Marion Marlowe's Christmas Eve, or, The Treachery of a Factory Inspector — page 24: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

22 “So this is your work, is it2” thought Marion, but she did not speak—only set her teeth firmly as she faced her tormentors. “I told you we often took our lives in our hands,” sneered Miss French again; “but you would stick to the business, you know, Miss Marlowe.” The next moment she was gone, and Marion was again alone with the ruffians, but the clumsy weapon in her hand seemed to awe them a little. A group of the oldest men seemed to confer with each other for a moment, and Marion knew instinctively that they were planning what to do with her. She was absolutely at the mercy of these vicious beasts, and, as she realized it, a. sud- den faintness crept over her. Every sweet memory of the past seemed to pass before her, and all her dreams of the future were swiftly turned into mocking phantoms. But keenest of all came the mockery of her position. She had undertaken this work in the cause of humanity and through sheer love of her more unfortunate fellow men; yet here she was encompassed by human monsters, her very life threatened by their inhuman passions. . A vision of her friends, Miss Allyn, Bert Jackson, the doctor, and others, passed be- fore her eyes. She could imagine their dis- tress if they but knew of her present pre- dicament. The thought of the doctor nerved her to fresh courage. Vor his sake and because she had determined to be his aid in this thank- less work, she would try to outwit her heart- less tormentors. Still she could not help trembling from head to foot. They would harm her—perhaps kill her, or even worse. The last thought brought a horror that almost overwhelmed her. Another insult from one of the wretches brought her back to her senses. She raised the heavy shears instantly and was on the defensive. Ruffian that he was, the fellow fell back. There was a look in her eyes that warned him not to touch her. The men who had been jabbering to one another so fariously seemed to have decided upon something now, and, with a sigh of MY QUEEN, horror, Marion’s glance swept the length and breadth of the dingy workroom. There was a door ten feet behind her, but to what did it lead? The poor eirl’s limbs trembled beneath her as she asked herself the question. | y But anything was better than awaiting their next move. She kept the shears raised warningly, and began backing swiftly toward the door. Ihe men saw her movement and a perfect bedlam followed, but, like a flash of light- ning, Marion had turned the knob and found herself in a low room lighted only by a sky- light. | 2 A rickety ladder led up to this skylight, which was open, and quite large enough for her to crawl through. She was up like a flash with thé whole ‘pack after her, but she was by far too quick for the clumsy fellows. ‘Follow me if.you dare!’ she cried, as she reached the roof; “I will strike the first man that attempts it, and I will strike with all my might! Shame on you, you brutes!” She was trembling with terror, but her voice did not betray her, and, as she glared at them through the skylight, there was not one that dared follow her. | A moment later an idea occurred to her, and she promptly put it into execution. She dragged the heavy skylight over the opening and then sat down on it. “They shall not come up here!” she pant- ed, breathlessly; “but how can I get down from this awful place? I am liable to get into another part of the same building if I attempt to descend any of them.” She stared about the monstrous roof; there were half a dozen skylights, any and all of which might lead into the very same com- pany’s workshops that she had quitted. Yet, above all the horror of her own position, the young girl was suffering from the in- spector’s treachery. The pain of personal fear was almost nothing as compared to the pain of a sister woman’s perfidy. She tried to collect her thoughts, but it was almost impossible, for she was sitting in the face of a biting wind, and already her fingers were becoming benumbed with the cold, She looked down through the thick glass <S= EO aniiice| ovoxe) (¢ (EO)