nce ... Saturday night ... I didn't have
anything to eat--since then, myself."

Joe whirled about threateningly, but the officer caught his uplifted
arm.

"She lies. She ain't straight, that's what it is. Hanging around them
_Sheenies_, and sayin' it's the baby. She lies!"

The little woman's face paled, and she staggered back, her tremulous
fingers clutching at the empty air as her great eyes opened with horror
at his words.

"I'm not _straight_? Oh, oh, Joe! You're killing me!"

She moaned as though the man had beat her again.

"Six months!" rasped out the magistrate between his teeth. "And I'm
going to put you under a peace bond when you get out. Little woman,
you're dismissed."

Joe was roughly jostled out into the detention room again by the
rosy-cheeked policeman, whose face was neither so jolly nor rosy now.
The woman sobbed, and leaned across the rail, her outstretched arms
held pleadingly toward the magistrate.

"Oh, judge, sir ... don't send him up for six months. How can the baby
and I live? We have no one, not one soul to care for us, and I'm
expecting..."

Mercifully her nerves gave way, and she fainted. The gruff old court
attendant, now as gentle as a nurse, caught her, and with the gateman,
carried her at the judge's direction, toward his own private office,
whither hurried Mrs. Grey, the matron.

The magistrate blew his nose, rubbed his glasses, and irritably looked
at the next paper.

"Jimmie Olinski. Officer Burke. Hurry up, I want to call recess!" he
exclaimed.

Burke, in a daze of thoughts, pulled himself together, and then took
the arm of Jimmie the Monk, who advanced with manner docile and
obsequious. He was not a stranger to the path to the rail. Another
officer led Annie forward. Burke took the chair.

"Don't waste my time," snapped the magistrate. "What's this? Another
fight?"

Officer 4434 explained the situation.

"Do you want to complain, woman?" asked the magistrate.

"Complain, why yer honor, dis cop is lyin' like a house afire. Dis is
me gent' friend, an' I got me face hoit by dis cop hittin' me when he
butted into our conversation. Dis cop assaulted us both, yer honor."

"That'll do. Shut up. You know what this is, don't you, Burke? The
same old story. Why do you waste time on this sort of thing unless
you've got a witness? You know one of these women will never testify
against the man, no matter how much he beats and robs her."

"But, yo