The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1914-06-05

brought against the MACHINE was thai
1t was cOlOnizing llOaters in lodging
houses in the low, thicklypopulated
river wards. Uurken even admitted il
when Wright asked about it, and seV'
eral days later suggested tour Of in
speCtiOn. The blood of the star re-
porter warmed in the editors veins.
The idea was tantalizing. 1t was one
of those stories a good man would sac
ritice half years salary to handle.
Without saying anything to anyone.
the owner of the News thought OF the
expedition for several days. The more
he thought of it, the more it appealed
20 him. The more it appealed to him
the less was the likelihood Of his con.
Sldering the axiom that in battle it is
a generals duty not to get hurt. In
fact, the thought Of physical injury
did not occur to him. He was a
stranger to Belmont, no one knew him,
and in the daytime there was no dan
ger.
When Wright finally decided to in
vestigate personally it was only few
days before the election. He deter
mined that he would wander down
into the first ward two days before
the votes were cast to gather mate
rial for his story. The next afternoon.
just on the eve OF the election, his
final attack on the machine would be
an expose Of ring methods Of handling
vagabond voters imported for the oc-
CaSion.
This programme was being carried
out as originally planned, notwith.
standing the break with Gloria the
previous day, when Wright was in.
duced to go through Noonan's hotel"
Here, deserted by Durken, who had
been his guide, he had fallen into the
hands Of Turkey Ryan and Buck Kelly.
Although dazed by the unexpected
ness of the attack, he had neverthe-
less managed to give a good account
of himself The cramped attic quar-
tiers in which they had fought had
been in his favor. The two bruisers
had been surprised by what a scien-
titic boxer could do in rough-and-
tumble fight. To the momentary indie
cision resulting from his good defense
Wright owed his escape from the room
in which he had been trapped
A stinging blow having taken all the
fight out of Kelly, he lurched and fell
forward against the door just as the
newspaper man had managed to elude
his assailants for the instant and slip
out of the room. Forced to minister
to his companion, Turkey Ryan had
lost many valuable seconds before he
could take up the pursuit. 1t was dur
ing this respite that Wright, cropping
blindly for the stair, had tripped and
fallen, to be found unconscious by
Gloria in front of Little Elias door.
No one ever knew exactly what had
taken place in Noonan's lodging house
that afternoon in early spring Re-
turning from the mission with DR.
Norton. Mrs. Hayes was surprised to
find the door of the Windermere wom-
ans room fastened from within. When
no response greeted her knock, sur
prise gave way to alarm. and she
called upon Dr. Norton to aid her in
opening the door Gloria had not fast
ened it as securely as she had thought.
and it required no great strength on
the part of the physician to force it
open
Gloria was removed to Mrs. Hayes
home III a carriage as soon as she
was revived Little Ella, in a semi
conscious, delirious state, was hurried
TO the city hospital in a police ambu-
lance. An examination having shown
that Wright had sustained no serious
injury, as soon as he regained con-
seriousness he was taken to his own
apartment
David Kerr was not allowed TO see
his daughter. Although the exact ma
ture of the shock to which she had
been subjected was not known, since
both Kelly and Ryan had disappeared,
vet the physicians did not think it
best in her nervous condition for her
TO see even her father. The following
day she remained in bed, speaking
never word. busy with her own
thoughts. The next day, that of the
election, she dressed, but did not
leave her room
When it was seen that Gloria was
under the cloud of a settled melan-
choly, there was debate how best to
minister to her. Her very silence
made the problem more perplexing
She uttered never word by which
they might pluck out the heart of the
mystery. Strange as it may seem, she
did not even ask about Joe Wright. |
She did, however, read the morning
and afternoon papers carefully. In
neither was there any reference to an
attack on the editor. AS her mind
beat upon the bars of it's new iron
cage, it sufficed her to know that all
must be we'll with him,
loo Wright'S iniirieS wara NOR IF q, |