The Girl from Farriss | Page 7

the girl had
remained in his house of her own volition--that she could have left
when she pleased; but the girl's story, coupled with the very evident
fact that she was wholly indifferent as to the outcome of the case,
resulted in the holding of Farris to the grand jury.
It was what the resort-keeper had anticipated, and as he was again
released on bail he lost no time in seeking out the head of a certain
great real-estate firm and laying before him a brief outline of the

terrible wrong that was being contemplated against Mr. Farris, and,
incidentally, against present real-estate rental values in the district
where Mr. Farris held forth.
"You see," said Mr. Farris, "there aint nothin' to this thing, anyway. It's
just a case of the girl bein' sore on me because I had fired her, so she
cooks up this story, and gets me pinched. It's a shame, and me giving
her a good home and a swell job when she didn't know nobody in the
burg.
"It's too bad," and Mr. Farris heaved an oily sigh. "It's too damn bad
when you think of what it'll mean to the property owners down there.
Why, if the grand jury votes a true bill against me it'll start them fake
reformers buzzin' around thick as flies in the whole district, and there
won't be nothin' to it but a bunch of saloon licenses taken away by the
mayor, and a string of houses closed up; and then where'll you be?
"Why, the best you can do for years 'll be to rent them places to
furriners at six and eight dollars a month, and just look at the swell
rents you're gettin' for 'em now. Yes, sir! Somethin's got to be done in
the interests of property values down there, for after we go you couldn't
get decent people to live in the neighborhood if you paid 'em, to say
nothin' of gettin' rent from 'em--why, they can't even use 'em for
business purposes! Customers wouldn't dare come into the
neighborhood for fear some one would see them, and straight girls
wouldn't work in no such locality.
"If I was you I'd get busy. See your principals this mornin', and get 'em
to put it up straight to the State attorney that it ain't in the interests of
public morality to push this reform game no further. Why, look what it
'll do--close up the red-light district, an' you'll have them girls scattered
all through the residence districts, wherever they can rent a little flat;
maybe right next door to you an' your family. And then look at what
that'll do to property everywhere. It won't be only the old levee values
that 'll slump, but here and there through the residence districts north,
south, and wrest them girls 'll get in and put whole blocks on the blink.
"Well, I guess you know as much about it as I do, anyway; so I'll blow

along. I got to see my alderman, and if I had the front that you and your
principals can put up I'd see "--and here Mr. Farris leaned forward and
whispered a name into the real-estate agent's ear. "He can put the
kibosh on this whole reform game if he wants to; and take it from me,
there ain't nobody that can't be made to want to do anything on earth if
you can find the way to get 'em where they live," and Mr. Farris
slapped his right-hand trouser-pocket until the coins therein rang
merrily.
The real-estate agent pursed his lips and shook his head.
"You cannot reach that man in any such way as that," he said.
Mr. Farris, rising, laughed. "Oh splash," he said, and started for the
door. "Well, do what you can at your end, and I'll work from the
bottom up; and say, don't forget that if you sugar-coat it, the best of 'em
will grab for it."
Then he went and had a talk with his alderman, who, in turn, saw some
one else, who saw some one else, who saw another party; and the
real-estate agent saw several of his principals, and at luncheon he
talked with many of his colleagues, who hastened forthwith to confer
with the big men whose property they handled.
In a day or two there began to filter into the State attorney's office by
mail, by phone, and by personal call a continuous stream of requests
that he move with extreme caution in the fight against vice which the
reformers were urging him to initiate.
The arguments all were similar. They harped upon the danger of
scattering the vicious element throughout the city--they were pleas for
the safety of the wives and daughters of the petitioners.
"Abolish the red