The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1914-05-22
TheDAUGHTER of
DAVID KERR n
1y Harry kin5 Tootle
Illustrations ly H1y H1l1=es .
COPYRIGHT ~ A.c-rcCluNc 6 CO., t9L9

high with sudden fear. "But not this,
0 God! Not this"
She repeated the pathetic words OF
Little Ella
There's enough Of US drops IN Be-
mont to fill a pretty big bucket'-oh,
1t can't be my father! 1t can't be my
father!-He has a daughter-It's all
a horrid mistake There must be an
other David Kerr. I'm sure"
Gloria sprang from her chair and
seized the sleeping woman roughly by
he arm.
Listen to me. Tell me something
more of David Kerr"
She shook Little Ella into a con.
scious state and repeated the question.
Which David Kerr is it,"
There's only one l know Of" an
swered Ella. He's got q real estate
office on Fifth street."
What"
The net OF circumstances was be-
Ing drawn tighter and tighter about
one man. and that mar her father.
Are you sure he's the man. girle"
Gloria asked the question In as sub.
dued a manner as possible. Suddenly
she had become afraid. She did not
wish to arouse suspicion.
Sure, he's the man. 1t tried ones
patience to be reused from sleep, and
then to meet with contradiction was
enough to make one petulant. 20 set
tie the question SO that she could go
back to sleep, little Ella added:
Look on my bureau and you'll see
4 program OF the Dave Kerr DENNY
cratic club ball"
Gloria walked over to the bureau
with It's tumble of odds and ends, and
began to turn over the things me-
~chanically.
No. not that. Look behind that
photygraft. That's 1t. That's his pic
ture on the front"
Gloria gave one look. The picture
was that Of her father.
For a time Little Ella chartered
%drowsily. but Gloria did not hear. She
was Frustrated by a grief that numbed
her every faculty. The foundation of
her faith had been swept away.
What she beheld seemed to burn 1t.
self into her brain. On the cover OF
the program were the words: Annual
Ball. David Kerr Democratic Club"
and the picture of her father. 1t was
the truth; her father was the boss of
Belmont. So different was her posi-
ton from that pinnacle on which she
had thnstnht hnrCrlf - - A 49,
whole world would have to go through
a revolutionary o%rientation. There was
nothing in her life which would moi
have to be adjusted anew because of
this revelation.
As she turned the pages OF the FRO
gram, pages filled with liquor and sa-
loon advertisements, her thoughts
were all OF herself. Resentment and
anger there were, directed toward her
father, but now in the first moments
when she saw herself as Belmont saw
her humiliation conquered all other
emotions. Her first though: OF Joe
Wright was that he had kept the truth
from her. She could not grow more
sick at heart. comparatively feeling
was out OF the question because she
was completely crushed, but she saw
as In a book that had been written and
laid away as finished, the sacrifice
he had made for her. the supreme re-
he had made because he
would not denounce her father before |
her.
The thought OF how different her /
had been from what she |
had planned made her laugh hysteric- !
Ally. Then when she recalled the few
friends she had made she
clutched wildly at the hope that after
all it was untrue.
IT'S a lie, every word OF it, a lie his
enemies invent What big man but
has about him envious wasps that
prick and sting? Judge Gilbert, Mr.
Kendall. Doctor Hayes. they'll all say
hat he-Joe Wright! What Of him? !
What will he say?"
She put this man that had loved her
one balance and the other men Ia
he other. He outweighed them all.
ind the momentary hope was gone.
She could see It all now. AS the baf-
ling attitude OF Belmont revealed it.
Ielf to her bit by bit she buried her
ace in her arms and sobbed.
And ] was SO proud. oh, SO proud"
the daughter OF David Kerr.
Joe! Joe! You did love mel sent
lin away. and I never understood.
now | can see it all. The social sights
cold disdain I could not under
whispers that died away
before they reached my ears-all. all.
because l was David Kerr's darph.
er, David Kerr. the boss OF Belmont"
Her fathers name exercised a fasci-
ration over her. Again and again she
'epeated It, her lips curling with
Icorn.
David Kerr. the boss OF Beln,ont!"