodermic needle pzmc-
tured the skin.
...
And then.
I didn't struggle any more. P e a c e
soft and delicious, spread over me. It
gushed through my Mood stream-
sending sensations to my brain that
chased away every worry.
Then I was picked up. I was being
carried somewhere. I didn't care. I
didn't care when I was laid cm a n
operating table. I didn't feel any-
thing when a hot iron branded the
mark of the Devil Worshippers on my
shoulder.
I soon learned that little black devil
on my shoulder was more deadly and
more terrifying than the F1eu.r de !Lis
on persons when they left prism in
France.
--.
~~ The Fleur de Lis branded
the criminals to a world that didn't
want to hurt them; I was marked to
a limited few, but i t narked me for a
fate, swift and terrible, if I betrayed
those few.
o 15
d was paid my hun,dred dollars
promptly. I lived a t a luxurious
hotel. The bills were paid by the
doctor. In that month I was doped
every day. I t broke all resistance. I
had no worries-nothing. I craved
the dope. I had to have it. I didn't
think a h t my child. I didn't think
about anything and I lay on the couch
naked and with no feeling of shame.
Narcotics were a part of the orgy.
I suppose they accounted for a part
of the doctor's profit, but I know now
that he was too smart ever to use
them himself.
At tihe end of the month, however,
my body had lost its attraction for
that particular cult. The doctor had
made a fortune out of me, and he sent
me to a large western city, to another
cult.
There are many readers that will
ask why I went. Why I didn't flee?
There were two reasons why I didn't.
The first should answer both ques-
tions. If I had fled, if I had shown
any tendency to do so, I wouldn't
have gotten a block from my hotel.
The Devil Worshippers are today
one of the most vicious, one of the
most deadly organizations in the
country. The members, all rich, are
in reality merely pawns-and very
lucrative ones for the men running
the orgies.
* * *
BY THE end of the month drugs
had deadened every sense of right I
ever owned. And I wasn't permitted
to be without them.
Added to these two reasons is a
third, powerful and overwhelming. It
was the sense of shame. There were
times when I rebelled against the
slavery my body had been thrown
into, but always there came the haunt-
ing consciousness that if I talked,
every thing I valued in life-home,
child, good name - would be gone
forever.
So when the month was up, I left
for the western city willingly and
without protest. I left with the grim
sceptre of death hanging over me and
my brains under the numbing effects
of narcotics.
It was the same in the western city.
Ebony cauch and goat blood over my
nude body. ,Orgies that even ex-
ceeded those of the doctor's cult. I
remained there five weeks and then
another city and a repetition of the
same shameful experiences.
It was while there that I heard of
the suicide of the doctor who had '
lured me into the love cuIt. Police
had suspected him. They raided his
offices. They found him a suicide in
the love m l t room.
They didn't get any of the members
because they had fled through secret
doors. The doctm knew he couldn't
flee because the furnishings and the
room wmld be w e d against h i m He
blew his brains out.

All 'this changed when I went to
the third city. There I learned the
law and bestial levels to which hu-
man nature can fall when the emo-
tion of sex rules the mind.
There I was to learn d the sadistic
cruelty of human beasts. I was to
see what the Devil Worshippers really
were, stripped of the more n o m l
desires.
Even during the World War, when
Ehgland and 'Germany were in the
death struggle of life, the Devil WorL
shippers transcended all national
bounds. German and English mem-
bers would meet in Holland to carry
on their horrifying practices, not car-
ing that their own countrymen were '
dying on the field of battle.
The abnormal urges that are prac-
tised by these cults were greater
bonds than patriotism.
The brand on my shoulder was my
recommendation wherever I went. All
I had to do was to find the leader
of the cult, show him that brand and
I was given work.
In a centain city the headquarters
of the cult were in a suburban home
that must have cost a hundred hous-
sand dollare. There were spacious
lawns and a great stone fenae to
hide the house from the streets. It
was isolated. I t had to be for the
screams of the members in their dope
and sex-crazed orgies could be heard
for blocks.
The leader d this cult was not a
doctor. He' w m a tall and thin-
faced man, dark of complexion and
with the mannerism of a Hindu. He
w&e long flowing mbes of white and
a white turban. He called himself
"Oga, +he Great."
Hs received me wiith his beady lit-
tle eyes taking in my form quickly.
He m e from a couch and snapped:
''Disrobe."
I did. He walked around me,
sixdying every pafi of my figure.
His fingers touched me, like a man
would touch a horse. l3k didn't like
my shoulders and told me to stand
stra4&ter.
Then he called two assistana in.
They were heavy-faced thugs. They
laughed coarsely when they saw my
nakednew. Oga ordered them to
stand back. They did, but I knew
fmt their eyes that I would have
more trouble with them.
That night there was a meeting
of the cult. I t was different from the
other meetings a t which I had served.
The room was large and incense
burned and strange perfumes came
floating through the air.
There was a great throne behind
6he ebony couch. Oga, the Great, did
not wear black robes. He sat on the
throne and mmbled the words of
Pan. I lay on the ebony much.
The men and womenimany of
therm1 internationally k n m for their
d a l fame and their wealth, squat-
ted on the floar. They chanted with
I WAS A SLAVE GIRL
Oga, but there was not the hysterical indistinct, but I gathered that the
frenzy af other meetings. fiendish lbrutsrlity of the Blood Mass
That is, not at first. No goat came had been too muoh for him. (Later
charging out of the darkness. Oga I was to learn that he was a m m b e r
was chanting samething I had never of one of America's most socially
heard before. and financially prominent familks
. . . . ."
"Pan . Pan his voice was and had frequently been in mental
mumbling. "Give us Iove and give institutions.)
. . ..
blood . . give us love everlasting These men took me to a side en-
. ...
love . . love
. . .
to the ead of all time ... Iove
to the greatest, 0,
trance to the house of worship. A
moment Lter and a large black sedan
...
Pan, will ,give us blood human had swiftly pdled np to the door. I
blood. ...
Blood! Human blood! My body
was wrapped in a blank& by the men,
who huddled on the floor as bhe
froze with a sudden terror! chauffeur wheeled the car away on
There was a scream, a pi%iful screaming tires Again I fainted.
scream of a young girl. I t came from * * *
the darkness. It rose b a crescendo HOW MANY hours .or how many
that sent chilb of horror down my days p&, I shall never know.
back. When I finally regained my full
Every person in that room Itxiped senses, I came to to discwer myself
up. They were screaming with the in a hospital-like room, with a
girl. Then two brutelike men, strip- starched nurse in attendance. She
p d to the waist came out of the was a hard-faced woman with pec-
darkness. uliar yellow eyes, who never said a
They were carrying a young girl word. There was something almost
on a board. She was naked. And on ghoulish about the creature. Several
the b a r d were short spikes that times I tried to quesbion her, but she
bored into the flesh of the girl. merely s h r e d at me and said noth-
Oga had jumped t o his feet and mg. On the other hand, once a day
w a s striding toward me. I hadfor the nexk two weeks, a doctor
raised myself up a little. His eyes came in and dressed my wounds. I
were !blazing with a strange lwk. was well taken care of and given
In his right hand was a knife, a everything to read I wanted-with
lung, thin~bladedknife! the exception of newspapers. I had ,
The screams af the girl were shat- no idea in what city o r state I was.
tering wery nerve of my ;body. They I &a- there in that strange
rose over the din of the men and roam1 for a month. Never once did
w m n in the roam. I see a soul. At last I regained
Oga got to me. His knife came up. my health and I began to grow curi-
I fell back on We coudh. I closed oua as to whak was to be my ultimate
my eyes. fate. And then I hmad a visitor.
There flashed t h m & m.y con- It seems to me now that the man
sciousness the terrifving: m m o r v afwho came to my room must have
bhe famom evil -worshippeT's ben someone I had met ~hfore. At
Death Mass! the time, his +ace and his voice were
Had I walked into i t ? If I had' completely strange. He entered the
there was no escape. A human body charniber ak dusk one night, and for
t o those blood-crazed fiends wad several minutes stood looking down
nothing more than a loaf of bread. a t me. A t last he spoke.
There was a shalrp pain down my '"You feel all right now?" he
right side and then a sharp stinging ded.
pain over my breast as something I nodded, and &served that he was
hot struck! immaculately d r d ; a man of per-
Then consciousness left with a haps fifty years of age, with gray-
whirl of screams and shooting pains. ing temples and a strong lean body
* * * and eyes whioh had an odd fanatical
I SHALL never know whether it glare to them. His voice reawsured
was my agonized scream, o r the lat- me but his eyes frightened me.
ent chivalry of two of the men in "I would like Q go,: I said, a t
that terrilble chamber of agncatic sex the same time, m n d e n h g where I
worship which did it. But suddenly, was and where I could p.
with foam a t his lips and his knife "You will be able to go soon," he
again upraised, Oga tripped 'back- told me. "But in the meantime I
ward and fell to the floor. At first am sending in some clothes We
I thought he Bad fainted from the shall have dinner and a talk."
pure tense e w h y of his sexmadden- It was a strange, u n ~ e a l dinner.
ed brain. We sat alone .in a Iona: room with
But then I &mrvd two forms almost no furniture. The food was
sweep a c m %he m m . A second excellent and i t wais served by a
I&r I was freed from my couch and peculiar little man who never opened
in the terrible confusion of the m- his mouth. He moved silently and left
ent, I was half dragged and half us alone most of the time. The few
carried from the chamber. glasses of sparkling wine I d o 4
One of the men a t my si& was seemed heady and strong.
babbling and crying. His words were My ,host questioned me at h@

about Gy a d a t i o n with the Devil
Worshippers.
I guarded my words, but even then
I told him a great deal. He seemed
sympathetic. At last, when I was
'through answering his questions, I
asked him a few.
"Tell me," I said, "where I am and
how I happen to be here. And who
are you?"
He smiled and i t was a pleasant
mile.
"I cannot give you my name," he
said. "I can only tell you that a t
one time I, too, was a member af
the cult. Since a certain night,
I no longer attend its meetings."
There was something about the
way in which he said i t that made me
alize that this man must have been
le of the pair who had rescued
e from that nightmare-ish episode
hen I had been stabbed by the mad
:a.
'At present," he contihued, "I
n leading a quiet life and one re-
.
~ e dfrom the world. And . ." he
snt you to lead it with me."
.
sitated for a hrief moment ". . I
I t was a strange remark. I real-
XI that this man was certainly
l t normal. There was something
cious, OT rather, not so much vic-
ioius as sinster, about his approach.
miis was no ordinary proposition.
"Live with you?" I questioned.
* hot touch you."
Lnd what does that entail?"
Instead of answering, he stood
up and walked toward me. He tow-
ered over my chair. For some rea-
son I was suddenly paralyzed with
fri~ht.
"Stand up." It was neither a re-
quest nor quite a n order.
I PUSHED back my chair and ruse
t o my feet. My host, wham! I later
was to learn to call Seigal, reached
forward. His two lonq arms went
around my waist. He pulled me
close to him and his head leaned
over me.
It was s o u n u m l for me to have
a man again approach me in a
normal way, that I tossed badk my
head and slightly opened my mouth.
For a half instant his lips ;brushed
mine. Suddenly I was tense with
excitement. I pressed close to him.
I t was like a slap across the face.
It came so suddenly.
And ftihen he struck.
I cannot, even now, tell you of the
unutterable horror of that next hour.
The man was worse than a b t and
had the etrength of six. Time and
apain I &came unmmious, only to
recover when he held a glass of
chamvame to my lips and caressed
mv fore'head.
1ind every time I would come to,
thai t lashing, snake-like ;belt would
a e%inzing through the a i r and lash
amw s my white, throbbing body. He
_L _
od over me and I could see, dur-
-
ing those few lucid m e n t e while
I TVBB conscious, fiat he was getting
I WAS A SLAVE GIRL
m e tremendous, awful and psycho-
pathic gratification from the terrible
beating he was administering.
Finally even the wine failed to re-
vive me. I mast have been carried
back to my room upstairs. The nurse
was in attendance when I ultimately
found consciousness.
Strangely enough, what with the
careful attention I was given and the
complete rest, my wounds quickly
healed. The pain a t times was in-
tense, but I realized later that i t was
only during the periods the morphine
I was constantly being forced to take,
wore off. Within ten days the last
of the welts had disappeared and
again I was ready to leave and make
my way out into the world-if I beaten me, he actually would beat
could leave.
And again I had a visdt from my
atrange host. This time he sent the
nurse from the room and locked the
door after her. He was in a dress-
ing gown and slippers.
Frightened half to death, I looked
up a t him. I wondered if there was
nothing of human kindness in this
&range creature that I would be
able to reaclh. I began to plead with
him in a soft, quivering voice barely
above a whisper.
A t once he put up his hand for me
to stop.
"I have come," he said, "to talk
with you. You have my word I shall
And then he sat on the bed and
talked. For several seconds I was
afraid to a s much a s listen, but then
I began to understand what he was
saying. In a soft. well cultured voice
he told me about himself. He told
me that I was to consider him! not
a s a criminal, and myself not as a
captive. He said he would give me
a great deal of money and that he
would never really injure me. That
he was a stranpe man and had
strange desires. He told me that he
was immenselv wealbhv and could
buy anything he wanted.
He told me that he had no satis-
faction out of a normal life. That in
order to live, .it was essential &at
he beat the woman he was with.
And then he smiled a t me and paus-
ed for a moment.
"But that is not all," h e continued.
"Undoubtedly a t this moment you
bate mle and feel vengeful. And so
.. ." again he smiled
now you can beat me!"
". . . and so,
He must have noticed the look of
complete revulsion on my face, for
he added:
"Do not worry. I shall not b w t you
or strike :-ou back."
I refused. T told him I forpave him
for everything. T h a t I didn't want
to ;beat him-I only wanited to p t
out of his house. I promised him
that I would never s a y a word to
anyone about what had happened i n
that terrible and strange place. I across the bed and started to weep.
h l d him that i t was a closed book
Just please let me out. I felt no
desire for vengeance.
This time he carried a long cata-
nine tails. The handle was loaded
and there were nine cruel slender
whips of raw hide a t the end. There
was a small diamond of steel tied to
each separate whip.
He handed i t to me and leaned
omer.
"Either strike me with that-hard!
--or I shall whip you to death!"
Kis voice was like nothing human.
His eyes were misty this time and
not glaring. And suddenly I realized
that this was no normal civilized be-
ing I was dealing with. I realized
t h a t unless I beat him a s he had
me to death.
I took bhe whip from his hand.
After t h a t first lash across his
back, when I saw those large welts
af Mood-red flesh suddenly rise, I be-
came violently nauseated. But he
would not let me stop.
"Harder, harder, more!" he yelled
a t me.
He had superhuman strength. I
soon knew that the only wav in which
I ever should be able to desist from
this savage rite was to strike so hard
that he would lbecome unconscious.
Again and again I lashed out. The
man was made of stone.
Did I feel a n y unusual excitement
- d u r i n g this ghastly nightmare? No.
I felt only a terrible and devastat-
ing humiliation a t the knowledge that
I was not only witnlessin~,but con-
tributing to the degradation of a
fellow creature-if you call such a
man a fellow creature.
I t seemed t l a t my arm would turn
parailyzed before I could ston. But
suddenlv his lbodv m e sharplv in a
great quiver of emotion, and ltihen he
screamed once and slumped to the
floor. The strangv, cold nurse must
have been watching every second
durinq that awful scene, for the
moment he dropped. she enterecl the
xmm She must have had a key, as
well as the master of $he house.
Without a word she picked him up
bodily snd vlaced him on the 'bed.
She motioned me t o follow her, and
I did, in a Mind daze of unmality.
Thak night I was locked in a r m
in another part of the house.
There is no m i n t in talking. of trhe
next few months. Everv couple of
weeks wag a brutal repetition of
those first experiences. First I would
undergo a horrible beatine: a t the
hands of that monster; then, a s soon
a s I was suftdicientlv rpcovered, he
would force me to beat him.
One d g h t , after he had only &ruck
me once, h e put his whip away. He
leaned d a w n over the bed in which
I lay at%r~bbin~q and shiverina with
fear. For a few minutes he merely
stared a t m. And then he dropped
For the f i m t time since I had known

him, I had a peculiarly tender feel-
ing for that unusual, maladjusted
person. !My arm fell across his scar-
red tshoulders.
I t was a f k r midnight when I was
bundled into the back of a large,
curtain-drawn limousine. My host had
disappeared and I was accompanied
only by the nurse and a chauffeur. It
was so dark I had no way of knowing
where I was. We drove for hours
and I !began to feel very drowsy. I
reoall only that just before daylight,
I felt a sudden stab in my right arm.
The nurse was at my right.
I t was a&in night When I came to.
I knew I had been doped. I was
lying in a k d , t~bviouslyin a hotel
rOOm
The rest of this story can 'be told
in a couple of \brief paragmphs.
I
I WAS A SLAVE GIRL
I l e a d that two ~ t r a n g e mhad
checked me into one of New York
City's (better known hotels late that
night. They had explained to the
desk clerk that I was intoxicated. I
was never able to trace them. In a
purse on the dresser I found ten one-
hundred dollar bills and nothing else.
There was a suit case in fihe room
and i t was filled with a complete
wardxibe. But every p s a b l e identi-
fying mark had been torn from the
clothing. I discovered a t the desk
that I was registered under the name
of Miss Mice Smith.
There are two more things to tell.
I talked with an assistant distrid
attorney i n New York City. I told
him of my experiences. I told him of
the Devil Worshippers and later
of Seigal.
But ithere was nothing he could do.
He informed me that police files -$l
over the country 'were filled w t h
data of the strange sex cults. That
Federal men as well as local police -
officers damped down every time
they had a chance. But as f a r a s
individuals such as Seigal were con-
cerned, nothing could be done unless
the victims themselves were able to
sutpply definite information a s to who
they wwe and where (they were..
'Since those bitter and unreal days
I have been living a quiet and se-
cluded life in New York. Police still
watch my movements, in fihe hopes
they will dbtain m m lead. I am
waiting for the day that I will a e i n
contact one of the members of the
cults, and be able t o inform the
proper authorities.

THE THIEF FELL ASLEEP By GORDON JONES

From the luggage depalrtment he himself to a new pair of brogans

took four nice new suitcases, and without Coupon No. 17.
stuffed them with men's, boy's and As a guest of inquisitive police,.
women's clothing valued a t $600. Pastick turned coy. How he man-
However, when he tried to leave via a aged to hide in the store and escape
fire escape, he found the doors all surveillance of clerks and watchman,
locked. At the same time he was hav- he said, was strictly a trade secret
N ADDITION to his penchant ing difficulty in dadging the night which he would keep to, himself.
I for other folks' belongings- watchman.
A t last he came to the furniture
Peter P. Pastick has a predis- department, where decorators had
He appeared the following day in
Felony Court, where he faced Magi5
trate Joseph B. GBblocki for arraign-
position toward that form ' of labored to set u p a model bedroom. ment. The judge scanned Peter's
nocturnal esercise which makes It was an outfit which appealed to record of four six-month t e r n in
an alarm clock a household ne- Peter Pastick from the moment he the past and held him for the grand
cessity. And his fondness for laid eyes on it, and while he realized
a t once that he couldn't lug it out
jury without bail.
* * *
sleeping has got Peter into with him, he saw no reason why he
trouble up to his neck, which is shouldn't put i t to his own use TRAVELING in a barrel may be
, no unique expeztence for those of the
only about five feet off the floor. temporarily, a t least. card-playing gentry, but i t took a
So he flung the h g s untder the bed Tennessee prisone~ to demonstmte
According to New York police, and lay down to take a knap. With bhe worth of an oversized keg as an
Pastick boasts that he has robbed the coming of daylight, he figured, escape disguise.
every big department store in the he would surely be better able to find
metropolis, but his system bogged some way out of the store. An oil company truck delivered 12
dokn like Rummel's African push barrels of mineral spirits to the state
when he tried it out in a big Brook- However, when daylight came Peter penitentiary in Nadhville, and an
lyn store. It's gone back on him on was snonng lustily. Making his equal number of supposedty emp'ty
other occasions, too, his dossier a t rounds the watchman heard him and barrels were hauled away after the
headquarters listing convictions for investigated. Then he phoned police. delivery w a s made.
unl?wful entry on four previous oc- Detectives who answerd his alarm When he stopped the first time
casIons. relieved Peter of the four stolen bags on the rkturn trip from the p r i m ,
Peter walked into the Brooklyn and their contents. They were about the truck driver noted t h t the heads
store, and when employees shut the to lead him off to headquarters for had been batted out of two of the
place for the night they locked him a personal appearance in the morning barrels,. and he guessed the reason
inside too, although, of course, they lineup when they noted they had not why. He notified prison authorities.
were unaware of that. After the last shorn their lamb of all his booty. Sum enough, a check showed Cletus
charwoman had finished her chores, Peter had found that shoe rationing Stone, 33, a long-termer, absent. He
Peter got busy. was cramping his toes and had helped stowed away in one of the barrels.
 A hand wked out from a narrov
opening i n the bathroom door. I t

AS
was a left hand, Lefty Peltier's hand,
in fact; I could recognize it. And
it clutched an automatic. It was
pointing toward Vic and me. Then
vic moved back and i t was just point-
ing toward me, standing there with
my back to the door.

QUEEN
THE BATHROOM door m ecl
wider and Lefty walked out. He still
held the gun on me. There was a
wide grin on his face. "Hello, Ag,"
he said. "Hot ain't i t ? Now that
we're here, let's talk it over like
gentlemen-and
- ladies."
"Sure," I said.

OF THE Lefty got into his suit coat. "This

is the way it is," he said. "I've raised
the ante. Everybody else is out.
Stern's out. too. Just ns three. Be
reasonable,'~g. After all, we steered
you on to Moore."

GYPP My ears were straining to the

steady tramp of feet getting louder.
"But I haven't jpt it here," I stalled.
"Haven't h&?" Lef ty walked
around me and wked the pun in mv
side. "Take her change a%ay, ~ i c , "
he said.
"And what does Lefty says?" I didn't move. Vic grabbed my bag,
"We split. Four ways." slid out the wad of bills. "Ain't got
"Salit what?'' it here, huh?" he chuckled. "I guess
~ i E ' seyes were contemptuous. 6 t ~ 7 myou just forgot you brought it. You
AGNES LAWTON not talking riddles. Kid ~ o o mgave wouldn't lie, pal-we know that."
you a grand to bet on High Play. In
the fifth a t Tia Juana. - You didn't I pinioned his arm, struck out with
put i t on High Play. You got i t my other hand. We tangled, and roll-

M Y LITTLE apartment was down on Storm King. Storm King edLeftv's

on the second floor. I o p won a t twenty to one. /So you've got us.- ~e k&t
ened the door. Vie Terazzi twenty
Me,
grand that we're cutting
YOU, Lefty and Stern. After all,
sat fwing me, his legs cocked we introduced you to Moore."
up.
together on the floor.
pun was wavering above
yelling, " ~ r e a E away,
Vic. "1'11 drill her!"
I clung t o Vic. We rolled together
up over my packed grip. That was true. J'd made ..
.. . *ntv-.
.
to the wall, then I tore myself l m e ,
-
leaped to the light-switch, clicked
He didn't say anything as 1 grand that afternoon betting som;
came in. I noticed the window one else's money. Kid Moore had i t Lefty'e off.
gun spoke in the dark.
given me a grand to bet High Plng Plaster splattered my hair. I crouch-
was Open, showing part Of a to win. But I followed mv hunch. ed in a corner. My fingers came upon
rusty fire-escape. picked a long shot and W&. F& something soft. It was my wad of
chance of me giving that all up, or money. I slid the money inside my
I feigned surprise. "Well, Vic, any part of it. &em, spoke evenly:
what brings you her?" "It's bhis way, Vic," I explained, "I'm going out of here. Going owt
Shut the door, Ag." "I can't let Moore down. This just on my feet. Alone I've got six
isn't my dough." slugs that are going with me. If you
I turned a quarter t~ on the "You said a mouthful. It ain't all want a souvenir, start rushing me!"
bolt. It clicked loud a s ~t locked. yours, and i t don't belong to that
Then I gave i t another quarter turn. That part about me having a gun
Softly. My door was unlocked again. punk pug moo re, either." was a lie, but I prayed they'd believe
I stood in front of it, hoping desper- I picked up my grip, backed to the it.
ately to cover my play. door. I bpened fhe dbor with my left
Vic's laugh was nasty. "What's Vic came toward me. His thick, hand, wriggled backwards a step and3
your hurry? Nervous?" He gave blue-black hair smelled of tonic. His was catapulted back into the room.
my grip a kick. voice got low and husky. "So you'd A bcdy hit me sideways. I Yell
run out?" against the light-switch. It clicked
I looked around the room. "Make I got free of him, c a ~ e f u lto keep on.
i t snappy," I said a s casually a s my back to the door. Kid Moore erOoocf in the center of
possible. I laughed. Did I mean chat laugh? the room, brandishing a rod. His
Vic stood up, smoothing the bulge Not any! "Run out?" I repeated black hair dangled over his wild eyes.
a t his lean hip, looked a t me with rather hollowly. Lefty and Vic crouching by the bed,
eyes that had changed to blaok ice. l'Yeah," Vic said coldly. "Run out." Lefty's gun was in his hand.
"You're dealing us in."
I laughed gaily. But inside I wasn't
He showed his teeth. They were deli-
cately pointed, neatly white. "But
l4Stav down!" Moore screamed
and fiFed.
-
gay. "If the terms suit me, Vic" you ain't doin' it, Ag." He raised A piece of ahoe-heal slithered over
"Fine." Vic smiled. His eyes stay- his voice slightly. "Okay, pal-show the floo~. That's how close the bullets
ed hard. "Then do a s 'Lefty says." her that she can't do that to us." missed me.
 and get married. I laughed inwardly.
Maybe I could have done worse than
marry him, though. He'd been run-
ning in bad company, but was fund*
The wrong crowd swept her mentally an honest guy. I'd have
been in less jams in my life if I'd
into a life of biotous living, married him. But I wasn't the ro-
mantic kind. I used men just to

I perverse gambling and high.

outwit them We had a few drinks
together, and it was easy to slip away
from Kid Moore and later to slip out
of town.
stepping. The next step landed * *
I'VE STARTED with the above
her into the vicious rackets. experience because i t was the hottest,
riskiest one of my entire life. But
you can't ever be on the wrong side
"You rat, Lefty, throw your gun My left leg came back fast, tripped of fie law wibhout taking risks, and
&m," Moore shouted, waving the Stern's ankle. We clinched, and I big ones. A good many of my old
muzzle around. saw Vic rushing me. Then I fell to associates are underground-and
Lefty's gun skidded m the floor, the floor. they didn't die natural deaths.
near me. When I got up, the room was full Sure. I've done some pretty shady
Moore kept waving hia gun wildly. of cops. things. Things you people in good
q ' m going to kill somebody!'' he I thought bitterly: "The one time society wouldn't approve of. It's
yelled. I ever teamed up with anybody, and all how you look a t it, I'd say. But'
"Don't, Kid, don't!" I cried. now the law's got me." whatever I did I had an alibi for, to
"You dirty cheat!" he shouted. Well, luckily for everybody, no myself; whenever a sucker was ripen-
He kicked the crwohing Vic in one was severely hurt. Moore and ed, and trimmed and cut down. he
the shin, and Vic toppled over in Lefty had only superficial wounds. usually deserved it. The fruit of his
. agony. No one made any complaints own folly. Then there were other
Moore ran over to me a s I mouched against anyone else, but, of course, times when i t was just a matter of
on the floor. He'd been soft on me they locked us up on general prin- simple justice.
-

for a time. But now he was any- ciples. What did i t all net me? Well, you
thing but soft. He shouted, "Get My roll of dough had the cops tell me.
up!" puzzled a t first. They thought they How did I get to be a red queen
I raised up on an elbow, and he had a gang of counterfeiters. of the gypsies? I'll start from scratch.
kept shouting, "I'm going to kill you They kept us all in jail a couple My name is Agnes Lawton. I was
and the other rats-" of days until they made sure the born-the middle of three children-
A gun barked, Moore pitched for- money wasn't phony. on a farm in Medina County, Ohio,
ward on the rug. A gun slid along In the meantime Lefty had gotten of respectable people, who were fair-
the floor. It was Lefty's. I had it. in touch with a lawyer. ly well off.
I kneeled beside Moore. My gun The day after the cops reluctantly Both my parents died when I was
had Vic and Lefty covered. Now I'd admitted my right to the money, we seventeen. My brother, who was
take over-I thought. I'd make a were all of us up 'before Judge twenty, was competent to run bhe
clean getaway - with my dough. I Raleigh. farm with the two hired men. My
backed out fast Do the door. I kept Lefty's mouthpiece had maneuver- younger sister was still in school.
watching lefty and Vic. M m e was ed i t that I did most of the explaining The world of books had no fas-
still on the floor, blood trickling before the judge. My story went like cination for me, though I'd finished
down his arm. this :
I'd won a lot of money on a horse, high school. I determined to see
My back was against the door. A
hand came from somewhere and took and with my boy friends was celebrat- sometthing of the world.
my gun away. ing, when someone started an argu- A few days after my father join-
"Tie this one," said a voice. \ ment. ed mother for their long sleep, I l&
I saw Stearn'a face, a long lean That was the gist of it. Some of i t home.
face, in the g l m A long, lean bodq.. was true, a t least. The approach to P i t t s h r g by train
He kept rubbing something u p and In spite of the D. A's objections, at night was thrilling with its flar-
down my backbone. the judge ruled I didn't have to name ing blast furnaces set in the sides
A muted trumpet W & - d e d from the bookie I betted with, but flned of cavernous hills.
the night-club across the street. Lefty me twenty dollars for illegal ;bet- A t the cheap hotel, I ran smack in-
said, "Where have you been?" ting. He sentenced Vic, Lefty and tb the wwng crowd. They were shop-
Stern said, "I been places." He Stern to the calaboose for gun-toot- lif-a man and his wife and a.
kept massaging my spine with his ing. guy who wasn't more than eighteen,
gun-bamel. "How do you like it, Becanse of M m ' s previous good I'd judged. The older pair told me
sister?" record, the judge let him off with a how easy it all was. I helped them
"It's the luck of the Iri&," I s a i d suspended sentence. pull a few jabs, but I could sense
Outside the court I met Moore. I that danger was playing all around
I raised my wee. I saw my own since I'd faced all the guns, I me, like lightning, and when the mar-
face reflected in the glass. I said figuredwas entitIed to the most of the profit. ried couphe got caught and got s
"Good-by, pall," to my reflection with- I gave him back his original grand. stretch, I dhanged my hotel. I liked
eut making a emnd. The Kid was contrite, and grate- this racket, but I needed more ex-
Then in the glass I saw lefty's face ful that I hadn't bet his money on perience. I'd go honest for a while.
make a grimace, saw his M y sag- High Play. The dumb cluck thought Next morning I was out bright and
ging against the ohair. I was in love with him! He was ter- early, looking for honest work. Pitts-
I only heard the shot late^, saw the rible sorry to have caused all this burg was booming then. Without any
smoking gun in Moore's h a n d mess. He wanted us to get a license trouble I got a job as a salesgirl in
 WAS QUEEN OF THE GYPPERS 21

the basemat of Skelton's-a big de-

partment store. (The h e r e is e n e
now, and Skeltont was not its real
name.)
Ny jab was selling hmiery. I -was
happy for a couple af weeks, had
found a modest room with another
girl, Helm Edwards. Then one day,
the lgyear-old shoplifting kid came
into the store and insisted on bang-
ing around and talking with me. I
supposed the store executives knew
he had a reformatory record, and
when eight pairs of stockings turned
up missing from my counter, Miss
Gurney, my department head, told me
I was wanted in Mr. Sigman's office.
Sigman was the hosiery buyer, a
good-looking man, but all business.
He accused me of getting away %th
the stockings. I denied the charge
hotly. Anyhow, he told me I was
fired. He didn't make any more
trouble, for he just suspected me of
the theft, couldn't prove it. I was in
bad circumstances then, couldn't af-
ford to lose my job. But the thing
was funny to me, a s well as tragic.
Here I'd been getting m a y with
things and hadn't been caught. And
now, whn I was being discharged for
suspected theft, ,X was absolukly in-
nocent. I ewore to myself that I
would get even with Sigman s a n e
day.
The next morning I said good-by to a fur. To ask for less was bad tactics. hot c a b for a buck and s kdf a
Helen. I left Pittsburg. People wanted to believe they were p!-. They eost m e a b u k thirky-
I t was my second day in Cincinnd. getting a genuine fur, a fiftydollar five cents each. Ncvt a 'bad profit. But
A crisp November morning., I was f u r for ten! after s while the business played
walking up Vine Street, when a car If the suckers found out later that out. Repea0 orders were sanething
like a small-store delivery truck, all they'd been hooked for a dog, else.
black with no letters on its side, eased that was their tough luck. %%eh I -4 to work for Red MC-
by, a young fellow in the driver's It was steady, but mmatanous. Kim. He had a gambling joint on
seat, leaning forward, beckoning me We'd average a b u t lfifty a week for Wabash Street. The loop was wide
with a finger. ourselves. But after a while the open them, and MeKiim's bad every-
I waited until the car came abmast Better Business Bureau got to mak- thing. Blaek-jack, the bird-cage, rou-
df me. The car angled to the curb. ing it tough for us, and HaaMey's lette, a eraptable, a poker game i n
The driver held down a f u r neck- wife made him quit. the rear, and of course a morning
piece to me. I went bmk to Chicagd, where and a i f t e m n line on all the race
"Here! Give me ten dollars for Helen was stoppinp a t a hotel on the tracks.
this fox. It's hot," he whispered. near North Side. She got me a job My job was bo steer t%e suckers for
It was flashy-looking. But I wasn't in the same Loop store, selling heck- &he play. It wasn't hard. I'd ask
interested. I walked on. ties. It lasted till Clhristmss. Then them to play the wheel for me, press-
A little while later I heard the Helen went back home to Pittsburq. ing my own money in their hands.
same voice. "Corny, here, miss. I (Of course, M c K h 'gave me extra
I stayed in Chi. I had, in rapid for t h a t )
want to talk t o you. H e stopped the succession, a variety of jobs. I was
car and got out. They'd go ap &re. Usually they'd
a window model, displaying dresses; lose my few dollars pronto.
That's how I went to work for a hat-check 'girl i n a chop suey joint, They
Babe Hackley. didn't want to look c h e a ~ .Thev lald
a receptionist for a Hindoo sage, who, out some of their own to &t i t
Hackley had a bunch of neck-pieces flew the coop, owing me two weeks' back. When they got stuck a little,
that cost about 75 cents to a dollar a salary. they usually went for their roll.
piece wholesale. All paid for; with re- However, I managed to salvage an McKim paid me ten dollars a day
ceipts in his pocket. He'd drive along address book with a list of his
with me in his delivery truck, stop flat for tihie.
likely-looking prospects, give them a
wealthy patrons, which sucker list I * * *
sold to a rival philosowher for thirty
msh talk, intimating, but never stat- dollars. AFTER a while the boys got wise
ing in so many words, that his stock With that I went into business for to m McKim gave me another job,
was stolen merchandiw, and could myself. He had connections with other book-
therefore be purchased a t a tremen- I bought a few donen neckties, makers in the nearby towns. I'd go
dous saving. paying about four dollars a dozen. I to Milwaukee, Racine, to Hammond,
We had imitation fitdh, kolinsky, had them made up with flashy silk- Gary, East .Chicago, to all the towns
fox, racoon, wolf. back linings. I picked out odd pat- around the Lake, carrying money
Hackley would tackle the men. I'd terns. They looked good by artificial back and forth that they wanted to
tackle the women. We'd average light. lay-off against each other. (When
four sales a day. We make a good I went from night spot to road- one bookie had accepted too many
profit, ae we'd usmlly get ten dollars house. For a while they isold like bets on a horse that he was afraid
 I WAS QUEEN OF THE GYPPERS ,
might win, he'd turn over some of
the beta to other bookies. That's
called "laying i t off.")
After some weeks of this, McKim
put me on a s a "runner."
He gaw me a territory on the
South Side in Ohi. A dozen places.
Hotel cigar stands, a couple of road
houses, a taxi-driver's hang-out. A
stationery store. Restaurants run by
hard-working Greeks. PIaces where
bettors gathered to talk horws, figure
the odds, and lay the money down.
The owners of bhese various places
just took the bets. McKim paid them
ten percent of their daily take, no
matter how tlte play came out. I'd
take in seven to ten grand a week
collecting for McKim. I'd pay what
bets .there were to pay the next
mornlng. I was guaranteed one
per cent of the take.
And McKim? Well, a conservative
bookie figures to clear thirty per
cent on all business. So after Mc-
Kim paid off his agents and his
runner (all tokl, eleven per cent)
there W= nineteen percent profit
left. In round figures, McKim was
clearing in mv territorv alone everv
week a; least Hixteen hundred dollars.
"YOU'RE FIRED!"-
Of course he had some unusual ex-
penses. All right, we'll cut McKim's Sigman pointed to the door. The whole thing was tragic-and
makings in half. Eight hundred a funny, too. For this time I was innocent.
week. Good enough? And remem-
ber. he had six more runners besides Right them I decided to triple my MlcKim came in. "Excuse me," he
, myself. Just multiply eight hun- play, and then clear out of Chi. How said. He bolted the door and didn't
dred by six and what have you got? was I going to triple it? All right, take off his snapbrim hat. He faced
You've got a mighty big *business. laugh. I was going to bet i t on a me siIently, a long minute. His
I'm not saying that an individual horse. eyes were black and gray.
bettor, if h's m a r t , can't make "In a sucker's game always a I said, "What's up Jack?" It W&S
money on the horses. What I'm try- sucker," they say. a n effort, but my eyes didn't waver
ing to bring i t out that the bookie HOWEVER, there's a horse like from his look.
has the edge. A b u t a thirty per cent Mike Hall only once in a life-time, He m t over to my dresser, ex-
edge. Mike Hall was a freak, no pedigree amined all bhe drawers. He took out
So after six months of learning the to speak of. Bought by chance, I some jewelry. I t wasn't phony
ropes thoroughly, I decided to cut in believe, for a trifle, by the Ha1 Price jewelry. I'd been socking a lot of
on the gravy. Headley stable. Mike Hall liked to my chiseled dough into good rings
I held from one hundred to a run. Never tired of it. A t the end and necklaces. "Nice stufif," McKim
hundred and a half daily from the of a race he wasn't even winded. said. "Real. Doing well for yourself,
bets I collected. I didn't give the (Later in his career Mike Hall "-..
PI, 7"
money to McKim I made a book on i t was taken to England and ran in He held out some of f i e jewelry in
myself. Of course I risked the chance mat& races at the longer distances, his hand. He didn't shout. That
of losing. But, luckily for me, I two miles and more.) wasn't McKim's way. "You've been
made money the first few days, es- A lazv starter. I t was funny at holding out on me," he said. "Tell
tablished a reserve, ahd was never first, when he began to race, thou& me-how long?"
hit so hard that I couldn't pay off. winning, m l e hadn't much faith in There was only one way ito face
Certainly, I had the advantage of h i m His indifferent start, his ortho- J m k McKim i n a spot like bhis. I
McKim on a percentage basis. I sel- dox style made the players a bit took it.
ected all my bets, I'd spread them so leery of him. "For three months. About a hnn-
+here'd be a n equal play on each But I'd gotten a tip from one I dred a day. I've been making the
horse in every race. The law of was wre knew what he was talk- book on that myself."
averages and takers' odds stood back ing about. He solid: "And picking the sure things. Okay.
of me. "They'll be trying with Mike the That's over with. Tomorrow, you're
McKim couldn't spread his bets next time out." leveling. Understand?"
that way. He had to accept every That's all I wanted to know. "I understand."
play. Sometimes a long shot would I THREW the scratch sheet away, He turned to fie door. His e&
:come through and cut a dent in the was just going to get ready for bed. narrowed a little a s he held it open
most affluent bookie's roll. I avoided I was all-set fur tomorrow, better get "There won't be a second time," be
the long shot, discarded (parlays.) I a good night's sleep. Plenty to do. said and went out.
took the cream and let the law of Somebody was knocking a t my I turned out Dhe light, lay down. I
averages work fur me. door. couldn't sleep. Not even a play for
In addition Do m y c'salarg" from "Who is it?" I called. me. I got up again, turned the light
McKimi, I was dlearing about fifty a "Open the door, Ajgnes." on. I looked at myself in the glass.
day for myself. It wasn't long be- My heart beat queerly. I recog- "Don't be a fool," I said.
fore I had five grand clear. nized +he voice. I unbolted the door. I n the momihg I wined d i n
 I W A S QUEEN OF THE GYPPERS
bookies in Milwaukee, Hsrmnond,
Gary-twenty in all-betting two
hundred and fifty with each on Mike
Hall to win in the Fifth a t Haw-
thorne. My five G's were down.
By noon I'd made the rounds and
collected a t the regular spots for Mc-
Kim. Just a little over two grand.
Something inside df me dared me
to shoot the works, to take a chance
and play it all on Mike Hall's nose.
Maybe it was that cold face of Jack
McKim challenging me secretly. Did
I dare?
At 12:30 I was at the Western
Union office, wiring McKim's two
grand to spots in Cincinnati and Cov-
ington, Kentucky. Then I paid off
a t my hotel, bought a ticket to Cincy,
and was set to hop out fast if the
worst happened.
But Mzke Hall won. I got the news
in Hammond, in a bookie's joint,
cashed enoug% in Chat town to get
back to Chi before evening and turn
, over two grand in bets to McKim's
off ice.
The next morning I travelled up
and down the lake, cashing in. Wound
up in the evening a t Cincinnati, col-
lected there. I had made over twenty
six thousand oh a tip.
Sure. I've plunged plenty since,
but never oh s w h a sure thing s s
Mike Hall.
For a few months I took i t easy at
h o w I put most of my winnings in
land, sent the kid sister to finishing
schooL Then I got itchy feet. I went
back to Pittsburg to visit Helen.
She had gone back to Skelton's but
recently lost her job.
Well, I had a score to even with
MURDER FOR SALE, CHEAP
BY
JOHN MARTIN
CREAMS and the sound of
S hammering alarmed neigh-
bors of Mrs. Hazel Wegner,
35, who had only shortly before
divorced her fifth husband in
Muskegon, Mich. Then her home
burst into flames and was de-
stroyed.
Near the garage adjoining the house
police discovered the body of Earl
Austin, 40, who had been Mrs. Weg-
ner's second husband. In the ruins
they came upon her corpse. Both had
been shot to death.
that phony, Sigman. Sigman was
now "buying" for the entire basement.
Good.
I spent one morning looking over
the layout in Skelton's. Finally I
figured i t out.
* * * I just let him go ahead. I knew I
THEXE was a sale of women's
purses, prominently displayed near
the door. Flat, thin mdels. I "But I paid for the bag," I said
bought ON, then went out and
scoured hhe town, seeking its dupli-
cate.
Finally a t "Smith's," a mall store
in the North Side, I found the same
purse on sale. I compared the two
minutely. They were identical. Shape,
material, trimming, finish.
I bought one from "Smith's," put
the sales slip inside my purchase,
threw away the original Skelton bag,
and went back to Skelton's, first hav-
ing slipped the "Smith" bag up the
sleeve of my coat.
For an hour I hovered arouhd the
tables suspiciously buying nothing. A t
last, out of the corner c8 my eye, I
saw the store dick trailing me. I
edged over to the purse display, ap-
parently oblivious of being watched.
I fingered some purses, put them
down. Something dipped out of my
coat sleeve. I t was my "Smith" bag.
I picked i t up furtively, put i t quickly
inside my coat. I walked to the door.
Not too fast.
Near the entrance I was collared
by two men. One was Sigman, the
other the store dick. They took me
upstairs. They took the bag from
me, laid i t on the desk for evidence.
Then they called the law. I hadn't
Witnesses recalled seeing Harry ,H.
Wegner drive up to the house and
enter i t a short time before the
shrieks were heard and the fire ob-
served.. They had also seen Austin
emerge from the house, run toward
the garage and fall.
A search w a i instituted immedi-
ately for Wegner, but it was not until
the next day, when the ashes orf the
building were cooled, that his remains
were found among them. Identifica-
tion was made by means of a belt
buckle, the metal rims of his spec-
tacles and the snap of a man's pocket-
book Authorities learned that Aus-
23
mid a word all the time. I kept
mum now.
Pretty soon a plainclothesman
from Headquarters came in. They
told him their story. "I want you to
arrest this woman," Sigman finidhed.
held every ace in the deck, this time.
He kept on ranting for a while.
when he'd finished.
"W!here's your receipt?" Sigman
barked.
He was dead sure that I couldn't
show one. of course.
"Open the bag," I said.
He did. The "Smith" sales slip - lay-
neatly folded inside.
In lieu of damages for false arrest
Chey were eager to settle with me.
I finally accepted half a grand.
I went West the next day. I took
Helen with me.
We had good spells and bad ones
The bad ones were tough; I won't go
into details here. Adding i t all up, I'll
say that the bad times outbalance the
good ones.
When Pearl Harbor came. Helen
fell for a sailor in Frisco 'and married
him. He had a friend-not too good-
looking, but manly, patriotic-and
honest. He proposed the rhird week
after we'd met. Ten days later he
sailed for the South Pacific. He's
taking it.
Before he left, I told him all about
myself, and he still wanted me. And
I wanted him-more than I'd wanted
anybhing else in my life. I'm waiting
for him to came back. We'll settle
down. I couldn't face him if I ever
went bavk to the old days.
Flames Hid a Baffling
Double Murder in Life
tin had visited his former wife in
order to see an adopted daughter,
and they believed Wegner's attack
upon the couple was inspired by jeal-
ousy.
Wegner and the dead woman were
married in September of 1942, and
separated a t Thanksgiving.
In concluding that he had slain
Austin and his ex-wife, officers said
he apparently had hammered open
fuel oil lines in the house, saturating
i t with the inflammable liquid before
applying a match and then tunring
the gun upon himself.
 eggang Queen'
I 'D NEVER heard of movie was tall and g d ~ I o o k i n g with
bootlegging. Did you? Prob- of
, a sort ed through the lhoops for "Big shot"
a hairline mustache like the more Cartwright. Even if I saw the
sophisticated actors. Yes, I thought articles of my own, I wouldn't have
ably not. The average law- he was just about the tops-at first. recognized them. "Infringment of
abiding person has no occasion But don't rush me. I'll get to him Copyright charged." A lot a head-
to hear about it. And I was just -that four-star phony. line like that would mean to me!
one of the average movie fans- The only good thing I can say Maybe you were once like .me.
about him today is that he wised me Maybe you used to-and still do!-
1 spent most of my time in a up to life. He taught me the things swallow the apple sauce of revivals
booth outside a movie theatre, that, I realize today, I should keep being brought back "by popular de-
selling tickets, and the rest of away from-rackets, thieveries, alI mand." I'm not saying this is not
the wrong things. possible, but you'll excuse me please
the time seeing my favorites on If you had asked me what movie if I'm a little on the skeptical side.
the screen. Talk about a bus- bootlegging was, I'd have popped In most cases this hopped-up mull-
man's holiday! I've never met back and said that probably it meant arkey means that there's a little bic-
a picture-theatre employee who one company swiping stars from an- ycling afoot! Don't mind me. I
couldn't give t h e m lessons. other outfit, like Twentieth Century- don't want to get technical on you.
Fox hijacking Clark Gable from M- "Bicycling" is the first term I had
Movie-theatre attaches are big- G.M. That's how dumb I was. I ,tolearn in my racket. You see, that's
ger movie fans than anybody earned my living in a glass cage of what my racket was-bicycling.
else, a movie lobby, but all I read was the That's the trade name for movie boot-
daily tabloid, and the only kind of k g i n g - - o r , a s the Philadelphia law-
I was a fairly serious girl-r- bootlegging I ever read of in that yers would put it, infringement of
tainly a law-abiding one. Once I'd paper was liquor-which was pass&- copyright. I'ce got my own name
had my ambitions. I'd started out and tire bootlegging. A little sugar for it, and I ought to know. I call
trying to be an actress. I even got a bootlegging, with the war getting hot, i t downright thievery.
small part in a show at one t i m e An and other stuff, too. Oh, what cute- articles we were!
actress-that's what I thought I was. But who'd ever h e a r d of anyone We had everything mapped out. No
But what I found out later was that muscling in on the biliondollar movie one was going to yell ''cuf' on our
I was just a girl with a strong desire industry? Yeah, I'd known about gravy. The movie industry was too
to be an actress; I had no real talent. Willie Bioff, but he was only a not- busy courting good will from hard-to;
I was soon let out, of course, and then suplain and fancy shakedown artist. handle Congressmen. The F.B.I. was
I had to get a job at something else. After all, $14a-week cogs in the mot- too busy catching spies to nab us
All I wanted t o do was to get along, ion picture industry like myself were off base Nobody was supposed to
meet some guy fairly good-looking not likely ,to keep abreast of the pay any attention to us a s we went
and a fair provider, and get married phenaglings of our profession in such merrily along, sucking the blood out
to him. Then along came Tom Cart- trade papers a s Film Dailg and Mat- of the world's most fabulous business.
wright. ion Pictwre Herald. I wasn't to w t How did a little trick like me get
I thought he was wonderful. He eyes on them until later, when I jump mixed up in these high flying shen-
anigans? Well, as you may have
gathered, I'm dealing all my cards
face up. I gave you the tip before,
and I make no bones about it. I
An Actress is what I thought was a girl of 26, getting along in .
years, and one of the things I didn't
look forward to, but was beginning
I was, at the time. But I to get scared stiff of, was being an
old maid.
* * *
found out laber that I was NOT that my age was starting to
tell. I dressed attractively a ~ d
j u s t a girl with ;a desire wore my hair to advantage. -Maybe
I chewed a little too much gum, but
I knew how to behave among people
to be an actress-I had no who counted. I was no siouch a t
dancing.
But, as I'm trying to get across, I
real talent! spent the best years of my life being
too choosy. Along came the draft,
 I WAS A FILM BOOTLEG QUEEN
and all my prospects started getting
fitted for uniforms. If you're a girl,
or if you have a sister who lets her
hair down, you'll understand why I
was panicky.
The old gents were talkative when
they 'bought tickets from me at the
Alton Theatre, but they cut no ice
with me. I turned up my lip in a
brief sniker, and made them grab up
their change as though they were
afraid I was going to call out the
fire department.
I always told myself that I'd know 6
the real article when he came along.
Then comes this tall, dark man with
the latighing hazel eyes, the wavy
black hair, with the slightest speckle
of gray in it. And flashing white'
teeth lik he was freshly cut out of a
movie magazine. He just smiles a t
DANGER-
was erawling toward I
us ara we waited tense-
ly in that developing
room, And I feared
Tom-with that quick
gun hand of his-
more than anything.
25
me the first few times he buys tiok- "I did not!" I snapped. "And you
ets to the show. "The Million Dol- know I didn't. What kind of a stall
lar R ~ b yin the Five and Ten Cent is this, anyhow?"
Store. Remember? .. . "I kept buy- He smiled again. "A fair question
.
ing china until the crowd got wise ." -calls for a fair answer," he said. "I
Well, he kept turning on the charm hope you won't get me wrong. I'm
full blast, and though I thought the not trying t o flirt with you. I have
springs would burst in my heart, I a straight business proposition to
wasn't the kind to be picked up for a n suggest to you. Will you have one
easy date. I came from a n old fash- drink with me somewhere while I
ioned Brooklyn family. And the explain what i t is?"
things you're taught when you're very I don't know what et into me.
young nearly always stick with you. Surprising mywlf, I said I would, and
He wasn't getting to first base in we went to a clean little place in the
making my acquaintance. But one nei~hbourhood and had a couple of
night when I was through work, he cocktails. And he was a s good a s his
comes up to m2 and removes his hat word. He wasn't romantic a t all-
and smiles. He had what seemed like and was I disappointed! He got
a valuable ring in his hand. "Did right down to business.
you drop this ring, Miss?" he a s l d "Listeq" he said. "You and I hit
me very politely. it off pretty well. I admire you a
26 I WAS A FILM BOOTLEG QUEEN

+p. I guess you know it by this m k e d Tom across his face with then I 'started to fight back, and
time. You seem smart. You're the my open palm "I work for a living. I guess I got .at least a draw with
kind of a girl I'd hope ,to marry. I'm not the least bit interested in any her.
And there's no use in any false mod- kind of thievery !" Anyhow, Dolly was in the place
esty-I sort of sense that you would- But he was a smooth talker-the that night Harley, the manager,
n't turn me dawn." smoothest I've ever known. He be- was drinking a t the bar, and pretty
But -then he wouldn't tell me what gan to plead. Nothing really wrong well barreled up. And-it must have
the proposition Wa8. He was smart.
He knew i t was too.soon to come out
in it. AJ1 that ... "And I thought
you cared for me!" he said.
been a t some sort of signal-.Dolly
called over to Harley a t the bar, and
with i t cold. He didn't tell me until "You're crazy!" I panted. I was when he turned around to show his
we'd been out together two or t h e weak and weary, and I started to face, some stooge that worked for
times, dancing and dining, and roll- bawl. "But so a m I," I sobbed. Tom took a flashlight of him. I un-
ing back to my Brooklyn home in a
taxi.
"About you, you lug . .. Wihy would destood Tom meant to use the picture
you want me to do saaething like
* * that?"
to blackmail Harley.
Later, when Harley had sobered
HE GOT TO I T before long, of "What's wrong wibh it?" he de- up, Tom propositioned him. Tom mid
course. He waited till he had my full ' m a n W . g'Nobody will be the wiser. that Harley could keep the riegative
confidence, and then he sprang it. You like going to hot spots, living for security, but if he didn't want
"I've ben looking high and wide high, don't you baby? The sugar's prints of him, drinking in a bar, to
for a girl I could trust," he told me got to come from somewthere. YOU get to the head of the theatre chain,
one evening. "I think at last I've and I would make a swell team, and he would arrange to turn a certain
found one. I had that feeling the well both 'be u p to our ears in the film can over to me, and I would get
minute I laid eyes on you" chips. We'll get the dough to get i t back to him next morning. He
married on."
Was I drinking i t in! * * * wouldn't be out anything, Ton1 said,
"If I didn't think WB understood and we would be in plenty.
each other," he continued to prepare YES YOU GUESSED IT. He Harley wouldn't play ball, though,
me, "I wouldn't even mention this roped me i n But not too easy. on a proposition like that. And then I
to you. But I don't think you're the I told him I couldn't swipe the film, found just how vicious, how dangerous,
kind to like secrets." because in bhe first place I didn't Tom Cartwright really was. He wait-
"You're darn tootin'!" I agreed, know where to go for it, and -in the ed till Harley was talking with me the
bursting with flattery. "What a r e second place I was not rmpposed to next afternoon, trying to tell me how
you drivin gat, Tom? You know be in the movie house when the show much trouble I'd get into by playing
vou can tell me anvthinrr." was over. I was through a n hour along with a rat like Tom Cartwright.
- "You're not gaini to ;et sore?"
"8ore?" I echoed. "Why?"
before the last picture was finished,
and the phonograph started grinfing
Then Tom sneaked up back of Harley
and blackjacked him over the head.
"Well, I want you to do &e a favor, out, "Remember Pearl Harbour. By the time Harley had recovered,
C h a r l o t b a big favor. It means a Excuses didn't impress Tom much, Tom had gotten into the storeroom
lot to me, and I think i t will help con- and he said I would haw to find a and taken the film he'd wanted. He
vince me that you really love me. way. This made me sore all over carried Harley into the office. Harley
That's something that I've just got again, but after a week without see- had been half drunk, a s usual, and
to know." ing him I knew I was licked. He Tom sort of half-convinced him that
"Well, for heaven's sake, Tom knew it, too. Then I found out what he'd staggered and fallen and struck
Cartwright, out with it," I imh was in the cards for me. Tom had his head against the floor. I guess
plored. "You know I care for you a been snooping around and noticed Harley was never quite thoroughly
lot." that the manager knew I was a good convinced, but he sort of half phyed
I didn't know what to expect. If he efficient employee. And he knew, ball-he haB a wife and children, and
wasn't so well heeled, I'd have figured too, that the manager-Harley, his he had a pretty good job, and he
he was softening me for a touch. name was-trusted m. didn't want to lose it.
When 'Harley, was was not quite
But I didn't earn enough dough to
pay for his gasoline for one week. an alcoholic, but suFe liked his liquor,
* * *
I don't mind saying I was completely sneaked out for a couple of fast ones, TOM met me with the tin ander
in a fog. I used *to see him from the box- his arm. "Come along, babe," he said,
Not for long, though. My first re- office when he crossed to a bar and "and I'll show vou how this racket is
action when he asked me to steal grill. But I never mentioned it t o worked."
the film of the feature picture from anybody; I knew that the theatre We drove to a brownstone build-
the projection room was to lose my chain that hired Harley knew he was ing in midtown, and walked up a
speech. I just couldn't speak. But a good man, but that he drank. They'd flight of stairs, into what I thought
when I looked a t his face, set hard, warned him about drinking, especially was an apartment. I t took only a
his eyes fixed and no- longer dancing, in business hours. minute to see that I was in a n elab-
I knew he wasn't ribbing me. "You let me know the place he orate, modern film laboratory.
'Tt's hot for keeps, honey," he goes," Tom said. "The place h? We walked past another door into
whispered impatiently. I could feel spends his evenings." an immense dark room. All the equip-
that he was holding back his temper. I was fool enough to tell him, and ment was Greek to me, but Tom did
He was spoiled, was Tom tcartwright, after the show that night, Tom took his best to explain it, as one of the
used to having his way. And I could me there for a drink. He knew a two laboratory men relieved him of
see he had planned this a long time, girl in the place-a little blond who the tin, and proceeded to put tihe film
though I didn't have anv notion of was called Dolly. I know now, but into a complicated-looking lighted box,
whatwas behind it. didn't know then, that Dolly was his geared and run by electricity, which
"We'll have it back bv morninc."L ,
real girl-that he wasn't interested in Tom described a s an automatic
he promised urgently. me, romantically. But Dolly, the jeal- printer.
I was a s sore a s a Iady who hob- m s cat, caught Tom and myself hav- "You see," he said with a vain
bles down from the balcony with a ing a drink and talldng pure business smile, "the film I snatched is a posi-
Screeno card, onlv to find out a t one evening, and started to work out tive. It's ten thousand feet. When
the stage that she punched the wrong on me. I had never been in a brawl we get through, we have a duplicate
square. before, and I was between rage and negative of the picture. We only
"You stinker!" I hissed, and I tears a t the indignity of it all. But need the positive about five hours. It
 I WAS A FILM BOOTLEG QUEEN
takes m less than half a n hour to
print a thousand feet. Then we ship
the positive back to your theatre, and
the picture goes on a t the scheduled
time tomorrow with nobody the worse
for the wear and tear. In the mean-
time, the dupe is in the works. And
after we have our'negative out, we
can turn out as many positives a s the
clucks who spent a million bucks pro-
ducing the picture."
I t was a little technical but I was
beginning to get a n idea of the fan-
tastic treachery that was abroad.
Once in a while, through a dummy
theatre, or by bribing a punk man-
ager, he got hold of positive iilms
otherwise. He would have copies
made while the films were supposedly
rented by the theatre that worked in
cohoots with him, or he would slip a
co-operative manager or projection
machine operator half a C for look-
ing the otherway, never noticing that
the film can was missing between
midnight and 8 a.m. the next morn-
ing.
I remained in the laboratory for
eight hours, watching how the whole
routine was done. I was amazed a t
the smoothness, and the various pro-
cesses.
DOLLY-
called over to the
manager and when
he turned to face
her, Tom's stooge
snapped him.
Tom and I stood over the printer
and watched the technician pick a roll
of raw, yellow film from a 1,000 foot
tin, then place the positive film on
top of the exposed film and run them
thus together through two rollers into
the automatic printer. The tech-
nicians's assistant, like his superior
paying no attention to Tom or nie,
cut notches on the edge of the film.
"That's to hit the switch that regu-
lates the number of lights a s the posi-
tive print is conveyed to +,he nega-
tive," Tom explained importantly.
I looked on with rapt interest a s
the exposed film wound u p 0x1 one
spcml, and the positive film, its func-
tion 'fulfilled, rolled up on another
spool a t the opposite end. "Gosh!" I
gasped.
'' You haven't seen anything yet,"
Tom assured me, pleased a t my wide-
eyed appreciation of the baffling won-
ders of the dark room. "That's not
a movie winding up there, honey, To-
night it's celluloid, mere gelatin. But
tomorrow it's mink and sable on your
back."
I tingled all over a s the import of
the words sank in. I watched the
chief technician place the rcl! of ex-
passed film in a can, and smiled a t his
silent efficiency, thinking kindly of
him a s a man who was helping to set
me u p in a world of velvet.
Tom motioned me to follow him a s
he walked behind the technician into
another, larger dark room, full of
equipment. The first process finished,
the copy of the positive film was be-
ing taken for further processing in
the dustless developing r m .
The technician walked over a rack,
three by .four feet, consisting of two
wooden vertical uprights, with four
slats, a f m t apart of each, in be-
tween.
As the technician, a gray-haired
man whom Tom respectf'ully address-
ed a s Mr. Kannen, pinned one end of
the film to the edge of the rack, I
whispered to Tom:
"Look handsome, you're the master-
mind in this, and I'm jurrt a dumb girl
who's a fugitive from a box office,
now that you've maae me quit my job,
but watching all this has set me to
wondering."
Mr. Kannen continued to revolve
the film between the two uprights a s
I spoke. After running off about 200
feet this way, he broke off the film,
and pinned i t up a t the other end. I
surmised, correctly, that the film was
 WAS A FILM BOOTLEG QUEEI
developed this way in 240-foot sec- rights in front of a drying dnnm he shouted at k e , shaking his fist.
tions until the 10,000-foot feature about ten feet in diameter. "You're in this, in it to stay, and in
length was taken care of.
"You see," I continued, while Tom.
He protluced a rubber band, a 3
tached i t to one end of the film, and
.
i t to do a s I say Any time you get
balky I can arrange a lot of regrets
bent over indulgently, "what I don't then caught the band on a nail on for you. I can fix u p a nice little
understand is this. Supposing you do the side of the drum. With a motion rap. I can smear you until your
make good copies of these pictures. of his hand, Mr. Kannen's assistant reputation is redder thafj, a flag a t a
.
Why would any moviehouse buy them
from you? They can get any film
started the electrically driven drum
spinning. As i t rotated, the fi!m
bull fight, and I can ...
Yes, he went on and on, and he
they want from the major companies moved off the rack and onto the pol- made clear in back of all his verbal
themselves, can't they? ished wood surface of the drum. threats that he would beat me physi-
Tom cast me a hopeless glance and When the rack was empty, lie at- cally if I tried to crawl out.
sighed in exasperation. "Listen, brain- tached another rubber band t o the I was sick of the whole thing, fed
storm," he said with mock patience. loose end of the film, and tied that UP.
"What would you do in their place? around one of the bevel-edged slats Movie houses all over the country
Would you give some m p a n y a f a t on the drum. As the drum revolved, were being circularized, and greed for
percentage of your receipts, o r would Mr. Kannen's assistant handed him ill-gotten fortune put Tom in a fenzy.
you rather pay from $15 to $50 a a chamois cloth out of which he made He got so desperate on one occasion
night for the rental of a picture, and a flat pad by folding i t once over. that he hired a gang of thugs to way-
keep the rest for yourself?" He sandwiched the end of the film lay a delivery truck one night and
w i t h the pad, pressing on it gently, actually hijack five cans of film.
and ran the whole film through the He began to take such long chances,
AS 'ONE who hdtd spent many pad as the drum whirled around, tak- for more and more heavy dough, that
nights counting the silver shoved over ing off all excess moisture. After of course the racket blew up.
the till by movie fans, I began t o half an hour on the drum, the film
get a n inkling of what was going on was dry.
in Tom's mind. IHe must have seen At this point, Mr. Kannen attached THE AUTHORITIES m c k e d
the light of awakening on my face, one end of the film to a reel on a down on u s one day,, when we were
because he added, more tolerantly. portable dewinding machine, and a s in the developing room of the bootleg
"But that's only one trick. We the drum rotated, the spool gathered lab. I saw some of the men scram-
don't need to, worry a k t markets, all the film. Thus, I saw made a d u p ming, heard that the Federal agents
Charlotte. Our big headache is to licate negative, that when later pro- were after us. And then, more than
get the films. We'll have no trouble jected on the screen proved a flawless( any other time in the racket I was
unloading them." counterfeit of a motion picture star- afraid. Believe it o r not, I wasn't
I nodded mechanically, absorbed by ring two actors whose names a r e afraid for myself. I knew Tom pack-
the work of Mr. Kannen and his as- household swoon signals all over ed' a gun, and I was really more '
sistant. After pinning up the last America. afraid of that quick gun of his than
end of the exposed film on the rack, Perhaps I nurtured a foolish hope of anything else. If he shot and kill-
he picked up the rack cardnllv slid that Tom would swing me 'in some- ed one of the Feds, I'd be a n accessory
i t into a vast developing tank. He let how in the lab. I honestly got a g ~ e a t on a murder rap. I knocked the gun
the film stay there about ten minutes. rise out of watching that work. But out of his hand, just as the officials
Then he took i t out with a s much care that wasn't in the cards. What he entered. I knew I was in for some
a s he placed i t in, and hastily rinsed told me in the dark room proved pro- kind of sentence, but somehow I didn't
i t in a second tank. phetic. He had my work--cheap, care if I could only get out of this
"What's in there?" I asked Tom. dirty work-cut out for me. sinister racket. awav from those sin-
"Only water," he smiled proudly. Se he made me a saleswonlan. I ister pedple.
From the water tank, the rack of had to rent and sell bootleg films, I got a sfiorter sentence khan I'd
film went into the hypo tank for what some of them on biblical subjects cop- anticipated. I think the judge sensed
Tom called "fixing," a process in ied i n the still of night i n Tom's that I was more fool than criminal.
which the black-an$-white images secret laboratories, to various scho~ls. The expensive laboratory was con-
were brought out as the ree! soaked I always got a s much a s the t r a s c
for about 12 minutes in a sodium could bear, pointing out that we were
.
fiscated, of course Tom Cartwright
was forced to make restitution to the
h yposulphole bath. making the films available at a rea- companies h e had fleeced. He and
"Step closer,'' Tom directed. "If sonable rate in consideration of tine Kannen were tried on a n assortment
you watch closely; $oull see how i t type of institution. I stuck more than of charges of conspiracy to violate
takes off the unexposed silver nitrate one such school with the outright sale .Section 28, Title 17, of the United
deposit on the films. When i t come. of films, generally netting $175 on Btates Code, and Title 18, Section 88,
out of the hypo, the film isn't -mp such a deal. This also turned out to of the United States Code, repre-
posed t o have a single yellow spot." be a surefire outlet for "revivals," senting infringement of copyright,
,One thing I was certain of-the which authorities smiled upon a s ault- violation of regulations, etc.
men in the lab sweated a heck nf a able for children. They got the maximum sentence
lot more than the promoters who pet?-
dled bootleg movies. Kannen bent provided by the law for their crimes.
down and withdrew the rack f r o n WHEN I felt I was getting in too You'll pardon me, I hope, for glorrt-
the hypo, retraced his steps and rc- deep, and started to squawk, Tom ing, but i t sort of does my heart g&
turned i t to the water tank, where showed his real self. He was through to see 'Cartwright behind bars.
he permitted the film to wash f o r half doing any acting now. His features ~ I can just vision him there. Let
a n hour under running water. were taut, and there was no smile, him find out what hard work is, the
My guided tour-for that's what i t only meanness on his thin lips. He rat! I hope the prison is a tough
was continued in the drying room, got up and looked at me a s though he one. Maybe it'll make a man out of
where Mr. Kannen carried the rack would like to spit at me. I fell him. That'll be some job!
after the allotted time in the water against the back of my chair and I'm still looking for a n honest man
tank. Here, for the first time show- watched him in terror. Believe me, to marry. I don't care whether he's
- he was ur, to
ing signs of amusement at my i n h e s t he didn't act a s though handsome o r not. All he has to be
in his work, Mr. Kannen smiled a s he any good. is square. That's what I'm going to
set the rack between twe new up- "I don't want any lip from you," be-right from now on.
 By MIARIE GRACE
Editor's Note: ing h e h s , o r mysterious, bitter
liquids, or some lucky charms fash-
There are many who believe that voodooism has been crushed, that the ined from the bones of a dead ani-
drums have been silenced and the whole evil ritual forced back into the
jungle from which it sprang. Others believe its powers have been so curbed mal.
that its weird ceremonies can now be found only along the moss-grown bayous And every now and again, a t night,
of the Deep South. the muffled beat of the voodoo d r u m .
They are wrong. whispered through the pine woods-
Here is the story of a girl who never has been more than a hundred and later in the church the voodm
miles from the towers of Manhattan, yet exoept for the past few months ceremonies would take place.
her life has been spent beneath the black clouds of voodooism. It lurks There was a n old munuzloda high'
wherever ignorance and superstition can be found, i q the hills, in the low- 'priestess of the culb-with a black,
lands, and in the centers of our most enlightened cities. It has now reached wrinkled face and piercing snake-like
the point where it can no longer be ignored. Not until its vicious practices eyes, whom I feared more than I
and influences have been sought 6ut and crushed in every community can we have ever feared anybody, before or
call our country clean. since. The thought of her haunted
my childish dreams, turning them into

v OODOO!
It's a word that suggests
the dark, m y s t e r i o u s
jungles of Haiti . ..cannibals
had been built near Malaga. Around
the sacred ground reserved for re-
ligious ceremonies a wall had been
b u i l t a wall fashioned out of barb-
ed wire and rusty bed springs and
nightmares. Once, when I was about
six years old, I hid in a dark corner
of the church on a night when the
drums had warned me that the voo-
doo ceremonies were to take place.

in the tropic moonlight

strange heathen worship of
..
whirling in a mad, insane dance
.the
strange, heathen gods.
There's nothing civilized about
the word. B u t
Until recently, in the very
shadows of Manhattan, there
was a voodoo village-wijch doc-
tor and all-where the followers
of the great god Damballa held
forth and the witch drums mur-
mured in the night.
That was near Malaga, in South
Jersey. A little band of ignorant
whites and black people had gathered
there, under the sway of a high priest
of witchcraft, Doctor Hyghcock.
odds and ends of discarded timber.
Within this enclosure were the shant-
ies and tents where some of the voo-
doo worshippers lived, along with
the goats and roosters used in grue-
some rites conducted by our leader.
Underground were the cabins and
catacombs, fixed up like tiny cells,
each with a broken dawn c>t or mat-
tress. Here others of the followers
lived.
Chained to posts throughout the
holy enclosures were dozens of half
starved, half-wild dogs, that used to
howl dismally through the night.
This was the atmosphere I s a s
brought up in. I never knex my
real parents, fon I was raised by a n
"aunt." Just how, actual this "aunt"
was I don't know, but I have since
had reason to doubt any actual re-
lationship. At any rate, tilere were
I watched from my secret hiding
place while the worshippers gathered,
squatting in a semi-circle on the bare
floor. There were both black people
and white people presenb-some that
I knew and saw every day about our
little colony, and others that were
strangers to me. There was a n open
fire in the center of the room. and
just behind i t a sort of altar on which
was a large copper bowl.
The only light in the place came
from the tiny, flickering fire. The
rest of the room was lost in dark,
murky shadows.
up their beating. Tom-ti-ti-tom ...
All the while the muted drums kept
tom-ti-ti-tom. The worshippers start-
ed t o sway back and forth, their
bodies keeping time to the drumbeats
And then Dr. Hyghcock started a
' chant, the words of which I couldn't

Hidden away in the pine woods,
living in caves and shacks, these peo-
ple reverted to jungle worship. . mal families. At one time she told
And that was where I was born.
Incredible as i t sounds, I, a white
girl, raised within commuting dist-
ance of New York, the most modern
city in the world, was brought up
in a hotbed of voodoo worship. My
earliest recdlections are of the muted
beat of voodoo drums sounding
through the pine woods a t night, and
the harsh chants of a papaloi leading
the faithful in some macabre secret
ceremony.
As a child I played about the cata-
combs and the voodoo church that
never any of the human ties between
us that are supposed to exist in nor-
me my parents had died before I was
a year old; another time she said they
feared the voodoo and ran away,
abandoning me.
What did happen to them I have no
way of knowing. Certainly there
was nothing in my early childhood
to give me any inkling.
I can never remember being taken
to a physician when I was sick. In-
stead, my aunt always took me to
"Doctor" Hyghcock, and he would com-
pound some sort of magic cure for
whatever ailed me. Rank. evil smell-
understand, and one by m e the others
took up the chant, until soon every-
one was singing and swaying to the
rhythm of the drums.
* *
I FOUND MYSELF swaying, toq
and crooning under my breath, even
though I didn't know the words.
Suddenly the mamaloi, the one I
feared so much, sprang up and into
the center of the firelight, her body
twisting and swaying. Without in-
terrupting her dance, she made some
sort of gesture over the copper
bowl and the two or three dishes set
about the base of the altar. Then
she turned, and stood upright for a
P
30
"I WAS A VOODOO GIRL"
Marie Grace, author of this story, was
an innocent victim of the horrible
voodoo cult. She saw both blacks and
whites enmeshed in the toils of this
weird fanaticism.
moment, and a shiver seemed t o run
the entire length of her body. Even
from wherc I crouched in my hiding
place I could see the wide, vacant
stare in her eyes, and her drool-
ing lips. Then she went on with her
dance.
I was too young to understand the
ragly suggestiveness of it, but some-
how, instinctively, I must have real-
ieed that i t was crude and vicious,
and unclean. But I couldn't close my
eyes to it, any more than I could close
my ,ears to the monotonuous blood-
stirring .beat of the voodoo drums.
I was hypnotized ... just as I
was hypnotized for the next twelve
years of my life!
I know that when the mamaloi
started her dance she was dressed-
dressed in the shapeless, dirty white
garments she always wore. But sud-
denly that filthy dress was gone, and
the firelight gleamed on her naked
black body a s she wound her way be-
tween the chanting mem and women
ewaying on the floor.
GIRLS FOR VOODOO
(Suddenly she stopped, her entire wanted to know more about the lives
body a-tremble. From out of the of the sort of people I only saw
darkness somebody handed her a whizzing by in motor cars on my oc-
black rooster, and she stood there casional walks to the main highway.
holding the bird in her outstretched But i t was to be a long, long time
hands, for a long moment. before I was to find out anything
The mumbled chant of the worship about the normal, workaday world
pers gYew louder, the drums went on most people know from childhood. K e
with their haunting beat, and all a t went to live in a house on 110th
once the mamaloi started to whirl Street, in Harlem. A strange house.
about-faster-faster-and faster - Just hcw strange I didn't learn until
the frightened squawks of the rooster later.
sounding above all else. The ma?na- As I say, I was about fifteen a t the
loi spun the bird above her head, time. For the last year or so in Ma-
there was one last agonized squawk, laga I had been watched over care-
and then she stood holding the dead fully by my "aunt," and kept away
rooster over the copper bowl. from one or two boys my age in the
I saw the "Doctor" pick up a long colony. In Harlem i t was the same
knife. The blade glistened in the thing. I wasn't allowed to go out
firelight a s he drew i t across the and play with the other children on
rooster's neck. the streets. At first I thought that
I screamed then, and fainted. maybe i t was because I was white,
That was the first time I saw a real but when I asked my "aunt" she just
voodoo ceremony, but I was to see shook her head and mumbled some
many more of them in the next ten thing about the new papaloi.
years. I was to do more than watch I never did know what the new
them. papaloi's real name was. That was
I was to take part in them! all we ever called him. Pupaloi.
But that came later, after we left Father, the King. He had a dark
Malaga and moved to Harlem, in New brown skin the color of tobacco leaves,
York. and eyes that were a s black a s ebony.
As nearly a s I can remember, that When he looked a t me and spoke to
was some time in 1933. I must have me with his soft, croor~ing voice I
been about fifteen then, although I am seemed to lose control of all my
not certain, for I have never known senses. I was hypnotized, without
just when I was born. Sometimes knowing it.
my "aunt" would tell me one date, Since then I have learned that voo-
sometimes another. doo is largely made up of hynotism
* * * and sexual excitement. But I didn't
AT ANY RATE, there was a police know i t then. I don't know wllat
investigation of the voodoo colony good i t would have done me if I had,
near Malaga, and we left. Before for that matter.
that there had been frequent raids on We had been in Harlem about six
the place. Every once in a while months when suddenly I became
the State Troopers would come and aware of strange, mysterious happen-
search the place, but they were never ings in the house where we lived. The
able to-catch us a t any of the voodoo papaloi came often, and sat for hours
ceremonies, and I guess there was talking with my "aunt." And always
nothing much they could do about I was conscious of his eyes watching
US. me steadily, searchingly. Then he
But in 1933, there was a more rigid started asking me all sorts of inti-
investigation than ever before, and as mate questions. Some of them 1 un-
a result my "aunt" got frightened destood, and some of them I didn't,
and decided to leave. I remember but they made me uncomfortable all
that I was all excited about the pros- the same. * * *
pect of leaving that gruesome hovel
that was the only home I had ever ONE DAY he said to me, "Do you
known. I was curious about what believe in Damballa, the Almighty?"
the outer world would be like. I Mutely, I nodded my head. All my
Whif e disciples of voodooism
took a strange, perverted
delight in seeing a white girl
lead the weird dancing.
For that reason m i e was
forced to remain in the cult.

life I had heard about Damballa,
whose soul dwelt within the Green
Snake. And I had heard about EzilBe,
Damballa's mistress, who sits a t his
right hand. They are the two all-
powerful gods of voodooism. Only
they can protect you from the demons.
So, with the papaloi's eyes holding
mine in an hypnotic stare, I nodded
my head in answer to his questions.
"Would you like to become a manza-
lei?" he went on. "Would you like to
become one of the favored who a r e
one with Damballa?"
I kept on nodding my head. I think
if he had asked me if I wanted t o die,
then and there, I would have nodded.
Somehow i t seemed impossible to do
anything else, under the spell of his
eyes.
Well, all that, he told me, mould
oome later. First I must prepare
myself to enter the "inner circle."
That ceremony took place the fol-
lowing week, in one of the cecret
voodoo meeting places. I Gas taken
there by my "aunt," and left alone in
the holy room with the papabi.
First of all my clothes were re-
moved, and I was made to bathe my-
self from head to foot with odd-
smelling oils. The floor a t the base of
the altar had been strewn with a thin
covering of palm leaves, and on this
bed I had to stretch out, flat on my
stomach.
The papaloi stood over me, and
sprinkled oil and wine and ashes
about me, all the while chex&ng a
prayer to Damballa. Some of the
words I could understand, and some
I couldn't.
"Damballa, thou a r t king of the
sky...
Damballa, I bring thee a
maiden.. ."
And then, for three days and three
nights, for seventy-two long, painful
hours, I had to stay thore in that
position! Naked a n d shivering,
stretched out flat on my stomach, I
had to remain until I was properly
"cleansed" for the great god Dam-
balla.
The long hours passed in a daze.
Sometimes I seemed to lose conscious-
ness, and other times I would be
aware of the papaloi chanting some-
where near me. And sometimes I had
queer visions, in which I saw green
snakes and heard strange voices.
I was weak and faint from hunger
and thirst long before the three days
were over. What happened t o me
after that has always, seemed like a
weird nightmare.
A nightmare I t r y not to remember!
I know that there was another cere-
money, with a voodoo dance, and the
rich red blood of sacrificed animals.
Warm blood that I tasted for the
.
first time. . .
And all this, mind you, was not in
some African jungle. Rut in NW
York! I n the most modern, up-to-
the-minute city in the world-!
GIRLS FOR VOODOO
For that matter, I know today of
a drug store on 72nd Street where
voodoo powders and charms a r e sold
openly. And in Harlem itself are
dozens of places where nbthing but
magic potions a r e sold. One place
specializes in "Quangas," a sort of
love-fetish. Naturally, the man who
makes them is a papaloi. He takes
two sewing needles, and places them
side by side, the point of one needle
beside the eye of the other. Then he
winds the two about with strands of
wool, and wraps medicine leaves
around them. Then the charm is
sewn in a leather pouch and worn
around the neck. If i t is a girl who
wants the charm, she goes to a mawta-
loi instead of a papaloi, but the
charm i s the same.
I used to make those, and other
charms, before I broke free from the
voodoo spell that held me.
I t was a long time before I under-
stood fully why I-a white girl-was
taken so deeply into the voodoo cult.
I don't think the old papaloi ever
really trusted me. I know that many
of the mysteries that were known to
the others were kept secret from me.
But I guess I served my purpose.
And that purpose was to bring
more white converts into the cult.
Not just any white person, you un-
derstand, but wealthy ones: Neurotic
wives with too much time on !heir
hands. Sensation-seekers. Sadists.
Rich men and women whose appetite
for normal things was long since dull-
ed. And white girls who can be
trained for voodoo work are in ereat
demand, becabse they appeal to these
people.
Naturally, I didn't realize any of
this a t first. If I thought at all about
it, I probably thought they were all
sincere worshippers.
The voodoo ceremonies t h e s e
wealthy white p e o p l e attended
weren't quite the same a s the ones I
had been brought up knowing. In
Malaga t h music and dancing and
everything only served to lead up to
the blood sacrifice. That was the all-
important thing. The sacrifice.
But with this new group in Harlem,
the group that catered to white con-
verts, i t was somehow different. The
papaloi used hynotism and voodoo
magic, just a s he always had, but
the dances became more important
than ever.
The papaloi's one idea seemed t o be
to drive the new converts mad. Mad
with desire!
That was where I came in. For al-
ways, a t these ceremonies for the
whites, I did the dance of the manza-
loi. For weeks I was carefully and
painstakingly trained, until my body
was a s lithe and subtle in its move-
ments a s that of a cobra. I t was the
papaloi himself who taught me how
t o lose myself in the spell of the voo-
doo drums, until the beating of my
blood and the beat of the rt~usicbe-
came one.
. Let me describe one 04 these voodoo
ceremonies for the whites.
Usually they took place in some
secret hide-away in Harmlem, but
several times we met a t the home of a
wealthy, socially prominent woman
who had a large estate on Long
IsIand.
Always there were the drums. The
drums that first summoned your body
and then your senses.
While the drums called the wor-
shippers together there was liquor
to drink. A strange mixture of fiery
rum and .sweet cocoanut milk and
another mysterious ingredient that I
have since been told was probably
some form of hasheesh.
In the center of the wall a t one
end of the room the papaloi set up
his altar, with its copper bowl waiting
for the sacrificial blood. Group.ed
about the base of the altar were shal-
low bowls containing cornmeal and
oil and wine.
* * *
FROM besnning t o end there was
the beat of the voodoo drums. Tom-
ti-ti-tom ... tom-ti-ti-tom. Monot-
onous, insistant, over and over again.
Tom-ti-ti-tom... tom-ti-ti-tom.
The worshippers squatted on the
floor in a semi-circle, sipping their
drugged rum, swaying a s their bodies
took u p the tempo of the drums.
The papaloi traced a cabalistic de-
sign with cornmeal on the floor in
front of the altar, three circles rep-
resenting the earth and the sky and
the sea. Forked marks connected the
circles, some pointing towards the
worshippers, others radiating towards
the altar. These were the symbols of
the invisible paths through which
 32
CALL OF THE
JUNGLE
Out of the black
depths of Africa
came the voodoo
rites which today
dominate the lives
of thousands in this
country. Above is a
modern cuIt in
South Africa
the gods and the mysteries would
move.
In the earth circle the p a p l o i
sprinkled oil and meal and wine, while
we who were the true worshippers
chanted a prayer to Wangol, master
of the Earth. Rum and ashes were
then scattered in the sky circle, and
we prayed to Damballa, the All
Mighty, master of the Sky.
Then last of all, he poured water
in the sea circle ,while we sent u p a
chant to Papa Agoue, master of the
Sea.
AI1 the while the tom-ti-ti-tom--
ti-ti-tom of the drums kept up, beat-
ing, beating, !beating against your
wnses. And the chanting continued;
one prayer following bhe other in a
monotonous cadence.
The worshippers swayed back and
forth like hypnotized snakes.
Then it was that I began my dance,
a t a signal from the papaloi. Moving
out of the dark shadows where I
had hidden myself, I glided into the
circle of firelight.
A t the beginning of the dance I
wore a single sleeveless garment of
white, something like a nightdress,
and a crimson sash about my waist.
Already the beat of the drums was
in my blood, and my body trembled
and quivered in a n ecstasy of antic-
ipation.
The first movements of my dance
were slow, langorous, provocative.
Then the chant of the worshippers
ohanged to an ancient song of love.
A song t h a t became a very part of
md
GIRLS FOR VOODOO
I remained in one spot, my f w t
not moving, while from the hip up-
ward my body writhed like an angry
snake. Slowly a t first, and then
faster and faster, working up .to a
climax of ecstasy.
The beat of the drums, the ehaht
of the worshippers, urged me on. I
no longer seemed to have any control
over my body. Instead i t became a n
artful slave, obeying the insistent
demands of some strange mysterious
master. Every individual muscle
seemed t o tremble and quiver in sup-
plication.
My fingers fumbled a t m y scarlet
sash. My dress slipped from my
shoulders to my waist ... cascaded
in an abandoned heap on the floor.
The firelight flickered over my
body, but I had no thought of my
nudeness. I had no thought of any-
thing but of my body obeying the
ancient call of love and desire and
priimitive passion. The insistent beat-
ing of the voodoo drums drove me on
and on, until my senses seemed to
scream like some thin, unutterably
high note on a violin.
And what that ecstatic, sense-mad-
dening height of the dance had been
reached, one of the black d r l s would
thrust a white rooster into my hands.
It was the signal for the end, a sig-
nal for the papuloi to take his long
thin knife, that glistened in the fire-
light, and sever the head of the bird
with a single blow.
A shuddering cry went u p from the
worshippers.
A sigh that rose and fell like a
moaning sob of desire.
But .my work had been done., I had
no place in the revels that followed.
And I had no strength for anything
but to steal out of the room and drop
exhausted on my couoh;
* +
IT WAS sheer hypnotism, I know
now. True enough, i t was the
d m a that kept me dancing, but i t
wasn't the drums that taught me to
dance the way I did. For, God knows,
I didn't know anythina a t that time
of love or desire of primitive pas-
sions. I knew of voodoo charms and
black magic and the strange powere
of mysterious gods, but that was all.
For years I had thought the
sensuous orgies I had seen from
childfhood were only a part of the
voodoo wremony. I mean, I had
never connected them up in my mind
with love, or desire, o r any natural
thing.
Well, for that matter, they are a
part of the voodoo ceremony. And
a s f a r .as the white folks go the most
important part, I guess.
Strange, how even now I speak
about "white folks," although I am
white myself. Perhaps i t is because
I have always known, deep down
within me, that white people had no
place in the voodoo ceremonies.
Perhaps i t is because, subconsciou$ly,
I felt that I had forfeited my right
to my race by being what I was.
T h a t sounds a s though I had s t o p
ped to think about it, but I didn't, for
a long time. Not until after my
"aunt" died. In the meantime, for
 GIRLS FOR VOOM)O

over three years, I took a n active SLOWLY I made up my mind' to

part in the voodoo ceremonies. escape. Maybe i t sounds as though
Then I discovered that I wasn't it should have been easy-$hat eecape.
the only white girl in Harlem doing a s though all I had to do was to walk
the same thing. out of the door and into the crowd-
I was never allowed to meet any ,
of these white girls, and all of my
questions concerning them were ans-
wered evasively. Once, though, when
I threatened to make a spell against
one of the negro attendants, he told
me that the white girls were hired
a s dancers just to entertain the white
folks who came to the voodoo cerem-
onies. Then he said that these
white girls soon joined the voodoo
cults because they were under the
spell of the witch-doctor. I knew
what the spdl was-half hmnotism
and half drug habit forced upon
these unsuspecting girls by the pap-
aloi. Oh, he was clever, fiendishly
so. And many a girl who came for
the "thrill" found herself caught in
the mesh before she knew what was
happening to her. It's still going on.
I once heard somebody say that
over a quarter of the people in Har-
lem are voodoo worshippers. I don't
know how true that is, but i t isn't
hard to believe. m a t is hard to
understand, though, is the number
of white people who bribe and beg There were plenty of people of my
and plead to attend those ceremonies. race that came to the voodoo ceremon-
At first some of them do i t for a &S, but the sort' of white people who
thrill, I guess. And afterwards they voluntarily throw themselves back
come back, again and again, because into primitive beasts a r e not the
they have found something to whip sort you ask for help.
up their jaded appetite. Or maybe I didn't know anything about
thev just want to forget themselves. work or how to go about getting it. I
If i t is the latter, then they are only knew about one thing. Voodoo.
successful, most of them. For after And i t was voodoo that gave me
a n hour or so of the drums and the a way out. With my "aunt" dead,
dances and the drugged rum, most of I had to have some way of making a hotel and ask for a room. The clerk
them go back ten thousand years few pennies, and the papaloi told me looked a t me in a funny way, a s
into the jungles. I have seen women I could make love "ouangas" for those though he couldn't make up his mind
whose names and pictures were on who wanted them. I was supposed. whether to let me in or not, but
the society pages every other Sun- to turn whatever money I got over finally gave me a room after making
day, rip their clothes from their M- to him, in return for the few clothes me pay in advance. I realized then
ies in a mad frenzy. an,d food he gave me. for the first time how funny the
From what I was able to discover, But instead I kept p a r t of the shapeless house dress I wore must
the scheme for recruiting white girls money, until I had nearly fifty dol- look.
i s simplicity itself. The girls are lars saved. I thought that was a It was when I started to buy cloth-
hired to dance, or even just invited to fortune, and more than enough for es the next day that I discovered
be present a t some voodoo ceremony. my needs. That was a mistake I how pitifully little the money I had
White men frequently make the ar- didn't discover until too late. amounted to. And after that came
rangements, so that often the girl Late one night I tied my few be- the long weary days of looking for
does not even know what she is get- longings up in a bundle and slipped work.
ting into. The papapaloi then induces out of the house I had lived in for And all the time I was frightened,
the victim to drink a "magic portion," the past six months in Harlem I fearing that a t any minute the pap-
mostly hasheesh, after which even had never ridden on a n elevated o r a aloi would appear a t my side and
bhe strongest-willed a m easy sub- subway in my life, and I didn't know take me back with h i m
jects for this hypnotism. Tcw, or anything about buses, so I walked, Well, 1 was lucky. After a week
three ceremonies such a s this and for what seemed miles. Two minutes I found a job a s a waitress in a
the girl no longer has a will of her after I left the house I was Iost but cheap restaurant. I lost it three
own. She becomes a slave, just as that didn't matter. .days later because I was clttmsy and
I was. I was away. nervous, but even so I learned SO-
J u s t b e f m I broke loose from the I had read about Broadway, and thing.
voodoo spell I saw an actress who knew vaguely that there were cheap My second job I kept for a week
' 3 famous both here and abroad slith- hotels in the neighbourhood of Times k f o r e I was fired.
r out of her evening dress and do Square. Only I was afraid to ask After that i t was easy.
, dance that made even me pause a policeman where Times Square I have been told I could get work
nd turn away. was. ina all^ "lsked a newsboy, and as a dancer in a night club or on
And after the dancing there were he told me. the stage, but I wouldn't like that.
other things. Things I can't d d b e It took a long time for me to gather I am afraid. Not of the men, but
here. u p enough courage t o go into a small of the music.
 Honey
3 the
They hiet-They Married-He Went to the Galllows
A11 in a Few Swift Weeks
By MRS. JOHN SUNNY TWAVPS
-
M Y HONEYMOON
sweetest period in the
average girl's life-be-
the

came a tragedy of horror, death

and ,murder. Mp honeymoon
was spent with a husband who
moved with the steps of destiny
closer and closer to the gallows!
As I write this the gibbet still
seems to cast its dark shadow
over me, for the husband that
-
I loved my Johnnie was -
"hanged by the neck until he
was dead" on March 21. Only a
very short .time ago I was a
bride. And now-a widow.
I married the man I loved at the
doorstep of death. I became part of
him a s a n innocent minister lay dy-
ing i n the loneliness of an abandoned
coal mine, a helpless victim sent to
his death by three criminals--my
husband among them, they say.
I am still in my teens-nineteen
years of age, to be exact-yet in
the space of a few weeks I have
spent a lifetime of misery, heart-
break and shame. I am, in brief,
the wife--no the widow-of John
Travis, kidnapper and killer of the
Rewrend James I. Seder, who was
one of the most beloved citizens of
Huntington, West Virginia. I t was a
terrible crime when that aged man
was kidnapped and mistreated so that
he died a s a result. But three men
paid with their lives for that crime-
my husband among them. Johnny's
earthly troubles are over. But 1-1
must go on, must suffer all my life.
I can never escape from those terrible
thoughts ...
Unaware that her bridal happi- ' ,
ness was short-lived, Sunnv Travis,
danced gayly with Johnny Travis a t
this little roadside tavern while a n
aged minister lay near t o death . ..
 MY HONEYMOON IN THE GALLOWS
To many persons all over the
United States I am not Sunny Travis,
who loved her husband beyond all
reason, who still believes in him and
loves his memory for the things I
know Be did in an effort to free
Doctor Seder. I am, instead, the
blond wanton of Huntingdon, who
broke the hearts of her respectable
parents to marry a murderer and a
kidnaper. I am the headstrong girl
who spent a honeymoon with a kid-
naper, while his victim lay dying in
pain and agony. I caroused and
danced while my kidnaper-husband
jeered a t the fate of an old and be-
loved man. I too, in the public mind,
have been convicted of this terrible
crime. I knew of the kidnaping,
they say, but did nothing about it.
You who read this will decide the
guilt of Sunny Travis - who was
never tried but was convicted just
the same.
Here, too, in these pages you will
read for the first time what actually
took place between my husband and
Doctor Seder in that abandoned coal
mine, what actually happened in
those tragic days between November
1 and November 12, 1937, when
the entire nation wondered about the
fate of Huntington's beloved first
citizen.
I was born in Accoville, a small
town in West Virginia's famed Logan
County, known everywhere for its
extensive and rich deposits of coal.
There is little I can recall until I
was around nine years old. I do re-
member, however, that I had had
very little trouble getting what I
wanted. In other words, I was a
spoiled child.
One day, a s I was approaching,
my tenth birthday, I suddenly de-
cided that I didn't like Accoville. The
thought had come to me after listen-
ina for davs to the boasting of an-
other kid that her family was mov-
ing to a big city, where i t would take
weeks to see all the movies. Sunny
wasn't going to ?Xleft out in the cold.
One n i ~ h tI asked Daddv why he
didn't move out of Accoville.
"Snnnv, I can't verv well. My
business is here," Daddy told me.
"I don't care. This place is so
dirtv and frill of dust." I t may
seem incredible, but i t is true that
five month.: later father had moved
to Huntin~ton, West Virdnia., A
spoiled &ild had had her wav.
I t was l i k ~a transfer to Paradise.
The brivht lights, the rushinq street
cars, the straw seats that I slid on
with great ylce, the movies, the
stores. pnd loads and loads of well-
dressed ltids that I could play with.
I was enchanted. The days slinped
by ,fast, for ?hey were days of hapni-
ness. of ~ucitement. It seemed no
time a t all until I was fourteen. I
was f a r from a \ model child o r a
morlel pupil.
And a t fourteen I 'began having
dates with older boys. I had out-
grown the early teens gawkiness
My parents began to reprove me for
going out nights. But I went out-
and soon got fed up even with Hunt-
ington. There were other places of
glamor and excitement. There was
the North. People, places, things
like I had never seen before. There
was New York-the magnifiwnt! I
wanted to go, badly. I would.
* * * Suddenly he placed his arms around
I CORNERED Dad one evening.
"Daddy, I want to go to school away
from Huntington. I'm tired of this
place. I want to go to school up
North. There are a lot of good ones
in New York."
Daddy tried to wave me off. "Don't
$be$foolish, Sunny. I can't afford to
send you off to school."-
"They're not all so expensive," I
insisbed, disregarding the fact thab
Daddy might need that money for
better purposes than t o satisfy a
whim.
"There's no use talking. I can't
do it, Sunny," Daddy said.
And because i t began to appear
that here was something Sunny
couldn't have, I became all the m o x
determined to get it.
Two weeks later I was packing in
high excitement. Daddy had given
in. I was to go to school in New
Jersey afid live with some relatives
of my mother. I knew the place
wasn't f a r from New York. And I
knew t h a t school there would only
be a necessary evil - from which
there were a lot of ways to get out
from under.
I was right. I was a t school only
a month before I went to my first
night club in New York. How I
loved it!
Within a few weeks I was trying
t o see a s many night clubs and visit
a s many of the glamorous places a s
possible. I began meeting men by
the dozen-men of all sorts. Men
who were very different from the
niountain people of my own State.
Men who were glamorous and at-
tractive. Mzn who appeared to have
stepped straight from a movie
screen.
Strangely enough, I had had none
of the "crushes' that are part of
the sweet m e ~ o r i e sof a young girl.
I began wondering what was wrong
with me.
And then i t happened - one
Autumn ni+t a t a party a t West-
che~ter. He was tall. extremely
handsome, and with the graying
temnles t h a t appear so terribly ro-
mantic to a young girl.
All durinq the party I noticed that
he kept staring a t me. Finally,
when the nartv was about to break
up, he danced wieh me. He was a
wonderful dsncer. Then we walked
out on a balcony.
"Your name is Sunny, isn't it?" he
began.
"Yes," I said, "but I can't m m -
ber your name."
I saw him hesitate a moment.
McCaffery-Ed McCaffery. You'd
better forget the last part because
from now on I'm just Ed-and I
intend to see you a lot," he said,
with quiet assurance.
TVe stood still, side by side, and
stared a t the soft glow that hung
in the heavens, high over Manhattan.
me and kissed me.
I began seeing a great deal of Ed.
He became terribly attractive to me.
Just what position he held, the work
he did, I did not know. Aas a mat-
ter of fact, he appeared to have a
great deal ef leisure time, but al-
wavs had plenty of money and dress-
ed like a model in a clothes advertise
ment.
After s e ~ e r a lweeks of 6ourtShig
Ed asked to marry me.
I told him I would write to Mother.
I did, that Tery night, but back came
a stronn letter of disawwroval from
& .
Mother.
" ... Yen a r e f a r too J O ~ R to
marry a man of 38, Sunny, a man
whom you admit you know nothing
about and who does not wish to ten
you anythina about his past life o r
his work," Mother wrote.
As usual, s'he was right, but I
wo.nldn't admit it. I decided to marry
Ed. Sunny could do as she pleased.
* * *
THE night ef our enpagement Ed
took me to a gorgeous house. It was
one of the most beautifully furnished
houses I had even been in.
Ed turned en the radio and brought
me a drink. We s a t d o m on a sofa
in the spacious living-room. Ed kiss-
ed me. Suddenly I heard the front
door open and a woman's heels clink-
inp in the hallway.
Then a stylishly gowned woman
stood hefore as. her l i r s smiling some-
what disdainfullv. She was beau-
tiful. with raven-black hair and deep-
set blue eyes. I turned a questinn-
inq dance to Ed. He sat stone-still.
I saw the muscles in his jaw pulsate.
"Sorry to interrupt, Ea." srnilcrl
the wompn in a cool fashion. "It
was ~ m f u l l vthoughtlew of me not
.to b l l you I was coming home so
soon."
Mv heart dronped a t t'he imnlica-
tin? of her words. "nTho are you?"
I finally m a n a d to ask.
"T hanpen to be Mrs. McCaffery,
child," €he woman said, a 'bit more
gently.
Hot tears beaan scaldins down m y
cheeks. I ran to the door-out into
the Mack void-to run and hide.
I ran like a n insane person for
hlwk after block, onlv v a ~ u e l vcon-
scious ~f people who stared a t me.
FinalIv, comaletelv worn and ex-
hausted, my heart like a stone weight.
I stumbled i n b We house.
F o r weeks aftexwar& I stayed
 MY HONEYMOON IN THE GALLOWS
away from all parties and dances.
They seemed empty, holow. Then
Time, the great healer, pronounced
me cured.
I started back into the gay swing
of partiw and night dubs. One night
4 met a charming girl by the
name of Mary-Lou Brown. Through
her I met Jimmy--Jimmy Davis, 22,
with the build and good looks of a
Greek god, and who seemed to like
the good times I did.
We began dating a great deal, and
the inevitable hau~ened. I fell madly
in love with J i m m y d r so I thought.
There were wonderful days together.
Jimmy became more and more at-
tractive to me. I thought here a t
last was the man I loved.
And then i t happened--as if Life
was saying: "Sunny, you've had
enough of happiness, it's time for a
few heart-a&='' Jimmy was grow-
ing tired of me. I could see it in his
eyes. I knew what was coming. I
could hear those terrible words -
"We're through, Sunny !"
* * *
I DECIDED nat to wait and hem
those words. I packed a s quickly as
I could, declining to explain to my
worried relatives, and started for
Detroit. I had friends there who
I knew would welcome me.
My one burning desire was to get
away and forget Jimmy. I thought
$hat there was only one way-the
way that many a girl has tried with
disastrous results. Once in Detroit
I entered into a ceaseless whirl of
men, dates, dances and parties.
Three months later I became dread-
fully ill. I was taken to a Detrmt
hospital, where I lapsed into a eem-
coma.
When I recovered eonscioumess, I
saw mother sitting 'beside the bed,
weeping silently. A terrible, heart-
~ h a t t e r i n g fear came over me. 1
didn't want to die! Life, even with
its heart-aches. was sweet and dear!
"Mother, am I going to die?" I
asked. ,
Mother tried ;torepeak She couldn't.
A doctor came and led her away.
Through a window I saw a tree.
bare of -leaves, swaying k f o r e the The hot spots seemed cold to Sunny Travis when death
wind, I felt icy cold. My heart beat loomed for the man she loved, and she sought the
slowly, heavily-I wanted to scream wmpanionship of her parents, shown with her here.
o u t 1 wanted to shout out that I
wasn't ready to die.
I couldn't. My thraat, my face, my .thought aa the breath s e d to ing.
whole body was numb. There must leave my body was: "Sunny, ybu I was glad to get back to Hunting-
be someone to k e q me from dying. didn't deserve to live !" ton, to feel once again the cheerful
The despxate thought whirled Then, one morning, I awoke. Sun- friendliness of a Southern city. I
through my mind. light was streaming into bhe room. I never dreamed that within a few
The= was. The one Being I had saw Mother sitting beside me, smiling short weeks I would be scorned and
least thought of during the gay days through her tears. The doctor was reviled by the same friends whe
that had flowed down the spillway of grinning down a t me. greeted me so cordially.
my life. 'Hdlo, Sunny!'' he greeted me, The first of July-a momentous
C * * smilingly. "You ran a great race. date for m e w a s hot and sultry, and
I KNEW little of prayer. But I You'll .be going home soon." the night brought little relief. Mother
prayed witih all my heart and mul. How sweet those words sounded. asked me to accompany her to church.
All night, as the tears coursed Home! No longer distasteful or ab- I n past days I would have been quick
dawn my cheeks, I prayed. Then I horrent. I wanted to go home, this' to plead some excuse. But the past
became unconscious. My last fleeting time with an almost passionate long- was m. If worship d Him was one
 Y HONEYMOON IN TH& GALL0
way of expreesing my gratitude, then
I would gladly spend everv night a t
church.
During the sermon my glance
strayed about. Suddenly a n electric
thrill went through me! Sitting a
few seats back was the most hand-
some bov I had even seen. A t least
he seemed so to me. He had blond,
wavy hair, blue eyes and finely
chiseled features.
When services were over I watched
him leave, my heart beating fast, like
the time when Ed McCaffery stood
with me on a Westchester balcony. I
saw that he walked with a slight limp
--and my heart did a double flip when
I I noticed that he looked back several
times.
The following Sunday I saw him
again, sitting in the same seat. I
looked back boldlv once or twice. I
could hardly breathe when he smiled
openly.
TVe met on the steps of the church
following services. Mother was en-
gaged in conversation with some of
her friends. I stood alone. But not
for long.
Someone spoke softly behind me. I
turned.
". . . Listen, don't think me rude,
but I've tried to find someone to in-
troduce us, and I can't. So I'm go-
ing to introduce myself. I'm Johnnie
Travis." He smiled, half-f earfully,
half-wnbarrassed.
I wondered if he could hear my
heart beating so loudly. "My name
is Verla Belcher," I finally managed
t o my, "but only Mother knows that,
I g u e s S. Everyone calls me
'Sunny :' "
From then on we began talking
with a bit more ease. I invited him
on a weinie roast, w'hich was sup-
posed to take place the following
night. He accepted.
The next night was a bit of heaven
that I had never found in the night
dubs of New York . .. m e swaying
pines, the crackling fire beside the
rippling stream, the mountains in the
distance leaning against the starlit
sky. It was like a dream.
And when we were driving home I
pitied the world and all those who
oould not taste of the mpreme happi-
ness that I f e l t J o h n n i e , just before
leaving. the vrounds, had told me that
he loved me!
FROM then on we saw &h other
day and night. Two months later
Johnnie asked to marry me.
"1 love you, Johnnie--any time, any
place," I told him.
"I'd like to, tomorrow, Sunny-but
I haven't a job. I guess we've got
t o wait," he said slowly.
The days passed quickly. I was
with Johnnie almost everv moment
WE could get to~ekher. Then came
the day of November 1, 1937-a day
I &all never forget, a day when,
mknown to me, the fuse was lit
h i c k w a s to shatter our world.
On &at day Dot Lockheart, John-
nies sister, and I had decided to go
into town. I wanted Johnnie to go
with us, so we strolled over to his
house.
I was surprised a t his somewhat
short refusal. While we were talking
the telephone rang. Johnnie picked up
the receiver. I heard a muffled voice
on the other end. Then Johnnie said,
in a low tone: "Call me back a little
later, Orville, I can't talk to you
now." Johnnie hung up the re-
ceiver.
A dread suspicion swept over me.
"Johnnie, was fhat Orville Ad-
kins?' I asked.
Johnnie looked a t me curiously,
then nodded his head. "Yes, i t was."
"What a m you doing being friendly
with him, Johnnie? He's been to
prison-he's an ex-convict!"
Johnnie's face seemed to tighten.
"Say, we're not married yet. Start
dictating my friends when that hap-
pens, not &fore!" he reVurned an-
grily.
The tears sprang to my eyes. This
wasn't the Johnnie that I knew. I
turned to Dot, suggested we'd better
leave.
Throughout the afternoon I won-
dened just why Orville Adkins had
called Johnnie-and Why Johnnie had
wanted him to call back.
When I returned home I telephoned
Johnnie, but he wasn't a t home. And
that night, for the first time, he fail-
. ed to put in an appearance a t the
usual time. As the minutes dragged
on I began to envision all manner
af things-another girl, a gambling
party, an accident. Not for a sec-
ond did I dream of the horrible,
shocking task which a t that very
moment the boy I loved was thought-
lessly undertaking.
All the next day I helped Mother
with her work, trying to get Jo%nnie
off of my mind. I was worried-and
hurt.
Around six oclock in the evening I
heard footsteps and loud laughter oh
the porch. I went to the door. I t
was Johnnie-and Orville Adkins. It
was easy to see they had both been
drintlcing.
"Hello, honey," mid Johnnie, "I just
dropped by to tell you we're going
out tonight to c e l e b r a t e a n d we're
going to get marriled and gm on a big
honeymoon !"
The grin died away from Owille
Adkins' unshaven face. He took John-
nie by the a m "Come on, kid,
you've told her, now let's go," he said
curtly.
Johnnie waved d kenly as he
w a l M away. ' '
G o T b y ,hon, see
you tonight."
I went back into the house, my
mind whirling. I was angry and
hurt. It was the firat time I had
seen Juhnnie drunk. What was he
going to celebrate? And what was
taking plate? Why was Orville Ad-
kins so intimate with J o h n i e ?
A t first I decided not to go with
Johnnie if he called. Then I decided
that if i t was humanly possible I
would be the buffer between Johnnie
and Orville Adkins. Somehow I sus-
pected that Adkins would be along
with Johnnie.
J6hnnie was still intoxicated when
he called for me. I got in the car
and Orville was behind the wheel,
grumbling that his girl friend was
out somewhere "two-timing" him.
We went to the "pozy Rest," a
hurdy-gurdy night club in Hunting-
ton. Try a s I might I couldn't per-
suade Johnnie to stop drinking. He
kept mumbling that the occasion cal-
led for a great deal of celebration.
Weren't we going to get married?
" ~ u tyou haven't a job yet, John-
nile, I protested.
"Nevermind. I'm goin' to have
plenty money. J u s t you wait and
W!"
That night, urged by Mrs. Travis,
I stayed a t the Travis home.
The next day, when Johnnie got
up and came out into the living-room,
I saw that he was restless and j i b
tery. I attributed it to the effects
of the heavy drinking. He apologized
t o me for his actions the previous
night.
"1'11 forgive you if you promise
not to go with Orville Adkins any
more," I told him.
"Oh, honey, he's all right. Just
because he was in prison-remember,
I was in some trouble, too, once upon
a time," he protested.
"Yes. but that was entirelv dif-
ferent.;'
"Oh, don't be grumpy, darlina. Re-
member we're getting married! In
f a d , we're: going to get the marriage
license r i h t now!"
I thrilled a t $is words. "Let's ge
downtown now, I said happil?.
The smile vanished from his face.
He hesitated a moment, then said:
"Hon, I don't feel so hot. Suppose
you go downtown and get it. Here's
the money."
* * *
I WAS disappointeci, and yet I was
glad to go. I would have gone to
the farthermost p a r t of the earth for
him, iif necessary.
That evening I went home with
Johnnie and told mother of our plans
t o get married. She didn't say a
word, merely turned and walked inte
another room, closing the door. I
knew what was wrong.. Mother didn't
want me to get married, believing I
was entirely too young.
Johnnie remained with me untii
around three o'clock in the morning.
I pressed him a s to just where he
was going to get the large sum d
monev for our honeymoon.
"Oh, its a business deal, honey.
You trust m, don't you? he asked.
"Of course I trust you, darlinl
whirpmd back, blinded by my 412
38 MY HONfiYMOON IN THE GALLOWS
I thrilled a t his words,
"Let's go downtoum"
nem.
On ThurSday morning all Hunting-
ton seemed agog over the news of
the Reverend Doctor James I. Seder's
strange disappearance from his home.
The world now knows the initial
events of that terrible happening-
of how ihe lights burned all day in
Doctor Seder's home; attracting the
attentio~l of his neighbors, of how
police arrived to find his apartment
deserted, the bedclothes strangely
missing, as were his three white
canes, and how a State-wide search
was being undertaken.
As for me, I merely glanced a t
trhe headlines. Th~erewas t r a s d y in
the outside world; but tomorrow
meant the sumeme dav of happiness -
for Sunny.
The next evenina. a t six o'clock, a s
B f l a m i n ~sun sank softly over the
West Viginia hills, Johnnie and I
were married. When he took me in
his arms and kissed me, I believed
that hereafter nothing could de-
stroy the happiness that was mine.
I believed that!
Later i n the evening b e went to
visit my parents. Mother seemed to
relent a bit, but she remained chill
and somewhat aloof.
That night, back a t Johnnie's home,
h e told me that we would have to
- - 4 p o n ~ our honeymoon.
'l
Why, Johnnie?" I asked, puzzled.
61'
It'll just be temporary," he said.
"Th at business deal is still on, Sunny,
and I can't say yet when 1'11 get the
money."
"Johnnie, what business deal is it?
You sound so ~mvsteriousabout every-
thing."
Johnnie m k e d me with a kiss.
"Listen, ho;; everything is going to
be all right. I've got a prospect of
a job in Burnwell. We'll go over
there tomorrow."
He gave me a kiss, and everything
else was swept from my mind . . .
* * * "Why what's happened, Johnnie?"
SATURDAY and Snnday were
b s u t i f u l days, crisp and flooded with
sunshine. Bill Lucas, Johnnie's cousin
in Burnwell, had welcomed us warm-
ly; and even though nothing elabor-
a t e marked his welcoming o r the
first days of my honeymoon, I was
immensely happy just being with
Johnnie and meeting his friends.
On Monday Johnnie went out and
returned with a disappointed expres-
,sion. I asked Bim what was wrong.
He told me the job had failed to pan
out.
"Don't worry, darling, we'll look
around. There may be another here
samewhere, " I consoled him.
The next morning Johnnie went out
and came back in 20 minutes' time
with several newspapers. Wikhout
saying a word he sat down and be-
gan reading intently.
"Did you have any luck, darling?"
I ventured.
"I'm lookinc in the "Help Wanted"
columns now," he retu&ed rather
shortly. without looking up.
A few minutes later he tossed one
of the papers on the floor. I picked
i t up. Suddenly I noted that the
.paper had never k e n opened up.
Johnnie had been reading the front
pare-where there were a lot of pic-
tures of G-men walking to the court-
house, to Doctor Seder's home, and of
Lieutenant Swann talking with Reed
Vetterli, the well-known Federal
agent from New York. The news-
paper reported that the G-men were
swarminq into Huntington because
certain evidence had been discovered
leading t>h~emto believe Doctor Seder
had bepn kidnaped!
"Darlinr, the newspaper here says
Doctor Soder was kidnapned," 1 re-
marked by way of conversation.
Johnnie brushed a hand throuzh
his hair. "Oh, that's a lot o f stuff! I
don't think he was-probably wan-
dered off somewhere, like some of
the newspapers a n d Lieutenant
Swann said before. . . . Anway, I've
decided to go back to Huntington !"
On the way back, Jolhnnie barely
spoke to me. He seemed etxremely
"b
mo y, worried.
"1 hat's wrong, Johnnie?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said shortly.
When we arrived in Huntington
Johnnie learned that his sister, Dot,
was alone with her sick child, so we
decidled to go over and stay with her.
From then on, events passed with
stunning rapidity. T h a t night,
around eight o'clock, a s we talked
with Dot, we heard newsboys shout-
ing: "EXTRA! EXTRA!" Some-
thing important must htve happen-
ed, I thought, for the Huntington
papers seldom issued an Extra."
Johnnie arose, went to the door
and whistled for a b y . A few
seconds later he returned, bent over
the paper. There was an odd ex-
pression in his face.
I asked.
"The Seder relatives got a ransom
note from the kidnaper!" he replied
tonelessly.
"That poor man!" Dot said. ' 3 e n
he was kidnaped after all! -I wonder
who would be as mean as that!"
Johnnie picked up his hat. "I'm go-
ing out for a beer. Any of you want
anvthing?" We shook our heads.
"Johnnie's been acting so strallge-
ly," I remarked to Dot when he had
left. "Maybe you know your brother
better than I do. What is wrong
Dot? H a s he discovemd he's not
in love with me?" Fearfully I
awaited her answer.
Dot laughed. "Don't be foolish,
honey. I guess he's worried about
not having a jab, and being married
and not being able to have a real
honeymoon."
The next morning Johnnie seemed
to be in better spirits. At Dot's
supgestion we decided to walk over
and insnect a cute little house near
by, which was vacant.
* * *
I T WAS a darling house, and I en-
visionled the days of happiness we
were to spend there together. '
About an hour later we returned
to Dot's house to find Mother Travis
standing in the living-room, her face
sickeningly white. She seemed to
have aged ten years. Tears were
streaming down her face, and her
eyes were pools of misery. From
the near-bv bedroom I heard Dot
sobhing.
Daggers seemed to stab through
my 'heart. "What on earth has hap-
p e n ~ ? , Mother?" I manaped to ask.
"The police--the G-Men-this Vet-
terli felfow-and the detectives came
to the house last n i ~ h tand told me
to tell Johnnie to ~ i v ehirnqelf up!"
she said in a choking voice.
I felt a s if I had suddenly turned
to stone! For a minute my lips re-
fuqed to move. "Why-What has-
Johnnie done?"
Wordlessly Mother 'Travis sank
 MY HONEYMOON IN THE GALLOWS
into a chair, buried h e r * f a c e in her t o get some money from his land- the floor. Then he prayed an awful
lrms, held out a newspaper towards lord, Doctor Seder, by taking him nice prayer for me. He began ask-
me. I snatched a t it, saw the huge, away and holding him for ransom. ing me a s to who the other men were,
screaming headlines: We talked and drank a lot. but I and said he was almost positive that
remember that Booth didn't drink so the baldheaded one was a man by the
DOCTOR SEDER FOUND NEAR much. name of Booth, and one of his ten-
DEATH IN ABANDONED MINE "That night; Booth said h e was ants.
ARNETT BOOTH CONFESSES going to l h r r o w his fathers car, that "In a little while, that is, some-
KIDNAPING he had all the plans laid, and all we where around midnight, Booth and
NAMES JOHN TRAVIS AND O R had to do was to help. Booth came Adkins returned with some bedclothes
.... VILLE ADKINS AS A C back with the car, drove us down and some more whisky. We carried
COMPLICES t o Eighteenth Street and Tenth Ave- Doctor Seder out to this abondoned
The room reeled around me. There nue, and told us to wait for him. I coal mine. Booth told me to stay
was no feeling in my face, my kept telling Orville we'd better get on with the Doctor and h a m him write
hands. My heart seemed to give a home, but neither of us had any car- a ransom note. When they left I
great beat, then stop completely. . fare, so we decided to wait for Booth. fixed the bedclothes for Doctor Seder,
The tears suddenly flooding my face. In a little while he d r o w up in the put an overcoat around his legs, and
"It's not true!" I screamed. "It's roadster. Some one was sitting np told him t h a t he could write the note
not true! I was with Johnnie all in the roadster. He called out: "Let in the morning. Neither of us slept
the time. How could he have done Travis ride the rumble. H$ drunk t h a t night.
i t ?" and making too much noise. "Several times Doctor Seder knelt
Mother Travis raised her head, I got in hte rumble, qnd Orville in prayer, and two or three times I
looked a t Johnnie with swollen eyes. got up front. Then we drove off. I joined him. When morning came I
Jo'hnnie stool still, silent. heard them talking up front, then a told Doctor Seder he could write the
"Johnnie, is this true? Did you sudden commotion. The car stooped, note. Shortly afterwards, Booth and
help this Booth kidnap Doctor and I heard Booth say: "One of Adkins came back. I gave Booth
Seder?" Mother asked, the tears still you birds put your coat over his head. the note and he began cursing about
rolling down her cheeks. quick!' " a double-cross. Said that doctor
I saw Johnnie's lips tremble; then "I jumped out of the car. It was Seder had put in the note he was be-
he hung his head. parked on the highway leading to ing held in a cave twenty miles south
"Mother, it's true," he said husk- Wayne. I saw this old man with of Wayne, West Virginia. Booth
ily. "I didn't know what I was do- white hair and glasses. It was Doc- handed me a tablet with a pencil and
ing. I was drunk. Booth had made tor Seder." told me to have Doctor Seder write
Orville and me drink over a pint of I wanted to yell, but the sound this, a s well as I can remember:
whiskey apiece. Neither of us knew wouldn't come. I heard Johnnie say- " 'I have ;been kidnaped. Four men
what we were doing." ihg : forced me into a car. I was on an all-
The awful realization hammered a t "I *told Booth I wasn't going to night drive from Huntington. I don't
my brain. My 'hus,knd-the man I throw a coat over the old man, that know where I a m at. They want
lowd so dearly-a kidnaper! I he'd better give u p the whole job. $30,000. F o r my sake meet their
couldn't .believe it! It was all a Booth got mad and hollered: 'What demands for you know what it
nightmare. I would awake soon. the Hell i s the matter with you?- means.'
But the misery, the rising terror getting yellow?' Doctor Seder be- "All this time Booth stayed at the
in Johnnie's voice were too real to Ean pleading with him to release top of the mine and didn't come
be a dream. He turned to me. ''What him. Booth threatened to hit him with down I got the note and took i t
shall I do. Sunnv?" he. asked.
. -- his fist if he didn't shut UD. up t o him. Booth read i t and hand-
* * + "Finally Booth started &e car up ed me a n envelope with a special de-
1 LOOKED at him through m again and we drove off. Some time livery stamp on i t and told me to tell
almost blinding film of tears. later we pulled into a field and stop- Doctor Seder t o address it; then he
"Tell us what happened, Johnnie. ped beside a log cabin. All of us wrote out a note for me to recopy
Then we can better decide what you went in. Doctor Seder was so fright- and reword, giving the denominations
must do." I managed to tell him. ened he could hardly talk. He kept of the bills, demanded. I gave the
And so Johnnie, 'his eyes like a hunt- pleading with Booth to let him go envelope to Doctor Seder, and he
ed aniv'al. began to pour out to back, that he would ,be caug'ht and addressed i t to his son, a t St. Paul,
Mother and mle the details of that punished for what he was doing. Minnesota.
terrible event-details which, I feel But Booth only told him to shut up. "Booth told me to come on out, that
sure, are told in these pages for the Rooth got from Doctor Seder the in- he'd ride me back to Hnntington, and
first tirre in their entirety. formation that he had some money that Doctor Seder couldn't porsihly
"MotFer," Johnnie said, "you re- hidden in the pantry, so he and Ad- crawl out of the cave alone. When
mlembcr I not up around noon on kins decided to go back after it. we r o t back to Huntindon he took
that first day of November. After Before leaving Booth turned to Dr. f i e letter in the snecial-delivcrv en-
breakfact I met Orville Adkins and Sedcr and said: velone and said he'4 mail it, bnt for
we T T P ~ ~ : P over
~ to Arnett Booth's '"We don't w a n t you to croak on me to be sure and write the other
agartmmt. I had m e t Booth u s too soon, Doc, so we'll bring you note and mail it. T'his I never did.
t h r o ~ ~ ~Orville.
ht and he was alwavs some bedclothing back. It won't be That ransom note the P e d ~ r s p.nt
talkinr ahout his schemes to make any too comfortable where we'll put must have comle from Booth. He
somp eacv morlPv. He painted some you.' Thev went out, leavinc me to kept calling me and Adkins and tried
prpttv victures." guard Doctor Seder. I felt the to get me to go to some bridye with
He turned to me. "And, Sunny, I whisk-- bepin dying off, and Doctor him. His idea, Mother. I'm sure.
wanted sonle mnqey quick, so we Seder asked me who J was and who was to bum^ me 04. Tuesday Or-
uid PO+ married ! Anwav, ,we be- mv parents were and whv I was do- ville and I staved drunk. Tho next
n drinkinv a t Booth's place. We ina this. I told him I ma.: from De- dav we talked about rescuing Doctor
ank iln mhat he had, and then he troit. He told we all this was a Sleder. hut that afternoon Root"l met
nt ont for some more, urg-ing me t ~ r r i h l e t'hinq. and asked me if I us a t Fourtwrlth and Tenth and told
drink. thpt all the w h i s k was on would pray with him. I told him I us he had killed Doctor Seder after
him. I vaouelv remember he b e ~ a n would. I made him comfortable as I beating him! up! You know the
talk ing about how easy i t would be c'ould by placing some old clothes on (Continued on page 5 0 )

SAT in the tiny gallery at the
I rear of the a r t shop nervously
smoking a cigar and waiting
impatiently for the arrival of the
Countess. Pictures covered the
walls and were stacked to the
ceiling in the rear of the shop.
Some of them were worth mod-
erate sums. Some of them worth
absolutely nothing. But that was
a fact I kept well concealed from
t h e art lovers whose names
adorned my sucker list.
I glanced down
my watch. The
Countess was late. If she failed in
her mission I was going t o be out a
hatful of money. Whereas, if every-
thing went according to my plans, I
was going to turn the swiftest and
hugest profit of my shady career as
an a r t dealer.
My heart picked up a beat as I
heard footfalls in the front of the
dhop. I jammed out the cigar in a
hammered silver ashtray. I adjust-
ed my conservative gray cravat. I
drew a deep breath, assumed my most
professianal manner and left the
gallery.
In the gloom of the shop stood the
Countess, her little gloved hand nest-
ing on the arm of a distinguished-
appearing man of middl? age. The
melandholv of the dimly lighted room
was dispelled m e w h a t by the
presence of the counkss.
She was tall and slender. Her
hair was dark, her face pale. Her
lips were flashing red.
She nodded to me coIdIy, in a
manner of the nobility greeting a
tradesman, and said, "Monsieur
Danton, bhis is Mr. Wentworth;, He
is interested in your VeIasquez.
I gave out witrh my maximum bow.
I rubbed my hands and assunned my
m& obsequious expression.
Many more "Old Mastersware
sold for big money than ever
were painted !
"Ah," I said. ''me Velasquez. I
negret greatly that I have not yet
taken possession of the masterpiece.
But if Mr. Wentwoirth will come
in again-say, in a week-I shall
have i t for him."
Some of the yielding softness dis-
appeared from the eyes of the
Countess, and she glared a t me. I
ignored her, transferring all my at-
, tention t o Wentworth. \Ventworth
stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Naturally," he said, "before in-
vesting a large sum of money in the
picture, I must be sure of its authen-
ticitv."
" ~ u tnaturally," I agreed. "If I
can show you that I purchased i t
from Mr. Ralph Dusken, you would
be sure of the genuineness?"
" D u s h n ?" said Wentworth.
"Why, of course."
Which, considwing t h a t Ralpk
Dusteen was one of the top a r t ex-
perts .qf the country, wasn't at all
surprising.
"Very well," I said. "In a week,
then. Of course, I must ask you to
be discreet, but I shall prove to you
t h a t Dusteen is selling me the paint-
ing."
The Countess was still glaring a t
me'as Wentworth, taking her arm,
walked her out of the shop.
I went back t o the ga!lery, lit an-
other cigar and felt as happy a s
any man who stands on the thresh-
old of a hundred thousand dollars.
HALF an hour later, the Countess
returned. She strode into the g a l l a q ,
and shed her regal manner.
"Listen you dope!" she said.
"What's the idea? I never heard of
anyone as screwy as you. What
you t y i n g to pull. The old double-
cross.
Her a m t s were Brooklyn rather
than a o s e of the Court .of St. James.
She was good and mad. She kept
storming away a t me-and- all I did
was to look down a t her and keep
I
9
smiling blandly.
"You'll get your cut," I told her.
"I'm arranging this set-up. there'^
a pile of dough a t stake, and I'm p-
ing i t m there'll be no slips a t all.
"What was the idea of telling
Wentworth you didn't have that
phony picture?" she demanded. "I
know very we11 it's stacked over there
against the wall. I went to a lot of
trouble contacting that guy, and I'm
not going to have-"
I waved her to silence. "I M1
you everything's O.K. Wait a week
and col~lect. In the meantime, don't
ask questions."
She regard&,, me suspiciously.
"Well, all right, was her final d s
cision. "But don't t r y to pull any-"
"Go back to your castle in Benson-
hurst, Countess," I told ,,her. "1'11
call you when I'm ready.
The Counkss' beautiful lips
framed an ugly word and she left
indigantly. I grinned after her and
puffed luxuriously on my cigar. On
this particular sale I had worked out
a brand new fool-proof angle. The
Countess would eat her ugly word
before i t was over.
Two days later the Countess, still
baffled by my lying to Wentworth
about m y possession of the Velasquez,
happened to be in the gallery when
Ralph Dusteen entened He nodded to
me curtly. He was an honest a r t
expert. He didn't approve of chis-
lers like myself.
"Danton," he said, "I hea: you've
a ~ e n u i n eVelasqm for sale.
"Right,' I said. "The price is me
hundred thousand dollars."
The Countess stared a t me a s if I
were insane. I knew what was going
on in her head. To sell Dusteen a
phony Velasquez was, on tfne face of
it, utterly mad. A half hour's ex-
amination in his laboratory would
demonstrate the picture was a fake.
I dug out the picture, placed i t on
an easel and turned on the bright
light. Dustsen squinted a t it. But
that didn't worry me. From the view-
point of the naked eye, the painting
was dose enough t o the real thing
to fool even Dusteen. I t would be a
differeht matter in his laboratory.
Dusteen grunted. "Wdl," he said
at last, "1'11 ta,k" it oh trhe usual
terms, of course.
The usual berms meant simply h t
Dusteen grave me his aheck while I
 I
1 COMMITTED FORGERY ON CANVAS
gave him a form contract which prc-
vided that if the picture in anyway
dissatisfied him he could return i t
for a full refund. This is usual with
most a r t dealers when transacting
business among fiemselves.
Dusteen wrote out the check and
departed with the picture. The Count-
ess grabbed my a m and swone.
"You fool! Dusteen will know
that's a phony within the hour. You'll
have to give him back that check or
we'll all go to the can. You-"
"I fully intend giving him back
&he check," I told her. "Just keep
calm."
She stared a t me, bewildered. ''Then
why did you sell i t to him? Why
didn't you hold i t for Wentworth?
He'd never know it was a fake."
"Take it easy," I said;, "I'm going
to sell it to Wentworth.
At that moment I refused to tell
her more than that. Enraged, the
Countess went home to Brooklyn.
Two days later Dusteen returned,
as I had known he would. Passing
several derogatory remarks about my
business ethics, he gave me back the
phony Velasquez and demanded his
money back. Without protest I wrote
out a check for one hundred thousand
dollars. I marked i t on the back
FOT Velasquez Painting.
A few days later, I called the
Countess. "All right," I, told her.
",Get in touch with Wentworth. Tell
him I have the Velasquez for h i m
Bring him in tomorrow."
Mr. Wentworth arrived the follow-
ing day, along with the Countess. He
took a long look a t the Velasquez. He
took a longer look a t the canceled
check I had ,given Dusteen when Dus-
teen had returned the phony Old
Master.
I had retrieved the canceled
voucher, of course, had it in my gal-
lery. I t showed that one hundred
thousand dollars had been paid to
Ralph Dusteen, the eminent a r t ex-
pert, and the back of the check bore
the line, For Velasquez painting, and
also bore the signature of Ralp Dus-
teen. Wentworth himself had done
business with Dusteen, and could see
that the signature was not a forg-
ery, that i t was absolutely authentic.
Dusteen was beyond reproach. If
he had sold me the Velasquez for a
hundred grand-as i t most certainly
41
appeared-who could doubt the val-
idity of the picture? Certainly not
a dilletnate like Wentworth.
Yet Wentworth was still cautious.
He told me he'd forgotten an appoint-
ment nearby, that he'd be back well
within an hour. He had some busi-
ness to attend to that he couldn't at-
tend to by telephone.
"Why, certainly," I told him. "I'll
still be here."
I let him go out-and again the
Countess stormed a t me. But I told
her not to worry-that Wentworth
would be back
And back he came-in a little more
than fifteen minutes. I sensed what
he had done-contacted the bank to
see that the hundred-thousand-dol-
l a r check really had been deposited
by Dusteen, a s of course i t had been.
Wentworth handed over his own
check for one hundred and five thou-
sand dollars-the extra supposedly
representing my profit on the deal-
and took the Velasquez home with
him
The Countess, now that she under-
stood my complicated machinations,
stared a t me in sheer admiration.
THE TRICKS-
of the Countess would
fool most of our male
patrons.
42 I COMMITTED FORGERY ON CANVAS
matter of forged references and at-
testations to the genuineness of the
picture which supposedly had been
issued by reputable a r t critics.
The number of phonys which have
been foisted on wealthy a r t morons
is utterly incredible. For instance, a t
least 2,000 Van Dycks have been
bought in America in the past fifty
years. I t is a well known fact that
YOUNG Van Dyck painted only 70 pictures
in all his lifetime!
BLAKELY- * * *
IN the old days is was a simple
knew how to matter to doctor a freshly painted
canvas with resin and lime juice so
handle women that i t took on the appearance of an-
tiquity. With modern methods of
-and the detection, this is easily exposed.
The new ways are more compli-
Baroness seem- cated, but well worth the trouble if
it means unloading a n alleged Old
ed to like him. Master on a n unsuspecting a r t lover.
The safest method today is to first
procure a genuinely old, but worth-
less, painting. The forger will then
trace the pattern of the age cracks,
later washing off the paint. Next,
using pigments of the period-and
that is most important, as I found out
to my sorrow-he paints a picture
characteristic of a Master.
Before the new painting has dried,
a pinpoint is used to scratch the pat-
tern of cracks traced from the orig-
"Danton," she said, "you're wonder- Her tricks-and she had a bagful of inal. Then, like one of mother's pies,
ful! Let's celebrate." them-would fool most of our male the canvas is put in the oven to bake.
We did, and in fine style. a r t patrons. This baking process causes the pig-
* * * ments to crack where they have been
There are, in New York City, scratched.
I SPENT several years in the a r t many a r t dealers. Of course,, Mac- Mellowed tints to give the impres-
racket. Some of those years were beth, Rehn, Neumann, Kraushaar, sion of great age a r e achieved by skil-
lush, some were bad. But they were Maynard Walker, Ferargil, Alfred
Stieglitz, Bernard Bereson, and some
ful applications of wood ashes, smoke
never a s good as since the advent of others, and licorice juice. Phony fly specks
Hitler to power. are absolutely authentic. But a r e created by spattering a mixture
All over Europe, masterpieces dis- there are more numerous a r t dealers,
I'd say, who would not hesitate to
of gum and India ink on the picture.
appeared. In all probability they transact A mildewed appearance is easily
went to furnish the luxurious palaces a little shady business. brought about by simply leaving the
of the Nazi masters. Anway, they These shady a r t dealers exact ex- canvas in a damp cellar for a month ,
disappeared from the museums and orbitant commissions from painters- or more.
chateaux where they had hung for sometimes a s much as one-third of the I n my years in the business F had
so long. purchase price - for making sales. resorted to all these devices and sev-
Refugees poured into this country. They are guilty of polite misrepre- eral more. However during one pros-
Some of them had salvaged legitimate sentations, market rigging, promotion perous period, we didn't even have to
paintings as their stake in the new of incompetent artists and mainte- bother to doctor the pictures.
world. Some of them carried worth- nance of fantastic valuations on Late in 1941 the Countess met a
less paint on worthless canvas. But ,worthless canvases which guillible col- Baroness. The Baroness, though, was
either way i t was gravy for the ille- lectors have somehow been convinced legitimate Almanac de Gotha, a pretty
gitimate a r t dealer. a r e master-pieces. blonde woman from Belgium whose
For the suckers, those wonderful These tricks, of course, a r e among husband had died in an air raid.
little art-loving suckers on whom we the milder sort of swindles. The The Baroness arrived in this coun-
preyed, firmly believed any tale we major duplicity is practised by an- try broke, owning only a few clothes.
told them about the refugees' paint- other large group of which the Coun- However, the Countess discovered
ings. We'd been running pretty thin tess and myself were not the low- that their chateau had contained, a t
on stories to account for our sudden liest members. one time, several thousand dollars'
possession of European masterpieces, For instance, we had our clever worth of old masters.
but the arrival of the refugees gave young painters who could copy the Of course, they had all been stolen
us one, written, edited and all ready masters so well that the masters by the Germans, but a s the Countess
to go to press. themselves wouldn't know the differ- figured, who could ever prove that?
The Countess, nee Annie Whalen ence. Not all of that hundred grand Subtly, the Countess had broached
of Bensonhurst, who had been work- I collected for the Velasquez went into the matter of a deal to the Baroness
ing with me since I started, quite my own pocket. only to be indignantly turned down.
often impersohated a refugee herself. In addition to the Countess' cut, a Thereupon, the Countess arranged a
She would use tears to prevent the big slice went tq Walter Blakely, a little party to soften the Baroness up.
sucker from examining the supposed- brilliant young artist who had forged I decided to stage the party in the
ly smuggled masterpiece too carefully. the painting. Then there was the stndio of Blakely, the a r t forger. In
 I COMMITTED FORGERY ON CANVAS
addition to being handy with a brush,
Blakely was tall and rather good-
looking. And, believe me, he had a
brrific "line" and could make him-
self most appealing to women. He
was absolutely unscrupulous.
Blakely had his studio looking its
b s t . I stood the expense on the
drinks and the eats.
A t the outset the real noblewoman
was cold and distant. However, the
ahampagne soon loosened her up.
I got her alone in a e r n e r of the
stud10 and made my business propo-
sition. "Baroness," I said, "you have
no money. And money's a very im-
portant. thing. You'll agree to that, I
think. Now, what I am about to sug-
gest will bring you relatively large
sums and you will have nothing to
do expect to announce that you sal-
vaged a number of those paintings
from your chateau when the Nazis
came in."
"But 'why?" she asked. "How can
that bring me money?"
L'Be~au~e," I told her, "we'll have
Blakely here forge them. If you guar-
antee them as genuine, a s the pictures
you brought with you from Belgium,
you'll,,have no trouble disposing of
them.
She shook her head vehemently.
She would have nothing t o do with
such a crooked scheme. I fillecl the
glasses again.
I t developed into quite a party. One
of the developments was that Blakely
made a sketch of the Baroness. Near-
ly always he dressed like a conserva-
tive young businessman, but he was
just phony enough to put on a vel-
veteen jacket and a tam. He knew
how to excite the admiration and at-
tention of women. We left him alone
with the Baroness, and they continued
to chat and drink, and talk over Con-
tinental life, and he won the Baron-
ess completely over. We'd never have
any trouble with her again.
With her guarantee backing every
forgery from Walter's brush, we had
no trouble disposing of our phonys
to those society a r t lovers who would
-never doubt the word of a fullblood-
ed Baroness.
POSSIBLY the most baffling ang!e
to a layman regarding the a r t racket
is the fact that experts admittedly
can not ell the true from the false on
many occasions. The scientist, deal-
in such matters a s pigments, utilizing
infra-red ray, will be f a r more ac-
curate.
43
Well, then, you ask, if this is true,
what is the value of a painting? The
a r t dealers have a n answer t o that.
A painting is worth whatever you can
get for it.
Possibly the greatest swindle was
perpetrated by Jean Charles Millet,
grandson of the famous artist. Jean
Charles inherited a number of can-
vases painted by pupils of his grand-
father-all, of course, done in the
Millet style.
Millet, junior, went into partner-
ship with Cazot, a house painter of
uncanny proficiency, and set up a s a
dealer in masterpieces. First they
signed the elder Millet's name to the
pupils' paintings and had little
troubl? in disposing of them.
The racket went along so well that
they branched out and not only forged
Millet's name but that of Carot,
Manet, Sisley and the other members
of the Barbizon school.
These pictures were sold t o dealers
for sums ranging from six to ten
thousand dollars. The dealers, in
turn, resold them a t staggering
prices.
One was sold t o a "connoisseur" for
$60,000. A British Museum dug down
into its bank account and laid $97,000
on the line for a guaranteed Millet.
Later, the grandson boasted i t was
a fake and proved i t before the red-
faced assembled experts who had
pronounced it genuine. Other ex-
perts, ridiculed and harassed in the
courtroom, conceded i t was impos-
sible t o tell the originals from the
forgeries, t h a t it was impossible to
estimate how many phonys had been
sold.
There is, in New York City, a man
that a r t dealers fear and respect. He
is Dr. Maximillian Toch, known a s
the Old Master detective. Dr. Toch
applies the scientific method to un-
cover fake paintings. A t this task he
has been eminently successful.
Paints, to estimate their age and
composition, are subjected t o various
tests by Dr. Toch. Photomicrography,
X-ray, ultra-violet ray and infra-red
a r e a few of the scientific devices
utilized to expose the fakers.
One of the most important clues
in the detection of a fake master-
piece is "brushwork."
The brushwork of all great painters
is absolutely distinctive. Each lays
on the pigment in his own way, which
is almost a s individual a s finger-
prints a n d can not be duplicated by
a forger. Rere, photomicrographs of
X-ray a r e used.
Perhaps the most famous of these
tests was proving that Virgin of the
Rocks was a genuine Da Vinci-a fact
which had been seriously questioned.
Examination of the brushwork dem-
onstrated conclusively that the pail
ing could only (bet h a t of the Itali
master.
44 SALESGIRL FOR CRIME

T HIS'LL teach you to talk Jackie," he said slowly, punctu-

t w much!" With a vicious ating his words with blows,
lunge the heavy-set man "you'll know enough to not go
slapped the pretty young girl around spilling your lip!"
squarely across the face. She
screamed in pain 'as he shook her ably, and fell the g r d .
and threw her against the car
by which they were standing.
"Maybe next t i m e, Miss You know What to do with her. Tom.
T h e g0 a 1
Tom had been standing'lookimg on
in enjoyment, his eyes thin slits of
"Ben, Ben!" the girl pleaded miser- sadistic exultation. He smiled evilly
and nodded. Without a word he
Ben turned to the man with him. dragged the ,girl into the car and got
"Get her away from 'the park her:; in.
Ben watched him drive off, then
! turned back to our car. S is eyes
swept over me as he spoke.
"And you, sister!" he sneered in
tones that made me cringe. "Now
maybe you'll know, too. You'll know
when you've got to be quiet.,"
He sat in our car and motioned
for Roy to drive aff. We sped down
the road of Mill Creek Park, in
Youngstown, Ohio, that evening and
ahead of us I could follow the berms
of light from the car Tom was dl-iv-
ing, the car in which the little red-
head, beaten up so brutally, had
been dumped. Suddenly those lights
turned off up one of the side r d a
I sat there in the front seat of our
MY car, numb and silent.
Hours later I was pacing my room.
EVENINGS What must I do? How could I go on
with this? How had i t all begun?
were spent wilbh But a s I thought i t over, it seem-
ed to we there was no certain day
Roy in a whiirl t when it had all begun. There was no
time I could say it all started. Every-
pleasure.
to day. . ..
thing had just happened from day
+
MAYBE it all started away back
in my home town. I was discon-
tented in that sleepy little village in
southern Ohio. I t was dull, ,I thought,
stodgy and depressing. Poverty
hung over the whole town and
blanketed it. There was never any
excitement.. Our town was just a
little blot on a worn-out agricul-
tural section. When, a t 16, I fin-
ished high school, I determined that
eome way or other I was going to
get away.
It wasn't h t I was particularly

was rich old maids, the game a racket
unpopular. I was, they all said, the
'prettiest girl in our graduating class.
Rut I didn't have the things the other
girls had. My clothes, for instance.
And I had no real "dates" while I
was in high school. Everybody said
1 was too young, since most of my
class was a year o r so older than I.
And then I hadn't the clothes or
money to go around much.
My mother had died eight years
before; and I d d remember my
father only by what others said of
him. I had been shifted regularly
between two of my uncles' homes
there in town. They felt they had
done their duty in getting me
through high sdool; the extras they
couldn't bother zbout.
This was why i t was such a won-
denful thing to me when I came to
one of my uncles one aftern'oon to
find that a cousin of my mother's
had sent fer me. He ran a bakery
in 'Canton, Ohio, and dnce his wife
was going to have a baby, he thought
I could come to stay with them and
work in the bakery where his wife
had been helping out. I lost no time
in getting ready to go.
[But when I reached Canton I found
out the real reason Cousin Fred had
written. The bakery was doing so
.badly he couldn't afford a regular
clerk a t the usual salary. I was a
last resort, for they figured I could
live with them and they'd save by
not having to pay me a salary.
In the mornings I had to do the
housework a t home, then I would go
to the bakery to wait on customers
in the afte~moon. And after the baby
came i t grew to be tacitly understood
I would have the night shift most
of the time, which meant I worked
a t the !bakery until eight or nine
in the evening.
But even though I was working
hard, and even though I had as lit-
tle money as [before, I was happier. I
was a t leaet started on my way. And
SALESGIRL FOR CRIME
I still had ideas of a better futzre. was Roy. I kept saying it -er to
For months we held on at the bake- myself. His voice rang in m y ears.
ry, stinting and scrimping. It was "Ny name's Roy, Beautiful. Don't
during those months I met Roy. I forget it, because you're going* be
can remember clearly the first time saying it over a lot from now on!"
I saw Aim. I was coming down the The third time b y came in he ask-
street carrying flour and sugar and ed for a date. Asked is hardly the
eggs. I t had reached the point with word for it-he practically ordered
us where instead of being able to buy me to meet him on the corner in front
in quantity we had to pay cash a t of the bakery that evening a t nine.
the grooery store for five-pound That afternoon I pretended to fight
sacks of flour and sugar. with myself a long time, but I knew
When I reached the door af the I would meet him. My cousin aad his
bakery, I shifted my packages to wife never heard me come in a t home,
one ann. But suddenly the door anyway, since their room was a t We
opened before me. A man was stand- back of the apartment and I slept in
ing )beside me, smiling down at me. I a small room off the front hall. I
stared up wNit21 fascination into a h e w I could do it. And dates had
pair of the bluest eyes I had ever been too few in my life. I had always
seen. It was not until long later had to work too hard.
I realized the true description of them I was waiting on the corner that
was ice blue. night a t ten minutes to nine.
"Well," drawled the man, grinning, I t was not long before all my even-
"are we going to stand out here all ings were spent with Fay. I spent
day?" my days wondering about him. I
"Thank you," I stamanered in con- knew so little of him. When I asked
fusion. him about his work he said vaguely,
I stepped into the bakery. The shop "Contracting." I didn't think mu&
was empty. I looked again a t the about it then. I wa's glad he was
man. I could feel myself blushing. free to m e by the bakery so much
"No girl with a face like yours during the day. I even resented it
s'ould ever have t o carry all these when customers came in and took up
packages," he laughed. my time while I muld be tdking to
He reached out and took my Roy.
bundles. My arms tingled a t his Then one morning a t breakfast
touch. He put the things on the Cousin Fred told me the worst. He
counter and then turned back to me. had decided there was nothing t o do
"I just want to get change for this but close the bake*. And, of course,
bill," he said. Silently, I got it f o ~ I would have to go back home, since
him from the cash register, and he thev could no longer keep me with
amiled and said, "This was my lucky t h e m
five, I think. 1'11 be back. I was suddenly panic-strioken. My
All that afternoon after he'd gone one fear was leaving Roy. In despair
I was in a haze, Twice Cousin Fred I stood behind the counter a t the bak-
called me down for not waiting cm erv all dav waiting for Roy to come
customers quickly enough. Once he b< He ;sually passed m time
said I tried to short-change a c m - during the morning and sametimes in
tomer. I don't really know what hap- the afternoon. But this time I didn't
pened. get to see him until late in the even-
I t was the se2cmd time the man ing. I didn't notice thzt he seemed
came by that he told me his name grave and upset. I was too worried
 SALESGIRL FOR CRIME
about my own problems.
I n a rush of words I told' him a11
with Roy .. ...
and new clothes.
. to have a n easy job to see that yau get what's coming to
you."
about everything. Roy's mood cleared When Roy took me home late that He took my arm and put my hand
instantly, and he reacted magnifi- night, it was with the plan that he on the cash register. "Go on," he
cently, I thought. Before I knew would not see me until the next even- said. "Do it. Don't be scared."
what i t was all about he whisked me ing, Saturday, when I was to be all Slowly I unlocked the register. We
into his car, waiting around the packed to go. I was to put a few took out of i t the 11 dollars in bills
corner;, and took me to see two friends things into a small bag and hide them that had been there.
of his. in the bakery. I could leave from "We'll leave the small change for
* * * there wheri I locked up for the night. Dhat tightwad!" Roy laughed. "Now
I HAD never met any of Roy's The next day passed at a snail's just put a line in that note lthat you
friends, and I was a little em- pace. A thousand times I glanced took enongh for your fare home."
barrassed. a t the old clock on the bakery shelf. Silently I added the words to my
"Ben, this is Martha," said Rg. t o It was only a.few minutes before it note. What Roy had made me do had
one of the two men who were waiting was time for me to leave that I suf- upset me. I did have i t coming to
for him in a dingy rooming house. fered any qualms as to whether I me, it was true, but I could scarcely
The man called Ben looked up from should tell Cousin F'red and his wife. believe even then that I had done it.
his game of solitaire. He was f a t I knew that if I had told them of it If only I had had the courage to
and greasy. His eyes slid slowly and that morning they would haye object- stop then, to back out! If only I had
meaningfully along my figure. I ed and tried to stop me. But I knew, realized that I was getting mixed up
wished instinctively I had worn more too, that they would be genuinely wor- with one of ,the vilest groups of
than the light revealing dress I had ried a t my disappearance. 'So I wrote spongers!
But willfully I put all such thoughts
on. After ogling me for what seem- a short note to them and placed i t be-
ed ages, Ben turned to Roy with a side the cash register, where I knew out of my head. This was the chance -
wink. F'red would see it when he came in for I'd been asking for. I was going to
"iSome looker, Fy," he said. the half day Sunday. I said in the be with Roy. And I was going to
"Younger than Jack~e,but maybe we note that since things were going so have new clothes, an easy job. Be-
can use her anyhow." Then he turn- badly with them I would go on home sides, in a way, Roy was right about
ed to me, winked again and put a now and avoid the usual good-bye the money, I tried to reaaon to my-
heavy paw on my arm. '%aybe we'll scene. self... . * * *
get along all right, kid," he said. "We Then I waited for Roy. It was al-
got a soft job waiting for a girl like most nine o'clock, and I had been IT WAS late at night when we
you." ready to close up for an hour or pulled into Youngstown. For when
Tom, the other man in the room, more. I was impatient when any cus- Roy and I had met Ben and Tom,
remained silent. ZIis gaze was fast- tomel's even stopped to look in the who were driving in anobher car, they
ened on me, and his look .seemed to windows. Nine o'clock passed, then insisted on showing me the things
me to be bhin and dharp as a knife nine-fifteen. I was on pins and they had bought for me that day-a
blade. B was uncomfortable with needles. suitcase, some of the little things I'd
these two men, yet I didn't want to A shadow fell across the door. I always wanted aht never had, even a
leave. I couldn't leave Roy, now, and started up impatiently t o wait on couple of dresses which seemed to
h i d e s the promise of a soft job was whoever ik was. But it wm Roy! Si- be just about my size.
music to my ears. I had to have lently I threw myself into his arms, Finally we were on the road. I
work, and after what I'd been doing trembling with relief and joy. I hast- snuggled close to Roy, the lights of
an easy job sounded more than won- ened to the closet and pulled my bag the obher car gliding on ahead of m.
derful to me. from it. Roy stood a t the cash reg- We got into Youngstown, and went
i Roy began to do the talking, since ister, reading my note to Cousin Fred.
he noticed my hesitation. They had A s I turned back to him, he looked
a place for me, he said, and they felt at me. "You got any cash, baby?" he
into an all-night restaurant for coffeek.
As we sat in our booth, talking, both
Ben and Tom were making me nncom-
1
sure I was just the girl to fill the asked. fortable, the way they looked a t me.
bill. It was a n easy job, and bhere "Ca~h?" I echoed, nonplussed. "I've I was glad it was Roy sitting next ts
would be a lot of money in i t for me. about two dollars in my purse." me.
Besides, they m l d buy me new "Better take what you can from Then Ben began to explain my
! clothes to start out with. They want- this, then," Roy said, tapping the "job" to me. They had picked eut a
ed me to go to Youngstown with them, cash register. place in Youngstown where I was to
since they had to travel in their h s i - I stared a t him in amazement. "But, rent a room. The place was the home
mss. b y , " I protested slowly, "that's not of the Grant sisters, two old maids
"I guess we do have to travel," my money. That's Cousin Fred's, who had saved up a good-sized sum of
Tom said with a peculiar smile. and when he comes in tomorrow for money but still rented out rooms in
"After what that Jmkie done here, the Sundav half dav he'll*count it first their home. I was to tell the sisters
we can't do any good in this town, thing." I was enrolled in business college.
If I ever get my hands m that double- &P'S lips curled a s he looked a t me. According to Ben, I was just to be his
crossin' little--" I shrank-back and for an instant I "in" so that I could talk about him
Quickly Roy interrupted. Our plans wished I could back out of the whole a s my "uncle" and later introduce
here in Canton were upset by some- thing. Then Roy laughed a t me. him; then he'd get to work after my
thing that happened today? he said "Why, look, kid, I'm not trying to glowing reports of h i m He'd sell
to me. "But you can fill the bill okay. make you do anything wrong. You them an interest in his "Msnufac-
We'll all get out of this burg and go ought t o kntow that. But I've watched turers' Institute." Later I learned
to Youngstown." you work here long hours doing hard just what that non-existent organiza-
He turned to the others, and while work that you don't get paid anything tion. was. They were sup~osed to
I sat there they talked in low tones. for. I just want to see that once in own vending machines placed all over
There were insinuations and half your life you get what's coming to the state, and Ben's sales talk was
pauses in their conversation which I you." about the enormous profits accruing
m l d n ' t understand. But my mind "But, Roy-" each day, enough so that any investor
was whirling with its own th~u~ghts. "Icome on, baby))) he said. "You could winter in Florida and summer
Not to have to go home, but to go need me mound all the time, I ,guess, in ;Msine.

?;
 SALESGIRL FOR CRIME

She was instinctively afraid of 11 dames !"

his friends
bothered her
. .... .
her conscience 11
but this did
Each time I
after that his
coming back to
five thousand
dames. ..."
*
talked to the Grants
mocking words kept
me

*
...
"grab four or
outta these Grant
*
not deter a sordid life of THEN it, happened. I had met
Roy downtown that Wednesday after:
criminal conspiracy until- noon and we had gone to a movie.
We came out that evening about
six-thirty and were starting down the
street to the car.
"I can just see that Paisley dame to sleep to forget the things I'd heard I was talking to Roy about the
waitin' in Buffalo now for her coming them say. movie when I almost bumped into a
wlnter in Floricia," Roy chuckled. The next afternoon I went around girl on the sidewalk. I looked up to
"She's going to have some wait!" to the h m e of the Grant sistew. say something, then noticed the girl
standing stock-still in front of me,
"It's a good thing we work only on Luckily a t the moment they had no staring a t Roy in terror.
old ladies," Tom commented. "Other- other roomers, so they welcomed me ".Jackie!" Roy muttered.
wise they'd have been on our trail with open arms. I liked them, too, the The pretty red-haired girl gasped,
long ago, the way you guys spill your moment I saw them. They were plain but said nothing. Abruptly Roy
mouth all the time!" and simple, the kind of 'persons I'd
grasped her am9roughly, in a vice-
Both Roy and Ben looked a little always wished my own relatives were. like group.
sheepish. Ben turned to me. And it was easy to talk to the sisters,
especially t o Miss Emily. "Don't say a word!" he commanded.
"That 'winter in Florida' line is In fact, I found i t difficult not to "Keep you trap shut!"
just a sales talk I pull on all the old tell them too much. That first day Stepping alongside the girl, he
girls," Ben explained to me. "It's I had to watch myself continually to turned her around and forced her
just one of the things I tell them." keep from making any slips. I told along with us toward the car. There
"Listen to what he's tellin' ya, kid," Miss Emily a great deal,.though. All were others on the street then, of
Tom said to me sharply. "It's the about how my uncle was putting me course, although no one was near us.
kind of line you'll have to be gettin' through businem college, how he al- but I don't believe anyone there n*
off to them sisters soon." ways helped everyone in our family. ticed anything unusual about our ac-
"Sure, that's it, Martha," Roy said Uncle Ben was making money hand tions. As Roy shoved Jackie into the
to me. 'See, you get on the good side over fist, I said. For all that morning car he looked quickly up and down
of these old ladies. You tell them Ben had talked to me again about the street. No one was watching us.
what big money your 'Uncle Ben' here the line 1 must get off to the Grant Quickly Roy drove by the diner
makes from his company bhat owps sisters and how it must scem casual. where Ben and Tom were uusally to
all these machines. And then you in- It was only long after ;that I real- be be found a t this time of day. He
troduce Ben to the dames. He'll do ized the horror of our s ~ t t i n gthere ~ honked for them to come out. Tom
the rest." that quiet $Sundaymorning and cooly stuck his head out the door. When
"Just leave that part of i t t o me, discussing plans to rob helpless ladies he saw the girl sitting between us in
kid," Ben leered. of their life savings. At the time I the front seat, he turned back. I n a
"Then we'll hit another town, just stilled my conscience by saying I was few seconds Ben and Tom had c o w
a s soon as we've done the job hers," only doing *at I had to do, that I out of the diner and were in their
said Roy. "You're in the big time could not back out then! Blindly I car, motioning us to follow in m s .
now, baby. Swell clothes, anything forced myself to go on with it. We were silent a s we sped a l o ~ g
you want, and almost no work for you The days went by. I left th? house after them. Roy was intent on follow-
to do." mornings to "go to school." What I ing the car racing ahead, and Jackie
"Smart peaple can live by their really did was to meet I b y downtown sat next to him in terrified silence.
brains," Ben went on. somewhere and we'd go to the movies We drove out to a deserted section of
They talked about my beauty and or for drives. But every day we Mill Creek Park. It was just dusk,
my "quality" and how well fitted I would eat supper a t the diner where beautiful and serene, a s we entered
was for the job. Ben and Tom hung out inost of the the park.
"Even better than Jackie," Tom time. Then, a s we sat in ~aurbooth, Suddenly Jackie's stiff silence broke
agreed. "She don't look so wised up I'd have to tell Ben just what prog- and she burst into tears. Hysterical
as that witch did." ress I was making with the sisiers. sobs welled from her throat.
My head was whirling as I listened "What are you going to do with
to them. I wished I were back in Can- Several times I talked to the sisters me?" she shrieked, grabbing Roy's
ton. I wished I were back in my own about the Manufacturers' Institute, arm in a sudden clawing motion.
little sleepy home town. But down but something within me kept me We swerved wildly to the edge of
underneath I knew I wanted to go from saying as much as Ben would the road, heading for a rock-strem
demand I say. Every night he kept
on with this. I wanted my chance a t .asking ditch. I reached over and fotcibly
some of the things I'd always yearned me just how much I had ac- pulled Jackie off RoY a s he jabkd
for, and I had to be near Roy. After icomplished. I'd keep trying to turn her sharply. Sobbing, she fell back
all, I could keep my hands clean. ... t off by saying i t was my first job
It was early that morning when we and I needed more time a t it.
onto the seat between us again.
"Sit still," 1 commanded her, al-
went to a hotel, and I went to my And Roy backed me up. "Sure the t h o u ~ hI didn't know yet what w m
roc)m immediately to retire. I was kid needs more time at it, Ben," ha going to happen.
stil1 confused, and my thoughts were said. "She ain't used to it,, the way Jackie turned to me. She laughed
all disordered. If only I had been Jackie was. Let her learn. hvstericallv.
--
"- -
"So now they're using
, h01nest enough to admit to myself "Yeah!" Tom sneered. "Let her you? ~ h &can always someone
an t k t their work was just a vile spend a couple of months learnin' and to string along with them in 1;heir
leme to swindle helpless old ladies! still we may not grab more than four damn no-good schemes! But wai t 'til
it resolutely I went to bed and tried or five thausand outta these Grant you get sick of it all and try to get
 SALESGIRL FOR CRIME
away! Just wait! And then you'll
remember what happened to me!
You'll get . . ."
She screamed as Roy struck her
full across the mouth. He stopped the
car beside the road. Roy got out, and
I did, too. The other car stopped
near us and Ben leaped from it.
He dragged Jackie out of the car.
She fell back against the door. Tom
started the radio in his car going
full blast. Again and again, then,
Ben struck the luckless Jackie. His
blows rained across her face, her
shoulders and her chest. She shrunk
away from him, whimpering, but with
oaths he reached out and continued to
beat her. Jackie sank down to the
running board and then to the ground.
She lay there moaning. Her light
summer clothes hung in tatters.
Ben stopped and turned around. He
was breathing hard. He straight-
ened his tie and without a backward
glance a t the half unconscious girl
lying on the ground he walked over to
our car. I drew away a s he stepped
by me. Rut he paid no attention tn
me. He sat down in the front seat d
the car. In a moment he spokk.
"You know what to do with her."
he said to Tom, who had been stand-
ing there with a cruel smile on hls
face enjoying the spectacle.
Then Ben motioned us to wt in the
car with him. Roy climbed in behind
the wheel, and slowly I opened the
door to the back seat. I heard the
other car start off. But Ben p t his
arm out and closed the door before I
could get in. "Come on u p here in
front and sit next t o me, baby," hr.
said. "I like your company."
Trembling, I got in beside h i m
That ride back to the Grant home
was an unending nightmare. Now I
did know. I knew that I could fool
myself no longer about what I was
doing or just what kind of men I
was mixed up with. I looked a t Roy
covertly and saw that he was smiling
to himself. For the first time I real-
ized how icy cold his eyes really were.
All my passion, all my longing for
him was gone. I saw G m now he PREPARING----
really was.
I realized what a fool I'd been. As for M that night, I determined t e fight.
I sat here, silent, hearing only MISS EMILY was sitting waiting here and sit with me. We'll listen to
snatches of the conversation of the in ,the parlor when I came in. the radio."
two men, I realized what a stupid Just then I knew Iwould go mad
child I had been. Starved for affec- "I was beginning to be worried
tion,.thinking only of my own selfish about you, child," she said. "You're if I had to sit quiet and listen.
wishes, I had brought this on myself! so mu& later than you've usually. "No!" I said rudely and loudly.
I was sick inside, sick with horror and been." '"No!" Then I saw t;hat Miss Emily
fear. "Yes," I stammered. "I was work- looked hurt. 'What I mean is," I
Begging off with a headache, I said ing late a t school this evening. I hastened to explain, "I have a little
I could not eat any supper. I asked didn't notice how late it was." headache, and I think I'll run up-
them to drive me to the corner near Miss Emily looked a t me over her staire to lie down."
the Grant home and let me out there. glasses. "Your face looks quite pale," I was already running up the stairs
Without any remonstrance, they did she said. "Have you had your sup- a s I finished speaking.
so. Ben looked a t me piercingly as I per?" For a long time I sat on the edge
got out of,the car. I heard him call "I ate a little," I lied, "on the way of my bed. suddenly I .rae and be-
to me a s I hurried down the side- here." gan hurriedly to pack my things. My
walk, ~ h It began to run toward the "You donn'twant to work too hard." mind was working none too weH, for
friendly lights of the Grants'. She smiled. "Why don't you come in I was nervous and kept forgetting

what I would take. My one thought
w w to get away. Then( a s I went to-
ward the window to pull down the
blind, I stopped and stood still in
stunned terror.
A familiar car was parked across
the street. Beside it a man loitered,
looking up a t my window. Tom!
Even under that uncertain glow from
the street lamp his eyes seemed to me
to be evil incarnate. I pulled down
the blind with a snap and fe!l shud-
dering onto my bed. Evidently he had
already "disposed of" poor Jackie.
The next hours were dreadful. I
knew that dawn had cume, but I
dared not raise the shade on my front
window. Every time I glanced from
behind the drawn shade the car was
there. Much later, 1heard the ,Grant
sisters g e ~ t i n gup and going about
their morning tasks. I stayed in my
room, tell~ngthem I was too sick to
go to school.
The Grants must have come up to
my room a dozen times that morning.
They brought me tea, they brought
me hot milk, they brought--me m l k
mixed with honey, they brought me
some sort of special "drops." I began
to feel I couldn't stand taking another
thing. Finally in desperation I told
them I was going out, to town. It was
afternoon. I slipped out the back
door and across a yard onto the nest
street.
Hastily I glanced about. I thought
about going back, then I decided my
only cllance was to pretend to be
playing their game. I climbed into
the car next to Pay, tryixg to smile
a t him.
"Kid, I thought you weren't going
to show up today," Roy said sus-
piciously. "Why'd you come out this
way ?"
"They wanted me to empty the gar-
bage," I said weakly. "And this morn-
ing one of them was sickly, so I
stayed in to see to her."
I watched them i n the car mirror
and saw them indicating me and talk-
ing. What were they going to do with
me?
Ben and Tom got out of their car.
In relief I saw them start into the
diner. Roy came back to me and we
joined Ben and Tom in the diner. Evi-
dently they believed my story. I hop-
ed they did.
"Don't l'et what you saw yesterday
worry you," were the first words Ben
said to me as we sat down in a booth.
"Play the game with us and we'll see
you're well taken care of."
"And if ya don't play i t our way,''
interjected Tom. "we'll see you're well
taken care of, then, too."
There were snickers from the other
two. I tried to smile.
"I think she had i t conling to her,"
I said.
"That's a smart girl." Ben nodded
pproval and looked a t Tom. "She
:arns quick."
SALESGIRL FOR CRIME
He turned back to me and got down
to business. "What about the Grant
dames? We been here a b u t long
enough now. You ought to have that
build-up pretty well started. Don't
forget I got a list including Akron and
Wheeling and ~Columbus. We gotta
move on so we can get some real
dough together."
!'I think they're almost ready." I
said, nauseated inside a s I talked.
Hurriedly I talked on and on, telling
Ben how much I had said to the
Grants, how eager they were to know
more about it. I t was all lies, but I
think he and Roy believed me. Only
Tom sat silent, watching me coldly.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they
drew their money out of the bank any
time now," I ended up. "They're get-
ting so anxious."
"We're not going to worry about
iron bars, now," said Ben. "The kid,
here, ain't afrald."
Then we left.
If the hours of the night before had
been torture, that night was worse.
Still the car was parked across the
street, still Tom was there. I was
desperately afraid to tell the Grant
sisters, as I had considered doing.
How despicable they would think me!
And prison would face me, too. All
this, I knew, had come about through
my own wilzul folly.
SATURDAY dawned clear and
beautiful. I went downstairs early,
looking so haggard t h a t Miss Emily
commented on it. I felt listless, a s if
my life were zlready ended. When
Miss Ernily mentioned. going to the
bank downtown, I jumped a t the pros-
pect of going with her. I t was my
one chance to get out of the house
without being picked up by the gang.
I bought a ticket for *Cleveland.
Luckily Roy had given me back the
money I had taken from Cousin
Fred's cash register the day I moved
in with the Grants. I had enough for
a ticket to Cleveland, with a b u t six
dollars left over. Besides, I saw a
bus for Cleveland waiting in the sta-
tion.
I got in the bus and impatiently
waited for it to leave. I was sitting
there when the two cars came tear-
ing up. Ben had Roy in one car and
Tom was in the other. They passed
the bus station and the bank, then
turned around. I pulled my hand
down farther over my face. Just then
Miss Emily c a n e out of the bank and
stood there on the sidewalk, alone. I
prayed for the bus to leave, and bent
oyer a s if tying my shoe.
The bus pulled out. The men had
not yet located me, but they must have
guessed, for the next moment the
cars were following the bus. They
passed us twice, looking closely to be
sure I was on it. I didn't dare look
up, but since the bus wasn't a t all
crowded I knew they would recognize
me.
Again their car slowed down and
we sped past them in the bus. As I
turned around to see what had hap-
pened to them, they spurted up again.
We were going up hill now, and they
soon overhauled us. They gazed
straight a t me, for foolishly I had
taken a seat on the left side of the
bus. They kept alongside, not tak-
ing their eyes off me.
I t was this concentration on me
which prevented them from seeing the
car racing down the hill ,toward them.
Too late, Roy glanced up and made a
frantic dive to turn the steering wheel
in Ben's grasp.
There was a terrific roar, a smash
of steel against steel. The two cars
careend crazily down the hill and
lurched over an embankment.
I was standing, louking 'back, when
we went over the crest of the hill and
continued on our way.
"Will you please sit down, lady?"
the driver asked me irritably.
In Cleveland, the first thing I did
was to get a room a t $2.50 a week.
And luckily, I got a job that first
afterhoon addressing envelopes by
hand. Late Saturday evening I work-
ed, writing a s fast as I could, for we
were paid by the piece.
I read in the paper that night that
one man had been killed and another
injured in the wreck. That still left
Tom on the loose, I knew. I was d e s
perate, remembering that beating of
Jackie's, remembering his threats to
me. He must not locate me!
The other girls with whom I worked
considered me very crabby and unso-
cial. For instead of going to the
drugstore for lunch I always worked
strai&t through, nibbling at a eandy
bar. Fear drove me on, made me
starve myself. In a few weeks I
haci money for a bus ticket East. I
couldn't go home. I cauldn't go back
to Canton, but I must put miles be-
tween me and Tom .. .
Not many months later I was a
real business college student, going
to school nights and worklng days as
a theatre cashier. After six months
of hard work a t school I managed
to get a jab as a stenographer. I had
long before sent back to my Cousin
Fred double the money Roy had forced
me to take from the cash register.
But I asked them not to try to write
to me, not to try to get in touch with
me. I still felt unsafe. I t was not
until a few weeks ago that I read of
a roundup of a gang, and of the death
of a certain man, "alias Tom Law-
son," that I felt safe once more.
I can breathe easily once more.
I can go about my work nteadily
and surely, doing my job to the best
of my ability. For one of the most
important things I have learned from
all this is that a good job requires
hard work. A soft job and easy money
don't just drop into your lap. You .
pay for them. There's no other way.
 50 MY HONEYMOON IN THE GALLOWS
(Continued from page 89)
rest!"
When Johnnie had finished, Mother
Travis said softly: "Come, Johnnie,
let's go home now." I shall newer
forget that look in her eyes-like a
wounded animal who knows that life
afterwards will be a living death of
hurt and torture.
We went home. Mother Travis
picked up the telephone and called
Police Headquarters.
"This is Mrs. Travis. MP son is
here now."
* * * flagellant executional worship, and it is of special interest to mem-
OVER the wire came a muffled
shout: "Keep !him there, Mrs.
Travis!"'
"There's no question of keeping
him here," replied Mother, in trembl-
ing tones. "He's here, and he's not
running away from anyone."
Only a few minutes later there was
the scream of brakes in front of the
house. Then the tramp of feet on
the porch. A loud, preempotry knock.
Johnnie got up stood trembling like
a leaf. Mother opened the door.
There were five o r six men. I recog-
nized only Detectives Hagley and
Farris.
"All right, Travis, let's go; a
man with slick Mack hair said.
I ran to Johnnie, threwmyself into
his arms. "Don't let me down,
Sunny." he whispered.
"Never-never!" I cried. "I'll fight
for you, Johnnie-fight like no other
woman has ever fought!"
The next day came the tragic news
that Doctor Seder had died in the
hospital a s the result of Booth's
beating and exposure. All efforts to
save him had been in vain.
Arnett Booth, O ~ i l l eAdkins and
Johnnie were to be tried on charges
of first-degree murder. "I'll hang
every one of them!" said Prosecutor
Ernest Winters to the newspapers.
Murder! Hanging! The words
struck further unholy terror to my
heart. You who live quiet, peaceful
lives can hardly conceive of the limit-
less terror in those words--especially
d e n the man you love stands on
the brink of the boiling cauldron that
seethes over those two words.
In the flaming days that passed,
I fought for Johnnie with all my
heart and soul. I tried to raise
money from all mg relatives, to get
the best lawyers available. I sought
to find witnesses, to prove that
Johnnie wasn't as black a s Mr.
Winters painted him. I conferred
every day with my reporter friend,
'Joe Klaman, of the Huntington
Advertiser, whose solace and advice
I shall always r e m e t m k . Days of
work, worry, scorn, contempt, rev-
dsion, rebuffs-days that had been
resemed for our honeymoon of h a p
piness (became a honeymoon of
horror !
On December 5, Arnett Booth. the
d
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bald-hleaded, ringleader and plotter of Once more I fought to stifle my
the kidnaping, went on trial in Cabell fear and d d , to fight for Johnnie's
County Courthouse, in Huntington. life with every weapon I could
The lfollowing Saturday the jury muster. Many persons tried to per-
brought in a verdict of ,guilty of suade me to renounce him, that I
murder i n the, first degree. Booth could go my way and soon h free
must die on the gallows! of any stifgma. They could not real-
ize the extent of a woman's love. I
Two days later Johnnie and 'omille
Adams went on trial. Johnnie's at- fought, I I pray&--ra~ed
torneys confidence that be- for my Johnnie. I, who thought I had
cause of mitigating c.rcumstances he !oved the big-city hot spots and meet-
,be the death penalty. ~ n gnew, interesting people, spent
most of the time in the companion-
But little did we realize the full ship of my parents.
extent of Winters' power But all our fighting proved useless.
and Time after time Mr. every al~peal was denied. Slowly
thundered that Johnnie and we watched every opportunity, every
Omille mercy* that they hope vanish Closer and closer came
had they
have saved Dr. Seder's life*that
repented they
the day of doom, the day of Death
On March 21 my husband, the man
. ..
have d a h d and caroused at I llov&, d i d on the g.allows in
the "KozS' Rest." ' Moundsvilte, several miles from Hunt-
On Friday I watched the jurv file ington.
out, my heart in my throat Forty- Sometimes, when the pain i n my
five !minutes later they returned. heart eases a little, I like to think
There was a death silence in the that the prayer Doctor 'Seder said for
high-vaulted courtroom, packed with Johnnie will help just a bit. I know
wople. Then came the verdict: in v y heart that he had no conception
Guilty a s charged! Death on the of the terrible thing he was doina. I
scaffold! shall never ;believe other than Johnnie
Through scalding tears I saw John- thought he was enkring upon a lark,
nie, his attorneys, the entire audience, the pleasure and profit of which were
stare a t the jury in entire disbelief. heightened to him with the fumes of
Then Johnnie fell to his chair, alcohol. This + b v that I loved and
racking sobs shaking his ; M y . I ran who loved me c0111d not know that i t
to him, tried to stifle my own tears was to ;be a lark with Death!-Death,
in order to comfort and console him. who does not know how to play!
A few minutes later the blood-con- I know that the blood of Doctor
gealing words had been pronounced M e r is on his hands, a s i t is on Ar-
-"hanged by the neck until you are nett Booth's and Orville Adkins'. Yet
dead!"-, and they wem leadins somehow I like to feel that in the Be-
Johnnie away. I suddenly felt a s if yond he and the kindly minister
the chill hand of Death itself was have met again, that a bestowal of
clutching at my shoulders, holding me forgiveness has been made by the man
from fleeing from a worse torment - who died so terribly, and so need-
to come. lessly.
 AN VELGO hated women . ..
OF H A T E
J
and he took his revenge by
making love to them, tortur-
ing in his own way, cruelly, sadis-
tically, with lecherous cackles at
the squirming nude victims
whom he forced to parade before
him and do his biding.
A judge, an honored man, a
great citizen .. .
in public. A
warp& fiend, a monster who
took revenge for b o y h o o d
slights, who lusted like a beast
. .. in private. Yet for half his
fifty-four years he was able to
be two men at once, to laugh at
the Justice he was supposed to
uphold, to mock the Czeckoslo-
vakian ideals he was supposed
to present.
. .
Jan Velgo, the bad Czech . the
disgrace of his country, had grown
to be fifteen years old in the normal
manner. The son of a poor, but hon-
orable family and the eightih child.
his life had been none too brilliant,
but i t had been gay and contented. He
was rather handsome as a lad and
quick witbd and popular.
At fifteen, when he was on the
verge of putbing adolescence behind
him and stepping across the boundary
into young marhood, where his
charms mi&t lay a foundation for
future success, he beoame ill. Out of
his i l l ~ l ~ came
ss a grotesque curvat-
me of the spine and a distortion of
his face
This appaling calamity befalling a
youth of so much prmise, embitter-
ed him. Where once the girls had
fawned upon. him, i h women avoided
him, shunned him, distressed by the
ugliness of his twisted body and his
drawn, lop-sided face. No longer was
he popular, except among those men
10 had been 'his intimates as a
ild.
He began to f i r s t for Even*.
Now, he told friends, many girls
He knew that any power he mizht wanted to marry him Why? because
thereafter enjoy lay strictly in money. he could give Wem position, future,
Money and power. If he couljd amass security. He knew, he said, that none
wealth, he could command power. So loved him for himself. He knew that,
he buried his bititerness within his for all their beauty and good heed-
wa.rped being and set his face for his ing, they were playing a game and he
goal. Knowledge he must gain first, was the ugly pawn. He knew that
then by this, power and wealth. they were hiding within th~eir own
He was a brilliant student. Hav-
beautiful selves their repulsion for
him that they, or their families, might
ing no outside interests whatsoever,
he was able to concentrate on his
gain in worldly things.
studies. He finished his preparatory
education in his native city of Brno,
So he went on into his thirt.ies,
hating and saving. He climbed ehe
Czechoslovakia, in two years, half the political ladder rapidly and his for-
time allotted to the d i n a r y student tune gmw and grew. He lived com-
wit21 the ordinary ambitions Such fortably, from exterior appearances,
was bhe quality of his determination. but actually he nursed his gains like
* * * a miser. He ate sparingly, paid his
m servant meamrlv. - - , was careful
BEiFORE he was half way through
his m n t i e s , he had acquired con-
with his clothing, made only s ~ t c h
public appearances as were either
siderable property. He also had gain- free or of great direct benefit to
ed a LW degree and he had learned him golitically or financially.
the gaudy artifices of politics. Before
his wealth and power grew, SO
he was thirty he was a magistate in
dild his fascination for the opposite
and mdem bgah to look be-
yond the warped exterior of his body
and to hurl their fair hughters a t
his misshapen head.
Now, with these daughters being
offered him in marriage, he ,became
more and more cynical. They had not
been offered him a t the usual tim2
of marriage for the young men of his
country. They had not been offered DENNIS SPRAGUE
him then because he was ugly and
malformed and bitber and, most im-
portant of all, he reasoned, he didn't
have money and he didn't have pros-
1) Europe's notorious case of
1 the Jekyll~HydeJudge

sex. He sat in his home and smirked
ta himself, or cackled aloud a t the
imnipotence of money and position.
Women all but threw themselves a t
his feet and when the time cotme that
he was aware of this, he decided that
the iron was hot. He could strike,
now. He would exact his revenge on
all womankind. He would humiliate
and debauch them and then he would
laugh a t their misery as they had
laughed a t his.
His first overt act to come to public
notice was the seduction of a sixteen-
year-old girl. She was the beautiFul
daughter of an excellent but im-
poverished family and he had pre-
tended to be interested in her as a
future wife. He called on hkr form-
ally and then was seen with her in
AMOURS OF HATE
publi'c places. He had b e c m a judge
now wibh a seat in the town's inner
councils and he wielded tremendouq
judicial influence.
After a courtship of two months,
the young girl suddenly found her-
self enceinte. She dared not tell her
parents, she was afraid to see the
family physician. She went, instead,
to tihe agency of her embarrassment
and told him they would have to be
married a t once. He laughed in great
glee. He was amused. He was, truth-
fully, downright tickled.
"You who are so young aad beau-
tiful want me, old and bent and ugly,
to 'believe that you gave yourself only
to me," he scoffed a t her. "Ho, ho,
ho-and now get out and never come
back"
The ginl went, but r&e did return.
She returned often. Then, one night
when she could no longer bear her
shame which was becoming evident
on her slim figure, she went to a
river at &e edge of their town and
hurled herself in.. Her body, swollen
from the effects of the immersion
and b r condition, was found h o
days later and the story was out.
But J a ~ lVelgo was powerful. He
quashed criminal action with a word.
Then he circulated the story that he
had discovered the girl was mfaith-
ful. She had a young lover. He had
sent the young lover out of the town
because he feared, M e n the truth
became known, that $is life would be
endangered.
"I am an old man, crippled and
helpless," the whined, or bellowed, &e-
pending upon the circumstanws.
"How could I seduce one so young
and so lovely?"
He was not so old, however. He
was in fact, just thirty-seven al-
though bemuse of his affliction and
the bitterness in his face and the l m g D
hours of tail and misery he had gone
through Q attain power and mcmey
he looked year8 older.
* *- *
THE incident af the s i m year
old suicide did not detract from the
man's political ,pawer. A s a matter
of fact, he lost nothing whatsoever,
but actually gained. Within a few
m o n t h he became a district judge in
T d e n , Cm&as1ovakia, a mu& big-
ger and more powerful position. This
was in 1920, shortly after khe re-
organization of the Caeeh republic
and, opportunislt that he was, he
was climbing with great rapidity in
the nation's important judiciary.
In Tesahen he carried on his cam-
paign against all womankind. In-
stead of being warned by the deaf3
of the girl, he seems to have been en-
cou~aged. Becauw he was not able
to conbct prospects rapidly enough
any other way, he inserted an adver-
tisement in the local newspapers. In
it he offered to advance, without in-
terest or obher commitments, smal!
loans to what the advertisement de-
scribing as "deserving girls."
He was not reluctant to identify
his judicial name with this enterprise.
As a matter of fact, it was such iden-
tification that drew suspicion away
from it. Such an offer, without some
 AMOURS OF HATE
good name behind it, unquestionably
would have flushed up a n instant and
highly indignant suspicion. But with
the impeccable Judge Velgo's name
behind it, i t was ackpted as the dhar-
itable gesture of a great and good
man whose heart bled for the misfor-
tunes af underprivileged girls.
And indeed thnC!.was a place in his
heart for them. I t was not, however,
a place where the milk of human
kindness flowed as fulsomely as his
duped fellow citizens suspected. Such
milk as there was, was well tainted
with the wormwood of bitterness
and hatred and abnormal revenge.
Since Czechoslovakia was a country
just rising from the ashes of the 1or.g
anld destructive last war, (and now a
' country without a name), poor and
overcrowded with love starved women
and short on men because of war's
toll, the good judge's offer of finen-
cial assistance to those in distress
met ~ 3 % a n imtaneous response.
Girls of all ages flocked to his cham-
bers and pleaded to be helped over
certain embarrasing mileposts, most
of theni not entirely unrelated to im-
pending motherhood.
Judge Velgo, with that directness
of purpose that lifted him to the
political peaks and prompted him
to seek out his fair victims by the
unwavering line of newspaper adver-
tising, a t once began to separate the
sheep from the goats and the black
sheep from the white. If one of MS
clients already was enceinte, he fur- ior circuit judge in charge of divorce ed his brokerage in young flesh. He
nished her with the price of .an oper- matters and returned to Brno. Not inserted the usual a d v e r t i s e m t and
ation. He dso supplied her with the only was Brno a larger city than opened his chambers for the =me sort
operator. Teschen and his home town, but i t of business as had proved so rich in
After the operation, and due time also was the seat of a provincial Teschen. Whether or not news tra-
for recovery, she was to return to government aad hie seat m the cir- vels slowly in Cmchoslovakia or it.
him. She would then be required to cuit court was a noble distinction, women care less allergic to the sort
yield to his desires, which were many, indeed. of abuse they get from the J a n Vel-
and also to repay his money. The Since tbe divorce d o n of the cir- gw of this world is problematical.
judge covered that in &er ways. uuit court also included those torts Whatever i t was, there was no lessen-
Those who were not expectant concerned with all manner of domes- ing of the ardor with which the ivo-
mothers, were endowed with small tic and morals problems, Judge Velgo men of Brno fell in with h k planned
loans to carry them over current was in .a position to indulge his ap- debauchery.
trmblea, all of whidh was to be re- petites. If m y of his victims felt In Brno Judge Velgo's singular
turned, the principal in currency, the impelled to take any morals action mania reached its ludhest flowering.
interest after the established fashion. against him, they wod'd be obliged, Not only did he collect the usual in-
by the nature of the judicial struct-
* * * ure, to take i t before him. If there
ter& rates, but he took to making
visual records of his vengeful con-
[S honor had managed to work remained any lingering doubts a s to .quests. He required his viatims not
r considerable trade in Teschen What the judge's verdict in any case only to satiate his sex appetites, ut
I he was unexpwtedly b l e d up- against himself might have been, let also to pose for his amateur photo-
the political fates once more. them be suppressed a t on*. graphy. in the nude. In f a d , he re
time he was promoted to super- In h he audQciously reestablish- quired them 60 pose first in full
 AMOURS OF HATE
attire and in the hude, a form b o a But he wasn't half as sur- &em as one admirer of art to another.
of depraved tittilation that later re- prised as he would have been if he He made no effontrr to press his
ceived considerable publicity. had known all there was to know faint advamtage. He behaved in the
In addirtion to these photographic about Marie IEavlick, or as he was manner coumtly. But he could not
recards of his exploits, the judge kept going to be when he found out just m i s t the temptation to impress his
a diary. It was a most fortrhiright a few of those things. guest with the eroticisms of hi6
and explicit diary. Not even the Marie was petite and wise. She private photography collection.
dumbest jury of Slavic' peasanb could had diwovmd at the tender age of He showed her some of his moat
have misunderstood it. He listed the fifteen how to make use of her bodily prized nudes.
names, ages, weight, height, contours, charms. Because of her beauty and Marie played her hand perfectly.
complexions, etc., in this record and piquancy, she had been able, thr011g11 She quit the apartment in hi& dud-
in the space neserved f w remarks he a succession of nine more c& less well geon.. She refused even to wait for
made a notation of the peculiar tal- placed - l o ~ sto , acquire her educat- him$ taking a taxicab at his door.
ents of each of his partners in ion and to secure for herself a pos- She went hame and refused to answer
amour. ibion with an important Brno banlr- his letters or his calls for three long
Thus Jan Velgo, secure in his om- ing house. So excellent was her job weeks.
nipotence a s the circuit court judge at her current age of twenty-one tbat Then she saw him again and
to whom the crimes he was so ar- she was in a position to give her again mid yet amin, but always she
dently commdtting were made respon- charms even more leeway ~ a 1 ever 1
demanded the utmost respect. Finally,
sible, went on and on until, a t the before and to hold out for the best four months later, she visited him
age of fifty-one, which! was in 1934, price and man, great or small, had to
ak his apartment and found there a
he came to a detour on his fleshly offer. girl nanned Heda ReichR1. Helda lrsd
trail. The judge didn't h o w these things. been1 one of the judge's brokerage am-
* * * If he had, he probably would hlve ours for some time. We was young'
taken to heel. Rut he was =CL and quite pretty. The judge, after
I T WAS spring and the judge was to v- young and very inexperienced
waking in the park. He had long and very poor girls who needed his seve~al h o u ~ sof gayety, suggested
since corrected much of the earlier money more than they needed honor that the two pose for nude phot*
spinal affliction. Money and his iron or self respect. graphs He was using W, already
As a result his familiar with the experience, as a
deteronination had done that for him.
experience, for all its m a s s qual'ty,
Now hb made a not wholly unaktract- W n ' t beem specially educational. b y .
ive figure of judicial stxength and Heda stripped with maidenly re-
debonair dignity as he strolled, jaunt- M&e graciously made dates wilh tluctrtnce and ultimately Mark, after
ly swinging his cane, his silk topper Velgo, then failed to keep them. S1 e much skilled blushing and many shy
becomingly aslant, his pincenez cord met him by designed accident innum- protestations, likewise stripped. They
dangling rakishly fmm his high fore- erable times, praaticed her wiles as- posed for the photos and then Marie
had. siduously at such times,'then broke quickly redmed her attire and be-
other engagemenb. Now she told
As he strolled, the judge, much in him never to bother her amin. Now came once mone the elusive minx
the manner of the tribune of the she always had b e e n - 4 t h the judge.
she liked him enormously, but di2n't
Maud Muller piece, suffered his eyes If the judge had been h w l e s d y
believe in going out with men, es-
to dart hither and yan in search of
pecially such worldly men, on such fascinated by the girl prior to the
appetizing feminine flesh. As he pas- photomaplh incident, he was now
tranced her, again he affronted her.
8ed a bench, he noticed that a rather no thin^ less than supinely mad abcut
p ~ t t ygirl with big brown eyes ~ n d her. TO him she L m k at once a
a challenging air was occupying one combination of Cleopatra, Ninon I'En-
end of it. The judge, never one to FOR three years is kept up. NOW clos, and Lola Montez. He offered
stand on ceremony where women were and then she lunched with % h .
Oc- her riches, position, everything but
involved, sat down and asked her if casionally he t w k her to the theatre, marriage.
she could lend him a pencil. She pro- a necessity which pained him deeply. Then the time came when his ap-
duced the pencil and they began to H was not used to suuh exwnses. But petites, never before denied their ut-
talk. still his love remained a brown eyed, most demands, overcame him and he
He discovered that the girl's name provoking, impregnable wil1-o-the- pleaded with her to marry him. Craft-
was Marie Havlick and that shr wisp a d he remained a defeated, de- ily Marie led him on until he twice
was a janitor's daughter. He also signing, lecherous sucker. put his plea in writing, mailing the
disoovered that she worked a s a SW- Finally, on an August afternoon, letters to her home with the headless
retary, sometimes, and that she he was rewarded, a t least in part. abandon of a sorely smitten mind.
spoke Slavic, German and somt En- The bewitching bezom consented to Immediately Marie became another
glish, not to mention a bit of French visit him in his apartment. m a n . This, osten~ibly,hiad been
end a smattering of Polish. He was Velgo, Ibo be sure, showed her his hr g d . For all his years (he was
greatly surprised to find such learn- etchings. But he showed them with- two years older than her father) hie
ing in c.m young and so modestly out the usual trimmings. He showed was wealthy and had positim He

m, indeed, er big nuin in Czechoslo-
vakian jurisprudence and destined,
apparently, to grow btgger. Also,
he was old and for iaill his grim de-
termination to live and 'tre strong, his
h d t h was not of the be&.
TWO weeks aftr they became en-
gaged, Mairie, with the coy grief of
a conquered maiden, yielded her
charms to her slavering suitor. It
all happened in his apartment amd it
happened amid Crapings of Roman
splendor. The man 1hta.d outdone him-
self in the matter of wine and edibles
and esoteric trappings.
He had the finest of sandle wood
to bum in his incense bowls, the
house was filled with roses and all
manner of aromatic flora and an
African howboy in an exotic Eabit
noiselessly trod the carpeted corridors
m bowed obsequiously to their com-
w d a
If the eabh W less d u r i n g to
the judge than the chase, he did not,
at mce, @many signs of it. His love-
making was fully a s avid and as chir-
o g r a p h i d a s i t had been before and
when, one night M;arie announced that
her parents were objecting bitterly to
her marrying one so much older, he
was utkrly distrait.
Jcin Velgo was incredulous. He,
one uf the powerful judicial figures
of the republic of Gzechodovakia, un-
suitable for the daughter of a humble
janitor? A m m of wealth and pas-
ition and power an undesirable hus-
band for the working daughter of one
who amounted, in the still feudal
Slavic socilal scale of a middle Eur-
opean nation, to a servant?
He was both shacked md furious.
His sudden anger quite overwhelmed
Marie Havlick. For f i e first time
she began to fear she had overplayed
her clever litble hand. Sfhe found
herself the supplicant. She found
herself agreeing to a most ignoble
marriage contrmt. It a i d , in effect,
that she was to be his wife, Mat she
waa 60 bear him, the child with which
,.she .already was pregnant and that
she ivas to turn the child over to him
after its binth wilihout m y questions
m
d e c1.
To add to the mystery of the mar-
riage, the ceremony was performed a t
AMOURS OF HATE
six o'dmk in the morning, an hour
selected by Judge Velgo because of
the opportunity for privacy.
It was at this juncture ehat the
calculations of both these scheming
people began to backfire, although
the bride's errors began to be manifest
fir&. Velgo, with an income of
4,000 crowns monitMy, gave his bride
exactly 200 crowns monthly for her
support. This was to provide her
with dothing, medical attention re-
quired because of h condition, f d ,
quarters and all the little luxuries
to w k i h one of her station was en-
titled.
Obviously this dowry was not ccm-
sisknt with the bride's original ex-
pectations. She was not, in fact, as
well stationed, financially, as she had
' been a s a working'girl. Bwt #he was
not one to be easily de.feattl She had
other irons in the fire and they were
m ng hatter by the hour.
I n her peregrinations h and about
the Vdgo ho&old she had made the
acquaintance of a strange, bald,
thickset gorilla named Wemzel Cerny.
Cerny was the adored of the Velgo
laundress and likewise a man of con-
siderable muscular endowments and
compa~.cltivelyno brain pan whatso-
ever. Marrixi ztnd the father of a
seventeen-year-old son, Cerny none-
bheless persist&! in his amouxa with
the slatternly Velm w a s h e m a n
and through this attachment he came
under the influence of the judge's
~ e t t young
y bride.
Marie, still pretty and as aroh s
wen& as ever set s man's heart to
palpi'tating, went to work on Cerny.
She told him, and he agreed unre-
servedly that the judge was a maunte-
')haink, a miser and a cad because of
his stinginess with her. Gerny agre-
ed that he ~ J W Sall of these things
and l i h m in a few more of his own
invention, just to be sure that the
eminent tribune was properly cata-
logued.
Then one night a high government
official, liviflg next door to the judge,
held an altercation of such mnnifestly
vident proportions that he notified
the gendarmerie. The police arrived
on the double quick and as they
confronted the Velgo door, heard a
piano playing raucously. They rap-
ped smartly on the door, ignoring
the dignity of bhe pLished bell pnll,
and as they waited far a response,
they gwt a most unexpected one.
The sound of a mildly muffled
pistol shot broke through the door
and smote upon the flabbergasted
ears.
A t once they forced the door. They
whu?d into the V d g a music salon
and there, with his body still riggling
nauseatingly, blood streaming from
his temple to the rich, new rug, lay
We& Cerny, a pistol a few feet
a m y.
Even a s the offiwrs rushed to
Cerny, there oame m d s of a fem-
inine bleating from an adjacent
bathroom. A woman was crying
that her dear man had been .attack-
ed, that burglars had entered the
place.
The officers found the bathroom
door Iwked on the outside. They
d o c k e d i t and discovered Marie Vel-
go inside, b a t i n g her breast and ap-
pa~entlyin great distress. She rush-
ed out d s t m d at the prone 3nd
bloody figure of Cerny. Then she
painbed dramatically to a n open win-
dow a t the rear of the house and
smamed that the marauders had es-
caped-in that direction.
As two officers l w p t nimbly through
the window and bayed the alleged
spaor of the fleeing brigands, Marie
directed the remaining two to another
bathroom.
"They put him in the-my poor,
dear man," she cried. "He's in there."
Again there was signs of a bath-
room dool- having been secured on the
outside and once more the officers
twisted the key and entered.
In the tub, the head submerged
and his hands amd f& bound, lay
the twisted (body of Jan Vel,go.
A MEDICAL examiner was called,
but he could do nothing for t'he proud
jurist. Another physician ordered
Cerny to a hospital. There it was
found that (hiswound would not prove
fatal, but that he undoubtedly would
1- the sight of one eye, the pistol
bullet having crashed through his
skull striking the right optic n k e .
With these findings came also the
word of the arrest of Cerny and
 AMOURS OF HATE
M a r k Velgo for the murder of Judge
Velgo.
The police, wi'th a deplorable lack
ef trust in their fellow man, and es-
pecially dheir fellow woman, had re-
fused to be taken in by the burglary
shy.
A t once Marie changed her stmy.
S h put the blame squarely upon
Cerny'a gorillaesque shoulders. She
did it on the hope $hat Ceniy, a notor-
iously bad shot, had been worse than
usual in attempting to inflict a minor
scalp wound on himself and had fatal-
ly wounded himself. 'Such was not
the case howewr. He lived.
Cerny, informed of Marie'e story,
prduced a promissory note made out
by her. It promised to pay him 5,000
~rcwpns down for certain unnamed,
but broadly 5$ntecI a t services.
A$ter the services were performed, it
promised yet other monies, totaling
another 5,000 krona, after the ser-
vices "known only to the payee and
myself" had been satisfacturily per-
form!&.
The case went m trial. Shortly it '
wemt to the jury, a jury of honcrable,
but impressionable men. Within two
hours they returned to the courtroom.
n e y had reached a verdi& 'The
court asked to hear it.
"We find Wenzel Cerny guilty of
murder," the foreman said.
"And Mmie Velgo?"
"We find Marie Velgo not guilty,"
the foreman intoned, blandly, then %it time the c& made irt clear that the thg photos and diary) and pleaded
down, d 1 pleased with h i d f . ~~ of irresklibte force was not that &e had slain her husband when
Later he was called upon for an to be considered. There WBS no in- he abtenp+ed to add to her shame by
explanation He said #hiat the jury timation that she had ;been irresistibly forcing her to pose, in her o b v i d y
had concluded h t Madame Velgo farce3 to do anything. The evidence delicate condition, in the nude, then
waa under irresistable force when she either said she and Clerny %d put she could readily have proved irres-
committed the crime, which they ad- the judge in the bathtub or Cemy tible force. But she did not. She
mitted @he h d a definite part in, alone M dohe it and the 'had bkem p h n e d twro well. She first attempt-
and thus was not guilty under the no part in the ceremony. ed to convince the police and this
laws of the country. It was sort of The verdid aame back quickly. w u r t that there had been a burglary
equivalent to a self defense finding Marie was guilty. she wrus sentenced and hter she elected to throw the
in our own counts to serve twelve years in prison. guilt on her stupid dupe.
?rhe prosemtor was nort only kui, The court, well pleased, took oc- "Marie Velgo W= scheming and
he was terribly, terribly hurt. He casion to deliver a brief rebuke and clever, but rshe was not wise. Perhaps
amailed himself of a facet of the a bit of sound advice to women of she will learn the wisdom of sim-
Czechoslovakian law that migh twell Marie Vdgo's peculiar e n t h u s i m s . plicity ih the 12 years before her in
be q i e d here. It provided that in an The learned judge had admitted the whi& she will have time to reflect
event of a jury is fixed, or suddenly phatogra.phic collection of Velgo into and grow gradually old."
,goes emotirmally ga-ppr such as thii the evidence, also his diary. Upon Marie went to prison for 12 years
one ostensibly had under the influ- these exhibits he based his Iscture. and b r y was given a similar sen-
ence of Marie's coquetry &e defend- "Our fair defendanv5" he caid tence. And w%en m e was s k n ~ n c e d
ant may be placed on trial again gallantly, "was both Mndwme and to 12 years in prison in Czechoslov-
and the law's demand^ more adequ- clever. But she was, unfortunately, akia, m e nat only served 12 pars,
ately &fied. too cever. Had she come %to f i i s he served an e v d dozen. They were
MARIE went on t r h l again. This court with these exhibits (indicating very pmtimh on that point then.
I
 by ED, SULLIVAN
T HE girl's eyes were pits of
agony. Her face, glisten-
ing with sweat, was as
white as the pillow on which she
- tossed. The doctors shook their
%ads. There was no hope for
er. The poison she had taken
as searing her vitals like a
hite flame. All they could do
as ease her pain with mor-
hine.
1
Her burning eyes stared at t!he
wall. Suddenly she stiffened: a dry
gasp rattled in her throat.
"He's coming after me! Fernand's
after me!" she cried. "Don't let him
get me! He'll kill me!"
The nurses held her d m as she
shuddered at a horrid vision they
could not see.
Thus did Franc- King, the dark-
haired butterfly girl who thought she
could outsmart life, in a hospital cot
in Chicago seven years ago.
* * *
RLO'OD STREAMED down the
little dark man's face, dripped from
his slashed stomach as he staggered
d m the alley, his hands spread out
before him like a sleepwalker.
He st~m~bled for half a block, hold- and he died at the emergency hospital,
ing onto the house-fronts. Finally he refusing to name !his killer.
fell in a blwody heap, in the flaring
circle of a street-lamp.
* * *
"I must go on," he muttered through THE YOUNG CHINESE blinked
the bubbling blood-froth on his lips. with embarrassment, behind his thick
"They mustn't find a m near Fer- spectacles, as the little white girl,
nand's place!" hardly more than a child, pulled- the
"I'hose were almost the last words scarlet evening gown over her head
Louis Nimois, the French-Canadian and stood brazenly before h i m
. gambler, ever spoke. Hours later "You seem so young-you don't
they found him lying in that San ' m m to belong here," he said. "Sure-
Francisco alley in a welter of blood, ly you're not working here from
 58 CRUSHING AMERICA'S CRIME LORD
\

The police were powerless to cope with the political

. powerful crime magnate, until the Federals -
choice. And why-" He gestured a t
the tell-tale Ilsedfe punctures on her
white arm.
A shadow passed over her pititrd
painted mask of a face. "I can't leave
here," she said. Fernand wouldn't
let me. He'd kill me. I took up the
junk so I can get svme sleep, without
nightmares-"
Then, a s a footstep sounded in the
corridor outside, the m a k was on
again. She stretc(hed enticingly, smil-
ed invitingly at the yellow man.
This, seven years ago, was little
Bunny Anderson, the girl from Port-
land who was the favorite of San
Fran.cisoo's Oriental brothels. A few
months ago she was let out of the
county jail after serving her latest
term for using d w a n old, olld
woman a t twenty-three
* * *
e
FERNAND. Fernand le Corss.
Through these and a hundred other
sordid tragedies of the shadow-world,
runs tthst name of fear.
The name of Juseph F a m m d On-
della, alias Fernand le Corse-Fern-
and the Corsican-for years in San
Francisco was a syabol of vice, de-
gradation, crime and sudden death.
The squat, enormous-jowled, slug-
like Corsican ruled an empire of
fear, shame, and pain. He fancied
h i m d f a worthy counterpart of his
countryman, Napoleon Bonaparte.
He was a Luciano of the West
Coast. His tentacles reached to New
York, to Montreal, to the sewers of
Paris.
America truly proved itself the gxaft-ridden city like San Francisco. he dM ~ 5 t hAl C a p o n e n o t for his
land of opportunity for this alier.. Like A1 &pone, -he was immune flagrant crimes but for a minor viol-
He amassed a fortune, built on the from interference by the police. Even ation of federal law on which an iron-
broken bodies of wme.n and the ruin- when iMue s e n s a t i o d Atherton graft clad case could be built.
ed lives of men. investigation ripped the lid partially For months, investigators worked
He widded power such as few men off Sah Francisco's sordid mess of in mcret, and i t is only now that the
wield. In presenklay San Francisco. corruption several years ago, no evid- complete revolting truth about San
he held hundreds of men and women ence could be secured against him to Francisco's f a t vice lord can be told.
in the grip of terror unpwelled since warrant s criminal inclicement. Fear F e r n d w w never as notorious as
the heyday of the Mafia in Sicily. sealed the lips of witnesses. AI ,Capone. In fact, his name wldom
He was a unique phenomenon, able But Uncle Sam at last caugnt up \ golt into the newspapers. Few re-
\
to exid only in a cosmopolitan and ~ 5 t hF d the C o r s i h , just as spectacle citiaem ever heard d him.

But in the devious b ~ y ofs the
Barbary Coast and the Tenderloin, of
Chinatmm and North Beach, h:s
name was a fearsome watchword.
His victims were not people whose
misfortunes would cause any public
oultcry. They were poor prostitutes
living under the thumb of grafting
police, white-faced pimps eking out, a
miserable existence in the trade of
ultimate shame, illiterate aliens cow-
ering in fear of deportation. People
whom Fernand could kick around with
little fear of a comeback. Men and
women who are a n integral part of
society, but to whom society a1fords
- little protection. Nevertheless, th'y
were human beings, their flesh was
human fledh, and the beating they
.took from Fernand hurt them jnst ss
much as i t would hurt you or me.
In the room of one of the investi-
gators who was largely responsible
for h smashing of Fernand, hangs
a framed quotation from W& Xhit-
man's poem, "To a Common, Pros-
titute" :
"Not till the sun excludes you do I
exclude p u ;
"Nat till the waters refuse to glis-
ten and M l e for you, will my words
refuse to glisten and rustle for you."
' This has been the keynote in this
mfan's work of investigating graft
and corruption, and results have
proven that his sentimentalism, if i t
be such, is iron-fisted.
,So, here is the story of Fernan3 the
Corsioan, the sleepy-eyed slug who
grew fat and gross on the proceeds
of shame and disease:
JOSEPH FERNAND ONDELLA
was barn in 1879 in the liktle sea-
part of Ajaccio in Corsica-imically,
the self-same town in which Napol-
eon was born.
Atscrape with the authorities in
early youth sent him fleeing to Paris,
where h lost himeelf in the under-
world among thousands of his kind.
&dowed with a villanioua imagin-
ation and absolutely no txruples, he
soon became a full-fledged Apache of
the Paris gutters. Among the AWJG
m, pimping is an honorable way of
. making: a living. The heavy-eyed
Corsican youth had no difficulty in
attrading the Cocottes of the cafes
LUSHING AMERICA'S CRIME LORD
to him, and he built up a profitable
string of girls.
The wanderlust hit him, and per-
haps he had a little more vision, in
his twisted way, than his cronies of
the gutter. About 1901, he came to
New York with his favorite girl, a
blowzy, big creature, whose name will
prdbably remain forever unknown to
history.
He had libtle trouble finding MS
own element in New York. He pilt
the @rl in a cheap brothel, and with
her earnin'gs opened a cafe cm Ylst
Street between Sixbh and Seventh
Avenues. n i s place ,became a hang-
out for the Frendh underworld-for
prostitutes, p i m p S, pickpockets
strongarm men. The word went o ~
that Fmmand was a "right guy," and
it was not long before he was oner-
ating a haven for criminals whc fled
from Paris. Murderers, gangsters,
big-time robbers paid himrnfancy snms
for taking care of them in New York
until France cooled off for th.m.
He got together a little gang c l
his own, to take care of any outsiders
who might step on the toes of his
friends. A few unsolved murders
and disappeammes went down on the
books.
Then the law cleahedl him out. The
French gan,g&s were getting a lit-
tle meribold, and Fernand the Fixer
w m not yet big enough bo be well
59
entrenched with Tamtmany. In fact,
he had overlooked the little detail of
greasing tlhe police and the adminis-
tration. Consequently, when the
newspapers clamored for a cleanup,
the police sent Fernand and his cot-
erie of Apachw high-tailing out of
New York, bag and baggage.
Fernand had heard lurid tales of
San F r a n c i s c w f its wide-open Bar-
bary Coast, its lax law enforceme~lt,
its large foreign colonies. So to Sah
Francisco he went, with the f a t bank-
roll he had accumulated, and opened
a little cafe and hotel for French
people on Broadway, between Powell
and Stockton streets.
This was in 1907, wheh the earth-
tquake-devastated city was in the
throes of the great graft prosecution
in which fie late William J. Bums
bared the entire Board of Supervis-
ors .as 'bribe-takers, dominated by
Abe Ruef, a Pttle weasel-faced man
who held every racket and graft in
the palm of his hand.
Ruef and his machine were in the
pmcew of being broken, so neither
the police nor t!he politicians bother-
ed the young Corsican who was going
about things in his o w n quiet way.
He operated the same sort of place
for the worst element of the French
for the wast element o fthe French
underworld, a hideout for cut-throats
who came all the way from Paris to
 CRUSHING AMERICA'S CRIME LORD
tle circle. No one could complain
to the authorities, and the police on
the other hand paid little attention
to what went on among the foreign-
ers.
Thus the FrendhrItalian Syndicate
came into being-the close-knit or-
ganization,that has been an integral
and sinster part of San Francisco's
underworld for a quarter of a cen-
tury. Fernand and a few others were
the organizers; their watohwords
were silence and fear. With the aid
of their strong-arm men, they per-
suaded the less bold of the vice and
gambling operators that the way to
prosperity and security lay in stick-
ing together, with Fernand as the
"fixer" for them all, and his place
the clearing-house
A t first, Fernand's ring was of
modest size. To expand his business
and to insure a steady flow of white
flesh for the lust-driven frequenters
of the Coast brothels, Fernand left
San Francisco for a few years and
did organizing work in other cities.
I n Butte, Montana, he found a
large French colony; he stayed there
for a while an,d made his influence in.
San Francisco known He estab-
lished a regular route for the ship-
ping of girls from the hrothels of
Butte to the Barbary Coast.
Then he went to Montreal, where
he followed his usual procedure and
set up a headquarters f y French
criminals. His pimps sought out
choice morsels from the Montreal
brothels and Fernand sent them to
Butte and to San Francisco. They
dealt only with French girls-Fern-
and in his youth was smarter than he
turned out to be later, and he had
sense enough to keep in his own cir-
de and not tempt fate. The French
girls were less likely to squeal t.a the
American a u t h a r i t i a
* * *
FERNAND WAS ROLLING in
money a t this time; he oast off
Marie and took several young girls
into his menage a t the same time, to
replace her. He liked them young-
his favorite mistresses were always
under twenty years old.
He splurged at the night-allrbs ahd
the race-tracks. He remerted to a
 USHING AMERICA'S CRIME LORD

quaint litble habit he had learned in from their homes in the Canadian As he once told a friend: "The
Paris, and added to his bankroll by city, brought them t o Butte and Chinks a r e better. They don't stay
picking pockets at the race-tracks. trained them to h prostitutes. About long, they come back oftener, and
Instead of stealing money, he stole 1919, when they were thoroughly they don't get drunk and raise a riot
tickets from men who were known to broken in and their spirits cowed, he like w'hite men."
be smart wagerers, and often cash- brought them t o San Francisco. The rooming-house operated in
ed in scores of stolen tickets on a He set them up in a little rooming high-gear unttil Fernand had a quar-
winner. Race-track detectives caught -house a t Broadway and Stockton, rel with one of the sisters. Shortly
up with him, and he was thrown out catering exclusively to Orientals- after that, the girl disappeared, and
of several eastern tracks. to Chinese from teeming Chinatown, her sister, sworn to silence by Fern-
His white-slave route well-estab- Which adjoins the French-Italian col- and wen3 back to Montreal.
lished and running smoothly, he re- ony, to Filipinos and to Japs. More Fernand was getting a little older
turned to San Francisco about 1913, and more, Fernand was realizing the now, fatter and grosser, and his
went back to active operation gf the profit that lay in selling white flesh taste for young girls seemed to grow
Syndicate. to yellow mlen. in inverse proportion. He was a
Then came the Red Light Abate-
ment Act and the end of the Barbary
Coast and the segregated district.
San Francisco was undergoing a
ClVlC
' ' bat!hi Most of the vice operat-
ot's 1-an for cover, thinking their
world had come to a n end; but not so
W ,,,.and
ornc le Corse.
Ondella s a y in the righteous up-
heaval a New DeaJ for his Syndicate.
The brothels could no longer oper-
ate legally; they we= outside the
law now, and in order to run they
would have to be protected. They
were no longer confined to a few
blocks now-the whole city was his
hunting-ground.
The madamee, prostitutes, and
pimps who had operated flagrantly
on the Barbary Cosst wodd now be
forced into furtive byways, domin-
ated by 'Fear. It was the psycho-
logical moment for a man like Fern-
and to step in as their guardian
angel.
The broken "system" of the A&
Ruef had been succeeded by a new
graft ring. Saloon-keepers and bail-
bond brokers, close to the police, were
the go-betweens. There were several
saloon men in particular, a s un-
scrupulous a s Fernand, who encour-
aged c m k s to frequent their places,
then sold them out to the police-
then "fixed" the cases, "chilled the
beefs"-collecting a f a t fee from both
the crooks and the police.
Fernand made friends with these
men, througlh them arranged for pro-
tection of the French-Italian vice
houses. The protection money clear-
ed through him, and a goodly part
of it clung to his pudgy finger's.
-
He made more trips to Montreal.
Once he lured two young sisters
62 CRUSHING AMgRICA'S CRIME LORD
veritable satyr; s p W by the absin-
the which h e drank in Gargantuan
quantities, he kicked and beak them in
sadistic orgies that were the talk of
North Beach.
* * *
I N 1922 H E PICKED UP a beauti-
fd little blande in Montreal- a star-
eyed girl m m e d Odede. He brought
her to San Francisco m the pretext
that &he w d d be his Number One
mistraw. Then, instead of keeping
her in his c m luxurious apartment,
he put her in the Del Cleo Hotel
on Broadway, where the woman keep-
e r held her a virtual (prisoner and
taught her how to please the Filipino
trade.
The gifl became pregnant in a few
weeks, and refused to submit to an
abortion. She threatened to go to the
federd auKhorities. Fernand, who
had had big p h s for her, shipped
her back in disgust to her parents
in Monitred.
In another case, the father of a
Montreal girl complained to the im-
migration aubhorities. F e n a n d heard
of it through hi~~~grarpevine, and be-
fore tiha inspectors could act he gave
the girl, a little blonde named Simone,
a roll of money and sent her home,
under threat of death if she talked.
She never talked1
With Prohibition, Fernand opened
a new establishment-a little boot-
legging
-- - -place on Stevenson street near
Twelf th-a hole-in-ehe-wall, off a
dark d k y . Here, f a r from the Bar- and the other patrons had swabbed bail-bond men, who split it with graft-
hry Coast, he transacted most of fie blood from the floor and obliter- ing police. In return, Ondella's
h i s impantant business. It. was here, ated the trail of blood outside the houses wem rarely troubled.
about eight years ago, that Louis door. Fernand Ondella was not a Napol-
Nimois, a bigdshot French gambler, To all appearances, Nimois had eon for nothing. H e could promise
got into an a r g w n e d with another been killed in the street. The case protection, and give it. His word was
Frenchman and was hornibly slashed was e t t e n on pddw records as un- law among the aliens. When a pimp
afid shot three times. solved. The killer, whose name is wanted to move his girl from one
Blind with blood, Nimois staggered h m n t o several persons, fled to house to another, h e did so with
out into the b e e t , [bent only on get- Chicago and was never troubled . Fernand's sanction-and paid Fern-
ting away f ram Fernand's place-- and.
he did not know he was dying, and The code cd~ the French-Itdian
he was afraid of Fernand's vengean- FERNAND AND T H E SYNDI- underworld was absolute silence and
a w e if he should be the cause of the CATE were now running full blast. loyalty--ithat is, among the lesser -
N i c e vissiting the place. operators.
Most of the police g r a f t payoffs were The doubBe-crosser, the
The bartender slammed the door handled by the office of a bail-bmd potential squealer, was swiftly and
M i n d him. Nimois staggered h d f broker, a former Barbary Coast s d - deftl'y bandled by Fernand's strong-
a block, fell in the gutter. Hours oon-keeper, in the shadow of +Se arm men.
later, a truck-driver found him and Hall of Justiae. But Ferhand himself was above
h o k him t o the emergency hospital, Fernand handed the collections even the code. H e double-crossed his
where he died. from the French-Italian houses, own people right and left, and got
Meanwhile, Fernand's bartender turned p a r t of the money over to the away with it. He exitorted huge

ly to Wentals. He took in as silent
partner a naturalized French-Italian
who had e d e a fortune in the sale
of white flesh. The Italian would put
up the money, Ondella would do the
fixing, and the take would be split
three ways-between On&lla, the
French-Italian, and the "resident
manager" of tlhe place.
Fernard en,gaged in profitable
deals with Manie "Ma" ,Pappens, op-
e r d o r of a number of h,ouses in
North Beach and the Tenderloin.
When Mrs. Pqppens was sent to Tel.-
achapi Prison a few years ago for
conkributing to the delinquency of
mtimrs, in a particularly disgusting
case, Fernand managed many of
her affairs for her unitil her trium-
phant ereburn to the brothel business.
Abopt 19130, Fernand met a fas-
cinating girl named Frances King,
and made her his Nu,xntber One Girl.
He kqxt her for himself, and lived
with her in a hotd on Pine Street.
What the slender, reed-like girl
eveF sans in the grass, sloppy Cur-
-'--R, will never be known. a t any
, she was soon disillusioned and
ened by his bestial lust. But her
it was broken, and she stayed
-L.----
with him, for fear of what might
hapipen if she crossed Km.
CRUSHING AMERICA'S CRIME LORD
I
He took her on several eastern away, but Fernand treated her like
trips-once bought expensive furs for a princess, wining and dining her till
her in Montreal-and once brought her head reeled. Then he put her
her younger sister from Chicago and through ,the mill-tau&$ her how to
put her to work in a n Orienial minister to the lust of the Orientals.
how. She stayed in the hotel, a prisoner of
Finally a quarrel flamed and Fran- fear and shame.
ces fled, Fernand shaking his fist
after her and swearing dire venge-
ance. She went back to her mother H E SHIFTED HE,R from house
in Chicago, gasped out the whole re- to house. To stifle the shame that
volting story to her, then swallowed cried out i n her dreams, 'She took
a corrosive p ~ s w nand died in agony to narootics, a s have many of the
a few days later, screaming for fear Corsican's girls.
of Fernand Le Gorse. Today, at henty-three, Bunny
?Jhrowing caution to the winds, A ~ d ~ e r s o is n a n aged wreck of a
Fernand now made fewer trips to woman.
Mon(trea1, and instead put young Then Fernand took up with a wo-
American girls in the Syndicate's man nearer his own age--one Nini
houses. Perallaud, former wife of one of
One flagrant case was that of 16- the bartenders. I t was probbly more
year old Bunny Anderson, who hitch- of a business partnership than a love
hiked dwwn from Portland to find a affair, h t i t lasted longer %an had
job in San Francisco and made any of the Corsican's previous con-
friends with a cab d r i v e , wlho prom- nections.
ised to find her a place tn live. He Fernand set u p his headquarters
took her to the Bronx Holtel, one of i n a bar and cafe on Clay Street, a
the lowest Oriental dives on North stone's thraw from the Hall of Justice
Beach. F e ~ n a n d , pleased with the and the office of his bail-bmd broker
luscious new arrival, gave the cab- fixer. He placed Nini in charge of
man five dollars for his senices. the Orierutal brothel upstairs.
Bunny Andferson wanted to ,run The Corsican was riding higih now;
 CRUSHING AMERICA'S CRIME LORD
thousands of dollars poured i n from
, hisc graft collections, from the piti-
ful earnings of his women, from +.he
sale of false citizenship papers, false
passports, etc.
Then came the graft explosion-
toudhed off by the revelation by
Jcvhn V. Lewis, International Revenue
Collector, that he had collected huge
income tax arrears from crooked San
F~ancisoopolice officers.
The District Attorney hired Edwin
N. Atherton, former G-man, a s spec-
ial investigator to make an impartial
probe of graft and report to the grand
jury.
Atherton laid bare f i e huge bank
accounts of a number of officers,
and, when they refused to testify be-
fore the grand jury, thirteen of them
were dismisskd f m the force.
One of Atherton's undercover up-
eratives, Ben Belasco, was convinced
that the alien vice operators, stand-
ing in fear of deportation, constit-
uted the city's biggest g r a f t prob-
lem-the police and men like Fern-
alid could extort a s much a s they
wanted from them without fear of

- plaint. Belasco heard Fernand's

name whispered again and again a s
the Napoleon of the Syndicate.
Belasco recruited the services of a n
underworld woman whom we shall
call Betty, and with her went to Fern-
and on the pretex that they wanted to
open a brothel.
Big, sloppy Fernand welcomed them
royally a t his Clay street clearing-
house, treated them to important abh
dnthe.
"Fernand a n fix anything!" he
boasted, and offered to set Betty up
in a ihotel on Market street, for $500.
He detailed how he would arrange
police protection for then, take care
of any trouble.
Belasoo egged him on, pmtending
to disbelieve in his power a s a fixer.
Fernand bragged of how he had
squared a shooting affray in a
Kearney street brothel, a block from
police Headquarters.
"Well, anyway," Belasco told him,
"there's one fellow you can't fix-
and that's the Old Man with the
Whiskers!"
"Bah!" Fernand exploded. "I can
fix him too!"
He went on to detail how a Cor-
sican brothel-keeper named "Herbert" Convinced that criminal convictions
had been deported, and how he had could nmot be obtained in the state
arranged for his return. me man courts, Atherton turned over his
was now running a Kearney street evidence to the Federal immigration
place unmolested, he said. authorities, who immediately launch-
Belasco left Fernand, promising to ed a n investigation of their own
come back and close the deal; swiftly When Fernand heard Belasa, was
he made the rounds of North Beach, working for Atheton, he was fur-
found that the man known a s Her- ious. He called him up, threatened to
bert was one Abel Ducayla. kill hi,% offered to meet him anywhere
With operatives Howard Pbilbrick, and fight i t out. Belasco arranged
Lw Niuhols, and Ed. Hall, Belasco a street-corner meeting.
arrested Abel Ducayla for questioning. Fernand drove up to the appointed
The harrassed little man broke dovn spot, approached the operative with
and talked. He explained that he his hand under his coat.
had re-entered the country illegally "1'11 kill you," he hissed.
through his m ingenuilty and not "I dton't think you'd want to do
through any help from Fernand. He that out in public, here." Belasco
told details of police payoffs. On the soothed him. "Come around the
strength of this story, two afficers corner, to the hotel-"
were arrested on bribery charges, but He grabbed Fernand's arm. The
later acquitted when Ducayla, in mor- big Corsican, yellow a t heart, trern-
tal terror, refused to take 6he stand bled and shook loose. Muttering
against them curses, he ran back to his car.
 CRUSHING AMERICA'S CRIME LORD 65

A F E W DAYS 'I~ATER,in mid-

October, 1936, a posse headed by Phil-
brick and Belasco arrested Fernai~d,
questioning him for hours. He talk-
ed rather freely, boasted of his con-
nections, refused absolutely to take
the stand against anyone.
Then the i,migration authcrities
moved in, asked Fernan'd for a de-
tailed statement of his stay in t h e
United States. He said he had first
come here from Calgary, Canada, in
1922, and had not been out of the
Unitred States since then.
He knew the immigration law-
that any alien who entered the coun-
try, legally or illegally, before July
1,1924, canot be deported.
llhe immigration inspectors che.:k-
ed up, found ample evidence that
Fernand had left and reentered + I I ~
United States many times since 1924,
on his trips to Montreal. He had
brazenly used his own name, never
dreaming he would be tripped up.
He was charged with making a
false statement, and was released on
bond.
The Federal Bureau of Invetig-
looked into Ondella's history, wit11 a
view to White Slave prosecution for
the Canadian and Montana trips, but
no direct evidence could be secured;
witnesses would not talk. The G- P
.

Men were finally satisfied to let tne a shrewd counsellor when his girl- obtained citizenship papers in 1933.
case rest with the immigration au- fniend, Nini, died suddenly. She was also ordered deported.
thorities, who had iron-clad evidetlce She was a close friend of Fernand;
His loss was balmed,' however,, by she had found to her cost that he
of violation of the immigration lams. the fact that she died without a will,
could not square the federal cost for
The f a t Corsican had falslen a t leaving a sizeable fortune--estimate? her.
last. Immune from the police, he by some at $20,00&which he took The grip of the Syndicate is 'broken,
couldn't fix the Old Man with the over.
F e r n a ~ d le Corse wriggled and and the hand of Fear is lifted from
Whiskers.
squirmed, tried every legal dodge, to San Francisco's underworld with the
The immigration men were also lifting of the f a t shadow of the Cor-
no avail. His pal, Big Jim Coleman,
working on Abel DucayEa. They sican
was no longer on hand to help him-
found that he and his consort, Auna
he had retired from the force and He is still getting revenue f n m
Roberts, had registered under false
fled the city a t the s t a r t of bhe in- three Oriental houses-for such places
names a t the last national election.
vestigation. have J w a y s existed, and probably
Ducayla and . the girls pleaded Finally, after months, during which always will-but the empire of vici
guilty. ~ u c a ~ was
l a sentenced to a h e arranged the affairs of his shat- is smashed.
year and a day in McNeil Island, and tered Syndicate as best he could,
was deported to France on his reledse Fernand was ordered deported. . Fernand was comparibively lucky.
few months ago. Anna Roberts was Instead of sitting in an Alcatraz
it on probation on condition thzt Federal men are still a t work cell like AI Capone, he can end his
e leave the country' immediatcly, smashing the alien Syndicate. TEpy days in his native Corsican, trying
iich she did. have arrested Olga Manzi, propriet- to figure out why he couldn't chill t i e
' ress of a notorious brothel in the beef with bhe Old Man with the
I

ernand, Praiting for trial o r Je- shadow of the City Hall. She w a s " W#hiskers. Provided, of course, that
ation ac.tion, was deprived of charged with having fraudulently he's still alive over there.
 When Convicts Become Too Smart
For Their O w n Good, Fireworks Are
Bound to Result.
Y OU'D think that the strict
supervision over convicts
would make i t impossible
for them to carry on rackets in-
side the walls. But there are
many crooked things a crooked
mind can originate, whether its
possessor is behind bars or free.
Any prison-wise guard would at-
test the truth of this.
The moment an experienced pris-
oner gets "on location" in the job to
which he i s assigned, he looks around
to see how he can use it to his own
advantage.
A forger whom I knew, Easterday
by name, was no differen* from the
rest. When placed in the office of the
record clerk, he quickly saw some-
thing his predecessors in that office
had overlooked.
Easterday began to circulate among
prisoners known to ,be members of
"swdll mobs" still operating, who
might be willing t o pay well for any
benefit to t'heir unfortunate brother
in stir. In a short time he had some
good connections, and promptly went
to work on ,his new racket.
About six m m t s s later a detective
oame to the institution for a talk
0
with "Wild Bill" Murbha. He thought
Murbha, who had been sent up from
his city, might give him some infor-
mation he needed. The detective was
informed by the deputy warpen that
Wild Bil(1 had been released follow-
ing the expiration of his sentence six
months or so before.
"That's funny," the detective said.
"I figured he had still another six
months t o serve."
The deputy sent for Murtha's com-
mitment and other papers. "Here i t
a
is," he explained. "He got sentence
of four years which expired six
months ago.''
"Four years!" exclaimed the officer.
"Why, he got five years. I ought to
know. I worked on the case and was
in court when he was sentenced."
The deputy warden sensed some-
thing was wrong. He put in a long
distance call to the clerk of the court
in which Murthurtha had M convicted.
What he heard caused him to make
an immediate investigation, and t o
suspend the release of all prisoners
until it was completed.
The investigation revealed that
Easterday was conducting a nice little
racket in the record clerk's office
which was bringing him huadreds'of
dollars in good U.S. min. Ris pro-
cedure was simple enough.
First he would miake a contact with
a prisoner, and ask him how much it
would be worth if he got a year 'cut
from his sentam. For a price agreed
upon and deposited with a friend of
Easterday's on the outside, the forger .
would alter the records and cut a year
off the man's sentence.
I t wasn't a t all difficult. All Easter-
day did was to change the commit-
ment and whatever additional papers
there were in the case, to mice them
appear that 8he sentence was one year
less than i t actually was.
When the list of prisoners going out
for each day was made u p and handed
o v a to the officers who "dmssed out"
such men, the name of the one who
had bought a year's freedom would
be on the list just that much ahead of
the real date. The usual routine check
of the papers would show IAe date to
be apparently correct.
A half dozen other prisonem besides
Murtha had received simi~lar "corn-
mutations" of sentence through the
ingenious efforts of this chronic
racketeer.

YOUNG man stood in a
small street in Omaha,
Nebraska, fiercely shaking
his fist at a shop on the other
side of the road. He was talking
out loud in his anger, swearing
vengeance against its owner -
Edward Cudahy, *soonto became
known throughout America as
the meat-packing,king.
at young man was Pat Crowe,
and he believed that Cuclahy hac
for& him out of business. On that
day, many years ago, he decided that
Chdahy should pay the price.
Thirteen years ... Ther.
one day Crowe picked up a paper and
read that Gudahy's son was sixteen.
A plan of revenge began to take
shape in his mind.
* * *
'WILL YOU help me to get $25,-
000?" he asked Calahan, a pal of his.
"I'd go through fire and water for
a tgnrth d that," declared Calahan.
The
By ANN STUAEIT
And so began th,e plannin'g of
the perfect crime.
The two men went back to
Ornaha and in May, 1900, began
their preparations. They rented
a
. house
. - ------in -a.suburb. Da+n,r
~
, A " six
months' rent in advance. ~ e x t
Clrowe bought two h m s and a
covered carriage, stabling them
in a shed by the side of the
house.
Each day for two months they
drove t h i s carriage past the
Cudahay home, but
catching sight of young Edward
a d a h a v . men on ~~~~b~~
18. the& chance 'came.
On this afternoon as they drove
past, the door opened and Edward
came out and began t o walk down the
street. As he turned the corner, out
of sight of the house, e o w e drove
the carriage u p to him. Calahan
jumped down and grabbed young
Edward by the shoulder.
"WE WANT you, Eddie McGee,"
shouted Crowe. "We're police officers.
We know you're on the run from a
reform school.''
Edward protested that his namle
was Cudahy. It was useless. Crowe
said he would have t o go with them
to the station for identification.
So the boy shrugged his shoulder?
L
To#daya seventy#year.oldman sits
in a hotel, at peace with the world,
Yet he committed one of the most
amaziag crimes in the world!
and climbed into the carriage, think-
ing that the mistake would be easily
cleared up when they reached the
police station.
But the second she entered the car-
, riage a coat was flung over his head
and a -a n thrust in his side.
"Keep @.et, do a s you're told aud
you won't be f~urt," Cmwe warned
him. "But make a sound and 1'11 !,ut
a bullet through
When they reached the ho~lsethe
frightened lad was bundled inside.
Before they lit a lamp a bandage was
tied r o d young C'udahy's eyes. He
was warned not t o remove it if he
valued his life.
Then Crowe s a t down to write a
ransom note t o his father.
It was a brutal note. It demanded
$25,000 in gold. If the money was
not handed over, Edward was t o be
blinded with acid before being sent
back home.
Mr. Cudahy was ordered to take
his carriage and drive out of town
the next night a t seven o'clock until
he came to the bridge over the Papio
River. A lantern would be burning
there. With him he was to take a
sack, containing the money in gold
 THE PERFECT CRIME
coin, which he A s to drop by the
lantern, and then drive straight back
t o town. If he made this journey
accompanied by police, o r if there was
any attempt to capture the kidnap-
pers--well, Edward woultl lose his

TYING THE NOTE to a stick,

Crowe walked past the Cudahy man-
sion and flung i t on to the lawn.
When darkness fell, he went ol;t
to the bridge and lit his lantern. Then
h e hid himself in a little copse over-
looking the bridge, holding his gun
cocked. S

Soon a carriage approicl-ed, 2nd

stopped by the bridge. The driver
and Cudahy got out and carried a
heavy sack to the lanterfi, stepped
back in@ their carriage and drove off.
Crowe came out of the copbe and
advanced, to the sack. He 'opened it,
ran his hands through dully gleaming
gold pieces-the ransom hati been
paid. He was revenged on Cudahy!
He carried the money home, where
Chlahan excitedly helped him to count
it. I t was all there, so they took
Edward, put him in the carriage and
drove him to within three streets of
his home. They let him crut and drove
off.
After dividing t h e gold the kid-
nappers separated. Calahan went to
shelter a t a friend's house, and Crowe
rode out of town to a farm, where he
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planned to stay until the hunt had "HOW TO HYPNOTIZE"

died down.
The police and Pinkerton's dreaded
detective agency were determined to
capture the criminals, and things be-
gan to grow too warm for Crowe.
He made his way to the coast and
shipped for South Africa. Then be-
gan one of the comedies of American
justice. Calahan began spending gold
twenty do!lar pieces. He was arrest-
ed. Edward Cudahy recognized his
voice. Gradually a damning case was
built up against him.
But when the case came to' trial,
strangely enough the jury acquitted
him.
Crowe went on a trip and returned
a year later--only to learn t h a t he
was still suspected. For several years
he dodged the police. Then he grew '
weary and decided to give himself
up. He was sent back to Omaha t o
be tried.
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The case lasted two weeks. Among
the evidence was a letter written by
C r m e t o a friend confessing the
crime.
And no defence evidence was put
forward. A conviction seemed a cer-
tainty.
The jury were out of the court for
four hours. When they came back
they gave the verdict of "Not guilty!"
* * *
I T WAS THE most amazing de-
cision of any American court. It
turned P a t Crowe into the man who
commited the perfect crime.
Toronto 1, Ont.
He kidnapped a boy, got the ran-
som money, confessed his crime, yet
was set free without a stain on his
character-and allowed to keep his
share of the ransom money!
Whether he got off scot-free be-
cause he was popular in Omaha, or
because the jury considered he had
not harmed the boy, no one will ever
know.
To-day, Crowe, aged seventy, sits in ,
a New York Hotel a t ,peace with the
world. And in Omaha, now a prosper-
ous business man, is Edward Cudahy
- - o n e the victim of the perfect crime.
 en Conversion Is
By the Reverend Roy
Pastor of the Congregational Christian Church,
A MAN who lacks moral
standards and who never
has found it in his heart
to cultivate the spiritual values
of life is likely to fall below the
standards of the law at almost
any time.
Many fall, but not all are caught.
Here lies the danger of thinking that
crime is an easy life which can be
carried on indefinitely with impunity.
From this beginning grows the habit-
ual criminal, whose chances for com-
plete reforination are none too good.
As a former chaplain of' the In-
diana State Reformatory a t Jefferson-
ville, where the inmates were from
16 to 30 years of age, I encountered
many of this type. But I found that
in the younger ,boys, convicted for
their first misdemeanors, was more
hope for salvation.
A reformatory needs cultivation of
the religious spirit in order to send
thesc boys back into Society as useful
citizens of our country and of the
Kingdom of God.
How can this great and important
task be translated into practical ac-
tion? Ey long hours of personal con-
tact with the inmates, by religious
services and education a t these in-
stitutions of correction.
Boys can be helped to feel a sense
of responsibility for others and for
duties entrusted t o them.
Sometimes a sadly deflated ego can
be bolstered up in a boy who feels
that he has gone so f a r down-hill
that nothing could matter. This can
happen when he knows that someone
is interested in him.
This method warked with one
youngster named Claude who was sen-
tenced to the reformatory from one
to thirteen years. Claude didn't have
the background of a criminal. Want-
ing to keep him segregated a s much
a s possible from more hardened in-
mates, I made him my messenger and
he had the run of the institution.
Shortly I discovered Be had violated
this trust by smoking. Instead of cen-
suring him, I talked over the situa-
tion with him and made him a promise.
If he would cease smoking and carry-
ing tobacco around while working for
me, I would not report him.
W. Merrificld
Urbana, Illinois
The Reverend Merrifield : "Crea-
tive religion... is the world's most
powerful preventive of all crime".
,Clande proved that he deserved the
responsibility I placed in him, behaved
well and received his parole. Letters
I received from him for many years
afterward assured me that he was
keeping straight.
BOYS may not admit it, but they
want sympathy. If only we could
touch the tender spot in their per-
sonalities! Many of the first offenders
haven't done anything terribly wrong.
And in a few cases they have been
railroaded into the institution, hard
a s i t may be t o believe. I learnec!
more froM the boys than did the
prison officials because I respected
their confidences and nothing they
ever told me was used against them.
These boys who have not strayed
f a r from the path of decent living
can be raabilitated. If they can re-
alize that there is a force ready 40
work for them and to help them !f
they truly give their hearts to God,
Who yearns to be their daily comrade,
then they find the true reformation.
Only in this way can they be led into
the victorious way of life.
oamat'ion
Not only in reformatories, but in all
walks of life from the highest to
the lowest, misguided people have
slipped into the habit of jeering a t
religion a s a solace for the soft, a s
something sissy. On the contrary, Ie-
ligion is reason grown heroic. Gen-
uine religion is the hero in a man.
I t girds him to hold his highest stand-
ards against all odds. The man of
real strength is the man who pos-
sesses the true spirit of Jesus which
carries him through ail temptations
with the highest possible courage.
Presenting religion a s a challenge
to strength and service annoys maxy
people. They insist 011 being coddled
in their spiritual laziness. Religion
should ,be accepted as a vital factor
in everyday life; not a s a mere be-
lief of a protector on high, standing
ready to fulfil1 every wish of a spoiled
child. True reIigion place God's will
in the forefront.
Every correctional institution has
its share of inmates bordering oli
feeble-mindedness. They present a
problem with very little chance of so-
lution. More enlightcned knowledge
and widespread practise af eugenics
eventually would solve the problem
of these mental misfits for whom the
future is so hopeless. They ought not
to be allowed to propagate their kind.
In addition, many inmates come from
homes where the parents a r e divorced.
They never have experienced decent
home life, never have been exposed to
the character-building influences of
the Church.
The greatest menace of a reforma-
tory or prison Iies in the mingling of
first offenders vrith the older, hard-
boiled criminals incarcerated there.
That is why it is important for boys
to be apprehended the first time they
break the law and to have a chance
to be traightened out before $hey be-
come crime addicts. The plan of put-
ting first offenders on probation is ex-
cellent, providing they seem worthy
of such t~ust.
.Can anything be done about these
men who have become steeped in
crime? Their chances look poor be-
cause the usual way of these felons
is to continue in criine until they die
in prison, are murdered by one of
their own kind or die of disease. Jt
(Continued on back of cover)
 f
is true, however, that some of t l ~ e good. He himself m h t want to be e3iich a r e so very important; the
lowest and most depraved have saved; !his heart and mind must be ~ i l ysaying of grace, a time set
changed their lives, have been gen- touched somehow. aaide for prayer. Their dhildren
uinely. conve$ed. But sometimes the work brings Suc- &&uld have the beneficial experience
cess and the iron of religion enters ttending church school and the
The chaplain i n one of these in- the soul of these hu,man zeros and h service.
stitutions m m t not visualize these transforms them into the integers of
men In their present condition but decent individuals. en, ~ h ~ i lthey
e are yaung and
must love them for what they may ,,,&ive to character-building influ-
be in their hearts and bodies and But prevention is a hundred times ences, they would absonb creative re-
souls. I t requires much imagina- better than a (belated cure. Mothers ligion, which is the world's most
tion and perseverance to work this and fathers would be wiser these days powerful preventative of all crime,
vision into a reality. It means spend- if they encauraged the manifestation sorrow and futility. Then there
ing hours with them day after day of the religious spirit in the home would be fewer in~matesof prisons
and week atfter week. Even these where it would 'become a p a r t of and ref~r~matories.
efTorts may lbe futile when a man everyday life. They should estab-
has implacably closed his mind to all lish family devotions in the home T H E E'ND

ODDS AND THE CRIMINAL

Continued from inside front cover

I s there some way whereby we can
give the criminal offender care that
is a t once brotherley and intelligent,
and a t the same time protect Society
from the acts af the criminal? I s
i t possible to go further and remove
the fundamenbal causes of crime?
There is no easy solution to this p r ~ b -
lem. We must recognize the menac-
ing fact revealed in the following
from the Gluecks:
"It might (be argued that eve?
case, no matter how 'hardened,
slhould ,be regarded a s promising of
reformation. So f a r a s experience
goes, however, this contention will not
hold water. A deplorable propor-
tion of criminals never reform. The
reason for this may ;be our vwy im-
perfect technique. But a t any rate,
with thle methods thus f a r tried by
civilized Society, there has always
been a considerable residue af persons
who do not respond to any known
form of correctional or punitive
treatment.
Social facilities are limited, and
emphasis must therefore be placed
on the most promising humtan ma-
terial. The great social need is to
evolve through exprimmbtion, more
efficient methods of analyzing and re-
making the human personality. But
that is a task of colossal proportions;
and until such time a s definite prog-
ress in this direction has been re-
flected in a fundamental reconstruc-
tioh of our correctional instruments,
the existence of a portion of the
criminal population, not only unam-
enable to modern rehabilitative
methods, but permanently dangerous
to Society, must be reckoned with."
THE pmblem of crime must be seen
whole. There is a section d our
population that is "permanently dsn-
gerous to Society." J. Edgar Hoover
was called upon to face this element.
He has been misrepresented and
made to appear out of sympathy
with constructive efforts for the re-
formation of the criminal. As a
matter of fact, Mr. Hoover has said:
"I do not know of a n y other experi-
enced law enforcement officer who
has, and certainly I have never my-
self, questioned the wisdom and de-
sirabihty of parole a s a p a r t of the
program, for the reformation and re-
habilitation of criminals. On every
occasion when I have referred to the
problems of parole, I have stated
specifically and emphatically that I
believe in the principal of parole, but
I have c o n d a n e d in strong language,
and I shall continue to condemn in
just a s strong language the malad-
ministration*?f the parole system.
Y society, reconciled with that spon-
There is no s i ; h p p r o a c h to the
problem of crime. Just a s we unite
the research students of the labora-
tory, t%e physicians and surgeons in
applied medicine, the public health
officials, and numerous other agen-
cies to combat disease, so too we
must unite all those forces that a r e
e ~ e n t i a to
l the removal-& bhe causes
of'.-e and the rehab'litation of
the criminal himself.
D- crime p d ? Of course not.
I doubt t h a t it is satisfying even
to the successful criminal. He lives
in fear. If he has intelligence, he
knows h e i s a parasite. There can
be no basic satisfaction here. I Hysteria has no place in this field.
have sought to show the necessity
of uniting; all the forces necewary
to eliminate the terrific burden of
the cost of crime.
Roscoe Pound in hBs ",Criminal
Justicre i n America" says: "In crimi-
nal law this problem takei the %m
of quest for a workable balance h-
tween the general security and the
individual life ... As to system-
atized individualizalation, the very
conception of law, of a government
of laws and not of men, calls for a
system, while the whole trend of
psychology and penology indicates
individualization, making the penal
treatment fit the offender, dealing
with a dangerous man rather than
the dangerous act a s the line of pro-
gress. Here again i s a prablem in
which there *must ;be co-operation of
social scientist. psychologist, physi-
clan and lawyer. Indeed, the phil-
osopher may well contribute, for this
problem runs back to one w h i d is
fundamental in social, in legal, in
penal philosophy. It comes to the
problem of the division of labor and
allocation af activities in a complex
taneous initiative and free quest for
individual ends which is a main
source of progress."
Religion #maymake a fundamental
contri'bution to this solution. I t in-
sists upon building a just social order.
I t calls upon us to surround the ris-
ing generation with all known influ-
ences that make for good citizenship
and rich personalitiw. ICnowing that
the truth makes us free, it calls upon
us to face scientific facts as revealed
by sincere students and ,bewilling to
recognize the power of environment
and heredity in causing crime.
It calls for the integrated person-
ality religion produces seeking to
serve a brother whose personality is a t
war with itself. I t would likewi,se
remove the causes that produce such ,
a personality.