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CALVARY ALLEY

BY ALICE HEGAN RICE

1917

Author of "MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH," "LOVEY MARY," "SANDY," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED BY WALTER BIGGS

THIS STORY IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO THE SMALL BAND OF KENTUCKYWRITERS WITH WHOM IT HAS BEEN MY HAPPY FORTUNE TO MAKE THE LITERARYPILGRIMAGE

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I THE FIGHT II THE SNAWDORS AT HOME III THE CLARKES AT HOME IV JUVENILE COURT V ON PROBATION VI BUTTERNUT LANE VII AN EVICTION VIII AMBITION STIRS IX BUTTONS X THE PRINCESS COMES TO GRIEF XI THE STATE TAKES A HAND XII CLARKE'S XIII EIGHT TO SIX XIV IDLENESS XV MARKING TIME XVI MISS BOBINET'S XVII BEHIND THE TWINKLING LIGHTS XVIII THE FIRST NIGHT XIX PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT XX WILD OATS XXI DAN XXII IN THE SIGNAL TOWER XXIII CALVARY CATHEDRAL XXIV BACK AT CLARKE'S XXV MAC XXVI BETWEEN TWO FIRES XXVII FATE TAKES A HANDXXVIII THE PRICE OF ENLIGHTENMENT XXIX IN TRAINING XXX HER FIRST CASE XXXI MR. DEMRY XXXII THE NEW FOREMANXXXIII NANCE COMES INTO HER OWN

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"The boy is infatuated with that girl"

"Her tense muscles relaxed; she forgot to cry"

"Don't call a policeman!" she implored wildly

CALVARY ALLEY

CHAPTER I

THE FIGHT

You never would guess in visiting Cathedral Court, with its people's halland its public baths, its clean, paved street and general air of smugpropriety, that it harbors a notorious past. But those who knew it by itsmaiden name, before it was married to respectability, recall CalvaryAlley as a region of swarming tenements, stale beer dives, and frequentpolice raids. The sole remaining trace of those unregenerate days is theprint of a child's foot in the concrete walk just where it leaves thecourt and turns into the cathedral yard.

All the tired feet that once plodded home from factory and foundry, allthe unsteady feet that staggered in from saloon and dance-hall, all thefleeing feet that sought a hiding place, have long since passed away andleft no record of their passing. Only that one small footprint, with itsperfect outline, still pauses on its way out of the alley into the greatworld beyond.

At the time Nance Molloy stepped into that soft concrete and thus set inmotion the series of events that was to influence her future career, shehad never been told that her inalienable rights were life, liberty, andthe pursuit of happiness. Nevertheless she had claimed them intuitively.When at the age of one she had crawled out of the soap-box that served asa cradle, and had eaten half a box of stove polish, she was acting instrict accord with the Constitution.

By the time she reached the sophisticated age of eleven her ideals hadchanged, but her principles remained firm. She did not stoop to beg forher rights, but struck out for them boldly with her small bare fists. Shewas a glorious survival of that primitive Kentucky type that stood sideby side with man in the early battles and fought valiantly for herself.

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