Page:The Great Harry Thaw Case.djvu/176

 hear him sobbing. I would see a light under the door at three or four in the morning. I would go into his room and find him sitting up crying.

"I am not of a prying disposition, and I did not inquire into his trouble at once. He finally told me one night what the trouble was. He did not tell me definitely at first. He first said that it was something a wicked man in New York had done that had ruined his life. That was as much as I could get from him at first. He said the man was probably the worst in New York.

"On Thanksgiving I learned more. I did not ask the girl's name. I learned from him one night what the wicked man had done to the young girl. I did not want to inquire any further.

"I told him that sort of thing happened in New York constantly and I asked. Why should that ruin your life? But he insisted it had.

"I tried to influence him the other way, to show him that it was not his place to look after the young girls.

"He said the girl had the most beautiful mind of any woman he had ever met and that if she had been under the influence of a good mother she would have been the best woman that ever lived. I cannot recall the entire conversation, but that is the substance of it.

"I only know that on Thanksgiving Day that incident occurred. It was the first Thanksgiving Day