The Shock

1 
Delving into the ever dimming records
of yesterday, a lurid page arrests the
eye. Chinatown -- street of crime -- of
fear -- of hate -- of mystery --

2
--- and the Mandarin Cafe --- a
whirlpool of vice and intrigue.

3
"Inhale it, you boob!"

4
Wilse Dilling was something of a
mystery, even to Chinatown --- he
baffled the police, though he was
listed on a page-long record at
headquarters as "dangerous."

		... LON CHANEY

5
Wilse

6
Wilse go to Queen Ann's 
  house right away.

7
O K

8
In those days, overlooking the
Oriental Quarter, yet linked to
it by secret, malevolent forces,
there stood a house of mystery.

9
And guiding its destinies, a
woman --- a woman known
through-out the underworld as
"Queen Ann."

	... Christine Mayo

10
"Wilse, you leave immediately
for Fallbrook. I've placed
you in the telegraph office 
         there."

11
"Never mind what for! All you
have to do is make friends,
watch your step - and keep 
     your eyes open."

12
"When I'm ready to use you,
I'll let you know, by wire."

13
Not so many miles from this seeth-
ing hotbed of crime, yet seemingly
in another world, nestled the little
town of Fallbrook.

14
Into this world came the dope-
peddler, safe-cracker, gun-man
.... Wilse Dilling, the cripple ---
and in the weeks of waiting,
something happened to him.

15
Call it the magic of flowers, the
spell of sunshine, explain it as 
you will .... the fact remained
that he was different --- the new
life made the cesspool of poppy-
land seem very far away.

16
Perhaps it was the influence of a 
good woman --- Gertrude Hadley
had paused to pity, and remained
his teacher,... and first real friend.

		... Virginia Valli

17
His visits to Gertrude Hadley
were treasured hours in the
life of Wilse Dilling --- the only
real happiness he had ever
known.

18
"Here I am, and just bursting 
       with questions!"

19
"You don't know how much 
your friendship means to 
me, Miss Gertrude - -
most people haven't much 
use for cripples."

20
"How often have I told 
you not to talk that way!
A handicap is often an
asset -- few people ever
amount to anything 
  without them."

21
"There are other things!
Miss Gertrude, if you knew
what I've been ... what I've
done, you wouldn't even 
     talk to me."

22
"Yes I would! It isn't what
  you were, but what you 
    are, that counts!"

23
"You mean a man's past doesn't 
count? - that there's always
a chance - a chance to be
something .... different?"

24
"We can be anything we
want - if the thought is
right, and the will is behind
      the thought."

25
"In spite of everything?"

26
"What do you mean by
  ... everything?"

27
"I'm a cripple - do you be-
lieve any amount of thinking
can make me anything else?"

28
"Stranger things have happened
- life without hope would be
        unbearable."

29
"I'd give half my life, if
I could believe - what 
     you believe."

30
"Wait for me - just a minute
- I have something that
will help you - I know it
         will!"

31
"My mother gave me this 
Bible before she died!
It's my best friend."

32
"Somewhere in these pages
I am sure you will find
answers for every question."

33
"Just remember this - anything
you wish can be accomplished,
if the thought is right, and the
     will is behind it."

34
"It sounds too good to be 
true - but I'm going to
  try - to believe."

35
Gertrude's father, Micha Hadley,
was the town's leading banker
and most respected citizen.

	... William Welsh

36
"Why father, you look worried
   - is anything wrong?"

37
"I intended to have lunch 
with you, but I got started 
late and Wilse Dilling
came over to have a 
little chat."

38
"You're spending too much 
time with him - he's not worth 
it, and somehow I - I don't
        like him."

39
"Oh father! If you really knew 
him; realized how like a child
he is ... and how sincere, you
wouldn't talk that way!"

40
"Well, have your own way, my
dear - and now, run along,
and stop worrying about your 
       old father."

41
In the days that 
 followed - -

42
Jack Cooper, whose father
owned the town's "general
store."

	... Jack Mower

43
"I came to return your
        Bible."

44
"I thought it was helping, 
but .... I guess I was 
        wrong."

45
"I'm going to tell you a secret!
  I'm engaged to marry Mr. 
   Cooper - we've known
   each other for years."

46
"Aren't you glad of it,
     Mr. Dilling?"

47
"My best wishes, Miss
  Gertrude - - - - "

48
"I hope you will be very, 
       very happy."

49
"Cooper, if this Book is true;
if there are such persons 
as Angels .... she is one."

50
"No man living is good 
enough for her, but if you 
treat her right, I'll always 
     be behind you."

51
"But if you don't, there's
no power on earth can 
 save you from me!"

52
That night, as usual, lights glowed
behind the locked door and drawn
curtains of the Hadley bank.

53
"How does it seem to be at
the end of your rope? -
to know you're a thief ....
a thief who's robbed his 
own bank - for a woman!"

54
"My God! You don't mean
you're going to .... to
      turn me up!"

55
"I do - - and have! But
don't try to make a get-
away - - I've had a man
in Fallbrook for weeks,
and tonight he's received 
      his orders."

56
"A bank-examiner'll be there
tomorrow, and when they've put
you where you once put me ...
a prison cell - think of me ....
you'll have plenty of time!"

57
The hand of "Queen Ann"
 was far reaching, cruel,
ruthless, sparing no one - -
and Wilse Dilling found 
himself torn between the 
woman he loved and the 
   woman he feared.

58
"It's important, Mr. Hadley
- and we mustn't be seen 
        together."

59
"Mr. Hadley, are you all 
 right with the bank?"

60
"How dare you ask me a
question like that! If that's
all you have to say, I'm not
       interested."

61
"Wait! I work for Ann Carding-
ton, and ten minutes ago I got 
a wire from her, ordering me
         to - - - -"

62
"I'm worried about father
- he's been at the bank 
      every night!"

63
"I know it sounds silly, but
I must go down to the bank
- I just feel that everything
        isn't right."

64
"Better break that engage-
ment, son - things don't 
look as good as they did."

65
"- - - she'll be just like 
you for the rest of her 
         life."

66
"Unless some surgeon
performs a miracle - - -"

67
"God .... Doctor! Not 
      like me!"

68
Afterwards, the realiza-
tion came to Hadley that
in Wilse Dilling's friend-
ship he might find a 
      way out.

69
"I must talk to you because
I know what you did and
I know you did it to save 
          me."

70
"I came to explain about
    Ann Cardington."

71
"We were to be married - I
found out who and what she 
was - on my testimony they
sent her to prison, vowing
vengeance on me and mine."

72
"Ten years ago I found myself
entangled in a political graft
- tricked by Ann Cardington
- my signature on documents
that would send me to prison."

73
"For Gertrude's sake, I have
paid for silence - paid and
paid and paid - even with
what was not mine to pay."

74
"No one will ever know!
That's why I blew up the 
         bank."

75
"But my signatures - I live in
fear that some day, she'll use
  them against my daughter!"

76
"Your daughter? I'd give
my life to save Miss Gertrude
a single tear - - where
are those signatures?"

77
  "Hidden in her home -
it's no use, Dilling, I've
   tried to get them."

78
"For your daughter's sake,
Mr. Hadley, don't leave this 
town - you leave Ann Card-
ington to me and everything 
will be all right."

79
"We'll get the low-down on
this from Wilse Dilling -
I've sent for him to come
          back."

80
Upon his return, Ann Cardington
had treated Wilse Dilling with a 
smile --- but all the underworld knew
that Queen Ann's smile was more
dangerous than her frown.

81
"Doesn't it strike you as odd
- that Hadley's bank was 
wrecked the very night the
bank-examiner was due?"

82
"You're sure all the evidence 
against him was destroyed?"

83
"The papers said his daughter
    is going to recover."

84
"They operated on her 
here in town - it was a 
big success."

85
"You seem very happy 
     about it."

86
"She was very kind to me."

87
"Someone saved Hadley from
going to prison, and I'm rather
glad - for now I'll make him
suffer worse ... through his 
        daughter."

88
"With the hold I've got on
Hadley, we'll make him wish
he never had a daughter,
Wilse."

89
While Gertrude Hadley, in a hos-
pital overlooking the bay, had
emerged from the Valley of Dark-
ness into the Realm of Material
Things.

90
Somewhere in Ann Cardington's 
house, Banker Hadley's signature 
was hidden --- but where?

91
Meanwhile, at the Cosmopolitan
Hotel ---

92
"I've had bad news from father.
   It means that we - - -"

93
"You mean you wish to
break our engagement?"

94
"Let's be practical - we
can't live on love - can 
         we?"

95
"Mr. Cooper, I want you to 
meet me at the Mandarin 
Cafe after midnight - it's
very important."

96
"It's about Miss Hadley -
and if you don't come, God
       help you!"

97
"Don't interfere with him -
it couldn't have worked
better, had I planned it
         myself."

98
In the Mandarin Cafe -

99
For two hours, Dilling has been
trying to nerve Cooper into enter-
ing the House of Mystery.

100
"You've got to reach that box 
for me .... there's no one 
    else I can trust."

101
"I'm done! I'm not going 
  to marry her anyway!"

102
"You yellow sneak! But get
this - you kissed her once, 
and tonight, you're going to
    pay for that kiss!"

103
"The other night, I told you
I'd make Hadley wish he'd
  never had a daughter."

104
"What's that got to do
       with him?"

105
"He is going to call her 
      down here."

106
"Call up that girl and tell her
   we'll send a cab for her."

107
"Don't do it ... God, man
... don't let her get into
     their clutches."

108
"Tell her Wilse Dilling has been
hurt in an accident; that he wants
  to see her. We'll send a cab."

109
"Gertrude, I'm down at the 
Mandarin. Wilse Dilling is hurt
   - he wants to see you."

110
"We'll send a cab for you."

111
"Your father ruined my life - he's
been paying for it, year by year!
Thanks to Wilse Dilling, he got
away from me - but through
Wilse Dilling, I've got ... you!"

112
"You thought you were double-
crossing me, Wilse! Well, take
a last look at your pretty lady
.... you'll never see her again."

113
"Take her up to the 
house - - hold her 
there until I come."

114
At that moment, as if in answer 
to his prayer, the hand of Provi-
dence interfered ---

115
Among the hundreds of bruised 
and broken things, dragged from
the smoking horror of yesterday,
was Wilse Dilling, and after 
weeks of convalescence ---

116
"It's a beautiful view, from
        the railing."

117
"Shall I wheel you over 
         there?"

118
"I like the shade - I'll
   wait for you here."

THE END