Excerpt from Beating Back<br><br>He said this in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone, as though he were speaking of an old job at selling groceries. Then he turned the conversation to other and more commonplace topics.<br><br>It was some time yet before I understood the deeper meaning in this conversation. Harris Dick son, it appeared, had introduced him at the club, and had, by special request, explained to his host at luncheon the old record of this Mr. Jennings. I, how ever, was a newcomer; and I must know. So J en nings had taken the first opportunity to tell me, as he has told every man, woman and child to Whom it can possibly make any difference in the eleven years since, with a new suit on his back and a ticket to Chicago in his pocket, he stepped out of the penitentiary.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.