The Horrible Example
Directed by Charles M. SeayMr. Joe Drywun, a rabid prohibitionist, has a very charming daughter, Kathleen, who is highly fond of one Harold Gritt, a traveling salesman for the Eureka Cork Company. Since corks are used in whiskey bottles, Mr. Gritt's occupation seems very questionable to Mr. Drywun. An election is about to be held in the nearby city of Buckford and a campaign is being waged between the prohibitionists and the liquor interests. Mr. Drywun and his neighbor, Mr. Waters, leaves for the battleground, when they are joined by another prohibitionist, Grape Juice Bill Ryan. An old actor, Reginald Barrystone, reads in the daily paper that one John Jones who has posed for several years as a "Horrible Example" at prohibitionists' meetings, has finally passed away by the ripe old age of a hundred and two. Since he is out of work at the time, Barrystone decides to apply for the situation. A careful make-up secures the position for him and he succeeds as a "Horrible Example" in a far more emphatic manner than he has ever succeeded on the stage. In the course of his business travels Mr. Gritt happens to come to Buckford just before the election, when the campaigning is in full blast. He meets Miss Katherine Drywun and is severely reprimanded by Father Drywun for his unwelcome attention. Filled with admiration for the beautiful girl, Gritt evolves a scheme. He bribes the old actor to let him take his place as the "Horrible Example." The old actor enters into the scheme enthusiastically, helps Gritt make up and coaches him in his part. Gritt is an even greater success than the old actor. During the course of the evening he succeeds in substituting the bottle of suspicious odor for the bottle of tonic Mr. Drywun habitually carried around with him for his throat. The new tonic has a surprising effect upon Mr. Drywun. It makes him unwontedly benevolent. He feels that all men are his brothers, particularly the "Horrible Example." In a burst of enthusiastic generosity he tells the "Horrible Example" that he will be delighted to grant him any reasonable request. He is somewhat surprised when the "Horrible Example" asks him for his daughter. For a few moments Mr. Drywun is rebellious, but realizing that Gritt holds the whip hand over him, he at length capitulates as gracefully as possible.
