The Dermott news. (Dermott, Ark.) 1910-1977, 1916-12-21

| lice surgeon. The doctor gave Jake
Il superficial but calm scrutiny.
"This fellow is only blood, Il lit
tle." he said CURLY. THE wound
looks worse than ii is. No vital organ
has been penetrated, and We'll have
that bullet out just one minute after
! the N-ray has located it,"
Within an astonishingly short space
of time. therefore, the knoCked-out
gunman, now swearing loudly al all
and Sundry. was taken off in the am
| bulance, Burton and George Coe, with
Grace. were accompanying Bill Reilly
to the station house. where he was
| promptly liberated on bail. and
| Blanche Griffin was left with her
nearly distracted sister.
Blanche tried to comfort Virginia,
but the latter sought solace in whisky.
| blanche resolved To remain with her
and when opportunity offered emptied
| the whisky bottle in the sink.
Both girls. worn by the excitement
of the day. finally decided 10 retire
| When they were ready for bed Blanche.
| who since Grace Gne had taken her in
| hand. had fallen back on the hahits
of her childhood. knelt nj the side of
the bed in prayer. Virginia ut first
Sneered ut her sister but later. as she
thought of their mother and Of their
happiness ut her side when they We're
children, she also knelt in prayer be
side Blanche.
Bill Reilly taken to the police sta
ton. WAS released on bail furnished by
John Burton and Grace Coe.
Mr.. Henry Coe was probably sur
/ prised during dinner by the hangdog
demeanor eff his son and the some
what subdued attitude Of distinctly
self-willed daughter. But she said
nothing aud retired early to rest
The storm broke next morning at
the breakfast table when his furious
glance dwelt on the scare-heads of II
newspaper article describing the shoot
ing affray.
BILL REILLY. REFORMED CON
VICT, CONFESSSES To SHOOT
ING GANGSTER-GRACE coz
AND JOHN BURTON GO ON HIS
BAIL.
These sensational captions were
more than borne out by the text of the
article. Goes voice was thick with
fury when he sought his daughter, who
had hreakfaSted earlier and was then
seated ut piano in the drawing room.
You are becoming n disgrace to
your family" he cried vehemently,
smashing clenched fist into the news
paper crumpled up in the other hand.
This sort of thing has to stop. and
stop now. You either give up this re-
form work or leave my house. And
'eut of the supplies, too. Though You
own your mothers estate, | am your
trustee and III put the whole d
lot into the courts So that you cant
touch penny for the next five years.
The man was iueoherent with wrath
or he would never have sworn in front
Of Il daughter whom he loved devoted
~. He could not guess, of course.
how acutcly the girls soul was har-
rowed by conflicting emotions. For
once she waS tonguc-ticd. and tried
lamely to argue that if she would he
consistent In her enreavor to elevate
humanity She must help those who de-
pended on her.
Naturally, the irate man would not
listen. He insisted on complete and
instant submission to his Will, and
Grace was NJ her wits end to obtain
some sort of respite, since it was inn
possible that she could accede to his
wishes on an utterly false pretext. At
that iuneture her brother entered. She
saw at once that George, goaded 10
desperation, was about 10 confess. and
dreaded the outcome of his sordid rev.
elation far more than her fathers mis-
directed wrath against herself.
But George Goes newborn reSolu
tion was not 10 be gainsaid. Every
instinct of manliness in his compost
tion reheled against the positive in
justice inflicted. in the first instance,
on Bill Reilly, and. secondly, on girl
whose efforts to ameliorate the lost OF
the submerged tenth had often excited
his wonderment.
This thing has gone far enough,
sis" George said firmly. Its up to
me to face the music. did that
shooting. dad. | was several sorts of
fool, and now am ready to pay the
price. But one thing you ought To
know and believe before | say another
word. I'm a soft-headed idiot and "a
wastrel, but | am no criminal"
Disregarding Grace's fearful pro-
tests. he surprised even the angry
banker by the quiet lucidity with
which he exposed the trap laid for
him by Virginia Griffin and Two-Gun
Jake. He did not spare himself in the
least degree. He did not so much as
strive to palllate his action in con-
Sentlng To wiring the money out of his
phianthrepic sister.
When he had made an end. his IA
Their ragged ut him so frenziedly that he
turned and left the room, taking lit