Pictures and the Picturegoer (April - September 1915)

PICTURES AND THE P1CTUREGOER 232 Week ending Jbr,y 3, J915 A DAUGHTER'S STRANGE INHERITANCE My dear Randolph, be guided by me. You love Lucille, I know, hut if you marry her the future v. ill hold a dread which will break your heart. Lucille is an absolute slave to drink. Her children will therefore inherit a tendency sufficient to wreck their lives and yours." •Von old croaker! Are you always theorising? I love Lucille and am going to marry her. Leave the rest to ine. I'll help her fight the demon, and we >hall win." •• Very well, Randolph. My best wishes. When the day comes call for mef" So Baying.Dr. Adams left his friend William Randolph to do as he wished and fight the future. Randolph was deeply in love with Mademoiselle Lucille, a beautiful tight-wire^ performer. He had treated his friend's warning with disdain, feeling sure that if he could win her love they would together overcome the evil he was assured threatened her life. But he had not i.-ckoned upon the intensity of the craving. Twice Lucille had refused him, not because she feared the future, but, loving the thrill of existence which the risk of her daily performance emphasised, married life appeared to be dull and emotionless. As grew her fame so did her love for alcohol, until a strong draught of spirits preceded each performance. Lucille was the despair of her manager and dresser. Both remonstrated without avail, and as a last resort the dresser would not leave her until the call. One day. however, Lucille made an excuse to tarry, and hastily swallowed the drink she had hidden before she went into the theatre. It was her last appearance in the role that had thrilled and delighted countless thousands. During the act she staggered, slipped, and fell from the tignt-Vt ire. Her injuries were of such a nature that she was forced to give up her profession. Deeply sorry for the girl. Randolph again proposed and was accepted. It was then that his friend Adams uttered his grave warning, but the well-meant advice fell upon deaf cars, and they were married. Randolph had a greater faith in his own strength and powers of persuasion than belief in the principles of heredity. II' there was to be a battle it would he fought out by him; but he still kept drink in the house. For a time all went well. The craving left Lucille, and her husband satisfied; but shortly after her daughter's birth it began to return. Against the insidious advance Lucille put up a brave tight. The position was not unknown to the husband and doctor. and as the danger became more apparent the nurse was taken into their confidence, "Nurse," said the doctor. "your patient is craving for alcohol, li is your duty to Bee thai -he cannot get it." 1 oil may t rust me, doctor. Mrs. Randolph has repeatedly asked me to • the dining room for the brandy, but 77//" Terrible -l-.;il r(tJ "an Inherited Taste for Alcohol. . hlapted from the Film By ALEC /. BR'AID. Tasting it, she fount) it good. I tell her that in all probability it would kill her. She moans and cries for hours. The craving must be dreadful." " It is, but we must combat the desire. If we can ward off the danger for another fortnight we shall win." Alas ! their kindly efforts were in vain. During a temporary absence of the nurse the drink-tormented woman managed to reach the dining-room, where her strength failed, and she fell to the floor. 1'oot by foot she dragged herself to the cabinet and greedily gullied at the contents of a decanter. The effort was too great, the spirit too potent for her weakened constitution. and a little later the poor creature died in her husband's arms. One afternoon, sixteen years after the tragic event just narrated, the Principal of Wyotnossin'g Seminary was shocked to see Margaret Randolph in conversation with four young men. It was a freiuiont fault of the girl to break bounds and find pleasure in such company, Thevoung fellows came to the river bank to fish. Such a successful fishing season had never been known, and the "Principal of the College shrewdly guessed that Margaret, and in t the fish, was the attraction. The reputation of the College was at stake, and an example must be made if the rules were again broken. A vivacious girl, clever and promising at her studies. Margaret was the despair of the Principal, who. though she would gladly go out of her way to assist the girl, could not forget the duty she owed to the parents of the other students. "Scoot ! here comes the old cat. and I am in for a row." said Margaret when she saw the Principal approaching. The fellows bolted for their fishingtackle. " How often have 1 told you that conduct such as this cannot be permitted ? Fou have again broken the rules," was the Principal's -tern rebuke. " J don't care for you or your rules," answered Margaret. •I'm old enough to do as I like. At any rate I decline to be talked to as if I were a baby. ' "While you are with me you must obey the rules. My dear girl, can you not see what a bad impression you create? The other girls talk, and really "' "Oh. hang your rules! You* are paid To teach me. not to govern my movements. If I want to talk to young men it is my affair and not yours." Margaret ! " Raid the shocked Principal. " this is insubordination. Either you promise me to do as I wish or | must return to your father." "All right. Ill go home. Father will be glad to have me. I'll say ' good-bye co your old school with pleasure." Such scenes as these were, unfortunately, of frequent occurrence, but never l>efore had the girl so far forgotten herself, and on the following day she was sent home. To Randolph his daughter's dismissal was a fearful blow. He read and reread t h 3 Principal's letter -.—" Dear Mr. R 111dolph — It is with the Lrrealest regret that I have had to bring Margaret's studies to an abrupt conclusion. For months her spirit of insubordination has steadily grown worse, and her influence upon the other girls is bad. *' I reallycanuot understand Margaret She seems possessed of a double pet sonality. At times she is perfectly normal, and exhibits a most lovable nature. At other times she is reck and shows a vicious temper. In t' moods becoming more frequent it is impossible to deal with her. Then she defies all authority, is insolent and unbearable. " I have taken this extreme course only after a long trial, and am deeply sorry. The responsibility, however. i = too great for me. and for the sake of Margaret R3 well as for the reputation of the Seminary I am compelled to send her home. Yours faithfully. E. M S 1 1 " 1. ■ I \ Randolph was greatly distressed, and wondered if. alter all the care he had devoted to her upbringing, his doctOl friend's prophecy had come true, and that the girl had inherited the fl side of her mother's nature. He watched his daughter closely. Margaret did not appear t • make the least effort to combat the "other side" of her nature. When the mood was it] her she tlew into a violent rage at the slightest provocation. But worse was to follow. One day a visitor was announced. and the convivial decanter of port waplaced upon the table. Out of courtesy Randolph sipped the wine, and whilst accompanying his visitor to the door he left the wineglass upon the bible Bj one of those tricks of blind chance to which we are all fated. Margaret entered the room. and. seeing the wine. she picked up the elass and inhaled the bouquet of the hquifli The ai