Three days before the date set for the opening of the trial, Mrs. Balfame deferred to the advice of her counsel and friends and received the women reporters-not only the four depending upon Miss Crumley, but a representative of every Woman's Page in New York and Brooklyn.
They presented themselves in a body at three o'clock in the afternoon and were conducted upstairs by the fluttered Mrs. Larks, who had anticipated them with all the chairs in the jail. They crowded into the little sitting-room, and were given time to dispose themselves before the door leading into the bedroom opened and Mrs. Balfame entered.
She bowed composedly and, with a slight diffident smile, walked to the chair reserved for her. Her weeds were relieved by white cr pe at the neck and wrists, but to two of the newsp
